Summary
Things get a lot weirder very quickly, making one wonder where else things could possibly go over the next five episodes.
This recap of The Watcher season 1, episode 2, “Blood Sacrifice”, contains spoilers.
What do home security, private investigators, and motels all have in common? They all cost money, and money is something that the Brannocks are pretty short on. And yet, what choice do they have? After receiving the second letter at the end of The Watcher episode 1, the police are still unconcerned. Aside from listing the house as being for sale to try and scare up a lead that way, the only reasonable solution is to hire someone to look into the matter.
At least Dean manages to take on Theodora Birch (Noma Dumezweni) at a discounted rate. She’s dying of liver cancer, after all, and needs to make a living for as long as she can. $50 an hour for the former jazz singer’s endless obsession seems like a pretty good deal.
The Watcher season 1, episode 2 recap
In the meantime, Dean moves Nora and the kids into a motel while he remains in the house. Weirdness commences in both locations; Dean hears piano music tinkling through the old intercoms (and the audience sees a figure skulking around in the background), while Nora gets the classic heavy breathing call in the room. Dakota, who beefs up the security in the motel as well as the house, suggests he work the graveyard shift keeping an eye out for anything weird. We know he’s doing it to spy on Ellie, but it’ll set Dean back another twenty bucks an hour, which he’s happy to pay for his peace of mind (if only he knew!).
Dean also meets with Andrew, the house’s former occupant, and he recounts a terribly sad story that has many disturbing similarities to what the Brannocks are experiencing now. He heard the music, seemingly coming from nowhere. His wife saw things. They received the same letters, presumably from the same sender, and they took on an increasingly violent tone. The difference, though, is that Andrew and his wife allowed Mitch and Mo to babysit their son, Caleb, and while there, he repeated seeing the old folks of the neighborhood amassed in a circle, wearing red robes, and drinking blood from a baby whose throat they had cut. It’s an eternal youth thing, according to Andrew’s research. The final straw was when Caleb cut himself, and Andrew found Margot sucking the blood from his finger, apparently having emerged in the house through a secret passage that Andrew himself could never find.
Andrew and his wife moved out with Caleb, to a one-bed in the city. The visions never stopped, and his wife hung herself. Now, he remains medicated on whatever pills he can find. He cautions Dean to get out of the house.
So, Mitch and Mo, just like that, become the prime suspects, and Dean certainly begins operating on that basis. When he starts doing even more construction on the house, much to Mo’s consternation, he berates her and makes a snide comment about her getting melanoma, which quickly comes back to bite him. That night, Mitch shoots Mo and then himself; apparently, she had cancer and he couldn’t face the prospect of living without her. But in his suicide note, he lays out that the construction Dean is having done, not to mention his “threats”, massively contributed to his decision.
Either way, it seems like a minor victory has been achieved. But that night, Dean is woken by the alarm and finds Jasper smilingly staring at him through the window. Andrew said Jasper was a good guy — was he wrong?
You can stream The Watcher season 1, episode 2, “Blood Sacrifice”, exclusively on Netflix.
