I’m still holding out hope that NCIS will buck the trend, after all, the show includes a positive goth character, so maybe the Satanic thing is a red herring, a misdirection from the true nature of the killer. One can only hope.

That turned out to be exactly the case. While I won’t give away the ending, I can say that all the ritualistic elements were explained away, and the Satanic/cult angle was indeed a red herring. They even had the goth-styled Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto (played by Pauley Perrette) specifically debunk the “Satanic” pentagram on the victim’s back.

Not the same pentagram.

This points towards the power of representation in popular media. Because NCIS has a “goth” character whose mandate is to “defy the negative stereotype”, the writers are forced to (at least partially) consider her perspective. It stands to reason that someone who goes to goth clubs, drives a hearse, and listens to Industrial music would have met a few Satanists in her time, and know they aren’t ritualistic killers (and that many of them don’t even literally believe in the entity of Satan). So writers are then, if they have any talent, forced into either explaining why these ritualistic killers are an abberation from the norm, or debunk the supposed “Satanism” invoked in the episode (which is what happened here).

Compare this to The Mentalist, where there are no characters who act as subcultural signifiers. Indeed, the main character is a “reformed” outsider (sham TV psychic) who now uses his powers of observation to debunk and mock the world he once inhabited. It’s little wonder their “Wiccan” character was a string of negative stereotypes, what was holding the writers back? Certainly not anticipated outrage from the Pagan community, we’re far too small to scare away advertisers (half of America hasn’t even heard of Wiccans if some surveys are to be believed) or garner national press for every insult. Fair treatment towards outsider views in popular media can only be expected when the outsiders are involved (whether in front of, or behind, the cameras).

Obviously, this isn’t a perfect solution, Criminal Minds was recently criticized for some ugly stereotypes about Gypsies, and they have two “outsider/geek” characters, but they do have a far better track record than most of debunking stereotypes concerning outsider and subcultural groups (I know they specifically addressed “Satanic Panic” in an older episode). This doesn’t mean I think shows should start shoehorning Pagan and Wiccan characters into their ensembles, only that visibility and involvement can make the difference between being the Furries on CSI or the goth girl on NCIS. So hats off to that show’s writers for avoiding some bad stereotypes, and including a positive “outsider”.

ADDENDUM: You can watch the entirety of this episode of NCIS online.

The first time I watched this ep, I was wincing at the racist implications of a Romani family murdering families and kidnapping girl-children as child brides, being such an obvious and painful stereotype. It was only on the second time through that I caught on that we were talking about a case of cultural appropriation, aided by Rossi’s flat statement that Romani do not act this way. I’m still not entirely soothed by it, and I have to think a while longer about whether I think the deconstruction works. In any case, the narrative gets a little muddled, and that troubled me, and it’s not always entirely clear what they think they’re saying and about whom they are saying it. Especially since in many ways it’s a good episode, otherwise, but I’m having a hard time seeing past my gut-level reaction.

At least Criminal Minds put a disclaimer into the script, if only the wacky Witch Mentalist episode had thought to do that. Now fellow Pagan blogger Peg Aloi alerts me that a third CBS show, the very popular NCIS, is getting into the act.

The previews for next week’s new episode of NCIS show an episode dealing with satanism and the occult, complete with one victim who has a huge pentagram tattooed on his back. Because this show is both smart and funny, I hope they’ll deal with this topic in a less offensive way than The Mentalist did last week.

I think we may have hit some sort of occult-horror trifecta here. Witches! Gypsies! And now, Satanists! Do bad/exploitive television episodes come in threes or something? I’m still holding out hope that NCIS will buck the trend, after all, the show includes a positive goth character, so maybe the Satanic thing is a red herring, a misdirection from the true nature of the killer. One can only hope.

The “Witch” in the show, Tamzin Dove (played by Azura Skye), is portrayed as a smart but somewhat delusional woman caught up in a murder investigation. When a local football star is found dead, surrounded by ritualistic trappings, the investigation immediately turns to the “only Witch in town” (In California, really?). What’s frustrating is that the show’s writers obviously read a book on Wicca, they just didn’t read it hard enough. Tamzin believes in the “horned god and the goddess”, and calls non-Wiccans “cowans”, but she also admits to using a secret Wiccan “killing spell” on the victim because he killed her cat (I obviously haven’t risen high enough in the ranks to learn this secret spell of death). Dove also seems to have no problem secretly gathering a coven of underage kids, and is revealed to have had a “history of minor psychiatric problems” while in custody.

The take-home message is that Wicca is a balm for wounded psyches, and that magic is simply a (sometimes comforting) delusion. Indeed, the show’s star Patrick Jane (played by Simon Baker) seems to have sympathy for Dove (saying that she’s been “hurt enough”) while going out of his way to prove that a belief in magic is nothing but superstition. He proves this by casting his own “spell” to reveal the killer (and by making fun of a superstitious co-worker). The real killer is caught, and Wiccans are proven to be little more than the “nerds in cloaks” a cop in the show describes them as.

What’s dangerous about the inaccuracies here isn’t that it might hurt the feelings of a few Wiccans, but the messages it sends to parents and non-Pagans watching the show. Beliefs that many of us have been trying to debunk for ages. That we recruit children without the knowledge of the parents, that we work malicious magic (and work it capriciously), and that we came to Wicca because we’re damaged or troubled. Luckily we aren’t also murderers, but aside from that this show only confirms what many people already believe about modern Pagans. I was prepared for cheesy inaccuracies, but this went a bit too far in my opinion. If you want to give CBS a (polite) piece of your mind, you can contact them through this form.

Patrick Jane and the CBIs investigate the murder of a high school football star and a self-proclaimed witch who claims she put a death spell on him, on The Mentalist. Patrick Jane sets a mentalist trap to find out who is responsible for the murder of a high school boy who antagonized the local self-proclaimed witch by killing her cat…

Will the local Witch be revealed to be a ignorant dupe? A dippy New-Ager? An evil schemer? A Red Herring for the real killer? Will Pagan beliefs be discussed at all? Tune in to be sure! Then come back here and write a review, tell us what you thought of how “witchcraft” and the occult were portrayed in the show. Airs tonight, CBS, 8pm Central, 9pm Eastern.

Update: Just watched the program. Secret Wiccan killing spells? A ‘coven’ of underage kids? Mental illness? More on all this tomorrow…