By Tim Binnall
The groundbreaking paranormal docuseries Hellier has returned with a riveting second season that exponentially expands the mystery surrounding stories of goblins lurking in the caves of Kentucky and takes the investigation into tantalizing new realms. The first season of the program premiered this past January and quickly took the esoteric research community by storm thanks to its unique subject matter and fantastic production values. Fans of that first foray into the world of Hellier will be happy to learn that the second season is twice as long, with a whopping ten episodes, and continues to be one of the most well-crafted paranormal television series to come along in quite some time.
Without giving away too many details surrounding the second season, viewers are once again taken along for the ride as paranormal investigators Greg and Dana Newkirk, Connor Randall, and filmmaker Karl Pfeiffer attempt to get to the bottom of a mysterious man's story of encountering goblins in Hellier, Kentucky. Fellow paranormal researcher Tyler Strand joins the team this time around, bringing an infectious energy and boundless curiosity to the proceedings. While much of the first season of Hellier saw the crew largely reacting to the strangeness that they had stumbled upon, the second installment finds them more fully aware of the weirdness that has enveloped them and adds a fascinating kineticism to their investigation as they seem almost obsessed with following the various bizarre leads that pop up along the way.
As with the first season, the series brilliantly captures the maddening nature of investigating the paranormal with possible clues leading to frustrating dead ends, critical witnesses being elusive or evasive, and eerie synchronicities appearing to point the team in unexpected directions. Seasoned students of the esoteric will recognize a vast array of often overlooked topics given considerable examination by the Hellier team. The curious individual known as 'Indrid Cold,' who may have been an alien visitor to Earth, the iconic 'lost' book The Rebirth of Pan, and the purported code possibly used by 'the others' to communicate with humans, made famous in occultist Allen Greenfield's landmark Secret Cipher of the UFOnauts, are just some of the arcane subjects that are pulled from the periphery of the paranormal and provided a long-overdue turn in the spotlight throughout the season.
This second offering from the Hellier team also doubles down when it comes to innovative experiments conducted by the researchers as they attempt to establish some kind of communication with whatever force is behind the enigma that has been dropped in their collective laps. Alongside the intriguing Estes Method, which was one of the highlights of the first season, the crew incorporates into their proverbial bag of tricks the thought-provoking God Helmet device as well as a chilling hypnosis session aimed at inducing contact with 'the other.' In addition to those efforts, they also investigate several locations that often prove to be quite unnerving, like creepy caves and puzzling coordinates given to them by unsettling strangers. All told, the group is to be commended for their nerve and commitment when it comes to chasing after what may ultimately be behind the goblin tales.
On a similar note, one of the most remarkable aspect of the Hellier series, as a whole, may be how it has proven to be so engrossing to its audience. In a manner akin to the television program Lost, fans of the show have not only devoured the latest episodes, which were released just a few days ago, but they have begun their own deep dives into various aspects of the case, creating a veritable open-sourced paranormal investigation which has spawned all manner of theories, possible newfound clues, and a virtual bookshelf of critical texts. This level of engagement transforms Hellier from a series about paranormal researchers investigating a weird tale into something of a phenomenon wherein the fourth wall is smashed and, should they choose, dedicated followers of the program can become nearly as invested in the mystery as the main cast.
Considering how the perceived intelligence behind the Hellier story appears at times to be intentionally pulling the researchers along by always being a few steps ahead of them, it's not surprising that many of the fans of the series find themselves similarly captivated by the case which has gone far beyond that of a 'mere' goblin sighting as if that weren't weird enough. One is left to wonder if this widespread fascination was intentional on the part of that mysterious force and, if so, where it plans to lead us all to next. The second season of Hellier is available now on Amazon Prime and, for those without the streaming service, it will be released for free on YouTube on December 13th.