‘Hysteria!’ Recap: ‘Heaven’s on Fire’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

HYSTERIA! -- "Heaven's on Fire" Episode 108 -- Pictured: (l-r) Emjay Anthony as Dylan Campbell, Nolan North as Gene Campbell, Julie Bowen as Linda Campbell -- (Photo by: PEACOCK)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season One Finale of ‘Hysteria!’ To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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It is definitely safe to say that the magnificent Peacock and USA Network series, Hysteria!, has offered up a masterclass in how to present compelling commenary. Simply because week in and week out, it’s pondered upon very real problems in our world and how to recognize them and what creates them. In a manner so detailed that we simply want more, and we simply want to reach the finish line of the story to discover the greatest lessons of all related to this series. Specifically, what would happen if we let the marginalized seize power completely and win the day, and how would we stop the power of fear if we reached the point of no return?

All of which was indeed explored in ‘Heaven’s on Fire’ courtesy of a season finale that took the town of Happy Hollow to the brink. For we learned here that Tracy learned nothing from her folly, and rather than do the right thing and be a good Christian, she decided to seize power and make one last ditch effort to shift the blame for her actions to someone else, specifically Dylan. All by having the town assemble at church to witness the Exorcism of Linda Campbell. Which would allow for her to seize power, create accountability and make the townspeople her religious minions and well, with the good father away and the chief off to save Faith, her plan began to work.

Because everyone was so afraid and so ready for protection that they listened to all of her nonsense and demanded her help and were captive to the nonsense act playing out in front of them. Because somehow, they believed a demon would be cast out on this night. But it was the long game to get a mother under duress, to turn on her own son, and cast him to a dark fate through mob justice. But Jordy and Spud made sure that didn’t happen, and they exposed Tracy’s lies and that led to enough chaos to burn down the church while the Chief saved Faith’s life and brought the Reverend to justice at last. Which in turn brought about a full confession that put Tracy in some fancy bracelets after Jordy rescued her from the burning, despite the fact that the people were ready to revolt over her arrest.

But to Tracy’s credit, she asked folks to stand down, since she knew what she had done and with that nightmare over… life returned to mostly normal. Since Linda recovered and even Judith was ‘punished’ for her actions, and we were left with lessons in hand and answers to our questions. In that, if the Tracy’s of the world were given full power, they would cause great harm and hurt a lot of people on their way down from the top, for they would fall from grace eventually, and that the only way to stop this madness… is to stay vigilant and logical. And stand tall when the other Tracy’s of the world spout their madness into the world. So that rational thinking can come into play, because that is the last line of defense since this season showcased how far people will go to create the worst-case scenario when fear takes hold. For it is strong and it can accomplish anything that a terrified soul wants it to.

All of which made for a perfect ending to this incredible season of storytelling. For it brought every point together in a terrifying manner, and truly showcased the power of fear and mob mentality and how and why we are now in the situation we are in as a nation. For we are filled with fear from one fateful day in September and have been battling it since. But all commentary aside, this was also a great season of scares from an intelligent horror story that reminded us of the biggest and scariest monster of all, humanity. For we can do horrible things when we wish to, and that makes this a poignant story that hopefully gets a second season. So, we can explore the fallout of Happy Hollow’s incredible case, of mass hysteria.

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