Penny Dreadful, Season 3, Episode 1: The Day Tennyson Died

I forgot, while this show was away, I forgot how beautiful the language was. I forgot the poetry for it, I forgot the elaborate rhythm of it. I forgot how sad and morbid and gorgeous and musical it was and how many excellent, amazing speeches there were. Honestly the conversations on this show could be a soundtrack. I know many people probably don’t share my love for overwrought, probably quite convoluted speeches (and I’m sure if they were written down they would frustrate me no end) but I love it

And I forgot how beautiful it was, the visuals, all the gothic dark and shadow, the imagery of long shuttered rooms and the excellent acting of the ragged people, the almost ruins these characters have become over the last two gruelling seasons. The acting, the imagery – I love it so much.

So, time to catch up with various characters

Starting with Vanessa who has fallen into a dark, bleak depression after the last season, shutting herself in and isolating herself from the world until Professor Lyle arrives and delivers some deeply emotional heart rending lines about his own battle with depression, self hate and how he felt “loathed and loathesome” until he got help and is now, “resplendently, who I am”. I give a thousand points of Lyle’s fierce declaration of self in such a grossly homophobic setting – and take away a substantial amount of them for Lyle’s beautiful declaration of self being for the edification and growth of a straight lady. It’s still beautiful though. And with it he sets up an appointment for Vanessa with a psychiatrist – or, at this time, an Alienist. Dr. Seward

And she is awesome. She perfectly, combatively, excellently (and with beautiful language) pinpoints all of Vanessa’s issues and pain (yes, it’s a magical diagnosis and I really wish that they could magically diagnose so quickly and easily but it’s still awesome). She also firmly declares she’s not broken or wrong – she’s ill. It’s excellent and great fun and seeing Vanessa’s desperate, tiny look of tremulous hope. Oh precious hope on Vanessa’s face! Also even in that, Vanessa is still capable enough to give some of her own even with her at her most vulnerable point. And her doctor is related to the Cut Wife, so maybe magical diagnosis isn’t wrong.

At the instruction of her doctor she does something new – and goes to the Natural History museum to look at the animals and run into Dr. Sweet to have another utterly beautifully elaborate, gothic, morbid, conversation about death and scorpions and the poor lonely exhibits in their dusty cases that are so ignored and what a fun hobby taxidermy is (oh, yes, it’s beautiful and elaborate and manages to not make them look like serial killers because it’s so gloriously gothic). Did I mention how much I loved the imagery and language? Also all those dusty exhibits and scorpions are, of course, perfect metaphors for Vanessa

Night Blade (Colbana Files #2) by J.C. Daniels

Kit Colbana's past is filled with abuse and violence but this tragic history has made Kit highly skilled at her job.  When she comes to the attention of Banner, the policing organisation for supernaturals, Kit's first instinct is to avoid their attempts to contact her.  She's particularly not interested because the agent in question is her ex boyfriend Justin.  Kit may not want the job but Justin is certain that she is the only one who can solve the case of the murdered council members. When Justin informs her that it's believed that her current boyfriend Damon is suspected of murder and will be sentenced to death, Kit has no choice but to agree to the job, even if this means she has to go it alone.

Kit spends most of the book getting the shit kicked out of her as she investigates the case.  Because Night Blade is so circular, it feels as though Kit spends the entire time chasing her tail without getting anywhere.  Because of a binding spell placed on her, Kit actually feels pain anytime she even thinks about telling anyone what she is up to.  Kit's inability to speak angers Damon and so she is forced to remind him repeatedly that she was doing her job long before he entered her life and is therefore capable of taking care of herself.

When we first met Damon in Blade Song, I really wasn't a fan of him at all and this feeling of dislike continues into Night Blade.  Damon is extremely possessive, jealous and controlling.  When Damon learns that Kit is working with her ex, he immediately demands that she quit.  Due to the nature of her investigation, this is something that Kit cannot do and so Damon responds by biting her neck, permanently scaring her so that the world will know that she belongs to him.

I hissed out a breath as he sank his teeth into my neck.  My mind processed what he was doing but before I could decide if I was going to do a damn thing, his hand tangled in y hair, arching my head to the side as he pressed down harder, harder until his teeth broke through the skin.

He growled against me and I groaned.

It hurt-

There isn't anything remotely sexy or romantic about having a six-foot five, two-hundred fifty pound werecat sink a powerful set of teeth into your neck.

But it was over in seconds and I was still in processing mode as he grabbed something from the bed to press against my neck.  "You're asking me to deal with something that I can't change and I hate it," he said, his voice hard and flat.  "That's how I'm dealing.  The next tie anybody looks at you, they're going to see what I wanted everybody to know months ago." (pg 107)

The mark on her wrist was something that Kit could choose to hide but the neck mark gives her absolutely zero options.  If that were not enough, when Damon smells another man on Kit because she had to be close to a witch for the purposes of cloaking her location, he responds by ripping the clothing from her body, demanding that she never wear them again.  For Damon, this is what passes for love but in actuality it amounts to abuse.

Damon is as far from a romantic love interest as possible.  When he isn't busy trying to control Kit, he infantalises her by calling her "baby girl". Why oh why would a grown ass man think it's okay to refer to the woman he is having sex with as "baby girl"? The only reason for that is that as the supposed adult in this relationship, Damon expects obedience.  When Kit finally gets the evidence she needs to stop a kill order on Damon to be acted upon, Damon demands that she leave with him right now because he needs her like he needs air.  When Kit objects because she has one thing left to do, Damon responds by ending the relationship and walking out. Who the hell does that?

Grimm, Season Five, Episode Nineteen: The Taming of Wu

This is the first time I'm not going to complain about the Wesen of the week thing that Grimm likes to do because for a change, this episode is all meta. WOOT! For me, this is Grimm at it's best.  I'm so excited, I hardly know where to start.

In Lycanthropia, Wu was scratched by a lycanthrope and he dismissed it as nothing. Since then, he has been having what he believes to be vivid dreams; however they clearly aren't dreams.  Wu has begun to suspect that there's something really wrong with him. When he cuts his hand and it turns into a wolf like paw, Wu (who should have dealt with this the minute he saw the original scratch) decides to go and see Rosealee and Monroe.  Wu doesn't make it the spice shop because he has a run in with Theo, a criminal he has arrested on several occasions.  It seems that Theo has been staking out Wu's apartment for the entire day.  After luring Theo into an alley way, Wu confronts him and threatens to impound his truck.  This is enough for Theo to woge and the fight is on.  When we next see Wu, he is covered in blood and has no idea how he got that way.

Hank and Nick get called to investigate the body and of course it's Theo's. When they get a call from Rosealee about Wu's failure to appear, they decide to head to his apartment.  A shocked Wu relates what happened and he admits that he fears that he might have killed Theo after Theo woged.  That's enough for Nick and Hank to decide that there's not need to arrest Wu because he acted in self defense.  Given the shape of Theo's body however, they all decide a visit to see the Spice Shop is absolutely necessary.

At the shop, Rosealee gives Wu a memory potion to take and he woges (that's what I'm calling it for now) and Monroe films it.  It seems that though Wu is changing into a wolf like creature he's not actually a Wesen.  Unfortunately, Rosealee and Monroe don't have any real answers for Wu and so he decides to stay with them for the night to give them time figure out exactly what is going on and if he can be cured.

Adalind finally get to meet Diana, who is even creepier that I thought she would be.  Diana is all smiles as she tells her mother how much she missed her and the two embrace.  Diana is not satisfied with just seeing Adalind, she want Adalind to go with her and Renard.  Her parents try to explain that Adalind has something she needs to do first and Diana brings out the woo woo, scaring the ever loving shit out of her parents.  Renard fails to calm his daughter and Adalind barely manages to do so. Renard escorts Diana out of the room.

Renard meets with Conrad and suggests that he bring Nick around to the idea of joining Black Claw. Renard doesn't warm to the idea and so Conrad suggests that it would be good for Adalind to decide to join Black Claw and leave Nick.  Conrad goes as far as to threaten Adalind's life if she doesn't make the right choice and Renard counters, suggesting that Conrad not say anything like that around his powerful daughter.  This is the most quiet rebuttal and really pissed me off.  Renard and Adalind were never close and their intimacy amounted to a one night stand; however, Adalind is still the mother of his child and Renard should have stepped up more, especially given that he is at least partially responsible for Adalind being separated from Diana in the first place. Perhaps if Diana had been with her mother, she wouldn't be such a powerful but creepy kid.

Once Upon a Time, Season 5, Episode 20: Firebird

We saw Zelena being kidnapped by Rumple and Pan last week – he’s now using her to blackmail Hades: he wants 2 things, the contract being ripped up so Hades no longer has a claim on his first born. And a heart, a living heart because that’s what Pan needs to finally leave the underworld

He gets the first, but not the second because Hades actually appeals to Emma for help. Yes, Hades appeals to Emma for help – and she gives it. She also points out to Rumple that he got the contract ripped up so does he really need the heart? Since Rumple officially owes his daddy absolutely nothing, he decides not. Zelena returns to Hades and they have True Love’s kiss – the kiss breaks his curse, breaks his banishment. He can now leave the underworld. All of them can.

Yes, Hades seems genuinely to be trying to ingratiate himself with Team Goodguy, he even offers a potential way to get Killian, who is dead, out of the underworld. This involves a reference to Orpheus and Euripides and the fact there is a stash of ambrosia in the sub basement which will allow Killian to leave (he can’t at the moment because he’s been dead and smelly for rather a long time).

While they do that (which also involves a cobbled together Ma’at test which involves yet more heart ripping. Emma is really tired of all the heart ripping thing this episode). Everyone else is kicking their heels waiting for the portal to open to the living world (it’s a brief opportunity) and they decide to pass the time by helping other people resolve their issues and move on. Yes they’re abandoning them all but without Hades there to mess around with them all they should largely be able to resolve their problems on their own. But Henry, with his nice Author powers and his ability to tell everyone’s story is excellently placed to help people fast forward the process

Until The café witch (from Hansel and Gretal, I can’t remember her name) and Cruella intervene out of random spite – locking everyone in the library with a spell to seal them. A spell, Regina points out, that was far too good for the witch to cast. Yup Hades double cross.

Which is also why Emma and Killian find no Ambrosia and no way for Killian to come home with her. Killian is stuck in the underworld and all Emma can do is have a tragic farewell with him. It’s very very sad.

Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 2: Home

So, some bit parts first – the Stark sisters siblings are starting to look up. Bran is still in his little cave having visions of the past – including his dad’s childhood. One element I like about this is we see Leanna as being more active and interesting since her role has pretty much been relegated to the Most Fridged of Women whose death all those years ago pretty much led to all the events of the whole series. Since she’s a woman who was pretty much defined by her relationship with men it’s nice to see even this snippet of more… yet at the same time Game of Thrones does have a habit of putting action-women (Arya, Brienne, Yara) on more of a pedestal than more traditionally feminine women (Cersei, Sansa – even Margaery now). Bran also see young Hodor – or Willis, apparently intelligent and clear and able to communicate.

Arya’s training montage continues, this time with her being taken in again by Jaqen. Sansa is still with Brienne and they’re heading north hoping that Jon Snow will protect them. On the whole, things are finally looking up for the sisters. Though Theon, consumed by guilty and self-hatred decides he wants to go home – to the Iron islands

This episode continues all the political upheaval that is shaking up this episode, especially after Doran just got murdered by his poorly developed family last season.

In the Iron Isles (remember them?) Yara, the sensible one, repeatedly tries to tell her not-so-wise dad that while the iron islanders are super awesome pirates and sailors and can swash any buckle you care to name, they’re pretty shitty land troops, besiegers and castle defenders. As such invading the North has gone utterly terribly, especially since they only did as well as they did before because all the Northern armies were heading south and are now coming home. She also reminds him that, hey, the Iron islanders did this before and got their arses kicked and her brothers dead or held hostage.

Her dad doesn’t listen to reason. But we have murderous and possibly unstable uncle to come murder his brother (unknown to everyone else) instead. Don’t expect this to be an improvement since said brother keeps referring to himself as a storm which probably bodes no good. Yara considers herself the heir, but the Iron Islanders have to pick the next king – and whether she becomes the first female leader of the Iron Isles remains to be seen

Fear the Walking Dead, Season Two, Episode Four: Blood in the Streets

In many ways, Blood in the Streets is a Strand episode, in that it delves into his back story and even how it is that The Abigail got its name. Blood in the Street very much refers to his philosophy that you can rise ahead in the worst of situations if you can see opportunities when they are presented. Strand is easily one of the most complicated characters on Fear the Walking Dead and in many ways, he's an enigma.

Strand is sitting in a bar and Thomas Abigail sits next to him.  The two bond over their ambitions and the darker side of their natures.  Strand later helps a drunken Thomas back to his room and helps him to bed.  Strand then decides to help himself to Thomas's credit cards because he is bankrupt thanks to Hurricane Katrina. Thomas catches Strand in the act but simply says that he may or may not remember what happened in the morning.

Some time later, Thomas shows up at Strand's hotel room with his own security. It seems Strand has used Thomas's credit card to buy up 30 thousand dollars in credit card debt with the plan to be exactly where he was before Katrina within five years.  Strand who clearly believes in honour among thieves promises Thomas that he planned to return the money with interest. Thomas asks Strand to meet him at the bar and Strand mistakenly believes that he has been pardoned for his theft, when in actuality, what Abigial did was make Strand beholden to him.

When we see them again, the two men are lying back and taking in the sun.  It's clear that a level of intimacy has grown between them.  Strand is still a very driven man and can only think of amassing more wealth whereas; Abigail seems more interested in the feelings that are starting to awaken between them.  This is the first moment of tenderness we see between them as they hold hands. It's enough to make me wonder if Thomas's feelings are returned in kind from Strand, or if Strand sees his relationship with the very wealthy Thomas as just another opportunity he is taking advantage of.

When next we see the two men, Strand is planning for his trip to Los Angeles and Thomas clearly doesn't want him to go.  Strand can only fixate on the money they will make from the real estate deal he is negotiating while Thomas is concerned about the rising level of danger in the city.  Thomas tells Strand that he loves him and Strand simply replies that he will see Thomas soon.  The two men then kiss.

It was quite some time before an GLBT character appeared on The Walking Dead, let alone a same sex kiss.  It makes me wonder if the writers are introducing a GLBT character this early on in the series to deal with some of the problems of erasure on The Walking Dead.  I like that these two men are clearly complex characters, even it isn't clearly a love match.  Strand may be honorable in his own way but it seems that he's only willing to let his guard down so far.

The last time we see Strand for the episode he's being saved by Madison.  Earlier in the episode, The Abigail was boarded by a group of people.  Chris and Ofelia have first contact but because they are not suspicious like Strand, they stand sort of impotently, as three people board the boat claiming to need help.  Among the boarding party is Jack, the young man who Alicia was talking to on the radio. Heavily armed, everyone except Strand and Nick are over powered. Strand actually abandoned ship at the first sign of trouble and Nick was off the boat because Strand had sent him to land to meet up with Luis Florez - Abigail's heavy.

It was always a matter of time before Alicia's dalliance with Jack came back to haunt the crew of The Abigail. More than anyone, Alicia actually keeps her head and begins ingratiating herself with Jack. She reminds him of her humanity and gets personal with him by asking him about his experience and his ex girlfriend. We learn that a man named Conner is the leader of the group and Jack feels beholden to Conner because Conner saved Jack after his brother died. Alicia promises to go with Jack if he keeps her family safe.

Still tied up, Madison tries to distract the pregnant woman holding them hostage and Daniel works to loosen his bindings. Travis is taken to get the boating working because Strand took off with the keys. The threat level his high.  When Conner arrives, he decides to take Jack, Alicia and Travis with him leaving the Salazaars, Madison and Chris on the Abigail with the pregnant woman and Reed.  With Reed in sole power things don't look good them.  Madison suggests that they just be put in the jetty while the Abigail goes on it's way but Reed snarks that the jetty belongs with The Abigail.  Madison then begs for the opportunity to swim but once again Reed rejects the idea. It seems that Reed is determined to kill them.  Before Reed can act however, he hears the sound of a boat approaching.

A Mirror Among Shattered Glass (Supernatural London Underground #1) by Romarin Demetri

Ok, this book took a lot of chewing for me – there were several things I didn’t like and failed to carry me, mainly the story. Or the jumbled mess that tried to be a story, anyway.

Let’s have a look at the actual book blurb:

Unable to contain the deadly nature of her family secret and powers, nine-teen year old Romarin Demetri hails from California, U.S.A, to unearth her heritage as a descendant of serial-killer, Countess Bathory, the woman that lent Dracula his legend, and cursed Romarin with an appetite for blood. 

Unenthusiastic about relocating to her birth city of London, a charming paranormal investigator with claim to the throne could change her mind, as he leads her to the only living and distant relative she has: a raven-haired recluse named Talia, who has taken refuge in an old castle in the heart of the city, and doesn’t seem to have a heart of her own. 

After a rough introduction to the lethal, inappropriate, and enchantingly sarcastic people she calls her housemates, perhaps the other misfits will be her first true friends; However, as much as these people are like her, they still have hidden vendettas, a taste for revenge, and will struggle between what is just, and what will settle their psychological upheaval. There is only one way for Romarin to become part of the Supernatural London Underground: Can she be the one who challenges them to put down their ghosts and demons and make their world together?

That book? That book sounds interesting. That book I’ve be curious to read. That book description pulled me in. That book is, however, not all that relevant to the book I actually read.

Take that hidden vendettas and taste for revenge and Romarin being the one to make them all get over it? Not there. I mean, in theory we here that many of the characters were once experimented on by some kind of laboratory. But that’s pretty much all we see of it. No-one appears to be plotting elaborate revenge, at least not that we were shown. Oh they’re not happy with the past, but they’re hardly clinging to any of the ghosts or plotting endless vengeance. Kit seems to be more concerned with her own possession. Travis seems to be more concerned with… actually I have no idea what Travis is concerned with. Audin seems, again, to be pretty unfocused and not having any real goals except we learn her has a past which is catching up with him, but that’s nothing to do with the lab or his history. And Talia heartless? Literally the only thing I know about Talia is her endless grieving and sadness for a man who was in the lab with her. Oh and developing a deep connection with Romarin, enough to let her move in, because of their shared Barthory bloodline. That’s not a heartless person, that’s someone whose literally every decision has been made for emotional reasons.

And Romarin, our protagonist has no real place in any of their stories, let alone helping them let go of their demons. She serves as audience to each of their issues… but doesn’t really do anything about any of them. Similarly no-one actually does anything about each other’s either. We all learn about Kitt’s possession issues… but nothing happens about it. Audin has this changeling thing going on but we don’t do anything with it. Talia is sad… and she’s sad. Travis is running around doing random odd things – but none of this actually goes anywhere. We have all these little story bits but none of them actually turning into anything resembling a story.

Then there’s Romarin herself – and sometimes I think I’ve missed huge chunks of her story. For a time she bemoans her terrible fate and she hopes Talia can find a cure… but where is this terribleness? I mean she had the Atrocity on the Beach incident which she talks about regularly but that atrocity was her pushing a man trying to sexually assault her and he hit his head on a rock. This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with her actual Barthory-ness. She gets odd images and impressions from the blood she drinks but, again, this doesn’t seem to be a huge disadvantage or even something she complains about an awful lot except the time it gives her amnesia. But that only happened because she drank lots of blood from a suicide that dropped right in front of her… which I can’t imagine is that common an occurrence (and gave her a lot of useful knowledge besides). I’m not saying her bathoryness couldn’t be a curse, but like all the little plotlets, it needs some development beyond Romarin declaring it to be terribad awful. Show, don’t just tell. On top of that we have the bemusing instance where she decides she can throw herself out of a window if she has blood in her because she has superhuman abilities when she does. Apparently. This is the first we hear about it – and apparently half way through her amnesia incident.

The Originals, Season Three Episode, Nineteen: No More Heartbreaks

Spoilers Ahead

What an emotional week for The Originals.  When we last saw Cami, she had been bitten by Lucien, and as we know, Lucien's bite has no cure.  Klaus refuses to accept the inevitable and wants some action based role so that he can play the white knight but Freya convinces him to take on the nurturing role.  For Cami's sake, Klaus uses his power to take her on a tour of the quarter as she lies in bed growing more ill by the moment.  The best that Freya, Klaus, and Vincent can do is to reduce her pain.  Cami holds onto her composure until the very end, saying that she is not afraid to die and trying to council Klaus not to lose his bloody mind and do something stupid.

When Cami does finally die, she does so in Klaus's arms, professing her love and encouraging him to let the light side of his person (really? This serial killer has a light side?) shine and grow so that he can be what Hope needs him to be. With tears rolling down his face, Klaus promises to always remember Cami and what she taught him about himself.  I must say that this is the first time in a long time that Joseph Morgan has been given something interesting to portray.  It reminded me that he really can act and pull on your heartstrings with a single look.

Cami has been with The Originals since the beginning and is the first original character to actually die on the show. Yeah, I know that in this universe, death doesn't really mean death but according to Julie Plec, this is the end of the road for Camille O'Connell (Leah Pipes). Apparently, they've run out of story ideas for Cami.  I can accept that but what I cannot accept is Cami's death being all about Klaus's pain.  I cannot accept Cami suggesting that Klaus has changed in some fundamental way when he remains a homicidal, spiteful, navel gazing asshole, who at the end of the continues to put himself above everyone who cares for him.  Cami made light of the fact that Klaus routinely compelled her thus removing her agency because she's now in love with him.  To be clear, by any stretch of the imagination, Klaus was Cami's abuser and if The Originals runs true to form, she will be a source for his manpain for a little while until he develops a new obsession. We all know Klaus has a thing for blondes. Yes, paging, Caroline on TVD since her show is probably ending soon.

Cami is not the only woman to die this week.  For the longest time, I've been calling for an end to Davina.  For the life of me, I cannot understand why it is that she hasn't already become vampire food. She has literally gone to war against the Originals, or more specifically Klaus, time after time and has yet to suffer any real consequences. It makes no sense to me why it is that he hasn't just snapped her neck on numerous occasions, particularly given Klaus's penchant for killing anything or anyone who stands in his way or defies him.

From almost the moment that Davina brought Kol back from the dead, it was clear that something had backfired in her spell.  This week we learn that the reason Kol's hunger has been so uncontrollable is because he was tasked with killing Davina.  The Original family may not have been annoyed enough with this power hungry teenager to bring and end to her but the ancestors it seems play for keeps.  The irony in Davina being killed by her brutal vampire lover is almost too delicious. Let's be honest, there's nothing about Kol and Davina being together that makes even a modicum of sense.  For this relationship to work, Davina has to believe that Kol, the most vicious of the Originals has somehow magically changed because of twu wuv, and Kol, a thousand year old vampire has to see something in an inept, annoying teenage girl.  Having an ancient vampire in love with a teenager is what so many vampire stories are about these days but it makes absolutely no sense.  Have these writers even spent anytime with a teenager?  Teenagers are annoying, angst ridden and at times ridiculous.