Tag: supernatural

In the Flesh Season 1 Episode 1: Recap

~ Metacrone

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Let’s take a break from Nazis, and have some fun with sentient zombies during these last few days before Halloween! In the Flesh is a BBC/BBCAmerica show from 2013-14 that was cancelled after 2 short seasons, leaving it with a grand total of 9 episodes. Each season tells a complete story, so no worries about being left on a cliffhanger, though threads were left open for season 3 to continue the story. (Bring it back, please!!) The show was created and written by Dominic Mitchell, who’s gone on to write and produce for Westworld.

In the Flesh is currently streaming on Hulu and included with Amazon Prime, or if you’re in the UK, on the BBC website. Even if you’re not in the UK, the other videos on the site aren’t geolocked, and there’s a lot of great stuff there.

This  is my favorite zombie show ever, rivalled only by season 1 of The Walking Dead. It was recently featured in IGN.com’s article The 15 Best Horror TV Shows of the Last 10 Years along with my other relatively obscure personal favorites Crazyhead and Dark, both on Netflix. (I will recap season 1 of Dark, hopefully before the end of the year. Or before season 2 is released. Or the timeline changes. I have a draft started.)

In this universe, the recently deceased all rose on one specific night in 2009, for unknown reasons, then rampaged the world, killing humans and eating their brains. Eventually scientists figured out that they were eating brains because they were missing a specific brain chemical. Once a medication was created to replace what was lacking, the zombies’ mental state returned to normal. Their physical state remains more zombie-like, though it’s improved from the feral state.

But in the intervening years, many people died, among both zombies and the living. Volunteer militias were formed in small towns to cope with the zombies, since the military was spread too thin. These Human Volunteer Forces, or HVF, were the big heroes of the day, and some are having trouble returning to normal life.

The populace as a whole has difficulty accepting the Partially Deceased Syndrome sufferers, as the zombies are now known, back into their midst. The PDS sufferers grow resentful at being blamed for actions that were outside of their control. They are victims of a chronic disease, not criminals. Some begin to feel that they should wear their PDS proudly, as a badge of honor.

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Midnight, Texas Season 2 Episode 1: Head Games Recap

~ Metacrone

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It’s time to return to Midnight, Texas, or to visit for the first time if you’ve never been. There just happens to be a new hotel in town, owned by a renowned healer and his lovely wife. They can help you with anything from a crystal meditation session to rebalance your energy to an exorcism of your terminal demon cancer. And anything that might require a severed demon head, but let’s keep that between you and me. Healer Kai seems to want to keep his frequent sessions with the head private.

The town’s resident psychic, Manfred Bernardo, is a bit under the weather this week, having never fully recovered from last season’s finale, when he allowed 6 demons to possess him at once, so that he could drive away a really powerful demon, Colconar, who wanted to own the town’s resident witch, Fiji. The demons left a little something behind inside Manfred that’s slowly taking him over. The fact that it’s enough to bring his ghostly grandmother, Xylda, back from the hereafter, might make the whole thing worth it.

Other than Manfred and his girlfriend Creek, who are understandably having some relationship issues, the town’s couples are doing great. Bobo and Fiji are having such great sex that they don’t just feel like they’re flying, Fiji’s head actually hits the ceiling. Lem and Olivia now share a psychic connection to facilitate their wedded bliss, since he fed her some of his blood to heal her after she was gravely injured. He doesn’t have to be told which spot is the right spot anymore. And Joe and Chuy are as centered and peaceful as ever, or so it appears. Chuy is doing a lot of yoga to get his demon side back under control.

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Upcoming Supernatural Shows Part 2: Charlaine Harris’ Midnight, Texas [Videos]

~ Metacrone

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Update 10/25/18: Added link to new TVLine exclusive sneak peak clip.

Midnight, Texas premiered as a summer show on NBC in 2017 with a 10 episode run and poor to mediocre ratings. Somehow, they were given a second season and moved to the fall- probably because of supernatural interference. Or an enthusiastic global and digital response to the show. Charlaine Harris has connections, y’all, she can make these things happen.

Ms Harris is the author of the wildly popular Southern Vampire Mystery series, otherwise known as the Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries/True Blood TV series. Midnight, Texas is currently a three novel series that takes place in the same universe as the Sookie Stackhouse novels. There are a few crossover characters in the books, though I don’t remember seeing any in season 1 of the TV show. They don’t arrive in town until the second book, so keep your eyes open this season. Last season combined storylines from the first and third books. So far it looks like season 2 will cover the second book.

Just like Sookie’s town of Bon Temps, LA,  the small southwestern town of Midnight, TX attracts outsiders, loners and misfits, especially those who are a little more than human. Midnight is sparsely populated, with barely enough permanent residents to even be called a town. It sits at a dusty crossroads with magical properties. The people who are drawn to settle there form a close-knit, protective community. They are slow to trust outsiders and don’t share secrets easily, but they are a force to be reckoned with when one of their own is threatened.

Season 1 begins when Manfred Bernardo, a psychic with true abilities, which he sometimes needs to fake for customers, drives his ancient RV bus into town on the advice of the ghost of his grandmother, Xylda. Manfred was mostly raised by Xylda and they’re still close. They’ve been able to remain close because Manfred sees dead people. Everywhere. Sometimes they possess his body, but only if he lets them. Manfred is on the run from Hightower, to whom he and Xylda owe(d) a large sum of money.

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Upcoming Supernatural Shows Part 1: Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina [Videos]

~ Metacrone

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Halloween is almost upon us and it’s time for some witchy fun! Next week, on Friday October 26, two relatively lighthearted supernatural series will join the pack. NBC’s Midnight, Texas, based on the book series by Charlaine Harris, author of True Blood/the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries, will return for season 2. And the entire first season of the Riverdale quasi spin off The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, from the same team who brought Archie, Veronica and Bughead to life, will debut on Netflix the same day.

In this post, let’s look at Sabrina, then I’ll make a second post for Midnight, Texas.

238px-chilling_adventuresof_sabrina_issue_2Sabrina is based on the teenage witch from the comics, most specifically from the comic series of the same name written by creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who is also the showrunner for the CW’s Riverdale. It’s not connected to the 90s sitcom starring Melissa Joan Hart, though I imagine the writers won’t be able to resist throwing in some inside jokes.

The show stars Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina Spellman, a half human-half witch teenager who has a big decision to make on her 16th birthday. Lucy Davis plays Hilda Spellman, the more maternal of Sabrina’s two aunts, who act as her guardians. Miranda Otto plays Zelda Spellman, a fierce, protective witch who wants Sabrina to follow in her footsteps as a devotee of the Dark Lord. (Guess JK Rowling doesn’t own that phrase.) Ross Lynch is Harvey Kinkle, Sabrina’s sweet, clueless, human boyfriend, who has no idea what’s really going on in the town of Greendale, where Sabrina’s chilling adventures take place. The cast is rounded out by Jaz Sinclair, Michelle Gomez, Chance Perdomo, Richard Coyle, and Tati Gabrielle, who play various friends, allies and enemies of Sabrina.

Updated 10/25/18: Added video of Sabrina’s comic book-style opening credits.

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Castle Rock Season 1 Episode 10: Romans Recap and Season 1 Analysis

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

 

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(My quick review of Castle Rock episode 10: Romans and Season 1 is HERE.)

That was an enlightening exciting disappointing season finale.

Later in this post I’ll give my favorite explanation of events, which tries to incorporate everything that happened and didn’t happen, because I can never resist a little pseudo-fan fiction writing of my own. I could tell you at least half a dozen others that I’ve made up since the episode was released. Every viewer has their own versions, just like we all had theories through out the season. It’s part of the fun of a mystery.

But I didn’t watch this show as a choose your own adventure/write your own ending show. I resent writers who try to pass off lazy writing and an unfinished story as an artistic choice. And make no mistake, that’s what creators Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason have done. They thought it would be cool to leave the ending up to the viewer, and didn’t even decide on an ending between themselves.

This show was set up as a mystery, and the payoff at the end of a mystery is discovering answers to the bulk of the questions the series has posed. That way, viewers who are matching wits with the characters and writers have closure and satisfaction. This would have been an acceptable, but still disappointing, season finale for the first season of a 3-5 season mystery series that was going to explore a complex science fiction/supernatural mystery, like Orphan Black or 12 Monkeys.

Since season 1 was advertised as a self-contained story, I call BS. They can leave questions about the nature of their universe open, but this season’s mysteries needed to be solved. They could have left us with an amazingly ambiguous but thought-provoking ending, like the best anthology series often do. But this wasn’t thought provoking. It was just flat. We’re left going in the same circles we’ve been running in all season, not contemplating some deeper philosophical truth.

For the showrunners, this isn’t a show that’s about something. This is a show that wants to stump the viewer with unsolvable, unpredictable mysteries and dazzle them with cool ideas.  I think of it as the Legion syndrome. You could just as easily call it the Lost syndrome. The creators were so busy showing off how talented they are and what huge Stephen King fans they are, that they forgot to tell a coherent, compelling season long story with a consistent through line, an earned conclusion for each character and a satisfying ending. You can’t solve the mystery because the clues purposely don’t add up.

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Castle Rock Season 1 Episode 10 Review

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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(This is a review. My full recap and analysis are HERE.)

After three fantastic but very different Castle Rock episodes in a row, and a season which left plot threads and secondary mysteries dangling right and left, I was looking for the season finale, Romans, to tie most of them up, and hopefully bring some of the subplots together to explain what it all means. Like a well-written show would do. Which this show has often seemed to be. But apparently that was a red herring.

Instead, what we got this week was a jumble of repeated moments from previous episodes, a sudden return to long forgotten concepts from the first half of the season, and a weak cop-out of an ending. What we didn’t get was satisfying answers to our questions or a mind-blowingly ambiguous ending.

The creators of Castle Rock have gone on record now, after the season has ended, as saying that the season was structured like a trial for the two Henry’s. The questions of who Kid is and whether each Henry is good or evil are left for the audience to decide as members of the jury. This is why episodes 1 and 10 begin with our Henry making a speech to the jury during Leanne’s final court appeal about how to determine reasonable doubt, especially in a case that will end with someone sentenced to death.

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The Innocents Season 1 Episode 8: Everything. Anything. Recap and Season 1 Speculation/Analysis

~ Metacrone

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Everything. Anything., the season 1 finale, begins much the same way as the season premiere did, with the camera floating across the fjord to give the audience a panoramic view of the beauty and isolation of Sanctum’s setting. As with the premiere, Bendik’s Halvorson’s plans are spiraling out of control and he’s trying desperately to stop the chaos. Sanctum is his kingdom, and he rules it with an iron fist covered by a velvet glove. But even on an isolated island, the past has a way of coming back to haunt you.

Live by the sword, die by the sword, as they say.

The shots of the fjord gradually transition to a montage which recaps the season, reminding the viewer where we are now and how we got here. Sohn’s The Wheel plays over the montage. It has a pretty melody and vocals interrupted by staccato silences that sound to me a lot like a record skipping. The contrasts in the song fit the contrasts in the show’s physical and emotional environment well. Every character’s life has been interrupted and rendered out of sync by the events of the season.

On a side note, John is still naked in the morning. I find it hilarious that everyone else at Sanctum is wrapped in multiple sweaters and layers from head to toe, 24/7, but they got John naked as soon as he stepped onto the island. The harem’s been deprived of a broad-shouldered specimen like him for ages and they’re going to take advantage of it. While they launder his clothes, of course. Slowly.

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The Innocents Season 1 Episode 7: Will You Take Me, Too? Recap

~ Metacrone

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In this episode, we finally discover the meaning of Lewis’ oft repeated question, the episode title, “Will You Take Me, Too?” When June and Elena are reunited, Elena’s actions on the night of the Penines 5 are revealed, as is her connection to Lewis. It’s hard to know whether to count Elena as a perpetrator or another victim.  She didn’t have premeditated intent, but should she have had better control?

We also inch, ever so slowly, closer to understanding Ben’s intentions. We’ll have to wait until the finale to find out exactly what his plans for June are, but he definitely has plans to use June to save Runa. I think he wants June to shift into Runa indefinitely, the way she shifted into Elena and was becoming indistinguishable from her. With June wearing Runa’s body, he’d have the best of both worlds. Presumably the June version of Runa wouldn’t have dementia, and they could have shapeshifter children together.

I knew someone else gave Kam the idea of shifting into another person and staying them forever.

As the penultimate episode of the season, this episode continues to move the chess pieces into place for the finale. John and Harry make it to Sanctum, but John is hurt. While Harry recommits to June, she’s more scared than ever after shifting into Elena and discovering how bad things could get. She can’t trust that the two of them are enough to keep her from hurting someone anymore.

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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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