Bad Moon Rising

**Bad Moon Rising** is the second episode of the first season of NBC's *Midnight, Texas* and the second episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

**A DEADLY PREDATOR BREAKS LOOSE ON THE NIGHT OF THE FULL MOON** — Manfred tries to help one of his new neighbors, Bobo, clear his name by talking to the murdered victim with the help of Joe. As Manfred helps his neighbors and grows closer to Creek, they help him - specifically, Fiji, the resident witch who performs an exorcism to rid Manfred's home of the spirits, demonic and otherwise that haunt it. Meanwhile, the Rev tries to stay out of trouble while Lem and Olivia set out to stop a deadly predator before it kills again.

## Plot

Loud growls and roars can be heard throughout the dark streets of Midnight as Manfred and Creek run for their lives. They take cover inside Manfred's RV. Once inside, they discover deep claw marks along Manfred's ribcage. As Creek applies pressure to the wounds, Manfred tells her that once he stops bleeding, he'll try to kiss her again, though Creek saw no reason to wait, telling him that blood doesn't scare her. However, just like before, their kiss is interrupted. The creature that was previously chasing them in the streets had since climbed on top of the RV, and tried to claw its way in. Manfred searched for weapons, however, having been new to Texas, all he could offer Creek was a large knife. As the creature stood above, Manfred looked to Xylda, wondering if she had any ideas. All she had was one, for Manfred and Creek to stop talking and run.
Twenty-four hours earlier, just moments after Bobo's arrest, Manfred looks to his home, which has been taken over by a sinister presence. Shadows of spirits outline the windows as the house exudes a red glow. Manfred enters the RV, pops a few pills, and then confronts his grandmother on her advice to move to Midnight. He then receives a call from Hightower, which goes unanswered. He remembers what Xylda use to say to him, *"when the going gets tough, we live in a house with wheels."* They both laugh. However, this was before Xylda died. Manfred didn't have her anymore. He needed the Midnighters, as they protected each other. He had just witnessed it with his own eyes when Fiji attempted to save Bobo. Although, the town in its entirety was a lot more than Manfred expected. He was hesitant to enter the house on his own, so Xylda advised him to tell the Midnighters the truth. He didn't have to pretend he was normal, let your freak flag fly, she said.

Olivia, Lemuel, Joe, Rev, and Fiji regrouped at the pawn shop to discuss their next course of action. Lemuel was irate. The police came into their town and took one of their own. Olivia regretted having stopped Fiji from crushing them in the car when she had the chance. Fiji on the other hand was upset with what she did. She believed she only made it worst for Bobo. However, as Rev explained, they didn't show the police anything they hadn't already suspected. Bobo was going to have to face the consequences of their actions. The police were scared, and that wasn't going to end well. The Midnighters agreed that they needed to get back off law enforcement's radar, and retrieve Bobo. Manfred then entered the room in search of help with getting rid of the ghosts and demonic entities that are haunting his house. Olivia questions if this was simply a ploy to go back on his word to help Bobo, but Manfred assured them that he wanted to help but the ghost back at his place would make that rather difficult. Fiji was familiar with hauntings and Joe was intrigued, so they both agreed to assist Manfred.
At the Roca Fria County Sheriff's department, Bobo sticks with his initial statement that he didn't kill Aubrey despite the gun being registered in his name. Sheriff Livingston set aside the fact that the gun belonged to Bobo, and asked if he didn't kill Aubrey, who did. However, Bobo reminded Sheriff Livingston that finding Aubrey's killer was his job. Livingston notes that Bobo's neighbors weren't fond of Aubrey, and with the ritualistic nature of the crime scene could lead one to suspect that the Midnighters were responisble. With all the rumors and stories surrounding Midnight, it was easy to assume the worst of Midnighters. People tend to lose their grip on reality. And while, Livingston knows that he didn't imagine seeing Fiji levitate and crush the car with her mind, Bobo claims to have no recollection of the incident.

Fed up with Bobo's refusal to talk, Officer Gomez came up with an idea that would hopefully make him more obliged to cooperate. She and a fellow officer escorted Bobo to a room with several members of the Sons of Lucifer, and locked them inside together. They had a message to deliver from Peter Lowry, unfortunately for them, Bobo was far from easy prey and he had a message of his own that he was looking to deliver. With him being fairly skilled in hand to hand combat, Bobo make quick work of all four bikers. Bobo stood over one biker in particular, and told him that he didn’t kill Aubrey, and that Peter Lowry needed to stop coming after him, just before kicking him in the face,
It was barely morning, the full moon was hours away, Olivia noted. But for the Rev, there were too many variables and strangers. He'd rather be safe than sorry. It had taken him a life time to find a home where he's accepted, so he often worries. Should anything happen, he tells Olivia not to hesitate. He feels dread as something was different that full moon. As Rev heads down into the cellar beneath the Chapel, Olivia reminds him that they do this every month, and that she'd see him in the morning, just before locking the cellar.

Manfred enters his house with Fiji and Joe right behind him. Joe could sense the bad mojo. While Fiji and Joe couldn't see the ghosts, they could hear the growling and see the ominous red glow coming from beneath the floorboard. Fiji confirms that it's some sort of demonic spirit. Aubrey then appears in the kitchen. Manfred slowly approaches her, seeking help as Bobo had been arrested. Assuming he didn't do it, Manfred needed Aubrey to show him who killed her. She did this by possessing him. While under her possession, he witnesses Aubrey's drowning, which resulted in Manfred beginning drown as well. Luckily, Joe and Fiji managed to get him out the house in time.
Manfred awakens in Fiji's house. Her home was quiet, he hadn't slept that deep in a long time. Fiji gave her house a deep cleanse before moving in, thus rendering it inhospitable to the dead. Mediums don't typically stay long in Midnight. Manfred notes the pawn shop as being the worst. He then tells Fiji that he witnessed a biker kill Aubrey. She correctly assumes that a Sons of Lucifer member was responsible, referring to them as white power jerks. Aubrey was married to one, which was news to Manfred. Fiji insisted that he tell the police what he saw. It would at least point them away from Bobo. Manfred was now a Midnighter, and they did what they could to help one another. Plus, he promised, so while he's setting things straight with the Sheriff, Fiji will be preparing to cleans his house. She had a Devil's Net. It captures evil and allows her to measures malevolent energy. The entity under the floor was worrisome. By conjuring Aubrey, it was possible Manfred let it in. Fiji planned on exorcising the evil entity but that would take time.

As Joe headed off to take Manfred to the sheriff's department to inform the police of what he had learned of Aubrey's death, Chuy first confronted him over the large white angel feather that he had fond in the laundry. Joe admits that he went flying in spite of the high risk of exposure it would bring. With Aubrey's murder and Manfred's arrival, he was worried about the end of everything they knew and loved, though he didn't care to elaborate at the time on what he meant by that. Before leaving for Davy, they stopped at the Gas N Go, where Manfred informed Creek of his plan, hoping that it would not only free Bobo, but that it would impress her as well, which Creek was very much aware of. While she would be working that night, Creek was hoping to plan something for the two of them later that week. However, she quickly headed back into the garage as her father exited the store, and stared down Manfred.
At the Roca Fria Sheriff's department, Manfred informs Sheriff Livingston that Aubrey's killer had a Sons of Lucifer patch on the back of his jacket and he wore a skeleton face mask, which concealed his identity. The night Aubrey died, she was taking a walk to clear her head after a fight with Bobo, she wanted to tell him that truth but she was scared of losing him. He explains to Livingston that her spirit showed him what happened. A truck showed up, immediately she knew something was wrong, so she went for the pistol in her bag, but the killer jumped her from behind, took her gun, and shot her with it. She was in and out of consciousness after that. She remembers being in the back of the truck and seeing her killer toss the gun. Then she was dragged to the river's edge to die, which took three days to occur.

Sheriff Livingston admits that it could be her spirit that told Manfred all of this or it could be that Manfred killed her himself, which was the far more likely scenario. However, if Manfred was the killer, he wouldn't be at the Sheriff's Department, Joe says. The gun was tossed in the river, Manfred was positive that this wasn't the only evidence he got rid of. If they really wanted to find the Killer, they needed to resume their search of the river. As Joe and Manfred drove back to Midnight, he comments that what Manfred did was pretty badass, and that he had faith it would lead to Bobo’s release.
Having proven himself before, Sheriff Livingston takes another chance on Manfred, and orders the divers to resume their search of the river, further down stream in case they missed something. Officer Gomez then returned from the hospital, where the three of the Sons of Lucifer members were in stable condition, and the fourth member was undergoing surgery on his knee from the altercation with Bobo. Officer Gomez jokes that it's a good thing they were Nazis, otherwise she would feel bad for the harm they suffered. However, Livingstone wasn't amused. He suspended Gomez, effective immediately. She was displeased with his decision. Since she was a kid, she knew Midnight was all sorts of bad, and now that they've seen it, they know for a fact that the Midnighters are dangerous.

As the full moon rises in the sky, a naked and kneeling Rev read from his Bible. It wasn't long before the transformation began. His bones breaking and shifting as he screams out in agony. Manfred and Fiji return to his house in preparation for the cleansing. He questions if its a good idea to use a mirror when they've been know to get messy when involved in séances. Fiji chuckles. Unlike Manfred, she couldn't see the dead, so the mirror would accommodate, allowing her to see into the spirt realm and other dimensions.
Fiji then notices the Evil Eye, a ghost warding talisman hanging on Manfred's door. She could sense it's power. It belonged to Manfred's grandmother, Xylda. Supposedly, their ancestors used it to fight demons and demonic possessions back in Europe. Xylda was a pack rat, she kept a ton of mystical objects that she probably shouldn't have. She releases the spirits trapped behind the door, asking if it was as bad as before to which Manfred replied that it was worse. Fiji calls out to the spirits while tapping a metal bowl, however, they seemed to be far more interested in Manfred as they were circling him. He was their ride back to the living. Fiji needed to be alone with the ghosts in order to gain their full attention since she couldn't be possessed. Manfred decide to watch from outside, looking through the window as Fiji conducts the séance.

Despite being suspended, Officer Gomez returned to Midnight, presumably in search of any evidence to support her claim of the Midnighters being dangerous. She is briefly startled by Mr. Snuggly, Fiji's cat, as it jumped the gate of The Inquiring Mind. She then made her way over to the Chapel upon hearing some unsettling noises coming from the cellar. She cut the chains off the door, and head down to take a look inside. Upon further investigation, she discovered Rev's clothes neatly folded on the floor next to his bible. With her gun drawn, Gomez looks over to her left only to discover a tiger in the cellar feeding on a bull. Unbeknownst to Gomez at the time, the animal was actually Rev, who had turned into a weretiger. She multiple fires rounds at the beast yet they appear to have no effect. Despite her best efforts to escape, Rev, who had no control of his actions, dragged her back down and ripped her apart.
Manfred could hear Gomez's screams from his porch, leading him to investigate. As he crossed the street towards the Chapel, he discovered Tina's bloody body hanging in the tree. Unaware of what was truly out there, Manfred headed towards Home Cookin' to inform Madonna that she couldn't allow anyone to leave the restaurant. There was something out there strong enough to kill a person and hoist them in the tree. Madonna immediately realizes that it's a full moon, meaning Rev must have escaped. Manfred then learned that when Creek had earlier told him that she was working that night, it was at the Gas N Go, not Home Cookin.

Realizing that Creek could be in danger, Manfred rushes over the gas station, hoping to find her before the tiger does. Unfortunately, Rev had gotten there just moments before him. He watches from the bushes as Manfred calls out to Creek. With his sights now set on Manfred, Rev speeds towards him, scratching the newcomer with his claws in passing. Both he and Creek equally shocked by the fact that a tiger was on the loose, they ran into the garage in search for a safe place to hide, the tiger enters through the opposite end, cutting them off. As it goes in for the attack, Creek cuts the hydraulic line, thus dropping a car on top of it. Miraculously, this doesn't subdue the beast for long. It was then that Manfred realized that the tiger was actually the Rev. As he escapes from under the car, the two of them run off and seek refuge in Manfred's RV.
As the two of them hid, Olivia watched over the pawn shop until the Lemuel's arrival, as it was his turn to take over for the night shift. He hadn't had eaten yet, however, Olivia had to cover the shop the entire day, so she wasn't in the mood for leeching. Lemuel then caught the scent of blood, a lot of it. He and Olivia hit the streets in search of the source. On top of Manfred's RV, they discover that Rev, who had turned into a weretiger, had escape the cellar, and was attacking Manfred and Creek. Olivia fired multiple shots at the beast, scaring it off into the night. She initially believed that Manfred was responsible for its release, but as he would come to explain, it was officer Gomez that set Rev free, and it cost the officer her life.

Manfred inquired about his scratch, wondering if it would result in him turning into a tiger, but as Olivia explained, you can only be born a "were", which isn't exactly common knowledge considering the species is rare, according to Lemuel. As he watched Gomez's blood drip to the ground, going to waste, Lemuel could smell the bloody wound that Manfred sustained during the attack. It smelled fresh. With Creek taking Manfred to get stitched up by Madonna, Lemuel and Olivia headed back to the apartment for ammunition specific to hunting weretigers, silver bullets to be exact. While silver sickened Lemuel, the slightest graze would kill the Rev. However, Olivia claims that the beast they were hunting wasn't the Rev anymore.
As Madonna finished stitching him up, she tells Manfred that you need to learn how to protect yourself and the people that you love in order to live in Midnight, Creek included. She took a liking to Manfred even though all he's brought to town was trouble. She warns him not to make her regret sewing him up. Manfred joins Creek over by the table, joking that Madonna's stitch work is better than certain ERs he had been to. Creek chuckles, and thanks him for saving her life back at the Gas N Go, and he thanks her for saving his. Manfred then glances out the window just for a moment and remembers that he left Fiji at the house alone to perform the cleansing. He rushes back over to find the house in utter of chaos, lights flickering, cabinets slamming, the fire place shooting out flames, but within moments, the craziness subsides. Fiji believed that the exorcism was complete.

However, Manfred notices that the Devil's Net is dripping blood, which meant that an extremely evil entity was still present in the house. The ominous red glow was still peaking from beneath the floorboards. A demonic voice begins to call out to Fiji, which only she can hear. It says it wants her, throwing Manfred out the house and locking the door behind him. As Manfred manages to break his way back in, he discovers that the entity has full control over Fiji's body, bending her backwards then dragging her across the floor and up against the wall. He looks back towards the mirror to see the hellish dimension, in which a demonic hand reaches up Fiji's leg. Manfred needed someone a lot more powerful than himself to help, so retrieve his great-great-great-great grandmother's skull from the RV. Manfred calls out to his ancestors, using their power to banish the Demonic entity, resulting in Fiji's release and the incineration of the skull.
Manfred then proceeds to smash the mirror, making sure that the evil was gone. Fiji looks over to the Devil's Net, seeing that his house has been cleansed. She wished to go home but Manfred suggested otherwise after explaining to her that the Rev had escaped. In light of this new information, Fiji calls Olivia, who hadn't yet found the Rev. Fiji volunteered herself and Manfred to search the ranches.

Luckily, she and Manfred managed to track him do. They were soon joined by Olivia, who had her rifle locked on the Rev, followed by Lemuel, who hoped to avoid killing him. Emilio. We've been friends for a long time, Lemuel said, though that didn't seem to have much of an impact. The weretiger lunges at Lemuel, biting into his neck before being thrown off. Olivia was hesitant to pull the trigger, all the while knowing that the Rev would want her to put him down to protect everyone else. However, she holds off at Lemuel and Fiji's request. The weretiger tigers attacks Lemuel once more but this time Lemuel gains the upper hand, slamming the creature to the ground and leeching off its energy, which rendered him unconscious. As the sun rose the following morning, the Rev transformed back into his human form. Naked from the transformation, Manfred covers the Rev up with his jacket. Olivia slowly approaches, telling him that it was going to be okay but Rev knew differently. He was aware that he killed officer Gomez. Unbeknownst to any of them, Joe was watching from the window Strong Angel Tattoo.
Following the discovery of a Sons of Lucifer jacket down stream from where they found the gun and Aubrey's hair being in the zipper of said jacket, Bobo was being released, free of all charges. They believed that her husband, Peter Lowry was involved, and because of this he was a person of interest. Bobo agreed to call Sheriff Livingston should he encounter Peter Lowry. Then he thanked the sheriff as the two of them shook hands before Livingston wished him good luck.

It had been a long time since the last time he killed someone. Rev said a prayer for officer Gomez as he laid her to rest. He was then joined by Olivia, who insisted that it wasn't his fault but he begged to differ. The weretiger is who he is. Before coming to Midnight, he spent a lot of time alone. Tigers are solitary but humans aren't. It was difficult to reconcile with both sides, that's why he became a reverend. He was attempting to find meaning in duality. Olivia questioned if he had any luck, to which he did. Being a Reverend led him to Midnight. The town was his home and his purpose, and he didn't want to lose it. He then tells Olivia that last night was different. Usually a bull is enough to sate him but that time it wasn't. Something was different, and it scared them both.
Back at Fiji's place, she takes a small clump of hair and places it inside a jar labeled "Manfred". She places it inside a cabinet next to similar jars, all labeled with the Midnighters' names. Afterward, she began hearing the same demonic voice as before, calling out to her. Before she could investigate the voice, Bobo enters the room and the two of them hug. He tells her that the charges were dropped and that he owes her. It wasn't too often that friends take on cops for him. She was hoping that now they could put all the ugliness behind that. Unfortunately, Aubrey's husband was still out there, and as long as he was, it was never going to be over.

As Sheriff Livingston exited the station, he got into his car, turned the key into the ignition,and it exploded, resulting in his death. Evil was being drawn to Midnight, Joe said. Both human and supernatural evil. It was only the beginning. The more they evil took hold, the more the veil frayed, until it breaks altogether. Joe reveals to Chuy a painting of what looks to be a war taking place between creatures of all kinds, in a fiery apocalyptic resembling background. He knew this information because he was in Midnight a Millennia ago when it happened last. There was a prophecy, and army would rise to battle the evil and seal the veil forever. That Army would be led by a man with a gifted of vision, who could Bridge the living and the dead. Both Joe and Chuy assumed that the prophecy was referring to Manfred.
Bobo stops by Manfred's house to gift him with a psychic and Clairvoyant palmistry sign, as a thank you for getting him out of jail and a housewarming present. Manfred then tells Bobo that Aubrey wanted to tell him the truth. Peter asked her to get to know Bobo but her feelings for him were real. And while he appreciated Manfred for informing him of this, the girl that he loved didn't exist. He said this just before hugging Creek on his way out as she welcomed him back.

She came by to check on Manfred and his stitches. While they were admittedly painful, at least there was a story behind them. She was genuinely surprised that he was staying in town, especially after the haunting and the tiger attack. She looks to Manfred and reminds him of what he previously said about trying for another kiss once he was no longer bleeding, and so he did. Manfred interrupts the kiss to ask Creek if she was only kissing him to piss off her dad, to which she admitted that 2% of it was her rebelling. The other 98% was because she liked him. As Joe and Chuy looked at the painting, they determined that Manfred essentially stood between them and hell on earth

## Cast

* Dylan Bruce -as- Bobo Winthrop
* Parisa Fitz-Henley -as- Fiji Cavanaugh
* Arielle Kebbel -as- Olivia Charity
* Jason Lewis -as- Joe Strong
* Peter Mensah -as- Lemuel Bridger
* Sarah Ramos -as- Creek Lovell
* Yul Vazquez -as- Rev. Emilio Sheehan
* Joanne Camp -as- Xylda
* Lora Martinez-Cunningham -as- Tina Gomez
* Bob Jesser -as- Shawn Lovell
* Evan Jones -as- Peter Lowry
* Bernardo Saracino -as- Chuy Strong
* Kellee Stewart -as- Madonna Reed

Co-Starring* Shannon Lorance -as- Aubrey
* Matthew Van Wettering -as- Neck Tat

Uncredited* Joe Smith -as- Mr. Snuggly (voice only)

## Production Crew

	+ David Solomon
* **Writer:**
	+ Monica Owusu-Breen
* **Executive Producers:**
	+ Monica Owusu-Breen
	+ David Janollari
* **Consulting Producer:**
	+ Charlaine Harris
	+ Eric Charmelo
	+ Nicole Snyder
* **Supervising Producer:**
	+ Brynn Malone
	+ Al Septien
	+ Turi Meyer
	+ Liz Sagal
	+ Mark H. Kruger
	+ Bill Johnson
	+ David Solomon
* **Producers:**
	+ Anne-Marie McGintee
	+ Christopher Markey
* **Co-Producers:**
	+ Tony Roman
	+ Timothy A. Good
	+ Brendan Finnigan
* **Director of Photography:**
	+ Mike Spragg

## Multimedia

* Promotional
* BTS
* Screencaps
* Videos

Midnight, Texas - Something's Out There (Promo)Midnight, Texas - Bad Moon Rising Sneak Peek 1Midnight, Texas - Bad Moon Rising Sneak Peek 2Midnight, Texas - Bad Moon Rising Sneak Peek 3Midnight, Texas - Bad Moon Rising Sneak Peek 4Midnight, Texas - Bad Moon Rising Sneak Peek 5Midnight, Texas - Why the Hell Is There a Tiger? (Sneak Peek)Midnight, Texas - Send This Demon Back to Hell (Episode Highlight)

## References

1. ↑ Final Adjusted TV Ratings for Monday 31st 2017
2. ↑ Midnight Texas - Episode 1.02 - Bad Moon Rising - Press Release