The Exorcism
Episode 3 of Marianne begins with two of Emma’s friends, Tonio and Nono, checking their fishing net where they find more than fishes; dead cows are floating in the sea, mirroring what Emma wrote last night in her new novel. Back at the house, Emma finds her mother naked in the garden. She brings her back in, but she locks herself in the bathroom. Through the door, she speaks to Emma and tells her that she has broken that special Mother and Daughter bond they share. She later gets invited by her old boyfriend, Seby, to have dinner at his house. It’s here Emma meets his heavily pregnant girlfriend, Sophie, and her son, Hugo. However, a drunk Emma tries to hit on Seby before finding out that Hugo has disappeared. We then cut to see five kids walking with hanging ropes just like her new novel where five kids were hung. Realizing where he might be, Emma and the others drive to the firehouse and find the five kids hanging off the top bar of the swings and struggling to breathe. Thanks to Emma’s realization, they manage to save the children in the nick of time. Back home, Camille decides to leave as she is fed up with Emma’s behaviour. Emma tries to convince her to stay as she believes her novels are coming true. Determined to put an end to Marianne once and for all, she decides to walk in her heroine Lizzie’s footsteps, heading to the church to pick up holy water and a crucifix to attempt an exorcism on the witch. She arrives at the house and ties her up in a chair, ready to start the ritual. Marianne tells her that if she carries on writing, she will give her father back, just like she did with her mum. Emma then pours holy water on her head and swings the metal crucifix, breaking her neck. However, it doesn’t kill her and the witch accuses her of being a whore and a child killer. We then cut to inspector Ronan who has been investigated the whereabouts of Emma’s dad which lead him to the old lighthouse school. He finds him on the floor in a dilapidated lab, naked and bloody like his wife, and surrounded by more of the strange skin pouch markers. After Emma is reunited with her dad, she returns home but only to find blood splattered on the front steps and all over the house, leading to her mum’s corpse. Suddenly, she hears maniacal laugh coming from upstairs and sees Marianne with a knife, covered with blood. In a fit of rage, she runs upstairs and starts strangling her. Marianne tells her that she can kill the old lady but she will never get rid of her, she will just possess someone else. We then cut to Camille who had second thoughts and came back to the house. After seeing what Emma did, she tries to revive the old lady but gets spooked when Marianne’s face suddenly changes and she falls down the stairs. The episode then ends with strange smoke coming out of Marianne’s mouth. The plot thickens in this third episode and we are given a few more hints into quite what has happened in the past. The arrows are pointing towards a tragic accident involving the death of a child, probably accidental. What Marianne manages to do so well here is delivering unexpected twists and more uneasiness through each episode. We’re now seeing that the spirit of Marianne has been haunting Emma all along and slowly led to believe that her books are what kept her powerful all those years. The episode ends on a very tense note as it looks like the spirit of Marianne has now left the body of Mrs Daugeron. Where will she go next? This unpredictability is yet another clever touch to keep us engaged and anxious to see what will happen next.
