Vampire Diaries, Season 5, Episode 13: Total Eclipse of the Heart

Katherine, after 500 years of running and hiding is now free, young and healthy to do anything in the whole wide world. So she’s going to pursue Stefan Salvatore.

Of course she is. Because leaving town and all the many people who will very very quickly realise something is up and try to get Elena back (for some bemusing reason, they like her) INCLUDING Stefan, the man she is pursuing, is just out of the question.

To college – yes, we’re back in college – with Caroline rhapsodising about being free and single and fresh starts etc etc (which involves a party. Of course it does) while Bonnie continually reminds them that she’s not actually single or bitter or broken hearted (keep that up Bonnie and they’ll drop you back in the plot box). Rather than listen to Caroline’s babble, she’s more interested in the girl next to her using rather obvious telekinesis.

Stefan goes home to find a car full of dead Aaron Whitmore, the house trashed and Damon crashed on the sofa. Stefan isn’t impressed by Damon’s killing spree (c’mon Stefan – one body is hardly a spree), is surprised that Damon and Enzo are such good buddies and is further unimpressed by their plans to slaughter all things Augustine. Personally I’m totally on board this plan. Stefan makes an attempt to save his brother from being all evil and sexy but Damon is much happier with his murdering self.

Kathlena (yes I’m going that) is still using Matt as her guide to imitating Elena and Nadia as a Matt keeper – which is vexing for Nadia who thought she would actually get to spend some time with mummy dearest. Surprise Nadia! Your mum’s not a nice person.

Over to Dr. Wes who has kidnapped some random guy called Joey to continue his evil experiments (and evil exposition) and turn Joey into another vampire-feeding-vampire while moaning about Aaron cutting off his funding. When in drops mysterious lady Sloane with some mysterious blood that needs analysing – she has money, she offers protection and before Wes gets all snippy, she also knows Aaron is dead and Wes may be next on the list.

Cut to the murderous twosome – Enzo and Damon have kidnapped Diane, head of college security, so they can drain the vervain from her and ask her pointed questions about why she’s covering up for vampires. Unfortunately she can’t point them towards Wes so she’s dead (and lo, another POC dies on Vampire Diaries, the list is rather stunningly long).

Stefan makes another attempt to save Damon – this time by menacing Enzo and trying to drive him off since he’s a bad influence (hah, like Damon needs a bad influence). Of course, having been tortured for decades, Enzo isn’t giving up Damon’s help on his quest for revenge (or mayhem afterwards) nor does Stefan driving a shovel into his chest bother him unduly: he’s suffered through far far worse. He gives Enzo a death threat which, on the whole, isn’t all that menacing.

Kathlena is still floundering around with Caroline when Stefan calls with his Enzo worries - Kathlena has no idea who that is but at least uses the excuse to drag Stefan to the party with her.

At the bar Nadia gets a question from Kathlena about Enzo and Tyler shows up wanting to drink – and wanting to drink with Nadia despite Matt’s warnings. Frankly I think “she said she’s sorry” isn’t really a good way to make up for locking Matt in a safe and burying him alive. But hey, Vampire Diaries, absolutely no-one is held responsible for their actions on this show. Anyway they have a who-has-the-worst-mother drinking game and when Tyler steps away to go to the toilet (which, apparently, hybrids have to do), Nadia takes the opportunity to ask about Enzo; except Tyler’s super-hearing hears the whole thing.

Blood Guilt (Blood Hunters #1) by Marie Treanor

Mihaela survived the murder of her parents and sister at the hands of vampires.  She has spent her life as a vampire hunter, tracking the murderer, while attempting to keep humanity safe from the vampire threat.  After a surprise alliance with a few key vampires, the hunters now find themselves divided.  Some hunters desire to end contact and continue an adversarial relationship, while others seek to enlarge the partnership and work on building a relationship between vampires and humans.  Despite all that Mihaela has been through, she is quite undecided and so she takes a trip to consider her options.  When she is forced to save a child whose psychic power seems to draw him to vampires,
Mihaela finds herself in a race against time to not only save the child, but all of humanity from a new vampire threat.  Unfortunately for Mihaela, this time not only is the world at risk, but her very heart, when the vampire Maximilian appears and demands a partnership because he too has a special affinity with the child.  In the process of saving humanity, will Mihaela lose her heart?

The Blood Hunters series is a follow up to the Awakened by Blood trilogy.  This is my first exposure to Treanor's work, so I cannot speak about the continuity of this work.  I will however say that once again, we have yet another story where the female protagonist has a tortured past, leaving her essentially isolated.  Dead parents has become such a common trope that at this point, it's beyond tiresome. 

Blood Guilt is the typical paranormal romance in that it has the typical boy meets girl but girl doesn't like boy storyline.  They work together and boy and girl come together briefly, until something comes between 'them to add tension to the story and finally the problem is overcome and we get the HEA. Blood Guilt is like a paranormal romance written by the numbers because there is no movement from the typical narrative and no doubt from the very first word how this story is going to end.  I will say that Treanor at the very least skipped the all too typical comparing of a penis to things like tree stumps or wrists. Unfortunately, Treanor did include having Maximilian say repeatedly that he could smell Mihaela's arousal, which to me just reads as disgusting genital odor. Yes, I know this sort of language is typical, but that doesn't make it any less gross.

The Tomorrow People, Season 1, Episode 13: Things Fall Apart

A very powerful paranormal robs a bank – when the police arrives she teleports their cars away – and teleports the billets out of their guns, before sending everyone flying with telekinesis and engraving “hi dad” on the wall.

Teleportation just became 900% cooler.

And Stephen wakes up – apparently a dream (he’s getting precognition now? Why bother, he doesn’t use the special woo-woo he already has)

He jumps out of bed – but is grabbed by his mum on the way out – she’s worried about Astrid’s disappearance and isn’t a big fan of the “she’ll be home soon, trust me” response.

At Tomorrow People HQ, John rather pathetically fails to clean himself which he should be able to do but it gives Cara an excuse to sponge him down – which she’s quite quite happy to do. Which leads to talking and kissing

Stephen barges his way into Jedikiah’s office, outrages that Ultra would send a kill squad after Astrid (are we going to have the “Ultra is evil” reminder again?). After Jedikiah confirms that, yes, they’re evil and yes, they will kill Astrid, Stephen quits.

…he’s really having a problem with the whole “Ultra are evil” thing isn’t he?

Astrid, meanwhile, is getting antsy and angry that she can’t call her father who is worried sick; she appeals to Cara the only one who can let her contact the outside world but for both her safety and her dad’s safety, Cara refuses. After Astrid storms off, Stephen arrives to report him quitting Ultra (so can you get my family to safety… no? Ok then still not convinced on the whole Ultra=evil then) and that he dream possessed a new paranormal break out. Which may mean he has a super-Cara-like connection to her (and extra emphasis on the femaleness)

Yes, the love triangle is back on.

At ultra the Jedikiah worries about the new breakout while the Founder questions why Stephen was even allowed to quit – that whole evil organisation thing. On to the Founder tracking Stephen down and Stephen deciding to avoid him by going down a deserted alleyway – because he forgot about teleportation, I guess? Anyway he has a deal for Stephen: bring in Cassandra (the new breakout) and Astrid will be totally fine. Apparently Cassandra is the Founder’s daughter (hence the “hi dad” graffiti)

Someone remind Stephen he’s dealing with an evil organisation.

At Tomorrow People HQ everyone looks at the footage and is suitably impressed by Cassandra’s power and John drops in that she’s probably a Synergist – a paranormal who had 2 paranormal parents and, as such, is mega powerful. John makes a token “hey this is a really bad idea” but now it’s lampshaded they can all get on with it.

All Aboard the Redemption Train!

One of the more common elements of Urban Fantasy series (and fiction in general) - especially long running series is the redeemed villain. After all, what can be a more dramatic plot twist than to see two people who were once sworn enemies now standing side by side against a greater foe? And there’s definitely a lot of drama potential in a villainous character coming to see the error of their ways and becoming a complex, nuanced character who grows into their new role among the main cast who in turn grow as they slowly learn to accept the once hated enemy as a potential ally - and even friend

Redemption storylines have great potential to be excellently dramatic character building plots that are wonderful to see. If they’re done right. If they’re done wrong, they’re character breaking, unrealistic and carry all kinds of unfortunate messages not just about the villain but about the whole cast

Redemption storylines work when redemption is recognised as a process - it takes several steps to redeem a character, steps we need to see. We need to see the villain recognise their villainous actions, we need to see an attempt to atone, we need to see some respect given to the awfulness of the terrible things they’ve done and a long process to earning back trust that should not be easily achieved.

Of course, not every ally needs to be redeemed - there’s a big difference between an alliance of convenience in awful situations and redeeming someone is not necessary - for example, in Revolution Rachel and Miles are forced to work with Monroe - Monroe doesn’t have to be redeemed because no-one is looking on him as a good person; but as a bad person they have to deal with at the moment. Contrast that with Miles himself, the war criminal whose terrible past exists only for him to show his guilt and we have a very different situation.

Which typifies how redemption is done wrong - the Redemption Train. The fantasy genre is littered with evil doers who have been put soundly on the Redemption train with nary a nod to their wrongdoings. The most obvious recent example is that of Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries. In season 5, episode 11 (500 years of solitude) a large majority of the cast sat around drinking in celebration of Katherine’s demise. What’s wrong with that you ask? Let’s start off by stating that Damon is no better than Katherine. He is a rapist, has a history of killing for sport and has even attempted to murder the brother of the woman he claims to love. They have taken his redemption so far that they twisted the story to blame Vicki’s death on Katherine, rather than Damon because Damon came to Mystic Falls to find Katherine.

Other examples of the redemption train include but are not limited to, Damon’s brother Stefan whose nickname is the ripper for his violent habit of decapitating his murder victims. No need to worry though, Stefan is now completely musty, angst ridden and sorry so the fact that he is a serial killer is totally not relevant.  

When it comes to werewolves, Teen Wolf hopped on the train when they decided to redeem Peter.  He must feel like Jesus because it seems that resurrection does wonders for magically washing away sins. Peter also has great company in the form of the goody two shoes Allison. But Allison has suffered you say. Her mother was murdered. Does any of this give her the right to decide to be a party to torture and murder? Thank goodness this was just a phase because her sugary goodness returned to sicken the audience.

This is not a phenomenon limited to Tv Series. In Kristen Painter’s House of Comarré series, we are introduced to long suffering Mal who has been cursed to be a beast. He slaughters people without thought until the day his victims’ names get tattooed on his body and he is forced live with their voices. Nothing makes a vampire complete a transition to good faster than a love interest who demands purity. Chyrsabelle with her virtuous purity pushes Mal right onto the train and all of his misdeed are quickly forgotten - besides they have bigger fish to fry.

You would think that with all of the issues going on in a dystopian world that the characters would be too busy for a redemption train but you would be wrong. For the entire first season, Monroe was the Black knight to Miles’s white knight. The problem of course is that Miles was an equal partner in the creation of the Republic and given his past history and his treatment of Rachel we have every reason to believe that he was ruthless. Because true love must conquer all, Rachel is more than happy to put that aside and not only become allies with Miles but engage in a romantic relationship with him.

There are examples of Redemption done right, and for all it failed with Hook, Once Upon a Time did an excellent job with Rumplestiltskin. For a long time the characters only dealt with Rumplestiltskin when they felt they had no choice - his powers forcing people to work with him. But he was rarely extended trust and his misdeeds were constantly held up for us to remember. As he grows closer to the Charmings and their family, he is continually greeted with that same suspicion that only gradually - and grudgingly - thawed with repeated set backs. Once Upon a Time is also interesting in that it has Regina, whose Redemption Train is notable as being too hard - and too frequently derailed.

The Originals, Season One, Episode 13: Crescent City

Monique, one of the girls who was sacrificed for the harvest is lying in her grave and as we hear a heartbeat increasing, Monique opens her eyes and begins to panic.

Father Kiernan is presiding over the opening of St. Anne's.  Marcel is distracted by someone but Klaus orders him to pay attention and look like a committed parishioner.

Sabine/Celeste is giving a tour through the cemetery and she stops at the tomb owned by the Devereaux family. Monique is still in her tomb and is still crying out for help. Sabine/Celeste announces that someone in the family has recently died, as Monique manages to cause the bricks to her tomb to explode.  She climbs out the tomb and Sabine welcomes Monique back to the land of the living, as tourists take photos.

Sophie rushes into the tomb and Sabine announces that it's a miracle, as Sophie and Monique embrace.

At the end of the ceremony, Klaus and Marcel stop to talk to Kiernan about Tunde, asking if his human sources have heard anything about Tunde.  Father Kiernan says that he can steer clear of whatever war is brewing between the witches and the vampires.  Camille interrupts briefly, congratulating Kiernan on re-opening the church and quickly leaves.  Father Kiernan excuses himself and chases after Camille.

Klaus gets  a phone call from Diego, who says that they have a special delivery.  It seems he has found Papa Tunde dead in a circle. 

Kiernan is back at the church doors saying good bye to parishioners when Bastianna exists, grabs his hand and begins saying a spell. Bastianna tells Kiernan to give Sean her regards when he sees him in hell and then draws an x on his hand.

Elijah, Marcel and Klaus are standing over Tunde's body.  Klaus wonders why Tunde was left for dead on their front yard, if Tunde was the witches prize fighter.  Rebekah enters the room and tells them about Monique exploding from the grave. Marcel says that they are going to get Davina back by killing the witch who took her place.  Haleigh suggests that they need to kill Celeste because when Davina warned that a great evil was coming that is who she was referring to. Klaus believes that the witches are declaring war on the vampires.

Later, Rebekah and Elijah are alone and Elijah says that Haleigh is not safe at the compound and requests that Rebekah take her to the plantation house until this is all over.  Rebekah questions whether Elijah is worried about Haleigh or whether he can trust her.  Elijah says that it's because he trusts Rebekah that he is asking her to do this.  Rebekah turns the tables and suggests that they should let Haleigh decide for herself, rather than having Elijah dictate her fate. Elijah argues that he cannot take Haleigh because that would reveal his feelings.  Rebekah finally consents in the hopes of ending the disagreement between the two of them.

Rebekah heads towards Haleigh's room but she is stopped by Marcel, who reveals that he saw

Genevieve at the church.  Marcel adds that Genevieve has a good reason to want to come back and to complicate matters, she knows secrets that neither Marcel or Rebekah want to become common knowledge. Rebekah says that she has to take Haleigh to the plantation and asks Marcel to find

Genevieve and end it like they did the last time.

Camille is working at the bar and Kiernan comes in. Camille is not happy to see him because he was talking to Klaus like nothing had happened. Kiernan asks for a drink and when he picks it up, his hands are shaking.  Camille notices Kiernan's shaking hands and Kiernan reveals that what happened to Sean, is about to start happening to him because he has been hexed.  Camille says that there has to be an antidote. Kiernan asks Camille to get as far away from him as possible. They are interrupted by Genevieve, who puts Tunde's knife on the table. Genevieve tells Camille that in order to save Kiernan, she must place the knife in Klaus's heart. 

 

Haleigh and Rebekah arrive at the plantation and Haleigh admits that she agreed to go the plantation because tonight is the full moon.  It seems that Haleigh wants to invite her family over and has arranged for Josh to get a message to Eve in Bayou.  Rebekah is miffed that Haleigh didn't ask for permission but Haleigh reiterates that tonight is the one night a month she gets to be with her family.

 

Sabine is walking through the quarter when Elijah shows up and asks her to be his family's ally among the witches. Sabine informs Elijah that they may be able to make a deal with him but not if it involves Klaus.  Sabine reminds Elijah that he has a niece on the way.  Elijah suggests that they should walk together. 

 

Sophie sets food in front of Monique in the hope that she will eat. Monique asks what happened to her mother and Sophie tells Monique that her mother loved her and had faith that she could use magic to complete the harvest.  Sophie adds that Monique's mother sacrificed herself for the witches. Sophie then adds that she lost her fate but realised that if she didn't believe that she would be letting Monique down. They are interrupted by Marcel, and Sophie is not impressed to see him.  Marcel reveals that he wants to awaken the three girls who were sacrificed during the harvest.  Monique confirms that Marcel is telling the truth and that he is loyal to Davina.

 

Klaus meets Camile in St. Anne's and she tells him that Kiernan is in the attic, resting and praying.  Camille says that Kiernan is going to go crazy and die just like Sean.  Klaus sits next to Camille and admits that he knows why she hates him.  Klaus tells Camille that the lies Kiernan told were meant to protect her and that he is a good man, with a loyal heart.  Klaus adds that the attack on Kiernan should be proof that the witches are the enemy.  Klaus stands to leave and Camille stops him to hand over Tunde's knife saying that the witch who gave it to her promised that Kiernan would be saved if she stuck it in his heart. Camille says that if she were more like Klaus, she could stab him and adds that if there is a war going on, she wants to be on the winning side.  Klaus promises to look for a way to save Kiernan.

 

At the plantation, Haliegh is hanging clothes on a line, as the wolves make their approach. Haleigh tells the wolf that she is looking forward to meeting hir soon.

 

Klaus bites his wrist and pours blood into a chalice and Kiernan cuts his hand to force the vervain out of his system.

 

Several people are now gathering clothing from the line, as inside the house, Rebekah is tending to the food on the stove.  A shirtless Oliver (thank you for that CW) makes his way into the kitchen and asks if Rebekah is an Original. Rebekah says yes, clearly aroused by Oliver and she calls out for Haleigh.

 

Monique and Marcel stand by as Sophie prepares to do a locator spell to find the witches holding the harvest power. Sophie tells Marcel that if she betrays the witches, they are going to come looking for her and if she is found she will be dead.  Sophie demands money to make sure that Monique is able to get out of the quarter if things go bad.

 

The party is in full swing outside and Rebekah joins Oliver to dance.  Oliver tells Rebekah that tonight is a night to celebrate life and their family. Haleigh heads back inside to clean up and she is interrupted by Jackson, the wolf who has been watching her. When Haleigh assumes that Jackson has been watching her because of the baby, Jackson says that his interest is in her.  Jackson reveals that their parents knew each other and that Haleigh was supposed to be his wife.  

Elijah and Sabine continue to walk through the quarter and Elijah stops and says, "as surprising as you may think, it's not everyday that someone asks you to betray your own brother Celeste."  Celeste asks how Elijah knew and Elijah says that when Sophie discovered there was no magic in her remains, he wondered if Celeste had placed her essence into the body of another to cheat death. Elijah begins to lay out proof of how he came to deduce her identity. Celeste and Elijah have the most awkward kiss ( Daniel Gillies clearly wanted no part of Shannon Kane) and Celeste calls Elijah her lost love. Celeste asks why Elijah doesn't understand that she died because of Klaus.  Celeste adds that she died because of Klaus and that Elijah stood by Klaus because of his vow.  Elijah begins to look pale, becomes dizzy and he falls to his knees. It seems that Celeste put an enchantment on Elijah.

Full Dark by Ty Lawrence

Ashlyn is a sorceress but she is not a very powerful one.  Her life is spent enslaved to a vampire named Brennen who is addicted to her blood.  Ashlyn loathes him but knows that without his protection she will quickly held captive by another vampire who may not be as kind as Brennen. Though Ashlyn's yellow eyes mark her as other, she wants nothing more than to participate in the human world and pretend that she is not different.

Ashlyn suddenly finds out her precarious her world is when she awakes one morning to find her house entirely empty.  Not only is Brennan missing but so are all of the children he sired.  Things escalate when the cops start sniffing around and asking questions Ashlyn can possibly answer if she wants to remain alive. 

Full Dark is told in the first person and this would have worked if Ashlyn was even remotely an interesting character.   She spent most of her time simpering and being anything but active.  I understand that Ashlyn spent most of the book in peril surrounded by creatures far stronger than herself but she was nothing but a pawn throughout the story.  Even her one rebellion keeping a nosy cop alive was weak. Ashlyn seemed to spend far too much time either screaming, drinking or crying.  Ashlyn existed largely to be a victim.

Supernatural: Season 9, Episode 13: The Purge

Somewhere in the middle of Minnesota (I’m not going to bother checking where, these places are all fill in for “middle-of-nowhere” America which is Supernatural’s bread and butter –or blood and gore anyway).

It’s a hot dog eating competition; after which the winner gets in his car and something happens to him. The large man is deflated, almost drained until he withers – then something gets out of the car. What a shame, the man had a “Bacon Makes Everything better” bumper sticker – he was clearly a wise and informed soul.

At the Winchester cave it’s time for the morning routine with a little extra tension – a lot of extra tension (and a little pouting) – and Dean has dug up the mission to find out what happened to the mysteriously wasting man.

Time to impersonate Federal agents because no-one ever checks these things after Bobby died, and ask the super-nice police woman about the case who describes how all his internal organs were sucked out while eating doughnuts. He did have a rival, Slim Jim, on the competitive food eating circuit. Yes circuit. Apparently competitive food eating is a big thing in that area.

Despite his air tight alibi they go interview Slim Jim (eating lettuce in training…) and poking around his house reveals his wife is superstitious – and Romani. They actually take a step to point out that she doesn’t like “gypsy” because it is a slur, before her non-Romani husband informs everyone how wrong she is, but on the plus side he does so in such blatantly ridiculous terms as to make it pretty clear who is actually wrong.

Back at their hotel room they research that the bag is a Putsi bag which they say is used for curses, when they’re interrupted by said wife who wants her bag back (anyone else notice how bling Dean’s gun is?). She didn’t kill the other man, she loved him and was actually having an affair (Dean is bemused since the dead man was fat and her husband is called Slim Jim for a reason but she counters the idea that fat is inherently unsexy). She points out that Putsi bags can be used for blessings

Time for victim number 2 – a woman trying to lose weight for her wedding is bludgeoned from behind in a gym and then is drained and shrivelled. More investigating and this time they find the suction mark where the fat is drained out. They split up for questioning different people, Dean choosing the option that lets him question attractive women because a) he’s Dean and b) he says Sam is awkward around women (with more tension snark about “honesty”). As Dean questions the woman, he notices she has a suction mark as well.

Some investigating and they find out the trainer with the suction mark had also lost a lot of weight lately after going to spa called Canyon Valley that guarantees weight loss without diet, exercise or surgery.

Night Owls (Night Owls #1) by Lauren M Roy

Val is a vampire, running her bookshop with Chaz, her Renfield and living a normal life – very normal, away from all the messiness of vampire politics or of her past

Until Elly enters her life. Elly, protégé of the great hunter, Father Value, has a book that the old hunter gave his life to acquire – a book that may hold the key to the Jackals (or Creeps) increasing their dwindling numbers. Since the Jackals are monsters who eat human flesh with a special taste for virgins, no-one really wants that.

But the Jackals are very eager to get their prize back and as they amass in greater and greater numbers, Val and Elly have to take greater risks and make some dubious deals to keep the book safe.

Especially since the book has decided to lodge part of itself in a college student that they’d both rather didn’t die.

That was fun.

Which is odd, because this book is also pretty involved with several well developed characters who are interesting and nuanced, more than a few difficult and fuzzy situation and a decent plot that draws all of them together. Such books tend to be deep or interesting or fascinating or exciting – but they don’t tend to be fun. They don’t usually have the lightness to them to be fun.

Night Owls is fun. It manages to hit that balance that keeps all the dark, heavy scenes and all their impact – while still keeping a lightness that is fun which is really really hard to do. Usually one or other has to be sacrificed

The star of the book – and this balance – was the characters. We had a number of characters and I honestly can’t pick a protagonist – either Val or Elly are prime candidates. But all characters have some depth and motivation behind them giving them a strong history and strong presence and motivation. There’s Val with her past as a hunter, bad experience with vampire clans  and general wish to lead a nice, peaceful life – which is so much BETTER than a legion of Musty vampires we’ve seen who randomly decide to normalise for some random, ill-defined and ill-explained guilt. Elly has just forcibly been ripped from under the shadow of Value, her mentor and a truly great hunter; she has an excellent mindset of finding her future, her chosen past while at the same time having her hero-worship of her former father-figure slowly chipped away. Both these character’s experiences and growth are showcased through others – Chaz, the Renfield and in many ways the very avatar of Val’s normality and Cavale, another former student of Value’s whose anger brings home to Elly their mentor’s flaws as well as underscoring how ill prepared she is for the world. But even these characters have their own motivations and issues that go beyond mere extensions of the characters they complete.