The Circle

**"Spirit Receivers"** is the sixth episode of Season One of the Archive 81 Netflix TV series and the sixth episode of the show overall. It first aired on January 14, 2022.

## Summary

*A circle tightens, panic grows: Dan learns about his predecessor, and Melody tries to track the source of the Visser's dangers. Yet the evil spreads.*

## Plot

Dan restores his father's tape from when he turned 8 and starts thinking about the past. The telephone rings, so he picks it up. Mark tells him that he is outside and Dan tells him that he cannot let him in since the place was under surveillance. He tells him that he is doing fine and apologizes for him having come all that way, but Mark gets him to come back by telling him that he found Thomas Bellows, who was offered a ton of cash by Davenport to restore VHS tapes, but she signed some NDAs after a car accident he had in Nova Scotia. Mark tells him that Thomas had lost his shit up there and Mark tells Dan that he said he had been seeing Melody. Dan tells him that he is fine and tells him to go home. Dan walks back into the house and starts destroying the cameras, so that Virgil could no longer see him.

Dan starts working on the next tape, which starts with Melody sleeping. When Melody wakes up, she grabs her camera and plays the video of her sleeping. She says that she woke up in someone's apartment, but she does not even know where she is or how she got there. She sees Chris' bloodstain on the floor outside and leaves.

Melody walks into her apartment, when she is approached by the police who would like to ask her questions. She says that she was at an art show and was talking to someone outside when Chris fell. They ask if she knew the victim, and she says that she did sort of, only having met him the day before and was interviewing him for a project. She stops the police and tells them that he was pushed, and even though she did not see anyone push him, she knew he wanted to get clean. She says that Samuel is not who he says he is and has proof, but as she looks through her purse, she does not find anything, knowing that he had taken the books. She tells the police that she believed Samuel had also killed Father Russo, which makes the police believe that she was using as well. However, she tells them to go to the 6th floor to see the people for themselves, but they thank her for her time.

After the police leave, Melody is called from Stuyvesant Health Center concerning Anabelle. When Melody gets there, she sees Anabelle on a bed. Melody asks her what happened, but does not get an answer. Melody asks why she is handcuffed, but Anabelle simply says that a woman has a message and was stuck inside. The doctor walks in and says that Anabelle had broken someone's jaw and stabbed a security officer in the eye with a nail, but Melody says that Anabelle was normal, asking about Mold. Melody says that there was a sort of mold that affected Anabelle when she started painting, which the doctor says could be possible, but he needs a sample.

Melody rushes to Cassandra's house and storms in, wanting to grab some paint, but Cassandra says that she does not know if it has mold since it was Eleanor's. After that, she tells Melody that she had given all of the paint to Anabelle, but Melody knows that Cassandra had seen Anabelle get arrested. Cassandra says that they had thought she was strong enough and Melody sees the paintings. Cassandra tells her that nobody else could have the paintings since she had opened a window and describes Anabelle as a true Spirit Receiver. Melody grabs Cassandra and asks what she had done to Anabelle and asks about the window she had opened.

Jess walks in and wonders what was happening - Melody tells her that she needs to leave with her, but Jess says that she is not supposed to see her anymore per Samuel's instructions, since she was not well. Melody tries convincing her that Cassandra and Samuel are bad people, but Jess does not listen to her and drops some tea, which was not only liquid. Melody asks Cassandra if the mold was in the tea, which she says is ridiculous. Melody tells her that the jar that she saw in the elevator was probably mold and asks where she had gotten it, saying she needed to take a sample to the doctor in order to help Anabelle. Cassandra shakes her head, but Jess tells her that she needs a key.

Melody goes downstairs and sees the room full of mold. She touches it and hears chanting behind a door. However, as she is about to open, she turns around and sees Samuel and the tape starts altering, so Dan needs to give it a fix. When he grabs the cassette, he opens it and the VHS as well, finding mold growing inside as well. He tells Virgil about it, but he simply responds that he does not know how the mold had gotten there and he had asked him to be meticulous and Dan says that it was the same thing that was growing at the Visser, wondering how that was possible. Virgil asks if he was experiencing a mental health emergency, but Dan says that he is not. Virgil asks if he looked for the spare unit in order to keep working, so Dan hangs up looks for it, finding Ratty biting on a cable.

Dan finds a camera and looks through the photos, where Thomas Bellows talked through his experience at the compound and describes the soap operas he was fixing as stupid, also keeping journals of what he saw. Through the videos, Thomas says that the job is sucking the life out of him, but he would have a lot of money after that. He finds Davenport's Wellspring folders, which he thinks is a front for personal data. He knows that Davenport was looking for someone, but does not know who. After that, Thomas finds blood in refrigerators and says that he knows Alicia must think he is crazy, but she had not been answering his calls. Thomas says that there is a face in the screen and insists that he is not crazy. He tells Patricia to fuck herself and her tapes, wondering what she had put in them.

Dan remembers Melody interviewing Patricia, who described herself as someone who stayed home and recorded things, especially soap operas. She says that she has two VHS top of the line and feels like they have a message for her. Dan walks downstairs with a bat and breaks the door open to the tapes Thomas had fixed. He finds a tape belonging to Patricia and sees they really all belonged to her.

Dan calls Mark and tells him that Thomas Bellows was digitizing tapes belonging to Patricia. He also adds that he saw the same face Thomas had seen. The call ends and Bobbi approaches him. He tells her that he found the replacement deck and asks what had happened to the man before him. She tells him not to make the same mistake; advising him to do the job, take the money and never look back.

Jill walks into a bookstore, where Mark was at. He wonders why it was empty, but she says that she needed to fire her coworker. He tells her that he heard that Evie had a stroke last week and knew that her son wanted to sell his grandfather's tapes. He tells Jill that he knows she has them and the only reason she knew of them was because of Dan's weird obsession with *The Circle*. She tells Mark that she knows that Dan does not work at the museum anymore, to which he replies that he is out of town and Jill says that it was not for sale to him or his podcast. Mark says that Dan would never forgive her for having sex with the film festival guy even if she bought him anything, so she might as well let him pay for it.

After that, Jill tells Mark that apparently Will Crest was weird, but *The Circle* was different and was bout some cult in New York City. The Vos Society, but she could not find anything about them. She tells Mark that the scripts are not bad and tells him about the people in photos. She hands him a copy of the snuff film Will had seen which inspired *The Circle*. They watch the film, which surprises Mark and Jill tells him that the rumor is that everything is cursed. Mark tells her that he would take it off her hands.

Dan repeats to himself that he should just finish the job as he works on the tape. In it, Melody sees Samuel approach her, who tells her that he had come back with breakfast, but she was gone. Melody asks what she was doing in his apartment and how she had gotten there. He tells her that she fainted and he carried her up to his apartment, apologizing if that had scared her. Melody asks what the room they were in was, to which he replies that it used to be storage before it flooded. However, she asks about the figures the mold formed, but he says he does not know. Melody tells him that she does not believe him, since he had been sending Jess to scrape the walls and knows about the drugs and what Cassandra puts in Jess's tea. She also knows that it is in the paint that drove Anabelle insane, so she asks once again what it is, to which Samuel finally answers that it is proof of their devotion and a manifestation of the divine.

Samuel wants to show Melody something, telling her that he has the answers she has been searching for her whole life, if she was willing to listen. Samuel opens a door and she follows him through a dark corridor. He tells her that the Visser was built on the ruins of a mansion owned by the Vos family. Once they reach downstairs, she finds people humming in a circle and the figure of Kaelego to the side. Melody starts feeling bad and asks Samuel what the song was. However, he tells her that it was not a song, but a prayer, which he knew was painful for her to hear and is why he knew that she was the one he was looking for, reminding her of the night at the opera.

Melody recognizes the Kaelego figure and Samuel tells her that they are not a cult, but pioneers. She asks if her mother was one of his seers, but he says that he never knew her mother and she never lived at the Visser. He tells Melody that he had sent the letter to the convent, hoping that she would come looking for what she wanted most and saying that Dr. Turner had been helpful in finding her because being a Baldung is rare. He says he is lucky to have found her and Melody asks what is wrong with him, but Samuel asks her to take heart that they would succeed that time and all of time would be as one, which she does not understand. He says that it means that he is only a link in the chain and a keeper of the flame and plays *The Circle* for her, which was filmed exactly where they were. In the movie, a woman kills another woman and Melody realizes that was why she was brought there. However, Samuel says that they could not do that, assuring her that she was safe and tells her that they have a volunteer and their vessel, capable of holding a whole new world. Samuel tells her that she would be reunited with her mother and promises that, but asks her to open her mind. Melody tells him to fuck himself and leaves.

Walking back into her apartment Melody cries when she realizes her mother had never been there. She starts packing her things and repeats what Samuel had said about a vessel. Melody grabs a tape and starts playing it, which Dan does as well. In it, Jess asks if she thinks she could be more and hold a world inside of her. Melody realizes that Jess would be the vessel.

Melody rushes to Jess's house, where Tamara opens the door and tells her that they had gone to Florida the day before, but she pushes Tamara out of the way, since she had just seen Jess. However, when she walks inside, she sees the apartment is empty. Melody starts recording a video, saying that they had taken Jess and films. John says he does not understand what Melody is talking about when he mentions Jess and follows Melody. Samuel tries to stop her as well, telling her that Jess is gone, but Melody says that she would not let him do that to Jess. She runs out and sees two men walking towards her. They tell her that she needs to go with them, but Samuel asks who they are. Melody begs at the camera, asking to be found as Dr. Turner shows up, telling her that everything would be alright. Melody tries to escape, but the men grab her and she is taken away.

Dan pauses the video and looks at his father, also seeing a face in the screen, which appears to be leaving it. Dan grabs a bat and hits the screen, but the face appears on another screen as well, punching it. Dan uses the bat to hit the second screen, destroying it as well. On a third screen, the face starts to come out of the screen and into the room where Dan was in, snarling. However, Dan manages to destroy that screen as well before it comes out. After that, Dan throws the tapes to the ground and starts destroying them and Patricia's tapes as well. He breaks through a thin wall and looks inside, seeing that the walls were filled with mold. From underground Dan can hear faint chanting. He opens a cellar door and goes downstairs as the prayer gets louder.

When he makes it all the way downstairs, he finds a room playing all of Melody's tapes and sees a room identical to the Vos mansion. Down there, he also sees the Kaelego figure and a big book next to it. Melody calls for help in her tapes repeatedly, asking to be found, but as Dan watches, he is suddenly hit by surprise.

## Cast

### Main cast

* Dan Turner - Mamoudou Athie
* Melody Pendras - Dina Shihabi
* Samuel - Evan Jonigkeit
* Anabelle - Julia Chan
* Jess - Ariana Neal
* Mark Higgins - Matt McGorry
* Virgil Davenport - Martin Donovan
* Steven Turner - Charlie Hudson III
* Cassandra Wall - Kristin Griffith
* Bobbi - Jacqueline Antaramian
* John Smith - Eden Marryshow
* Tamara Stefano - Kate Eastman

### Additional cast

* Jill - Mitzi Akaha
* Thomas Bellows - Jay Klaitz
* Doctor - Randy Kovitz
* Rockland Officer - James Ortiz
* Rockland Officer - Jonathan Visser
* Female Police Officer - Alison Weisgall
* Male Police Officer - Jason McCune
* Addict - Penelope Bauer
* Addict - Frances Chao
* Addict - Dennis Joseph
* Iris Vos - Georgina Haig
* Visser Tenant - Johnna Leary
* Visser Tenant - Daniel Johnson
* Bar patron - Hilda Ivette Rodriguez
* Police Officer - Eric Sharpe