All language subtitles for Witches.Of.Salem.S01E02.The.Road.to.Hell.720p.WEBRip.x264-CAFFEiNE_track1_[eng]

Narrator:
In January 1692,

A crisis breaks out
in salem village, massachusetts.

It begins when
the minister's daughter,

Betty parris, and her cousin,
abigail williams,

Start suffering bizarre,
unexplained seizures.

It hurts!

Soon, others in the community
also experience

The disturbing
convulsions.

Eventually, the cause of
their suffering is diagnosed --

They are under demonic attack
from witchcraft.

As their condition worsens,

They begin to see
ghost-like visions,

Or specters,
of their tormentors,

And they identify
three local women as witches.

One of them is an enslaved
servant named tituba,

Who attempts to save herself
by confessing.

He appeared.

Narrator: But by admitting to
being in league with the devil,

She confirms
salem's worst fear,

And the town is now on the hunt
for other witches.

It's a terrifying pursuit,

Which will lead to
unimaginable horrors.

♪♪

Three women from salem village
have been accused of witchcraft,

And sent to boston jail,
where they await a formal trial.

Among them is to tituba,
the enslaved servant

Of arguably the most
godly man in salem --

The village's minister,
samuel parris

Under intense pressure
from puritan leaders

At her examination, tituba
confessed to meeting the devil.

But she also claimed
that she was not the only one.

She elaborates
upon her confession,

Confirming salem village's
worst fears.

There is a witch-hunting manual
that suggests that

The surest way
to identify a witch

Is on the word
of another confessed witch.

Tituba said
there were nine,

And spoke about
this man in black --

The dark man.

If you believed all this,

There are six more out there,
and there is the ringleader,

The devil's agent,
the most evil central actor --

The man in black.

♪♪

Narrator:
The disturbing convulsions
that began with the girls

Of the salem parsonage

Now start to spread to others
in the community.

Little:
These sorts of behaviors,
they're highly contagious,

Because of being adolescents
and teenagers.

Peer influence
is everything.

Howe:
The affliction spread

Out of the parris household,
to subsequent households,

And out of the young age group,
and into the adolescent,

And then, adult age group.

This moves from the hand of
satan upon the parris household

To the hand of satan
upon all of salem village.

Narrator: Fearing the spread
of demonic forces,

Samuel parris
has sent his afflicted daughter,

Betty, away,
to stay with a colleague.

But his niece and maid,
abigail williams,

Remains in the parsonage.

Parris calls for days
of fasting and prayers.

Unsurprisingly,
the days of fasting and prayer

Don't do anything to free the
girls from there bewitchment.

♪♪

♪♪

Howe:
Samuel parris, perhaps, should
have looked to his own soul,

And said, "why would god have
brought this onto my household?

What have I done?"

Peone: He may not have seen it
as an embarrassment.

He may have seen it as
validation of his godliness,

That he would be visited
by this demonic torment.

Narrator:
The daughter of local landowner

Thomas putnam,
ann putnam jr.,

Has also been suffering
mysterious seizures.

She, too, has had visions of
spectral witches attacking her.

But the next person
she names shocks everyone.

Coy: On March 11th,
ann putnam jr.

Names one of the specters
that has been afflicting her,

And causing her fits.

Who do you see?

And she names a new sort
of suspect.

Who's hurting you?

The fourth person who
is accused is martha corey.

This is surprising
to thomas putnam,

Given the nature of the first
three women who are accused.

Narrator:
The first three women

Fit the stereotypical image
of a witch.

Coy: This is someone who has
the respect of her community,

And is deemed by her neighbors
to be a pious woman.

Narrator: Thomas putnam finds it
hard to believe martha corey

Could really be a witch.

We need to know
what she's wearing.

The putnams ask her
what her specter was wearing.

Can you see?

Narrator: He believes
if the close of the specter

Seen by ann match those
of the real martha corey,

It will confirm
her vision.

I think we
should visit her.

We need to know
what she's wearing.

She has blinded me.

When ann realizes
they intend to visit martha,

She suddenly claims
to have been struck blind.

She says she will
return tonight,

To make me pay
for identifying her.

Hill:
So, they go off to see.

Almost as soon
as they get there,

She says "oh, I know what
you've come for."

You've come to talk to me
about my being a witch.

Narrator:
The putnams tell her that
ann has named her as a witch --

An accusation
she immediately dismisses.

You'll come because one of
the afflicted has named you.

I cannot help it if people
are talking about me.

She was very good at
sticking up for herself.

She sounds very confident.

We must remain vigilant.

After that, she says,

"did ann putnam say
what I was wearing?"

She was blinded
until this evening

To prevent exactly
such a comparison.

Narrator:
When martha hears that ann

Claims to have
been struck blind,

She can't help
but smile to herself.

But to the putnams, martha's
reaction appears sinister.

A few days later,
martha curry

Is invited
to thomas putnam's house.

-Ann, you have a visitor.
-Hello, ann. How are you?

I think she was hoping
to be able to have

A heart-to-heart with ann.

But moments after she arrives,
ann suffers a seizure.

Ann: Let me be.

Please, let me be.

Narrator: Seconds later,
thomas putnam's servant,

Mercy lewis,
also collapses.

♪♪

Look. A yellow bird is sucking
between her fingers.

I see it right there.

♪♪

Narrator:
Ann's hands are suddenly
stuck fast to her eyes.

Thomas: Sit. Sit down.
Sit, sit, sit.

♪♪

When her hands
finally come free,

Ann sees a man
roasting on a spit,

Being turned
by martha corey's specter.

♪♪

Mercy strikes
where end points.

The vision disappears,
then blinks back.

♪♪

♪♪

Please, let us be.

She and ann putnam
respond so strongly

To martha corey's presence
that she has to leave.

You must leave
right now. Leave.

Narrator: Thomas putnam
makes no distinction

Between the real martha corey
and her spectral vision

Seen by his daughter ann.

Five days after her visit,

He lodges a complaint
accusing her of witchcraft.

-I heard the rumor. Is it true?
-I am afraid so.

With a respected member
of his parish named as a witch,

Samuel parris
grows increasingly anxious.

Unsure what to do, he invites
salem's former minister,

Reverend deodat lawson,
to the village.

Now, the numbers
of the afflicted

Are growing by the day.

Parris hopes that lawson
might be able

To offer
guidance and advice.

Hill: Deodat lawson had
some standing in the village

Because he'd been
the pastor there before parris.

There are already three
accused which is in prison --

But worse, one church member
has been put under arrest.

What was in it for him

Was that he was a bit
of an aspiring writer,

And he hoped there might be
a book in it.

Narrator: Lawson takes a room
above the village tavern,

Where he is to stay
for the next few days.

I understand
the reverend lawson is here.

I was hoping
to speak with him.

Shortly after his arrival,
he's visited

By one of the afflicted girls,
a teenager named mary walcott.

[ knocking ]

Come.

Hello, reverend lawson.

Hello, mary.

Hill: They would have
known each other

From when he was working
in the village.

She may well be bringing
greetings from parris.

I understand your fears.
You must always remember --

However the devil
may try to hurt us,

We have nothing to fear.

Narrator: After they finished
their conversation,

Mary turns to leave.

[ yells ]

Whatever is the matter?

♪♪

In the candlelight,
lawson sees teeth marks.

What caused this?

Just now, I...

I saw the dark specter approach,
and then...

...Well,
I felt it bite me.

Hill: He didn't doubt that
that was his introduction

To what was going on
in salem village.

Narrator: Unless mary really was
bitten by a demonic presence,

The only other explanation
is she made the marks herself.

Hill: I would imagine
that she would have done it

Just before she actually
went in to see him.

Narrator:
It seems likely this is one
of the first examples of fraud,

And a sign of a very different
kind of evil in salem.

Narrator:
The number of afflicted girls
in salem is growing,

And several women are in jail,
suspected of witchcraft.

At first, it was only outcasts
who were accused,

But now, a respected member
of the parish

Has been named as a witch.

That is
the devil's work.

Lawson: I am well aware
that some of you here believe

The torments
of the afflicted

May proceed from some cause
other than the devil.

Narrator: Nearly one week
after the incident

With mary walcott,

Lawson delivers a guest sermon
in the village.

Let us not doubt the reality
of the evil among us.

Several of the afflicted girls
are present.

Among them,
abigail williams.

Only through prayer
and trusting god

Can we protect ourselves.

Now, name your text.

Coy: Abigail williams
shows disdain,

And acts out
during the sermon.

A passage from john 6.

That's a long one.

Narrator:
Lawson is completely thrown,

And struggles to speak through
the constant interruptions.

Here, you can see them
acting out,

Taking these
aggressive postures

Towards a man of authority
within this puritan community

In ways that would have been
totally, totally forbidden

For women -- and particularly
young women -- at this time.

So, we must put on
the whole armor of god.

That's enough of that.

Narrator: The apparent cause
of the bizarre behavior

Is the presence of accused
witch martha corey.

Although a warrant
has been issued for her arrest,

She cannot be arrested
on the sabbath.

But the afflicted girls
seem determined

To make sure everyone knows
martha is a witch.

Look. Look. Up there.

Goodwife corey
sits on the beam,

Suckling the yellow bird
between her fingers.

Once again,
they see the yellow bird

The devil often
has with him.

The bird is sitting on
the minister's hat.

There.

See?

Can't you see it?

Hear me, now.

I intend to clear up
the matter of this accusation.

I will open the eyes
of both the magistrates

And the ministers
to the truth.

Don't think that
either mischievous girls

Or even the devil himself

Can stand victorious before
a gospel woman like myself.

Narrator: But martha has no idea
what she is up against.

♪♪

As with the previous
examinations,

Martha corey is brought
to the village meeting house

To face
magistrate john hathorne.

Dear lord, we ask for
your wisdom and guidance.

Please,
let me go to prayer.

No.

I do not send you
for prayer.

Narrator: The afflicted girls
are once again present,

But there are now
over a dozen of them,

And, emboldened
by their growing numbers

They immediately suffered
terrifying convulsions.

There's a strange, physical,
performative quality to the way

That the afflicted girls behave,
which is then reinforced

By the spectatorship
of the crowd.

Tell me, why do you
hurt these children?

Narrator:
John hathorne begins with
a series of leading questions.

I am an innocent person.

I've never had to do with
witchcraft since I was born.

Then, martha's husband,
giles corey,

Is called
to give evidence.

We've had several
mysterious things happen.

Giles presents
a long list of behaviors,

Which he claims to find odd,
and it quickly becomes clear

He holds a grudge
against his wife.

I don't know
if she prays.

He claims that, when his wife
prays, he can see her lips move,

But he cannot hear her.

A lot of books.

Dangerous.

Not healthy to read so much,
especially for a woman.

Hathorne then
questions martha

About the visit
from thomas putnam.

When you were visited
the other day,

How did you know
they were coming

To see what
you were wearing?

Because they told me
that's why they were there.

She lies.

Ann was blind.

Dare to lie
to this assembly?

They immediately start badgering
her with intense questions.

And from that moment on,

She seems to lose
the sympathy of the court

Narrator: Martha repeatedly
claims she is a gospel woman.

Gospel witch!

♪♪

Narrator: But as the girls'
seizures worsen,

It seems clear to everyone
that martha must be the cause.

How do you explain this?

Narrator:
As chaos engulfs the courtroom,

Hathorne makes no attempt
to keep order.

I urge you to confess.

He doesn't even object
when a shoe is thrown,

And hits martha
on the head.

I have seen enough.

Take her.

Martha is taken away
to boston jail,

To join the other
accused witches,

And everyone in salem village is
left wondering who will be next.

It seems any name at all might
be shrieked in the parsonage,

And then whispered
from one farm to another.

The accusation
against martha corey

Fills salem village
with paranoia and suspicion,

And yet, no one is prepared
for who is named next.

Please, come in.

♪♪

I'm afraid you arrive
at a difficult moment.

Deodat lawson
is visiting the parsonage

When he witnesses
a bizarre fit.

Abigail williams is described
as running around the kitchen,

Flapping her arms,
and saying "wish wish wish,"

And saying she's gonna
fly up the chimney --

Which if you've ever hung out
with an 11-year-old girl,

Is kind of like how they act
when they're being silly.

But because abigail was
stepping outside the bounds

Of what was culturally
acceptable for her behavior,

She was considered to be
somehow taken by the devil.

Coy: It no doubt
reinforced for lawson

The demonic assault
that the community was under.

Paris: What is it?

Do you not see her?

Why, there she stands.

Who does?

Goodwife nurse.

Rebecca nurse -- an older woman,
well-respected,

From a good family --
was seen by many

To be this incredibly pious,
upstanding woman.

She seemed to truly be
among the puritan saints.

How was it that she
could be a witch?

She offers me the book.

Your name is missing.

I won't.

I won't --
I won't take it.

Narrator: Abigail refuses
to sign the devil's book,

But the theatrical episode
has led to

The most controversial
accusation so far.

♪♪

Rebecca nurse is 71 years old,
and seriously ill.

When four friends hear
that she has been named

As a suspect,
they go to visit her.

Howe: She has been very
prominent in the community.

She is part of
a prominent family.

Despite my illness,

I can tell you I've experienced
much spiritual comfort --

Although my hearing
worsens by the day.

You could see the accusation
spreading to her

Perhaps because of that
very visibility --

Because of the way
she looms large

In the public's
imagination.

I pity those poor afflicted
children with all my heart.

Hill: She had nothing but
kind words for the girls.

I go to god for them.

And then, they felt
they had to tell her

That she herself
had been named.

You are spoken of, too.

♪♪

Me?

She is absolutely
flabbergasted.

But I'm as innocent
as an unborn child.

♪♪

The naming of rebecca nurse is
really a critical turning point.

Rebecca nurse, you stand
accused by these children.

What do you say to it?

I could say before my eternal
father, I am innocent.

Aronson: It's one thing
to go after outliers.

It's another thing to go after
pillars of the community.

So, now, you have accusers
who are predominantly

The least trusted members
of the community,

Trumping the word

Of the most trusted members
of the community.

So, this is a reversal
of the world.

And yet,
they accuse you.

All I can say is I am innocent.
I've done nothing wrong.

If she is innocent,

Why does she continue
to hurt the children?

Can she not see that
the children are hurt?

Narrator: Rebecca's examination
soon becomes even more frenzied

Than martha corey's.

[ coughing ]

The girls started
imitating her movements,

Like little girls at school
making fun of somebody.

Brock: I think,
for a lot of the girls,

They initially may have gotten
caught up in this drama.

Maybe some of them
cynically wanted

To get involved
in the fun.

But I do think others
genuinely came to believe

That satan had laid his hand
upon them, as well.

How do you
explain this?

I cannot.

It is false.

I am clear.

[ screams ]

Narrator: Rebecca's claim
of innocence sends the girls

Into uncontrollable seizures,
while ann putnam jr.

Sees the devil himself
standing at her shoulder.

Narrator: The naming of
rebecca nurse as a witch

Has sent shockwaves
through salem village.

I do not hurt them.

After a riotous appearance
at the town meeting house,

She's sent to boston jail

To join the other
accused witches.

Meanwhile, another suspect
faces questioning.

And what about you?

♪♪

Dorothy good is the 4-year-old
daughter of sarah good,

The beggar woman
who has already been imprisoned.

The assumption is that,
if her mother is a witch,

The daughter surely is,
as well.

What familiars
did the devil give you?

Another piece of evidence
is based on the belief

That all witches suckle animals
to carry out their bidding.

I have a little snake
that suckles on my hand.

Show me.

Where does the snake
bite you? There?

No. Not there.
Here. See?

Hill: She pointed to
a little sore on her finger.

Did the man in black
give you the snake?

No.

Who was it, then?

My mom.

Narrator: Dorothy good
is taken to boston jail,

Where she is incarcerated
along with rebecca nurse,

Martha corey,
sarah osborne, tituba,

And her mother,
sarah good.

Because she is believed
to be so dangerous,

She is heavily restrained
with metal chains.

Hill: They had to make
special manacles for her

Because her wrists
were so small,

Because she
was only 4 1/2.

The boston jail was a nasty,
dirty, dank place.

Rats scurrying
across the floor.

The smell of chamber pots,
unwashed bodies,

Rotten food vomit
on the floor.

And people languishing in
this jail as they await trial.

When you were in jail,
your family had to support you.

There was no meal service,
there were no clothes.

You know, your your friends
and your family

Would have to bring you food,
or you wouldn't get any.

Brock:
The fact that they had to pay
for their own room and board,

For fundamentally an imagined
crime that they were accused of

Is one of the darker legacies
of all of this.

Coy: The best evidence
that the court could provide

Was the confession of
suspected witches themselves.

In their attempts
to gain these confessions,

They even resorted to
illegal forms of torture --

Things that would not have been
allowed back in England.

Tying people
neck and heels --

A painful form
of twisting people,

And bending
their spine back.

Sometimes, they would
tie you to boards.

So, it's a board tied
around your shoulders,

And a board tied
behind your ankles,

And then, those roped together,
and hold back back back.

And they would keep people
like this for hours,

Until they would confess.

Narrator:
The naming of rebecca nurse

Continues to send shockwaves
through the salem community,

And reinforces the doubts some
have about what is happening.

I'd like to begin
by reading a note

Left by our friend
mary warren.

One of the skeptics
is local landowner john proctor,

Who claims to have cured
his maid, mary warren,

By thrashing the devil
out of her.

Hill: She wanted people to pray
in thanks to god

For her being delivered
of her fits.

"thanks to the good grace
of our lord,

I am now free of the terrible
hand that was upon me."

Narrator:
But some of the afflicted girls
suspect mary has only recovered

Because she has signed
the devil's book.

I'd now like to begin
today's sermon.

Meanwhile, samuel parris
claims he has no doubt

That his church
still faces a demonic threat.

Christ knows how many devils
there are in his churches,

And who they are.

As soon as parris
says these words,

Sarah clayes marches out
of the meeting house.

The reason is obvious
to everyone there --

Her sister, rebecca nurse,
is an accused witch in prison

Like others before her,

She will soon discover
the danger

Of attracting the attention
of the afflicted girls.

Narrator: Six suspected witches
now languish in boston jail.

But as the afflictions
in salem spread,

So do the accusations.

But some villagers
have their doubts,

And the skepticism
is finally expressed

By mary warren's master,
john proctor.

If these girls are left
to their own devices,

We shall all become devils
and witches is quickly.

For all that salem
is really interesting

As an exemplified case
of a witch hunt,

It is important
to remember

That there were skeptics.

Howe: John proctor makes
the case for this being a case

Of childhood silliness --

Of girls shirking work,
of acting out, of misbehaving

And needing correction.

If I had not beaten
the devil out of mary, here,

She, too, would still
be afflicted.

Are you quite recovered
now, mary?

Yes. Quite recovered.

Narrator: But by publicly
questioning the girls,

John proctor makes himself
and his family

Unwitting targets.

So, it is no surprise
when his wife elizabeth

Is the next
to be accused.

With the numbers of both
afflicted and accused

Growing by the day,
the authorities decide

To hold the next examinations
in salem town.

First to face trial
is sarah clayes,

The sister of accused witch
rebecca nurse,

And the woman who had stormed
out of the meeting house.

She faces no less powerful
a figure than thomas danforth,

The deputy governor
of massachusetts.

Aronson: What's important
about thomas danforth

Is that there is
a concern, now.

Are things
being handled correctly?

Bring them up
one at a time.

And thomas danforth
comes upon an idea

That actually
was very smart.

He, by carefully examining them
one by one,

Was gonna kind of break up
the mass, and get to the truth.

Narrator:
But with their biggest audience

So far, the afflicted girls
fall into chaotic convulsions.

Why do you
hurt these girls?

Please, don't.

Aronson:
The force of the mass

Overwhelmed this effort
on danforth's part.

Narrator: Danforth eventually
manages to restore order,

And john proctor's
wife, elizabeth,

Is brought
to the stand.

It seems john proctor's
public outburst

Questioning the accusers
has made his wife a target.

Perhaps you might recite
the good lord's prayer.

Brock: Puritans believed that,
if someone could say

The lord's prayer start to
finish without making an error,

Then, it meant that they must
to be one of god's elect,

And that they surely
couldn't be a witch.

Our father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.

Stop there.
Once again.

Our father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.

There.

You said.
"hollowed be thy name."

Hallowed, hollowed.

You know,
her accent comes into play.

That's not...I didn't...

But all present
heard it clearly.

And that linguistic slip
is taken as proof

That elizabeth proctor
is in league with the devil.

And then,
things get even worse.

Ann putnam claims that
she is being attacked

By elizabeth's specter.

She bids me sign
the devil's book.

My dear.

Judgment awaits
in heaven.

Is she the one
that torments you.

Yes.

And goodman proctor, too.

When elizabeth is accused,
john, who's already been

A vocal skeptic,
loses his temper.

Are we to believe what these
distracted children say?

He calls the entire process
into question.

They are the ones
who should be hanged.

He voices a skepticism

That the court
is not sympathetic to.

It undermines the power
of the magistracy,

And he's deemed a threat
for that reason.

Narrator: John proctor's protest
sends the girls

Into even wilder seizures.

Abigail is attacked
by elizabeth's specter.

She touches her head,

Only for her hand
to suddenly burst into flame.

My hand!

It's on fire!

Look!
It's on fire!

Narrator: The symptoms
the afflicted girls experience

Are becoming
ever more bizarre.

But still, no one doubts
they are caused by witchcraft.

And the numbers of accused
continues to grow.

Sarah clayes is sent to
the jail in boston,

Along with both elizabeth
and john proctor.

With the proctors in prison,
their maid, mary warren,

Witnesses
the sheriff arrive

To seize all of the proctor'
worldly goods.

Aronson: Once the people
are starting to be accused,

There's a sheriff
who's going around,

And collecting stuff.

And he is close to
one of the judges.

Narrator: Under the law,
convicted witches

Can have their property seized
by the crown.

But in salem, property is taken
before suspects

Have even faced
a formal trial.

At the proctor's house,
the sheriff and his men

Are deliberately
destructive.

Aronson:
It shows how, once you have
these kinds of things going on,

People take advantage
of them.

"what can I grab
out of this,

In this moment
of fear and terror?"

Narrator: By now, it is clear
no one is beyond suspicion.

Those who question
the afflicted girls

Immediately become
suspects themselves.

This is especially true
of the next person accused.

♪♪

Hathorne: What do you have
to say for yourself?

Are you guilty,
or not?

I am innocent.

Narrator: Mary warren was
one of the first girls

To suffer bizarre seizures.

But after publicly questioning
the other girls' honesty,

She finds
herself accused.

A little while ago,
you were an afflicted person.

Now, you are
an afflicted.

How does that
come to pass?

Hill:
Everybody was saying to her,

"what you mean
you were delivered to your fits?

What are you
talking about?

All the other girls
are still having them."

Narrator: She tells the court
that, since her master

Thrashed the devil out of her,
she's seen the truth.

The girls do
but dissemble.

She intimates that some of
the girls might be lying.

Narrator: Mary's accusation
sends the girls

Into spectacular
convulsions.

Coy: I think she sees
the writing on the wall,

Of "I'm gonna get hanged, too."

Narrator: Mary faces
a stark choice --

Remain faithful to the truth,
and be tried as a witch,

Or slide back
into a frenzy.

The choice she makes
is inevitable.

Take her away.

But it doesn't
save her from jail.

God has forsaken me.

Shackled in boston jail,
mary bemoans her fate

In the presence
of several prisoners

Whom she had
once accused.

She explains that,
while suffering her seizures,

She thought she saw apparitions,
but now, she has recovered.

She knows
she was mistaken.

But mary also knows
her only hope of escaping jail,

And possible death
by hanging,

Is to tell her accusers
what they want to hear.

When she's in jail,
and she sees that, now,

She's among the witches
rather than among the afflicted,

She is eager to have herself
out of jail,

And back in court as a witness
rather than as a defendant.

The magistrates
are equally invested

In her recanting
her testimony.

And you admit you signed
the devil's book?

By that time, the testimony
of these afflicted girls

Is instrumental to them
being able to convict

These evil witches
in their midst.

Narrator: The authorities want
mary to swear that john proctor

And his wife gave her
the devil's book to sign.

Was it like this?

Finally, mary tells them
what they want to hear.

I was alone one day,

Eating some buttered bread,
and he appeared with a book.

He held it open,
and asked me to read it.

And as soon as I touched it, a
black mark appeared on the page.

A smudge also got into
the piece of bread I was eating.

I was deceived!

The authorities are keen to
use mary as a witch finder,

And so, now that they
have her confession,

She is released
from jail.

By mid-April, the witch hunt
is running out of control.

Nine witches have been named,
and are in prison.

But the mysterious man in black
who was called out by tituba,

And believed
to be the ringleader

Of all the terror,
remains at large.

But finally,
at the end of April,

Ann putnam encounters
the notorious man in black.

Narrator: The demonic conspiracy
terrorizing salem village

Has been growing
ever worse,

Filling boston jail
with suspected witches.

But now,
ann putnam jr.

Encounters the notorious
man in black.

Where do you come from,
and what is your name?

Man:
Do you know me?

Are ministers
witches, too?

And putnam jr. Sees
the apparition of a minister.

I won't sign it -- not even
if you tear me to pieces.

Who are you?

I am the man in black.

He tells her that he's forced
some of these other witches

To sign a compact
with the devil.

Not only does
his specter appear,

But the ghosts of
his first two wives appear.

I killed my wives.

Now, they tell lies.

One of the specters
claims he stabbed her

Under the left arm,

And put a piece of sealing wax
on the wound.

The other says
he killed her onboard ship

While travelling home
to salem.

Man:
I am more than a witch.

I am a conjurer.

Come with me.

No.

Narrator: The following night,
abigail williams

Finally discovers the identity
of the man in black.

In the pasture
outside of the parsonage,

A great community of witches
was drawn together

By the blaring
of a horn.

Narrator: Abigail runs into the
pasture, where she is confronted

By a spectacular vision.

There, before her,
she sees a diabolical meeting

Of hundreds of witches
from throughout new England.

She hears them discuss how they
have flown in on broomsticks

From neighboring towns
and villages.

Some, she even recognizes
as accused witches

Who are in jail.

And standing behind
a huge table

Is a man she assumes
to be the devil himself.

The visions of the black masses
are so clearly

The reverse
of a regular service.

They came together,
and sat in orderly rows.

It's as if you took
a minus sign

In front of everything

That a service is
and is supposed to be.

So, instead of a christian
communion, they eat red bread,

And they drink blood
instead of wine.

Within this intensely
patriarchal puritan imagination,

There must be
a man behind it all.

The archetype of satan,
the person who is behind

All of this
infestation of evil.

Narrator: A trumpet blast
summons everyone to order,

And the man in black stands
to address his subjects.

Coy: He instructs all the
witches, in the latest commands

From the devil, of how they are
to attack the puritan community

And how they are to afflict
their victims.

Narrator: It's clear
their aim is nothing less

Than the destruction
of all new England.

Finally, abigail
recognizes the minister

At the head
of the table.

Aronson: The accusation comes
of george burroughs

Being the man in black.

Coy: George burroughs had been
a minister in salem village,

And had left
for the main frontier

After being expelled
by the parishioners.

Now, we're talking about
an ordained minister of god.

Narrator: Burroughs is
a respected man of god

At the head
of the church.

Coy: This is a real attack
on the sanctity

Of the entire
puritan community.

Abigail,
who is it?

If burroughs is
the man in black,

Then, the whole godly kingdom
is in deadly, deadly peril.

Narrator: Next time on
"witches of salem"...

As the witch hunt
gathers pace,

George burroughs is arrested,
and must face his accusers.

I cannot help
what people say.

Meanwhile,
the authorities in boston

Finally bring
the suspects to trial.

With paranoia
running out of control,

Those condemned face a
terrifying execution by hanging.

But will salem's efforts to rid
itself of witchcraft succeed?