Beauty and the Beast: Season 1, Episode 6: Worth

 Last week, Vincent passed out. He seems to be awake this week – but he’s checking his own heart beat when Catherine arrives to check up on him after he missed their dinner. She’s worried he stood her up and worried he saw her kissing Evan. The scene is awkward in the extreme (you can even tell with the acting – hers is rather better but his is more wooden than an Ikea supply depot).

But it’s time for the crime of the week – and a woman entering an empty room which is being prepared for an art exhibition commits the terrible offence of wasting perfectly good wine. Oh, and she found a man dead as well. This does not excuse the spilling of wine.

To Tess and Catherine where Catherine, stressed, is filing. Which Tess says Catherine only does when she’s upset about a guy (what, you expect Tess to have another topic of conversation?).  Catherine begins to pour out her frustrations about complicated relationships when we have another source of drama in her life show up – her father. And he wants her to go to some dress fitting for his wedding and spend more time with Brook, his fiancée, who is young enough to be her sister. To top it off, he wants her to come to dinner with them – but thinks she should bring someone so invites Evan to be her date.

While patricide is normally a crime, no jury in the world would convict her.

Which is when the crime is called in so we leave the emotional drama. Well they talk it over on the way and Tess thinks her dad did good since he got her a date with Evan who clearly likes her (seriously? They both set up the date with Catherine there without any input from her – and this is a good thing? Tessa, think above the belt. Besides, a first date should not happen with one’s father and step-mother in tow, I’m sure Ms. Manners mentioned that somewhere).

To the body – Nicholas, 26, artist, very dead. The art opening is going ahead according to the curator, Lauren, (they have more wine, we can relax) which Tess snarks, of course. Marco, the owner, is still going ahead. There’s a fibre on the body and he was shot in the back without running away. Enough of this pesky policework, Evan and Catherine have flirting to do!

To Nicholas’s mother – Nicholas has just broken up with an unknown girl and he recently had a heated telephone argument with Marco, the gallery owner recently. Checking financials finds that Nicholas did not have a lot of money, despite selling paintings for $5k a time – suggesting he was being chested. We’re doing that pesky police thing again – time for more talk about Catherine’s non-existent love life with Tess being outraged that Catherine didn’t spill about kissing Evan in the booth. Serious breach of the friend code.

JT, meanwhile does have a love life and is setting up a coffee date with Sarah on Skype (telephones are so passé) which is interrupted by Vincent and his issues. It seems he completely forgot the night before and woke up on the top of the Brooklyn Bridge – and all the tests say he’s normal. JT decides it’s a fugue state brought on by him being jealous about Catherine and Evan. JT pushes Vincent to tell Catherine how he feels – yes, JT says this. Vincent is as surprised as we are, clearly having a date has stripped JT of his precious cynicism.

Tess and Catherine have met up with Brooke for the bridesmaid dress fitting – and it’s awful. And, shockingly, they all laugh about it. Yes, Catherine isn’t expected to hate Brooke! Words can’t express how shocked I am that they shattered this cliché (I assume the murder enquiry is on hold?). She actually seems like a nice, intelligent, aware woman. Except she leaves suddenly when she gets a text, leaving her sunglasses. They hurry after her and find her with a man – who kisses her, though she pushes him away, then gets in his car. Oh dear.

Checking up Brooke’s background they find she’s married. For 3 years. Awkward. A meeting with daddy ends with him explaining it all, she’s in the middle of a divorce – and calling her judgemental and hard to have a relationship with.

Back at the police case they check out Nicholas’s studio and find some odd things – he has several identical paintings, even titled the same which looks like he’s selling several copies of “one of a kind” paintings. And he’s been selling paintings at another gallery for hundreds of dollars rather than Marco’s thousands. And they get a list of names – including Assistant District Attorney Fred Simpson.

The Vampire Diaries Season 4, Episode 6: We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes

Elena is lying in bed, full of angst and so decides to get up and have some warm milk.  A voice says, "can't sleep," but when she turns around she is all alone.  Suddenly, Connor appears and tells Elena that it makes sense because she has a guilty conscience. Elena is frantic to believe that Connor is a ghost, but he grabs her and chokes her from behind.  When Connor goes to attack her, she stabs a knife through his throat, but the person she actually stabbed was Jeremy.

Jeremy is now laid out on a couch and Damon and Elena are talking.  Elena is worried about what she is going to tell Jeremy and Damon says she should thank him for not ditching the family ring. When Damon asks why Elena didn't call Stefan, she says that she is still mad at him and that he has been lying to her. Stefan walks in and Damon admits that he called him.  Elena goes upstairs to wash up as Jeremy comes back to life.

Stefan heads upstairs to talk to Elena and says that he wants to help her, but Elena is not interested.  Stefan brings up the fact that she turned to Damon for help, but Elena reminds him that it was Stefan who decided to work with Klaus. Stefan tries to tell her that it's not what she thinks, but Elena does not want to hear it.

Tyler comes downstairs and finds Chris and Hayley still drinking to mourn the loss of the hybrid we lost last episode.  Interestingly enough, Chris is Black and I wonder how long he will last and if he will be yet another token to be quickly killed off? Hayley has her flirt on and Klaus interrupts and is pissed that Dean was unsuccessful and that Elena killed the hunter. Tyler asks why Klaus cares that Connor is dead and Klaus replies, "I have my reasons, but they have ceased to matter." There's a knock at the door and it's Caroline dropping off Tyler's things.  Tyler tries to tell Caroline that it is not a good time, but she shoves the box at him.  Klaus says, "by the break up drama unfolding before me, I assume that you have met Hayley."  Klaus and the other hybrids clear out to leave Caroline alone with Tyler.  It turns out that Hayley let Caroline know that Klaus was there but when Tyler and Caroline kiss, the look that Hayley gives them, suggests that she would be more than willing to push Caroline out of the way.

Elena is in the shower and when blood pools at the bottom of the tub, she freaks out and steps away. Elena quickly hops out. Downstairs, Damon and Stefan are talking when Klaus calls.  Stefan tells Damon that if Klaus finds out he knows, then they are both dead.  Klaus is not impressed but Stefan says that if he hadn't been sworn to secrecy that Connor would not be dead right now. Klaus tells Stefan that the hunter was one of five and that they will find another. Klaus asks if Elena has started to hallucinate yet and then knocks on the front door.  Klaus reminds Stefan that he killed the original five hunters.  "Because the hunters were spelled by witches to kill vampires, if one is killed, then he will take you down with him," Klaus says.  Klaus adds that Connor's death will not prevent him from making Elena his last vampire kill.  Klaus' big plan is to lock Elena away and keep her away from any sharp wooden objects.  Stefan says that Elena is not going anywhere with him.

Upstairs, Connor appears in Elena's mirror.  Elena tries to say that she wasn't herself but Connor replies that she is a monster, who deserves to die.  Elena runs downstairs but instead of seeing Damon, she sees Connor, who says that he is rotting in an unmarked grave because of her.  To escape, Elena runs outside and Klaus grabs her and disappears, as Damon walks onto the front porch and calls out her name.

At the school, Jeremy shows Matt his hand and asks if he can see the tattoo. Of course Matt cannot see it and asks if the mark makes him the next chosen one? April shows up with the professor and April asks why he looks so familiar.  Once again, April is in search of Rebekah. Personally, Rebekah can just stay in the plot box because I find her entire character useless and annoying.

Back at Elena's, the Salvatores have once again leaned on Bonnie.  Can her character ever do anything but concern herself with what is going on with Elena? Bonnie says that if she could do anything to help she would but she can't.  Damon is not buying that, even though Bonnie says that the witches won't let her do the magic to break the curse.  Bonnie says that she can ask Shane for help.  It irks me that Damon does not even stop to consider what the consequences might be for Bonnie, because he wants his precious Elena safe.  Stefan leaves saying that he is going to get Elena back, while Bonnie and Damon do their thing.

In the meantime, Klaus has imprisoned Elena in a dark room to prevent her from taking off her daylight ring and burning to death.  Elena says that she would never do that and Klaus answers that she will want to. Klaus admits that he did but could not die because he is immortal.  Klaus says that he went through this for fifty-two years, nine months and five days.  Elena asks if he knew that this would happen if Connor died and if Stefan knew as well.  Klaus responds that what Stefan knew is that the hunter had to be kept alive.  Elena asks what else Stefan knows and how he made it stop. Klaus answers that he didn't and that eventually it just stopped, before leaving the room and locking Elena in.

Stefan gets on the phone with Caroline and asks if Tyler can get the other hybrids away, so that he can free Elena. Stefan heads to Tyler's where he learns that Hayley helped Tyler break the sire bond and that she has also been helping her friend Chris to do the same. It turns out that Hayley's mission is to break the sire bond of all of the other hybrids. 

Chris delivers clothes and a toothbrush to Elena and the moment he leaves, Connor appears again.  Elena admits that she liked killing Connor and that she liked the taste of his blood.  Connor says that he had family and asks her if she is sorry about her parents because they died because of her. Connor promises that he will be there until she takes her last miserable breathe because she is a monster and deserves to die. Katherine suddenly appears.

Shane is giving his seminar and April realises that she knows Shane through her father. Damon and Bonnie show up at the seminar.  Shane dismisses the group and approaches Bonnie.

Katherine is now tormenting Elena and asking what Stefan is thinking of the new her.  Katherine says that she is a vampire and that she will kill again and become just like her.  Katherine tells Elena that she at least still has Damon.  When Elena tries to tackle Katherine, she disappears.

Damon is having a drink and Shane and Bonnie enter the room.  Bonnie explains Damon by saying that he is an expert in this area.  Damon hands Shane the drawing that Jeremy did of the hunters tattoo and asks about the hunters curse.  Shane says that a hunter will haunt the person who killed him, until a new hunter reaches his potential and the legacy is passed on. Shane offers to get his research for him and leaves. Bonnie asks how they are supposed to find a potential hunter and so Damon gets on the phone and calls Jeremy.

While Caroline is distracting Klaus, Tyler is meeting with Chris.  Klaus says that he cannot release Elena because she needs his help.  Klaus adds that if Tyler were still sired to him, that he would not have allowed Tyler to hurt Caroline. Klaus offers Caroline a drink.  Tyler and Stefan try to convince Chris to give them access to Elena.  Chris says that Klaus will send one of his other hybrids after him, but Tyler promises that both he and Hayley have his back and will make sure nothing happens. Yep, you know damn well at this point that Chris is going to be lucky to get out of this with his life.

Katherine is continuing to torment Elena.  Katherine decides to point out the fact that everyone around Elena keeps getting hurt.  Chris sends the two hybrids guarding Elena away and then hands Stefan the key and leaves. When Stefan enters, she stabs him and then rushes out of the room.

Jeremy comes rushing in and they tell him that he needs to kill a vampire.  Jeremy asks for a stake but Bonnie tells him that before he does this, he has to figure out what he is getting himself into.  Stefan calls Damon, who tells him that they have figured out their Elena problem. Stefan admits that he lost Elena and asks Damon to go and find her because she will listen to him.

Caroline gets a text explaining what is going on with Elena and she admits that she is there to distract Klaus.  Klaus jumps up to leave and threatens to kill Caroline if she does not stop talking and Caroline quickly says that they have figured out how to stop the hallucinations.

Review of Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2

 Spoilers ahead, you have been warned.

Okay people, don't ever say that I don't do anything for you.  Yesterday, I sat through numerous previews of crappy movies I never want to see, as well as an hour and a half of (drum roll please) Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2.  The only good part about this is that the franchise is now at an end and I never have to watch another Twilight movie.

The movie is not significantly different from the book.  We got the scene with Bella hunting for the first time and getting distracted by a human, as well as her taking on Emmet and winning.  Bella has to adjust to her new life as a mother and a vampire.  Things go rather smoothly for her, until Irina comes for a visit and wrongly assumes that Renesmee is a vampire child, rather than a human/vampire hybrid.  Irina runs straight to the Volturi, who use this chance to attempt to shatter the Cullen clan and get their hands on Alice. 

Once again a strong theme through this movie was Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee.  Bella rightfully flipped out and attacked Jacob when she learned about the imprinting, but after being assured that this was unintentional and not sexual, she quickly adapted.  I continue to find this absolutely disgusting because imprinting , is nothing more than grooming a little girl for sex; it's pedophilia. This scenario is further problematic with Jacob suggesting that his love and obsession with Bella was really about the fact that she would carry his future mate. It doesn't matter that Alice had a vision of the future with Renesmee looking adoringly up at Jacob and placing her head on his shoulder.  The point is that Renesmee is being raised to accept the fact that Jacob will one day be her sexual partner and this means no autonomy for Renesmee in the future. It is further disturbing that of course the love between the White Bella and Edward is pure, while the relationship between Jacob and Renessme is absolutely tainted with darkness.

I was further unimpressed that several of the vampires of colour showed up in tribal gear to help witness in front of the Volturi, while the White vampires were all dressed.  I know that vampires don't feel cold but not only was this ridiculous, it was outright racist. Yes, I know that this is true to the books but that doesn't mean it had to be included. It served to remind us that these vampires of colour are still "other" in comparison to the whitesome and delightsome Cullens.

Season 3 of Lost Girl Trailer

We have a date for the much delayed new season of Lost Girl - January 6th

Review: Alternity by Mari Mancusi

Skye is a gamer, a club kid and is busy testing a game for bugs before its released while hanging out with her DJ boyfriend. It’s a happy life, but rather ruined by increasing insomnia and nightmares.

Which turns out to be the shadows of a whole other world – and a whole other life for her. Life on Terra, a world whose surface has been destroyed after a devastating war, the surviving inhabitants now huddle underground in two distinct classes. The Indys who live lives of luxury and wealth. And the Deep Siders, reduced to poverty and living in horrendous and dangerous conditions beneath, providing the labour that makes the society work. Their lives are cheap – because there is an over-population problem.

And into this comes Skye – only everyone calls her Mariah. Leader of a revolution, saviour of the underclass, trying to bring peace and justice to the oppressed. Or there’s the Circle of 8, who see her as a perfect ambassador for Earth and to encourage more of the population to “Moongaze” and live on Earth instead of Terra – slackening the overpopulation problem. Except, of course, it costs a lot of money to Moongaze.

Skye has to decide between the 2 factions – but also between Earth and Terra and who she actually is – which of her memories, her realities, is actually the real one?

I don’t say this as, necessarily, a criticism, but a lot of this book was predictable. I saw what Skye was going to do long before she did it, I could pretty much see what path she would take – rejection, working with the enemy, being repulsed, back to the allies, the alternating between Earth and Terra again true love soon following. All of this I could see mapped out within the first few chapters. But the reason why it was predictable is because the character was very real, very human and reacted in a sensible manner. It didn’t mean she wasn’t emotional or that she was always right – not at all – but it did mean that you could see what she would think or feel or do because a reasonable person in her situation would have done exactly the same thing. Her reactions are predictable because, in the same situation, I would have done exactly the same thing. She is faced with her entire world being turned upside down several times. She is constantly fighting a battle of identity – who actually is she? What memories are real? What reality is real? Can she be a person who has such small priorities – even if they are HER priorities – when a world literally stands in the balance? Who is the actual person and how much of any kind of relationship can she have with Dawn when he’s thinking of the woman she used to be? (This is an interesting twist but, on the whole, I think the romance is superfluous to the story and, worse, it ends up being hurried or based on false memories neither of which are ideal).

And while it was predictable, that didn’t mean it wasn’t fun. Knowing roughly how the journey will go doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the nuances of the trip. The world and story are interesting. I particularly love how the revolution was presented and developed. No glorious battle against superior forces, no plucky revolutionary heroes solving everything, even if they were inspirational and did some heroic acts. And there was no quick solution – they didn’t act like their victory would suddenly make everything wonderful and easy and that the whole system would come down nor did they say that just killing the big bad would make the whole system fall apart or magically become just. Their revolution is built on giving the Deep Siders a chance at independence, at separation. They worked to improve the lives of the Deep Siders, give them more advantages and make them less focused on the Indys for their needs – it was a slow revolution, but it was an effective and very real revolution.

Supernatural: Season 8, Episode 7: A Little Slice of Kevin

A playground, playing children, a woman possessed by a demon (or something else that can turn her eyes black), some freaky weather and a disappearing child.

Just another day in Supernatural world!

Meanwhile Dean is driving down the road and he sees someone, messed up, dirty and bedraggled. And he does a double take because….

Castiel! It’s Castiel! Castieeeeeel! He’s back!!!!!

He sees Castiel! Dean slams on the break and reverses back quickly…. And the figure is gone.

Supernatural, do not make me come over there!

Dean returns to see Sam (boooo, less Sam, more Castiel) who notices Dean is shaken and tells him about the disappearing child and freaky weather. This is part of a string of disappearances followed by weird weather and earth effects. They guess demons, but none of the disappearing people have anything in common.

Switch to Crowley! He’s baaack! And he’s torturing the Fast-food Angel (Semandriel) with a seraphim sword for a list of names. Fast Food Angel has already given up the names but Crowley is dissatisfied. (Mythos quibble, is it just me or have the angels been severely depowered that an angel, even the King of Hell, can hold one?). Semandriel (damn that’s long, I’m not typing that out all the time. He’s now the McAngel) threatens CrhellHowley but there’s so much chaos in heaven Crowley’s confident that they don’t even know he’s gone. Crowley keeps up the torture and McAngel insists he’s given him all the names – the “next generation” isn’t born yet. Crowley is very evil and just so much fun.

He leaves the McAngel and joins all the kidnapped people at a kind of hi-tech electric round table. Alas, they don’t join him in amusing banter. Crowley doesn’t having fun hosting the Clueless of the Round Table. They’re all would be prophets who haven’t been tapped. And would-be prophets can’t read his tablet. Two of them think they’ve been kidnapped by aliens and one demands their rights and their phone call (before Crowley kills him) prompting another to pretend to read the tablet. Poor Crowley.

Time to skip to Kevin – and his mother, Linda Tran! She’s alive and recovered (excellent, she was a most awesome character)! They’re on the run though Linda, being awesome, wants to stop running especially if Kevin can make the anti-demon bomb like he made before. He doesn’t have the ingredients and thinks they’re impossible to get – but Linda has hired a witch, off Craiglist, Delta Mendota who doesn’t fill Kevin with a whole load of confidence.

Dean and Sam are investigating the disappearances, and speak to the woman who was demonically possessed during the child abduction – and quickly find she’s demon free. But they’re sure the child, Aaron Weber, was taken by a demon. That night during the storm Dean looks out his window and sees Castiel! Who quickly disappears again.

Noooo come back!

Sam asks Dean what he saw and Dean tells him it was Castiel. Dean breaks a little as he describes how hard he fought to get Castiel out. Sam diagnoses survivor’s guilt and urges him to walk past it.

Which calls for a Purgatory flashback with them approaching the portal out and Castiel thanking Dean for everything – just in case the portal doesn’t work. Dean won’t hear it – the portal MUST work.

Back in the present, Sam finds the disappearances are happening globally – and Castiel appears again. And he talks! And Sam sees him! (I am resisting the urge to post more pictures).  Dean is shocked that Castiel managed to get out after what he had to go through to get out the portal. Castiel has no idea how he got out (much as I hate to question a Castiel – I’d be soaking him in borax about now)

Another flashback to Purgatory where they find the exit – and Dean cuts his arm to absorb Benny, showing how much trust Benny has earned from Dean.  Dean and Castiel run up the ridge to the exit – and are intercepted by Leviathan. At which point Sam says Dean’s name and manages to bring him out of his flashback. Dean is suspicious of what brought Castiel back, especially with no memory, since he remembered everything of leaving and Castiel was in bad shape when he left. But then Castiel joins them – all cleaned up and back to normal.

American Horror Story, Season 2, Episode 5: I Am Anne Frank Part 2

Sister Jude is continuing to look for answers about Anne Frank which takes her to see a Sam Goodman, a man who works under extreme discretion. She’s there without the Monsignor’s knowledge but with the support of the Mother Superior. Sam is a Nazi hunter, a Jewish victim of the concentration camps. He talks about Operation Paperclip, where Nazi scientists were given false identities so their expertise could be used by allied governments (this is actually something that happened and not just a creation of American Horror Story).  Learning that the SS tattooed their blood types on their arms, Jude asks if she needs to find out – but Sam says to leave him to research, she doesn’t want to corner him.

Back at Briarcliff, Sister Eunice (that would be the Wet Lettuce who is possessed by a demon) is searching Jude’s drawers when Anne Frank bursts in with the injured Arden at gun point. Sister Demon Lettuce leaves – and the security guard comes in behind Anne and holds a gun to her head.

After the credits, Anne is restrained and sedated in bed and Jude is desperate to get information from her before Arden returns, especially since they found nothing in the doctor’s office. They’re interrupted by Sister Demon Lettuce telling her there’s a man in her office. The man claims to be Anne’s husband – and that Anne’s real name is Charlotte Brown. He says she became troubled after having the baby – who cried constantly through the night and fixated on Anne Frank after reading the diary and watching the play at the theatre – she even tattooed her own arm. She became obsessed with Auschwitz and the death camps.

Behind them, Dr. Oliver who has been eaves dropping says it sounds like Post Partum Psychosis. In an interesting twist, Oliver thinks it’s dangerous to release her to her husband and Sister Jude wants Anne/Charlotte to return home with her husband. She denies her husband to begin with – until she’s shown a photograph of herself, her husband and her baby together and they leave together.

In solitary confinement, Kit and Grace are talking about their impending sterilisation (yes, they’re talking in solitary. Someone may want to redesign these cells, this is not how solitary is supposed to work). Sister Demon Nun arrives to release Kit from solitary and tell him Jude has changed her mind about sterilisation (and she does it in the best way. She’s so much more fun when she’s possessed). But when Kit leaves she tells Grace that the operation is still on for her. Grace is very upset by this, tries to trash her room – and during the night we get some strange bright light effects. There’s a close up on her eye – and we see an alien form reflected there

To the common room with Lana and that damn singing nun song. Honestly, after an episode of American Horror Story, that song is stuck in my head for hours afterwards.  And Dr. Oliver tells Lana it’s time to go, he’s springing her from the place that afternoon. From there he goes to Kit who wants her to intervene with Grace – something Dr. Oliver will get to if he’s a good boy and finishes the session. To help Kit “remember” the crimes (which he almost certainly didn’t commit), Dr. Oliver wants Kit to describe what Kit imagines happened to them, while Oliver records it, then the Doctor will play it back for Kit to break down his memory.

In a land of bright light, Grace gets to see – Alma. Kit’s not-really-dead-wife – and actually heavily pregnant, wife. Then there’s an alien, lots more light and confusing camera angles and a lot of screaming.

Fringe and Astrid as a Disposable Mammy

Five years ago when Fringe first appeared on television, there was absolutely nothing like it on the air. Since then, we have seen alternate universes, fantastic events and now finally a dystopian world.  With it’s final season, Fringe is taking the opportunity to wrap up storylines and bring closure to the world that they have created.

When I learned that the fifth season would be the final season of Fringe, one of the things I had hoped for was the redemption of the character of Astrid.  Astrid, played by Jasika Nicole, has the distinction of not only being the only recurring African-American woman, but fifty percent of the cast of colour.  Clearly, from the beginning, racial inclusion has not been a high priority for Fringe.

Astrid is a trained agent and the person the team falls back on for much of its technological questions. The problem is that after five years, I don’t feel like I really know a lot about her.  I know that she has an ailing father, speaks five languages, studied cryptology before joining the FBI and is obsessed with butterflies, but I don’t know much about her personal aspirations or desires.  At best, she has never been more than a side character, whose role has primarily been to be Walter’s caretaker, despite appearing in every single episode to date. When there is an important mission, Astrid is continually left behind in the lab, to keep and eye on Walter, help with his experiments and deal with his various fetishes.  

For all of the help that Astrid gives Walter, he never calls her by her name.  He has called her “Asterisk, Astro, Asteroid, Astringent, Aspirin, Ashram, Ostrich, Clare, Athos, Alex, Afro and Abner.”  Some would excuse this because Walter’s brain has been altered, but the fact remains that Walter is able to evaluate and comprehend difficult information, remember old cases, think rationally and remember the name every character but Astrid’s, though she works the closest with him. Over the years, Walter has proven that he does indeed care about Astrid; however, he simply does not care enough to remember her name.  When Walter does speak to Astrid, he does not say please or thank you and simply orders her around.  Walter is also not afraid to scream her name, if she doesn’t respond quickly enough to suit his desires. Walter does care about Astrid in a paternalistic fashion, but he certainly does not see her as the equal of any other character, based in his treatment of her.  Essentially, for Walter, Astrid is little more than a servant and the fact that the other characters never intervene on Astrid’s behalf, affirms his assessment of her role on the Fringe team.

We never see Astrid having any downtime; she is always servicing the team, or Walter personally. Like Mammy, Astrid is always on call and expected to serve without complaint.  We can tell occasionally that she is frustrated by Walter’s  treatment of her by her tone of voice, but since the first season, Astrid has not been given the opportunity to explicitly say that how she is being treated is unacceptable.  If anything, over time, Astrid has become more accepting of her secondary role.

To date, Broyles, also an African American and the leader of the Fringe team has appeared in ninety-six episodes.  He has always been vital to the progression of the story and in the show’s many alternate universes we have learned much about his character.  In season five, the team has shifted into the future and though Broyles is still with the Fringe division, it is now under the control of the Observers.  We have not seen much of Broyles in season five nor have we been told how he has been able to survive.  When Broyles finally does meet up with Olivia, Peter and Walter again, he is thrilled to see them.  In fact, he risked his position to be able to see them one last time.  In this exchange, though Broyles knows that Astrid is alive, he never asks about her, or acknowledges her importance to the team.  This is particularly disturbing, as Broyles hugs Olivia and seems grateful that she has survived.  What makes Olivia’s survival more important than Astrid’s?  The only thing that separates the two women is race.  The blond-haired Olivia is deemed essential, while Astrid is understood to be disposable. So in essence, we have the only Black male character thankful that a White woman survived and not giving a damn about the only Black woman on the Fringe team.