New Orleans, LA

> "*You were a child, and I did not believe you. I could not, um... when you told me because, the, the... The truth... was too big. The weight of it. You understand? It is real. [..] The monster.*"
> ― Annie to George
>
>

**New Orleans, LA** is the third episode of the first season of the Hulu original series *Monsterland* and the third episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

A New Orleans socialite wrestles with her past.

## Plot

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Annie and her husband, Joe, take her son, George, to a festival in the French Quarter. Annie stops to talk with Nancy as Joe takes George to get some ice cream. Nancy asks to see her ring and expresses how surprised they all were when Joe returned from New Haven with Annie as his fiancée. Nancy then remarks that Annie is "so different."

Annie searches for Joe and George. George runs frantically into her arms with tears running down his face. Annie takes him to get checked out. Joe arrives and explains that George simply took off after they stopped for a restroom break. George claims that a monster with black eyes was chasing him. They then take George to the Children’s Hospital as he sprained his wrist during the ordeal.

Among the partygoers stands a single man in a purple suit with black eyes playing the trumpet.

14 years later, Annie stands by the window with a baseball bat. She goes downstairs to the front door as Joe returns home. She warns him that she heard noises out back. Joe takes the bat and tells her to get his phone. Joe opens the back door to discover that Annie has arranged a surprise party in honor of him receiving the Kayhart Award for medical research.

Annie asks Nancy about her newest "project." Nancy claims that she simply likes helping people and encouraging them to grow. Her "project" is Toni, who is now going by Jennifer. Toni moved to New Orleans to be a dental hygienist. Nancy points out how far Annie has come and views her as an inspiration. Annie reveals that she left home when she was 15 years old and her father was a drunk who abused her mother.

George returns home from college. He greets Marta, the family’s personal chef. He jokes that she still hasn’t burned the house down and that he has multiple girlfriends.

Several of Joe’s patients attend the celebration to speak to how he personally treated them. However, a man named Frank White grabs the microphone and speaks on behalf of his sister, Julie White, who Joe also treated. Joe claims that he doesn’t recall treating anyone by that name. Annie then has Frank escorted out. Frank rushes back in and punches Joe before being restrained.

Marta gives Joe a rag full of ice to stop the swelling. Annie enters the kitchen and tells Joe that they still have guests.

Annie says goodbye to George as he heads out to Tracey’s bar to meet with Kelly. Once all the guests have left, Annie asks Joe about Julia White. Joe claims that she was a resident at Ochsner between 13-14 years ago. Julie became attached, which the board caught wind of. So they fired her. Annie isn’t nearly as upset as Joe expected she would be. In fact, she’s quite understanding. He claims that he never told her because they were in the making, not to mention George’s nightmares at the time. He didn’t sleep for months and thought the house was haunted. Joe worried it would break them. Again, Annie is understanding and wants to put the ordeal behind them.

Annie awakens from her sleep that night to find a man playing a trumpet across the street. She stares at him before slamming the window shut.

Annie gets up the following morning and calls George. She tells him that she’s leaving for New York and that she got him a seat on the plane. Annie then gets a call from Nancy, who tells her to turn on the news as Joe is reportedly accused abusing his patients. Annie then heads downstairs, where Joe is speaking to their lawyer. Kate reveals that last night, Julie White uploaded a video onto her twitter account accusing Joe of molesting her. As it turns out, Julie isn’t a doctor. In fact, she’s a 19 year old NYU student and former patient of Joe’s. And since last night, several other women have come forward. Most of the accusations are outside the statute of limitations. Except one. The most recent victim is currently 11 years old. To make matters worse, Joe’s Kayhart award has been revoked. Kate assures them they can fight the accusations, but Joe admits that he’s sick and that he abused former patients. Since Julie White has come forward, more than 40 other female patients have also spoken out, making this one of the biggest cases of sexual abuse in medical history.

After Joe has left, Annie watches the news as Julie White explains how Joe destroyed her life. She then calls Nancy and asks if she had any idea that Joe was sexually abusing his patients. Nancy claims that she wasn’t aware. Annie recalls the festival in the French Quarter right after she and Joe got married. Nancy said that Annie was different. Annie questions what Nancy meant by that. Annie then calls George and leaves him multiple messages.

Annie remains in the house all alone. She hears the door open and goes downstairs to investigate. She sees no one and shuts the door. She is then startled by the sound of breaking glass. Someone threw a rock through her window with "rapist" written on it. She looks across the street to see the Trumpeter in the purple suit playing near a tree. Annie confronts him; she asks if he threw the rock. He doesn’t speak. He shows his black eyes and bares his fangs before attacking. He grabs Annie, but she hits him in the face with a rock. She then drags his body around back and locks him inside the shed.

Annie cleans up the glass and throws her dirty robe in the trash. She then calls George, again without answer. So she leaves him another message, explaining that she’s done something terrible. Later that night, Annie is forced awake by the sound of the Trumpeter escaping out the shed. She grabs an ice pick from the kitchen and heads outside, where the Trumpeter attacks her from behind. He bites her on the neck, but she manages to escape after stabbing him with the ice pick. He blows his trumpet, causing the windows in the house to shatter one-by-one. Annie retreats into the basement. She hides there until George arrives.

Annie asks George if he remembers when he was a child. She then tells him how someone broke in last night. She explains that it was a monster. The same monster George described when he was a kid. She blames herself for not believing him before and apologizes. George asks if she’s taking drugs or drinking as she’s not making any sense. George then reveals what really happened 14 years ago during the festival; he says that Joe was the monster that he was running from. However, Annie refuses to believe this is true even as George repeatedly says that Joe abused him. Annie explains that without Joe, they would have nothing. She was working minimum wage, flipping couch cushions for change. And now, they have not a single worry. George goes on to reveal that he’s also failing every class. He can’t get over this hurdle. He needs his mother to say that she knew, but she claims that she doesn’t remember. George believes that Joe targeted his mother. He knew that a low-class hotel maid and desperate single mom who would look the other way. For years, George feared Joe, and he’s crumbling now because of it.

When Annie refuses to acknowledge her part in it all, George leaves. She tries to chase him out the house but as she reaches the door, the sound of a blaring trumpet sends her crawling back inside. The trumpet has become too much for her to bear. So she grabs the ice pick from the kitchen and stabs it inside both of her ears, rendering her deaf. She has a brief moment of relief met by sadness and despair as the trumpet continues to play. She looks outside and sees the Trumpeter playing. She follows him down the road barefoot in a white nightgown. He leads her through a cemetery and to the French Quarter, where she is surrounded by monsters much like himself, black eyes and sharp fangs is all she sees as they surround her.

## Cast

### Starring

* Nicole Beharie as Annie Keller
* Hamish Linklater as Joe
* Kaitlyn Dever as Toni

### Guest Starring

* Marquis Rodriguez as George Keller
* Lauren Bittner as Nancy Breaux
* Matty Cardarople as Frank White
* Cheryl Freeman as Kate
* Anthony Harvey as Trumpeter

### Co-Starring

* Christian Cote as George Keller
* Sebastien Cote as George Keller
* Victoria Leigh as Teen Patient
* LeVera Sutton as Marta
* Brad Heberlee as LSU Professor
* Jean McCormick as Nurse
* Erin Wilhelmi as Julie White
* D. Dumebi Egbufor as News Anchor
* James Matthew Ryan as Sarcastic Party Guest
* The Monster Band as Liftoff Brass Band