Dominion, Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot

Opening exposition!

25 years ago god vanished and the angels decided the humans did it. The angels decided to wipe humanity out, led by Archangel Gabriel. While some higher angels decided to play Switzerland, the lower angels joined Gabriel in his genocide. Lesser angels don’t get bodies though so have to possess humans which made their first attack

Archangel Michael wasn’t in favour of this genocide thing and decided to side with humanity, teaching them how to build strongholds (the pretty picture shows towns with big walls outside which is quite possibly the most useless defence ever against an enemy with wings, but whatever). Michael also saved a child who is the Chosen One who will Save Mankind and even has Magical Markings to prove who he is (he’s one sword-in-the-stone and strawberry birthmark away from a full set of clichés)

Gabriel and his angels retreated so I assume there’s no active war at the moment. Which of course, raises the question of what mankind needs a saviour for.

Exposition over – let the show begin!

In a ruined casino (very atmospheric), a man stocks up his big 4x4 (presumably he’s scavenging). He hears something and goes to explore (see, this is why I can never be a protagonist. I hear something in a big, spooky, deserted ruined casino and I am gone. I would set whole new records getting out of there). He explores and finds 3 people playing cards – they have long nails and strange black veins on their skin. One invites him to join them in an extremely creepy voice.

He shoots one (he must have a real thing against gambling). He runs and they chase – including one woman leaping vast distances and crawling across walls (see, this is why I would have run a long time ago). He jumps into a jeep and drives off, leaving the leaping woman behind but the man grows black wings and follows.

He drives through ruins towards a walled town, call on his radio to a command centre to open the gates and that there’s an angel following. He yells at them to open the gate while battling the angel that breaks his wonders and attacks him with his tongue (no, I’m not using a “tongue lashing” line. That’s far too easy). He drives at the gates while warnings blare in the command centre (the boss seems to be taking his sweet time deciding whether to let him in or not) and lots of dangerous looking automated defences start buzzing ominously. He breaks hard, throwing the angel off his car right into some anti-aircraft guns.

And lo, the angel of the Lord doesn’t do well against high explosive rounds. Now they open the gate and let him in (though they still point lots of guns at him). After checking him for possession he gets lectured on leaving the city without clearance and the man, Alex Lannon, responds with snark; because there was a group he wants to tell General Riesen, who I assume is a big boss. But because Alex is one of the Archangels men (presumably Michael), he’s taken there instead. Alex isn’t a fan of this idea.

Cut to a room with a bed full of half-clothed decorative woman, one of which, Becca, goes to see a man who is having a bad case of the morning-after-guilt, apparently a habit of his. He’s worried because he shouldn’t have kids, that would be super bad (nephilim I take it) and he has to stop. She, very sensibly, tells him to stop then (she’s taking no responsibility for his orgies). He jumps out a window – growing wings on the way down.

Archangel Michael has a bad case of the drama llama.

Alex is driven very very very slowly for the streets of Vega (Las Vegas has been very inventively renamed) so he can look pensively out of the window. I think we’re supposed to be seeing signs of squalor or police state, but it looks quite nice for a dystopian. Just in case we miss it, the driver helpfully informs us the city is going to hell (hey, no angels there! Bonus! Unless fallen ones count.)

Alex is taken for questioning to see how he got out the city with a vehicle – Alex continues to be snarky (and apparently has Issues with Michael). Michael arrives and makes a point of retaining a whip from the dismissed questioner. Michael reminds Alex that the gates should be closed while Alex asserts everyone’s right to leave – which Michael doesn’t seem to disagree with except in Alex’s case. Alex tells Michael about the angels (“8-balls” apparently) and the one with wings which is apparently unusual though it’s the fact they were playing cards that gets an “are you serious” look from Michael. Alex is spared being “purged” for leaving the city because he’s Archangel corps. He gets whipped instead (probably should have taken his shirt off first).

But after three lashes General Riesen arrives to tell Alex to go back to duty so long as he keeps all news of the angels outside very very secret. He and Michael have a refined argument, Michael is all for the rules and thinks Alex lacks discipline while Riesen apparently owes Alex over something to do with Claire (his daughter) and, besides, Alex has snuck out of the city since he was a child – he knows the outside better than anyone.

Defiance, Season 2, Episode 1: The Opposite of Hallelujah

The last episode of the last season was titled “Everything is Broken”, it was very appropriately named. With people dying, Irisa going full on chosen one, ancient weapons, the Earth Republic moving in an all kinds of chaos and shenanigans. So how are they going to pull themselves out of this?

Apparently by leaping forward 9 Months. Gah, time leaping over all that action? Shenanigans! Shenanigans I say!

We open with a voice over, the new interim mayor making a speech on television about how wonderful Defiance is while we do a quick tour of the various figures of Defiance. He also has lots of praise for the Earth Republic which has funded some elements of their new dominion – but has also nationalised the mines, meaning Rafe now works there rather than owning them.

Of course, when the speech is over there’s more tension. Mayor Niles and the Earth Republic Viceroy Mercado don’t get on well and Miles is clearly much craftier than he seems. Niles goes to the brothel/bar once owned by Kenya and now apparently run by Amanda – he wants to hire her. She still considers him an enemy occupier. Niles doesn’t give up and does point out that Defiance’s mayor (Datakk) did stab their representative. His charm makes her smile (oh I see a love interest in the future) and he’s determined to get her on side.

When he leaves Stahma arrives, she talks to Amanda has a friend and we find out Amanda still thinks Kenya will come back. Stahma tries to get her to accept that Kenya isn’t coming back (as Stahma should know) but Amanda insists Kenya will return. Amanda also gives a cut of the profits to Stahma – protection money?

From there to New Chicago (is this the first time we’ve left Defiance?) which is very very very cold. Nolan is trying to find Irisa, which means tracking down the Castithan who experimented/operated/did odd ritual on her when she was a small child. He knows she disappeared because of the artefact inside her and he hopes one of the Castithan who were part of the cult will know more. Which means pointing a gun at a cultist’s head while his terrified wife is tied to a chair. The cultist has a full blown religious moment about how he will know Irisa’s “terrible love”, completely uncaring about his bound wife. Nolan shoots him. He tells the furious wife that he had it coming.

Nolan continues his quest to, Angel Arc, what was once Hollywood following Irisa’s trail. But he is recognised by one of the people he questions who passes it on. To Varus, a Liberata who is an old acquaintance of Nolan’s – and not happy with him since Nolan stole from him. He employs men with guns and a casual attitude to violence help him express how upset he is about that. Mid beating, Irisa arrives to stage a rescue –they’re reunited.

Irisa claims the E-Rep got her but she escaped and she’s just been getting by – avoiding all the woo-woo and Nolan coming back to life (Nolan smells bullshit and says so. He lets it go though and repeats his plan to go to Antarctica – but Irisa is determined, they have to go to Defiance.

For some reason while Nolan is shopping, Irisa follows, attacks and murders a passing Irathient woman – then hides what she did from Nolan.

Enslaved by the Others (H&W Investigations #6) by Jess Haines

Shiarra has been captured by Max at the end of the last book. It’s her worst nightmare, Royce’s worst enemy is now focused on her and has her in his clutches to use and abuse. Again. Not only is he sadistically trying to hurt Royce by proxy and proving his power over her, but he also intends to use her to undermine his old enemy.

Shiarra needs to escape – but she isn’t the only captive; her best friend and a lot of innocents are also held by the human trafficking Max. And Royce is limited in how much he can directly offer help without massive political fall out. Shiarra may need to make some dangerous alliances to ensure her – and everyone else’s – freedom.

This book had a lot of action and a lot of mental ruminations in Shiarra’s head – and I think it all worked because this book closed a chapter; a long running thread of the books has been closed and ended. I actually think the way it was ended was somewhat anticlimactic, but on the whole it worked – it worked because the build up, the action and Shiarra’s thoughts all brought things to a close. Shiarra seems far more resolved about Royce, there is no suggestion of the ending element (behold my desperate attempts to avoid spoilers!) persisting after this book.

Instead we have new hints – the wars that have been ravaging the supernatural community but have largely gone over Shiarra’s head – including the hostility between the werewolves she knows and Royce. And, of course, the consequences of this book – because it’s clear there will be some. The old has been really neatly closed and a whole new paradigm is now begging to be explored – I’m looking forward to that.

I am always wary whenever I read a plot line that involves the protagonist – especially a female protagonist – being captured and held at the mercy of a cruel, sadistic monster. It’s common to delve into the realms of torture porn and commoner still for us to enter the realm of sexual abuse and rape. I was braced for it to be graphic – and it wasn’t.

It wasn’t downplayed. Max is sadistic and cruel, a human trafficker, a slaver, who keeps a stable of people to be abused and fed upon as well as selling victims to other vampires for food. He definitely demands his stable both feed him blood and, likely, rapes them. He abuses Shiarra, he torments her, he forces her to obey him – but the cruelty was not gratuitous even when it was bad, it wasn’t lingered on and there was very little sexual aspect (one of the elements I didn’t like is Shiarra actually taking that as some kind of comment on her attractiveness – for a rather unpleasant “I haven’t been raped, oh my self-esteem”). The main aspect there was Max feeding on her which is very arousing in this world – but that is shown as horrifying. The fact that his fangs can get Shiarra all hot and bothered is something Shiarra finds repellent which contrasts so well with a genre load of supernatural sexiness. Yes he has fangs that can push anyone’s buttons and make them desperate for sex despite their normal wishes or whether they even want him – and that is a terrifying, horrible thing.

Syfy Q&A: Kevin Murphy - Executive Producer and Show Runner of Defiance

 We were invited to another Syfy Q&A with some nice little discussions about the upcoming season of Defiance. The full transcript is below - included for your full perusal.

Brenda Lowry:    Hi everyone, this is Brenda Lowry with Syfy Publicity. Thank you so much for joining us today for our conference call to discuss Defiance.

                              Defiance is premiering its second season next Thursday, June 19 at 8:00 pm, and we’re very happy to have our Executive Producer and show runner Kevin Murphy with us today to answer your questions about what’s in store and what we can expect for the new season.

                              Without further ado we’ll get started with the call and ask for our first question.

Operator:             And our first question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with SciFi Vision.com. Please go ahead.

Jamie Ruby:        Hi, thanks so much for talking to us today.

Kevin Murphy:   Hi, it’s a pleasure.

Jamie Ruby:        I’ve got to say, I’m really - I saw the first three episodes and I’m really loving this season so far.

Kevin Murphy:   Oh I’m so glad, thank you.

Jamie Ruby:        My first question is I know that you’re going to be doing the game and show crossover this year again. Can you kind of talk about how maybe you’ve expanded upon that this season?

                              And also I’m curious, and this may just be I don’t know where it’s at, but is there a place you can like, if you want to know the extra game content that you can read what happened for people who either don’t play the game or like me, aren’t very good at it and don’t get far enough to find out what will happen?

Kevin Murphy:   Okay, so to start with that, what we discovered first season was that just a television show and a video game have very different needs, and there was a real challenge for Trion putting three different platforms up live for an MMO at once.

                              And a lot of their elbow grease the first season was set making everything work.

                              So what we ended up doing was we discovered that the way that this worked best; this crossover, because the way the television show worked is we are wrapped long before we air.

                              We wrapped back in December and we’re doing post production. So there’s a limit to how much we can change. And during the time when we’re in post that’s when Trion is making a lot of their big decisions about what they’re going to be doing in the game for the upcoming season.

                              So what we did this year, because we had to jettison a couple - a few ideas that we were really into last year because of timing and schedule. For example like the astronaut who came into Episode 8, Brian Smith who just got a Tony nomination for Glass Menagerie, he was supposed to be part of a larger integrated story line, and it was just something that Trion couldn’t accomplish technically with the time that they had.

                              So what we did this year is every - the second page of every script after the title page has a list of proposed crossovers that were generated in a big meeting that we had with Trion and the writers.

                              And then when we actually got the scripts written and we go through our process, we put which - and it’s like a Chinese menu of ten options that Trion can access. And they can use it or not use it if they wish to.

Penny Dreadful and the Avoidance of LGBT Characterisation

Penny Dreadful recently had a scene that made me and quite a number of the rest of the audience (judging by the internet reaction) trying to climb through the screen and then doing a little happy dance (which I will deny ever happened. Under torture). In Demimonde, Dorian Grey kissed Ethan Chandler. I don’t think anyone expected it

Rather gleeful at 2 main characters in a show being bisexual and one of them definitely challenging a lot of tropes that dog bisexual men and any men attracted to other men. I was impressed, surprised and eager for more.

Silly silly me. Whenever I get up my hopes, something arrives to scupper it - this time an interview with Reeve Carney talking about his character, Dorian. After all of that excitement about Dorian kissing Ethan he had the following to say:

I think it’s a response to a numbness within. He has to continue to take things to the next level and create more extreme, heightened circumstances in order to feel things that he once felt…Dorian has done so much and has been through so many modes of expression in terms of sexuality that he has to take it to the next level every time.

I wouldn’t put him in any category or label him in anyway, which is interesting to play with a character like that. It’s great to be able to work with that, but it has nothing to do with sexuality. And, I’m not sure if this is a good thing to say, but it’s almost like someone who is a cutter. It’s not about the cutting, it’s not about that. It’s about wanting to have some physical manifestation for what you’re feeling on the inside.

I’m beginning to think of these little behind the scenes revelations as the “No Homo Interview.” Kind of like a reverse “word of gay” (there a creator assures us that a character was gay/bi, honest even if they doesn’t show anything on the show/book - see Harry Potter and Star Gate). Why is it so hard to just say “yes, this character is bisexual.”? Why does there always have to be the asterix added? The proviso, the excuse, the “not really”, the quick pull back, anything other than admitting a character may want to have sex with someone who isn’t the opposite gender? Anything other than a main character admitting to be any kind of LGBT? Why do we actually have the actor feeling to need to say his character having sex with another man is nothing to do with sexuality? I’ve seen some straightwashing before, but straightwashing an actual gay sex scene (well fade to black) is pretty up there.

To rub salt into the wounds this is a really insulting way of referring to any kind of same-sex attraction. By wording it this way, we get the impression Dorian is straight (and may the ghost of Oscar Wilde plague your every night with extremely cutting witty put downs) and is having sex with men because of boredom. No, because it’s an ultra extreme kink! It’s the “next level” of depravity for the jaded to pursue, nothing to do with actual sexual identity or attraction. Not only is it a kink, it’s a form of self-harm akin to cutting; an indication of the pain inside him.

Well, damn, who would have thought you could destroy a scene that made me so happy so bloody quickly?

Plagued: The Midamerica Zombie Half-Breed Experiment by Better Hero Army

Tom has to go to zombie territory, the plague states, with his brother for the first of what are likely to be many trips to come. He’s looking for his sister, a child, a zombie, lost in the outbreak.

Of course his brother, like so many others, is really blasé about the zombies now. There’s no reason to be afraid, he was assured, certainly not reason to carry a weapon.

Then there’s the zombie escape. Tom flees for his life, relying on his father’s connections to rescue him – and a handful of grizzled veteran zombie hunters to keep him and his fellow novices alive.

I liked it, but where’s the rest of it?

That’s kind of how I felt after reading this book. I liked the story, I liked the characters, I liked the world setting. But I think more could have been done with just about every aspect of it. It had a huge amount of potential, some excellent frame work and raised some really impressive concepts and issues and didn’t follow through

The protagonist, Tom, has some major baggage – he was there during the outbreak, he saw his sister turned into a zombie and he blames himself, despite being a child when it happened. Not only does he blame himself but so does his family and a number of other people who have completely forgotten what it was like during the outbreak. Because zombies have been rendered somewhat harmless, a lot of people have no concept of how dangerous they are – and that same attitude means that people scorn Tom for not having the knowledge and skills then that professional hunters have now

This is a really interesting point that is somewhat reinforced by the group travelling through the zombie wilderness, with the contrast between the tourists and the experienced hunters. The tourists are inept, helpless, ignorant and argumentative – not in a comic or over the top way, but in a very human, realistic way; because scared, angry, confused people are some of the most annoying creatures on the planet. They contrast perfectly with the ruthless, very prepared and very skilled hunters and it not only shows how dangerous zombie hunting is, but also how unreasonable the accusations Tom faced were.

And so much more could have been made from that! And his fraught relationship with his dad and his brother! And the way he treats the Hunters compared to the other tourists.

Recap and Review: The 4400 Season Four

The battle lines are clearly drawn.  There are a group of positives living in Promise City following the leadership of Jordan Collier, another group living in the 4400 center following the lead of Shawn Farrell, who is determined to take a moderate approach, the NTAC agents,and now we have the marked, people from the future who are determined to ensure that the 4400 fail in their mission. Season four is the last season of The 4400 and unfortunately, it ends on a cliffhanger. It left us with questions like does Tom take the shot and gain a power? Will Shawn and Collier reconcile and work together? Has the city of Seattle completely separated itself from the US and will the boundaries spread? Has the future truly been altered?  How will the marked in positions of power react and will they be able to counter Collier's movement?  It's terribly sad that this series ended on a cliffhanger.  I have however learned that there have since been books published to give the fans some closure.

Despite it's problems, I really enjoyed The 4400 and was sad when I had reached the end.  The acting, especially in this last season was truly amazing and despite all of the sci-fi elements, The 4400 remained primarily about relationships.  For me, that is the mark of something engaging.

The 4400 continued to have a problem with gender.  The largest problem by far was Isabelle Scary baby. Isabelle Scary Baby had her powers removed by her father Richard because of the threat she posed.  While this makes sense for stories reasons, it also amounts to disempowering a female character. The 4400 then doubled down on this by having Richard force Isabelle Scary Baby to return to the 3 year old child she chronically was.  This amounts to literally infantalizaation. Sure, authors can create a justification for these actions but that does not mean that there aren't serious gender implications that are concerning. And in a final act of the destruction, Isabelle Scary Baby, she sacrificed herself to save Tom and Collier.  On one hand, this amounted to the first independent decision Isabelle Scary Baby had made in four seasons but it also meant the surviving regular cast member who was a woman of colour, sacrificed herself to save a two White men.  The gender and racial dynamics at play with this are awful.  In the end, despite her power, these two men were worth more than Isabelle Scary Baby's life. Isabelle Scary Baby wasn't the chosen one because that role was reserved for White men and in the end, she was nothing more than the bringer of destruction.

This season, Tom got a new boss.  Meghan Doyle at first appears to be an active boss, keeping Tom under a tight reign not because she is his babysitter like Nina but because she is his boss. Unfortunately, Meghan Doyle becomes Tom's lover and no longer acts as his superior, though she is technically still his boss. This is yet another element of disempowering women that The 4400 seems to adore. This is further complicated by the disappearance of Alana.  The 4400 spent a lot of time convincing the audience that the relationship between Tom and Alana was solid because in the fantasy world Alana created, Tom and Alana lived as a married couple for eight years.  This should mean that her sudden disappearance would cause Tom to expend a great deal of time and energy looking for her. Unfortunately, this is not the case and Alana is quickly replaced by Meghan, thus making Alana disposable once again. When Tom and Meghan first sleep together she makes it clear that it is a one time occurrence but quickly ends back in his bed. It reads as though women aren't capable of one night stands or at least that "good girls" don't engage in that kind of behaviour.

Even one off episodes like Audrey Parker's Come and Gone (S4, Ep.3) presented a problem where gender is concerned. After taking a shot promicin, Audrey developed the ability of astral project from her body. Audrey placed a diary online detailing her experiences with her powers but it seemed so full of regret.  She wrote about living a life of no compromise, yet it was filled with regret for not marrying and having babies and this leds to Audrey's lament of being alone.  When we match this incident to the fact that Diana went from being a fiercely independent single by choice woman, to someone who leaped to adopt a child and that explained her singleness by consistently choosing the wrong man, it suggests that the single woman is destined for misery and isolation.  Women on The 4400, must be coupled and at the very least striving to achieve motherhood to be happy.

This Week in Book Covers 9th June - 13th June

Time for another crop of cover reviews and I think the standard in the industry is moving up - or at least away from all those twisted spines, presented arses and midrifts.

Bloodshifted (Edie Spence # 5) by Cassie Alexander

While I can’t say I especially like this cover - I’m pretty neutral about it - I applaud it for pretty much showcasing the book. We have the vampire on the front and while she’s in a nifty dress, she isn’t as overtly sexualised. The dress is also pretty representative of what she wears in the book - as are the nicely creepy tunnels behind her. It’s all very vampirey and very gothic.

And… kind of bland? I don’t know, there’s not a lot that yells out to be me here. What is interesting though is following the covers of the whole series, and we can see Edie’s story and progression rather neatly told via book covers.

Sunstruck (Bigfoot Mysteries #1) by Polenth Blake

Pretty, mysterious, pretty, understated, pretty, evocative. Did I mention pretty? I like this cover - even if it doesn’t give much in the way of clues to what’s actually inside, it intrigues rather than hides with its mystery. It’s clearly not about the wildlife, there’s a suggestion of mystery and woo-woo just with the understated cover - I don’t know, it appeals and draws me and I can’t even say why.