The last section of this article includes discussions and an image that could trigger emetophobia.
Apple TV+‘sBeforeepisode 7 includes multiple exciting reveals that finally start to provide answers about the central mystery. Since the first episode’s October 5 release, Before has told a strange story about the connection between a young, troubled boy named Noah and a grieving, widowed child psychologist named Eli. TheStephen King-approved Apple TV+ thrillerhas created divided responses, with critics tearing the show apart and audiences having neutral to positive responses.
The slow-burn mystery might not appeal to everyone, but each episode has continued to build off the last.Now thatBeforeis in its final stretch, the show is making it clear how deep the connection between Noah and Eli runs. As episode 7 reveals, their history likely stretches further back than their introduction at the start ofBefore.
8Eli Is Placed On Probation After The Scalpel Incident
At the end ofBeforeepisode 5, Eli takes a scalpel to Noah’s forehead to remove a hallucinated worm, causing him to get six stitches. The next episode establishes that the hospital is considering how to handle the situation, with questions arising about whether Eli will continue to have a job, let alone maintain a therapeutic relationship with Noah. The child psychologist tries to spin the incident as a radical form of treatment, about which the disciplinary board seems skeptical.Beforeepisode 7 finally answers the question about what’s happening with Eli’s career.
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Eli didn’t lose his job after the incident – which is a miracle – but the hospital placed him on probation.He isn’t supposed to be working with Noah at all, and Jane only allows him to provide temporary therapy treatment because of their established therapist-client relationship to prepare the young boy for transitioning to a new mental health provider and hospital. Surprisingly, despite his being on probation, Eli’s therapy sessions with Noah aren’t supervised by another mental health professional.
7Eli Does Hypnotherapy With Noah In The Play Therapy Room
Eli Engages In Questionable Therapeutic Practices With His Young Client
When he’s supposed to be doing basic, transitionary therapy to help his client prepare for a new mental health team, Eli once again decides to take an unapproved approach to treating Noah. He engages in hypnotherapy, which can be effective if used correctly by a qualified professional who knows how to utilize the therapeutic techniques. Unfortunately, Eli’s version of hypnotherapy looks more like repressed memory therapy, a controversial and potentially dangerous therapy that can lead to confabulations – or false memories (viaHealthline).
Not only does Eli suggest there are deeper memories of Noah getting hurt – an influential suggestion – but he doesn’t stop the therapy when his client is actively screaming while in mental distress.Most of the psychology world has rejected this type of therapy as an effective treatment. The entire sequence shows that Eli’s desperation for answers has created a circumstance where he can’t maintain his objectivity, which Cleo later points out. He doesn’t have a healthy therapeutic relationship with his client anymore. Eli’s ethics and morals have gone out the window, and he should be removed from Noah’s treatment team.
6The Realtor Brings A Psychic To Cleanse Eli’s House
Lynn Could Be A Spirit Attached To The House Because That’s The Place Of Her Death
ThoughBeforewas marketed as a psychological thriller, theApple TV+ original showhas continued to lean more and more into possible paranormal elements with each new episode. Many of Noah and Eli’s strange experiences can’t be explained away easily with scientific and psychological answers. The decision to have a psychic cleanse the house could be a simple narrative tool that displays how kooky the realtor is. After all, she has gone to great lengths to make the “murder house” more marketable to potential buyers.
Alternatively,this narrative choice could also be the show’s way of signaling to the audience that the paranormal explanations that fans have speculated about for weeks are actually correct. Perhaps Eli’s visions of Lynn aren’t just grief-induced hallucinations or manifestations of his thoughts. Maybe her spirit is still attached to the house. If so, then many of the other elements of Before must be re-examined through a new lens. This would also make the psychological thriller label a misnomer used to hide the show’s actual genre.
5Eli Looks Into The Significance Of Birthmarks In Reincarnation
Noah’s Birthmark Might Indicate He’s A Reincarnation Of Benjamin
As speculated inScreen Rant’sBeforeepisode 6 recap, the show appears to be heading toward a reincarnation plotline based on Benjamin’s bruise at the time of his death, which matches Noah’s odd-shaped birthmark. The reincarnation explanation would also explain their other peculiar similarities. When trying to find answers about Noah’s symptoms, Eli also discovers the popular theory that birthmarks are signs of how an individual died in a past life, giving it credence.
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The child psychologist found numerous examples of young children who remembered their past lives, matching up the birthmarks with the dead bodies. He then discusses the fact that the children developed lifelong phobias related to the manner of death in their past life. He gives the example of a child who had a phobia towards cats after their past self died from being mauled. Eli puts photos about this all across his wall. Though he denies believing the theory about birthmarks when speaking with Cleo, he seems to agree with it since he decides to take Noah to Benjamin’s home.
4Noah Is Being Transferred To A State Hospital
Eli Might Not Have Access To Noah After He Moves To A Different Hospital
After the scalpel incident, Eli is put on probation and taken off of Noah’s case. When discussing it with Jane, she explains that the little boy is being moved from the current hospital to a state hospital where he will receive residential treatment, which is a significant blow to Eli. Part of the reason he took on Noah as a client is that he wanted to prevent the child from getting written off by the system and sent to a state hospital. He pleads to speak to Denise about the decision, thinking he can change her mind.
What he doesn’t know is that she saw his wall of conspiracy theory papers related to Noah. Jane confirms that Denise has already signed off on the decision. This proves the overall impact of that wall of pages. Prior to that scene inBeforeepisode 6, Denise was willing to give Eli tons of slack and patience when it came to treating Noah. She didn’t want to send her foster son to a state hospital. However, she quickly changed her tune about how to handle the situation.
3Jane And Eli Take Noah To Benjamin’s Home
Eli Thinks Noah Will Recognize Benjamin’s Home And Brother
Early inBeforeepisode 7, Eli begs Jane to let him take Noah to Benjamin’s house. He tells her he wants to do this in the name of treating Noah, comparing the situation to phantom limb treatment. Jane asks multiple questions about how he learned about the Benjamin connection, why this will help, and what information he’s not telling her. He continues to shirk off her questions, though. Ultimately, Jane agrees to his proposition as long as she comes with them. When they arrive, Benjamin’s brother welcomes them into the house, thinking it will help Noah.
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Despite his seemingly altruistic intentions, Eli clearly has a self-serving angle to the situation. He might have started out genuinely trying to help Noah, but it now appears like he wants to make sense of Lynn’s death and ease the guilt he feels over Benjamin’s death. He might be right about the Benjamin/Noah reincarnation piece, but that doesn’t change the fact that he looked into that explanation for his own purposes. That’s part of why Cleo continually asks him how anything he’s requesting that she research connects back to Noah.
2Noah Shows Signs That He Was Benjamin In A Past Life
Noah Possesses Knowledge That Only Benjamin And His Brother Knew
From the moment Eli connects Noah’s birthmark to Benjamin’s bruise, he believes that the young boy is his wife’s ex-boyfriend reincarnated. He takes massive steps to confirm his theory, such as doing hypnotherapy and taking Noah to Benjamin’s house. While he seems to be functioning off of confirmation bias, Eli gets lucky in that his theory seems to have been correct the entire time. When Noah is at Benjamin’s brother’s house, he goes over to the living room and pulls out a vinyl of the song “Heroin” by The Velvet Underground, one of the two new songs on theBeforesoundtrack.
Noah puts on the song and then turns to talk to Benjamin’s brother. He apologizes and then walks closer and says, “I’m sorry, Lonny.” The brother confirms to Eli that Benjamin used to play that song for him all the time. It is also implied that “Lonny” is also an affectionate nickname between the two brothers. If Noah isn’t Benjamin reincarnated, there’s no way he could have known those intimate details.
1Noah And Eli Have A Physical Reaction To Their Possible Past Lives
The Image From Lynn’s Children’s Book Might Be Based On True Events
While thepsychological thrillerdragged on over the first half of the miniseries, the past three episodes have included entertaining and thrilling moments. The last scene ofBeforeepisode 7 is nothing short of shocking. Noah raises his arm, which is confusing until the show flashes to a dead young girl with blood on her nose, her arm above her, and cracked ice under her head. Noah then loses consciousness and falls to the ground.
After Noah’s incident, Eli then becomes dazed while standing on the street until he sees a flash of a child falling through cracked ice into a pond. He then starts gushing water out of his mouth uncontrollably.These two incidents harken back to the drawings in Lynn’s children’s book. Noah said during the therapy session inBeforeepisode 5 that he is the little girl in the drawing and Eli is the little boy. Based on this paranormal incident at the end ofBeforeepisode 7, Noah’s statements might have been literal rather than metaphorical, pointing to their shared past life.
“Symbols and Signs”
“Folie à deux”
“The Power of Belief”
