Haunted Season 2 Episode 3 Recap
The third episode of Netflix’s Haunted starts with James Swift, who tells us about how he grew up in a cult, and how that cult tortured him.
He tells the story of how he lived with his mother, father and older brother, and how they had a normal childhood until her mother discovered a broadcast of something called “the World Of Tomorrow”, which was a program about a man who had founded what he called the “Worldwide Church of God”, an organization that had the firm belief that there was only one true church and that everyone not a part of it would die in the Apocalypse. This group also believed that demons were everywhere around us, and you could be possessed by one if you allowed them to.
After discovering this broadcast, James’ mom decided to move to a place where they could become a part of that “church”, and when they got there, they were welcomed by one of the preachers of that area, who needed to anoint the house so all the “demons” would be expelled from it. It is here that James notices the first strange thing about this group her mother had just taken them to, as while he and his brother were playing while the preacher anointed the house, he got upset about the noise, and when his brother wouldn’t obey him when he asked them to come back to the house, the preacher punished him, and what’s worse, his mother allowed it to happen.
James continues to share how different his life was now that his family was a part of that group, how they could not go to the library, watch movies, read comic books or even watch television, unless it was the “church’s” broadcast. Aside from this, they also needed to assist services that always seemed to revolve around the topic of demons, and how they were always surrounded by an evil that they had to protect themselves from, stating that every defect or character flaw you had, or any attitude not in tune with the “church’s” beliefs, was believed to be the result of a demonic possession.
After one of the services, his mother was approached by the preacher, who told her that, unfortunately, her son had fallen victim to a demonic possession by what he called a “gay demon”, because James had mannerisms that were considered feminine by the people in that group. The preacher continued by telling her that they needed to get rid of that demon, otherwise him, and his entire family, were in danger of going to hell.
Since the problem with the way demon’s possessed people according to that “church” was that a possession could only happen if you opened your mind to it, James was terrified, because he didn’t even know what he had done to open up his mind to a demon.
The solution that the “church” came up with was to isolate him in his room, even denying him food and water for incredibly long periods of time, even if there was no biblical justification for any of the “church’s” actions.
He was kept there for many years, and one day he was told he would go to a camp, and when he was ready to leave, they covered his head with a bag and put hm inside a van that took him to a strange place where supposedly they would exorcise the demon inside of him.
While at this place, he was mistreated, humiliated and tortured, and he even states that, during one of the torments he was undergoing at that place, he saw the face of a demon whom he believed was there to show him that he would never be free of the hell he was currently experiencing.
After seventeen weeks he was released from that horrible place and taken back to his community. When he arrived at his house, his father told him that the “church” had informed them that their son had not cooperated with the treatment, and he told James that he was no longer his son.
In the end, James went to live with his aunt, and they also took his brother with them. After that, he was able to start a new life where he could be happy and heal all the terrible things that he had experienced when he was younger.
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