Supernatural, Season 12, Episode 3: The Foundary

This week brings us a pretty standard monster of the week which then ramps the creepy up to 11 because it involves creepy dolls and creepy kids

There’s nothing creepier than creepy dolls and creepy kids. Throw in clowns and we’ve got the trifecta.

There’s not a huge amount to go into on this mission – we have ghosts and a twist and fighting and banishing

The main issue of the plot is not the hunt –but Mary joining the hunt and Mary definitely having issues. She is very much not adapting to the modern world. She asks Castiel when he first felt he was fitting into the human world. Of course, Castiel never really has fit in with humanity… but insists Mary is where she should be because she’s human. But she’s a human 30 years out of time and those last 30 years have been very rapidly moving years

This is also a perfect study on how Dean and Sam deal with issues, especially emotional issues. Dean goes into complete denial. This isn’t happening. All is good. Everything is going to fine. Denial denial denial. Especially as he is the one who remembers their mother – and they bond over similar taste in food and music

While Sam wants to talk it out but the others are classic Hunters. They do not speak about emotional issues.

As they investigate, including Mary taking the lead as fake FBI agent, we see Mary as a very skilled, capable hunter – but also clearly a hunter who is 30 years out of date and she’s feeling that badly.

At the end Mary confronts what’s hitting her. She’s not only having trouble fitting into the world, but she’s also mourning. She’s mourning her husband but also mourning her kids – which is hard to do with them both actually still alive and around – but they’re adults. They’re not children, not her baby and small child: full grown adults, not the kids she lost. Them being there only makes it harder for her to confront and accept her grief. She has to go away to find herself…

This is all well and good but how exactly is she going to function and live? Is it that practical? I mean, I like this scene, it’s very real and I can completely understand the turmoil she’s going through. Sure, here’s Sam and Dean calling her “mom” – but HER Dean is like, 6 years old. Her Sam is a babe in arms – she’s supposed to look at this 6’+ man and see her baby? And not think of the missing years or her dead husband?

American Horror Story, Season 6, Episode 7, Chapter 7

While this episode has a lot of tension – I really think this season of American Horror Story has done horror story tension and creepiness way better than any previous – but it’s also going far too fast and suffering from moving waaay too fast and us already know the ending with that whole “one person will live.”

See, I only know three of these characters – so I already know it’s going to be one of those three since there’s been no attempt to make me care about the others or invest enough to think they’re going to live (Shelby, btw, Shelby’s so going to survive). And I think the show has really missed a huge opportunity in not having all these characters – the people and the actors who played them – interact with each other. Lee trying to sponsor the alcoholic Monet? Audrey and her happy married against Shelby’s wreck of a love life? Kathy Bates chewing the scenary in the corner? That would have been pretty good.

Instead everyone’s dying way too quick. At the very beginning of this episode Sid, the cameraman and a random intern are all hacked to bits by Agnes who is full on scenery chewing now, ranting and raving, dropping into and out of her accent, alternating between Butcher rants and grief and horror about what she did (especially poignant is her going from “my land!” to “she was a mother! I robbed that child of a mother!”). But you spend all that time setting up Sid’s reality TV nonsense and then kill him off already? (I’m going to take the high road and not at all mention having Cheyenne Jackson fully clothed for both the episodes he’s been around) Too soon! Too Soon!

I do have to say Kathy Bates killed it though. Though, of course, mental illness as a source of danger, the insane murderer, the violent mentally ill person – that’s a horrendous trope. It’s overplayed and damaging, the vast majority of mentally ill people are not dangerous yet a ridiculous amount of portrayals of mental illness are violent and dangerous.

Kathy Bate’s incredible, frightening and pitiable performance here doesn’t change how damaging it is – her excellence doesn’t change the awfulness.

Agnes continues to rave her way around the scene – attacking and badly injuring Shelby with a cleaver, before being slammed into a mirror and later shot by Lee. She still keeps on coming back going more and more off the deep end.

The Walking Dead: The Implications of Glenn's Death

The Walking Dead returned for the much anticipated and dreaded season 7. Like many, we wondered which character would actually die at the hands of Negan and Lucille. Turns out we were wrong - but there’s a lot to talk about concerning the demise of one of the characters. On this opening episode of The Walking Dead, Abraham and Glenn died. And we’re going to look at Glenn’s death in particular, and what that means

In many of our posts we have talked about the deaths of minorities - which is why we’re focusing on Glenn here. Yes, Abraham died as well, but many of the issues that surround and are affected by Glenn’s death simply do not apply to Abraham. The positives are not noteworthy and the negatives are not damaging because Abraham is a cishet, able bodied white man in a sea of powerful, valued, important cishet able bodied white men in The Walking Dead, in the genre and in media in general. Abraham’s death will never cause waves in the same way a drop is unnoticed in the ocean

While Glenn is a torrent in a very shallow pond.

One positive we definitely do have about Glenn’s death is the impact on the audience and other characters. We’ve mentioned before that the death of POC on the Walking Dead has pretty much the same emotional impact as your 7 year old’s goldfish: it’s moderately sad but not exactly worth getting upset over, and pretty soon Goldie III is going to be replaced by Goldie IV and if you’re lucky, little Timmy won’t even notice. T-Dog, Noah, Tyrese, Bob, Jacqui (remember her?) Oscar (remember him?) Caesar, Shrumper (you didn’t even know they had names, admit it), Dr. Caleb (if I didn’t call him doctor you wouldn’t remember him either) - these characters died, we barely noticed them, they certainly didn’t matter and often they were replaced.

We can safely say that Glenn was not one of those unnoticed deaths. In fact, we even noted in the review that we viewed Abraham’s death as a relief. We weren’t exactly rooting for Abraham to die but if someone had to die, it might as well be Abraham. Abraham was one of the more preferable choices…. And then Glenn died. Abraham was a relief. Glenn was a punch to the gut. Abraham didn’t matter much to us. Glenn did. With Glenn, The Walking Dead developed a character, gave him a storyline, gave him a family, gave him people to care about and who cared about him. Glenn was a character, not a replaceable extra, Glenn mattered. That’s important.

Unfortunately, while the impact of Glenn’s death was important, part of how that impact was portrayed was extremely problematic.

Because this death was all about Rick.

Why was Glenn killed? Was it because of anything Glenn did? An action he chose? A mistake he made? A choice he made? Was Glenn’s death about Glenn at all?

After Abraham is killed, Darryl reacts in protest and Negan promises there will be a consequence.  The consequence is the death of Glenn.  Think about that for a moment.  Darryl is the one who committed the offense and Glenn was the one sentenced to pay for it. This very easily could have been Darryl’s death and in fact, it makes no sense for Negan at the time to then turn his fury to Glenn.  The only reasonable explanation of this is that Negan saw in Darryl strength that he could use to better his position and did not see the same in Glenn. This plays into the racist idea that Asian men are not as masculine as white men and certainly not men to be taken seriously.  This is quite the opposite of how The Walking Dead has chosen to portray Glenn ever since his meet up with the Governor in Woodbury. Why then would they return to this just to have Negan slaughter him?  The bottom line is that they decided when they published issue 100, that this was always going to be Glenn’s death. Whatever they had to do to get there and still hopefully surprise the audience along the way, they were willing to do, hence the decoy death of Abraham.

The Elusive Elixir (An Accidental Alchemist #3) by Gigi Pandian

Zoey has travelled to Paris to try and find some answers to Dorian’s condition before the gargoyle turns completely to stone. But she finds few answers – and worse, seems to be recognised as the alchemist who lived their 70 years before

Fleeing back to Portland, trouble seems to have followed her. She may have finally found the backward Alchemists she has been looking for, but they’re not as helpful as she’d hoped – and may present a whole new risk as well as bringing revelations about her past she never imagined.

I think this book improved on many of the issues of the previous book. The storylines that Zoey was involved in actually made sense. She had a reason to get involved in the murder investigation, she was personally invested either directly or indirectly in all of the events that took place. She either had to protect friends and people she cared about or she was directly affected as it was a threat to her and her alchemical secret

This made the whole thing a lot more interesting especially as we build on more of Zoey’s past, her relationship with Ambrose as old figures from her past come back to haunt her. It fills in more gaps and also really develops the nature of Alchemy and the concept of Backward Alchemy. I really like the revelation that Zoey has here about Backward Alchemy – the whole idea that, ultimately, Alchemy is really really hard work. Alchemy take study, dedication and a lot of work and research. Backwards Alchemy isn’t so much evil or wrong or broken as much as it is lazy – it’s the ultimate short cut which leads Zoey to question whether she is actually going to find any solutions from Backwards Alchemy. Which in turn comes with a whole lot of soul searching and the creeping, horrible realisation of what it may actually take to save Dorian… and whether that is worth it.

The antagonists come with a lot of twists back and forth – assumptions are challenged and challenged again and then challenged again. We also get some really difficult positions when we see friends of Zoey make difficult, painful decisions and face terrible moral quandaries… and fall short. And I like that. Far too often in books characters seem almost impossibly good. They are willing to sacrifice everything, they’re willing to drop their hopes even their own survival for the greater good. Sometimes people just aren’t that perfect – especially when it comes to life and death. I like the clarity of the conflict there.

There are still parts that, for me, don’t make sense. She talks about the persecution of alchemists in the past and the need for secrecy but there’s no real bringing that up to date. Why would she believe that would happen today? Especially since she says she loves Portland precisely because it is so new agey and accepting. Equally, there’s a whole side plot where she desperately flees France because an old woman claims she remembers Zoey when she was a small child. This is a reason to run?

Aftermath, Season One, Episode Five: A Clatter and a Chatter

I think I've finally come to an understanding with Aftermath. Yes, it's the end of times but it's also a situation where they throw whatever shit they can think of at their characters without any rhyme or reason.  We know that all of the mythologies of the world for some reason have decided to run amok, we simply have been offered no explanation as to why and offered up the Copeland family as a unit to identify with and root for.  This is a problem because the Copelands are all white, straight, cisgender and able bodied.  Inclusion has obviously been given a minimum of concern on Aftermath.

So, when last we left the Copelands, they were about to face down some fever heads who had escaped from the base. They make a run for it but quickly come across an ocean that has no business being there, thus blocking off the road. You'll note that we aren't offered even a plausible explanation as to why the ocean is suddenly there.  At any rate, they find themselves surrounded with no method of escape, when who should appear but a masked man on a horse with a grenade launcher no less. Devyn, being hyper religious, goes straight up book of revelations, "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him".  No need to worry for the Copelands because it turns out that the rider is none other than Lamar Boone, a friend of Karen's from the military.  Is it me, or does Karen seem to know every single military person they run into?

Boone and Karen have some history, evidenced by the fact that he calls her, "booty". He even has the nerve to do so in front of her husband and talk about how they used to have a thing.  I'm happy to see Aftermath introduce another person of colour and I hope that since Boon is played by none other than Wayne Brady, they don't plan to kill him off right away. It is however worth noting that the death of Doctor Rawlins preceded the introduction of Boone which very much gives this whole thing a T Dog chain feeling.  At any rate, it seems that Boon was one of those survivalist types and now that the weirdness has hit the fan, all of his pre planning has come in handy.  He's created a safe base and invites the Copelands to meet him there.  When giving directions, Boone actually tells the Copelands to turn right a the bodies strung up from the trees. It seems that Boon has no problem hanging people who cross the line which immediately jumps out as problematic to Joshua. I really hope that this is the center of tension between Boone and Joshua and not some love triangle between Boon, Joshua and Karen. 

Aftermath seems to be the kind of show that just doesn't like to keep it's characters together. Last week, Sally chose to stay behind with Cottrell to help manage the feverheads but with the base over run, the two have no option other than to flee.  They head into the woods and that is when Cottrell finally admits to being ill; however, he has some secret stash of meds in a cabin the woods and hopes to make it there on time to stop the progression of his illness. 

Back to the rest of the Copelands.  They head out to follow Boone's directions but come across a crater in the road blocking their path.  They hop out of the RV to investigate and this is when Karen hears the banshee scream for the first time.  She's the only one who can hear it.  Joshua decides that Karen and Brianna will stay behind with the RV while the others look for a path around the crater.  Matt and Devyn are together when Devyn spies a severed hand, freaks out and declares that he's not meant for this type of thing.  Joshua and Dana briefly separate and Dana is attacked by a Jubokko. Yep, Aftermath is once again mining culture of colour for woo woo.  Joshua and Matt manage to free Dana and they all rush back to the RV.  

They decide that they better get moving but unfortunately the RV won't start.  It turns out that the Jubokko has surrounded the RV and even entered the engine.  Fortunately for the Copelands, this is when Martin and Jane arrive/ Martin and Jane throw salt at the Jubokko, which drives it off.  It seems because of the delay arriving at Alamo (Boone's camp) Boone sent Martin and Jane to find out what was taking the Copelands so long.  Martin immediately gets his flirt on with Dana and she's quite receptive, despite the clear age difference between the two. I know the world is coming apart but neither Joshua or Karen is concerned about a grown as man making the moves on their daughter?

Cottrell and Sally make it to the cabin only to find it ransacked already and all of the medication gone. Cottrell gives Sally a gun and tells her that he is a danger to her now. Sally decides that they can make it out of this and heads outside to see if the feverheads dropped the meds on the ground while they were escaping.  

From Dusk Till Dawn, Season 3, Episode 9: Matanzas

Time for lots of fighting. Lots and lots and lots of fighting and cheesiness. So much cheesiness. We have Burt impale 4 people on a sword at once. We have Seth leaping through the air holding a revolver open to catch a bullet in the chamber. Yes, this level of cheese. I do appreciate some silly cheese.

This all takes place in this abandoned ghost town with Freddie leading a begging Venganza to the town to be part of the sacrifice to get Amaru her body back. They pass along a road where Culebras are tortured by sunlight and Venganza reminds Freddie just how terrible Amaru is

Meanwhile, Seth and Richie organise themselves, Scott, Burt, Aiden, Carlos, Santanico and a bunch of redshirt extras to launch an attack on the town, on the church where the ritual will take place during the eclipse (of course the eclipse). During daylight which means culebras are prone to burning if they lose their protection. Group A: Seth, Richie and Red Shirts attack openly to provide distraction while everyone else sneaks through some convenient tunnels into the church, helped by Freddie who is a secret plant all along

Something they didn’t share with Venganza it seems.

Brasa raises some extras of his own – a lot of undead cowboys. Apparently this is something Brasa, demon of sunlight/sungod can do. This is where Seth and the redshirts have a long long long gunfight with bullets dipped in culebra venom featuring the aforementioned leaping-reload shot. After many many deaths all the pesky extras and zombies are cleared away leaving Richie and Brasa to face off

Now, some would say that a sungod vs human ends quickly but a) Brasa wants Seth’s body (which I totally understand) to possess and b) Seth is up their with Vampire Diaries, True Blood and Walking Dead for the power of their plot armour. Seth also have bombs, powerful powerful bombs with woo-woo which manage to squish even a sun god. A truck full of explosives beats sun gods apparently

Actually can we talk about this? Because the whole premise of this is Amaru will open Xibalba and unleash all kinds of hell on the world. But is this prophecy out of date? I mean, if one of the most powerful Xibalbans can be taken out by a truck full of explosives, perhaps a hellish invasion will meet 21^st century technology and we’ll have a lot of very surprised demons?

Meanwhile Richie and the surviving Jaguar warrior head off into the desert to have their own private duel. Ending in stalemate so he and Seth can have a radio conversation that sounds a lot like a poignant goodbye.

Bloody Acquisitions (Fred, the Vampire Accountant #3) by Drew Hayes

Fred's new undead life as an abandoned vampire in Winslow, Colorado has been busy and full of trials but he's settled now, having built a family out of the friends he's managed to acquire in recent years. Even Fred's business as a paranormal accountant is booming, causing him to work both and night and day to deliver on his contracts on time.  All in all, other than having more business than he can handle sometimes, Fred is pretty content.  As the saying goes however eventually every shoe must fall.  When a new vampire clan moves into town intent on filling in the power vacuum, Fred must choose between staying and fighting for the life he has built or moving to a town run by fellow paranormals.

This is the third installment in the Fred, the Vampire Accountant series. My major concern in the first two books is that they read like a collection of short stories rather than one continuous novel from start to finish.  Hayes does much better this time around though at times the he does drift into little side stories that don't have much to do with the main plot.  Because I find the idea of a vampire accountant who simply wants to do right by his clients and be with his friends so novel, when the distraction happens, it's easy to just go along for the ride, particularly because the distraction usually comes with some sort of ridiculous nonsense which is laugh out loud funny.   It is however worth noting that Blood Acquisitions does have a problem with line editing which might be an issue for some readers.

What continues to make Fred, the Vampire Accountant series so fascinating to me is Hayes treatment of gender. Normally in a vampire story, it's the vampire who fits into the role of anti hero and the vampire who is strong enough to induce fear in anyone or anything he meets.  Fred, the Vampire Accountant series puts this all out of balance because Fred, with his infamous sweater vests, is never the strongest person in any room and in fact, when the opportunity arises for him to amass more power, Fred turns it down. With the exception of a human female lawyer who Fred absolutely sees as an equal, all the women in Fred's life are significantly more powerful and knowledgeable about the paranormal world than he is. Even Fred's agent girlfriend Krystal, sees it as her job to protect Fred.

What I like the most about Fred is his loyalty to his friends and his clients.  When the Turva sets up residence in Winslow, Fred quickly finds that he's running out of options.  He heads to see a dragon to ask about other vampires and when offered a sample to increase his power or the opportunity to have all of his problems simply whisked away, Fred refuses. It would be so easy for Fred to have all of his enemies killed, thus assuring him that no other group of vampires would try to set up stakes in Winslow for at least a hundred years but Fred instead considers the innocent vampires who would lose their lives. Even when he's about to forced into making an alliance with Turva, essentially making him subordinate to their leadership, Fred refuses to lean on his much stronger friends because he sees that as taking advantage.  He's determined to stand on his own two feet come what may.

The Strain, Season 3, Episode 8: White Light

It’s time to reveal what nefarious thing Eichorst and the Master are building in Eldritch’s factories. Sadly, it’s the same as in the book

It’s a big plant where humans are loaded up, exsanguinated and their bodies incinerated and they want it to work faster (and human lackies are apparently willing to work on this).

Uh-huh

Why?

Is speed of exsanguination a problem?

Is killing humans for food in vast and quick numbers even a viable

This is obviously scary scary genocide because we’re reaaaaaly trying to stretch that with some desperate and frankly offensive comparisons and thematic links to the holocaust and Abe.

But not only is it insulting to compare the very real horror of the holocaust to this story, but it makes no sense. The vampires cannot possibly wipe out their primary food source, that’d be utterly ridiculous. This whole factory makes no sense – the vampires don’t have a problem killing and feeding on humans.

Now an extraction factory that took a lot of blood from people but left them alive, basically vast warehouses akin to what we saw on the Matrix, humans bound in cells from birth and constantly bled but kept alive (which provides both blood and stops them being turned by being bitten). That would be horrific and make sense. This? Does not make sense. This is a mutual extinction machine.

A now healthy Palmer, buzzing on the White, gives enough information to Abe and Vasiliy to allow them to track down the crate that was delivered. There’s a gun fight but in the end Eichorst manages to escape with the crate and its mysterious cargo. But they also learn about the death factory