#02 Injecting the supernatural where it doesn’t belong [S1E2]

“I’m gonna put that tractor in the barn!”

Today we review Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction season 1, episode 2. Mark tries out a new hello and Chris calls it out. Jesse confuses James Brolin for Burt Reynolds. Kyle doesn’t buy it. Everyone shares their approach to analyzing stories. Chris explains he focuses on the supernatural elements having been raised on that subject matter (through TV shows similar to Beyond Belief).

Story 1: The Viewing–A boy allows a mysterious old man to visit the body of the deceased after viewing hours.

• Jesse reveals it’s a case of the “he’s been dead for 5 minutes.”
• Chris points out a rare treat… there’s a notable actor in this story: a young Eric Christian Olsen.
• Jesse points out how bad the customer service is in the funeral parlor. “Where’s my keys?”
• Kyle thought the story was about ignorant children not being able to tell old people apart.
• Jesse forgot which president is on a quarter.

Story 2: The Subway—A couple boards a haunted subway train that takes them on a high-speed ride to nowhere.

• Jesse introduces a theory—“ghosts make elaborate plans.”
• Kyle thought the ghost was merely trying to cock-block the couple’s date night.
• Jesse proposes the couple simply did a lot of crystal meth and imagined the whole evening.

Story 3: Kid in the Closet—No one believes there’s a monster in Danny’s closet until the day his older brother goes inside.

• The hosts discuss how this is one of the most well known and spooky stories of Beyond Belief.
• Jesse points out similarities to The Sixth Sense when Haley Joel Osment is locked in a closet.
• Chris doesn’t think that someone can just vanish. Jesses points out The Leftovers.
• Everyone thinks it’s so well produced and Kyle says he’ll do some research into this one.
• The hosts feel that if the story is so famous then it must be true. They all vote fact (but not the coin)… then Jesse realizes maybe the kids killed Danny and made up this elaborate closet story so know one would look for the body.

Story 4: Justice is Served—A man accused of murdering his business partner starts to see visions in the courtroom.

• Chris points out firsts for the show: first courtroom scene and first appearance of Elizabeth Warren (not actually the politician, but a character with the same name).
• Chris is unimpressed that the story revolves around ghosts showing up in places. “So could it happen? Yeah. Sure.”
• Mark thinks it’s an obvious episode to have been written.
• Jesse wonders if ghosts can come back in any form. “Couldn’t she come back as the girl from The Ring?”

Story 5: “The Tractor”—A niece visits her paralyzed uncle, only to find he’s not who she remembered.

• Jesse thinks a tractor sounds like a train.
• Kyle points out that this is very similar to X-Men’s origin story for Colossus.
• Chris injects the supernatural where it doesn’t belong. No one is buying it.
• Kyle mentions a line in City Slickers where Billy Crystal believes people can have great strength in important moments.

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The story results are revealed.

• To find out which stories are fact and which are fiction… you must listen to the podcast, or check out the full episode below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qnxahNQfNc