Some thoughts about Lorna in “The Ringing of the Bell” after a convo with cosmicscarecrows got me thinking (and then Heather got me posting.) Spoilers and analysis under the cut.

TLDR: I want this episode incorporated into a Psych 101 class stat.

I see Lorna as being played off more as a suffering drug addict rather than a hapless puppet locked in her own subconscious and unable to stop the spirit controlling her. The spirit is compelling her to do these horrible things, but in the same way that a drug addiction changes your brain chemistry to want more of a harmful substance. Because of this, we see very human reactions from her, as well as completely subversive actions to deliberately put the brothers in harms way.

Lorna was duping the brothers from the beginning. The moment she sees them she’s shocked, but not frightened. Considering she knows what she’s done to people in the past, I thought it was curious that she wasn’t worried for them but rather worried that her aunt would find them.

She immediately says “Hide yourselves at once, Auntie Whispers is coming soon,” knowing full well that her aunt wouldn’t harm a fly. She’s not telling them to hide for their own safety, she’s telling them to hide because she wants them to stay.

When Auntie Whispers is looking in the turtle basket and Lorna thinks they’ve been discovered, she gasps with apprehension. Again, she’s not worried about them, she’s worried Auntie Whispers will drive them away. Now I chalk this up to both the fact that she’s been there a long time and is probably lonely, but also because she wants to eat them.

The guilty look on her face when speaking with Auntie Whispers, and the way she dodges around Wirt’s inquiries, especially with her “Auntie does not allow visitors to come here…etc” answer, it’s painfully obvious she’s keen on keeping them there without tipping them off to the danger they’re in.

Also the fact that Auntie Whispers specifically asks “And you have no evil secrets to keep?” is a huge tip off that Lorna has done this before with other victims, which is why Auntie Whispers is so leery of Lorna’s behavior.

Lorna is genuinely happy to be given work to keep her busy, then hopeful as she says “Perhaps this time it could be different” but with a horrendously guilty look on her face. And the two instances where she blushes at Wirt are definitely genuine, but nearer the turning point in the episode she’s acting less happy to be with them, and more like she’s just waiting for the opportunity to leave with them.

The way she stares at Wirt without the usual eye squint or smile pull that people do when they’re enjoying someone’s company was pretty unnerving on the re-watch. Then during the whole exchange between the brothers and Auntie Whispers, she’s just looking back and forth between the two parties until Auntie Whispers says “Lorna, come here,” in her you know better than that tone. Only then does Lorna look at all affected by the situation, when she thought she was about to be ordered to get away from the boys.

Then as soon as Auntie Whispers reveals she doesn’t have the bell, Lorna says “Follow me!” and leads the brothers straight into a dead end closet, again not for their protection, but to get them alone where she can eat them.

I love how this was played because the feel of the episode is a complete 180 when you re-watch it. This is totally the kind of thing we would watch in Psych courses. View the episode the first time with a pause just before the boys run into the closet, then write down a story analysis. Then finish the episode, and re-watch the whole thing again before writing another analysis.

It’s uncanny how different Lorna’s behavior looks when you know how the episode pans out. She goes from the poor, oppressed, adopted niece held captive by a cannibalistic witch, to a creepy, tragic, sociopath pulled between genuinely wanting company like a normal person and sating her horrible hunger.