SHEEP DETECTIVES: Remembering Helps Solve Trauma

It’s a trauma to lose your beloved shepherd, George, especially when you’ve always been terrified of loss and death. Especially when he’s been murdered. You’ve tried to pretend that people and sheep don’t die. Sheep turn into clouds, right? And. You can “forget.” That’s a trauma defense. But Kyle Balda’s Sheep Detectives shows us why forgetting doesn’t work. It doesn’t solve trauma. It doesn’t make loss not happen. It doesn’t help you heal. Sebastian knows that. Cruelty and being unwanted made him a loner. But George? George saved him. He loved George. So, with Sebastian’s help, Lily, the most loving sheep, faces her fears, helps the others, and solves George’s murder. That takes: Courage. Determination. Going into unfamiliar territory. And, remembering.

Being loved matters. And George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) couldn’t love his sheep more. He develops a remedy for Ulf, reads detective novels to them each night, and even gives them names. They are all special to him. But two are “most special.” Sebastian (Bryan Cranston), his biggest ram, “a bit of a loner like me,” wanders away, but comes back. And, Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), his smartest sheep, “who always knows what’s in my head.” Named after the wife he loved, who died, and George never, ever forgot. George knows about loss. And, he can and does remember. 

Fears of Death & Loss 

Death is scary. People (and sheep) never come back when they die. That’s the worst part. That’s what makes it impossible for Lily to know that death is real. Her solution? Sheep turn into clouds. They aren’t really dead. They’re right up there in the sky (sort of like heaven). But gone? NO!!!

Lily is always worried. She’s a very sensitive soul. Look into her eyes. Lily cares. A lot. She feels. A lot. But it’s too painful. So, Lily won’t feel certain things. It helps that she’s very smart. Always ahead of the game. Solves George’s murder mysteries. Tunes into George’s feelings, as George does hers. They’re close. They really get each other. George tells her, “You don’t have to worry. Things will be different soon. You’ll be ok. I’ll be ok too.” Does that ease Lily’s fears? No. Not really.

Because the worst happens right after Lily tells Pickles, one of the lambs, pointing upwards, that all sheep become clouds up in the sky. “I can’t remember the day my parents became clouds. It must have been wonderful, right Mopple?” Mopple nods seriously. But he knows that it wasn’t.

Yes, soon, too suddenly, the worst happens. Everything is not “just as it should be.” Because George is lying there in front of his trailer - dead. “Dead? What do you mean? That’s not real. Will he turn into a cloud, Mopple?” No. But. Unable to tell Lily the whole story, Mopple goes along with her belief that maybe people die, but sheep don’t. He knows Lily cannot handle the truth.

Lily struggles. “Sheep aren’t meant to feel some things; we must choose to forget.” Mopple nods again, but he knows you can’t. Mopple is different than Lily and the others. Mopple feels loss.

 Forgetting Doesn’t Work

Mopple (Chris O’Dowd) can’t forget. That’s really painful for him. He remembers every death, every sad thing that ever happened in his life. Lily thinks it’s a terrible affliction. Since for her and the others, in the blink of an eye, a thought of death does a rewind back to the thought before. They’re well-practiced in forgetting, as if a sad thought that really hurts was never thought at all.

But is it an affliction? No. Remembering is helpful. That is, as long as you have people (or sheep) who care, right there beside you. Because. Reality doesn’t go away. If you deny it, it doesn’t make you any less afraid. No, you’re always on guard. Hypervigilant. Watchful. For all the “bad” and sad possibilities that might cross your mind (or happen). It means you can’t venture out. Or cross the road. Or go into other territory that might bring up scary thoughts. Or realizations. Or more pain.  

That limits you. You’re always scared. Even if you block it. And, if you can’t remember, you don’t dare to solve the most important murder mystery of all.

The one that isn’t in a book.

Courage to Remember

It takes a lot of courage to remember painful things. Sebastian knows. So does Mopple. Sebastian is the bravest, and he leads the way to find George’s murderer. Yes. Murder. Just like all the stories George read and Lily solved. But Lily doesn’t want to think about this one. Sebastian knows they have to. He tells Lily, “You will not forget.” Lily cringes, “It’s too painful.” Sebastian encourages her, “You will remember. A friend will never be forgotten. It’s just. George showed me justice once. George loved us. He cared for us.” But, at first, Lily is too scared to cross the road.

Lily wants to think she’s brave, but she’s not. Oh no! Cross the road? She’s never seen pavement. Or stepped on it. Or left her pasture. What is on the other side? More pain? More death? Sebastian says, “It’s not your fault. We are who we are.”  And, there is such a thing as change. So. Well. Ok. Lily has always been the one to solve the murders. Yes, she must be brave. She must. Everything isn’t as it “should be.” There’s a lonely little winter lamb. And, Sebastian’s lonely, too. 

It’s Lonely Up Here ... 

Winter lambs are different. Sebastian knows. So does the new little lamb, later named after George. That is, when he’s finally accepted. People (and sheep) are often scared of what is different. And they make you feel really lonely, left out, and unwanted when that happens. You either make do, as Sebastian does. Telling yourself it’s ok. Or you long to belong from a distance.

Yes. Sebastian is misunderstood. The new little winter lamb, too. But look in their eyes. They are good. The other sheep are blind. They don’t see. They believe the stereotypes. The myth that winter lambs don’t belong to the flock. That they were born at the wrong time. Born different. That makes things very lonely. It made Sebastian go away. “Sooner or later, a winter sheep wants to leave.” It hurts not to be wanted. Not to belong. So, you look somewhere else. You look for love in the wrong places. The circus was good when Sebastian was small. Kids petted him. But then he got too big. They made him fight with a dog, and “I bled. Until George found me. He paid them.”

The sheep think Rebecca (Molly Gordon) must have been born in winter, too. Why else would George “get rid of her,” they think? Born in winter. That’s the worst crime. Sebastian knows. No one wants you. The new little lamb knows too. Lily says to Sebastian, “But we’re your flock.” “I told you I have no flock ...” That’s a sad, sad feeling. But maybe something will save them? Maybe it’s “the thing with no end,” that gold circle that is now mesmerizing and hypnotizing fluffy Cloud? 

“The Thing with No End” 

Clouds don’t have to mean forgetting. They don’t have to mean denying pain. They can mean something else. Like the pretty sheep Cloud (Regina Hall) knows, who found the thing with no end in the meadow. One of Rebecca’s bracelets. She dropped it when she was with George the night he died. Cloud takes a close look at what is really there. Something George knew so well.

Something about love and kindness and never forgetting the people and sheep you care for. So, yes, Rebecca lied. Because no one would have believed her. She met her father, finally, and he told her that every sheep should have a name. And, he chose each name by looking in their eyes.

You know someone if you look into their eyes long enough. And, the sheep who really looked at Rebecca, like Cloud and the sweet, loving, winter lamb, they knew that Rebecca didn’t murder George. She smells like George. She exudes love and kindness. They know that Rebecca is good. 

You see. The thing with no end is love. Sure. People die. But love does not die with them. And when you realize that, when Lily and the others who thought forgetting was the better “thing” finally know that, then they can remember. Like Sebastian remembers. George showed him love. And, Sebastian never forgot. No, he couldn’t forget. For all he had endured, love heals trauma. 

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing 

But before we get there, there is more than one killer to be discovered along the way. People who aren’t about love. Not at all. They are about greed. Anything goes for them.

Even murder.

Peter Van Buren, AKA Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galetzine), George’s son and Rebecca’s twin, clearly wasn’t loved when he was sent away for adoption. And, the trauma of starvation for love morphs into many forms. Some of them are hostility, coldness, greed, narcissism, caring only for yourself, not others, even if it means murder. These are all Peter. And even Lily gets confused. Is Rebecca the killer? It kind of looks that way. Fear blinds you. But Lily, who did love George (a circle with no end, now that she can remember), knows she doesn’t want to make a mistake. She questions things. She wants to get it right. She’s always been good at solving murder mysteries.

If you’re trying to avoid pain, you can run right into it again. Lily finds out the scariest way. The loss of George is so painful. They are left without a shepherd. And, Lily thinks Caleb (Tosin Cole) might be the right guy for them. She and Mopple go to meet the rest of “their new flock.” What they discover is horrifying! The new flock has Ulf, not treated, as George cared for them. And, worse! This herd isn’t grown only for their wool. No. They are killed. Dead. For meat. Caleb and the Butcher (Conlith Hill) are not loving, kind people like George. There are 2 more murderers. Lily and Mopple aren’t supposed to be there or know this. And, Caleb’s mean dogs come after them.

Run! Run! They must run for their lives! Sebastian shows up to protect Lily and Mopple right in the nick of time. He knows about mean, vicious dogs. He fights them off, butting them with his horns. And the dogs go running. But this time, Sebastian is mortally hurt. He dies. “No, you’ll turn into a cloud, won’t you, Sebastian?” “I wish I could, Lily.” It’s a very hard reality to swallow: “Why did you come back?” “Because you’re my flock, Lily. (Dying...) I see George.” George’s pure love.

Sebastian heals because he knows he belongs. Lily welcomed him. He taught Lily it’s safe to remember. And. Sheep, like Lily, who think it’s better to forget, can learn to keep their eyes wide open.

Love Heals. Murder Solved. 

Love heals. Love solves trauma and murder mysteries that are really hard to crack. Because love means remembering. Yes, Sebastian taught Lily that. She helps the other sheep. She can bear the pain of loss, asking Mopple: “How many times have I seen sheep die?” “Too many.” “It hurts. You carried this all alone, Mopple?” “Yes, I remember too many bad things. But I also remember my mother’s face.” It’s true. If you forget the sad and painful things, you forget the good things too.

Now, Lily will be brave. She remembers George. She talks to him. “Are you really here?” “I am.” “How?” “Because you remember me.”

Remembering keeps your loved ones alive inside of you.

And, remembering makes you see what’s right in front of you. Murder clues. And little loving winter lambs who want to help and be loved too. George whispered in the winter lamb’s ear: “A winter lamb is the best lamb.” That gave him courage. Hope. And confidence. He’s little, but he can help solve murders. Especially the murder of the shepherd who loved him. And he does.

Rebecca is saved from being wrongly accused. Greedy Peter Van Buren is the real killer. Lily names the winter lamb, George, because “all sheep deserve names.” Better yet, she invites him off his lonely perch to be a real member of the flock. And, even better than that? Rebecca changes her last name to Hardy. George’s name. She smells like George. Loves like George. Reads stories every night like George. She’s their new shepherd. And she wears the “thing with no end” on her arm.

Love heals trauma. Remembering solves murders. Love stops you from being scared. And love. It’s what makes the whole world “go round” and be a much better place. Sebastian knows that. Lily cuddles little George while Sebastian appears above them, a cloud in the sky. Remembering.