Summary
A boring dime store version of a reality show that cannot sustain itself.
We recap the Netflix horror reality series 28 Days Haunted season 1, episode 3, “I’m Done,” which contains spoilers.
Well, we are back, and we start with a voiceover explaining the details of the murder of The Lawson Family. Charlie Lawson, the father, murders his entire family in a vicious attack. Brandy has been so shaken by her contact with the entity that she leaves, saying “I’m done.” It is always a risky move having one of your leads saying that at the mid-way point of the season, and I can almost hear a whole bunch of viewers agreeing with her, but as this is a recap, you might as well pull up a chair as we dive into the 3rd episode of 28 Days Haunted.
28 days Haunted season 1, episode 3 recap
Aaron in the studio explains to us that this mid-stage of the investigation could see the tired and exhausted investigators giving up. It’s night 10 and Brandy and Jereme are having a bit of a chat in Madison Dry Goods.
Brandy is having a hard time sleeping. Jereme has yet to actually say or do anything. I am hoping he finds his feet soon. Brandy feels that the viewing room at the end of the hallways is where they should go next.
She hopes to communicate with the mother and discover why the terrible events occurred. Jereme says a few prayers in the room to help with the atmosphere, and Brandy explains the mother is with her holding her hand. Jereme reads some more prayers.
Brandy hears a noise; Jereme says he has things under control. Brandy continues delivering exposition for us, as the sound meter continues to bleep away. Then they hear more bumps and at long last Jereme gets to do his thing in a big scene where he recites scripture as mysterious knocks are heard. However, Brandy gets too scared and leaves the room again.
Over in Denver at the Lumbar Baron Inn, it’s day 13. The team seems to have uncovered the death of two girls but not much else. Ray, Shane, and Amy decide a new technique is required. They decide on mirror scrying, but Amy feels mirrors are portals, so is not keen. You’ve all watched Candyman, you know the risks. Amy is adamant she doesn’t want to do it. Amy explains she had a terrible experience with the technique and refuses. In true reality show style, her teammates are now wondering why she is even there if she won’t help out.
Over at Captain Grants Inn, it’s day 14, and the boys have discovered some writing on the mirror. Psychic Shane explains the mystical nature that mirrors can have, and it looks like a ghost has written the letters C and U on the glass. I wonder where that was going. Nick thinks it was Shane though. Shane thinks the ghost was saying “I C U”.
That night they try to communicate in the room with the mirror. Shane says he can see balls of light going in and out of the mirror. I couldn’t see much. The spirit box keeps spouting random noises, and the boys think the ghosts say they are trapped there. Suddenly they hear a thump and head upstairs. When they ask for another bump, they get it, this time from the bathroom.
Aaron bizarrely wants to go to the cemetery, but this idea is not considered a good one by Nick the skeptic. This leads to an argument and probably the first real drama the series has served up so far. In a weird piece to camera, Aaron gets so upset by the argument he has a cry. I guess these paranormal investigators really are very sensitive.
At Lumber Baron Inn, Amy is talking to her teammates, trying to explain that dark energy is not good for you, and that’s why she would not do the mirror scrying. However, her cohorts say they feel she should try and get past that uncomfortable feeling. Amy then bizarrely says “Do you think it’s a masculine thing, let’s do this, let’s do that”. “A bro thing, like c’mon man are we gonna do this”. It is such a strange scene. Amy is the psychic here that so far has done very little to help.
The boys are frustrated, as she is really technically the only one that can further their investigation, but she stays adamant that she will not do anything she considers “dark” as she is scared of the consequences. I am not sure at this point what the plan of attack is here, is Amy going to wait for some kind of passive response from the ghosts of the dead to enlighten her about their double murder? I can hear the producers audibly sighing.
Back to Preston and Captain Grant’s Inn. After their disagreement, the boys decide to listen to the audio that tech guru Nick has captured. In the audio, we hear Sean say, “Who’s writing on my mirror saying that?” The reply from the spirit box apparently says, “You Sean.”
Much to Sean’s disgruntlement. He then asks if they are implying that Sean has written on the mirror himself. Nick has already stated he is a skeptic, then Psychic Sean massively overreacts and asks if they want to give him a lie detector test. Sean then blames the spirits and says they are playing games with them. Now honestly, at this point, I almost felt like throwing in the towel. With very little actual supernatural content in the episode already, the obviously bored investigators are now turning on each other like a really bad episode of Love Island.
Aaron at the studio then enforces that the ghosts might be doing this to cause drama so they cannot uncover the secrets they are hiding. Honestly, I think the people involved are bored and realize that they are halfway through this premise, and nothing has happened, except the cabinet doors opening.
Meanwhile, over at Madison Dry Goods, Brandy and Jereme are sitting outside having a chat. Brandy feels they are close to a secret. A secret that you could Google and figure out right now. It is night 15 and Brandy feels she is going to try to connect to the father figure. She asks for answers, but the spirit box is silent. Jereme then reads some more scripture. Brandy gets a headache. She asks Jereme to stop, echoing the pleas of the viewing public.
Jereme then puts his hand on her forehead and Brandy starts to cry. Voiceover then gives us more exposition on the past events of the house. It turns out that the father had impregnated the oldest daughter before murdering the entire family. In a piece to camera, Brandy does an Amy and explains that if she is attacked by this dark force and it attaches itself to her, then she has to deal with that, and in her 3rd cliffhanger ending she says she’s tapping out, and she’s done.
The ending
Once again, the producers have found that Brandy is the best “character” on the show, and we get another dramatic ending, with Brandy saying she is done. Jereme finally finds a voice trying to dramatically tell a spirit to back off from Brandy. This episode had very little in the way of paranormal activity and is more focused on the drama between the “contestants.” It seems that the further into this we get, the more diluted the content becomes. There is very little meat on the bone here, and the editors must have been working overtime to try and piece some kind of narrative together to get this show to 6 episodes.
What did you think of 28 Days Haunted season 1, episode 3? Comment below.
