Fear the Briannas

"**Fear the Briannas**" is the second episode of the second series of *Wellington Paranormal*, and the eighth episode overall. It aired on 23 October 2019.

## Synopsis

Minogue and O'Leary go back to school when three teen witches start threatening students at a local girls' high school. But they soon learn their teasing can be just as damaging as their magical powers.

## Plot Summary

O’Leary and Minogue head to a corner shop to investigate a stolen bag of potato chips. As the shopkeeper describes how the bag mysteriously floated out the shop, another bag leaves the store in the same way. At the station, Parker inspects the CCTV footage and briefly sees three teenage girls appearing in a reflection. O’Leary recognises their uniform as that of her old school, St. Carrietta’s Girls High School.

O’Leary and Minogue investigate the school and its principal, Mrs. Hopper, assumes they have come to investigate an explosion in the library that injured multiple students. As they investigate the library, an old book of spells in the library starts turning the pages by itself. Mrs. Hopper shows the officers the school quilt and insists her students are not up to any wrongdoing. The officers stay on campus to interview several students and a girl named Neve Robinson hesitantly gives evidence of objects flying in the computer room and becomes nervous when three girls with identical blonde haircuts walk up the stairs together.

In order to retrieve “real information”, the officers enter the girl’s toilets but find it empty. As they hide in the cubicle, the lights flicker and they hear several girl’s voices talking to them at once. They leave the cubicle and see “FeAR THe BriANNAS” written on the wall. O’Leary interviews Neve again and she shows her a video on her phone showing the three blonde girls, the Briannas, telepathically bouncing another student upside-down in mid-air for asking “too many questions”.

The officers discover that the school quilt has been defaced with fabric, spelling the words “SnitcHeS GeT STITCHeS”. They hear a scream from the textiles room and find the sewing machine floating in the air and Neve trapped in her school jersey, with the head and hand holes stitched up. O’Leary neutralises the machine by unplugging it. Neve reveals that the Briannas (Brianna A.]], Briannah H. and Bree-Anna Q.) are three social outcasts who work as volunteer librarians and use witchcraft to get revenge on all the girls who previously picked on them.

Back at the station, Sergeant Maaka figures out that the explosion occurred in the witchcraft and folklore section of the library and he asks them to investigate the scene when no-one is around to find the book that gave the girls powers. That night, the officers hear the Briannas chanting in the library. While Minogue distracts them, O’Leary takes the book and the witches pursue them to the hall. The girls use telekinesis to tie up Minogue with streamers and O’Leary threatens to tear up the book. Realising she can’t, O’Leary lectures them and tells them that in tormenting others, the girls have become bullies themselves. The witches attempt to kill the two anyway and Minogue tases them by intentionally rebounding the taser off the spellbook.

The Briannas are sentenced to community service and are forced to remove graffiti and litter around the school. As the officers talk to the camera, another girl behind them takes the spellbook and gains magical powers.

## Cast

* Mike Minogue as Officer Minogue
* Karen O'Leary as Officer O'Leary
* Maaka Pohatu as Sergeant Maaka
* Thomas Sainsbury as Constable Parker
* Rosie Howells as Brianna A.
* Alice May Connolly as Bree-Anna Q.
* Neenah Dekkers-Reihana as Briannah H.
* Mia van Oyen as Neve
* Miranda Harcourt as Mrs. Hopper
* Lucky Purre as Phil

## Production

* The author of the Briannas' spellbook, A. Alison, is most likely a reference to the episode's writer Amanda Alison.

## References

1. ↑ "New Zealand Television: Wellington Paranormal: episode guide" - Australian Television Information Archive