Teen Wolf, Season 2, Episode 5: Frenemy

Last episode we learned that the weregecko was Jackson and he has a new friend (aww). I predict there will be a lot less effort spent keeping him alive because, well, he’s Jackson.

Danny has finished fixing Jackson’s video, and as per his lord and master’s instructions, he hasn’t watched it – he puts his tablet in his car. Meanwhile, the weregecko is fleeing from Derek who wants to slice and dice him. Derek and the weregecko have a semi-good fight (a little too choreographed – lots of punching ridiculously at a shield and the weregecko completely forgot about his paralysing venom, but still pretty good) when Daddy Argent arrives and totally cheats – shooting the weregecko repeatedly in the chest. Yeah, that’s not going to work. That never works. Daddy Argent looks for Derek who has disappeared –leaving the fallen weregecko to get back up again (never turn your back on the monster. You’d think the professional werewolf hunter would have guessed this). The weregecko kicks him (yes that venom stuff? Totally out of it) and in the glare of the lights we see the weregecko bonding with his friend – Granddaddy Argent.

Stiles and Scott follow in Stiles’ jeep (wasn’t that requisitioned as evidence?) and Scott running ahead when the jeep meets a barrier. Scott takes a swing at the weregecko and ends up facing Granddady Argent who stands there looking menacing and/or constipated.

Allison is dropping of Lydia and need Lydia to promise not to tell anyone what happened. While Lydia is more concerned with actually what happened. Derek, Jackson, Erica – someone explain! Allison, rather than talk about the life and death issues, decides to talk about keeping her relationship with Scott secret (Allison, please, for five seconds, try to focus on something besides Scott. Like the weregecko? Look, there’s Lydia right there, you could at least take a stab at passing the Bechdel test? No?) and bringing up all the romantic gooshiness (oh nauseating teen crushes how I despise thee), with an extra side-order of “this is the wonderful romantic love I have that you haven’t.” I waited for Allison to bring out the thumbscrews to see if we could elevate Lydia’s suffering even more, but she refrained.

Scott runs into Stiles while looking for the weregecko and Stiles resorts to sarcasm – as he points out, the only weapon he has in this fight (poor Stiles). They wonder at Jackson passing the test and Stiles, the only person on the show with a working brain, points out that Jackson isn’t actually the Kanima weregecko when in human form so why would he be immune to the toxin (which, of course, is what I said. Yes, I am “I told you soing” sue me). They do see the weregecko sneaking into a club – and Scott smells Danny’s Armani aftershave and assumes that’s who the weregecko is after (possibly since Danny is the person who decoded the video and could know who the weregecko is).

They break in and lo, it’s a gay club (Danny, the gay guy going into a gay club? No! How surprising!) Danny is upset over his ex and being encouraged to hit on another guy by the bar tender (guess this explains why his boyfriend only made the briefest of cameo appearances). The weregecko enters the dancing crowd (no-one notices?! On a crowded dance floor? I don’t care how dark the place is or how much smoke there is – you notice a weregecko) clawing and paralysing random men, including Danny, leaving them helpless on the floor. But Derek is also in the crowd, and while Scott protests (why?), he slits the weregecko’s throat. The club empties, people screaming as they see the collection of bodies lying about.

Scott follows the trail of blood from the weregecko into the car park and finds – Jackson, in human form. They load him up in the car (apparently not to murder while he’s helpless and unconscious), quickly confirm that Danny didn’t see anything unusual and prepare to drive off when the sheriff, Stiles’s dad arrives. And Stiles has to explain to him why he’s there – especially since his dad doesn’t believe he’s clubbing there since it’s a gay club. Stiles actually starts to pretend to come out (ye gods… really?) but his dad doesn’t believe it – no way his son could be gay dressed like that. (Oh please. Really?)

Stiles tries to delay his dad while Scott knocks Jackson back out so he doesn’t draw attention (and because its fun to punch Jackson) and Stiles’s excuse is that they’re there to reassure Danny since he’s just broken up with his boyfriend.

They drive off and wonder what to do with Jackson. Scott wants to take him somewhere secure until they can convince him he’s dangerous. Stiles wants to kill him (team Stiles!) and after lost of banter (Stiles’s banter makes this show. In fact, this show should all be about Stiles). And Jackson wakes up chained up in a prison van – yelling threats against Stiles and Scott. Stiles explains the situation to Jackson – who brushes over the whole “I’m killing people” and points out his parents will be looking for him. But Stiles is ahead of him – and sent a fake text from his phone.

Which was spotted by Mr. Whitmore, Jackson’s father who is reporting him missing to the police. The text signed off “love you” and, since he was told he was adopted, Jackson never says that to his parents and hasn’t said “I love you” in 11 years (while this is some powerful character building for Jackson, I really question how many teenaged boys sign off their texts to their father with “love you”? or maybe that’s just me).

Wednesday Reboot: The Village

The Village was released in 2004 and stars Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt and Joaquin Phoenix. It was directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan.

The movie opens at the funeral of what can only be a small child, judging by the size of a casket. The year on the tombstone reads 1897.  The community gathers to eat when suddenly a horn is blown.  They all stop and stare and look into the distance.  When nothing happens they continue their meal.  It seems that the community is very much a rural setting with gender roles that appear very defined. Though men and women are both on the town council, the women knit during it.

It seems that the community is terrorized by a group of beings which they call, "those we do not speak of." When an animal is found dead with its fur removed, the children begin to speculate that "those we do not speak of" are terrorizing the people of the valley but Edward Walker, their teacher, tells them that they are not in danger and that they have a treaty with "those we do not speak of". More animals continue to appear, but the elders say that it must be a coyote or some kind of "mad animal."  Apparently the color red attracts "those we do not speak of" and so they bury everything that they come across with this colour.

Lucius Hunt is a man of few words, but he senses that there are secrets in the town that no one will speak of.  He asks to go to the towns, to trade for medical supplies but to do this he has to walk through the forest of "those we do not speak of."  He believes that they will sense his bravery and good intention, and let him pass, but he is rejected by the council.  When "those we do not speak of" make an appearance in the town, the citizens lock their doors and windows and hide in shelters under their houses.  Lucius believes that he is at fault for their appearance because he crossed into the forest out of curiosity. The next day, the community leaves an offering of a dead pig at the border of the forest.

A romance is clearly developing between Lucius and Ivy Walker. She is blind and very much a free spirit.  When Lucius tells her that she runs like a man, Ivy sees it as a compliment. Though Ivy cannot see, she claims that certain people have a colour surrounding them.  It's actually Ivy who proposes marriage by asking Lucius if he will dance with her on their wedding night.  Lucius is frustrated that Ivy always wants to lead but he admits that he loves her and promises to dance with her on their wedding night.

When it is announced that Ivy and Lucius are going to marry, Noah Percy pays him a visit and stabs him in the stomach with a knife.  It seems that Noah is also in love with Ivy.  When Ivy leans that Noah was found covered in blood, she walks to Lucius' house and finds him unconscious. Noah is locked away and when Ivy goes to see him, she smacks him several times across the face, until she is dragged out of the room.  Ivy asks for permission to go to the towns to retrieve medicine to save Lucius.

Fangs for the Fantasy Epsiode 74

And we have another episode of Fangs for the Fantasy! Where we discuss Urban Fantasy through a social justice lens. This week we discuss the new episode of True Blood, where everyone takes it in turns to tell Sookie off, Falling Skies and its treatment of minorities, Teen Wolf and the characterless Allison and out book of the week, the Fall by Guillermo Del Torro and Chuck Hogan – which was totally Tami’s fault.



Our books of the week for the next month are:


3/7-9/7: Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues: Diana Rowland
9/7-16/7: Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner
16/7-23/7: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
23/7-30/7: Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

Review of Fae Hunter Book One of the Soulstealer Trilogy by Nicolette Reed

 

The fae of Dell’Aria are terrified for their lives.  Something is causing their magic to be stolen and though the fae naturally live long lives, they cannot live without their magic.  Valora Delos is a fae hunter charged with discovering who is responsible.  Because it is believed that the blight is being caused by soul stealing fae, everyone is suspect.  If she cannot discover the responsible parties in time, Dell' Aria fall will fall from the sky into selkie waters and destroy not only the fae, but their home. 

When Valora Delos heads to earth on behalf of the King, she learns that Aric's intentions may not be as pure as they seem.  When she meets the half fae Dooley, she is instantly attracted to him, but Aric still has a hold on her and has promised to make her his queen.  Valora is caught between the man that she has always loved and has a responsibility to serve, and the man it seems that fate has placed in her path.

I had a hard time getting into this story at first because it begins with an action scene.  This is a horrible way to start any book, because the reader has no investment in the characters or any idea what is going on. It also has the very typical chosen one theme, which in this case was completely unnecessary as Valora - the protagonist - has more than enough motivation to find the soulstealers because her mother died in an attack. It didn't help that the first few pages are all an info dump in an attempt to set up the story.

Women in the Anita Blake Series

The Anita Blake series has now reached a massive 21 books now and I always find these long series as fascinating to examine, just as I did J.R Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. With a long series you can see patterns and trends, you can see ongoing erasure and repeated stereotypes and tropes to really reinforce a point.

So, I turn to Anita Blake - I already looked at the idea of Anita as a champion of sexual agency, but now I’m turning my eyes on another fraught issue - the treatment of women in the series. Especially women who aren’t Anita.

And the first thing I see is there aren’t actually an awful lot of them. Considering how long this series is as well as the sheer, massive number of characters (Anita has actually slept with more characters than most book series include) and you see an awful lot of men and... not even a quarter as many women. Especially not in Anita’s immediate circle - how many female friends and peers does Anita actually have by the end of book 21? I think I can count them on the fingers of one hand - and I don’t think I need all of them. Anita lives in an incredibly male world.

Which is really common with strong female protagonists (and something we will address in another post for the genre in general), they tend to be the only one. The only woman - perhaps the only capable woman. A woman whose only equals and peers are, ultimately men - implying women are not capable of keeping up with her.

The way Anita refers to herself, her work and her capability, coupled with this rejection of nearly all other women also shows an uncomfortable pattern. Remember, Anita is “one of the guys” and she speaks the “guy code” and knows “guy language” so she can communicate with the men around her far better than another woman could. We get language like this throughout the series. She even impresses the police in Hit List not with skill or capability or knowledge - but with her (supernaturally enhanced) upper-body strength. Throughout it seems we’re not presenting the ideal that a woman is just as good as a man in these circumstances but that she, Anita, is a special woman who can be just as much a guy as the guys.

Especially if you contrast this to how so many other women in the series are treated - a treatment that gets more extreme the more stereotypically “traditionally feminine” the women present. The more stereotypically feminine these women are, the more they are likely to be either sexually manipulative bad guys or fragile victims.

Now contrast that with the women who she (almost) regards as coming close to approaching Anita’s level - Ronnie, Silvie (especially given the dubious treatment of sexuality in this series - which is another post) and, especially Claudia. In varying ways, these women also reject traditional stereotypes of femininity and “femaleness” and have those qualities emphasised.

It’s also sad that the vast majority of women in the series fit into a few categories. Of course there are exceptions (Claudia, Dr. Lillian), but they are few and usually minor or one off characters and do not fit in regularly in Anita’s life (though most of them fit as well)

Falling Skies: Season 2, Episode 4: Young Bloods

In previous episodes I said that it was necessary for Matt to grow up fast and get used to the world they’re in, to learn how to fight, to, in many ways, be desensitised to the violence that now rules the world he lives in – that he can no longer live a normal childhood.

Yeah, that didn’t stretch to “hey, let’s use him as bait for Skitters and then splatter their blood and organs all over them”, no it did not. And you have to laugh that he’s wearing a helmet while playing on the scooter – because safety first while taunting children-targetting aliens, right?

Aside from their little brother’s growing collection of traumatic experiences, Hal and Ben are busy scouting a path to Charleston for the 2^nd Massachusetts (where the new civilian government is supposed to be. They find a building with Mechs and power and alien stuff going on, and make a note to avoid it. I say “they” but Hal is talking and Ben is busy staring zombielike at the aliens. Heart-to-heart talk about his silence is called off on account of people stealing their bikes. Thankfully Ben is there with his disturbing alien super-powers to hear which way they’re going.

Following them they find a camp of kids and teens lead by Diego, there’s a stand off but Ben acting as sniper makes them back down. Hal wants his bikes back but notices how many kids there are , with no adults at all - and he offers some of the 2^nd Mass’s supplies. Diego agrees to bring a team to check it out – at the urging of his girlfriend and second in command.

Back at the camp, Tom and Ann are flirting and bonding over very-out-of-date chocolate treats and going from “I never thought I’d have a chocolate pie again” to “I never thought I’d have TWU LUB AGAIN!” inevitably, their dizzy making out (no, really, was the cameraman circling them or were they spinning like a couple of drunken ballerinas?) is interrupted by Lourdes.

Tom runs to rescue Matt when he realises he is being subjected to truly cringe-worthy rapping. And the possibility that, in this dystopian world, his 9 year old may be given *gasp* beer. Before we accuse him of the most ridiculously messed up priorities, it turns out while he agreed for Matt to go as a runner to help report things, he didn’t actually agree to Matt being used as alien bait. Tom is, rather unsurprisingly, Not Amused By This and rakes the men over the coals and back. To which Matt slopes off in a tantrum because he totally wanted to be alien bait.

Weaver emerges just in time for he and Tom to greet Hal, Ben and some of the kids. One of which is Jean – Weaver’s daughter. Time for reuinion, joy and sadness since his ex-wife and her mother is dead, but also happiness to be together. Yes, it’s schmaltzy, but you can’t be all grit grit doom gloom.

Diego is helping Hal update his scouting maps and pointing out the damn obvious, that Hal and Maggie are becoming a couple. (Frankly, I thought they were a couple already). And Tom invited Diergo’s group to join them to come with them Charleston. They don’t try to pressure Diego to join them though and let them make their own decision. Tom takes the chance to try to patch things up with Matt – telling him his actions just weren’t smart and were risky – and Matt throws getting onto an alien spaceship back at him. To which I have to say; 9 year old, 1: Tom, nil. Wow, Tom just got told by a 9 year old; it must be hard to raise a kid when you have demonstrated the same level of common sense and intelligence normally reserved for moss. This is what it is like to never ever have the moral high-ground again – no matter what stupid crap his kids do, it pales before his.

Fangs for the Fantasy Podcast

Reminder guys - this week the podcast is happening tomorrow (that would be the 3rd of July) at the usual time:
6:00pm EST
11:00pm GMT

And you can join us by clicking here and listen to us discuss the shows we've been watching and the books we've been reading


Our books of the week for the next month are:

25/6-3/7: The Fall by Guillermo del Torro and Chuck Hogan
3/7-9/7: Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues: Diana Rowland
9/7-16/7: Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner
16/7-23/7: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
23/7-30/7: Grave Witch by Kalayna Price


Read along with us :)
 

Review: The Fall by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Master’s vampires are furthering their control over New York City – and not just New York, similar planes are landing throughout the world. On every continent, cities are falling and the vampires are spreading. And that’s before the Master’s plan with the nuclear power plants comes to fruition.

In New York, Fess, Strakarian and Ephraim are reeling from the failure of their attack plan. The Master isn’t dead, sunlight and silver didn’t kill him, he is only injured but still able to move his plan forward – with the help of his mortal agents and former Nazi vampires. The number of vampires in the city is growing, fire and smoke are blocking the sun during the day, robbing them of their main weapon and the vampires are using tunnels and the subway to get round the running water, resisting all attempts to be contained.

The mortal authorities, compromised by the Master and reeling in panic, are slow and ineffective to address the threat in any realistic manner.

Even the other Ancients, the other Vampire Masters of the world, seem helpless before the rogue. The only hope they have is a book that is supposed to contain the secrets of vampirism, their origins and, perhaps, a way to stop the plague.

This world is really coming together in this book – the Ancients, how vampires normally work without destroying the world, what vampires are – it’s all being built upon here. If The Strain introduced the world, then The Fall is filling in the details and giving it flesh and form.

And the same applies to the plot – we’re getting the details of the Master’s plan, and the both the scale and power of it, the full scope of human collusion and we’ve even got a semi-long term goal for the survivors. Dystopians can often devolve into a series of events while the main characters try to live – and while survival horror has its charms, it’s nice to have some kind of goal beyond “live to see tomorrow”. But with the book and the codes within it, there’s hope for a lot more. The plot has also tightened on the characters, largely because a lot of them have died, and now they all have a place in the book and the story that is established. There are less hangers on.