Fangs for the Fantasy Podcast Episode 89

This week we discuss the brand new seasons of Vampire Diaries and Walking Dead. We also discuss the brand new show Beauty and the Beast. We check in on the newest season of Fringe which is not thrilling us as well as following Once Upon a Time and its treatment of Mulan.

Our book of the week is Lady of Devices by Shelly Adina – which we enjoyed but was far too shallow and short for the many deep issues that are raised.

Our next books of the week:

15/10-22/10: Holidays are Hell (Anthology)
22/10-29/10:Grave Dance by Kalayna Price

29/10-5/11: Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
5/11-12/11: Runelight by Joanne Harris

 

Review: Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina. book 1 of the Magnificent Devices Trilogy

 Lady Claire, society daughter is approaching the end of her school career where all the important things a young lady needs to know have been passed on to her. Despite this, she’s also made the effort to actually learn something, much to the frustration of her teachers and certainly to the annoyance of her mother who is viewing the coming season with great anticipation. Education takes a back seat to dress fitting if Claire wishes to achieve the ultimate goal and secure herself a proper husband. Rather than Claire achieving her ultimate goal and go to university.

Of course, such ambitions become far more distant when disaster strikes the family. Impoverished and without her father, Claire sees her mother leave the city and is left to pack things up and join them – and rejoin the quest to find a proper husband.

Independent, with little supervision, Claire pursues her own goal of employment hoping to realise her own potential. But she quickly finds herself in a far worse position than she ever imagined possible – and must now make her way on the poorest streets of London, penniless as the Lady of Devices

Lady Claire is a Victorian society lady, the daughter of a Marquis of considerable wealth and influence. Thuis is a common setting for Steampunk and my first test is always “does this feel right?” I want to be able to open the book and feel the Victoriana, when a new character is introduced, the theem should be so set thaI picture her in a gown, not jeans and a tank top. I want the feel of the time and the place to be so evocative that there’s no doubt to the setting and no need to translate. And I want all that without massive amounts of clumsy info dumping.

This is one of those books that gets it right. Through dialogue, through actions, through carefully described settings, through attitudes and appropriate, non-overdone references we have a great sense of time and place that’s really immersive and fun.

And Claire is a fascinating character – someone who causes explosions in her “chemistry of the kitchen” class simply because the Professor won’t tell her WHY those compounds should not be mixed, she’s not satisfied with “just don’t.” Claire faces two major conflicts, the first – and one I hope will be developed in later books – is the conflict of Wits vs Bloods. The Wits being those who consider intelligence and knowledge to be important and the Bloods who consider breeding and lineage to be what matters. She is from a Blooded family, a family that wouldn’t dream of employment or involvement in such crass activities as science and engineering. Instead finance and politics are for the men, and finding a good husband and running a household are the women’s job.

Claire breaks both moulds – more inclined to value learning, adventure, experience and knowledge than bloodline and breeding and chafing against extreme gender expectations that require her to be decorous enough to find a husband – the all consuming goal that so obsesses her mother. Any other achievements are moot, her language skills are to be useful for ordering around foreign staff, her engineering and scientific knowledge trifling distractions at best.

After her family’s financial collapse, Lady Claire finds herself on the streets of London among the very poorest in Victorian society. While there, we quickly see the blatant difference between the “haves” and the “have nots” and just how little people have to survive on when she lived a life of such extreme privilege. The come down is extreme, to say the least.

And, with her new companions, we can also see how many advantages Lady Claire has – not just in terms of assets but in terms of upbringing. Merely speaking a certain way, dressing a certain way means she is much better treated and, because of that, given greater opportunities and greater lee-way. The same applies to education, here knowledge not just her precocious and unusual knowledge of chemistry and engineering (which, despite the title of the book, is a relatively minor element of the story) but simply being able to read and write and to have mastered basic maths makes such a difference. It’s a telling examination of class not just in terms of who has what or even in terms of how well people are treated – but also in terms of the basic advantages that education and upbringing can bring.

The Walking Dead Season Three, Episode One: Seed

The season opens with the camera staring right into a zombie's eye. The moment it pulls away, Rick bursts through the door followed by Carl, T-Dog and Darryl.  None of the men say a word to each other as they search the house room by room. When Carl comes across a zombie, he shoots it with a gun that seems almost to heavy for him to hold. Gone is the Carl who hesitates about killing a walker. I suppose we aren't going to spend this season with Lori asking every few minutes where Carl is.  It looks like they are moving him closer to the Carl from the comics. As soon as the house is cleared out, the rest of the group comes in. Darryl comes across an owl, shoots it and immediately starts plucking its feathers.  Carl goes through the kitchen looking for food and finds two cans of dog food. He sits down to open it up and when Rick sees what he's about to eat, Rick grabs it and throws it across the room. I guess Rick still has his pride but as disgusting as it is, dog food is still food. This entire scene is done without anyone saying a single word and it's clear that they have this routine down cold now. When the zombies start to approach, they gather up their things and they leave.

They come to a stop in the middle of the road and Rick puts Carl on watch. Clearly he is no longer seen as a little boy who needs protection.  They are looking for a path to escape the zombies and move forward. Rick says that they need to find someplace to settle for a few weeks.  Hershel says that Lori can't take much more of this moving around. It has clearly been sometime since the farm burned down as Lori's pregnancy has much advanced. While the others search for water, Darryl and Rick leave to go hunting, sure in the knowledge that the owl won't stretch far. They come across a prison with zombies strolling in the yard. They cut through the gate and Glen uses wire to draw it closed.  When they reach they gate Rick starts to organize how to secure the site and kill the zombies. Rick slips inside while the others are providing a distraction, killing all of the zombies they can and he locks the gate.  The survivors are excited and Carol says that they haven't had this much space since the farm.

That night they set up camp outside the prison as Rick walks back and forth in front of the gate.  Hershel starts talking about how the soil is good enough to farm and T-dog talks about building a trench.  Bessie points out that this would be a good place for Lori to have her baby. Clearly, everyone is thinking about laying down some roots at last. Carol brings over some food to Darryl and comments that Rick has brought them further than she thought.  When she starts to complain about the kickback from the rifle, Darryl starts to massage her shoulder and they share a moment.  Carol comments about how romantic it is and asks him if he wants to screw around and Darryl snorts. I found myself wondering if this is fan service or if they actually plan to move Darryl and Carol closer together.  They seemed to have meshed quite a bit. Watching this however I could not help but think that this does not look good for Tyrese because in the comics, Carol and Tyrese were a couple.  We keep hearing rumours that he has been cast or about to be cast but so far, there has been no concrete evidence of this and instead we still have the ineffectual T-Dog.

Back at the campfire, Bessie starts to sing and its clear the survivors have morphed into a family. Rick suggests that they all turn in because they have a big day tomorrow.  When Glenn asks what he means, Rick says that it looks like the place fell pretty early which means that there could be supplies like food and medicine.  Hershel is worried that they are dangerously low on ammo and Rick says that is why they have to in there hand to hand and assures them that they can do this after everything that they have been through. When he walks away Lori stops him to say that she appreciates this but because everyone is exhausted she thinks they should wait for a few days.  Lori says they need to talk because the baby is about to come and Rick cuts her off and says that he is doing stuff and if she wants to talk, she should talk to Hershel. Rick reminds her that he is still there and walks away.  I almost feel sorry for Lori at this point because she did in good conscience believe that Rick was dead when she slept with Shane.  It was about comfort and safety more than anything else.  When it came right down to it, Lori chose Rick over Shane.

An American flag is flying outside of a building which Michonne enters for supplies. She quickly uses her katana to make short work of them and picks up a pack of asprin on her way out. Back at the prison, the hand to hand combat has begun. These opening scenes have made up for the shortage of walkers last season. Rick, T dog, Maggie, Glenn, and Darryl are on the inside fighting, while the others are outside of the gates trying to cause a distraction. It's Maggie who figures out how to kill the guards in the riot gear. When they find a civilian, they worry that the prison could have been overrun with outside people. Rick says that they cannot risk a blind spot and that they have to push in.

Fangs for the Fantasy Book of the Week

Every week on the Fangs for the Fantasy podcast (archives here) we read a book and discuss it on the show. The review for the book of the week always goes up on 3:00pm (EST) on a Monday (Monday’s book review).

To give people a chance to read along with us, every Monday we’re also going to include a list of our planned books of the week for the next few shows, so people can get the books, read them and join in the conversation.

8/10/-15/10: Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina

15/10-22/10: Holidays are Hell (Anthology)
22/10-29/10:Grave Dance by Kalayna Price

29/10-5/11: Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
5/11-12/11: Runelight by Joanne Harris
 

We will discuss each book on the latter date – so on the 29th October, we will discuss Grave Dance by Kalayna Price

We will post a new list every Monday with any changes or new books.

The Misfits, Season Two, Episode Two

 

Nathan is standing on the roof of the community center with the other misfits and he strips off his overalls and starts slathering suntan lotion all over his body.  Alisha tells him to put his clothes back on, which I am sure is something every viewer wants him to do.  On the ground someone calls up that he looking for Nathan and Nathan asks who he is, Jamie says that he is his brother.  Nathan replies that he is the classic example of an only child, but Jamie says that they have the same father. Nathan answers that he has always wanted a brother. 

Nathan calls his father who is tied up in his trunk, from the bathroom of a bar and thus is unable to answer.  Nathan wants to know how it is that he has a brother. The Misfits are cleaning up the garbage and Shaun wants to know where Nathan is.  Simon lies and says that Nathan is in the locker room but Shaun nixes that right away because he just came from the locker room and Nathan was not there. Kelly says that he had a family emergency and Shaun asks what kind of emergency. Curtis pipes up to add that his brother came to see him, but Shaun wants to know how this is an emergency and Alisha says that he's got cancer. Kelly says that his brother was crying and that she thinks he needed a drink. Shaun is not impressed and says, "so Nathan's taken him to the pub has he? His brother hasn't got cancer has he?" Alisha responds, "he might have" and Simon suggests, "he should feel for lumps in his testicles." That is enough to creep Shaun out and so he leaves.

Back at the bar, Nathan wants to know how things went with their father, when Jamie went to see him.  Jamie says it was okay and Nathan replies, "let me guess, he was a useless twat. That's our dad for you, but don't take it too personally though." Nathan raises his glass and adds, "hey fuck him." Over Nathan's shoulder, Jamie notices a girl and Nathan adds, been there done that. He asks Jamie if he wants another beer and heads over to the bar and orders two pints of the cheapest lager. Nathan looks around and sees that his brother is hooking up with a girl, so he asks Lily the bartender how she would feel about having sex with him.  Lily responds, "I won't. I have this thing about having sex with bouffant haired mutton heads." When Lily puts her finger in some water on the bar, it immediately starts to freeze and then freezes all of the beer on the bar.  The glasses all break. Nathan says, "cool power. Don't sweat it, I'm immortal."  Lily is shocked and tells him that she thought it was just her. Nathan assures Lily that he has died twice in two weeks and wants to know who she is calling bouffant haired. Lily tells him that his hair is quite big.  The manager comes out and wants to know what's up with her and breaking the glasses. Nathan calls the manger a cunt and gets a shot in the jaw.  Outside, Lily approaches him and says, "I can't believe you did that." Lily gives Nathan her number and says that he should call her sometime. Nathan takes the card and says that he will do that. The two start walking and Jamie realizes that his car is gone. Nathan says, "welcome to the neighborhood, as Jamie starts to freak out.  Jamie says, "dad was in the boot."  Nathan wants to know why their father was in the trunk.  Jamie replies, "I went to see him and it's like he didn't want to be bothered with me. I lost it. I hit him with a toaster." Nathan is not the least bit impressed and Jamie adds, "I was going to drive him home and make him apologize to mom for being such a wanker to her." Nathan says, "I'm sure that would have been a touching reunion." Jamie admits that he wasn't going to go through with it and had planned to let their father out. Nathan asks him if he is out of his mind and Jamie says, "fuck you, you don't know how this feels. He was there for you, you don't know." Nathan suggests that they go and find their dad.

As they are walking, Jamie admits that he spent years dreaming about what it would be like to meet him and admits that their father didn't even turn the TV off because he was to busy watching Master Chef. Nathan tells him whatever ideas he had about father and son that Jamie should forget about it because their father is not interested in it.  They find a car on fire and Nathan asks Jamie if it is his car.  Nathan kicks open the trunk and realises that it empty. Just as Nathan gets the trunk open, a car goes driving by and Jamie says that's his car.  Nathan and Jamie chase the car until it stops and a couple of young men get out.  Nathan tells Jamie that the plan is for him to provoke them into chasing them and Jamie gets the car. 

Nathan approaches them and asks if they are doing business. They ask him if he is taking the piss.  Nathan replies, "Shall we say a hundred quid?  I'm thinking I do you and you do me and we all end up in a hot tub. There's and extra twenty in it, if you tie me up and hit my balls with a cactus."  They agree to his request and walk off with him. I am sick of this continual play on homophobia in this show. There isn't a single gay character but they seem to have no problems injecting homophobia left right and center.  Jamie sees this as his opportunity and he hops into the car.  A few paces away, they ask Nathan for the money and Nathan replies, "let's see your cock first, I want to prepare myself mentally and physically." Jamie pulls up in the car and Nathan hops in. As they drive away, one of the guys breaks a window of the car. Nathan and Jamie stop and are excited that they have gotten away, when they hear a knock from the trunk.  Jamie suggests that they let their father out.  Nathan says, "I'll untie you but I want you to promise me that you won't be angry." His dad is upset and starts to hell through his gag.  The brothers pull him out of the trunk, just as the police pull up.  

At the police station, Mike tells Nathan that it's complicated and that he didn't see the point of upsetting his mother. Nathan asks, "upset her more than you cheating on her, or walking out on her, or you just generally being a complete twat? And you never even tried to contact him. First class parenting there dad well done." Mike says that he thought about seeing Jamie but the longer it went on, it just kept getting harder. "He just turned up out of the blue, I didn't know what to say to him," Mike adds.  Nathan tells him, "even for you that is just absolutely shit," and points out that he is supposed to be a dad to Jamie. Mike says that whenever he tried to work things out with Nathan that he just throws shit back in his face. When Nathan tells Mike that he wishes he was Jamie and that he is better off not knowing him, Mike leaves.  Jamie gets released and asks about Mike, and Nathan tells him that he is gone.

They had back to the community center and Jamie passes out on Nathan's bed and so Nathan covers him with a blanket. This is absolutely the most sensitive that we have seen Nathan be to date. I like this version of Nathan so much better, but I know that this is just a short interlude, before he returns to being the all out asshole that he was before. 

Alisha is walking and the masked stranger is following her on the rooftops.  She picks up her pace and starts to run and catches up to him on the roof.  When he sees her, he backs away, just as Alisha attempts to take a photo of him.

In the morning, Jamie leaves and Simon asks if he is staying there now.  Nathan says yes and that he has always wanted a brother and that he can teach Jamie things.  Beyond teaching Jamie about how to be an ass, Nathan has absolutely nothing to offer. Nathan asks Simon if he has any brothers and Simon responds, "a sister." Nathan asks, "Is she cute? You should think about getting me and her together. Hey man, someone's going to, better off it being a close friend, someone you can trust to be gentle," as he begins to thrust his pelvis gently. Simon looks disturbed and says, "she's 12."  Shaun approaches and Nathan immediately says he knows nothing about the booze going missing from the kitchen.

Fringe Season Five, Episode Three: The Recordist

 

At Harvard university, Astrid is burning a whole in the amber, with Walter lecturing her on technique and in the process irritating her.   Just as the tape is freed, Peter and Olivia enter the room. They watch the tape and find Walter smoking pot and he quickly claims that his usage was medicinal. It seems that Walter stored the tapes out of order, which does not shock anyone.  On the tape, Walter  reveals coordinates, which Olivia quickly memorizes. When he is asked if he recognizes the coordinates, Walter says that if he has never been there, or he has no memory it. As Olivia, Peter and Henrietta discuss the difficulties of traveling to the location and the fact that there is virtually nothing there, Walter makes his way to a bag of pot.  When Peter asks Walter about going there, he tries to refuse, claiming that his feet are sore from standing in front of the amber all day. Peter simply smiles.

The team make their way to Northern Pennsylvania in the van. When they pull up to the location, Walter is upset that his legs are aching and complains about not being allowed to stop and stretch.  Peter points out that they are fugitives and cannot stop to allow him to remain limber.  There is nothing but trees and so Peter asks Walter what he was doing out there 21 years ago.  Through the trees, they hear a sound and turn to see a young boy looking at them. When the child realises he has been spotted, he quickly runs off.  They start to walk through the woods and Peter insists that he saw a child while Walter argues that it was a tree bark. Henrietta is excited for this opportunity and tells Olivia that as a child she used to fantasize about going on missions with her. Olivia responds that it is a lot to live up to. Suddenly, the team is surrounded by armed men and each one of them has some dark growth on their faces.

As the team are being led away, Walter advises Peter not to touch them because what they have might be communicable. They are lead into an advanced camp and ordered to stop. Peter and Henrietta are searched for weapons and when they get to Walter, he makes his discomfort known.  A man steps out when he recognizes Walter and then Olivia and Peter.  Walter explains that they were trapped in amber for 21 years and the man introduces himself as Edwin. Edwin holds out his hand and Walter hesitates because of the black growth on his skin, but Edwin tells him that he was exposed the moment they got there.  Walter says that they are there to retrieve something very important and asks if Edwin knows them.

Edwin takes Walter to a bunker that is protected by electromagnetic discharge.  It seems that Edwin is in charge of chronicling the history of mankind since the arrival of the observers. For the first time this season, we see an image of Phillip Broyles. Broyles' image is on a story entitled, Fringe Division Sanctioned to Police Natives. Seeing the image of Broyles reminded me of just how much I miss his character this season. The story really does feel incomplete without him. Walter realises that they have files on them and Edwin reveals that there is a heavy lore about Walter in circulation and that his son River is the expert on the Fringe division.  Edwin says that they were a group of refugees from the city and that his father started the historical record believing that their history, like all other conquered races before them, would be re-written by their oppressors.  I understand the purpose of this statement and what it is attempting to imply, but I don't like the analogy to the real world colonization of people of colour across the globe. I think that it is particularly problematic because the person speaking about this oppression is a straight White man. It is further an issue because Fringe does not have a good history of racial inclusion in the five years of existence. They don't really tell the stories of people of colour. Astrid is never even called her name by Walter and yet, suddenly we are meant to empathize with this White man's feelings of being oppressed. Further proving the point, Edwin says, "someone has to survive to tell mankinds story."  Walter asks about what happened to their skin and Edwin replies, "we noticed after we settled - small patches at first and then over time it spread. It has something to do with this area. We thought it was the drinking water or the soil." When Walter asks why they didn't leave, Edwin replies that what they do there is important and even after they became afflicted, they couldn't leave. They simply want to be left alone to record history. Edwin warns that Walter and the team should leave, lest they end up looking like them.  Walter says that they cannot leave because there is a plan to defeat the invaders and he knows that they are supposed to get something from there. Edwin starts to do a search for Walter to see if he has ever stepped foot in the camp.

River approaches Olivia to show her comics he has created about the Fringe team and asks her to sign them. River says, "you fought them when they came, you didn't hide like we did - you're heroes."  River reveals that he has made a lot of comics from stories that he has heard and a lot of them he even made up. River adds that he wishes he were there in their time when there were heroes.  Peter replies, "well kiddo, you're my hero. You've given me a nice strong jawline." When Olivia sees a drawing of her and an infant Henrietta, she looks saddened.

Back at the lab, Astrid is watching the tape combing it for details which will be helpful to the crew. She learns that the team needs to locate a mine and calls.  Astrid asks if they found anything in the archives and Walter says that they have found no record of them. Astrid asks about a mine, and Edwin reveals that they do and that it was a gold mine.

Back in the city, loyalists reveal to the observers that they have found the Fringe team in rural Pennsylvania.  The team goes into the mine and Walter rambles about a mine that collapsed in Peru and how the survivors lived on human flesh.  Peter comments that finding gold in an abandoned mine is not going to be easy, but Walter says that they don't know for sure that they are looking for gold. Harriett finds a rope leading down a tunnel and when they yank it up, they find a dead body. Peter surmises that he was trying to climb back and Walter discovers the same growth on the skeleton, as on the people living there.  Walter realises that what is afflicting the people of the area is not growth, but some sort of calcification. He wonders if the cause of the affliction is in the mine and if the closer one gets to the source, the more intense the reaction is. Walter says that no one can survive in the mine and until he has conducted an analysis, they have to turn back.  

At the resistance, Anew gets a call from one of the loyalists who reported the location of the fringe division to the observers. Back at the camp, the team is starting work and Peter asks if anyone else is starving and so Henrietta hands him a pill which is supposedly an apple. Peter starts to talk about a restaurant that he and Olivia stumbled on after the invasion and she claims not to remember, which shocks Peter. He says that the cook had the same the name of the restaurant and it started with a "D", and again Olivia asserts that she doesn't remember.  They finish an air sample, and Walter reports that the man they found died of asphyxiation and that his body was trying to protect itself against the air borne coercive.  Apparently, things get worse the deeper one goes into the mine.  Walter thinks that what they are looking for is not the cause of the affliction but that the observers are to blame because of the the changes they have made.

Edwin approaches them and says that he found an entry he believes they will want to see. Edwin takes them back to the data storage area and says that a man named Donald came five weeks after the invasion and gathered several rocks with a reddish hue.  Apparently, Donald was waiting for a scientist from Boston but Walter says that he does not remember him.  Walter asks why they recorded this and Edwin says that its because he was taken away by two observers.  Olivia notices that Walter has begun to be attacked by the affliction and when he checks her, Walter discovers a similar spot on Olivia's neck.

Haven, Season 3, Episode 4: Over My Head

 

The serial killer and Audrey-kidnapper is still at large and his latest victim is a woman at an ATM – killed with a bolt gun to the back of the head and then scalped. Nathan and Tommy watch the CCTV footage and realise, with 3 victims, 2 of which with pieces missing, they’re dealing with a serial killer taking trophies. On the CCTV footage they see that the killer has the Tattoo on his arm

Claire is trying to use hypnotherapy to get in touch with Audrey’s past lives – having an advantage over other past-life regression since they know for sure that Audrey has actually had one. Claire continues to push the personal angle – Audrey pushing Nathan away so he won’t die like the Colorado Kid and Audrey acknowledging that what she asked Duke last week was unfair. Audrey reiterates that she knows she can’t save everyone – but she has to try.

Speaking of people that need saving, this week’s Trouble hits. Alice, a swim teacher is trying to teach the hydrophobic Frank to swim in the pool, when something grabs her under water and drags her down – blood pouring into the pool from a gash in her leg. Nathan and Audrey show up to investigate – and Duke shows up for reasons unknown. Audrey’s guilt kicks in; but Nathan is angry because of him killing someone last week, he thinks Duke may develop a taste for it since he gets a rush out of going all Silver Eyed.

Audrey talks to Claire about the case because she worked with Frank on his hydrophobia and gives Audrey her Lucy necklace back – which causes a flashback: Audrey sees herself as Lucy on the beach with the Colorado Kid’s body. She comes round in time for a medical report – there was a shark tooth in Alice’s leg. And the woman murdered at the ATM was not Troubled, according to her family. Through this Duke and Nathan continue to snipe back and forth.

They’re interrupted by a huge wave of water that flows up the street smacking into someone’s car and soaking him. They pull him out of the car, the man, Reed Harris, is shaken and confused and has a cut on his leg but denies all knowledge. He agrees to come to the police station in the morning when he has dry clothes to talk to them. This is when they get a call to say that Frank, the man learning to swim, drowned in the shower – he didn’t fall over or hurt himself, just drowned standing up.

With only one person connecting most of the victims, Daphne, Frank’s original swimming teacher who didn’t show up for his lesson, Audrey (followed by Duke, repeatedly ringing Daphne’s mobile phone) go to check up with her. She’s out but her neighbours shows up to tell them about a new job she has – and to be overwhelmed in a wave of little crabs – now there’s one to make your skin crawl. Also, I deserve a prize for not making one innuendo. Nathan joins them so he and Duke can snarl at each other some more. Audrey wants to keep duke around mainly because she’s still feeling extremely guilty and feels like she owes him, Nathan makes it clear that Audrey owes Duke, not him. Duke continues to torment Nathan because, well, he’s Duke. And you’d poke Nathan as well, you know you would.

With the neighbour added to the victim list, it seems even more clear that Daphne is the connecting factor – work colleague to Alice, swim teacher for Frank, and neighbour – except for Reed Harris, the man in the car who didn’t show up to the police station. Time to go pay a house call.

There they find his mobile phone – broken. And a window – also broken with the exact same pattern of broken glass. They also find him laid on the floor, bleeding out from a small gash on his leg. He says he isn’t Troubled – it’s Karma and that he knocked a woman off the road in his car into the ocean.

Skip to Daphne – she’s in her car, at the base of a cliff, up to her chest in water. Little crabs are crawling over her car, her windscreen is broken in the same pattern as Harris’s window and phone, she can see a shark fin in the ocean and she’s bleeding from a cut on her leg. She desperately tries to reach her mobile phone but she’s trapped under the steering wheel – there are 12 missed calls from Duke.

Grimm, Season 2, Episode 7: The Bottle Imp

“’Let me out, let me out,’ the spirit cried. And the boy, thinking no evil, drew the cork out of the bottle”

Fire works are going off, Nick and the amnesia-hit Juliette are sharing some memories – only this time Juliette remembers them, she remembers telling a story about her childhood to Nick. In a shocking moment she remembers him – holds him and kisses him. Hugging and crying follows before she steps back, it all coming back to her. Everything – and the last thing she remembers is Nick telling her the big Grimmy secret. Kind of a “can we have a little bit of the amnesia back?” moment. She tells him she didn’t believe him but now, after all the stuff that’s happened, all the terrible stuff, it all makes sense. She kisses him, understanding everything.

And then he wakes up. Whaaaat? Oh Grimm you dirty, rotten tease! And he wakes up fully clothed as well! Damn it you could have at least thrown in a consolation Nick in his underwear if you were going to pull the damn “dream sequence” ploy.

To the actual monster and crime – we have a little girl called April and her dad who appears to have problems with anger, which makes him woge, showing he’s a Wesen. He goes to a garage, tries to pay with a series of credit cards, all of which are maxed out. Shortly afterwards we hear the sound of a beastie slicing the garage attendant into teeny-tiny, messy pieces.

In comes the Grimm team, Nick, hank and Wu - who has been missing a bit lately and is clearly trying to make up for lost snark, starting with lamenting the good ol’ days when people were just shot and stabbed and not mauled into a gazillion pieces (lampshading like this, when well done, can always make me smile).Time to dot he investigative thing at the police station with Captain Renard looking on because… well what else does he actually do all day? They check the cameras and the refused credit cards to get the man’s name and address – William Granger and they see he has a girl in the car.

Paying a visit to his home they find the place is in in disarray with blood splashed around. They find Mrs. Granger alive but severely injured – asking for her daughter. She manages to woge just before passing out and being taken to the hospital. Back to the police station for more Wu snark – not his best, but he begs off, he can’t produce excellent snark all the time. Looking at poor Bill Granger they find he has not been having a good time lately – lost his job (after run ins with his fellows), he’s broke, in debt and he’s separated from his wife. And described as “volatile”. They’re worried he may kill anyone who sets him off and aren’t reassured when they find lots of survival-orientated material on his computer (as in “the end of the world is coming I need to stockpile me some guns!” kind of survival. Personally my plan for doomsday survival is to die and be reincarnated some point in the distant future when the descendants of the survivors have reinvented the Mocha).