The Librarians 1.08: "And the Heart of Darkness"

“This house doesn’t grant wishes. It helps people in need. It was built as a refuge. No one expected a serial killer to find it.”
- Cassie

And just like that we go from ancient sorceresses mucking about with science fairs to creepy haunted houses in foreign countries. A young girl, Katie, stumbles out of a house and happens upon our gang in the middle of a forest in Slovakia. They’ve been on a mission to locate some broken ley lines and Cassie figures out they’re pretty much right where this supposed haunted house is. She’s got some anchoring scrolls that should at least keep the lines fixed for a while but she’s not happy when Eve tells her to stay behind with Katie while the rest of them venture into said creepy abode. Zeke manages to get three of the scrolls set before all manner of shaking and crashing dishes sends them running out of the house. But at least the house doesn’t disappear on them. That’s a plus I suppose.

Unfortunately for our team, just as Eve is delegating tasks again and leaving Cassie out of things (again), Katie goes racing back into the house, bringing all four of our team in with her. They hear footsteps on the upper floors and still Cassie is left to babysit Katie. Yeah, as much as Eve is trying to keep them all safe, she just alienating a member of her team. She, Zeke and Jake go to investigate the rooms but don’t find people. They do happen to find the same picture in each room they look in. Naturally, Jake is interested in the historical aspects of the house and Zeke is just trying not to freak out about being in a haunted house. Eve finds some clothes and then sees who she later learns are Katie’s friends. But Jakes and Zeke didn’t see anyone and when Katie sees her friends’ clothes she rushes off all distraught and a pissed-off Cassie has to go calm her down. Meanwhile, Jenkins fills the gang in on the fact that every story about bad things happening in haunted houses is based on the house they are presently standing in. Well that’s not good.

The news just keeps getting worse as Jenkins deduces which haunted house they are in. It’s the shatter box and it takes victims and then moves on to another place. Very helpful, Jenkins. Or, you know, not. But apparently there is a way to keep it from moving on and taking more victims. They have to find the heart of darkness within the house and destroy it. Eve sets Jake and Zeke to this task which again miffs Cassie (although she’s managed to calm Katie down enough for her to explain why she and her friends had stopped at the house and she mentions that the “he’ is a shadowy figure with a hammer or an ax). As Jake is searching the room he was in earlier, a bright light flashes and Zeke goes missing. He reports in to Eve and after some creepy music plays and Katie’s name is burned into the wall, Eve sends Cassie and Katie back to the Annex for protection. Understandably, Cassie is not happy about this assignment, claiming it’s because she’s so fragile and they still don’t trust her from betraying them to the Serpent Brotherhood. But Katie puts it in perspective. Eve trusts Cassie enough to get Katie out of there, not one of the guys. Which would be great expect the shadowy specter of Death with his hammer starts pounding on the car and busts it so they can’t get away, forcing them back into the house. Don’t think they were counting on that little hiccup.

Jake and Eve are searching upstairs when Jake disappears too, into a dollhouse. And I’m probably not the only one who was reminded of an episode of Charmed where the sisters got shrunk inside a replica of their house. Anyway, we learn some pretty important details as Zeke enjoys some beer and Xbox. The house has existed for a long time and used to have happy families in it until something bad came along. That something turns out to be Katie. There’s a reason the house wants her. I’m thinking the shadowy figure is trying to protect the house and it put the guys in the dollhouse to protect them from her. Cassie now knows the truth with Katie starts talking about other people and places and her eyes glow white. I have no doubt our team will work through it kick her evil ass but they are going to have some trouble getting to the finish I’m sure.

Not surprisingly, Cassie is the one who gets to save the day since she’s been griping about being left out the whole episode. She learns that Katie has been killing people for years and the house is magic. Well Cassie being the brainiac that she is uses that to her advantage and angrily exclaims that Katie isn’t death or the Angel of Death, Cassie is because she’s known since she was 15 that she was going to die and she’s been seeing death in the mirror for years. It turns out the house doesn’t grant wishes but it helps people in need. Which is convenient since now Cassie needs to get her friends out of the dollhouse so they can go home. She’s freed the true spirit of the house (and Jenkins got it wrong, it was the House of Refuge. And it seems that as the gang heads back to the Annex, the dollhouse materializes in the backseat. I guess they’re taking it along for the ride after all.

I have to say episodes 7 and 8 were vastly different but I liked that Cassie got some character development since we’ve spent the last few episodes focused more on Zeke. I’d like some Jake-centric episodes but that’s probably the Christian Kane fan in me. Next week is the two-part season finale. No word yet on if the network is going to renew the show but seeing as the ratings have been decent, I’m pretty confident we’ll be seeing more adventures from this motley crew.