Limetown is a Facebook Watch series based off of the popular podcast of the same name, starring Jessica Biel. It’s about a small town and research facility that’s more than three hundred inhabitants mysteriously disappeared fifteen years ago. Biel stars as Lia Haddock, a reporter with a personal connection to the tragic event, who is determined to find answers.
Facebook Watch released the first two thirty minute episodes last Wednesday, and will release the first season two episodes at a time each week at the same time. Check out our recap of Limetown episodes one and two below!
Episode One: “I Have Heard The Future”
Who is at the door?
The first episode starts out with a heart-stopping encounter between Lia, and someone (or something) we don’t know. In what looks like a motel room, Lia is taking a moment to herself when she hears a loud pounding start. Knowing this might be an important interaction, Lia gets out recording gear, and faces off with the disturbance.
It’s a man, pounding his head violently against the front door. He issues Lia a warning, telling her to stop investigating Limetown. Knowing that there are answers to be found, Lia sends a message back, saying that she isn’t afraid of them.
Lia Haddock’s search for answers
Lia is a reporter for American Public Radio, and she has pitched the story of Limetown to her boss, Gina. But despite her intense investigation, Gina questions whether there is anything new to find out. Fifteen years is a long time for a case to go cold. Lia has a personal connection to the case, as her uncle, Emile Haddock (Stanley Tucci), was one of the missing, but Lia is hesitant to bring that into the story.
Lia is given a week to find something interesting to add to the story, and given an investigative partner in her coworker, Mark Green. She definitely doesn’t appreciate being given a watcher. Lia deals with the situation, sending Mark to do research while she does her own. Taking a break from investigating one night, Lia finds solace with a woman we assume is her girlfriend.
The history of Limetown
Limetown was a town in Tennessee, founded in 2003 as a research facility and community for neuroscientists and their families. What they were researching and their goals are unknown. This wasn’t big news at the time, until February 8th, 2004, when an emergency call for help came from people inside the town. The emergency services came within twenty minutes, but they found their passage into town blocked by private security forces.
Only three days later did the security surprisingly stand down and open the gates, but there wasn’t much to be found inside. Police, SWAT, and everyone else who came to help swarmed inside, searching for people and answers. But all they found was one corpse, that of Dr. Oskar Totem, the lead neuroscientist of Limetown, tied to a lamppost and burned to death. Everyone else had disappeared, and the community was left abandoned. The police did find a series of cave tunnels that connected to every house and spanned out miles from the center of town. There was no one inside. So what happened to everyone? Can that many people really just disappear like that?
A survivor makes contact
Throughout the first episode, Lia makes contact with a few people close to the event, such as Terry Hilkins, the only reporter allowed at the opening ceremony for the town, and Officer Ron Calhoun, who led the police forces into town on that fateful day. One night in the studio, while Lia is writing up her next report, she gets a surprise call from Terry Hilkins. With Mark and Gina listening in, Terry connects Lia to someone no one expected: a supposed survivor of Limetown. She tells Lia that she wants to meet, and she will only talk to her.
Episode Two: “Redacted”
Emile and Apple
Episode two begins by giving us a bit more background on Lia and her family. Through flashbacks to when she was a kid, we see how her parents fought frequently. She found comfort and solace with Emile, her uncle. We see more of their cute recorded interview, where Lia questions why Emile calls her “Apple.”
Lea’s meeting with Winona
Having memorized all she could about Limetown, Lia heads to the meeting place that the survivor, Winona gave her. When no one shows, she calls the woman, who seems a bit confused about the situation, but she gives Lia her address nonetheless. When Lia arrives, it seems like Winona has forgotten again. She is clearly nervous and overly suspicious. Winona brings out a notebook with everything she needs to tell Lia, and begins her story.
The first shock comes when Winona reveals that there are more survivors, and if Lia listens to her story and follows the rules, she will meet them. She then tells the story of her move to Limetown. Winona came there with a man, surprised by this strange town that didn’t require her to have money or a job. Another surprise for Lia: Winona knew her uncle. But Lia is warned that she has to be there for real answers, and not just to find out what happened to Emile. Lia gets the message.
Who is “The One They Were All There For”?
Winona quickly got bored of the easy life, so she got a job on the janitorial staff at the research facility in Limetown. Working late at night, she started seeing some strange things happening there.
There are nightly experiments, with one man a constant, who she refers to as “The One They Were All There For.” He sits in one room, while an ever changing cast of people sits in another. They don’t see or hear each other, but Winona watches as they draw on a piece of paper in synchronization. It’s the exact same picture, drawn twice. How is this possible. Winona then says that she also experienced a connection with the man, hearing his voice in her head, speaking to her. And that’s it, the whole story Winona gives her.
S-L-V-A
Winona only has one last unanswered question, asking Lia if she knows what “SLVA” stands for. Quickly, Lia puts it together.
She remembers all the families that originally moved into Limetown, and with the new information, she figures out that it must mean “Sylvia,” Winona’s daughter. Lia’s revelation brings back memories lost to Winona. She questions how Winona could’ve left her young daughter behind. After an intense argument, Winona makes Lia leave. When she returns to apologize, Winona’s mind is blank, once again.
A clear warning
The second episode ends where the first episode began, with Lia in the motel room. We see the same intense face-off between Lia and a mysterious, delirious man, warning her of where her investigation might lead. But now we have more context. Once the banging abruptly stops, Lia dares to open the door. All she finds is a bloody stain on the door, and nothing else.
What comes next?
