Midnight Texas, Season One, Episode Seven: Angel Heart

The first season has essentially been about the residents of Midnight dealing with their secrets, past or whatever is haunting them. So far, Olivia, Manfred, Bobo and Creek have all had issues that the community in some form or other have helped them  deal with. This week, it's Joe's turn.

From pretty much the first episode, I've been complaining about the limited role that Chuy has been given.  In order to save Creek in Blinded by the Light, Joe revealed to the community that he is an angel.  This revelation as it turns out is not without consequences.  Joe is a fallen angel and it turns out that his mentor Bowie, isn't pleased with Joe's relationship. 

Bowie swaggers into town with a red leather trench coat (gotta say I love this look) and begins her search for Joe. The first person she meets is the reverend and when he won't answer her questions, she is quick to knock him unconscious. Joe is at loss as to what to do because Bowie is far older than he is and consequently much stronger.  It's Chuy who suggests that they need to turn to the friends that they've made in Midnight and ask for help.

Manfred is on his way to the meet up when he sees Bowie walking towards him and so he quickly turns around and heads into the van to get help from Xylda. It turns out that not only is Bowie a kick ass angel, she can read minds. In order to stop Bowie from being able to read where Joe is hiding from his brain, Manfred has Xylda enter his body. It's creepy and funny at the same time. Does anyone really want to share their body with a relative?

Manfred finally makes it to Olivia's and meets up with the gang.  It's now time for Joe to finally tell everyone the whole truth about who he is and his past. Joe reveals that he is an angel and that Bowie was his mentor.  Joe says that Bowie wasn't pleased that he fell in love with Chuy. It's Creek who wonders whether the is issue is that both Joe and Chuy are men.  It turns out that the issue is that Chuy is half a demon. It seems that Chuy's demon father raped his mother and his mother taught him to suppress his demon side.  Joe and Chuy met when Chuy was given a beat down by a group of men who stole everything from him. Joe was impressed that Chuy didn't fight back because he believed that if they stole from it was probably based in need.  Chuy and Joe have actually been a couple for quite some time. The crew is shocked to learn about Chuy and not impressed that though Joe and Chuy have lived in Midnight for quite some time, this is the first time they are finding out who Joe and Chuy actually are.  Creek in particular is not impressed and wonders if everyone is keeping dark secrets. 

Bowie is getting frustrated in her search for Joe and so she heads to the diner where of course Creek is working.  Bowie fixates on Creek when she recognises Creek from what she was able to pick up in Manfred's mind.  The people in the diner are naturally defensive of Creek, given what she has gone through recently but Bowie has absolutely zero empathy.  It seems that just like Joe, Bowie is now fallen.  Bowie uses what she has learned about Creek's family to hurt her terribly. Bowie uses Creek's phone to call Manfred and demand that Joe turn himself in.

The truth coming out about Joe and Chuy gives rise to a conversation between Lemuel and Olivia.  Lemuel and Olivia see themselves as a mixed couple, not because of race but because he is a vampire and she is human. It's clear that Lemuel always assumed that when the time came, he would just turn Olivia but she has other plans. Olivia knows that their relationship has an expiration date because she will continue to age while Lemuel stays the same and she will only be able to work for so long.  When the time comes, Olivia plans on leaving Midnight and Lemuel behind her because she doesn't want to be turned. Olivia wants them to enjoy what they have now for as long as they can.  Lemuel nods his head in agreement but is clearly not pleased with Olivia's assertion.

Midnight Texas, Season One, Episode Six: Blinded by the Light

From the moment Creek's father and brother started to police her sexuality, it really pissed me off. Some of it was even played for laughs. It didn't help that rather than drawing a line in the sand, Creek snuck around town with Manfred. Along with the policing of Creek, Midnight also seems to have a problem with women disappearing.  Yes, the writers have taken care to imbue the female characters with some strength but it's clear that quite a bit of misogyny has managed to seep into the show. 

Blinded by the Light starts with a group of youth running around Midnight and basically causing all the trouble that they can until they are scared away by Lemuel. I think a vampire confronting me would be enough for me to flee.  At any rate, Aaron is ditched by her so-called friends and so begins the long walk out of Midnight. Unfortunately, Aaron she is run off the road by a truck and attacked. 

The next morning, the Rev cleans up the mess created by the kids. At home, Fiji awakes to a demon sexually assaulting her. At first, Fiji believes that it was all a bad dream but when she checks her thighs, she sees scaring.  Creek and Manfred are in bed together when he sees a ghost in his window.  Manfred reaches for some medication claiming to have a headache, as he explains to Creek that seeing ghosts and spirits can make him feel sick. Later, at the diner, Manfred takes even more pills.  The reverend joins Manfred to talk about the fact that his wereself is hungry. Manfred admits to seeing more and more spirits. 

Creek meets with Connor, who claims to be tired because their father has put more work on him now that Creek has been fired for daring to hook up with Manfred.  Connor is not pleased by the new burden.  Creek notices a huge bruise on Connor's arm and is suspicious that this is their father's doing but Connor refuses to get into it. 

Manfred and the Reverend's day gets a whole lot worse when one of the vandals from the night before shows up with a photo of Aaron. When the kid leaves, the Reverend says that it's a problem that there's another missing girl.  Aaron's disappearance is enough for the Midnighters to get together to search for her. Fiji wonders if the missing young women are the result of something supernatural. Manfred admits that he's been seeing ghosts everywhere. The reverend adds that he's been seeing dead animals and bugs everywhere. Joe is desperate to keep the Midnighters from talking about what's really going on and so suggests that they fixate on finding the missing girl.  They decide to split up and search the town.

Fiji is with the Reverend and she tells him about having difficulty sleeping because she hears a voice calling her and something touching her. Fiji is worried that it won't stop until whatever it is takes her. Fiji says that either a demon is after her, or she's going "crazy". The Reverend assures Fiji that she's not going crazy but doesn't tell her the truth about the veil. 

Creek tells Manfred about seeing the bruise on Connor's arm and suggests that her father might just be taking out his anger at her on Connor.  Connor and Creek then come across Tiffany, who you might remember is the young woman who traveled with the vampires to allow them to easy access to blood. Creek and Manfred are joined by Olivia and Bobo. Bobo is certain that Tiffany is another Aubrey because he didn't kill Aubrey and neither did Lowry. They debate calling the cops but come to the conclusion that Tiffany had dropped out of society some time ago and so no one will be looking for her.  Manfred tries to reach out to Tiffany but her spirit has already crossed over to the other side. Bobo is determined to find whoever did this and for the Midnighters deal with the murderers themselves.

The Reverend is washing the graffiti from the tombstones when he is confronted by the cops.  The cops bring up the fact that they still don't know who killed Aubrey, even though they suspect Lowry. The cops then reveal that Aaron's mother is a judge and that there will be a full investigation within 24 hours if she doesn't turn up. This raises the stakes quite a bit. When the cops leave, Joe approaches the Reverend to say that thus far, he has not seen any sign of the girl. The Reverend however has bigger things on his mind and so he tells Joe that Fiji thinks that she's losing her sanity and that Manfred is self medicating. The Reverend is adamant that the citizens of Midnight deserve to know that they are not going crazy. Joe believes that the others are going to know eventually and that nothing he says is going to stop it.  Joe is adamant that he is protecting his family and that this is an impossible choice. Joe is certain that if it gets out that there's a fallen angel in Midnight, the demons will come looking for him. Joe believes that all he can do for now is to help look for the missing girl.