Jer at Sleeping Bag Studios -
Episode by Episode
Jer runs Sleeping Bag Studios and is the new Lester Bangs; hilarious, way, way off-center, AND Canadian. You can find his reviews on all things music at Sleeping Bag Studios.
Well this is heckin’ strange ain’t it…I’m reviewing podcasts now? What a world, what a world.
I’ll preface this initial review of the Purgatory, Missouri, series by saying that, YES…there could very well be some kind of spoilers found in here…but that the twisted mind of Stuart Pearson will pretty much make it guaranteed that any kind of theories I could come up with will be exactly that – theories, and likely nothing more. So while I might cite a scene or two that will tell you a little somethin’ here and there, without the context of the whole show and series to follow, you’ll only ever be as lost as I am.
What I can tell you with unwavering enthusiasm, is that YES – you should listen to every audible morsel of this show for yourself, because if you’re anything like me whatsoever, you’ll absolutely love this adventure into the mouth of madness. Plus, it comes with a freakin’ disclaimer warning, so it’s gotta be good, right? Y’all know I’m always willing to go down the rabbit hole with Stuart Pearson, wherever that may lead – and here we are…apparently you drop into Purgatory, Missouri. Which at least, seems better than just being dropped at random on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike like in Being John Malkovich…maybe?
You gotta love the Rod Serling-esque beginning to this show! No joke folks, if you’re not immediately engaged with this series from the very moment it starts, I’d be checking yourself for a pulse and some kind of confirmation that you are indeed, still amongst the land of the living. Honestly, it’s freakin’ terrifying right from its introduction, and if this represents even a fraction of the weight of what we’re about to experience here, you better buckle the fuck on up, because this will be one helluva ride.
You’ll start with a frantic call to the hospital from Arthur (Nathan Smythe), who’s desperate to get in touch with nurse Kayla Munson (Julia Albert), regarding Belinda, who began to shake and…speak? She’s been in homecare, stuck in a coma of some sorts, and clearly speaking wasn’t something anyone was expecting anytime soon. I loved listening to Purgatory, Missouri taking shape…there are phone calls flying around all over the place as it begins, with one in particular landing on the titular character of Theresa (Alina Foley), who is calling from a payphone (remember those, kids?) from an unknown location. It sounds like she’s not even sure where she is, and can only give the description of a “rundown carnival” as her whereabouts. The details she proceeds to leave on a message only serve to heighten the tension, mystery & intrigue – and if you’re at all the type of person to get creeped right out by circus-related stuff & clowns & shit…again, Purgatory, Missouri presents itself like it’s gonna be real damn tough on your nerves and anxiety. Theresa sounds equally terrified and angry…and she might just be leaving us a clue of some kind on that first call as she vents her frustration, hangs up the phone, and says “Why did I just call myself Theresa?” I’m no detective (at least not officially…yet), but that seems like a random piece of information we should keep tucked away.
As the guy that writes here on this particular site of ours, you better believe that I appreciate the way that Purgatory, Missouri also works in music from Pearson’s American Gothic album, which as I understand things, it should! As far as I know, it’s the original inspiration for the whole shebang, so heck yeah, it was awesome to hear a piece of “We Are The Falling Rain” pop up in between chapters. The music itself is probably a clue too, come to think of it! Oh boy…I don’t know how I ended up with this here assignment, but suffice it to say, a clueless person like myself is bound to think EVERYTHING is a clue. So take that to heart dear readers, dear friends…and take anything I say with the proverbial grain of salt.
Back to Theresa. She’s confronted by someone shortly after she hangs up the phone, and that person seems to be normal enough, with the exception of the fact that she believes she’s dreaming and none of this is real. The creativity you’ll find in this show, and the voices being used, are outstanding…LISTEN to the attention to detail in the background…everything feels shrouded in shadows, looming and ominous. The description of what’s surrounding these two main characters as Theresa tries to get a grip on where she is, how she got here, and how she might get out, sounds terrifying. From the mounted cameras that are attached above them, to the carnies that are endlessly wandering around them like zombies, to the fact that neither Theresa or her new friend have any concept of how long they’ve actually been here for…Purgatory, Missouri gets real damn creepy, real damn quick. It sounds as if they’ve entered into the land of lost souls, and the longer that they stay, the more chance they have of never leaving.
But what if…what if the character of Harold might give us more insight into what this is and how we all got here? “Why did I think bouncing on a ledge was funny?” he says – and believe me when I tell ya, it sounds like he means it…you can hear the substantial regret in his voice. So now I’m thinking, what if Purgatory, Missouri, is like…some kind of metaphor for the carnival of life, yet rather than bringing together the good and happy things we typically associate with theme parks and such, this is like, where everybody that died in some kind of freak accident goes when they die…like a whole circus of misfortune? Harold…one of these ‘Pinbots’ that ping and pong off of the people that are lucky enough to still have some kind of consciousness, is like another way of saying NPC, which is pretty much what I use to label most of the people I encounter in my own daily life. Believe me when I tell ya, I understand the horror.
A seemingly simple, but crucial question is asked of Theresa by her newfound friend – does she remember the last thing she was doing before she got to where she is now? Theresa doesn’t have any recollection of that particular moment – but her friend does…and guess what? It’s a tale that seems to support my theory about Harold and how people might end up in Purgatory, Missouri…so maybe, just maybe, I am onto something after all. Then right as we seem we’re about to get some answers, the walls seem to cave right in on the reality we’ve just been exposed to, and we’re back in the real world – or at least, so we think. Back to the opening story of Belinda’s plight, complete with the hospital clicks and beeps of keep-you-alive machinery…which of course, introduces a new question. If Theresa didn’t know why she called herself Theresa, does that mean Theresa, is actually Belinda? It could potentially fray the edges of my theory on Harold and Theresa’s friend from the phone booth, but not irreparably. In fact, the way her friend appears to be drifting in and out of consciousness all of a sudden, and the fact that Theresa’s friend in this circus of misfortune was so certain that Theresa would join them one day soon, might just confirm that there’s a little weight to my theory…that because Belinda isn’t dead yet, is the only thing that has stopped her from ending up in Purgatory, Missouri, permanently. On the surface it seems like it’s the friend that’s glitching out…but it could represent Theresa/Belinda’s struggle to survive and the ability we have to fill in the blanks with our own thoughts and assumptions. The way that we justify the things we can’t explain, with something more comforting. As in, it might not have been Theresa’s friend glitching out at all, but could very well have been Theresa – we just don’t know! To further the point I’m making, if you, and everyone around you all appeared to be dead, wouldn’t it be much nicer to label it as all being a dream instead? Though I’ll admit, nightmare seems like it would be the more appropriate term…but we’ll go with it for now…and I think you get where I’m going with this.
I’m gonna say it again, as your friendly, neighborhood music-slinger – I love, love, LOVE the way that Pearson’s music is threaded into this story. Not only does it potentially provide additional clues and/or insight into the tale of Purgatory, Missouri, but it also gives you even more context to the album itself, to the point where we now have to wonder if it was the chicken or the egg that came first, you know what I mean? It now occurs to me, that this tale of American Gothic, was always clear to Stuart Pearson. That doesn’t necessarily make it any clearer for US…yet…but with his natural ability for storytelling, I’m confident that he’ll leave us enough breadcrumbs along the trail to figure out where the hell he’s going with Purgatory, Missouri. Regardless of if I ever solve this mystery or not, I’m happy to be on this ride.
Eventually, we come to learn that Theresa’s friend goes by the name of Blanca (Crissy Guererro), which is wonderful for the symbolism it represents in such a bizarre realm where there are no definitive answers. She gifts Theresa with the most important piece of advice she feels she can give her, which is “to remember who you are” – and if you’re following this story & the theories I’m working with, that could be downright crucial to her survival and/or her never ending up in this crazy plain of existence forevermore. I found it interesting that each character seems to still have instincts as to what the right way to approach this situation would be…almost like they’d have to have been there before in some way. For Theresa, it seems super important that she stays close to that phone in case someone calls her back. For Blanca, she’d rather try to find the exit door somewhere over by the midway. Even in the strangest places, we all still have an inkling of which direction we should go…call it our inner compass I suppose. It’s a thing. It has to be a thing. If it wasn’t a thing, we’d all just be standing still and never go anywhere at all, right?
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Blanca’s description of what happens to the Pinbots occasionally is outrageously funny to conceive of, and my sincere hope for all of you listening is that, whichever way you choose to go, hopefully it’s not that one. I ain’t gonna ruin that moment for you though…so you’ll have to listen for yourself to get the full gist. “Try to laugh when you can around here, right?” I think listeners sitting by their old wooden radios and transistors listening to Purgatory, Missouri, will appreciate the slight break in the inherent creepiness.
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Things get chaotic as we’re introduced to a couple of characters checking out the new Tunnel Of Love, which seems to breakthrough another phone call Theresa is attempting to place. Then the loudspeaker kicks in shortly afterwards, bellowing out the attractions all these unknowing souls can take part in. When it suddenly appears to start speaking directly to Theresa, and asks her if she would “like to experience something your eyes can see but your brain can not comprehend,” for a second, before going back to the list of potential entertainment…it feels like the park itself could be yet another character with its own personality that she’ll have to contend with as well. In the very next moment, Theresa witnesses what sounds like the very scenario that could have sent her to this ungodly place…and we learn the original situation that put her in the position she’s in now. “And just like that,” we realize that we might not have even been introduced to a main character in Theresa at all, but that we might also have a much better understanding of who the real star of this whole show truly is – Purgatory, Missouri. Stay tuned.
I’ll be back bi-weekly to discuss the next episodes, and see if I can come up with some new theories for ya.
Purgatory, Missouri – Season One, EP 2: Tony
Alright you creepers…I’m back, as promised, ready to talk more about this here new podcast from the wonderfully twisted mind of Stuart Pearson, known as Purgatory, Missouri. If you haven’t read my thoughts on the debut episode, you should really catch up – but if you’re not listening to this podcast for yourself yet, then for real…WTF is wrong with you! Be ashamed. Be very ashamed!
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Okay maybe that’s a bit harsh, but you get the point. This series has been immediately shaping up to be super cool with its haunting vibes and mysterious storylines, and as anyone reading my notes on episode one would be able to tell ya, I’ve clearly become an instant fan. I had the feeling I would be, for the record – there’s just something about this Stuart Pearson guy I tell ya…whether it’s the music he makes, or the communication I’ve had with him behind the scenes, or remarkable stories like he’s crafting here in Purgatory, Missouri, or the interview I was lucky enough to snag with him last year…I’m tellin’ ya, Pearson is an incredibly gifted, highly creative, visionary individual, and he always creates wildly compelling stuff.
Do yourself a favor, and start listening to this show…especially if you dig things on the eerie side of life (and/or death). As always, I’d like to remind you all that I’m horrendously bad at keeping my big yap shut…there will be spoilers of some kind in here, I’m certain of it. I recommend clicking play on Episode 2 of Purgatory, Missouri, BEFORE you read my rantings (and/or ravings) here, so that I don’t taint your theories. Because lord knows I wouldn’t truly be able to accurately predict what is really goin’ on here.
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A new episode, and a new character to be introduced to – Tony (played by Gary Lamb). He’s on the phone to start this episode up, and he sounds rightly pissed off…downright incensed if you ask me. I don’t wanna say we’re playing into stereotypes here, but Tony is gonna sound exactly how ALL of the Tonys in your head sound, and he’s probably just as nice in that regard as well. He’s doing his best to get his wife Marie (played by Julia Albert) back, and having to go through her friend Leslie (played by Gina Elaine) to get to her. Much like the last time we started up a Purgatory, Missouri episode, the insanity and chaos cuts to the quick immediately…and before you even reach the first break with Pearson’s music, you’re fully immersed in this show all over again. How could you not be? Honestly, that’s a legitimate question. Purgatory, Missouri is proving to have it all…mystery, drama, suspense, thrills, chills…annnd I’m starting to sound like the Crypt Keeper in trying to describe this…
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Soon enough, Tony has discovered the (presumably) same phone booth that our friend Theresa from episode one ended up standing beside. He picks it up, and hears a message from the emergency broadcast system…which is…an interesting tidbit that feels like we should keep on file in the notes of our mind as we continue to listen. If you recall some of the theories I was working with in my last review, it seems like we could have a similar situation here…we heard a gunshot early on in this episode, but do we really know who it was that died? Purgatory, Missouri, could still very much be the island of lost souls of sorts…and maybe, just maybe, it was Tony that got a permanent dose of cold leadicillin. It’s not long after his first phone call experience that he runs into his first lunatic Pinbot that is frantically trying to understand how and why they got there, and of course, as is the case with all Pinbots, Tony learns they can’t really be reached. Living in a mental purgatory and caged by madness, these Pinbots run around on endless loops of insanity that is solely focused on what caused their apparent demise, yet the connection to the event itself seems entirely lost on them…like they know what happened, but they don’t understand the chain of events or the decisions they made that led them to their newfound fate.
“Come find me Tony,” is what he hears whispering to him on the wisps of the fog in his brain as he tries in vain to search for Marie…and if there’s anything that we learned for sure in listening to episode one, it’s that we should really keep questioning how sane we think Tony really is. He might already be further gone than we realize…as in, just because we’re meeting him for the first time as listeners, doesn’t necessarily mean he hasn’t been in Purgatory, Missouri, for a hot minute or two. I really liked this haunting element of the voices surrounding him though…we can’t really tell if they’re just what he hears in his head, or if it’s actually this twisted circus of zombie-like people that’s taunting him out loud. In any event, it’s not just Marie’s voice that he’s hearing…there are others…and they’re not so friendly.
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The phone booth reappears, in a new location, and is just as enticing to Tony’s curiosity once again. As he grabs the receiver once again, it’s that familiar emergency broadcast warning we’ve heard before. You see? I might never know what the heck is goin’ on, but I know a clue when I hear one. There’s something goin’ on there…and you’ll once again hear Marie’s voice drifting in on the icy wind around him, potentially spelling out what really happened to her…so make sure to pay attention to that too.
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More crucially, we run into Blanca once again…you know…the seemingly conscious individual that we were introduced to in the first episode? She’s baaaaaaaack. And she’s still with it somehow. We don’t know why just yet, but so far as we can tell, Purgatory, Missouri, has yet to fully sink its hooks into her psyche. Does that mean she’s a part of this place and its illusory characters? Is she the one that really knows what is going on here? Is Blanca in fact, the puppet master pulling the strings in behind the scenes and the only person that knows how everyone really ends up here, but is playing coy about it and refusing to share all the information she has? Don’t get me wrong, she’s plenty talkative and seems very willing to relate her experiences & share her own theories – but how do we KNOW that she can be trusted? Can we completely rule it out that she’s not far more knowledgeable about what’s going on? I’ll say this…from my perspective…it sounds like we’ve got no real choice but to kind of ride along with Blanca as our tour guide to get through Purgatory, Missouri…I feel like she’s the ultimate source for any clues we might be fortunate enough to stumble onto…like she’s dropping us tiny breadcrumbs of truth.
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And just as WE think we might be possibly grasping some kind of KERNEL of what could be true, you’ll hear Pearson’s music come on for another break in the story, as he sings “you’ll never really know” in what plays like a real-time taunt for how twisted around he’s likely got just about everyone listening. Cute. Real cute Stuart. Sassy…I like it. The man’s got attitude…and knows so much more than we do.
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We follow a similar process with Blanca doing her best to get Tony to recall the final moments before he arrived in Purgatory, Missouri. Honestly, she’s freakin’ fantastic. She’s got a wild sense of humor, and you really get the sense that she’s stable enough to have seen just about everything that this bizarre realm has to offer. Blanca makes a reference to some dude named Carlo…and much the same as how Theresa didn’t know she was Theresa in the previous episode, the lines begin to blur here in episode two, when it comes to Tony. Blanca simply starts referring to him AS Carlo…so we have to at least ask ourselves if she could be right about that, given that she seems to be the only one that has any kind of a grip on what it’s like to be stuck in Purgatory, Missouri. Was Tony ever Tony? Or is Carlo projecting to himself, some kind of James Gandolfini-esque version of Tony Soprano, to be his own persona now? I ask all these things rhetorically of course, because I ain’t expecting to find any damn answers here. Blanca’s more aggressive with Tony than she was with Theresa, but he’s kinda earned it by being a bit of a dick. She’s actively looking forward to this guy turn on into a Pinbot, which is deliciously sarcastic and evil. “Jeez, you’re a trunk-full of chuckles lady” says Tony/Carlo…he ain’t wrong, but again, he deserves the treatment he’s getting. Blanca outright continues to mock him openly to his face…and then I feel like we get one of the biggest insights into this whole story as she starts hauling out a set of intricate personal details that she couldn’t have possibly known…unless she knows more than she’s been lettin’ on, right? Blanca’s becoming the true key to our figuring out what’s happening in Purgatory, Missouri.
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I love that, again, similar to episode one, you’ll find that the whole circus of freaks around the featured character is equally alive and potentially dangerous. Much like Theresa experienced, Tony starts talking to the park itself, and hears voices responding to him directly from the loudspeakers & such…and perhaps that’s the cue we should take in knowing that our main character is about to lose their mind once & for all? Tony heads into the Hall of Mirrors, and it’s just as terrifying as you could likely imagine. Not only do you get the sound of circus music decomposing all around you as your soundtrack, but Tony soon discovers that the Hall of Mirrors is going to show him clips of his own damn life and all the things that were awful about it. I don’t know about y’all, but I’d take a hard pass on going into a place like this, and I’ve been a fairly good person most of my life! Who wants to see all their mistakes and missteps up close and personal all over again? No thanks! That’s horrifying. But the metaphor that’s going on here, is spectacular, vivid, and incredibly well thought-out. It’s been said that the only way out is through by folks with far superior intellects than my own…but I have the feeling that this isn’t the case when it comes to the hall of mirrors, and that instead of a way out, it’s going to be what locks Tony in forever.
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Blanca and Tony end up tussling hard, and distorting reality altogether. It ends up ripping the very fabric of time around them in this carnival, and even the voices will change as you exit out the other side of it all. Obviously, this is a MAJOR clue in terms of figuring things out in the long run…but I’ll be damned if I can make some kind of sense out of it…yet. All I can really tell you right now, is that the experience of what we go through at the end of episode two, is very reminiscent of how Theresa and the story of what was happening to Belinda during episode one, seemed to have some kind of parallel. It’s like…if you’ve ever held your ear up to some radio static as the station fades out of signal strength, and starts to cross its stream with another, so that you end up hearing other voices, mixed messages & different programs altogether…that’s kind of what it’s like to listen to Purgatory, Missouri when it goes into this multi-level/dimensional gear. We end up questioning which side of the glass we’re on with each episode in a way…and I’m digging that. It’s like Pearson is putting us into our own hall of mirrors too while we listen.
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It’s all gotta mean something…but I don’t know exactly what…not yet anyway. Gimme a couple weeks to digest this all, and I’ll be back to talk about episode three soon enough. As we continue to dig six feet deep with these characters of Purgatory, Missouri, eventually we gotta strike some answers in the murk and the mire somewhere, right? I hope so. I’m starting to feel anxious…like I’m frantically searching for something that can never actually be known…and that by the end of listening to this show, I might very well end up running around like a crazy Pinbot myself, never knowing what’s real or what isn’t anymore.
Two weeks is like a lifetime these days, ain’t it? Not only is it tough to wait for another incredible installment of this here show, Purgatory, Missouri, from the devilishly delightful mind of Stuart Pearson, but to be honest, I’ve got the comprehension of a freakin’ goldfish, and after twenty-four hours my whole mental slate has basically been wiped clean, never mind two full weeks! I became artificially intelligent long before it was cool. Retention ain’t my strong suit…I suppose that’s what I’m tellin’ ya. I revert back to my factory settings almost every night whilst I sleep like the events of the day before didn’t even happen, reset for the morning and the next day ahead. But alas…this world likes to string us along like we’re chasing the proverbial carrot on a stick, don’t it? All the best shows make you wait at least a little while before doling out that next episode, partly because absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder, does it not? It’s a darkened heart in this particular case I reckon, but you get what I mean. Time to strap in for the latest episode of Purgatory, Missouri.
So let’s see here…we met Theresa in the first chapter, and we met Tony (Gary Lamb) in the next…today we meet Roger, who is played by the legendary icon himself, Mr. Dave Foley. I maintain, the intro of this freakin’ show alone is always enough to ice your spine (narrated by director Richard Malmos)... it’s damn near like everything else that happens after it is a bonus, every time. OKAY – episode three is gonna be like THIS is it? Right off the drop, you can instantly hear that there’s a MAJOR plot twist within what feels like mere seconds, which may or may not confirm some of the suspicions we’ve all had as we’re introduced to Roger and how he got himself to Purgatory, Missouri. As always, I completely recommend you have a listen to the show before you read this stuff I’m gonna write about it, because I am spoiler-central y’all. At least in my own way. I’m not known for having any correct theories about anything, but I do reveal details and what those details do to jolt the circuitry of my brainwaves. So while I can’t promise you anything I’ll say is right in what I’d surmise, I can promise you lots of leaked information about the episode. It’s best for you to listen first.
Anyhow. Where was I? Right. The first seconds of episode three. Are we to believe that Roger has purposely found his way to Purgatory, Missouri, through some kind of near death experience? Like he found this remarkable loophole that would allow him to travel there, yet still get the fuck outta there too, because he’s not actually dead? Roger himself seems to have a different assessment than I do as we’re introduced to him, but one that I certainly appreciate – he’s talking about Simulation Theory, of which I spend at least half of my days on Earth considering as well. With the Pinbots being so closely linked to NPCs, we’ve gotta at least ponder the possibility that Roger is correct about his whereabouts and…whyabouts? Is whyabouts a thing yet? If it isn’t, I’m declaring it is as of now…patent pending. “Oh…hi…normal human?” asks Roger to a familiar voice we know as Blanca (played by the absolutely incredible and essential to Purgatory, Missouri – Crissy Guerrero), and we’re back in full swing with the show that we love. Couldn’t have an episode without Blanca, could we? Roger is desperately trying to figure out how to play the game that he thinks he’s a part of, clinging onto the idea that he’s a player in a simulation and not in fact, dead. Which is also interesting, ain’t it? I was so sure at the start that he figured out a way to bust into the realm of the beyond, and he’s way more convinced that he simply jumped to level one on his first quarter. “I killed myself,” Roger admits…and so while he might not end up having the way back we thought that he might at the start when we met him, Purgatory, Missouri might just have found its latest victim/permanent resident instead. People sure have a way of opening right up to Blanca when they meet her I tell ya, and bless this fine lady, she’s as amused by it as we are. She’s proficient in the art of sarcasm to a level that’s outright astonishing, and something to aspire to.
Maybe there’s an Occam’s Razor thing goin’ on here. When someone shows you who they are, we’re supposed to believe them the first time, right? Blanca has been telling us from episode one that all these characters are meeting up in HER dreams – so maybe that’s what’s really happening. Seems like it’s just as plausible at this point as any other theory we could come up with on our own, doesn’t it? I love the fact that she essentially confronts Roger directly with this concept, which basically means that he doesn’t even exist at all…never has, never will, POOF – he’s just a character made up in her dreams.
Suddenly, Blanca seems to glitch right the fuck out in front of him in the middle of their conversation (rude!), and she doesn’t have any recollection of what occurred after she snaps back to…umm…reality? She does however, have a really odd connection to the phone booth that we should be keeping an ear on, which has Blanca knowing exactly when it will ring, and she directs the characters we’ve met along the way to answer the call. “My mouth has a mind of its own,” says our master of sarcasm – but this episode really dives into the fact that Blanca also knows much more about the people roaming through this crazy carnival and the history behind how they got here than they even seem to know themselves. The second phone call from the booth, which has a really weird & wonderful way of showing up in all kinds of places throughout this nightmarish theme park as they walk, is even MORE fun than the first – as it turns out, our friend Roger has already got himself a promotion to become a sideshow operator.
While he appears somewhat reluctant to accept the role, he doesn’t turn away from the idea at first either, and off they go to the Hall Of Mirrors to talk to Five (played by Mindy Sterling, who has been a part of just about every show you’ve ever seen and has a resume that stands taller than you are) to see what they can find out. Five is willing to level with Roger about who he is & who he’s about to become, and like many of the victims/unfortunate souls of Purgatory, Missouri, he can’t see the forest for the trees. Like it or not, we listeners already know that Roger is rippin’ down the proverbial highway to hell, and it’s probably only a matter of time before he’s gone as mad as the rest around this circus of carnage. We get further definition to what the Pinbots are from Five’s perspective – she calls them Boogeymen, which are people “lost in their regrets,” and “can’t see anything beyond their own remorse.” That tracks. Roger is also informed that Blanca is “not one of us” – which supports her notion of being the outlier she claims to be. Five seems to have nothing but contempt for Blanca even existing in the same airspace as she is. I find that interesting too…it also supports the idea that Blanca’s basically a part-timer in this place, whereas someone like Five laments her own permanence. Five goes on to warn Roger directly about Blanca – “She may be the most dangerous thing in the carnival, and that is saying something.”
It might already be too late for Roger though, who seems to be going through what Theresa went through in the first episode, right before we’re introduced to a couple of new cats roaming through the carnival. We’ve got Tunnel Of Love (played by Tonoccus McClain) and Highstriker (Alina Foley), who discuss some of the more confusing and complex inner-workings of the way things are run in Purgatory, Missouri. We learn that Five is “second in command” from their conversation, and that Five ain’t exactly well-liked herself. There’s an uprising happening in the ranks, and “change is coming” from what we hear. It’s all insane, and ends up creating more questions than I think I was hoping it might answer, but nonetheless, keeps us listening, riveted, and wondering where in the hell this show is going to end up next as it continues.
It’s wild what you can learn by reading between the lines…err…listening between the…umm…waves? You get it – I’m talkin’ about the extra information that comes along with just about everything you see or hear these days. The content built from content…the behind the scenes exposes…the interviews, fan fiction, and perhaps if we all cross our fingers and hope for the best, maybe even something like you’re about to read here today as we check out the latest episode at the halfway mark of Purgatory, Missouri. Strap the fuck on in dear readers, dear friends…I’m about to dive as deep as I can for this here review.
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Because I’m at least familiar with how many millions of twists and turns there are in this series, and very aware of how lost I’ve become within them, I went back to the very start before I listened to this new episode. I mean allllllll the way back – right to the foreword that actually occurs before we even meet Theresa, read by the creator of this series, Mr. Stuart Pearson himself. I paid particular attention to this piece, and kind of shook my head in disbelief that I didn’t even check it out until now, because, like, what’s the point of even including a foreword if it wouldn’t provide some kind of clues as to what was to follow, right? In it, you’ll discover Stuart spends his time recounting the events of his childhood, drifting in and out of a different kind of episodes – seizures, to be precise. What he details is very close to the static we hear as the characters seem to black out throughout the stories we hear, right before they end up in Purgatory, Missouri. Stuart goes on to describe what appears to be somewhat of a yearning to understand what really occurs in the dream-state we experience, and you can hear how that’s relative to what it would be like to have a seizure. It also gets pretty close to the earliest theories I was sharing myself as I listened, where I was musing that what we’re listening to are essentially NDEs – near death experiences…just sayin.’ Overall, it felt like Stuart was more closely alluding to the space between our consciousness and the black hole that seems to get us to our unconscious state, but he was also quick to point out that we still have a consciousness of sorts, even when we’re unconscious. You all following? I’m as curious as to where this is going as you are…if only to find out whose reality we’re really living in.
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If I had to hazard a new guess, based on this information I should have been paying attention to from the get go…I might posit a theory that Blanca (played by Crissy Guerrero) is in fact, Stuart himself…or that she at least gives voice to his own perspective on all this madness we’re discussing. As you listen to episode one, you’ll find a good moment where Blanca is explaining her own theories as to what Purgatory, Missouri, is really all about, and it felt like that had a distinct parallel between what Pearson is talking about in the foreword he’s included with this series. As to how the phone booth (played by Hunter Lowry) plays a role in this delightfully twisted tale and what that might symbolize in the real world we think we’re living in…I’m still not complete sure about that yet. It could be like…our attempts to wake up from whatever we’re stuck in, whether it’s a dream or a medical condition…or worse…but maybe someone only answers when we’re ready to move on.
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You’ll appreciate a second listen, I’m sure of it. You’ll realize you meet some of these crazy characters long before you thought you did, or at least hear them referenced in the murmuring background chaos. There are clips of dialog that you’ll hear that might just be bigger clues than you understood before…like “bad choices last forever.” To a degree, I still felt like I was somewhat on the right track, even if I’m not entirely sure of where that track leads…ever. Isn’t that the original point that Stuart was making to begin with though? How can ANY of us know where this is going? As strange and foreign to us as the story of Purgatory, Missouri, might be…isn’t that in itself a metaphor for what it’s like to figure out what life is, or isn’t? How real, or unreal our experiences are? This entire thing could be a dream! Even weirder, like this series will happily muddy the waters for you – what if that dream isn’t even YOURS?
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It’s interesting to notice the things you might not have before – like how Tony (Gary Lamb) doesn’t seem to go through the same thing that Theresa (Alina Foley) did, and seems to remember his name at the point where she had forgotten hers. You can also hear his backstory floating in on the wind as he’s talking with Blanca as well, like she’s able to pull his whole truth out of thin air without needing him to really confirm what she already knows. Like it or not (and I love it, I truly do), Blanca is our tour guide for whatever this turns out to be – she’s the main recurring character to the point in the story we’re at, and we have to wonder if Purgatory, Missouri, would even exist without her. She still doesn’t have any idea why she’s there – and another clue regarding that, is the phone never seems to ever call for Blanca like it does for the rest. Roger (Dave Foley) still seems to be the most forthcoming, or have the best understanding of what he’s potentially going through as we meet him for the first time, proclaiming “I’m dead” as he realizes he can’t exactly go posting about his findings online anymore. He’s well aware that he killed himself, which seems to negate the NDE theory, but does open up the door of possibility that death is just another part of life. Life part two, beyond the breathing. The sequel. The next chapter. The…second coming? Too far? “How can I prove to you that this is a simulation?” asks Roger – and to be fair to this confused character of episode three – how can any of us do that? How can any of us rule it out? What if this all means something? What if this all means nothing? I feel like Stuart is actively trying to turn me into a Pinbot.
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Notably, before Roger’s episode is finished, you hear the first mention of the Perimeter, which is the title of episode four. Even listening to the prologue for the episode, I’m thankful I went back to listen to the foreword before I started writing this. I know it’s taken forever to get here as I wandered back through all the information (thanks for your patience, I’m a step slower than the rest of the kids in the sandbox), and I wish I could tell ya it’ll make anything any clearer to me (told ya)…but things seem to be circling back to the dream-state theory…so let’s see what else we might be able find out in episode four.
Roger returns! So that’s heckin’ cool. Even though he’s been warned to stay away from Blanca, he doesn’t seem to be inclined to do that in the slightest, and opts to team up with her to venture out to the perimeter. We also get some of the inside dirt on who Five (Mindy Sterling) was…at least at one point in time…which helps explain why she had no idea what a pinball machine or a computer even was when she was talking with Roger back in episode three. The backstory also suggests, if we’re on some kind of linear timeline, that Highstriker (Alina Foley) has been there even longer than Five has. Why it’s uncertain about whether or not the timeline is linear, is because Highstriker, who is attempting to lure Five into the hall of mirrors and being fantasticly rude about it, ends up having to explain what a phone booth is to her, because she seems to have no concept about all this technological mumbo jumbo. In any event, we know that Five theoretically used “a mother of two as a human shield against an assassin’s bullet.” Not to get too nerdy here, but the telephone was invented in 1876, and the bullet predates it by forty years. Not sure if that’s a clue or not, but if time and history plays an accurate role here, then we can assume that Five comes from some point in between 1836-1876. Highstriker was Hall Of Mirrors way back when they met, and Five was once known as Ferris Wheel. Am I getting all this correct? I might need to jump into the nearest phone booth myself to get all this new information sorted out. Highstriker is a complete wealth of information and quite a talker…but so much of what she says, we’ve yet to experience. I believe they call that foreshadowing, do they not? In the meantime, Roger and Blanca have found their way outside of the carnival and the endlessly watching cameras that were above them. The perimeter seems entirely ominous – in fact, they run into a character that has “been voided” as they rummage around what sounds like the rubble and wreckage of old carnival rides. The hole of the perimeter seems to get bigger and shifts around over time, according to what we learn from the character that used to be known as Thirty-Eight (played by Nathan Smythe). We seem to be slipping through a wormhole ourselves as we listen to this episode, shifting between the real-time adventures of Roger and Blanca, while revisiting the tales of Highstriker in between. Incidentally, the dialog between her & Tunnel Of Love (Tonoccus McClain) is freakin award-worthy. We learn of “mustache guy” & hear about how Five stole Highstriker’s original job at the Hall Of Mirrors. We also meet One (played by director Richard Malmos) for the very first time, who as far as numbers would have us assuming, would have to be ranked quite highly in this strange carnival they’re all trapped within. At the very least, he outranks Highstriker and Tunnel Of Love, but for this very first meeting we get with him, One seems nice enough.
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As Roger continues to remain at the carnival, the more memories he seems to be losing. Right while he’s talking to Blanca, you can hear the details of his life quickly fading away from him, presumably forevermore. Blanca continues to glitch out in front of him – which again, seems to bring us full circle back around to the foreword that Stuart Pearson added in, which specifically mentions how there were characters and threads that he continued to see, seizure after seizure, in his own life. Maybe that’s what all these random strangers are in Purgatory, Missouri…representations of recurring characters we see in the dream state, and connect with for what little time we can. Again, if that ain’t a metaphor for what life is like to live it, I don’t know what else could be. Which side of the hall of mirrors are we on?
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It’s funny. You get to a point in a series that you’re listening to or watching, and you feel like there’s no possible way they could wrap everything up in the time that they have left. Three more episodes to go here? How about three more SEASONS Stuart? I love where this is all going, but I’m starting to feel like each episode is introducing an endless string of questions that have us searching for the ending like it’s found within the hall of mirrors itself. “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” Maybe Freddie knew more than we all thought he did. Maybe Mr. Mercury himself had visited Purgatory, Missouri, one day.
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I continued to explore what else is out there through the interviews done by Hunter Lowry. Maureen Davis, the producer, reveals that much of this is likely about the unconscious state of mind, and suggests there could theoretically be parallel existences for all of us. I love that. It’s absolutely comforting to me. We also hear from the fabulous Mindy Sterling, who plays Five in the show, and she shares the wisdom of how you don’t have to really personally experience something to believe in it. It was also awesome to hear Hunter explain to Mindy what Simulation Theory was all about, and how it kinda blew her mind in the same way that Five struggled to grasp what different pieces of technology were in the show. There is ALSO, a mention of a SEASON TWO…so…just saying…maybe not everything will need to wrap up in the three episodes we have left. We get a chance to hear Hunter talk with Dave (Roger) & Alina Foley (Highstriker), as well as Crissy Guerrero (Blanca) too – and they’re all plenty of fun. Everyone’s all jokes and smiles outside of the murk & mystery of Purgatory, Missouri, I tell ya! Spoiler alert, this is all one big happy family…they’ll go into that as they sort out their DNA for ya in their interview. This interview is probably more entertaining than informative perhaps by comparison to the rest, but it was still great to hear all three of them together outside of the show. Richard Malmos, who gives voice to the intro of the show and directs Purgatory, Missouri, is in fact, “pretty darn good” at all that he does and I’m glad he had the foresight to see he could play a role within the series instead of just behind the scenes. He gives an insight into the budget, the temperament behind the actors, the challenges that Stuart faces in editing all this together, AND…Malmos seems to be a seriously charming guy. Does he let something slip when he refers to an “ancient” entity in Purgatory, Missouri? He gets quicky cut off by Hunter when he brings it up…so we might have just inadvertently & unintentionally gotten a fairly substantial clue there. Does that tie-in with the whole bullet & telephone thing I was talking about earlier in discussing episode four? It just might…it just might. It’s certainly a piece of information that we can’t help but start to mull over. Malmos is another wealth of information…technical information, more-so than spoilers to be clear – but such a welcome and inviting personality to listen to that has an endearing & insightful wisdom to him.
I also love how many of Hunter’s guests acknowledge what a role Stuart’s music plays in this entire process…how utterly interlaced the stories within his songs, the stories within his life, and the story that we hear in Purgatory, Missouri, are together. I also felt very relieved that Richard confirmed it’s real damn tough to know where this is all going, and that being confused is a natural byproduct of tuning into this show. So take THAT Pearson! I was never supposed to have a clue in the first place! Which is great, because I’m a guy that can barely tie my own damn shoes without an explicit set of step-by-step instructions. Lastly, Hunter interviews Gary Lamb, who plays the villainous Tony that we meet in episode two of Purgatory, Missouri. He’s got a couple of great stories on what it’s like to experience premonitions and see ghosts at night. I also thought he had a lot of insightful things on what our dreams potentially help us with, and yes indeed, he does go into some fairly Buddhist-esque philosophies regarding the “spark of life” as well. No real huge spoilers or nuggets of potential info on the show there…it’s a more personal/fun type of interview…but he too gets questioned by Hunter about whether he’d be interested in coming back for season two…so it’s starting to sound like it’s definitely going to be happening…fingers crossed! There is a whole lot of great information out there beyond the show, and I’ll continue to keep tabs on what else I can find out there for ya. I’m more than happy to continue down the rabbit hole with you all, and I promise that I will, in a couple weeks once again as we get set to find out what happens in Purgatory, Missouri, next time with the release of episode five.
As I listened to the prologue for episode five of Purgatory, Missouri, I had to chuckle a bit when it promised we might get some clues that would help us figure the whole thing out. YOU, maybe. Me? Not a chance. You could staple clues directly to my forehead and I still wouldn’t notice them. I’m that observant y’all. Don’t mistake the fact that I can string a sentence together for any sign of legitimate intelligence.
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So off we go, back down the rabbit hole, or stumbling into this strange portal that leads directly to a potentially unknown reality we’ve come to love – Purgatory, Missouri. Episode five, titled “Carnies,” seems to start everything out in a friendly way…you know, your typical gathering of freaks and geeks to hash things out in a town hall-like setting. Number One (played by director Richard Malmos) is leading the meeting, known as a CCM (Compulsory Carnie Meeting), and we get to run into characters we’ve known for longer like Five (Mindy Sterling) and Thirty-Eight (Dave Foley) as well. Mind you, it’s news to Thirty-Eight that he’s Thirty-Eight…we knew him under a different name before – Roger, who was at the center of the third episode. Clearly some time has passed now, and he’s fitting right in with the rest of these crazies…so why not assign him a number? What’s in a name anyway, right? There are rumored to be more than a hundred thousand carnies in total, yet those helping run the place…as much as a place like this can be organized…seem to be limited to thirty-eight so far, with our dear friend once known as Roger now filling the latest position. Given that it’s a “very elite social tier” – you’d think Thirty-Eight would sound just a little more grateful, right? He’s not a “newcomer” anymore…those pesky folks that are so sad to be wandering around Purgatory, Missouri, wondering how the heck they got there and why this place exists – like Roger once did. You’d think they were listening to a podcast of some kind with how confused they are, am I right? How meta!
“It just feels like one long moment of waiting…for something,” says Thirty-Two (Brent Cho) as he shares with the group in the CCM. Ain’t that a life? I mean it…ain’t that what we’re all going through, all of the time? It is rare for most of us to get to a day that significantly stands out as extremely different than the last one that we lived. The carnies are all sharing like they’re in an AA meeting for the discombobulated. You’ll hear Twelve (Alina Foley) explain that she’s basically had enough herself, and would love to figure out how to end it all and get the heck outta there. It’s an airing of grievances, but you’ll also hear common experiences in the tales they tell that compare to ones we’ve experienced with the characters of Purgatory, Missouri.
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One thing that’s important to note, is how much Blanca (Crissy Guerrero) is seen as a complete outsider – a troublemaker of sorts…she who is not to be named, you feel me? When Thirty-Eight makes the mistake of bringing her up a couple times, he’s scolded for doing so and warned not to do it again. Oddly enough, according to Number One, “the point of these meetings is to build morale” – and while that’s not intended to be a joke, it certainly got a laugh out of me. I hate any and all meetings, because every single one of ’em could be put into an email, and despite anyone’s intentions, they don’t so much build morale as they do reinforce a desired feeling we’re supposed to have about a company or corporation that we’re working for. So you betcha – I’m a hard pass on meetings of any kind personally, but they don’t seem to be all that much easier in Purgatory, Missouri, either. Morale booster? Is anyone going to come out of this room and skip back to their station while singing their favorite Pop song after it’s all said and done?
Outside of the CCM, we get to learn more about The Void (Nathan Smythe) and how he got kicked out of the inner circle of carnies in a conversation with Blanca. You’ll also hear a few more screams,...ummm... details on the expansion of the Perimeter, and how it seems to be growing physically in tandem with the dangers it seems to pose. I say seems to, because I don’t think we completely know WHAT function it serves yet, or whether it’s actually dangerous at all. There’s no doubt that most in the carnival are convinced that it would lead to their own oblivion, but we have to at least consider the possibility that maybe they’ve all been told that as part of some kind of strange social compliance tool. Maybe the Perimeter is the only real way out. Maybe you have to step into it with some kind of Matrix-esque faith, knowing there’s something to be found on the other side and you won’t just cease to exist. It’s just a theory. Time will tell if I’m right.
What I also really liked about episode five, was that you get to hear some of the politics that Number One employs to create a level of control within the carnival. Again, not unlike what we experience in our own daily life, there’s the elite class, those that live in squalor, and the bulk of its people caught in between. Sound familiar? Like I’ve been trying to tell you from the get-go in listening to this podcast, you better have a firm grip on what side of the glass you’re really on. We might all be living in Purgatory, Missouri, and just not know it yet. “Do what you gotta do to keep sane around here.”
We are given an important nugget of knowledge somewhere towards the earlier part of the episode, where it’s made clear that Roger wouldn’t have just become Thirty-Eight and part of the inner circle of the carnival without some kind of an impressive resume or reason to have been promoted so quickly. As to what that implies, or what that means for Thirty-Eight, we don’t yet know…it’s just a piece of information I think we wanna keep handy for now. Blanca goes through another one of those weird seizure/separation-from-reality things that she tends to experience, and Thirty-Eight gets himself in trouble once again by talking to her. That’s where things might finally take the ultimate turn into some tangible answers at long last! Don’t quote me on that, but it’s certainly possible…hear my spoilers out…
Thirty-Eight ends up talkin’ to some rando pinbot (Nathan Smythe) who’s in the process of losing his mind over what he could have done to save his mother. Thirty-Eight talks to him, and somehow gets the guy to remember what he’d gone through in the moments before he got to Purgatory, Missouri. It was a terrible tornado, and he was doing the best he could to protect his mother under the most extreme of circumstances. In all honesty, it seems like a different story than the kind we usually stumble across here – yet this poor chap has ended up in the same horrifying place at the carnival like all the rest. You get the sense that somehow Thirty-Eight understands that this guy doesn’t belong here like so many others probably do, and so he encourages the dude to forgive himself. He was, after all, just trying to help his mother survive before it all went black, so why should he be punished like the rest of these tormented souls are? I think what happens next gives you the answer to that…and POOF – the guy disappears. It’s a bizarre phenomenon that we’ve experienced loosely along the way in this twisted tale, but this is the first time we might have an inkling about how, or why it might happen. Maybe there’s a process of supernatural selection that we’re not privy to…and no different than a letter getting lost in the mail & delivered to the wrong address, maybe some of us end up in hell when we’re not supposed to go there, and simply need someone to come along and sort us back into the right place. Of all things, you’ll find the ending of this episode was like…oddly comforting? A little endearing? Hopeful somehow even? Maybe we all end up exactly where we belong, and it’s only ever a matter of time. Well…time and a whole lot of patience.
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Speaking of that patience stuff…sit tight for now…I’ll have more theories for ya in a couple of weeks when the next episode drops. Stay tuned!
Has it been two weeks already? I’m starting to feel like I’m wandering around in Purgatory, Missouri, myself as the nights shrink and the daylight hours begin to take over. I tend to lose a little more of the sleep I already don’t get at this time of year, and listening to a creepy-ass show like this certainly doesn’t make it any easier, am I right? I wonder how we end up defining Purgatory, Missouri, by the time it reaches its finale in a couple of weeks from now…it’s definitely strange, it’s definitely bizarre, and it definitely has its horrific moments too…but as it has continued to play out, it’s almost like we’re in the midst of some kind of real-time psychological thriller that is evaluating us listeners from the other side of the funhouse mirrors. Regardless of how any of us might choose to define this wonderful audio oddity brought to you by the mysterious mind of Stuart Pearson, I think everyone listening would agree it’s been nothing short of wildly interesting from its very start, and has continued to make pretzel bread out of our minds as we’ve tried to figure it out along the way. Time to find out if the latest offering will shed any additional light on the devilish details in this show, as we check out episode six, called Belinda. As we’re getting very close to the end of season one, rest assured there will be spoilers right up ahead, so you better get listening!
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We start out this new episode by bringing things back about as full circle as they go, with Belinda being what I think is technically one of the very first characters we’re introduced to if my memory is correct, though we really only heard about her before through the crackling of a phone line. This time, we learn about what caused her to slip into the coma she’s been in, and that she’s been slowly displaying a few signs of movement & saying the occasional word or two. It’s grizzly…Belinda tried the ol’ running of the car in a closed garage type thing, which put her in the position she’s in now. Right before the first break into Pearson’s music, I think we get our first major clue of the episode as a few words are choked out into the air as Belinda makes a bit of noise…but the voice we hear, belongs to the woman we’ve come to know as Blanca (Crissy Guerrero). Coincidence? Methinks NOT! Could it be someone else? I suppose anything is possible right? I know I heard what I heard, but you should double-check by listening to this show for yourselves!
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What’s even more interesting, is you get a short dialog between Five (Mindy Sterling) & Blanca shortly afterwards. While the carnies have tended to try & shun Blanca and keep her on the sidelines, as she approaches another tour through the hall of mirrors, you can hear that Five would readily accept Blanca being a part of this crazy carnival at any given time. Of course, that means that Blanca would have to stop resisting and/or denying who she’s become in this upside down version of reality, but if she felt so inclined, it sounds like Five would happily find her a job right away. Which is a fairly significant switch in how Blanca has been typically regarded throughout this series, but also very true to how folks speak out of one side of their mouth when they’re talking about you, and the other when they’re talking to you, know what I mean?
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As we’re whisked away into the fog of memories, we get a lot of history on who Belinda is & everything that she went through before landing in her current reality. Noticeably, my theory was correct (finally I got one right!), and we transition from Belinda’s story straight back into Blanca, who is pissed because she only ever seems to get a fragment of the tale she’s trying to recall, no matter how many times she strolls through the hall of mirrors. Belinda is struggling equally on the surface of the world we think that we’re living in, herkin’ & jerkin’ around in seizures, seeming to occur simultaneously as Blanca has her ‘episodes’ in the carnival where she’s glitching out. To hear how Five describes it, there’s a visual component to go along with it, like Blanca visibly starts to fade in & out right in front of their very eyes. One would only expect that it’s tough to maintain your physical form when you’re split between two worlds, right? It’s kind of like that thing with good ol’ Marty McFly fading out of the family photograph.
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I’ll say this. I’m remarkably pleased. From the very get-go, Blanca was the character I felt the most intrigued by, so to have this episode draw a definitive line in the sand that confirms she’s really what this whole season has been centered around, felt like a form of vindication. I don’t think I’ll be alone in how I feel – I think Pearson did an exceptional job in writing Blanca, and that the direction of the show has continually drawn us towards her story as we tried to figure out the mystery of how she fit into it all. So we essentially share in that triumph of feeling like we finally know something as concretely as a thing can be known in listening to this episode of Purgatory, Missouri…because this IS Blanca’s story, ain’t it? While Stuart has expertly played a sleight of ear, ermm.. hand by purposely misdirecting our attention to these wandering Pin-bots in the carnival, Blanca has remained the show’s true constant. Sure, it’s true that almost every moment we’ve spent with her has confused us even more as we’ve sunk into this mystery, here in episode six, we really start to get a sense that it’s Blanca that will find her way out of Purgatory, Missouri, one day. She seems to have an inkling of a possible departure as well if you’re listening to her words in conversation with Thirty-Eight (Dave Foley), trying to prepare him for a future that might be without her. Of course, now that I’ve written all that done I’m freakin’ terrified – y’all know what it’s like when your new favorite show loses one of your favorite characters, right? Purgatory, Missouri, NEEDS Blanca in it. And now that I’ve written THAT out, I realize that might just be the crux of the whole situation. This odd little community DOES need her…so much in fact, that you have to wonder if it could ever really let her go. Even more to the point – what lengths would Purgatory, Missouri, go to in order to keep her there?
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There’s an excellent conversation you’ll find towards the end with Highstriker (Alina Foley), who once again is able to bring this strange place into relatable context as she speaks on how One & Five (One played by Richard Malmos) keep the illusion of their surroundings/hierarchy feeling like it cannot be changed. As I’ve asked before in listening to this show, ain’t that just what it’s like to live life as we know it? We’re constantly being told that things have to be a certain way or the whole thing will collapse into some mythical black hole, yet deep inside of us all, we know there’s got to be a better system that works for everyone than the one that we’ve come up with.
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The Perimeter becomes a more pronounced threat than it has been so far, and you’ll soon discover how potent its dangers can be as one of the characters gets tossed into it. Can we talk for just a moment about how AWESOME it was to have like…a noise that sounds like the character was sucked through a straw at the end of a milkshake when tossed into said Perimeter? It’s all about attention to detail, folks. The conversation between Highstriker and Tunnel Of Love (Tonoccus McClain) is as wild as ever – the way these two talk to each other is like the greatest of Jazz y’all…they’ve got an unspoken rhythm that you simply can’t resist.
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Is there a revolution, or a full-on carnie revolt on the horizon here? Will Belinda/Blanca ever get outta here, or will her two sides fuse permanently into one? What about that phone? Fuck that phone! Can Purgatory, Missouri, possibly wrap itself up in the one episode we’ve got left? So many questions…and yet, so little time left! That’s one of the signs of a great show though…either you get all the answers you’re looking for in the finale episode, or you can bet your ass it’ll be back for another season. We’ve had some hints about that along the way, but I’m still waiting to hear the concrete confirmation of a season two.
All I know is that I want MORE of this, and I’m just as confident that you all will too – Purgatory, Missouri is a fantastic show that feels like it has limitless possibilities for where it could go in the future, even if it does manage to finish off the tale that it has woven throughout season one. I’m looking forward to the finale like you wouldn’t believe – make sure to join me on June 10th in the next review, where I’ll tell ya everything else that I can about what I hear. We’ve all gotta start pounding on Pearson’s door right NOW though – great art like this needs public support & encouragement to continue – so LISTEN to Purgatory, Missouri, and give the man a virtual high five for the incredible effort that’s been put in to make such a remarkably captivating show like this. I don’t just WANT to hear that next episode, I freakin’ bloody well NEED to at this point.
Well it’s about time! All this seemingly self-governance…this whole illusion we know as “reality,” and the freedoms we like to think we enjoy…pfff! What we need are some heckin’ RULES! Who doesn’t love more of those, am I right? You don’t want self-determination. You don’t want the guise of “free will.” You want restrictions! You want to know where the line is! You want rules to tell you what to do!
I don’t know if I’ve personally got any rules for ya, because I don’t adhere to any myself…but here’s some unsolicited free guidance you should heed. If you haven’t read one of these podcast reviews that I’ve written on Purgatory, Missouri, yet…well, I’m sure they’re riddled with spoilers (and a whole lot of theories that don’t make no damn sense…try to steer clear of those!) – so consider yourselves warned. Even here at the very end of season one, it’s safe to say that I’ll spill a whole bunch of beans, if not noticeably more beans than I’ve already spilt in my previous bean spillins.
I’ll tell you this much straight off the bat, I’m gonna miss the sound of Richard Malmos reciting the opening to this show in his best Rod Serling-esque blend of mystery-meets-psychosis. I might just need to resort to having him narrate my life as the new voice in my head now that season one of Purgatory, Missouri, has come to its finale. I can hear it now…”There’s a bizarre portal in the Gladstone kitchen, which Jeremy believes will take him to the ingredients of the ham sandwich he’s been dreaming about all day. Little does he know, the ham has vanished and been replaced by a very dry and unforgiving amount of turkey, and the mayo he would need to moisten it is down to its last pitiful scrape from the jar…” Yeah. I’m just gonna call it like it is – life would be way more interesting if it was narrated by Malmos. He’s done an exceptional job in directing this series…coaching the voices & bringing this vision from Stuart Pearson’s and Hunter Lowry’s mischievous minds to fruition…and of course, doing his own work in the show as the leader of the carnival, known as One. To think all of this wonderful mayhem started out by producer Maureen Davis reaching into the random to see if Pearson would be interested in developing the songs from his music catalog into some kind of podcast-drama. I can only imagine what it’s like to stand back and have a listen after an idea turns into this much fun and such a quality show when all is said & done.
So where were we? Thirty Eight (Dave Foley) is in the midst of freakin’ out, and he’s trying to make some sense out of the reality he’s in. In relaying his tale to Five (Mindy Sterling), she does her level best to convince him that he ain’t seen nothin’ and that he should just go about his bloody business – but I think we all know it’s way too late for that. Consciousness is creeping into the carnival in ways that it hasn’t had to deal with yet, and a rookie like Thirty Eight might just unravel a bunch of secrets if he’s not too careful with those loose lips of his. He implores One to explain what this place is all about once and for all, and while One is unafraid to explain as best he can, we’re still only getting tiny snapshots of how Purgatory, Missouri, came to be. Ultimately, I feel like the scattered details speak strongly about what this place really is and our understanding of it, in addition to how the characters perceive it as well. I look at it this way – if it was easy to figure out, I’m fairly certain they’d all be lining up to leave as quickly as they could…but Purgatory, Missouri, has become this exhausting mental maze that has a complexity continually compounded by their own confusion. So no one really knows what is real anyway…and I have to believe that either I’m amongst the dullest of crayons in the box, or that One doesn’t really know either. I still think that Purgatory, Missouri, is an excellent metaphor for life itself in how we all think we know what it’s about…but all we really have are theories, assumptions & beliefs, nothing more.
One and Thirty Eight proceed to discuss Blanca (Crissy Guerrero), even though One has explicitly stated they shouldn’t be talking about her at all. She’s disruptive to the whole foundation of the carnival in ways they can’t quite understand, and you get a treasure trove of information during their discussion that labels Blanca & the newcomers to the carnival as “unstable elements” that make it hard to maintain control over this place. We all feel existential threats at times, don’t we? High Striker (Alina Foley) and Tunnel Of Love (Tonoccus McClain) are feeling threatened as well, way out there by the Perimeter. With all the unrest around them, One is certain that an uprising is set to occur at any moment. Danger is lurking in the carnival more than it already tends to, and if you’ve listened to this series throughout its chapters, you know that’s really saying something. The tension of Purgatory, Missouri, has always been one of its greatest assets and we can feel it boiling over as we listen…things are gonna pop off real soon.
“Constant surveillance and instant enforcement of the rules,” explains One…that’s the key to keeping things as civilized as they are in this ghastly society they’ve created. It sounds every bit as threatening as it’s intended to be. “Fear is a powerful peacemaker,” he continues…and he ain’t wrong. It’ll last for a while, but not forever. Like I’ve alluded to in some of these reviews, it’s like Purgatory, Missouri, is the dusty reflection of our own society staring back at us in the mirror…and we’ve seen how often fear can be used & weaponized in an attempt to control us…but eventually, history shows us that an uprising will occur when enough is finally enough. Is this sociological/political commentary beginning to permeate the story – or has it been there all along? If you know, you know.
Personally, I think Pearson and Lowry have always put forth a perspective and a point of view throughout this entire series, and I’m thankful that they have. They’ve done an excellent job of making this strange, strange place they’re in feel even stranger…like home.
Void (Nathan Smythe) seems to have been singled out as the potential leader of the uprising to come, and it isn’t long before the carnies come lookin’ for him as they take matters into their own hands. Dragged by Twenty Three (Gina Elaine) and Twenty Six (Samuel Matury), Void is met with a familiar slurping sound at the Perimeter, and again, if you know, you know…that’s the place we all want to steer clear of. Blanca glitches in and out as she struggles to maintain some kind of molecular stability, and she seems like she’s able to actually bring the rest of the carnival with her as she fluctuates between realms. The next thing you know, you’re in the hospital room with Dr. Gold (Samuel Matury again) & Kayla (Julia Albert) as they work to help Belinda (also played by Crissy Guerrero), and they can see physical shadows on the wall that look like people struggling. That fucking phone (Hunter Lowry) decides to chime in, and it sounds like it’s time for a full-scale evacuation of the carnival.
What I loved about this whole scene, is that One sounds absolutely terrified as he seems to view the hospital room. Like I was tellin’ ya…it’s all like a mirror image – we would be frightened AF to visit the carnival, so it only stands to some kind of reason that the carnival employees would be just as terrified to visit what we know as reality, right? This whole mirror business has been my theory and I’m stickin’ to it. Spoiler alert – I have no real other choice…for now. Would you believe me if I told ya that a certain someone wakes up at long last, and the show just freakin’ ends like it was modeled after the last episode of the Sopranos? We get just enough in the final moments to come to the conclusions we think we know…and in the process, I think we also get to wonder about whether or not One has been pulled through to the other side, where we are now, or if he’s been trapped forever as a shadow on the wall. Maybe the carnival is coming to a theater near you, feel me?
THANKFULLY, the benevolent Mr. Pearson and Ms. Lowry have included a snapshot of what SEASON TWO will be like at the end of this finale episode – and I think of all the questions we had along the way, will or won’t the show continue on was at the top of every listener’s list. So hell yes, I’m proud to report that there WILL be more Purgatory, Missouri…this story is far from over, and I’m stoked about that – there’s really so much more than can be done with this wonderfully mysterious and malevolent place that Stuart and Hunter have created. It sounds like Belinda/Blanca is going to realize that the two places were way more connected and REAL than she realized. It sounds like Five is seizing control of the carnival in the absence of One. It sounds like Thirty Eight has joined the uprising, and that the Perimeter is awfully hungry. It sounds like things will get extremely meta with a podcast-within-a-podcast storyline to come, which is even more awesome when you think of this show like a reality-within-a-reality to begin with. Someone call Kevin Bacon will ya? We’ve gotta be no more than six degrees away from him by now. You’ll also love this detail too…the podcast, which seems to center around the concepts of paranormal activity at Mercy General, will feature a focus on a primary guest…known as…Juan. Does that sound familiar? What if I spelled it differently for you…not Juan – but One. How freakin’ cool is this?
It’s another fantastic example of human beings running with what they think they know, and putting their own spin on the facts without listening intently enough. The uprising in the carnival sounds MASSIVE & very real – and if you were to ask me, it sounds like Stuart Pearson, Hunter Lowry and their incredible carnival cohorts are more than ready for another season with all the ideas they’ve put on display through this sneak peek at season two.
The final episode of season one does a stellar job of answering many of the questions we had, while still finding awesome ways of having us wondering about what else comes next. Seven episodes was enough – but barely – I could have easily taken twenty of’ em and I’d never be bored. To say I’m looking forward to the next season already would be a criminal understatement – the entire cast of Purgatory, Missouri, did an outstanding job on this series from the moment it began, treating its unique authenticities and quirky eccentricities like it was all a part of their own DNA all along.
The specialness of this series was carefully curated and maintained throughout the course of its length, and again, I’m thankful for that. With Pearson and Lowry at the helm for the writing, I’m fully confident that with each subsequent season (yes I’m already calling for more than two before the second season has even begun!), Purgatory, Missouri, will go on to amaze us even more, and before we know it, this whole show will become a permanent fixture in premium podcast entertainment that no one will be able to resist.