Sleepy Hollow, Season Two, Episode Seventeen: Awakening

Abby and Crane are at a book store hoping to find copies of the books they blew up to save the world from the monster guarding Thomas Jefferson's the rapist's collections. Crane is shocked to learn that a man out of time has a strong literary history.  Abby however assures Ichabod that he is the only one in the nonfiction section.  Outside the store, the witnesses discuss  a  potential code of conduct that they should follow and agree that nothing should come above their relationship with each other.  Yep, it's about damn time.

Parish makes his way into the street and says a spell which causes the town bell to ring.  It results in a woman strangling her husband without touching him, another woman in a funeral home speaking in her dead father's voice, and a man electrocuting another after being hit by a car. The affects of the spell don't last long and Parish is frustrated with the results. 

Abby and Crane discuss what happened in downtown and are interrupted by Jenny who says that Frank is lying and is evil.  Crane is shocked because of Katrina's declaration that Frank was fine.  Jenny reveals that she has sworn to protect Frank's family and suggests that though Frank is evil, they shouldn't hurt him again. At least someone is willing to take Frank's needs into consideration.  Ichabod's solution is to freeze Frank in stone using the Gorgon's head.  Jenny is rightfully appalled but Abby reveals that she has been searching for a way to bring back one of her ancestor's who has been frozen.  They agree to split up, with Jenny working on Frank and the witnesses dealing with what Henry unleashed.  Once again, Ichabod and Abby are more than willing to put Frank on the back burner.  I am so sick of them treating Frank like this, particularly given all that he has sacrificed for them.  I for one am all for Frank telling them to go to hell.

Abby and Crane head downtown to try to figure out what happened.  Crane is quick to realise that the symptoms are a supernatural phenomenon that they have encountered before.  They realise that witchcraft is involved and that the tone of the bell had something to do with it.  Abby and Crane examine the bell and realise that it is not the one that customarily hangs there because it looks like the liberty bell. Crane concurs and reveals that he is the one responsible for cracking the original Liberty Bell. 

Okay flashback time.  Crane creates a diversion and then prepares to blow up the liberty bell but he is discovered.  Crane blows up the box containing the liberty bell.  Crane surmises that the bells cause people to display powers of witchcraft. Abby suggests contacting Katrina, since they are dealing with a witch problem but Crane says that since Katrina's encounter with Solomon Kent (where she was useless btw) she has been distant.

At Corbin's cabin, Katrina has drawn a circle and is working on blood magic.  Katrina does a spell looking to be connected with her blood (read Parish).  Parish enters the cabin  and is impressed that Katrina is using blood magic.  Katrina of course does the whole fruit of the womb and I love you thing, bringing up her dream where Henry claimed that he killed Moloch to save her life.  Parish says that he saved Katrina from instinct and so that they could fulfill their destiny.

At the archives, Abby and Crane continue to research the bells. They learn that the ceremony sparks the power of people with witch heritage. When Crane points out that there was once a thriving witch community in this area, Abby extrapolates that the ringing of bell could mean that thousands of people will turn into witches. They decide that the bell cannot ring again and that it must be cracked like the Liberty Bell. 

Parish and Katrina are at Frederick's Manner which Parish has redecorated.  Henry expresses regret for the things he has done and then shows Katrina John Dee's grimoire.  Parish assures Katrina that he doesn't seek destruction and instead wants to bring back their kind - witches.  Parish reveals that he tried the ritual this morning but because Ichabod is his father, he didn't have the power to make the transformation complete.  Right, we're supposed to believe that Henry is past his daddy issues right? Parish wants Katrina to accomplish this because she is a full blooded witch. Parish wants to raise the most powerful coven ever known with him and Katrina as their leaders.  Parish adds that their kind won't be hunted and burned anymore. Ummm, yeah when was the last witch hunt?  Katrina brings up Ichabod but Parish is quick to declare that Ichabod is not one of them and never can be.  Katrina realises that she being asked to give up everything she has fought for, for two hundred years.  Parish pleads that he cannot do this without Katrina and that it will give him the family he never had. 

Crane and  Abby make their way through a hardware supply store, picking up items for Ichabod's homemade bomb. Abby is concerned that the bomb will destroy half the town's square but Ichabod wants to enter the tunnels through alleyway off the town square to control the explosion. 

Later, Crane, Abby and Jenny are working on pushing the bell into the tunnels but are forced to stop when Frank starts taking pot shots at them.  Jenny takes off after Frank and advises Crane and Abby to work on blowing up the bell.  Frank calls out that when Henry sent him to guard the bell, he hoped that Jenny would show up so that he could find out where his family is. Jenny reminds Frank that he asked her to hide his family but this does not assuage him. Jenny steps out and shoots Frank center mass and then empties her clip into him.  Frank falls to the ground but then rises, with eyes gone completely black.  Jenny is forced to take off running.

Free Agent (Grimm Agency #1) by J.C. Nelson

Marissa works for Grimm who runs the Agency. He’s a fairy and he grants wishes – your happily ever after can be yours!

For a price – a price paid in hard earned Glitter, the essence of magic. It’s the high cost of glitter and the desperate need for a wish that led Marissa’s parents to sell her to Grimm in the first place. Now she works saving kids from wolves, ensuring princesses and princes fall in love (dumping the princes and letting the princess pick up the pieces is surprisingly effective) and generally counting the glitter until she earns her freedom.

But her latest routine job, matchmaking a prince and princess, goes terribly wrong – and it just escalates from there. A prince has gone missing, the fae are set to invade the Kingdom and Marissa has caught the attention of a fae queen and the big bad from every fairy tale ever. And there’s a new fairy godmother in town, maliciously granting Marissa’s heart’s desire and Grimm doesn’t appreciate people muscling in on his turf.

In the past I have seen books with gritty fairy tales and, I have to say, they haven’t really worked. The silly tone and the dark tone together just haven’t really worked, it’s been a strain and it’s been a stretch and the conflicting elements didn’t work well together

This one worked

It worked because it didn’t try to push an idea of the silly, lightness that fairy tale depictions often try for. This may be silly at times, but it’s not light and it keeps the grim going. This has a woman running off with Glass Slippers that try to possess her. This is a world where Red Riding Hood is so named because she dipped her cloak in the blood of the wolves she slaughtered. This is a world where mirror-living fairy godparents are vastly powerful beings that hand out magical wishes at exorbitant fees (paid for in the ever precious “Glitter”) and that includes parents selling children into indentured servitude to pay for desperate wishes.

This is a world where the high magic and wonder of fairy tales is included but without any jarring elements. The Disney is pushed back, the contrasts used for jarring contrast and amusement more than jolly little giggles. The whole theme and tone works, it really works with none of the ill-fitting elements I’m used to. When there’s comic relief it’s more because of things added like the Gnomish postal service hating Marissa because she ran one of them over. It doesn’t rely on fairy tales made dark to make us laugh. It has fairy tales and it has humour but it isn’t FLUFFY

The world always keeps that magical fairy tale touch and the re-imagining really works; we have royal houses with Princes and Princesses with all the fairy tale elements in the Kingdom – which is a wonderful mash up of castles, swords and sorcery and skyscrapers and CEOs. It has some delightful moments like a princess converting a hellhound (because princesses and animals!) and some deep edgy moments like the origin of witches.

Podcast delayed

Due to a terrible plague of Moosepox, we're going to have to delay the podcast tonight. Once suitable amounts of dubious Timmy's coffee and even more dubious Poutine have been administered, we will be re-Cannucked in no time and ready to go.

Anything we miss for the duration we will catch up on.

Vision in Silver (The Others #3) by Anne Bishop

Tensions flare over Thasia. The Human First and Last Movement is upping their attack – not against the Others, but against humans who work with them. The human pack, the friends and allies the Others have gained in Lakeside are being driven out of human society as the hatred raises to new heights and the rhetoric has become sharper and more heated.

The humans don’t know how close they come to destruction as the elder terra indigene have started paying attention and are looming over them. But the HFL has their own schemes – and they may care little for the wrath of the Others

At the same time the rescued Cassandra Sangue are trying to adapt to the outside world without the limited, sensory deprived homes they’re used to. It’s a steep learning curve and not many of them will survive.

The Meg is back – and that is always a cause for joy for us – and this book is no exception.

I just love this world so much – as we delve more and more into the Others, the terra indigene, animals and elemental forces barely mimicking a shell of humanity. They are mighty beings, incredibly powerful creatures capable of throwing the weather and land itself at the human interlopers (we also have an introduction of the elemental Ocean. Ocean. Yes). They rule the continent of Thasia and, unlike other places in the world (like the human alliance of nations, Cel-Romano), the terra indigene have decided that humans don’t belong on Thasia. They exist there on sufferance – and the humans are rapidly becoming more and more insufferable

But the human reaction also seems very real – in a very depressing fashion. Humans consider themselves persecuted and unfairly treated by the terra indigene because they can’t have everything they want. Them demanding more from the terra indigene and being told no is considered a deep injustice while the terra indigene consider it grossly entitled – and consider humanity’s constant hunger for things they don’t need to be deeply dangerous, wasteful and likely to lead to deep issues in the future.

There’s also the issue that most humans on most of the continent (especially in the main city of Tolund) don’t see the terra indigene very often and don’t have that immediate fear of them – in fact the prejudice drives them away from interacting with them. They don’t realise just how dangerous the terra indigene are and, in very typical arrogance, they assume they will win.

The way the prejudice is depicted is well done as well. No direct movements, few direct attacks against the terra indigene – but attacking humans who are friendly with the terra indigene; an excellent depiction of societal shunning of people who don’t buy into the hatred. There’s also some excellent media spin to venomously attack the terra indigene (which the terra indigene themselves are pretty unable to deal with because they don’t understand the power of these words).

And the whole underlying plot of the Humans First and Last movement is not only very crafty but it is so evocative of how politicians and people in power use prejudice and hatred. They use hatred of the terra indigene and scapegoat the terra indigene to push through their own agenda – and this is so evocative of politicians who constantly push policies through that, for example, disadvantage the poor but then distract with homophobia, racist or anti-immigrant rhetoric. The scapegoating and distraction of hate speech is a long established tactic and I think we saw that done very well in part of a very twisted and crafty scheme.

Books of the week

It's another Monday and time for another episode of the Fangs for the Fantasy Podcast!

You will be able to listen to us on our youtube channel, or by the link in the sidebar or by the post here that will be posted. We hope to see you there

Like all  the Fangs for the Fantasy podcasts (archives here) we read a book and discuss it on the show.  For those wanting to read with us, our next books of the week are

9th February - 16th February: Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop

16th February - 23rd February: Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

23rd February - 2nd March: Dark Debt by Chloe Neil

2nd March - 9th March: Fury’s Kiss by Karen Chance

9th March - 16th March: Ash by Malinda Lo

16th March - 23rd March: Grave Visions by Kalayna Price

23rd March - 30th March: Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger

Bitten, Season 2, Episode 2: Scare Tactics

Opening flashback – Clay as a child and the story of how he was bitten; running into a hungry werewolf – Malcolm - that decided to hunt him. The Malcolm hunts him and bites him but Clay was able to hide while a hunter drove the wolf off

In the present, Logan is trying to question Malcolm while Elena is all edgy because Malcolm isn’t dead yet – and Phillip’s sister keeps ringing her. For the sake of Rachel, they have to keep Malcolm alive. She’s all for torture and maiming.

Malcolm insists that something is coming for them while, at the same time, trying to negotiate using Rachel and her child. Instead Jeremy calls in Rodrigo (who is very very crawly and apologetic). Malcolm makes another appeal to speak to the Alpha Council because something is coming (y’know vague warnings without context or explanation aren’t convincing). And Jeremy kills Rodrigo who didn’t see that coming (despite it being really obvious for a long time) to prove to Malcolm he has no support.

Intimidating Malcolm is interrupted by ominous chanting. As the lights go out, Logan demands Malcolm tell him where Rachel is and realises Malcolm doesn’t have her and doesn’t know where she’s been taken.

Ominous fog rolls in and Elena, Jeremy and Nick go outside and split up to stalk it (this may seem foolish until we remember they ARE the monsters you’re supposed to be afraid of)

Nick walks through the woods and finds a squirming hessian sack and a suddenly appearing woman with solid, white eyes – she touches Nick’s eye, saying a spell and disappears. He starts bleeding from his eyes, screaming. When Elena and Jeremy reach him the blood is gone though he still can’t see. They try to calm him down

Another woman enters the house and drops a sphere on the floor that leads her to Malcolm. But when she opens the door she sees Logan, in wolf form. She quickly closes it again and leaves the house

Elena gets Nick sat down and calmed down and the illusion breaks just as the lights come back on.

Meanwhile Clay – who is a doctor in anthropology- is researching the symbol that kept appearing last episode and takes it to an expert. The expert duly freaks out and then, unconvincingly, claims ignorance. When Clay insists he calls it black witchcraft – and points him towards a Ms Yoruba in Louisiana.  But when Clay gets there, Ms Yoruba (with a lot of stereotypical voodoo trappings) has been murdered. He searches her house and finds a book in a hidden drawer. In the book he finds the symbol with the ominous note “the destroyer comes” which is probably a bad thing.

This doesn’t strike Clay as urgent – or at least not nearly as important as angst – and he decides to visit his mother’s old trailer. He finds it derelict and covered in graffiti and an old man there tells him his family is dead. His mother was killed by a wolf and his father committed suicide.

Helix, Season 2, Episode 5: Oubliette

Everyone was stabbed last episode, so rather than reveal how many of them are totally ok, we have a flashback to:

Washington DC, 3 Months Ago

And Kyle being instructed by a superior on Alan Farragut so he can join the CDC team and collect evidence to help them arrest Alan.

Day 5

Kyle runs through the cult headquarters carrying Sarah who is bleeding profusely. Peter and Kyle try to help her and Agnes shows up to take over, pointing out they’re both research doctors while she’s treated every wound on the island. Duly dismissed, Kyle pushes Peter to call for help to get them off the island (since this is the second time a member of the team has been nearly killed). Peter won’t do it because they have to stop the infection. He’s also not telling people about the infected honey because it could cause panic.

…

Seriously? People will PANIC if they’re told “don’t eat the poison honey” so it’s best to let them go out every day and continue to eat it, become infected and turn into raving fungus zombies which are causing panic?! This is such a ridiculously bullshit excuse for secrecy

Kyle doesn’t point out my reasoning but does point out that kids stoned him and someone stabbed Sarah and that panic is the least of their concerns. Peter gives in and agrees to talk to Michael while Kyle cordons off the hive.

They tell Michael the source of the infection and add that the bees could have picked it up elsewhere and brought it to the hive (so the hive may not be the only source). Michael protests his people would never eat sweet sweet honey when they can eat the healthy healthy food they grow. This cult leader has a very limited knowledge of human nature. Peter implies that Alan is behind it all and exposes him as a terrorist and his brother. Michael isn’t that excited about this because they have a whole policy of people forgetting their pasts but does listen to Peter’s advice about keeping him away from everyone else.

Alan is grabbed and dropped in an oubliette. With Peter. Michael’s curious about whether they’ll talk out their issues or kill each other. Time for a long argument about blowing up buildings, Julia, ruining each other’s plans, Julia, Arctic Biosystems, Julia, whose the better doctor + younger brother envy and, of course, more Julia. They then fight. I hope they kill each other.

Afterwards they discuss how they were so united facing their abusive father. In the new sense of family they decide to work together to free themselves (including lots of “we’re family, I’d never leave you here” which completely ignores the whole attempt to have Alan locked up in the first place). When Alan gets out with Peter’s help, he refuses to help Peter. After ranting about what a terrible brother Peter is, he adds that he knows Peter is working for Illaria.

Michael confronts Anne and Amy about the infected honey. They protest how impossible it all is and Anne falls back on “nature finds a way”, aha, dinosaurs next? C’mon this show makes little sense already, you might as well have dinosaurs. Michael has a proper supervillain rant about how he controls natural – and proves it by forcing Anne to drink sap that should have poisoned her but for his manipulations.

Constantine, Season 1, Episode 13: Waiting for the Man

We begin creepily with three women in a bed and a man waking them saying it’s his wedding night. They all look at him adoringly.

A young woman explores a deserted funfair at night and an old man warns her she’s going to die (to be fair, this could be genre savvyness. Honestly investigating an old funfair at night? Why not explore mysterious local murder houses and a few graveyards while you’re at it?). The three creepy young ladies arrive to drive off the warning man. The three young women – little older than girls – tell the girl (who has snuck out after arguing with her mother) that they’re all married to The Man (my creepy instincts are right again). The girl seems to think that this is a wonderfully thrilling idea and seems only mildly put off by the fact the three brides’ “wedding rings” are a ring of bruises around their necks. She decides to sign up to be bride #4

The Man they keep talking about is lurking in his truck watching when a security guard pulls up – and helpfully offers to fix his truck when he claims he’s creepily lurking because of a flat battery. Helpful security guard gets strangled with jumper cables. That’ll teach him for kindness in a Hellblazer world!

Flashforward to police detective Jimmy Corrigan (remember him) taking the case of a murdered detective (a detective Dupree) to John and Zed. John describes the crime scene photos as showing mummification. Dupree was also investigating the missing girls who are now brides and it’s somehow linked to a series of lunar eclipses. They also note the killer used a branding iron

Just in case we weren’t making the connections – cut to The Man (who has a really strong Cajun accent) preparing a branding iron presumably for the guard he just strangled.

Back to John & co and Jimmy flirts with Zed (much to John’s jealousy) and Zed sees a ghostly green aura around him. They’re out digging up detective Dupree’s body discovering the brands were “devil’s brands” and that our killer/kidnapper is a Satanist. While they’re there another zombie appears – Gary! He looks very keeper-of-the-crypt (not a compliment, Constantine) warning John there’s a price on his head.

Over to Papa Midnite who seems willing to claim this bounty, sacrificing a murderer to prepare to take John on. The murderer rises as a zombie and Papa Midnite dispatches him after John

The newest kidnapped girl, Vesta, walks around the house – with arcane symbols and a whole lot of flies – growing steadily more panicked because she doesn’t remember how she got there. When the other three girls show up she clams down – almost supernaturally (which is kind of a relief because it means woo-woo was involved and Vesta didn’t lose every last modicum of sense). Vesta still has doubles about leaving her mother – and the smell (which disturbs the other girls) but they continue to calm and quiet her.

John, Jim and Zed visit Vesta’s mother’s home trying to get a vision but Zed is too distracted (firstly by a price on John’s life which John is quite blasé about and secondly by seeing a vision of Jim dead). She doesn’t know whether to tell Jim or not – and Manny drops in to be reassuring and comforting (him and Zed are great together) and marvel at her having a choice on whether to act or not (but not, actually, give any useful advice or guidance).

John uses a rather risky spell and tracks where Vesta went. They head that way and Jim again tries flirting with Zed and trying to see what’s wrong with her. She continues to see him all ghostly and dead so avoids talking to him because it’s kind of creepy.

John ends up fighting Papa Midnite’s zombie in the funhouse (of course), at least Papa Midnite makes it clear it’s business, not personal. After beating John up a bit, the zombie is stopped by Jimmy shooting it in the head – which seems to hurt Papa Midnite as well. An interesting zombie depiction but I give it 1 star for effectiveness.

Zombies having demand they speed up the investigation, Zed has a vision and gets them an address (and sees the fire throwing Satanist and a mangled security guard). They set off – and Jim decides now is the time to ask if Zed’s visions are infallible (all the whole not knowing she’s seen his death).

They arrive at the address, spied on by Papa Midnite’s magical raven, and let themselves in hearing someone banging around inside. They find the security guard’s body – crucified and a bit mangled. Seeing Papa Midnite’s really unsubtle spy, John sends Zed and Jimmy ahead.

When John’s alone, Papa Midnite arrives and shoots John in the chest. John scorns Papa Midnite as a bounty hunter – then appeals for Vesta’s safety; but it doesn’t change Papa Midnite’s mind. Killing John will save his sister’s soul. Only the Brujeria could promise that. John tries to bargain – and Papa Midnite shoots him in the head

And the security guard’s body collapses, no longer looking like John. The real John attacks Papa Midnite from behind. He knocks Papa Midnite out and steals his stuff – but leaves him alive. He then calls Zed and Jimmy (using Papa Midnite’s phone) and their investigation and traffic cameras caught a man who previously murdered his wife because “satan” told him she wasn’t the “virgin bridge he deserves”.

Elsewhere, Vesta is dressed up in a wedding gown and meets The Man. He leads her to a satanic altar to begin the wedding ceremony and Vesta becomes afraid and tearful. When he tries to strangle her, she knocks the lantern out of his hand and runs. She flees the house, screaming.

John arrives at the house and finds the bodies of the three previous “brides.” He’s joined by Zed and Jimmy and they search the grounds – while Vesta is captured by The Man. They find them, John saving the girl while Zed beats The Man repeatedly with a shovel until Jim stops her and arrests him.

John asks Jim whether arrest is the best way for a man who killed 3 girls. Jim tries to protest that he isn’t a demon or ghost – but John questions the idea of him being a man. Jim releases The Man and tells him to run – and we hear a gunshot.

Vesta is returned to her mother. John casts a spell to release the ghosts of the three dead girls. Papa Midnite appears to be arrested by the police.

Zed tells Jim what she saw. Jim says he’s going to make the rest of his life count and kisses Zed. John looks on and he and Zed share a pensive look.