THE LIBRARIANS get Creepy

Season 1, Episode 8: “And the Heart of Darkness”

[photos: TNT & kanenation.net]

The Librarians took a detour from their regular fun and dipped their toes into the horror end of the genre pool this week. Our overall story on the King Arthur legend doesn’t progress any, but instead, we deal with Cassandra’s relationship to her team, and enjoy a very creepy episode, to boot.

Second episode is great! But scary. Be warned. #TheLibrarians

— Dean Devlin (@Dean_Devlin) January 12, 2015

The story opens with an old house in Slovakia, overgrown with vines. A scream, followed by a young woman, Katie Bender, emerges from the house with blood on her shirt, running through the woods in a Blair Witch style camera angle. She stumbles to the road, waving down our Librarians, who just happen to be driving by on a ley line field trip. Coincidence? I think not..

If I was running from something scary, I could do worse than run right into @ChristianKane01 #TheLibrarians

— Theresa S (@TessKS19) January 12, 2015

Katie explains that her friends are still in the house, along with a dangerous man, and insists that she must go back to help. While Jacob tries to calm her down, Cassandra pulls out the ley line map that she’s compiled. As she focuses on the multi-layered and very complex map, she gets a nosebleed, and explains to a concerned Baird that nosebleeds and headaches are part of the usual side effects from her brain tumor: especially when she concentrates on difficult equations and the like.  Cassandra determines that there is a broken ley line close by.

Baird: “Ah, where the blood-covered girl came from.”

Oh. It's THAT house? Hell no. The movie guy says: "Get out!" #TheLibrarians

— 🆁𝚎- Boos 🅼𝚊𝚢 🆅𝚊𝚛𝚢 📖👻 (@ReviewsMayVary) January 12, 2015

Baird calls Jenkins, who explains that broken ley lines must be anchored or they might explode. These broken ley lines converge at the house, which may indicate a haunting…a really bad haunting.

When I call any castmate in real life, I always open with 'Jenkins, quick question.' #TheLibrarians

— Rebecca Romijn (@RebeccaRomijn) January 12, 2015

They have some ancient anchor scrolls to anchor the ley lines in the four directions, so Baird takes Jacob and Ezekiel to the house, telling Cassandra to stay behind with Katie.  This leaves Cassandra feeling left out–she knows that Baird is worried about her health and wants her to be safe, but it’s not how she wants to be treated.

The three approach the house and Jacob notes that it is a 19^th century American frontier house — certainly out of place in the Slovakian forest. They enter the creepy house to set the anchor scrolls, but before they can set all four, all hell breaks loose and they are lucky to escape back to the car.

As the Librarians debate who should go rescue Katie’s friends, Katie runs back to the house, so the team follows. Baird, Jacob and Ezekiel notice that the upstairs is not proportional to the house dimensions, so they split up to investigate. Each finds the same picture hanging on a wall in separate rooms. Not just a duplicate picture — the same picture, complete with identical rips and missing faces of the three people in the foreground, standing in front of – you guessed it — a 19^th-century American frontier house that looks extremely familiar, but definitely not in the Slovakian forest.

"you're very weird librarians"
"it's a very weird library"
yes yes yes#TheLibrarians

— morgan (@tommosrejects) January 12, 2015

The house plays with their senses: things disappear and reappear, they find random articles of clothing, and Baird sees an image of three young people cowering in fear and almost shoots Jacob, mistaking him for the hatchet-bearing bad guy. Katie recognizes the clothing as belonging to her friends and becomes hysterical, of course, running off by herself. They all look at Cassandra, expecting her to pursue.

Cassandra: “What? I’m the Katie wrangler, now?”

Jenkins, still via phone, has some good news and some bad news. The good news: the ley lines are repaired. The bad news: this house is every bad house that ever existed in urban legend, and they are standing in it. He explains that there exist six mystery houses that move around from place to place and have become part of folklore. Some are helpful and some are malevolent. He believes this one to be of the bad ones: It takes its victims and moves on. They cannot rescue anyone, they can only stop it by destroying the dark heart of the house ….before midnight.

Ezekiel: “Why is it always midnight?”

Ezekiel disappears just about the same time as a miniature of the house appears in the bedroom.  Downstairs, Katie’s name is burnt into the wall, so Baird interprets this as the targeted next victim and sends Cassandra to escort Katie to the Annex. Cassandra is convinced that Baird is treating her differently because of her brain tumor and the whole trust issue, so she’s having her own little pity party there in the car. Katie points out that Baird is trusting Cassandra to keep her safe, which seems to make Cassandra feel better.   The moment is fleeting, though; as Cassandra starts the engine, the shadow figure appears on the roof of the car, sending a hatchet into the windshield, forcing them back into the house.

OK Eve needs to learn this there are no longer any frontlines, leaving someone behind isn't safe. #TheLibrarians

— Sarah Uthoff (@Trundlebedtales) January 12, 2015

Baird and Jacob are still in the house (now looking for Ezekiel) and they hear the commotion as Cassandra and Katie enter the house to escape their pursuer. Baird rushes to help Cassandra bar the door, and the miniature house appears for Jacob. Now Jacob and Ezekiel are face to face, inside the doll house. Ezekiel’s guess: magic. Baird comes to investigate and can’t find Ezekiel or Jacob, even though they can see her. Baird asks the house what it wants, and it answers by blazing Katie’s name in the wall again.

Ezekiel explains to Jacob that the miniature house is sort of a “room of requirement”—whatever he wishes for appears. He discovered this when he became bored of looking at the pictures on the walls and wanted something more entertaining.  He found himself playing video games in front of a large screen television.  Jacob recognizes the pictures on the walls as famous missing artwork from history, each one featuring the haunted house that they are in now. Ezekiel notices a trend in the pictures–this house has seen many happy families before something bad happened.

Back upstairs, Katie and Cassandra make a run for it. As they are running, Katie makes a reference to their location that doesn’t make sense, and Cassandra realizes, a little too late, that Katie is the cause of all of the bad happenings. We get a wicked shot of Katie’s eyes rolling up into her head just before she reveals her true nature, which is pure evil. Cassandra makes a run for it back to the house and Katie slowly follows, singing folk songs in a very creepy way.

https://twitter.com/Fizzhogg/status/554467894877122560

https://twitter.com/StephenJBlue/status/554470396120940544

Cassandra enters the empty house, calling for her team mates, but gets no answer. She hears the footsteps above, and finds Baird’s pistol on the ground, just before she witnesses Baird’s body being drug up the stairs. Katie is now at the front door as Cassandra follows Baird’s body upstairs. When she reaches the second floor, she sees a vision: a crowd of people — all of Katie’s victims, including Katie’s family.

#TheLibrarians Math girl is going to make a stand!

— Joey Dusty Wings (@joeyh402) January 12, 2015

Katie reveals that she hears and talks to the magic house. Cassandra starts to listen and hears the house, too. She follows its happy memories up until the day that Katie’s family, who were all serial killers, arrived.  These are the people featured in the ripped up pictures we saw at the beginning of the episode.

Katie reveals that the house actually hates her and tries to warn people about her; however, it is bound to “grant her wishes.” Cassandra is forming an idea as Katie enters the bedroom, sporting a very large knife.

i think katie is the dark heart #TheLibrarians

— Tony (@tonyntotony) January 12, 2015

https://twitter.com/Fizzhogg/status/554470156630388736

Cassandra is hidden by some pretty good camouflage, courtesy of the house. She has outwitted Katie, who is the dark heart of the house and must be destroyed to end the evil. Cassandra calls to the house for help and is granted a weapon—the hatchet that we’ve seen in several scenes before. She overpowers Katie in a passionate outburst about her own death sentence, located in her brain. She realizes that the house doesn’t grant wishes, but it serves those in need (Ezekiel had it pegged!). She slays Katie with the hatchet, Katie evaporates into smoke and Cassandra collapses from the effort.

https://twitter.com/JenHulvey/status/554470634114514945

When Cassandra awakens, the miniature house sits nearby with an envelope on it, addressed to her: it’s a thank you card from the house.

Restored to their original size, Ezekiel and Jacob argue about what should be done with the house and Baird nurses a black eye.  A shadowed, smokey figure appears in the doorway, stopping the conversation in its tracks. Cassandra is right behind the mysterious figure, explaining that the house is a refuge, build to help people in need. No one ever expected it to be found by a serial killer and be forced to do many evil deeds on their behalf. Now that they have released the house from its grip from the resident evil, the Shadow changes to a butler, who promptly delivers a cold pack to Baird for her black eye and after he fixes the car, they bid farewell.

HE'S TURNED INTO A BUTLER! *names him Alfred* #TheLibrarians

— Cameron (@sworddayredday) January 12, 2015

Cassandra, with new-found confidence, takes the driver’s seat, and as they travel away down the road, we see the miniature house appear in the back of their vehicle.  It will be interesting to see if this house re-appears in a future episode, along with that small bit of Merlin’s magic she tucked away.

The show took a definite creepy twist this week, with a little less frivolity and a little more serious danger and scares. The sets, lighting and effects really set the tone, as did Lea Zawada’s portrayal of Katie. I liked the change, and hope that future episodes keep us on the edge of our seats as this one did.

The great Lea Zawada (playing Katie) had HS Graduation when we shot and our crew busted butts so she could make it! #TheLibrarians

— Rebecca Romijn (@RebeccaRomijn) January 12, 2015

Next up: a legendary two-hour season finale, where we again see Flynn Carsen, claiming he’s found a way to bring back the Library.