Monday, January 21, 2013

Misfits Season 3, Episode Seven


Seth is drunk in car with Curtis and he is wondering what his girlfriend is going to be like when she comes back from the dead.  Curtis tells him to play it cool and says that he is not to tell Kelly that he was involved.  They get out of the car unearth the casket.  Curtis asks Seth if he is sure that he wants to do this and when Seth says yes, Curtis reaches in and touches her hand.  Instantly the flesh changes and she comes alive. Her first words are, "what the fuck is going on?"

Shanon is now dressed and in Seth's apartment. She leaves the bedroom to find a nervous Seth who has lit candles and made lasagna.  Shannon sits and asks him how he has been.  Seth tells her that after she died he was a mess and that he wants to make things right now that they have a second chance.  Seth asks if she is okay and Shannon says that she is tired and is going to bed.  Seth asks about dinner and she says that she is not hungry.  Seth promises Shannon that everything will be okay.  He gets a text from Kelly asking if she can come by.

The next morning, Curtis is walking when he comes across an old woman who is crying because her cat was killed by a car. Curtis asks her if she wants him to have a look at it and so the woman asks what he is going to do.  When Curtis claims to be a vet the woman tells him that he doesn't look like a vet.  Curtis questions, "you don't think that black people can be vets?"  The lady hands over the cat, Curtis turns his back and claims to be doing CPR to the cat and instructs the woman to back up.  Curtis closes his eyes and the cat comes back to life.  The woman thanks Curtis and says that she wants to kiss him but Curtis backs away.  She then tries offer him tea but he refuses and so she settles on giving him a cake.

At the community center, cheerleaders are practicing their routine as Alisha, Simon and Kelly watch.  Simon is watching so intently that Alisha asks him if it turns him on.  Being smart, Simon quickly says no.  Kelly suggests that Alisha get herself a uniform and so Alisha tells Simon that she might do that for his birthday.  Curtis shows up and is delighted to see the cheerleaders.  Kelly excuses herself and calls Seth saying that he has left four messages.  Rudy appears as the cheerleaders are doing the splits and unlike the other men, he does not seem happy to see them.

Seth is getting dressed to go out and Shannon tells him that she is sorry about last night and that she still feels the same way about him.  The two share a kiss and in the background, we can hear Seth's heartbeat.  Shannon pulls back suddenly,, causing Seth to ask again if she is okay and Shannon responds that she is fine. Clearly, not everything is alright.

Curtis goes back to the woman from this morning to return her cake tin.  When he arrives, she is on the ground and the cat is eating her.  The cat turns around and hisses violently, so Curtis backs up and locks himself in the bathroom. Curtis pulls out his cellphone.

Kelly goes to see Seth and he tells her that he cannot see her anymore.  He says that he has to dump her and that it was a mistake. When Kelly gets upset, he tells her that he brought Shannon back from the dead and that it was his fault that Shannon died.  Kelly says, "you can fuck off back to your dead girlfriend."

Kelly then meets up with Curtis, Alisha and Rudy.  They head over to the house where Curtis is and Rudy does not take it seriously until he sees the dead woman on the ground.  When they call out for Curtis, he comes out of the bathroom and tells them that the psycho cat was eating the old woman's face.  They go through the apartment and Alisha spots the cat under the sofa.  Simon grabs a blanket and traps the cat. Alisha asks what they should do with it now and Curtis says that they should kill it.  He lifts a hammer but says that he cannot do it.  He offers the hammer to Alisha first and then Kelly, who both say that they cannot do it.  Rudy points out that it is ridiculous that they can kill numerous probation workers and not the cat.  Alisha replies that probation workers don't count. Ruddy grabs the hammer and says that he hates cats but pulls back saying, "I can't kill a cat, it's out of order." The moment he steps back, the old woman gets up and quickly attacks him, riding him to the ground. Curtis saves Rudy by hitting the woman in the head with a hammer.  Kelly asks what the hell is going on and Curtis admits that when the cat got hit by a car, he brought him back to life. Kelly then realises that Curtis is the reason that Shannon is now alive and she is not at all impressed.  Curtis explains that bringing Shannon back was the only way to stop him from being a girl forever.


Simon says that this is like a zombie movie and that anyone who gets brought to back to life needs to feed and that it's infectious.  Kelly then asks if this makes Shannon a zombie. Simon asks who Shannon is, as Kelly rushes out of the house.

Shannon is lying in bed when Seth returns to the flat. She tells him again that she is tired and he notices that his iguana is missing.  He looks under bed and Shannon starts to reach for him, but she is interrupted by Kelly knocking on the door.  Seth answers the door and Kelly explains the situation as Shannon approaches the door. When Kelly tells Shannon that she was Seth's girlfriend,, until he dug her up, Seth tells Shannon that it's not what she thinks.  Shannon asks what Kelly is talking about and Kelly yells, that Shannon is a zombie and that Seth needs to kill her before she bites someone.  Seth pushes Kelly out the door and yells that she is to stay away from Shannon. Kelly then bangs on the door and says again that Shannon is a zombie, before walking away in frustration.  Shannon tells Seth that he is to stay away from her, then locks herself in the bedroom and eats the iguana.

Back at the community center, Rudy has the cat locked in a carrier. He is surround by the cheerleaders, who ask for change and he tells them to fuck off before going running.  Up on the roof, Rudy is approached by Simon and Alisha, who ask if he is okay. Rudy says he was 13 when he got home from school to see his father having sex with his mother and she was dressed like a cheerleader.  Simon and Alisha start to laugh and Rudy says it scared him and that some people are scared of clowns but for him it's cheerleaders.

Kelly is sitting by herself when she is approached by Curtis who says that this was the only way that Seth would take his power and that he couldn't have a baby. He asks what happened when Kelly went down there and she says that Seth didn't believe her and that Shannon is acting like there is nothing wrong. Curtis asks what she is going to do and Kelly replies that Seth thinks that she is jealous and that she is not some jealous little skank.

Back at the apartment, Shannon is walking around the bedroom when she hears the doorbell ring.  When she answers the door, it's Seth's neighbour and so she invites him in.  Shannon follows him in and then attacks When the neighbor awakes, Shannon apologises and says that she couldn't help herself.  He discovers the bite mark and calls her a crazy bitch.

The misfits arrive at Seth's and so Seth grabs Shannon and tells her that they have to go.  Shannon asks what is going on and Seth tells her that Kelly and her mates are coming to look for her.  Seth knocks on his neighbors door and asks to hide in there, though Shannon tries to dissuade him. In the apartment, they hear the misfits knocking on the door. Rudy starts to break down the door and the neighbour begins to hear Seth's heart beat.  Curtis gets frustrated and takes over for Rudy but when they get into the apartment, they find it empty.  They decide to go and check Seth's office, as Seth apologises to his neighbour.  The neighbour attacks Seth and he is stopped by Shannon who hits him over the head with an iron. Shanon explains that at first she could fight the hunger but now she needs to feed and even admits to eating his iguana.  Seth says that it is his fault and that he will find someone with the power to fix this.  Shannon says that if she doesn't feed, she won't have to the power to stop herself and she will kill him.

There is a little boy fixing a bike in the hallway and Shannon stares intently.  Seth goes back into his apartment, has a drink and approaches the sleeping Shannon with a hammer. He finds that he cannot kill her and walks away, as Shannon opens her eyes.  The next morning he says that he is going to a pet shop.  Shannon asks what he is going to get her to feed on.  Seth responds that he is going to get a gerbil and then he instructs her not to go out.

Back at the community center, Simon and Rudy are staring at the cat.  The cat is getting more angry because it wants to be fed and so Rudy suggests that they draw straws to see who has to kill the cat. Simon gets the short straw.  Seth asks Curtis to kill Shannon because he can't do it.

When Simon goes to kill the cat, he finds out that the cat has escaped from the cage. He runs and tells Seth and Curtis what happened  The cheerleaders enter the lockeroom and they don't realise they are in a room with a zombie cat.  When Simon approaches the rest of the misfits to tell them what happened, they hear screams from the locker room. When Rudy opens the door, he sees the cheerleaders attacking each other.  One cheerleader opens the door and Rudy uses a bat to kill her.

Kelly approaches and asks what's going on and what Seth is doing there. Seth admits that Shannon is a zombie.  Alisha asks what they are going to do and Simon replies, "we kill them all. We smash their skulls to destroy their brains."  Simon believes that if they don't kill them all that they "will end up the sole survivors locked in a shopping mall."  The misfits split up and start killing zombies. Kelly and Seth start talking about what happened, as Shannon listens in.  Seth admits that he screwed up and that he hurt Kelly.  They all rendez vous with Kelly and Seth because there is one more left.  A new probation worker walks in and she is attacked by the last zombie cheerleader.  The misfits quickly kill the zombie and probation worker dies.  They realise that they have to kill the probation worker when she comes back and load up the bodies in the back of Seth's car.  Kelly walks back into the center and Shannon approaches Kelly in a fit and blames her for Seth not wanting her.  Seth enters the room and demands that Shannon stay away from Kelly.  Seth admits that he loves Kelly and when Shannon charges him, he kills her.  Kelly asks if Seth meant what he said and when he says yes, she replies, "good because I fucking love you to, just don't ever do anything like this again."

The probation officer comes back and Rudy is standing over her.  He tells her that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and that it's not personal before hitting her over the head.  They misfits bury everyone and are excited that they stopped the zombie plague.  They stand on the roof having a beer and Curtis realizes that they forgot about the cat, so they rush back into community center.

Okay, we have one more episode in this third season.  I know that Rudy being afraid of cheerleaders was played as a joke but the fact that they were used as sexual titillation and then beaten to death with hammers was problematic as hell.  Such violence targeted at women speaks loudly about the right of women to lead lives free of violence.  This of course is paired with Kelly's misogynistic speech this episode, making episode seven clearly anti woman.