Saturday, January 26, 2013

Being Human (US) Sneak Peak

Sneak peak before the next episode!


Beauty and the Beast Season 1, Episode 10: On Thin Ice



 
OMINOUS RECAP Vincent is going to become more bestial! There was a car crash! Catherine was hurt! Cliffhanger involving the possible-but-highly-unlikely-death-of-the-main-character! Evan may know the big secret! No-one can act!

Cue the sad music, because we’re going in. Evan approaches Vincent and Catherine who is bleeding messily on the road. As Evan gets closers, Vincent runs away in a blur of mist and light effects.

Evan races into doctor mode, giving the tearful and panicking Heather instructions to help him with dramatic and messy roadside surgery to restore Catherine’s collapsed lung. They rush her to hospital

Catherine wakes in hospital and a nurse fills her in on what happened, or the injuries she sustained including the amazing doctor who saved her life. Catherine gets a goofy grin imagining it was Vincent – and in he comes masquerading as a doctor to tell her it was Evan who saved her life (dramatic sad music… why?) Vincent angsts that though he could pull the door off the car, even with his medical training he couldn’t pull back the beast and help her like Evan did (way to make her near death all about you, Vinnie). She reaffirms that she loved Vincent and accepts everything he is, even with his changing DNA. Hey boyfriends who could lose it at any moment and kill you are romantic these days. He leaves before Evan comes up. But as Vincent leaves, the chatty nurse spots him, recognises him and calls his name – forcing him to hide.

Catherine and Evan have their cutsey meeting (with lots of funness – though for reasons unknown, Catherine draws Evan’s attention to her being pulled out on the road) and in comes the nurse, Alex, agitated, wanting to ask Catherine about the doctor who visited. The nurse sits, shaken as she says Vincent Keller is supposed to be dead.

Vincent returns to JT who is busy studying the manimal DNA and Vincent, seeing smiling in his home (smiling?! Do you not know this is an angst only zone?! Enough of this shameless mirth!) tells JT about seeing Alex and how we he ran from her – like he did 10 years ago and never reconnected with her (because of the whole Beast thing). At least JT’s girlfriend, Sarah, knows something about evolutionary science and may be able to help with JT’s research. He leaves and Vincent gets a text from Catherine saying not to come to the hospital, it’s not safe.

So he goes to the hospital (yes, of course he does. And is there a reason why Catherine couldn’t text “my nurse recognised you?” rather than an ominous warning), where Heather is taking Catherine for a walk, but ducks out for hangover meds giving Vincent chance to talk to Catherine about Alex. Catherine is sure to tell Vincent just how very very very upset Alex was thinking she saw him. Because we need more angst.

That night, Alex gets in her car, closes the door and finds Vincent sitting next to her. He tells her he was part of a secret special ops group, knows too much and had to fake his own death to protect his friends and family from being killed when his enemies came hunting for him. And he says that Catherine is a cop he had been assigned to as a handler. Alex says she loves him and it’s apparent she hasn’t moved on; he tells her to. They end with Alex asking if she’s going to see Vincent again.

Tess visits Catherine and she feels guilty for not being there when Catherine was attacked. Turns out she wasn’t there because she and Joe, boss Joe, married boss Joe, had a few drinks and got… not quite sexual but close. But Tess doesn’t want to be the “other woman” even if Joe is having marital difficulties. Catherine does some facebook stalking of Alex but Tess takes it to the next level and checks if she has a police record – she doesn’t, but she had repeatedly reported being followed, people breaking into her house, tapping her phones and emails, though the police found no evidence of it and put it down to her being paranoid (but Tess and Catherine aren’t surprised since she reported it to precinct 86 which is, apparently, not very assiduous in their work)

The Vampire Diaries, Season 4, Episode 4, Episode 11: Catch Me if you Can



 Mat runs for his life through the woods, chased by an angry vampire. Which catches and bites him! Yay, excess character removed!

But Jeremy shoots the vampire with a crossbow. Damn it, Vampire Diaries, don’t tease like that.  Flashback to the bar where Klaus has had his mini massacre and Jeremy is not willing to go along with killing all the noobie vamps and Klaus can’t compel him, a hunter to do so. Klaus agrees – but he can compel all these many vamps to kill Matt (yay!) unless Jeremy saves him (boo!). Damon is Shocked And Appalled by this since he never agreed to have Mat imperilled. Oh look, making a deal with an Original Vampire doesn’t go to plan. Why, I am surprised. This has never ever happened before, truly.

Back to the present and the newly nibbled on Matt, Jeremy wants to get Matt to the lakehouse and safety and Damon agrees to slow the noobie vamps – which he does by killing them. Which completely wastes them being turned – how about super-speedy DAMON get Matt to the boathouse and Jeremy kill the noobie vamps? Elena joins the protect Matt party (damn it, Elena just has to be part of everything) and she, Jeremy and Matt make it to the boathouse where no vamp can enter without an invite.

Next day when the noobie vamps have either left or BBQed, Elena scolds Damon for the plan and killing innocent people (I believe this is because, as Jeremy is her brother, she doesn’t want to have sex with him – so the innocent people he kills matter, as opposed to the double or treble digit death counts Stefan and Damon have totted up). She reiterates not wanting the cure anyway and now they need a plan to keep Matt safe at nightfall (building they can’t enter without being invited? Sounds like a good plan to me). Damon presents the plan of him and Jeremy going hunting for baby vampire, problem solved.

Alas, we have to check up on Stefan (the shirtlessness makes it tolerable) and Rebekah (nothing makes her tolerable) reading his diary (oh, I know what it says! “angst angst, Elena, waaaah, Damon raaawr, angst angst, foolish plan, angst).  And he’s totally done with Elena, but their team (I shall call it Team Whiney) is in a severe disadvantage next to Klaus, Damon & Co (Team Sexy) and Team Shane & Bonnie (Team Extras) so Rebekah has a plan (oh dear).  Shane revealed that he knew about evil!immortal!Silas’s headstone while being waterboarded last week and Rebekah thinks if they grab it they can make Team Extras join Team Whiney.

To Team Extras where Bonnie is still upset that her spell nearly killed April (I’m upset about that as well – I thought we’d finally killed off the pointless character but, alas, she lived).  When she gets irritable she also starts fires (or mood lighting) but Shane reassures her with some worrisome looking hypnotism. Which is when Sheriff Forbes (Founderella, Caroline’s mum), comes in and handcuffs Shane for… reasons, and tells Bonnie to ask her dad (Dead Mayor Walking) about why.

Jeremy and Damon go hunting the noobie vamps at the bar and find that they’ve all already been massacred by Kol, the Aussie Original (it comes and goes though. I like to think that Kol’s accent is deliberately created to represent someone with centuries of different accents effecting his speech, but I rather think it’s an Australian actor aiming for an English accent with the help of a South African language coach) got there first and wants to talk to them.  He wants everyone to stop looking for the cure because he’s worried about Silas; seems Kol has come across Silas worshippers in the past who believe Silas will bring about the end of time and he’d really rather time didn’t end, being immortal and all. So he murdered them (this may have been to stop Silas or just because that’s what Kol does for shits and giggles).

Of course, the Hunter’s Curse stops him killing Jeremy, so he decides to rip off his arms instead (actually, when it comes to problem solving, Kol may be the most efficient of the Originals). Damon attacks him to give time for Jeremy to run before Kol quickly gets the upper hand.

Back to Team Whiney, Stefan and Rebekah search Shane’s office. Stefan is pouty, Rebekah is nostalgic and they find Shane’s herbs.

On to scenes that may be remotely relevant – Sheriff Frobes is questioning Shane watched, via camera, by Bonnie (because highschool students often get to watch police interviews) and her father, Mayor Rudy Hopkins (Dead Mayor Walking). Bonnie protests Shane’s innocence and thinks her dad’s just trying to keep her away from Shane, but Dead Mayor Walking points out April told them what Shane did and Rebekah said Shane had confessed to her. Bonnie decides she should be the one to interview Shane because we’ve stopped even pretending Mystic Falls has a legal process. Bonnie tells Shane Rebekah lied about him and Shane reveals that she actually told the truth (but covered his mouth from the camera – hah, like anyone even remotely cares about chain of evidence here).

Friday, January 25, 2013

Agatha and the Airship City (Girl Genius #1) by Phil & Kaja Foglio



 Agatha leads a quiet, but frustrating life as a lab assistant, working for the brilliant, but eccentric Spark that runs her town, her dreams tortured by inspiration she could never quite reach. In the past, most of Europa was a patchwork of small kingdoms controlled or supported by Spark scientists and their armies of monsters, machines or combinations of both – but much of that changed when the Baron created his empire, absorbing the little kingdoms.

And the day came when Agatha’s town went from being a nominal, self-governing part of the empire to being fully under the Baron’s control. In the take over, Agatha found herself moved from her home to the Baron’s own floating castle. There she sees ever more of the Baron’s forces and the eccentric creations of Sparks across the continent – as well as develop some contact with the Baron’s son, Gil

But she also learns far more about her past, her talents and her past frustrations, opening up vats new possibilities but also putting her in considerable danger, and demand.


I’ve started reading a lot of Steampunk because there’s so much I love about it – the aesthetic, the slightly whacky technology, the glorious stylishness of it, the fun, proper and quirky characters, the wonderful combination of completely out there concepts mixed with Victorian sensibilities; it’s immense fun, it’s beautiful and it is incredibly imaginative and creative.

And on those grounds Girl Genius: Agatha H and the Airship City is the very epitome of Steampunk. But not just Steampunk – that whole genre of over the top adventure novels is perfectly included and lampooned in this book. The hero with his contrived, dramatic language and over the top heroics, who never ever dies and sees everything in clichés! The evil geniuses and their completely out of their mind nefarious schemes! The plucky girl side-kick (I wrote a hundred of my favourite lines from this book and stopped because I was quoting nearly the entire book. But when Othar suggests that Agatha set him free as his ‘Spunky girl sidekick’ her response, as someone who has been round Sparks all her life just has to be quoted:

“I’d rather not end up being the Easily Duped Minion Who Sets the Insanely Dangerous Experiment free. Or the Hostage Who Ensures the Smooth-Talking Villain’s escape.”


“Ah…”

“I don’t have any proof that you really are Othar Tryggvassen, or that you’re really human.”

“Err”

“This Girl Sidekick job doesn’t call for a lot of smarts does it?”


Seriously I have a separate book of quotes I wanted to sue for the review because there were so many awesome exchanges like this. The Baron who is effortlessly and awesomely competent and evil and sets things up to constantly test himself and his son (poor Gil. Who also keeps getting flack from Agatha and everyone else over someone he killed, despite his constant protest “he threw a bomb at me!”) including taking a fight with the intrepid hero into a neighbouring room because they’d destroyed everything interesting in his lab. He’s just one of several characters I love – the evil baron, the long suffering heir-in-training and possible love interest, Gil and definitely the strangely dangerous creatures, the Jagermonsters. In fact, when compiling quotes? I could have confined myself entirely to what the Jagermonsters said or did and still be creased with laughter.

Supernatural Season 8, Episode 11: LARP and the Real Girl



 We have a man who has taken a list of every geek stereotype and checked them all off arguing with another man called Lance over a game.  While he sleeps, a black mark in the shape of a tree appears on his arm – and then he’s woken by the sound of horses. Each limb is violently pulled to a different corner of the bed and rope weals appear around his wrists and ankles. Oh this is gonna be messy.  His limbs come off.

Move to Sam and Dean driving with Sam being mopey. Again. Dean tries to comfort him and prop him up and suggest a night off (ugh – you know my usual rant about Sam’s drama constantly needing support while Dean always has to suck it up and deal. In fact, for the hothead he’s so often the peacemaker between these 2). The phone rings before Sam can build up a full head of whine; it’s Garth, he has a tracker in their phones like he has with other Hunters so he can assign cases to them if they’re close. Sam thinks it’s creepy, Dean thinks it’s clever. It’s a case of the guy ripped limb from limb (Sam says in the whiniest way possible).

Time to impersonate federal agents to examine the dead man (Ed)’s apartment, lots of blood, lots of the sheriff snarking over the geeky paraphernalia all around. A neighbour heard the horses but it was obviously dismissed, Sam sees the tree on Ed’s body and they check the angry threats from Ed’s friend Lance. Some of which are rather… melodramatic. And geeky.

They go to question Lance in the police where he’s breaking down in tears and explaining that the texts weren’t from him, personally, but his LARP character Greyfox the Mystic to Ed’s LARP character. And the conflict they had was entirely in game not in real life.

They check out the website of the LARP group to check the man’s story and they discover that the “ruler” of Moondor, the chief is Charlie, their old contact back in season 7 (who was a most awesome character).

Meanwhile in the interrogation room, Lance gains a tree symbol on his arm, coughs up blood then bleeds out messily from his eyes. Damn, you know these murdering monsters never ever consider the poor cleaning staff, do they?

It’s caught on CCTV and Dean notes that they have none of the normal signs – EMF, sulphur, nothing – but Sam spots Lance looking at the mark on his arm.

Since the only other thing the victims have in common is LARPing, they head to the group to go talk to Charlie. Where they hit the instant snag with a LARPers that doesn’t believe they’re FBI agents and believes they’re just LARPing the wrong genre. Having a lot of experience mocking up costumes, he spots their fake badges (now if only all of the many many police they met were half as competent at checking up on them).  Instead they’re left to interview as one of the Queen’s new squires – where she is duelling the competition in LARP duels. Her speech is rather put off by spotting Sam and Dean.

She is not happy to see them, having to completely change her identity after her last encounter – she now goes by Kerry.  After speculating about being a monster magnet she decides them being there means monsters are here and since she doesn’t want to die, she’s out of there – drops her crown on Dean’s head and starts to walk out.  Dean stops her by telling her about Ed and Lance.

She recognises the tree as a celtic magic symbol (in a video game anyway) and we find out that her “army” is shrinking – many of the people who LARPed as 4 of her guards had hospital worthy accidents lately. While none of them had real life enemies, they had lots of in game enemies and she points to the 4 factions in the LARP. Since that weekend is the battle to see who gets to be monarch, the other three factions have a vested interest in taking her down. They’re briefly distracted why Dean points out better tactics for her forces on the battle map. Sam begins to moot the possibility that one of the other factions got their hands on real magic while Dean redeploys her siege engines (to her approval). Dean thinks Charlie should run somewhere safe while they try to find out who’s behind it but Sam wants her to stay because she knows the setting better (even Dean points out that keeping civilians safe is normally Sam’s focus). Charlie decides to stay – she may want to run but she’s “queen” and, besides, she’s tired of running and she likes the life she’s built.

Sam gets a call from toxicology saying Lance’s symptoms point to him being killed by belladonna (both Dean and Charlie leap to the porn star, not the poison, derailing Sam a little) but there was none in his system – just as Ed died by being pulled apart and having rope burns without any actual ropes.

American Horror Story: Season 2, Episode 13: Madness Ends



It’s the last American Horror Story of the season – let’s see what they drag out of their bag of shock for this last instalment.

Bloody Face Junior stalks the halls of modern, ruined Briarcliff, listening to Lana’s book on tape about the asylum – and seeing hallucinations of Lana saying how much she hated him and Thredson saying how much he wanted to be a father to him (and blaming Lana) interspaced with odd figures from the Asylum when it was working.  Which is when the pointless modern couple (do I have to look up their names?) arrive – yes the ones from the very first episode.

Only now we see the scene from Bloody Face Junior’s perspective – including him being in the arm-eating-cell when they try to look through the flap. He puts on his mask and, when Leo puts his arm through the flap he hacks it off with a big, heavy knife.

Cut to a much older, modern day Lana and her new partner, Marianne. And it’s clear Lana has been very very very successful. She’s hosting a television interview in her fabulous house in preparation for a fabulous award she’s about to win. She’s confident (even enough to mention her plastic surgery), snarky but she will not talk about Bloody Face, she won’t let his fame continue and she won’t give him one more second of air time.

Instead they talk about (and cut to) Lana, in the past, taking a camera crew back into Briarcliff. She also reveals her motives weren’t altruistic – she wanted to move to television and for that she needed visuals, not just words and “crazy people” made for good television (because American Horror Story hasn’t used the mentally ill as shocking background colour enough, it seems.) We cut to her report where she goes through Briarcliff exposing filthy and horrendous conditions and neglect (when her cameraman gets emotional or upset she chivvies him back to action without a blink). After interviewing an orderly, she forces him to take her to see Jude. Jude is in a terrible condition – and Lana helps her leave, ensuring everything is caught on camera. Except it didn’t happen – that’s what she wanted to happen but when she got there, Jude was gone. She did succeed in shutting down Briarcliff though.

They break for Lana to get a drink – and it’s Bloody Face Junior who hands it to her. Someone needs to screen the interns better.

Cut to the past again and Lana goes to see Kit, they hug and he’s joyful that she shut down Briarcliff. Less so that she’s brought a camera crew to film their meeting. And she wants to ask questions about a “Betty Drake”. Her questions are aggressive to say the least. Kit won’t talk to the camera so she turns it off and shows Kit some documents she found in Briarcliff – of Kit getting a “Betty Drake” out of the Asylum. The name that Monsignor Tim gave Jude after he faked her death.

After Alma died Kit visited Jude frequently, he knew he couldn’t shut Briarcliff down or lead everyone out – but he could help Jude because she didn’t belong. We see a touching montage of his visits, coaxing her back to awareness and, with the overcrowded conditions, no-one cared when he took her out. When asked why, he says he needed someone to forgive, to move on. We see the flashbacks of him bringing her home to his house, with the kids, detox (from the extreme drugs they used in Briarcliff), kindness from the children and then her interacting with them (they apparently loved her even though she “barked” at them at times).  She had relapses and lashed out, thinking she was still Sister Jude – but the freaky Alien Kids calmed and comforted her. Seriously, I think I’d take the freaking out ex-nun over the creepy, creepy Children of the Corn.

After the Village of the Damned kids did their thing, Jude was healed and able to teach the kids how to sing and insist they break gender roles (teaching the boy how to sew and giving the girl trucks to play with rather than dolls). Eventually she fell ill and on her death bed shared some very wise words of wisdom with the kids (to Julia: “never let a man tell you who you are or make you feel like you are less than he is” to Thomas “never take a job just for the money, find something that you love. Do something important.”) Jude says “she’s come for me” which Kit doesn’t understand – but when he tells it to Lana, she does. Shachath comes for Jude and Jude says she’s ready.

Ok, Jude turned out fantastically, amazingly awesome and that’s one of the more beautiful death scenes out there.

Next part of Lana’s interview – Cardinal Howard; Monsignor Timothy. The Cardinal avoided Lana’s interview requests repeatedly until she cornered him with Dr. Arden’s files. Faced with the consequences of his actions he commits suicide, something many people blame on Lana but she blames on his guilty conscience.  She says he was a liar and lies scarred his soul – which segues into her confessing she lied about her son dying in childbirth and that he’s still alive out there. We see her giving up the baby and Lana says she prayed that someone else could be a good mother to him.

In the 70s she tracked him down at school where we see him being bullied with anti-gay slurs and Lana intervenes quite gloriously. It was the last time she saw him – and, of course, during this Bloody Face Junior is watching and listening. Lana never had kids –it being a different era for lesbians – but became godmother to Kit’s kids, and Kit remarried.  The kids did well become professors and top surgeons (your doctor is an alien! Yay?) – but Kit got pancreatic cancer; but didn’t die, he disappeared. The aliens collected their test subject – and the kids insisted there be no funeral because there was no need.

A Weapon Is Not a Strong Female Character

'deadly Black Widow' photo (c) 2012, greyloch - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

One of the reasons that fans continue to regard Buffy the Vampire Slayer with  a sense of epic nostalgia is that in many ways, she broke the mold for what a female protagonist has historically been .  With the introduction of Buffy, we moved from having women featured as desperate damsels in distress waiting to be saved, too arse kicking in control female protagonists, though it would three seasons, before Sarah Michelle Gellar learned to deliver a decent kick or punch. What at one time was extremely liberating, has become limiting, in that now the arse kicking archetype has become so common that it has become trope laden. Now we have these arse kicking protagonists, with absolutely no depth, to the point where they have become cardboard cutouts.

And we can see why slotting your female characters into this role is so tempting, especially since the role of ‘woman,’ (particularly White womanhood) as some precious, special object to be protected and preserved but with little actual capability in her own right is still very prevalent in the genre - and wider society. We have a number of female protagonists in the genre who are treated as special by all and sundry for no apparent reason, such as Bella in Twilight. Or because they have the Chosen One Woo-woo, which doesn’t really give them power, but makes them oh-so-special and desireable. Like Elena being the doppleganger in The Vampire Diaries; Sookie’s fae blood in True Blood (and the books); Chyrsabelle’s special comarré     blood in Kristen Painter’s House of Comarré series; Anna Strong’s chosen one status in Jeanne C Stein’s series (note: until book 6); Tessa’s shapeshifting in Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices - these women have  special natures that make them desirable as possessions, but don’t give them any particular power or strength in their own lives. They’re desirable trophies, something to value, something to own - but their special nature is passive. It just adds to the endless trope of the woman being the damsel to rescue, the hand to win, the prize to be contested.

So from this, the woman who can kick arse and take down everything around her seems awfully attractive.

If you closely examine this new archetype, it is clear that these women have been reduced to weapons, with things like dead parents tossed in to give a veil of characterization.  In M.L.N. Hanover’s Black Sun’s Daughter Series, Jayne (Pronounced zha-nay and yes, for some reason the author thought this was a good name) spends most of her time travelling around the world to look for riders to battle. This has become her special mission, which fits because she is little more than a weapon, with the social skills of  a concussed penguin.  There is also Mira from Jocelynn Drake’s Dark Days Series.  Yes, Mira is the oldest vampire in the Americas and can set people on fire with her mind, but when she is not fighting or intimidating someone, she has no idea what to do with herself. But hey, why have quiet time when you can threaten those stronger and older than you? Kellie Independence wins everytime. Sabina Kane of Jaye Wells’s Sabina Kane series, is an assassin (nope, none of these women can ever have a career that involves desk work) who struts through life with pride over the vampires she has killed. She would much rather fight and kill, than have a conversation and always has a punch ready for any superior who crosses her.  This is all explained by the fact that Sabina is a half breed (half mage and half vampire). Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake, is perhaps queen of this trope, with the ability to spawn a new super-power every week (or, rather, pull a new super power out of her vagina since they all manifest during sex); her constant power creep making her the most powerful of them all and vanquishing all enemies without any real development. This is only a small example from a genre that is far too overwhelmed with this kind of protagonist.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

To Walk the Night (Kat Richardson #1) by E.S. Moore



 Kat Redding is known as Lady Death to the vampires. Armed with silver, illegal since the Uprising when vampires and werewolves drove humans into virtual hiding at night, she preys on the predators, saving the lives of the Purebloods, the untainted humanity, as much as she can.

But Kat is one of the tainted herself, a vampire desperately struggling to control her own hunger and anger. A drive that she cannot restrain and still has her leaving bodies in her wake; even as she tries to prey on the human predators, she cannot escape the truth that she is as much a killer as the ones she hunts.

And then came the Luna Cult, knowing more than they should, with an offer for her. A chance to take down a Vampire House she would normally consider too big to tackle, and save innumerable lives in the process. But it involves working with the werewolves of the cult, people she continues to see as enemy. Or, perhaps worse, people she is beginning to see as people.


There are a lot of vampires out there now and it can be hard to find a book that doesn’t follow some very predictable patterns. So I was very happy to see some of the original nuances that this book brought, The Taint that turns “Purebloods” into vampires or werewolves, the problems with mixing the Taint, the vampire houses, the Uprising causing humanity to pretty much cede the night to the Tainted: there’s a lot of elements here that make it very different from most vampire books. There’s an originality that makes it fascinating and a world I want to explore. The world building is also very solid and consistent with some decent development – not only do people stay in after the curfew but there are other problems as well, like college campuses being only a quarter full because they were hit first as an easy source of quick recruits by the vampire houses. Things like this, extra details, extra considerations of what other effects would come from an event like the Uprising really add a lot of meat to the world. It gives it a realness and makes the events more authentic rather than just useful story points the author makes up as they go along.

The story itself is also an interesting one and one that’s perfect for the first book in a series. It gives us a chance to explore several of the main characters (albeit not as much as I would like in one case as I mention below) as well as the world setting , all without much in the way of info-dumping (though we do get a fair bit of monologuing). The pacing is decent (except, again, for that monologuing) with plenty of action strung together without it just being action without plot. There was also plenty of twists with mistrust of the Luna Cult and then the revelation of the Luna Cult’s splinter group. From that there are still plenty of unanswered questions that beg to be answered in the next book – which is a hook in and of itself.

Dark Angel, Season 2, Episode 8: Gill Girl



 Max gets an urgent call from Logan – catastrophe has struck. He sounds panic, there’s crashing and things breaking and the phone goes dead. Naturally Max launches into action, crossing the town to reach his penthouse and finding it in disarray. Logan is on the floor – with a little girl.

Turns out it’s his cousin’s sister’s daughter and Logan has been stuck with babysitting and needs help because he can’t handle the child. He needs help (I’m going to give the show the benefit of the doubt and assume it’s Max’s day off and she isn’t actually blowing off her job so she can babysit)

This ends up with Max telling the Little Mermaid story to Britney – in a totally natural segue to today’s transgenic. Cut to a group of fishermen pulling up their nets on shore and discovering they’ve snagged a body (something they consider more irritating than shocking, which is another of Dark Angel’s wonderful hints about what society has become that it did so well in the first season). But when examining her they find she’s alive – and she has gills in her side.

This info gets passed on to Ames White (remember him?) who sets his agency to find her

Back at Logan’s, a much happier Britney leaves with her mother and, before she goes, she kisses Max then kisses Logan. Seconds later, Logan begins to feel feverish and weak, a rash appears on his arm and face; they quickly decide that the virus Max is carrying was transmitted through Britney’s kiss Max calls Asha and they rush the unconscious Logan into hospital.

In desperation, Max goes to the chapel to pray and beg for Logan’s life. A moment later, Asha comes in to tell Max that he’s going to be all right. Turns out Logan caught chicken pox off Britney, despite his childhood immunity (what? He’s exposed to the disease and within hours he has rashes and is passing out? What kind of mutant super virus is this?)  Logan goes to see Max but she’s spooked and won’t let him near her, or drive home with her., her panic over him possibly having the Manticore virus frightening her badly.

Meanwhile, at Jam Pony, Sketchy and Alec end up inviting Normal to come to a strip club with them to avoid being saddled with a last minute delivery. When they get there it’s clear Alec is both a regular and doesn’t bother to remember the names of the girls there – and they find the “mermaid” in a tank. As she swims back and forth, Alec’s X5 vision notices the barcode on the back of her neck.

At home, preparing for a bath she tells Original Cindy that she went to the chapel and believes she got a miracle – Logan’s Manticore virus being turned into chickpox (I rather think Logan touching something Max has touched would result in Logan being dead several times over by now. The miracle would be that he’s not already dead). She doesn’t want to ruin the second chance. Which is when Alec arrives to tell her about the mermaid. At the same time, White gets a report of where she is as well and is told there’s already a man onto it.

Switch to the club where we see a man going into the club after having ripped down a poster of the “mermaid” and Alec and Max following him in. Except Max can’t go in – no women allowed in unless they’re dancing and there’s a line out back for women who want to dance in the club, they show up each night hoping for a chance. She’s reluctant but Alec talks her into it. She goes round the back and there’s a large crowd of women vying to get in, showing their bodies to the bouncer in the alley. He turns the women away, saying they’re full. Max walks up to him, removing her t-shirt (she has a tank-top on underneath and yes the camera pans up and down and settles on her backside) and  she walks past the bouncer, he doesn’t stop her, just watches her looking faintly stunned.

Inside Max shows the mermaid her barcode and they communicate with Manticore hand signals (the mermaid talks using whale song). Max finds Alec with a dancer (who he shoos off when he sees Max approaching with massive disapproval) and starts to yell at him for being distracted when he points out someone he’s pegged as White’s man – the one we saw go in before them, with no drink and no girls. Max pretends – awfully – to be a dancer with Alec. They snark back and forth, Sketchy and Normal leave since Normal blew all his money on dancers (which we got a montage of) and they see Max pretending to be a dancer.

Syfy Q&A with Richel Nichols, Victor Webster and Simon Barry from Continuum



We were lucky enough to have been invited to a press call interview with Rachel Nichols, Victor Webster and Simon Barry from Continuum, to discuss the new season. Syfy has sent us a full transcript of the conversation - it's long but  there are some gems in there.


Obviously, the first season has already been shown in Canada so our episode by episode recap has already finished with us waiting for season 2. Since this interview is with Syfy, they've taken pains to avoid spoiling it for new audiences.



Gary Morgenstein: Here to talk about the time traveling police drama are stars Rachel Nichols and Victor Webster, and creator and Executive Producer Simon Barry.

Jamie Ruby:          There is obviously a lot of great technology on this show. There’s Kiera’s suit, she can review her memory, etc. If you could like take a real version of one of the technologies from the show, what would it be and why?

Rachel Nichols:     That’s the best question for me because I would take my Multi-tool. It’s small. It travels well. It does legitimately anything I could possibly need it to do in any situation. And I've started reading scripts for Season 2, and the Multi-tool does just a whole bunch of new and different things pretty much every time we see it. So I would definitely take my Multi-tool.

Victor Webster:     I think I would have to take her super suit. I don’t want it tailored. I don’t want anything. I just want to hang it up on a wall and look at it.

Rachel Nichols:     Oh, I thought you were going to wear it, but okay. Good. I'm glad we cleared that up.

Victor Webster:     Maybe every Tuesday. Maybe on a Tuesday night, but that’s it.

Simon Barry:         I would definitely take the CMR chip because I have a terrible memory and I need as much help as I can get.

Jamie Ruby:          Simon, how did you come up with the idea for this series and how did the rest of you become involved?

Simon Barry:         Well, the idea for me came out of a really pragmatic approach to trying to get my love of Sci-Fi really into a pipeline of television production that was feasible. So time travel is a really great vehicle for that because you can have a very large mythology in a big universe, but still be set in the present day world, which obviously is more production-friendly.

                              So it was a pragmatic decision at the beginning, but then once the mythology and the characters starting coming together, of course it grew beyond that into a much more passionate process for me in terms of the many characters that the show presents, and also just some of the bigger themes that we are trying to explore in the show.

                              And then the first step was to find a Kiera, and we worked very diligently to find the right person for this part. And when Rachel presented herself as an option, we were thrilled and jumped on the chance to work with her right away.

                              And once we had cast Rachel, we basically built the cast around her, and Victor was a great fit and I can’t really - I'll let the guys tell you about it from their perspective, but it was a very quick.

Rachel Nichols:     My story is very long but yet very interesting. One of my best friends in the entire world got the script to me. She was the first person that reached out with a script. She said, “I have a friend and she’s got this script that she’s casting and I hope I'm not stepping on anyone’s toes, but I think you'd be great for it,” and she sent it to me and I loved it. And - which is very unorthodox. Usually you don’t get a script from your best friend that’s amazing that you immediately want to do.

                              And then my team was absolutely completely on board and they loved the script, and they loved the fact that a friend of mine had found it. We just went sort of full steam ahead, and it happened very, very quickly just prior to the holidays last year when we were closing the deal. Suddenly, I was moving to Vancouver for five months on January 5th I think it was last year. So, it was a very interesting process for me. Unorthodox for me, but thrilling at the same time. And very fast, so that was fun as well.

Victor Webster:     Well I got a call on a Wednesday asking me if I'd like to come to Vancouver to do a chemistry test with Rachel, and I hadn’t read the script yet. And I was a little hesitant at first, and then I read the script and I was like, “Absolutely.”

                              Got on a plane for a chemistry test with Rachel on Friday and then got a call I think that weekend that I would be moving to Vancouver. And then, I think Monday I was on a plane to Vancouver for six months. So, it all happened really, really fast.

Kyle Nolan:           The first season finished airing over six months ago in Canada. What’s it like for you guys now going into this brand new audience that hasn’t seen the show yet?

Rachel Nichols:     I think that it’s one of the most exciting things because it came out in Canada. It started airing in May and obviously did very, very well and then went to the UK for Syfy and did very well. And then the mechanism of Twitter is fascinating because it just - you have access to all of these people who want to know what you're doing and what’s going on.

                              And I've had such a response from people all over the world from the show coming out, and especially people in the States saying for so long, “When is it going to be in the States? When is it going to be in the States? We don’t want to steal it or burn it or, you know, take it off the Internet. We really want to see it.” And now everybody’s getting their wish, including my parents who didn’t have cable until a couple days ago when they realized they were going to have to buy it in order to see me.

                              But, it’s something that’s been well received and I obviously think that’s going to happen here in the US. And so, it’s really - it’s something very exciting to think about. And finally, the fans that have wanted it for so long are getting exactly what they want.

Kyle Nolan:           Rachel, in all of your scenes with Victor you guys are always in the same room, but all of your scenes, at least that we’ve seen so far with Erik are all separate from each other. Can you talk about the differences in working with your co-stars?

Rachel Nichols:     Oh, absolutely. Yes. Victor and I are always together. I mean, I've got to do my own sort of - and sometimes Alec being in my head is also in those scenes with Victor. I'm sure it won’t come as a shock to you that working with an actor actually in the room with you in a scene is easier than working with someone whose voice is just in your head.

                              But as far as Erik Knudsen is concerned, I've never met an actor who was more of a giver because I work every day, and a lot of - and Alec’s voice usually works every day and Erik Knudsen on the days when he was not working would come to set and read all of his lines off camera.

                              What was really important for both of us because then we can hear how the other person is talking in those scenes, even if we can’t see them and it’s not just you know a script supervisor just reading the lines. Because you know, Erik’s character and my character are very, very connected on an emotional level. He’s the only person really that’s a true ally that knows my story and can understand it, and he is my best friend.

                              Carlos is another version of a best friend for me, but he is someone that I'm technically lying to every day, and that’s very, very difficult for me. That storyline progresses throughout the season. By the end of Season 1, there are a lot of questions about how I'm going to be able to navigate that very tenuous situation in the next season.

Joshua Maloney:   Rachel, a few minutes ago Simon said that the cast was really built around you. What was that sort of like for you as an actress? And, what can you say about this cast?

Rachel Nichols:     It was really exciting. I've never been the first person hired on any job ever I don’t think. And you know, I loved the script and I loved all of the characters from the very beginning, and they immediately started casting people.

                              I mean my deal was done just prior to the Christmas holiday last year, so I was home in Maine and they were just going full steam ahead in Vancouver casting Liber8 and the rest of the police force, and Inspector Dillon, and Erik, and Carlos - I met - I think you heard I met Victor for a chemistry read on a Friday and I think Victor was completely moved into Vancouver by Sunday so that he could work on Monday.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Walking Dead Promo

It's coming back soon :)


Chosen (Anna Strong Chronicles #6) by Jeanne C Stein

Since The Becoming, we have been told that Anna is the chosen one.  It's taken Stein five books and less than a year in the time of the novel to finally go somewhere with this.  Things are going fine for Anna until she decides to spend a weekend with her model/vampire lover Lance.  The trouble begins when she shows up at a gathering and discovers that Lance's sire believes that she has been brought there as a gift for him, because of course she is the chosen one.  Things get worse when Anna discovers that Underwood has partnered with her nemesis the former chief Williams.  With Lance at risk, Anna is finally forced to agree to learn what it is to be The Chosen.

This book had a lot of sex and mediocre action.  I like that Anna says quite explicitly says that she loves having sex because to often, when it comes to women, there is a lot of shaming for enjoying  sex. The problem is that for a good portion of the book, Anna is having sex and for a time, I wondered if I had accidentally stepped into a slightly less graphic Anita Blake book.  The frequency of the sex felt like nothing more than filler, in large part because The Chosen is so short on plot.

After spending five books building to the point of Anna becoming the chosen one, you would think that the climax would be epic but instead, it all just sort of fizzled out.  The Chosen reads as nothing more than an opportunity to introduce two new antagonists, since Stein decided to unceremoniously get rid of Williams.  Anna  did however develop the ability to sniff evil (yes you read that ridiculous super power correctly) and walk through fire. If anything, this served to make the vampires in this series even more indestructible and ridiculous.  I get that vampires can survive in the daylight but was it really necessary to have them sunning themselves in the desert?  The vampires in this series seem to be vampires in name only.

For the first time in the series, Stein gave us two women who Anna could tolerate.  When Anna goes missing yet again, David brings Tracey Banker in as a new partner to the firm.  Rather than alienate David, Anna is actually nice for change. There is also Lance's housekeeper Adele, who exists simply to serve. Just when I was starting to be relieved that finally Stein had bothered to include a female character Anna liked, the antagonist changed from Williams and Underwood to Judith Williams.  I suppose we can't have too much female solidarity.

Being Human (US): Season 3, Episode 2: (Dead) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun



 We start with a very upset man questioning the ill Vampires-of-the-Corn about his son. They don’t say anything – but he sees the wolfhead on the wall and goes berserk, staking all of them. He goes to the head and wails over it, swearing to find who did it and to kill his sons, daughters and everyone he loves and even worse if anything happened to his sister he will teach the leeches to run when they see a pure bred. I suspect we may be dealing with the father of Brynn and Connor, the pure bred werewolves.

Aidan, meanwhile, is in very poor shape, dragging himself to the crashed car and lapping up any blood he can find, including the bottles of blood Atlee managed to salvage last episode.

At the house, Sally, Stevie and Nick are embodied, apparently alive again (and Nick and his living girlfriend, Zoe waste no time in taking advantage of his new found tangibleness). Nick and Zoe leave – but when Stevie starts to leave sally and Josh remind him that he can’t see anyone he knew from before he became a ghost. He assures them he isn’t, he wants to hitch hike across the country. Which Josh thinks is a great way to be chopped up into little pieces. Sally agrees with Josh and points out with no money and nowhere to stay he’s going to be homeless and resorting to prostitution (not her language). Since he got out of limbo, he’s sure he can handle it and Sally presses him to take $200 from Josh at least (I love the look Sally and Josh exchange – looks like that underscore their friendship more than anything else). Sally and Stevie say their goodbyes and Josh gets a phone call.

And drive to pick up Aidan! Who Sally greets with a big hug which he accepts before he has a “hey wait, fleshy human sally” moment. “Is she possessing a twin we didn’t know she had?” (oh I love when these three get together – so much better than apart). More hugging and great emotion. Sally tells Aidan all about the blood magic with massive glee, Aiden freaks out and Josh insists they not talk about this in the parking lot. Oh and Josh is human!

Back home and Josh is planning a big reunion dinner (and Aidan has shaved his massive beard) but Sally wants to go out and hit the town instead and there’s lots of fun back and forth (Josh can fit 10 minutes of dialogue in one facial expression).  Aidan still has reservations about raising the dead but Josh points out a) vampire and b) they intended to bring a ghost back, not living breathing Sally. Josh was more concerned with Aidan – since he couldn’t find him and every month there were less vampires, he thought Aidan was dead.

Josh has been switching out blood bags in the fridge and even offers to let Aidan feed on him since he’s fully human, but Aidan can’t be sure if any of it is clean of the virus. Aidan tells him about the flu – which Josh had – and how it kills vampires. Lots more rebonding and emotion and a real sense of how much they’ve missed each other. But Aidan’s hunger rises and he has to leave –Josh doesn’t want to let him go, not alone, but Aidan doesn’t (there may also be an issue of Aidan’s appetite seeing Josh as viable) want him to see everything involved in being a vampire.

Meanwhile, menacing pure blood werewolf guy is trying to get Nora’s address from the hospital – which, naturally, they refuse to give out.

Nora and Josh are getting ready for the evening, Josh going out with Sally and Nora ready for the full moon – and Nora reveals that she knows that Josh spends every full moon night sat outside the unit.  She tells him that, while it’s a comfort, he doesn’t have to protect her and killing Ray means nothing if he still lives like a werewolf. It’s another wonderful, emotional scene. Being Human has been doing them extremely well this season.

Syfy Q&A: Kristen Hager and Sam Huntington from Being Human (US)


We were lucky enough to have been invited to a press call interview with Kristen Hager and Sam Huntington, from Being Human (US), to discuss the new season. Syfy has sent us a full transcript of the conversation - it's long but  there are some gems in there.





Moderator:            Our first question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with Syfy Vision. Please go ahead.

Jamie Ruby:          Okay, so first question is for Kristen. Do you feel different now that you’re considered part of the main cast or is it just more work for you or?

Kristen Hager:       Yes, honestly, I feel the same. It does mean more days on set which I’m all for. So yes, I mean, yes, I feel the same. Maybe slightly more included. But yes, for the most part, exactly the same.

Sam Huntington:   She’s certainly acting more important, you know. She’s really taking it to the next level.

Kristen Hager:       Yes, yes. It’s gone right to my head. I don’t even talk to anyone on set anymore.

Sam Huntington:   Except to yell and make requests that are wild, crazy stuff. Yes.

Jamie Ruby:          All right. And Sam, I wanted to ask you, now I can obviously not - well, right now I’m tweeting, but I know that - I’m guessing anyway. I guess I don’t really know, but I’m guessing that they’re not going to keep the season forever with two humans. But are you - I mean, are you happy getting to just some kind of play a more normal Josh or are you looking forward to going back to being a werewolf or does it not make a difference to you?

Sam Huntington:   Well, you know, what’s cool about Josh as a character is, whether or not he’s a werewolf, he’s a really layered guy. He’s a really dynamic character, so you know, the werewolf thing certainly is - adds, you know, a huge other layer but the character itself is really rich. So for me, you know, it doesn’t change much other than feeling slightly, like, I’m on the outside, you know, looking in.

Kristen Hager:       I’ve taken your place.

Sam Huntington:   Yes, exactly. Kristen has now taken my place, and she’s making it known, by the way. But yes - no, I - as I was playing it, you know, the character is - becomes increasingly more and more feeling like he’s left out and I was oddly feeling the same way as an actor, you know, I - all these, you know, my wonderful costars get to do this fun stuff and now I’m, you know, looking in through the window like the ghost of Christmas past.

Operator:               Our next question comes from the line of Kyle Nolan of NoReruns.net. Please go ahead with your question.

Kyle Nolan:           So following up on that, Sam, so do you and Meaghan have, like, a former supernatural character rehab now? Do you have to help each other out?

Sam Huntington:   Yes, we formed a support group and it’s been really helpful. There’re only two of us so it’s small but I feel like we’ll build, you know, as we look to the supernatural thing doesn’t go anywhere and I feel like we could really help people out. I feel like maybe, so just give it some time, you know.

                              No, to be honest though, I do now sympathize more with Meaghan in the first two seasons, you know, with her being a ghost, you know, not being able to touch anyone, all the restrictions that were on her. I kind of felt similarly once I got cured of my werewolfism so I definitely felt Meaghan Rath’s pain for sure.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Out by Laura Preble





I was extremely wary about picking up this book. I have yet to read a discrimiflip novel that worked and didn’t end up being really appropriative and offensive. I find it doubtful they can work due to the inherent nature of making minorities the evil perpetrators of the very crimes committed against them. Still, I’m told it is possible, people assured me it was possible, so I picked up this book when it was released to see if it actually managed it.

So we have the story of Chris. A straight boy living in a world where, it seems, just about everyone is gay. Being straight is considered sick and wrong, condemned by both the church and the state (which are closely entwined). He tries to navigate this discrimination, as the son of a minister, and try to find freedom with the woman he loves.


And no, this discrimiflip did not manage it. Not even close. In fact, I’m sorely tempted to put a trigger warning for homophobia simply for having to discuss the contents of this book.

The author has appropriated every aspect of homophobic oppression imaginable. We have child bullying, we have demeaning dehumanisation from the pulpit, we have a horrific description of conversion therapy, we have chemical castration; we even have concentration camps, actual concentration camps.

All of these are extreme examples of oppression that have constantly been used to persecute and destroy gay people and they’re all used in this book – often graphically – but flipped. The victims of this torture and even this genocide are now made the villains. Those who inflicted them are now the victims. It is unbelievably offensive and enraging to see these despicable crimes that were – and continue to be – inflicted on gay people depicted with gay people as the perpetrators and straight people as the innocent victims. Even some of the basic language of anti-gay oppression have been callously appropriated by this straight author: we even have straight people being called “queer”. The book's even called "Out"! There really is no limits to the appropriation in this book and the extent to which gay people are presented as inflicting exactly the same cruel persecutions that, in reality, gay people have endured and died from.

To take the history of gay persecution, to take all of these horrendous things that have been used to victimise gay people and then mangle them to make gay people the villains makes me choke with rage. I have no words to describe how offensive this is. I had to stop reading several times because the book was so painfully offensive to read I couldn't keep going

The actual depiction of someone living with a closeted sexuality is also ridiculously shallow, especially for a young person. Chris finds out he likes a girl (note: A girl. Not girls. Just the one twu luv that follows the endlessly dull love at first sight meme that I’d complain more about if it weren’t such a tiny problem compared to the gross offensiveness of this book), it’s a shocking discovery. Within the hour he seeks out his friend to tell her. No, really.

In this society where being straight is illegal and demonised universally from birth, he couldn’t even keep it a secret for an hour. In fact, he goes home and his sister – in this ultra gay-normative society – already knows he’s straight! She even has some subversive literature for him! Yes, within a day of realising he’s straight, he already has a support net in this overwhelmingly gay world where heterosexuality is constantly demonised from the highest echelons of government. As an extra bonus, he meets Carmen, his love interest and she tells him she is straight in their first ever conversation, in a public café no less. They’re complete strangers, straight people are tortured and killed with the full blessing of the theocratic government but she’s going to spill her secret. I boggle how it can even be called a secret if 5 minutes acquaintance are sufficient for the big reveal.

Lost Girl Season Three, Episode Three: Confaegion

This episode opens with Kenzi and Bo fighting with a fae.  Apparently, these attacks are being ordered by The Morrigan.  It's not long before Bo asks Kenzi what her problem is with Lauren.  Kenzi hesitates at first and then says that Lauren is bossy, territorial, and controlling.  Bo counters back by saying that Lauren finds Kenzi to be immature, irresponsible and clingy. Bo tells Kenzi, "that in the battle of BFF versus main squeeze, I think it's time to call it truce."  

The man that there were fighting has gone back to The Morrigan and she is not pleased that he has been defeated. 

Vex has gone to see Lauren to find out why his powers are working.  She tells him that there is nothing physically wrong with him and that this must be psychological.  Finally, Lauren suggests that this is common in a fae his age, as Vex tries to use his powers to strangle her.  When nothing happens, Lauren pulls out some pamphlets to help Vex deal with his condition. After he makes comments about Lauren having trouble keeping up with Bo sexually, she orders him out of her office.

Vex heads over to The Dahl and tries to confide in Trick about his problems but Trick has put earplugs in and hasn't heard a word he said. He then heads over to the pool tables, where Tamsin and Dyson are taking aboutwork. Dyson cuts Vex off before he can even start and says that he is not buying Vex another drink. Tamsin joins in and adds that she is tired of hearing about how the dark fae don't want him and the light fae cannot stand him.

Vex walks off as Bo enters the room.  Bo heads over to the bar after Tamsin rolls her eyes. Trick asks what Bo has been up to and Bo assures him that after the issue with the Garuda that the dark and light have decided to work together.  When Trick points out that because Bo is unaligned that she is unprotected, Bo pulls out a picture of The Morrigan tied up.  Trick advises Bo to talk to The Ash because he believes she needs a break.  As they are talking, Vex crashes into Bo and steals her phone because that is where she has the picture of The Morrigan stored. 

Bo goes to see Hale, who tells her that she brought this all on herself by handcuffing The Morrigan and taking a picture of her. Bo is not impressed and brings up Dyson's partnership with Tamsin.  Hale asks her why she cares and Bo says she does not.  When Hale hands her a dedication to the light form, Bo rejects it saying that she is not going to make a declaration out of fear.  When Bo starts to leave, Hale calls her back to say that the staff of righteousness is missing and is believed to be in the hands of Mortimar the pawnbroker.  Hale agrees to give Bo some security, if she finds his missing relic. 

Vex heads over to see The Morrigan and hands over Bo's phone, and she deletes the photograph.  Vex is expecting a warm welcome but The Morrigan says that if he really wanted to please her that he should have brought her Bo's head on a platter.  The Morrigan suggests that Vex's impotence has spread to his spine and says that she won't have him killed today.  She adds, the next time we meet, either you or Bo will be dead.

Bo heads over to Lauren's and when Lauren says that she is just doing some doctor stuff, Bo says that she is interested in her work.  Lauren then describes exactly what she is doing and Bo suggests a movie.  Bo then tells Lauren that she has the staff of righteousness and that she shouldn't touch it. Lauren asks what she can touch and comes onto Bo, which surprises Bo because she thought that Lauren would be too tired after last night.

Vex is lying on the couch and when Kenzi asks what's up, Vex says it's his arm.  Kenzi has no sympathy for him and says that now he gets to know what it's like to walk around like her and that he should suck it up. Vex snarks back, "you know, if I were you, I'd reconsider a career in social work." Kenzi suggests that he stop wallowing for a moment and that they start talking about something that's really important - mascara.  Kenzi points out that Vex has amazing lashes. Vex says that it's all in the brush technique and that he picked up a few tips from Leonardo Da Vinci. "Now that was a queen, he was all over David's ass like curry on chips," Vex adds.  

Bo interrupts the conversation by entering the room and complaining that she cannot  find her cell phone.  Vex of course denies knowledge, so Bo demands he shift his butt so she can look under the cushion.  I suppose some weird magic happens then because the music changes and Bo pauses briefly. Kenzi goes back to putting on her mascara and Bo says that she wishes she had a makeup buddy and that Tamsin is so mean girl. Vex questions whether Bo rifled through his duffel bag and consumed several yellow pills.  Bo simply says that she is going to talk to Dyson and then practically skips out of the room. 

Kenzi says, "Lauren's pelt is going to be steamed," causing Vex to ask what her issue is with Lauren. Kenzi replies that "she bi banged Bo", causing Vex to remind Kenzi that Dyson has dropped kicked Bo's heart several times and that she still howls when he comes around. Kenzi quickly changes the subject back to mascara.

Bo goes to see Dyson and says that she does not like Tamsin and asks what she has been saying about her. This causes Dyson to ask if Bo has been drinking. She then asks Dyson if he has fake ID and something crawls down the side of Dysons neck.  Dyson tells Bo that she is so beautiful and that he has to go.  When Lauren approaches Bo, Bo says, "I think Dyson likes me. Don't tell anyone this but I think I might kiss him." The two wave to each other as Lauren looks on.

Lauren takes Bo back to her place for examination and says that she is stumped about what is wrong with Bo. Bo then tells Lauren that she is really hot and asks if she has ever kissed a girl. Bo then says that Lauren is a boring doctor who does not like any fun, while playing with Lauren's stethoscope. Lauren is getting frustrated with Bo's antics and asks if she has been in contact with anything strange. Bo brings up a guy with a magic stick and then starts laughing

Back at The Dahl, Dyson approaches Tamsin and asks her if she is playing with herself. Tamsin asks if someone spiked his beer and Dyson responds, "this one time it totally happened and I got to be Kenzi - nailed it." Dyson then asks if Tamsin thinks that Bo likes him and that he is going to ask her out on a date. When Tamsin leans over to take her next shot at pool, some kind of creature leaps from Dyson and crawls into her ear. Tamsin start to sing, "Bo and Dyson sitting in a tree." Dyson tells her to shush because people are listening.