The Birch

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The Birch is an intellectual property of Crypt TV and a monster in the Crypt TV Monster Universe. The story of The Birch centers around a monster with twisted maternal instincts. Through generations, The Birch protects outcast and bullied children from their enemies. Over the course of a 2016 short film and a 2019 Facebook Watch series, The Birch’s origins are revealed, as are her more sinister traits.

The Birch (monster)

The Birch is a massive birch tree with a human-like face, blackened teeth disfigured in a frightening grimace, and a wide brim of gnarled roots as her crowning glory. To her children, those who summon her for protection, she is (at first) a comforting figure, limbs stretched out to hold them. But to anyone she deems a target, she is ruthless at removing them from her children’s lives for good. The origins of The Birch unfold over the course of season 1 of the series.

Summoning Ritual

Summoning The Birch simply requires building her symbol out of birch twigs (or finding that symbol), giving her a personal item from the intended victim and chanting, “For thee who makest me, I shall come. Thee who breaks me shall come undone.” Once summoned, The Birch seeks out her victims with her roots to torture and eventually kill them.

The Birch: The Protector (short film)

This first installment of the Birch saga was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016. It was released on Crypt TV’s YouTube channel on May 5, 2017. The Birch was written and directed by Anthony Melton and Ben Franklin, based on a story and creature designed by special effects artist Cliff Wallace. Melton, Franklin, and Wallace produced The Birch for Crypt TV.

Plot

Shaun, a bullied English teen, summons The Birch after his grandmother teaches him how. As he walks deeper into the forest to summon his savior, Shaun’s memories flash between his tormentor and visions of his dying grandmother passing down the secret of his new maternal figure. With him, he carries a spellbound book and a symbol his grandmother showed him, which he has fashioned out of sticks.

Shaun’s tormentor, Kris, finds him in the forest, pushes him against a tree, then grabs and breaks the symbol. Suddenly The Birch arises from the ground, shocking both boys. The story cuts back to the grandmother, telling the boy, “Good children will be helped by her. The Birch.” The story cuts back to Shaun, covered in blood, and Kris’s massacred body. Then The Birch gathers the boy under her arm, wraps a root around his wrist, and lets out a frightful shriek as the movie fades to credits.

Reception

The Birch went viral and received a 2017 People’s Voice Webby Award. After the short received 10 million views on Facebook after debuting in early 2017, Crypt TV solidified plans to create a TV show.

The Birch (series)

The Birch series premiered on Facebook Watch on October 11, 2019. It was picked up for a second season, which premiered on March 26, 2021.

Season 1

Episode 1: Through the Woods

The series premiere introduces loner Evie Grayson as she walks past a group of her high school classmates (Ryan Simmington, Wes, and Thurston Polk) dealing drugs. While visiting her mother’s grave to summon her spirit, Evie accidentally witnesses them committing murder deep in the woods. They threaten to kill Evie’s father to keep her silent. She runs away, leaving several of her belongings behind. After picking up a mysterious symbol and searching for it on the internet, Evie discovers the power of The Birch. Equipped with everything she needs to summon the beast, Evie plans to take on her enemies, one by one.

Episode 2: Postpartum

In the second episode, teenager Lanie Bouchard gives birth to a baby girl, Laura. To avoid embarrassment and save her adoptive father’s political career, Lanie’s adoptive parents plan to raise Laura as her sister. Lanie has disturbing, violent visions that are exacerbated when she is not allowed to see Laura but alleviated when she takes her medication. On her first day back at school, Lanie sees Thad, Laura’s father and a high school bully, with a new girlfriend. After being told no during dinner, Lanie sneaks into Laura’s room to hold her, but her parents find her and she has an episode.

Episode 3: Blood Money

The third episode opens with a backstory into the apparent accidental death of the dealers’ victim. After Thurston’s uncle, Seb, pressures him to beat up a homeless addict who stole from him, he and his friends accidentally kill him. They chase Evie through the woods and threaten her, opening themselves up to a world of terror thanks to The Birch. Evie steals Ryan’s lighter and overhears the story of their connection to her overdose, making her more determined to exact revenge. After a little insight is given into his tough home life taking care of a disabled mother on his own, Ryan becomes victim number one.

Episode 4: Thee Who Breaks Me

Evie awakes after having a nightmare about Ryan’s torture at the branch-like hands of The Birch. While contacting Kelly Bernstein, a woman whose little brother disappeared after he summoned The Birch, Evie sees Charlie, Ryan’s girlfriend, run out of school sobbing. She goes to the hospital, where Ryan’s loved ones are visiting. A Code Blue is called in his room and Evie leaves after nurses and doctors rush to Ryan’s room. Outside, Wes threatens Evie again, telling her he will murder her and her father. She rips out his earring, the personal item needed to summon The Birch against him. Upon a second visit with The Birch, the creature wraps her roots and branches around Evie. After the embrace, Evie happens upon a crime scene, where the boys have planted her belongings near their victim. The town sheriff questions Evie about the crime and Ryan’s mysterious death, but her alibi comes when another victim is found.

Episode 5: She’s Coming to Get Us

While Ryan calls out through his door, he’s shown crawling on the floor, bleeding. After his mother opens his door, she screams in horror when she sees that his eyes have been gouged out. Thurston tries to protect Gavin, his little brother, from his uncle, who brushes him off. He and Wes visit Ryan in the hospital, where he warns them that they will be Evie’s next victims before suddenly ending his own life. With a plan to deal with Evie, Thurston leaves Wes behind. He digs up the corpse he and his friends buried, and he sets up a ritualistic-looking murder scene, with Evie’s belongings placed nearby. As Thurston rushes to Wes to prevent him from harming Evie, The Birch arrives first to stop him in her own way.

Episode 6: Skeletons in the Closet

Lanie’s visions and nightmares become increasingly disturbing. Though she tells her psychiatrist, Dr. Sampson, that she is taking her medicine, she skips doses and throws them up. Lanie’s parents put a lock on Laura’s door so she can’t get in again. Lanie and her friend, Darren, talk about how awful her ex and his friends are, and he tells her about wanting to escape to his father’s cabin in the woods. During class,  Lanie has flashbacks to her ex raping her and has a fit, drawing The Birch’s symbol repeatedly in her notebook. In the hallway, Lanie’s ex bullies her friend and then mocks her, prompting her to stab him in the face with a pencil. She is expelled from school, and her father tells her that she cannot leave the house. But Lanie finds her Birch symbol in her old belongings and envisions herself in the woods as she sleeps. In reality, and in Lanie’s dream, Thad is enveloped in huge roots and torn apart. At Laura’s door, Lanie vows to free her.

Episode 7: Jailbreak

After Thad’s remains are discovered, Lanie’s parents board up her windows and lock her doors. But she still manages to signal to Darren from her room. Lanie’s mother (Rachel) goes over SAT prep with her, and when Lanie gets up to pour them juice, she puts her drugs into her mother’s cup. She quickly grabs Laura and drives away with her, ending up at Darren’s father’s cabin. Darren tells Lanie that Thad was found dead, and is then surprised to hear Laura crying. Laura cries from hunger, prompting Lanie to nurse her for the first time, increasing their bond. Darren tells Lanie about his trichotillomania, and she tells him about her burn marks and episodes. She shows him what she calls her dolls, made of tree scraps. She tells him that her favorite is the one made of birch and tells him the special chant to summon The Birch. Lanie excitedly kisses and cradles Laura, but her peaceful slumber is soon disturbed by her father and uncle. Lanie is taken away from the cabin, but not without a casualty.

Episode 8: Creepy Eve is the King’s Point Killer

After Evie’s father finds her on the lawn, she tells him that she’s happy the two boys died. She explains their connection to her mom’s death, and says they did nothing to prevent it. At school. Evie is avoided and harassed. Ryan’s girlfriend attacks her in the hallway and calls her a murderer. While she watches tapes of her belated mom, her dad, Buddy, is stabbed by Thurston’s uncle while trying to help a motorist on the highway. Evie shows up at Polk’s garage and grabs a skateboard, intending to use it to send the Birch after Thurston, but she is unaware that the skateboard actually belongs to Thurston’s younger brother, Gavin. Charlie and her friends show up to harass Evie at her home, and she grabs Charlie’s hat before telling her she’s next, scaring the girls away. Evie hands Charlie’s hat to The Birch, leaving the girl’s fate to the monster.

Episode 9: Flesh and Blood

Thurston has a nightmare about Evie torturing and murdering Gavin, but he wakes up to find him safely in bed. At Seb’s shop, Thurston is brutally beaten by his uncle because his friends’ deaths are bringing attention to his illegal business. Under the guardianship of his uncle’s thug, Thurston tries to deal for his uncle in his usual spot, but the Sheriff, who normally accepts bribes, tells him to leave. Desperate to protect himself and Gavin from his violent uncle, Thurston steals money from the store safe. He sees Evie grab Gavin’s skateboard and unsuccessfully tries to catch her. As he waits at Gavin’s soccer practice, he receives a threatening text from Seb about the money. He goes through his last texts with Wes and realizes what will happen to Gavin since Evie took his skateboard. He chases after Gavin, who is retrieving a soccer ball from the woods. Thurston calls out for Gavin, but The Birch finds him before he does.

Episode 10: I Will Be Calm

Lanie wakes up in a strange, sterile room. She yells out, asking where she is and where Laura is. The only response is a tray of food slid under the door. Her only stimulation comes from the lights in the room changing color, and from chimes of different frequencies going off throughout the day. After days in the room, Lanie eats a bowl of oatmeal from her tray. She awakens again to see Dr. Sampson above her, having strapped her to the bed. The doctor is there to brainwash her into believing that Laura is her sister and into becoming nonviolent. In what turns out to be her final session, Lanie asks Dr. Sampson to tell her where Laura is. Dr. Sampson refuses. As Dr. Sampson reaches for a syringe to sedate Lanie, Lanie stabs her with scissors. Lanie finds disturbing tapes the doctor recorded when she was five, and articles about the murder-suicide where she was actually burned as an infant. She also finds signed death certificates for Laura and her, making her parents’ plans for them apparent. Lanie arrives at her parents’ house as the episode fades to black.

Episode 11: Making Amends

Evie gets instructions on caring for her father’s wounds from a nurse who worked with her mother. Outside, she sees the word “MURDERER” spray-painted on her garage and assumes it’s Charlie. She immediately rides her bike to the girl’s house, realizing she might be The Birch’s next victim. She looks through Charlie’s window and sees grotesque fungus growing on her skin, like mushroom conks growing from a tree. As Charlie begs her to stop, Evie runs away. Back at her house, Evie hears Thurston break in. She threatens him with an ice pick, but he asks her to save his brother. When he leaves, she tells The Birch to let Gavin and Charlie go. She hears Gavin groaning and calling for help in the garden that The Birch grew for her. The Birch entraps her in roots, but Evie frees herself, Gavin, and Charlie, by breaking the symbol. But The Birch isn’t quite finished, as she grabs Thurston’s knife, which Evie took from him and dropped in the garden. After she has a horrific nightmare about her father, Evie sees the symbol on her nightstand and is soon wrapped up in The Birch’s roots.

Episode 12: Murphy’s Law

Thurston cautiously walks up to his uncle’s hardware store when one of his thugs sneaks behind him. He’s thrown on the floor in his uncle’s warehouse, where his uncle kicks him and yells at him about the money he stole. He tells him that he and Gavin aren’t going to California and there is no way out. Gavin shows up, still shaken and filthy from The Birch, and tells Thurston that Evie is watching him. This prompts Thurston to tell Seb what Evie did, which further prompts Seb to insist that Thurston kill the Graysons. Seb and his thug force Thurston to break into the Graysons’ home with them and force Thurston to shoot Lanie’s father. The Birch, having watched from outside, kills Seb’s thug and stalks the others. Thurston escapes once, but is quickly recaptured.

Episode 13: Love is Colder Than Death

Evie is released by The Birch, who was protecting her from being murdered by the thug. But her happiness is soon shattered when she finds her father, dead and covered in flowers. Evie hears The Birch call and goes to the backyard to find Thurston tied up in the beast’s roots. He begs her to help him bring down his uncle, but she tells him to leave. Thurston goes to the hardware store to save Gavin from Seb, but Seb is ready for him. With Thurston as a distraction, Evie can grab one of Seb’s belongings to take care of him for good. As Thurston struggles to keep Gavin alive, the cops look for Evie in the wake of yet another unexplained death. Evie is kneeling at her mom’s grave and talking to her when the cops arrive. But as they try to arrest her, The Birch grabs and kills them, then grabs Evie and pulls her underground.

Episode 14: A Mother’s Love Never Dies

Lanie returns home to hear her parents planning her and Laura’s murder to prevent them from killing others. She begins playing the tape for her parents and murders her father. Her mother, Rachel, runs away and she calmly follows her, asking again where Laura is. Lanie tracks down Laura and Rachel, who triggers Lanie’s memories. Lanie remembers becoming angry that her mother was pregnant and using her supernatural powers to get rid of the baby. Rachel passes Laura to Lanie, but tells her that she poisoned her for being more like Lanie than they had hoped. Lanie begins her transformation into The Birch as she ensnares her mother and her eyes turn black. Hugging Rachel, she continues her transformation and crushes her in the process. Lanie, now The Birch, holds Laura in her arms, sobs, and then pulls her into the earth before she screams in sorrow. Without his friend to protect him, Darren is bullied again. But he finds comfort in a symbol Lanie left behind.

Season 2

Season 2 premiered on March 26th, 2021. It takes place after the events of Season 1.

References

Category:Horror anthology web series Category:Horror short films Category:Monsters Category:Horror web series

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