#pilori

I recently reached out to PNWS for the correct spellings of various names. As a result, the spellings of the following have been changed to their correct forms.

Deva Corporation –> Daiva Corporation
E. Hosdorff –> E. Hausdorff
Pelori –> Pilori

Thank you to the PNWS intern who clarified these for me!

Warmly,
Chris

Mystery: The Pilori and Watchers
Updated: 8/16/16

SPOILERS THROUGH 2x12

1. Strand says he found “watchers” similar to the “Pilori” in the photos found at Riverview Mental Hospital in Coquihalla, BC. He says the Pilori are similar to fairy folkorpixies, and can be extremely malevolent, sometimes murdering children and feeding them to their parents. Per Strand, a Pilori would have to “stay with the child, protecting and guiding them until they grew up. Until they were old enough to… make the sacrifice.” They then “bleed the children on the altar, to the old god.” Also referred to as “blacklings, imps,satyrs.” (2x08).  

2. He furthermore says that “The Pilori believed that symbols and sounds had power. They held that there were certain sigils that could summon or bind. They carried thin iron rods which they would strike to create harmful sounds.” (2x09)

3. Strand says that Rumpelstiltskin was a member of the Pilori, “a watcher of the highest order.” Folklore indicates that if you learned his name, you’d be granted power over him, but Strand found that it was his sigil, not his name that grants this power. (2x09)

4. The sigil that Strand speaks of in conjunction to Rumpelstiltskin was found in a journal written by Strand’s father Howard, found in a safety deposit box, as well as on the inside of Coralee’s ring. (2x09) It may also be the same sigil on the outside of the machines created by Luciternica Resources & Daiva Corporation. (2x10) Strand says that the symbol can either summon or bind a member of the Pilori. (2x09)

5. Various human women are described in similar terms to the Pilori. Simon Reese said, “I was chosen. I don’t remember exactly how, but I have memories, long memories, of when I was an infant. I was just a baby, and a woman came to me and talked, whispered, names, incantations. She opened a door, and it never closed for me… There are mechanisms greater than you. Greater than me. And they’ve been at work for thousands of years. I was to be a cog in that, I was called to play my part.” He also says that his mother was the one who “opened the door” for him, and was one of “them,” likening her to Maddie Franks– those who “prepared the children.” He also said that some of these women are “nurses.” [Ed note: possibly a connection to Riverview Hospital?] (2x06) Likewise, Jessica Wheldon reports having a similar babysitter. (2x07) 

6. We also hear the term “watchers” in 1x05, in relation to the exorcism of Jessica Wheldon.  During this encounter, Father Vincent says he encountered “the Grigori,” an arch-demon, who is “watching.” Also describes the Grigori as “the elemental.” (1x05) [Ed note: interestingly, in Christian theology, the Grigori are collectively, a class of angels, also called “watchers,” who fell from Heaven with Satan.]

7. On the doctor’s recording found at Riverview, it is stated that a patients within the hospital are reporting nightly visitations by “dark, ghostly women.” (2x08)

8. As they discuss the spread of hysteria in the E. Hausdorff case, Alex and Nic have the following conversation: 

Alex: What if… what if something’s spreading? Like… a virus. And it’s been happening for decades, maybe more than that… What if Simon and Hausdorff are just the tip of the iceberg? Like, what if there’s more of them?

Nic: What if it’s not spreading like a virus, but more like a meme? What if there are people going around spreading this strange apocalyptic gospel? Maybe the same group that’s been teaching scary songs to children… Whether you wanna call them the Order of the Cenophus or the Brothers of the Mount, or whatever, couldn’t some group be spreading this message to… a captive audience?

10. Richard Strand describes Coralee’s role within the Advocate’s organization as a “watcher.” He says, “she was tasked with reporting my whereabouts, and most importantly, keeping me safe.” (2x12)

The Disappearance of Coralee Strand
Updated: 8/16/16

SPOILERS THROUGH 2x12


1. Richard Strand’s wife, Coralee, disappeared under suspicious circumstances in 1997. (1x02)

2. The couple was on the way to Big Sur, and had stopped at a gas station. (1x02)

3. It was later revealed that Coralee disappeared after an argument. (1x11)

4. Strand went missing for five days after her disappearance. (1x03)  

5. Strand was the main suspect for a time, but was eventually cleared. In addition, Strand assaulted a psychic who was hired to look into Coralee’s disappearance. (1x03)

6. She was certainly hiding something big from Strand before her disappearance– he describes it as “systematic. Hotels, motels, secret meetings.” (1x11)

7. Coralee’s father believe Strand murdered Coralee. Her mother does not, and believes her daughter to be alive due to a postcard she received. (1x03)

8. Coralee had actually been featured on PNWS through found tape collected around the time of her disappearance, in a segment entitled, “Love on Tape: Sound Audio on the Topic of Love.” The tape was found in 1997 by triathlete Carl Harrison, but not sent to PNWS until 15 years later. At the end of the segment, she asks, “Warren?”(1x05) This may be a reference to Warren Beauchamp, a locksmith (1x09), or perhaps Thomas Warren, who Strand believes “had something on Coralee.” (2x03)

9. There is mounting evidence to show that Coralee is indeed alive: a postcard to her parents (“Thinking of you,” 1x04), a cryptic, computerized voice message to the station (“Richard Strand. Please don’t worry. It’s Taddycoram Dickens. I left you something beside the white chickens.” 2x05), and a book cipher message left on the back of a painting in their honeymoon suite (“Leave me. Find Advocate. Simon Reese.” 2x07/2x08).

10. Tina Stevenson of Lake Tahoe has confirmed that the woman she knows of as Lisa Graves is in fact Coralee Strand (1x10), and was verifiably alive as of 1x12. Lisa Graves is the name of Coralee’s college roommate. (1x11)

11. In 2x05, Coralee’s birth name was revealed to have been Harriet. Strand knew that the “Taddycoram Dickens” message was from Coralee because Taddycoram’s real name was Harriet. Coralee changed her name in high school.

12. Coralee may also have been involved in the cult of Tiamat, as she wore a ring with a sigil that had the power to either call or bind a figure of the Pilori. Strand first noticed the ring when Coralee was admitted for an emergency appendectomy in Prague. She was angry that it had been removed. (2x09)  For more on the sigil, see The Cult of Tiamat.

13. When Richard Strand disappeared for five days, his daughter, Charlie, was with him for four of them as he searched for her. (1x09) Though Charlie regards Coralee as her mother, she was not Charlie’s birth mother, who was Canadian (104). After her return, Charlie had little to do with her father, telling Coralee’s parents that she no longer had a father. (1x04) At one time, she petitioned for emancipation, and is not currently in contact with her father. She does say that Coralee’s parents, the Jacobsons, are not the most reliable character witnesses regarding her father. (1x08) Although Charlie was located in Italy in 1x08, she may have returned, per her conversation with Alex in 1x09 (”How was Italy?”). Her current whereabouts are unknown. When questioned about what caused her estrangement from her father, she is repeatedly evasive, telling Alex to ask Strand instead. Strand’s response is that he told Charlie that Coralee had been having an affair, and she had reacted “badly.” (1x10)

14.  In 2x11, Thomas Warren attempted to set a meeting with Nic and Alex. After some clarification, Strand is allowed to come to the meeting, but no recording devices are allowed. As they are about to go in, they see a big security team heading their way, armed with guns. Just before the security team closes on them, Coralee shows up and (ostensibly) rescues them. She says, “get into the van if you want to live.” Richard does not respond with surprise, leading the listener to believe that he’d known about Coralee’s survival for some time, and that she may have in fact been the female “friend” he referenced working with in 2x08. How long Richard has been in contact with Coralee is currently unknown. 

15. The finale of season 2 (2x12) is dense with more information regarding Coralee’s disappearance. Coralee and two of her associates, a man and a woman, take Alex and Strand to a safehouse that Alex thinks is an AirBnB. She and Strand have a conversation in the bedroom, then Coralee leaves.

In information relayed by Richard after her departure, we find that during their marriage, she had been working or “some kind of shadow corporation” led by the Advocate, who she never met, only speaking with Thomas Warren. Her job entailed being a “watcher,” reporting Strand’s whereabouts, and, most importantly, keeping him safe. Coralee admits that she fell in love with Richard, prompting her to protect him from her own organization, as well as another entity. [Ed note: she specifically says “both sides” but does not specify who those sides are.] At that point, her organization kidnapped her, and it seems she escaped and has been on the run from her handlers since. 

Coralee has long been watching Richard, protecting him. Richard had been receiving some messages from Coralee for some time prior to the reveal that she was alive, but does not seem to have actually been in contact with her face to face.

Alex asks Richard an open-ended question about his marriage (”So, did she… was your marriage…?”) to which he replies, “No, it wasn’t.” Whether she was asking if his marriage had begun organically through a love match, or if Coralee had been tasked with marrying him and fell in love later is unclear. Still, Alex thinks that Coralee still loves Richard, and he responds that it is “not a consolation,” and that he doesn’t think he’ll see her again. 

Here is a transcript of the conversation that concerns her disappearance.

Strand: I haven’t fully processed it all. Not yet.

Alex: Of course. Maybe you’ll see her again. One day. Maybe?

Strand: I don’t think so. At least… I’m not going to pin any hopes on that.

Alex: Well, if it’s any consolation, I could tell she still loves you.

Strand: It’s not. 

Alex: Right. Of course not. 

Strand: But thank you.

Alex (in narration): I wanted to debrief Strand, to ask him what Coralee told him. What happened to her? What was going on? But that could wait. The man had just lost his wife… again. We started driving. We drove through the city for a long time. I think he just didn’t want to be alone that night. A little while later, we ended up back at his place.

Alex: I know it’s been a long night for you, but do you mind if I ask you a few more questions? It can wait if you’re tired.

Strand: Can I offer you a drink?

Alex: Sure, thank you. Thanks. (sighs) So…

Strand: She was a watcher.

Alex: Your wife was a watcher? 

Strand: That’s what she told me.

Alex: And you believe her?

Strand: Yes.

Alex: Okay, so, what does that mean, a watcher?

Strand: She was tasked with reporting my whereabouts, and most importantly, keeping me safe.

Alex: What for? I don’t… I don’t understand. 

Strand: She was some kind of an agent for a shadow organization led by the Advocate. 

Alex: The Advocate? So… do we know who he is?

Strand: She told me that she never met him, or her. She spoke only with Thomas Warren.

Alex: Okay. So, did she… was your marriage…?

Strand: No, it wasn’t.

Alex: Oh.

Strand: She told me that she fell in love with me, and she continued to protect me because of that love. She indicated that she began protecting me from both sides at that point. That’s when they took her. That’s when she disappeared, when she turned on her own organization. She was on the run from her handlers. That’s when she was sending me messages. She told me the podcast was making it harder and harder for her to communicate.

Alex: They were monitoring the show? 

Strand: Yes, they were looking for Coralee.

Alex: Okay, well, that sounds… good, doesn’t it?

Strand: What do you mean?

Alex: Well, not that they took her, or that she ended up running from her own organization, but… she really fell in love.

Strand: She warned me… that the Advocate had been watching me for a long time, and he or her or they are preparing something… big.

Alex: Like what?

Strand: She wasn’t sure.

Alex: Why was she watching you?

Strand: My family.

Alex: What about your family?

Strand: For some insane reason, these people believe my family holds a kind of genetic key to whatever… nonsense they’re preparing.

Alex: What do you mean?

Strand: Coralee believes that Thomas Warren himself is the Advocate, and that he’s been working with the Order of the Cenophus to bring about some kind of… something.

Alex: Did she have any evidence, or connections I could confirm?

Strand: She warned me to stay away from Daiva Corporation. She told me that they believed there was something in my family’s genetic makeup that when the time was right, they could manipulate to achieve some ridiculous end.

Alex: Well, it’s a pretty huge company. 

Strand: Yes, that’s concerning. 

Alex: I’ll say.

16. It is revealed in 2x12 that during the first five days of Coralee’s disappearance in 2017, strand went out into the woods and tried to “rekindle” his psychic ability in order to find her. He then denies he had any psychic ability at all, but was simply distraught beyond reason. He calls this attempt a “momentary lapse of judgement.” (2x12)