Ep 09 - Blue is ...

Dr. Ryder gets a call from two colleagues, who are trying to meet a family of Unwelcome Riders.

Act I
Today's Quick Questions are from a woman named Sarah, who appears to be haunted by two different entities (one positive, one negative), which leads her to wake up in a different bedroom than the one she woke up in, and a man named Bob, from Minnesota. Bob passed by a diner in Montana where everyone seems to know exactly what they should be doing, including making the same exact mistake both times Bob entered. When Bob asks what's going on, he's shown a playscript with everyone's actions written down in it, including his own and is told by the waitress not to go off book. When asked, Ryder admits to having "no idea" what's going on here.

In Odd America, we learn about the Candlestick Riots of Guilford, CT. Though it's now seen as a playful holiday with children tapping adults with candlesticks and being given candy in return, it began because of a town-wide mania in which families would fight to the near-death for their candlesticks. The winners gathered together in the town square and formed two circles, then tossed their candlesticks in a pyre. The outer circle locked arms and swayed back and forth. They chanted: “Flame against the shadow. Flame against the shadow. Protect us from the echo. Protect us from the echo." A third round of fighting broke out and Mathias Martin, a man who had previously murdered his wife and broken his son's ribs, was crowned the "Candlestick King." Another chant was spoken and at the end, Mathias stepped into the fire. Eventually, the flames went down, and the townsfolk buried their candlesticks as the sun rose, and finally went home.

Act 2
Sam and Eddie, the hosts of the podcast Ghosts n’ Goblins n’ Gravesend came to America in search of episode content. They traveled to Ozarks in an attempt to find the Unwelcomed Riders but encountered a Resident that took away Eddie's ability to comprehend colors.

Trivia

 * Professor Duncan Ryder believed that Frank Sinatra had hidden knowledge of the riots because of his song “We Three (My Echo My Shadow And Me)." When confronted, Sinatra winked and said, "Keep a candle lit, William." William is the name of Mathias Martin's son
 * Bob's diner shows up in the next episode, The Black Door Part III as a National Alert. Bob encourages others to stop by as "he thinks things will be better off once everyone is in the script."