Marked for Life

Cody Coots, a fourth-generation "Signs Follower," had a childhood that was anything but normal. At age 6, he practiced handling serpents with his sister Trina – used leather belts as props. Besides that, Cody tried his best to live a normal childhood. He rode his bike, practiced drums on pots and pans, and even watched WWE Wrestling with his father Jamie, one of the most famous serpent-handling preachers of all time. But after a terrible act of evil left Cody devastated at 8 years old, he turned his fiery wrath upon his parents, his church, his God, and even himself.

After a fatal rattlesnake bite at his apartment in Middlesboro, Kentucky, Cody and his family move to a new place on South 45th Street. It's a house that changes Cody forever, and not for the better. In this account, he will refer to the house as The House of Horror.This special introductory episode features chapters 1 & 2.

A trial is scheduled for Cody’s abuser, but believers across the faith show concern about him testifying. Something unbelievable happened one day at church when Cody was 8. If it's discovered at trial, Cody knows he will be whisked away from his parents along with his sister, Trina.

The Bible passage "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man" from Deuteronomy means another life change for Cody: the child of the serpent-handling faith who continues suffering from a horrid abuse case. With a real-life monster behind bars, Cody now tunes into his father's shepherding style, the beloved preacher from Middlesboro who leads the family church. Cody decides to pursue a friendship with his father.

Cody Coots' childhood is in shambles, so he pursues a relationship with his father: the world-famous serpent handling preacher Jamie Coots. Jamie starred in what Cody calls, "a national TV program that I won't mention out of legal concerns." Together, they watch WWE every weekend. It's what they have in common. They pull for the great underdog, Chris Benoit, who's a man disrespected by the system. Cody sees himself in the wrester, with a real-life horror story of his own.Cody then receives a call from his sister, Trina, whose car is stuck in a ditch. For some reason, it's outside the House of Horror. 

Cody is haunted by his secret sins, so he runs to the altar to pray. His father sees this and kneels by his side, taking his son's hand. Together they call upon The Lord for salvation.Cody knows he must change his ways. He must stop cussing. He must stop listening to country music. And, he must give up rock n' roll forever.He will even shave his "bad attitude" mohawk. Most importantly, he must stop sleeping around. "Pap" begs Cody to go to college, but Cody will follow in his father's footsteps, leading him ever toward the Kentucky coal mines.

A rattlesnake slithers in the woods, and by divine help, Jamie knows right where to find it. He pulls it from some weeds. God says to take it to the house, but not to the snake room. Jamie obeys.This is the story of an emerging friendship between two prominent, Signs-following preachers: Cody Coots, and his friend, Andrew Hamblin.

Andrew and Cody emerge from the snake room. Andrew's arm desperately needs attention. With every step, he deteriorates. Cody knows rattlesnake bites are nothing to play with. He also knows his friend is in for a long, hard ride.When Jamie walks downstairs to find Andrew suffering in the La-Z-Boy, he says, "Oh, Andrew. Are you scared, Son?""Yes sir.""Well, then," the man says, "we should already be at the hospital by now."

Cody's down-spiraling. “There I was,” he says, “18 years old and a blaster in the coal mines.”  Jamie demands he stop sleeping around, or else, get married. He subjects Cody to a verse from First Corinthians: “I say therefore to the unmarried and widows," it reads, "It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.” Stop fornicating, Cody is told, or excommunication from the family church is looming. There is a third option: cruising the streets of Middlesboro in search of streetwalkers to douse the burning.

One night, up to no good, Cody starts Messaging people on Facebook.It's a risk, but it's a good thrill.Soon, his wife bursts into the room. His heart skips a beat."What have you been doing in here, Cody??" she yells. "Who were you Messaging online?!"Cody, ashamed, blocks the computer screen, but realizes it's futile. His wife is laser focused. The other woman on Facebook must have notified her.Needless to say, the two go "straight to fighting."

Cody and his dad Jamie are laid off from work, but they spend quality time together traveling the country and hunting snakes. One "National T.V. Program" is more than willing to fit the bill, only if the two will travel to warmer climes to hunt snakes for a film crew.In Tennessee, a series of cops pull the Coots' over, all under the guise of illegal window tint. Cody knows this has nothing to do with tint.It has everything to do with the Coots family serpent boxes, which are all filled with rattlesnakes, riding in the back seat.

Cody's life changes forever on a cold day in February. Tragedy strikes the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name church, and Cody knows he must take charge.But does he know how?

The story of a snakebite that unites Middlesboro continues.Cody and his buddies tend to Jamie Coots, the beloved preacher bitten by one of a gob of rattlesnakes he held in a Middlesboro, Kentucky worship service."My face is on fire," the preacher said, slumping to the floor of the church restroom.Cody knows the trouble his father is in.

The wake continues."Outlaw," a notorious local drug boss, arrives at the funeral home to pay his respects to Jamie Coots, the Signs-following preacher who died from a snake bite. Meanwhile, worshippers press Cody. Can they bring snakes inside the parlor? Cody realizes he is now the church leader.They also ask about bringing torches inside for worship. Does Cody allow snakes inside the building – breaking his father's promise to Bill, the Coroner?

Cody arrives with the caravan, but in the church parking lot, two fellows with "bad reputations" await. Cody, urged by the congregation to run off the "hypocrites," knows he is definitely lead pastor of Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name now, and there's no doubt about it.It begins a season of battling church issues (marital and relationship problems primarily) until the point he can take it no more. Cody decides to get away, down to South Carolina. This initiates a string of trips to snake shows where snake trading is "wide open." "I wish I could change so much of what happened down there," he laments in this episode. "But unfortunately, I cannot."

The reckoning comes. This time, it's all captured on camera by a multimedia company from London. It was why Cody kept away from snakes for months on end, fasting, and attempting to purify himself.When tragedy strikes, Big Cody Wynn jumps in. Cody now faces a choice: to live or to die.

Cody is life-flighted to the intensive care unit of the University of Tennessee Hospital. When the doctors wake him, his feel pain so excruciating, Cody welcomes the relief of death. "This hurts so bad!!!" he scribbles on paper. "PLEASE DOPE ME UP 'TILL I PASS OUT!!"Then, a stranger – a kind nurse – shows Cody and his wife a great kindness...The very next Sunday, Cody's back in church. Will he keep his faith this time? Will he return to the backsliding life? Will he ever handle a serpent again?

The Signs-following faith considers any "backslider" a "sinnerman." As Cody rages against his church, the terms easily apply.Cody said it best at the beginning of the series."I was told since childhood," he explained, "'Cody? You should give 110% to serving God! And, don’t be a hypocrite! 'But, if you do choose to serve the devil, then you should give him just as much effort!'"Well, that’s exactly what I did," he said.His trip to Greensboro is a perfect example of a sinnerman "backsliding" with abandon. Why curb any part of an appetite when one bite of the apple is as damning as eating it down to the core.So, in this episode, Cody tries to eat the whole tree.

Cody goes to the doctor, and after showing her his set of brass knuckles, she gives a troubling diagnosis. Does it slow Cody down?Also, he encounters a sneaky "street walker," who leaves him no options. What does he tell his wife?Also...the voices in Cody's head grow louder.

Cody outsmarts a prostitute on a Middlesboro mountainside.Pimps can set traps, stealing everything from unwitting "Johns." But Cody will not be robbed, beaten or killed. He knows the land too well.Most importantly, on Top of the World, he will not be discovered by the people he loves most.