One night in October of 2020, pop sensation Demi Lovato was abducted by aliens in their sleep. At least, that’s what they believe happened to them. In the premiere episode of their new Peacock series Unidentified with Demi Lovato, the pop star unpacks their fascination with the great unknown and tries to connect with beings from another realm.
Accompanied by their best friend Matthew Scott Montgomery and their sister Dallas Lovato, Lovato—who came out as non-binary earlier this year and uses they/them pronouns—rides around California in an RV meeting other UFO enthusiasts, alien abductees, and therapists that specialize in all things extraterrestrial. As with many things UFO-related, much of Unidentified with Demi Lovato must be seen to be believed.
The series prompts a lot of questions: do aliens exist? What exactly is “regressive hypnotherapy?” Can you really call something a season of television if it’s only 4 episodes long? Those, and more, are among the questions I had while watching Unidentified with Demi Lovato.
Will we find out definitively over the course of this series whether Demi was abducted by aliens, or is this more about Demi’s internal and emotional journey and search for radical acceptance?
Wait, why did Seth Meyers briefly pop up in the intro? Does he also believe in aliens?
In the opening, Demi says “we’ve always been told that extraterrestrials are a threat.” …Have we?
It’s great to see Kesha again, who we learn is also super into UFO’s, and even has a tattoo of a UFO on her wrist. Are all pop stars who can write a super catchy song into extraterrestrials? Are aliens the secret source of their talent? Did these otherworldly beings beam the hooks to “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Timber” directly into Demi and Kesha’s heads?
Did you know Kesha has a podcast, Kesha and The Creepies? At this point, is there any celebrity that doesn’t have a podcast?
While talking to Kesha about her experience with aliens, Demi says they saw a very bright blue light, and shows a picture of said light on their iPhone. Do you think aliens would be able to be captured by what appears to be an iPhone 13 Pro?
Demi describes their experience of being contacted by aliens on Kesha’s podcast: “I was in my room that night and these beings were just like, ‘Do you want to come back to our planet?’ And I’m like ‘Hell yeah.’ So [laughs] I’m sucked out of my room and I’m floating over the planet. Then I woke up and that’s all I remember.” I’m sorry—what?
Does Demi Lovato really need a chyron that says “singer/actor” 10 minutes into the show? Don’t we all already know that?
Where do you think Demi’s best friend Matthew Scott Montgomery got his BFA?
We then meet the “UFO Bros,” née Joe and Emmet Hayes, and learn that California had 12,000 reported sightings of unidentified flying objects in 2020. 12,000 people? Where does one even report a UFO sighting?
How did we go from learning about Demi’s alien experience to searching for a cabin where there have been “dozens of UFO abductions” with the UFO Bros in T-minus 30 seconds?
In confessional, Demi talks about their love of the “ufology world.” Ufology—pronounced “you follow gee”—must be the study of UFOs. When will this area of study be available at all of the nation’s universities?
Demi laments that it’s very easy to feel like an outcast when you believe in UFOs, aliens, and extraterrestrials. Was I right that this endeavor might be more about Demi’s search for radical acceptance than contacting aliens?
The UFO Bros take Demi, Dallas, and Matthew to a spot in the woods “famous” for UFO abductions. They then tell the story of a same-sex couple named Sarah and Jen who were allegedly abducted on March 3, 1953. That’s well before the U.S. acknowledged the legitimacy of homosexual relationships. Did those 1950s aliens say gay rights!?
Which actors did they get to recreate the abduction footage? Were they union? What was their day rate?
Apparently, most people that are abducted by aliens go through what’s called “regressive hypnotherapy” to unpack the trauma of the experience. Can we just tack the word “therapy” on the end of any term now, and it becomes a thing (see also: psycho, equine, aroma)?
According to the UFO Bros, alien abductee Sarah liked the aliens and while Jen did not like the aliens. They both experienced loss of time, were lifted into a Saturn shaped UFO in the sky, and medical experiments took place on the ship. When they returned to the cabin, the aliens told them to “forget about it!” which prompts the question whether the aliens were really just a couple of wise guys from Brooklyn?
Wouldn’t it be amazing to believe in anything as much as these people believe in UFOs?
Why does Matthew Scott Montgomery have to deliver all the exposition and also all the skepticism? Can we throw Dallas a line or two?
Is watching people look at the sky really great material for television?
The UFO Bros, Demi, Dallas, and Matthew Scott Montgomery all believe they’ve seen a UFO because they spotted an unidentified object moving vertically in the sky. “It’s the most incredible scary feeling to have confirmation that this was real.” says Dallas after seeing the object move. Is “confirmation” really the right word to use in this sentence?
Am I just going to breeze right by Demi’s conversation with Geraldine Orozoco, a woman who believes she’s been abducted by aliens multiple times and has 24 hybrid alien children? (Answer: Yes.)
Am I happy that Peacock included the following disclaimer halfway through the episode: “Unidentified with Demi Lovato was filmed before Demi announced that they are non-binary. Because of this, there are instances where their previous pronouns were used. With the support of Demi, NBCU is airing the show as it was filmed.” (Answer: You’re damn right I am.)
Am I also going to breeze right past the joke Demi made about how they’re “not afraid of needles?” (Answer: Yep, we’ve got a hat trick.)
Demi, Dallas, and Matthew Scott Montgomery attend an Alien Abduction Support Group meeting led by clinical hypnotherapist Laurie McDonald.A woman says she has had contact with aliens since she was two, that the aliens would tickle her and her mother would often wake up to the sound of her laughing in her crib for no reason. Is laughing not something that babies just do?
Demi decides to have a regressive hypnotherapy with Dr. Laurie McDonald. They get to lay on a comfy chair under a plush blanket and are told to conjure the “safest and securest place” they’ve ever been. Maybe regressive hypnotherapy isn’t so bad?
McDonald straps a device onto Demi’s head which “monitors brain function,” and Dallas and Matthew Scott Montgomery watch Demi’s brain and therapy session in another room. What do the squiggly lines on the screen mean? How can we tell if/when Demi is in a hypnotic state?
Is Demi really just going to describe their alien experience from the top of the episode again at the end of the episode, but at a much slower pace?
Demi describes the aliens they saw as being humanoid, about 4 feet tall, and “free beings.” They also say the aliens live on a pink and purple planet and are there to protect them from themself. Demi calls the aliens “light doctors.” The aliens sound like Demi’s guardian angels. Am I happy Demi got what they needed from this regressive hypnotherapy and the show at large? (Answer: Sure!)
But also, can Scooter Braun, Demi Lovato’s manager and executive producer of this show, get Demi back into the studio, and have the aliens beam them another bop? This planet needs them.
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