Hypnotic Ending Explained- Is MK-Ultra Real And Does Mind Control Work?

Netflix’s latest Hypnotic takes the universal fear of mind control to another level. Quack doctors, lost loves, and killer suggestions come together to deliver a compelling, if somewhat predictable storyline. I admit to liking this guilty pleasure more than I thought I would. There is something insidious and inherently scary about hypnosis. The idea that someone could root around in your mind gives most people a slight pause. We have all seen the hypnotism shows where a line of people collapse into chairs before they stand up and start clucking like chickens. Mentalists have long employed tricks to tease subtle hints out of people for the delight of viewers. There is, of course, the fascination with all things CIA mind control conspiracies as well. Hypnotic takes all that paranoia and mythos and rolls it into a ball of tense fun with one total nutter at the center.

Hypnotic opens with the latest mysterious death Detective Wade Rollins is investigating. A young woman, scared out of her mind, watches as the elevator walls she is in close around her. She calls for help, but no one will reach her in time. Across town Jenn Tompson(Kate Siegel) arrives at her friend’s house for a party where her ex Brian is. The two broke up months ago but are not unfriendly, just uncomfortable. Jenn is struggling with something, and her friend wants to help. This is the opportunity Dr. Collin Meade needs to worm his way into Jenn’s life.

Dr. Meade is that rare breed of therapist who doesn’t believe in doctor/patient boundaries and socializes regularly with those he is treating. He is also charming, handsome, and just a little too slick. Jenn’s friend Gina insists he has helped her through and strongly suggests Jenn see him. Unfortunately for both of them, that decision leads to a scorching obsession with deadly results. Here’s everything you need to know about the ending of Hypnotic and MK Ultra.

The ending of hypnotic

After Jenn nearly kills Brian by putting sesame oil in his dinner, she begins to remember some of what happened to her after Dr. Meade called her in front of the store. He had been implanting triggers and commands each time he hypnotized her so he could control her life. Brian was getting in the way of his romantic aspirations with her, so he commanded her to put sesame oil in his meal. He knew Brian was allergic to it because he was present at the table at Gina’s party when Brian almost ate something with sesame in it.

Once Jenn realizes what is happening, she tells Gina, and both of them go to Detective Rollins, played by eternally adorable Dulé Hill. Unfortunately, Dr. Meade, who had been following her after he figured out she was trying to build a case against him, activated one of Gina’s triggers, and she crashed into a semi-truck, killing her and her husband. That did not stop Jenn and Detective Rollins from continuing their investigation, though.

Dr. Meade next commanded one of the other patients he was treating for OCD to break into Rollins’s house and kill him. This failed, but it left Jenn vulnerable. She remembered a few things from a session with a new doctor who Rollins suggested, and that doctor was also able to place a trigger of her own that factors prominently in the final act of Hypnotic.

Jenn was captured by Dr. Meade and convinced to call Rollins and tell him she was at Dr. Meade’s office. She was actually at his childhood home, which was left him by his father, Xavier Sullivan. Dr. Meade was actually Julian Sullivan, and his dead wife looked very similar to Jenn and the other three women who had all been patients and died under his care. Dr. Meade was trying to recreate his marriage with his dead wife by placing women who looked like her under hypnosis and implanting memories and triggers.

Dr. Rollins figured out what was happening and raced to the Sullivan house, where he and Dr. Meade fought. Despite being hypnotized and commanded to hold onto the bed rail, Jenn could break free and shoot Dr. Meade. Unfortunately, all of this was one more ruse, and she had actually shot Detective Rollins. Dr. Meade is an indulgent psychopath, though, and he couldn’t resist calling Jenn “my love” when he was pretending to comfort her as Rollins. The counter trigger the other doctor placed was activated, and she saw everything for what it really was.

She kicked Dr. Meade in the head and ran to Rollins, who told her he had another gun in his ankle holster. She grabbed it and shot dr. Meade twice killing him. Rollins was barely conscious, but sirens could be heard outside. In the final scene, Jenn is working at her new job. Brian is still in a coma, but doctors are optimistic about his latest test results, and Jenn has come to terms with their baby’s death. She vows to stay by Brian’s side and be there when he wakes up. Detective Rollins was given a promotion and is healing from his wounds.

Can you really be scared to death?

At the beginning of Hypnotic, Dr. Meade’s patient, Andrea Bowen, is literally scared to death by the belief that she is being crushed between the elevator walls she is in. Her cause of death is ruled a heart attack, but Detective Rollins believed something else happened to her. He thinks a suggestion implanted by Doctor Meade killed her. Although it is rare, people can be scared to death.

The fight or flight part of our brain readies our bodies to protect themselves, and this includes a chemical dump of adrenaline. Unfortunately, adrenaline in too high a dosage can be toxic to our major organs, resulting in a heart attack. Most people who die due to being scared to death have an underlying heart condition, to begin with. Curiously, it isn’t just fear that can induce an adrenaline overload. Any strong emotion, including sexual arousal, can be deadly.

What is MK-Ultra and is it real?

MK Ultra is real. It is the name for a top-secret program run by the CIA for twenty years between 1953 and 1973. It only became public knowledge in 1975 during a congressional investigation surrounding allegations the CIA had been involved in illegal activities in the US and around the world. The program subjected hundreds of people, some of them unwittingly, to drug use and mind control techniques.

The program was devised in response to the fear that China and Russia were using mind control on US prisoners. The project was initially intended to develop techniques to thwart the communist mind control threat but quickly grew out of control. More than 150 people were given psychotropic drugs, paralytics, and even electroshock therapy. Some subjects knew they were involved in a test, but others knew nothing even after being given hallucinatory substances. The tests were run in government facilities, hospitals, and prisons. Unfortunately, we will never know how many tests were conducted because of the notoriously bad record-keeping and destruction when the project became public knowledge.

CIA chemist and poison expert Sydney Gottlieb experimented with LSD, believing the drug could be used for psychological torture and brainwashing. However, it was ultimately determined the results were too erratic, and additional studies continued using Psilocybin, MDMA, Heroin, barbiturates, and Methamphetamine.

One of the more scandalous parts of MK-Ultra was the project Midnight Climax, where the agency hired prostitutes to lure men to safe houses where they would be given drugs and studied. The men were dosed and surveilled without their knowledge or consent. Again, there was very little oversight and even fewer controls.

We may never know how many people were harmed or killed by the experiments, but at least one is confirmed. Army and CIA scientist Frank Olson was a man of many secrets. He knew about government and military secrets, and after being unknowingly dosed with LSD at a retreat with other MK-Ultra scientists, he became scattered and started making noise. The official CIA word was he eventually committed suicide by jumping out of a hotel window, but subsequent research shows this is not true. Instead, he was killed to keep him quiet, and CIA cleaner James McCord who was also involved in the Watergate scandal staged the scene.

In 1975 the truth came out that Olson’s exposure to LSD caused his suicide. His family was awarded $750,000 and was publicly apologized to. Years later, Olson’s son had his father’s body exhumed. The pathologist determined his wounds were not consistent with the initial story presented. A mysterious head wound and lack of glass shards, in addition to strange body placement on the sidewalk, leads many to believe Olson did not commit suicide but was killed to keep his secrets quiet. We will never know, but questions still swirl.

Is mind control possible?

Hypnotic shows the dark side of hypnotherapy. Dr. Meade was right. However, you can not be encouraged to do something your subconscious does not want to do. Your morality, judgment, and sense of right and wrong remain intact during hypnosis. As a result, doctors believe that shy of years of conditioning, unlimited funds, and illegal pharmaceuticals; it is not possible to trigger someone to commit an illegal act or do something they would not ordinarily do. Since MK-Ultra remains shrouded in mystery and we will never know what the Soviet Union or China achieved, it can not be completely ruled out.

However, what can be definitively said is that one session would not be enough to convince someone to poison their ex-fiance or act against their own best interests. Cult leaders and abusive partners program their victims over time to believe and obey, but that requires a great deal of time and patience and only certain personality types are susceptible. In the end, the type of complete control Dr. Meade had over his patients would not be possible. You have nothing to fear from a reputable doctor.

Hypnotic is on Netflix right now.