The Communicator

The Communicator is the twelfth episode in Chapters.' third season, subtitled Bad Things Happen At Noon. Acting as the directorial debut of Nakota Conrad, it is based off of a story by Mike Barkhoff, who was inspired to do something along the likes after having viewed the 2019 film "Doctor Sleep".

Production
The episode was heavily inspired by the 2019 film Doctor Sleep. Like previous episodes of the season, due to COVID, Barkhoff would film and then send the clips over to the director to get their response.

After the Season 3 finale, Barkhoff confirmed this episode is a sequel set years after Vent Sess. He also noted that, due to the similarities in the next episode, Revisitor, you could see it as being a "fictional conclusion to a trilogy, in a mad man's head" or as a "alternative look at the same man, therapeutic and calmed".

Plot
A man charges people money to speak to the dead, often times giving them answers that lie between what they want to hear and the actual truths. Everytime, it is apparent he is becoming more and more sick and closer to the world of which he communicates.

Trivia
- Acts as the directorial debut of Nakota Conrad's.

- The filming for this episode was done to fit the 2019 film Doctor Sleep.

Continuity
- The episode was, after release, teased to be a sequel to "Vent Sess" and a spiritual predecessor to "Revisitor".

Reception
The episode was met with positive reviews. The camerawork was criticized for being "boring", but the spliced sequences, a homage to "The Shining" and "Doctor Sleep" were met favorably. Barkhoff's performance was again positively reviewed.