Summary
More of the same boring, cliched haunted house footage with no payoff.
Well, as we go into the Episode 5, 28 Days Haunted season 1, episode 4 was been enhanced with some filmed inserts to make things a bit more interesting.
After the incident in the immersion tank, we hear about Marianne’s death, and it would appear that the producers have decided that the actual footage of the show is not enough to keep people interested, so as Shane explains his psychic vision, we see filmed footage of the murder. I am beginning to wonder if the show has been sorely lacking in drama generated by the investigators themselves, so more and more flashbacks have been filmed to beef things up a little.
By Episode 5, nothing of any note has actually occurred, and I would argue that there are YouTube paranormal channels that have done this type of thing better. Anyway, on with the recap of Episode 5.
28 Days Haunted Season 1 Episode 5 Recap
Shane is with his team explaining his visions from the makeshift iso tank, and psychic Amy still looks unimpressed. He explains images of other people being murdered and claims he has seen where the bodies are hidden, although this is not followed up on. Studio Aaron then explains that psychics are often used by the police, a claim I would argue against, and the team might crack a cold case here. They don’t.
In Preston at Captain Grant’s Inn, the gang is still pondering the metal star they found in the ground. Psychic Shane feels it has something to do with the spirits that are trapped in the building. They deduce that there may have been a cult involved in the location from hundreds of years ago. Voiceover tells us the story of a black magic practitioner that used to inhabit the land where the building has been built.
This exposition dump from the voiceover is filling in gaps for the viewers that the psychics themselves have failed to even pick up on. If I am honest, the so-called pentagram they have found looks like it could have been placed there by a member of the production team to spice things up a bit. But that may just be me being cynical. It just feels that The Grant’s Inn storyline is so lame that it needs something to keep people interested.
We cut back to Madison Dry Goods, and Brandy and Jereme are on night 20 and still sleeping downstairs. Brandy states that Jereme has not been the same since his encounter with ghost Charlie. All he wants to do is sleep, probably just like the audience. He is complaining constantly about headaches, and Brandy has seen him write down a sentence, “Troubles can cause…” in a notebook.
When Brandy asks him what it means, he says that a voice told him to write it (probably the producer.) The pair are arguing now, and honestly, on day 21 I think they are just bored with the process. Brandy tries to keep the narrative going and says Jereme may be possessed. So, she tried again to communicate with Charlie through the spirit box.
Brandy asks ghost Charlie if there was a negative force that controlled him. The spirit box tells Brandy there was, of course, and now Brandy is convinced Jereme is being controlled by an evil force. Brandy asks to speak to someone on the production team. Tony in the studio confirms that Jereme may be possessed. I think Jereme is bored. The production team then allow Brandy to speak to a third party, Trudi, about the house.
Trudi knows the history of the events and explains the whole Lawson family storyline to Brandy, who acts like she knew nothing about the family till she arrived there. She then expresses her concern over Jereme, and Trudi validates Brandy’s fears by saying that Charlie also complained about being depressed and slept a lot before he murdered his family. Trudi states that two notes were found after the murders at the house, written by Charlie Lawson, and one of them said “Troubles will cause…”.
We cut to the Lumber Baron Inn, and the team is at night 23. They are having a candlelight seance, might as well, and Shane is now convinced he has psychic ability. In the parlor room, they start the seance. Amy gets a cold breeze on her legs and asks the ghosts to join them. She feels the girls are with them in the room. Shane is now in full psychic mode, and he starts relaying information from the girls. Apparently, the group is missing something right in front of them and they should look below.
Back in Madison, Brandy wants to talk to Jereme as she wants to know what’s going on with him. Brandy feels she is running the show herself. Jereme says he doesn’t know what is happening. I still think he is bored with the process and wants to do as little as possible. He gets aggressive about his headaches, and Brandy says she thinks he is on the verge of possession. As they play this scene out, it all comes across as bad amateur dramatics, and Jereme starts to have a small meltdown. Jereme says he can beat this, whatever this is, and we change the scene again.
Back in Preston, the mystery of the pentagram at the Inn has led Psychic Sean to try and communicate with ghostly Adelaide again. Armed with his motion detector, he attempts to contact her. He wants to know why she can’t “crossover”. He gets emotional and explains a force is stopping the spirits from moving on. Nothing else happens.
Back at Madison and Jereme uses a ghost helmet to help him fight it. The ghost helmet is perhaps the most ridiculous new piece of kit that has appeared in the show, and I cannot help but wonder if there is some spectral version of Q from Bond that is providing these McGuffins to help move things along. The ghost helmet apparently allows psychics to maintain a ghostly connection, filter out other spirits, and help psychics talk one on one with a ghost. Honestly, this is just nonsense now.
Jereme with this motorcycle helmet on has tipped the show over into becoming a parody of itself. Jereme feels a presence and starts to get spooked. He takes the helmet off in a panic and the experiment ends. Bizarrely the decision is made to send Jereme straight to the hospital. Why? Don’t know. This just becomes another staged cliffhanger ending for the show, and the idea of wasting health professionals’ time with this sort of nonsense seems stupid and contrived.
28 Days Haunted Season 1 Episode 5 Ending Explained
The ending of this episode makes no sense. There was literally no reason for the hospital trip, and it seems to be a ploy to get a dramatic end to the episode. The deluded characters in this so-called reality show are at this stage starting to believe their own hype, and although I know nothing about the paranormal community, I would only conclude that this show has done nothing to enhance the reputation of all involved.
28 Days Haunted Season 1 Episode 6 Recap
28 Days Haunted Season 1 (Credit – Netflix)
It is 9 hours since Jereme was taken to the hospital, and Brandy has been up all night. She is worried that a demon has attacked him, or he has had a heart attack. Upon his very understated return, Brandy asks what happened and he states, “Some things are better left unspoken.”
Jereme thinks he has broken free of the possession. Woo hoo. Apparently, he had symptoms of a heart attack, but the doctors could find no evidence of this. They then go for a lie down. Luckily Jereme feels much better. By day 26 Jereme is preparing for a final conflict.
Studio-bound Aaron tries to keep us interested and explains the Warrens’ investigations parallel the teams’ experiences.
In Preston, at The Captain Grant’s Inn, it is now day 27. Psychic Sean has now concluded that a portal has opened and trapped lots of spirits in their location. Sean believes that mirrors are pathways for the spirits to escape our realm and feels that by blessing the mirrors they can let the spirits go. Where this has come from, I don’t know. How this information was obtained, I don’t know. But this is the narrative that has been set up to conclude the most boring psychic investigation in history, so we might as well run with it.
Back in Madison Dry Goods, Brandy gives Jereme a pep talk and asks him to cleanse the house in his role as a demonologist. Jereme readies himself and prepares for his big moment.
It is night 28, and all three teams are setting up their own final third act. In pieces to camera, our teams try to create a sense of drama in their locations. Spirit boxes are at the ready, bumps are heard in the night, and Psychic Sean is saying The Lord’s Prayer. A chair, off camera, falls down the stairs. More bumps are heard, and a door slams on its own.
At Lumber Baron Inn, the team is back in the basement cellar, they are looking for clues under their feet when the boys hear a scream. Ironically the only one who doesn’t hear anything is psychic Amy. In the wall, Ray discovers an old newspaper clipping. It tells of another murder and the team believes it has been hidden there by the killer of the girls, and definitely not hidden there by the production team. Shane then announces that “It’s all coming together now.” Really? They deduce the killer must have hidden down there. They climb through the manhole tunnel and out into the street.
Back at Madison Dry Goods, Jereme is trying to antagonize the evil spirit of Charlie. The usual bumps are heard. Then hilariously when a shout is heard Brandy moves like Scooby Doo, running from the room shouting, “I’m done.” If I am honest, I expected more from these paranormal investigators.
Back at Captain Grant’s, it’s nearly 2 am and the cleansing of all the mirrors has started. The team is wandering around the house and Windexing the mirrors with holy water. They finish in the bedroom, and the spirit box states, “I’m home.” This seems to appease the team who hope that the prayers have released the spirits, in the most undramatic conclusion to an investigation ever recorded.
Back at Madison, Jereme is going full Nicholas Cage and Brandy is standing downstairs out of the way. More noises don’t deter Jereme, and something falls from a shelf. The second most paranormal thing that has happened. Jereme now earns his fee by banishing the spirit. Brandy reminds him from downstairs, “This is not a joke.”
At Lumber Baron Inn, they are back with the candles, they thank the ghosts and Shane concludes that the dead girls wanted the team to know that the killer had killed other people, Shane hopes that the investigation will help re-open the case or something.
By day 29, it seems that the groups are ready to leave. Studio Aaron then tries to wrap up the loose ends with more exposition. He believes that the 28-day theory has been validated. He recaps the events of the previous 28 days, and in case the viewers have fallen asleep, he recounts Shane discovering his psychic talent.
Psychic Shane takes flowers to ghostly Adelaide’s grave and makes a speech. Aaron feels that Captain Grant’s Inn was unprecedented, and loud crashes and glass breaking means that a final battle had taken place.
At Madison Dry Goods, Brandy is still going strong and wants to connect once more to see if the mother figure has been helped. She concludes that what they did worked as the house feels lighter. Jereme is happy to leave. They go to the graveyard where the bodies of that poor family are buried, needless to say, they must have Googled it rather than find it psychically.
Brandy has a teary-eyed farewell. Studio Aaron recaps the events and validates everything the investigators had done. In conclusion, Aaron and Tony feel it has all been a success, but they say they need to do it again to prove the theory does work. In other words, they are praying for a second season.
Now, incredibly, the production team actually has a final scene inserted, with Brandy saying at least they banished an evil spirit, but there is a close-up of Jereme looking straight down the camera with an evil face, almost implying that he may still be possessed. This was obviously staged, but the problem here is, that if the production team feels that a cliched horror movie ending is ok to insert, then what else has been staged in this production?
28 Days Haunted Season 1 Episode 6 Ending Explained
The last shot of Jereme looking at the camera pretty much sums up this entire production. This reality-based hokum had the opportunity to examine the paranormal world of ghostly investigation, but there is absolutely no balance given as the narratives unfold.
There is never any doubt given that things are not what they seem, and everything has been done to make sure that the viewer believes every second of footage that has been recorded. I would venture that this kind of filmmaking does nothing to elevate the community it is trying to highlight, and this type of biased and one-sided presentation has no viable substance and therefore destroys the very point it is trying to make.
This was an idea that went nowhere, presented in a cheap and underwhelming way that proves nothing to anyone.
What did you think of 28 Days Haunted Season 1 Episodes 5 and 6? Comment below.
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