Marrow (2026) Movie Script
1
Where do I begin?
What do I even say?
It's hard...
impossible even,
to continue on
knowing what I know.
Knowing what I know
and being forced
to face the harsh reality.
I'm in it alone.
Nobody believes me.
They all think I've gone insane,
that I've lost it completely.
Have I?
Have I lost it?
Am I going insane?
Yeah, that would be the rational
explanation, but no.
No, I know.
I know what I've seen.
I know what I've heard.
It's in my head.
It's all around me.
I see it all the time,
even when I... close my eyes.
This--
This thing.
I don't even know if I can call
it a person, this...
...thing.
It's haunting me,
watching me.
Somebody out there...
...has to have seen it too.
Somebody...
that's watching these videos...
okay, if you have seen it too,
just please, reach out.
I'm so scared right now.
Just-- Just please...
...somebody...
...anybody,
help me.
Let me take you
on a journey.
Let me take you on a journey.
Let me take you on a journey.
Greetings,
seekers of knowledge,
and welcome to
another episode of
Embracing the Paradox.
Home of the deranged,
the supernatural,
and all the things
that go bump in the night.
True crime, urban lore,
we have it all for you
right here.
I, of course, am Distal Marrow,
your trusty guide
into parts unknown,
and I'm asking you once again
to let me take you on a journey.
Our story starts in 1969,
the year of Manson,
the Moon landing,
and who can forget
the breakup of The Beatles.
But for one unlucky family,
it was a year that held a truly
tragic significance,
because that's the year that
six-year-old Dennis Martin
vanished without a trace
while on a camping trip
in the Great Smoky Mountain
National Park
just outside of North Carolina.
Little did his
grieving parents realize,
but Dennis was just the most
recent of at least five people
that have mysteriously vanished
over the years.
While investigators were looking
for a serial killer or killers,
locals had their own
explanations.
Call him Bigfoot,
call him the Wendigo.
Insert your own cryptid
of choice here,
but whatever took
little Dennis Martin
was far from human.
And today, we're going to try to
get to the bottom of whatever
bloodthirsty creature
stalks the woods
of the Smoky Mountains.
That's today on
Embracing the Paradox.
As always,
I will be taking calls
for the duration of the show
from our premium listeners
to hear your theories
and feedback.
Okay, uh, before we kick things
off, let's jump right in with...
"...PogoBobby69."
You're on live
with Embracing the Paradox.
Go ahead.
- Bobby?
- -Uh, yeah, uh-- that's right, Distal.
Uh, long-time listener,
first-time caller.
Thanks for having me, ma'am.
It really is an honor.
Okay, Bobby.
Well, you obviously
know the topic at hand
and you have something to say.
What is it? Wha--
What do you think is happening
in the Smoky Mountains?
Well, Distal,
pardon my French, but...
fucking Bigfoot?
I mean, what the fuck are we
even talking about here?
I mean... didn't you
used to like talk about
serial killers and shit?
Whatever happened to, like,
the Golden State Killer, man?
Tara Calico? Sylvia Likens?
Fucking Delphi!
I mean, I'm-- I'm like, trying
to hear about real shit.
You know? You know,
wha-- Not like aliens
smoking blunts with Sasquatch.
Oh, o-- Okay, uh, Bobby. Well,
we're trying to
broaden our horizons
here at Embracing the Paradox.
I think that all of life's
mysteries should be embraced.
And some would say that cryptids
are one of the greatest
unsolved mysteries
of the modern age.
Distal, you gotta
understand here,
you got-- You ne--
You need to find a balance
between the real
and the unreal, like--
for example, my friend, uh,
he used to live in Colorado.
He said that there was this guy
who used to run
around the mountains, uh,
named Mad-- Madman
of Mount Meeker or whatever.
He had like this rusty metal
bucket he'd carry with him
and if you were around
a campfire and you
heard that bucket coming,
man, you'd shit your pants.
Jamie, honey, can we talk?
I'd really rather not.
Please, for me.
I've been in the car
for the last two hours.
I just don't have
the energy right now.
Do it for me.
Please, sweetie, for your--
For your mom?
You can't just pull that out
any time you want something
out of me.
Oh, yes I can.
And I will.
We always loved summers.
Your mom and I,
we would walk this trail, like,
a hundred times.
I mean, she was older
than me, you know?
A little. But she had
the stronger back, so,
-she would always--
-She would carry the backpack
with the thermoses
filled with water in it
and you guys would try to wait
until you got to the river
- for a refill.
- Yeah, I know,
you've heard this story before.
Sometimes it feels nice
to just share again.
We would fantasize about
bringing our own families
up here to vacation.
And then she had you...
And I had you, too.
We had you.
You know, things didn't quite
work out
the way that I thought
they would for me.
But your mother was
always very, very happy
to share you with me.
And now I have you.
We have each other.
But I also have a business.
And I was very happy to make you
a part of that business,
but a business is not a family.
You know, families
can have rough patches,
-but--
-So can businesses.
Mm, no, not in today's
marketplace they can't.
Every college student
with a fucking bright idea
and an iPhone has a podcast.
Now your niche...
True crime.
True crime is a $700 million
a year business.
Okay?
Murder Mommy
made $15 million
alone in ad revenue last year.
And she doesn't have
the story you have,
she doesn't have the experience.
She doesn't have the expertise.
Now you sold me on a program
that was very special
to you and your...
story
and your life.
Camilla, you can just cut the
mom shit already.
Oh, no. This is--
This is not mom shit.
This is business shit.
Okay?
Embracing the Paradox
is your show.
And I think I have paid you
very well, considering.
What? Considering
that my show isn't
adding another wing
to your McMansion?
You know that is not the point.
I do not expect
the world from you.
But I do expect some effort.
Ef-- Effort?
I had the number six
listened-to vodcast online.
And that's out of all of these
podcasts and shows and
whatever else
you love to remind me
are out there competing with me.
Sixth, two years ago!
But they caught
the Golden State Killer
and you're out here
talking about Bigfoot.
Fucking Bigfoot!
When two years ago
you got to sixth,
by interviewing
two of the survivors
of the Alley Man murders.
That is what people
are tuning in for.
Okay? For that human connection.
For that reminder
that we all suffer.
And that is a connection that
they are not gonna get
because some asshole
blames their bad parenting
on fucking Bigfoot!
Look...
Camilla, I-- I know.
Okay, I know.
I just--
I needed to get out of the dark
for a minute
and step into the light.
You know,
I don't just get online
and talk about these things.
I read and I research.
Like, it takes me longer
to prepare the episodes
than it does to record them.
And I just don't think it was
good for me to...
be reading about
that stuff all the time.
I've heard all of this before.
Okay?
I thought that was...
the point of this.
It-- It was.
To scratch that itch
without getting too bloody.
If that's the life that you
wanna step away from...
I mean, I-- I support that.
Your mom and I were both very
happy when you--
I know!
- I know.
- But then you said
that there was
still a part of you
that needed for this
to be a part of you.
So I supported it.
I supported the vodcast.
But the paradox isn't being
embraced right now,
it is fucking dying
and I need for you to revive it.
-Or else?
-Or else you're going to have
to make your professional
podcast a hobby, sweetie.
And there it is.
I wouldn't be entirely
upset if you did that.
I don't really like the idea
of you being...
...up here all the time,
all by yourself.
I'm not by myself,
I have my listeners.
What's left of them!
And then when they're gone, all
you're going to have is you
and your thoughts in your head.
I need a success, Jamie.
I need a real success.
I need Embracing the Paradox
to be what it was two years ago.
Okay?
Women wanted
to be friends with you,
men wanted to fuck you.
It was the perfect dichotomy!
And you were the perfect host.
But I need you back.
I need for you
to bring that show back.
Okay?
I believe in you.
I would not be having this
conversation with anybody else.
Come here.
Come on.
Uh, thank you, Camilla.
I'm going to do it for you.
Oh, sweetie.
Do it for yourself.
Do it for yourself.
Do it for yourself, okay?
- I love you, Camilla.
- Oh...
Oh, I love you too, sweetie.
I'm way too tired for this, man.
Shit.
Hi, um...
Sorry, I actually
didn't mean to--
Hello, Distal Marrow.
Long-time listener,
first-time caller.
It's four in the morning,
we aren't live.
-Who is this?
-Four o'clock.
The hour of the wolf.
The time when most people are
born and the most people die.
When nightmares come to life.
Would you like to see
a nightmare
come to life, Jamie Foster?
How do you know that name?
I know many things.
It brings me great pleasure
to speak to you directly.
I am quite a fan.
Who is this?
Or I'm ending this phone call.
"Patience is a virtue,
possess it if you can,
seldom found in woman,
never found in man."
First, allow me to say hello.
Hello.
I'd love to speak with you.
And what is it that you think
that we're going to talk
about, asshole?
The future.
What's this?
Salvation.
By opening this link, you have
nothing to worry about.
I can promise you my intentions
are not as devious as I know
you're assuming right now.
I simply want you to see.
-See what?
-Trust me, Jamie Foster.
What?
Are you trying to scare me?
I understand how a woman
of your background
and sophistication might
interpret it that way, but...
fear is not my intention.
Quite the opposite.
How the hell do you intend me
to interpret this, then?
You know this world,
the pilgrims who seek it out,
the hierophants who guide them.
You are one such
figure yourself.
Yet I know your flock has begun
to dwindle as the light
of the flame begins to fade.
Only a true believer
can successfully guide
their flock towards wisdom.
You have lost your faith.
I wish to restore it.
I wish to bring you closer
to the knowledge that you have
always sought.
Tomorrow night,
you are going to
"embrace the paradox"
once again.
And I with you.
Consider what
I've provided you tonight
as the first in a set of tools
that will allow you to
fulfill your true purpose.
Until then, consult
what you keep hidden
and prepare yourself
spiritually
for the journey to come.
Now, if you
really want this working,
to have its biggest impact,
you'll need to perform it
someplace,
where someone's died.
Suicide... is best
for this particular one.
Murder or natural causes--
As always,
I will be taking calls
for the duration of the show
from our premium listeners
to hear your theories
and feedback.
Okay, uh, before
we kick things off,
let's jump right in with...
"...PogoBobby69."
You're on live with
Embracing the Paradox.
Go ahead.
Greetings, greetings,
seekers of knowledge.
And welcome to another episode
of Embracing the Paradox.
I, of course, am Distal Marrow,
your trusty guide
into parts unknown.
And today, I'd like to start
with an apology.
Like BTK getting complacent
and letting the police
catch up with him,
I've gotten a little
complacent myself lately.
Maybe soft is...
the better word.
We used to look at the raw,
white underbelly
of the world together.
And I-- I know--
I know you're not here to listen
to me talk about...
...Bigfoot and... crop circles.
Let's-- Let's be real
for a minute, um...
Maybe I let myself
get a little too scared.
I needed a palate cleanser
from the taste of
all of that blood in my mouth.
And long-time listeners know
it's not the first time
I've tried to step back
from the abyss.
If I need to do that...
...maybe that should be
on my own time, though.
I take
my job as-- as your hierophant,
you know, your leader
to forbidden knowledge,
very seriously.
And so I'm asking you...
...to let me
take you on that journey.
Today,
we are going
to go back to our roots
and maybe do something
a little different
at the same time.
We're going to look
at a real-life,
in-progress case
from right here
in my own backyard.
One brought to my attention by
a mysterious caller
that keyed me into the case.
So...
...turn up your lights,
lock your doors, and grab
your weapon of choice.
Lilly Hoover, Sophie Cage,
Bailey Marshall, Kimberly Black.
If you're listening
to this show,
you probably know those names.
Four women, four podcasts
looking at murder,
magic, the mysterious,
and the macabre.
What do they have in common?
They're all based
in the Lone Star State,
they're all
well-respected experts,
and they're all missing.
All of them mysteriously vanish
from their homes with no signs
of struggle or forced entry.
There's no activity on any
of their bank accounts,
all of their cars
are accounted for.
All of them leaving behind pets,
loved ones, and very
concerned audiences.
Except for the lack
of communication,
police weren't even sure
that there was a crime.
Was this the work
of an obsessed fan or...
just an elaborate
hoax to earn ratings?
But then, tragedy.
Bailey Marshall's
waterlogged corpse
washed up on the shores
of Lake Caddo
just last month.
Cause of death, inconclusive.
Do we have a serial killer
on our hands?
Is this a bona fide
Texas influencer massacre?
And what of "Noosplehdeeni,"
the...
mysterious fan who keyed me
into the case today
in an early morning phone call
straight out of the
Golden State Killer's playbook?
Minus the freaky music.
Let's dig deeper.
Oh, um, listeners,
we're actually in for
a very pleasant surprise, um,
our mystery fan
is phoning in right now.
Hello, Noosplehdeeni, uh...
You're on live
with Distal Marrow.
- Hello, are you there?
- Hello, Distal Marrow.
Yes, I am here.
Thank you for joining us live
today on Embracing the Paradox.
I think I can speak
for all of my seekers
when I say that we're
very excited to have you here.
Um...
is there a name,
uh, for all of our convenience
that you wouldn't mind going by
that maybe rolls off
the tongue a little easier?
Names.
Many ancient cultures
believed knowing the name
of something
allowed it to be controlled.
To speak a demon's name
is to call it into being.
False names were ascribed
to Hebrew children to protect
the angel of death
from calling their name.
I dislike the thought
of being controlled.
So it is, there are a number
of names I have been called
since being forcibly thrust
into what you call existence.
Because you've already made the
rather flattering comparison,
I would favor being called
J.J. D'Angelo.
J.J. D'Angelo?
As in Joseph James D'Angelo,
the Golden State Killer
responsible for 13 murders
and over 50 sexual assaults
from '74 to '86?
Just to be clear,
you're not claiming
to be Joseph D'Angelo?
Currently incarcerated at
Corcoran Maximum
Security Prison.
Of course not,
just an admirer.
My one true idol, if you will.
A study in the ultimate
perfection of the craft.
Do they know of a man currently
bettering his work?
Not yet. You know,
they say most masterpieces
have yet to be discovered.
J.J., uh, you contacted me and
were the one that made me
aware of these
missing women.
Is there a reason beyond
being a fan of the show?
Wha-- Why you wanted
to be on live tonight?
I have spoken of you and our
brief exchange to my companion.
He is quite fascinated by you.
A fascination that I share.
He longs to know
what makes you Distal Marrow.
I have vowed to be
his eyes and ears.
Well, this isn't about me.
Um, it's-- It's about
the missing women, um...
...Kimberly Black, Sophie Cage.
Correct. But they are merely
a piece of a
larger puzzle in which
you are a key component.
J.J., you already
have my attention.
You don't need to try
any harder for it.
Do you know anything
about these missing women
that the police don't?
I know where they are.
I know where they've been.
I've learned everything
about them
from their first breath
to the last.
I can tell you that sweet
Bailey Marshall
begged for her life,
and that she was
innocent enough
to ignore
the indiscriminate chaos
inherent within an
indifferent universe
to believe that
she would be spared.
That she had not
driven herself inexorably
into an abyss
of her own devising.
How great was
her disappointment
when the end came.
How greater still
my own when I realized
Bailey Marshall
would never live up
to the potential held within.
Are--
Are you claiming that you
murdered Bailey Marshall?
I have made no such claim,
Distal Marrow.
Only that I was there
for her final moments.
And...
the other women?
Let's not get ahead
of ourselves.
Pacing is vital
in crafting a narrative.
Allow the story
to unravel organically.
Introduce the characters,
create tension.
J.J., you reached out to me.
I don't dispute this.
There is so much
I want to share with you.
Things that nobody knows.
It's burning a hole in my soul
and the demons are wanting out.
But I must go for now.
At times I am weak.
Presently I am well,
I must make use
of my strength tonight.
I must purge myself soon
or I do not know
what will come of me.
Perhaps I will
invite you sometime,
but you're well
aware of the dangers.
Dangers?
It can grow addicting.
Until the next time,
Distal Marrow.
But until the next time, I
leave you with a parting gift
and the next piece
of the puzzle.
Viewers, we seem
to have lost J.J.
Who-- Who are you?
I apologize, uh, viewers.
We seem to have... lost audio
over there for a moment,
the same way that we lost J.J.
Oh, we're going to
cut to a commercial break
here in a moment,
but, uh, when we get back,
let's break down what we know,
what we don't,
and figure out the big questions
on everyone's minds.
What happened to the
Texas influencer quartet?
And who is Noosplehdeeni?
Holy shit!
Who-- Who are you?
Uh, good morning.
Good morning. Uh, Jamie Foster?
Uh, yeah, that's me, just no one
really calls me that anymore.
Sorry, uh, detectives, officers,
uh, it's early and I haven't
had my coffee.
Sergeant Frank Mitchell,
that's my partner,
Roger Riggs with the, uh,
DPD Homicide.
Do you prefer Distal Marrow?
So, you're fans of the show?
We just got a few
questions for you.
Won't take up a moment
or two of your time.
You mind if we come inside?
You know, it's a really big mess
in there right now.
I think we'd-- I'll be more
comfortable out back?
I just made some coffee,
if you'd like some?
Uh, sure, yeah, that works.
Okay...
Thank you.
You mind?
Uh, no.
- Do you want one?
- No thanks, I quit.
So, we just wanna chat with
you about, uh...
-last night's broadcast.
-Hmm, oh, so you-- You are fans.
We had some concerned calls,
- listeners.
- Mm...
Mostly, uh, families of some of
the women you mentioned.
Turns out some of them are fans.
Mm. Yeah, well, you know, people
like to know they're not alone.
Sixty-six percent
of true-crime fans are women,
and 30% of those women
are victims of violent crime.
Well, you sound like L.E.
Somebody in your family
on the force?
Almost.
Me.
-You?
-Don't look so taken aback.
No, I-- I don't-- I
don't mean any disrespect by it.
I just-- not exactly
what I anticipated.
What was that,
an industrial retirement?
Not exactly.
I got my master's degree
in ab psych,
and then I applied to the
special agent program
in the FBI.
You know, I thought I was gonna
be Clarice Starling
and catch serial killers,
but it turns out that chasing
Hannibal Lecter in the movies
is a lot different from,
you know,
trying to get into
the head of a man who
cut up his entire family
and stuffed them into suitcases.
It wasn't a headspace that I
wanted to live in
for the rest of my life.
But my aunt is Camilla Moore
of Moore Broadcasting Agency.
Well, anyway, um,
she got me my own show,
and so now
I get to use my degree,
but I can step back from
the dark when I need to.
Okay, well, then you can
certainly understand
our interest in the broadcast.
I'm sure
it's the four missing women.
Three.
Bailey Marshall's dead.
- Right.
- So this caller,
the uh...
Neo Splendini, is that
how you say it?
That's a garden-variety freak
or a prank caller,
or is there anything
he might have said to you,
on or off the air,
personally, that leads you
to believe
he might have actual...
knowledge of the case?
You made a reference to him
having contacted you
- before the show.
- Mm...
Right, um--
He sent me a direct message
insinuating that
he was going to call.
But then you guys heard
everything I heard.
Um, I didn't edit anything
from the show,
so you guys know what I know.
Any further communications,
uh, emails, messages?
- Mm-mm.
- A'ight, well,
I wanna show you something.
Uh, under normal
circumstances, I would...
caution you that you
may be distressed,
but given your background...
don't think it's anything that
you haven't seen before.
It's from the Marshall
scene at Caddo.
-If I can show you these?
-Mm. Of course.
This is the one I want you
to take a look at.
Number four.
"What you see, sees you."
Right.
We haven't released
that detail to the press.
Right, uh, it's...
privileged information to
confirm the identity
of the suspect.
If your caller isn't the perp,
he knows who is.
Look, we know
the personality type.
He's gonna call again,
he likes the attention,
and when he does, we wanna be
ready to maybe run a trace
- on him, something like that.
- Mm.
Maybe he didn't use a VPN,
we can use that to run him down.
And that's three lives that you
potentially saved, ma'am,
and a family that you give
a lot of closure.
Is that really necessary?
-Come again?
-Sorry, it just--
it sets a precedent.
And, you know, my fans feel a
certain connection with me,
you guys saw that last night.
You know, because of some
of their experiences...
not all of them
have the same sympathy
for law enforcement that I have.
Like, I know you guys
are just doing your jobs,
but some of these people have
met officers that weren't just
doing their jobs.
You know-- You know,
especially the women-beating
bad apples who showed
them exactly how unfair the law
is willing to treat them.
If they knew that
I was cooperating
with an active investigation--
You know,
people watch me, like,
especially the women watch me
because I handle these
cases with a certain level
of sensitivity
that they're not used to.
"Texas influencer massacre."
That's sensitive handling?
There are still
three women missing.
And my heart aches for that.
But if you're wrong, you know,
they-- they trust me.
And if you're right, and we do
catch this killer, then--
We?
We?
If you come back with a court
order, I will comply.
And of course, if I think
that there's any chance
that this caller is involved
with these murders,
and we can save these women,
you'll definitely hear from me.
But otherwise, I don't think
that there's anything
left to discuss.
You know, I've shown you
professional respect today,
I'm just asking for the same.
Well, we appreciate your time,
and the lovely atmosphere.
Uh, if there's anything else you
can think of,
or if you change your mind, I'm
gonna leave you my card.
Of course.
Have a lovely day, gentlemen.
Oh, the views for this
are off the charts, honey.
I mean, we have not gotten this
much action in fucking years.
There are reaction videos
going viral as we speak.
I have nothing confirmed
yet, but I got some calls
from some pretty big talk shows.
We gotta be careful, remember?
You know, we don't want any
ACAB, Blue Lives Matter,
publicity PR shit, considering.
-I know.
-I know, sweetie.
Just remember,
you are doing the right thing
by bringing awareness
to the people.
You're right, I just needed
to hear it.
Three hundred thousand views
in 36 hours!
I'm so proud of you.
I'm so proud of you.
I knew you can do it.
We hit the fucking mother lode!
Woohoo!
I'm making this video
because I know you're watching.
If anything should
happen to me,
I just want this on record.
Whatever this is...
...it's out there.
She is out there.
I'm not crazy.
And I just--
I just wanted you to know that.
J.J. D'Angelo, you're on live
once again with
Embracing the Paradox.
I am pleasantly surprised
that you've allowed me
to return.
Or at least as surprised
as I can manage.
A lesser soul may have been
frightened away
by the privilege.
Well, we consider ourselves
seekers of truth
and wisdom here, J.J.
And you seem like you have quite
a bit of wisdom to share.
Ah, yes, of course.
Simple minds,
groping in the darkness,
tangled in the World Wide Web.
It's an unbecoming trait,
unfit for what we seek.
How noble of you to offer them
freedom from their encumbrance.
So enlighten us.
Help us to see in the darkness.
Tell us about you.
-Tell us about these missing--
-In time.
For now, I think it's best to
explore my own curiosities.
And what curiosities are those?
Yesterday,
two detectives
came to your door.
You lied to them.
Why?
You've been keeping secrets,
Distal Marrow.
Is that why you sent them away?
I understand
your desire to protect me.
I have provided you a welcome
and needed
injection of spectacle.
But why did you feel the need
to embellish
your circumstances
when those closest to you
have already seen
to your protection?
The things you fear most
are long ago and far away,
as near as you may keep them.
I, uh, don't know
what you're talking about, J.J.
- I only desire
to offer the truth
and receive it in return.
Why not let them know the truth
about your situation?
Huh-- What-- What do--
Did someone put you up to this?
Hardly.
I merely desire understanding.
Of what?
The journey of these women
who have captivated you.
The journey you have already
begun to undertake.
We are watching with great
interest and anticipation,
always watching.
Even now.
And when the time for
observation has ceased,
she will come.
Who are you talking about?
-Who is she?
-She watches you.
Even now.
She is where you are,
Distal Marrow.
And she is with you.
Who is it?
J.J.?
Okay, um, viewers,
we're going to do something
a little different tonight.
I'm going to take
the camera off of me
and show you my POV so
that you can see what I see.
Who the fuck is there?
Who the fuck is it?
Motherfucker!
Where are you?
What do you want?
I see you!
Where the fuck are you?
I fucking
swear to God I'll kill you.
Okay, um, viewers,
we're going to do
something a little
different tonight.
I'm going to take
the camera off of me
and show you my POV so
that you can see what I see.
Hey.
Oh, my God, sweetie.
I just saw the video,
are you all right?
I've been so worried.
You didn't call the police?
What?
No, why?
Nothing, it's fine.
You know, I can handle myself.
Still, that was
absolutely terrifying.
And it looks like people can't
stop talking about it!
-I saw.
-Between the two of us,
I've got to know,
this isn't some desperate
Hail Mary, is it?
You know, to impress me or
save the show...
I don't want
artificial engagement.
-It's not fake!
-Okay.
If people found out that this
was all an act,
-you know--
-It's not fake!
All right. Okay, good.
It's real.
If you find yourself in that
situation again just--
You just need to try and
keep the camera steady.
-What?
-Uh, if this blows up,
and you have a suspect's
face on camera,
that could be fucking huge!
Talking to the cops
is one thing,
but footage from your show
being entered
into evidence in court?
We'd blow Jinx
out of the water with that!
-The camera was steady!
-Well, it-- It got a little
distorted at the end there.
The audio and video.
-What?
-Ye-- Uh-- Yeah,
after you got outside,
I-- I couldn't see a thing,
no one could.
I mean, it's the only complaint
the episode is getting.
Hold on a second.
Where are you?
What you-- ant?
Wait.
That's not right.
I checked the footage
before I uploaded it.
Sweetie, it's fine.
Just make sure
next time, all right?
Camilla?
Yes, sweetie?
You weren't worried about me.
Of course I was.
-You didn't call the police.
-I told you.
I know you can handle yourself
and like we discussed
yesterday,
we don't want them
getting involved
and digging around.
Right, digging around and
finding out something about you.
You know, I'm not sure
what you're talking about.
And I don't think your mother
would appreciate you taking
that tone with me, I don't.
And even if there were
something for the police
to find out
it would be about us, Jamie.
Not me, remember that.
Camilla, I--
Where are you?
What do you want?
Is this-- Is this,
Distal Marrow?
Speaking.
Who is this?
Have you seen it yet?
Have I--
What?
I know what's happening to you.
I know it's out there again.
What are you talking about?
I've seen it-- him--
Her, I've seen it as well.
Seen--
Who is this?
Not over the phone.
Please, if I could
just come see you.
No.
I'm not letting a stranger come
to my house.
Do you know
what I do for a living?
I promise.
Please,
if I could just come see you.
Talk to you in person.
Let me help you.
Distal Marrow.
Well, you have something
to call me.
What do I call you?
Jonathan Myers.
Thank you very much for
allowing me to meet you.
Against my better judgment.
I thought you were going
to be alone. Who's this?
Oh, this--
This is James, my driver,
among other things.
He's very well paid.
To all intent and purpose,
he's not even here.
May I?
Go ahead.
Thank you, James.
Okay.
You have until this cigarette
burns down
to convince me why I should
allow you to stay here.
And I do want to let you know
that I'm armed
and this conversation
is being recorded.
Of course.
I know all about your
broadcasts.
James, my driver.
He's more than just my driver.
He's my personal assistant.
He does a lot
of research for me.
He's what the British would
refer to as a...
cultural liaison.
So, intelligence.
Somebody who knows
how to look for something
and be discreet about it.
And what is he looking for?
The kind of phenomenon
that you've been recording
on your broadcast.
Okay.
You have my attention.
That voice...
that name...
...it's him.
He, she, it.
- It's him.
- So,
she or it has contacted you?
Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
Are you going to tell me
what's going on?
Have you seen it yet?
Hmm.
You see, that's not
a very fair question
'cause I already
know the answer,
I can hear it in your voice.
Okay, I-- Look, I--
I appreciate you're thinking
you can help me.
But if you're going to help me,
then help me.
What the hell is going on?
I'll try to explain, but it's
rather difficult.
And my thinking isn't
as clear as it used to be.
Um...
I used to be a psychiatrist.
A damn good one.
Now, I'm the one that's in
therapy most of the time.
Look, it's sufficient
to say that...
those who've encountered it,
we share a commonality.
That is, those of us
who are still alive.
It's-- It's-- It's--
It's like a class ring that we
wear against our will.
A kind of an aura that we
recognize in each other
knowing that we're
in the same club.
What do you mean, "still alive"?
Well, not everyone
that encounters...
it, uh, dies.
I mean, it'd be actually easier
to classify if that were true,
then we could write it off as,
uh, an obsessive or a stalker.
But no, no, its behavior
doesn't fit any physical,
psychological
profile that I'm aware of.
Who it kills, who it doesn't.
Those it passes by end up in
psychiatric wards
and committing suicide
or both.
That's why I'm here...
...to warn you.
Stop feeding it,
stop giving it what it wants.
- What does it want?
- Attention!
It wants attention.
It only reveals itself
to those that seek it out.
But wait, you said that
anyone
who encounters it either dies
or goes insane.
- Ah.
- So what's your story?
Well, I specialized
in anxiety disorders.
Obsessive-compulsives who
scrub their skin
until their flesh bled,
uh, agoraphobics who couldn't
go out and get the mail.
Uh...
About 11 years ago I was--
I referred a patient,
who I'll call Edwin.
He was a fairly well-known CFO
at a very large corporation
and he had a nervous breakdown.
He believed that
he was being stalked.
At first he thought
it was corporate espionage.
Uh, but then his...
obsessiveness took
a very nuanced turn.
He started hearing it
all the time.
Said it could see inside him.
See all the things inside him
that he didn't want
others to see.
So he put up cameras
in his house,
everywhere.
But when the recordings
were reviewed...
...it would phase out, distort.
Not unlike your recordings.
But we didn't believe him, the
authorities,
his employers, myself.
Four months later
he took a shotgun
and murdered his wife
and his seven-year-old daughter.
Being his attending psychiatrist
they brought me in to
make an evaluation, it--
My preliminary evaluation
was that...
...he had had
a complete and utter
psychotic break.
Your initial evaluation?
Yes, I didn't believe him.
Not until I started
hearing the voice...
...seeing it myself.
Wait, so-- So J.J. spoke to you?
Um, it wasn't J.J.
when it spoke to Edwin.
When it spoke to Edwin
it was John List, an...
accountant who murdered
his complete family in...
Jersey in 1971.
To me, I'd rather not mention
who it was to keep my privacy...
...but it was clever
and very seductive.
It offered me
insight into my world,
into my work.
But then it started telling me
things about myself
that only I knew.
My...
...deepest desires...
...my darkest fantasies.
I didn't wanna
play this game anymore.
I chose not to be a follower.
I chose not to be
what it wanted me to become.
I chose not to see it anymore.
That's why I did this.
Pretty, isn't it?
And foolish.
Because...
now it's all I see...
...all the time.
Why are you
telling me all of this?
To warn you!
There's still time.
Let it go.
Let it die.
Thank you for...
meeting with me...
...Miss.
Wait, I-- Jamie.
My name is Jamie.
Jamie.
Tell me, Jamie.
Do you believe in the Devil?
No.
Mm...
Well, you should.
Hello?
Quit fucking around! Answer me!
Here.
Kimberly.
Look at the camera, please.
No.
Look at the camera, Kimberly.
Now!
Thank you, Kimberly.
Please...
Please just let me go.
And what will you do
if I let you go?
I--
Please just let me go.
Please!
Let me go!
Let me go!
Let me go, let me go,
let me go, motherfucker!
Let me go!
Plea--
Please.
I need you to calm down now.
I need you to do as I say.
I need you to look
directly into the camera
for me.
There's somebody
watching this right now.
She could help you
if she wanted to.
She could call the police
and they would know
how to find us.
But she won't.
Do you know why?
Her curiosity is a morbid one
and the life
of an innocent woman
is inconsequential to her.
She wants to see what happens.
No!
So I'm going to need
to take something from you.
A gift for our viewer.
A gift?
In turn, I have a gift for you.
-A gift?
-There's a comfort
in knowledge,
isn't there, Kimberly?
Would you like to know
what I look like?
Would you like to see
the true face
of the one
who holds you captive?
- Who are you?
- Desire made flesh.
That's a bullshit answer.
It's a simple answer
to a simple question.
If I'm going to bring you
into our circle,
I'll urge you to think
in more complex fashions.
-Your circle?
-To bring you in
would be to change you forever.
Is that something
that would interest you,
Jamie Foster?
Fuck off,
I'm calling the police.
That would be unwise
for reasons
all too familiar to you.
You worry because
of Jonathan Myers.
Do not be deterred
by the words of fools.
He was offered paradise
and refused.
It's unbecoming,
and frankly, quite boring.
Please trust me
when I say this,
if I truly meant you any harm,
you would be dead already.
Do I have
your attention now, Jamie?
What is this?
I would think
that was quite obvious.
No.
What are you doing?
What?
Are you trying to scare me?
Are you threatening me?
I thought you wanted to help me.
How quickly an ambitious mind
gives itself
over to presumptions.
I never offered help,
I offered truth.
And if truth leads to help,
then so be it.
But I can only help you
if you allow me to do so.
I'd hoped to allow
more time to pass
before resorting to such
extremes, but...
you looked to
others for the answers
that only I can give to you.
What do you want?
I want the same thing
you ask of your viewers,
to be a seeker of knowledge.
I must admit that I've
struggled with making you
one of my subjects.
You've walked so close
to the precipice,
but only ever put one foot
over the edge.
It could be so easy to back
away, to live a life
not of goodness
but of abnegation.
If a man hates his brother, but
lacks the courage to kill him,
is he a good person?
Or merely a weak one?
A failure to act wickedly
does not remove wickedness
from the hearts of evil men.
They merely live the lives
of evil cowards.
I don't know
what you're talking about!
But you do.
You don't know
anything about me!
I know everything about you.
I know the stories you tell to
make yourself seem brave,
to make the world think there's
goodness in your heart.
But what about
a certain book, Jamie?
What book?
A book that shouldn't exist.
A book you promised
your aunt you would destroy.
You were hired
as an evidence clerk,
three years before you
were eligible to move on
to the next phase
of your illustrious career.
Three years living in the
recesses of human darkness,
murder weapons,
crime scene
photos, suicide notes,
the last vestiges
of tragic, wasted lives.
You told others
you sought to bring order
and kindness to a world
that possessed no such thing,
to bring justice,
to save those
who could not be saved.
But if that were true,
why did a neighbor's dog
disappear when you were six,
never to be found?
Why did your chief competition
for the mock trial team have
such an unfortunate accident
and take such a terrible fall?
Always relying
on your mother's love
and Camilla's money to
rescue you at the last moment.
You never sought
to eradicate darkness,
you sought to
brush up against it,
to indulge in it.
And for a while, to live inside
that darkness was enough,
until it wasn't.
You even thought you'd fooled
Camilla into thinking
you only wanted to research,
you only wanted to help prepare
yourself mentally
to become a better officer,
but you and she both knew.
Even if your mother could never
admit till her dying day
what broken thing
she'd birthed into this world,
you and dear old Camilla
always knew what you are
deep down inside.
You're insane.
I'm simply
what you need me to be
to realize your full potential.
These missing women,
did you kill them?
Did you th-- tell them what
you're telling me now?
Did you say they have potential?
Their potential never burned
as bright as yours.
They proved only
to be disappointments.
Do not overwhelm yourself
with the details
of their demise.
Their demise?
What do you want?
Why are you doing this?
I'm--
I'm just really scared.
I... am--
Just--
What does it want?
Is it watching this now?
Are you watching?
Who is it?
James?
I-- I-- I didn't want to...
I didn't-- I-- I-- I--
I didn't-- I didn't want to.
James-- James, what's going on?
I didn't--
I didn't want to.
I didn't-- I-- I-- I--
I didn't want to.
Stop...
Please stop.
What do you want?
I told you, Jamie.
I want you.
You're in my head.
Please.
Why are you doing this to me?
You ask questions that cannot
be answered with words.
Perhaps it is time
to finally show you
what it is you need to see.
Get up against
that fucking wall.
Drop the knife!
-What the fuck is going on?
-You're hurting me.
You got two dead people
in your front lawn, lady,
and my partner is dead!
Your-- Your partner
is de-- is dead?
I'm gonna ask you again,
what the fuck is going on?
Let go of me! What--
What are you doing here?
We were staking you out,
watching you.
Now, we both thought you knew
way more than
you were letting on.
I walk away to take a piss
for a couple of minutes,
I come back
and my partner is dead.
Brutally fucking dead.
Ripped apart.
These two bodies,
I never even saw them come in.
Sergeant, please.
-Listen--
-No! No!
You listen to me,
you better come up with
some fucking answers,
or I will blow
your goddamn head off.
I swear to God, now I know
there is something going on
and I know you know exactly
what it is.
There's someone in this house.
Bullshit!
You are the only one that's
come in and out of here.
Please listen to me.
Last chance, last chance.
Cut the shit,
tell me what's going on.
- Please.
- He's weak, Jamie.
You can disarm him.
- What?
- Right now.
- Take his gun and shoot him
- Right now!
- in his vapid head.
- Right now!
-No!
-You can do it, Jamie.
- No!
- No, what?
- Do it.
- No, what? Answer me!
-Do it.
-Stop!
Do it, Jamie.
Jamie! Jamie, look at me!
-Do it.
-Leave me alone!
What the fuck is that?
I told you.
There's--
I told you.
You stay here.
There's someone in this house.
Don't you fucking... move.
Don't!
Oh, God. Oh, my God.
Please! Please!
Get him off!
Motherfuc--
Help me.
Help me, p-- please.
No, no, no!
No, no, no!
No, no, no!
No!
Where am I?
Don't.
The dead have a way
of clinging to the living,
not something you desire.
He's dead?
Yes,
they all are.
-They?
-See for yourself.
You killed them.
All of them.
Yes.
Why?
For you.
Why for me?
You know why.
-Tell me.
-There's potential in you.
A potential you deny yourself,
but one
that exists nonetheless.
To... kill?
Perhaps...
if that's what you desire,
and I know that it is.
Do you know what it is to kill?
Tell me.
To fear death
is to ignore life itself.
Death is instrumental to life,
a system
that kills to reproduce.
Living is a system
that eats itself to death
and deciding to live
is deciding to kill.
It's a human instinct
that's been buried
in the name of a morality
that doesn't exist.
What are you?
Nothing more
and nothing less than you.
The human person is an isolated
thing among other things.
I am a lonely center
of consciousness.
An action living
in an envelope of skin.
Human?
More or less.
The product of the microcosm,
so to speak.
The epitome of oppressed human
desires and abstract.
Created by will.
From the nature that human
beings ignore within themselves
to survive
within a spectrum that is
ultimately indifferent
to their existence.
Indifferent?
Will you fear death, Jamie?
Yes.
Because life is something
to be cherished,
even if it is without meaning.
I understand what it's like
to be plucked
from the void and
cursed with the knowledge
that to that void
you will one day return.
Nothing, Jamie,
will allow you to
appreciate life
more than the act of taking it.
Nothing in the world will make
you so fully understand
its value.
Watching the light of life
leave the eyes.
You did this to me.
You let this happen.
You did this!
Would you like to join
me, Jamie Foster?
Yes.
911, what is your emergency?
I'd like to report a murder.
-Several murders.
-Who am I speaking to?
My name is Distal Marrow.
The victims' names are
Frank Mitchell, Roger Riggs,
Jonathan Myers, James--
I don't know
what his last name is.
And Camilla Moore.
Maybe you can stop me.
I hope you can stop me.
Ma'am, if you could please
stay on the line, I--
Greetings, faithful viewers
and seekers of knowledge.
Every trek reaches its end.
Every quest
reaches its conclusion.
And so it is, we have reached
the end
of our explorations here
at Embracing the Paradox.
But before I say goodbye,
let me take you
on one final journey...
one like no other
we've been on before.
What you're about to see now
will change... everything.
Hello?
Jamie!
Jamie, sweetie?
Jamie?
Jamie!
Hmm...
- Camilla!
- Oh, shit!
Oh, you scared
the crap out of me.
-Are you drunk?
-No.
Nothing to worry about.
I'm clean,
I'm sober
and for the first time
in a long time,
I feel very good about
the direction I'm heading.
Okay, good.
Is this about the podcast?
Sweetie, what did you want to
talk to me about?
You're-- You're worrying me.
I've been worried.
You always say that--
that you're worried about me,
or that you love me,
or because you and my
mother were so close
that I was like
a daughter to you.
But I'm not your daughter,
am I, Camilla?
-Jamie.
-Because a-- a mother
takes care of her daughter,
she notices if there's something
wrong with her,
if she needs help.
Like my mother
realized that I needed help.
But you thought of me
as your daughter,
and no daughter
of Camilla Moore could
ever have
anything wrong with her.
Not rich bitch, got everything
she ever wanted,
except for her sister's
perfect husband
and perfect life,
Camilla fucking Moore.
So, you paid all of the right
people, and...
you made my-- all my
problems go away.
Except for that
you didn't, did you?
Jamie, you're scaring me,
sweetie.
Stop it with the "sweeties."
Please.
No, you made all of my problems
go away,
except for
the most important one...
...the fact that there's just
something missing.
Something that my mother's love
and your money couldn't fill.
And so, there's just
this big dark hole
that kept getting bigger
and bigger the older I got.
Okay, I think that you
have been up here
by yourself for too
long, okay?
I think you were right.
I think--
I think maybe, just...
put everything on hold
and just take--
Take a little step back from
all of this dark... shit
that you have to fill
your head with all the time.
-Okay?
-Oh, no, sweetie.
I don't think so.
You know, I--
I used to think that
if I couldn't fill the hole,
maybe I could
run away from it...
...but you just can't,
can you?
And so, that's what I've been up
here working on
the past few days.
Okay, let's just go into town,
we'll put the show on hiatus
until we can figure out what
we're gonna do with it.
We can call the cops, tell them
everything you know
about this caller
and about the missing girls
and just let them handle it.
-Put the show on hiatus--
-I--
I love the sound
of that, Camilla.
I really do.
I'm-- I'm sorry. I've just been
feeling a little, um--
something in the past few days.
But, uh, you're right.
- Okay, good.
- I'll just, um...
...I'll-- I'll be--
I'll be right back.
Jamie?
Camilla?
Camilla, something's wrong!
What do you mean?
Camilla, please!
This isn't funny, Jamie!
No.
Jamie?
Help me!
Help me!
Jamie?
I never once loved you, Camilla,
I just want you to know that.
Jamie, stop!
Jamie, please!
What the fuck?
I don't want you
to be afraid, Camilla.
Jamie, I love you,
let me help you.
I can-- I can get you help.
Please...
You are helping me.
Let me take you on a journey.
Where do I begin?
What do I even say?
It's hard...
impossible even,
to continue on
knowing what I know.
Knowing what I know
and being forced
to face the harsh reality.
I'm in it alone.
Nobody believes me.
They all think I've gone insane,
that I've lost it completely.
Have I?
Have I lost it?
Am I going insane?
Yeah, that would be the rational
explanation, but no.
No, I know.
I know what I've seen.
I know what I've heard.
It's in my head.
It's all around me.
I see it all the time,
even when I... close my eyes.
This--
This thing.
I don't even know if I can call
it a person, this...
...thing.
It's haunting me,
watching me.
Somebody out there...
...has to have seen it too.
Somebody...
that's watching these videos...
okay, if you have seen it too,
just please, reach out.
I'm so scared right now.
Just-- Just please...
...somebody...
...anybody,
help me.
Let me take you
on a journey.
Let me take you on a journey.
Let me take you on a journey.
Greetings,
seekers of knowledge,
and welcome to
another episode of
Embracing the Paradox.
Home of the deranged,
the supernatural,
and all the things
that go bump in the night.
True crime, urban lore,
we have it all for you
right here.
I, of course, am Distal Marrow,
your trusty guide
into parts unknown,
and I'm asking you once again
to let me take you on a journey.
Our story starts in 1969,
the year of Manson,
the Moon landing,
and who can forget
the breakup of The Beatles.
But for one unlucky family,
it was a year that held a truly
tragic significance,
because that's the year that
six-year-old Dennis Martin
vanished without a trace
while on a camping trip
in the Great Smoky Mountain
National Park
just outside of North Carolina.
Little did his
grieving parents realize,
but Dennis was just the most
recent of at least five people
that have mysteriously vanished
over the years.
While investigators were looking
for a serial killer or killers,
locals had their own
explanations.
Call him Bigfoot,
call him the Wendigo.
Insert your own cryptid
of choice here,
but whatever took
little Dennis Martin
was far from human.
And today, we're going to try to
get to the bottom of whatever
bloodthirsty creature
stalks the woods
of the Smoky Mountains.
That's today on
Embracing the Paradox.
As always,
I will be taking calls
for the duration of the show
from our premium listeners
to hear your theories
and feedback.
Okay, uh, before we kick things
off, let's jump right in with...
"...PogoBobby69."
You're on live
with Embracing the Paradox.
Go ahead.
- Bobby?
- -Uh, yeah, uh-- that's right, Distal.
Uh, long-time listener,
first-time caller.
Thanks for having me, ma'am.
It really is an honor.
Okay, Bobby.
Well, you obviously
know the topic at hand
and you have something to say.
What is it? Wha--
What do you think is happening
in the Smoky Mountains?
Well, Distal,
pardon my French, but...
fucking Bigfoot?
I mean, what the fuck are we
even talking about here?
I mean... didn't you
used to like talk about
serial killers and shit?
Whatever happened to, like,
the Golden State Killer, man?
Tara Calico? Sylvia Likens?
Fucking Delphi!
I mean, I'm-- I'm like, trying
to hear about real shit.
You know? You know,
wha-- Not like aliens
smoking blunts with Sasquatch.
Oh, o-- Okay, uh, Bobby. Well,
we're trying to
broaden our horizons
here at Embracing the Paradox.
I think that all of life's
mysteries should be embraced.
And some would say that cryptids
are one of the greatest
unsolved mysteries
of the modern age.
Distal, you gotta
understand here,
you got-- You ne--
You need to find a balance
between the real
and the unreal, like--
for example, my friend, uh,
he used to live in Colorado.
He said that there was this guy
who used to run
around the mountains, uh,
named Mad-- Madman
of Mount Meeker or whatever.
He had like this rusty metal
bucket he'd carry with him
and if you were around
a campfire and you
heard that bucket coming,
man, you'd shit your pants.
Jamie, honey, can we talk?
I'd really rather not.
Please, for me.
I've been in the car
for the last two hours.
I just don't have
the energy right now.
Do it for me.
Please, sweetie, for your--
For your mom?
You can't just pull that out
any time you want something
out of me.
Oh, yes I can.
And I will.
We always loved summers.
Your mom and I,
we would walk this trail, like,
a hundred times.
I mean, she was older
than me, you know?
A little. But she had
the stronger back, so,
-she would always--
-She would carry the backpack
with the thermoses
filled with water in it
and you guys would try to wait
until you got to the river
- for a refill.
- Yeah, I know,
you've heard this story before.
Sometimes it feels nice
to just share again.
We would fantasize about
bringing our own families
up here to vacation.
And then she had you...
And I had you, too.
We had you.
You know, things didn't quite
work out
the way that I thought
they would for me.
But your mother was
always very, very happy
to share you with me.
And now I have you.
We have each other.
But I also have a business.
And I was very happy to make you
a part of that business,
but a business is not a family.
You know, families
can have rough patches,
-but--
-So can businesses.
Mm, no, not in today's
marketplace they can't.
Every college student
with a fucking bright idea
and an iPhone has a podcast.
Now your niche...
True crime.
True crime is a $700 million
a year business.
Okay?
Murder Mommy
made $15 million
alone in ad revenue last year.
And she doesn't have
the story you have,
she doesn't have the experience.
She doesn't have the expertise.
Now you sold me on a program
that was very special
to you and your...
story
and your life.
Camilla, you can just cut the
mom shit already.
Oh, no. This is--
This is not mom shit.
This is business shit.
Okay?
Embracing the Paradox
is your show.
And I think I have paid you
very well, considering.
What? Considering
that my show isn't
adding another wing
to your McMansion?
You know that is not the point.
I do not expect
the world from you.
But I do expect some effort.
Ef-- Effort?
I had the number six
listened-to vodcast online.
And that's out of all of these
podcasts and shows and
whatever else
you love to remind me
are out there competing with me.
Sixth, two years ago!
But they caught
the Golden State Killer
and you're out here
talking about Bigfoot.
Fucking Bigfoot!
When two years ago
you got to sixth,
by interviewing
two of the survivors
of the Alley Man murders.
That is what people
are tuning in for.
Okay? For that human connection.
For that reminder
that we all suffer.
And that is a connection that
they are not gonna get
because some asshole
blames their bad parenting
on fucking Bigfoot!
Look...
Camilla, I-- I know.
Okay, I know.
I just--
I needed to get out of the dark
for a minute
and step into the light.
You know,
I don't just get online
and talk about these things.
I read and I research.
Like, it takes me longer
to prepare the episodes
than it does to record them.
And I just don't think it was
good for me to...
be reading about
that stuff all the time.
I've heard all of this before.
Okay?
I thought that was...
the point of this.
It-- It was.
To scratch that itch
without getting too bloody.
If that's the life that you
wanna step away from...
I mean, I-- I support that.
Your mom and I were both very
happy when you--
I know!
- I know.
- But then you said
that there was
still a part of you
that needed for this
to be a part of you.
So I supported it.
I supported the vodcast.
But the paradox isn't being
embraced right now,
it is fucking dying
and I need for you to revive it.
-Or else?
-Or else you're going to have
to make your professional
podcast a hobby, sweetie.
And there it is.
I wouldn't be entirely
upset if you did that.
I don't really like the idea
of you being...
...up here all the time,
all by yourself.
I'm not by myself,
I have my listeners.
What's left of them!
And then when they're gone, all
you're going to have is you
and your thoughts in your head.
I need a success, Jamie.
I need a real success.
I need Embracing the Paradox
to be what it was two years ago.
Okay?
Women wanted
to be friends with you,
men wanted to fuck you.
It was the perfect dichotomy!
And you were the perfect host.
But I need you back.
I need for you
to bring that show back.
Okay?
I believe in you.
I would not be having this
conversation with anybody else.
Come here.
Come on.
Uh, thank you, Camilla.
I'm going to do it for you.
Oh, sweetie.
Do it for yourself.
Do it for yourself.
Do it for yourself, okay?
- I love you, Camilla.
- Oh...
Oh, I love you too, sweetie.
I'm way too tired for this, man.
Shit.
Hi, um...
Sorry, I actually
didn't mean to--
Hello, Distal Marrow.
Long-time listener,
first-time caller.
It's four in the morning,
we aren't live.
-Who is this?
-Four o'clock.
The hour of the wolf.
The time when most people are
born and the most people die.
When nightmares come to life.
Would you like to see
a nightmare
come to life, Jamie Foster?
How do you know that name?
I know many things.
It brings me great pleasure
to speak to you directly.
I am quite a fan.
Who is this?
Or I'm ending this phone call.
"Patience is a virtue,
possess it if you can,
seldom found in woman,
never found in man."
First, allow me to say hello.
Hello.
I'd love to speak with you.
And what is it that you think
that we're going to talk
about, asshole?
The future.
What's this?
Salvation.
By opening this link, you have
nothing to worry about.
I can promise you my intentions
are not as devious as I know
you're assuming right now.
I simply want you to see.
-See what?
-Trust me, Jamie Foster.
What?
Are you trying to scare me?
I understand how a woman
of your background
and sophistication might
interpret it that way, but...
fear is not my intention.
Quite the opposite.
How the hell do you intend me
to interpret this, then?
You know this world,
the pilgrims who seek it out,
the hierophants who guide them.
You are one such
figure yourself.
Yet I know your flock has begun
to dwindle as the light
of the flame begins to fade.
Only a true believer
can successfully guide
their flock towards wisdom.
You have lost your faith.
I wish to restore it.
I wish to bring you closer
to the knowledge that you have
always sought.
Tomorrow night,
you are going to
"embrace the paradox"
once again.
And I with you.
Consider what
I've provided you tonight
as the first in a set of tools
that will allow you to
fulfill your true purpose.
Until then, consult
what you keep hidden
and prepare yourself
spiritually
for the journey to come.
Now, if you
really want this working,
to have its biggest impact,
you'll need to perform it
someplace,
where someone's died.
Suicide... is best
for this particular one.
Murder or natural causes--
As always,
I will be taking calls
for the duration of the show
from our premium listeners
to hear your theories
and feedback.
Okay, uh, before
we kick things off,
let's jump right in with...
"...PogoBobby69."
You're on live with
Embracing the Paradox.
Go ahead.
Greetings, greetings,
seekers of knowledge.
And welcome to another episode
of Embracing the Paradox.
I, of course, am Distal Marrow,
your trusty guide
into parts unknown.
And today, I'd like to start
with an apology.
Like BTK getting complacent
and letting the police
catch up with him,
I've gotten a little
complacent myself lately.
Maybe soft is...
the better word.
We used to look at the raw,
white underbelly
of the world together.
And I-- I know--
I know you're not here to listen
to me talk about...
...Bigfoot and... crop circles.
Let's-- Let's be real
for a minute, um...
Maybe I let myself
get a little too scared.
I needed a palate cleanser
from the taste of
all of that blood in my mouth.
And long-time listeners know
it's not the first time
I've tried to step back
from the abyss.
If I need to do that...
...maybe that should be
on my own time, though.
I take
my job as-- as your hierophant,
you know, your leader
to forbidden knowledge,
very seriously.
And so I'm asking you...
...to let me
take you on that journey.
Today,
we are going
to go back to our roots
and maybe do something
a little different
at the same time.
We're going to look
at a real-life,
in-progress case
from right here
in my own backyard.
One brought to my attention by
a mysterious caller
that keyed me into the case.
So...
...turn up your lights,
lock your doors, and grab
your weapon of choice.
Lilly Hoover, Sophie Cage,
Bailey Marshall, Kimberly Black.
If you're listening
to this show,
you probably know those names.
Four women, four podcasts
looking at murder,
magic, the mysterious,
and the macabre.
What do they have in common?
They're all based
in the Lone Star State,
they're all
well-respected experts,
and they're all missing.
All of them mysteriously vanish
from their homes with no signs
of struggle or forced entry.
There's no activity on any
of their bank accounts,
all of their cars
are accounted for.
All of them leaving behind pets,
loved ones, and very
concerned audiences.
Except for the lack
of communication,
police weren't even sure
that there was a crime.
Was this the work
of an obsessed fan or...
just an elaborate
hoax to earn ratings?
But then, tragedy.
Bailey Marshall's
waterlogged corpse
washed up on the shores
of Lake Caddo
just last month.
Cause of death, inconclusive.
Do we have a serial killer
on our hands?
Is this a bona fide
Texas influencer massacre?
And what of "Noosplehdeeni,"
the...
mysterious fan who keyed me
into the case today
in an early morning phone call
straight out of the
Golden State Killer's playbook?
Minus the freaky music.
Let's dig deeper.
Oh, um, listeners,
we're actually in for
a very pleasant surprise, um,
our mystery fan
is phoning in right now.
Hello, Noosplehdeeni, uh...
You're on live
with Distal Marrow.
- Hello, are you there?
- Hello, Distal Marrow.
Yes, I am here.
Thank you for joining us live
today on Embracing the Paradox.
I think I can speak
for all of my seekers
when I say that we're
very excited to have you here.
Um...
is there a name,
uh, for all of our convenience
that you wouldn't mind going by
that maybe rolls off
the tongue a little easier?
Names.
Many ancient cultures
believed knowing the name
of something
allowed it to be controlled.
To speak a demon's name
is to call it into being.
False names were ascribed
to Hebrew children to protect
the angel of death
from calling their name.
I dislike the thought
of being controlled.
So it is, there are a number
of names I have been called
since being forcibly thrust
into what you call existence.
Because you've already made the
rather flattering comparison,
I would favor being called
J.J. D'Angelo.
J.J. D'Angelo?
As in Joseph James D'Angelo,
the Golden State Killer
responsible for 13 murders
and over 50 sexual assaults
from '74 to '86?
Just to be clear,
you're not claiming
to be Joseph D'Angelo?
Currently incarcerated at
Corcoran Maximum
Security Prison.
Of course not,
just an admirer.
My one true idol, if you will.
A study in the ultimate
perfection of the craft.
Do they know of a man currently
bettering his work?
Not yet. You know,
they say most masterpieces
have yet to be discovered.
J.J., uh, you contacted me and
were the one that made me
aware of these
missing women.
Is there a reason beyond
being a fan of the show?
Wha-- Why you wanted
to be on live tonight?
I have spoken of you and our
brief exchange to my companion.
He is quite fascinated by you.
A fascination that I share.
He longs to know
what makes you Distal Marrow.
I have vowed to be
his eyes and ears.
Well, this isn't about me.
Um, it's-- It's about
the missing women, um...
...Kimberly Black, Sophie Cage.
Correct. But they are merely
a piece of a
larger puzzle in which
you are a key component.
J.J., you already
have my attention.
You don't need to try
any harder for it.
Do you know anything
about these missing women
that the police don't?
I know where they are.
I know where they've been.
I've learned everything
about them
from their first breath
to the last.
I can tell you that sweet
Bailey Marshall
begged for her life,
and that she was
innocent enough
to ignore
the indiscriminate chaos
inherent within an
indifferent universe
to believe that
she would be spared.
That she had not
driven herself inexorably
into an abyss
of her own devising.
How great was
her disappointment
when the end came.
How greater still
my own when I realized
Bailey Marshall
would never live up
to the potential held within.
Are--
Are you claiming that you
murdered Bailey Marshall?
I have made no such claim,
Distal Marrow.
Only that I was there
for her final moments.
And...
the other women?
Let's not get ahead
of ourselves.
Pacing is vital
in crafting a narrative.
Allow the story
to unravel organically.
Introduce the characters,
create tension.
J.J., you reached out to me.
I don't dispute this.
There is so much
I want to share with you.
Things that nobody knows.
It's burning a hole in my soul
and the demons are wanting out.
But I must go for now.
At times I am weak.
Presently I am well,
I must make use
of my strength tonight.
I must purge myself soon
or I do not know
what will come of me.
Perhaps I will
invite you sometime,
but you're well
aware of the dangers.
Dangers?
It can grow addicting.
Until the next time,
Distal Marrow.
But until the next time, I
leave you with a parting gift
and the next piece
of the puzzle.
Viewers, we seem
to have lost J.J.
Who-- Who are you?
I apologize, uh, viewers.
We seem to have... lost audio
over there for a moment,
the same way that we lost J.J.
Oh, we're going to
cut to a commercial break
here in a moment,
but, uh, when we get back,
let's break down what we know,
what we don't,
and figure out the big questions
on everyone's minds.
What happened to the
Texas influencer quartet?
And who is Noosplehdeeni?
Holy shit!
Who-- Who are you?
Uh, good morning.
Good morning. Uh, Jamie Foster?
Uh, yeah, that's me, just no one
really calls me that anymore.
Sorry, uh, detectives, officers,
uh, it's early and I haven't
had my coffee.
Sergeant Frank Mitchell,
that's my partner,
Roger Riggs with the, uh,
DPD Homicide.
Do you prefer Distal Marrow?
So, you're fans of the show?
We just got a few
questions for you.
Won't take up a moment
or two of your time.
You mind if we come inside?
You know, it's a really big mess
in there right now.
I think we'd-- I'll be more
comfortable out back?
I just made some coffee,
if you'd like some?
Uh, sure, yeah, that works.
Okay...
Thank you.
You mind?
Uh, no.
- Do you want one?
- No thanks, I quit.
So, we just wanna chat with
you about, uh...
-last night's broadcast.
-Hmm, oh, so you-- You are fans.
We had some concerned calls,
- listeners.
- Mm...
Mostly, uh, families of some of
the women you mentioned.
Turns out some of them are fans.
Mm. Yeah, well, you know, people
like to know they're not alone.
Sixty-six percent
of true-crime fans are women,
and 30% of those women
are victims of violent crime.
Well, you sound like L.E.
Somebody in your family
on the force?
Almost.
Me.
-You?
-Don't look so taken aback.
No, I-- I don't-- I
don't mean any disrespect by it.
I just-- not exactly
what I anticipated.
What was that,
an industrial retirement?
Not exactly.
I got my master's degree
in ab psych,
and then I applied to the
special agent program
in the FBI.
You know, I thought I was gonna
be Clarice Starling
and catch serial killers,
but it turns out that chasing
Hannibal Lecter in the movies
is a lot different from,
you know,
trying to get into
the head of a man who
cut up his entire family
and stuffed them into suitcases.
It wasn't a headspace that I
wanted to live in
for the rest of my life.
But my aunt is Camilla Moore
of Moore Broadcasting Agency.
Well, anyway, um,
she got me my own show,
and so now
I get to use my degree,
but I can step back from
the dark when I need to.
Okay, well, then you can
certainly understand
our interest in the broadcast.
I'm sure
it's the four missing women.
Three.
Bailey Marshall's dead.
- Right.
- So this caller,
the uh...
Neo Splendini, is that
how you say it?
That's a garden-variety freak
or a prank caller,
or is there anything
he might have said to you,
on or off the air,
personally, that leads you
to believe
he might have actual...
knowledge of the case?
You made a reference to him
having contacted you
- before the show.
- Mm...
Right, um--
He sent me a direct message
insinuating that
he was going to call.
But then you guys heard
everything I heard.
Um, I didn't edit anything
from the show,
so you guys know what I know.
Any further communications,
uh, emails, messages?
- Mm-mm.
- A'ight, well,
I wanna show you something.
Uh, under normal
circumstances, I would...
caution you that you
may be distressed,
but given your background...
don't think it's anything that
you haven't seen before.
It's from the Marshall
scene at Caddo.
-If I can show you these?
-Mm. Of course.
This is the one I want you
to take a look at.
Number four.
"What you see, sees you."
Right.
We haven't released
that detail to the press.
Right, uh, it's...
privileged information to
confirm the identity
of the suspect.
If your caller isn't the perp,
he knows who is.
Look, we know
the personality type.
He's gonna call again,
he likes the attention,
and when he does, we wanna be
ready to maybe run a trace
- on him, something like that.
- Mm.
Maybe he didn't use a VPN,
we can use that to run him down.
And that's three lives that you
potentially saved, ma'am,
and a family that you give
a lot of closure.
Is that really necessary?
-Come again?
-Sorry, it just--
it sets a precedent.
And, you know, my fans feel a
certain connection with me,
you guys saw that last night.
You know, because of some
of their experiences...
not all of them
have the same sympathy
for law enforcement that I have.
Like, I know you guys
are just doing your jobs,
but some of these people have
met officers that weren't just
doing their jobs.
You know-- You know,
especially the women-beating
bad apples who showed
them exactly how unfair the law
is willing to treat them.
If they knew that
I was cooperating
with an active investigation--
You know,
people watch me, like,
especially the women watch me
because I handle these
cases with a certain level
of sensitivity
that they're not used to.
"Texas influencer massacre."
That's sensitive handling?
There are still
three women missing.
And my heart aches for that.
But if you're wrong, you know,
they-- they trust me.
And if you're right, and we do
catch this killer, then--
We?
We?
If you come back with a court
order, I will comply.
And of course, if I think
that there's any chance
that this caller is involved
with these murders,
and we can save these women,
you'll definitely hear from me.
But otherwise, I don't think
that there's anything
left to discuss.
You know, I've shown you
professional respect today,
I'm just asking for the same.
Well, we appreciate your time,
and the lovely atmosphere.
Uh, if there's anything else you
can think of,
or if you change your mind, I'm
gonna leave you my card.
Of course.
Have a lovely day, gentlemen.
Oh, the views for this
are off the charts, honey.
I mean, we have not gotten this
much action in fucking years.
There are reaction videos
going viral as we speak.
I have nothing confirmed
yet, but I got some calls
from some pretty big talk shows.
We gotta be careful, remember?
You know, we don't want any
ACAB, Blue Lives Matter,
publicity PR shit, considering.
-I know.
-I know, sweetie.
Just remember,
you are doing the right thing
by bringing awareness
to the people.
You're right, I just needed
to hear it.
Three hundred thousand views
in 36 hours!
I'm so proud of you.
I'm so proud of you.
I knew you can do it.
We hit the fucking mother lode!
Woohoo!
I'm making this video
because I know you're watching.
If anything should
happen to me,
I just want this on record.
Whatever this is...
...it's out there.
She is out there.
I'm not crazy.
And I just--
I just wanted you to know that.
J.J. D'Angelo, you're on live
once again with
Embracing the Paradox.
I am pleasantly surprised
that you've allowed me
to return.
Or at least as surprised
as I can manage.
A lesser soul may have been
frightened away
by the privilege.
Well, we consider ourselves
seekers of truth
and wisdom here, J.J.
And you seem like you have quite
a bit of wisdom to share.
Ah, yes, of course.
Simple minds,
groping in the darkness,
tangled in the World Wide Web.
It's an unbecoming trait,
unfit for what we seek.
How noble of you to offer them
freedom from their encumbrance.
So enlighten us.
Help us to see in the darkness.
Tell us about you.
-Tell us about these missing--
-In time.
For now, I think it's best to
explore my own curiosities.
And what curiosities are those?
Yesterday,
two detectives
came to your door.
You lied to them.
Why?
You've been keeping secrets,
Distal Marrow.
Is that why you sent them away?
I understand
your desire to protect me.
I have provided you a welcome
and needed
injection of spectacle.
But why did you feel the need
to embellish
your circumstances
when those closest to you
have already seen
to your protection?
The things you fear most
are long ago and far away,
as near as you may keep them.
I, uh, don't know
what you're talking about, J.J.
- I only desire
to offer the truth
and receive it in return.
Why not let them know the truth
about your situation?
Huh-- What-- What do--
Did someone put you up to this?
Hardly.
I merely desire understanding.
Of what?
The journey of these women
who have captivated you.
The journey you have already
begun to undertake.
We are watching with great
interest and anticipation,
always watching.
Even now.
And when the time for
observation has ceased,
she will come.
Who are you talking about?
-Who is she?
-She watches you.
Even now.
She is where you are,
Distal Marrow.
And she is with you.
Who is it?
J.J.?
Okay, um, viewers,
we're going to do something
a little different tonight.
I'm going to take
the camera off of me
and show you my POV so
that you can see what I see.
Who the fuck is there?
Who the fuck is it?
Motherfucker!
Where are you?
What do you want?
I see you!
Where the fuck are you?
I fucking
swear to God I'll kill you.
Okay, um, viewers,
we're going to do
something a little
different tonight.
I'm going to take
the camera off of me
and show you my POV so
that you can see what I see.
Hey.
Oh, my God, sweetie.
I just saw the video,
are you all right?
I've been so worried.
You didn't call the police?
What?
No, why?
Nothing, it's fine.
You know, I can handle myself.
Still, that was
absolutely terrifying.
And it looks like people can't
stop talking about it!
-I saw.
-Between the two of us,
I've got to know,
this isn't some desperate
Hail Mary, is it?
You know, to impress me or
save the show...
I don't want
artificial engagement.
-It's not fake!
-Okay.
If people found out that this
was all an act,
-you know--
-It's not fake!
All right. Okay, good.
It's real.
If you find yourself in that
situation again just--
You just need to try and
keep the camera steady.
-What?
-Uh, if this blows up,
and you have a suspect's
face on camera,
that could be fucking huge!
Talking to the cops
is one thing,
but footage from your show
being entered
into evidence in court?
We'd blow Jinx
out of the water with that!
-The camera was steady!
-Well, it-- It got a little
distorted at the end there.
The audio and video.
-What?
-Ye-- Uh-- Yeah,
after you got outside,
I-- I couldn't see a thing,
no one could.
I mean, it's the only complaint
the episode is getting.
Hold on a second.
Where are you?
What you-- ant?
Wait.
That's not right.
I checked the footage
before I uploaded it.
Sweetie, it's fine.
Just make sure
next time, all right?
Camilla?
Yes, sweetie?
You weren't worried about me.
Of course I was.
-You didn't call the police.
-I told you.
I know you can handle yourself
and like we discussed
yesterday,
we don't want them
getting involved
and digging around.
Right, digging around and
finding out something about you.
You know, I'm not sure
what you're talking about.
And I don't think your mother
would appreciate you taking
that tone with me, I don't.
And even if there were
something for the police
to find out
it would be about us, Jamie.
Not me, remember that.
Camilla, I--
Where are you?
What do you want?
Is this-- Is this,
Distal Marrow?
Speaking.
Who is this?
Have you seen it yet?
Have I--
What?
I know what's happening to you.
I know it's out there again.
What are you talking about?
I've seen it-- him--
Her, I've seen it as well.
Seen--
Who is this?
Not over the phone.
Please, if I could
just come see you.
No.
I'm not letting a stranger come
to my house.
Do you know
what I do for a living?
I promise.
Please,
if I could just come see you.
Talk to you in person.
Let me help you.
Distal Marrow.
Well, you have something
to call me.
What do I call you?
Jonathan Myers.
Thank you very much for
allowing me to meet you.
Against my better judgment.
I thought you were going
to be alone. Who's this?
Oh, this--
This is James, my driver,
among other things.
He's very well paid.
To all intent and purpose,
he's not even here.
May I?
Go ahead.
Thank you, James.
Okay.
You have until this cigarette
burns down
to convince me why I should
allow you to stay here.
And I do want to let you know
that I'm armed
and this conversation
is being recorded.
Of course.
I know all about your
broadcasts.
James, my driver.
He's more than just my driver.
He's my personal assistant.
He does a lot
of research for me.
He's what the British would
refer to as a...
cultural liaison.
So, intelligence.
Somebody who knows
how to look for something
and be discreet about it.
And what is he looking for?
The kind of phenomenon
that you've been recording
on your broadcast.
Okay.
You have my attention.
That voice...
that name...
...it's him.
He, she, it.
- It's him.
- So,
she or it has contacted you?
Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
Are you going to tell me
what's going on?
Have you seen it yet?
Hmm.
You see, that's not
a very fair question
'cause I already
know the answer,
I can hear it in your voice.
Okay, I-- Look, I--
I appreciate you're thinking
you can help me.
But if you're going to help me,
then help me.
What the hell is going on?
I'll try to explain, but it's
rather difficult.
And my thinking isn't
as clear as it used to be.
Um...
I used to be a psychiatrist.
A damn good one.
Now, I'm the one that's in
therapy most of the time.
Look, it's sufficient
to say that...
those who've encountered it,
we share a commonality.
That is, those of us
who are still alive.
It's-- It's-- It's--
It's like a class ring that we
wear against our will.
A kind of an aura that we
recognize in each other
knowing that we're
in the same club.
What do you mean, "still alive"?
Well, not everyone
that encounters...
it, uh, dies.
I mean, it'd be actually easier
to classify if that were true,
then we could write it off as,
uh, an obsessive or a stalker.
But no, no, its behavior
doesn't fit any physical,
psychological
profile that I'm aware of.
Who it kills, who it doesn't.
Those it passes by end up in
psychiatric wards
and committing suicide
or both.
That's why I'm here...
...to warn you.
Stop feeding it,
stop giving it what it wants.
- What does it want?
- Attention!
It wants attention.
It only reveals itself
to those that seek it out.
But wait, you said that
anyone
who encounters it either dies
or goes insane.
- Ah.
- So what's your story?
Well, I specialized
in anxiety disorders.
Obsessive-compulsives who
scrub their skin
until their flesh bled,
uh, agoraphobics who couldn't
go out and get the mail.
Uh...
About 11 years ago I was--
I referred a patient,
who I'll call Edwin.
He was a fairly well-known CFO
at a very large corporation
and he had a nervous breakdown.
He believed that
he was being stalked.
At first he thought
it was corporate espionage.
Uh, but then his...
obsessiveness took
a very nuanced turn.
He started hearing it
all the time.
Said it could see inside him.
See all the things inside him
that he didn't want
others to see.
So he put up cameras
in his house,
everywhere.
But when the recordings
were reviewed...
...it would phase out, distort.
Not unlike your recordings.
But we didn't believe him, the
authorities,
his employers, myself.
Four months later
he took a shotgun
and murdered his wife
and his seven-year-old daughter.
Being his attending psychiatrist
they brought me in to
make an evaluation, it--
My preliminary evaluation
was that...
...he had had
a complete and utter
psychotic break.
Your initial evaluation?
Yes, I didn't believe him.
Not until I started
hearing the voice...
...seeing it myself.
Wait, so-- So J.J. spoke to you?
Um, it wasn't J.J.
when it spoke to Edwin.
When it spoke to Edwin
it was John List, an...
accountant who murdered
his complete family in...
Jersey in 1971.
To me, I'd rather not mention
who it was to keep my privacy...
...but it was clever
and very seductive.
It offered me
insight into my world,
into my work.
But then it started telling me
things about myself
that only I knew.
My...
...deepest desires...
...my darkest fantasies.
I didn't wanna
play this game anymore.
I chose not to be a follower.
I chose not to be
what it wanted me to become.
I chose not to see it anymore.
That's why I did this.
Pretty, isn't it?
And foolish.
Because...
now it's all I see...
...all the time.
Why are you
telling me all of this?
To warn you!
There's still time.
Let it go.
Let it die.
Thank you for...
meeting with me...
...Miss.
Wait, I-- Jamie.
My name is Jamie.
Jamie.
Tell me, Jamie.
Do you believe in the Devil?
No.
Mm...
Well, you should.
Hello?
Quit fucking around! Answer me!
Here.
Kimberly.
Look at the camera, please.
No.
Look at the camera, Kimberly.
Now!
Thank you, Kimberly.
Please...
Please just let me go.
And what will you do
if I let you go?
I--
Please just let me go.
Please!
Let me go!
Let me go!
Let me go, let me go,
let me go, motherfucker!
Let me go!
Plea--
Please.
I need you to calm down now.
I need you to do as I say.
I need you to look
directly into the camera
for me.
There's somebody
watching this right now.
She could help you
if she wanted to.
She could call the police
and they would know
how to find us.
But she won't.
Do you know why?
Her curiosity is a morbid one
and the life
of an innocent woman
is inconsequential to her.
She wants to see what happens.
No!
So I'm going to need
to take something from you.
A gift for our viewer.
A gift?
In turn, I have a gift for you.
-A gift?
-There's a comfort
in knowledge,
isn't there, Kimberly?
Would you like to know
what I look like?
Would you like to see
the true face
of the one
who holds you captive?
- Who are you?
- Desire made flesh.
That's a bullshit answer.
It's a simple answer
to a simple question.
If I'm going to bring you
into our circle,
I'll urge you to think
in more complex fashions.
-Your circle?
-To bring you in
would be to change you forever.
Is that something
that would interest you,
Jamie Foster?
Fuck off,
I'm calling the police.
That would be unwise
for reasons
all too familiar to you.
You worry because
of Jonathan Myers.
Do not be deterred
by the words of fools.
He was offered paradise
and refused.
It's unbecoming,
and frankly, quite boring.
Please trust me
when I say this,
if I truly meant you any harm,
you would be dead already.
Do I have
your attention now, Jamie?
What is this?
I would think
that was quite obvious.
No.
What are you doing?
What?
Are you trying to scare me?
Are you threatening me?
I thought you wanted to help me.
How quickly an ambitious mind
gives itself
over to presumptions.
I never offered help,
I offered truth.
And if truth leads to help,
then so be it.
But I can only help you
if you allow me to do so.
I'd hoped to allow
more time to pass
before resorting to such
extremes, but...
you looked to
others for the answers
that only I can give to you.
What do you want?
I want the same thing
you ask of your viewers,
to be a seeker of knowledge.
I must admit that I've
struggled with making you
one of my subjects.
You've walked so close
to the precipice,
but only ever put one foot
over the edge.
It could be so easy to back
away, to live a life
not of goodness
but of abnegation.
If a man hates his brother, but
lacks the courage to kill him,
is he a good person?
Or merely a weak one?
A failure to act wickedly
does not remove wickedness
from the hearts of evil men.
They merely live the lives
of evil cowards.
I don't know
what you're talking about!
But you do.
You don't know
anything about me!
I know everything about you.
I know the stories you tell to
make yourself seem brave,
to make the world think there's
goodness in your heart.
But what about
a certain book, Jamie?
What book?
A book that shouldn't exist.
A book you promised
your aunt you would destroy.
You were hired
as an evidence clerk,
three years before you
were eligible to move on
to the next phase
of your illustrious career.
Three years living in the
recesses of human darkness,
murder weapons,
crime scene
photos, suicide notes,
the last vestiges
of tragic, wasted lives.
You told others
you sought to bring order
and kindness to a world
that possessed no such thing,
to bring justice,
to save those
who could not be saved.
But if that were true,
why did a neighbor's dog
disappear when you were six,
never to be found?
Why did your chief competition
for the mock trial team have
such an unfortunate accident
and take such a terrible fall?
Always relying
on your mother's love
and Camilla's money to
rescue you at the last moment.
You never sought
to eradicate darkness,
you sought to
brush up against it,
to indulge in it.
And for a while, to live inside
that darkness was enough,
until it wasn't.
You even thought you'd fooled
Camilla into thinking
you only wanted to research,
you only wanted to help prepare
yourself mentally
to become a better officer,
but you and she both knew.
Even if your mother could never
admit till her dying day
what broken thing
she'd birthed into this world,
you and dear old Camilla
always knew what you are
deep down inside.
You're insane.
I'm simply
what you need me to be
to realize your full potential.
These missing women,
did you kill them?
Did you th-- tell them what
you're telling me now?
Did you say they have potential?
Their potential never burned
as bright as yours.
They proved only
to be disappointments.
Do not overwhelm yourself
with the details
of their demise.
Their demise?
What do you want?
Why are you doing this?
I'm--
I'm just really scared.
I... am--
Just--
What does it want?
Is it watching this now?
Are you watching?
Who is it?
James?
I-- I-- I didn't want to...
I didn't-- I-- I-- I--
I didn't-- I didn't want to.
James-- James, what's going on?
I didn't--
I didn't want to.
I didn't-- I-- I-- I--
I didn't want to.
Stop...
Please stop.
What do you want?
I told you, Jamie.
I want you.
You're in my head.
Please.
Why are you doing this to me?
You ask questions that cannot
be answered with words.
Perhaps it is time
to finally show you
what it is you need to see.
Get up against
that fucking wall.
Drop the knife!
-What the fuck is going on?
-You're hurting me.
You got two dead people
in your front lawn, lady,
and my partner is dead!
Your-- Your partner
is de-- is dead?
I'm gonna ask you again,
what the fuck is going on?
Let go of me! What--
What are you doing here?
We were staking you out,
watching you.
Now, we both thought you knew
way more than
you were letting on.
I walk away to take a piss
for a couple of minutes,
I come back
and my partner is dead.
Brutally fucking dead.
Ripped apart.
These two bodies,
I never even saw them come in.
Sergeant, please.
-Listen--
-No! No!
You listen to me,
you better come up with
some fucking answers,
or I will blow
your goddamn head off.
I swear to God, now I know
there is something going on
and I know you know exactly
what it is.
There's someone in this house.
Bullshit!
You are the only one that's
come in and out of here.
Please listen to me.
Last chance, last chance.
Cut the shit,
tell me what's going on.
- Please.
- He's weak, Jamie.
You can disarm him.
- What?
- Right now.
- Take his gun and shoot him
- Right now!
- in his vapid head.
- Right now!
-No!
-You can do it, Jamie.
- No!
- No, what?
- Do it.
- No, what? Answer me!
-Do it.
-Stop!
Do it, Jamie.
Jamie! Jamie, look at me!
-Do it.
-Leave me alone!
What the fuck is that?
I told you.
There's--
I told you.
You stay here.
There's someone in this house.
Don't you fucking... move.
Don't!
Oh, God. Oh, my God.
Please! Please!
Get him off!
Motherfuc--
Help me.
Help me, p-- please.
No, no, no!
No, no, no!
No, no, no!
No!
Where am I?
Don't.
The dead have a way
of clinging to the living,
not something you desire.
He's dead?
Yes,
they all are.
-They?
-See for yourself.
You killed them.
All of them.
Yes.
Why?
For you.
Why for me?
You know why.
-Tell me.
-There's potential in you.
A potential you deny yourself,
but one
that exists nonetheless.
To... kill?
Perhaps...
if that's what you desire,
and I know that it is.
Do you know what it is to kill?
Tell me.
To fear death
is to ignore life itself.
Death is instrumental to life,
a system
that kills to reproduce.
Living is a system
that eats itself to death
and deciding to live
is deciding to kill.
It's a human instinct
that's been buried
in the name of a morality
that doesn't exist.
What are you?
Nothing more
and nothing less than you.
The human person is an isolated
thing among other things.
I am a lonely center
of consciousness.
An action living
in an envelope of skin.
Human?
More or less.
The product of the microcosm,
so to speak.
The epitome of oppressed human
desires and abstract.
Created by will.
From the nature that human
beings ignore within themselves
to survive
within a spectrum that is
ultimately indifferent
to their existence.
Indifferent?
Will you fear death, Jamie?
Yes.
Because life is something
to be cherished,
even if it is without meaning.
I understand what it's like
to be plucked
from the void and
cursed with the knowledge
that to that void
you will one day return.
Nothing, Jamie,
will allow you to
appreciate life
more than the act of taking it.
Nothing in the world will make
you so fully understand
its value.
Watching the light of life
leave the eyes.
You did this to me.
You let this happen.
You did this!
Would you like to join
me, Jamie Foster?
Yes.
911, what is your emergency?
I'd like to report a murder.
-Several murders.
-Who am I speaking to?
My name is Distal Marrow.
The victims' names are
Frank Mitchell, Roger Riggs,
Jonathan Myers, James--
I don't know
what his last name is.
And Camilla Moore.
Maybe you can stop me.
I hope you can stop me.
Ma'am, if you could please
stay on the line, I--
Greetings, faithful viewers
and seekers of knowledge.
Every trek reaches its end.
Every quest
reaches its conclusion.
And so it is, we have reached
the end
of our explorations here
at Embracing the Paradox.
But before I say goodbye,
let me take you
on one final journey...
one like no other
we've been on before.
What you're about to see now
will change... everything.
Hello?
Jamie!
Jamie, sweetie?
Jamie?
Jamie!
Hmm...
- Camilla!
- Oh, shit!
Oh, you scared
the crap out of me.
-Are you drunk?
-No.
Nothing to worry about.
I'm clean,
I'm sober
and for the first time
in a long time,
I feel very good about
the direction I'm heading.
Okay, good.
Is this about the podcast?
Sweetie, what did you want to
talk to me about?
You're-- You're worrying me.
I've been worried.
You always say that--
that you're worried about me,
or that you love me,
or because you and my
mother were so close
that I was like
a daughter to you.
But I'm not your daughter,
am I, Camilla?
-Jamie.
-Because a-- a mother
takes care of her daughter,
she notices if there's something
wrong with her,
if she needs help.
Like my mother
realized that I needed help.
But you thought of me
as your daughter,
and no daughter
of Camilla Moore could
ever have
anything wrong with her.
Not rich bitch, got everything
she ever wanted,
except for her sister's
perfect husband
and perfect life,
Camilla fucking Moore.
So, you paid all of the right
people, and...
you made my-- all my
problems go away.
Except for that
you didn't, did you?
Jamie, you're scaring me,
sweetie.
Stop it with the "sweeties."
Please.
No, you made all of my problems
go away,
except for
the most important one...
...the fact that there's just
something missing.
Something that my mother's love
and your money couldn't fill.
And so, there's just
this big dark hole
that kept getting bigger
and bigger the older I got.
Okay, I think that you
have been up here
by yourself for too
long, okay?
I think you were right.
I think--
I think maybe, just...
put everything on hold
and just take--
Take a little step back from
all of this dark... shit
that you have to fill
your head with all the time.
-Okay?
-Oh, no, sweetie.
I don't think so.
You know, I--
I used to think that
if I couldn't fill the hole,
maybe I could
run away from it...
...but you just can't,
can you?
And so, that's what I've been up
here working on
the past few days.
Okay, let's just go into town,
we'll put the show on hiatus
until we can figure out what
we're gonna do with it.
We can call the cops, tell them
everything you know
about this caller
and about the missing girls
and just let them handle it.
-Put the show on hiatus--
-I--
I love the sound
of that, Camilla.
I really do.
I'm-- I'm sorry. I've just been
feeling a little, um--
something in the past few days.
But, uh, you're right.
- Okay, good.
- I'll just, um...
...I'll-- I'll be--
I'll be right back.
Jamie?
Camilla?
Camilla, something's wrong!
What do you mean?
Camilla, please!
This isn't funny, Jamie!
No.
Jamie?
Help me!
Help me!
Jamie?
I never once loved you, Camilla,
I just want you to know that.
Jamie, stop!
Jamie, please!
What the fuck?
I don't want you
to be afraid, Camilla.
Jamie, I love you,
let me help you.
I can-- I can get you help.
Please...
You are helping me.
Let me take you on a journey.