Eli’s Farmhouse Visit & 7 Other Reveals

This article includes discussions of self-harm and suicide.

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Before episode 8 and all prior episodes!

Apple TV+’s Before episode 8 leans into the horror genre, revealing new information while continuing the central mystery. The psychological thriller is finally nearing its conclusion, with only two more episodes left before the miniseries’ finale. Though most mystery shows would start to answer queries about what’s really happening, Before has remained steadfast in introducing new questions and mysteries instead of answering the existing ones – a divisive choice that frustrates many viewers.

Instead, the audience is left to piece together what’s really happening in this strange, murky storyline. Episode 8 finally brings the Before main character face-to-face with the farmhouse, a throughline for the miniseries. This leads to multiple reveals that are just as vague as previous episodes, blurring the lines between reality, trauma, and the paranormal. The final moments even include a moment that will make viewers question everything they know about the story and Eli.

8 St. Benedicts Suspends Eli Pending Further Investigation

Noah Is Finally Removed From The Care Of Eli

After the incident with the scalpel in Before episode 5, Eli absolutely should have been suspended from work. He put a child in danger by cutting into his forehead without any preparation or safety, resulting in multiple stitches. Unfortunately, he’s allowed to continue treating Noah. Even though he says it’s in a transitionary manner, Eli takes Noah on a trip to a stranger’s house, at which point Jane learns about the conflict of interest. This and Noah’s subsequent seizure seem to be the breaking point.

Besides being wildly irresponsible, Jane’s choice to allow Eli time with Noah for so long makes it extra challenging for both parties in Before episode 8 when they’re separated. Noah continues to ask for Eli even though he’s been informed that he’ll have a new team of doctors. Eli’s mental state seems to deteriorate faster after Jane tells him that he can’t see Noah or even be at the hospital.

7 Lynn Felt Like She’d Been To The Farmhouse Before

Lynn May Have A Connection To The Farmhouse Like Eli And Noah

When looking into information on the farmhouse that Benjamin took photos of, he talks to Jackson — a Before character that the show has all but forgotten about. Eli says that he felt like he’d been there before, leading to a Deja vu feeling. Surprisingly, Jackson reveals to Eli that Lynn told him the same thing before her death. The friend suggests to both Lynn and Eli that the farmhouse is their “fernweh,” a term that Jackson describes as a longing for a faraway place.

At this point, Before has provided so few explanations for the strange events of the show that Jackson could be correct. However, there’s a much better explanation based on the past episodes. Since Before episode 7 posits reincarnation as an explanation for the strange events of the show, it seems more likely that the deja vu the pair are experiencing comes from the fact that they visited the farmhouse in a past life. This is simply speculation, though, as the show hasn’t concretely confirmed the popular reincarnation theory.

6 Noah Slams His Face Into A Window (& It Impacts Eli)

Both Eli and Noah Experience A Severe Bloody Nose After The Child Smashes His Face Into A Window

Before episode 8 finally introduces some solid horror to the psychological thriller, and the first moment that points to the scary moments to come is when Noah slams his face into a window. The character does this in a moment of distress after learning that Eli will no longer treat him. While Noah taking this drastic action is shocking enough, the more bizarre part occurs when Eli’s face starts bruising and bleeding. This physical breaking point is also a metaphorical breaking point for the little boy, who has grown increasingly attached to his psychologist.

Past episodes have shown an increasing connection between the pair, with Eli’s breath becoming visible when Noah’s breath does and Eli seeing the worm that Noah hallucinated. As such, it’s not necessarily surprising that Eli experiences the same injury as Noah. However, it’s still shocking to watch, especially since the show hasn’t included blood and gore since the swimming pool scene in the first episode. The fact that it took so long for the traditional horror to come back shows exactly how uneven the story and pacing are in Before, a common complaint among viewers.

5 Eli And Cleo Visit The Farmhouse

Cleo Finally Tracks Down The Location Of The Farmhouse By Finding The Nearby Gas Station

The farmhouse has been an ongoing theme throughout Before, with the story introducing a photo of the building in the first episode. However, the show has delayed answers about the mysterious building until the second half of the miniseries, with Cleo even struggling to find the farmhouse’s location. However, Before episode 8 finally brings Eli face-to-face with the mysterious place.

Looking at it from the outside, there’s nothing particularly notable about the farmhouse. It seems dilapidated and possibly dangerous to enter. However, Eli refuses to stay outside, going into the building against the advice of Cleo. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know if there’s anything supernatural about the ordinary-looking farmhouse. So many hallucinations and visions had happened prior to this moment of the episode that Eli’s strange visions within the building could have nothing to do with the location. If his past life has a connection to the farmhouse, the structure could also serve as a trigger.

4 Noah Told Denise He Already Died

Noah’s Statement Points To The Veracity Of The Reincarnation Theory

Before episode 8 focuses more on Eli than it does Noah, so the few peculiar moments with Noah have more of an impact than in previous moments. Noah tells his foster mother that he doesn’t want to die. Denise comforts the little boy, saying that he’s not going to die. Then, Noah responds that he already has, a harrowing statement that alarms Denise. As with past “bomb drop” moments in Before, the show cuts away without providing further explanation, a frustrating choice this far into the Apple TV+ original series.

This moment of the episode furthers the ongoing theory that Before is going the route of reincarnation. Noah is seemingly a reincarnated version of Benjamin and a Dutch girl based on previous episodes, though the show hasn’t explicitly confirmed the storyline of the past lives. The only indication of Eli’s past life, if that is the direction the story is going, is the fact that Noah says he’s the Dutch boy in Lynn’s book.

3 Eli Has Strange Visions While At The Farmhouse

The Visions Mash Together Actual People And Locations In A Horrifying Manner

The climactic moment in Before episode 8 shows Eli walking into the farmhouse he’d been searching for the entire series and experiencing strange visions that combine real locations with fantasies. He is at his house and hears dripping water, footsteps, and laughing. Lynn then asks, “Wait, you’re leaving?” Then, he’s suddenly back at the pool that he went to the day of Lynn’s death, and he sees worms in his hand wound. The people in the pool are in lines and ask him, in unison, to come in. However, he reveals that he has a phobia of water and can’t swim.

Then, the pool is empty of water and people while he’s on the diving board – a callback to his previous nightmares. However, he doesn’t dive into the pool because he sees Dutch kids running around. He follows them and then sees Benjamin and a Dutch girl. Lynn’s ex says they need to find their friend. The scene then shifts to the Asian restaurant, and it starts snowing while he hears ice cracking. Lynn then is in the bathtub again, begging for help. The entire sequence is disturbing and feels like a fever dream.

2 Eli Is Admitted To A Psychiatric Ward

Cleo Takes Eli To The Hospital After He Intentionally Injures Himself

After Eli experiences the strange visions, he wakes up on a gurney in a hospital gown. The hospital staff is wheeling him down the hallway of a psychiatric ward, with the camera panning to nurses working with other clients who are in mental distress. Cleo tells Eli that he ripped his hand open with a pen, believing that something was inside of it. Having seen Eli’s visions, he must have truly believed worms were inside his hand wound. The hospital staff had to do surgery on his hand and treat him for an infection because of how severe the injury was.

After Cleo rushed him into the emergency room for treatment, the hospital likely admitted him for a 72-hour hold, deeming him a danger to himself and others. With Eli in the hospital now, it will be interesting to see how they wrap up the story in the next two episodes. At this point, Eli and Noah cannot see one another due to their individual medical restrictions, but their experiences seem to be inextricably linked.

1 Eli Says He Killed His Wife While In A Stupor

Before Episode 8’s Ending Draws Into Question The Events Of Lynn’s Death

In the final moments of Before episode 8, Eli tells Cleo that he killed his wife. However, he’s clearly in a stupor at the time, having lost time between the farmhouse and the hospital. The Before main character had also just had a vision of himself in the bathroom with Lynn when she is in the bathtub bleeding after attempting suicide and begging him for help. Because of his state at the time of the statement, it’s unclear whether his vision was a memory of an actual event, a nightmare, or a hallucination.

Suicide is never the answer. If you or someone you love is experiencing suicidal ideation, please call 988 or visit
988Lifeline.org
(US) or
FindAHelpline.com
(international).

It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time that Eli has shown guilt surrounding Lynn’s death. His hallucinations of Lynn have repeatedly been hostile towards Eli. In Before episode 3, he also had a hallucination or memory – it’s unclear which – of him strangling Lynn in the bathtub, where she died by suicide. Future episodes of Before will need to clear up the ambiguity, explaining whether he actually killed his wife or just feels immense guilt over her death.