Tag: misogyny

Always a Witch (Siempre Bruja) Season 1 Review

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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Always a Witch, or Siempre Bruja, is a Netflix Original from Colombia. This Spanish language show (with English subtitles and dubbing) is a time travel fantasy about a young 17th century slave named Carmen who is also a witch. She uses magic to escape execution and travel to the present day. Much like the series Outlander, she travels between the two time periods, fights evil foes in both, tries to save the man she loves, must adjust to her new time period, and works to make life better for the people of the past.

Always a Witch is a fresh take on the time traveling witch concept, with a young cast and storytelling that’s grounded in Latin American culture. This show avoids the graphic nature of Outlander, keeping its content more suited to younger audiences, while still addressing the harshness of Carmen’s life as a slave, and the realities of the modern world.

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Travelers Season 3 Episode 6: Philip Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 6 Comments

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Find more Travelers posts HERE.

Episode 6, Philip, brings back the special ops Traveler team of Hall, Luca and Kyle, for a deeper look into how historians function, what’s up with the Faction now that 001 is in charge, and how Kyle has changed the dynamic of Hall’s team. We say goodbye to more recurring characters in this episode, as the Director’s lack of sentimentality becomes more apparent with every episode. The events of this episode also give us a glimpse into the current state of the future. Travelers in the 21st aren’t supposed to talk about what they left behind, but it sounds like the people they left behind in the future never forget the reason the Traveler program exists.

Soldiers mirror their leaders, and we’re seeing that reflected throughout this season, in ways large and small, from the Faction using the same violent techniques as Vincent to Philip and Trevor losing their tendency to argue with Mac’s decisions based on whether they think they’re the right, moral thing to do. Mac and his team are moving closer and closer to the behaviors and ideals of Hall’s team. In season 1, Mac and his team were appalled by Hall and his team’s behavior and attitudes. The team doesn’t see it, because their journey in that direction will look different from Hall and Luca’s, but with every episode they fall further into the “ends justifies the means” rabbit hole.

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Why Does Metawitches Keep Writing About Diversity and Violence Against Women When I Just Want to Read a Recap?

~ Metacrone
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Photo by Tookapic on Pexels.com

Because life is political, so is entertainment, and so is our blog. Because we know that the creators of the shows that we love can do better. If no one points out where the issues lie, how will they know where they need to improve?

We live in the real world, where mass media has an effect on people’s attitudes. It’s important to examine closely exactly what we’re being shown and what messages are actually being delivered. It’s the only way that change happens.

Whenever we start analyzing how a show is doing in regard to its male/female ratio and other forms of diversity, and compare how characters from different demographics are being treated, we are always met with the response:

But aren’t the male (and white) characters being treated the same way as the women?

This is where attention to detail becomes important, plus the ability to count, and the ability to distinguish between a named character and a background character. When we’re discussing violent acts, this argument is frequently made, because there will be so many more men running around on screen than women that, of course, in raw numbers, more violent acts are happening to men than women.

Let’s break this situation down.

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Travelers Season 3 Episode 4: Perrow Recap

~ Metacrone ~ 8 Comments

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Find my other Travelers posts HERE.

Episode 4, Perrow, picks up the dropped thread of 001, who went into hiding at the end of season 2, and hasn’t been seen since. The Faction kidnaps Perrow, via car accident, because they want something from her. She’s injured so badly that Perrow’s body is no longer viable, but the Faction can offer 001 a new host in trade, and an army for her to lead.

001, the first Traveler, had been using Vincent Ingram as his host body since he accidentally transferred into Vincent, instead of another man, on 9/11/2001 in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center, minutes before the plane hit the building (S2 Ep1, Ave Machina). Over the course of season 2, he built a consciousness transfer device in the 21st century, with the help of Traveler 004/Simon, a highly trained Traveler who’d been institutionalized after his host developed schizophrenia.

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Midnight, Texas Season 2 Episode 7: Resting Witch Face Recap

~ Metacrone

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By the time we’re done watching episode 7, “Resting Witch Face”, the sleepy little town of Midnight, Texas has been turned upside down. Its darkest secrets have been exposed, friends and enemies have switched places, and another character has been lost. With only two episodes left following this one, the show is preparing its stage for a huge season finale.

As the episode begins, Joe is still out looking for Chuy, who is out of control and in his demon form. Walker has followed them. Fiji is hiding just how much her new affiliation with dark magic has affected her. Patience and Kai are supposedly dealing with the aftermath of the hotel being used as the epicenter of the town’s troubles in the previous episode.

And Manfred is still standing on his front porch, in tears, after watching Creek’s ghost disappear in flames. After a moment, he snaps into action and goes looking for Kai, who’s more than ready for a fight. They meet out in the street, shouting threats at each other. Kai tries to take Manfred’s powers from him, against his will. Only Patience is surprised. Lem stops Kai, then Patience takes him back to the hotel. Manfred tells everyone else that he saw Creek’s ghost.

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Midnight, Texas Season 2 Episode 6: No More Mr. Nice Kai Recap

~ Metacrone

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Midnight, Texas is a weird show. It’s fun. It’s sexy. With all of those shirtless men and relationship plotlines, it’s clearly aimed at women. It’s based on a series of books by Charlaine Harris, who is a famous and successful woman.

Unlike True Blood and the Midnight, Texas books, this TV series kills off its female characters right and left. In episode 6, Creek returns to Midnight, only to be fridged by the end of the episode. Time after time this season, we’ve watched the women be killed or duped, while the men leave town alive, or overcome whoever cons them. After the deaths of Creek, Lyric, Sequoia, and Mary’s mother, Sheila (just to name a few off the top of my head), will the Rev and Mary the baby weretiger’s father be returning Midnight to be murdered in episode 7, and will Olivia’s father die the week after that, to help balance the scales?

This show’s history suggests that a woman from Midnight will sacrifice and be punished in some major way before the end of the season. It will probably be Fiji, with Patience as the dark horse coming up strong from the outside. Trace Lysette’s character Celeste will likely be brought back to die. Fiji has already given up her heart, and the aunt who raised her, to the dark side, but the town will rescue Bobo’s true love. She’ll be contrite for overreaching and daring to think she could handle dark magic as a mere woman (of color).

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The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Episode 4: Other Women Recap

~ Metacrone

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This week, it’s Aunt Lydia’s turn. June is back under her control at the Red Center, and it’s Lydia’s job to turn willful June into submissive handmaid Offred. Her goal is for Offred and the baby to go back home to the Waterfords, so they can finish the pregnancy in the best environment for the baby. Lydia uses every punitive and manipulative tool at her disposal to break June, and continues once June is back in the Waterford home. Serena Joy and Rita aren’t spared from Lydia’s training either. Lydia is relentless, actively encouraging June toward a mental breakdown and dissociative disorder.

The main themes of this season are motherhood, isolation and loneliness, but other women is another one. Each of the women that we’ve come to know is facing a challenge this season, and they each need to decide who they are as a woman, and how they relate to other women.

Does a woman see herself as an island, only responsible for herself and her own needs? As a sister, mother and daughter, responsible for the well-being of her family? Or as a member of her community, however she defines it- the handmaids, Gilead, the human family?

Janine is doing her best to spread her love for her lost child out to her community, making her world a better place. Emily has tried to live as an emotional island, but Janine is challenging her to rethink that. Serena’s inability to have children has forced her to focus outward, but June’s pregnancy is giving Serena hope that she’ll be able to have a more intimate relationship with a child.

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Castle Rock Season 1 Episode 9: Henry Deaver Recap

~ Metacrone

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So…The Kid’s name isn’t Matthew Deaver Jr, but he is Ruth and Matthew’s son, the alternate timeline counterpart of the baby who died in this timeline. Instead, he’s named Henry, and has lived a life that mirrors the Henry Deaver from this timeline in many ways. We were given both Kid’s memories and the other Henry’s missing experiences this episode, though not because Andre Holland’s Henry remembered them. Our Henry is exceedingly stubborn. I’m beginning to think he might never accept what he remembered in the anechoic chamber as his real memories.

And I’m beginning to think we might never find out for sure who the girl on the rooftop in the series main graphic is, though we were given some good clues in this episode. Is it Ruth? Is it the 200 year old ghost of a French settler turned cannibal? Is it Ruth possessed by a cannibal ghost? Is it some version of Molly? Or the girl who was slicing her own wrists inside the portal? Stay tuned for the season finale.

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The Innocents Season 1 Episode 6: Not the Only Freak in Town Recap

~ Metacrone

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In episode 6 of The Innocents, the men get weepy and the women go drinking. Left alone on the island, Runa, Sigrid and Elena break the rules and share some female bonding time with Runa’s homebrew. Harry goes home to his family and has a tearful reunion, then discovers some distressing information about Lewis. He runs to the farm to share it with Ryan and John, leaving Ryan teary-eyed as well. June meets the mysterious Dr Halvorson, and agrees to go to Norway with him. One of the first things he does is take away her phone, cutting off her access to anyone else. Before they leave London.

The groups and alliances are reshuffled in this episode. Some much needed communication happens between multiple characters, building bridges between them. By the end of the episode, the characters have moved into position for the final act.

After Harry walks away from her, June walks back to Kam’s flat in the sunshine, with her beautiful hair glowing in the sun. She looks sad and lost, but her hair will carry her through this disaster. That hair is survivor’s hair.

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The Innocents Season 1 Episode 5: Passionate Amateur Recap

~ Metacrone

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June and Harry meet another shapeshifter in episode 5, the passionate amateur who left a comment for June at the end of episode 4. The new shapeshifter lives a very different lifestyle from what the teenage couple had in mind. When she tries to manipulate June into breaking up with Harry and joining her party crowd, their friendship goes wrong. There are consequences for Harry and June as well.

At Sanctum, tensions continue to grow between the three women. Elena begins to gain control of her shifts. Sigrid prepares to move back into the world. Runa grows more unstable. Ben prepares to bring June into the fold. It’s hard to imagine that incorporating June into this powder keg will go well.

Elena has already made progress in her therapy. Her overall emotional trigger is love, which explains a lot about her life. Ben has created a slide wheel that’s tailored to her triggers, filled with images of mothers and children, sex and death. Elena watches it, and tells a story from Ryan’s childhood, when he was chasing butterflies down a path.

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