Travelers Seasons 1-3: Every Recap in Order

November 12, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

Links to every Metawitches recap and post related to Netflix’s Travelers, in order, so y’all can take a break from the mess that is the Travelers tag. Enjoy!

Season 1

Travelers: New Sci Fi Series from Netflix: Pilot Recap/Review– With the hope of preventing their own dystopian future from occurring, agents from the future use technology to send their consciousnesses into the minds of people who are about to die in the present day. Created by Brad Wright, of Stargate fame, and starring Eric McCormack (Will and Grace).

Travelers Season 1 Episode 2: Protocol 6 Recap– MacLaren becomes a traveler and meets the team in their new bodies. As the travelers settle into their new lives, they cope with how the changes affect their previous relationships with each other and the way the people around them react to their new personalities. The team works to contain a dangerous antimatter delivery.

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Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 3- Neil Recap

November 10, 2021November 10, 2021 ~ Metacrone

In episode 3, Jennifer and Yorick are reunited at the Pentagon, but they struggle to keep Yorick a secret from the other 5,000 people who live and work in the building. With the help of Agent 355 and Christine, they develop a plan for Yorick to work with a geneticist to determine how he survived the Event. Kim becomes more suspicious of Jennifer, while Marla’s mental state deteriorates. Nora and Mack return home.

Yorick’s blue sweater wins this episode. No matter how much he complains and tries to reject his Hero’s Journey, that gorgeous, huggable sweater makes us want to follow him anywhere ~~and cuddle up next to a warm fire.~~ It looks like everyone at the Pentagon got a practical yet stylish upgrade to their wardrobe this week.

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Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 2: Would the World Be Kind Recap

November 6, 2021November 8, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

Episode 2 picks up immediately after the death of the men, then makes a couple of time jumps, settling a couple of months into the apocalypse. The country is in chaos and riots are breaking out. Jennifer Brown becomes president and holes up in the Pentagon with other surviving high ranking government and military officials and their families. Agent 355 reveals her identity to Jennifer. Yorick searches for his girlfriend, Beth. Hero watches Mike’s wife and tries to figure out what to say to her. She also makes plans to leave NYC with Sam and his friends.

The characters refer to the mass death of every mammal with a Y chromosome as The Event. I’m going to refer to it as either that or the man plague.

Recap

The episode picks up on Day 1, immediately following the death of the men, as General Peggy Reed and the secret Service herd surviving government officials toward safety in the bunkers under the Pentagon. Their conversations make clear that no one has a clue what just happened, this was a global event, Ted Campbell’s administration was almost exclusively male, and many women also died, due to accidents caused by dying men. Regina Oliver, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was in Israel and can’t be located. If she’s alive, she’s next in line for the presidency.

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Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 1: The Day Before Recap

November 4, 2021November 5, 2021 ~ Metacrone

This is a recap, with spoilers. My review of the first 3 episodes is HERE.

After several years of real life twists and turns, the TV adaptation of the Brian Vaughn-Pia Guerra graphic novel series Y: The Last Man premiered on FX on Hulu on September 13, 2021. As with many other graphic novel adaptations in recent years, such as The Walking Dead and Snowpiercer, it appears to be striking a balance between using the source material as a guideline but also updating and modifying storylines for television and changing times. This makes sense, since the first installments were published in 2002, a very different era from 2021 in terms of issues such as gender, race, sexual orientation, violence, terrorism and Climate Crisis awareness.

What ties the two eras together is the theme of coping with overwhelming reactions to a massive crisis. In 2002, the US was dealing with the aftereffects of the 9/11 attacks and was at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2021, the world is in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic that has killed 1 in 500 Americans. Both periods share the zeitgeist that the world has changed and not for the better. We grieve the loss of the old world and those we’ve lost along with it. We’re in the dark about what the future will bring, resulting in escalating feelings of isolation, confusion, anxiety and anger.

Y: The Last Man picks up on this zeitgeist, then applies it to a world in which all mammals with a Y chromosome have died, save 2. The sudden genocide of half of humanity, the half which maintained control of so many vital systems, provides an opportunity to explore the results of oppression and inequality in unique ways. Most of the categories that humans use to separate ourselves into groups still exist in their world, from race to political party. Most of the issues that humanity faced before men died still exist. But now, humanity and all species of mammals also face extinction, if whatever caused this mass die off becomes a permanent part of the environment.

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Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 7- My Mother Saw a Monkey Recap

October 16, 2021January 3, 2022 ~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

Episode 7 takes on a Walking Dead tone as Yorick, 355 and Allison start on their road trip for real, then immediately take a side trip to a newly formed, slightly sinister community. Jennifer receives a surprise visitor at the Pentagon. Captain Nguyen’s official report after her encounter with Yorick and friends at the church in episode 6 has unexpected ramifications for Kim and Marla.

Recap

The episode begins with a slice of life in No Men Land- Amp crawls past dead human and animal bodies. 355 (Ashley Romans) inhales gasoline out of a hose in an attempt to siphon gas from a truck’s tank for the gang’s recently acquired RV. And Allison (Diana Bang) uses a flashlight to examine Yorick’s (Ben Schnetzer) physical health while he worries about how badly they hurt 355’s feelings when they tried to ditch her in episode 6. Yorick wants to apologize to 355, but Allison isn’t sorry, since 355 lied to and endangered them before they tried to run out on her. Allison sees their choices as tough love.

When 355 brings her pilfered gas to the RV, Yorick over-praises the effort instead of apologizing. She stays stone-faced, but tells him and Allison they can ride in the back of the camper. Allison sarcastically tells Yorick that his “apology” worked.

They drive through a gorgeous pine forest and cross a river, passing a sign facing in the other direction which says “Notice: Do Not Stop For Hitchhikers.” Oops. That means there’s a prison in the area and hitchhikers are most likely escaped criminals. But prisons also make the best post-apocalyptic bunkers, so it’s only fitting that the show go there sooner rather than later.

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Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episodes 1-3: Review

September 16, 2021September 17, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

Y: The Last Man, based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Brian K Vaughan and Pia Guerra, has finally arrived on Hulu after years of back and forth in development. As is typical for Hulu, the first three episodes were released together as a block, serving as a super long pilot. The dystopian series, which ran for 60 issues that were published from 2002-2008, was written during the dark period post-9/11. It was a bit chilling to watch this show’s scenes of death and horror in the Pentagon and NYC streets just a few days after the 20th anniversary of that event.

In the Y: The Last Man universe, all of the male mammals in the world die, including human males, save one man and his male pet monkey. The women eventually refer to the day this happens as “The Event”, unable to bring themselves to give it a name any more specific than that, not even referring to it by the date, as with 9/11. It’s evocative of JK Rowling’s fictional supervillain from the Harry Potter universe, ~~Voldemort~~, or He Who Must Not Be Named. Instead of Voldemort’s brutal, decades-long war, or the protracted, winding MCU lead up to Thanos’ snap, the on screen version of The Event takes place over the course of one day, leaving the characters to face their changed future as exhausted, suffering refugees from an irretrievable past.

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The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 10: The Wilderness Recap

June 23, 2021November 19, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

In episode 10, the final installment of season 4, we follow June as she comes to terms with Fred Waterford’s imminent release from prison. We’ve spent the season watching June try to balance the rage from her experiences in Gilead, the need to fight back and her sense of helplessness over Hannah’s situation with her exhaustion from the fight, her desire to return to ordinary life and her efforts to act like the person her loved ones remember. This episode is the culmination of that struggle, as she makes irrevocable choices about who she is and what she’s willing to do to fight for the world she wants for her daughters.

Recap

We begin with a flashback to a trip to Jezebels back in the season 1 era. June is in her sparkly gold dress and cheap makeup. Fred pulls her out onto the dance floor. Though June smiles as though she’s enjoying herself, her voiceover tells a different story:

“It has to look like love. That’s what he needs. Pretend you like it. Pretend you love it. Pretend you want him. He is your Commander. Make him your whole world. Your sun, your moon and all your stars. Make him believe. Because your motherf—ing life depends on it. Don’t run. Don’t kick. Don’t scream. Don’t bite it off. Don’t… bite.”

She left out “Don’t punch. Don’t hit. Don’t scratch.” I wonder why she didn’t include her arms as weapons. Maybe because she’s so used to Serena holding them down? I fought off a rapist, once upon a time, and I can assure you that I used my arms, legs, wits and everything else available to me, just as she describes. Though it was decades ago, I still feel the potential to fight for my life in my muscles and bones, as if they are always coiled, ready to spring into action if I need to fight again.

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The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 9: Progress Recap

June 14, 2021August 15, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 2 Comments

Episode 9, Progress, includes several surprise visits which bring both good and bad news. June has an unexpected visit with Nick, where she receives new information on Hannah. Fred receives a visit from Warren Putnam, while Naomi pays a call to Serena. The Putnams congratulate the Waterfords on their forthcoming arrival, then inform them that Gilead is no longer in need of their services. Janine visits Esther in the Red Center to explain the reality of how life works for handmaids.

Mark Tuello’s end of episode visit with June and Luke is expected, but he delivers news that shocks June to her core.

Recap

We begin with June and Luke, apparently the morning after episode 8. It appears that they’re wrung out after staying up all night talking about June’s attempts to rescue Hannah. Luke tries to look hopeful. June apologizes again. He puts the blame where it belongs, on Gilead, not on June. June tells him that Nick said Hannah is safe at home now. Luke corrects her- home is in their house in Toronto, with them. June agrees.

Like June, I was so relieved during the scene on the bridge S4Ep3, The Crossing, that I didn’t question Nick’s wording, but Luke is right. Hannah isn’t safe and she isn’t home. She’s back with the MacKenzies, where she’s okay for the moment, but only for a very few more years. Her time is running out. June knows this from the parades of girls she watched in the hospital in S3Ep9, Heroic and from Mrs Keyes’ and Eden’s experiences (S4Ep1, Pigs and S2Ep12, Postpartum).

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The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 8: Testimony Recap

June 6, 2021August 8, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments

Episode 8, Testimony, examines how the characters are coping, or not coping, with their trauma. June faces Fred for the first time since S3Ep10, Witness, when he forced Joseph to perform the Ceremony. They meet in international court, when June testifies against Fred. As generally happens when women accuse powerful men of sex crimes, the results are mixed. The women who know June are empowered by her testimony. Luke sends June more mixed messages. Moira is sympathetic, but prefers to keep June’s experiences at a distance. June searches for and finds an outlet for her anger, which also brings out Emily’s repressed anger. Serena Joy and Fred never change.

Aunt Lydia continues to have difficulty dealing with her own anger and trauma, which leads Joseph to reprimand her and then ~~give her a puppy~~ turn over a handmaid captured in Chicago to her for discipline. That’s right, Janine’s survival is finally confirmed! Lawrence says he’s giving Janine to Lydia for her to use as a punching bag, but I’m convinced he knows Lydia actually needs a support handmaid to love and Janine is really good at loving people. Before she became a rebel, she was notorious for kidnapping her baby, jumping off a bridge and then later for bringing Angela back to life. Janine is a miraculous character and now God has brought her back to Lydia to fulfill a new purpose.

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The Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 Episode 9: Heroic Recap

June 1, 2021June 1, 2021 ~ Metacrone ~ 3 Comments

Episode 9, Heroic, is probably one of The Handmaid’s Tale most controversial episodes. Almost the entire episode takes place in Ofmatthew/Natalie’s hospital room, where she is brain dead after being shot by a Guardian in episode 8. Natalie is comatose, but kept alive as an incubator for her baby for as long as possible in order to give the baby the best chance of survival. Little care is given to her comfort and none to her potential wishes. She is now blatantly referred to as a vessel for the baby and nothing more, ultimately the only role that matters for the women of Gilead.

It was shocking enough to watch as a pregnant Black woman was shot by the Handmaid’s Tale version of the police in the previous episode. In this episode, we watch as her body is treated like an inanimate object by almost all of the many people who file through her hospital room. Natalie is reduced to frequently malfunctioning life support for her womb, an obstacle in the way of the healthy baby boy they want to eventually harvest from her, just as they’ve stolen her previous three children.

Season 3 aired in the summer of 2019, long before George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s deaths in May and March of 2020. It’s a reminder of the long history of racism, medical mistreatment and violence in the US; of the continued commodification of women’s bodies, especially those of women of color; and that everything in The Handmaid’s Tale novel/S1 has already happened somewhere in the world/history. It’s all still happening in the US and globally. The series continues to be grounded in reality, no matter how extreme it seems.

It’s a genius move for Aunt Lydia to punish June for her harshness toward Natalie by sentencing her to remain kneeling in the room 24/7 until Natalie gives birth. Natalie was annoying, but after 5 years of Gilead’s abuses, she was also mentally fragile. She did what she hoped would allow her and others to survive, just like the rest of the handmaids. June’s constant presence in Natalie’s hospital room, swathed in handmaid’s red, reminds those who enter that Natalie is a human being, not just a vessel.

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