tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1634331680193157722024-03-28T01:49:03.506-07:00They're All FictionalRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.comBlogger880125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-88015046025976007882024-03-24T00:03:00.000-07:002024-03-27T01:55:42.225-07:00Links and Updates<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I know it’s been quiet on this blog for a while, but I really am trying to pull together my Twelve Best Scenes for 2023! Until then, let’s discuss the fact there’s been an <em>insane</em> amount of trailers for blockbuster material released in the last couple of weeks, including from the Big Three Franchises (Game of Thrones, Star Wars, MCU).</span></p><!--wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"}-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Let’s take a look...</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Acolyte</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not sure what to make of this one. On the plus side: Carrie Anne Moss, the premise of the Jedi at the height of their power being targeted by a shadowy threat, the fact this is the earliest-set story in the chronology, so hopefully we can avoid any Skywalker cameos (though there’s still a chance we’ll get: “somehow, Palpatine is already here”).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BtytYWhg2mc" width="320" youtube-src-id="BtytYWhg2mc"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the cons: it looks very murky and washed out, the dialogue is bland, we’ll almost certainly be subjected to the word “younglings” again, and I still haven’t forgiven Disney for <strong>The Rise of Skywalker</strong> debacle. Maybe they should just let Star Wars rest for a while. Give us a chance to miss it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>House of the Dragon</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, I have to admit that releasing two trailers that each spotlight the two opposing factions of the civil war this show is about (the Greens and the Blacks) is a clever marketing move, even if there’s a chance it’ll bite the showrunners in the ass. Do you really want to stir up fandom wars? Because those things are <em>exhausting</em>.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/csSaSrJJPRs" width="320" youtube-src-id="csSaSrJJPRs"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gnxB9xZByyQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="gnxB9xZByyQ"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For what it’s worth, I think the first season did a reasonably good job depicting the humanity of all its characters, while at the same time expecting the audience to root for the Blacks. But whether we like it or not, Westeros is a deeply patriarchal society. For all the characters talk about “the good of the realm,” (and Rhaenyra clearly being the better option over Aegon the rapist) the people of the realm would clearly prefer a man on the throne. The very first scene of the entire show established this: Rhaenys is passed over for Viserys despite being a stronger claimant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That modern audiences are inevitably going to cheer on Rhaenyra as the gendered underdog is at odds with the context of the show, and many of her flaws (siring obvious bastards, moving away from the centre of power, completely mishandlings Cristan Cole) are already being swept under the rug. And from what I know of George R.R. Martin’s fictional-history as laid out in <strong>Fire and Blood</strong>, Rhaenyra is just as bad as everyone else there.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In other words, the show has a great set-up here, but I’m wary that this nuance and complexity will be lost. Fandom likes its conflicts to be simplistic, so let’s hope the writers won’t be guided by online drama, as so many (increasingly terrible) shows are these days. And since fandom is bizarrely under the impression that this is a “root for your favourite character and win!” type of show after watching the fallout of <strong>Game of Thrones</strong>, it’s not going to be pretty.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Heck, fandom couldn’t even handle Daemon choking Rhaenyra despite all those gushing claims that they loved “toxic, messed-up relationships!” Uh-huh. Sure, Jan. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Deadpool & Wolverine</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, I admit it, I like the <strong>Deadpool </strong>movies. They didn’t change my life or anything, but Ryan Reynolds was clearly made for the role and is having a great time with it.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uJMCNJP2ipI" width="320" youtube-src-id="uJMCNJP2ipI"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having made the jump to Disney and the MCU multiverse, there are plenty of intriguing Easter eggs in this trailer: apparently the facility that Wade is taken to featured heavily in <strong>Loki</strong>, there’s a rather astonishing appearance from Aaron Stanford as Pyro (not seen since <strong>X-Men: The Last Stand</strong>) and of course, the man himself – Hugh Jackman as Wolverine – fulfilling <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz7znc2_8-s&ab_channel=TopMovieClips">two films worth of running gags</a> detailing Wade’s obsession with him.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Personally, I’m happy that they’re sticking with the continuity that depicted Deadpool saving Vanessa’s life in the end credits, and that Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio are still together. But sadly, there’s no sign of Zazie Beetz as Domino or Julian Denniston as Dusty. (Or T.J. Miller, but that’s not surprising).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s obvious that Marvel wants this to be their big comeback, so we’ll see how it fares...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, this looks incredible. Where to start? Furiosa as a child. Her “magnificent” mother. That soundtrack. Chris Hemsworth’s prosthetic nose. The Green Place. Desert shots. Motorcycles. Explosions. Tom Burke?? Anya Taylor Joy shaving her head and donning that iconic face paint.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FVswuip0-co" width="320" youtube-src-id="FVswuip0-co"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly ten years since we first met this character in <strong>Fury Road</strong>, and a part of me will always be leery about prequels, but if there was ever a film that looked like it was going to justify going back to the well, then surely this is it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Doctor Who</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whoohoo! This is probably what I’m most looking forward to on this list, and wow – you can really see the Disney money in this trailer. In a way it’s a shame, because the subpar practical effects have always been the most charming thing about <strong>Doctor Who</strong>, right from its inception, but I suppose we’ll just have to trust that Russel Davies won’t get carried away with it all. *cough* George Lucas/Peter Jackson *cough*</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QoyV65HoRFA" width="320" youtube-src-id="QoyV65HoRFA"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I spotted Kate and Mel, as well as what looks like a dancing episode, the butterfly effect in action, the Beetles/Austen-themed adventures, and that new fairytale/supernatural vibe. And Ncuti Gatwa just oozes charisma, doesn’t he. I hope he stays longer than the usual “three seasons and a few Christmas Specials.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Beetlejuice Beetlejuice</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I saw the original Beetlejuice once, decades ago, and remember very little about it. The cartoon on the other hand? That was a staple part of my childhood. As with so many of these legacyquels, it’s difficult to discern from a teaser whether this has a decent story to tell or is just here to squeeze every last cent it can from Gen X, who have proven over and over again that they’re obsessed with reliving their childhoods. Though I will concede that casting Jenna Ortega as Winona Ryder’s daughter was a no-brainer.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e6yDanmWI1E" width="320" youtube-src-id="e6yDanmWI1E"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire</b></span></p>
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<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X7Di42uUaF0" width="320" youtube-src-id="X7Di42uUaF0"></iframe></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yeah, they made another one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Penguin</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DQghiGQi6Lo" width="320" youtube-src-id="DQghiGQi6Lo"></iframe></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can't say I understand this one either.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Bridgerton</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, so this is a sneak-peak and not a trailer, and I’m not sure why I’m still watching. Romance is not my genre! And I can’t even say it’s a period drama, because there’s absolutely nothing in the costumes, sets or general world-building that suggests it’s part of <em>our</em> history and not some off-kilter parallel dimension.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i2K7txJfKcs" width="320" youtube-src-id="i2K7txJfKcs"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Going back a few months, I was mind-boggled to see this drop:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5a8omZ0vMw4" width="320" youtube-src-id="5a8omZ0vMw4"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Um, what? I had been under the impression that Disney was going to release a <strong>Moana </strong>television show, not a movie sequel. Which turns out to have been the case. Without even confirming if the likes of Dwayne Johnson or Auliʻi Cravalho would be involved, it turns out Disney have reconfigured the project into a feature-length film that’ll be released later this year.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m gobsmacked. This <em>can’t </em>be a good idea, and I’m not feeling optimistic about the film’s quality – which is a damn shame since the original movie was the best thing they’ve put out in decades. And aren’t they giving it the live-action treatment as well? Urgh. Just <em>urgh</em> all round.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They’ve also released the trailer for <strong>Iwájú</strong>, another project I was looking forward to... except the animation looks like it was rendered thirty years ago in a direct-to-video release. Set in a “futuristic Nigeria” (according to the trailer) it’s clearly inspired by <strong>Black Panther</strong> and its depiction of Wakanda, with the requisite animal sidekick, trite dialogue and not much indication of what the story is.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mB5efZKWIrU" width="320" youtube-src-id="mB5efZKWIrU"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hopefully it turns out better than it looks.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Pixar’s <b>Elio</b> looks a bit better. At least it’s original.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2w_K3CB8PuE" width="320" youtube-src-id="2w_K3CB8PuE"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So I walked into the living room to see my sister with her kids and the television turned on. “What’s this?” I asked, referring to the programme. And apparently there’s a show based on Enid Blyton’s <strong>Malory Towers</strong> that has been running for <em>three seasons</em> already. If this is not an indication of the sheer amount of content that’s out there right now, I don’t know what is, because I’m truly stunned that I had no idea whatsoever of its existence.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Millie Bobby Brown’s <strong>Damsel </strong>movie has been released on Netflix, and it looks like it would go well as a double-feature with Joey King’s <strong>The Princess</strong>. That is, neither one looks <em>great</em>, but they certainly share the same general premise: a fairy tale princess kicks ass and probably declaims some meaningless spiel on girl-power. Come on, there’s no way I’m not watching that, even if they’re both cheesy as hell.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The casting for Marvel’s <strong>The Fantastic Four</strong> has been announced: Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPGKkXXskBrRLgRoGb5ZtzRL_iNMa7dxbuF40E7ob8P1_xsaOxMyptdfLO7Iti-1rd15Dtc-MGf8zcFSNN0gsPSWUuWK_v83-pCSEzq3ug3fFgYRuXDULNrcJELtGf_QxB8zymMc9MNfPcU35gB_9Kcb5c9gipwXeckobbonL7TUTGaibdb6oY1Pt6rWe/s1000/!!!!!!!!.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPGKkXXskBrRLgRoGb5ZtzRL_iNMa7dxbuF40E7ob8P1_xsaOxMyptdfLO7Iti-1rd15Dtc-MGf8zcFSNN0gsPSWUuWK_v83-pCSEzq3ug3fFgYRuXDULNrcJELtGf_QxB8zymMc9MNfPcU35gB_9Kcb5c9gipwXeckobbonL7TUTGaibdb6oY1Pt6rWe/w400-h225/!!!!!!!!.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To be brutally honest, I’m still burned out on superheroes and this particular team has never interested me much (I initially had Pedro down as “Richard Reeds”), but to sum up: Pedro Pascal is running the risk of oversaturation, I struggle to understand the hype for Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn can be said to have officially <em>made it</em>, and it’s a damn shame that Ebon Moss-Bachrach is probably going to be stuck in this franchise <em>and</em> behind twenty layers of prosthetics and/or CGI for years to come.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Spiderwick Chronicles</strong> (of all things) has gotten a remake. Not sure why, as the first film was perfectly serviceable, and since Disney+ sold it off to another distributors there is <em>zero </em>chance it’ll get a second season, but... I’m vaguely intrigued, I guess?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gQWPARkTyUo" width="320" youtube-src-id="gQWPARkTyUo"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Speaking of second seasons, it turns out that despite my predictions, Netflix’s live-action remake of <strong>Avatar: The Last Airbender</strong> is getting a full run. That is, three seasons to cover the animated show’s three “books.” Seriously, Netflix? You cancel practically everything under the sun, but keep the subpar and completely unnecessary live-action remake? I’m happy for the cast and crew, who obviously deserve to keep their jobs and see this story through to its end, but nothing I’ve seen or heard about this remake inspires me to watch it... except that they’re apparently playing up the Aang/Zuko ship a little.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(But hey, maybe me predicting that shows will be cancelled is the surefire way to guarantee their continuations. In which case, <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong> and <strong>Willow</strong> and <strong>The Nevers</strong> and <strong>The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance</strong> are DEFINITELY over and will NEVER be picked up again).</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To sum up my immediate viewing schedule, I’m perfectly happy with <strong>Elementary </strong>and <strong>The Adventures of Robin Hood</strong> (1955) for the time being, but I’ve got my eye on <strong>Shōgun</strong> and <strong>The Tudors</strong>, not to mention rewatches of <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> and <strong>Avatar: The Last Airbender</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A deep-dive into the Folk Horror genre for a library display also led me to <strong>The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow</strong>. Released in 2022, it’s designed to look like an old-school pixellated point-and-click adventure game. Set in the Victorian Era. With a female protagonist called upon to help evacuate a barrow only to discover that the archaeologist who invited her has gone missing. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsvUZJADy6nvq6hPzPlvQTJOZNfdLSzmzCss72Z_2MgUmvVSkN2Uax7ZCWnaQmknGkBR27PxiBAzzcm_DEs-MVCbs_IYujZHZPOeE1jKskOGcBjhlAZS3nLUnmEw-gFcHVR0gIVefXQdvqWIsfNr03gnZkqaNHDYLneN2I0canPWtoQopYZc7Zoxiz_PO/s1600/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsvUZJADy6nvq6hPzPlvQTJOZNfdLSzmzCss72Z_2MgUmvVSkN2Uax7ZCWnaQmknGkBR27PxiBAzzcm_DEs-MVCbs_IYujZHZPOeE1jKskOGcBjhlAZS3nLUnmEw-gFcHVR0gIVefXQdvqWIsfNr03gnZkqaNHDYLneN2I0canPWtoQopYZc7Zoxiz_PO/w400-h200/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Um, HELL YEAH. There goes my Easter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m also having a great time watching historical fiction lately (well, as historical as Hollywood is capable of making it) and may well keep the theme going with <strong>The Last Duel</strong>, <strong>Gladiator</strong>, <strong>The King</strong> and <strong>Napolean</strong> to go with <strong>Margrete: Queen of the North</strong>, <strong>Kingdom of Heaven</strong>, <strong>Arn: The Knight Templar</strong> and <strong>Red Cliff</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, <strong>Dune II</strong>, <strong>X-Men</strong> <strong>‘97</strong> and <strong>The 3 Body Problem</strong> have just been released... I’ll get to them eventually, as soon as I can ascertain they’re <em>worth</em> watching.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-72837949636630908952024-03-01T17:07:00.000-08:002024-03-03T01:42:53.316-08:00Woman of the Month: Queen Margrete<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaRELgPYlvVFLWe0eOGlTfOylRQ0jGslfFjOqr4UDxp1HifTjI0evoXG_NyO8GkYMlQAWRp_FhDRq0MqTMODCcXh7QI_sExgDzmh8xIVR6jklaGzSbzJdO4_K21CJDikaUHkNbhANctHQBFjJME-y8RSlvNmSZwJSpehnTWHYYWAOD9fHa9z_n3GkIMSR/s736/@@.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="736" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaRELgPYlvVFLWe0eOGlTfOylRQ0jGslfFjOqr4UDxp1HifTjI0evoXG_NyO8GkYMlQAWRp_FhDRq0MqTMODCcXh7QI_sExgDzmh8xIVR6jklaGzSbzJdO4_K21CJDikaUHkNbhANctHQBFjJME-y8RSlvNmSZwJSpehnTWHYYWAOD9fHa9z_n3GkIMSR/w400-h266/@@.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Queen Margrete from <b>Margrete: Queen of the North</b></span></p><!-- wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"} -->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Three months into 2024 and I’m already struggling to fill these posts. But luckily, I watched this film just last night and Queen Margrete more than met the qualifications for a worthy Woman of the Month.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are plenty of stories out there concerning women who have to chose between their careers/personal ambition and their families/pursuit of love, but seldom has that conflict been placed in the context of a 14th century queen who rules subtly but firmly behind her adopted son, King Erik, and has worked her entire life to form a lasting peace between Denmark, Sweden and Norway.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now at age fifty, her life’s ambition is about to come to fruition, with leaders of all three countries pledging support for the Kalmar Union. I honestly can’t think of another film that revolves around a woman of her age and power, in a (relatively speaking) accurate historical setting, grappling with a moral crisis like the one presented here. Because just as the treaty is to be consolidated, a young man returns to court, claiming to be Margrete’s long-dead son Oluf.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If true, this would make him heir to the Danish throne, and a threat to Margrete’s life’s work.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Should she act as a mother or as a queen? Emotional complexity is derived from the fact that after fifteen years, she barely recognizes the man claiming to be her son, and has since replaced him in her heart with her great-nephew Erik, who is himself starting to act on the resentment he’s long harboured against her for uprooting him from his childhood to become her heir, not to mention the power she still holds over the court.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Trine Dyrholm delivers a fantastic performance as Margrete: she’s authoritative but not overbearing; unsentimental but not cruel. Poised, self-contained, shrewd and charismatic, she walks and talks like a queen, yet interestingly, never comes across as ruthless despite what she’s called upon to do. She is a mother, but she is also a leader, and the struggle to balance the two states never ends.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thankfully, she’s spared any anachronistic “girl power” moments in which she vents her frustration at the oppressive nature of the patriarchy – instead, the film <em>shows</em> us how she has to tread carefully so as to not emasculate her adopted son, to continually stroke the egos of the men that surround her, and to never come across as too weak or emotional during the public trial of her supposed son. The difficulties of being a woman in a man’s world is apparent in every scene she moves through, and it’s all demonstrated without being commented upon.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When she makes her final choice, it’s to protect her <em>true</em> child – not Oluf, not Erik, but the Kalmar Union. But there’s nothing triumphant or “yaas queen!” about it. The last words her son speaks to her are: “you weren’t strong enough,” to which she replies: “no, I was <em>too</em> strong.” Despite the conflict and regret in her heart, she’s uncompromising, and the film makes sure we’re aware of the aftermath: that the Kalmar Union lasted over one hundred years, and that the bond between the three countries that lasts to this day can be largely attributed to Queen Margrete.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But like a lot of rulers, she (or at least this fictionalized account of her) had to pay a bitter price for it.</span></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-35585889572925141272024-02-29T20:44:00.000-08:002024-03-27T02:14:26.496-07:00Reading/Watching Log #99<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I had three weeks off and tried to stuff them with as many books, shows and activities as possible, though I’m not entirely sure I succeeded. That is, I didn’t get as much reading done as I wanted to. Look, I even brought out all the books I own written by my favourite authors and took a not-very-good picture of them:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0o2TImcKa8O9s5d1gSUZn3_AK3JrU5cXUQawMa2mrykH3iC4u2SqxUNUgYZh95TBmkNMm7FOiICGeopcBzG-ClTVlFWUOjzgOTTxOy8Ory5rlBeJsiq9H6t4QymRq845-HdIc7w4Vs930du2HdWV5hkBvWl16pdqyMgjxczEI0KUCwz-ZhemSRU_nYvw/s4128/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3096" data-original-width="4128" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0o2TImcKa8O9s5d1gSUZn3_AK3JrU5cXUQawMa2mrykH3iC4u2SqxUNUgYZh95TBmkNMm7FOiICGeopcBzG-ClTVlFWUOjzgOTTxOy8Ory5rlBeJsiq9H6t4QymRq845-HdIc7w4Vs930du2HdWV5hkBvWl16pdqyMgjxczEI0KUCwz-ZhemSRU_nYvw/w400-h300/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yeah, it was wishful thinking that I was going to get through all THIS in three weeks, especially on top of all the activities I had planned (I may have to do a separate post on what passes for a wild time in my life – it involved train rides, wandering around the city, various forms of street food, catching up with friends and buying expensive boots, then feeling guilty about it).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The break also gave me the chance to catch up on some shows that I’ve been meaning to watch for a while now – even though <em>all</em> of them have since been cancelled, or are approaching cancellation. <strong>Nancy Drew</strong> has already aired its fourth and final season (I’ve just finished the third), <strong>The Great</strong> ended after its third season (there was room for more, but thankfully it went out on a fairly conclusive note), <strong>Perry Mason</strong> was unfairly cancelled after only two seasons, and <strong>Evil </strong>is finishing after its not-yet-aired fourth and final season. All goods things come to an end, I suppose, and aside from <strong>Perry Mason</strong>, they got a better run than most these days.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This month I also read a book called <strong>The Lost Kingdom of Lantia</strong> by Maggie Hamilton, which I haven’t included here since I want to do a blogpost for it on its own. It was one of my absolute favourites as a preteen, so I’m taking the opportunity to do a deep-dive.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Island of Whispers </strong>by Frances Hardinge</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrId4iyZbpUDjI4-T6ilFbBRmzvJJ8IFimcGr9uUax3hFrnIqqrIKHrIMLWScW2dihtzbjmMVGI0NOKq8ieZJr4CJQ9qfTTAxLIjHhILZeo04KCdGNgL9Lznsekd_SQ5aQvIv6QlbC1X5tpDaYF5INieOr-Zx4J9o-AAIP2OPPspbenUPK_yJuB-auDW9-/s102/!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="80" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrId4iyZbpUDjI4-T6ilFbBRmzvJJ8IFimcGr9uUax3hFrnIqqrIKHrIMLWScW2dihtzbjmMVGI0NOKq8ieZJr4CJQ9qfTTAxLIjHhILZeo04KCdGNgL9Lznsekd_SQ5aQvIv6QlbC1X5tpDaYF5INieOr-Zx4J9o-AAIP2OPPspbenUPK_yJuB-auDW9-/s1600/!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I love Frances Hardinge, though this is a slightly different change of pace for her – despite being categorized as YA in our library, it’s a much shorter novella with illustrations by Emily Gravett. But as usual, her incredible evocative prose carries the day, as well as concepts such as having to take the shoes of the dead to an island where spirits can ascend a broken spiral staircase to the afterlife.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here, Hardinge envisions an island where the dead can linger, presumably due to the thick fog that confuses their otherworldly sense of direction. Milo’s father is known as the Ferryman, responsible for gathering the shoes of the recently departed and carrying them across the sea to a broken tower on an island, only accessible through a strange archway hovering over the ocean.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That is, until the day a highborn fourteen-year-old girl dies, and her father refuses to accept the suddenness of her death. He comes to forcibly take his daughter’s shoes back from the Ferryman, and put her fate in the hands of two magicians in his employ. But the Ferryman is determined to take her away, only for a confrontation to leave him dead at the hands of the lord’s minions.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now it’s up to Milo to ferry the dead to their island – but he’s always been warned against doing so by his father. Milo is easily distracted and inclined to stare at them, something that can be fatal if it goes on too long. But there are no other options available, so he takes the boat and begins the journey, the lord and his magicians in pursuit.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a strange haunting little book, with a lot of half-formed ideas and featherlight characterization. I’ve no doubt that’s by design – this almost feels like a coffee table book in some respects; something you pick up and thumb through when you’ve got a few minutes to spare. I wish there was more of it, though that’s something that I think about <em>every</em> Hardinge story, and I’m assuming she just wanted a change of pace after the intricacy and complex plotting of her other books.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Monstress: Volume 8 </strong>by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtp39lci_h02k80C0sIigZLGZAjXyMuE9Q2q36TLrrkXrtCR80bQzJgUnayvAlv0neV__Nn8Z3NudH-qkU8QXv2p6vOmeKiFZenxrNt441sKlX9tJM-qLmOju23rltwb6_mttlk7VKAzRmNhd-aghh3eHovCbk88QOkRCdfgJHXdaaFFf4FEXgh4KjhcUX/s120/!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtp39lci_h02k80C0sIigZLGZAjXyMuE9Q2q36TLrrkXrtCR80bQzJgUnayvAlv0neV__Nn8Z3NudH-qkU8QXv2p6vOmeKiFZenxrNt441sKlX9tJM-qLmOju23rltwb6_mttlk7VKAzRmNhd-aghh3eHovCbk88QOkRCdfgJHXdaaFFf4FEXgh4KjhcUX/s1600/!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ll admit it, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on in these books at this point, though my understanding of their hugely convoluted plot was always a bit tenuous. How is it possible to enjoy a graphic novel this much while simultaneously being unable to make heads or tails of it? Unclear.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But I’m still very much enjoying <strong>Monstress</strong>, even though there’s still no end in sight. Maika Halfwolf has been separated from her inner child (who is now just a free-roaming spirit of some kind, trying to make contact with her friends, a talking cat and a little girl with fox ears) and is trapped in a prison-like dimension as a floating dismembered head. Sure, why not?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To elaborate, our collection of main characters are trapped on a prison planet, kind of like the Phantom Zone, where the Monstra species have been held for centuries (a Monstra is the funky looking guy on the cover with the one eye and the tentacles). Due to the prolonged trauma she’s sustained, Maika has been divided from the spirit of the little girl she used to be, who is currently searching for Ren (the aforementioned talking cat) and Kippa (little fox girl) in an attempt to bring them all back together and escape. I think. Like I said, I’m really not sure what’s going on here.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ren has found some members of his own species that want to piggy-back on his prison break (and the character designs for these guys are awesome – a cat with a mohawk, pierced ears, intricate armour and a machine gun is a sight to behold) while Kippa is desperately trying to reach Maika, still on the path to self-destruction (more so, considering she’s just a floating head at this point).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, Takeda’s artwork is incredible: the colours, the details, the expressions, the vibrancy. I probably would have quit long ago if it wasn’t for her astounding talent filling every page and panel of these books, and she can make anything – no matter how absurd it sounds, from the floating head to the talking cats – look real and grounded. You can even see the exhaustion in the characters’ faces: these women have been hanging on by a thread for a while now, and are in deep need of a long rest.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which means we are hopefully heading towards a definitive conclusion to this series, mostly because I’m looking forward to starting a reread and perhaps gaining some sort of clarity about what it’s all been about from the start. Marjorie Liu has already begun two new projects, <strong>The Night Eaters</strong> with Takeda and <strong>Wingbearer</strong> with Teny Issakhanian – surely that’s a sign that she’s getting ready to wrap this up, right? However long it takes, I’m in too deep to back out now.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Cat’s Cradle: The Mole King’s Lair </strong>by Jo Rioux</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16AjdapYXM4wi_oDfou_k4yqZzFjeC91PZK1duFD6pV60rAuIKIEZS5WjR7O3IglztfaMkEkGxoLx3hnir1u4kUSNenBkGfd4hyphenhyphenxJkIic2-KEGNUVRCBb71zKCQeBk4TUFVar7pWUbliqM9mYJP8PN5ZXuHlDhFNgR9t6cxQEfYJuwLT9rpM93TBJCs7d/s120/!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="80" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16AjdapYXM4wi_oDfou_k4yqZzFjeC91PZK1duFD6pV60rAuIKIEZS5WjR7O3IglztfaMkEkGxoLx3hnir1u4kUSNenBkGfd4hyphenhyphenxJkIic2-KEGNUVRCBb71zKCQeBk4TUFVar7pWUbliqM9mYJP8PN5ZXuHlDhFNgR9t6cxQEfYJuwLT9rpM93TBJCs7d/s1600/!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I loved the first instalment of <strong>Cat’s Cradle</strong>, and was looking even more forward to its sequel after reading (then immediately buying) Rioux’s <strong>The Daughter of Ys</strong>, but as much as I love the characters and artwork of <strong>The Mole King’s Lair</strong>, there’s big “when do they get to the fireworks factory?” energy with this one.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As per the final pages of the previous book, Suri the self-appointed monster tamer is off to earn her keep by traveling to the Monster’s Cradle beyond the mountain range known as the Dragon’s Belt, the place where all monsters come from. She never reaches it in this book.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instead, she’s waylaid by a giant mole-creature on the way, taking refuge in what turns out to be a cave network filled with similar creatures. With her is Caglio, a sneaky little imp, and Bryon, the giant dog, who all get separated once they’re inside the caves. Also introduced in this book is Koyla, who (unbeknownst to Suri) is one of the catsith, a feline-like creature that can appear as human. Hiding his true identity, he forms a quasi-friendship with Suri, but dances a little around Caglio, who suspects who he really is and leverages it for his own benefit.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the book’s subplot, a trio of these catsith (the ones from the first book, who are desperately hunting for the ball of golden twine in Suri’s possession) have thrown in their lot with a prince and his retinue, hiding their true identities – though not very well – and using their influence to convince villagers that an expedition into the mountain in search of its treasure will be beneficial to all...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, I adore Rioux’s artwork. Highly reminiscent of Cartoon Saloon’s distinctive style, her characters are bursting with life and energy and expression. Her colour palette isn’t quite as vivid this time around, as a lot of the action takes place in the puce and gloom of the underground caves – though I did like the blue/green crystals that grow organically like mushrooms down there. As for the story... let’s just say that the next book in the series is called <strong>Suri’s Dragon</strong>, and I really hope there’s an actual dragon in it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Baba Yaga’s Assistant </strong>by Marika McCoola and Emily Carroll</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ28xsuR92i8Wtbt3JOcrVDfPj2AzjdtU_IfH7XHUoiruzfugxXtKC8Jf3P9E8QNWOfBKFMJ9m6bDR98srAvHijTDkNKQfFC1ErT3tAArG9D1p3DoYvZhVS2Sk__7wgl2iPpbafqIIe8Aa5t89Co5gv-C9BRPu8Z0M9tXnFJ3nEvjh6wfEzcJDpiuQxITC/s112/!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="80" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ28xsuR92i8Wtbt3JOcrVDfPj2AzjdtU_IfH7XHUoiruzfugxXtKC8Jf3P9E8QNWOfBKFMJ9m6bDR98srAvHijTDkNKQfFC1ErT3tAArG9D1p3DoYvZhVS2Sk__7wgl2iPpbafqIIe8Aa5t89Co5gv-C9BRPu8Z0M9tXnFJ3nEvjh6wfEzcJDpiuQxITC/s1600/!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve read this one before, but naturally had to return to it thanks to my Slavic Fantasy reading project and general love of Emily Carroll. Masha has been raised on stories of Baba Yaga by her grandmother, and so is stunned to notice an advertisement in the local paper that’s seemingly from the old witch herself, searching for an assistant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her widowed father is remarrying, and Masha is somewhat reticent about it, though it’s her future little stepsister Danielle who puts up the real fuss. Fed up with the whole thing, Masha heads to the woods to answer the wanted ad, and ends up running into the famed house with chicken legs. Armed with meta-knowledge of how fairy tales work, specifically the ones involving Baba Yaga, she begins her apprenticeship in her strange new home, undergoing three tests to prove her worth.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Emily Carroll’s illustrations are the real drawcard here, and she’s perfectly matched to this type of story. A little tamer than her work in <strong>Through the Woods</strong> and <strong>A Guest in the House</strong>, she still captures the dark edges of the fairy tale and the very real danger that Masha is in. There are even some fun visuals, like the artwork changing to a more simplistic style when it’s depicting the original Baba Yaga stories in Masha’s storybook, or a bottle of spilled ink that splashes all over the panels on the opposite page, obscuring everything but Baba Yaga’s angry face as a speech bubble from the blackness tells her “nothing is too difficult or too dirty to clean.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And Baba Yaga herself is exactly as she should be: mercurial, tricky, demanding, terrifying and wise. Definitely enjoyed this one.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Little Prince </strong>by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Chris Riddell</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidO53a2Zs2PYeoHHe2oS5o7EkRHqKWZRkQvVCjx97LilQvqXeMzaa61ObLvr2xVWg0ijdvRXfysUAzVqs0eEmKwTKfI15KHAc-wxA8PFE7A84qh5RWO_pAwmgam1FJ4sV-tvlKr3CaZmLhvfjxryr1m58x8tiZ4NnPNFwDvoT2SryhGSTcBQWceRAsmc0b/s102/!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="80" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidO53a2Zs2PYeoHHe2oS5o7EkRHqKWZRkQvVCjx97LilQvqXeMzaa61ObLvr2xVWg0ijdvRXfysUAzVqs0eEmKwTKfI15KHAc-wxA8PFE7A84qh5RWO_pAwmgam1FJ4sV-tvlKr3CaZmLhvfjxryr1m58x8tiZ4NnPNFwDvoT2SryhGSTcBQWceRAsmc0b/s1600/!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having watched the 2015 movie of <strong>The Little Prince</strong> (see below) I obviously had to come back to the original text to see how the two compared. I’ve read the story before, and recall being a little bemused by it all, but <em>this</em> edition was illustrated by Chris Riddell, who was apparently invited to do so after being involved with Martin Oelbermann’s stage production of the story.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">An unnamed aviator (who purports to be the book’s author) crash lands in the Sahara Desert, and is astonished to discover he’s not alone. A young boy who introduces himself as the Little Prince approaches him and asks for a picture of a lamb, for he’d like one to eat the Baobab trees that grow in such profusion upon his asteroid. Unable to draw one to the boy’s liking, the aviator eventually draws a crate and tells his companion that the lamb is <em>inside</em> it – something the Prince is immensely satisfied with.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s the thesis of this strange, whimsical story – that the most important things remain unseen. As a child, you’ll probably take the Rose, the Fox and the Snake in your stride, but as an adult, they contain echoes of lost love, departed friends, and the spectre of death always on the horizon. In other words, you’ll look back and realize that this book <em>really</em> messed with you when you were a kid, but you didn’t notice until you were much older.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Riddell doesn’t stint on the illustrations: there’s one per page, often full-length, and occasionally depicting the exact same scene or character from a slightly different angle. But his quirky style works well with the material, from the little prince’s angelic face, to the grotesquerie of the grown-ups he meets, to the details added to the various asteroids – I particularly liked the tiny floating boat pulled by two large birds on the prince’s journeys through space, as well as the cross-section of his home within the hollowed-out asteroid.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Riddell mentions in his foreword how intimidating it was to replace Saint-Exupéry’s own iconic illustrations, though I suppose he had precedence, having illustrated two new editions of <strong>Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland</strong> and <strong>Through the Looking Glass</strong> just prior to <strong>The Little Prince</strong>. In any case, I don’t think an illustrative “face-lift” does any damage to the story (though you <em>do</em> want to read the original edition at some point). If anything, it gives you a chance to experience the familiar tale from a different angle and with fresh eyes.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And if that sounds like an endorsement of live-action remakes – it isn’t. Books are different, end of story.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Kristy’s Mystery Admirer </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvuSS8RPl65Zox6CC1r3YGc1opNuUH8cg4YTbwBS2dJjKLHUqxSKVlqDK3ieLQqigx8FA3hlvGkYsAUrIw8hVqJa-dWLMdNXDdgbToCc8Q-KBDLWVm_Bw725-EVkglQ6ze2KWw4ttaBZKTa8X_3kqKHeOGpuM6AjgIGKdzLMxe_5-OoFmPrfOXCLBYnYW/s106/!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="106" data-original-width="80" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvuSS8RPl65Zox6CC1r3YGc1opNuUH8cg4YTbwBS2dJjKLHUqxSKVlqDK3ieLQqigx8FA3hlvGkYsAUrIw8hVqJa-dWLMdNXDdgbToCc8Q-KBDLWVm_Bw725-EVkglQ6ze2KWw4ttaBZKTa8X_3kqKHeOGpuM6AjgIGKdzLMxe_5-OoFmPrfOXCLBYnYW/s1600/!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I had this book as a child, only for it to meet an unfortunate end, so it was nice to catch up with it all these years later – even if it’s a repeat of <strong>Mary Anne’s Bad Luck Mystery</strong>, right down to the fact that it’s Cokie and her mean girl squad who are writing creepy letters to girls in the Babysitters Club.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, Kristy is chilling at home when she gets a call from across-the-road neighbour and back-up babysitter Shannon, who tells her that a letter has been dropped in her letterbox that’s addressed to Kristy. She comes around to hand it over, and the girls are excited to realize it’s a love letter from persons unknown. Everyone is convinced it’s from Bart, though Kristy isn’t sure.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Over the next few weeks, as Kristy prepares the Krushers for an important match against the Bashers, she receives more notes – which then take a turn for the sinister. The whole thing is resolved when she confronts Bart and he admits to sending the nice ones (the reason the first letter was in Shannon’s letterbox was because Bart sent his little brother to post it, and he got the houses mixed up) while Cokie is revealed as responsible for the creepy ones after she caught a glimpse of them in the school cafeteria while Kristy was showing her friends.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She and her posse turn up at one of the Krusher/Basher games, and Kristy has a very stilted conversation with her that’s solely designed as a lead-up to Cokie quoting one of the scary notes. Kristy is completely out of character when she brags about having a boyfriend and says: “We plan to spend our lives together,” at which point Cokie replies: “aw, that’s nice. Eternal togetherness?” This gives the game away since Kristy recognizes the phrase from one of the notes, but c’mon. People just <em>don’t </em>talk like this.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here are some other weird issues. First of all, why they called it <strong>Kristy’s Mystery Admirer</strong> instead of <strong>Kristy’s SECRET Admirer</strong> is a mystery for the ages – every time I tried to look it up online the search engine got deeply confused, as I was typing in the wrong title.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Secondly, in her introduction to Shannon, Kristy informs us: “Shannon told me once that she wants a nose job – to straighten it out – but her parents say no. They aren’t strict. They just think she should wait until she’s an adult before she makes a decision like that.” Um, why does this comment need the disclaimer: “they aren’t strict”? I’d say that parents forbidding their underage daughter from undergoing permanent facial plastic surgery is an entirely reasonable stance to take. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thirdly, when Kristy points out to Shannon that a girlmight have written the notes since the all the <em>i</em>s are dotted with hearts, she replies: “A <em>girl </em>who wants to go steady with you? Kristy, grow up.” I guess lesbians didn’t exist in Stoneybrook back in the nineties.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Later, the Krushers and the Bashers decide to hold a “World Series” match but since they’re comprised of two teams that only play each other, I fail to see how it’s any different from all the other games they hold. And having received the creepy love notes, Kristy floats the possibility that some nutjob is out to kidnap her because she’s Watson’s stepdaughter and he’s a wealthy man, which ignores the fact they’re more likely to go after his <em>actual</em> children, and that kidnappers aren’t exactly wont to send a victim multiple threats to put their guard up and provide ample opportunity to contact the police before they nab you.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, she decides not to tell her mum and stepfather what’s going on because “they might think I was crazy.” Even though she’s got physical proof of threatening letters! And if the world’s greatest babysitter really DOES think a psycho is out there, isn’t she putting Karen and Andrew in danger by NOT saying anything?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This book also marks the THIRD Halloween that has passed in these books, which means that the older girls should collectively be coming up on their fifteenth birthdays. <strong>Claudia and the Phantom Phone Caller</strong> was the year they (explicitly) went from twelve to thirteen and <strong>Mary Anne’s Bad Luck Mystery</strong> (implicitly) from thirteen to fourteen. They even talk about the events of <strong>Bad Luck Mystery</strong> like it happened the previous year, yet they remain in chronological stasis.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, I’m pretty sure this book runs parallel to the <strong>Little Sister</strong> book that was published at the same time – Kristy mentions that Karen and her friends are going trick-or-treating as the characters from <strong>The Wizard of Oz</strong>, and during one their sleepovers it’s mentioned that Karen wakes up from a nightmare. My memories are vague, but I’m pretty sure <strong>Karen’s Ghost </strong>relates these things from Karen’s point-of-view. In any case, it makes for a cute crossover).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It all culminates in a dance at the Halloween Hop, to which Kristy and Bart go in giant lobster costumes, leading to this comment during a slow dance: “I had a feeling that I wasn’t getting the full effect of things, what with those layers of foam between us.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a crazy-funny book, is what I’m saying. The girls leap to insane conclusions, nothing makes any sense, and the solution to the mystery is obvious from the get-go. But hey, it was nice to get a bit of coverage for Shannon, who proves herself to be a pretty good friend after the events of <strong>Kristy and the Snobs</strong>. On pondering the possibility that Bart is sending the notes to put Kristy off her game during the World Series, there’s a cute exchange between the girls in which the following is said:</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kristy: “If that’s what Bart is doing, that is really... that is despicable!” Shannon: “I know. I agree. I refused to speak to him in school today.” Kristy: “Thank you.” Heh, that’s female solidarity for you!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Poor Mallory! </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5IGE5lho9727jnX3xVOOseksRMqFZpbTzvbYip6GWG7HEGQQpMb-q2VuYRbUAqgSZj6QR24oPHffR_QVFWNxDRjWnqwNVxYhR3TaNMWmTC0GVTwYGD7G_RcfgeMvb-SGw5l49CpFcXGd-L6SkuxW9yCPZp4vBUjoQ5jXRsWIk4VNkkpfydEonqKtKaon0/s102/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="76" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5IGE5lho9727jnX3xVOOseksRMqFZpbTzvbYip6GWG7HEGQQpMb-q2VuYRbUAqgSZj6QR24oPHffR_QVFWNxDRjWnqwNVxYhR3TaNMWmTC0GVTwYGD7G_RcfgeMvb-SGw5l49CpFcXGd-L6SkuxW9yCPZp4vBUjoQ5jXRsWIk4VNkkpfydEonqKtKaon0/s1600/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="76" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her plight is so grave, it gets an exclamation mark. As has been foreshadowed in the books for a while now, Mr Pike is on the brink of losing his job as a lawyer, and the hammer finally falls in this book. The company he works for is downsized and the Pikes are thrown into mild turmoil. Mrs Pike starts to do some work as a temp, requiring Mallory to babysit her siblings on a regular basis (for free) and the Pike kids brainstorm ways of saving and/or earning money in order to help their parents out.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Babysitters Club comes to the rescue by offering Mallory all the babysitting jobs she can take, including an afterschool job at the Delaney residence, which was originally scheduled for Kristy. They even find a way to incorporate Mallory into Charlie’s timetable when it comes to taking Kristy to and from club meetings, since she’ll be babysitting in Kristy’s neighbourhood.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But unlike the cover art and blurb would have you believe, Mallory isn’t particularly fazed by the wealth of the Delaney family. Instead, the story creates a parallel between the two households, in which some of the Pike kids (including Mallory) are bullied at school because their father has lost his job, while the Delaney siblings struggle with the fact that although they’re popular, a lot of the neighbourhood kids are only being friendly with them in order to take advantage of their new swimming pool.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">How do they know? Because every time Amanda or Max get tired of the pool and want to do something else, the babysitters find themselves in a predicament: do they order the other children to get out of the pool or do they tell the Delaney siblings they have to continue with what the greater number of visitors want to do? Turns out that guest rights aren’t as sacred as they used to be, as the babysitters think that because it’s the Delaneys’ house, they have the right to decide on the activities. At which point, a lot of the other kids simply leave.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So both Mallory and Amanda, on opposite ends of the financial spectrum, find out who their real friends are. This series is usually incredibly bad with these types of false equivalences, but this one... is not as bad as usual. At least no one is comparing their plight to racism.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">By the end of the story Mr Pike has found a new job (though not before becoming a layabout in the middle chapters, where he just watches television and gets increasingly surly at his million kids) and it’s all’s well that ends well. There’s not really a lot to say about this one, aside from all the very weird slang, from “dibbly” to “distant” to “stale”. At one point Adam Pike says: “I’m gonna blow cookies!” Er... what?? Big “fetch” energy here.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, the whole thing ends with one of the famous Babysitters Club sleepovers, in which the girls decide to prank call Mallory’s classist bullies. The most notable thing about this is that Mary Anne totally commits to a very elaborate series of calls concerning a pig farm and the whereabouts of the pigs, which culminates in her weeping down the telephone – which to me, is just proof that this girl can fake!cry convincingly on cue.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Harvest </strong>by Richie Tankersley Cusick</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbCs3GXrG7xS03Fa7qLgwgEOXXvHAt9vydFoSBY1PfDrwMp95r6hjq4qbfnM_zH0M0q02BSKz0UZdpvg81HLZGq-iSNi-rhHRsjyW4OPEQsSLyCGICW2Tc038qDlgiLNhuGnQ-qSSXEYvy86AIxK7TfammVBgEEpw30O3XKIABGyVUOaGntk6EwX8Vrt2/s114/!!!!!!!!!!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="114" data-original-width="68" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbCs3GXrG7xS03Fa7qLgwgEOXXvHAt9vydFoSBY1PfDrwMp95r6hjq4qbfnM_zH0M0q02BSKz0UZdpvg81HLZGq-iSNi-rhHRsjyW4OPEQsSLyCGICW2Tc038qDlgiLNhuGnQ-qSSXEYvy86AIxK7TfammVBgEEpw30O3XKIABGyVUOaGntk6EwX8Vrt2/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!.png" width="68" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, along with my great rewatch of <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong>, I’m also attempting to track down as many of the tie-in novels as I can, just to get the full immersive experience. Once upon a time, popular television shows would regularly release cheap paperbacks based on their characters and premises. Not strictly canon, but not fanfiction either, they were a way to get a fix of your favourite show during any hiatus (whether weekly or seasonal).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first one would <em>always</em> be a novelization of the pilot episode (it happened for <strong>Charmed</strong>, <strong>Sabrina</strong>, <strong>Angel</strong>, <strong>Roswell</strong>, and I’m pretty sure <strong>Smallville</strong> as well) but after that they were a great way of enjoying tie-in stories that could stretch the budget a bit, with more elaborate settings and monsters that could only ever exist on the page. Some even took the opportunity to fill in the narrative gaps left in the show itself – I’m pretty sure an upcoming book explains <em>how</em> exactly the Master came to be trapped inside that underground church.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But I’m getting ahead of myself, since this is book is a straightforward translation of the scripts “Welcome to the Hellmouth” and “The Harvest” – nothing more, nothing less. The only bits of interest that you couldn’t glean from just watching the show is mention of the fact that the Master was originally a man called Henrich Joseph Nest and a tiny foreword that states: “Virginia, 1866: The frequent disappearance of local Civil War widows shocked an already grieving community. These events ended when Lucy Hanover arrived in town. Chicago, May 1927: Forty-one bodies were found near Union Station. Shortly after the arrival of a certain young woman, the mysterious murders stopped.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You know, one of my greatest disappointments in the show was that they never explored the lives of Slayers prior to Buffy in any great detail. I’d give ANYTHING to learn more about Lucy Hanover – though a quick Google search tells me she comes up quite a lot in the expanded universe of novels and comics. Something to look forward to...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">One last thing, I’ve had this book for years, but only just realized that it was penned by Richie Tankersley Cusick, one of the big teen pulp horror writers of the eighties/nineties. Small world.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Utterly Dark and the Face of the Wild </strong>by Philip Reeve</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiU9A2-lJzEDJX15UEGwM1Ema0vTYE2jesOUly0aeR5dPbenrMwPIlYEyKjZ4-flvxel11JwMxPCAmB3bS5LwblDnPXOhpr37doEVJi6z6mTpRvPhDSQgm6mrC5C4iBEQQTxd_enanwHfTagNVv-O2bcUZlvDHyRDqMzDyxEDlS3IBVc6SkfrQEz-uTQLx/s120/!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiU9A2-lJzEDJX15UEGwM1Ema0vTYE2jesOUly0aeR5dPbenrMwPIlYEyKjZ4-flvxel11JwMxPCAmB3bS5LwblDnPXOhpr37doEVJi6z6mTpRvPhDSQgm6mrC5C4iBEQQTxd_enanwHfTagNVv-O2bcUZlvDHyRDqMzDyxEDlS3IBVc6SkfrQEz-uTQLx/s1600/!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Philip Reeve is one of my all-time favourite authors, even though his most famous books are slightly outside my preferred-genre wheelhouse. The <strong>Mortal Engines</strong> series and the <strong>Railhead</strong> trilogy are fantastic, but are also dystopian and science-fiction, respectively. So just imagine my reaction when I found out his latest book was not only fantasy, but bore the enthralling title of <strong>Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then I learnt that “Utterly Dark” was the name of its protagonist. <em>Then</em> I saw that stunning cover art. THEN I discovered that it was the first of a trilogy, continuing with <strong>Utterly Dark and the Heart of the Wild</strong> and <strong>Utterly Dark and the Tides of Time</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Reeve doesn’t know this, but he definitely wrote these books for me. Absolutely everything about them caters perfectly to my tastes, interests and aesthetics. They are <em>my books</em>. As such, the first one was at the top of my reading list for my annual leave, and with its emphasis on rugged coastlines, isolated watchtowers, faraway islands and churning ocean currents, it made for perfect seasonal reading material. I could almost smell the brine and taste the salt in the air.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When Utterly Dark was just an infant, she was washed up on the shores of Wildsea Island, the westernmost knub of land in the small archipelago known as the Autumn Isles. There she was found and taken in by Andrewe Dark, the Watcher on Wildsea, whose solemn duty is to ascend the tower of Sundown Watch every day without fail and scan the sea for any sightings of the Hidden Isles.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">These isles are shrouded in myth and legend – all anyone really knows is that centuries ago, a terrible creature known as the Gorm rose from the waters and rampaged across the land until she was driven back only by Andrewe’s forefather and his ancestral sword. Since then, there has always been a Watcher on Wildsea.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is why the entire community is thrown into a tailspin when Andrewe Dark is found drowned on the beach, his pockets full of stones. Utterly has no idea if Andrewe took his own life, or why he might have done so if he did, but while everyone waits for his brother Will to be fetched from London society to resume his position as the <em>next </em>Watcher, Utterly takes it upon herself to do the job in the interim. Climbing the stairs to the watchtower each night, she begins to uncover some of her foster-father’s secrets, which suggest that the Hidden Isles might not be as inaccessible to humankind as everyone has been led to believe…</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, the story unwinds in Reeve’s exceptional prose, which is such a joy to read, whether it’s the elderly Mr and Mrs Skraeveling being described as “a short, kindly, sturdy pair, who had been married for so long that they had come to resemble each other like matching salt and pepper pots” to the experience of being on the ocean: “they floated in silence for a while, rising and falling… there was a rhythm to it, as if they were resting on the chest of an immense and gently breathing animal… all around them the big waves shone like hills of shining ice.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The characters are wonderful too, from the wise troll-woman Aish, to the out-of-his-depth Will Dark, to the wonderfully deranged sea-witch Thurza Froy, to Utterly herself: tenacious, determined, curious, brave and clever – as befits any Reeve-written heroine. Then of course, there’s the Gorm, who comes straight out of a Lovecraftian tome on ancient leviathans, but with a couple of surprises in store.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The best writers know that it’s not just the telling of a story, but the <em>way</em> in which it’s told that makes for a great reading experience – the gradual unravelling of mysteries, the insights as to how characters view themselves and the world they inhabit, the descriptive prose that brings everything to life. Reeve never fails in this regard. On to <strong>Utterly Dark and the Heart of the Wild</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>King of Scars </strong>by Leigh Bardugo</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGscfup-7lpUKZI7MhYCTITxu58Cg-0n6dbL2ZpC67gcMIJmUc1-PuLjDl75GEdpk6tlM62UbNQbNz2y3Pw7W-K5q6h_AT4luUX6lm807MjsRbVmAtowlsNi2Avds0qHc5ppZ-ZkHPs37ppX7So3910J3kBosaWNLmNp7qirTlE5bJN5uuCvIl89-DluHN/s120/!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGscfup-7lpUKZI7MhYCTITxu58Cg-0n6dbL2ZpC67gcMIJmUc1-PuLjDl75GEdpk6tlM62UbNQbNz2y3Pw7W-K5q6h_AT4luUX6lm807MjsRbVmAtowlsNi2Avds0qHc5ppZ-ZkHPs37ppX7So3910J3kBosaWNLmNp7qirTlE5bJN5uuCvIl89-DluHN/s1600/!!!!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was not the first time I’ve read <strong>King of Scars</strong>, but it <em>is</em> the first time I’ve read it in the correct chronological order. For some reason, I first read the <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong> trilogy back in 2014 and then went straight to <strong>King of Scars </strong>in 2019, skipping the <strong>Six of Crows</strong> duology. This ended up spoiling a lot of the plot points found in <strong>Six of Crows</strong>, most particularly in regards to Nina and Matthias’s love story, which is picked up here in order to deal with its aftermath. So yeah, I was completely spoiled as to Matthias’s fate when I eventually picked up <strong>Six of Crows</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That said, I’m glad to be finally able to read this ongoing story in the proper order, as Leigh Bardugo has crafted what can be rightfully called an epic by this point. High politics, grand romances, socio-economic landscapes, countries on the brink of war... it’s all here, and it actually fits in beautifully with what’s gone before. She takes the stories of Prince Nikolai and Zoya from the original trilogy and weaves them in with Nina Zenik’s undercover adventures in Fjerda, exploring the ongoing conflict between the nations and everyone’s attempts – on several different fronts – to alleviate them.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At the end of <strong>Ruin and Rising</strong>, Nikolai was infected by a scrap of the Darkling’s power, which is now manifesting as a terrible winged creature that his closest associates can barely keep under control. Only Zoya’s constant vigilance has kept it at bay so far. Meanwhile in Fjerda, Nina is working undercover as a simple factory worker to smuggle Grisha out of the country, but on hearing some strange rumours about disappearing girls, she follows them to their source: a factory on the outskirts of a remote village.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are some other links to the previous books. One of Nina’s fellow spies is the young girl that Jesper’s mother died for, after healing her from poisoned well water but absorbing too much of it into her own system. Nina also meets a young woman at a local convent who ends up being the daughter of a significant enemy in <strong>Six of Crows</strong> (which is a bit of a contrivance in my opinion, but never mind) and about halfway through the story, another point-of-view character joins the groupchat; a guard at the palace who is called in to impersonate Nikolai while he’s indisposed (no spoilers).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s stuff to like and stuff that I’m fairly neutral about. Nina coping with her grief and the insurmountable-ness of it all is gripping stuff, and Bardugo captures the inner landscape of a girl who loves life, but can’t see an end to her own suffering. The only problem is that it’s <em>so far</em> removed from the rest of the story set in Ravka, and though I’m sure events will intersect in the next book, it still made for a sharp shift in gears every time we returned to her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The stuff in Nikolai’s chapters are more interesting, as he struggles to keep the kingdom afloat, grapple with the monster inside him, juggle the dozens of opposing factions both in and out of the country, ignore his growing feelings for Zoya, and discover the mystery behind why so many miracles are occurring all over Ravka – <em>and</em> why they seem to be pointing to what remains of the Shadow Fold.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In many ways this character was treated as a magic bullet at the conclusion of the <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong> trilogy, so it’s rewarding to see that healing Ravka <em>wasn’t</em> just as simple as putting the right king on the throne. Getting it was half the battle, now he has to settle into the lifelong business of keeping (and deserving) it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bardugo also delves into her own world-building on the subject of the Grisha and merzost. I’ll admit I never fully got my head around certain concepts like the Small Science and “the making at the heart” of the world and the amplifiers, but it’s interesting to see where she takes some of the characters in regards to their abilities, and how it’s all linked to the discovery of <em>jurda parem</em> and its effect on Grisha powers. You really feel like this world is on the brink of irrevocable change, for better or worse. And it’s almost adorable watching her justify the fact that Grisha are called “Gregs” by introducing an ancient saint called Grigori and establishing that they’re named after him in honour of his teachings.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, some of the witty repartee between the characters can become wearying (people just <em>don’t</em> talk like this, and a lot of it isn’t that clever anyway) and it ends on a cliff-hanger that makes me a little apprehensive about what the next book is going to be about, but the truth is that I’m invested in this world and the people that inhabit it. Since <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong>’s publication, YA has been flooded with books based on Slavic/Russian culture, but Bardugo’s world-building has always been solid and her characters lovable. I want to see them all get out the other side of this.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Mirrormask </strong>(2005)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKk6QHVnpDEpPpOZrqmTMPhrog_yzue54BANUvkJ3Rztnjy2NmrSstR-2drQ05ipOe0jWUWPHBB41JRDXKqv0wx-KcnrTHtH25ahRJpgrmFjUbTO3eRCPIRdvAyQ0cG5h8-sHowr2CG_55LE0DJaM6hwxz7eA0zjlZjSX4SLgAe0onU6pq0LKCMEI2PGbs/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="80" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKk6QHVnpDEpPpOZrqmTMPhrog_yzue54BANUvkJ3Rztnjy2NmrSstR-2drQ05ipOe0jWUWPHBB41JRDXKqv0wx-KcnrTHtH25ahRJpgrmFjUbTO3eRCPIRdvAyQ0cG5h8-sHowr2CG_55LE0DJaM6hwxz7eA0zjlZjSX4SLgAe0onU6pq0LKCMEI2PGbs/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was the last movie I watched on my very last day of annual leave, though it felt nice revisiting it after so long (and I’m slightly amazed that I’ve never written about it on this blog before). It wasn’t until recently that I found out it was conceived as a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpiritualSuccessor">Spiritual Successor</a> to the likes of <strong>Labyrinth</strong> and <strong>The Dark Crystal</strong>, though with computer animation instead of puppetry (I kind of wish they’d stuck with the puppetry).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You can see its inspiration in <strong>Labyrinth</strong> in particular, as each involve a young girl traversing a fantasyland made from her own subconscious on a quest to right a wrong she committed in the waking world, learning more about herself and relationships in the process. In this case, our Sarah is now Helena (Stephanie Leonidas), who is fed up with life in the circus (“I want to run away and join the real world!”) and makes a cruel comment to her mother right before she collapses with a brain aneurism (or something, I don’t think they ever clarify what’s wrong with her).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the night before her mother’s operation, Helena falls into a deep sleep and “wakes up” to the sound of violin music. Investigating the block of flats she’s staying in with her grandmother, she runs into three masked performers, who quickly scatter at the arrival of a strange shadow. Following the sole survivor, Helena finds herself in a world that appears to be made entirely out of the pictures she’s drawn and hung on her bedroom wall. Whenever she peeks through a window, she finds herself looking at her own room.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But this City of Light is under threat from those aforementioned shadows. Learning that the White Queen (who looks just like her mother, and is also played by Gina McKee) has fallen ill and the charm to wake her has been stolen by a Dark Princess (no prizes for who <em>she’s</em> played by) Helena sets off from the White City to the Darklands, on her very own quest to save the day.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a pretty engaging trip down the rabbit hole, though I wish it had spent a little more time on its world-building. In this, it is the exact inverse to <strong>The Dark Crystal</strong>, which had fantastic world-building, but very little character work. Here, the likes of Helena and her parents, not to mention the various doppelgangers and her quasi-love interest Valentine, an Irish juggler who accompanies her on her quest, are vividly rendered, but the world in which they inhabit slightly... fuzzy is the only word I can think of to describe it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Granted, this may be because the whole thing is set in Helena’s dreamscape, and rendered in now-rather-dated CGI. But aside from doubling-up on certain actors to play different versions of the same character (much like in <strong>The Wizard of Oz</strong>, or the character of Mr Darling in performances of <strong>Peter Pan</strong>) there’s not a lot of connective tissue between the two worlds. It’s clearly made up of Helena’s drawings, and based on her guilt that she’s the cause of her mother’s sudden illness, but certain places and creatures seem to have no real-world parallel, or to have any reason to exist beyond making for a cool visual. It also lags in a couple of places: the cat lady, the monkeybirds, the floating giants that are completely inaudible (I <em>think</em> they said something important, but I’ve no idea what it might be).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The script was penned by Neil Gaiman, and it’s got his trademarks all over it – riddles, books, wordplay, fairy tale quests, mythological creatures... now that I think about it, there’s a generous dose of <strong>Coraline</strong> in here too, especially with the Dark Queen embodying the role of a controlling, imperious <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MyBelovedSmother">Beloved Smother</a>. His interests go well with director and artist Dave McKean’s style, who created all the drawings and designs that feature so heavily throughout the film – even if they’re a <em>bit</em> too surreal for my liking.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The likes of Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, and Robert Llewellyn also lend their voices to a couple of cameo characters, and there’s some fun material when it comes to Valentine (especially his final appearance, sans mask). And there’s something charming about the fact that this was obviously made on a <em>very</em> limited budget.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Song of the Sea </strong>(2014)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKibJHz-hhHyP9lf54lQt80pGK5bEFoLfzAzd8Ggp1DqBtLX0s6al0-0KMUVrjfRKC1bX147xL30YyvxVgugNyBnzEo44_grYkW1wuGVlHx8RXMHWq_Edgv2RZoXpZjKQj6eCPaDPxV7kNo7LYtzirh0r4gtqYk2G-wsZmoFYDOQsMT6QSCOgBPvxtCam/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="76" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKibJHz-hhHyP9lf54lQt80pGK5bEFoLfzAzd8Ggp1DqBtLX0s6al0-0KMUVrjfRKC1bX147xL30YyvxVgugNyBnzEo44_grYkW1wuGVlHx8RXMHWq_Edgv2RZoXpZjKQj6eCPaDPxV7kNo7LYtzirh0r4gtqYk2G-wsZmoFYDOQsMT6QSCOgBPvxtCam/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="76" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For my birthday, I treated myself to a rewatch of this, one of my favourite films of all time. And much like <strong>Utterly Dark</strong>, it feels like it was made for me personally. <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2021/05/review-secret-of-kells-song-of-sea.html">I’ve also discussed it at length in another post</a>, and can’t really think of anything to say that hasn’t already been said in great detail – just that it’s a gorgeous film on so many levels: the artistry, the themes, the voiceovers, the plotting... it really is the closest thing to perfection I’ve ever seen.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What I <em>can</em> say is that my very restless two-and-a-half-year-old nephew was engrossed by this for well over half the run-time before he finally wriggled out of my lap and went to play with his trucks. Granted, that might be because my sister is very good at managing his screentime, which means that he’s always pretty captivated by the television when it’s on regardless of <em>what</em> he’s watching, but I like to think bits of this film have buried themselves into his subconscious. As formative stories go, you can’t go wrong with this one.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>When Marnie Was There</strong> (2014)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVSUbgl5-fiCQGBmzPKWwySkUdwQD8caqeJ0-zc0quqe8Bm7O0IvsOTC3V-Xlir4G5ngbYszygfMk37FgwKyhgaFDHOGYN29_9_CmbJ4ioKLPxwAzcRT1RzaRjvOYIaqqun-YPR4x6YJI8M5LXoqLeixr46fVujARJGDgaUCx4cTJi9YI-MwjVeMcEMVy/s116/!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="80" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVSUbgl5-fiCQGBmzPKWwySkUdwQD8caqeJ0-zc0quqe8Bm7O0IvsOTC3V-Xlir4G5ngbYszygfMk37FgwKyhgaFDHOGYN29_9_CmbJ4ioKLPxwAzcRT1RzaRjvOYIaqqun-YPR4x6YJI8M5LXoqLeixr46fVujARJGDgaUCx4cTJi9YI-MwjVeMcEMVy/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Joan Robinson’s <strong>When Marnie Was T</strong></span><strong style="font-family: georgia;">here</strong><span style="font-family: georgia;"> is a book that could have been adapted in one of only two ways: by the BBC in the eighties, of grainy quality with a miniscule budget, or by Studio Ghibli. Don’t ask me to explain this, but if you ever get around to reading the original 1967 novel, you’ll hopefully understand what I mean.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Studio Ghibli’s take on Robinson’s material is fascinating, as it’s an incredibly faithful translation of the story from page to screen... only it takes its original setting in Norfolk, England and changes it to Japan's Hokkaido prefecture. The food, clothing and culture is clearly Japanese, and yet it also can’t shed its distinctively <em>English</em> spirit in a way that’s hard to explain.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All this vagueness and prevaricating in my review is actually a testament to the story’s ambiance, which is dreamy and soft and unknowable. Anna is a self-loathing young girl struggling at school, who is eventually sent away to live with relatives on the seafront, where it’s hoped she’ll come out of her shell. She fits in quite nicely with her foster mother’s sister and brother-in-law, but grows rather ornery when it comes to other children her age.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s nothing <em>wrong</em> with her exactly, she’s just socially awkward and likes her own company. While on a solo jaunt through the marshlands she spots a beautiful old mansion across the water, and is instantly transfixed by its grandeur. Though it seems abandoned and dilapidated, she returns the following evening to find it filled with light and warmth – and meets a young girl called Marnie.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the strange liminal space between day and night, land and water, the two become fast friends – though it’s obvious to any viewer that there’s something strange about Marnie and how she can appear and disappear so abruptly. Anna is just happy to have finally found someone she can talk to, and as the days roll by, the girls start to confide in each other.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(In fact, the vibe is downright Sapphic at times – they slow dance on the lawn, go on sunset boat rides, hold hands and talk earnestly into each other’s faces. At one point Anna gets visibly jealous when Marnie starts paying attention to a boy. And yet, it’s not remotely what the film is going for, as the reveal makes obvious).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I don’t want to give too much of it away, so suffice to say that this is a deliberately slow and dreamy film, beautifully animated and scored, which gradually unfolds the meaning of the girls’ encounters and the reason behind them. It’s uplifting and bittersweet, and nobody but Studio Ghibli could have had the patience and skill to do it justice. Essentially, one of those films that you can’t believe even exists. Now ten years old, it’s safe to say that even at the time of its release, you don’t see them like this anymore.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Little Prince</strong> (2015)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPKvYNsjD_Ile8KDp3FiqF2hwMfRIRx3_N_yyRJC4TS99A5WjhWQzEOfqAdJrRLeolkMWlxAw-uYydOg5o9OkDsHdLjpbhAw8sNz6yApaqXYovNl0yb3gE0SZsvrw64zU9h8hIT9uXiM4P3k9SfgjNVIEqFDFK5AckuQX-d0o2Y_OkB_xWy6GgJH5b5NB/s110/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="81" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPKvYNsjD_Ile8KDp3FiqF2hwMfRIRx3_N_yyRJC4TS99A5WjhWQzEOfqAdJrRLeolkMWlxAw-uYydOg5o9OkDsHdLjpbhAw8sNz6yApaqXYovNl0yb3gE0SZsvrw64zU9h8hIT9uXiM4P3k9SfgjNVIEqFDFK5AckuQX-d0o2Y_OkB_xWy6GgJH5b5NB/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This film completed my “birthday trilogy,” as along with <strong>Song of the Sea</strong> and <strong>When Marnie Was There</strong>, these three films just seem to <em>go</em> together despite being made by different studios (I also could have thrown in <strong>Kubo and the Two Strings</strong> if I’d had time). There’s something about the animation, the pacing, the subject matter, the general <em>vibes</em>, that puts one in mind of the others.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, this is definitely the weakest of the three, taking the famous story of <strong>The Little Prince</strong> and placing it within a larger framing narrative, which (in its third act) <em>also</em> purports to be a sequel to Saint-Exupéry’s original story. It doesn’t always work, and you’re definitely going to need familiarity with the book to appreciate what this film does, but I’ll always prefer an experiment to a formula when it comes to storytelling.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The big problem is that <strong>The Little Prince</strong> is an allegorical musing on the nature of life and death. The Rose represents the burden of love, the Fox the complexities of friendship, the Snake the kiss of death. The story in <em>this</em> film is about a little girl reclaiming her childhood and learning to moderate her mother’s high expectations of her. Sure, there’s a lot about how grown-ups are foolish and that the clock is ticking on the Aviator’s lifespan, but it still doesn’t mesh tonally with how Saint-Exupéry handled this material.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They even hold off on explicitly depicting the Aviator’s death, despite setting up for it throughout the story... not that I can really blame them, since the death of a major character really wouldn’t have gone with their new “stay in touch with your inner child” theme.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A Little Girl who is never given a name botches her application to a prestigious school, leading to her Mother putting them under financial strain in order to move the two of them into the schooling zone. The Girl’s entire life, right down to the minute, has been mapped out for her in a “life plan,” and the crushing restrictions of this schedule means that a wayward paper plane comes as an unwelcome distraction... then a compelling mystery.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was thrown by the Girl’s next-door neighbour, an eccentric old man who is (as is very heavily implied) the Aviator and author of <strong>The Little Prince</strong>, who is now trying to pass his story on to someone before his own death. He introduces the Little Girl to adventure and imagination, but of course it’s only a matter of time before this gets her into serious trouble with her mother, who wants her to stick to her life plan.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Strewn throughout the film are stop-motion sequences of the original <strong>Little Prince</strong> story, in which he grows his Rose and meets his Fox and is eventually bitten by a Snake – but they’re so truncated that they can’t convey the full richness of meaning and poignancy that Saint-Exupéry’s story captures.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The film’s third act is a dream-like sequence in which the Little Girl apparently flies into the world of the Little Prince and ends up interacting with several of its characters (the king, the conceited man) in slightly skewered circumstances, before meeting the Prince himself, who is now a young man working a menial job as a chimney sweep in a grimy city. By saving him, she’ll... save herself? The Aviator? Her relationship with her mother? It’s not really clear what’s at stake.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like <strong>Kubo and the Two Strings</strong>, it gets close, <em>so close</em>, to something truly transcendent, but whereas <strong>Kubo </strong>tripped right at the finish line, <strong>The Little Prince</strong> can’t quite keep track of what it’s trying to say.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet, it’s well worth the watch. The animation is beautiful, particularly when it moves into stop-motion for the retelling of <strong>The Little Prince</strong>, and there are some beautiful narrative echoes throughout: the use of the word “essential,” the Fox as a soft toy in the real world, the vacuum cleaner full of paper stars that’s paralleled by the glass case where the businessman hoards <em>real</em> stars to power his city, and the Little Girl getting a glimpse of the city early on in one of the snow globes her absent father sends to her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The voice cast is stacked, though I wouldn’t have twigged half of them – Rachel McAdams in particular is unrecognizable as the Mother, though it’s a beautifully realized character. Obviously putting too much pressure on her daughter, she’s nevertheless doing so out of genuine love, not to mention fear given that the two of them have been abandoned by their partner/father. And she’s a <em>good mother</em> – she never raises her voice or gets angry or blames the Little Girl for things beyond her control.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also present are Jeff Bridges, Mackenzie Foy, Marion Cotillard, James Franco, Benicio Del Toro, Ricky Gervais, Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti – !!! Some of these big names are only in <em>tiny</em> roles, and the likes of Gervais, Rudd and Franco are genuinely unrecognizable. Well, Gervais isn’t, but he’s surprisingly subtle as the conceited man.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The whole thing feels like it was written with so much care and thoughtfulness, so much so that it’s strange it botched the delivery. That said, I enjoyed it much more watching it for the second time. Sometimes imperfections can make something much more loveable and memorable, which is a message that goes well with a story like <strong>The Little Prince</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Cocaine Bear</strong> (2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqHXCF-70tbG0rWXIWIqzr0cDrNQRBeH-NH_K6ZHcti52amPLxdyJOSAoilqZ1Ij9XGqxlP090Fx_VNIyxZ6LYCHzU2IS_GM8Ej4JkrtGV2kLbx4oRNDRkRTFL0woiKpvlazbx2SsRaWL1p3T30mRN-p6YlehTYN7Wob2knAXaaNHOPV3o-Iw6ptznBO6/s128/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="85" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqHXCF-70tbG0rWXIWIqzr0cDrNQRBeH-NH_K6ZHcti52amPLxdyJOSAoilqZ1Ij9XGqxlP090Fx_VNIyxZ6LYCHzU2IS_GM8Ej4JkrtGV2kLbx4oRNDRkRTFL0woiKpvlazbx2SsRaWL1p3T30mRN-p6YlehTYN7Wob2knAXaaNHOPV3o-Iw6ptznBO6/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="85" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Much like <strong>Snakes on a Plane</strong>, this is a movie that aims for cult classic status while not realizing that such things cannot be engineered. They simply <em>are</em>. Based on a true story in which a black bear found some cocaine dropped in a forest, consumed it, and immediately died, this is a paint-by-numbers B-movie in which a drug dealer jettisons his stash out of a plane (not sure why, as if he was planning to retrieve them, the packages would have been spread over miles of territory) and tries to parachute to safety, only to knock himself out and plummet to his death.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Fun fact: this guy was played by Matthew Rhys, who is married to Kerri Russell and whom I’m currently watching as Perry Mason in the HBO show of the same name.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Various characters end up converging in a national park in Georgia, either drawn by an attempt to retrieve the cocaine or for some other reason: a cop trying to track down some local hooligans, a drug-dealer trying to bring his grieving friend back into the fold on the behest of his drug lord father, and a couple of pre-teen kids who ditch school in order to go hiking in the wilderness. Throw in some park rangers, some paramedics, and a harried mother chasing after her child, it’s a smorgasbord of potential run-ins with a bear that’s high on cocaine. Predictable chaos ensues.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But for this to be a successful B-movie, it needed to be less glossy, less slick. The acting should have been genuinely shit, not accomplished performers hamming it up. There should have been entire subplots that went nowhere and meant nothing. The fairly impressive CGI effects on the titular character should have been a guy in a bear suit. The weirdness needed to be organically weird, not deliberately weird.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For the record, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-real-story-of-cocaine-bear-b2290895.html">the true story</a> is that in 1985, a black bear did indeed consume about seventy pounds of cocaine before dying. It was thrown out of a plane by drug smuggler Andrew Thornton, a former lawyer, narcotics police officer, and the son of wealthy Kentucky horse breeders, who did indeed die when he hit his head on the aircraft hatch and failed to open his parachute. He was found in a neighbourhood driveway in Knoxville wearing night vision goggles and Gucci loafers. The bear was nicknamed Pablo Eskobear and its taxidermized body is now a tourist attraction in a mercantile store in Kentucky. The truth really is stranger than fiction.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>A Haunting in Venice </strong>(2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYMm7wAaCJPX6VWBgsBe6GxYIq4TF3JB-LTKIvN0W_Uofg8fApWJZnzNhnR4ipdj3-Vi2Fc81AGyhJgS9u5k2d14s-p84A3y7hkbXE-x3jTABflVW03BMRWPPYlVLHY2GmZYao0L09qbwY7a701vY1U3I_vBbA6D3B5I3KGec2AZC-2zPrbU4GziNj0zA/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="94" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYMm7wAaCJPX6VWBgsBe6GxYIq4TF3JB-LTKIvN0W_Uofg8fApWJZnzNhnR4ipdj3-Vi2Fc81AGyhJgS9u5k2d14s-p84A3y7hkbXE-x3jTABflVW03BMRWPPYlVLHY2GmZYao0L09qbwY7a701vY1U3I_vBbA6D3B5I3KGec2AZC-2zPrbU4GziNj0zA/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.png" width="94" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">20th Century Studios must have cackled with glee when they realized they had the first post-Oscar Michelle Yeoh movie on their schedule, even if she DOES get killed off pretty early in.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a time when franchises are getting culled left, right and centre, it’s a minor miracle that this one has made it to a third instalment, even with a rather lacklustre Kenneth Branagh as Poirot (though anyone would naturally pale in comparison to the great David Suchet).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Murder on the Orient Express</strong> and <strong>Death on the Nile</strong> were two no-brainers when it came to movie adaptations of Christie’s novels: ensemble casts, famous plot-twists and (most importantly) exotic locations. Yes, I’m going to use the word “exotic” because that’s very much how Istanbul and Egypt are treated in the novels themselves: as strange and somewhat eerie locales where anything can happen.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s no coincidence that both have been adapted for the big screen before, because they translate very well to blockbuster material. A cozy mystery in a faraway land. So, what to do with a potential third instalment of this particular series? There’s <strong>Murder in Mesopotamia</strong>, set in a self-evident location, or <strong>Appointment with Death</strong>, set in Jerusalem. But through decisions unknown, they decided to take the plot of <strong>Hallowe’en Party</strong> and transpose it to Venice.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now, my recollections of reading <strong>Hallowe’en Party</strong> are a little fuzzy, but I’m <em>extremely</em> certain that its plot bore virtually no resemblance to the story that’s contained here. The book involved a little girl who claimed to have seen a murder, and a strange Edenic-like garden, and a murderer who was most definitely a <em>man</em>... none of which is the case in this version of events. The only similarity is that a murder is attempted by shoving a person’s head into an apple-bobbling basin.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All that said, the film is stylish enough to pass muster, and what more do you really want from one of these things? The ensemble is not as stacked as you’d expect, as I only recognized Kelly Reilly, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh out of the half-dozen or so suspects, but they make the most of the location, with canals and gondolas and crumbling mansions and thunderstorms a-plenty.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver might raise a few eyebrows – not only because she’s now an American (the original was clearly an <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Expy">Expy</a> of Christie herself) but proves herself to be rather two-faced in her friendship with Poirot about halfway through the proceedings. Where’s poor Bouc when you need him?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It remains to be seen whether Branagh will get a fourth outing as Poirot, but even though I can’t say I totally <em>love</em> these adaptations (they’re too frothy for that) I kinda hope they’ll continue. They’re fun, what more can I say?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Nancy Drew: Season 3 </strong>(2021 – 2022)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZEczt7EAkKwUNlWDWLEomEiIFprVkvoUek3o2piifvZtmqYb4bO7vsFbvtGgH7mBmGFtY08SFCcyNXeXStac_M5osANdsh4_EpImPx4hAmoyH_oNbqMMO65D7JoD7CW8nrm6vdV89eMep6wes2roDeB1W0NeQSrHd2BbTn9pYfqAUElo49RYMQbn9-yn/s119/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="119" data-original-width="94" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZEczt7EAkKwUNlWDWLEomEiIFprVkvoUek3o2piifvZtmqYb4bO7vsFbvtGgH7mBmGFtY08SFCcyNXeXStac_M5osANdsh4_EpImPx4hAmoyH_oNbqMMO65D7JoD7CW8nrm6vdV89eMep6wes2roDeB1W0NeQSrHd2BbTn9pYfqAUElo49RYMQbn9-yn/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.png" width="94" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first two seasons of <strong>Nancy Drew</strong> were entertaining enough, albeit rather kooky (even by CW standards) though I’m afraid season three lost me a bit. It was always a strange choice for the show to add a supernatural element to the proceedings, but its decision to model itself on <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> paid off when it came to assembling the best Scooby Gang since the actual Scoobies. The dynamic between Nancy, Bess, George, Ned (or Nick) and Ace has been the show’s main drawcard, with various friendship/romance dynamics branching out all over the place. Everyone has great chemistry, and for a core cast of five, every character manages to have a unique and meaningful relationship with everyone else.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, the storylines go a bit off the rails this season, and you can tell there were some difficulties behind-the-scenes when an abrupt cast change of the overarching villain takes place (they handwave it with magic, and even manage to give it a certain emotional gravity, but it’s obviously something they hadn’t prepared for).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also couldn’t tell you anything about the plot itself. There’s a witch in town called Temperance Hudson, who is one of Nancy’s ancestors with a plan to resurrect her dead daughter. There’s also something called the “Frozen Hearts Killer” on the loose, who kills his victims by... well, freezing their hearts. These two are connected somehow (I think the Frozen Hearts Killer was once in love with Temperance’s daughter? Maybe?) and are running around the town, murdering the direct descendants of everyone who holds a piece of Charity Hudson’s split-soul in their bodies.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I think. It’s all very convoluted. If you’re going to watch this show, it’s not for the lore. Instead, enjoy Nancy’s circle of friends, her two dads, her relationship to the community, and how they all interact with each other. Not to mention the fact that this show provides Scott Wolf with a steady pay check. I’m not trying to be a dickhead, it’s genuinely nice to see him after so long. He even gets to a enjoy an episode in which his character mistakenly takes a de-aging potion which makes him act like a teenage boy again. I’m not kidding.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Evil: Season 3 </strong>(2022)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvXW2PsSJT_u26fQBrMQGpr1XF8HwNyhBapC9jqyrcdJdRwsUclkMRW-2cbbtDmOBmAUODcpRN-CfYQ6Fz6PTCc3bE_M_D2ciWhL1DQdZXerV3blGH0psWomQFbED_hG66vD5TN84LoJ5yVypEr7OKwP3QB7pH1aXyvF1rctGOKCB7k6YXAFj39q8YNBH/s132/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="132" data-original-width="90" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvXW2PsSJT_u26fQBrMQGpr1XF8HwNyhBapC9jqyrcdJdRwsUclkMRW-2cbbtDmOBmAUODcpRN-CfYQ6Fz6PTCc3bE_M_D2ciWhL1DQdZXerV3blGH0psWomQFbED_hG66vD5TN84LoJ5yVypEr7OKwP3QB7pH1aXyvF1rctGOKCB7k6YXAFj39q8YNBH/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like <strong>Nancy Drew</strong>, this show stumbles a little in its third outing, though it still maintains its manic energy when it comes to the portrayal of chaotic evil and the effect it has on ordinary people. As ever, the trio of Kristen (psychologist mother of four whose husband is frequently off mountain climbing), David (newly ordained priest who still grapples with worldly thoughts) and Ben (atheist “science guy” who is finding it increasingly difficult to do his job in the midst of so much unexplained phenomena) work for the Catholic Church in the investigation of potential miracles and demonic infestations.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The problem with the show at this point is that the ongoing <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MysteryOfTheWeek">Case Of The Week</a> format, in which the team looks into paranormal activity and comes up with rational explanations that nevertheless leave <em>just</em> enough room for a little doubt, is kind of pointless, since we KNOW that Satanic forces exist. Leland Townsend (the show’s main antagonist) and Kristen’s mother Sheryl are six-feet-deep into devil worship, and giant goatlike demons with several eyes and spiral horns are openly featured on the show.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In fact, a lot of the individual cases are left unresolved, which is not only unsatisfying in and of itself, but also makes it feel like they’re taking precious screentime away from the overarching plot – which at this stage, is far more interesting. The show returns to long-gestating issues such as the demonic sigils and what they represent, Kristen’s missing egg (taken without permission by a dodgy fertilization clinic), the odd forces surrounding her daughter Lexis, the whereabouts of Grace Ling the prophet, and shadowy organizations within the Church – but other things, such as the creepy dolls that Sheryl prays to, Ben’s ex-girlfriend who believes she’s haunted by her conjoined twin, or David’s father’s insane commune remain up in the air, and are unlikely to be revisited. Or so it feels to me.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the characters have kept me coming back. Katja Herber’s Kristen is so wonderfully deranged at times, whether she’s hitting a line-cutter in the face with a leg of ham, or dealing with a chauvinistic construction worker’s bullshit by taking a sledgehammer to his work. No, it’s not behaviour I’d condone in real life – but damn is it cathartic to watch. Mike Colter also brings a great energy to his role: David is somehow wise and peaceable, but also conflicted and frustrated at any given moment – I really think it’s some of his best work.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aasif Mandiv has steadily moved away from comedic relief to a more intense role, and I love that they’ve given more screentime to his character’s sister Karima, just to give him someone else to bounce off of. Then there’s Sheryl, going deeper down the rabbit hole of Satanism, and Sister Andrea, who sees (and fights) demons on a regular basis, and Kristen’s four daughters, who are still largely interchangeable, but start their own brand of demon-hunting this season.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In other words, there’s never a dull moment, or an uninteresting character, no matter how convoluted the myriad of plots and subplots get.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Just as I finished this season, the news broke that the show was ending after its upcoming fourth (with a couple of movie-length features to wrap it all up). I suppose four seasons is nothing to be ashamed of these days, and hopefully it’s enough time to gather up all these strands and pull them into a satisfying conclusion. Fingers crossed.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Great: Season 3</strong> (2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4f_edYeOX_dpTVQa5oDEsm6C-EAp9-9IhSXc5WYK2pK8CJgTzY7blGw2fmZvTo9Clgici81aYMv1BSwxLERWUrz1VS3ioxBAhqxTNpaop2QTSzGfvcGZzxTtYzVhjsqlgkp0bzNLHXiBxy6sWofujkYUWcgLZ6i5xo6cSFP2LahqgZQOkbl8COqB_XZl/s135/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="90" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4f_edYeOX_dpTVQa5oDEsm6C-EAp9-9IhSXc5WYK2pK8CJgTzY7blGw2fmZvTo9Clgici81aYMv1BSwxLERWUrz1VS3ioxBAhqxTNpaop2QTSzGfvcGZzxTtYzVhjsqlgkp0bzNLHXiBxy6sWofujkYUWcgLZ6i5xo6cSFP2LahqgZQOkbl8COqB_XZl/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.png" width="90" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Just as I made peace with the fact this show was not going to be about what I <em>wanted</em> it to be about (which is to say, Catherine successfully taking control of Russia) but instead the portrait of a very bizarre marriage, it finally goes and kills off Peter. Not at the hands of Catherine as part of her coup, but as a random accident involving literal thin ice.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then once we <em>finally</em> get into the nitty-gritty of Catherine taking the reins and consolidating her power, the whole thing gets cancelled. And so another great show reaches its premature end. I’d been told that at least it ended on a fairly conclusive note, which may be true for its titular character Catherine, but not so much for the entire supporting cast, who are still in various states of distress and/or confusion.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sigh. I suppose at three seasons, I should be grateful that we got this far.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having attempted to assassinate her husband at the end of last season, only to find that she accidentally stabbed his body double, Catherine isn’t entirely sure how to proceed. She’s discovered that she loves Peter, in all his moronic, violent, irreverent, self-obsessed glory, and is finding it hard to square that with her rational, intelligent, forward-thinking sense of identity. Yeah, I don’t get it either.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So she decides to get over the fact that he killed her lover, burnt down her school and fucked her mother out a window to her death and tried to cover it up, and gets on with the business of ruling Russia with Peter at her side. She’s got little Paul (their son) to worry about, and Pugachev (the body double, also played by Nicholas Hoult) riling up the peasants with how awful she is, and the usual interpersonal dramas at court.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have to admit, the supporting cast is more entertaining than the leads this season, with special mention made to Freddie Fox as the disposed King of Sweden, who spends his time desperately trying to talk others into winning his country back for him, and Henry Meredith as the eleven-year-old Maxim, who almost steals the entire show as a pompous little aristocrat who loves shoes and tries to kill anyone who crosses him. The show may have stagnated a bit this season, but it’s worth it for these two performers strutting their stuff.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As for everyone else? Orlo gets taken out way too quickly (I can only assume Sacha Dhawan was booked elsewhere), Marial and Georgina squabble with each other (it’s sometimes amusing, but mostly not), Grigor, Elizabeth, Velementov and Archie just sort of mill around in the background, and Jason Isaacs pops back in for another couple of cameos as Peter the Great.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All things considered, the material <em>did </em>seem to be winding down a little, though that only makes me wish that the show had reinvented itself by killing off Peter sooner. Catherine trying to tame the bear that is Mother Russia was a ripe premise, though as it is we only see her step up in the very last episode. Ah well, at least she gets to dance it out:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cCZqOCZJ0fk" width="320" youtube-src-id="cCZqOCZJ0fk"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-33531269971479130872024-02-10T00:36:00.000-08:002024-02-10T00:41:42.803-08:00Recommendations: The Best of 2023<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">2023 was a year of change for me, what with a move from working at my local library to a larger, further-away one, but I surprised myself by eventually realizing that I’ve enjoyed the switch. There are younger families and more children there, and far less elderly folk who consider you a repository for their endless complaining (of course, there’s <em>also</em> more swaggering little shits who roll their eyes at you when you point out that a library is not a good venue for their shouting/wrestling/posturing matches).</span></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Working full-time means less time for writing, as you can see by the stats in the right-hand column of the page. This is the lowest number of posts I’ve written in any year since starting this blog in 2014, so thanks to all of you who have kept reading and commenting over the last decade. I write this blog mainly for my own enjoyment, but it’s always gratifying to get comments and feedback.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was also the year I met my nephew for the first time, and even as I write this, my sister is in hospital giving birth to her second child, my niece. Or at least, she’s <em>trying</em> to. The baby isn’t particularly interested in joining us any time soon, so my sister has been put into induced labour – and that’s <em>still </em>not working, so keep her struggle in your thoughts as you peruse this list of my personal recommendations for 2023.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I ended up reading a lot of children’s books this year, partly because it’s my job and partly because they take less time to get through than the massive fantasy doorstoppers that never reach an actual conclusion. I also ploughed through my Slavic Fantasy reading list, which is still an ongoing project, though I’ve only got eight more books to go. I’ll be very relived once all that’s under my belt. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For the second year in a row I didn’t get the chance to write up any meta, probably because my episode reviews for <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/search/label/his%20dark%20materials">the third season of <strong>His Dark Materials</strong></a> and <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/search/label/legend%20of%20the%20seeker">the second season of <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong></a> took up a <em>lot</em> of free time. <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/search/label/xena%20warrior%20princess"><strong>Xena Warrior Princess</strong></a>, not so much, as I wrote out those reviews for a message board years ago... <em>but </em>it’s been so long since I watched the episodes that I no longer recall the context of a lot of what I’ve written. Which means a rewatch is in order, which takes up even <em>more</em> time.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I did manage an in-depth look at <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2023/05/review-shadow-and-bone-season-2.html">the prematurely cancelled second season of <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong></a>, <em>and</em> two more playthroughs for games in the <strong>King’s Quest</strong> series: <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2023/03/kings-quest-romancing-throne.html"><strong>Romancing the Throne</strong></a> and <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2023/10/kings-quest-to-heir-is-human.html"><strong>To Heir is Human</strong></a>. Hopefully I’ll get to <strong>The Perils of Rosella</strong> during my break, which is a big deal in computer gaming history.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Below are the books, films and television shows I enjoyed most this year, and it’s interesting to compare this to my lists of 2021 and 2022 in order to see what medium I favoured. It was an <em>incredible</em> year for children’s graphic novels (books like <strong>Wingbearer</strong>, <strong>Cat’s Cradle</strong> and <strong>Lightfall</strong> are only omitted because they’re not completed yet) but not so much for television (probably because I spent a lot of time watching enjoyable but hardly must-see long runners such as <strong>Spooks</strong> and <strong>Sailor Moon</strong>).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">By the time you’ve read through it, hopefully another little member of the human race will have joined us in the world.</span></p>
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<span><a name='more'></a></span><p><strong style="font-family: georgia;">Brownstone’s Mythical Collection</strong><span style="font-family: georgia;"> by Joe Todd-Stanton</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Last year I read the first three books in this collection; this year I read the final two. Not picture books, but not exactly graphic novels either, these are stacked on the “sophisticated fiction” shelves in the children’s section at our library. This means they’re reasonably lengthy and mature stories with full-page illustrations.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Narrated by an elderly member of the Brownstone family, each book introduces us to a child who becomes renowned while still in their youth for the work they contribute towards the Brownstone legacy: collecting relics and treasures from world mythologies – and learning a few life-lessons along the way. <strong>Arthur and the Golden Rope </strong>(Norse), <strong>Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx </strong>(Egyptian), <strong>Kai and the Monkey King </strong>(Chinese), <strong>Leo and the Gorgon’s Curse</strong> (Greek) and <strong>Luna and the Treasure of Tlaloc</strong> (Aztec) comprise the series in its entirety, and each one is filled with Joe Todd-Stanton’s gorgeously coloured and detailed illustrations.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Once Upon a Hillside</strong> by Angela McAllister and Chiara Fedele</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There is a great premise behind this one: a single hillside in Dorset, England is used as a setting for seven short stories that take place between 4000 BCE and the modern day. Each one focuses on one or more children that live within the societal context of their time, whether it’s twins in the Roman Era, an apprentice healer in the Middle Ages, or a lonely young girl in Victorian times. The illustrations are bright and vibrant, and I especially loved the detail of each child finding an object that (unbeknownst to them) had once belonged to their predecessor.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Salt Magic</strong> by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As stated, this year was an absolute goldmine for children’s graphic novels. <strong>Salt Magic</strong> was one of my favourites, which is best described as a rural American fairy tale with a light dusting of folk horror. Clearly it had my name written all over it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Vonceil is delighted when her adored older brother Elber comes back from the war; less so when he proposes to the girl he left behind. Then a glamourous woman in white stops at the farm, making it abundantly clear that she and Elber have a history together. When he refuses her advances, she curses all the water on the land to run with salt. Naturally, it’s up to Vonceil to uncover precisely what’s going on.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rebecca Mock supplies the gorgeous illustrations, which perfectly captures the post-WWI Southwest: prairies, ranches, ghost towns, dugouts, moonshine distilleries – all within the context of Hope Larson’s old-world fairy tale. Loved it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Treasure in the Lake</strong> by Jason Pamment</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For this one, think <strong>Tom’s Midnight Garden</strong> merged with a Studio Ghibli film. Sam and Iris are two friends who follow a dried-up riverbed to a village that (up until now) has been totally submerged by the water. As they explore, they get separated, and only the reader is aware that each one’s adventure is unfolding in a completely different time-period.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As in all the best time-slip adventures, there are a number of clues for the reader to piece together – though the advantage of a graphic novel is that they’re all <em>visual</em> clues, strewn throughout the illustrations. And as with the other books on this list, said illustrations are gorgeous, with a rich colour palette: ambrosial glowing yellows for the flashbacks, and luminously deep blues and greens for the submerged village.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Daughters of Ys</strong> by M.T. Anderson and Jo Rioux</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All you really need to know is that after finishing this book, I <em>immediately</em> ordered my own copy. Sometimes a story comes along which is so relevant to one’s very specific interests that you can’t help but feel it was designed for you personally. <strong>The Daughters of Ys</strong> has it all: a pair of complex female characters with an equally complex relationship with each other. A retelling of an ancient myth that recontextualizes some of its obscure plot-points, and fleshes out the motivations of the main characters. A juicy ethical dilemma that has no easy answers. Absolutely stunning artwork that’s highly reminiscent of my beloved Cartoon Saloon films (though with much more gore and nudity). It has everything I love in a story.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCpQdP3_N79i7OMXlf1jvKT03lG2OcrZNVLCgYf9Oq6wm8KsqJhwBGOy2XOOxXXtRxpBXYWubfzkq1sND0sfJhEszhwl8jUoRbgp5_gcXqE64dtkqFz80BamBuAzqXOUHsEkNNHBsfNojsBGXCtjM4SWgEu0MRbU-wEtpb8LKyXfPh_eVSLDT1WanfhEn7/s540/!.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCpQdP3_N79i7OMXlf1jvKT03lG2OcrZNVLCgYf9Oq6wm8KsqJhwBGOy2XOOxXXtRxpBXYWubfzkq1sND0sfJhEszhwl8jUoRbgp5_gcXqE64dtkqFz80BamBuAzqXOUHsEkNNHBsfNojsBGXCtjM4SWgEu0MRbU-wEtpb8LKyXfPh_eVSLDT1WanfhEn7/s320/!.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Six of Crows</strong> and <strong>Crooked Kingdom</strong> by Leigh Bardugo</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m cheating a little, as I re-read <strong>Crooked Kingdom</strong> in January, but there’s a reason these books have been so mimicked within YA circles since their publication. Yes, there’s the pithy banter and the traumatic backstories that are so popular with this target audience, but Bardugo’s real innovation was in building upon the more standard fantasy fare of her first <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong> trilogy to deliver a story, world and array of characters that are strikingly different from what this genre usually provides.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">No Chosen One hero, no Dark Lord, no fight between the forces of good and evil – our protagonists are a gang of thieves and outcasts who are commissioned to save not the world but the economy by rescuing a scientist from a near-impenetrable prison complex; a scientist who has formulated a drug that will enhance Grisha abilities to near god-like power.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The stakes are nothing like those that usually dominate fantasy stories, including Bardugo’s own previous trilogy, and the heist that makes up the crux of the first book is surely one of the most satisfying examples of its kind in the genre. Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, Matthias, Wylan – they’re an unforgettable sextet of characters, and screw you Netflix for not letting their story play out in full.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Deathless</strong> by Catherynne Valente</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This book has come in for a bit of controversy in recent years, from turning Koschei the Deathless into a YA-esque love interest (he isn’t), to presenting the Siege of Leningrad as the result of wider supernatural forces at work (a bit dodgy), to accusations of cultural appropriation due to the fact Valente is not Russian herself (the debate that keeps on chugging).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m not entirely sure how to grapple with any of that; I can only say that my interest in <strong>Deathless</strong> lies in how it explores the cyclic nature of fairy tales and storytelling. Marya Morevna lives in the ever-changing landscape of post-revolution Russia, and yet the elements of the fairy tales she’s grown up with remain as stable and rhythmic as they’ve ever been: three sisters, three suitors, a dark forest, a beastly husband, an old hag, an array of kidnapped princesses...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To quote: <em>“That's how you get deathless, volchitsa. Walk the same tale over and over, until you wear a groove in the world, until even if you vanished, the tale would keep turning, keep playing, like a phonograph, and you'd have to get up again, even with a bullet through your eye, to play your part and say your lines...</em></span></p>
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<p><em><span style="font-family: georgia;">You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast. You will always run away with her. You will always lose her. You will always be a fool. You will always be dead, in a city of ice, snow falling into your ear. You have already done all of this and will do it again.”</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Spinning Silver</strong> by Naomi Novik</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m giving this one the honour of the best book I read this year, as like <strong>The Daughters of Ys</strong>, it is perfectly calibrated in order to cater to my very specific personal tastes. A retold fairy tale, an intricate puzzle-box plot, an array of strong and sympathetic heroines, and gorgeous prose that further elevates the story into something that’s genuinely thought-provoking.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Truly, there are so many elegant turns-of-phrase in this book that often I’d just sit back and ponder them for a while. Such as when one of its central characters is offered anything she likes from a demon, we’re told:</span></p>
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<p><em><span style="font-family: georgia;">“There was no temptation in it. Mirnatius had saved me from that forever. I don’t think I could ever have wanted anything enough to take it from his hands, with a demon smiling out of his hollowed-out face at me. I tried to imagine something that would make me do it: a child whose face I had not yet seen dying in my arms; war about to devour Lithvas whole, the hordes on the horizon and my own terrible death coming. Not even then, perhaps. Those things had an end. I shook my head. ‘No. Only leave us all alone, me and mine. I want nothing else of you. Go.’”</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Casablanca</strong> (1942)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Look, this isn’t considered the greatest film of all time for no reason. Just watch it already.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Company of Wolves</strong> (1984)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What the hell was in the drinking water when it came to making fantasy movies in the eighties? Because <em>damn</em>, we got some awesome stuff. This October I revisited Neil Jordan’s <strong>The Company of Wolves</strong>, based on a short story in <strong>The Bloody Chamber</strong> by Angela Carter, which utilizes dream sequences, embedded narratives, psychic visions, and stuff that is just plain weird to tell its tale. Roughly held together by the experiences of a prepubescent girl living in a medieval forest village, it scrabbles deep into a quagmire of symbolism, surrealism, fairy tale motifs, practical effects and eighties-fantasy ambiance, and drags you along for the ride.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can’t promise you’ll enjoy it, but I can promise you’ve never seen anything like it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The NeverEnding Story</strong> (1984)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Quite possibly the definitive film of my youth, and one of the rare examples of a childhood staple still retaining its power and wonderment over forty years later. My first experience with what I suppose we could call “meta-fiction”, I’m still engrossed by the dual storylines that make up the film, that gradually become more and more intertwined as the film goes on: sad and unpopular Bastian hiding away in the school attic to read a stolen book called “The NeverEnding Story,” and the tale <em>within</em> that book, about a young warrior called Atreyu trying to find a cure for the fantasy realm he lives in and its Empress – which appears to have something to do with the mysterious Nothing swallowing up the land.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The special effects still hold up, as does the soundtrack and the myriad of character actors in small but unforgettable roles. But the whole thing is carried by the performances of its three main child actors, who are just phenomenal as Bastian, Atreyu and the Childlike Empress.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Original author Michael Ende notoriously hated this film for (among other things) only adapting the first-third of his story – but to me, that’s what makes it such a perfect introduction to the book. Watch this, and then enjoy the rest of the story on the page.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Legend: Director’s Cut</strong> (1985)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This has been a cult favourite of mine for decades, but it wasn’t until this year that I finally watched the 2002 Director’s Cut, which added approximately twenty minutes worth of new footage: not whole new scenes, but rather a scattering of little snippets and extra lines of dialogue that filled out the runtime and deepened the experience.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because watching this movie is <em>quite</em> an experience. It’s like a fever-dream of elaborate soundstages, unicorns that sound like dolphins, Tim Curry as a giant red devil, little people as goblins, seasonal myths and dark fairy tales churned in a blender, and copious amounts of glitter. Much like <strong>The Company of Wolves</strong>, it’s hard to believe it’s even real, as nothing like it would ever be made today.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Coraline </strong>(2009)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A stone-cold classic, and a perfect companion piece to <strong>Salt Magic</strong> (see above) since each one works with the same fairy tale premise: a powerful witch wants something she can’t have, and only a tenacious child can stop her. Laika’s stop-motion artistry is at its best here, with luminescent colours and fluid movements that bring Neil Gaiman’s dark fairy tale to life, from its yellow-parka-wearing heroine to its terrifying metal-clawed, button-eyed antagonist.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At its plasticene heart is one of the world’s most ancient lessons: gifts from the fey always come with a price, so be careful what you wish for.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Puss in Boots: The Last Wish</strong> (2022)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The movie industry is currently being destroyed by sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, legacyquels and other examples of regurgitating old IPs... and yet once in a blue moon lightning will strike and deliver a film that proves the exception to the rule. There was nothing about a sequel to 2011’s original <strong>Puss in Boots</strong> movie, which was itself a spin-off to the <strong>Shrek </strong>films, that seemed promising, and yet <strong>The Last Wish</strong> is a complete delight from start to finish.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Everything Everywhere All at Once</strong> (2022)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This one defies any attempt to summarize its storyline in a cogent manner, so suffice to say it involves a tax audit, the multiverse, a laundromat, butt-plugs, sausage fingers, a raccoon that prepares food by sitting on people’s heads and pulling their hair, evil doppelgangers, and a middle-aged Asian-American heroine played by Michelle Yeoh who is special on account of her being completely ordinary. As the title suggests, it’s a movie about everything. Just watch it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Woman King</strong> (2022)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s been ages since I’ve watched a proper historical epic, and this ended up scratching an itch I didn’t even know I had. Set in the West African kingdom of Dahomey in 1823, it stars Viola Davies as General Nanisca of the Agojie, an army of warrior women who defend their land and king from outside hostility, and Thuso Mbedu as Nawi, a new recruit to their ranks.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The filmmakers know that the key to a good epic is to parallel the grand, operatic backdrop with a more intimate, deeply personal struggle. Here it’s the antagonistic bond that forms between Nanisca and Nawi, who butt heads frequently even as threats from the Oyo Empire and the Portuguese slave-traders intensify – and of course, they have to work together if they’re to be triumphant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But this simplistic description belies the deeper connection that these women share, and once it’s discovered, it captures the underlying theme of the film in its entirety: that hardship and happiness are inextricably linked. It’s a difficult truth to accept, but that one can emerge from the other (and visa-versa) is the very crux of Nanisca and Nawi’s dual journeys.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Nimona</strong> (2023)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was a long and winding road to this film’s release, with due credit given to Annapurna Pictures for completing the unfinished project after Blue Sky’s closure. Based loosely on the graphic novel by N.D. Stevenson, its titular character is a shapeshifting loner who doesn’t easily (or willingly) fit into any particular box. She eagerly teams up with a fugitive knight called Sir Ballister, who has just been framed for the murder of his queen, mistakenly believing that he’s a villain in need of a sidekick.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a story about identity and prejudice, lies and truth, self-perception and the assumptions of others – and of course, the dangers of all these things. I love the setting, which is a futuristic-medieval city (somehow, that fusion works) and the surprisingly twisty plot, which caught me off-guard a couple of times. Mostly though, it’s about Nimona in all her messy, complex, exuberant glory.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>M3gan</strong> (2023)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Camp, glorious camp. Don’t be fooled by the surprisingly serious opening, in which a little girl is orphaned in a car accident and forced to move in with her profoundly disinterested roboticist aunt. By the time said aunt realizes that she can outsource parenting duties to her state-of-the-art girlbot android called M3gan, we are just a side-step away from a full-blown black comedy. I’ve no doubt you’ve already seen the famous dance scene:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LBE1s1mt7Yg" width="320" youtube-src-id="LBE1s1mt7Yg"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a film with no narrative surprises whatsoever, from the nuisance dog to the fate of a bully to the way M3gan recalibrates her programming to murderous extremes, but is a complete blast from start to finish.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Interview with the Vampire: Season 1</strong> (2022)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The best adaptations aren’t the ones that neatly transpose the written words onto the screen, but the ones that delve into the source material, interrogate it, deconstruct it, and then rebuild it into something that is familiar but also fresh and innovative. That’s precisely what AMC’s <strong>Interview with the Vampire</strong> did with Anne Rice’s famous novel, which had already been give the slavishly faithful book-to-screen treatment in 1994.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whether it’s <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RaceLift">Race Lifting</a> Louis and Claudia into Black characters and exploring the implications of that, or framing the titular interview as the <em>second</em> time that Louis has sat down to a tête-à-tête with Daniel Molloy, or even expanding upon certain characters like Louis’s brother Paul, the whole project is engrossing and intriguing and thought-provoking; taking the narrative beats of Anne Rice’s story and reshaping them for a new audience.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Disenchantment: Season 1 – 5</strong> (2018 – 2023)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ll admit it, this is mostly here because I’m still stunned it managed to last as long as it did. The adventures of Princess Bean and her cohorts always seemed to be dangling on the precipice of cancellation, and yet she managed to snag all five seasons needed to tell her story to completion and swim off into the sunset with her mermaid girlfriend. Good for her!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bean was really the main drawcard to watching <strong>Disenchantment</strong>: messy, outspoken, directionless, and deeply loyal to her friends. From her shock of white hair to her big buck teeth, it was impossible not to get invested in her story. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Since first typing up this post, my sister’s daughter has indeed made her grand entrance into the world. Rowan Fisher has arrived on Planet Earth (I love that we share the same initials) and I highly recommend her.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-4717817988101544132024-02-01T22:17:00.000-08:002024-03-01T22:14:03.328-08:00Woman of the Month: Toph Beifong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JqLwO4WNT4gjR_sL3siUYlRl6ykImZ6z9kjOiP48K8z69UbgZhntNM8z_00AL-sRTxFqmwhaWtmG8uT32JlpPw5VPhGXL9qp3v-TQpY3v7ktZ5yLejYyUZVoZVDWE4E2LOr9YLr3rgJ-Se0Cy_7VygoGFDa7WQUQJospKEfE1fO613lLC3nAjhMAq-af/s1000/!!!!.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JqLwO4WNT4gjR_sL3siUYlRl6ykImZ6z9kjOiP48K8z69UbgZhntNM8z_00AL-sRTxFqmwhaWtmG8uT32JlpPw5VPhGXL9qp3v-TQpY3v7ktZ5yLejYyUZVoZVDWE4E2LOr9YLr3rgJ-Se0Cy_7VygoGFDa7WQUQJospKEfE1fO613lLC3nAjhMAq-af/s320/!!!!.webp" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Toph from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Avatar the Last Airbender</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Netflix’s live-action adaptation
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Avatar the Last Airbender</b> is imminent... which makes this the perfect time to
go back and watch the original animated show instead. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Besides the compelling plot and
beautifully realized world, the show offered a range of lovable,
three-dimensional characters – many of which were women (or girls). In fact,
it’s an absolute buffet of fascinating female characters, from the ostensible
lead Katara, to the terrifying villain Azula, to the supporting cast of Suki,
Ty Lee and Mai. Even minor characters like Ursa or Kyoshi or Aunt Wu are
brimming with life and vitality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which meant I was rather torn on
who to pick for this entry, especially since Katara is so woefully (or
wilfully) misunderstood by vast swaths of the fandom... but there’s no denying
there’s something special about Toph. Simply put: there are very few female characters
like her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In fact, she leaves such an
indelible mark on the story as a whole that it’s almost a shock to recall she’s
only in two-thirds of the show’s episodes; not appearing in the first season at
all. Not only that, but she was initially conceived as a very different sort of
character. Remember the introductory sequence that showcases the four types of
elemental bending? Water is Pakku, fire is Azula, air is Aang, and earth is...
some guy. Well, that was Toph’s original design before Aaron Ehasz pitched the
idea that the Avatar’s earth-bending teacher might work better (or be more
interesting) as a girl. And the rest is history.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Toph is first glimpsed in a vision
Aang has while traversing the swamplands, which depicts her as petite, elusive,
and finely dressed. When we eventually see her in the flesh, it’s in quite a
different context: as a contestant in a pro-bending tournament where she
effortlessly takes out fighters that are twice her size. And there’s room for
one more surprise: she’s known as the Blind Bandit on account of the fact that
she literally can’t see.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aang knows she’s destined to be
his earth-bending teacher, as someone who can “listen to the earth” and moves
with immense control and grace. Toph, however, is reticent – not least because
she’s living a double-life. It turns out she’s the only daughter of the Beifong
family, and because she’s been blind since birth, her parents are convinced
she’s a helpless and delicate invalid. Her earth-bending she learnt in secret
from the badger-moles; her talents have been kept completely hidden from her
parents.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's only when Aang is taken
captive that Toph is spurred to action, prevailing over an entire team of pro-bending
wrestlers single-handedly. She runs away from home to join Team Avatar, and for
the first time in her life – she’s free. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, there are some growing
pains when it comes to integrating herself with the others. She is, after all,
a poor little rich girl with something to prove. This means she’s going to look
after herself – and ONLY herself, foregoing any communal chores (that she
probably doesn’t know how to do anyway) and tending to her own needs. Naturally
she clashes with Katara, and when it comes to train Aang in the art of
earth-bending, she’s not exactly a wise and patient teacher. Her mentality is
one of tough love, and she’s going to throw as many rocks at her pupil as can
until he learns to stand up for himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also the issue of her
father sending a couple of bounty hunters after her, convinced that she’s been
kidnapped. They manage to track her down and separate her from her friends, but
in her time of utmost need, she concentrates on the metal enclosure surrounding
her, honing in on its natural ores and shaping them to her will. Girl just invented
metal-bending. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Toph is just one greatest hit
after another: storming the Earth King’s palace, taking on the entire Dai Li,
holding up a building as it’s sinking into sand, dismantling a Fire Nation
airship mid-flight, and my personal favourite: the full body metal shield. I’m
going to have to post the scene here because it’s Just. So. Cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Along with poking fun at her own
blindness (though she’s so capable that her friends can forget it’s even a
thing) and being the only one emotionally removed enough to point out that Zuko
is Aang’s best chance at getting a suitable fire-bending teacher, she’s also a
pretty great shit-talker. For all the show’s brilliance <i>before</i> she
turned up, it’s her introduction that really makes you feel that the secret
ingredient, the elusive X-factor, the <i>je ne sais quoi</i>, has ARRIVED. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s even some fun gender
commentary at work, from the discrepancy between her diminutive appearance and awesome
strength, to her frank enjoyment of gross-out jokes. I honestly don’t think
I’ve ever seen a female character prank her friends with fake armpit hair
before or since Toph did it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">She even gets the last line of
dialogue in the show (“well, I think you all look perfect!”) though the comic
books and sequel series <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The
Legend of Korra</b> explore
what happened to her in the years to come. Toph eventually opens an academy in
order to pass on her skills in metal-bending to others, before – rather
controversially – pursuing a career in law enforcement after ennui sets in. A
cop... <i>really?</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Much of her adult life is still
something of a mystery, having given birth to two daughters with different
fathers (maybe the upcoming animated films will shed more light on things) but
as an old woman she’s living as a hermit in the swamplands. She’s as crotchety
and sharp-tongued as you’d expect, and yet she’s clearly grown in wisdom and
compassion – traits she no doubt picked up from Aang. Helping restore Korra to
full strength and rescue her family from Kuvira’s captivity is her grand swansong,
and she departs the show with the words: “at some point you got to leave it to
the kids.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I could write more about her, but
this entry is already long enough. In summation, Toph Beifong is a force of
nature, a prodigy, a mould-breaker, and in her later years, something of an
enigma. She was one of the most remarkable aspects of what was already a
remarkable show: a girl from a sheltered background who is nothing like anyone
expects; someone who has raised herself up from profound vulnerability and made
her disability her greatest strength. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her impact cannot be understated, which
means one of my favourite scenes in the whole show is when Aang is fighting
Lord Ozai in the grand finale, and for a moment we see the world in “Toph
vision” – that is, the visual representation of how she uses her feet to feel seismic
vibrations in the earth. It gives Aang the upper hand in the fight – making
Toph instrumental in defeating Ozai when she’s not even<i> there</i>.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-35848037067427137642024-01-31T23:05:00.000-08:002024-02-06T16:43:10.382-08:00Reading/Watching Log #98<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">No, your eyes don’t deceive you, there are only books on the log this month – no films or shows save for the <strong>Doctor Who Christmas Special</strong>. This just sort of <em>happened</em> rather than being something I planned out; I’m still racing to catch up on all the posts I usually do for the end of the year, and there wasn’t much free time for anything else.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The two shows I am watching (<strong>Elementary</strong> and <strong>The Adventures of Robin Hood</strong>) are probably going to stretch into March, because February is when my annual leave kicks in, and I’m going to use it to finally get the quartet of <strong>Evil</strong>, <strong>Nancy Drew</strong>, <strong>The Great</strong> and <strong>Perry Mason</strong> under my belt. Three weeks of freedom to make up for my Covid Christmas!</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Disney Princess Comic Collection </strong>by Amy Mebberson</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNmnCut_a3YsOLPer25fkPF-VTt8jzSpjHYiRtqhE9B768JhdmYdduox-1x9d17HQiP64qBAfpfgooFE_hdq_YvfcltWQv3RWhINbQAb-DtYjUrARzRgOna_GG4eZuKvBHitDMBRgK_JCe9cTIqQL8wR3vyEKDQxxiS7oCm4KXqNYzLFgAwnrtGY1f_JI/s120/!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="80" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNmnCut_a3YsOLPer25fkPF-VTt8jzSpjHYiRtqhE9B768JhdmYdduox-1x9d17HQiP64qBAfpfgooFE_hdq_YvfcltWQv3RWhINbQAb-DtYjUrARzRgOna_GG4eZuKvBHitDMBRgK_JCe9cTIqQL8wR3vyEKDQxxiS7oCm4KXqNYzLFgAwnrtGY1f_JI/s1600/!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://amymebberson.tumblr.com/">Remember Pocket Princesses on Tumblr?</a> They were super-cute, and at some point the creator clearly got herself a deal with Disney as there have been several official collections in recent years. I can’t keep track of them all, but this one focuses mainly on Ariel, Aurora and Pocahontas, who each get infographics at the start of the book.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s comprised of simple comic strips, mostly only lasting a single page, which cover little “slice of life” glimpses into the princess’s lives – before, during or after the events of their movies. There are appearances from the princes and animal sidekicks, and you can usually pinpoint the time each one takes place through visual clues: Rapunzel’s hair, Snow White as a scullery maid, or the Beast as... well, still a Beast.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I did a tally, and it’s Belle who gets the most stories at five, followed by Moana, Rapunzel, Aurora and Ariel at four. Pocahontas, Snow White and Cinderella get three; Jasmine, Tiana and Merida get two each, and Mulan only one. There are plenty of hair jokes (Ariel uses Sebastian as a hair clip; Pocahontas gets a face full of her own hair in the wind) and some genuinely funny stories, like Belle coming into the kitchen and the appliances putting on another huge song-and-dance number, only to learn that she only wants a snack, or the Grand Duke learning that Cinderella’s advisory council is made up of mice sitting on her head, shoulders and lap.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mebberson has a very cute, distinctive style, which is best described as the original princess designs with slightly bigger heads on smaller bodies; a bit like bobble-heads. It sticks with the Roy Disney mandated rule that none of the princesses are allowed to interact with each other (unlike Pocket Princesses, they’re strictly within their own stories here) and oddly enough, there’s no sign of Elsa or Anna. There are a couple of glitches, such as Snow White asking Bashful to come out from beneath a “bench” that is clearly a barrel, but also some lovely details, such as Moana and her mother weaving flax in an otherwise unrelated strip.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was a cute diversion, and it was nice to see Mebberson’s artwork again.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Azula in the Spirit Temple </strong>by Erin Faith Hicks</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVSHPmw8D4jdNAIAmQn6-ERG7Nq9Kxe9IqkDUKsfSXd8Pqihvnt5pgi-j2_yHC44pG-sn4X2UP1laL_gsu9V32Pwfh76zOPL-nS0BcZMzPXGsHMiYQdUGv6dLH1KsNIJV_JKYAUBa6SZeT8SkO18lDKOxabYt0zw91UXpCerw2k1bo91XsBemNOCMnrcE/s120/!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="80" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVSHPmw8D4jdNAIAmQn6-ERG7Nq9Kxe9IqkDUKsfSXd8Pqihvnt5pgi-j2_yHC44pG-sn4X2UP1laL_gsu9V32Pwfh76zOPL-nS0BcZMzPXGsHMiYQdUGv6dLH1KsNIJV_JKYAUBa6SZeT8SkO18lDKOxabYt0zw91UXpCerw2k1bo91XsBemNOCMnrcE/s1600/!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is the latest instalment in the “girl-centric” line of <strong>Avatar the Last Airbender</strong> graphic novels, Dark Horse comics having seemingly put a halt to the ongoing post-show storyline in order to focus on specific characters at various points either during or after the events of the show. So far we’ve had Katara, Toph and Suki featured in these “spotlight” books, and now we’re turning to one of the show’s villains: Princess Azula.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Set after the events of the show <em>and</em> the graphic novel continuation, it depicts Azula hiding out in the forests of the Fire Nation with a new posse of warrior-women followers that she’s broken out of an institution. They’re engaging in petty acts of sabotage that they call a “destabilizing campaign,” and not really doing all that well.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Their latest strike is against a granary guarded by – among others – Ty Lee, who is now a Kyoshi Warrior. One of their number is captured as they make their escape, and the first quarrel erupts between the girls (who want to go back for their cohort) and Azula (who considers her capture an acceptable loss). The following morning, Azula wakes to discover the girls have abandoned her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Striking out on her own, she comes across a Fire Sage Temple in the middle of the forest, and makes herself at home. The temple’s sole caretaker is a little perturbed at her presence, but allows her to stay. That night, Azula experiences a range of illusions brought on by the spirit that dwells in the temple – and that’s it basically. That’s the story. It operates mostly as a chance to delve into Azula’s psyche a little (why is she like this? What does she want?) and teases the possibility of her redemption.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, because of upcoming movies overseen by the original creators of the show, <em>and</em> the fact that this is just a tie-in graphic novel, no actual character growth can take place. They’re obviously saving any real developments for the animated films, so here we get a bit of psychoanalysis, a cool spirit (a mix of spider and lizard) and that’s about it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Perhaps Azula takes a couple of <em>tiny</em> steps forward, as she decides not to punish her former-followers when she chances upon them again, but it’ll be interesting to see if these graphic novels end up being canon-compliant. Because this ends with Azula heading out into the wilderness by herself, which is a fair cry from where she was at the end of the show.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So it’s a fairly uneventful story, but there are some nice details throughout, such as Azula’s hair still being a little short and uneven. Hicks is good at capturing each character’s voice, and I can <em>hear</em> Grey DeLisle’s tonal inflections in the dialogue given to Azula (“Some are worthy, some will never be. I know the difference.”) There’s some grating <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AsYouKnow">As You Know</a> exposition here and there, and there’s no explanation given for why the temple caretaker gets so panic-stricken over Azula having bad dreams instead of peaceful ones, but on the whole – it’s fine.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Patterns in Time: An Anthology</strong> by various artists and writers</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLySjt-NdS-Fi1J59kzwAsJ_PMlrxlXHFcr0B83nWGNARrnfQeP4jKgC7bfYHBP9uKFmiGBaOkcQLxNFgsEE4Dy_77xvO2HSVqbOpYS-BCdDEkvcvsUxgLTFRTegc3a9kGj1CbWgvZuk8l700Iyq2ecYLXk936IC2DLIttT7E4v3D4306zwAdfxSeoFR6F/s120/!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="80" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLySjt-NdS-Fi1J59kzwAsJ_PMlrxlXHFcr0B83nWGNARrnfQeP4jKgC7bfYHBP9uKFmiGBaOkcQLxNFgsEE4Dy_77xvO2HSVqbOpYS-BCdDEkvcvsUxgLTFRTegc3a9kGj1CbWgvZuk8l700Iyq2ecYLXk936IC2DLIttT7E4v3D4306zwAdfxSeoFR6F/s1600/!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a nice little collection of comic strips pertaining to <strong>The Legend of Korra</strong>, with stories involving everyone in the show. I get the feeling that many of them have been published elsewhere prior to the release of this volume (I know I saw panels of the first story online years ago) but are collected here in a neat little package.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They range from reasonably long stories to single-page glimpses into the world of <strong>Avatar</strong>, and are set at various points of the original show’s run. My favourite was probably the one that detailed how Korra first met Naga, who is the cutest little puppy you’ve ever seen, and well-matched with the precociousness of little Korra. Naga never had as much presence in <strong>Korra </strong>as Appa did in <strong>Avatar</strong>, but this was a sweet story about how the two of them found each other.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are two Meelo stories (sigh), one about how he helped return pets to their owners after the evacuation of Republic City, and another in which he and Uncle Bumi take a fieldtrip to an air-bender island and end up gaining some insight into Aang and Tenzin. A lot of them aren’t really stories at all, but various characters just coming to terms with where they are in life, which has always been a big part of both shows: people talking out their feelings and gaining tiny bits of wisdom as they go.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For example, one story has Asami and her mother bonding over the plans for Republic City, another has Korra and Asami help Jinora find her inner peace. There’s a <em>very </em>short one about how the monk Laghima attained the power of flight, one about Korra’s training as a child and how isolated it made her feel, and one in which Tenzin tries to resolve the tension between his children by telling them a story about himself as a young man (we get to see Aang as a father!)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Except little cameos from the likes of Kai, Raiko, Katara, Toph, metal-bender cops and the Order of the White Lotus. Also, I dig that cover art: combining Korra and Asami with Raava, in an image that simultaneously looks like DNA <em>and</em> the spirit portal in the very last episode? Nice.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’s Christmas Shenanigans </strong>by Alex T. Smith</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Wp0lKv-FLvZju06JxafevrBBK1jUCth76ltVpIv25pvq-1ghmVRaQ7NwuhcMvhxLsudOPIaMnq6a4TMcVk9mzut1x6K-dZ1FSDWe8lfaXmgaAoGE1bmQInJHr167Rj-wbtbZvfp4qsA74hBO2NJz3yv3rzZqozLZZtvyD7c3Yz5CBLpwV2-thvk5wJFZ/s112/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="80" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Wp0lKv-FLvZju06JxafevrBBK1jUCth76ltVpIv25pvq-1ghmVRaQ7NwuhcMvhxLsudOPIaMnq6a4TMcVk9mzut1x6K-dZ1FSDWe8lfaXmgaAoGE1bmQInJHr167Rj-wbtbZvfp4qsA74hBO2NJz3yv3rzZqozLZZtvyD7c3Yz5CBLpwV2-thvk5wJFZ/s1600/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was planning to read this one in the lead-up to Christmas, but Covid put an end to that. In fact, this book and <strong>The Secret of Helmersbruk Manor</strong> (see below) were both designed to be read across the month of December, with twenty-four chapters per book. The idea is that you read one chapter per night all the way up to Christmas Eve, which would be a lovely thing to put into effect if you had children.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Though it’s obviously based on <strong>The Nutcracker</strong>, this retelling drops the mysterious ambiance of E.T.A Hoffman’s original story and the ballet for a more comedic take on the material, with a modern vibe that reminded me a little of Roald Dahl (who isn’t exactly <em>modern</em> these days, but definitely remains so in comparison to the 1816 release of the original story).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The story starts with the Sugar Plum Fairy trying to offset the shenanigans of the Mouse King by covering the Land of Sweets in a protective magical shield and giving the key to Walter the Nutcracker for safekeeping. Over in the real world, Clara and Fritz Strudel (not Stahlbaum) are celebrating Christmas, and thrilled with the presents brought by their mysterious Uncle Drosselmeyer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That night they creep downstairs, only to find a vehicle of mice trying to wrest a golden key from their nutcracker – and their adventure begins. Following the broad strokes of the original story, they must traverse the Land of Sweets to defeat the Mouse King (who isn’t really that bad – he just loves causing trouble). Just to put a ticking clock on the whole thing, Fritz is under a spell that is gradually changing him into a mouse.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can’t say I’m a big fan of the spiky, stylistic illustrations of this retelling, or the more comedic edge to the story. Even as a child, that aesthetic never appealed to me. Also, the Sugar Plum Fairy has rather inexplicitly been changed from a beautiful woman to a dumpy statesman (he kind of reminded me of the mayor in <strong>The Nightmare Before Christmas</strong>, but with candyfloss hair) and there’s nothing on the story of Princess Pirlipat or the Krakatuk. Why is this part always left out? It’s not part of the ballet either, and most people don’t even realize it exists!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a fun story and kids would probably love the experience of being read a chapter per night in the lead-up to Christmas, but it has none of the evocative mystery of the original story.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Secret of Helmersbruk Manor </strong>by Eva Frantz</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmmP45f57zM2umq859aPHg7_TX_wpIE0Nrkd_y2oN4SO2x-CIXnwlGtq983189-HFTbLha10OP4tY7lN8nseeEeZERGZvtm01ZcB_Qw14W93WGFNUw6YeGmqyQfpNriWVfeo_Br_qHKPsUylzL9v-ah0k4bWn5AGCrLxCpV8lxp3Qi7PFZego6BqOR1gs7/s113/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="113" data-original-width="80" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmmP45f57zM2umq859aPHg7_TX_wpIE0Nrkd_y2oN4SO2x-CIXnwlGtq983189-HFTbLha10OP4tY7lN8nseeEeZERGZvtm01ZcB_Qw14W93WGFNUw6YeGmqyQfpNriWVfeo_Br_qHKPsUylzL9v-ah0k4bWn5AGCrLxCpV8lxp3Qi7PFZego6BqOR1gs7/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As mentioned above, this also follows the “twenty-four chapters” format, with the intention being that the reader starts on the first of December and reads one chapter per night until Christmas Eve. Geared towards an older audience than <strong>The Nutcracker</strong>, this is more in line with the old Victorian ghost stories that were so popular back in the day (and still are to some extent thanks to the BBC’s <strong>A Ghost Story for Christmas</strong>).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Flora Winter travels with her mother to the seaside town of Helmersbruk for Christmas, glad to get some distance between herself and the bullies at her school, even if it’s only a temporary reprieve. Her author mother has come in the hopes that the fresh setting will provide her with the inspiration she needs for her new book, but Flora is the one that’s truly captivated by the empty Helmersbruk Manor, situated on the same property as the small guest house in which they’re staying.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As befits any self-respecting ghost story, strange occurrences start to happen almost immediately: porcelain figures of the Nativity start to appear out of nowhere, a strange boy in old-fashioned clothes introduces himself on the grounds, and there are eerie whispers in the night. More than this though, is the overpowering sense of hominess that Flora feels when she walks the gardens and circles the old manor – almost as if she’s been there before, though she knows she never has.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A lot of plot is at work in this book (I haven’t even mentioned the white squirrel or the main gates that don’t open to anyone but a select few) but it unravels pretty neatly and towards a logical conclusion. Perhaps a little <em>too</em> logical, as I feel there should always been a little bit of ambiguity and spookiness in any ghost story, but this one is very straightforward and gentle. There’s no sense of danger at any point, and at times it feels more like a time-travel story (which by design, must always have very carefully calibrated plots) than a ghost one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you like your Christmas ghost stories dark and creepy, this isn’t for you. If you’re after a light mystery with some supernatural trimmings and a Christmasy setting, then this would make a decent holiday read.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Jessi’s Babysitter </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc01mfjKuewAyL7A0fP5j0eTVydEJhlov9nEk8mKHcKfcWqdbuK32QinmquadCrg1awdhN3ZSWQHO6C_rWLvSWqCs6GjK0uwFrZ7APMAeOpKChKMgkdPSJ47ZMULEDuXrzvADx3m8FxmPkv_-42xGa51ocCXUtIdWRnrwSWP-zZ9GkOuPKQXPJdoq6Kjri/s102/!!!!!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="76" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc01mfjKuewAyL7A0fP5j0eTVydEJhlov9nEk8mKHcKfcWqdbuK32QinmquadCrg1awdhN3ZSWQHO6C_rWLvSWqCs6GjK0uwFrZ7APMAeOpKChKMgkdPSJ47ZMULEDuXrzvADx3m8FxmPkv_-42xGa51ocCXUtIdWRnrwSWP-zZ9GkOuPKQXPJdoq6Kjri/s1600/!!!!!!!.jpg" width="76" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is the fourth Jessi book and unfortunately not a particularly good one, especially since she’s had a solid run so far. The setup to the story can be found in the ludicrous events of <strong>The Babysitters Island Adventure</strong>, in which Claudia and Dawn were stranded on a deserted island with four children (including Jessi’s little sister Becca) while Jessi’s parents were out of town.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">During this time, Aunt Cecilia (Jessi’s father’s much older sister) came to Stoneybrook to look after Squirt – and essentially blamed Jessi for the entire boating disaster. Now that Jessi’s mother is going back to work permanently, the Ramseys have decided that Cecilia should move in with them in order to care for Squirt and do basic housekeeping while they’re out of the house.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It remains unclear whether Cecilia is being paid for these services, or whether the Ramseys think they’re doing HER a favour considering she’s been recently widowed and her own children are grown adults (like I said, she’d have to be Mr Ramsey’s MUCH older sister for any of this to make sense).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jessi and Becca are naturally apprehensive, all the more so when Cecilia lays down the law. She controls when they leave the house, what they wear to school, and how they care for Squirt. Annoyed that she’s being treated like a child, Jessi responds by playing pranks on her aunt (shortsheeting her bed, leaving fake spiders under her pillow, putting shaving cream in her slippers) which is of course the best way to prove you’re actually a mature and capable young adult.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the babysitting B-plot, specially designed to thematically resonate with the A-plot, Jessi helps Jackie Rowdowsky with his science fair volcano, only to completely take over the project – writing him a speech, doing the research, making a sign – to the point where he’s not having fun anymore. When the time comes for him to explain his volcano to the judges, all he can do is repeat the facts Jessi drilled into his head, with no understanding of how his experiment actually works.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you squint, I suppose it tracks – but there’s a pretty big difference between an eleven-year-old getting overzealous in helping another child with their science project, and a grown woman punishing her niece for being ten minutes late from a babysitting job by forbidding her to attend a Babysitters Club meeting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Most of this is the fault of the Ramsey parents, who apparently didn’t explain the rules of the household and their parenting framework to Cecilia when she first moved in so that everyone would be aware of what was expected of them. Instead the frustration escalates until Jessi has her “eureka” moment with Jackie, and the whole thing is cleared up with a simple family conference. Talking things out? Man, why didn’t anyone think of that in the first five minutes of this situation? There’s also a “yikes” moment in which Cecilia tells her nieces she’s strict because Black people often have to work harder to gain people’s respect, and Jessi immediately applies this to Jackie’s status as a klutz, who is constantly having to work overtime to overcome that stereotype of him. Um… no. Not quite the same thing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As an aside, the deserted island fiasco is brought up fairly frequently, and it’s hilarious every single time. The Babysitters Club books are generally pretty grounded, and the Super Specials grow increasingly absurd, so having one constantly reference the other makes for a tonally bizarre read.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also what feels like some foreshadowing here – once again Stacey remarks that she’s not feeling so great, and Mallory announces that her father’s job may be in jeopardy. Given that upcoming books are called <strong>Stacey’s Emergency</strong> and <strong>Poor Mallory!</strong>, I’m going to go out on a limb and say these comments are relevant to future stories.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Dawn and the Older Boy </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Kq3FtqUD2qEkHLDGZJ6_wC9HIIxuvlkt2o9gEm10ZcDLHE0i9s4iONEvCEkqOgqsMoeAPRb9X1CFbyaojjwY4DWdkbYukm6jNe_YkkO8CnYKSCw3RVKlIfKB0gBzAt25gDRw4A9sI-gDF51hPd5fuSuQ2lLHttF14AmQ8hBt8MbzZaIYLlO2fxm2YSw9/s102/!!!!!!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="76" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Kq3FtqUD2qEkHLDGZJ6_wC9HIIxuvlkt2o9gEm10ZcDLHE0i9s4iONEvCEkqOgqsMoeAPRb9X1CFbyaojjwY4DWdkbYukm6jNe_YkkO8CnYKSCw3RVKlIfKB0gBzAt25gDRw4A9sI-gDF51hPd5fuSuQ2lLHttF14AmQ8hBt8MbzZaIYLlO2fxm2YSw9/s1600/!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="76" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This one was just plain weird. On the surface, sure, a story about how a girl gets too caught up in a crush to realize that the object of her affection is treating her rather shabbily is a decent topic to tackle in a book series geared towards teenagers. But everything about <strong>Dawn and the Older Boy </strong>is just so bizarre, that any important life-lesson that could have been gleaned from its existence gets lost in the bewilderment. It’s one of those stories in which absolutely no one behaves in a normal human manner.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Let’s start with the cover. That guy on the right is meant to be sixteen. HAH! That individual is not a day younger than thirty-five.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the morning after a Babysitters Club sleepover party, the girls head downstairs to discover boys sitting around Kristy Thomas’s kitchen table, one of whom is called Travis. Dawn is instantly smitten. He’s good-looking, he eats health food, and he’s also from California. According to her: “Travis and I talked nonstop for the next half hour and I have <em>never</em> met anyone whose feelings were so close to my own. We could have been twins.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then Travis comes to visit Dawn at her house. Considering he’s in high school, this is a little weird, and the conversation is basically her nodding along as he talks about his car, and him interrupting her constantly in order to talk about all the friends he’s made and the clubs he’s joined since moving to Stoneybrook. Then out of nowhere, he gives her a necklace and some hairclips, encouraging her to wear her hair a certain way and trim it a few inches. “Think about it, okay? For me.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On another day, he picks her up from school unannounced, orders a meal for her at the restaurant they visit, continues to talk about himself incessantly, and then tries to talk her into getting extra holes pierced in her ears so she can wear the earrings he’s just bought her. She puts her foot down at this suggestion, and he gets annoyed with her. (And of course, when she finally gets home she’s in trouble for going out with a boy that Sharon and Richard have never met).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, all this is classic love-bombing with a side order of carefully testing the limits of how far Dawn can be pushed into doing what Travis wants. The bragging about how popular/good at sports he is textbook narcissist behaviour, and the controlling behaviour (ordering food for her, instructing her how to change her hair) should throw up red flags in every direction. Dawn is clearly being groomed by a predator.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, the book itself seems unaware of this. Just over halfway through the book, Kristy announces at a club meeting that Travis is dating a high-school girl. In trying to figure out what’s going on, Dawn ends up going to the high school and following the pair of them to the mall, where it becomes blatantly obvious that they’re on a date. Dawn confronts them, and Travis seems completely unfazed by it all – then when she calls him up to give him a piece of her mind (which is pretty awesome, by the way) he seems completely bewildered.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And sure, maybe that’s just another manipulation. He comes out with the old “you’re overreacting” comment, after all. But the way it’s written on the page, it really does come across as though Dawn is in the wrong for having misinterpreted Travis’s true intentions toward her. Which were...? Who knows? Either we’re dealing with a narcissistic psychopath-in-training or a closeted gay kid who just really likes giving makeovers. Perhaps in thirteen years’ time he ended up on <strong>Queer Eye</strong>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, the babysitting B-plot acts as a thematic mirror to what’s going on in the A-plot: in this case the Hobart kids want to put on a play that James Hobart has written, only for neighbourhood bully Zach (who at this point, really just needs to be told to fuck off already) to continually mock him and pressure him into doing something else.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, there’s a glitch in chapter twelve. All these books are told in first-person narration, though it can <em>feel</em> like a switch to third-person when the text moves into the experiences of other babysitters in the alternate chapters. But it’s <em>still</em> meant to be the narrator of the book recounting these adventures in babysitting, which means it’s a glaring fault when here, the text suddenly reads: “Then Mary Anne thought about Dawn and Travis and got an idea. Dawn would be sure to read the notebook. Maybe this was Mary Anne’s chance to tell her some things she’d been thinking about.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Why is Dawn referring to herself in the third person?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Wildsmith: Into the Dark Forest </strong>and<strong> City of Secrets </strong>by Liz Flanagan</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hjIAVn5yAGNydcbuOtGiEUtCnmavTBNymP6WGKvlSBjSodHHtfdbLoy7BDwg3Y4ORoehx7lh1HjAnB86JW1TALQsGwxZ1a2X11D-2dEoMFc8djyq1MTT6tzO3WmW3cJsONuIoY5bAXTNhCGYjAXn12Nd57315udcOfa68Ph6MZGxNjO4OQiCkxr09lRJ/s171/wildsmith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="171" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hjIAVn5yAGNydcbuOtGiEUtCnmavTBNymP6WGKvlSBjSodHHtfdbLoy7BDwg3Y4ORoehx7lh1HjAnB86JW1TALQsGwxZ1a2X11D-2dEoMFc8djyq1MTT6tzO3WmW3cJsONuIoY5bAXTNhCGYjAXn12Nd57315udcOfa68Ph6MZGxNjO4OQiCkxr09lRJ/s1600/wildsmith.jpg" width="171" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At the beginning of last year, I churned through plenty of Joe Todd-Stanton’s books, loving his artwork and subject matter. <strong>The Brownstone Mythical Collection</strong> in particular was a delight, featuring children having adventures in various mythologies. So, when news broke that a new book series called <strong>Wildsmith</strong>, illustrated by Stanton, was due to be released, it went to the top of my must-read pile.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The problem is, I was under the impression it was going to be another <strong>Brownstone Collection</strong> – large and fully coloured graphic novel/sophisticated fiction stories that would make the most of Todd-Stanton’s talent. Plus, with a title like that, I was expecting a dark faerie tale ambience like that found in Skye McKenna’s <strong>Hedgewitch</strong> (see below). I mean, look at those covers! They were clearly tailor-made for my specific interests.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instead, they were your standard children’s fantasy books, along the lines of <strong>Star Friends</strong> or <strong>Jewel Kingdom</strong> (admittedly, much better written than either of those). Though Todd-Stanton does indeed provide the illustrations, they’re small and in black-and-white, strewn throughout the pages.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My disappointment is somewhat unfair on the books themselves, which have committed no crime beyond not being exactly what I wanted them to be. The context of the overarching story is surprisingly dark for a children’s book. During a time of war, Rowan and her mother are forced to flee the city in which they live to seek refuge with Rowan’s grandfather in the Dark Forest, leaving behind their husband/father until the fighting ends.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rowan has never met her grandfather before, but he’s well-known in the community as a Wildsmith: that is, a person who can communicate with animals. Soon enough, it’s revealed that Rowan has this ability too, which comes in handy when helping the magical creatures currently being hunted by the enemy country, whose agents want to weaponize them. Dragons and winged horses are the featured animals in these first two books; given that the third is heading to the coastline, it’s safe to assume something like mermaids or selkies will be next.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So yeah, <strong>Wildsmith </strong>turns out to be a variation on those children’s book in which the young protagonists have to deal with the care and husbandry of mythical beasts, like the <strong>Magical Rescue Vets </strong>or <strong>The Rescue Princesses</strong> or <strong>Hattie B: Magical Vet</strong> books. Yes, those are all 100% real books. It’s a niche market.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This series so far feels less formulaic than those others, in that Rowan’s situation is rather fraught and has already changed significantly from one book to the next. They promote what you’d expect: kindness towards animals, open-mindedness toward those that are different, caution in times of danger – though it’s all still within the confines of what a young reader can handle.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Though at this point, I have to say it’s a little cringy that Rowan is white, and the two sidekicks she makes at her grandfather’s house are darker-skinned – especially since one of them fangirls over what Rowan can do while the other is resentful and jealous. That cover art, in which Rowan is flanked by the two of them, speaks volumes).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Stanton’s illustrations may be limited in terms of their size and scope (and the fact they’re all in black-and-white) but he still manages to infuse the characters with personality and the animals with vast quantities of cuteness. I’m not sorry I read, just sorry that it wasn’t something more.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Hedgewitch </strong>and <strong>Woodwitch</strong> by Skye McKenna</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLv9HZjfKMFl6ssDeLI33ljHR6O1t-SEJuUa0LrWPrBMOlNkLhSVhm59MAwzdmWzCmdbFlNTWiaMHe5_Hhyphenhyphend41wH7KZwXsC9yVv7LxYdZUlya-qjlJoPNF33vorwZSttcxQpdtBArZYnIYwv5xaRZvzrhLozg6-eJQ1osMtW8v7_vMPHm_rN2_yVJpKFp4/s171/hedgewitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="171" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLv9HZjfKMFl6ssDeLI33ljHR6O1t-SEJuUa0LrWPrBMOlNkLhSVhm59MAwzdmWzCmdbFlNTWiaMHe5_Hhyphenhyphend41wH7KZwXsC9yVv7LxYdZUlya-qjlJoPNF33vorwZSttcxQpdtBArZYnIYwv5xaRZvzrhLozg6-eJQ1osMtW8v7_vMPHm_rN2_yVJpKFp4/s1600/hedgewitch.jpg" width="171" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As above, I’m going to talk about these books together, as I read them consecutively and the events of the first have blurred into the events of the second. If you can get past the first few chapters, which basically feel like warmed-over <strong>Harry Potter</strong> (magically gifted child is stuck in terrible environment manages to escape with the help of a flying broomstick and a talking cat) then you’re in for a treat.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so fully immersed in the <em>ambiance</em> of a book, and this one beautifully assembles a small English village called Hedgely, filled with teahouses, cottages, farmlands, antique stories, cemeteries, ruins on the hills, and shops called “Marchpane’s” and “Widdershin’s”. I could wander those streets for hours.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Even better, the village is situated on the edge of a dark forest filled with ancient secrets and marked with weirstones that form the boundary between this world and the realms of Faerie.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I hate to continue this comparison, but the <strong>Harry Potter</strong> narrative formula is followed in that protagonist Cassie Morgan’s initiation into the world of magic is mingled with a mystery that she must solve – in this case, the disappearance of several children, not to mention what happened to her mother eight years ago, when Cassie was abandoned at her dreary boarding school.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It turns out that Cassie’s Aunt Miranda (her mother’s sister) is what’s known as the Hedgewitch: the powerful guardian that’s responsible for monitoring any movements between the denizens of Faerie and the human world. Once Cassie is safely ensconced in her home (filled with moving bedrooms, a secret library, and a tree growing in the entrance hall – can I move in?) she begins her niece’s lessons in witchcraft.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally Cassie meets a range of friends and foes, from fellow coven-members Rue and Tabitha (perfect witch names, though I had to roll my eyes at the inevitable inclusion of Ivy, the catty overachiever) to the live-in staff at Aunt Miranda’s cottage (every house like hers needs a full-time cook who can rustle up any number of delicious meals and snacks at a moment’s notice).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So the superficial comparisons to <strong>Harry Potter</strong> may continue (a male relative appears out of nowhere to gift Cassie with a superior broomstick; one of the adults in a position of authority is a traitor working the system from the inside) but the real charm of the book is in its setting and the plot-seeds that are being carefully sown throughout the page-count. This has apparently been planned as a five-book series, and you can tell that a much larger story is brewing, in which the threat of the Erl-King and the mystery of Cassie’s mother are intertwined.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As it happens, <strong>Hedgewitch </strong>was brought to my attention by Philip Reeve’s recommendation on his website, who said of it: “There are only two sorts of fantasy story: the ones that feel fake and the ones that feel real. It's hard to explain the difference but you know the real ones when you read them, and <strong>Hedgewitch</strong> is one of them.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I know exactly what he’s talking about, and Skye McKenna’s portrayal of Faerie is everything it should be: beautiful, dangerous, mysterious and intoxicating. J.K. Rowling’s use of magic was always a little too cartoonish for my liking, but here it’s rightfully depicted as deep and strange and unknowable. The vibe put me in mind of Neil Gaiman’s <strong>Stardust</strong>, especially with the use of the Wall (or in this case, the Hedge) marking the boundary between our world and Faerie, with all the hazards that naturally come with living in such close proximity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Between the stark, mysterious beauty of Faerie and the cozy warmth of Hedgley, I was in reading heaven.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>White Fox</strong> and <strong>White Fox in the Forest</strong> by Chen Jiatong</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6UZaCMzUFDecpVTzw02D4xh6IetqbQwix6KSwCTIsASOw6VRdKXtYa9HA-eIbcqmmzkPnGE7Ya-eGUs1f_qvDjgEg7nkQ6kycGmROwy6pMZ8lhN_fQk_pdMhRPw_3sXmh3a9sxj32XiGRDcM1poWpTZdgsu_2YW7chJ2Mc-jc2xzS0_nOyTg3iG5QxAw/s171/white%20fox%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="171" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6UZaCMzUFDecpVTzw02D4xh6IetqbQwix6KSwCTIsASOw6VRdKXtYa9HA-eIbcqmmzkPnGE7Ya-eGUs1f_qvDjgEg7nkQ6kycGmROwy6pMZ8lhN_fQk_pdMhRPw_3sXmh3a9sxj32XiGRDcM1poWpTZdgsu_2YW7chJ2Mc-jc2xzS0_nOyTg3iG5QxAw/s1600/white%20fox%20(1).jpg" width="171" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Even without the author’s name on the cover, I probably would have guessed that this was an English translation of a Chinese children’s book simply by the content and atmosphere. Not just the fact that a polar fox is attempting to be reborn as a human, but that (for example) he is helped by a young couple with a newborn baby who are shortly afterwards shot dead by a greedy land developer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There is a pervasive air of melancholy that’s shot through this entire book, culminating in our protagonist Dilah and all his friends <em>actually dying</em>. You know, for kids! (Granted, it really ends with Dilah’s spirit moving through a gateway into a new life, but it’s still the strangest thing you’ve read in a children’s book since <strong>The Last Battle</strong>).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dilah is raised by his parents in a remote arctic den, only to be suddenly orphaned one day when his parents are killed by hunters. Yup, it starts on a cheerful note as well. His mother survives long enough to return home and direct Dilah into uncovering a moonstone buried at the back of their den, which is said to have the power to guide any animal to a treasure that will transform them into a human being.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So his journey begins, in which he traverses land and sea, meeting various other animals along the way and struggling to make sense of the human world that surrounds them, filled as it is with such cruelty and destruction. It kind of reminded me of <strong>The Adventures of Milo and Otis</strong>, though with a more fairy tale ambiance considering the world that Dilah inhabits bears no resemblance to our own (he starts in the arctic, crosses some deserts, mountains and forests, then ends up on an island – all while travelling in what feels like a straight line).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve reviewed these two books together, as unlike <strong>Wildsmith</strong> and <strong>Hedgewitch</strong>, they really are two halves of a single story, with the first ending on a cliff-hanger. I’m not entirely sure what a child reader would make of this – it can get pretty intense at times, though I suppose <strong>Watership Down</strong> and <strong>The Animals of Farthing Wood</strong> are also aimed at kids, and they’re also full of tragic animal death.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Song of the Far Isles</strong> by Nicholas Bowling</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4zf2ngpzCom7hX5QW4UCXCwOm_wz3JWJvyp9hnXdtnzpN4AfdSRtvKZyAByHwQpmRd91C0KJsS7OJ19OhRokzrYlvrSX8mbU3ZYRc_qOtkDfoVgXQ7FEV-o8U8iwxdvo4o64GUseGEB8_QTcOeSnwE8ggloo1EpTG0qFI5LYRhamVSthhWykSfZ0miz_/s120/!!!!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4zf2ngpzCom7hX5QW4UCXCwOm_wz3JWJvyp9hnXdtnzpN4AfdSRtvKZyAByHwQpmRd91C0KJsS7OJ19OhRokzrYlvrSX8mbU3ZYRc_qOtkDfoVgXQ7FEV-o8U8iwxdvo4o64GUseGEB8_QTcOeSnwE8ggloo1EpTG0qFI5LYRhamVSthhWykSfZ0miz_/s1600/!!!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This book felt like a fusion of Diana Wynne Jone’s <strong>Cart and Cwidder</strong> quartet and Ursula le Guin’s <strong>Earthsea</strong> books, especially in regards to the archipelago of islands that most of the action takes place on. Maybe add a dash of Garth Nix’s use of musical notes as magic in the <strong>Abhorsen</strong> books, not to mention the presence of ghostly spirits that assist the living.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s not to say this is a pale imitation of any of those books; in fact, it was immensely refreshing to read a fantasy novel that had a straightforward beginning, middle and ending. Set in a fantasy world that is based on the Hebrides in Scotland, Oran is a young cithara player who lives on Drum Island. All her people have deep and lasting relationships to the musical instruments they play, which almost work a bit like Zodiac signs in terms of how each ordains their personality (there’s a chart at the beginning of the book that lists all nine instruments and what their players are like).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oran is a bit of a wild child, and regularly sails to a nearby island where she’s tutored in music by a strange hermit-woman who is bereft of her own instrument and claims she used to own one of the ancient citharas that were used in the creation of the world. Oran isn’t sure how much of this story she should take seriously, but she’s not about to turn down lessons from such a great teacher.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The story starts properly when envoys from the ruling government on the Headlands arrive at Little Drum and issue a ban on music, as decreed by the Red Duchess. This is almost beyond belief to the inhabitants of the island, as music is the very cornerstone of their culture. Most importantly, music keeps the ghasts with them, the souls of the deceased who are able to pass on their wisdom from beyond the grave. Without music, they’ll dissolve into the ether.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As such, Oran – a gifted musician – decides to sail to the Headlands and use her music to change the Duchess’s mind. With her is Alick, the ghast of a young boy who is also Oran’s best friend, and soon enough, the crew of a wandering band of pirate-musicians known as The Opera. There are a few interesting twists toward the end of the story, when more insight is given as to the Duchess’s ban on music, and some genuinely riveting scenes throughout – there’s one in which Oran is marched to the gallows in bright sunshine as she tries to process what’s happening to her that’s just chilling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s always a bit of a risk to make music such a big part of a written story, since obviously the reader cannot <em>hear</em> any of it, but the richness of this world and the obvious passion its people have for the music they make is well realized. The whole thing is written very neatly and concisely – again, that sounds like damning with faint praise, but it was a very well-structured and imagined book.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There was only one thing that really bugged me, and that was Oran’s total negligence of her friend Alick. As stated, he’s a ghast who is bound to his ashes, which Oran carries around in a pouch so that he can accompany her when she leaves the island. But to say she is careless with them (upon which his <em>entire existence</em> depends) is putting it mildly. To start with, she leaves the ashes in the hold of the ship, which inevitably get knocked over during a storm, which then leaves his manifestation missing certain features (such as an ear).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not great, but she’s learnt her lesson, right? Nope. Once she reaches the Headlands, she COMPLETELY FORGETS ABOUT HIM. Without close proximity to his ashes, he can’t travel with her, and yet she manages to leaves the pouch of his remains behind in a shop. I mean sheesh, with friends like these, who needs enemies? If he’d let her swing, I might not have blamed him. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Wildoak</strong> by C.C. Harrington</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOc66utCnlp-RqJ34IQMMQygiJZREkzmdbHK0anD8XNG_chl-mdG6-45EcxlYw5tTIxFIJy2u9soDzSqTSteMbKGIR4VlqT6fgMK1WnjuDVDBKxeyE7YtiYE4w9cNqUyO-P_p4DX3yZ71KAA2za3raESUqa_xeYkH3bt7SkQ1iyoSTOIqK9HvWszzj2XrX/s120/!!!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOc66utCnlp-RqJ34IQMMQygiJZREkzmdbHK0anD8XNG_chl-mdG6-45EcxlYw5tTIxFIJy2u9soDzSqTSteMbKGIR4VlqT6fgMK1WnjuDVDBKxeyE7YtiYE4w9cNqUyO-P_p4DX3yZ71KAA2za3raESUqa_xeYkH3bt7SkQ1iyoSTOIqK9HvWszzj2XrX/s1600/!!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was a thoughtful little book that follows the standard “child takes responsibility for a wild animal and grows up in the process,” with the added complication of young Maggie having a bad stutter. At the start of the book she’s resorting to self-harm in order to get herself out of talking at school, a situation mad worse by the fact her father is threatening to send her to an institution if her speech doesn’t improve.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Maggie’s last resort is a stay with her mother’s father in Cornwell. Having long been estranged from his daughter due to a fight with his son-in-law (yeah, Maggie’s father is a real piece of work) grandfather and grand-daughter are pleased to finally meet each other, and get along well in his secluded forest home.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But unbeknownst to Maggie, alternating chapters are relating the adventures of a baby snow leopard called Rumpus who has recently been brought at Harrods as a lavish gift (this book is set in the sixties, and yes, you really could purchase “exotic pets” at the famous department store). On realizing that wild animals don’t go well with luxury apartments, Rumpus’s new owner has him driven out to the countryside and abandoned on the side of the road.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, it’s only a matter of time before Rumpus and Maggie cross paths, and when they do Maggie finds in the snow leopard a way to heal herself – not from her stutter, which is permanent, but from her self-loathing and inability to stand up for herself.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To be honest, I grabbed his book off the shelf because its title and cover art made it look like a fantasy book that would go well with the other stories I read this month, but it ended up being something quite different. C.C. Harrington writes about Maggie’s stutter with insight and compassion, and has some beautiful turns of phrase when it comes to describing the forest and countryside of Cornwall.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She wisely decides on a bittersweet ending for her story: Maggie’s stutter doesn’t magically go away, and the Wildoak Forest of the title is eventually destroyed by land developers, but there’s still hope for the environment and conservationism – an epilogue has a grown-up Maggie giving a speech to an auditorium of people about those very subjects. She still has a stutter, but is able to communicate confidently.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Crooked Kingdom </strong>by Leigh Bardugo</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoQXgjFcWTTieB2FxEmkjsjYiWotqNPGJnp_Q5uEWYyl4MA6V5PgOFcwruxpy1wBV4USQJGfzDojO6oWGLvb54uQfbE3PIXnNrXyEca0lKuVwYcKp735f47-AHdIhoOiCmdfdC3i0H8cvDf7SdloykjQ51jSVHaBnzuBqx-EeLNVSn2cPbwTrivqbZ0YH/s120/!!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoQXgjFcWTTieB2FxEmkjsjYiWotqNPGJnp_Q5uEWYyl4MA6V5PgOFcwruxpy1wBV4USQJGfzDojO6oWGLvb54uQfbE3PIXnNrXyEca0lKuVwYcKp735f47-AHdIhoOiCmdfdC3i0H8cvDf7SdloykjQ51jSVHaBnzuBqx-EeLNVSn2cPbwTrivqbZ0YH/s1600/!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I re-read <strong>Six of Crows</strong> back in June last year, and then obviously stalled when it came to its follow-up. This was partly brought on by malaise in the wake of Netflix’s cancellation of <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong> which was <em>just about to get to the good part</em> of this particular story, but also because of the show’s odd decision to dramatize the events of this book in its second season – namely, Kaz’s vendetta against Pekka Rollins.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In hindsight, it’s obvious that showrunner Eric Heisserer was trying to clear the narrative floor so that he could give the Ice Court heist (the centrepiece of this duology) his full attention, not to mention the space and time he needed to properly do it justice. That’s the grim irony of this adaptation: everything had to be speedily dealt with in order to get to the part of the story everyone was <em>really</em> interested in, only for Netflix to pull its usual bullshit and cancel it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As such, it’s odd to read this and find the characters in <em>very</em> different places than they were at the conclusion of season two (for example: in the show, Inej is chasing slavers onboard her own vessel; in the book, she’s been kidnapped by Wylan’s father as leverage against Kaz). <strong>Crooked Kingdom</strong> takes place in the aftermath of the Ice Court heist, in which Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, Matthias and Wylan have successfully broken into the most impenetrable stronghold/prison complex of the Fjerdan nation and spirited away Kuwei Yul-Bo, the son of the scientist responsible for creating a drug that enhances Grisha powers to god-like levels.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, the existence of such a drug would cause havoc in political and economic circles, which is why the Crows were commissioned by Jan Van Eck to “rescue” its inventor. After his sudden but inevitable betrayal, the remaining Crows find themselves on the backfoot, with almost the entire city of Ketterdam eager to hunt them down for one reason or another.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A lot of this material was repurposed for the Crows’ plots in <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong>, but the book focuses more on rescuing Inej and then taking down Van Eck’s business empire. There are all the twists and turns and bluffs and fronts you’d expect from such a story, and Bardugo is to be commended for throwing a lot of narrative balls in the air and successfully juggling them right into the final chapter. A lot could have gone wrong, but the story remains succinct and elegantly plotted despite the risk of bloat and convolution.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, she commits to a bittersweet ending: the Crows may be triumphant, but there’s a heavy price to pay and not all of them make it out the other side.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the downside, there are quite a few “YA tells.” Too much dialogue is witty banter; there are too many obvious setups for pithy comebacks or overwrought declarations. “I would have come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together – knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting.” Come on, no one talks like this except a protagonist in a YA novel. You can almost see them preening for the reader. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Netflix really dropped the ball on this show, as it was about to crank into high gear, and (despite what some viewers insisted in the wake of season two) had a <em>ton</em> of emotional material left to explore – not just the Ice Court heist, but stuff like Wylan’s fraught family situation, Kuwei Yul-Bo, Jesper’s father, Nina and Matthias’s reconciliation, Dunyasha, the effect the jurda parem has on Nina’s abilities... gah, there was <em>so much</em> good stuff left over! As it is, we’ll never even get to see all Six of Crows together. I guess Matthias is just going to stay in that prison indefinitely.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Is it too much to hope that maybe it’ll get a reprieve? I mean, if <strong>Warrior Nun</strong> can get saved, why not <strong>Six of Crows</strong>?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Doctor Who: Christmas Special </strong>(2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHKG-Gx0eOt5nUyE5Ufs9pVtnX_32VH0fIKUllYimaAupTY1nxPy4_5wZHHcxp-bjVDGDqsYByGWwqWJRjGojqUQiCTTm9C1tPgybRO4DhtNSYkGbZT9zy1hNrsxN4Cy5pC1d98Zm0YaDCL4DXXj1KLcGicSMiafR0mYVDfj5EEkyju4oE2QH70kdf3QAf/s141/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="94" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHKG-Gx0eOt5nUyE5Ufs9pVtnX_32VH0fIKUllYimaAupTY1nxPy4_5wZHHcxp-bjVDGDqsYByGWwqWJRjGojqUQiCTTm9C1tPgybRO4DhtNSYkGbZT9zy1hNrsxN4Cy5pC1d98Zm0YaDCL4DXXj1KLcGicSMiafR0mYVDfj5EEkyju4oE2QH70kdf3QAf/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="94" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ncuti Gatwa is off to a thundering start, and it looks like Russell T. Davies was telling the truth when he said he was going to lean into a more fairy tale vibe for the show. This episode gives us goblins, flying ships, changelings and an orphan girl left on the doorstep of a church at Christmastime. It even starts with the words: “once upon a time.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The formatting of a standard <strong>Doctor Who</strong> season never strayed far from the formula of “overarching storyline with a few standalone episodes sprinkled throughout” (which was taken wholesale from <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> – if you’re gonna steal, steal from the best) but Davies is back in form with a Christmas Special that deliberately leaves plenty of unanswered questions. Who dropped Ruby off at the church? Who is the elderly neighbour who knows what a Tardis is? Stay tuned.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Every new Doctor needs a new Companion, and Millie Gibson is certainly enthusiastic enough in the role – though so far Ruby seems a bit like a Rose redux, except she comes with a mysterious backstory because apparently Rose wasn’t quite special <em>enough</em>. (Not helping is that they’ve already announced Varada Sethu is replacing her next season, which makes it hard to invest knowing her story is over before it’s even begun).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are some fun ideas involving the concept of coincidences and happenstance, a giant falling snowman, plenty of kooky side-characters who have names like Cherry Sunday, an obvious budget increase, and the Doctor dancing in a nightclub while wearing a kilt. Also, we’re still referring to gravity as “mavity” so there’s no way that’s going to be a one-off joke.</span></p><p><!-- wp:paragraph -->
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<!-- /wp:paragraph --></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But more than all that, there’s a palpable sense of <em>joy</em> and <em>excitement</em> that feels like it’s been missing from the show for a while. It’s a great start for a new Doctor, so let’s bring on the rest of the season.</span></p>Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-66239441097962776512024-01-27T00:37:00.000-08:002024-03-28T01:48:32.488-07:00Women of the Year: A Retrospective 2023<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is now my mission to write up all the end-of-year posts that I usually have finished by this point in time, but which I’m running behind on thanks to that pesky Covid-induced delay.</span></p><!--wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"}-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, this is my annual post of female characters I watched or read about during the course of the year who <em>didn’t </em>make the cut for Woman of the Month, but were still engaging and noteworthy. It also works as something of a retrospective concerning female characters <em>in general</em> for 2023, specifically in the realm of mainstream pop-culture entertainment.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_pgx08Tvm4PQgU70OrtUzU8ttdnp1fniAl6uhKJsu6LqPsrm6diCAA8u91zOmLdNT6TCgB2r2z9o4yMhwBD3I2GM23DYG1onnzWBUJxEH-0IsTHVKDI7OeXfNZPDQwEtWBG9kZc_Pdcqpr0nxtmpek73q1Rw6WkG-apvkXD_hpQOjIOKCWEJtcOam7fM/s3264/women%20of%20the%20year%202023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="3264" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_pgx08Tvm4PQgU70OrtUzU8ttdnp1fniAl6uhKJsu6LqPsrm6diCAA8u91zOmLdNT6TCgB2r2z9o4yMhwBD3I2GM23DYG1onnzWBUJxEH-0IsTHVKDI7OeXfNZPDQwEtWBG9kZc_Pdcqpr0nxtmpek73q1Rw6WkG-apvkXD_hpQOjIOKCWEJtcOam7fM/w400-h133/women%20of%20the%20year%202023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, there were the usual problems: women getting fridged to motivate a male character, writers being blatantly terrified of any complexity or shortcomings in their depictions of women (which inevitably leads to accusations of girl-bossing or Mary Suedom) and women who are genuinely spunky and charming, but who never actually get to impact the plot in any meaningful way (Marion Ravenwood, Kitty Softpaws, Cara Dutton...)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plus, there is still that pervading assumption that women have to be relatable role models – which means that when characters like Evelyn Quan Wang or General Nanisca come along, it feels like a genuine (and glorious) shock to the system.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But my main issue with female characters in 2023 is simply that there wasn’t much to get excited about. With one obvious exception (she’s blonde and shares her name with an outdoor cooking device) it was a fallow year for female characters – at least in the media I consumed.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Part of <em>that </em>had to do with the fact I simply didn’t watch as many shows or films this year. Because I’ve been burned so many times with unceremonious cancellations on streaming services, I ended up sticking with shows that aired decades ago (<strong>Spooks</strong>, <strong>Sailor Moon</strong>, <strong>Elementary</strong>) which left me with a much smaller pool of female characters to choose from. For the first time <em>ever</em>, I had to skip a Woman of the Month post and write it out later, simply because I had so few options.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And more generally speaking, there just didn’t seem to be many compelling female characters on display this year. I’ll have more to say about that in a bit, but for now, here are some of the women worth your attention from an otherwise not-hugely-inspirational year...</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cara Mason from <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong></span></p>
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<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZdAaMTQrWbAZYyf0ctWtuVqPQvSCw3ITDhn6NHIMVWzv8PwK6lgsYjsYA6shSLwLeSLJe8jrZhbx1ECiVwKmpUeVp6SWHMJ7ot6ArWwDPS23JC5tekk1BOCcwX34RGGfnZ5IRQPAPqh3BATd60ydsaROWvId5AvIJ2vu-i3xPhd5WH2RX_4BZzaofjrr/s3000/!.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="2250" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZdAaMTQrWbAZYyf0ctWtuVqPQvSCw3ITDhn6NHIMVWzv8PwK6lgsYjsYA6shSLwLeSLJe8jrZhbx1ECiVwKmpUeVp6SWHMJ7ot6ArWwDPS23JC5tekk1BOCcwX34RGGfnZ5IRQPAPqh3BATd60ydsaROWvId5AvIJ2vu-i3xPhd5WH2RX_4BZzaofjrr/w150-h200/!.webp" width="150" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2023/01/woman-of-month-kahlan-amnell.html">Woman of the Month</a> for 2023 was Kahlan Amnell, and I always planned to include her frenemy Cara in this end-of-year retrospective, after having watched and reviewed the entirety of <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong>’s season two, where most of her development takes place (she having made her debut in the very last episode of season one).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That didn’t work out entirely to plan, but during my stint with Covid I <em>did</em> end up binge-watching the last six episodes of the show so that I could give Cara a fully-informed write-up. In many ways Cara was designed to be the deliberate inverse of Kahlan, just as Mord Sith in general were a dark reflection of the Confessors.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like her sisters, Cara was taken from her home as a child and raised in the ranks of the Mord Sith, subjected to brutal training that culminated in her having to kill her own father. Able to deflect any form of magic used against her and resurrect the dead with her Kiss of Life, she was a formidable opponent in battle, and staunchly loyal to the cause in which she was cultivated: service to Lord Rahl.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her wake-up call comes when she’s transported along with Richard to a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BadFuture">Bad Future</a> in which all of her lord and master’s plans have essentially come to fruition – and it’s not pretty. The world is enslaved, her sisters are dead, and Rahl’s son is close to wiping out the last vestiges of free will. She can’t ignore the reality of what life would be like if she remains committed to Rahl, and so switches her allegiance to Richard in order to prevent it from ever happening.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, her sisters are not particularly understanding about this decision, and after they ambush her and leave her for dead (cutting off the distinctive braid of the Mord Sith for good measure) Cara permanently aligns herself with Richard. Of course, her self-justification is that he’s of the Rahl bloodline and the new heir to the D’Haran throne – but it’s clear that she simply doesn’t have anywhere else to go.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Across the course of season two, Cara rediscovers parts of herself that she assumed were gone for good: the truth about her father, her capacity for remorse, her ability to make decisions on her own rather than just follow orders – all of it lends itself to her growth.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because the Mord Sith and Confessors are such natural mortal enemies, it’s deeply rewarding to watch Kahlan and Cara gradually warm to each other, to the point where they’ll fight each other in a “let me die first to give you a better chance of surviving” scenario. As Kahlan learns the truth behind Mord Sith training and the levels of pain and suffering that Cara went through, she softens towards her new travelling companion. In return, Cara discovers that she can place her trust in another woman, completely free of the messed-up power dynamics that define the Mord Sith.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The writers are to be commended that they never introduced a full-blown love triangle between the two women and Richard, and the episode in which Cara realizes Kahlan is willing to accept her, even after the murder of her sister, is a real eye-opener. Among these people, she can let down her guard and figure out who she is without judgment.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cara never loses her spiky edge or sardonic attitude, but she also proves to be an interesting subject in the “nature versus nurture” debate. So much of who she is and what she knows was instilled within her by the Mord Sith, but at the same time, she has a wellspring of honesty and honour that feels like it runs deeper than the training inflicted upon her. It’s a damn shame the show ended when it did, as there was clearly still plenty of material left to explore as she continued her journey back into humanity.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At first glance, it’s hard not to roll your eyes at the premise of Cara: a dominatrix-style bisexual badass who learns to love again (especially when you take into account the obvious projection of author Terry Goodwin’s own sexual hang-ups onto the concept of the Mord Sith). And yet the writers of <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong> did something rather incredible with that clichéd, male-gazey foundation, and turned Cara into a genuinely complex and sympathetic character.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yoon Se-ri from <strong>Crash Landing on You</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95xXTCwMS1FmP2PfkNYgYSSG2JAmvpADkTZtqdtIL158ZYBex0w1fSqMvYDx8y1fenUCG8T06uMdnhLa8TjuKDuEaGSDfb94YbA2KquTSFFkOWn9lItZ-HrV2ynMuHgzTfVu4zEDupAS3wXWcIiwyHpb9_gzXOHzNUld_XJZ7KusiXR9jYDHfMkYZfvlu/s719/!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95xXTCwMS1FmP2PfkNYgYSSG2JAmvpADkTZtqdtIL158ZYBex0w1fSqMvYDx8y1fenUCG8T06uMdnhLa8TjuKDuEaGSDfb94YbA2KquTSFFkOWn9lItZ-HrV2ynMuHgzTfVu4zEDupAS3wXWcIiwyHpb9_gzXOHzNUld_XJZ7KusiXR9jYDHfMkYZfvlu/w167-h200/!!.jpg" width="167" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It took me an embarrassingly long time to finish this Korean limited-series drama, but I always knew I was going to see it through for the sake of Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jeong-hyeok. She’s a workaholic South Korean CEO from a wealthy but dysfunctional family; he’s a committed North Korean captain who discovers Se-ri when she crash-lands in the Demilitarized Zone after a storm blows her paraglider off-course.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you squint, you can kind of see some Nina/Matthias from <strong>Six of Crows</strong> vibes here, in that two people from countries in conflict (or at least heightened tension) have to work together to survive a life-or-death situation. The big difference is that Jeon-hyeok is already a well-adjusted guy with a mature understanding of right and wrong, and it’s instead Se-ri who must go through a life-changing ordeal in order to come out the other side as a better human being.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet she is a surprisingly complex character <em>before</em> her stint in North Korea: not a spoiled brat, but a hardworking entrepreneur – to the point where her father is ready to announce to the rest of the family (including her two older brothers) that he plans to make her the sole heiress to the Yoon business empire. But she also casually dates celebrities, has a reputation for being a demanding boss, and nurtures odd eating habits that have earned her the nickname Princess Picky.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Clearly there’s something substantial missing from her life – in fact, it’s her attempt to fill the void inside her that leads to her signing up for a paragliding excursion in the first place. As such, Se-ri’s adventures in North Korea are not part of some wildly ambitious narrative that culminates in her forging a lasting peace between the two nations, but a character study that charts the course of Se-ri coming to terms with her own life.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Though she’s already successful in the monetary sense, Se-ri gains inner peace and self-love thanks to her experiences in North Korea, something that no amount of material wealth can buy a person. The show in its entirety is a gentle, compassionate portrayal of how people can be deeply alone even when they’re surrounded by others, and how Se-ri subsequently learns to break down barriers between herself and the world.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She may not attain a <em>completely</em> happy ending with the man she loves, but neither does her journey of self-discovery require her to give up her lifestyle or career in order to become a tradwife in a smalltown. Instead, it grants her a fuller, richer outlook on life that she's able to share with others.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaioh from <strong>Sailor Moon</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjBbB0e8bqsRIaxQpM8ohO1XJeG2nNwfWN1g2jPvD3-NBNaJn7uEGsVGrKEWaqn1-VXs0CbIuFz5NCyrZAvE2YQTrz6tMGqqNFSDtd5tGX_pQh8ISwt6WRv1tkMTrxzFw83qhF66ikiNzqIiEXGd-aGjzHDrZUbtLnH9JUZayZtZA-FxQFZsf7TNUSTLv/s500/!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjBbB0e8bqsRIaxQpM8ohO1XJeG2nNwfWN1g2jPvD3-NBNaJn7uEGsVGrKEWaqn1-VXs0CbIuFz5NCyrZAvE2YQTrz6tMGqqNFSDtd5tGX_pQh8ISwt6WRv1tkMTrxzFw83qhF66ikiNzqIiEXGd-aGjzHDrZUbtLnH9JUZayZtZA-FxQFZsf7TNUSTLv/w200-h200/!!!!.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I worked my way through the entirety of Sailor Moon’s adventures across 2022 and 2023, courtesy of Christchurch City Libraries and their recent purchase of all five series on DVD. That’s rate-payer money well spent.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I knew that Haruka and Michiru (better known as Sailor Uranus and Neptune) made their first appearance in season three, and I was very much looking forward to their debut since I don’t think this show ever aired past mid-season two on New Zealand television back in the nineties (and even then, it was with the dub that Angelized the Japanese names and cut most of the episodes to shreds. Remember the “Sailor Moon Says” segments hastily edited in at the end of each episode? I’m pretty sure they were conceived by some harried executive attempting to off-set the sheer weirdness of the anime he’d been handed).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And so of course, even if my country <em>had</em> made it up to season three and beyond, the obviously Sapphic relationship between Haruka and Michiru would have been hastily edited and patched over with a case of: “They’re cousins. Totally cousins.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That the two were a lesbian couple back in the nineties is a staggering thing to conceive, and I can only chalk it down to same-sex relationships being less of a cultural taboo in Japan than in America at the time (unfortunately, I simply don’t know enough about the context of all this to write about it with any great insight).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, all the censorship in the world couldn’t hide the fact that Haruka was a male-presenting woman. Her clothing, her haircut, her height – all of it led to the Sailor Scouts getting googly-eyed over her when she first appeared... and even a little bit <em>after</em> they found out she was a woman. Haruka was going to shake up gender assumptions whether the censors liked it or not, and I can only imagine the fervour of the conversations taking place on internet message boards back in the day. I mean, the dub can <em>say</em> they’re cousins, but then how do you explain the body language between them?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In terms of characterization, Uranus and Neptune provided a deliberate contrast to the original Sailor Scouts by being much more gung-ho in their fight against evil. For them, the ends justified the means when it came to completing the mission, and (aside from their relationship with each other) nothing was allowed to get in the way of achieving it. Things like collateral damage were just an unfortunate side-effect of the job.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, a little time spent in the company of Usagi relieves them of this mentality, and the pair become much less zealous about mowing down innocent civilians in their bid to catch the bad guy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But either way, there was something iconic about the pair of them, from Neptune’s aquatic hair to Uranus’s towering stature – the show even side-steps any “your anus” jokes by pronouncing the word as Yer-RIN-iss. You just can’t forget the image of the two of them driving away in that convertible, the wind blowing through their hair; so utterly free and uninhibited. I can only imagine the effect they had on LGBTQ+ teens back in the nineties.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Holga Kilgore from<strong> Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXbrCONwNhpr26FaX19entZCUf4XPCqGn4msFO5es8g9oCF0YVY5Jp3us04FAKY5HtjDeBFGqNkf8Mph-U_mS2jXh47LUeQKvbmK3vn1eZ2D29oCCsiDowvWvg7JHoZFaj0tOyPZ9W4P5ySdIEZdw7G9l5i2lb4HNQIw3Lb4W9Vtdp2Ltw09VLe3R5VnfX/s640/!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="360" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXbrCONwNhpr26FaX19entZCUf4XPCqGn4msFO5es8g9oCF0YVY5Jp3us04FAKY5HtjDeBFGqNkf8Mph-U_mS2jXh47LUeQKvbmK3vn1eZ2D29oCCsiDowvWvg7JHoZFaj0tOyPZ9W4P5ySdIEZdw7G9l5i2lb4HNQIw3Lb4W9Vtdp2Ltw09VLe3R5VnfX/w113-h200/!!!!!!!.jpg" width="113" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Honour Amongst Thieves</strong> was the very definition of a romp, and much of that had to do with its cast of characters, who together form one of those <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RagtagBunchOfMisfits">Ragtag Bunch of Misfits</a> that are so much fun to watch take on the establishment and win.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Most notable amongst this particular bunch is Holga the Barbarian, and though it’s not much of a stretch to have Michelle Rodriguez play a tough girl, the combination of physical strength and prowess in battle alongside a genuinely caring and motherly nature is what makes for a surprisingly nuanced character.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She comes into Edgin Darvis’s life after the murder of his wife at the hands of the Red Wizards, stepping in as a surrogate mother to his daughter Kira. Thankfully she does <em>not</em> turn out to be a replacement love interest to Edgin (he isn’t her type; she prefers diminutive halflings) and instead the two enjoy a brother/sister relationship as they raise Kira and formulate heists.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s not a huge amount to say here, only that I enjoyed this character and her multitudes. It would have been too easy to make her either a monosyllabic warrior in furs who clubbed things with oversized weapons, or a kind and nurturing mother-figure who puts her entire life on hold to assist a single dad in the raising of his child for no good reason.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instead, she’s a fully-formed character, and her backstory ends up being surprisingly affecting. After the initial laughter of realizing that her ex-partner is Bradley Cooper cameoing as a halfling, the pair of them end up having a heartfelt conversation about their elopement and subsequent breakup that isn’t remotely played for laughs. Holga was banished from her tribe in order to be with him, and her inability to get over that fact is what doomed the relationship.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a complicated scenario, and leaves Holga with a determination to prove her worth to the world... something which turns out to be realizing her value to the new family she’s built. Aww.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miryem Mandelstam from <strong>Spinning Silver</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIpMfUusLwUfQiUxbCfVa52shcwv9hHkVtK9hfnWYKE2fd_B-cWgFSoXqSJSS2BhcC-Cr_YgxZMfOuBk9sVE0Qzv7QlhWNG53Rl4yii88P5Ja-3-8GxcQTdxgsHRx039u28VCorrjMeDA4LJgm_5-zWud1bcBRf1WWzinIOcLoYbIMfng0YSbv0L5IJ4V/s224/!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="193" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIpMfUusLwUfQiUxbCfVa52shcwv9hHkVtK9hfnWYKE2fd_B-cWgFSoXqSJSS2BhcC-Cr_YgxZMfOuBk9sVE0Qzv7QlhWNG53Rl4yii88P5Ja-3-8GxcQTdxgsHRx039u28VCorrjMeDA4LJgm_5-zWud1bcBRf1WWzinIOcLoYbIMfng0YSbv0L5IJ4V/w172-h200/!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="172" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was easily one of my best reads in 2023, a book that was tailormade for my specific interests: a retold fairy tale, a puzzle box plot, insightful prose and female characters; a <em>surplus</em> of them, who furthermore have complex and fascinating dynamics with each other. A young woman thrust into a powerful position who comes to rely utterly on the unexpected wisdom of her elderly nurse. The love between a girl and her mother, which persists even after the memory of the former has been removed from the mind of the latter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Most significantly, a deal that is made between two women with absolutely nothing in common beyond the fact that both are beleaguered by supernatural beings with destructive designs... why not then contrive a way to pit these two entities against each other? This scene in particular made for such a fantastic reading experience – it’s a rare thing when a book truly <em>thrills</em> you as this one did.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Such is the richness of the book’s characterization, I could have chosen any of the book’s three protagonists for this entry: the poor farmer’s daughter Wanda, trying to protect her siblings from an abusive home. Irina, a minor noblewoman whose father finds a way to magically engineer her entry into the royal court and the path of the unmarried tsar. But it’s really Miryem, the Jewish daughter of a moneylender, who is the book’s most vital character.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Living in an unspecified Eastern-European country, Miryam’s soft-hearted father is leading the family into ruin with his inability to collect payments from his debtors. Miryam takes over the business and finds herself well-suited to the task, even if it means stirring up resentment within the community.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But because they live on the borders of Faerie, the Elf (or Staryk) King gets wind of Miryam’s boast that she can transform dross into silver – and kidnaps her with the intention that she’ll do the same for his treasure hoard.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The compelling thing about Miryam’s experiences is that we are never made to forget how vulnerable she is: despite her intelligence and determination, she’s still a Jewish woman living among gentiles who hold no small amounts of antisemitic prejudices against her. The Staryk court is a field day compared to her Christian neighbours, and author Naomi Novik is excellent at exploring the sheer amount of <em>work</em> that Miryam must put into keeping herself alive, keeping her loved ones safe, and doing what she knows is right.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Perhaps the book's most powerful moment is when Miryam choses to try and save the Staryk world for the sake of the three servants that helped her while she was in captivity. When her father desperately tries to talk her out of it, he quotes scripture: “Are there even ten righteous men among them?” She replies: “I know that there are three.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This balancing act she must manage, the moves and counter-moves, the knowledge that even the wrong word or facial expression could spell her doom – it’s riveting stuff. At times the book brushes up against some of my most disliked romantic tropes, but Miryem is such a force of nature, someone guided so strongly by her beliefs and convictions, that she simply washes away any of the unpleasant implications of Novik’s dodgy understanding of love. This is a woman whose life revolves around debts and repayments, who ends up learning that there are some things within herself that cannot be bought or sold, that she herself owes a debt to concepts like common decency and shared humanity, and that people have an obligation to themselves and others – it is a strength of spirit I rarely see in this type of fiction.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ada Harris from <strong>Mrs Harris Goes to Paris</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ib_K1jO8sokbXzw3kXpsDnhwA-qKr3F-vPIv1apWF5lGOJfVzLDdh7Yaor82wP1ceOlbHR1mcdep7XUF9Wnn6ObTujMDQQXiF8osJQNdAYYw6MGNZb83HYCIs95Tay9uwTKQAESxY8l5VSbEs231GC0l69c4qTpK9OGRd0yxkHzRc0W49iWj-047gl0_/s1800/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ib_K1jO8sokbXzw3kXpsDnhwA-qKr3F-vPIv1apWF5lGOJfVzLDdh7Yaor82wP1ceOlbHR1mcdep7XUF9Wnn6ObTujMDQQXiF8osJQNdAYYw6MGNZb83HYCIs95Tay9uwTKQAESxY8l5VSbEs231GC0l69c4qTpK9OGRd0yxkHzRc0W49iWj-047gl0_/w200-h200/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was a very sweet little movie, and we could all do with more heroines like its titular character – in life and in fiction. A cleaning lady in her sixties, Ada Harris has lived her entire life in the service of others, whether it’s looking after their homes, mending their clothes, or offering them emotional support in times of trouble. Gentle-natured and hard-working, she has only one glaring fault: she’s <em>too kind</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This has given people leave to take advantage of her generosity, as she’s all too willing to waive a fee or work into the night to attend someone else’s needs.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But at long last, for what is possibly the first time in her life, she decides to treat herself. She saves up her pennies and travels to Paris to buy a real Christian Dior dress of her own – not a lofty ambition relatively speaking, but one she diligently works toward. Naturally, Paris is full of places to go and people to meet, and after her fair share of tribulations, she purchases her much-coveted dress.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Alas, another act of misguided kindness sees it destroyed when she lends it to a young woman who gets too close to a bar heater. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apparently, the original book by Paul Gallico ends with Mrs Harris coming to terms with the loss by realizing her adventures in Paris were more important than the gown. She helped a young girl find her confidence, brought two lovebirds together, befriended a hermit, and led the employees of Christian Dior on strike. But the film cannot reconcile itself to this more philosophical conclusion, and so has Mrs Harris’s friends in Paris pull together to make her a brand-new dress – the one she <em>originally</em> wanted before another mean-spirited customer deliberately outbid her for the design.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So Ada finally gets her chance to shine, reminding us that although kindness is important – and ultimately rewards her – one should be careful about how much you give and to whom you give it to. There is a limit to how many times you should put yourself second.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kamala Khan from <strong>Ms Marvel</strong> and <strong>The Marvels</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwNa4o3hlO6RV2qze2rgmeo6wbAx65P7c8A_Qyf0r-7Q5m2l60H_EJFOr83bkyeawG1jJ_0bafkeg6HJn_GwPRlPVZDCznbNbYObq8Zu0q0Q8OdX_vmY73nEncXqe_Wfhlfp1BD_Aq_h-H-Hvz9PniNNFxLt5kjSMImMZMTjKfVPq-cc_4eYYx2H9Z0zU/s261/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="208" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwNa4o3hlO6RV2qze2rgmeo6wbAx65P7c8A_Qyf0r-7Q5m2l60H_EJFOr83bkyeawG1jJ_0bafkeg6HJn_GwPRlPVZDCznbNbYObq8Zu0q0Q8OdX_vmY73nEncXqe_Wfhlfp1BD_Aq_h-H-Hvz9PniNNFxLt5kjSMImMZMTjKfVPq-cc_4eYYx2H9Z0zU/w159-h200/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.png" width="159" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, I’ll confess. I broke my MCU hiatus to see Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan. I’ll cop to not knowing a thing about this character, but Vellani looked so charming in various interviews and in what little promotion <strong>The Marvels </strong>was able to get, that I wanted to support her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her origin story is to be found in <strong>Ms Marvel</strong>, in which an old bangle that once belonged to her grandmother gifts her with the power to create “hard light.” Kind of like Green Lantern. Being a massive Captain Marvel fan, as well as a budding comic-book artist and cosplayer, Kamala is thrilled at the thought of being a superhero, and starts to practice her newfound abilities around Jersey City.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, she has to face the usual teenage obstacles: an overbearing family, unrequited crushes, the popular mean girl, homework – but given Kamala’s background, we’re also given a look at more culturally specific issues: police profiling, her brother’s wedding, politics at the local mosque, and her family’s involvement in 1947’s Partition of India.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In <strong>The Marvels</strong>, a second bangle is found by the film’s villain, who naturally wants the other one to go with it. This brings Kamala into Captain Marvel’s orbit, and naturally she can barely contain her excitement as she meets her idol and goes on an intergalactic adventure to other planets... even if some of her hero worship is whittled away in the face of Carol’s more questionable decisions.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ll admit I’m wrung-out by superhero stories, but Kamala’s grounded nature and bubbly enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air for the MCU. The stinger promises more adventures to come, and they’re dropping <strong>X-Men</strong> hints like breadcrumbs, so maybe Kamala will be the shot in the arm that this franchise needs.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a shame <strong>The Marvels</strong> didn’t do better at the box office, but the MCU has been struggling for a while now, and things had to come to a head at some point. It was essentially death by a thousand cuts, though I can’t say I buy the “too much homework” excuse though. It reminds me of how certain audiences insisted they were baffled by the fluid chronology of Greta Gerwig’s <strong>Little Women</strong> (though they had no complains about a similar tactic in Christopher Nolan’s <strong>Dunkirk</strong>) and in this case they seemed to be bewildered by the idea that Monica Rambeau has grown from a child to an adult in the time-skip between movies.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Watching grown men pretend they can’t understand the concept of <em>time</em> in order to criticize a film with women in it sure is something – in fact it’s reminiscent of a scene in <b>Ms Marvel </b>in which a character is unable (or unwilling) to pronounce Kamala’s name properly. So long may her story continue.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rosaline “Ros” Meyers from <strong>Spooks</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09rRWMhtPT8GE_C0kg7kvo03SO2vmzjw1uEZDUxomz6fgrQxWWkafILRXZ4B_jFbtojInf23KA5neFVGy-FJQ_RrO3ijgPmKmgcDy22wzFIXwbVVPLpreHDaNxuIKo9XeH45qigkWss0o1pzlw2f7SMnsU-nNGk0Lt1464Dp4mM2O8iJ2Nh2YKJzRqrA2/s395/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="283" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09rRWMhtPT8GE_C0kg7kvo03SO2vmzjw1uEZDUxomz6fgrQxWWkafILRXZ4B_jFbtojInf23KA5neFVGy-FJQ_RrO3ijgPmKmgcDy22wzFIXwbVVPLpreHDaNxuIKo9XeH45qigkWss0o1pzlw2f7SMnsU-nNGk0Lt1464Dp4mM2O8iJ2Nh2YKJzRqrA2/w143-h200/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="143" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s been a difficult year for choosing Women of the Month candidates. Back in February I had just started watched <strong>Spooks</strong>, and <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2023/03/woman-of-month-zoe-reynolds.html">picked Zoe Reynolds</a> (played by Keeley Hawes) as that month’s chosen character.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet had I the power of hindsight, I probably would have gone with Ros Meyers, who not only ended up sticking around for a lot longer than Zoe (despite being introduced later) but was essentially the show’s de facto female lead for most of its ten-year run. When you think of the cast of <strong>Spooks</strong>, you’ll probably envision the team dynamic that she was a part of.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At first glance, the two characters are similar: short blonde hair and a cool demeanour, but where Zoe could still be a little idealistic and unseasoned, Ros had ice-water running through her veins. She never cracked, she never faltered, she barely smiled. I could only watch in helpless awe. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The irony of that is she was technically introduced as one of the bad guys, the daughter of a man who was part of a right-wing conspiracy to take control of the government. Sent in to gather intelligence on MI5, she ended up realizing the true severity of what they were attempting to pull off and switched sides, eventually rising up the ranks and taking the position of Section Chief. It was a long and arduous journey, filled with inappropriate love affairs, faked deaths, an unexpected relapse into working as a mole for another shadowy cabal, and accidentally shooting one of her junior colleagues in the line of duty – all culminating in her death while attempting to rescue the paralyzed Home Secretary from a hotel rigged with explosives.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At her (extremely small) funeral, someone comments on how she was as much of an enigma in death as in life, and during her stint on the show we only got a few glimpses into her private life. At one point she takes a shooting victim to an acquaintance’s house for off-the-record medical attention, and the audience is left to infer that he’s a former lover Ros is willing to endanger for the sake of the greater good. More highlights include distracting the bodyguards of a man she’s just knocked out by flashing them, or testing the quality of a transmission by mentioning that her perfume is made from the glands of cats.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All this understates the quality of Hermione Norris’s deadpan comedic timing. On taking a suspect to an undisclosed location, he morosely comments on how cold and sterile safehouses always seem. She turns to him and says: “I live here.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In short, she was cold, staunch, terse, pragmatic, efficient and <em>so much fun</em> to watch. I wish I could siphon off some of that “I don’t give a shit” attitude, since it’s very rare that you see a character who honestly doesn’t care what other people think. She didn’t.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Princess Buttercup from <strong>The Princess Bride</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKknoE37X9zW12qWz6x8fEu8KFrpbmyXuPCVpGtnE4UCR8KagAeZr3wyL3ba59B7rK6htWvXCkupO6lhumDLxVe_vVtms9gvYLEHn28E-9mlFZJqm4guebdLzf3GlXRipamtojS4h8eECDTd56XOCcVcyIgHTo2Uq-iQp-BMvlIWe4k0N9VTh8jlD1mQ5B/s980/!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="760" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKknoE37X9zW12qWz6x8fEu8KFrpbmyXuPCVpGtnE4UCR8KagAeZr3wyL3ba59B7rK6htWvXCkupO6lhumDLxVe_vVtms9gvYLEHn28E-9mlFZJqm4guebdLzf3GlXRipamtojS4h8eECDTd56XOCcVcyIgHTo2Uq-iQp-BMvlIWe4k0N9VTh8jlD1mQ5B/w155-h200/!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" width="155" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I watched a ton of eighties fantasy movies last April, and was somewhat surprised at how good many of the female characters are. Princess Lili is the most important plot-mover in <strong>Legend</strong>, Sarah goes through significant character growth in <strong>Labyrinth</strong>, and Sorsha was my <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2016/11/woman-of-month-sorsha.html">Woman of the Month</a> back in November 2016.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But I kept coming back to Princess Buttercup, especially after reading Cary Elwes’s autobiographical account on the making of the movie. In truth, all this entry needs is the full quote of what he had to say about Robin Wright’s performance as the titular princess:</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><em>Looking back, I think Robin’s performance in </em><strong><em>The Princess Bride</em></strong><em> is vastly underrated. Her role was to play the victim: a young woman who goes through a lot of trauma having lost her true love, but who has to essentially look beautiful in the process. That was Robin’s job: to look like a woman who would inspire a young farmhand to leave home and set off in search of wealth and security so that he might one day be worthy of her hand in marriage.</em></span></p>
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<p><em><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sounds easy enough, right? Most people think if you’re blessed with the right bone structure, or if you just let the makeup and lighting crew do their work, all you have to do is bat your eyes at the camera and your job is done with a role like that. Not quite.</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><em>Buttercup falls in love, loses her love, gets kidnapped, is forced into an arranged marriage, reconnects with her one true love, and then lets him go in order to save his life. It really requires a great deal of emotional range. What it doesn’t require – or at least doesn’t display – is the comedic talent for which </em><strong><em>The Princess Bride</em></strong><em> is so well known. Goldman wrote a screenplay that we now know is filled with great, classic, funny lines. Unfortunately, few, if any, of those lines are given to Buttercup.</em></span></p>
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<p><em><span style="font-family: georgia;">Robin is not merely the victim in the film; she is also the straight man (or in this case, the straight woman). And even though Westley is not exactly a comedian, he does have some funny lines, and is involved in some rather broad physical comedy. Robin’s character is permitted no such relief. From start to finish, she had to play it straight, exactly as the role demanded.</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Any actor will tell you that playing the embodiment of virtue is the most difficult role you can take on, mostly because it can be so damn uninteresting. Buttercup fares a little better than most, in that she has an amusing bratty streak, but it’s still a difficult needle to thread. Despite being the titular character, around whom all the plot revolves, she’s a remarkably passive character, with only a few scenes of proactivity (leaping overboard, pushing Westley off a cliff, bargaining with Humperdinck for his safety, nearly committing suicide... yeah, it’s not a great list).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She embodies the pros and cons of being a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DamselInDistress">Distressed Damsel</a>: on the one hand, you don’t get to do much beyond get dragged around by other characters, on the other, your importance is highlighted by just how obsessed everyone else is with your safety and freedom. You’re relevant and desirable... but then, is that a good thing? Your worth depends entirely on a man’s opinion of you – and this movie makes it clear that a <em>lot</em> of Buttercup’s worth lies in her extraordinary beauty.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But then, it’s a satire. The whole <i>point</i> is that it’s vaguely ridiculous. We can apply all sorts of critique to this film and the character of Buttercup: she doesn’t pass the Bechdel or the Mako Mori Test; she’s a passive damsel in distress for most of the runtime, her beauty is her most commendable attribute, she’s essentially a <a href="https://fanlore.org/wiki/Sexy_Lamp_Test">Sexy Lamp</a> for the entire third act... and yet we love her anyway.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And it’s because she personifies something we all want to believe in: true love, and utter faith, and absolute conviction. I’ve always loved her confrontation with Humperdinck, when she defiantly tells him: “Westley and I are joined by the bonds of love and you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords,” but it is her book counterpart that does her the most justice, stating with unreserved confidence: “it doesn’t matter whether you sent the ships or not. Westley will come for me. There is a God; I know that. And there is love; I know that too; so Westley will save me.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ginger and Brigette Fitzgerald from <strong>Ginger Snaps</strong> trilogy</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qQxpSDzK74ddsgrMg1Mgb-uoabyn48Qy1RRuHIjt7GPQBQFW5ZQc8w9dsVQB8WLe1bAJxoJN6jqt4_buGBVsScYKc7I2FcyW9YXjPSNINmiGWVJqeS71Vjuzesm8sBO6C03jrsk1huxPHei5xAmBX4sP3wTgJat0ZDf3J51c985KJ7V_ZXRZJ6Zf3P8T/s400/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="320" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qQxpSDzK74ddsgrMg1Mgb-uoabyn48Qy1RRuHIjt7GPQBQFW5ZQc8w9dsVQB8WLe1bAJxoJN6jqt4_buGBVsScYKc7I2FcyW9YXjPSNINmiGWVJqeS71Vjuzesm8sBO6C03jrsk1huxPHei5xAmBX4sP3wTgJat0ZDf3J51c985KJ7V_ZXRZJ6Zf3P8T/w160-h200/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I watched a lot of werewolf movies last October, and you won’t be surprised to learn that women weren’t particularly well-served in any of them (except for <strong>The Company of Wolves</strong>). But after having watched the original <strong>Ginger Snaps</strong> film back in 2020, I followed it up this year with the two sequels. Well, technically one sequel and one prequel.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The original has since become a cult classic; the story of two misanthropic sisters with a death fetish who plan to be “out by sixteen or dead on the scene, but together forever.” Their hobbies include taking photos of their own staged deaths (complete with sharp implements and fake blood) and playing elaborate pranks on the school bully (the movie starts with them on their way to kidnap her dog).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, they sound like terrible people, and they sorta are. But when Ginger is attacked by a wild animal, she starts to undergo the inevitable “this is a metaphor for female puberty and sexuality” transformation, leaving her sister to scramble for a cure. There’s a deep poignancy in Brigette having to face the true ramifications of their sisterly “out by sixteen or dead on the scene” pact, realizing that death isn’t the glamourous, hardcore ‘fuck you’ to the world they’ve always imagined it to be.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The two follow-ups aren’t quite as powerful, with Ginger reduced to an antagonistic hallucination in <strong>Unleashed </strong>as Brigette gradually succumbs to the werewolf curse, while <strong>Ginger Snaps Back</strong> is even stranger: a prequel that places the sisters in colonial Canada with no explanation as to whether they’re meant to be the girls’ identical ancestors, or reincarnations, or alternate-world counterparts.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, this final instalment at least has a more upbeat ending for them, with the two of them sharing in the werewolf curse and vowing to face whatever comes next as an undivided pair. The trilogy as a whole is focused on the sisterly bond between them, capturing that “you can have my kidney but not my charger” vibe that all siblings have, whether they’re squabbling or plotting or fighting or desperately trying to save each other.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plus, the entire premise essentially revolves around Ginger getting her first period, so how could she <em>not</em> be on this list?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><u>Honorary Mentions:</u></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Marion Ravenwood from the <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> franchise</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lPWq1Vh-tLt0SJ9J5_KWQWcPja7PojuuQ904C8zdvLaCZuWc4-bF6Xri31WKOL7wgQhhlUKu3aQucfHvzQ0Pzf6uMLaXvXU-f18_iuk1XqMJ8XhIoJuOL-mBfY4FU2e7IyWry1PIWYDKTW8AJVjgR8ROsG7VX4qjrrxgjwV2-7OnzpfqjLRPniFDQY3i/s908/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lPWq1Vh-tLt0SJ9J5_KWQWcPja7PojuuQ904C8zdvLaCZuWc4-bF6Xri31WKOL7wgQhhlUKu3aQucfHvzQ0Pzf6uMLaXvXU-f18_iuk1XqMJ8XhIoJuOL-mBfY4FU2e7IyWry1PIWYDKTW8AJVjgR8ROsG7VX4qjrrxgjwV2-7OnzpfqjLRPniFDQY3i/w132-h200/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" width="132" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Why is Marion in the honorary mentions and not the above list? Because despite her spunk and her indisputable status as the best of the Indy girls, none of the films in which she appears really do her justice.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My biggest frustration with <strong>Raiders of the Lost Ark</strong> is that despite being such a firecracker, she never gets to impact the story in any meaningful way. I watched carefully during my latest rewatch, and her contributions amount to shooting a guy in Nepal and using a machine gun to take out some Nazis while in the grounded plane (after which Indy has to save her from the cockpit, because she’s unable to open it by herself). Even her big scene when she drinks Belloq under the table becomes a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NegatedMomentOfAwesome">Negated Moment of Awesome</a> when the Nazis cut off her escape attempt.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In <strong>Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</strong>, she drives a boat off a cliff and only avoids killing everyone thanks to <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotArmor">Plot Armour</a>. Her appearance in <strong>Dial of Destiny</strong> amounts to a mere cameo, albeit a very touching one.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, I do realize that Indiana himself is something of a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PinballProtagonist">Pinball Protagonist</a> in <strong>Raiders</strong>, whose actions have no bearing on the outcome of the story (in fact, you could argue he makes things <em>worse</em>) so it might seem disingenuous to criticize Marion’s character for something Indy’s is also guilty of... but this was the creative team that gave us Princess Leia, for heaven’s sake. Leia took charge, made decisions, gave commands. She was no Princess Buttercup. More importantly, you cannot extract Leia from <strong>A New Hope</strong> without fundamentally altering its narrative structure. With Marion... you probably could. (And you can't say that of Buttercup either).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But this was the year in which I watched all five <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> movies, so I wanted to acknowledge her somehow. The character was carried by the sheer charismatic force of Karen Allen’s performance, and so gets an honorary mention here. As Cate Blanchett said of her: "She's just this extraordinary, liberated presence on-screen. I remember seeing her for the first time in <b>Raiders</b> and just thinking there was no other heroine I'd ever seen as free and as feisty as that. She really created something that was utterly inspiring."</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rozenn and Dahut from <strong>The Daughters of Ys</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEpoCRYjPjoHVxneqIHHq8GyabBkRMh-ueyFSZRvUTWQlMPtWkJ1Yu4mtz2Jy9UiJeOJThpWiwSTb4Fu3Smdgzka-2U7bAqAwIC1YzSo9VkRMOMwYvqZNN2tveSJ7IUVkI5aMFfExEI7x8fhG8ezfBepgznXIqS4gzZuKI6sv55E0rcpgoR7aNyn13ncH_/s600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="430" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEpoCRYjPjoHVxneqIHHq8GyabBkRMh-ueyFSZRvUTWQlMPtWkJ1Yu4mtz2Jy9UiJeOJThpWiwSTb4Fu3Smdgzka-2U7bAqAwIC1YzSo9VkRMOMwYvqZNN2tveSJ7IUVkI5aMFfExEI7x8fhG8ezfBepgznXIqS4gzZuKI6sv55E0rcpgoR7aNyn13ncH_/w143-h200/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" width="143" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This one is an honorary mention because neither of these women would qualify as heroines – though at the same time, I loved reading about these two sisters and their fraught relationship with each other, with the nature of power, and with their island kingdom of Ys.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rozenn and Dahut are the daughters of the king and recently deceased queen of Ys. At first glance, they fit into the standard older/younger princess types: the elder is more responsible, foregoing the decadence of court in order to spend her time among the commonfolk, whilst the younger revels in the pomp and glamour of the court. Rozenn learns practical skills; Dahut dabbles in the same magical powers her mother possessed. Rozenn is down-to-earth and nurturing; Dahut is vain and flirtatious. Rozenn enjoys a chaste romance with a fisher-boy, while the more sexual Dahut has a string of lovers.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's initially very clear what sister fits into the role of “the good one” and which is “the bad one.” And yet as the book goes on, it becomes clear that it’s not that simple.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We eventually learn that the prosperity of the island kingdom relies entirely on the sacrifices that Dahut has to make: a lover is regularly murdered and thrown to the ocean. This is what keeps Ys afloat, though it’s apparent that Dahut finds this burden as heavy as it is inescapable. If she doesn’t commit these dreadful crimes to keep their island home in splendour, then who will? Meanwhile, Rozenn is actively turning a blind eye to the problems at court, choosing to ignore trouble instead of taking action against it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The great irony is that the plot ultimately turns on Dahut betraying her sister by seducing her lover, but then deciding to show mercy by not sacrificing him to the sea. Calling this “a kindness” after Rozenn has caught them post-coital, Dahut then finds herself the target of the forces that have demanded blood for all these years...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now, I am a strong believer in people taking responsibility for their own decisions, and at no point does Dahut try to get herself <em>out</em> of the devil’s bargain she finds herself enmeshed in (at least, not until it’s too late). But in this case, it’s also easy to see that Dahut did not have a lot of options. She took on her mother’s responsibility to keep Ys flourishing above sea-level, performing the gruesome task that her diffident father and clueless sister would not. Should she have just let the city and all its people fall? </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, Rozenn enjoys the freedom of the countryside, shirking any responsibilities to the court and (one suspects) choosing to remain wilfully ignorant about what her sister is really up to. The story ends with Rozenn feeling the same regret that we do: that she did not do enough for her sister when she had the chance.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s tragic and complicated and inevitable, brought about by a fatal combination of external forces and internal character flaws, like all the best Shakespearean dramas. You’re left trying to imagine ways in which it all might have been avoided, while knowing it couldn’t have ended any other way. It’s a fascinating book, all the more for revolving around these two complicated sisters.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Barbie. Just Barbie.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5f52W040rCnoBuZJPBk_pnb28RSBoaJcHR0mPRfIQxOY3HondadEBkK3b1-1uWT_OUi24nXnHX1b57J_lMctYWPiY2Qfho_xNLIzGtWDc6SwpX5VFbDJMKvpErojl3ODUDjB3kji6d2JLxuy9xelKeelsW-SPKkJyZkj76sAnL1yCgxlY8AtGg6cthOh/s2000/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5f52W040rCnoBuZJPBk_pnb28RSBoaJcHR0mPRfIQxOY3HondadEBkK3b1-1uWT_OUi24nXnHX1b57J_lMctYWPiY2Qfho_xNLIzGtWDc6SwpX5VFbDJMKvpErojl3ODUDjB3kji6d2JLxuy9xelKeelsW-SPKkJyZkj76sAnL1yCgxlY8AtGg6cthOh/w200-h200/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" width="200" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m not just talking about Margot Robbie’s Barbie, I’m talking about the doll, the franchise, the icon in general. Who is Barbie? Why is Barbie? Designed by Ruth Handler in the 1950s and named after her daughter Barbara, the doll was controversial on its release and never got any less so. The debate continues, whether it’s outrage (from her detractors) over her reality-defying measurements or insistence (from her fans) that she’s a role model due to the fact that Astronaut Barbie predated any <em>real </em>women astronauts.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As the recent movie pointed out, before Barbie came along, little girls could only play with baby dolls in faux-preparation for becoming mothers. Barbie, with her dizzying array of careers and lifestyle choices (including “being a mermaid”) gave them a chance to project their own dreams and ambitions – no matter how vague – onto a doll that could be anything her little girl wanted her to be.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So is she a role model? Or someone whose accomplishments (and tiny waistline) make girls feel bad about themselves? Is she racist for promoting ideals of stereotypical white beauty? How many feet were destroyed in a bid to emulate her permanent commitment to stilettos? Is the recent line of more diverse Barbies enough to make up for the potentially harmful legacy she leaves in her wake?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8063iaOaJ_6EB1yoDtEaG-VAx6z-xmXwZAdhDMYjNidZfke6NfrMkrnZtb1QJMTluECXJJ9OJ0YdL3litP2lBC7gFJHDC10akgFJqqY9aPWGf24FO5LAweOt6PVjcVX9hyphenhyphen3OvbfZ16RUSn0_ytBnyRnurwPp8HemVoTb_JvE6SfO8gZyNCFthUk3XRQZ/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid8063iaOaJ_6EB1yoDtEaG-VAx6z-xmXwZAdhDMYjNidZfke6NfrMkrnZtb1QJMTluECXJJ9OJ0YdL3litP2lBC7gFJHDC10akgFJqqY9aPWGf24FO5LAweOt6PVjcVX9hyphenhyphen3OvbfZ16RUSn0_ytBnyRnurwPp8HemVoTb_JvE6SfO8gZyNCFthUk3XRQZ/w400-h265/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The debate rages on and will not be resolved within our lifetimes. What cannot be denied is her ubiquitousness. Like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, she is everywhere and everyone knows who she is. Just off the top of my head, things like <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> featured Barbies as voodoo dolls in the episode “Witch”, while Debbie Jelinsky in <strong>Addams Family Values</strong> killed her parents because they bought her Malibu Barbie instead of Ballerina Barbie. <strong>The Simpsons</strong> did a whole episode about the 1992 Teen-Talk Barbie controversy, in which a doll was programmed to say (among other things) “math class is hard!”</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gqeTb0j2nr4" width="320" youtube-src-id="gqeTb0j2nr4"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For the record, I had several Barbies and don’t feel particularly scarred for having played with them as a child, but then of course we all have subconscious unexamined prejudices lurking around in our psyches, so who the hell knows.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Last year’s <strong>Barbie</strong> movie bit off a tad more than it could chew when it came to its myriad of storylines and ever-changing plot objectives, but the trailer promised “if you love Barbie, this movie is for you; if you hate Barbie, this movie is for you.” That’s another way of saying that it wasn’t going to commit to any definitive statement on the issue of Barbie. I can’t say I really blame them, as not for a second did I think it was going to make anything that even remotely resembled a bold feminist statement, and they ultimately went with: “being a woman is hard”.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the discourse... oh, the discourse. I think my favourite comment can be found on <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/barbie-movie-review-2023">this review</a>, in which at least one individual is <em>very</em> upset that Kens don’t have equal rights in Barbieland. Yes Barbieland, explicitly stated to be a world that represents the collective imagination of little girls. Because apparently even children playing with dolls must think carefully about the feelings of men.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I mean FFS, that was the WHOLE JOKE. That little girls DON’T CARE ABOUT KEN. They care about dance parties and beach parties and Barbie’s friendships with other Barbies. Ken is an accessory, not the main event, and that a grown man is upset because little girls aren't being totally egalitarian while playing with their dolls in the imaginative landscape of their own minds is just mind-blowing to me. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What’s also grimly fascinating is that Ryan Gosling’s turn as Ken is the performance that’s getting all the attention and awards buzz, even though the movie spends a fair bit of time pointing out how men get more praise and attention for doing the bare minimum. Who could have possibly foreseen that life would imitate art in this instance?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But at the end of the day, Barbie is Barbie. Some little girls will play with her and they’ll be fine. Some little girls won’t play with her and they’ll be fine. Some little girls will grow up to be profoundly messed-up individuals, but it probably won’t have anything to do with Barbie. She’ll go on living her life in plastic (it’s fantastic) and the world will continue to turn.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I usually follow up this list with a look at female characters featured in some of fandom’s biggest and most popular franchises, but in 2023 there weren’t many to discuss. <strong>House of the Dragon</strong> is obviously between seasons, <strong>Star Wars</strong> didn’t put out anything particularly interesting, and the MCU has finally started to peter out.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Looking back, the highlight of my viewing year was going to my friend’s place and watching <strong>The Wheel of Time</strong> and <strong>Ahsoka</strong> concurrently, both with such a surplus of female characters that it was almost dizzying. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite cover for the fact that <strong>Ahsoka</strong> wasn’t great, with tedious pacing, bland dialogue, and an overarching plot that ultimately didn’t go anywhere (hey showrunners, maybe you wouldn’t get cancelled so often if all your first seasons didn’t feel like setup for something more interesting that’ll get released at a later date).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have a vague inkling that Gamora, Nebula and Mantis got happy endings in the third <strong>Guardians of the Galaxy</strong> movie, but have even less idea of what happened in <strong>Ant-Man</strong> (they recast Cassie, which bugged me, and apparently Wasp’s screen-time was whittled down to almost nothing – though I can’t blame them for that given the actress’s anti-vaxx stance).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sadly, <strong>The Marvels</strong> didn’t do well, and there have been a number of rationales offered up to explain its box-office failure: superhero fatigue, its inability promote itself due to the actor’s strike, the sense of homework that surrounded it (with tie-ins to at least three Disney+ shows) and a trickling out of interest in the MCU in general.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjem142mu-T3KopoGsjedfs4g4x2GhfXuuiu6u5-NdWbGVvQs2_Fx2iJupQHAvLCMCtO4pN24Na57b4Za7Z6FlGyXUp2QqOgsnBkTATxFiwYFXUn7yG_d-HBeZZEtrLrXCs_8noyKdjQ7tmmSCnT3yyHCUqbF_yVacEaJ-QelV8oRE2KnELtHrRuRrcOUc/s640/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjem142mu-T3KopoGsjedfs4g4x2GhfXuuiu6u5-NdWbGVvQs2_Fx2iJupQHAvLCMCtO4pN24Na57b4Za7Z6FlGyXUp2QqOgsnBkTATxFiwYFXUn7yG_d-HBeZZEtrLrXCs_8noyKdjQ7tmmSCnT3yyHCUqbF_yVacEaJ-QelV8oRE2KnELtHrRuRrcOUc/w400-h300/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Though any bragging over this point from the usual suspects was somewhat muted by the absolute ass-kicking <strong>Barbie</strong> did at the box office).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Personally, I blame its placement at the end of a string of MCU duds: <strong>Multiverse of Madness</strong>, <strong>Thor: Love and Thunder</strong>, <strong>Quantumania</strong>, <strong>Secret Invasion</strong>... none of it seems to be building up to anything interesting, so by the time <strong>The Marvels</strong> rolled around, people just felt wrung out by the whole dragging-on experience. A sense of closure was achieved at the conclusion of <strong>Endgame</strong>; now each new movie and show feels like a high-budget trailer for something else, as opposed to a standalone adventure that justifies its own existence.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Also not helping is that many of the sequels don’t even <em>feel</em> like sequels – <strong>Multiverse of Madness</strong> completely dropped the established rivalry between Strange and Mordo, while <strong>The Marvels</strong> has nothing whatsoever to do with Carol finding a home-world for the Skrull or the aftermath of her brainwashing at the hands of the Kree. Why get interested in long-form stories that just abandon their own plots?)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Over in DC Studios, things were equally dismal. Granted, <strong>Across the Spider-Verse</strong> gave us more Gwen Stacy, though I’m going to hold off writing about her until we get to the end of that particular story. But Mera got the short end of the stick in the <strong>Aquaman</strong> sequel due to the grotesque media circus surrounding the court case against Amber Heard, and though I was intrigued by the presence of Supergirl in <strong>The Flash</strong>, spoilers tell me she was also misused, and not even in it that much. As for <strong>Blue Beetle</strong>? <strong>Shazam</strong>? I’ve no idea what went on there.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apparently they killed off Ilsa Faust in the latest <strong>Mission Impossible</strong> movie in order to replace her with Hayley Atwell (is this franchise completely unaware that women can <em>co-exist</em>?) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena in the last <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> ended up being something of a squib as well – not nearly as charming or appealing as the film itself would have you believe.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Heck, 2023 gave us a <em>brand-new Disney Princess</em> in <strong>Wish</strong>, and nobody cared. Things were just so lacklustre; not just for female characters, but the stories (which were high-budget, widely promoted, talent-stacked projects) in which they appeared.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_u_Ypku_8dAEboUrHrxtxx9a4RTYHzgwtLXFyO5FUtgrCiXKbwoaOTKH60f0XPL_EGB1j6uh03J-UgAX1ermoyvkA47Ec8Q3BowTZP7qZDOzJNiROgEzUzgZiO7XMiQFn1BPK-q1lU1B1ojmo2aHNTOs4tsW2J4tqJpZYfiu-1mvuJbgI2IYszTg4l2n/s1200/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_u_Ypku_8dAEboUrHrxtxx9a4RTYHzgwtLXFyO5FUtgrCiXKbwoaOTKH60f0XPL_EGB1j6uh03J-UgAX1ermoyvkA47Ec8Q3BowTZP7qZDOzJNiROgEzUzgZiO7XMiQFn1BPK-q1lU1B1ojmo2aHNTOs4tsW2J4tqJpZYfiu-1mvuJbgI2IYszTg4l2n/w400-h210/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I honestly can't tell you what her name is.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To sum up this year for female characters: a giant meh.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In my entry on Barbie, I mentioned that the imaginative spaces of little girls are completely void of men (not in the sense that they don’t exist, but that they’re not something girls or their fictional projections are required to take into consideration <em>at all</em>) and that thought struck me when looking over everything I read and watched this year. I’m well outside the reading demographic for Linda Chapman’s <strong>Star Friends</strong>, but I was enticed by the cover art and had “well, I’m a children’s librarian, so I should read children’s books” as an excuse – and as in Barbieland, men don’t figure into the lives or stories of protagonists Mia, Lexi, Sita and Violet. There are a few dads on the periphery of the action, but for the most part, they are simply not relevant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Suddenly, I was fascinated. Young girlhood is perhaps the only time we don’t have to think (or care) about gender-roles in society, a psychological reality that that is reflected in books written for this age group. And there are <em>so many</em> book series that exist in a similar vein to <strong>Star Friends</strong> – any number of variations on princesses, animal-care, female friendships and magical phenomena, to the point where listing them all would take all day.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPT-EZwflSi8ZDnXCJP3ZlEQ0F-ZsTcnZC4Kw7wrssJgXJW6tbUYhjrurgB7QUmh9lJXGWmdx3ScqkHXa_NJ36d8IaxJn6Jc5Q99OgQSHMxj3WZGpoBv-GZ1EJDIF0yj8mWB52XA3muKqLLGjEppApvs2QAYnW3tViDOx7ME3u0PTOjHOxSwoTBd4M2UmD/s474/!!!.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="474" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPT-EZwflSi8ZDnXCJP3ZlEQ0F-ZsTcnZC4Kw7wrssJgXJW6tbUYhjrurgB7QUmh9lJXGWmdx3ScqkHXa_NJ36d8IaxJn6Jc5Q99OgQSHMxj3WZGpoBv-GZ1EJDIF0yj8mWB52XA3muKqLLGjEppApvs2QAYnW3tViDOx7ME3u0PTOjHOxSwoTBd4M2UmD/s320/!!!.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Give it a few more years and our reading material will soon involve men as love interests or platonic friends or enemies to defeat – but at this age bracket, the striking thing is that male characters simply <em>don’t exist</em>. (An obvious comparison is <strong>The Babysitters Club</strong>, which also revolves around female friendships... but because the girls are older, boys are definitely a factor in their lives).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So early childhood is the Themyscira of our time on earth... I may have to come back to this idea in a longer and more in-depth post.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Speaking of <strong>The Babysitters Club</strong>, I am continuing my reread... which is swiftly becoming a first-time read as I move out of the twenties and thirties and into the forties (it was around this point that I aged out of the series, though the very last one I read was #78). And it’s been a lot of fun revisiting the characters and places that took up so much space in my mind when I was a ten-year-old, not to mention the time capsule quality of the stories in which cellphones and the internet didn’t exist, and nobody has any problems with teenage girls looking after infants.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, some parts have definitely dated, and Mary Anne is proving herself to be a fairly awful person, but this time around I have added appreciation for Stacey and Mallory, not to mention some of the peripheral characters (I think I'm starting to ship Charlie and Janine). Plus, the mysteries are a delight. Truly, there is nothing better than reading an Apple paperback from your youth and getting to the part where they find an old diary in the attic.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Do you know what fictional medium is doing fantastically well with female characters at the moment? Graphic novels. They’re flying off the shelves at the library (to the point where we had to get more expansive shelving just to hold our entire collection) and it’s rewarding to know that so many great heroines are finding their way into the hands of young readers: <strong>Tidesong</strong>, <strong>Lightfall</strong>, <strong>Swan Lake: Quest for the Kingdoms</strong>, <strong>Cat’s Cradle</strong>, <strong>Sorceline</strong>, <strong>Wingbearer</strong>, <strong>Salt Magic</strong>, <strong>Mapmakers and the Lost Legend</strong>, <strong>The Rema Chronicles</strong>, <strong>Pearl of the Sea</strong>, <strong>Hotel Dare</strong>, <strong>City of Dragons</strong>, <strong>Treasure in the Lake</strong>, <strong>The Moth Keepers</strong>, <strong>Wait Till Helen Comes</strong>, <strong>Zita the Space Girl</strong> – they were all fantastic books with gorgeous artwork. Even the ones with male protagonists (<strong>The Legend of Brightblade</strong>, <strong>Shuna’s Journey</strong>) still had strong supporting casts of female characters.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And for older readers, there was <strong>The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor</strong>, <strong>Evermore: A Post-Apocalyptic Fairy Tale</strong>, <strong>Grimoire Noir</strong>, <strong>Daughter of Smoke and Cinders</strong>, <strong>Chivalry</strong>, <strong>A Guest in the House</strong>, <strong>The Girl from the Sea</strong>, <strong>The Black Bull of Norroway</strong>, <strong>The Daughters of Ys</strong> and <strong>Her Little Reapers</strong>. It is a surfeit of riches out there at the moment, so get cracking.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also churned through lot of solid children’s books that dealt specifically with female dynamics, such as Eleanor Estes’s <strong>The Hundred Dresses</strong>, Betty Ren Wright’s <strong>Out of the Dark</strong>, Lucy Strange’s <strong>Sisters of the Lost Marsh</strong>, Karah Sutton’s <strong>A Wolf for a Spell</strong> and J. Anderson Coats’s <strong>The Green Children of Woolpit</strong>. There was some insightful commentary in all of them, whether it was the protagonist of <strong>The Hundred Dresses</strong> coming to terms with her complicity in the bullying of another girl, or the heroine of <strong>The Green Children</strong> being cognizant of how fairy tales always try to pit girls against each other, and consciously attempting to avoid falling into that trap.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Being a librarian, I couldn’t help but notice a few trends in the publishing world, and there’s recently been a huge surge of Greek mythology retellings on the market: Madeline Miller’s <strong>Circe</strong>, Lauren J. A. Bear’s <strong>Medusa’s Sisters</strong>, Jennifer Saint’s <strong>Atalanta</strong>, Laura Shepperson’s <strong>Phaedra</strong>, Costanza Casati’s <strong>Clytemnestra</strong>, Natalie Haynes’s <strong>Stone Blind</strong> – the list goes on. Some even step outside the scope of Greek mythology with books such as J. R. Thorp’s <strong>Learwife</strong> (self-explanatory) and Olesya Salnikova Gilmore’s <strong>The Witch and the Tsar</strong> (centring on a young Baba Yaga). As the saying goes, everyone wants to be first to do something second.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But isn’t this a good thing? More books about women? Well, on the surface it would seem so, but the books are nearly identical in their basic formula: to take a legendary female character and make a modern woman out of her – which means anachronistically bemoaning her lot in life, girl-bossing her way to uncomplicated power, and then finding true happiness in the arms of a forward-thinking man.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Expect all the blurbs to insist that each one is: “a story of the women that have been forgotten.” One of them starts with the dedication: “For my mum, who has always thought a woman with an axe was more interesting than a princess.” Sigh.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, all of them purport to be “feminist retellings” of the original myths, when all that’s really happening is a filtering of the story through a female character’s perspective. There’s nothing challenging or thought-provoking or difficult about any of them. We’re not reading about the misogyny of Ancient Greece and how the women of that time lived within it; we’re reading about our concept of modern misogyny and how these legendary women <em>should</em> have dealt with it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All these books may well have been written with the best of intentions, but none of them have anything <em>new</em> to say, and their depictions of women are so <em>toothless</em>, so <em>tepid</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, that’s better than what’s going on in YA at the moment, where if A.I. intelligence took over the industry and started churning out books by using an algorithm, I doubt anyone would notice. There's a spunky but shy teenage protagonist who leads a bloodless revolution by tapping into hitherto unknown inner powers (variant: a god grants them to her) and saves her people by girl-bossing her way to victory. Readers are encouraged to yell: “yaas queen!” while a love triangle between the boy-next-door and a tortured villain plays out. The latter (to paraphrase Angela Carter) will believe the heroine’s orifice is the key to his salvation. The former <em>might</em> be a person of colour, but the latter <em>has</em> to be a white guy with dark hair.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There's an enemies-to-lovers narrative with not much development in-between, which will always start with the female half of the equation getting violently assaulted, kidnapped or berated. This will require a few scenes of obligatory defiance before she learns that the world can’t be saved unless she gets over the violation to her body, agency and/or personal dignity.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The supporting cast will be made up of variants on the following archetypes: the alpha bitch, the largely voiceless person of colour, the LGBTQ representation who has a largely off-page relationship with another character, and the heroine’s BFF. These types can be conflated or divided in a number of ways, though at some point everyone will hug tearfully.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dialogue will be comprised of witty banter and biting declarations of self-actualization which sound like nothing any real human being is capable of saying. The title will contain two of the following nouns: smoke, rose, shadow, crown, heir, thorns, blood, court, stars, mist, ravens, queen, storms or stone. In an interview, the author will admit the whole thing started as a fan-fiction of a book that probably <em>also</em> started as a fan-fiction of a book.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At some point a massive fandom shipping drama will explode on social media, and somehow the Reylos will be involved. This drama <em>might</em> manifest as accusations of cultural appropriation, child grooming, human trafficking, or deliberately sabotaging book reviews on Goodreads, but rest assured that it’s always about shipping, and the Reylos will <i>still</i> somehow be involved.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yeah, I’m generalizing – but not by much.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I know this is the part where someone pops up and says “let people enjoy things!” and “it’s just fiction!” And sure, there’s a place for candyfloss literature, or whatever you want to call it. But it’s the empty faux-empowerment and tedious <em>repetitiveness</em> of it all that gets my goat, in which everyone seems to be piggybacking off the success of someone else, and there’s not an original idea in sight.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Women and girls deserve better reading material. Or at least, for the good stuff (Frances Hardinge! Philip Reeve!) to get the promotion and buzz that’s currently being dominated by vapid TikTok trends.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When it comes to visual media, 2023 was the year of singular names that stuck out: Barbie. Nimona. Queen Charlotte. Ahsoka. M3gan. Rosaline and Enola to a lesser extent. Wednesday, though that was technically 2022. Coraline, thanks to a return to theatres in August. All of them did extremely well at the box office or on streaming services, though every time there’s a monster hit involving a female lead, everyone rushes to celebrate the fact that producers and investors will now finally acknowledge that women can carry a film or franchise... only for producers and investors to do no such thing. Ah well.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There were plenty of solid (albeit light) female-centric fantasy movies this year, from the long-gestating sequels to <strong>Hocus Pocus</strong> and <strong>Disenchanted</strong>, to <strong>The School for Good and Evil</strong> and <strong>Enola Holmes 2</strong> (please, please can we get a third?) Kaitlyn Dever’s <strong>Rosaline </strong>was a fun diversion, and would go well as a double-feature with Daisy Ridley’s <strong>Ophelia</strong>, which also delves into the story of a periphery Shakespearean heroine. Now I’m just trying to think of a third one to make it an unofficial trilogy. Miranda? Celia? Hippolyta?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This ended up being the year for Lesley Manville, appearing in <strong>Mrs Harris Goes to Paris</strong>, <strong>The Crown</strong>, <strong>Dangerous Liaisons</strong> and <strong>Magpie Murders</strong> (I also saw her in <strong>North and South</strong> last year, and have <strong>Sherwood</strong> ready to go on my hard-drive as well). To see a woman in her sixties have adventures and solve mysteries is always a treat.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was also a great year for Halle Bailey, who starred in both <strong>The Little Mermaid</strong> and <strong>The Colour Purple</strong>... neither of which I’ve seen. I have to admit having a deep aversion to live-action adaptations of animated films/shows, and the subject matter of <strong>The Colour Purple</strong> sounds completely harrowing, but they’re on my watchlist for Bailey’s sake. Her star is clearly on the rise.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I managed to watch plenty of classics this year, such as <strong>Roman Holiday</strong>, <strong>Casablanca</strong>, <strong>Gaslight</strong>, <strong>Psycho</strong> and <strong>The Sound of Music</strong>, and (as mentioned) the entire <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> oeuvre. April was the month for revisiting all the eighties fantasy films I was raised on, while October ended up being four weeks of werewolves. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Over on television, the stories of Catherine Cawood (<strong>Happy Valley</strong>), Charlotte Heywood (<strong>Sanditon</strong>) and Princess Bean (<strong>Disenchantment</strong>) ended this year – three very different women in three <em>very</em> different genres, as did Queen Elizabeth’s in <strong>The Crown</strong>, a show whose final few episodes exist almost as a posthumous tribute to her life. Sadly, the cancellation of <strong>Westworld</strong> means that Dolores and Maeve <em>won’t </em>be getting the endings they deserve, though at least Freydís will be back for a third and final season in <strong>Vikings: Valhalla</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Watching Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie in <strong>Vigil </strong>was an unexpected treat (thanks sis, season two is on my watchlist) and I managed to catch up on the animated <strong>Harley Quinn</strong> (Harlivy still going strong), <strong>The Dragon Prince</strong> (Claudia made <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2023/09/woman-of-month-claudia.html">Woman of the Month</a> in September), and the debut of <strong>Unicorn Warriors Eternal</strong> (Emma/Melinda is easily that show’s most interesting character).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I even managed to get to the theatre three times this year (which is impressive in a world where Covid is still ongoing), first to see <strong>Sense and Sensibility</strong> at the Court Theatre, then to see the <strong>Romeo and Juliet</strong> and <strong>Hansel and Gretel</strong> ballets at the Isaac Theatre Royal. <strong>Sense and Sensibility</strong> was particularly good, with an all-women cast playing multiple roles throughout the story, and earning teems of laughter from the audience.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So what’s on the agenda for 2024? I’m currently in the middle of the third season of <strong>Elementary</strong>, with one day a week devoted to watching the second season of <strong>The Gilded Age</strong> with mum. Having watched only two Robin Hood films last year (both with rather disappointing Marians) I’m enjoying the old 1950’s <strong>Adventures of Robin Hood</strong> starring Richard Greene, which is a fascinating look at an early serialized take on the legends, but which will take me a fair amount of time to get through. There were over one hundred episodes!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having revisited <strong>The White Queen</strong> and <strong>The White Princess</strong> last year, I’m currently in the midst of <strong>The Spanish Princess</strong>, and plan to use that as a jumping-off point for watching <strong>The Tudors</strong> all the way through for the first time (and then <strong>Becoming Elizabeth</strong>, which has been burning a hole in my external hard-drive for a while now).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m looking forward to see more of Sharon Small as Barbara Havers in <strong>Inspector Lynley</strong>, though I STILL have to finish <strong>Nancy Drew</strong>, <strong>Perry Mason</strong>, <strong>Evil </strong>and <strong>The Great</strong>. Ooh, and I recently read this great article on LARB called <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/where-the-boys-arent/">Where the Boys Aren’t</a> and <em>immediately</em> got hold of everything it mentions. So expect plenty of all-women dystopias in the near future.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, I’ll get back to reviewing <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong> and <strong>Xena Warrior Princess</strong> (haven’t done much of that latter one in a while).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve also started my <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> rewatch! <a href="https://ravenya003.tumblr.com/tagged/buffy%20the%20vampire%20slayer">I’m posting my thoughts exclusively on Tumblr for now</a>, as the formatting there makes it quicker to write things out, but I’m aiming for one episode write-up per week (watch Saturday night, post Sunday night). I am <em>super</em> looking forward to this one, and even three episodes in has got me all verklempt. Feel free to follow and comment!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also plenty of female-centric projects to look forward to in the coming year: I’ve heard good things about <strong>Blue Eye Samurai</strong> and <strong>Poor Things</strong>. <strong>Furiosa</strong> is on her way, as is the second season of <strong>Arcane</strong> in November. <strong>Wicked Little Letters</strong> looks like fun, as does <strong>Damsel</strong> and <strong>Inside Out 2</strong>. That’s not even getting into all the stuff I missed last year and now have to catch up on.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, my birthday is coming up in February and it’s one of the milestones. That means despite my still-massive pile of library books I have to get through, I’m going to treat myself to a month of reading all my favourite authors: Philip Reeve, Patricia McKillip, Garth Nix, Catherynne Valente, Frances Hardinge, Laini Taylor, Susanna Clarke – specifically all the books of theirs I’ve accumulated over the years and <em>not gotten around to reading yet</em>. For my annual leave, I plan to FEAST.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-44663880387536782672024-01-01T15:24:00.000-08:002024-01-01T15:24:09.876-08:00Woman of the Month: Donna Noble<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwfneqECzewgONO-XSjjEn33cN5YYp6r0dVgIIYGyHVqAey_ndwBdKnqxSxS2d3fIRqrcYxzp5Oesz5CXOR8Bq68JOCuKwaATuYNU5XdCk4U_o7tWrV3VNU5FqwPaU3kMflVJO5MRjqYiRSrej23dQLpQ9CldioVGhbhHdEq4MKjvPtWhR2R0lTRKXvu4/s800/!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwfneqECzewgONO-XSjjEn33cN5YYp6r0dVgIIYGyHVqAey_ndwBdKnqxSxS2d3fIRqrcYxzp5Oesz5CXOR8Bq68JOCuKwaATuYNU5XdCk4U_o7tWrV3VNU5FqwPaU3kMflVJO5MRjqYiRSrej23dQLpQ9CldioVGhbhHdEq4MKjvPtWhR2R0lTRKXvu4/w400-h250/!.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Donna Noble from <strong>Doctor Who</strong></span></p><!-- wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"} -->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Donna Noble did <em>not</em> have an auspicious start to her tenure on <strong>Doctor Who</strong>, first appearing as a stroppy Bridezilla who was singularly unimpressed with the Doctor right on the heels of Rose Tyler’s emotional departure.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Personally, I felt she was a breath of fresh air after the overwrought teenage angst of Rose, but I distinctly recall audiences being somewhat taken aback by this new prototype of potential Companion: abrasive, bossy, and uninterested in anything but getting to the alter on time. No adventures throughout time and space for her, thank you!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet even this early on, she had hidden depths: talking the Doctor down from his homicidal rage against the Racnoss, and urging him to find someone to travel with, intuiting that he needed someone to reign him in. As it happens, that ended up being the major theme of the Tenth Doctor’s tenure, and it’s picked up again when Donna returns to the Tardis – this time as an eager participant who has been searching for him since their last meeting, having come to regret turning down his offer to travel with him.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now she’s not only answering the call, but seizing it with both hands – even though she’s not ready for some of the ethically sticky decisions that the Doctor has to face on a daily basis.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But having grown exponentially from a vapid, inattentive woman obsessed with celebrity gossip and landing a husband, Donna’s great tragedy is that she must lose all memories of her time with the Doctor in order to save her life, taking her character development back to square one. It was a bitter pill to swallow, especially when her final appearance in “The End of Time” made it clear there would be no takebacks.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet, the beauty of a long-running television serial is that anything can be revisited, literally <em>decades</em> after they were seemingly wrapped up. A full thirteen years after she was last seen in the show’s chronology, Donna Noble returned to the series for a long-awaited continuation of her story.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now with a teenage daughter, the conundrum of her memory loss and the danger it posed her is beautifully resolved when it transpires that half of the repressed Time Lord energy passed into her child at birth, allowing Donna to access her hidden intelligence without any fatal consequences. It’s a surprisingly simple and elegant solution to the problem, albeit one high on emotional intensity with a few “suck it bigots!” parallels to the non-binary nature of Donna’s daughter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s a reason Donna is one of the show’s most popular Companions, and for my money, it’s twofold: firstly that she depicts so much growth during her time on the show, and secondly that she’s blissfully devoid of any romantic tension with the Doctor. Instead, they build a solid friendship – perhaps the most affecting of the entire show – which ultimately provides the Doctor with a place to heal and rest.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We watched Donna’s development with our own eyes, from brash and self-absorbed to conscientious and empathetic, and so the loss and regaining of her experiences across time and space becomes all the more powerful for having unfolded in <em>real time</em>. She had to wait thirteen years, and so did we.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It didn’t seem so at the time, but in hindsight, her character trajectory was always in the hands of a story that knew what it was doing.</span></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-35831353018793927872023-12-31T14:43:00.000-08:002024-03-22T00:16:57.553-07:00Reading/Watching Log #97<h1 class="wp-block-heading heading1"></h1><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whew, I’m finally finished. Getting laid low with Covid was one thing, but after the monthly deadline passed, I found it difficult to get motivated in finishing up this post. Plus, I still have my Recommendations of 2023 and Women of the Year posts to make, and I’ve no idea how long they’re going to take me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a little strange looking over this log and seeing it divided into what I watched before, during and after Covid. More than that, there are some crazy coincidences in what this material contains, including a. a small, almost throwaway, scene in which a person of colour deals with a passive-aggressive comment on where they were born (<strong>Doctor Who</strong> and <strong>Dial of Destiny</strong>), a skeleton that is animated by sentient bandages/rags (<strong>Zita the Space Girl</strong> and an episode of <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong>), two social climbing women (<strong>The Crown</strong> and <strong>Dangerous Liaisons</strong>) and actors who looks like Eddie Redmayne, who are <em>not</em> actually Eddie Redmayne.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So here it is, better late than never.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Zita the Space Girl</strong>, <strong>Legends of Zita the Spacegirl</strong> and <strong>The Return of Zita the Space Girl</strong> by Ben Hatke</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_WwkH8kpVHflX_HA2ZIPwhAPHl1qh1DNHCjt8JmXoyEDzwTAcnT1_Kv5IGzRYaDFu73atg5rxEZbyR1neGX5AgHEdrn7PZNkIusGbojt2910RII1nS7bsom8JY4unu4_97iNsTNmtqY7eyEEln12I9RsctBqHLMELmk8x7MnP96dAsm6PHwEXZpTwV2V/s213/%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="100" data-original-width="213" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_WwkH8kpVHflX_HA2ZIPwhAPHl1qh1DNHCjt8JmXoyEDzwTAcnT1_Kv5IGzRYaDFu73atg5rxEZbyR1neGX5AgHEdrn7PZNkIusGbojt2910RII1nS7bsom8JY4unu4_97iNsTNmtqY7eyEEln12I9RsctBqHLMELmk8x7MnP96dAsm6PHwEXZpTwV2V/s1600/%23.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It feels like I’ve had these books on hold at the library for months, and <em>then</em> I had to wait until they all came through so I could read them in the right order, but my turn finally came.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Zita is hanging out with her friend Joseph in the field behind their houses when something falls from the sky, leaving a massive crater in the earth. There Zita finds a big red button, which she presses immediately. That’s the sort of girl she is. A portal opens in the crater, and large purple tentacles emerge to drag Joseph away. Zita runs in terror, stops to think for a bit, hesitates, and then turns out to follow her friend through the portal.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She ends up in an alien marketplace, only to see Joseph being taken aboard a ship and flown into space. But in order to follow him, she needs to make some money to charter a vessel.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is essentially Zita in a nutshell: a girl who will make trouble for others, and then try her darndest to get them out of it again. As she scrambles to make things right with Joseph, she ends up acquiring an eclectic group of allies: a giant mouse, an overzealous war-ball, a cowardly robot, and an untrustworthy pied piper. As one of them will eventually tell her: “you inspire loyalty.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This comes in handy in the sequel, <strong>Legends of Zita the Spacegirl</strong>. Now overwhelmed by her fame after her heroic exploits in the previous book, Zita leaps at the opportunity for a lookalike robot to take her place in front of the adoring crowds of alien life-forms that have flocked to see her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But when aliens known as the Lumponians enlist Zita’s help against a swarm of star hearts (which looks like something out of a demonic <strong>Care Bears</strong> episode) she’s delighted to hear that they’ll pay for her services with a jump crystal – the very thing she needs to get home. That’s the robot’s cue to push her out the ship airlock and whizz off to save the day without her. Unfortunately the resemblance between them is so great (this brand of AI is known as an Imprint-O-Robot) that no one realizes it’s not the real Zita.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Making things more difficult is that there’s a warrant out for her arrest over some phoney charges, and it’s only by falling in with a travelling space-circus (lead by a gypsy-like woman called Madrigal who bears an uncanny resemblance to the author’s wife as depicted at the back of the book) that Zita has a chance of catching up with her friends and reclaiming her identity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Return of Zita</strong> sees our heroine out on her own in the vast reaches of space, though her freedom doesn’t last long thanks to the relentless pursuit of the space cops. A mysterious masked and cloaked figure tries to rescue her from the prison she finds herself detained in – though along the way she makes friends with a talking skeleton and sentient rag-pile in her cell, searches for a jump crystal in the prison mines, and crosses wits with an entity called the Dungeon Master, who has designs on planet Earth.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When read consecutively, all the disparate plot-points in each book end up clicking together really well, from the giant clay man that orbits a planet, to that big red button which started this whole adventure.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s even an interesting bait-and-switch when it comes to Joseph’s return. He hasn’t had as good a time of it as Zita has, and after his traumatic experiences as a slave, wanting to use the crystal to return home instead of using it as bait to defeat the Dungeon Master, and dismissively being told “don’t be a wuss” by Zita, I was certainly left wondering whether he would turn on her. Honestly, I don’t think I could have fully blamed him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If I have one complaint about this trilogy, it’s that the intergalactic planets visited by Zita aren’t very appealing. Places called The Tatters and The Rusted Wastes are rendered in a palette of murky browns and greys. Zita visits desolate wastelands, garbage heaps, grimy slums, a prison complex – and that’s about it. Likewise, most of the alien designs are either shapeless blobs or muppets (seriously, one of them is a dead-ringer for Crazy Harry, that muppet who keeps blowing stuff up, down to the fact that he only ever appears coming out of a drainpipe, as though someone’s hand is hidden there).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Surely visiting other worlds is an excuse for colour and wonder and beauty. Here, the universe is kind of a shithole. Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by the beauty of other children’s graphic novels when it comes to the artwork on display.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Mighty Jack</strong>, <strong>Mighty Jack and the Goblin King</strong> and <strong>Mighty Jack and Zita the Space Girl</strong> by Ben Hatke</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEOElEEH_0t_D92NbuaMQAeaTkyCtTl0D4BHNLz1PQlKKW5w4xeLoTglXLjCjuV7A-nwsQy6OSFJ3xSxriopyupGFyusBwtXExiaHIc8PyIf8zGvYKLSIF3CXWrtE8bc1JTfCzHd5pPhAMhNbBduCJd73MzwfDccFlqY8cBpyE5igwO1MMZvHCcpiluQ8/s187/might%20jack.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="92" data-original-width="187" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEOElEEH_0t_D92NbuaMQAeaTkyCtTl0D4BHNLz1PQlKKW5w4xeLoTglXLjCjuV7A-nwsQy6OSFJ3xSxriopyupGFyusBwtXExiaHIc8PyIf8zGvYKLSIF3CXWrtE8bc1JTfCzHd5pPhAMhNbBduCJd73MzwfDccFlqY8cBpyE5igwO1MMZvHCcpiluQ8/s1600/might%20jack.jpg" width="187" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A follow-up to </span><strong style="font-family: georgia;">Zita the Space Girl</strong><span style="font-family: georgia;"> (in that she and Jack meet up at the end of the second book, and join forces in the third), Jack himself feels like a mash-up of Jack the Giant Killer and Mighty Max. The fairy tale connotations are apt, as this series has already featured a character called the Piper and a gnome-like creature called Stiltskin.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Along with his single mother and autistic sister Maddy, Jack has moved from the city to the country, and isn’t too pleased with the change – not even when he spots the girl-next-door, who appears to be practicing her sword-fighting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">His mother is struggling to make ends meet, but readers might recognize a familiar face at the local farmer’s market: it’s the Piper, who trades Jack some seed packets in exchange for the use of the family car. Yes, we’re definitely in fairy tale territory with this one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The usually diffident Maddy is highly interested in the garden that Jack sows with the mysterious contents of the seed packets, and it’s not long before their neighbour Lilly comes over to introduce herself. But soon the plants that spring out of Jack’s garden take on a life of their own: throwing clods of mud at the house, terrorizing the wildlife and growing increasingly out of control.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jack makes the call to destroy it all, even in the face of Lilly’s assertion that just because something is dangerous, doesn’t make it evil. Did he do the right thing? Did Lilly when she stole some plant cuttings to cultivate her own garden? The story deliberately leaves it ambiguous, and ends with Maddy being dragged off by a garden monster... rather like Joseph was at the beginning of <strong>Zita the Space Girl</strong>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oh, but there’s a dragon this time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">After that cliff-hanger ending, <strong>Mighty Jack and the Goblin King</strong> follows up with Jack and Lilly following Maddy and her kidnapper into another realm to rescue her, armed only with Renaissance Fair swords and a collection of seeds that temporarily bestow a variety of abilities on those that eat them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The story veers more into science-fiction than fairy tale at this point (our heroes are essentially exploring an alien planet) though there are a vast array of goblins straight out of one of the Andrew Lang fairy books, with their own distinct syntax: “a bean” is a human, “pause it” is stop, and “got feist” means that Lilly is feisty... gah, I knew there was a reason I didn’t like her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Seriously, this character is rather obnoxious, extremely dishonest and deceptive, and as soon as Zita shows up, pettily jealous. Sigh).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The story branches into two subplots at this point, with Lilly fighting off a forced engagement to a troll, and Jack attempting to save his sister from giants. If you squint, you can see the broad strokes of <strong>Jack and the Beanstalk</strong>. It all ends with a return from the Piper and an appearance from none other than Zita herself, leading us into...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Mighty Jack and Zita the Space Girl</strong>, which is a fully-fledged crossover that features pretty much every character from both trilogies. Using Jack’s house as homebase and forcing his poor mother to deal with the burden of food and finances, our collection of heroes plan their move against an alliance of giants and Screed (aliens that worked for the Dungeon Master in Zita’s trilogy) who are attempting to reach earth and plunder its resources through the use of interdimensional doors.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As Piper and Madrigal are chased by agents after they raid Area 51 for a jump crystal, Jack, Zita, Joseph, Lilly and Maddy head through one of the doors in search of the elves in Aelfheim, only to be separated into smaller and smaller groups with each obstacle they face. Some nice threads are picked up from prior books – from the seed Lilly stole to continue seeing her goblin subjects, to a range of small character and location cameos.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the whole, I actually think I enjoyed Mighty Jack more than Zita the Space Girl, though it’s a close call (and let’s be honest, it’s basically the same story by the end). There are some problems along the way: characters like Strong Strong and Mouse aren’t given anything to do in the final book, and the climactic final fight is just the heroes posing bravely and facing down the giant threat. No actual fighting takes place.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also the odd addition of a buried Confederate treasure (which is found accidentally and without any build-up beyond the throwaway line that introduces the concept at the start of the book) and the irritation of enjoying some colour and open skies in the artwork, right before the characters end up in a sewage system. Perhaps making the settings overwhelmingly dingy and grotty was a deliberate creative choice, but I can’t imagine why.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Night Eaters: Her Little Reapers</strong> by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6is0VeEOlZ517zFIbyN5uN4EXEyE9T6YzIHx3GHEpviv2KvaA6WQp_xQWIPgvXBIiCkeaiLCjqynH_SrgWM7IpSiT5gFPivN653JLa1n7udSIf1h2YLlgZqQ9QfVwDiG8WQNM1zJP47PzmX-2o89ylLJY5O6ZkqgojQ_S3KU6u6qnHfbI-AjKwLnkNPjh/s118/%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="118" data-original-width="80" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6is0VeEOlZ517zFIbyN5uN4EXEyE9T6YzIHx3GHEpviv2KvaA6WQp_xQWIPgvXBIiCkeaiLCjqynH_SrgWM7IpSiT5gFPivN653JLa1n7udSIf1h2YLlgZqQ9QfVwDiG8WQNM1zJP47PzmX-2o89ylLJY5O6ZkqgojQ_S3KU6u6qnHfbI-AjKwLnkNPjh/s1600/%23%23.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Surprisingly, I retained pretty clear memories of the first book in this graphic novel trilogy*, which is noteworthy considering I usually find it difficult to remember the details of long-form media that makes you wait years between instalments. I certainly recall more than Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s other collaboration, Monstress, which surely must be wrapping up soon if they’re taking on other projects. Liu also penned <strong>Wingbearer </strong>earlier this year, though <em>that </em>was illustrated by Teny Issakhanian.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m digressing. <strong>Her Little Reapers</strong> is the follow-up to <strong>She Eats the Night</strong>, featuring Asian-American twins Milly and Billy Ting. To summarize as succinctly as possible, their parents are demons and the previous book explored how they discovered this alarming fact while strange supernatural occurrences kicked off in the abandoned house across the street.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The twins were busy trying to keep their takeaway food joint afloat during the height of the Covid pandemic (which one day will make this an interesting period piece of a very specific time) but now cannot ignore the terrifying new reality that’s opened up before them, especially when it comes to their own potential for harnessing mystical power.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As their parents Ipo and Keon begin to investigate the strange goings-on that stem from the house across the road (essentially a woman was murdered there as part of a cultic ritual sacrifice) the twins grapple with the awakening of their own abilities – and one is handling it much better than the other.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Billy is convinced that the pair of them are superheroes now, and filters their experiences through a pop-culture lens, vlogging their adventures and throwing out references on a regular basis (something that would usually annoy me, but it works here). Some highlights: screaming “I’m Wolverine!” when he discovers he has healing capabilities, leading him to text his uncle who then announces: “your son texted me that they’re flying to LA and that his sister has Patty Hearsted him and that they are Wolverine,” and in a conversation with his sister, asking “Patrick Swayze pottery wheel nice?” when she admits the “niceness” of another character. He’s a lot of fun.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, Ipo. Ipo! She’s such a great character: expressionless, emotionless, never without a cigarette in her mouth or hand. She’s clearly a send-up of the Tiger Mum stereotype, the explanation being that she’s a <em>demon</em>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s one hundred percent because I just finished a <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> podcast (and kicked off a rewatch) but this reminded me so much of that show: a supernatural realm brewing beneath the surface of the mundane world, teenagers testing their preternatural powers, strange things happening beyond the periphery of normal life, gleaning information from odd creatures in strange places. My favourite <b>Buffy</b> scenes were always when they got weird information from equally weird people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You can also expect the appearance of a malevolent little doll that seems to want to communicate something, an eyeless spirit who claims the twins can help her (and is connected to the murder of several young Asian people in the opening pages), some cool world-building in which terms like “scales” and “wings” are dropped to describe certain groups with no other context, and many panels of <i>extreme</i> violence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The artwork is discernibly Sana Takeda’s work, but purposefully a little rougher and less detailed than that in <strong>Monstress</strong>. It almost looks a little like anime at certain points, which I’m sure can’t be an accident.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now it’s just another long wait until the next book in the series, though at least I’ve got the latest <strong>Monstress </strong>to tide me over until then.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">* At least I think it’ll be a trilogy; there’s at least one more book on the way.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Babysitters Island Adventure </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMNrb-vBP-Gyv6JNL5yT6Uhzyi_LQ-FV0RneM6rQD1oiP5tKQ_ovEBFu33bF06HaeSnlURI4LWk04GO8VjSpWYnwuWQVaN5XEJX0ZBqDL0mk8mhKJx1fWn6_t-1Q4eRqi9OusM9oLTBHw_FQUwsV3du68mvbpkqQLzsQY_GLwpwanvlbTCgcknzWNDn4W/s138/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="138" data-original-width="95" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMNrb-vBP-Gyv6JNL5yT6Uhzyi_LQ-FV0RneM6rQD1oiP5tKQ_ovEBFu33bF06HaeSnlURI4LWk04GO8VjSpWYnwuWQVaN5XEJX0ZBqDL0mk8mhKJx1fWn6_t-1Q4eRqi9OusM9oLTBHw_FQUwsV3du68mvbpkqQLzsQY_GLwpwanvlbTCgcknzWNDn4W/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="95" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s hilarious to realize how quickly the Super Specials jumped the shark. We’re four in and we’re already dealing with babysitters stranded on a deserted island (with kids of course, because they can <em>never</em> have a break from child-care).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dawn is the framing narrator this time around, divulging that Stoneybrook has been a coastal town this whole time! Who knew? She and Claudia have been learning to sail, and decide to have a race out to Greenpoint Island.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For some reason they decide to take children with them: Haley and Becca because they’re eager to step out of the shadows of their siblings, Jeff because he’s visiting from California, and Jaime Newton, a four-year-old, because... who the heck knows.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Before they head out, a situation arises between Dawn, Mary Anne and Logan. Basically, Logan calls the Schafer/Spier residence and leaves a message with Dawn: that he’s not going to be able to make his date with Mary Anne. But because Dawn is busy preparing for the race, she forgets to tell Mary Anne, who comes back furious that she’s been stood up. She calls Logan to yell at him, learns that he left a message with Dawn, and then starts yelling at <em>Dawn</em> because Logan is now mad at her for blowing up at him. I mean, that one’s on <em>you</em>, Mary Anne.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The stepsisters are on the outs, and despite being repeatedly told that Mary Anne is the shy, sensitive, empathetic one, she tells Dawn: “I wish I never had to see you again. I wish you would get out of my life forever.” Over a misunderstanding with her boyfriend that's mostly her fault. Man, I’m genuinely starting to hate this character.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">While they’re on the water a storm blows up, and after Dawn’s boat begins to sink, she and the children in her care jump overboard and swim for Claudia’s boat before they drift too far away from each other. The ghost writer has no interest in how <em>truly terrifying</em> this scenario is, and they make it without any serious problems beyond the fact that Claudia’s boat is now at full capacity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They spot land and head towards it, leading us into the “survival on a deserted island” part of the story. Amusingly, the book has already namedropped titles such as Carol Ryrie Brink’s <strong>Baby Island</strong> and Theodore Taylor’s <strong>The Cay</strong>, just to let us know what we’re in for. Jeff proves himself to be quite useful in the search for food and shelter, and Claudia keeps coming up with clever ideas to secure water and build distress signals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That leaves Dawn to take care of a sick Jamie and demonstrate some fairly questionable babysitting, such as letting Becca and Haley go off on their own to search for coconuts even though she knows that they don’t grow off the coast of Connecticut, and describing Haley’s panic attack as a “temper tantrum” after their boat is swept out to sea because they didn’t drag it up the beach high enough. Dawn just leaves her by herself to calm down, even though she’s clearly having a panic-induced meltdown at the thought of never getting home.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Back on the mainland, Mary Anne is naturally choked with guilt over her final words to Dawn (karma is a bitch), while Kristy equivocates over whether or not to cancel the Krushers’ upcoming match against the Bashers. The answer is obviously <em>yes</em>, since two teammates and a cheerleader are currently <em>lost at sea</em>, but Bart decides to be a dick about it and accuses Kristy of exaggerating in order to avoid playing his team, even though the incident has been all over the news.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Man, this book is filled with main characters acting like jerks for no reason. Here’s another example: when the search party finds the remains of Dawn’s boat, Stacey starts to cry and Jordan Pike is described as “giving his father a look that plainly said: <em>girls</em>.” Yeah, weeping because your friends are probably dead – girls, amirite?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The babysitters and their charges are eventually saved of course, though it happens in the most anti-climatic way possible (the narrative isn’t even with them when they’re discovered; the characters on the mainland learn that the search party has spotted them and <em>then</em> we see the rescue from Dawn’s point of view). Still, there are plenty of funny moments that seem to wink at the sheer insanity of this plot, from family members and friends being hassled by reporters at the docks with “how do you feel?” questions (they eventually start snapping: “how do you THINK we feel?!”), to the kids on the island spotting the rescue plane and immediately believing that it’s Batman come to save them, to Claudia unthinkingly using male pronouns when promising that a doctor is on the way, only for Haley to point out that said doctor might be a “she.” The kicker? When the doctor arrives, she IS a she.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All’s well that ends well, and the whole thing even makes the front page of the newspaper. (Mary Anne: “do they quote me anywhere? Where’s my picture?” I HATE HER).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Bright and the Pale </strong>and <strong>Wrath and Mercy</strong> by Jessica Rubinkowski</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_dfI-lBY5183bkSA1pMGk6BCQHCJcA9Mcf-m3QuUSPT4mgqFILdf4FzdsSekDpN2I9RmN2CmHAlC3j0FNK7nSK_CzdUetg81klhouDUhtOiAnUVyIfzbtOkTVyePoAgafOIo45FMX5TMrx8m_HF0EV-rj4qG51cCjZlIy_9rLNBHLKXBXYUMNGjJHsqV/s154/bright%20pale.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="115" data-original-width="154" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_dfI-lBY5183bkSA1pMGk6BCQHCJcA9Mcf-m3QuUSPT4mgqFILdf4FzdsSekDpN2I9RmN2CmHAlC3j0FNK7nSK_CzdUetg81klhouDUhtOiAnUVyIfzbtOkTVyePoAgafOIo45FMX5TMrx8m_HF0EV-rj4qG51cCjZlIy_9rLNBHLKXBXYUMNGjJHsqV/s1600/bright%20pale.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Everybody wants to be first to do something second. Sure, that might sound overly-critical in regards to the pile of Slavic Fantasy books I’ve been making way through for the entirety of last year (<em>obviously</em> stories that fall under the same basic umbrella are going to be remarkably similar in content and tone) but it’s hard not to fell a little exasperated with this one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books (the first one published in 2012) cast a heavy shadow over everything that has melded the myths and legends of Slavic folklore with YA fantasy since (especially in the YA genre) but you can draw some <em>very</em> straight lines between what features in <strong>The Bright and the Pale</strong> and the author’s inspirations: the heist from <strong>Six of Crows</strong>, the wildlings from <strong>Game of Thrones</strong>, the assassins guild from <strong>Throne of Glass</strong> – it even has “The Thing and Thing” title, though this time it’s adjectives instead of nouns.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Valeria is the sole survivor of a magical freeze that obliterated her entire community when she was only a child, and since then she’s worked in a thieves/assassins’ guild under the protection of guild leader Luiza, who has trained her in the arts of... well, thievery and assassination. Still grieving the loss of her only friend Alik a year ago, Valeria’s simple assignment to steal a religious artefact culminates in her learning that Alik not only survived his injuries but that a reunion is imminent – <em>if </em>she helps a mysterious man on a secret mission.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To see Alik again, she must team up with an assortment of warriors, thieves, criminals and soldiers (most of whom come across as <em>extremely</em> untrustworthy) to return to her hometown of Ludminka and enter the long-abandoned mines in search of lovite deposits – a precious ore that is the strongest known mineral in the world, and a valuable resource in the coming war against the tyrannical tsar.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The title refers to the two Brother Gods that govern this world: the bright one being the god of light and life, while the pale is that of death and destruction. Yet they’re not analogous to good and evil, rather two deities that have been waging war against one another since time began, one representative of summer and daylight and growth, the other of disease and rot and entropy (which may not <em>sound</em> very nice, but are important components of life).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You’ll be unsurprised to learn that I found this mythology the most interesting part of the book, and when Valeria becomes the Pale God’s champion, imbued with his godly powers, she becomes increasingly unstable when it comes to overthrowing the tsar and winning the independence of her country. You know how this story goes: it revolves around the immortal question of “is it worth it?” when it comes to matters of war and noble causes and moral compromises.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s nothing truly wrong with this duology beyond the fact it reads like a checklist of YA’s favourite fantasy tropes: love triangles, uncomplicated revolution, spunky teenage Chosen One, a token non-white friend, a background Sapphic romance... The author casually mentions in her afterword that she’s been writing this story since she was fourteen, but whether that’s true or not, the similarities to other books are pronounced, as is YA’s general formula at this point. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Treasure of the Sierra Madre </strong>(1948)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4AIeltHYjt2kqycSPPsvAVBrFb95dl7Fw-A0TFNmBIwEU9VVjto_a0jftXQWAZVSwWINkK9eU6iSvku_RCb0acnpv46Gh7DdKM8BGXATspLfcOrSsc1XIoj01xl0Fc9-IOERFOxmkwd7R47sKVoPXBEb729VDS6yBOogIIe7NMz5oe-mPzBsqD_AVClh/s128/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="86" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4AIeltHYjt2kqycSPPsvAVBrFb95dl7Fw-A0TFNmBIwEU9VVjto_a0jftXQWAZVSwWINkK9eU6iSvku_RCb0acnpv46Gh7DdKM8BGXATspLfcOrSsc1XIoj01xl0Fc9-IOERFOxmkwd7R47sKVoPXBEb729VDS6yBOogIIe7NMz5oe-mPzBsqD_AVClh/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="86" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was absolutely NOT what I was expecting. Having seen this book mentioned as an inspiration for <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> in the behind-the-scenes book on the making of the franchise, I was under the impression that this would be a fairly light adventure story. Hah! Instead, it’s an incredibly grim tale about gold lust that culminates in the death of the main character, who has already attempted to murder his friend in order to stake his claim.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it (especially since I had Covid at the time) but I certainly might have appreciated it more if I’d known what tone it struck. Humphrey Bogart plays Fred Dobbs, a down-on-his-luck drifter who is cheated out of his wages by a labour contractor. Along with his fellow worker Bob Curtain, Dobbs meets an old miner called Howard who spins a few stories about gold prospecting, and when he comes into a flush of lottery money, the three of them set their sights on the Sierra Madre mountains.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s when the plot really gets cracking. The three men are forced to grapple with harsh conditions, roaming bandits, and the arrival of another prospector who demands to be allowed to join them – but their real adversary is the growing gold-lust within each of them, and the suspicions that are roused when it comes to protecting their cuts. In what (I think it’s safe to assume) is the film’s most famous line, Bogart cries: “Conscience. What a thing! If you believe you got a conscience, it'll pester you to death. But if you don't believe you got one, what could it do to ya?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The film is ultimately about the answer to that rhetorical question. Dobbs sinks further into paranoia and violence, and by the end there’s almost a Shakespearean air to the proceedings (well, if filtered <em>very</em> heavily through an American lens – by that I mean events turn on external irony as opposed to fatal flaws). I don’t regret watching it, as it’s obviously a classic for a reason, but yeah – not really something I enjoyed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Psycho </strong>(1960)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHyOJ8WIf1-6_HFsOz-xMXXPiV-wLxRmSZ4_2OIpZEAuFIaJxbUXZ4KgcDXNq4hPnnr4DkDgDbjGXgJZS3xLfeb7Z83D3RsG1lrCvt60-7y2jKWjn-Yeml_-nDHWHQ6BpFaf5mNYlfN-PytVC5F3FIH6u1vEXmnsw0nf4GjHtyQTq1M0dJryZqMgPrlKa/s126/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="86" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHyOJ8WIf1-6_HFsOz-xMXXPiV-wLxRmSZ4_2OIpZEAuFIaJxbUXZ4KgcDXNq4hPnnr4DkDgDbjGXgJZS3xLfeb7Z83D3RsG1lrCvt60-7y2jKWjn-Yeml_-nDHWHQ6BpFaf5mNYlfN-PytVC5F3FIH6u1vEXmnsw0nf4GjHtyQTq1M0dJryZqMgPrlKa/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="86" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is not a movie you watch, but study. It’s also not the most Christmassy film for the season, but I listened to a podcast on it on the way to work and was naturally seized by the desire to watch it. And it <em>does</em> technically take place at Christmas!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a movie in two halves, which turns on two very important conversations. The first half is the story of Marion Crane, a woman so desperate to marry her divorced, debt-ridden boyfriend that she impulsively steals $40,000 from her place of work and goes on the run. It goes wrong almost immediately, from her boss spotting her driving out of town, to a cop finding her sleeping in her car, to her fatal decision to stop for the night in a little out-of-the-way motel.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What struck me on this viewing was how overwhelmed Marion is made to feel by the men around her: the oppressive customer who flirts with her, the cop that clearly tries to intimidate her, the boss that condescends to her – perhaps the only completely benevolent male figure in the first-half of the story is the used car salesman, and no one trusts a used car salesman. No woman can look at this shot and not feel uneasy:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwUDgVuU7eqSQytCenbDbBJoyJxy45gJEliuzdlI_GSVjmw4WwXmths7RXCZERShwqoxEmXrDb-V_w96hcGe8T1bv0Ma3FatG0uOMZBnmgwkvnAQOcqSJYajwnUiWchyRzase_Mi9MTUODF0KmSZ4kxh4cJqZCMw7R6x1nLZ-hw957rpJJy2mENHYS18CA/s1920/!.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1920" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwUDgVuU7eqSQytCenbDbBJoyJxy45gJEliuzdlI_GSVjmw4WwXmths7RXCZERShwqoxEmXrDb-V_w96hcGe8T1bv0Ma3FatG0uOMZBnmgwkvnAQOcqSJYajwnUiWchyRzase_Mi9MTUODF0KmSZ4kxh4cJqZCMw7R6x1nLZ-hw957rpJJy2mENHYS18CA/w400-h216/!.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Perhaps the tragic irony of the film is that the one man Marion choses to lower her guard around is the one that poses the greatest threat to her life. (Though it’s also ironic that the cop tells her sleeping on the side of the road is dangerous; she should check into a motel).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Marion has dinner with the proprietor of the hotel, one Norman Bates, a rather nervy but seemingly good-natured young man who asks to have dinner with her. A conversation takes place over sandwiches, in which both learn a little bit about the other, and the film’s <em>other</em> great irony takes place – Norman’s words inspire Marion to fess up to what she’s done and head back to Phoenix.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But it’s not to be. Marion gets into the shower and is stabbed to death by what appears to be Norman’s deranged elderly mother. It’s at this point the entire focus of the film switches to Norman, and we’re witness to the methodical clean-up of the hotel room and the disposal of Marion’s body in a nearby swamp, wrapped in a shower curtain and stuffed into the boot of her car. Why is it that we breathe a sign of relief when the car sinks out of sight beneath the water? Why are we rooting for the success of Norman’s cover up?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">From there, Marion’s sister Lila and her boyfriend Sam get involved, attempting to follow the leads of the private investigator that Marion’s employer hired in order to quietly retrieve the money – but of course, nothing is ever that simple.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So much ink has already been spilled on this film that there seems little I can add to it, though on this viewing I was deeply interested in the portrayal of Marion. She’s obviously committed a crime (insofar as stealing from a bloviating rich guy who keeps waving his money around can be considered a “crime”) which suggests the audience should dislike her, though the film has gone out of its way to give her understandable motivation for her actions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Another observation: this film could <em>only</em> take place in the 1950/60s. Would anyone these days care if a woman was in a relationship with a divorced man? More than Norman himself, Marion is killed by conservatism).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I guess my question is: is Marion’s murder meant to be punishment for what she did? You can’t deny her crime is the reason she’s in that hotel room in the first place, and the film makes it clear the money is what led her to this fate: the camera pulls out from the closeup of her eyeball and in a single shot moves out of the bathroom to where the money is hidden, concealed in a folded newspaper on the bedside cabinet.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet, Hitchcock has also gone to great pains to make us relate to her. Thanks to her conversation with Norman, we know she’s decided to face the music and return the money, with the shower scene staged as some sort of baptism in which her “sins” are washed away (well, before Mrs Bates turns up, at least). She dies in a symbolic state of grace, even if the audience is the only witness to that fact.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To me, the story is less about whether Marion deserved this fate or not, but a depiction of the hideous randomness of death. As is pointed out frequently by the subsequent investigators into her disappearance, the money is ultimately irrelevant in her murder. Like many victims, she was out there just living her life when she crossed paths with the wrong man.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s the true power of this film: it perfectly captures the randomness of horror in the world, something Hitchcock understood when he changed the rules of the movie-going experience by insisting that audiences had to watch the film from start to finish, with no admission given to latecomers. Marion doesn’t know she’s in a horror film – more importantly, neither does the audience. We spend so much time with her, we’re fully invested in her story, and then boom. It’s over. She was in someone <em>else’s</em> story the whole time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are also plenty of little details that I came to appreciate this time around: the matching smirks on Marion and Norman’s faces at different points, when they realize they’re going to get away with their crimes. The elegant exposition that sets up Marion’s predicament within the context of natural-sounding conversations (this is a lost art these days). Moments like Marion’s unthinking wave at her boss at the crossing, or Sam commenting that the shower curtain is missing, or Norman silently noticing the holes in Marion’s story.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I particularly liked all the subtle puzzle pieces that that the film scatters throughout, leaving the audience to ponder the implications: that there were two more women who went missing in the vicinity of Bates Motel, that Mrs Bates’s boyfriend was a married man, the hushed ways in which people reference his death, and Norman’s adverse reaction to Marion’s suggestion that his mother go to a “madhouse” – they all provide food for thought about what’s being going on in Norman’s life up until this point. Sometimes not knowing <em>everything</em> is part of the viewing (or reading) experience.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But perhaps for that reason, people can’t help but come back to this story, wanting more. We ended up with three sequels, a shot-by-shot remake, and a prequel television show – all of varying quality, but which don’t do the original justice by a long shot. I wonder if that’s just human nature: to want <em>more</em> of something we enjoyed, even when it dilutes the magic and thrill and mystery of the original. To have more of the same instead of moving onto new things. I’m not sure we’ll ever escape that impulse.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Dangerous Liaisons </strong>(1988)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKa2LWYOFh8JM-7vh1zl4YreglN8g95IBqb4JKc14HA8WHellaz68jNFEZRXB38-VzCE3DZjYnAX1b0tAPmuFnhzngQpHI7KYLMP5VeIsxSoZBYcEIXGuxiCYfPjOntK-qlJyosQp2Vqr_mcifpHE99J8DkgWMa3iKKVCwtYN31f_cydi8xlgKm22oTNfU/s134/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="90" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKa2LWYOFh8JM-7vh1zl4YreglN8g95IBqb4JKc14HA8WHellaz68jNFEZRXB38-VzCE3DZjYnAX1b0tAPmuFnhzngQpHI7KYLMP5VeIsxSoZBYcEIXGuxiCYfPjOntK-qlJyosQp2Vqr_mcifpHE99J8DkgWMa3iKKVCwtYN31f_cydi8xlgKm22oTNfU/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Earlier in the month I watched the Starz prequel to <strong>Dangerous Liaisons</strong> (see below), and naturally had to follow up with the famous 1988 film. This is probably the most well-known adaptation of the 1782 French novel, even though it’s apparently based on the 1985 stage play by Christopher Hampton. It has a stacked cast (Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfieffer, Uma Thurman, baby Keanu Reeves – even Peter Capaldi!) and gorgeous production values, the irony being that the beauty of its locations, costumes and interiors deliberately make for a striking contrast to the sordid, viperous, deeply unpleasant events that take place.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Close and Malkovich are the Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont, two character types that – if they were updated into a modern setting – would almost certainly be a Queen Bee and her Gay Best Friend. Or at least they would if not for the fact that Valmont’s heterosexuality is a reasonably big plot-point. Merteuil wants revenge against her ex-lover, who has called off the affair due to his impending engagement to another woman: Cécile de Volanges.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cécile is young and naïve, and that she’s spent most of her life in the shelter of a convent renders her a lamb to the slaughter in the hands of these two schemers. Merteuil’s request is that Valmont seduce Cécile in order to humiliate her former lover, who believes his bride-to-be is as pure as the driven snow.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But Valmont has his own project in the works: a desire to seduce Madame de Tourvel, a godly and virtuous married woman who is currently staying with Valmont’s aunt. Still, he agrees to Merteuil’s request when she offers herself as a reward for bringing him written proof of his affair with Tourvel.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And so the game is on, with both Merteuil and Valmont wrapping their tentacles around these two women and the people around them in order to achieve their entirely selfish, cruel, meaningless goals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Valmont decides to approach Madame de Tourvel not by presenting himself as a good man or even a reformed rake, but as a terrible human being who is being inspired to better himself, entirely against his will, by her goodness and virtue. It’s a tactic that works, not just because Tourvel is intrigued by <em>him</em>, but by the effect she’s supposedly having on him. That’s the key component of any bad boy/good girl romance – in many ways it’s less about the boy, and more about the power that the girl wields over him; an appeal to her vanity that’s hard to resist.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At this stage all the guy has to do is plant within her head the belief that she’s <i>tormenting</i> him, and that potent mix of vanity and charity (as well as the societal expectations that have been instilled in her to always be cooperative) will make her feel obligated to relieve that suffering. Tourvel tries her best to resist, but Valmont plays her like a fiddle.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then of course the second part of this very specific narrative rears its ugly head: he starts to genuinely fall for her. Naturally, <strong>Dangerous Liaisons</strong> plays out this drama much more scathingly than your average YA novel or paperback Mills & Boon, and the course is set for tragedy. There is no happy ending for the star-crossed couple.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I recall that even the end of <strong>Cruel Intentions</strong> has its Tourvel/Valmont surrogates reconcile before the latter dies, with the former assured of his genuine love for her – but there’s no such closure here. Valmont dies in a pointless duel, and despite hearing his final message to her, Tourvel is too emotionally shattered to believe it. Then she dies in a convent of some random illness she’s just picked up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As much as we generally (albeit guiltily) enjoy watching terrible people wreak havoc, this adaptation makes sure that we can’t. Too many innocent lives are ruined, too much misery and despair are sown, and all on little more than a whim of its perpetrators. It’s a grim tragedy, not soap opera trash, and you can’t end this without thinking to yourself: bring on the French Revolution! Sweep this entire sordid society and its participants/enablers into the sea.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King</strong> (2003)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ950ZV62x9cJE8dkryNhWfPOlyZY9iCXrs-Jy3wAri2sde_5TWPlHjTukfY83y-J4TRJ1xUtvvbHiWp3twyQeTQM3E2VD2CqjAbYzn-OGYUmomiKP8qsV7CEqnAOKIvh23WVW2z1LEkcf-5nIgLkyPFPOL7gW6hyphenhyphenl3DsIeY0nUyEaxyWME_4J0B2zs_Zf/s136/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="136" data-original-width="92" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ950ZV62x9cJE8dkryNhWfPOlyZY9iCXrs-Jy3wAri2sde_5TWPlHjTukfY83y-J4TRJ1xUtvvbHiWp3twyQeTQM3E2VD2CqjAbYzn-OGYUmomiKP8qsV7CEqnAOKIvh23WVW2z1LEkcf-5nIgLkyPFPOL7gW6hyphenhyphenl3DsIeY0nUyEaxyWME_4J0B2zs_Zf/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="92" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And so it ends, my three year project to watch <strong>The Lord of the Rings</strong> trilogy on their twentieth anniversaries. Of course, Covid delayed my viewing of <strong>The Return of the King</strong> until closer to New Years Eve, but I got there in the end.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In hindsight, I still consider <strong>The Fellowship of the Ring</strong> to be the best of the three films, though whether that’s down to the initial thrill of watching something for the first time with no expectations, or the fact that it simply <em>feels</em> like a better paced and imagined adaptation is something I can’t quite decide on. Probably both. <strong>The Return of the King</strong> is a deeply satisfying conclusion in many ways, but at the same time, it can’t help but trip at the finish line a bit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I think my biggest problem is that despite being the titular king of the title, Aragorn is oddly muted here. This was his time to stand up, step forward and accept his destiny – which he <em>does</em>, but not in a particularly dramatic way. In hindsight, what the film is missing is a scene in which he’s recognized and accepted by the people of Gondor as their rightful king.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the book, this occurs when Ioreth the healer notices that he’s able to revive Éowyn and spreads the news that the Heir of Isildur has returned. In the movie, it just sort of happens. Suddenly he’s leading the combined forces of Rohan and Gondor to the Black Gate. Do these men even know who he is? Couldn’t they have at least noticed that the White Tree was coming back to life? (There’s a brief moment when a flower blossoms on one of its branches, but only the audience is privy to this). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What makes this really irritating is apparently a scene like this <em>was </em>shot, and one of the visual guides even has a screenshot of Aragorn and Ioreth in the same frame together. Sadly, this appears to have gone the way of so much other footage that didn’t make it to the extended edition (release the super deluxe ultimate edition, you cowards!)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Something else that bugs me: in the book, Aragorn’s decision to seek out help from the Dead Men of Dunharrow is a widely discussed strategy. In the film, Aragorn heads off in the middle of the night without telling anyone what he plans to do, leading to the troops believing that he’s running away.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And oh jeez, the stupid “Arwen’s fate is tied to the Ring and so she’s therefore dying” nonsense. Guys, the stakes are high enough. Our heroes are fully motivated at this point. You did NOT have to add this.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, the climactic showdown. Just as Aragorn leads the remaining Rohan/Gondor troops to act as a diversion at the Black Gate and Frodo and Sam make the final desperate race to Mount Doom, things just fall apart. I should be on the edge of my seat, biting my fingernails, and I’m just <em>not</em>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The CGI creep that eventually ate <strong>The Hobbit</strong> movies began with the conclusion of this film, and my brain simply switches off at the sight of the Fell Beasts and the Oliphaunts and Shelob and the thousands of computer-generated troops swarming across the landscape. A troll in the first movie was terrifying, now there’s twenty of them and I just don’t care. I know it’s not real.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And some things look just plain awkward. What the heck is Eowyn’s fight against the Witch King? Was that really the best they could do? Am I really supposed to believe that Denethor ran ON FIRE across that entire courtyard to throw himself off the parapet? Why all the goofy Gimli moments that completely cut through the suspense? Aragorn flat-out murders a parlay messenger? Big no. I can understand why they didn’t bother with trying to hide Éowyn’s identity as Dernhelm from the audience, but why is there a scene with her standing in the middle of the Rohan camp, sans a helmet?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then the downright crappy editing of those final climactic minutes. That all of Mordor’s structures just collapse like that? That the earth crumbles around the orcs but stops JUST short of the good guys? And of course, that STUPID STUPID EYEBALL. I HATE IT SO MUCH. The idea that the Eye of Sauron is a physical thing hovering at the top of a tower, which constantly projects a beam of light over Mordor like it’s a lighthouse and then actually <em>reacts with horror</em> when it feels Frodo put on the Ring... it’s awful. AWFUL! If someone could bring me a cut of this movie that neatly edits out that stupid visual I’d be forever grateful.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's been well-documented that Sauron was meant to appear in physical form at the final battle, only for them to switch him out for a troll at the last minute (there’s a shot of Gandalf waving his hand to one side; that’s the tail-end of a shot in which he pulls back the veil from Sauron’s angelic visage to reveal his true self) and there’s no getting around the fact that Gollum leaping on an invisible Frodo and dangling there in midair just looks silly.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, the horses. What happened to the horses?? When Aragorn makes his big speech to the troops, he’s riding back and forth on his horse, but when it cuts back to him saying “for Frodo”, EVERYONE is inexplicably on foot. Buh? Why on earth would they give up the advantage of being on horseback?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You can simply <em>tell</em> that the whole thing was hurriedly slapped together, when these final minutes were crucial to the cathartic relief of the Ring finally being destroyed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, so that’s a lot of complaining. Let’s talk about the good stuff. Pretty much the entirety of the film’s first three-quarters, which amounts to a good three hours’ worth of material. The sequence in which Pippin lights the beacons is quite possibly my favourite sequence of the entire trilogy. The dynamic between Faramir, Denethor and Pippin is fantastic, especially since they only had a few scenes to set it up. The nighttime evacuation from Osgiliath. Arwen having a vision of her son and realizing that her future is in Middle Earth, no matter what it costs her. Gandalf and Pippin on the balcony in Gondor, described as “the deep breath before the plunge”, and later, Gandalf comforting him with the promise of “a far green country under a swift sunrise” in the midst of battle.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, the movie’s true climax: the Ride of the Rohirrim. The musical score, the lighting, the striking of Theoden’s sword against the spears, Merry clutching Éowyn and her whispering: “courage for our friends” in return, the horns, the slow advance that gradually becomes a tidal wave... I get chills <em>every</em> time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Many of the changes to Tolkien’s text not only make cinematic sense, but are occasionally <em>better</em> than their source material. For example, it makes sense that Theoden and Éowyn get the chance to say goodbye to each other on the battlefield (in the book, Theoden dies without ever knowing she’s there). Merry gets to be at the Black Gate with Pippin (in the book he’s too injured) and Frodo grapples with Gollum over the Ring at Mount Doom, as opposed to Gollum just losing his balance and falling into the lava. Even Frodo temporarily sending Sam away makes a certain degree of <em>dramatic</em> sense, if not a logical one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Despite a few missteps, Peter Jackson is smart enough to hone in on the emotional beats, not just the big, blaring, epic set pieces. Which leads me to my absolute favourite unique-to-the-film scene: when Frodo falls to the ground in despair and exhaustion, only to have a vision of Galadriel in Lothlorien, who telepathically gives him words of encouragement. She offers her hand, he takes it, and he’s pulled to his feet once more. It’s utterly perfect, all the more so for having no precedent in the book. Had Tolkien seen it, I’m sure he would have kicked himself for not writing it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I don’t blame Jackson for cutting the Scouring of the Shire, even if it means short-changing Saruman (he gets the line: “you’re all going to die!” followed by an impalement on a giant spike, both of which are rather dreadful) and I don’t even mind the litany of endings which everyone always complains about. Tell me, which one would you cut? The Fellowship reunion? The coronation? Sam’s wedding? The goodbye at the shore? Come on, they’re all absolutely necessary – though one final nitpick: why on earth does the movie close on a yellow hobbit door as opposed to the iconic green one at Bag End, which Sam and Rosie WERE meant to be living in at this stage?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As we pass the trilogy’s twenty-year anniversary, the best thing I can say about it is that after my friend and I watched the credits roll, he turned to me and asked: “do you think we’ll ever get something this good ever again?” I couldn’t answer him.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Lost King</strong> (2022)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUOid9_jNv4mswgN5oM6BjssbcffDvW3Zr1uY8PWcLpNn42Qr-wQnuIJ1pvb4X9cyEP7Uqt297Vtbnckqs7Hh92H_ssrf9V9liRodlV2Ms5WXgQ3gcqSkpXRxC6Ml2W4lIfazJINqVRqjdNuB-nyYdiD6ZUCXY8-H-TxNFbt7N6RHyIq_azpIxhWXVJkB/s125/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="84" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUOid9_jNv4mswgN5oM6BjssbcffDvW3Zr1uY8PWcLpNn42Qr-wQnuIJ1pvb4X9cyEP7Uqt297Vtbnckqs7Hh92H_ssrf9V9liRodlV2Ms5WXgQ3gcqSkpXRxC6Ml2W4lIfazJINqVRqjdNuB-nyYdiD6ZUCXY8-H-TxNFbt7N6RHyIq_azpIxhWXVJkB/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="84" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Watching <strong>The White Queen</strong> and <strong>The White Princess</strong> last year made this the perfect time to transport myself hundreds of years into the future to the exhumation of Richard III’s body in 2012, and the myriad of issues that surrounded its discovery.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On paper, it’s a great story: a woman who is not taken seriously ends up finding the long-lost body in a carpark. Much like when Heinrich Schliemann discovered the ruins of Troy in 1870, it’s always a triumph when a supposed kook is proved correct, especially when there’s a feminist angle in the mix. Just like Martha Mitchell, Phillipa Langley was right.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">However, watching this film sent me down a bit of a psychological rabbit hole, as the actual depiction of Phillipa’s search for the burial site (and the supposed “truth” about Richard himself; specifically that he was a good man who was in no way responsible for the deaths of his nephews) is... well, I suppose the only word for it is “cringe.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The crux of the matter is that Phillipa Langley was inspired to research Richard the III after seeing a performance of the Shakespeare play and (very explicitly) projecting her own health issues onto a figure who also suffers from a physical disability – he’s a hunchback, she has myalgic encephalomyelitis. From there she joins the Ricardian Society, a group of amateur historians that are committed to (in the words of their website) “securing a more balanced assessment of the king and to support research into his life and times.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the film at least, this amounts to them arguing that a document which describes how distraught he was after his son’s death is evidence that he <em>couldn’t</em> have killed his nephews, as though one naturally negates the possibility of the other.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, they’re devoted to woobifying Richard the Third. Now look, I am totally open to the possibility that Richard was not the culprit behind the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, but at the same time, it’s impossible to take this equally jaundiced view of history seriously. Facts should speak for themselves, whereas Phillipa Langley and her cohorts are taking a hypothesis and then finding evidence to support it. That’s... not good research.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The film also explores what it means for Phillipa to be up against the patriarchy when it comes to tracking down Richard’s remains and (supposedly) “clearing his name,” which naturally pits her against fuddy-duddy, hoity-toity historians who scorn her biased research and insist on the <em>facts</em>. The outrage! In comparison, Phillipa is depicted as being guided almost entirely by emotion and instinct, in which the actual narrowing down of potential burial sites is reduced to a couple of zoom calls, and her discovery of the carpark staged almost as if she’s having a psychic premonition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s not even getting into the fact that she begins to have hallucinations of King Richard (as played by Harry Lloyd – hi, Will Scarlett!) and carry on conversations with him. Honestly, she comes across as a complete weirdo. I’m not entirely sure what actress Sally Hawkins was going for with this portrayal, but her Phillipa is very high-strung and off-putting. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet, no one can deny the fact that she <em>was right</em>. The body was where she thought it was.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So I really don’t know what to think or how to feel about any of this. The paradox of it all fascinates me: that Phillipa went about doing this for the wrong reasons and in entirely the wrong way, and yet... was successful. I ended up in something of a stew over it. Is my scornful reaction to her methods just internalized misogyny? Am I frustrated she blew her feminist cred by being so ridiculous about King Richard’s innocence? Do I fear professional women in the field will never be taken seriously when amateurs like her run entirely on their emotions?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because if you compare this film with the documentary on the same subject, it’s abundantly clear that Phillipa is in love with her idealized version of Richard, and has no interest in objective facts. In the film, when she’s told that the unearthed skeleton has a spine deformity, she whispers: “he’s perfect.” In real life, she ran off in tears because it didn’t match her vision of a handsome, straight-backed prince. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(That’s the other fascinating irony at the heart of all this – Philippa set out to prove that his hunchback was merely Tudor propaganda, only to reveal that there <em>was</em> some truth to it after all. And if they were right about <em>that</em>, what else?)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Furthermore, for a film about Phillipa going up against the establishment in order to find Richard’s body, most of her opposition comes from other women. Aside from Amanda Abbington’s character, a potential sponsor who stops the male-dominated boardroom from interrupting her and later takes Phillipa aside and advises her not to use “I have a feeling” as a reason why she should get funded, this film is <em>filled</em> with bitchy women.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The movie starts with Phillipa being passed over for a promotion in favour of a younger woman (she’s a blonde, which is film-code for “please hate this bitch”) and later a sneering P.A. says: “it’s the equivalent of someone with a homemade rocket saying they’re going to reach the moon.” She even faces baffling levels of hostility from a bookstore clerk in a throwaway scene when she goes to buy some books on Richard.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As the credits rolled, I didn’t know what to make of it all. It definitely leans into the feminist angle of Philippa Langley being a Cassandra figure whose feminine feelings were held in contempt despite being <i>correct</i>, but at the same time all her detractors are made out to be stuffy and/or arrogant academics who hold the outrageous opinion that emotions shouldn’t get in the way of the historical truth.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her ex-husband mansplains to her that people are inclined to demonize or sanctify others, and Philippa is obsessed with Richard to what is clearly an unhealthy degree. It feels unwise and unprofessional to invest so much emotion and instinct and gut-feeling into an historical theory, but then, aren’t women’s feelings denigrated constantly, even when they’re <em>right?</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ultimately, the movie is more interested in making us believe that King Richard was a poor, maligned, guiltless little baby than in the complexities and difficulties of finding his body, which is a shame. And when it comes to the question of whether or not he was innocent of familicide, all that springs to mind is that <strong>Game of Thrones</strong> quote: “Stannis is a killer. The Lannisters are killers. Your father was a killer. Your sons will be killers one day. The world is built by killers.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Mrs Harris Goes to Paris </strong>(2022)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs403Dyec2rYAtn983JoBs_zp2lHKXIU0tU0_mp58rla4IydmUj6yyFASzRrZCybedWo2X9rl-pijsy65ExoiIPH0sd9NakyTAjA7tJ9kTRqQd74qC9G-HyqK7-6vDHZU6vhSU2SAC6-_PpO2EkswzUwlaOQVDMS2ItMysvw1ciOnrIkPMtfsd8ATYO11_/s117/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="117" data-original-width="85" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs403Dyec2rYAtn983JoBs_zp2lHKXIU0tU0_mp58rla4IydmUj6yyFASzRrZCybedWo2X9rl-pijsy65ExoiIPH0sd9NakyTAjA7tJ9kTRqQd74qC9G-HyqK7-6vDHZU6vhSU2SAC6-_PpO2EkswzUwlaOQVDMS2ItMysvw1ciOnrIkPMtfsd8ATYO11_/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="85" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This movie has one of my favourite topics at its core: the idea that too much virtue is a bad thing. In the case of Ada Harris, an aging charwoman who provides emotional support to her clients as well as a cleaning service, she is simply TOO KIND. Always happy to listen to other people’s problems, always going the extra mile to make them happy – it sounds lovely on paper, but all it’s really done is given people a license to walk all over her. There’s a fine line between being generous and being a doormat.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But one day, while she’s at the house of a woman who keeps putting off delivering her paycheque, Mrs Harris falls in love... with a custom-made Christian Dior gown. For the first time in her life, she covets something. To covet something is very different from wanting something. People want things all day, every day. But to COVET something – that’s when you realize you cannot live happily without the object of your desire.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, this mentality is <em>also</em> a vice, but Mrs Harris has spent years of her life making other people happy, and now she has a dream of her own: to travel to Paris and buy herself a Christian Dior dress.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first half-hour or so of the movie details the saving she must put into making her dream a reality, complete with a couple of stumbling blocks along the way (at times she’s her own worst enemy when it comes to following signs and portents). But with the help of her circle of friends and some serendipity, Ada gets herself on a plane bound for Paris.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The adventure really starts once she’s in the City of Love, and as predictable as events are once she gets inside the Dior showroom (expect allies, foes, misunderstandings, good Samaritans, scenery porn, mad hijinks, French breadsticks, and Mrs Harris passing on her wisdom to the next generation) it all makes for a snuggly feel-good story.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">2022 was one hell of a year for Leslie Manville, who also took lead roles in <strong>Magpie Murders</strong> and <strong>The Crown</strong>, and it’s always a balm to see a woman on the wrong side of fifty have romantic adventures, treat herself to luxuries, and learn to embrace life after being in a lengthy rut. Her trip doesn’t always go according to plan, but just as Mrs Harris’s kindness leads her down several costly roads, the narrative ultimately makes sure she’s rewarded for it in equal measure.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As someone who doesn’t have much interest in fashion, even <em>I </em>could appreciate some of the gowns that were on display here, and it’s all beautifully shot and performed. Think <strong>Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont </strong>fused with <strong>Amelie</strong> – good for a rainy day or after a particularly hard week at work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse</strong> (2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5POT0VyPOrjYPYeNflhDE87qXDMVmDmdsOC7WRWTw-9alhtF1QSomW3Kx0NKtYs1HMEIL-fptI7DqtlX7iGCCKcM74Yz5pFXSR-vhQkap1VyWJHjIz9gQvmrlzCZYJJ1CvUMNzScIh5TrhT_gdlO96ZRpp6iaW0-I7yT3QUavZYziWkMW57q2NlrJfg8q/s122/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="122" data-original-width="82" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5POT0VyPOrjYPYeNflhDE87qXDMVmDmdsOC7WRWTw-9alhtF1QSomW3Kx0NKtYs1HMEIL-fptI7DqtlX7iGCCKcM74Yz5pFXSR-vhQkap1VyWJHjIz9gQvmrlzCZYJJ1CvUMNzScIh5TrhT_gdlO96ZRpp6iaW0-I7yT3QUavZYziWkMW57q2NlrJfg8q/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="82" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’ s hard to know what to say about this one, mostly because it’s only the first half of a two-part movie, but also because it’s so loud and fast and intense that it’s difficult to tell what’s going on sometimes. I can imagine some people watching this and simply not being able to keep up with it; an explosion of noise and colour and chaos.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I watched and enjoyed the first movie in this intended trilogy, though I was undergoing superhero fatigue at the time, and since then have also had my fill of multiverse drama (and I’m not even talking about the MCU, who jumped <i>very</i> quickly onto that particular bandwagon after the success of <b>Into the Spider-Verse</b>!) This more of the same, but MORE – and to be clear, that’s not a bad thing. We won’t know until part two comes about, but the dream team of Lord and Miller seem to be in control of their sprawling story, and everyone knows that a sequel has to be bigger than the original.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">About a year after the events of <strong>Into the Spider-Verse</strong>, Miles Morales has got the hang of being Spiderman, juggling his superhero duties with his personal life... for the most part. He’s still a little directionless about where he wants to go after school, and his parents are finding his behaviour (brought on by rushing out to be a vigilante) increasingly strange.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But things get serious when he runs into a villain known as the Spot, whose body is infused with portals that allows Miles to start traversing the multiverse. In doing so, he meets other Spider-people from various parallel worlds, noting their similarities and differences along way. Eventually he ends up in the Spider Society, a massive complex where the various Spider-people monitor the events of every world. Specifically, what are known as “canon events.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It gets quite meta at this point (I couldn’t begin to identify even <em>half</em> the cameos on display) as Miles is made aware of the fact that every single Spider-person becomes the hero they need to be through losing someone they love, whether it’s a parent, a love interest, or a child. Running the show is Miguel O’Hara, who is <em>very</em> zealous about canon events playing out – no matter whose life is on the line.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, our hero and his antagonist are going to butt heads, and that’s while the Spot is still out there somewhere, causing havoc.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But I’ve come this far without mentioning Gwen Stacy. It struck me as a little amusing that this Spiderman sequel very much follows the same template of <strong>The Lego Movie</strong>’s sequel. There, Emmett was the initial protagonist, with Wyldstyle being an almost too-perfect example of Trinity Syndrome. When the sequel rolled around, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Lord and Miller had heard the critiques and righted the ship, with Wyldstyle becoming the unquestionable protagonist of <strong>The Lego Movie II</strong>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A similar thing happens here with Gwen, who (despite not being as mishandled as Wyldstyle was in <em>her </em>first movie) is now very much a co-lead with Miles, whose narrative becomes the framing device of this story. The whole thing begins and ends with her, and the decisions/actions she takes are essential to the direction the story unfolds. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plenty of ink has been spilt on how this movie’s animation style has ushered in a new era of creative, stylistic animation – everything from <strong>Arcane</strong> to <strong>Puss in Boots: The Last Wish</strong> have clearly drawn inspiration from the Spider-verse’s bold, kinetic, “2.5D” design, in which computer-generated images are combined with hand-drawn ones to create what looks like a living painting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This movie goes one step further, using strikingly different styles for every universe (and its inhabitants) that Miles visits: the parchment-like visage of the Vulture, Gwen’s pastel-hued home, Hobie’s punk rock artwork, the liquid, ever-moving state of the Spot... there’s even some live-action and stop-motion Lego thrown in.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In other words, a feast for the eyes, and there’s no way you can pick up every detail on a single viewing. But the payoff is yet to come. Third instalments of movie trilogies are underwhelming at the best of times, and those written as the second half of a two-part movie have even more disappointing precedence (<strong>The Matrix Revolutions</strong>, <strong>The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End</strong>, <strong>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay</strong> – heck, <strong>Divergent</strong> didn’t even <em>get</em> the second half of their split-in-two final instalment).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Make it happen, <strong>Beyond the Spider-Verse</strong>. I’m rooting for you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</strong> (2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRkytkNKR5r7WvhEio0VHTEfKgm-CorGuRd4_khECZXDuFYnBKvJqlCRoGCez0yHxiBZo8A89df748KFkElBiJhucNK8kig0Wz7ThTDdrXEGdPrHN17-y7NEjtTEAEC8OfFa2tk7PvOnh-pqZkCYRcvPMVJrBbbBxyK8Q2mPHHuoInKL5p0saS-MoTskA/s129/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="97" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRkytkNKR5r7WvhEio0VHTEfKgm-CorGuRd4_khECZXDuFYnBKvJqlCRoGCez0yHxiBZo8A89df748KFkElBiJhucNK8kig0Wz7ThTDdrXEGdPrHN17-y7NEjtTEAEC8OfFa2tk7PvOnh-pqZkCYRcvPMVJrBbbBxyK8Q2mPHHuoInKL5p0saS-MoTskA/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="97" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a more organized world, Indiana Jones’s fifth and final outing would have been released ten years ago, and brought together the most beloved Indy sidekicks for one last adventure that would give all of them a chance to shine: Marion, Short Round, Henry Jones Senior, Harold Oxley, and of course Sallah and Marcus Brody in support. Heck, I wouldn’t have said no to a return from Mutt, as I love a redemption story for an unpopular character.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But three of those actors have since left us, and the time for that film has passed. Instead, we get <strong>The Dial of Destiny</strong>, which is... fine. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just fine.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">After a prologue that takes place in World War II, in which Indiana is once again pitted against the Nazis in a race to lay claim to an historical treasure (and which makes copious use of de-aging technology – please Disney, for the love of cinema, I beg you to stop doing this) he escapes along with his friend Basil Shaw with one-half of an artefact known as the Archimedes’ Dial, which is said to grant its bearer the ability to time travel.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twenty-five years later, Indiana is preparing to retire. Remember how <strong>The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</strong> had his colleague sadly intone that they were at the stage when “life stops giving us things and starts taking them away,” only for the film to end with Indy being reunited with Marion and his son Mutt? Well, since then Mutt has been killed in the Vietnam War, Marion has filed for divorce, all his friends are dead and/or gone, and none of his students find him attractive anymore.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On that cheerful note, he’s visited by his god-daughter Helena Shaw, who (in the grand tradition of Indiana Jones sidekicks) has never been seen or mentioned before. In the lead-up to this movie, I honestly thought she’d end up being the daughter of Marcus Brody, or at least Ray Winstone’s Mac (in fact, that latter character as her father would have done wonders in explaining her personality) though I can understand why Disney wouldn’t want to commit to either of those actors/characters being portrayed entirely by deepfake technology.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, Helena drags him out of his depression for one last adventure to find the missing half of the Archimedes’ Dial – and who knows, perhaps they’ll change history along the way.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ll say this for the movie: there were a lot of bad faith predictions in the lead-up to its release, and none of them came to fruition. This is a new adventure, with new sidekicks, after a new treasure, in new locations. This scathing Bingo card checklist was <em>astoundingly</em> wrong regarding what the film would actually contain:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKx3tWqJorfYNorryppCMUtPxv8T2-pQk2wRkCDUNQZYzN8mKiXWghZhOldtsthFK6vJC9bzAvnJ3k1H-prPCL4zoV991QBmUnac2pnOtQWDDurdILnBZ_4Qlb5Qm52YvJ0_1jpXv8xtLyKcvLfzGqbXPBrHHTh7ZbDiV0SRAIsUorK0Wsl1QCMfJmM4g/s631/@@.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSKx3tWqJorfYNorryppCMUtPxv8T2-pQk2wRkCDUNQZYzN8mKiXWghZhOldtsthFK6vJC9bzAvnJ3k1H-prPCL4zoV991QBmUnac2pnOtQWDDurdILnBZ_4Qlb5Qm52YvJ0_1jpXv8xtLyKcvLfzGqbXPBrHHTh7ZbDiV0SRAIsUorK0Wsl1QCMfJmM4g/w343-h400/@@.jpg" width="343" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Other than the promise of one last Indy adventure, I was intrigued by the presence of Helena, who was all set to become the first heroine in an <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> movie who was not a love interest. And played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge? Awesome! Unfortunately, it’s hard to know what they’re trying to achieve with her.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She’s clearly meant to have a callous-to-caring arc, but the callousness is just <em>so intense</em> (locking Indiana in a room full of men with guns while she makes her own escape, being totally indifferent to the fact that his friend has just been murdered) that the <em>caring</em> part feels like it’s coming from a totally different person. Not helping is that she’s obviously very fond of her own Short Round, a boy called Teddy, which doesn’t jive <em>at all</em> with the rest of her characterization. If she had used the kid as a human shield at some point, I can’t say I would have been surprised.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This franchise simply <em>can’t </em>do female characters, and it’s a bit of a cringe-inducer that the only other notable one is a Black CIA agent who gets shot in the head about halfway through.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I liked the historical backdrop of the moon landing, and what they end up doing with Archimedes’ dial is probably the best use of a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin">MacGuffin</a> since the Ark of the Covenant, but Mads Mikkelsen as the main villain is imminently forgettable. How is that possible with Mads Mikkelson??</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And as nice as it is to see Karen Allen and John Rhys Davies as Marion and Sallah again, the film misses the opportunity to get a full reunion. Ke Huy Quan could have effortlessly taken the place of Antonio Banderas’s character (though preferably minus the unceremonious death) and I wouldn’t have even said no to a cameo by Jim Broadbent or Kate Capshaw. And come on, what they do to Shia LaBeouf’s Mutt is <em>so</em> mean-spirited.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, so I know at this point you’re thinking: “but Rav, aren’t you always complaining about fanservice? Wouldn’t a litany of cameos have just been obnoxious?” Well maybe, but I’m also of the opinion that if you’re going to film the capper of a forty-year franchise, you may as well pull out <em>all</em> the stops.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, it’s a perfectly fine coda to a series of big-screen movie adventures, though it doesn’t really feel like an Indy movie. Even <strong>Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</strong> felt like an adventure <em>only</em> Indiana Jones could have gone on, whereas <strong>Dial of Destiny</strong> is something you could have put <i>any</i> fictional lead into and still had the same movie.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I doubt I’ll ever watch it again, but I was always going to see it once.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Doctor Who: Season 4</strong> (2008)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TtU9xPakgqweRssRFaK_rXxtUjpN9BU6PHj4_vWMwMO1ZUWPDSR878MXDVmEmmRKpxP3nQzb2hgKJVkrO8gM_SWQaAWNogfcqinnp_1a2CBq1NEe-vDNz80Z2uS3WjrJDIR3dJe9SQwIj-PnhgU87OaxIinyAbfh8ELTk52O09gzPxkRNwjDzFY8KIQu/s127/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="127" data-original-width="127" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TtU9xPakgqweRssRFaK_rXxtUjpN9BU6PHj4_vWMwMO1ZUWPDSR878MXDVmEmmRKpxP3nQzb2hgKJVkrO8gM_SWQaAWNogfcqinnp_1a2CBq1NEe-vDNz80Z2uS3WjrJDIR3dJe9SQwIj-PnhgU87OaxIinyAbfh8ELTk52O09gzPxkRNwjDzFY8KIQu/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="127" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I headed back in time and watched this season of <strong>Doctor Who</strong> in order to prep myself for Donna’s return in the Christmas Specials. What struck me most was that this was early enough in the show’s run for the Doctor himself to get a degree of character development – specifically, an exploration of his need for human companionship and the grim consequences of what he does to people if they stick around long enough. During Moffat’s tenure, he was practically an infallible god.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was also reminded that the show at this point very much took on the structure of <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> seasons: that is, there would be a number of one-off episodes nestled within a longer arc, containing various clues that pointed towards where the storyline was going: glimpses of Rose, mentions of displaced planets and missing bees, the reiteration of phrases like “DoctorDonna” and “there’s something on your back” – it all points to the events in the season finale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Russell T. Davies was also very good at weaving elements of <i>other</i> people’s episodes into the overarching structure to make a more cohesive whole. For instance, the fact that the Doctor met Donna’s grandfather Wilf independently of her, and that coincidences and parallel worlds seemed to be attracted to Donna were obviously just happenstance when they were written –but Davies takes the time to turn them into actual plot-points.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are also plenty of themes and ideas in any single episode that reflect the larger whole, such as Agatha Christie’s memory loss being an early echo of what will eventually happen to Donna. All of it ties together nicely. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are plenty of great episodes in this season, with highlights such as “Midnight” (which reminded me of Hitchcock’s <b>Lifeboat</b> this time around, in that the right move was to <em>immediately</em> jettison the dangerous alien from the vessel, regardless of any moral equations) and Moffat’s two-parter “Silence in the Library” and “Forest of the Dead”, which introduce River Song.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Speaking of which, if there was one thing that bugged me about both Davies and Moffat, it was that both seemed to be in some sort of competition with each other to create the Most Important Companion of All Time, whether it be Rose or River – both of which I found to be vaguely unpleasant at best or completely obnoxious at worst.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They have their moments, but you can just <em>feel</em> the authorial favouritism they’re getting, best seen in the levels of adulation that the other characters are forced to cede to them (in the finale, everything screeches to a halt so that Donna or Martha or <em>someone</em> can quiver in awe over the Doctor and Rose being reunited. Thirteen years later, Donna’s daughter ends up calling herself Rose, and I don’t have enough eyes to roll at <i>that</i> one).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m sure that the reason Donna turned out to be such a popular Companion was that she <em>wasn’t</em> treated as special by the narrative – just a normal woman caught up in intergalactic events – and blissfully free of any romantic entanglements with the Doctor.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But Davies also has a strong grip on continuity (there’s a cute moment when the Doctor and Rose recognize Gwen Cooper, whose actress appeared in <strong>Doctor Who</strong> as a completely different character) and with that in mind, it’s fun to see the likes of Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillan guest-star in “The Fires of Pompeii” long before they return to the show as <em>much</em> more important characters.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It all ends with a bang. Knowing that it’s his final episode before show-running duties are handed over to Steven Moffat, Davies brings back all three Companions from his tenure, plus the main characters of <strong>Torchwood</strong> and <strong>The Sarah Jane Adventures</strong>, to fend off a Dalek invasion led by Davros... which felt a bit odd to me, since I was only vaguely familiar with these characters. Even K-9 gets a cameo appearance, and I know virtually nothing about that dog.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet you can’t say Davies didn’t take out his tenure with a bang, and everyone in the <em>incredibly</em> loaded cast gets their chance to shine. It’s actually quite a buzz seeing all their names come up in the opening credits.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But of course, it all ends in tragedy, with Donna having her memories of the Doctor taken from her, forcing her to revert back to the shallow gossip we first met in “The Runaway Bride.” It’s a long time before that creative decision is rectified...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The White Lotus: Season 1 </strong>(2021)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6zib_Eq-e_i2cOCJyaVmlz8C4jhonl6nKyc2WRY6-BOcg1z2xLUnuhnxT8GochV-dV0UUCmcphKMi2oxcsMBHjPV4rA45eKJ5PWIyPfqGkGeOh9RH3aadvAOecL5uf1cmhH7dNytC8WAmp-519NkXX0wawIDqiJsBvqHkkKD3uSJLw3fKsMkENT2kjW4/s163/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="89" data-original-width="163" height="89" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6zib_Eq-e_i2cOCJyaVmlz8C4jhonl6nKyc2WRY6-BOcg1z2xLUnuhnxT8GochV-dV0UUCmcphKMi2oxcsMBHjPV4rA45eKJ5PWIyPfqGkGeOh9RH3aadvAOecL5uf1cmhH7dNytC8WAmp-519NkXX0wawIDqiJsBvqHkkKD3uSJLw3fKsMkENT2kjW4/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.png" width="163" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What was I thinking? Well, I do know – my mum and I catch up every week and watch an episode of something, and this was a show she had been recommended at work. Of course, we got two episodes in before realizing it wasn’t really for her, by which point my sister had come back from England, the Christmas holidays started, and I got Covid.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So we threw in the towel when it came to watching it together on a weekly basis, and I just binged the remaining episodes while I was in isolation (I’m incapable of leaving things unfinished, and it’s not like I had much else to do).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically a take on <strong>Upstairs, Downstairs</strong> at a Hawaiian resort, it follows the storylines of various guests and hotel employees as they struggle to get through each day, whether it’s enforced fun and relaxation, or attending to the every whim of those determined to <em>receive</em> said fun and relaxation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The ensemble is made up of Tanya McQuoid, an eccentric and self-absorbed heiress who has come to scatter her mother’s ashes, Shane and Rachel Patton, newlyweds who are already having serious second-thoughts, and the Mossbachers, a standard nuclear family (with their teenage daughter’s friend Paula joining them) who can barely tolerate each other.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Forced to deal with their (completely unself-aware) demanding behaviour is Armond is the hotel manager, five years sober but increasingly pushed to the edge by Shane’s entitled behaviour, Belinda, the kind-hearted woman who runs the spa and sees in Tanya a chance to start her own business, and Kai, who becomes romantically attached to one of the guests.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">More than anything it’s a character study, specifically of how the intensely privileged remain oblivious to the negative effect they have on those who must <em>work</em> for a living. With that in mind, it’s difficult to know what to take from the show once it’s finished. It’s a foregone conclusion that Tanya will disappoint Belinda. Rachel decides to stay with Shane because she lacks the backbone to leave him (even though she knows it’s the right thing to do). Paula’s plan to financially assist Kai by convincing him to steal from the Mossbachers’ hotel room backfires spectacularly, but we learn nothing about the fallout. And Armond’s escalating feud with Shane eventually costs him his life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">With all that in mind, I suppose another comparison would be <strong>Parasite</strong>, though without that film’s spectacular twists.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The vistas and locales are gorgeous to look at, but it’s ultimately a pretty depressing portrait of how the rich get away with everything, and the rest of us are left to clean up their messes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Avenue 5: Season 2 </strong>(2022)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeDN9fRhztWsUxtEiWOagK5-33_2hAM604xhT2zrsQBXZajCwZD21Bv5PYpvX9LmiIxBLYfO0gb3_KmW5iYKPRnAIEyv4RgUe1pALWwpovrFluQNy4sB1305ZBo608jLRdACNkukmPEY3PCem7b-7qsGIcDjdvhQdZXUQWbb3Y6HzZC5xwNeFs7FxFkD1/s120/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="81" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeDN9fRhztWsUxtEiWOagK5-33_2hAM604xhT2zrsQBXZajCwZD21Bv5PYpvX9LmiIxBLYfO0gb3_KmW5iYKPRnAIEyv4RgUe1pALWwpovrFluQNy4sB1305ZBo608jLRdACNkukmPEY3PCem7b-7qsGIcDjdvhQdZXUQWbb3Y6HzZC5xwNeFs7FxFkD1/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Remember this one? It’s okay if you don’t, because no one really watched it the first time around and it became yet another cancelled show. Created by Armando Iannucci, so you can expect a pitch-black satire of how terrible people generally are, it centred on the galactic cruise ship Avenue 5 and its array of passengers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">After a series of unfortunate events leaves the vessel without a captain and veering 0.21 degrees off course, Hugh Laurie has to step up as the ship’s <em>fake</em> captain (initially hired as an appealing front while the real work goes on elsewhere) while the crew scrambles to find a solution to the fact that they’re now looking at over three years in space.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first season ended with busybody Karen Kelly jettisoning the extra cargo out the <em>side</em> of the ship instead of the <em>rear</em>, thereby sabotaging the necessary thrust to shorten the return journey and lengthening it to eight years instead. That her name is Karen is certainly not a coincidence, and her henpecked husband has taken advantage of her plight to confine her to quarters, having convinced her that the rest of the passengers are out for blood.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The truth is, they don’t even know yet. Nobody aware of the ship’s true predicament has any idea how to break the news to everyone that their journey has been extended, and that they probably won’t make it anyway due to the food shortages.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Honestly, it’s not great. Besides Hugh Laurie as Ryan and Lenora Crichlow as engineer Billie, there’s no one to root for, which means that if the entire ship collided with a meteorite on its way back to Earth, it would be no big loss. There are some amusing bits, such as some inventive putdowns (“are you trying to confuse predators?” is said to a woman wearing clashing colours) and a dramatized version of the ship’s tribulations that’s being broadcast back on Earth (where dialogue is comprised solely of noble declarations) but nothing that comes close to making it a must-watch.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For every fun character and performance – Zach Woods as the nihilistic PR man, Nikki Amuka-Bird as frazzled head of mission-control (she should do more comedy; she’s hilarious) and even Josh Gad as the spoiled manchild owner of the vessel – there are at least twelve others that I just don’t care about, and would have quite happily seen thrown out the airlock. Also, there’s been a blatantly obvious slash in budget.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I don’t regret watching, and I’m reasonably happy with how it ended, but at the same time I can’t help but wish it had been better than it actually was.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Dangerous Liaisons: Season 1 </strong>(2022)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqrikZQbJZU5leqp3pTxGOMy4QWpqLmZCFT0_jr9l93gINqAOPmbn9lsVVgpwuIqfUz2h0l4ueNi97XKWu2CbBeIbSoQGvGhOrjYYrLbbtvRRemp_M5fNR0qWgMIA2D6WiqVSjyxAefnQZ_kPvF4W2WFNIVRHca0-3PmXMouUn-iEVFP1bnTB8ISLLIxE/s140/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="93" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqrikZQbJZU5leqp3pTxGOMy4QWpqLmZCFT0_jr9l93gINqAOPmbn9lsVVgpwuIqfUz2h0l4ueNi97XKWu2CbBeIbSoQGvGhOrjYYrLbbtvRRemp_M5fNR0qWgMIA2D6WiqVSjyxAefnQZ_kPvF4W2WFNIVRHca0-3PmXMouUn-iEVFP1bnTB8ISLLIxE/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="93" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A prequel to Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s epistolary novel, <strong>Dangerous Liaisons</strong> seemed like a solid bet, and Starz apparently thought so too, as it was renewed for a second season before the first had even aired. Well, I have to presume that I was the only person who watched it (ironically because I thought it HAD secured a continuation) since the network reneged the renewal and duly cancelled it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">*deep weary sigh*. Another promising show consigned to the dustbin of “why’d you even bother?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Years before the events that are probably best known to modern audiences through the 1988 John Malkovich/Glenn Close costume drama and the modern remake <strong>Cruel Intentions</strong> (the trashiest trash that ever trashed), this prequel takes us back to the early years of Pascal and Camille, later known as the future Vicomte de Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil (no idea why their names have been changed from the book’s Sebastian and Isabelle though).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Back in 1783, they were giddy youngsters in love, and relatively innocent. Well, not really. Valmont has already collected a range of older lovers and compromising letters which he plans to blackmail them with should the need ever arise, though he also seems to genuinely love Camille, a prostitute trying to pay off her indenture to the madame of the house.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">He promises to get her out of her current predicament, but she isn’t impressed on realizing that this involves the aforementioned extortion of his many lovers. Once he disappoints her by not showing up to their rendezvous to run away together, she inveigles herself into the home of Geneviéve de Merteuil, a noblewoman desperate to get her love letters to Valmont returned before her husband finds out.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She takes Camille under her wing, and then (rather inexplicably) kills herself by throwing herself down the stairs. Not remotely secure in her new position as the Marquis’s new ward, Camille has to think on her feet and draw upon the myriad of secrets at her disposal to retain her new standing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, Valmont is trying to win Camille back by following her instructions to seduce a woman called Jacqueline de Montrachet, with whom she shares a mysterious past. As he sidles himself into her life, he can’t begin to understand what the vendetta against such a virtuous, God-fearing woman might be, and so begins to question what’s really going on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s very fun to watch, with all the vicious backstabbing and melodrama you’d expect, even if it <em>does</em> rely on some pretty absurd circumstances. Things get more soaked with intrigue as the episodes go on, with some unexpected connections made between certain characters, and a murder-mystery plot that pulls everything together... which will never get resolved. It even veers into <strong>Les Misérables</strong> territory a little bit, what with the obsessive search by a police officer for Camille’s whereabouts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, Valmont ends up being the more interesting of the two main characters, as both manipulator and manipulated – and just as much of a prostitute as Camille initially is, selling his body for a specific kind of currency (also, the actor bears an uncanny resemblance to Eddie Redmayne).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Camille on the other hand, is just a poor impoverished girl trying to make her way in the world, occasionally going too far in her attempts to climb the ladder. We’ve seen this story play out a thousand times before, and there’s nothing particularly vicious or conniving about Camille – which is a shame, since she’s nothing less than an absolute monster in the novel.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yes, this is a prequel, designed to showcase the genesis of the person Camille will eventually become, but I find that these days writers/shows seem terrified to have their female characters be anything less than perfect victims. Most of Camille’s schemes end up backfiring due to unforeseen circumstances (much like how all the worst problems in <strong>House of the Dragon</strong> stem from mistakes and misunderstandings rather than deliberate choices made by the characters).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not helping is that Alice Englert has no allure or charisma whatsoever – not even physical grace when it comes to the way she clomps around the sets. (She’s Jane Champion’s daughter, so I suppose we’ll have to blame nepotism for this one). Camille should be a powerhouse of fascination and charm; someone you simply cannot take your eyes off – here it’s impossible to believe she’s getting away with her ruse, based as it is on being utterly captivating, and it's absurd that so much intrigue is orbiting a complete void. Go watch Glenn Close to see how it’s done.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had with Victoire and Azolan, the servants of Camille and Valmont respectively, who naturally are the voices of reason who grow increasingly exasperated by the behaviour of their employers. The show also ends up being something of a reunion between <strong>Game of Thrones</strong> supporting players: Clarice van Houten is the obvious one, but also Michael McElhatton, Tom Wlaschiha and Miltos Yerolemou. There’s also Stanley Townsend in a small role, playing the <em>exact same character</em> as he did in <strong>Andor</strong>, and Paloma Faith, who seems to be having a great time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And hey, Lucy Cohu! I haven’t seen her since <strong>Torchwood: Children of Earth</strong> and the misconceived <strong>Atlantis</strong>. She should be in more things; she has so much presence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It would seem that the heart of this series is the usual cautionary tale about what it costs you to get to the top and the question of if it’s really worth it. These tales have been around for donkey’s years, and usually centre on women – from <strong>The Gilded Age</strong>’s Bertha (which is far lighter than this show) to <strong>Vanity Fair</strong>’s Becky Sharpe (which is much funnier). You could even include Carole Middleton on <strong>The Crown</strong>, so it’s been a month for it! We go a little easier on social climbers these days, as here Camille’s motivation is desperation in dragging herself out of the gutter, and often stories like this take on a “woman against the patriarchal values of the world that oppresses her” vibe.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which is all well and good, but it doesn’t really mesh with the point of the original novel, in which Camille and Valmont are appalling people who play with innocent lives because they’re bored aristocrats. With the backdrop of the fast-approaching French Revolution, it’s a scathing portrayal of why that country’s upper class was overthrown in the way it was (and it wasn’t just down to the white face paint and bouffy wigs – man, I <em>hate</em> this period’s popular fashions).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So like I said, we’re left with the usual story of a girl’s whose social climbing and desire for safety is measured against the people she has to step on along the way. Perhaps there would have been room for Camille to make more moral compromises as the show continued, becoming more cruel and corrupt along the way, but (as usual) cancellation puts a stop to that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>1923: Season 1</strong> (2022 – 2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjKdi2ALr_-zR2mMy3HAzAr-2V-BEu6LJsiTgGw-BHpfmOZgbLgES2TNm_00xvJBXetd-n9-RZhDzmM0kqINgwbkuKg3dGxEG95NBYFy6hJEPVJhhuBb6-guGjddgBbWfghnXhOrAkyOAiMD6oOzLBP1qbV6A8v00DHYhhzxt6ZjNLsVfyNk8pv9oloTo/s119/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="119" data-original-width="81" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjKdi2ALr_-zR2mMy3HAzAr-2V-BEu6LJsiTgGw-BHpfmOZgbLgES2TNm_00xvJBXetd-n9-RZhDzmM0kqINgwbkuKg3dGxEG95NBYFy6hJEPVJhhuBb6-guGjddgBbWfghnXhOrAkyOAiMD6oOzLBP1qbV6A8v00DHYhhzxt6ZjNLsVfyNk8pv9oloTo/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s fascinating to watch a show like this, one that has every reason to be good (solid premise, huge budget, amazing cast that includes Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren) and yet... isn’t. It really <em>isn’t</em> that good. But why not? I suppose the main problem with <strong>1923</strong> is that it never really gives us a chance to <em>care</em> about anything.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I started this year by watching <strong>1883</strong>, the first prequel to Taylor Sheridan’s massively popular <strong>Yellowstone</strong> franchise, which detailed the arrival of the Dutton family in Montana. Now the story picks up a generation later, in which the original couple that settled on the land (James and Margaret, played by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) have died off-screen, and their homestead/ranch taken over by the former’s brother Jacob and his wife Cara.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s straightforward enough, but James and Margaret had a surviving son called John, who I <em>think </em>is in <strong>1923</strong> – only he gets virtually no coverage and is killed off pretty quickly. Most of the action centres around Spencer Dutton... who didn’t exist in the <strong>1883</strong> series. I suppose it’s possible that he was born after the events of <strong>1883</strong>, despite Margaret’s rather advanced age... but then why would you kill off the son that <em>was</em> featured in that series in order to focus on the one that’s seemingly just appeared out of nowhere?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Even with Elsa Dutton providing a voiceover commentary from beyond the grave (which completely disappears in the last couple of episodes), it was a little bewildering trying to sort out the family tree.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, with the entire cast of <strong>1883</strong> unceremoniously killed off, the show divides itself between three distinct storylines. The first is set at the Yellowstone Ranch in Montana, where the Duttons get into a deadly feud with a neighbouring sheep farmer (played by Jerome Flynn) over the lack of grazable land, which culminates in the Dutton family – including the aforementioned John Dutton, who possibly featured as a child in <strong>1883</strong> – being gunned down.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But you can’t judge Jerome Flynn <em>too</em> harshly for this, considering Jacob finds him grazing his sheep on his land, and responds by hanging him and his men from the nearest tree. Escalation much? It’s clearly a desperate time for everyone with livestock to feed, but instead of pulling together, Jacob declares war and then acts mildly surprised when he’s treated in kind. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Fearing a lack of strong leadership, Cara writes her to nephew Spencer who is working as a big game hunter in Africa, having fought in World War I and still nursing his psychological wounds. His storyline might well be the most absurd of the three, which very much plays out like it’s been written by a man attempting to emulate a Mills & Boon. While out on the hunt, Spencer crosses paths with Alexandra, a terribly annoying and self-satisfied heiress who runs away with him on little more than a whim to escape her weedy fiancé.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The two are instantly, passionately in love with each other, engaging in sex out in the open all over Africa, and forced to deal with obstacles like elephant attacks, lion attacks, ghost ships, capsized boats, shark attacks, and duels thrown down by that pesky aforementioned fiancé, who rather hilariously gets chucked overboard. The lovers are unable to have normal conversations with each other, their dialogue is made up entirely of either witless prattle from Alexandra, or overly-serious declarations of eternal togetherness – also from Alexandra.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And to make matters worse, the pair of them don’t even make it to Montana by the end of the season!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, the third story strand features a young First Nation girl called Teonna Rainwater, ensconced in one of those monstrous Catholic schools that were ostensibly meant to teach “the natives” how to act civilized, but were clearly just hotbeds for abuse and violence. This is an overlooked part of American history that needs to be discussed far more often than it is, but at the same time this plot is almost unwatchable due to the sheer amount of cruelty that’s on display.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Teonna manages to escape and reaches a certain degree of safety by the end of the season, but she’s not completely out of danger and – more to the point – it’s difficult to know what any of this has to do with the other two subplots. I can only assume that the Rainwater family ends up at Yellowstone Ranch (I know there are First Nation characters in the mother-show) but given that I’m watching this franchise in chronological order, everything in this storyline feels disconnected to the point of random.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oh, and don’t get me started on the last two episodes, which features the gratuitously prolonged sexual torture of two prostitutes at the hands of a mining baron. It’s completely pointless and unnecessary, and when a writer/showrunner clearly has as much executive power as Taylor Sheridan does over his screenplays, it’s difficult not to suspect that he’s just writing his own porn (it also doesn’t feel like a coincidence that the women of this show get naked <em>far</em> more often than the men).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The show is never unwatchable (it’s too expensive for that) and with a surprising amount of talent on display – not just Ford and Mirren, but guest stars like Jennifer Ehle, Peter Stormare, Joseph Mawle, Sebastian Roché, Robert Patrick and Timothy Dalton to name a few.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Everyone in my family was talking about <b>Yellowstone</b> last Christmas, and so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and catch up across the course of 2023. That didn’t got exactly to plan, and I’m not entirely sure I want to continue after this.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Doctor Who: Christmas Specials</strong> (2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8VcSjUf0b_mLbkh3uMpSmpilH56SHRnTwHJzxgpAH4TfPJhcUwafRL5QvRuPaaRNtsjV5KfCEBB6tnyTqUpzYS11dM7dYAEXa0iwJzpAUo_1Rib9SwJio15k8m-E1HaoiGkW1Zdr7lhdtnhdnnr4w7C1Q02J5IC9EOndkaiUk3hh0fEuuQz7az6R1HpD/s125/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="100" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8VcSjUf0b_mLbkh3uMpSmpilH56SHRnTwHJzxgpAH4TfPJhcUwafRL5QvRuPaaRNtsjV5KfCEBB6tnyTqUpzYS11dM7dYAEXa0iwJzpAUo_1Rib9SwJio15k8m-E1HaoiGkW1Zdr7lhdtnhdnnr4w7C1Q02J5IC9EOndkaiUk3hh0fEuuQz7az6R1HpD/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="100" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having watched Donna Noble’s tenure on board the Tardis in the show’s fourth season, I was primed and ready for her big return in these Christmas Specials. Given that I’ve already discussed the character in January’s <a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2024/01/woman-of-month-donna-noble.html">Woman of the Month</a>, there’s not much more to say – only that any overly convenient plot-points that are used to return her memories and Time Lord capabilities are borne away by the sheer emotional power of Donna’s long-awaited reunion with the Doctor.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">David Tennant and Catherine Tate pick up their chemistry and friendship right where it left off, as though it hasn’t been over thirteen years since we last saw them together. What’s especially touching is that it’s not just David Tennant and Catherine Tate who return, but also Bernard Cribbs, Jacqueline King and Karl Collins as Donna’s grandfather, mother and husband, respectively – all last seen back in 2004.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If there’s a particular theme to these three Specials, it’s one that popped up regularly when Russell T. Davies was the original showrunner: that life goes on, and it isn’t any less important or meaningful when there <em>isn’t</em> a time-travelling alien ushering you on a range of intergalactic adventures. As Ten said at one point: “it’s the one adventure I can never have.” This is returned to here, when – all these years later – he’s finally given a chance to set down roots and <em>rest </em>for a while.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What also popped out at me while I was watching season four is the fact the Doctor very much had a character arc – specifically, that he was constantly in danger of becoming the “Time Lord Victorious”, a god-like being who flouted the laws of time and space, answering only to his own ego and hubris. Davies connects these Specials back to that run of episodes, harking on just how traumatized and exhausted the Doctor is after fighting so many battles (including the ones against himself) and thereby ensuring that his extended Sabbatical feels both necessary and earned.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Davies is also good (or at least interested in) finding the connective tissue throughout various episodes (even those not written by himself) and drawing on anything from major plot-points to tiny details –themes, story ideas, even repeated words – to weave into his story.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In this case, I found it quite gratifying that he didn’t simply throw out Chris Chibnall’s Timeless Child contribution to the <strong>Doctor Who</strong> mythos (which is more than I can say for Chibnall, who immediately drop-kicked all of Moffatt’s careful setup to bring Gallifrey back into play) and a little chuffed by how he connected the word “binary” (which Donna incessantly repeated at the end of season four when she was overtaken by Time Lord memories) to Rose Noble’s non-binary self-identification.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Davies is interested in what I suppose we’d call <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArcWelding">Arc Welding</a>, though it’s a lot more fluid and organic here than what the TV tropes page describes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">He’s also never let storytelling logic get in the way of emotional stakes, and between the relatively easy fix for Donna’s memory loss, the “bi-generation” that introduces Ncuti Gatwa, and even the explanation behind why Ten returned in the first place, it’s clear that Davies is more interested in emotional pay-off than plots that are grounded in any sense of rational cause-and-effect plotting. But he’s always been this way, and in light of that, it’s almost funny it wasn’t just the return of Tennant and Tate that stirred up feelings of nostalgia, but all the obvious tells of Davies’s writing style.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">“The Star Beast” is essentially a reintroduction to Donna, her family and her predicament, culminating in the restoration of her memories of the time she spent with the Doctor. I have to admit being a little disappointed that the titular alien ended up being the episode’s villain, but there’s wonderful use of the fact that Donna’ daughter Rose is transgender, and how this figures into the plot (like I said – no narrative logic, but immense emotional and thematic resonance). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In “Wild Blue Yonder,” Donna and the Doctor end up stranded on the edges of the galaxy with a creepy threat that’s very reminiscent of the creature in “Midnight” in regards to the fact we learn so little about them. More pertinently, it sets the tone for the forthcoming season, what with a fascinating scene in which the Doctor invokes a superstition (throwing salt) at the brink of the universe, thereby opening up the possibility that these fairy tale-based rules will have real weight and power in the stories to come. As Davies has said, this season is going to lean more into a fantasy vibe (not that this show has ever been without it).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, “The Giggle” serves as the big finale. Neil Patrick Harris chews up the scenery as the Toymaker, UNIT is back in force (complete with Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and old school Companion Mel Bush) and we get out first look at Ncuti Gatwa taking over the role of Doctor going forward. And he NAILS it. Truly, his enthusiasm and energy are infectious. We’re in for a good ride.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plotwise, the whole bit about the entire human race being brainwashed into thinking they’re right, leading to mass violence and death, is abruptly forgotten about halfway through the episode, but I had to laugh at the fact that despite all the Disney money now at Davies’s disposal, the fight against the Toymaker culminates with three men throwing a ball at each other. I don’t think Davies is going to fall into the George Lucas/Peter Jackson trap of letting CGI overwhelm one’s storytelling proclivities.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, surely that rumoured UNIT spin-off is a go? I can think of no other reason for the otherwise superfluous robot character (Google tells me it’s called the Vlinx) and the organization’s brand-new set if it wasn’t. Which means they can rectify the one sour note of these Specials: that Martha Jones is the only Companion of the Davies/Moffatt era who doesn’t get a mention or a check-in. Seriously, that was <em>glaring</em>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, <strong>Doctor Who</strong> has hit the ground running. Ncuti Gatwa is excellent, Ten and Donna get a well-deserved happy ending, and the board has been reset for the Fifteenth Doctor to get out there and have some baggage-free fun. Can’t wait to get into it!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Crown: Season 6</strong> (2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrOjuMfo2cbMjh_yq1wExJLioj6hGyMoWrz2c6vnOpl-6D2AAR5ENrixKKI27Y9YFcGrCoGhdKEDlm_AZnKeIbGiVOcrP0XEE98mob8f5UAlvAMkw3UT73IZZW7RBJ1RLlZ3D4Uf9CneQRZSoil_oMyMFdSwid2I2afGoEcEX5xlHLpbuyGZJsaA7TFxt/s123/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="99" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrOjuMfo2cbMjh_yq1wExJLioj6hGyMoWrz2c6vnOpl-6D2AAR5ENrixKKI27Y9YFcGrCoGhdKEDlm_AZnKeIbGiVOcrP0XEE98mob8f5UAlvAMkw3UT73IZZW7RBJ1RLlZ3D4Uf9CneQRZSoil_oMyMFdSwid2I2afGoEcEX5xlHLpbuyGZJsaA7TFxt/s1600/%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23.jpg" width="99" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, I just managed to squeeze this one in before the year ended. Remember when <strong>The Crown</strong> was considered prestige television? Now it’s absolute melodramatic shlock. Yes, the rumours were true and Princess Diana appears to Charles and the Queen as a ghost (or as a mental projection of her, whatever) for a few final conversations. What on earth was Peter Morgan thinking?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This tone had crept into the last season as well, which I chalked down to the show catching up with events that took place within living memory, thereby coming across as rather sordid and intrusive rather than the informative period drama of the show’s early years. Naturally, the final weeks of Diana’s life and her tragic death overshadows everything else that occurs this season (the season’s very first scene is a bystander seeing the car enter the tunnel, at which point we go back “eight weeks earlier,” essentially putting the whole show on a countdown) and there’s nothing pleasant or entertaining about watching her being hounded to her death.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Furthermore, Morgan has covered this ground before, with the controversy over the establishment’s response to Diana’s death explored in 2006’s <strong>The Queen</strong>. As such, that period of time is truncated for obvious reasons, and you can tell Morgan isn’t interested in going over the same material. Why would he be? He’s already won the Oscar for it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The episodes are on steadier ground once we’re <em>really</em> in the aftermath of the event, and the other characters are free of Diana’s all-encompassing orbit. Charles continues to obsess over Camilla, Princess Margaret grapples with her failing health, and William’s early friendship with Kate Middleton gets turned into a sweet albeit bland love story. (Only the fact that Kate seems to have walked into that situation with full cognizance of what she was getting herself into – unlike Diana and Meghan – prevents me from feeling the most profound pity for her. I would not want her life for the world).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also a nice flashback sequence which seems to have been based on 2015’s <strong>A Royal Night Out</strong>, in which Elizabeth and Margaret sneak out of Buckingham Palace to join in the VE Day celebrations. Interestingly, they bring back Beau Gadsdon to reprise her role as a young Princess Margaret (she was also the child version of Jyn in <strong>Rogue One</strong>) but switch out Verity Russell for Viola Prettejohn (who also played Mrytle in <strong>The Nevers</strong>). It’s not hard to see why – her resemblance to Claire Foy is frankly astonishing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's also nice that Dodi Fayed’s life and its tribulations get some attention, as naturally his death in the 1997 car crash was completely overshadowed by Diana’s. That said, the show is utterly brutal to his father Mohamed Al-Fayed, who is essentially made the leading cause of the accident. Obsessed with the royal family and seeing his son as a way-in to their inner circle, Al-Fayed forces the pair of them together, sets the paparazzi on their trail, and is indirectly the reason that Diana was in Paris that fateful night (he was pressuring Dodi to buy her the engagement ring that could only be purchased in a Parisian store).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The show makes it clear that Diana has no intention of getting engaged to Dodi, despite her potential father-in-law’s deranged goading, and let’s just say that Peter Morgan is lucky this aired <em>after</em> Al-Fayed’s death in the August of last year, as I’m sure there would have been no end to the pending lawsuits if he’d ever seen <em>this</em> depiction of himself.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And I have to say, I’m disappointed that the show ended with Charles and Camilla’s wedding as opposed to Harry and Meghan’s departure from the UK, as that would have been the perfect bookend to most of the show’s themes and ideas. After six seasons of witnessing so much personal misery, in which stodgy, outdated laws prevent a small group of insanely privileged people from marrying who they love and living out their lives in peace, it would have been an apt capper to see Prince Harry actually <em>learn the appropriate lessons</em> from Edward VIII, Princess Margaret, and his own mother’s unhappy legacies by simply picking up his family and getting the fuck away from that institution’s toxic influence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(And deliberately or not, the show’s depiction of Charles’s PR team tracks <em>very</em> well with what Harry had to say about the royal courtiers and the competition between them over “their” royals getting all the good press, often at the expense of other family members).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instead, he’s portrayed as something of a spoiled brat, even if the final episode <em>does </em>afford him a measure of grace when Elizabeth points out that the people in his position (that is, the number twos) aren’t granted the same level of care and protection that the first-in-lines are.</span></p><p><!--wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"}-->
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<!--/wp:paragraph--></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And so Prince Charles finally got everything he wanted, the public moved on from the adultery scandal, and all the obsessive, seething hatred directed at Diana was eventually turned onto Meghan Markle with no self-awareness whatsoever. Peter Morgan can’t bring himself to do anything less than make the final episode a complete love letter to Queen Elizabeth, though the show in its entirety has done nothing to relieve me of my feelings about the monarchy: that the entire institution has to go.</span></p>Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-45942921312193270562023-12-28T23:42:00.000-08:002023-12-28T23:42:55.607-08:00Links and Updates<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So what did you get for Christmas? I got Covid, which meant I didn’t get a Christmas. I’ve finally dragged myself out the other side of my sick bed, though I still feel like crap and barely have the energy to type this (the post you’re about to read was written about a day before the symptoms <em>really</em> hit).</span></p><!-- wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"} -->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m ticked off, as I was able to avoid the virus for this long, but I suppose I knew deep down it was going to catch up to me eventually. In any case, I hope your Christmas was better than mine.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My last Links and Updates post was a bit miserable, as there’s been so little to look forward to this year and so much <em>more</em> that has been unceremoniously cancelled. And then, in the past couple of weeks, something happened – the promise of good stuff!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yes, a lot of it is prequels and sequels and remakes and continuations, but they appear to have a level of care and quality involved that piques my interest...</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The whole internet is talking about the latest <strong>Doctor Who</strong> episodes, and the fact that Ncuti Gawa has finally been introduced. I’ve watched the three David Tennant specials, and cannot WAIT to see the Fourteen (or is it Fifteenth?) Doctor in action. I am genuinely just so thrilled with this casting, even to paper over Russell T. Davies falling so completely back into his old writing habits.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nduSPlZ0x7k" width="320" youtube-src-id="nduSPlZ0x7k"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The long-gestating Furiosa movie suddenly has a trailer! Much like <strong>Mad Max: Fury Road</strong>, it’s burst onto the screens out of the blue, and though I wasn’t exactly clamouring for a backstory to this character, it would be unwise to bet against George Miller. And Anya Taylor-Joy? No complaints there.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XJMuhwVlca4" width="320" youtube-src-id="XJMuhwVlca4"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A few posters and teaser trailer has been released for the second season of <strong>House of the Dragon</strong>, and – who am I kidding? I’ll be watching it along with the rest of you, though probably as a binge rather than on a weekly basis (assuming that HBO or whatever it’s called now sticks to its original weekly releases). It has dragons and tragic Sapphics, what more can I say?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HQ8H5gqGA34" width="320" youtube-src-id="HQ8H5gqGA34"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ditto the second <strong>Dune</strong> movie, which is boasting some evocative character posters and a compelling trailer (though I’m intrigued by the fact there’s no sign of Alia – that character is going to be a hard nut to crack). It’s not going to be a cinema-going experience for me, but I may end up watching the two films back-to-back on my friend’s giant television.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U2Qp5pL3ovA" width="320" youtube-src-id="U2Qp5pL3ovA"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The release date for the fifth and final <strong>Star Trek Discovery</strong> has been set for April next year. I was never an uber-fan of anything in this particular franchise, but I’ve been casually enjoying this one and will be sad to see it go. Five seasons isn’t anything to be ashamed of these days.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hayao Miyazaki’s <strong>The Boy and the Heron</strong> looked (unsurprisingly) gorgeous, though I’m trying to limit how much I know about the story before I see it. One of the great joys of discovering Miyazaki in my early/mid-twenties was that I had absolutely no idea what any of the films were about, and could be suitably dumbstruck as a result.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t5khm-VjEu4" width="320" youtube-src-id="t5khm-VjEu4"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some of the first promotional stills for Robert Eggers’ <strong>Nosferatu </strong>have been released, and if anyone can do this story justice, it’s him.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqUFkpbbfYzLTTCBSh2ZXIkk5V5JWcZctZZDseu2d6B4sWc0rVCjiDJhMSe9vn4oUJSGdCBmIQMQtu1dDx6oCxVxHH2SmrdaK9nzN1MWiXHANaGdKXxVU0Lk10YX0TBhebK4ASN6kgiHHyvuayfALWIck8gHv4SUbgF_0CD1MeyTqSYKPS14q6O_1_z2b/s1170/@@@@.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1170" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqUFkpbbfYzLTTCBSh2ZXIkk5V5JWcZctZZDseu2d6B4sWc0rVCjiDJhMSe9vn4oUJSGdCBmIQMQtu1dDx6oCxVxHH2SmrdaK9nzN1MWiXHANaGdKXxVU0Lk10YX0TBhebK4ASN6kgiHHyvuayfALWIck8gHv4SUbgF_0CD1MeyTqSYKPS14q6O_1_z2b/w400-h216/@@@@.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54EGBq9JP5wQOv7simdQUdmRYQ15cOV7q-k5Ze5ypfCEXN77zZmPaxSy4aFvnZeIITx16QXW_7pNXGp75rmBjQcHDT0m633G8SVAAaRCekyV6s2moXMXBAwAgXqCnpEmP6UXcZZe-YicK2mVE1-SKZ39WKt3TKTR2GzqPTe59JG_TbnJ3MaWRvsbBPWnr/s1500/@@@@@.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54EGBq9JP5wQOv7simdQUdmRYQ15cOV7q-k5Ze5ypfCEXN77zZmPaxSy4aFvnZeIITx16QXW_7pNXGp75rmBjQcHDT0m633G8SVAAaRCekyV6s2moXMXBAwAgXqCnpEmP6UXcZZe-YicK2mVE1-SKZ39WKt3TKTR2GzqPTe59JG_TbnJ3MaWRvsbBPWnr/w400-h266/@@@@@.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJAmZU4aQ441yTq2_E57CklsheLW_ji5G5bpWzIIYom07hg_sLkt7vZ8T1K4YJcr-lKXl4C7ol8PHxpsj0b4rrqVba7PULyVrvOEDI1vbzKRXM1RBLlU1s34svFj1P4v_6io6HgcArrR7D2rpxBhdkD7ZA3dpmy_zTrNqis1gBmGMZZnquoQd6PHpQBRy/s1500/@@@.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJAmZU4aQ441yTq2_E57CklsheLW_ji5G5bpWzIIYom07hg_sLkt7vZ8T1K4YJcr-lKXl4C7ol8PHxpsj0b4rrqVba7PULyVrvOEDI1vbzKRXM1RBLlU1s34svFj1P4v_6io6HgcArrR7D2rpxBhdkD7ZA3dpmy_zTrNqis1gBmGMZZnquoQd6PHpQBRy/w400-h266/@@@.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I saw this trailer for <strong>Faraway Downs</strong> and was completely bewildered, thinking that Baz Luhrmann rewrote and reshot the entirety of 2008’s <strong>Australia</strong> as a big-budget miniseries. (Not helping the confusion was that my colleague referred to it as <strong>Far and Away</strong>, which is of course the <em>other </em>historical epic that Nicole Kidman starred in back in 1992). Turns out that’s not the case, he’s just reassembled existing footage to tell the epic across a much longer runtime. I’ve never seen <strong>Australia</strong>, but this looks rather interesting, if not just for the novelty of Luhrmann returning to the project so long after its initial release (and failure).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uZEbJQ3Kk7U" width="320" youtube-src-id="uZEbJQ3Kk7U"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As for <strong>Percy Jackson</strong>... sorry, I’m not risking it. There’ll probably be a second season, but there’s simply no way they’re going to get through all the books and spin-offs in a satisfying manner. If they do, I’ll watch when it’s all finished.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.avclub.com/adam-driver-star-wars-arc-wasnt-what-he-signed-up-for-1851098956">Adam Driver has come out and said</a> that he originally signed onto the <strong>Star Wars</strong> sequel trilogy with the understanding that Kylo Ren would never be redeemed, as a direct (and deliberate) inverse to Darth Vader’s arc. Why does this trilogy keep taunting me with how good it could have been??</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I imagine Disney has spent most of this year wringing its hands over financial failures such as <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> and <strong>The Marvels</strong> (and in the larger scheme of things, <strong>The Flash</strong> and <strong>Mission Impossible</strong>) and in all this discussion of failing blockbusters, I honestly think audience disinterest can be traced back to <strong>The Rise of Skywalker</strong>. It instilled the unconscious expectation that the bigger the brand, the more empty and hollow the product, catering to lowest-common-denominator fans and shippers, with nothing interesting or worthwhile to impart.</span></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-24144776188041759082023-12-16T23:38:00.000-08:002024-02-06T21:06:59.360-08:00Legend of the Seeker: Desecrated<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We start with another of those patented camping scenes in which the characters are ribbing each other over the fire (it’s a staple of this show by now) when Kahlan emerges from the forest and announces that gars are attacking a nearby village. They all race off to lend their assistance... only for it to turn out to be a surprise party for Richard’s birthday.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNM4jU_tSwfWXeoxSaYMPUORvtGNV3gIznZdnwoFzjFa1rBJxKG_UmGAauJCyZjwQkF91aL-oRKwCtUsjAR-mGdTB2wIC6VLyYas9nmoH_w61ziuSie8YTCuTA_wrGGcH9J7EAYT2pSGrW8kauUCjgGbTfIFXr_Ud0qJMVExMKrohu69ekoCaRPM5Bgbay/s1366/Screenshot%20(1719).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNM4jU_tSwfWXeoxSaYMPUORvtGNV3gIznZdnwoFzjFa1rBJxKG_UmGAauJCyZjwQkF91aL-oRKwCtUsjAR-mGdTB2wIC6VLyYas9nmoH_w61ziuSie8YTCuTA_wrGGcH9J7EAYT2pSGrW8kauUCjgGbTfIFXr_Ud0qJMVExMKrohu69ekoCaRPM5Bgbay/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1719).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aww. But also – enjoy it while it lasts.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The gang meets Duke Anders and his son Eric, who welcome them to the festivities: eating, dancing, kissing (that is, Kahlan and Richard kiss each other). There’s a poignant mention of Brennidon, in which it’s noted that the day Richard celebrates his birthday is <em>also</em> the day in which dozens of families mourn the slaughter of their infant sons, but it’s brought up for an important thematic reason...</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLe-n2Cn9wygNaimXdN48CHxBJd8mUirAA4Wd5yIii5vnO6n2d8C3cygyqe6xxfdtMJ669rngjAhoV7C_SSzJVZvMvjxSXC3iNh2PJuDPL979-3zmXr1E0M402SN0Q_9sv25Hd48IdS6WrfIpOTD2QacQZFwcroC962LJjDhyphenhyphenPgS5WeF43Qp6D2B1Ps5d/s1366/Screenshot%20(1720).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLe-n2Cn9wygNaimXdN48CHxBJd8mUirAA4Wd5yIii5vnO6n2d8C3cygyqe6xxfdtMJ669rngjAhoV7C_SSzJVZvMvjxSXC3iNh2PJuDPL979-3zmXr1E0M402SN0Q_9sv25Hd48IdS6WrfIpOTD2QacQZFwcroC962LJjDhyphenhyphenPgS5WeF43Qp6D2B1Ps5d/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1720).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Everyone settles down for a magic show hosted by a performer called Cormac, which requires Cara and Kahlan to come up to the stage as volunteers. I could feel a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FreakyFridayFlip">Body Swap Episode</a> coming on, especially when they’re asked to step into two identical-looking boxes, but instead the women disappear, and Cormac asks that for the next part of his trick, a list of young men in the audience have to get to their feet.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's kind of weird that no one smells a rat, but once all the listed men are standing, Cormac announces that if Richard ever wants to see Kahlan and Cara again, he’s going to have to kill the five “cowards”, after which he disappears in a billow of smoke.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzd-wEivbEYvTSCHBfcKn-vpJrdEKTDV3aTCe5_NuuXSNHQH1-XEY-5qer_oAee4ZqVk-nY5EGHxnZ67r2KH_gkZwUGLzT99vi1sI4UhcI9wC-ZbRImWHLB9jyc0-lyCeh-vgcTGxIPS-ZXcWDuSaGLQUuYrr2Bw0o5xwMELTICzmwmoUsc3AC38QKV2v/s1366/Screenshot%20(1722).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzd-wEivbEYvTSCHBfcKn-vpJrdEKTDV3aTCe5_NuuXSNHQH1-XEY-5qer_oAee4ZqVk-nY5EGHxnZ67r2KH_gkZwUGLzT99vi1sI4UhcI9wC-ZbRImWHLB9jyc0-lyCeh-vgcTGxIPS-ZXcWDuSaGLQUuYrr2Bw0o5xwMELTICzmwmoUsc3AC38QKV2v/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1722).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a great set up, as not only do we have a mystery to solve (why is Cormac doing this?) and an ethical conundrum to untangle (whose lives are worth more?) but only a limited amount of time in which to act. According to Cormac, the women have twenty-four hours before they run out of air.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Just to prove to Richard and Zed that they’re still alive, Cormac leaves behind a journey book so that they can communicate with each other, which makes it apparent that their adversary has thought out all the details of this plan. In fact, he’s even <em>more</em> clever than this single scene demonstrates, but we’ll get to why in a bit.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Oh, and very quickly, Zed notices that Cormac made his escape with the help of a powder called Wandering Dust – this will also be important later).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Richard is obviously not the sort of person that would immediately kill people for no reason in order to save his friends, and so the initial plan is to investigate Cormac and try to figure out why he has it in for this particular group of young men, which includes Eric.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, Cara and Kahlan find themselves in what appears to be an underground tomb, with an hourglass to mark the time and another journey book to communicate with Richard.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqifQPXyQWfVufys2wkDRk4eC6GjTrB6w11QnTlu8am9E1PKhpXdd5hq4dM9FBpYJlwS-QW-V03Tp4evcnvu0WUQes5MX6Wd4MEU8PpOjCJ2XBFIijtQUkXdpij6PeosWU1rA1a5ay_jY5Vv68NBPC_6PQXeukgslUR6LhQfWTQRdHP2dAUPB7yTFOfu4/s1366/Screenshot%20(1723).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqifQPXyQWfVufys2wkDRk4eC6GjTrB6w11QnTlu8am9E1PKhpXdd5hq4dM9FBpYJlwS-QW-V03Tp4evcnvu0WUQes5MX6Wd4MEU8PpOjCJ2XBFIijtQUkXdpij6PeosWU1rA1a5ay_jY5Vv68NBPC_6PQXeukgslUR6LhQfWTQRdHP2dAUPB7yTFOfu4/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1723).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In scrabbling for answers, Richard learns more about how this community chose which of their young men would join the fight against Darken Rahl and the D’Harans (with another mention of Brennidon and the massacre that took place there). Each year they relied on a <strong>Hunger Games</strong>–type lottery in which every eligible man had a tile with their name on it placed in a large cauldron. Duke Anders would draw out names while wearing a blindfold, making sure it was a fair and random way of choosing who would go away to war – and unfortunately, all of Cormac’s five sons found themselves answering the call of duty.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">While the Duke’s men search the nearby necropolis, which seems to be the most likely place where the women are stashed, Zed and Richard go to Cormac’s cottage, finding the table set for five sons, with five medals of honour on the wall, and five identity tiles next to each one. Richard picks them up, and having already handled Eric’s, quickly realizes that they are considerably lighter.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUndtyKFOwyYNKpaw6yBmM8YPLgzYa1lhND4QZrreDMfJUCYytvrnPNw4WaO_hGN5ActgY2pz6M28puQ7w1h0QUz90Y38IAMyRYH9LvTpk-DJ-EVb6XOxULHVufJXGFRtFJmog1mZgQ182EiDtLwWJs2GmuFXsSLXZs85q46b9xhl-UP4c4znm11rrx9T/s1366/Screenshot%20(1727).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUndtyKFOwyYNKpaw6yBmM8YPLgzYa1lhND4QZrreDMfJUCYytvrnPNw4WaO_hGN5ActgY2pz6M28puQ7w1h0QUz90Y38IAMyRYH9LvTpk-DJ-EVb6XOxULHVufJXGFRtFJmog1mZgQ182EiDtLwWJs2GmuFXsSLXZs85q46b9xhl-UP4c4znm11rrx9T/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1727).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In other words, the system was rigged, with Duke Anders simply having to <em>drop</em> any tile he picked from the cauldron that was noticeably heavier than the others.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was a clever idea, though not as clever as Cormac is currently being. It turns out that he has a third journey book in play, one that he’s using to intercept Richard and Kahlan’s messages to each other: he reads from one, and then omits to write anything that could give away the latter’s location in the other (while still being able to maintain the women’s distinctive “voices” in the relating).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFbSQn3tfaXw0ku6jrKAk7D_ieyclCeGPNhet7NhZToCzLd3b_RMEUrumaOJ9OX2tMSyhSCmZvUaXAwysb_ducYZ-hPT9a_EkJPytoLTofzz2zb4MmBKOUkrFh1ShWjRTRdL5xKCyosA7IQQkML48PTktgXu3OdJdUNrpAVf9uETG-5Kbla6bEzSGwBE0/s1366/Screenshot%20(1728).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFbSQn3tfaXw0ku6jrKAk7D_ieyclCeGPNhet7NhZToCzLd3b_RMEUrumaOJ9OX2tMSyhSCmZvUaXAwysb_ducYZ-hPT9a_EkJPytoLTofzz2zb4MmBKOUkrFh1ShWjRTRdL5xKCyosA7IQQkML48PTktgXu3OdJdUNrpAVf9uETG-5Kbla6bEzSGwBE0/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1728).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a very good play on the magical components of journey books that have already been established in the show, and allows Cormac to lead our heroes on a wild goose chase when he deliberately leads them to a specific tomb bearing a crest that the women have apparently seen from inside. Because it’s guarded with a powerful spell, Zed assumes it’s the correct location, and uses his own magic to pull down the barrier.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the women aren’t inside, only what looks like an undead mummy who immediately takes off into the night. It doesn’t take a genius to guess he’s going to find and kill the five men who were spared from active duty, and Zed delivers the necessary exposition. The creature is called a Nygaax, an instrument of vengeance that people would pay a sorcerer to create by wrapping a living man in ensorcelled bandages, who would then stop at nothing to destroy those that its master wanted dead.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp8D3mwy_eIpHhCUFZtE1OmQk1KPnBnJBu8bGtJxrh0j8Zx_flnL3PBdWFvoIyssbehzJ03vE0LjOKE3hcaEeJbU-S-uxCZrLL2jkZK5kkgaaPRawPB6gGeqmQoexrD1n5eGvfQSNe8FlYNAN7CZIWZ06ctm9W3BOHGTKiLImAcEUHy0Lumrl4Rtmsu_ep/s1366/Screenshot%20(1731).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp8D3mwy_eIpHhCUFZtE1OmQk1KPnBnJBu8bGtJxrh0j8Zx_flnL3PBdWFvoIyssbehzJ03vE0LjOKE3hcaEeJbU-S-uxCZrLL2jkZK5kkgaaPRawPB6gGeqmQoexrD1n5eGvfQSNe8FlYNAN7CZIWZ06ctm9W3BOHGTKiLImAcEUHy0Lumrl4Rtmsu_ep/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1731).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This particular Nygaax was created hundreds of years ago during a feud between two local families, which would hunt down its prey and bring their corpses “to the feet of its master” afterwards (that last detail is important). It was stopped only when another wizard sealed it in this tomb, and now it’s on the loose again.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So Zed and Richard have been played like a fiddle. Cormac never really believed that the Seeker would kill those five men for the sake of his companions, so instead he used the journey book to lead them to the tomb where he knew the Nygaax was waiting. It was never a wild goose chase, but a deliberate ruse to get Zed to destroy the magical barrier around the tomb, he being the only one with enough power to do so.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now he controls the Nygaax with its amulet, and has obviously sent it after the men on his list. Is Cormac the smartest and most prescient antagonist these characters have ever come across? Maybe!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Back at the village, the targeted men are getting jumpy, and when the truth about how Duke Anders rigged the lottery, one makes a run for it. Naturally, this makes him an easy target for the Nygaax, who waylays him in the forest. Though Richard manages to “kill” the creature, its bandages only unfurl themselves and wrap around Zed instead, who continues the rampage. So yeah, the man whose life Richard has just saved is immediately killed. Talk about <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CheatedDeathDiedAnyway">Cheated Death, Died Anyway</a>!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But this gives Richard a slight advantage – as Zed rushes off, dragging the dead body behind him, Richard recalls that the creature is instructed to bring the corpses to his master’s feet. All he has to do is follow it, and he’ll find Cormac.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which indeed he does, just finishing up with the digging of five graves. Yikes, that’s dark.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYPs7yZD_aFCiXx9wf0lMBiKNElETgydOCu7GHfZi6ZOQNYXlglcnp7rP_V_1fv9skq1HnuCgVAmVk91E-66YMjtBn4nkAtPevXwGlck6I51Idoy2IEKfCLVbTpJPIWX9zye-s8lRhZlMOIGHWLLmEzsYu27Af0RvbXs86M-SBwPA0DfZugGqlzF4viZE/s1366/Screenshot%20(1736).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYPs7yZD_aFCiXx9wf0lMBiKNElETgydOCu7GHfZi6ZOQNYXlglcnp7rP_V_1fv9skq1HnuCgVAmVk91E-66YMjtBn4nkAtPevXwGlck6I51Idoy2IEKfCLVbTpJPIWX9zye-s8lRhZlMOIGHWLLmEzsYu27Af0RvbXs86M-SBwPA0DfZugGqlzF4viZE/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1736).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having already achieved his goals, Cormac promptly kills himself so that Richard is unable to get the incantations needed to control the Nygaax via the amulet. Again, this may well be the best villain of the show (certainly the best one-shot villain). He can’t really lose at this point, and two of his chosen targets are already dead.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But that means we need another antagonist to fill the space left behind, and Duke Anders is more than ready to step up to the plate. Knowing that the Nygaax is coming for the remaining men (including his son) he plans to lure it into the great hall and blow up the doors, killing Zed in the process. Eric argues against this, repeating Richard’s message that Zed is still alive underneath those bandages, but Anders is in no mood to hear it. Like many people whose crimes have been revealed, he's planted his feet in the ground and is now digging in deeper with his justifications. Eric has no chance of talking him out of it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having searched Cormac’s robes, Richard finds a pouch of Wandering Dust, the journey books, and a map with the location of Kahlan and Cara on it. Just as it looks like lights out for the women, Richard breaks through the tomb door and frees them.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But what have they been up to this whole time? At first engaging in a little <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TeethClenchedTeamwork">Teeth Clenched Teamwork</a> in order to conserve the air by dowsing the torches, they eventually reach the point where each is offering to die so the other can live. Almost as though this is the theme of the episode or something...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, Cara rejects Kahlan’s idea to kill her and then restore her with the Breath of Life, pointing out that there’s no way she’ll know how long to wait before Richard gets there (if he ever does). Instead, Cara decides to sacrifice herself so that Kahlan can live, but not before giving her a lovely speech: “there’s no one a Mord Sith should hate more than a Confessor. I was trained to hate you, but I don’t. And I don’t want to die without you knowing that I consider you to be my friend.”</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0bt1Defxdj1a2ArqVQYGXni8r3ZhYnUy6RTA2fqsTJ_-YEGZtFAzMCKWwA8BVGjV1IO6jvYq_EbS1QCg7Uoh-QGWFSvVGbkUNIv8LCSk_nxagfs53WQDs6367h2ZRVwHlgN3uvfff1Ii1rPpw-uaiqTWkbEG6ay8rL7OB_Wh7GEXDcq7dm0_EICh5h-x/s1366/Screenshot%20(1739).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0bt1Defxdj1a2ArqVQYGXni8r3ZhYnUy6RTA2fqsTJ_-YEGZtFAzMCKWwA8BVGjV1IO6jvYq_EbS1QCg7Uoh-QGWFSvVGbkUNIv8LCSk_nxagfs53WQDs6367h2ZRVwHlgN3uvfff1Ii1rPpw-uaiqTWkbEG6ay8rL7OB_Wh7GEXDcq7dm0_EICh5h-x/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1739).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then they hug, and <em>then</em> they fight, à la Hawkeye and Black Widow on Vormir, over who gets to die so the other can get a few extra seconds of air. Though naturally, they’re pretty easily matched, and they only end up using up <em>more</em> air until they collapse on the floor, with Kahlan helpfully stating: “there’s no air left!” Yeah, thanks Kahlan. We got that.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But naturally Richard comes to the rescue, and the day is saved... or it will be after they get to Zed. Having realized that the bandages will only unwrap themselves from their host body once said body is <em>dead</em>, Richard realizes that Zed must be killed in order to free him – but luckily, they have a Mord Sith on hand to reverse that condition.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now it’s Eric’s turn to be a hero as he escapes the guards escorting him from the village, returning just after Richard, Kahlan and Cara arrive to prevent the great hall from being blown up with Zed trapped inside. The plan is for Cara to use her agiels to take Zed to the brink of death, which will force the bandages to unravel. They can’t hurt her, as a Mord Sith repels all magic – but unfortunately, Duke Anders gets a little too close to the action and becomes the Nygaax’s next victim.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whew! That’s Eric’s cue to jump on the nearest horse and gallop away to the tomb from whence the Nygaax came, counting on it to follow him. Which ironically – given that the Duke did all this to spare his son’s life – is what happens. Richard joins Eric in the tomb, instructs Zed to seal it shut, and then uses the Wandering Dust to transport himself and Eric to safety. Nicely done!</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEUQpo0EPxITmbDpSAqR5fWdT6hOfvVVE2vhHYrTXI1S7zT6cPbgc1ddlSYXdftC8t2A0vCRbo0qQn5A9tfH1FrOgSokNN4Xg9U9puj90sqWc2UGByeY-x7WmZHpscV07GrSHjJN5LHF4VoawPQtmHBy7ejAc-vdyd3XqK1M73FGpV-E07R5c3D1EDb9M/s1366/Screenshot%20(1742).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEUQpo0EPxITmbDpSAqR5fWdT6hOfvVVE2vhHYrTXI1S7zT6cPbgc1ddlSYXdftC8t2A0vCRbo0qQn5A9tfH1FrOgSokNN4Xg9U9puj90sqWc2UGByeY-x7WmZHpscV07GrSHjJN5LHF4VoawPQtmHBy7ejAc-vdyd3XqK1M73FGpV-E07R5c3D1EDb9M/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1742).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This whole time Richard has been accompanied by a soldier that the credits tell me was called Rankin, who assures Eric that their people will follow him in his father’s stead, having proved himself worthy of leadership for being willing to sacrifice himself for their safety. No mention is made of the fact Duke Anders is still technically <em>alive</em> within that crypt, wrapped up in the Nygaax bandages, but hey – his attempt to kill Zed is apparently enough reason to leave him there.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Happy birthday, Richard.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miscellaneous Observations:</span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This episode took place in a brand-new location with some brand-new characters, though it seems like it would have been easy to recycle some material from season one. Brennidon was mentioned a lot throughout this episode, and it could have easily taken place there (surely there would have been men both younger and older than Richard to chose from) or with the characters from “Identity” with Gryff in the place of Eric (maybe earning that character a little bit of redemption). Ah well.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A journey book can only be used by writing in blood, and both Richard and Cara do that immensely frustrating thing when a character cuts their hand in order to use their own blood as ink. Use your elbow or earlobe or something! Somewhere that won’t require maiming the part of your body that is most useful to you in times of danger. Take my word for it, I cut my finger a few weeks ago and was completely incapacitated.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yes, I’ve seen that Tumblr post extolling the symbolic value of using one’s hand, but this is clearly <em>not </em>one of those situations. They could have cut themselves anywhere and it would have made no difference.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was a good episode for further exploring the fact that the defeat of the D’Haran Empire hasn’t magically solved all the world’s problems. People are still grieving and suffering the after-effects of their rule, and this was a perfect example of that ongoing trauma. Enough so it possibly should have been placed earlier in the season...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This episode had a very clear theme, and that was: “are some lives worth more than others?” The kneejerk reaction of any decent person is <em>no</em>, of course not... but in the interests of this discussion, there’s always a “but.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the face of his son’s outrage, Duke Anders insists that: “your life is worth more than others” because he’s the future leader of the community, having been raised and groomed for that specific role. Without him, there is no one else to take charge after Duke Anders. It’s not a point anyone can <em>completely</em> dismiss, especially when he points out that Zed only saved ONE infant from Brennidon – the one that would grow up to be the Seeker. In other words, the most important one.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWZCXMltVo1hOqY33gzgu8XAqWMB-7vhivVl7xdoCsvea7aHs_gtQ0rMk2KH1OauV7KKkyu5yJPLJmWHIEubZw8wRE9oSNuy1q16v6q4tiPqmtCai6z9iZOxG5Q4lQsWCsfUBxsXg-bgmRjde2SHWE8A1J1p0e9kFX-SBpsVeBm7CW1D3Acid5utrmPts/s1366/Screenshot%20(1745).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWZCXMltVo1hOqY33gzgu8XAqWMB-7vhivVl7xdoCsvea7aHs_gtQ0rMk2KH1OauV7KKkyu5yJPLJmWHIEubZw8wRE9oSNuy1q16v6q4tiPqmtCai6z9iZOxG5Q4lQsWCsfUBxsXg-bgmRjde2SHWE8A1J1p0e9kFX-SBpsVeBm7CW1D3Acid5utrmPts/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1745).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Likewise, Cara and Kahlan spend most of their subplot squabbling with each other over who should die to give the other more air. Again, it’s pretty clear that Kahlan is significantly more powerful, and therefore more valuable, than Cara. I mean, she can argue <em>against</em> it, but if you’re trying to defeat something as powerful as the Keeper, you’re going to need Kahlan far more than Cara. The fate of the world depends on it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And even when confronted with the fact that Duke Anders also spared the sons of other rich families in the village, he points out that the bribe money was used to fill the communal coffers and pay for weapons and supplies to keep everyone safe.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It all makes for a good meaty subject. We’ve all been raised (well, most of us) to believe that <em>everyone</em> is important, <em>everyone </em>is special. It’s almost taboo to suggest otherwise. But in the dark places of our mind, we all think about whether or not that’s true. If you had the choice between saving an infant and saving a geriatric, who would you chose? What about a priceless piece of artwork versus a convicted rapist? A prince or a peasant? A family member or a stranger? Who gets to decide the difference?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a conundrum that the show can’t really answer, because nobody likes the question. But in that, it reminded me of “Deception,” another good episode that raised a difficult moral equation, and refused to answer it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are some great details throughout the episode, such as Cormac telling Zed before everything kicks off that it’s an honour to perform for him, as his magic is so much more impressive than his own. Which of course explains why he couldn’t pull down the magical barrier around the Nygaax’s tomb himself – he needed Zed to do it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As usual, this show is exceptionally good at not only remembering the rules of its complex magical system (journey books, Mord Sith abilities, Wandering Dust) but utilizing them in clever and surprising ways.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNOzPksuUOVmt-bDSZL9HQPYknw8-cN9txHwz0sLA68V0BR79U5iwOSV16woOXRgynPhoqV2E8vFVf5dbGedvhpkmOIOIWvryasjReZl8tzSj-ksk_0-yC5MdcHvvoFi07lMrSBTiUEmPgIPx_7XsWq8crz5Ub9i_5GBrIeQfMK5nHtTtvF-DtcHMq84f/s1366/Screenshot%20(1726).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNOzPksuUOVmt-bDSZL9HQPYknw8-cN9txHwz0sLA68V0BR79U5iwOSV16woOXRgynPhoqV2E8vFVf5dbGedvhpkmOIOIWvryasjReZl8tzSj-ksk_0-yC5MdcHvvoFi07lMrSBTiUEmPgIPx_7XsWq8crz5Ub9i_5GBrIeQfMK5nHtTtvF-DtcHMq84f/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1726).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This may end up being one of my favourite episodes of season two: a villain with a solid plan, plenty of twists and turns, and some emotional clout when it came to Kahlan and Cara facing a prolonged death together. I perhaps would have liked a bit more from the women and their enforced-bonding exercise, but on the whole, this was a great one.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Only six more episodes to go! We’re in the endgame now.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-62779870583538086522023-12-08T13:26:00.000-08:002023-12-08T13:26:35.279-08:00Legend of the Seeker: Creator<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ah, it’s a good old clip show episode. This should be an easy one.</span></p><!-- wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"} -->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">With the advent of short-form television, in which a season gets approximately eight to ten episodes at <em>most</em>, the use of the <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClipShow">Clip Show</a> has pretty much disappeared. Their purpose back in the days of twenty-two-episode seasons were obviously to fill in a bit of time and save a bit of money by showcasing footage of the show that had already been shot, usually under the guise of catching the audience up on events, or demonstrating how much a character has grown.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3dRJ7e7OTPDZr6fj3F1x5gL3jdeOcn21jXogYKgTj8lZjCtZYXSyT-U1nKs5gCSop0dAr95HRTouDQM-WzXipBN9RyZVWMPr9VsnqXHXuMchiNrJKdUbv3Ihbp6XIjE4QymPvjETRefhyphenhyphen0jcyEBQ8kt7SmeMAOzwUfsnw800LmJxCMWQ2E_tw-wLMLI2/s1366/Screenshot%20(1687).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3dRJ7e7OTPDZr6fj3F1x5gL3jdeOcn21jXogYKgTj8lZjCtZYXSyT-U1nKs5gCSop0dAr95HRTouDQM-WzXipBN9RyZVWMPr9VsnqXHXuMchiNrJKdUbv3Ihbp6XIjE4QymPvjETRefhyphenhyphen0jcyEBQ8kt7SmeMAOzwUfsnw800LmJxCMWQ2E_tw-wLMLI2/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1687).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For my money, the best justification for a clip show was “Past Imperfect” from <strong>Xena Warrior Princess</strong>, in which the story involves Gabrielle <em>literally</em> revisiting her memories leading up to a particular life-altering choice, with a twist on what was actually occurring in that moment.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In this case, <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong> goes for more of a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CourtroomEpisode">Courtroom Drama</a>, where our characters are forced to defend Richard’s integrity as a hero to a mysterious figure who confronts him with the prophecy that he’ll end up <em>helping</em> the Keeper by giving him the Stone of Tears.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It starts with Richard, Kahlan, Zed and Cara coming to a shrine to the Creator, where people have come for healing after being stricken by an illness called Keeper’s Blight. It’s being spread by the Banelings, and even Zed isn’t powerful enough to help them.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjXcUAeyOkzbFsWPN5Ae_vjhAj6u5Di86_JgOurC8gnCKRCZUjudO7VJa-Jvq00Gh3p4owpwHUXDjo94d0IS7FrUSOlb07aybFHxz2FzZZ1EfvV8GpE1cLyiKDd5GSJCUv702o-ARoAAp0HoVUDB9hpM-2Do2MkRPpTebFslJOR9Vgw-9Vak7YsO1lDp6L/s1366/Screenshot%20(1686).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjXcUAeyOkzbFsWPN5Ae_vjhAj6u5Di86_JgOurC8gnCKRCZUjudO7VJa-Jvq00Gh3p4owpwHUXDjo94d0IS7FrUSOlb07aybFHxz2FzZZ1EfvV8GpE1cLyiKDd5GSJCUv702o-ARoAAp0HoVUDB9hpM-2Do2MkRPpTebFslJOR9Vgw-9Vak7YsO1lDp6L/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1686).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But who should appear but a young woman in white, who effortlessly heals the afflicted and introduces herself as the Creator: God incarnate.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes folks, we’re meeting the character who purports to be the most powerful being of this universe in a clip show episode. And she’s played by none other than Keisha Castle-Hughes! It’s nice to see her in this role, which aired eight years after she starred in <strong>The Whale Rider</strong>, the movie that saw her nominated for an Academy Award. Browsing through her IMBD page, she’s had an odd career all things considered. Having been in the running for an Oscar for her <em>very first role</em>, she’s done nothing particularly noteworthy in the years since. Her most mainstream role since her debut has been playing the least-interesting Sand Snake in <strong>Game of Thrones</strong>, though she’s apparently been in seventy-three episodes of something called <strong>FBI: Most Wanted</strong> since 2020.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvxyH0BlGU4sZy4Lc4sxDEtLGRGRbeYq9mnm2bhyphenhyphenTGGA3GFzQxVO8KOp5olc0FWWH4gxW8KE4MWgXw7TrA4ysfaNifchuahjJdMyADntoUUrOPtPz5qrv6QVJ0uNA_t6Af8HXD7PUHRnv06TNZOYv1T5tCnkCTTxlDDJ2hPZB4ZVBPJzCwGl72RBjoUuv/s1366/Screenshot%20(1690).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvxyH0BlGU4sZy4Lc4sxDEtLGRGRbeYq9mnm2bhyphenhyphenTGGA3GFzQxVO8KOp5olc0FWWH4gxW8KE4MWgXw7TrA4ysfaNifchuahjJdMyADntoUUrOPtPz5qrv6QVJ0uNA_t6Af8HXD7PUHRnv06TNZOYv1T5tCnkCTTxlDDJ2hPZB4ZVBPJzCwGl72RBjoUuv/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1690).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And it’s a shame, as she’s proven herself as a good actress, capturing this particular character’s beatific confidence in her own claims, with just a touch of uncertainty when she’s challenged on certain elements of her backstory.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The young woman knows things about the characters that she logically shouldn’t, but then drops the reason why she’s there: to destroy the Keeper’s most powerful servant – Richard Rahl. According to her, his actions prove him to be an enemy of the Light. She wants to convince Kahlan and Zed of her claims, for Richard to name a new Seeker, and to take Kahlan to a safe place to ensure the fulfilment of her latest prophecy: “as long as the Mother Confessor’s pure heart beats, the Keeper is doomed to fail.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately for her, there’s no way Richard’s friends are buying any of this. What ensues is a public debate that presents evidence for and against Richard’s commitment to the Light, wherein everything Richard has ever done to work towards the greater good is revealed to have had dire consequences. Destroying Rahl with the Boxes of Orden led to the cracks in the underworld and the emergence of the Banelings, his plan to seal the Rift with the Stone of Tears is directly contradicted by one of the Creator’s prophecies, and he has a scar on his chest that marks him as the Keeper’s servant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Furthermore, every time he kills his enemies he only ends up creating more Banelings, he gave his magical Han to Nicci in order to escape the Palace of the Prophets, and clearly had some anger management issues when it came to the events of “Fury.” Yeah, it’s not a good look.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Obviously, this is where all the clips come in, which make up a substantial part of the run-time, though to the show’s credit, they’re framed by a fairly meaty original story concerning the veracity of the Creator’s claims. At one point the girl’s mother turns up and calls her “Maya,” explaining that the Creator made sure she would be born to a woman at just the right time, so that her coming-of-age would coincide with when the world would need her the most.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHt0_-MxEf_y7khngUtPmJkaUKIpbMproWWNDu4FmoABcWECeOL2SgFl-mXfCiSqNC8V7XhbzzkYZz4m7J6SjqCQt9JhbruaGwTiYujTHHMsZOAvqZ3jn20XdiH_-6ZgZ0fsO1v57b4R_HVsFt2D2EbR0vIxa93meywKyW0wHnrIl_sPl5MJeiljoT1Gw/s1366/Screenshot%20(1693).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHt0_-MxEf_y7khngUtPmJkaUKIpbMproWWNDu4FmoABcWECeOL2SgFl-mXfCiSqNC8V7XhbzzkYZz4m7J6SjqCQt9JhbruaGwTiYujTHHMsZOAvqZ3jn20XdiH_-6ZgZ0fsO1v57b4R_HVsFt2D2EbR0vIxa93meywKyW0wHnrIl_sPl5MJeiljoT1Gw/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1693).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But her mortal mother also drops the fact that Maya once ran off with a boy from her village, and Cara goes in search of him for more information. After all, eloping with a boy isn’t really something that a God incarnate would do.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When she finds him, Jason fills in some important details of Maya’s story – that the two of them were happy together living the simple life, only for the Sisters of the Light to turn up at their door. We’re privy to a flashback to Maya’s abduction, which reveals that her incredible power was derived from all the available Sisters of the Light giving up their Hans to her (a technique which has very elegantly been set up in previous episodes, most recently with the Sisters of the Dark teaming up against Nicci).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was the Prelate who put Maya on this path, who we already know is a true believer in the prophecy that Richard will find the Stone of Tears and deliver it to the Keeper. As Cara declares: “the Sisters of the Light created you.”</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeFI4alDAF2F16kmNy_A5EqaAEFoHAI9NbA4L7ZKZCaJmyF7EY-Nvy_VP7QXST7rSdoLowcnHcZ7vEqJS32P1cIYFlSegQtXKpo9OGB2uRX057avWsvZAfd7zN9pP0_mXQo80rjD4cVKtejlToNceb34Qsq8g48vyTj07qDvJZ_bg7055rlSq_FGi-fAg/s1366/Screenshot%20(1698).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeFI4alDAF2F16kmNy_A5EqaAEFoHAI9NbA4L7ZKZCaJmyF7EY-Nvy_VP7QXST7rSdoLowcnHcZ7vEqJS32P1cIYFlSegQtXKpo9OGB2uRX057avWsvZAfd7zN9pP0_mXQo80rjD4cVKtejlToNceb34Qsq8g48vyTj07qDvJZ_bg7055rlSq_FGi-fAg/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1698).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But while Cara was gathering this information, she ended up killing two Sisters of the Light who were protecting Jason (or rather, keeping him under house arrest). Once they’re dead they end up in front of Darken Rahl, and tell him that the Creator has returned in mortal form. After a quick conference with the Keeper (have we heard his voice before this episode?) Rahl sends Banelings to the shrine to destroy Maya.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It wraps up pretty quickly after that: our heroes now believe that Maya was created by the Sisters of the Light in order to kill Richard to avert the prophecy, but when a rift to the underworld opens beneath their feet, Richard saves Maya’s life. She announces Richard is innocent and promptly disappears, leaving us with a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MaybeMagicMaybeMundane">Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane</a> scenario, in which much of what the Creator was capable of achieving is explained through logical means, but the rest is still ambiguous.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miscellaneous Observations:</span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We get the Genesis myth of this particular universe: the Creator and Keeper made the world together, only for the latter to grow jealous of humankind and turn them mortal. Bringing suffering and death to the world, the Creator’s grief took shape as the Stone of Tears, which she then used to trap the Keeper in the underworld.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But for someone who purported to be the most important person in the entire world, the use of the Creator here was a little anti-climactic, not helped by the fact that her true identity is still up for grabs. Was Maya the incarnation of the Creator? I’m not even sure if Keisha Castle-Hughes appears in any more episodes (I get the feeling she was a one-off) which means that we haven’t really learned anything about the Creator or the mission she’s supposed to be on.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This very much played out like an episode in which the writers carefully gather together all the major themes and plot-points of the season thus far, and lay them out like playing cards so the audience can get a refresher before heading into the final stretch of episodes. We’re reminded of Richard’s bloodline and its corruptive effect, the various prophecies regarding his loyalties, and plenty of events that might throw his hero status into doubt.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, the writers have an imperative to make us believe that Richard <em>could</em> end up (mistakenly or otherwise) delivering the Stone of Tears to the Keeper, and they’ve been successful in sufficiently muddying the waters in that regard. As he says to Kahlan: “maybe I’m an agent of the Keeper and I don’t even know it.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I don’t believe for a second that Richard is going to turn evil, but I also have no idea how any of this is going to pan out. It’s the golden rule of storytelling that all prophecies must come true, even if a twist on expectations mean that they’re not as dire as first appears (think of the prophecy that foretold Buffy would be killed by the Master, only for Xander to resuscitate her, or how Rose Tyler was doomed to die in battle, only for her to be <em>declared</em> dead when she ends up in a parallel world, or how “MacDuff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped”).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Clearly something along those lines is going to play out here, though <em>how</em> is still a mystery.</span></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-59627915182841472862023-12-01T16:49:00.000-08:002023-12-01T16:49:58.003-08:00Woman of the Month: Zita the Space Girl<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qmqnXYWuX6sJvKOB_EG0X36v4CRFyB0WniFOgOjvpCmRo9tlwMmph5sr5rDuAogVBf-pNV_ggIdZwhjXzF-wOp_G-ahegKsgFkMyIpfTIUEEjv3Ja5mWf9FEMN3ct82ofwiApF19y1rOyr0Wo_ZkevLy83xWYMGk7DLoY7Zmz8H-ncav4mViE5cKaOVD/s353/@@@.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qmqnXYWuX6sJvKOB_EG0X36v4CRFyB0WniFOgOjvpCmRo9tlwMmph5sr5rDuAogVBf-pNV_ggIdZwhjXzF-wOp_G-ahegKsgFkMyIpfTIUEEjv3Ja5mWf9FEMN3ct82ofwiApF19y1rOyr0Wo_ZkevLy83xWYMGk7DLoY7Zmz8H-ncav4mViE5cKaOVD/s320/@@@.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Zita from <strong>Zita the Space Girl</strong></span></p><!-- wp:paragraph -->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I feel like I’ve been waiting <em>forever</em> for my reserves of these graphic novels to come through the library system, but it turns out it was worth the wait.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having read the afterword in the final book, the genesis of this character is its own little story: originally conceived by a girl called Anna in high school, Ben Hatke began to expand the character’s adventures (presumably with Anna’s permission) in a bid to impress her. The gambit paid off, and the two are now married with four daughters – one of whom is called Zita.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The fictional Zita is a young girl hanging out with her friend Joseph in the fields behind their houses when a meteorite crashes close by. Naturally they investigate, and discover a strange device that looks like a big red button. And as it happens, Zita is <em>exactly</em> the type of girl who – on finding a big red button – presses it immediately.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A portal opens in the crater, and tentacles drag Joseph through. She runs away in terror, hesitates, thinks for a bit, and then rushes back to follow him to Who Knows Where. That’s a pretty good summation of Zita’s character: a girl whose impulsiveness makes trouble for others, only for her to then try her darndest to get them out of it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The adventures that follow regularly have Zita use the phrase: “don’t tell me who I can’t save!” as she’s very much a big-picture-comes-<em>last</em> kind of hero. If someone is in immediate danger, then their life is prioritized before any world-saving shenanigans, which naturally creates for her a very tight circle of loyal friends.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The stories are pretty fun space adventures for the most part – though this underlying theme of Zita’s choices and what she deems most important provide an interesting look at a very popular moral equation that comes up a lot in fantasy/sci-fi: her thirst for adventure often comes across as selfish, and yet she’ll put her own safety and happiness on the line <em>every</em> time to help someone in need.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So she’s deeply flawed, and yet truly inspirational at the same time. It’s nice to see a story get that balance right in a female character.</span></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-38452661826517489732023-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:002024-03-23T15:35:10.638-07:00Reading/Watching Log #96<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s been a busy month, filled with Christmas parades, Christmas ballets, Christmas markets and Christmas decorating (and it’s only just December now!) But I feel like I’m on top of it, especially concerning my Christmas shopping. Parents, sister and nephew are all accounted for regarding their gifts, and of course I bought my presents to myself ages ago (<strong>The Daughters of Ys</strong> illustrated by Jo Rioux and <strong>The Mabinogion</strong> illustrated by Alan Lee – <em>yes!!</em>)</span></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Reading wise, there are more graphic novels, a very strange <strong>Babysitters Club</strong> book, and some Slavic fantasies (I’m finally getting to the end of that massive TBR pile). Watching wise, there was a more eclectic mix, including my sister’s favourite movie, some leftover werewolf films, the end of <strong>Disenchanted</strong> (and my Netflix subscription) and a return to season four of <strong>Doctor Who</strong> to catch up on Donna Noble’s history before getting to this year’s Christmas Specials.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have also been sporadically watching episodes of the BBC’s <strong>Robin Hood</strong> with my friend, though I’m still working on a much longer review for the show as a whole, so there are no comments on it here.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Hansel and Gretel </strong>(Isaac Theatre Royal)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjcxXeCYCVry-da4Ttxw1LUFdTIf_jX6V42Mpnn1CFljDIVDMFzrDL8ji2W-Pnbl3RREGY-_e2kEo2IkF98R-sbvD_YlotUm5kg530FZsrdNkYGV5tFfcLaaa9oW3PNHw0VGCeDL9Gfe5PhHleWJUkbNrxPWx-d0dbhR9UVS97bqUlFijg0MQWMZD27lB/s172/@@@@@@@@@@@@@.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="97" data-original-width="172" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjcxXeCYCVry-da4Ttxw1LUFdTIf_jX6V42Mpnn1CFljDIVDMFzrDL8ji2W-Pnbl3RREGY-_e2kEo2IkF98R-sbvD_YlotUm5kg530FZsrdNkYGV5tFfcLaaa9oW3PNHw0VGCeDL9Gfe5PhHleWJUkbNrxPWx-d0dbhR9UVS97bqUlFijg0MQWMZD27lB/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@.png" width="172" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I had totally forgotten about the fact that I had tickets to this ballet, and in a way that was a good thing. I might not have been able to savour the anticipation, but I was able to walk in with no preconceptions whatsoever. And in hindsight, I’ve realized that most of the ballet I’ve seen is very traditional in its presentation. <em>This</em> was something completely different.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s the familiar fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel (two poor siblings get lost in the woods, stumble upon a gingerbread house in the woods, are given all the food they can gorge upon by a seemingly friendly woman, only to wake up and find themselves in the clutches of an evil witch) but with a very distinct <em>aesthetic</em>. You’re probably sick of me using that word, but it’s the only one that can cover the vibe of the production design, which I initially thought was reminiscent of <strong>A Series of Unfortunate Events</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Forget all the usual Brothers Grimm trappings (lederhosen, braids, aprons) and instead imagine a 1920s black-and-white noir: Gretel with a bob-cut, fairies as flappers with electric bulb tiaras/glittery bathing caps, the Sand Man as a Buster Keaton lookalike, and plenty of fox furs and turbans on the corps de ballet. Georges Méliès was a huge inspiration, particularly <strong>A Trip to the Moon</strong>, as at one point there is quite literally an appearance from the famous man-in-the-moon, though with an ice cream in his eye instead of a rocket ship.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There is a great love of old film here: the illusion of rain was created by projecting grainy film onto the backdrop, while the forests looked like they were made from forks revolving around one of those old-timey motion lamps. Remember the birds that eat the crumbs left behind as a trail? Here they’re reimagined as sweeper-women with long beaks and brooms that come out after dark to sweep the breadcrumbs away. The witch (initially played by a young woman) appears early on to lure away some children with giant ice creams, only for said children to appear later as mournful ghosts in the forest.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The gingerbread house is a lot of fun: much like the Tardis, it’s small on the outside (the siblings have to crawl in) and then huge on the inside, bursting with lights and colour. The witch’s gingerbread men servants appear, looking like something out of a candy-coloured horror film, with increasingly large platters piled up with food and treats. But then of course, the dream ends. The siblings wake up in the witch’s kitchen, with Hansel locked in a cage and Gretel forced to rescue him after the pretty young woman climbs into a cauldron and emerges as a green-skinned old witch with elongated fingers – and since this was the equivalent of a Christmas pantomime, of <em>course</em> the character was a man in drag.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Being a children’s ballet, there were a lot of kids in the audience, so I managed my expectations carefully on the amount of disruption that would inevitably occur. And they were pretty good, though honestly, I can’t blame them for getting fidgety over the Mother and Father’s dance of Sorrow and Poverty, which felt like it went on forever. And it was pretty funny when I heard the little girl next to me whisper to her mother: “when do the <em>lollies</em> get here?” She had her priorities.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A Gothic carnivalesque expressionist treat, which isn’t exactly Christmassy, but a great way to kick off the holiday season.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Snowcat Prince</strong> by Dina Norlund</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgX2IDZTcSpzXtuJR9Sz6V3T_0U8pKSvVXriIKT92ok0Vfdbn6T89rl3dhBsiZ08yXFPvA2GwYfhQlIQes_TqnXDwEhphLMaIybPUVs7jRfrJmVT6pu-19kIlbvk68UU2vLceqnm5BAzurOW6IsiOC2WSGVh9_Lh9hiCz4jXHgJAuPnUYwrql0R2UN0ch/s118/@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="118" data-original-width="83" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgX2IDZTcSpzXtuJR9Sz6V3T_0U8pKSvVXriIKT92ok0Vfdbn6T89rl3dhBsiZ08yXFPvA2GwYfhQlIQes_TqnXDwEhphLMaIybPUVs7jRfrJmVT6pu-19kIlbvk68UU2vLceqnm5BAzurOW6IsiOC2WSGVh9_Lh9hiCz4jXHgJAuPnUYwrql0R2UN0ch/s1600/@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="83" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was another good graphic novel for children, though surprisingly slender given the epic subject matter (as usual, nothing less than civilization itself is at stake). However, it’s also surprising just how much world-building is crammed into this volume, supplemented by the beautiful artwork, which is bursting with vibrancy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Syv is a snowcat and the youngest of seven brothers, all of which are in line for the throne given the cultural traditions of their society. Much like Joseph’s brothers (of the technicolour dreamcoat variety) Syv’s family is threatened by their younger brother’s popularity among the people, and so convince him to undertake a dangerous quest to find a long-lost magical crown that will break the curse on their land.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This crown was forged by their ancestor, the Eldking, many centuries ago, before it was stolen by the evil sandfoxes. If Syv is successful, he will have no doubt proved himself worthy of the throne. If not, he’ll be marked by three black stripes and exiled forever.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So Syv, who is so <em>very, very cute</em>, sets out with nothing but a map that’s said to show the way to the hiding place of the crown in sandfox territory. Joined by a young human girl called Kit, Syv traverses the land, naturally learning plenty about the wider world as he does so, only to be faced with a shocking truth at the end of his journey. I don’t suppose it will come as too much of a surprise to learn that the history he’s been told about snowcats and sandfoxes wasn’t exactly accurate, and Norlund has a clear point to make with it all: “history would never be hidden again, no matter how good or bad.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">More than any other graphic novel I’ve read lately, this reminded me of Teny Issakhanian’s <strong>Wingbearer</strong> – largely due to the Disney-like artwork. I mean that as a complement, as in both cases you really do feel like you’re looking at an old-school animated feature of the nineties. (That said, the character of Kit is 100% inspired by Medb from <strong>Wolfwalkers</strong>, from the giant red hair to the cute little canine teeth). There’s also beautiful use of colour, with the snowcats rendered in blue and white, and the sandfoxes in deep red and purples – with surroundings to match, from icy reaches to autumnal forests.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My only real complaint is that the resolution to the problem should have been solved with cunning or communication – instead it’s just our protagonist being in possession of more raw power than his nemesis, which is not only anti-climactic, but feels a bit at odds with the themes of the story. But for the most part, another solid contribution to this Golden Age of graphic novels.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Girl from the Sea</strong> by Molly Knox Ostertag</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEtQ4C44lhKlU4DzMwtvX3CG1SQMdEKPavsi1URBKf3C5PMyyUdZYQSD5FCv3JSr3i_NsKx2m0wSALLFtz9NDSkHaRZC4xCgZXOuiiBudS2cWoHzZbrDg_c9gw__S25PgJk7hdve4Rat8vWZHIjffBGZkfC2rmvIrd0xaOTkxAaxOAW3aL1WHfMtV27wXd/s120/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="85" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEtQ4C44lhKlU4DzMwtvX3CG1SQMdEKPavsi1URBKf3C5PMyyUdZYQSD5FCv3JSr3i_NsKx2m0wSALLFtz9NDSkHaRZC4xCgZXOuiiBudS2cWoHzZbrDg_c9gw__S25PgJk7hdve4Rat8vWZHIjffBGZkfC2rmvIrd0xaOTkxAaxOAW3aL1WHfMtV27wXd/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="85" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a very cute queer love story about a closeted teenage girl called Morgan who feels completely cut-off from the world around her. Her parents are divorced, her younger brother is angry, and none of her friends know she’s gay. Her plan is to simply get through her high school years, then hightail it out of there.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then one night she goes down to the water and meets a girl about her age, who saves her life after she slips on some rocks and falls into the ocean. Calling herself Keltie, Morgan kisses her, thinking the whole thing is a dream anyway. At least until the following day, when Keltie turns up on land, clearly enamoured, and telling Morgan she’s a selkie that’s able to come on land every seven years for the sake of true love.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now Morgan has to hide her newfound girlfriend from the rest of her family and friends, who quickly notice that something has changed about her. It’s a sweet enough little story about coming out and finding love, but – well, aside from the queer content, you’ve read it a million times before (probably with a mermaid instead of a selkie though).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If there are some downsides, it’s that the artwork didn’t really appeal to me. It’s quite rough and cartoony, a bit like <strong>She Ra</strong> without the pastels. Also, the love story between the two girls isn’t hugely convincing. They meet as kids, reunite as teenagers, and... are immediately in love? What do they talk about? What do they really know about each other?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, the main conflict of the story is resolved almost ridiculously easily: Keltie has come to land partly because a large cruise ship is charting a course around a seal breeding colony, which will destroy the calves nursing there. So Morgan talks to the daughter of the boat owners, who promises to simply <em>tell</em> her parents to chart a course somewhere else. First of all, why would they listen to their teenage daughter, who can provide no reason why she wants them to go off-course? (I kind of preferred Keltie’s plan of just running the boat onto some rocks. More people should do that to rich people’s boats).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, I’m glad to see more selkie representation in stories. They’re so underrepresented!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Norroway Book 1: The Black Bull of Norroway </strong>by Kit and Cat Seaton</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkkodRUkm1hhhcZ-fDh0XtraiMx0H2ZMvUtfHzw5AQrh6r9xiFLYwwkfM0iJ1Ek3v0YRmy6w9z38VK2o4IqyNe8eWf1bwLcRhEp5rf4qBp76RElWcPWEncF5f06aY2Hq9bHPiO6wFb7sm80_c_ojt4k28fZrNH9U2TjJsELiYnu2JxeR6AU6Nwe7JBjrE/s140/@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="93" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkkodRUkm1hhhcZ-fDh0XtraiMx0H2ZMvUtfHzw5AQrh6r9xiFLYwwkfM0iJ1Ek3v0YRmy6w9z38VK2o4IqyNe8eWf1bwLcRhEp5rf4qBp76RElWcPWEncF5f06aY2Hq9bHPiO6wFb7sm80_c_ojt4k28fZrNH9U2TjJsELiYnu2JxeR6AU6Nwe7JBjrE/s1600/@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="93" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Based on an old Scottish legend, this graphic novel – like a lot of the best fairy tale retellings – fleshes out the characters and their circumstances, even if it frustratingly ends on a cliff-hanger (again, it’s going to be a struggle to remember what’s happening when I finally track down the sequel).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sybilla is told her fortune when she’s a child: that one day she will become the bride of the Black Bull of Norroway, a man so fierce and bloodthirsty that the king of the land offered up his own daughter to an Old One so that he might be changed into a bull. Sure enough, when Sybilla comes of age, the bull turns up at her doorstep and invites her on an adventure.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">With nothing at home to live for, she goes with him – though Sybilla is no meek wilting violet. She’s got a lot to say and plenty of questions to ask, though frustratingly none of the characters she meets along the way are prepared to give her a straight answer. This is the downside of the story: clearly all the answers, and the overarching shape of the story, are being saved for the next instalment.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Another small problem: sometimes the speech bubbles aren’t pointed clearly to who’s doing the talking, meaning there are some panels in which the conversations are rather garbled.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plenty of other fairy tale trappings are woven into the narrative, from “The Glass Mountain” to “The Red Shoes” (in that there’s a princess with no feet) as well as things like hagstone, which coincidentally also turn up in <strong>Coraline </strong><em>and</em><strong> The Mark of Cain</strong>, see below. The artwork very much reminds me of the <strong>Delilah Dirke</strong> books – not hugely detailed, but very kinetic and lively.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The original fairy tale has a lot of similar beats to “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” only with the polar bear swapped out for a bull. I suppose the next book in the series will show us whether other plot-points will be adapted for this retelling, such as the false bride, a shirt that can only be cleaned by the heroine, an arbitrary rule that gets broken, and a troll/witch who tries to get the knight/prince married to her own daughter instead. It’s a good read, but very much the first part of a longer story.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Mary Anne and Too Many Boys </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ijeEB6r-9uIQQ66Lh5AYpdLf1e5SQqa92P5jsNx7vWjIlhXbXcthR60U8QX3PqLg9pfJKpaaG9Sdl-TdJsO1fbe6abIkImXS7oUmsC9lsWWC5e5Fb6ObGdN8UyhZZWWomFmK-F9PVUQfarCCz8nP8idz42LewJDmfI9-Yv4mYT-2y6gh7S9QY_GtRSo5/s127/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="127" data-original-width="86" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ijeEB6r-9uIQQ66Lh5AYpdLf1e5SQqa92P5jsNx7vWjIlhXbXcthR60U8QX3PqLg9pfJKpaaG9Sdl-TdJsO1fbe6abIkImXS7oUmsC9lsWWC5e5Fb6ObGdN8UyhZZWWomFmK-F9PVUQfarCCz8nP8idz42LewJDmfI9-Yv4mYT-2y6gh7S9QY_GtRSo5/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@2.png" width="86" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We are now in the sixth rotation of books, which started with <strong>Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister</strong> and will skip Mallory entirely (Dawn sidles in with two books to her name). And clocking in at book #34, we get Mary Anne as a narrator AGAIN? We’ve just <em>had</em> her in book #30, not to mention her getting the framing device in <b>The Babysitters Winter Vacation</b>. It feels way too soon for another Mary Anne book, especially as she’s easily shaping up to be the most badly dated of the characters.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">See, it’s not that Mary Anne is necessarily any better than Kristy, Claudia, Stacey or the rest, it’s that the text is <em>constantly </em>telling us that she’s the sensitive one, the shy one, the warm and kind-hearted one, while simultaneously depicting her as a pretty self-centred, occasionally very spiteful, teenage girl. Which would be fine, were it not for the ongoing reassurances that she isn’t any of those things, creating a dissonance in the reader’s mind that starts to grate on your nerves after a while.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It kicks off at a Babysitters Club meeting, in which the girls are excitedly discussing their summer holiday plans. She and Stacey are going back to Sea City with the Pike family as parent helpers for their large brood of children, though I’ll say straight-up that this vacation gets far less “screentime” than it did in <strong>Boy Crazy Stacey</strong>, when the girls had fun with the kids in various locations such as the boardwalk, beach, novelty restaurants and mini-golf course, which made up the best part of the book.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here we spend barely any time with the kids, but rather with the “too many boys” of the title – which amounts to three in total. As you may or may not recall, Stacey and Mary Anne’s previous trip to Sea City ended with them going on a date with two other parent helpers: Alex and Toby. This year, they’re back in Sea City as well (what are the odds?) and Mary Anne is conflicted about whether or not she should spend time with Toby given that she has a steady boyfriend now.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In one of the other subplots, Vanessa gets a crush on a twelve-year-old boy called Chris who works at an ice cream parlour (I guess there are no child labour regulation laws in Sea City) and sends him a couple of anonymous love letters. Unfortunately, he thinks they’re from the more age-appropriate Mallory, and organizes a date with her at a time they’re scheduled to leave. Vanessa’s bittersweet solution is to write him one last love poem, so that she can express her sorrow, he can go on thinking Mallory liked him, and Mallory is left none the wiser.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are also a couple of single-chapter stories with the other babysitters: Jessi has to deal with a missing hamster, Kristy sits Jackie the walking disaster at a public pool, and Dawn (while staying with her father in California) realizes that her brother is shaping up to be a pretty good babysitter after their father’s girlfriend Carol foists her friend’s colic-stricken infant on them for the evening. Also, Dawn and Jeff watch an unspecified <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> movie, which made me smile because that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past few months.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's all something of a disappointment since <strong>Boy Crazy Stacey</strong> felt like a real event, in which two of the characters leave Stoneybrook for the first time and embark on something that’s almost a coming-of-age drama. This time around, Sea City felt very blasé.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTpB-s4fHRcCkKLlLfXbD5LjOmWATVWv_bZ1ut9COpEKXy5Wjxgj2Rhf5DSIR6caMnfk6xgMozLr6zWLzFyEYoAiSO4wZVtjHzfiTS-DqjUtr1lDB_nhzyORLCSl72PuXtzbFScJ6jpdNSZ_f3FVzL4UezO6Nkr6p4kXy9vAFnlIw1w7-iZCAtXFWTg5p/s119/@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="119" data-original-width="89" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTpB-s4fHRcCkKLlLfXbD5LjOmWATVWv_bZ1ut9COpEKXy5Wjxgj2Rhf5DSIR6caMnfk6xgMozLr6zWLzFyEYoAiSO4wZVtjHzfiTS-DqjUtr1lDB_nhzyORLCSl72PuXtzbFScJ6jpdNSZ_f3FVzL4UezO6Nkr6p4kXy9vAFnlIw1w7-iZCAtXFWTg5p/s1600/@@@@.jpg" width="89" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I had been looking forward to this one. Truly there is no greater joy, nor anything that better defines my mid-childhood, than an Apple Paperback of the ghost and/or mystery variety. And if the Babysitters Club or Sweet Valley Twins are involved, then so much the better.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">More than that, I was in the delightful position of knowing I’d enjoyed this one (as the battered spine and cover attested) while not remembering much about it. Reading <strong>Mary Anne’s Bad Luck Mystery</strong> out on the porch in the sun a few months ago was one of the highlights of this Babysitters Club re-read.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, the Suck Fairy came to visit. I still enjoyed it, but obviously my expectations were a little too high for what is (in truth) a cheap paperback that was probably written over the course of a weekend. It starts with Stacey returning from a trip to New York, and more attention is drawn to her health (Mary Anne also described her as being “too pale” in the previous book). At the next Babysitters Club meeting, a phone call from Doctor Johanssen comes with a special request: she and her husband are leaving for a week to attend to the latter’s ailing father, and they want Charlotte to stay at Jessi or Stacey’s house while they’re away.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Ramseys are unavailable, so Stacey excitedly checks with her mother and takes the job, making this the first time that a babysitting charge has actually stayed at the house of a babysitter (though let’s be honest, Mrs McGill should be the one getting paid for this, not a thirteen-year-old. Actually, in saying that I’m not entirely sure whether this <em>was</em> a proper babysitter job or just a favour between friends).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, Charlotte is horribly homesick, and Stacey tries to distract her with talk of the old Hennessey place – a house that has lost the historical preservation battle, and so is currently getting its fixtures pulled out before the house is demolished and a developer builds condos on the site. While the girls are exploring the property, they experience all manner of eerie phenomena: a figure standing in an upstairs window who disappears a moment later, a strange moaning sound, a swarm of flies at the back of the house, and – creepiest of all – a fire at the window that isn’t there by the time Stacey hauls a wheelbarrow full of rainwater up to the house to extinguish it. She touches the wooden frame, and it’s not even warm!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hmm, distract a child from their absent parents by scaring the shit out of them with a haunted house? Genius!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It transpires that all the girls have had strange nightmares about the house over the years, and Kristy decides that some research into the place is warranted. She’s the one that discovers the place was built over the most sacred spot of an old cemetery, though the prose is hideously obtuse in explaining <em>how</em>. While looking through an old book on Stoneybrook, Kristy discovers an old map, and we get this description:</span></p>
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<p><em><span style="font-family: georgia;">It looked hand-drawn, and the locations were all hand-lettered. She turned it this way and that, trying to figure out how it related to the town she knew. It was a very early map of Stoneybrook. Only a scattering of houses were shown, along with a bank and a church. The church was still there, and so was... the house itself. Kristy had finally located “our” old house. At first she couldn’t quite make out the writing in the area in and around the house. What did it say?</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>“Oh, my lord,” said Kristy out loud. From what she could see on this incredibly old map, Kristy figured out that the entire town of Stoneybrook had been built over ancient burial grounds. And “our” house was built on – oh, my lord – the most sacred spot of all.”</i></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s all we get on the subject, and I have <em>so many questions</em>. First of all, presumably by “ancient burial ground” they mean First Nation people – but how is this indicated on the map? By what signifier? How would the original map-maker have known this, and if it was your bog-standard colonist, why would they bother identifying it as such anyway? And what on earth does it mean by “most sacred spot of all?” What makes it sacred? How is it marked as such in relation to the house, which was presumably built by this point since it <em>also</em> appears on the map? And again, how did whoever drew the map know that this was the most sacred area?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's just so unclear!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, the girls find the address of an elderly man called Ronald Hennessey who used to live in the house. During their visit to the nursing home, he spins them a number of tales about all the ghosts and ghouls that used to haunt him as a child, and no one is quite sure whether to believe him or not.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the day of the demolition, Kristy’s brothers end up talking to the workmen and come up with logical explanations for each of the strange things that Stacey saw: the figure in the window was a workman staying late, the moaning was the half-dismantled pipes, the flies were actually a disturbed swarm of bees, and the mysterious fire was due to a workman using an acetylene torch to loosen the bathtub (though that doesn’t explain how Stacey didn’t <em>see</em> him when she rushed up to the window with the wheelbarrow full of water). </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So everything has a rational explanation except for the weird nightmares everyone was having, which we can chalk down to the overactive imaginations of teenage girls (remember when they all thought they were under a bad luck curse?)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But then, when Stacey and Charlotte and the rest of the neighbourhood gather around to watch the house get knocked down, this happens:</span></p>
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<p><em><span style="font-family: georgia;">Just then, I saw something very awful. The house – what was left of it – suddenly went up in flames. The fire crackled and roared as it engulfed the wreckage. I looked around, terrified. What should we do? But everybody was just standing there, looking slightly bored. Kristy had wandered off to talk to Sam. Charlotte was watching one of the workmen pack his tools away into his truck. No one else seemed to see the fire! I turned back to check again. Maybe I’d been imagining things once more. But the flames were even higher by now. Smoke curled up as the fire moved quickly through the tumbledown structure. And then, just as in my dream, I saw a figure. It was calling for help. It looked like an old, old man. Was it – could it be – Mr Hennessey? I couldn’t believe my eyes.</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She gets distracted by Charlotte and when she looks back, there’s no fire to be seen. Only now she’s overtaken by an overwhelming need to go and see Mr Hennessey, so she rushes to the nursing home, where she discovers that (you guessed it) he died the night before.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, so what the heck just happened here? Did Stacey just hallucinate a burning house? Or was it a genuine supernatural occurrence? And if it was a vision sent to her, why was it so terrifying and yet so pointless since Mr Hennessey is already dead by the time she gets to the nursing home?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a weird one, folks. Just a few more minor notes: the house is situated on the not-subtly-named Elm Street (though I wouldn’t have clocked that reference as a kid) and of course, the ole “built on sacred burial grounds” shtick comes straight from <strong>Poltergeist</strong>. There’s even a direct mention of <strong>The Amityville Horror</strong>, which Stacey and Claudia have watched on the sly.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s a cute chapter when Charlotte attends a Babysitters Club meeting and acts like she’s at the Met Gala, and on suggesting a game of Cluedo, Stacey tells her: “you can be Miss Scarlet.” Heh. <em>Everyone </em>wanted to be Miss Scarlet. At another point they read a chapter of <strong>Charlotte’s Web</strong> and Charlotte comments: “I’m proud to have the same name as <em>that </em>spider.” Aww.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets </strong>by Dav Pilkey</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ISx99s4CPPiRsLnDyKd3P1TmieLEKnb1WVsjHK9M8JetmyBMtdiN-apT1Nwi8sNdU8VB7tYqUykyAXe4yCumzjNgcb3f6IAkd0mTI9g2sxzSK3qxWluWON_si26xiJQVAjPYEJzJ6vrFfTTSocc7QhPI94vfQHTSmjcbFMWZ6ptTfcu4_QwMhE_l_wLE/s119/@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="119" data-original-width="89" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ISx99s4CPPiRsLnDyKd3P1TmieLEKnb1WVsjHK9M8JetmyBMtdiN-apT1Nwi8sNdU8VB7tYqUykyAXe4yCumzjNgcb3f6IAkd0mTI9g2sxzSK3qxWluWON_si26xiJQVAjPYEJzJ6vrFfTTSocc7QhPI94vfQHTSmjcbFMWZ6ptTfcu4_QwMhE_l_wLE/s1600/@@@@@@@.jpg" width="89" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, it was extremely embarrassing to type out that title and post it on my Tumblr reading list for this month. Just so we’re clear, I’m doing this for WORK and for the KIDS, so that I can have conversations with them about their favourite books. Ahem.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, this is the second book in the Captain Underpants series, which sees troublemakers George and Harold looking forward to their school’s annual Invention Convention. But having glued their entire class to chairs last year, their nemesis Principal Krupp has other ideas about allowing them to attend.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In response, the boys sneak into the gymnasium the night before the event to tamper with the invention, only to discover Melvin Sneedly putting the finishing touches on his Photo-Atomic Trans-Somgobulating Yectofantriplutoniczanziptomiser (or PANSY), a machine that will bring to life anything it photocopies. I’m sure you can see where this is going, especially since the boys have just written a comic about Captain Underpants fighting sentient toilets.</span></p>
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<p><em><span style="font-family: georgia;">“Oh no! Melvin was right! The Photo-Atomic Trans-Somgobulating Yectofantriplutoniczanziptomiser really DOES create living, breathing, three-dimensional copies of two-dimensional images!” Harold cried convolutedly.</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They need a hero, and with a click of their fingers they can call upon Captain Underpants (the hypnotized Principal Krupp) to don his underwear and discard his topee in order to do battle with the attacking toilets. Kids love this stuff, and there’s enough funny wordplay and droll humour to keep curmudgeonly adults mildly entertained as well (Chapter Twenty-Two is called “To Make a Long Story Short” and is comprised of a single sentence, affirming that a robot created to clean up the aftermath of battle does in fact do so).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As in the previous book, this also contains a Dog Man comic, a double-spread of facts about the author, and what’s called “Flip-o-Rama” in which two pages must be flipped back and forth quickly to create the illusion of movement (it’s... not very impressive).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Bad Guys: Mission Unpluckable </strong>by Aaron Blabey</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0B33xxl27uGX8CLm0JJ33RXfLaoGueHocSAfrJyFrzMp3BCslmaHbw9J9F_AhiLQuFuqK_osCb0b917FBhB9ecLNEkfPyutyKoTpBTyPCDWVLVxeqUHQg_HxFAFSU43y_NhUAKuFrL-yjSW-ETLwU114CCvok2HBrPaDPQwqj1VsV9h_5MgZTITtaICJo/s120/@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="95" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0B33xxl27uGX8CLm0JJ33RXfLaoGueHocSAfrJyFrzMp3BCslmaHbw9J9F_AhiLQuFuqK_osCb0b917FBhB9ecLNEkfPyutyKoTpBTyPCDWVLVxeqUHQg_HxFAFSU43y_NhUAKuFrL-yjSW-ETLwU114CCvok2HBrPaDPQwqj1VsV9h_5MgZTITtaICJo/s1600/@@@@@@.jpg" width="95" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This story kicks off right on the heels of the first book’s ending, with a news reel about how a gang of bad guys broke into the pound and frightened two hundred puppies into fleeing their cages. Watching from home, Wolf, Shark, Snake and Piranha are furious at this misrepresentation. They were <em>helping </em>those puppies escape captivity!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But turning good is the brainchild of Wolf, and he has another cunning plan to prove to the world that he and his cohorts are good guys now: to free the chickens at a nearby battery farm.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The team organize a prison break with the help of another bad guy trying to turn his life around: Tarantula, a hacker who has the plan all figured out – if only they can all work together. Not helping is that Shark is absolutely terrified of spiders, and Snake (who was on the verge of quitting this endeavour) is now drooling at the thought of that many chickens.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cue some <strong>Mission Impossible</strong> hijinks: Shark in drag, Piranha disguising himself as a sardine sandwich, and Snake being faced with the irresistible promise of a massive chicken dinner. It’s pretty amusing how oblivious Wolf is to Snake’s blatantly obvious bloodlust, and (on the other end of the spectrum) rather touching how they eventually get all the chickens out (the birds have to follow a Mother Hen, and Shark is up for the challenge).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">By the end of the story, it would seem that our heroes have a nemesis – and it makes perfect sense that it’s a guinea pig.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I definitely prefer <strong>The Bad Guys</strong> to <strong>Captain Underpants</strong>, not only is the artwork better (those animals are so expressive!) but the humour is a little less juvenile. I know that’s a stupid thing to say against a book called <strong>Captain Underpants</strong>, but let’s just say that both these series have been adapted into films, and I’m only eying one of them as a potential watch...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Mark of Cain </strong>by Lindsey Barraclough</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeT95CRj6xWrKh3vJMK-o3GCMHFTG44MY-Cpaak9SOvHWRz6bIDDw3ZJMwwLlZpaONfR24fb99vWaYe6yh38I4IWzBlnFA4jpjrQYw44RxvOvbFQ7Y2kU6vaLC8fIoEI7um6-__E_PTVl3lb_3ZlL6_zpXQGEEeFrqv6NxEw5F83hez8aTZmWIH4CsJT3/s120/@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="75" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeT95CRj6xWrKh3vJMK-o3GCMHFTG44MY-Cpaak9SOvHWRz6bIDDw3ZJMwwLlZpaONfR24fb99vWaYe6yh38I4IWzBlnFA4jpjrQYw44RxvOvbFQ7Y2kU6vaLC8fIoEI7um6-__E_PTVl3lb_3ZlL6_zpXQGEEeFrqv6NxEw5F83hez8aTZmWIH4CsJT3/s1600/@@.jpg" width="75" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is the sequel to <strong>Long Lankin</strong>, though it could also be fairly described as a companion piece, as reading the first book isn’t entirely necessary to understand the basics of this one – even if it <em>does</em> involve all the same characters four years later. After the terrifying events of <strong>Long Lankin</strong> (which I read last month) sisters Cora and Mimi are brought back to Bryden Guerdon by their hapless father, who plans to do it all up.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Although Lankin was defeated thanks to the sacrifice of Aunt Ida, the witch who assisted him in the murder of the lady of the house and her infant son in the 1500s still prowls the area in spirit-gorm. The first few chapters of the book recount the life of Aphra Rushes, her fosterage with two cunning women, her meeting with the outcast leper Cain Lankin, and finally her stint as a wetnurse in the Guerdon household and subsequent execution when she’s found guilty of witchcraft. Cheerful stuff.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We then move forward in time to Cora and Mimi in the post-WWII years, and the best thing about this story is that it very much takes into account the traumatizing effect of the experiences they went through in the previous book. That goes ditto for the village boy Roger and his brother Pete, who were also present when Lankin attacked the girls in the manor house.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mimi is silent and clingy, and because Cora cannot bear to have her out of sight, she has very few friends or social skills. Roger is certainly not the cheerful chap he was in his youth, and even Pete (who was only tangentially involved with events) becomes angry and resentful whenever the girls show up at his house. It’s sad, since none of this is their fault, but his reaction to them makes complete sense.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, the girls returning to Bryden Guerdon is something that absolutely nobody wants, and sure enough, strange things start happening almost immediately. Mimi claims she can see someone in the garden. The girls’ “Aunt” Kathy (actually their father’s girlfriend) gets spooked and returns to London. Strange witch-bottles are found in the old barn, filled with hair, blood and fingernails. Symbols are drawn on the doors and hagstones found hanging from the porch.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's all a bit of a slow-burn horror story, and one that I didn’t necessarily think was scarier than the previous book, though Barraclough is an expert at showing and not telling (always the best way to do horror). Likewise, she’s good at interspersing the scary parts with scenes of warm domesticity or humour, such as Cora and Roger accidentally getting drunk on mead, or the chaos of Roger’s family home.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was able to enjoy this one more than <strong>Long Lankin</strong>, as I could give it my full attention over a three-day weekend binge, and I was once again reminded of Anne Pilling and Catherine Fisher, who have each written similar stories in regards to the book’s heavy atmosphere and their use of ancient history echoing into contemporary times.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There were a few loose threads left dangling: I thought the spirits Aphra’s foster mothers called up at the beginning of the book would have a larger part to play (they sounded interesting!) and the fate of Cora and Mimi’s mother is left ambiguous (if anyone deserved a reprieve from suffering, it was her).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But definitely a good read, if not just for the prose and atmosphere. At some point in the distant future, I hope to re-read <strong>Long Lankin</strong> and give it the close-reading it deserves.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Witch and the Tsar</strong> by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDKahmidjts5vJwvfTVHUpWXdmowZ9WpLHIdxWMEIACGr8rANsVmN6BxOgtNO8UVfDch1lOhe3T2KwGTLDP46byFcfZBn8k-MJlkHfEfAxq-v2sQSfh57OaW7heIX_ZNg8RL9XaqJ4JsVPkVlEXE3Te0UoGONFldUkfHEM2wNIQGxIkHK1L6-chjlelo7/s120/@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDKahmidjts5vJwvfTVHUpWXdmowZ9WpLHIdxWMEIACGr8rANsVmN6BxOgtNO8UVfDch1lOhe3T2KwGTLDP46byFcfZBn8k-MJlkHfEfAxq-v2sQSfh57OaW7heIX_ZNg8RL9XaqJ4JsVPkVlEXE3Te0UoGONFldUkfHEM2wNIQGxIkHK1L6-chjlelo7/s1600/@@@.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have been picking through this one slowly but surely over the last few months, which pretty much sums up the reading experience: not bad, but not exactly compelling. There are always a couple of popular trends going around literary circles, and at the moment it’s taking a well-known female figure from mythology and retelling her story with a feminist slant, and of course: Slavic fantasy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This book combines the two by centring a story around Baba Yaga, who has appeared frequently in the books I’ve been reading across the course of the year, though never in the capacity of a protagonist.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, her upgrade to main character means she has to be changed into a young and beautiful demi-goddess, because saints forbid we have to read about an old hag for four hundred pages. According to the author’s note at the back of the book (which also includes a glossary for the historical people, mythological characters and real locations featured in the story) Gilmore drew upon both ancient Slavic mythology and Russian history to craft her narrative – specifically Ivan the Terrible’s reign of terror and deities such as Perun, Dazhbog, Mokosh and Belobog/Chernobog (as well as appearances from famous figures such as Koshey the Deathless and Marya Morevna).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's always something of a questionable choice to take real-life atrocities and spin them as the results of feuding gods (Catherynne Valente did the same in <strong>Deathless</strong>) but I’m not going to cast any moral judgment on this. It’s only from a storytelling perspective that you can tell many of Gilmore’s original plots have to work within the context of the history she’s chosen to write about, making everything feel a little restrictive as a result.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are really three parts of the novel: Yaga’s prolonged youth spent deep within the forest, providing healing and succour to those in need (in her chicken-legged house of course, which sadly doesn’t have much of a role to play in this story), which is followed by her travelling to the court of the tsar after his wife (an old friend) beseeches her to come. There she must tend to the tsarina’s failing health while negotiating the power-plays at court.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, she takes to the Russian wilderness with a number of other warriors who are rebelling against the increasingly tyrannical hold that Tsar Ivan has on the country. Fighting against his ruthless oprichnina, Yaga still finds the time to make friends, fall in love, give birth to a daughter, and play cat-and-mouse games with Koshey Bessmertny, her former lover (if that name sounds familiar, then yes, he <em>is</em> a variation on Koshei the Deathless).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I am no expert on Russian history, so I simply cannot attest to the accuracy of the historical persons or events in this book, though I’ve seen a couple of reviews that point out a number of the usual stereotypes and clichés that Western-based writers often affix to Russian-inspired stories. Furthermore, this was published just last year, which is probably not the <em>best</em> timing for a novel extolling the beauty and strength of Mother Russia.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But to judge it as simply a novel that spotlights a famous female character from mythology... it’s fine.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The thing that’s been bugging me about this influx of women-centred retellings of myths (seriously, there are <em>so many</em>, no doubt brought on by Madeline Miller’s <strong>Circe</strong>) is that they have nothing particularly interesting to say about women. More often than not the protagonists are ludicrously anachronistic portrayals of them, in which they dream about romance and rail against the patriarchy, with the ideals and opinions of an essentially modern (and distinctly American) woman. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Look, I like stories about kickass women. I like stories about women who flout social mores and the great reserves of strength and courage it takes to do so. I like stories that centre on women, especially when based on the myths and legends I grew up with. But what I would like to see more of are stories in which women are allowed to be <em>three-dimensional</em> and <em>of her time</em>. Isn’t the whole <em>point</em> of these feminist retellings to explore womanhood within a variety of different historical contexts?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apparently not, as there’s a weird obsession these days with allowing women to “have it all”. This means that not only must she be a perfect role model, but that she’ll never be called upon to lose or sacrifice anything. (Whenever an author dares to exact a price from her heroine, she’ll be accused of misogyny – as when Alina gave up her powers to save the world in <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong>).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">These stories are under the weird burden of having to be <em>empowering</em> to their readership, which can’t help but undermine the stakes of any given story. And I can promise you that at some point all of these women will fall in love with the “right guy”, who worships her and treats her with a surprising amount of respect <em>and</em> is super-hot. All that work at being strong independent women, and these stories <em>still </em>manage to revolve around nabbing a dude. Because she has to “have it all.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, the Yaga presented in this story has no dark side, which is pretty astounding considering the source material, and is instead a twenty-first century woman transported to sixteenth-century Russia. The biggest crime is that she’s just rather bland, and if this was an attempt to restore Baba Yaga to her original status as a goddess (as the afterword implies) after being disparaged as merely a witch by centuries of false storytelling, then it really didn’t do much to achieve that goal.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Where’s her complexity? The rage? The darkness? The nuance? We’ve traded in the witch for another nondescript period romance heroine, all the better for the reader to easily project themselves onto.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Thistlefoot </strong>by GennaRose Nethercott</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE-78iRTVpwaVHdBtLv60L0F7O0c2HQbx-_gRrG3mqwcdYyZvlJy6iOHMnxnKEDZtfrXuilmquknLgzXdDFn3BuJbH_8xB0Db8dd4qebzGKbeSkI6w1NJaOZ-4NrnQ06KqTAR1mxdkgSJUe7wHfaT5AO3-Oobd34Ryt45uCDur9BYze0LTBgEvlgkQffO/s140/@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="92" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE-78iRTVpwaVHdBtLv60L0F7O0c2HQbx-_gRrG3mqwcdYyZvlJy6iOHMnxnKEDZtfrXuilmquknLgzXdDFn3BuJbH_8xB0Db8dd4qebzGKbeSkI6w1NJaOZ-4NrnQ06KqTAR1mxdkgSJUe7wHfaT5AO3-Oobd34Ryt45uCDur9BYze0LTBgEvlgkQffO/s1600/@.jpg" width="92" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Another book in my reading list of Slavic-based fairy tales, though this is the first one to come under the subgenre of magic realism. That is to say, nobody blinks an eye at the existence of a chicken-legged house getting bequeathed to a couple of adult siblings living in America, who then travel in it across the country. (Even stranger, there are a couple of mentions of other buildings that have grown eyeballs, but this has no impact on the story whatsoever. As world-building minutia goes, it’s a little weird).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I had very little idea of what to expect from this one, and it was a good read, albeit not quite as gripping or memorable as I wanted it to be. The writing style is suitably intricate and poetic, but the author credits Angela Carter as an inspiration in her afterword, and there’s no way the prose holds a candle to <em>her</em> – but then, what does?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(As an aside, I’m noticing an increase in authors that provide long lists of inspirations and dedications in their afterwords, and it comes across as a little juvenile – not to mention making me feel like I should have been reading or watching something else entirely. Emily Duncan also did it for <b>Wicked Saints</b>, explicitly stating that she based one of her characters on Kylo Ren, and all that achieved was me deciding not to read the rest of the trilogy. Here, Nethercott even namedrops <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong>, calling it “the greatest story ever told” without any context as to how it relates to the novel we’ve just read. I don’t care how much you liked your formative books/television shows/characters, if you bring them to mind then I’m only going to compare them unfavourably to your own work).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Back to <strong>Thistlefoot</strong>. It vibes a fair bit with Neil Gaiman’s <strong>American Gods</strong>, what with characters that turn out to be the personifications of concepts, a road trip across America, a litany of payoffs for carefully strewn <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChekhovsSkill#:~:text=Much%20like%20Chekhov's%20Gun%2C%20Chekhov's,Shark%20Pool%20during%20the%20climax.">Chekhov Skills</a>, colourful characters that are at least 70% an aesthetic (I’m pretty sure any given assortment of outfits, tattoos, boots and hairstyles are given more emphasis than any single character’s interiority) and solemn speeches on the importance of stories.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Isaac and Bellatine Yaga are two estranged siblings brought together unexpectedly when a package arrives from overseas, bequeathed to them both by their deceased great-grandmother. Because they’re in a magic realism setting, they’re not too dumbstruck on discovering that their inheritance is the legendary chicken-legged house straight from the Baba Yaga legends, which (like the Tardis) is considerably larger on the inside and able to transport them wherever they want to go.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As it happens, the siblings have other gifts from their Ukrainian heritage: Isaac is able to mimic strangers to an almost uncanny degree, while Bellatine can bring inanimate objects to life with her hands. Realizing that his sister wants to own the house and see the back of him, Isaac comes up with an idea to get them both what they want: go on the road with the marionette show they performed with their parents as children until Bellatine can buy him out.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">His sister doesn’t like the idea, as she’s been suppressing her magical gift to the same extent that Isaac has been exploiting his, but the desire to own this magical house for herself is just too great. So, the Yaga siblings take their show on the road, unaware of just how many people are on their tail.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The more I think about it, the more the comparison to <strong>American Gods</strong> applies, especially since several interspersing chapters told from the point-of-view of the house itself, giving it the chance to recount its own history. Basically, it’s one of those novels that is good without being great. Really beautifully written with some solid ideas throughout, but I’ve seen much of it done better in other books. Or maybe that’s just because Nethercott wrote down all her inspirations in the afterword. Seriously, writers should really stop doing that.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Second Bell </strong>by Gabriela Houston</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl95lwoXtuW6E3X2jlw8jbdsy6UC8po4zheqNRD19Wi48BQ5_Tn8MjSO7SeFivq5EgsMVIMa4UqzaXtlwTs3ilSSi-XDFqVpUt8GJBNY_IZx49M_8nM_e7AfkTJxMO1vAVWWPg8mq-RT4t72vkN-dwDrK3oFC-PwcsXqIr-JhEmyqws7-O_DUpxBIzTUnj/s120/@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="75" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl95lwoXtuW6E3X2jlw8jbdsy6UC8po4zheqNRD19Wi48BQ5_Tn8MjSO7SeFivq5EgsMVIMa4UqzaXtlwTs3ilSSi-XDFqVpUt8GJBNY_IZx49M_8nM_e7AfkTJxMO1vAVWWPg8mq-RT4t72vkN-dwDrK3oFC-PwcsXqIr-JhEmyqws7-O_DUpxBIzTUnj/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="75" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m surprised that this book wasn’t classified as YA for several reasons: the basic prose, the short chapters, the straightforward story. I whizzed through it in no time, and will probably forget it just as quickly.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Based on the Polish myth of the Striga (or Strzyga), these creatures were said to be female demons born to ordinary women, identifiable by their two hearts, two shadows and evil powers. They also popped up in Aleksandra Ross’s <strong>Don’t Call the Wolf</strong> as straightforward monsters to be fought and killed, though here they’re given the “just misunderstood because of the patriarchy” treatment.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whenever a striga child is born to a mortal woman, the mother is given a choice: to abandon her infant on the side of the mountain and return to her ordinary life, or go with said child into permanent exile. Most chose to stay, but this story opens with Miriat refusing to abandon her daughter, and facing the brutal consequences: complete and immediate ostracization.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Driven out of her community with little but the clothes on her back, Miriat struggles through the wilderness to reach a striga settlement in the mountains. It’s there that she raises Salka to adolescence, though the striga community comes with its own societal difficulties. Not a simple haven for those that have been cast out, it’s filled with deeply traumatized and poverty-stricken inhabitants, who have their own rules and hierarchies, one of which is that any striga living among them must never call upon their supernatural powers.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Should this ever happen, then the individual will face yet another exile… and it’s unlikely they would survive this one given the unforgiving nature of their surroundings, where food is scarce and nights are bitterly cold.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As a teenager, Salka is inevitably headstrong and wilful, because is there any other kind of heroine in a book like this? (Again, I’m bewildered it wasn’t shelved in the YA area). She’s curious about her dual hearts and the power she has that everyone else is so afraid of, but knows that if she gives her shadow-self even an inch, she’ll be unable to control its influence. Or so she’s been told. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You’ll be unsurprised to learn that all the stories about the dangers of the striga are largely fabricated, and many of their abilities are actually <em>beneficial</em> to the community. And when it becomes apparent that some of the striga can heal mortal wounds and illnesses, society’s terrified persecution of these people becomes a little strange. I mean, these are profoundly helpful skills to have in an environment like the one described in this book, so how and why did striga become so hated? What is the history behind this xenophobia? What even <em>are</em> the strigas if not the demons they’ve been labelled as? A major problem of the book is that we never get a clear picture of what they are or why people have become so afraid of them.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, so we could infer that it’s fear of the unknown and/or women with power, but the story is filled with Dola (wise women) that everyone turns to for advice and help in times of trouble, which rather undermines the vaguely patriarchal-based oppression. This world has problems, but sexism doesn’t seem to be one of them. It’s all completely unclear, and remains unresolved by the end of the book.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, the story isn’t particularly deep. Prejudice is bad. Familial bonds are good. That’s about as deep as it gets, and the story’s conclusion is almost unbearably trite. All those centuries of fear and oppression are wiped away in a (literal) flood. Save a few kids from the waters, and everyone can get along.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Although the bond between Miria and Salka is touching, especially in a genre that very rarely bothers with strong connections between mothers and daughters, they’re not hugely interesting characters. Some of the supporting ones are more intriguing, such as Dran: the son of a Dola who was born with a bad leg. He believes that a striga might be able to to heal his disability, which leads him to an ongoing argument with himself over whether getting what he wants is worth the consequences that will befall Salka if he successfully convinces her to use her striga powers. (At best, she’ll be exiled, at worst, she’ll become the monstrous demon that his people believe all striga are).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">He’s not a great person, but that’s a far more interesting moral conundrum than anything Miriat or Salka have to face. Sadly, the rest of the women in the book are pretty one-dimensional, and rather antagonistic toward our mother/daughter protagonists. I’m always torn on this sort of thing – on the one hand, it’s juvenile and reductive to believe that all women are going to be best friends with each other; on the other, they’re antagonistic in such <em>boring </em>ways: one is romantically jealous, one is overprotective of her son, one just has a chip on her shoulder about everything. If you’re going to pit female characters against each other, at least give them decent reasons to do so.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a quick, largely inoffensive read, but not one I can see retaining any sort of hold on my ever-waning memory banks.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Dog Soldiers </strong>(2002)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkOvbcWChZENbe_QXCadkx-HPXU58dwi_WUADwQdxIZSKKZysx42XSE4uoDhPW0BO536GXdHF-8UFPSGLvGnxDNKj5zmioLrCCJE0QP-4lFcy6_rY3JWXoYEqTKqwwZxIENiMe2wRIR2PH-mk3zG72f0OTqmvW9bX2ToXh__S2_Xb3hF5Lp762im4bv0w/s117/@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="117" data-original-width="83" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkOvbcWChZENbe_QXCadkx-HPXU58dwi_WUADwQdxIZSKKZysx42XSE4uoDhPW0BO536GXdHF-8UFPSGLvGnxDNKj5zmioLrCCJE0QP-4lFcy6_rY3JWXoYEqTKqwwZxIENiMe2wRIR2PH-mk3zG72f0OTqmvW9bX2ToXh__S2_Xb3hF5Lp762im4bv0w/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="83" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Obviously, there were a couple of werewolf-based carry-overs that I wasn’t able to finish in October, of which <strong>Dog Soldiers</strong> was one. Something of a cult classic since its release (aren’t they all) it’s essentially “soldiers versus werewolves.” A squad of British army men are going through a routine training exercise in the Scottish Highlands only to come across the remains of another team that has been torn to shreds with only one survivor.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rescued by a zoologist who is researching the strange disappearances in the area, and stymied by a commanding officer who is clearly responsible for getting them into this mess in the first place, the platoon ends up barricaded inside an abandoned farmhouse, fending off the attack from werewolves that manage to look both terrible (rubber masks are clearly at work) <em>and</em> terrifying (hey, I’ll take practical effects any day of the week, and the elongated legs are genuinely unsettling).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Such a simple premise is obviously not conductive to a particularly interesting synopsis. Suffice to say, there’s a lot of screaming, swearing, bloodshed and creatively gruesome deaths. Liam Cunningham and Kevin McKidd are always reliable (though I always get the latter mixed up with Steven Waddington) and it was amusing to see Sean Pertwee since he was <em>also</em> in the season of <strong>Elementary</strong> that I watched this month.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's hardly a cinematic masterpiece, but it’s all worth it for the devastating final shot: a headline that announces “werewolves ate my platoon” before zooming out and revealing the greater part of the frontpage is taken up with the results of a footy game that the men were complaining about missing for the duration of the film. I feel like they probably came up with that shot, then reverse-engineered the entire movie as a lead-up to it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Coraline</strong> (2009)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizexJg9GGVhNbmuU8lQDv3-26fHpDOKov3eOL51pnbWTlglLrVCRkcIHwgKkiiNV9SUtecQkhN1eMMJI5KmrrP1WNS7v_Pmiz1KKUmJgPu6-6cIDizkWPPKA-rRoGrE-zY3dYw5XFBp7eWpgwRbkPqI0ny7oeBTBTsCZHge9LIz_Dmh0W6XB9U8e_2njwZ/s125/@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="84" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizexJg9GGVhNbmuU8lQDv3-26fHpDOKov3eOL51pnbWTlglLrVCRkcIHwgKkiiNV9SUtecQkhN1eMMJI5KmrrP1WNS7v_Pmiz1KKUmJgPu6-6cIDizkWPPKA-rRoGrE-zY3dYw5XFBp7eWpgwRbkPqI0ny7oeBTBTsCZHge9LIz_Dmh0W6XB9U8e_2njwZ/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="84" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ah, that’s the stuff. What a wonderful, immersive, gorgeous, spooky, thrilling joyride of a movie (that will also scare the heck out of you). It’s stunning to look at, and – as you’d expect from a Gaiman-based story – taps deep into the rhythms and echoes of old fairy tales to construct something that feels familiar and yet fresh every time you watch it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was apparently rereleased in cinemas earlier this year, and I’m not surprised to hear it pulled in a couple of million. I’d definitely pay to rewatch this on the big screen (despite having the DVD) over any <strong>Star Wars </strong>or MCU flick in a heartbeat. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Coraline was also our annual Halloween night movie pick, an event which has been whittled down to only two people, one of whom (me) doesn’t even work there anymore. But my ex-colleague had never seen it before, and I’ll take any excuse to watch it again. In fact, immediately after watching I wanted to put it back to the beginning and watch it all over again. It’s one of those films you never get tired of, and which is detailed enough to let you notice something new every time.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like, for example, the fact that the cat talks in the Other Mother’s world but not Coraline’s, making him the exact inverse of Wybie, who talks aplenty to Coraline in the real world, but whose Other Mother counterpart is silent. The film also knows what it’s doing when it comes to hinting at a much larger backdrop to the events that unfold: clearly the Beldame and the cat have a history, and the allusions to Wybie’s grandmother and her missing twin sister are an ever-present reminder of what could happen to Coraline if she doesn’t stay on her guard.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Even Mr Bobinsky’s mice, who apparently use him to deliver a warning to Coraline at the beginning of the film (“do not go through the little door”) are left enticingly mysterious.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Granted, there were a few nitpicks this time around. I wish they had introduced the hagstone more elegantly, and that Coraline’s search to find the missing eyes had stretched on for a bit longer. Also, the sequence isn’t as clever as it could have been – she doesn’t even rely on her wits at any point.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, the presence of Wybie has always been a bit of an issue, from the fact that the only significant Black character is rendered completely silent in the Other Mother’s world (and ends up fluttering from a flagpole) <em>and</em> that he undermines our heroine by leaping in at the last minute to save her from the Other Mother’s severed hand. In the book she handles it all by herself. And what was Wybie doing out by himself so late at night anyway?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, why does the Other Mother need the doll to spy on Coraline when the stuffed mice are serving that same purpose? And where does this doll end up, anyway? I lost track of it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But like I said, those are just nitpicks. Watching this for the umpteenth time I was struck by the allure of the Other Mother’s world: the food, the fun, the colour, the music, the thrills. A part of you wishes for a movie (or a reality!) where such things are just as they seem; an uncomplicated treat, where there is no catch or price to pay. But if that were the case, we’d be in Enid Blyton territory.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Heck, I just saw a variation of <strong>Coraline</strong> all over again in the <strong>Hansel and Gretel</strong> ballet: the siblings are allowed to gorge themselves on all the treats they can eat, but when they wake up, they’re in the witch’s kitchen and it’s time to pay the piper. The transience of the extravagances is the reason we must savour them, to the point where the transgression feels well worth the consequences... if you can sidle out of them. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>About Time</strong> (2013)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXZk7PBHBHOzcRA2q-V5VP08YAh_M0eA_DP-P98otJYrv7H5CxNbt3CfbuStfMDaN_qSfMNJNPdMtwedK_zlK5X4xIgRyayjudj6SnXac203UM9-6_Mb7-U3K_tY46Cd8IJENT91d9leiUxSUJD8BPpqn-kTkL3BNnhQ4rbExc75P8UoPPmdvSfLXjlVf/s127/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="127" data-original-width="81" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXZk7PBHBHOzcRA2q-V5VP08YAh_M0eA_DP-P98otJYrv7H5CxNbt3CfbuStfMDaN_qSfMNJNPdMtwedK_zlK5X4xIgRyayjudj6SnXac203UM9-6_Mb7-U3K_tY46Cd8IJENT91d9leiUxSUJD8BPpqn-kTkL3BNnhQ4rbExc75P8UoPPmdvSfLXjlVf/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">According to my sister, this movie is the reason I have a nephew, which isn’t something I want to dwell on in too much detail. She only meant that the film made having a family look so appealing that she and her partner decided to start one of their own.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, once you announce that a movie is responsible for bringing an entirely new person into the world, your expectations are pretty damn high. And given it’s from the writer of <strong>Notting Hill</strong> and <strong>Love Actually</strong>, you know there’s going to be a high amount of sentimentality involved – along with a scattering of caustic humour that feels all the more biting due to the aforementioned sentimentality.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tim is self-described as “too tall, too skinny, too orange” when his father springs a family secret on him when he turns twenty-one: the men in their family can time travel. All he has to do is enter a small dark space and imagine where he wants to go. It has to be within his own lifetime, and he can change things once he’s there – hopefully for the better. Not taking any of this remotely seriously, Tim heads for the nearest cupboard, wishes himself back to New Year’s Eve, and fixes a few of the faux pas he committed on that night.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's all real. He can time travel. But what commences is not at all what you would imagine: Tim moves through time and space, but the movie isn’t interested in any of the metaphysical implications of this. It is profoundly <em>not</em> a science-fiction movie. Rather, it’s a story about a young man developing into a grown man who can just happen to time travel, learning a little more about himself and the world as he does so.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some of this involves meeting and falling in love with Mary (Rachel McAdams in another time travel movie in which she does none of the actual traveling) but the story also explores Tim’s relationship with his parents, sister, uncle, work colleagues, first love, friends and a couple of complete strangers. It’s a portrayal of the simple joys of a meaningful but mundane life, in which the time travel only serves to accentuate how special everything is <em>without</em> it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Of course, Tim’s father also reveals that he utilized time travel mainly in order to read absolutely everything under the sun, and holy shit wouldn’t that be wonderful? Unlimited time to just <em>read</em>).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So the whole thing putters along, past the usual end point of most romantic comedies (the wedding) and into Tim’s middle age and fatherhood, only occasionally dipping into some time travelling conundrums and paradoxes (I won’t go into it, but <strong>Arrow</strong>’s Sara Diggle comes to mind at one point). As in any Richard Curtis film, the main character is surrounded by charming eccentrics, with special mention given to Tom Hollander’s Harry (Tim’s landlord/flatmate) and Richard Cordery’s Desmond (Tim’s uncle). I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up becoming one or the other in my dotage.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Somewhat more disappointing is Tim’s sister Kit Kat, who he introduces as “the most wonderful thing in the world” who goes on to never say or do anything particularly interesting or special across the entire course of the movie. It’s an almost too-perfect case of a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ManicPixieDreamGirl">Manic Pixie Dreamgirl</a>, who somehow doesn’t even fulfil that trope’s usual role as a love interest to the main character. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But it’s a very charming movie, and somehow one that slipped under the radar a bit. If you need some cheering up, or a good cry, or both, this might be the ticket.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Wolf of Snow Hollow </strong>(2020)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAsqip4jzbsj54KfEZXs_BVMZ5hOmzCMPYb2Cw3LZwPu23gw1-T2nXgfJ88Uqv_z3-mqZKrqfuW7qJD3mVHw8pGmVV5s8XZIc88x-k3TB6ZDsPSFZXONa-XWplCC9gQG7TPOT30OV6bfePKhNcu8wQTN9QTyrmhg9l2VtXV15H6XDnq_QrbW-AUoSrpYi/s118/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="118" data-original-width="80" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAsqip4jzbsj54KfEZXs_BVMZ5hOmzCMPYb2Cw3LZwPu23gw1-T2nXgfJ88Uqv_z3-mqZKrqfuW7qJD3mVHw8pGmVV5s8XZIc88x-k3TB6ZDsPSFZXONa-XWplCC9gQG7TPOT30OV6bfePKhNcu8wQTN9QTyrmhg9l2VtXV15H6XDnq_QrbW-AUoSrpYi/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Another leftover from October’s werewolf viewing, this doesn’t <em>actually</em> involve a werewolf – only a psychopath killer who dresses like one (which is kind of cheating, since early on we get a glimpse of the creature and there’s no way a human being could pull off that level of speed, agility, or inverted knee joints).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jim Cummings is a cop in a small Utah town, grappling with an ex-wife, estranged daughter, drinking problem, and father in ill-health who refuses to retire. And now a bunch of brutal serial killings that he can’t stop or solve, leading to increased hostility from the public. It’s no wonder this guy lives entirely on his nerves, and it’s difficult to watch and not be mentally begging the guy to get some therapy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The most interesting thing about this movie is that it takes the time to flesh out the victims in the hours before they’re horribly murdered, meaning that when they <em>do</em> meet their tragic ends, you really feel like something terrible has just happened. It’s not just random explosions of blood and meat. The screenplay even takes the time to throw in a few red herrings, as when the boyfriend of the first victim confronts a pair of rednecks who are using a homophobic slur, suggesting a personal history that never gets explained on-screen. And after his would-be fiancée’s death, there’s no stinting on the aftermath. This guy is severely traumatized and will clearly remain so for the rest of his life.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet it remains a dark comedy, most of which can be derived from the sheer ineptitude of everyone working on the case, the slick editing, and the extremity of the situation leading to lots and lots of gallows humour (I mean, it’s hard to find the funny in the brutal misogynistic killings of half-a-dozen women, but it’s there). Yet there’s a deep sadness to it all as well, from Jenna Marshall’s obvious familiarity with her father’s drunken stupors, to the litany of funerals in which the grief is raw and in-your-face, to Jim Cummings’s obvious and desperate need for help. <em>Any</em> help.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kudos to the film, it ends with him stepping down as police chief and working on his anger management, so that aspect at least isn’t <em>fully</em> played for laughs.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m not entirely sure what to say about it, as the tone is razer-sharp and walks a <em>very</em> fine line between comedy and horror. There’s a real darkness to it all, especially with the reveal of the killer (it’s one of those “darkness lies just beneath the surface of society” stories) and sheer desperation of its protagonist.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Werewolves Within </strong>(2021)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNHnQTpB91RDJMnMp58z6xTlk6_8PQ5sPjsTVqDHPLwHlxWpPgnhad_XdPOkb4f7STVjA4wfkmh5OUarAIhSRLmhZ9tsE5xcRBdvRoDkkxJCgEWuab1EiePdCu66SgkMG2i5t4p_udDKZaqbmbUzrhLXdAlIm7DIZupuDZZFnYX9v4Fpb6zZAlIXElvMO/s115/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="115" data-original-width="77" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNHnQTpB91RDJMnMp58z6xTlk6_8PQ5sPjsTVqDHPLwHlxWpPgnhad_XdPOkb4f7STVjA4wfkmh5OUarAIhSRLmhZ9tsE5xcRBdvRoDkkxJCgEWuab1EiePdCu66SgkMG2i5t4p_udDKZaqbmbUzrhLXdAlIm7DIZupuDZZFnYX9v4Fpb6zZAlIXElvMO/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="77" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I watched this with a friend the same night as <strong>The Wolf of Snow Hollow</strong>, and we had a laugh over the fact that our two werewolf movies didn’t seem to have any actual werewolves in them. Eventually the last five minutes of the film delivered, but it was touch-and-go for a while.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apparently based on a video game of the same name, <strong>Werewolves Within</strong> is another dark comedy, though veering more towards the comedy than the darkness in this case. Mild-mannered forest ranger Finn Wheeler is reassigned to a small town that’s divided over a proposed pipeline that businessman Sam Parker is keen to see constructed under the township (under the guise of creating more jobs of course).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finn quickly meets and befriends mailperson Cecily Moore, as well as a range of eclectic townsfolk that seem to be in a subconscious competition to out-eccentric each other.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That night, a blizzard knocks out all the power in town, leading most of the residents to seek shelter at a holiday lodge, where – you guessed it – they start getting murdered one-by-one. We’re in a whodunnit, and it’s up to poor, nerve-wracked, underpaid and out-of-his-depth Finn to find the culprit before it’s too late. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are some pretty solid comedic talents here (special mention to Harvey Guillén as one-half of a gay couple who monitors everything he says in case of causing offense while being surrounded by people who literally could not give a damn) and plenty of zingers, but it grows increasingly silly as the night goes on, till we’re dealing with gas explosions and pin-point accurate axe throwing.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’d say fun while it lasts, but a tad forgettable – though it’s worth saying (SPOILERS) that in both this and <strong>The Wolf of Snow Hollow</strong>, it’s a female character who gets to make the big climactic kill of the titular wolf.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Scream 6</strong> (2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBicWUXT_cpBLnG0r4khnU8L9blfSlkO2yyC24EhDmvE_R-oFakBu52q6jLjR0aC4P-FJsxwcv5a-6WmHUnnDOwuwrU1EAC0KrCl5WembS6nVgYbPRqsfbfmQ1y3lHqLGqiYbH_qfIpZYJNsg6h1rDkfjT-6HYxhxRSw3W2ZwlA9wL5pgdbtSFljP2SoA7/s122/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="122" data-original-width="82" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBicWUXT_cpBLnG0r4khnU8L9blfSlkO2yyC24EhDmvE_R-oFakBu52q6jLjR0aC4P-FJsxwcv5a-6WmHUnnDOwuwrU1EAC0KrCl5WembS6nVgYbPRqsfbfmQ1y3lHqLGqiYbH_qfIpZYJNsg6h1rDkfjT-6HYxhxRSw3W2ZwlA9wL5pgdbtSFljP2SoA7/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="82" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">No, I’m not using the Roman numerals. It’s <strong>Scream 6</strong>, dammit.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When it comes to franchises of this nature, you go in wondering how they’re going to play with the trademark beats. Who will give the “this is how it goes in the movies” spiel? How will the killer be unmasked? At this point, it’s all about messing with the established formula.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">SPOILERS</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s no more lasting tradition than the cold open, in which a young woman gets a phone call and ends up fighting for her life (though everyone forgets that <strong>Scream 2 </strong>avoided this entirely). Last time, the twist was that the girl survived. This time, it’s that the killer unmasks himself immediately after killing the first girl, and then casually go about his routine. Of course, since this is <strong>Scream</strong>, there’s a twist on that twist, and soon he’s taken out by another masked assailant who asks – just before the fatal stab: “who gives a shit about scary movies?”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So whatever’s going on here, the motive at least is something quite different.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">After 2011’s <strong>Scream 4</strong> was meant to be a restarter, it ended up being <strong>Scream 5</strong> that re-galvanized the franchise. How does that work? I’ve no idea, but it very much played out like a passing of the torch from Final Girl Sydney Prescott to Sam Carpenter and her sister Tara.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For that reason, I wasn’t too perturbed at the news that Neve Campbell decided not to return for this film – I respect her decision not to accept less pay than she thought she was worth, and in all honesty, Sydney’s story is <em>over</em>. There’s no way to move forward from this point! As Gale says in this movie: “she deserves her happy ending,” and it’s true. Let the woman rest.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But of course, recent events involving the actresses mean that Sam and Tara’s stories are now over as well. And it’s a good enough conclusion for them, though I do regret that we’ll never get to see any follow-up on the real darkness that they tap into when it comes to taking out the killers, to the point where they’re openly revelling in the bloodshed (reminds me a bit of what Arya’s arc coulda/shoulda/woulda been in <strong>Game of Thrones</strong> – audiences were too busy cheering on her <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RoaringRampageOfRevenge">Roaring Rampage of Revenge</a> that they ignored the fact her brutal slaughtering of so many people, however justified, was undoubtedly having horrific consequences on her psyche).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As far as the rest of the movie goes? It’s solid, and very of the moment. There’s a bit more examination of the misogyny that’s often baked into slasher films, a couple of digs at the cops, and a really great use of how conspiracy theories can be used to destroy the lives of innocent people (in this case, online detectives have decided that Sam framed her boyfriend for the previous film’s murder spree).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The meta discussion this time around is to do with franchises, but although Mindy warns that any of the characters could either die or be the killer, the film plays it extremely safe. Mindy gets a fake-out death. Chad gets a fake-out death. Kirby gets a fake-out death. Gale gets a fake-out death. I mean, come on!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The problem is that at this point, killing off some of the characters would be just plain cruel – obviously the Carpenter sisters are safe, and so are Mindy and Chad, since killing off Randy’s nephew and niece would be too cruel to their mother (who had a cameo in the previous movie). Gale was pretty untouchable, especially with Sydney gone and Dewey dead, and it would have been a waste to bring back Kirby after a decade just to kill her off all over again.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This means that the “killing pool” is remarkably small – in fact, this film may well have contained the smallest amount of genuine kills in the whole franchise, comprised of no one that we cared about. It’s a short list of the woman in the cold open, Sam’s therapist, and a handful of extras in the bodega. That’s it! I mean, I wouldn’t have wanted to lose any of the self-titled “core four” or the legacy characters, but it’s definitely an instalment that has cold feet about hurting any of the mains.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But there are some interesting firsts for the franchise. The first time two sets of Ghostfaces are pitted against each other. The first time there are THREE killers working together (I’ve been waiting for that one for a while!) The first time Gale talks to the killer on the phone (and hilariously, tells him to hold please). The first time in what feels like a long time (since <strong>Scream 2</strong>, if you’re keeping track) that the lead’s boyfriend is a genuinely good guy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In short, I enjoyed it. They didn’t really lean into the promised depiction of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect">Bystander Syndrome</a> that was frequently mentioned in the interviews leading up to the film’s release, and I was disappointed that Gale went ahead and wrote that book on the last film’s killers when she vowed not to give them any publicity, but on the whole – great time.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Inspector Lynley: Season 2 </strong>(2003)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlrnIPW4WllXaIWmThlqO2-IP46tJU6CY34GA1fOsIscm30q6bfdDZ8ZZYkx4WrOG3UvcmrJK3grJ8D07MhcrqkF64vDf3drlZ3HhXfqqa8S8LNfgHJVz5proSPv56y0uc0RdB3vKUp1-C4Oj8TcxydHKk30A_ULj60VF3M6z8GHRixJQDsx4LJktK620/s172/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="97" data-original-width="172" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlrnIPW4WllXaIWmThlqO2-IP46tJU6CY34GA1fOsIscm30q6bfdDZ8ZZYkx4WrOG3UvcmrJK3grJ8D07MhcrqkF64vDf3drlZ3HhXfqqa8S8LNfgHJVz5proSPv56y0uc0RdB3vKUp1-C4Oj8TcxydHKk30A_ULj60VF3M6z8GHRixJQDsx4LJktK620/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpeg" width="172" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I actually watched most of this a few months ago, but for whatever reason wasn’t able to get to the final episodes until just yesterday. But it was fun to continue with the investigations of Inspector Lynley and Sargeant Havers, even though the characters and their rapport is far more interesting than any of the actual mysteries they solve.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Made up of four stories split into two, making eight episodes altogether, I understand that the show is sticking pretty faithfully to Elizabeth George’s original novels at this point. As such, the mysteries <strong>Playing for the Ashes</strong>, <strong>In the Presence of the Enemy</strong>, <strong>A Suitable Vengeance </strong>and <strong>Deception on His Mind </strong>are adapted, involving a murdered cricket player, a secret love-child, the fraught web of interpersonal relationships within a Pakistani family, and of course: a mysterious death at an old country estate. What makes that last one most interesting is that it’s Lynley’s estate, and there are some family skeletons that are ready to come out of the closet.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, tons of familiar faces before they were famous, namely Matthew Goode and Sophie Okonedo. Ruth Gemmell and Phyllis Logan are here too, but of most interest to me was Anjali Jay (Djaq from the BBC’s <strong>Robin Hood</strong>) in what IMDB tells me was her first on-screen role. Damn, she’s so gorgeous and talented, and it’s so unfair that she’s not a bigger star. Perhaps that’s by choice, but we were cheated out of her presence in season three of <strong>Robin Hood</strong> and I always want to see more of her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride</strong> (2006)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrprrfitvjdslOJjGAVw-vkdJbhpLIFZqs2goxk1kGY31gBSJzNPVYvLBeVaMH2VeJ4dNyJmn_4RjwZFuEFaDZw66GSgvzHIhUCZ5JeMYlK4kQ2b0ZnY3dE-klfKi_2e4QmF4mRyoXqyvj6AYch3O2BQ8C8NHIH2nLl7d1KG6CIjukOb_h67AXLrWJsdw/s126/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="84" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrprrfitvjdslOJjGAVw-vkdJbhpLIFZqs2goxk1kGY31gBSJzNPVYvLBeVaMH2VeJ4dNyJmn_4RjwZFuEFaDZw66GSgvzHIhUCZ5JeMYlK4kQ2b0ZnY3dE-klfKi_2e4QmF4mRyoXqyvj6AYch3O2BQ8C8NHIH2nLl7d1KG6CIjukOb_h67AXLrWJsdw/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="84" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I always forget that Donna Noble was introduced on <strong>Doctor Who</strong> <em>before</em> Martha Jones, right on the heels of Billie Piper leaving the show, and not becoming a companion until a season later. It meant I was a little discombobulated when watching this – her first appearance – and not immediately realizing where on the timeline it fell.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, I got there in the end, and obviously I am watching this (and Donna’s season four run) in anticipation of her big return in the current Christmas Specials. I wanted to refresh my memory on what turned out to be one of the show’s most popular companions.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not that you would have guessed that when she first appeared, which coincides with her wedding day. She’s literally walking down the aisle when she disappears and is transported to the Tardis, where the Doctor is just as baffled as she is. Donna turns out to be a very different kind of passenger: loud, brash and totally unimpressed. She just wants to get to the chapel on time.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But something weird is going on, involving menacing street Santas, a giant star, killer Christmas ornaments, an alien spider – and of course, Donna as Bridezilla. It’s a goofy story, but Russell T. Davies’s tenure was never about plot but characters (basically the inverse of Steven Moffat). It’s in Donna’s rivalry with Nerys, the kids in the back of the car cheering Donna to jump into the Tardis, the little chats that the Doctor gets into with people, even Donna admitting that Lance didn’t deserve his death (though he kinda did). There’s a warmth and humanity here that hasn’t been part of the show for a while now.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As I recall, Donna wasn’t warmly regarded after this episode, to the point where audiences weren’t enthusiastic about Catherine Tate’s return as a permanent companion, but then of course – that’s the entire point of her character. She starts out with a selfish, incurious mind, and then grows over the course of her adventures – though of course, that’s for season four. When we next see her, she’ll be ready to take the Doctor up on his offer to travel with him.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This Special sets up a couple of things that will be used in the next season (the one with Martha) but I’ve decided to skip that one and just focus on Donna’s story in light of her return in the <em>current</em> Specials. She was a favourite companion for a reason and now we’re finally going to get a decent ending for her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Elementary: Season 2 </strong>(2013 – 2014)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQE0ywIXgECrG0LrJVjQ8XdVqZratmB7QDiy71Oxwr56Ed_OpcsK3Ut-m_jwhKo9tRX5BOKhIQKfqlOkdee2sPDDXvElVOq4LORR8oOmL_2srGk0l66pVwQ9bj3BdqWwG5tDMAJKP3L7Y2L_GQh96sxYX4DL6QTflQm-lyHkPGcaUmbQIKCFQfLDvaUPj/s125/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="89" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQE0ywIXgECrG0LrJVjQ8XdVqZratmB7QDiy71Oxwr56Ed_OpcsK3Ut-m_jwhKo9tRX5BOKhIQKfqlOkdee2sPDDXvElVOq4LORR8oOmL_2srGk0l66pVwQ9bj3BdqWwG5tDMAJKP3L7Y2L_GQh96sxYX4DL6QTflQm-lyHkPGcaUmbQIKCFQfLDvaUPj/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.jpg" width="89" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Season two of <strong>Elementary</strong> sees the show settle into itself, though it’s hard to go wrong with straightforward procedurals such as this one. You just need writers smart enough to put together relatively entertaining forty-five-minute mysteries, and then let Miller and Liu’s chemistry do the rest of the work.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Watson is growing into her role as a private investigator, often reaching insights that Sherlock misses (not to mention being able to contribute specialized medical knowledge) while Sherlock is working on a much more difficult project: self-improvement.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If last season was based around the search for Irene Adler/Moriarty, then this one is very much about the relationship between Sherlock and his brother Mycroft, played across the episodes by Rhys Ifans. My feelings were... mixed. It’s a great performance by Ifans, and I liked the rapport between himself and Jonny Lee Miller – though I can’t for the life of me understand why they felt the need to introduce a romantic attraction between Mycroft and Watson.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not only do Ifans and Liu have <em>negative</em> levels of chemistry, but it throws a deeply awkward and unpleasant spanner in the bond between Watson and Holmes (never date a co-worker’s family member, EVERYONE knows that). The show also tries to string the audience along over whether Mycroft can be trusted or whether he’s just manipulating his brother for nefarious ends, but the whole thing becomes embroiled in so many convoluted revelations that by the time the truth comes out I didn’t particularly care anymore.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Along with the fracture his presence made on the friendship between Holmes and Watson, I ended up relived that he was permanently leaving.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thankfully, there’s the whole rest of the season to enjoy, with plenty of familiar faces (some of which have become bigger names since their guest-starring roles here). I spotted Cara Buono (Mike and Nancy’s mum on <strong>Stranger Things</strong>), Danielle Nicolet (Cecile on <strong>The Flash</strong>), Shiri Appleby (Liz on the original <strong>Roswell</strong>), William Sadler (another old <strong>Roswell</strong> alum), Jeremy Jordan (Winn on <strong>Supergirl</strong>), Scott Cohan (I had a huge crush on Wolf in <strong>The 10th Kingdom</strong> when I was a teenager), Ted King (Andy on <strong>Charmed</strong>, who gets one scene here before he’s killed off) and reliable John Peewert as Lestrade, an interesting take on that character which ends up being another recurring role.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also Tim McMullan as the Chief of Police in London (Atticus Pund in <strong>Magpie Murders</strong>), Heather Burns (the ditzy contestant in <strong>Miss Congeniality</strong>) and a posthumous return from Roger Rees as Sherlock’s actor friend (the Sheriff of Rottingham, who has since passed on for real). Oh, and Natalie Dormer returns for a single episode as Moriarty.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whew, there’s always plenty of interesting material in this show – I just need to get a couple of other shows finished before I can carry on with season three.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Disenchantment: Season 5 </strong>(2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnkuhlyx95GoBM6VofD5jQzn8I7-ibG0A0tTTm0roE68zChA3pPh9dL-OcPU_3waLPTm81cXka_oakGgEZu21HFRhFIHWrkcjsqcEtWI9gs0d64821n9Ydkv_iUxc6UMZ-RhubtRiOfnm6gk4b4_AZGG7SrEqIJeic42cGOUdY4hi3cCV3ePpEJz6MnqHJ/s117/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="117" data-original-width="94" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnkuhlyx95GoBM6VofD5jQzn8I7-ibG0A0tTTm0roE68zChA3pPh9dL-OcPU_3waLPTm81cXka_oakGgEZu21HFRhFIHWrkcjsqcEtWI9gs0d64821n9Ydkv_iUxc6UMZ-RhubtRiOfnm6gk4b4_AZGG7SrEqIJeic42cGOUdY4hi3cCV3ePpEJz6MnqHJ/s1600/@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.png" width="94" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As I’ve said many times before, I’m actually rather astonished that there’s a fifth (and final) season to this show at all. It always seemed to be hanging on by its fingernails, and there was no official announcement that it would return once season four ended. Then after the publicity surrounding the return of <strong>Futurama</strong> started, I thought that was it – another show prematurely resigned to the dustbin of Netflix, albeit one that made it further than most.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then – a miracle! The trailer dropped and it turned out we were getting a fifth season after all. Though as ever, I struggled to remember what had happened last time I watched it. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, as the first episode features a man standing at a window and complaining: "it seems like we have to wait a year or more for each new development around here; how can you expect us to even remember what's going ON after such a long delay?" before he’s shot with a flaming arrow. Okay show, message received.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I recalled that Bean escaped her evil mother and evil twin by leaping (or possibly being thrown) from a high castle window, and surviving the fall by landing in the ocean and being rescued by Mora, the beautiful mermaid. Yes, despite some initial ship teasing between her and Elfo, the show commits to an entirely different endgame. Thank God.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">From there, it’s a farewell tour around all the locations Bean has visited in past seasons in order to gather her allies and hone her magical skills (she has lightning powers – mmkay) before almost every character picks a side and launches their attack. It’s Princess Bean versus her mother Queen Dagmar, the latter impeccably voiced by Sharon Horgan, who seems to be channelling Joanna Lumley.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Um, the Devil is involved, so are some puppets whose backstories I don’t really understand, along with escapees from a freak show and a multitude of elves. I really should have gone back and watched the whole thing from the start, but the end of the year is approaching fast and I just didn’t have time.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But what do you know, the last episode made me shed a tear. SPOILERS. During the battle for Dreamland Bean is magically tricked into killing Mora, the girl she loves. Heartbroken, she sees no point in going on. Yet during the course of the season, the demon Luci has found himself in Heaven, and after doing God Himself a solid (long story, it involves screwing on a fresh lightbulb) and in return, he’s granted a single wish. And so Luci wishes Mora back to life for Bean’s sake. Why? “Because... I love her.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All things considered, it was a nice way to say farewell to my Netflix subscription: with an actual <em>ending</em> to a story.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-84989411389705963212023-11-18T01:42:00.000-08:002023-11-18T01:42:43.299-08:00Legend of the Seeker: Bound<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s taken me this long to notice that <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong> doesn’t have any opening credits, just a quick montage of the main characters set to Zed’s voiceover (and the clip they chose for Cara is just awful). Does anyone else miss the art of the opening credits? With a tableau of clips and cast credits played to a proper theme song that set the tone? Nobody does that anymore.</span></p><!-- wp:paragraph -->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, this episode starts with the Sisters of the Dark standing in their trademark circle and engaging in a little chanting. They do that a lot, though it never seems to do them much good. A mutiny against Nicci is a-brewing (even though they brought her back from the dead only last week) as well as some backstabbing when the ringleaders enhance their own power (or Han) by stealing energy from others as part of a predetermined plan.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AQRupfJLaMifwej0EMVtZB-2xXuyng6ehFCxnozwcP225l8oBfEiD3zGE7__DfZXykYIAbxSCEUAYhZQa-UCV3eC5h-IrAc9Vy1WXtV5RDLHEkircgWdmm48TGvqn5jDm9aRCeuonda3wUhhkxFRiZPRt7WnSnO-fZJ_VRuQYf5-3YJqqfPkRtPNd76k/s1366/Screenshot%20(1648).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AQRupfJLaMifwej0EMVtZB-2xXuyng6ehFCxnozwcP225l8oBfEiD3zGE7__DfZXykYIAbxSCEUAYhZQa-UCV3eC5h-IrAc9Vy1WXtV5RDLHEkircgWdmm48TGvqn5jDm9aRCeuonda3wUhhkxFRiZPRt7WnSnO-fZJ_VRuQYf5-3YJqqfPkRtPNd76k/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1648).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now they have the strength to take on Nicci, though – still in possession of Richard’s Han – she disappears before they can kill her with their increased odds, and clocks in some facetime with Rahl through a campfire to get advice on what to do next. To redeem herself, she must find the Stone of Tears (I’ve totally forgotten what this does by now) and bring it to the Keeper, though she points out the compass that leads to it only works in the hands of the Seeker.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Therefore, she must find a way to control the Seeker. The exposition is a little clunky, but it neatly lays out Nicci’s objectives for this episode: control the Seeker, find the Stone, and kill the Mother Confessor (as you’ll recall, there’s a prophecy that states the Keeper is doomed to fail while Kahlan’s “pure heart” still beats). And that’s this week’s set-up!</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That night Nicci casts a spell, and the following morning Kahlan wakes up feeling mysteriously unwell. The question is answered when Cara returns to camp with a docile Nicci as her prisoner – as when she uses her agiel on her, it becomes apparent that any pain inflicted on Nicci also affects Kahlan in equal measure. According to Zed, it’s called the “maternity spell,” which replicates the bond between a mother and a child in the womb.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5q5gBqDf-yGRhW68hAbO3-auF7keCIlM0q10yfc1k7nuwvWjJO2dXoKh_czp9IMS659sNG7gF3rPcuKnAoyCOqIbdGqzFYg0d7AneDjV_wY-_H0DYlKQ7SqkXMSgNzNutpP5mn2832R6RfN6sVmWLGwPVEWHzHlvP7bhPzDMkDkM8vtb5Abcgte9aS5db/s1366/Screenshot%20(1652).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5q5gBqDf-yGRhW68hAbO3-auF7keCIlM0q10yfc1k7nuwvWjJO2dXoKh_czp9IMS659sNG7gF3rPcuKnAoyCOqIbdGqzFYg0d7AneDjV_wY-_H0DYlKQ7SqkXMSgNzNutpP5mn2832R6RfN6sVmWLGwPVEWHzHlvP7bhPzDMkDkM8vtb5Abcgte9aS5db/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1652).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The spell has depleted the rest of Nicci’s power (making her vulnerable to the Sisters still chasing her) but her demands are simple: Richard leads her to the Stone of Tears, or else she kills herself and takes Kahlan with her. Unable to argue or think their way out of this stalemate, Richard hurries after Nicci.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rather stupidly, Nicci demands that the others not follow them – even though by leaving them unsupervised, nothing is stopping them from trying to break the spell. Which naturally they immediately attempt to do. Zed tells Kahlan that the only way to destroy her bond with Nicci is to reassert the greater bond between Kahlan and her mother – though since she’s dead, Zed would have to bring her back from the underworld. To do that, he needs an object that was precious to Kahlan’s mother, and to get <em>that</em>, they have to track down Kahlan’s father.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, while Nicci and Richard run from the pursuing Sisters of the Dark (hilariously, they try to evade them by <em>very slowly</em> crossing a field full of landmines while being chased by people with projectile weapons – and did I mention Nicci is still dressed in bright red robes?) Kahlan, Zed and Cara make for the last known location of Kahlan’s father.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVIHmX9gtR7SOCMy94oBjqOz0Ncgwt43Ry0E1CO3vxOgytseWijGp7WooeSXKDUq1vQuy-M3CfvkSfUpo2GvbDCLti1_0UHgBrrcpkYo9wJmfMYdlj2MIASA8ifwTXGWskOrjNCEvQddIeTkNIsQU8-UF_r88Ai8oJeXe2iUnXRaE5Zqo8e7Q-3dBsebhW/s1366/Screenshot%20(1653).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVIHmX9gtR7SOCMy94oBjqOz0Ncgwt43Ry0E1CO3vxOgytseWijGp7WooeSXKDUq1vQuy-M3CfvkSfUpo2GvbDCLti1_0UHgBrrcpkYo9wJmfMYdlj2MIASA8ifwTXGWskOrjNCEvQddIeTkNIsQU8-UF_r88Ai8oJeXe2iUnXRaE5Zqo8e7Q-3dBsebhW/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1653).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They find Frederick Amnell in a prison cell, and he admits that Kahlan’s mother’s jewels are now in the possession of a warlord called Aramis (was someone reading <strong>The Three Musketeers</strong> while writing this script?) – though he doesn’t even know it. Frederick buried them on the grounds of his estate before Aramis took over, and he only agrees to divulge their location if Kahlan organizes his release from prison.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan refuses to go along with Frederick’s plan for her to confess one of Aramis’s guards and have him kill the rest of the men (you can tell he’s testing/baiting her by suggesting it), though there’s a really nice scene between Kahlan and Cara in which the latter reminds the former that she thought the worst of <em>her</em> father before learning the true context of the decisions he made in life. Hey, are these women like... <em>friends</em> now?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This whole time, Kahlan has been feeling the breathlessness, wounds and exhaustion of Nicci as she quick-marches with Richard across the countryside, and Nicci is well aware that his concern towards her is vicariously about Kahlan. Just to fuck with them both, Nicci orders a tavern brawler to punch her repeatedly, thereby injuring Kahlan as she attempts to retrieve her mother’s jewels.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As Richard tends to Nicci’s wounds (which Kahlan also feels) we get a little of her backstory, and we learn that she turned to the Keeper after she was raped by a man she was attempting to heal – <em>twice</em>, after the Prelate sends her back to him for the express purpose of forgiving him. <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapeAsBackstory">Rape as Backstory</a>? Really, <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong>? You’re better than this.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XsapWm4iCJRo9U8QsaPTRF5YsO8RXhQDKmL_rnPiCV5hRnhopm12w25JHG0v1c746EC5YPClqjiXrjSGJfsfefo8dDP-tfaFWvC5hyphenhyphenyPvJq3RDNM_ct0yAnswL6nAPl8omUKs28kw04wkKs7c0pjX-kQlpAniL3D5VCEpK20Exi6I7QqEWDets8gmAVY/s1366/Screenshot%20(1659).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XsapWm4iCJRo9U8QsaPTRF5YsO8RXhQDKmL_rnPiCV5hRnhopm12w25JHG0v1c746EC5YPClqjiXrjSGJfsfefo8dDP-tfaFWvC5hyphenhyphenyPvJq3RDNM_ct0yAnswL6nAPl8omUKs28kw04wkKs7c0pjX-kQlpAniL3D5VCEpK20Exi6I7QqEWDets8gmAVY/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1659).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a disappointing “answer” to her characterization, for unless they delve a bit deeper into the story later down the track, we’re being told to believe she’s evil because she avenged her own rape. Urgh.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, Kahlan is having trouble identifying which of her mother’s jewels were of particular value to her, so Frederick hands over a necklace and pair of earrings, telling her he bought them on the occasion of Kahlan and Dennee’s births. The spell can be cast come the morning, but that night Nicci is bitten by a spider (our little friend from “Perdition!”) which poisons both her and Kahlan.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s only one cure: the nectar of the Midnight Blossom which only grows in a cave network they passed just the other day. Clearly this is not a coincidence, which means that the Sisters of the Dark have set up a trap there to steal Nicci’s Han.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For whatever reason they’re nowhere to be seen when Richard arrives with an unconscious Nicci, who doesn’t respond when he squeezes the nectar of the flowers into her wound. Since he knows Kahlan must also be succumbing, he holds Nicci and tries to comfort her in her final moments, who is <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NotQuiteDead">Not Quite Dead</a> enough to feel what it’s like to be genuinely loved.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfO33sQZDW6vGoHRj56So8Ael9rwkzWYVBE17mJ04CIku4Wocaeaw3MxBlbTRTG3SmmJYVObXXAR-zdt9rd3Mo4IdyYKXGgsl3TMZiHRbefIwr5eawtjbN7QxZEMtRGDYkOU3B45fY8EhUuT07UYYcHyyMijSk2rtO13m0OdBdahjkoXGuKZseTO1F4LBn/s1366/Screenshot%20(1664).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfO33sQZDW6vGoHRj56So8Ael9rwkzWYVBE17mJ04CIku4Wocaeaw3MxBlbTRTG3SmmJYVObXXAR-zdt9rd3Mo4IdyYKXGgsl3TMZiHRbefIwr5eawtjbN7QxZEMtRGDYkOU3B45fY8EhUuT07UYYcHyyMijSk2rtO13m0OdBdahjkoXGuKZseTO1F4LBn/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1664).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s no time for Nicci to break the spell and regain her Han before the Sisters start dacra-throwing, but thankfully Zed has things in hand. The maternity spell is broken when the spirit of Kahlan’s mother is summoned, and she manages a few encouraging words for her eldest daughter before returning to the underworld – which means that Nicci now has the power to either kill Richard or dispatch the other Sisters. She goes for the latter (which includes a hilariously badly-rendered beheading) and decides to let Richard go.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakcOSMOi5xCeaaSLHqFuPzBYectOhmfLVeVwQWohkNg-LKRi7P1lBlcpka0EDDzfE3XPSu7xaO_Ekmordb8w7qMHTpixbsqgrHKuOTdtBAgMylnPdVVnkbJJuKzmfxa7e4MfItj6ij9thPD86KfWRYBLQJKrsqcrR58aF9a-lzOPnVvEVi-YsinACh7oY/s1366/Screenshot%20(1666).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakcOSMOi5xCeaaSLHqFuPzBYectOhmfLVeVwQWohkNg-LKRi7P1lBlcpka0EDDzfE3XPSu7xaO_Ekmordb8w7qMHTpixbsqgrHKuOTdtBAgMylnPdVVnkbJJuKzmfxa7e4MfItj6ij9thPD86KfWRYBLQJKrsqcrR58aF9a-lzOPnVvEVi-YsinACh7oY/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1666).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DwCDm9pZqXhlad-Vwl8j4Y3dkT1eovvjfu9JBCif4LJTeu9B0jMn5xvns7AOiRfcCgj7SWs_ft1tNaPl09ZXi5-VkuJ9gCTavvHYxwe_rRNFvs9qfO4wWpTkdimkVuqQMebaTFGaoLsA5gxP5OnF-7_vOUxc55aQfR7xrqwk2mGGTfpU8ca0u6tDpKe0/s1366/Screenshot%20(1667).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DwCDm9pZqXhlad-Vwl8j4Y3dkT1eovvjfu9JBCif4LJTeu9B0jMn5xvns7AOiRfcCgj7SWs_ft1tNaPl09ZXi5-VkuJ9gCTavvHYxwe_rRNFvs9qfO4wWpTkdimkVuqQMebaTFGaoLsA5gxP5OnF-7_vOUxc55aQfR7xrqwk2mGGTfpU8ca0u6tDpKe0/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1667).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I wasn't kidding.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ostensibly this is because she believes in the prophecy that says Richard will find the Stone and give it to the enemies of the Light, but there’s something different about her now...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan bids goodbye to her father on slightly better terms, giving him the box of jewels so that he might pursue an honest life, and in return, he gives her the necklace and earrings that belonged to her mother. It’s a sad scene in many ways, as these two will never be able to have a healthy, functioning relationship, but at least a semblance of peace has been made.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miscellaneous Observations:</span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nicci was able to cast her maternity spell by using a crow to steal a strand of Kahlan’s hair from her brush while she was sleeping. You’re telling me that Kahlan manages those perfect, luscious tresses with a mere <em>brush??</em></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wasn’t it rather stupid of Nicci to demand Zed, Kahlan and Cara stay behind while she and Richard went to retrieve the Stone? I suppose she may have thought they’d make better time, but of course they’re going to try and break the spell while unsupervised – which they do.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The writers are continuing to struggle a little with the strands of world-building that they’ve established, which leads to a lot of exposition – for instance, Kahlan suggests that they kill Nicci and have Cara resuscitate Kahlan with the Breath of Life, which in turn requires an explanation that this won’t work – it’ll just bring Nicci back as well. Later, Richard questions why the Sisters of the Dark don’t just kill Nicci with a stronger poison – it’s because they can only retrieve her Han if she’s killed with the dacras. There’s a lot to keep track of here...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan’s family history has been brought up in the show before, especially in “Listener” – namely that her and Dennee’s father was a loving family man until their mother died, at which point the power of the confession ended and he reverted to his original self. Who was <em>not</em> a nice person; forcing his daughters to use their powers on others in order to build his own fortune. She even recalls being made to confess a married woman so that he could take sexual advantage of her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan looks back on what he did with horror and disgust, though this obviously doesn’t take into account what was done to <em>Frederick</em>. The way in which Confessors procreate in this show has long been a point of contention with me, as it’s made very clear that the fathers of their children are mindless slaves to their will; confessed men who don’t have any choice about the women they’re attached to.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6T4rWsnVLCfypvGQnrxipVIoNKsXYnzPfQXger8bT8v6P72CrjX8XNStY8PU4iRmWImNkBPvv0ckWJE0AAWO9O9RFmkVCzTIDQNesa9TDkqMUFpqwCRLEKf0Pqt42nnlxur1uRAuFiXIBa5Mfi_6_HJjbHjy46Nv9cNnwEYuES6T20Z2FGJBtdl-brFL/s1366/Screenshot%20(1655).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6T4rWsnVLCfypvGQnrxipVIoNKsXYnzPfQXger8bT8v6P72CrjX8XNStY8PU4iRmWImNkBPvv0ckWJE0AAWO9O9RFmkVCzTIDQNesa9TDkqMUFpqwCRLEKf0Pqt42nnlxur1uRAuFiXIBa5Mfi_6_HJjbHjy46Nv9cNnwEYuES6T20Z2FGJBtdl-brFL/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1655).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We’ve already seen dodgy examples of this happening in “Sacrifice” (Dennee’s confessed mate is a man who was originally sent to kill her) and “Touched” (Annabelle was the daughter of a man who lost the woman he loved after her mother confessed him) but this is the first time that a man freed of a Confessor’s power is actually given the opportunity to voice his grievances.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">From Frederick’s point-of-view, he was made to marry a woman he didn’t love, forced into fathering children he didn’t want, and mind-controlled into a stupor that robbed him of his free will for six years. Only with the death of his wife was he finally freed from her power. The idea that a formerly-confessed man would be bitter and angry about what happened to him is an interesting concept, and not one that the show has ever been that interested in exploring.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That they essentially make him an abusive father <em>and</em> a rapist certainly doesn’t help, but as the episode goes on, they do afford him some degree of humanity. For starters, Kahlan says at one point that Confessors don’t chose “honourable men” as their mates, which is certainly the first time we’ve heard of this (though I supposed it’s been implied). But the way she says it presents the method of choosing a mate as a justification – if the Confessors want to continue their line, then they’re doing the world a favour by procreating with men who are “rehabilitated” by their control.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet this doesn’t justify stripping a man of his free will, and rather stupidly fails to take into account the consequences that may fall upon their children if she dies before he does – which is exactly what happens to Annabelle (locked in a tower), Dennee and Kahlan herself. The same potential for disaster was there if Dennee had died before her mate, for the outcome of a male Confessor baby in the hands of a man who was originally sent to <em>kill</em> her could have been catastrophic.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoSRHqM_py4v6jO9ZqbIh5tz1aMaLz5C6t7BnWgq75nf81lnz0HTYZnJq0yVkmJsu7clD8MIDZIcFoVcc7khlwb3YTzsVIUmDmnwX35khM4baTtW1NGRCSLnmXGsilMrC_L4bIiRiIgqsj_9FqXPRCtGUH8iKBhCD7gQREXH-De2pUSugiEJFABk4TtyI/s1366/Screenshot%20(1661).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoSRHqM_py4v6jO9ZqbIh5tz1aMaLz5C6t7BnWgq75nf81lnz0HTYZnJq0yVkmJsu7clD8MIDZIcFoVcc7khlwb3YTzsVIUmDmnwX35khM4baTtW1NGRCSLnmXGsilMrC_L4bIiRiIgqsj_9FqXPRCtGUH8iKBhCD7gQREXH-De2pUSugiEJFABk4TtyI/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1661).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Later, he shares with Kahlan the story of a girl he <em>really</em> loved – a stonemason’s daughter who he tried to win by taking on the trade for himself. That’s a whole future that was stolen from him, especially when he reveals that his father forced him to join the army. It was in battle against the Confessors that he fell under the spell of Kahlan’s mother, and once it was broken, he was just as afraid of his daughters as they were of him (in a nice <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ContinuityNod">Continuity Nod</a>, Kahlan mentions how he used to bind their hands at night, as first discussed in “Listener”).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, a comparison is made between the Confessor power that he lived under for six years, and the maternity spell that Kahlan is currently suffering under; putting her entirely at the mercy of Nicci’s whims.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s no good answer to any of this, and the question it all boils down to is: to what lengths are the Confessors justified in their desire to have children and continue their bloodlines? The choice is to have none at all, or to confess a man into becoming a father – either by enslaving a man they genuinely love, or procreating with a less-than-savoury character to alleviate the crime of removing his free will.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The man in question may or may not be consulted on his participation in all this (you’d think there would be a fair number of volunteers who would be happy to bask in the love of a Confessor, even at the cost of their free will) but it also calls into question what the Confessor is getting out of all this. Do <em>they</em> enjoy being wives to men that don’t really love them? At one point Kahlan rejects her father’s fond memories of picnics when she was a young child, pointing out that he was confessed at the time, begging the question of why anyone would <em>want</em> a husband/father who was only there due to magical coercion.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(In fact, this episode is filled with some creepy consent implications. When Kahlan tries to secure her father’s help, he raises the possibility that she could confess him, asking: “would you make a love slave of your father?” Ew. Later on, Nicci propositions Richard after she’s deliberately beaten herself up, suggesting that they can viciously make Kahlan feel better by having sex. Wouldn’t that technically have been a rape? Double ew).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So Kahlan’s reunion with her father ends very bittersweetly, as there’s no changing the fact that neither one is the father or daughter that the other one wanted. All they can do is get one with their lives.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Though did anyone else think Frederick looked and sounded <em>just like</em> Alfred Molina?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s a mini-subplot in this episode that I skipped over the in the summary, in which Richard and Nicci stop briefly at a farmhouse, only to see the farmer destroying his own crop. According to his wife, they’re trying to rid the fields of snake vine, and Richard offers to help before Nicci forces him to stay on track to the Stone.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amusingly, she points out the same thing I’ve been saying for a long time now: that Richard won’t hesitate to drop what he’s doing and help whoever needs assistance along the way, though the whole thing takes a <em>very </em>dark turn when Richard doubles-back on horseback that night, only to find that the elderly couple have been strangled to death by the snake vine.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s unclear where this battle against the Keeper is <em>going</em> precisely, at least not on a thematic level, for as Nicci points out, nobody can beat death itself. It will always win. With that in mind, helping people will only prolong their suffering, which feels like a commentary on her own miserable state of existence. Richard isn’t fully able to offer any rejoinder to this mentality, which means the writers may not have one either – at least not at this stage.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6DT2N66qqg5uOfJJzt75fsyxz06zDpHjDTyVSfKEJCI4enrvJKXvUOrsQHkeCyweBJdx-kDLpiQThk_b0R5rDtH-gAxgQ7W2Mot8JdyNi8Amm0jrhdsldTqx0MqRfYIGB23ZpLZlbOaR6WeT52YTr_Xy1ltGjrbwjwBQIdPgOUCUdcCp-2Np28jWbsqZ/s1366/Screenshot%20(1670).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6DT2N66qqg5uOfJJzt75fsyxz06zDpHjDTyVSfKEJCI4enrvJKXvUOrsQHkeCyweBJdx-kDLpiQThk_b0R5rDtH-gAxgQ7W2Mot8JdyNi8Amm0jrhdsldTqx0MqRfYIGB23ZpLZlbOaR6WeT52YTr_Xy1ltGjrbwjwBQIdPgOUCUdcCp-2Np28jWbsqZ/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1670).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But in the episode’s final scene, Nicci asserts her independence from Rahl, the Keeper, the Creator, and the Seeker, even as she reiterates the words that Richard told her the previous night: “my strength is mine, and mine alone – and from now on, I serve only myself.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, we’ve either got a potential ally or a dangerous wildcard in play.</span></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-79383360198187002902023-11-16T00:23:00.000-08:002023-11-19T21:04:04.717-08:00Links and Updates<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My ongoing topic of interest (and outrage) at the moment is the dramatic culling of television shows by studios and streaming services, with dozens upon dozens of projects being canned long before their stories are completed. I’ve touched upon this before in other posts, but as the death toll continues to rise, I find myself more curious as to what exactly is going on. Why does this keep happening? (I mean, besides capitalism screwing us all over).</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Three possibilities spring to mind. Firstly, that streaming services make shorter seasons which are (usually) dropped all at once. This is in comparison to how we used to watch shows: one episode per week for about twenty-two weeks, during which the actors and writers would have their break and then get started on the next season, which led to a regular output of fresh material.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Audiences would end up spending a lot more time with characters and storylines, not just in terms of run-time, but in getting the chance to percolate over certain events and developments over the course of the intervening week. Now, even the lack of ad-breaks means there’s no chance to have any quick conversations about what’s going to happen next.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When a season of television comes out in its entirety, there’s a certain pressure put on the viewer to watch it all as quickly as possible, lest they are exposed to spoilers or unable to discuss things around the water cooler at work. But watching something in a compressed space of time means there’s no chance to savour it, or give it any degree of thought (don’t get me started on how stuff like TikTok has destroyed our attention spans). It’s in and out of our heads in a flash.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This leads into my second point: the interim periods between seasons are ludicrous at this point. People just <em>cannot</em> retain information if they have to wait up to <em>three years</em> between instalments in a story, especially if it’s a complex one. This naturally leads to other problems, like actors not willing to commit to decades of their lives on a single project, or writers getting tired of material that’s being strung out for an extended period of time.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In fairness, the pandemic and the writers’ strike had their part to play in this, but even projects that <em>weren’t</em> held up are still looking at over a year between seasons, usually to allow for post-production special effects, which take <em>huge</em> amounts of time to perfect – sometimes unnecessarily. We’ve all heard that production studios prefer CGI over practical effects due to the fact animators aren’t unionized, and therefore cheaper to hire.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But by the time these stories come back around, a lot of viewers either can’t remember where the story left off, or have been distracted by all the new and fresh shows that’ve appeared during the interim in the relentless churn of content.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And that’s if the studios even have faith enough in the project to bother promoting it. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard people say they hadn’t even realized a new season of something has dropped. And naturally, this gives the studios the excuse they’re looking for to cancel it, since if it’s not an immediate monster hit, they deem it a failure.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, there is just <em>too much stuff</em> for people to watch. If there were only ten shows in existence, then all of them would get off-the-charts ratings, since the ratio between people and their choices in viewing would be that much more limited. But there are quite literally <em>millions</em> of shows out there at the moment, and so naturally audience eyes are spread more thinly over the material. People cannot watch everything.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, this is not what competing streaming services want to hear. They want all eyes on ONE thing, <em>their</em> thing, and the best way to do that in a competitive market is greenlight a lot of projects, throw it all at the wall, and see what sticks.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They’re chasing the next <strong>Game of Thrones</strong> or <strong>Stranger Things</strong>, even though the success of those shows was very much lightning in a bottle and not something you can really anticipate. This mentality ignores that sometimes it takes a while for a show to find its audience, or the possibility of word-of-mouth marketing. And when things are deemed a disappointment right out of the gate and cancelled almost immediately, then there’s no chance at all of it taking off.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In short, this is storytelling under capitalism. It’s always been out there, in publishing as well as television, but streaming has exacerbated the problem, since in many ways it’s an unsustainable business model. At this point, everyone who wants a streaming service <em>has</em> it, which means profits have levelled off. And ironically, with their platforms becoming graveyards of unfinished shows, people are finding less and less incentive to staying subscribed. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So instead of accepting a regular income and maintaining customers by delivering quality in shows that get <em>completed</em>, companies are demanding larger profit margins, playing the “bet on everything” card when it comes to commissioning shows, relying on recycling old IPs and nostalgia instead of taking a gamble on anything that’s risky or different, and culling anything that isn’t an instant success.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There aren’t stories anymore, only content. Even movies are less self-contained and more franchise-oriented, in which each instalment is just an extended trailer for the next in the series, that may or may not get made depending on how much money the first (subpar) one makes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Essentially, storytellers are better off making one-shot films or a limited series in order to get the chance to tell their tales with a beginning, middle and end... but of course, studios don't like <i>that </i>option because it destroys any franchise potential. You can't make money from sequels when there are definitive (and deliberate) endings to whatever IP you want to wring money from. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And that’s not even getting to that whole issue of taking advantage of tax cuts by either pulling shows from streaming services, or making entire seasons of television and then never airing them at all. I can’t get my head around that, but it’s led to the disappearance of the <strong>Batgirl</strong> movie, of shows like <strong>Willow</strong> and <strong>The Nevers</strong>, and of completed seasons like <strong>The Spiderwick Chronicles</strong>, <strong>Star Trek Prodigy</strong> and <strong>Nautilus</strong> being cancelled before they’ve even been <i>released</i> (though I’ve heard they’ve since been sold to other distributors).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apparently the final season of <strong>Snowpiercer</strong> has been completed, but there are no plans to release it at all. <strong>Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies</strong> and <strong>A League of Their Own</strong> were greenlit for second seasons (albeit shortened) and then not only cancelled, but pulled from their platforms. They were on my watch-list, but because there was too much other stuff to get through, I had to put them on hold. Now I know there’s no point watching them at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Edit: Would you believe that the <i>day after posting this</i> I came across <i>yet another example</i> of studios pulling this inane stunt: <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/gritsandbrits/734019049665773568/and-now-an-actual-congressman-is-calling-them-out?source=share">Warner Brothers scrapped a fully-made movie called <b>Coyote vs Acme</b></a>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's officially insane. This simply isn’t sustainable. Here’s a list of all the <a href="https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/all-the-tv-shows-canceled-in-2023/">shows that have been cancelled this year alone</a>, and it’s telling that most of them are only one or two seasons long (and it’s far from being a comprehensive list). We're at a point where studios hate the fact that to make money they have to tell good stories... because they're utterly flummoxed by the fact that they have to <i>spend</i> money to <i>make</i> those stories. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At this rate, is it even worth getting excited for <strong>Percy Jackson</strong>? It’ll probably go the way of the films – making enough of an initial bang to warrant a sequel, and then getting unceremoniously cancelled after the second instalment. Not only that, but according to <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/percy-jackson-tv-series-rick-riordan-diverse-cast-movies-1235759319/">this Variety article</a>, each episode cost between twelve and fifteen million dollars. I’m sorry, WHAT? How in the hell is a streaming service, with no revenue from advertisers and a bunch of subscribers whose numbers are levelling off, going to recuperate <i>that?</i></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Shows <em>do not need</em> to be that expensive. Is it nice when things like dragons and monsters look realistic? Sure. But things like <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong> and <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> are just as fun to watch for considerably less money, despite their dodgy special effects (and have more episodes, to boot). It’s called suspension of disbelief and using your imagination!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And given the intricacy of the plotting involved in those first five <strong>Percy Jackson</strong> books (not counting the range of sequel and spin-off series), the whole thing will be rendered a waste of time when it inevitably ends with no definitive conclusion. There is simply no way in hell that there’s going to be five seasons of this show. There just isn’t. Prove me wrong Disney. (They won’t).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ditto Netflix’s live-action <strong>Avatar: The Last Airbender</strong>. I am supremely confident that there will <i>not</i> be a second season of that show, and absolutely not a third one. Best case scenario: the showrunners are given advanced warning of impending cancellation and they attempt to cram the last two seasons worth of story into one. Which will render it utter dreck. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Heck, I even raised my eyebrow at the fact the upcoming season of <strong>House of the Dragon</strong> is getting two less episodes than its first. That’s <em>never</em> a good sign.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Edit: And I have just this second learned that <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong> (and its proposed <strong>Six of Crows</strong> spin-off) has been cancelled. What a fucking joke. I’ll finish up with <strong>Disenchanted</strong> this weekend and then cancel my Netflix subscription. At this point, it’s just a waste of money.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whew, okay. Let’s talk about some other stuff that’s <em>not</em> the grim landscape of storytelling within the confines of streaming services.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Several of the trailers for Disney’s next Princess-themed movie have been released. It’s titled <strong>Wish</strong> and is apparently about the wishing star that features in so much of the studio’s lore (though as a plot-point it only really turns up in <strong>Pinocchio</strong>).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oyRxxpD3yNw" width="320" youtube-src-id="oyRxxpD3yNw"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is for the studio’s 100th anniversary, so let’s hope they’ve cooked up something good. From what the trailers divulge, our princess is called Asha and voiced by Ariana DeBose, our villain is mercifully not another <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ObviousVillainSecretVillain">Secret Villain</a> and voiced by Chris Pine, and our cute animal sidekick is a goat voiced by (who else?) Alan Tudyk.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, I know the Disney conglomerate is terrible, but I’m still interested in how it exists as a <em>brand</em> – in how it chooses to develop and expand and build on its own history. Just how meta is this film going to go, for example? Is the titular wishing star going to explicitly be the one that Geppetto wished upon to bring Pinocchio to life?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And I can’t help the fact that Disney animation was such a huge part of my childhood, in which anticipation and excitement for each new release was something to savour (I still remember staring at the <strong>Mulan </strong>poster in the lobby of my local cinema, trying to soak in all the details). That said, I’m reminded of a recent Tumblr post that railed against nostalgia and its inability to recapture the feelings of one’s youth, stating: “you’ll never feel like that again because you’re not a child anymore.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s harsh but true, and I felt the veracity of it in seeing this trailer with my best friend’s girls when I took them to see <strong>Barbie</strong>. I might be intrigued by the idea of this film, but that overwhelming sense of fascination and exhilaration is long gone. I can only feel the <em>memory</em> of feeling that way.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Orphan Black</strong> is getting a sequel/spin-off series starring Krysten Ritter called <strong>Orphan Black: Echoes</strong>, which... okay? I know there are several comic books and a drama podcast featuring Tatiana Maslany which is also promoted as the “official continuation” of the show, so I’m not entirely sure what’s going to happen here. Will any of the original cast turn up?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Phi3iaqiJT8" width="320" youtube-src-id="Phi3iaqiJT8"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I mean, it looks fine, but <strong>Orphan Black</strong> was such an incredible show due to the supernatural chameleon abilities of its lead actress, and also came to a reasonably satisfying conclusion. I’m not sure I really want more from this franchise... but you <em>know</em> I’m going to watch it anyway. Eventually.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then there’s <strong>Slayers</strong>, a podcast that continues in the world of <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong>/<strong>Angel</strong>, bringing back a host of original cast members – most notably James Marsters and Charisma Carpenter as Spike and Cordelia. But wait, wasn’t Cordelia killed off in <strong>Angel</strong>? I’m afraid my enthusiasm for this project diminished a bit when it was revealed it would at least partially take place in another dimension where Cordelia was the Vampire Slayer (I am SO SICK of multiverses) but in saying that, it’s an opportunity to provide justice to that character in the wake of Charisma Carpenter’s terrible experiences back when the shows were airing.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgmsHAa1QzurR1Ec6YtfM20azJn8q2cBjLmxd63KwmsqGLBfDgJA5Ky_3bK30I8hqell6V57-GliKZpegta7bE6ZcR2lzJA7UbS9ZOyz96lQpNwzZ1TfneAXstYUyx5_rmBPqpsys3mvTWjonNm6wn9mhNFtyxxaCd5Nt6y6-0ZxNKkBnV_u8dTWhDyZz/s900/!.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="900" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgmsHAa1QzurR1Ec6YtfM20azJn8q2cBjLmxd63KwmsqGLBfDgJA5Ky_3bK30I8hqell6V57-GliKZpegta7bE6ZcR2lzJA7UbS9ZOyz96lQpNwzZ1TfneAXstYUyx5_rmBPqpsys3mvTWjonNm6wn9mhNFtyxxaCd5Nt6y6-0ZxNKkBnV_u8dTWhDyZz/w400-h209/!.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m also curious to see how much it’ll fit in with post-show continuity, specifically the comic books (of which there are many at this point). Didn’t they eradicate all magic at one point? I lost track.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Merlin</strong> fandom was excited for about three seconds over the show’s Twitter account reactivating with a post that announced: “we’re back in Camelot,” only for it to soon clarify the show is now available on a streaming service. And honestly, good. I don’t want it back. There were plenty of fun mutuals in that fandom, but the greater part were misogynistic, racist, entitled assholes who spent the entirety of the show whining about Merlin and Arthur not hooking up. I sure as hell didn’t want a return of <em>that </em>nightmare. Besides, what would a return to Camelot even look like? Almost all the main characters were dead by the end of the show, and I’ve no desire to see pathetic hobo!Merlin in the modern day.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first trailer for Netflix’s <strong>Avatar: The Last Airbender</strong> has been released, and I mention it only to say that I have no real interest in seeing it. Besides my general dislike of live-action remakes, this sort of has the same aesthetic issues as <strong>The Wheel of Time</strong>, in that everything looks too pristine (especially the costumes). There is nothing here that wasn’t done first and better in the cartoon, so come February, I’ll settle down for a rewatch.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">However, the Zutara contingency are already out in force, trying to manifest their ship into canonicity.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm9xM6XYpdSc40oa_vIDeOM40NeDlbb3gXaLM7GAEDbaCp4VRY0QgHun_1zG1QvyM7Wm3lZULCgdgx8MEI0iZCPyL75faB392ilaiVf-AEdGeFmXcAtHELWABcWlvJX5H-ypB1d8XiT1f_D_oDuV1c9b8diqiBtgTa70rrbOeXUs7EICwKnas78rQLe7V/s532/Screenshot%20(1636).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="532" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVm9xM6XYpdSc40oa_vIDeOM40NeDlbb3gXaLM7GAEDbaCp4VRY0QgHun_1zG1QvyM7Wm3lZULCgdgx8MEI0iZCPyL75faB392ilaiVf-AEdGeFmXcAtHELWABcWlvJX5H-ypB1d8XiT1f_D_oDuV1c9b8diqiBtgTa70rrbOeXUs7EICwKnas78rQLe7V/w400-h133/Screenshot%20(1636).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNiVXjde-RkNE6S8ilqHrfSz4T5nFwtXU7T1qJeU_O6hKs3hkUT64vVUzy0b6PdHzrOmeHgUl4M80QVxJdhVRVBYLjlFWwezQSZDOHnJNTVvIwzAIlMu3DHXqrhU7fTMH7Nhmi76-KN32PdbHVHiBYluqvcFOIp6bDmWJRRN0Ps7SOIm1JaU34gMWWyO4u/s530/Screenshot%20(1637).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="139" data-original-width="530" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNiVXjde-RkNE6S8ilqHrfSz4T5nFwtXU7T1qJeU_O6hKs3hkUT64vVUzy0b6PdHzrOmeHgUl4M80QVxJdhVRVBYLjlFWwezQSZDOHnJNTVvIwzAIlMu3DHXqrhU7fTMH7Nhmi76-KN32PdbHVHiBYluqvcFOIp6bDmWJRRN0Ps7SOIm1JaU34gMWWyO4u/w400-h105/Screenshot%20(1637).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02j4YvyzBf7Cg0benrkpcnTa7EPtOMA7G2OgkEFYUciY83m1dR9xi1zYGyWAx5l2Q8uZG-XXpvt4pBNsdSiOOKMDicIWEKTpuyzm_Rl4nHBt3H4NvrfPRbDElVulegHb05D_tLdQ0IdGU0bLasnPD3pqyViBNGQ2tByDAEj0TT_OOG8PD0QFc7eGuNByv/s533/Screenshot%20(1639).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="533" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02j4YvyzBf7Cg0benrkpcnTa7EPtOMA7G2OgkEFYUciY83m1dR9xi1zYGyWAx5l2Q8uZG-XXpvt4pBNsdSiOOKMDicIWEKTpuyzm_Rl4nHBt3H4NvrfPRbDElVulegHb05D_tLdQ0IdGU0bLasnPD3pqyViBNGQ2tByDAEj0TT_OOG8PD0QFc7eGuNByv/w400-h274/Screenshot%20(1639).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJcFqp4IVVly0211A-UZsm1QdmydurSCiwoAjUCFq48PMmL1EJL91B5TD4bGXkH9WTJS0yXgoNnzJzZN8Owy3N1Xp-vF0HDf4vsw48jEk6aVkoS-lxsePRyRziZz6TAK6P33IpsTSEsCsiLr1pIKUNaa03976Fc2HxOOnC154xiC9Mj_UYfpblqXE3x5x/s561/Screenshot%20(1640).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="561" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJcFqp4IVVly0211A-UZsm1QdmydurSCiwoAjUCFq48PMmL1EJL91B5TD4bGXkH9WTJS0yXgoNnzJzZN8Owy3N1Xp-vF0HDf4vsw48jEk6aVkoS-lxsePRyRziZz6TAK6P33IpsTSEsCsiLr1pIKUNaa03976Fc2HxOOnC154xiC9Mj_UYfpblqXE3x5x/w400-h154/Screenshot%20(1640).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my favourite Tweet on the subject:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNS2A1VGke0HrAIv7vAOnTYpVDEuVH8GiBnLQY9Z48gh6zheQumakPA7HH3nBTB1iF2YgU42qFuPGn7vZzjTuRmCH6GMIDDx3_PR49L5Mzi1CNud13SiCU1iCL-QfGnPeh6DLb083h0jiNTwvr1bGXyIcur4mZFKjx8g-5P4tynFTYPMhx794klLo5Idnp/s575/zuko6.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="575" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNS2A1VGke0HrAIv7vAOnTYpVDEuVH8GiBnLQY9Z48gh6zheQumakPA7HH3nBTB1iF2YgU42qFuPGn7vZzjTuRmCH6GMIDDx3_PR49L5Mzi1CNud13SiCU1iCL-QfGnPeh6DLb083h0jiNTwvr1bGXyIcur4mZFKjx8g-5P4tynFTYPMhx794klLo5Idnp/w400-h146/zuko6.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">They get it. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><!--/wp:paragraph--><span style="font-family: georgia;">But whatever happens, I’ll be lurking with popcorn. I'm sorry, but I love this very specific type of drama.</span><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWavstJydZU&ab_channel=Pixar">The first trailer for <strong>Inside Out 2</strong> has been released</a>, which is surprising since it feels like it was announced just a few months ago. In any case, this is a film that actually <em>warrants</em> a sequel, since following Riley into her adolescence is a pretty ripe premise – but apparently Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling aren’t returning as Fear and Disgust? <em>Why</em> can’t studios hang onto actors these days??</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Though <strong>Damsel </strong>looks interesting:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9eN_AGX8GXk" width="320" youtube-src-id="9eN_AGX8GXk"></iframe></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(I’ve heard about this before, though my head mixed up with <strong>The Princess</strong>, which came out last year).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Reading wise, I’m trying to get through the large stack of library books I’ve managed to accumulate. My birthday is coming up in February and it would be nice not to have any due-dates hanging over my head for when I settle down to re-read some of my favourite authors as a treat. But I can’t seem to stop bringing books home from work, probably because I know they have a limited shelf life and can be withdrawn from the system at any time. Sound familiar? It’s like trying to figure out what to prioritize on a streaming service, knowing that things are getting pulled or cancelled on a regular basis.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oh, the weird pressures of having to carefully curate your reading/watching queue when you just want to <em>relax</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m making my way through both <strong>Elementary</strong> and <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong> (there’s no way I’m going to finish the latter before the end of the year, though) and also... <strong>The Adventures of Robin Hood</strong>! This is the black-and-white show starring Richard Greene that ran between 1955 and 1959, and it’s clear just how much it impacted future takes on Robin Hood adaptations.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And <strong>Disenchanted</strong> got a proper ending! I’m so glad it got to end on its terms and not Netflix’s, and am genuinely shocked it got that final season to wrap things up (I’m catching up on weekends). And it wasn’t even an absolute must-watch show! I’m just happy something is getting a proper ending!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, I’m listening to a <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong>/<strong>Angel</strong> podcast called <a href="https://shows.acast.com/hellmouthy">Hellmouthy</a> on the way to work every morning, and <em>man </em>it’s making want to marathon those two shows. I just gotta get through <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong> first. I’ve also been introducing a friend to the BBC’s <strong>Robin Hood</strong> and we’ve recently finished the first season, though my review/essay on the subject will still be a while yet.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s been talk on <a href="https://collider.com/enola-holmes-3-netflix/">a third instalment in the <strong>Enola Holmes</strong> movies</a>. It’s not confirmed like the article says, but apparently a script is being put together, so fingers crossed.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ditto <a href="https://collider.com/new-fear-street-movie-netflix/">a standalone movie in the <strong>Fear Street</strong> franchise</a>. That it’s a standalone piques my interest as it suggests the dramatization of one of the original trilogy’s massacres, as opposed to a continuation of Deena and Sam’s story. That feels like the right way to go, as I wouldn’t want to see those girls put through the wringer again, and there were a lot of past killers with what could have been fascinating backstories featured in the original trilogy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I hope they tread carefully though, as the lore in those movies was pretty tight, and I definitely don’t want to see a near-perfect story get diluted. This is what our takeaway from the endless regurgitation of franchises should be – sometimes it’s better to leave well enough alone.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Speaking of, <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/fear-and-loathing-urban-legends-and-legacies-of-power-in-fear-street/">Fear and Loathing: Urban Legends and Legacies of Power in <strong>Fear Street</strong></a> is a great essay on the power of storytelling in the trilogy and how it’s used as a method of control over the disadvantaged.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve been feeling superhero fatigue for a while now, but this blogpost: <a href="https://nathangoldwag.wordpress.com/2023/11/04/stories-need-endings/">Stories Need Endings</a>, is a great explanation as to why the MCU is losing steam. The story is done! We got catharsis and closure and a (relatively) happy ending with <strong>Avengers: Endgame</strong>, and part of the reason people have been so lukewarm about the franchise’s most recent offerings aren’t just because of “too much of a good thing” or the dwindling quality of the various projects, but because... it just feels over.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">See also: <strong>Star Wars</strong>, a franchise that overrode its original happy ending in every conceivable way (the New Republic was destroyed, the next generation of Jedi were slaughtered, Anakin’s sacrifice to save his son was worthless because “somehow Palpatine has returned”) and Disney's enraging decision to turn our heroes – Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Willow Ulfgood – into miserable, embittered old men. That there’s going to be a <strong>Shrek 5</strong> and <strong>Toy Story 5</strong> just <em>hurts</em> me somewhere deep inside.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/sarcasm-hime-dressed-as-the-queen-from-snow-glass-apples-news-photo/1736223261?adppopup=true">An amazing cosplay of the Queen</a> from Neil Gaiman’s <strong>Snow, Glass, Apples</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You’ve probably already seen it, but The Onion’s <a href="https://www.theonion.com/conservative-man-proudly-frightened-of-everything-1849598211">Conservative Man Proudly Frightened of Everything</a> is so tragi-comically true.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://floodmagazine.com/75065/in-praise-of-baroness-schraeder-the-subversive-bitch-from-the-sound-of-music/">In Praise of Baroness Schraeder, the Subversive Bitch from <strong>The Sound of Music</strong></a>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/the-white-feminist-lead-and-her-posse-of-colour/">The White Feminist Lead and her Posse of Colour</a>; a good essay – especially in the wake of <strong>Barbie</strong> – that points out the pitfalls of having a girl-power white lead surrounded by people of colour.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.evilfemale.blog/p/in-defence-of-critique-let-people">In Defence of Critique: Let People Enjoy Not Enjoying Things</a>. Amen! (Unless you’re whining about shipping. In which case, STFU).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I enjoyed Naomi Novik’s <strong>Uprooted</strong>... for the most part. <a href="https://fozmeadows.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/uprooted-abuse-ragequitting/">This review very handily explains my problems with the rest of it</a>, namely the downright awful relationship between the main character and her love interest, which is all the more baffling since it’s utterly superfluous to the actual plot.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://practicalgeeks.com/photo/writing/treasurehunt/">This very cute review of <strong>I Spy Treasure Hunt</strong></a>, one of the seminal books of my childhood, which captures the eerie liminal ambiance of that book.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/01/03/1899-cancellation-reiterates-why-its-hard-to-bother-investing-in-netflix-shows/?sh=462d5b39587a">Cancellation Reiterates Why It’s Hard To Bother Investing In Netflix Shows</a>. Just to finish off with the theme of this particular post.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now starts the beginning of my three-day weekend, and I’m probably going to spend most of it stewing in bitterness over <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong>. Apparently the scripts were already written. We were gonna get the Ice Court Heist dammit!!</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph--></div>Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-45868196617816021942023-11-08T16:21:00.001-08:002023-11-08T16:21:16.937-08:00Legend of the Seeker: Princess<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve known this one has been coming up for a while (and been looking forward to it) because there are so many GIF-sets out there depicting Cara in her fancy regalia. I’m under the impression that this is a fan-favourite episode as well, though – like the last episode – it has some odd tonal shifts, with the resurrection of Nicci and the threat she poses set alongside some whacky hijinks at the court of a lecherous margrave.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiY6p9-Cbl85_yp64eMoC_f2vxWmjiyUPQn-F6ycYbgSlruMqfu5GNu1AKhyeXK7WIX0Tu-yA6G7ttE5NV2RbdES-7wzsF3MFzTSCbca2vhYKMwBZfla9_PEZSAhHvsjWytlvRU6zyxDVAxK61soZsWKgo6dP5d9Vzk0pTZ3YO5yGYv2jrLoSeP63cIoit/s1366/Screenshot%20(1599).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiY6p9-Cbl85_yp64eMoC_f2vxWmjiyUPQn-F6ycYbgSlruMqfu5GNu1AKhyeXK7WIX0Tu-yA6G7ttE5NV2RbdES-7wzsF3MFzTSCbca2vhYKMwBZfla9_PEZSAhHvsjWytlvRU6zyxDVAxK61soZsWKgo6dP5d9Vzk0pTZ3YO5yGYv2jrLoSeP63cIoit/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1599).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><!-- wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"} -->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And as is the way in serialized television, there’s no mention or worry about the Banelings in this episode, even though the zombie apocalypse should be in full-swing by now.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But hey, two Cara episodes in a row! That’s compensation for keeping her on the fringes for so long.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The story kickstarts with the Sisters of the Dark sacrificing one of their own in order to allow Nicci to return from the underworld in a new body. And hey, it looks as though the Sisters can perform the Kiss of Life as well. Are they an off-shoot of the Mord Sith, or is this just something magically-trained women can do in this world?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEIq9luFN4vbCVPphsg29KEMKi4xDbdODTfL6-pWFchRk0VFBSgqZLmaklYAIcKMNV8x8AUUdXNs7XisxDoXLvdEiSc9of0-Kgugtz6Hg7mQuwG8qhy2BVKo8re4AG0EBC2dwWUovPhRcpltfvLAYsSwojqKxjSr8eeEpeorjjt4vEC1Dg-M2tfGw97-d/s1366/Screenshot%20(1619).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEIq9luFN4vbCVPphsg29KEMKi4xDbdODTfL6-pWFchRk0VFBSgqZLmaklYAIcKMNV8x8AUUdXNs7XisxDoXLvdEiSc9of0-Kgugtz6Hg7mQuwG8qhy2BVKo8re4AG0EBC2dwWUovPhRcpltfvLAYsSwojqKxjSr8eeEpeorjjt4vEC1Dg-M2tfGw97-d/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1619).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our new Nicci is... fine I guess, though she doesn’t have the same panache as Jolene Blalock, who I’m guessing the show could only sign on for those two episodes? I mean sure, they can’t bring the character back in <em>her</em> body since Zed literally set it on fire, and they <em>have</em> established the use of a different actress playing the reincarnated version of an original character with Dennee earlier in the season, but still...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The newly resurrected Nicci spouts some exposition to get the plot cracking into gear, and wow, we can’t accuse her of letting the grass grow under her feet. Thanks to the prophecy about how the beating of Kahlan’s “pure heart” will defeat the Keeper, she’s their next target.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, it’s Kahlan’s turn to be point in mortal peril, so while our heroes are preparing for another night around the campfire, two giant winged monsters swoop down and fly off with her in their talons. Trained gars only belong to the Margrave of Rothenberg (er, is he in the <em>German</em> part of the Midlands?) who lives in a castle that is impervious to the use of magic. Heh, the writers are <em>really</em> getting sick of our protagonists’ advanced skill-sets and the rules that govern them, aren’t they.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nhyphenhyphenEb4TsGuz9a5XcizWAEnunADycSBfHYVLfsJo-FbGbH_sLvpZ6Tn8onaFM7n4EtGixXR7RGr9gQXV4bHYiJ7_JPXwpEyKc2wCPQN2vo8be7s8yJumB-05Wvq4ogDM0-NLbI9aPPoE2gYG9QCsAqJeU9oedvkm1cRNrpGTzOSQ7H6Ehe2PYqnDrB0Dv/s1366/Screenshot%20(1623).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nhyphenhyphenEb4TsGuz9a5XcizWAEnunADycSBfHYVLfsJo-FbGbH_sLvpZ6Tn8onaFM7n4EtGixXR7RGr9gQXV4bHYiJ7_JPXwpEyKc2wCPQN2vo8be7s8yJumB-05Wvq4ogDM0-NLbI9aPPoE2gYG9QCsAqJeU9oedvkm1cRNrpGTzOSQ7H6Ehe2PYqnDrB0Dv/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1623).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, here’s the bad guy plan: Nicci asked the Margrave to kidnap Kahlan so that she’d be held in a place where the magical power she and her allies possess cannot assist her, in exchange for the Keeper granting the Margrave and his court eternal life. (How Nicci managed all this while she was <em>dead</em> is anyone’s guess. It’s also unclear why she didn’t order the Margrave to kill Kahlan instantly, or why she and her Sisters aren’t attempting to do that themselves).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And the good guy plan: to disguise themselves as a convoy of nobles heading for Rothenberg, including a potential bride for the Margrave that he’s never seen in-person before: Princess Laurenlyn of Thrice. Naturally, it’s down to Cara to impersonate this princess, with all the social delicacies that are expected of a woman of high standing – including subservience to men and speaking in rhyming couplets.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwavZRMRORUBi4QLNL7Vp0LwSy6Ln9xvWFOhgUq7vNS1sFz5whpklvtkox_WEBXvMZMZ0VLBj66VSIxJcPpQglJ9rMlqtLe0tOw5-g7gpA0lgounkGVEDb9djESJbFonE_MHN1maiJIXOPwgykCb8okgojcpX9enxqvocFLSi_lcI9swePC4V7gw11and/s1366/Screenshot%20(1603).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwavZRMRORUBi4QLNL7Vp0LwSy6Ln9xvWFOhgUq7vNS1sFz5whpklvtkox_WEBXvMZMZ0VLBj66VSIxJcPpQglJ9rMlqtLe0tOw5-g7gpA0lgounkGVEDb9djESJbFonE_MHN1maiJIXOPwgykCb8okgojcpX9enxqvocFLSi_lcI9swePC4V7gw11and/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1603).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, Richard takes on the role of Roderick, a golden-haired lothario, and Zed becomes the Dowager Duchess of Thrice, which requires a full dive into campy cross-dressing. Whacky hijinks are sure to commence. Though, remember when men donning drag was a bit of fun and not something that caused people to fall into conniptions? This aired over a decade ago, people!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We got a lot of moving parts to this plot, with the Margrave trying to chose between his two prospective brides, Richard trying to finagle his way into the dungeons, Kahlan doing her best to get <em>out</em> of the dungeons, Nicci and her cohorts using Darken Rahl as an emissary to strike a deal with the Keeper, Zed fending off the advances of the Margrave’s herald, and of course, Cara struggling to embody the role of princess. Eventually sick of all the rhyming and fan-fluttering, she decides to do things <em>her</em> way and turns on the sexual aggression – and of course it works, as it’s a little known fact that the whole good girl/bad boy attraction works just as potently when the genders are reversed.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In this case, a man used to women being submissive doormats is <em>insanely</em> intrigued by a woman who is antagonistic and domineering (somebody tell the tradwives!) which puts Cara in pole position.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This whole time Kahlan has been in her own little subplot, in which she’s trapped in the dungeon with the Margrave’s first wife Arla, who will be sentenced to death once he’s chosen his new bride. She, having been raised in this backwards society, is totally okay with this, so it’s up to Kahlan to try and de-brainwash her in the limited time she has before Nicci arrives.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkQlglcbpYolBd8utQeWaA6LmpdvM5kWz5ZS1GrQT-jXubuoTuAzrQDGcXIoAb9oPBT5wgklYc5u8-OWtnmvOD6X8l44JuOCyH3ONMUOqWFjHFtxPbEpQGKyku0_yf6ZvHs8eNH7zFx_i_2v8bGaH_qABvLoTBRzl1FO1FR_Anldk6qI0xeaskwNWBVkxZ/s1366/Screenshot%20(1616).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkQlglcbpYolBd8utQeWaA6LmpdvM5kWz5ZS1GrQT-jXubuoTuAzrQDGcXIoAb9oPBT5wgklYc5u8-OWtnmvOD6X8l44JuOCyH3ONMUOqWFjHFtxPbEpQGKyku0_yf6ZvHs8eNH7zFx_i_2v8bGaH_qABvLoTBRzl1FO1FR_Anldk6qI0xeaskwNWBVkxZ/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1616).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It all comes to a head when Nicci and the Sisters of the Dark arriving in Rothenberg to present the Margrave with the Keeper’s contract. Cara convinces him to meet with her in private, and once the two are alone in his bedchamber the foreplay quickly turns to violence as she tries to wrest the key to the dungeons from him.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not helping is that Nicci has recognized Zed at the dinner table, and a fight ensures between Richard and the Sisters, complete with more dramatic slow-motion swirling of those red veils/sleeves, while Nicci is escorted to the dungeons to finish off Kahlan (okay, so there was this <em>other</em> subplot in which the castle herald fell for Zed-as-the-Duchess and now he’s so betrayed that the object of his affection was a man this whole time that he takes Nicci where she wants to go).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6H-eTa1yTiGOF4NYUOimXE1XxLntcQdq_0I4Nw5RO6zmZqUCMoj18stCxITOsMY3RMw7L64iOWBjqm6yHRZf2mG-_iSTu4JCgLHrJoZh11aqRrTXlanMDKhLeq8iDtTr1FtkYSEb1u3T31UlT3zjf8QFnF5u-_o_OJnWozWzkd5916mnZnQjnDDTXnEae/s1366/Screenshot%20(1631).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6H-eTa1yTiGOF4NYUOimXE1XxLntcQdq_0I4Nw5RO6zmZqUCMoj18stCxITOsMY3RMw7L64iOWBjqm6yHRZf2mG-_iSTu4JCgLHrJoZh11aqRrTXlanMDKhLeq8iDtTr1FtkYSEb1u3T31UlT3zjf8QFnF5u-_o_OJnWozWzkd5916mnZnQjnDDTXnEae/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1631).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Turns out the Margrave is more of a physical threat than Cara gave him credit for, but she gets what she wants eventually, while Kahlan eventually talks Arla into helping her escape the dungeon by crying out to the guards that the Mother Confessor isn’t breathing. It’s a nice contribution actually, as there’s no way the guards would have believed Kahlan if <em>she</em> had been the one calling for assistance for Arla, and when they open the cell to investigate, Kahlan takes them out.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As befits a Girl Power episode, Kahlan and Cara converge just outside the dungeons and fight off the rest of the Sisters without the menfolk, while Nicci makes a flying leap out of a window to escape (remember, no magic within the castle walls; as soon as she’s outside, she disappears in a ball of light).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So all’s well that ends well. The Margrave has been abandoned by the Keeper, Arla has escaped with Kahlan, and the team is once again following that damn compass to wherever the hell it’s meant to be leading them – and at this stage, I’ve totally forgotten where that might be.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miscellaneous Observations:</span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A fun episode, though as with “Hunger,” it had some odd tonal shifts. I think the Sisters of the Dark are meant to be very dangerous adversaries, but they had big “Darken Rahl attends a child’s birthday party” vibe here (<a href="https://ravenya003.blogspot.com/2021/02/legend-of-seeker-puppeteer.html">remember that?</a>) and were easily bested, even within the confines of a magic-free castle.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Likewise, the stuff with Arla was remarkably dark, what with that character coming across as having battered wife syndrome, in marked contrast to Cara comedically straining against the restrictive guise of a princess before eventually throwing caution to the wind and doing things her own way.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The plot was also a little cluttered, and I didn’t even make mention of the rather disappointing fat-shaming subplot that went on when Richard was forced to seduce the Margrave’s overweight sister Millicent in an attempt to get the dungeon key. Come on, <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong>, you’re better than that!</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WDPGaDNgAz-5-6wqhIEIILyk3XqAJkvny0pZNX6jwqzhrJNfW8DMyu-VjAlM31GAWHCiE9dsgq7BqdqtdwFgroTZQ1GXG99HsNBn2RbvFXJUndEUkcmEx0WRaDBfI7uZ7slqK-k3wQrF9OAwC8bYCftuz5SWlF6tKmiA76kkUAkY051AXcyK0n1CRcHW/s1366/Screenshot%20(1629).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WDPGaDNgAz-5-6wqhIEIILyk3XqAJkvny0pZNX6jwqzhrJNfW8DMyu-VjAlM31GAWHCiE9dsgq7BqdqtdwFgroTZQ1GXG99HsNBn2RbvFXJUndEUkcmEx0WRaDBfI7uZ7slqK-k3wQrF9OAwC8bYCftuz5SWlF6tKmiA76kkUAkY051AXcyK0n1CRcHW/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1629).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plus, look at her! She’s cute!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The brief opening sequence was amusing, not only skewing some gender norms by having the women chop firewood and the men prepare the meal, but depicting Cara actually teasing and laughing with the others.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, kudos to whoever is doing the set design on what must be a very limited budget. Yes, the castle rooms are clearly smaller than you’d expect from the exterior establishing shots, but look at the colours! The furs! The animal heads! The ironwork on the gates! This all looks just like a Margrave’s castle <em>should</em> look.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vmIYHIAAYGkPB78AoL0pjQZ9nDUxFIQ5H1rREWwnla4XHo50m4nu_XPwbr-R6hTlgXhvS5B4r-3mBLPkui4sbemyPQk6CNazc-C7ZEDvi1s6WA5JWW4qhNq-YuOYh8ontTfy6ka1wKBXxCZt7UvWVUZb8nvTedhxWiphnp9tSmebaXVKzVaE5oLqgjA4/s1366/Screenshot%20(1607).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vmIYHIAAYGkPB78AoL0pjQZ9nDUxFIQ5H1rREWwnla4XHo50m4nu_XPwbr-R6hTlgXhvS5B4r-3mBLPkui4sbemyPQk6CNazc-C7ZEDvi1s6WA5JWW4qhNq-YuOYh8ontTfy6ka1wKBXxCZt7UvWVUZb8nvTedhxWiphnp9tSmebaXVKzVaE5oLqgjA4/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1607).png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRRSgWnAE7rjNpVY7mkj6geOe00EA5bP-SixGgekwZ2B0dKQya9ssljfkyhUjBMKRGKq5NCxDwnTFvWs_Ki52mOCl9taBlaNrwhTCvzmGYkeG1thIcm7481dCfAckStX8KerJHj8WdAi-ZNooykn7rivkH9gDI_4iaMHLyRJ7PUI4wTUvyCwy8SLp2mx_A/s1366/Screenshot%20(1610).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRRSgWnAE7rjNpVY7mkj6geOe00EA5bP-SixGgekwZ2B0dKQya9ssljfkyhUjBMKRGKq5NCxDwnTFvWs_Ki52mOCl9taBlaNrwhTCvzmGYkeG1thIcm7481dCfAckStX8KerJHj8WdAi-ZNooykn7rivkH9gDI_4iaMHLyRJ7PUI4wTUvyCwy8SLp2mx_A/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1610).png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8H3_phz8ys6hlOX_lXA-MyAyP7ZXBorHQD1HquBOUZHmSl5LxsgXpWsg-h_OFbni8AYzhtep1bGJaCsc1vBgEZ6U1dwigPjpBCzEjPX1ucerjpU1p7g4eH5fNMiQtr_Nck3suEDHXPwq3ye54ZswoxXLpV3EtM6uTPkUU010KfNzEuFf0uab35AWHumk5/s1366/Screenshot%20(1611).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8H3_phz8ys6hlOX_lXA-MyAyP7ZXBorHQD1HquBOUZHmSl5LxsgXpWsg-h_OFbni8AYzhtep1bGJaCsc1vBgEZ6U1dwigPjpBCzEjPX1ucerjpU1p7g4eH5fNMiQtr_Nck3suEDHXPwq3ye54ZswoxXLpV3EtM6uTPkUU010KfNzEuFf0uab35AWHumk5/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1611).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I know we’ve had kings and queens before on this show (Queen Milena, King Gregor) but I’ve no idea how princesses and margraves are meant to fit into the social-strata of the Midlands. Just <em>what </em>exactly is the political landscape of this country??</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I trust you all recognized John Bach as the Margrave’s herald, who was Faramir’s second-in-command in <strong>The Lord of the Rings</strong> trilogy. Very different role here.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMkt1DtS_Dq3IQmiMg3oBMQW1t_fWAgvgHj5Vp2DW9OxCDjDjmwbkSQDk53fFnRbs9_lM5mLhhS5uqjDQKk308vA8liae5mCHUbNCIGijMOwi0AhRHWYtmL4fInp8VzvD2d3Ip4jrxbHWR0dmzi-mElbVu0S9aD8knBu3NBuMJ21v9qNKdCQ5CFA2IJzo/s1366/Screenshot%20(1597).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMkt1DtS_Dq3IQmiMg3oBMQW1t_fWAgvgHj5Vp2DW9OxCDjDjmwbkSQDk53fFnRbs9_lM5mLhhS5uqjDQKk308vA8liae5mCHUbNCIGijMOwi0AhRHWYtmL4fInp8VzvD2d3Ip4jrxbHWR0dmzi-mElbVu0S9aD8knBu3NBuMJ21v9qNKdCQ5CFA2IJzo/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1597).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In short, everyone seemed to be having a good time with this one – we got to see our characters in fancy-dress, Zed munched down the scenery as the Dowager Duchess, and some loathsome bad guys got their just desserts. What more could you want?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Edit: okay, so having written this review and then going back to grab screencaps, it turns out that a Mord Sith <i>was</i> the one responsible for administering the Kiss of Life to Nicci. She was decked out in the leather and everything. Which only begs the question: who is she and why is she in league with the Sisters of the Dark?)</span></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-69800073873729020562023-11-04T13:12:00.006-07:002023-11-04T13:12:45.518-07:00Legend of the Seeker: Hunger<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Welcome to the most tonally dissonant episode of the season thus far! It’s also something of a minor <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ContinuityCavalcade">Continuity Cavalcade</a>, what with two prior guest stars returning from separate episodes in season one: Ted Raimi as Sebastian and Jon Brazier as Thaddicus. You know, Zed’s brother? It’s okay if you don’t, as I kinda forgot about this guy too, and initially wasn’t even sure if they’d brought back the same actor (they did). Given the content of this episode, I half expected the con-artists from “Mirror” to return as well.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxJD1G5uO-xO0m4yE9J-cn6nOt7CpdyVrIUiQjsyrfMFhMgh3bbKzsadBHYs8SqfNTHz4vPrXlwD4685vvMBM4coqEDZuG4K3yVixDDymB75oBMSvwnfeZONmvMPbQSQeHVtO8F-ERtNzouXS9RoHuTc0VLvD82CW2Xg5L2IXXE9xseKP3TprAj4mf893/s1366/Screenshot%20(1556).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxJD1G5uO-xO0m4yE9J-cn6nOt7CpdyVrIUiQjsyrfMFhMgh3bbKzsadBHYs8SqfNTHz4vPrXlwD4685vvMBM4coqEDZuG4K3yVixDDymB75oBMSvwnfeZONmvMPbQSQeHVtO8F-ERtNzouXS9RoHuTc0VLvD82CW2Xg5L2IXXE9xseKP3TprAj4mf893/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1556).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><!-- wp:paragraph -->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And remember the Banelings? How they were introduced as a pretty big deal in the first handful of episodes? They’re back too, and the horror of what’s required of them to maintain their existence sits <em>extremely</em> uncomfortably next to the hijinks of Sebastian and Thaddicus, two greedy rascals who deliberately water down a cure for the undead so they can make more money. A fair portion of this is played for laughs, and they’ve gone right back to selling snake oil in the final scene. Hah... hah? </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And that’s not even touching on what Cara goes through in this episode. Holy tonal shifts, Batman!</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The last two episodes having focused on Richard and Kahlan’s interiority, it’s now Cara’s turn to step up into the spotlight... though she has to share a little of it with Zed considering his brother is guest-starring.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our merry band of heroes are traversing the countryside when a tearful woman approaches them, begging for assistance. We got ourselves another detour! Cara is not impressed, but after the requisite opening-act fight scene with a gang of ruffians, she runs after the one who flees the field, and... yikes, he leaps out of nowhere and slits her throat.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFzAX8a4KWC2-G5jcJkVtY8bwFdUQwzODO80xjV8Gt9N5hbIlVBF2SFYSN5A3LgUZ64jRK5py73tYmcC4qtZC_OYjWoqpFcySUbPJ5JA4FDO_6qTZwa9zoIKKXLAB0iCkdrIu5HYXmzqqAzUpdATyuF32ij15W0gufl7RXIFp7z0qOWBYKZF23-R4m2he/s1366/Screenshot%20(1587).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFzAX8a4KWC2-G5jcJkVtY8bwFdUQwzODO80xjV8Gt9N5hbIlVBF2SFYSN5A3LgUZ64jRK5py73tYmcC4qtZC_OYjWoqpFcySUbPJ5JA4FDO_6qTZwa9zoIKKXLAB0iCkdrIu5HYXmzqqAzUpdATyuF32ij15W0gufl7RXIFp7z0qOWBYKZF23-R4m2he/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1587).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She dies, really and truly dies. And you know what that means – she wakes up in the weird orgy that’s currently taking place in the green fires of the underworld, to be offered the chance to return as a Baneling by Lord Rahl himself. While completely naked.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a good scene between Craig Parker and <a>Tabrett Bethell</a>. These two clearly have history (we saw a glimpse of it in the final episode of last season) and so have each other’s measure. But who is playing who in this situation? Cara has never been anything but utterly honest and straightforward in all of her dealings, and is fearless in the face of Rahl. She doesn’t hesitate at the opportunity to become a Baneling so she can return to the world of the living – in fact, she’s the one who demands it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Seeing how gung-ho she is, Rahl holds back in order to carefully spell out the terms of the deal (which helpfully reminds the audience about what’s going on as well). As a Baneling, she must kill one person every day if she wishes to remain “alive.” She cannot kill two and expect to gain forty-eight hours, as every time a life is taken, the clock is reset. The undead lives of Banelings don’t count, and neither can she kill anyone and then revive them with the Kiss of Life.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Fi80mj5wOR1gv9yLc74X2Bc6GvbnVZkFBJtjGPcPRJh_5CY7U4laA0lyfjTkroGDr1bfSJTTXzdZBeAZ4r0Tdh0IqP7UP0YH1S1UEL9xGlOzn19597GdXG6PPq4h6WmEQ0vLmIub8FUaBVlfO_hmnY1KK0dMO-1jjRFbFMHdWizL8D0dhnYrbRb5e8p5/s1366/Screenshot%20(1561).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Fi80mj5wOR1gv9yLc74X2Bc6GvbnVZkFBJtjGPcPRJh_5CY7U4laA0lyfjTkroGDr1bfSJTTXzdZBeAZ4r0Tdh0IqP7UP0YH1S1UEL9xGlOzn19597GdXG6PPq4h6WmEQ0vLmIub8FUaBVlfO_hmnY1KK0dMO-1jjRFbFMHdWizL8D0dhnYrbRb5e8p5/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1561).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In an interesting exchange, Cara points out that even though she’s helping the Seeker in his quest (which Rahl is hardly pleased about) she’s <em>already</em> killed plenty of people to protect Richard, thereby filling the Keeper’s coffers. She’s nothing if not a rationalist, and Rahl clearly has all the advantages of this bargain, especially since he can just recall her to the underworld if she fails to uphold it. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Seeing no real downside to any of this, Rahl agrees, and Cara instantly wakes up in the same place she died.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rejoining the gang, she learns that the woman who approached them wants their help in rescuing her husband and several other villagers that were taken by a group of men who plan to offer up their lives to the Banelings. Essentially, they are stockpiling people and charging money for their executions to those who are desperate to keep up the “one person per day” quota to stay alive. And holy shit, is that <strong>dark</strong>.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CCe9bmIseMHa9XTubSl_YHcmqvUMjCR1fa7pgSGvMWUIvwEFQPIXCfCq6qydJPenmDV_yEnNdpAO6CiBNaEeEWEHjmQGC5C2XnHate1UBJBui6wCwzUS6sttbh4UUDKZRDrMIJ6Bb_D4SLM2bWLHU-3lgCIPT7HOSFoxSNw_ACAfqWsl1d7ON3HthqD7/s1366/Screenshot%20(1562).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CCe9bmIseMHa9XTubSl_YHcmqvUMjCR1fa7pgSGvMWUIvwEFQPIXCfCq6qydJPenmDV_yEnNdpAO6CiBNaEeEWEHjmQGC5C2XnHate1UBJBui6wCwzUS6sttbh4UUDKZRDrMIJ6Bb_D4SLM2bWLHU-3lgCIPT7HOSFoxSNw_ACAfqWsl1d7ON3HthqD7/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1562).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Taking that into account, <em>and</em> the fact that everyone who is killed is offered the same deal in their turn, how the hell are Banelings not overrunning the countryside by now?)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, there’s no way anyone is prepared to leave these people to this gruesome fate for the sake of the overarching quest – seriously Kahlan, why’d you even bring it up? – and so Cara’s ruse begins.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s not off to a good start, as Kahlan doesn’t let her murder the very-bad man who was part of the kidnapping ring (though the opportunistic look on her face when she spots him is grimly amusing). We’re then treated to a genuinely disturbing scene in which a cluster of Banelings line up to murder bound-and-hooded villagers for a fee – and the kidnappers have even set up a strangulation device to make it all as efficient as possible. Like I said, dark.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But that’s the cue for our heroes to arrive, though Cara is unable to find a living – and <em>deserving</em> – victim in time. In a nice touch, she’s forced to choose between pursuing one of the fleeing “entrepreneurs” and saving Richard from a Baneling, but of course she goes with the latter since protecting Richard is the very reason she came back in the first place.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This sentiment carries on to the next scene, when the rescued villagers are ushered to safety (the woman that begged for help is reunited with her husband and promptly exits stage left) and Cara takes a middle-aged Baneling woman into custody. She makes for a rather pitiable figure, as earlier she was seen handing over money and preparing to kill one of the hostages, asking forgiveness from the Creator as she did so.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5FE6VrvZOQUZpMAHf5Ap2yCLXCjuLETDBk3zpHwPecEp_gncdkGkJkZOAlcA9kmYA6jEYcEmCHvXusqDWrxtwB7h5fGJaxHqjn17_Lzt_DX_IyDUzgZjdaUeeYJVKzU-yugfUh1hOKaeutur3rQyCK0vMA_isLicQlUzjbU9wMuhEq5MqBtwTjPFtN4e/s1366/Screenshot%20(1566).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5FE6VrvZOQUZpMAHf5Ap2yCLXCjuLETDBk3zpHwPecEp_gncdkGkJkZOAlcA9kmYA6jEYcEmCHvXusqDWrxtwB7h5fGJaxHqjn17_Lzt_DX_IyDUzgZjdaUeeYJVKzU-yugfUh1hOKaeutur3rQyCK0vMA_isLicQlUzjbU9wMuhEq5MqBtwTjPFtN4e/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1566).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now she immediately notices Cara’s condition and divulges that she took the deal in order to care for her sick daughter, stating: “everyone has a reason, and when you have to kill, it’s good to remind yourself why you’re doing it.” Her words clearly hit a nerve with Cara, who obviously <em>doesn’t</em> want to hear the justifications of someone in the same position as she is, doing what they <em>both</em> know is wrong.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This kiwi actress is Elisabeth Easther, who had to get across a lot in <em>extremely</em> limited time, and yet managed to make me feel the horror of the dilemma she was in. Sure, it would have helped if we’d actually <em>seen</em> the daughter she was so desperate to care for, but in her final moments she tells the Seeker (and surreptitiously Cara as well, whose secret she keeps) that there might be a way to get out of the Baneling bargain; rumours of a man selling an antidote to their condition.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">While all this has been going on, the episode’s subplot has been depicting Zed’s brother Thaddicus trying to sell off some old junk to Sebastian, the amoral trader who was selling magical maps that led to the Seeker to bounty hunters back in the show’s third episode. And what do you know? Among Thaddicus’s stash he finds a vial of something called Shadow Water that cures the Banelings of their affliction.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxxdSAmzq1e8IJ298E9b6wee-wuHxdsmUYLTFRfDRmMczBm0s-MqXl0iGiyYNKhHOZNtw3JMuJ9rbsetz21oNRSNE_Q_OHbNNybBA872OEu3kaR6b3H2Cx_EJvhCTv3iKhUg9sebk4LpDSmZhptZCXXK-sLa4OGoK5hCzZr3WXbhOF2tiT46b7b-XsYzO/s1366/Screenshot%20(1567).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxxdSAmzq1e8IJ298E9b6wee-wuHxdsmUYLTFRfDRmMczBm0s-MqXl0iGiyYNKhHOZNtw3JMuJ9rbsetz21oNRSNE_Q_OHbNNybBA872OEu3kaR6b3H2Cx_EJvhCTv3iKhUg9sebk4LpDSmZhptZCXXK-sLa4OGoK5hCzZr3WXbhOF2tiT46b7b-XsYzO/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1567).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That there’s an antidote that essentially brings the dead back to life, which involves nothing more than swallowing some magic water, is an easy out for this storyline and negates most of the horror away from the concept of the Banelings and what is required of them to remain in the land of the living. I mean, can you imagine this remedy being used against the undead in <strong>Game of Thrones</strong>?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, Sebastian ends up watering the substance down so he can sell it to more customers, which only results in temporary alleviation of the Banelings’ condition. It’s a bit of a stretch to believe the Banelings didn’t simply tear down the store to get their hands on the cure right from the start, and completely monstrous that Thaddicus didn’t insist on just <em>giving</em> it away to stop the suffering of all these people (both the Banelings <em>and</em> their victims) but these scenes are played very lightly. Not exactly for laughs, but not taking into account any of the horrific implications of what Sebastian and Thaddicus are doing either.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Did they even realize that this choice to withhold a cure put them on a near-equal footing with the men kidnapping innocent villagers to “save” the Banelings?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also weird: that rumours of what they’re up to have reached all the way to wherever Richard and his posse are situated, even though there’s been nothing to indicate that what’s going on in Thaddicus’s plot was occurring at an earlier time than Richard’s. The scenes have been interspersed with each other, suggesting concurrency.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Again, the team wonders whether they should put the Stone of Tears quest on hold in order to pursue the rumours of a Baneling cure, and for the first time ever, Cara is keen on the first option. Night falls, and she makes an excuse to leave the campsite so she might double-back and kill the man who was kidnapping Baneling victims. He completely deserves it.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zpNUhrRAt0NSdrsN40bJHBYt4tGjt8WTHnyUTP40IZyKMQ-4SQnwUkxfG1EvMYV4v3as3g79mhzPVRN3F76ELIgujbKYkHijBtr1t7HFHAU5KMygJO6Fxa6_spaEfDWQIHt-0URj3SeTlMffDe0ZZtXTfOiqc-jAq3GzdLA85VaDJpZKTYw1HDYE7gRi/s1366/Screenshot%20(1569).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zpNUhrRAt0NSdrsN40bJHBYt4tGjt8WTHnyUTP40IZyKMQ-4SQnwUkxfG1EvMYV4v3as3g79mhzPVRN3F76ELIgujbKYkHijBtr1t7HFHAU5KMygJO6Fxa6_spaEfDWQIHt-0URj3SeTlMffDe0ZZtXTfOiqc-jAq3GzdLA85VaDJpZKTYw1HDYE7gRi/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1569).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sebastian is rumbled when Richard’s team break into his store, and Zed is naturally angry-disappointed to discover his brother’s role in all of this. Recriminations commence.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s worth saying that this is an episode full of “exposition characters” or “plot-point characters.” We’ve had the woman that commissioned the Seeker’s help in finding her husband, the middle-aged Baneling woman who directed them towards Sebastian and his cure, and now a D’Haran Baneling soldier who was killed in the skirmish in Sebastian’s store, and now awakens in the underworld to conveniently update Rahl on what’s going on upstairs.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rahl wants to know how he managed to stay among the living despite not delivering a soul to the underworld in the past few days, and so discovers that Shadow Water has been rediscovered. From this, he reaches a logical conclusion: the Seeker knows about it, Cara doesn’t have any, and so they’ll soon be looking for the water’s source. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a nice bit of continuity, Zed comes up with the idea to use Sebastian’s magical printing press, the very one that was making maps which pinpointed the Seeker’s location back in “Bounty,” to instead determine where the source of Shadow Water is located. Thaddicus seizes the chance to redeem himself, asking to join them on their search for the water so that he can distribute it while Zed and the others return to their larger quest.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoh61_1zNvsqensexuLsgOYxAy6vnGjwL9fko6KxntcqAKIs4fomG6XhtQcXexRVkVRMGTvIi_3fre8vJPnd3K4-KB548zYgozBqCCrLQ58ZF2Jm4OZkmIXIZwCVGDmnbchqqlVkDyuJzH4xO6Q2fXYaOtSwXncDiNmIa6frVqYAdnmoDrpIFEcR37JOU/s1366/Screenshot%20(1573).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoh61_1zNvsqensexuLsgOYxAy6vnGjwL9fko6KxntcqAKIs4fomG6XhtQcXexRVkVRMGTvIi_3fre8vJPnd3K4-KB548zYgozBqCCrLQ58ZF2Jm4OZkmIXIZwCVGDmnbchqqlVkDyuJzH4xO6Q2fXYaOtSwXncDiNmIa6frVqYAdnmoDrpIFEcR37JOU/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1573).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which is all very noble, but Cara needs a new victim soon, and when one of her travelling party is a guest-star instead of a regular, the choice is somewhat clear. Luckily she happens upon a group of D’Harans camping nearby, which buys her another twenty-four hours, but the following night Rahl appears to her in the flames of the campfire for some evil mocking and prodding. He offers to lift the terms of the Baneling agreement in exchange for the location of the Shadow Water, and when she refuses, points out that Thaddicus is the obvious contender for her next kill.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNgp6VT7GDlv3mFdxN2chiKExZfMQjTFGrgf3zsqg_tFsVVKVErtPoBxphCSiMyvfNg4LbMy0bparOjMyAy0j45rEiBQjeRHcPkgeolBAk2i9CbAjLnLQPIzmJ8ib9knEYg0Qckzr7JXf_FnkL_8o1kQRvCQW9FIdrqjj0xLrUKAzMwtPgR2CBsDUpNEL/s1366/Screenshot%20(1578).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNgp6VT7GDlv3mFdxN2chiKExZfMQjTFGrgf3zsqg_tFsVVKVErtPoBxphCSiMyvfNg4LbMy0bparOjMyAy0j45rEiBQjeRHcPkgeolBAk2i9CbAjLnLQPIzmJ8ib9knEYg0Qckzr7JXf_FnkL_8o1kQRvCQW9FIdrqjj0xLrUKAzMwtPgR2CBsDUpNEL/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1578).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She goes so far as to wake him up and lead him into the forest for the sake of collecting firewood, but when the moment comes, she can’t go through with it. The others respond to Thaddicus’s cries for help, and the truth is out.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tabrett Bethell nails this next scene, and it’s the most emotional we’ve ever seen Cara as she recounts what happened to her and why she chose to not just <em>take</em> the deal, but <em>demand</em> it. She did it for Richard of course (and do I detect a slight hint of resentment in her voice, knowing that his determination to help everyone that crosses their path resulted in her death?) but now she’s no good to anyone. Richard insists they can make it to the Shadow Water in time, but she’s fading too quickly, and asks that she be left to die in peace.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Zed and Kahlan accept this outcome pretty damn quickly, but moved by her restraint, and still looking for a way to redeem himself, Thaddicus grabs her hand and the dagger it’s still holding, and stabs himself with it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now the race is <em>really</em> on – for Richard and Cara to get to the Shadow Water, to let Cara drink enough that she’s cured, and then have her use the Kiss of Life on Thaddicus so he’s also restored to full health. Naturally, he’s gone straight to the underworld, and he immediately leaps at the opportunity to take the Baneling deal, knowing that it’s only a matter of time before the others reach the water and Cara can revive him. He wasn’t born yesterday, but neither was Rahl, and Thaddicus is tortured into revealing the location of the Shadow Water.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Also, in the previous episode Cara wasn’t able to administer the Kiss of Life to Silas mere <em>seconds </em>after his death. Now you’re telling me there’s a chance she can save Thaddicus after his body has been dragged cross-country by Kahlan and Zed over the course of an ad break?)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the midst of Rahl destroying the small pool of Shadow Water with earthquakes and fire, Richard manages to reach down and get some drops on his fingertips, which Cara then licks off his hand. Wow. I mean, I’ve no idea where the chips fell when it came to shipping those two, but I’m sure fans of that pairing were pretty pleased with <em>that</em> particular scene.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcw5rOWhrgkMw7ACgwdVMw1l4MG54M-eIqjOYYGaVOA07yB9rr0eFQgSZOSCGCGKQ9sRul86czB1BHTf7c2c0R52exqpfLz0NLt1DkeFOA_aKOd1Scu9E1GAFp-Je07vhQrQw20Ce3JIDQCzeVfyIXAjsX0TdxJ_kuvbaxHjsfHRTiIBKDbR0RGFT2iVN/s1366/Screenshot%20(1582).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcw5rOWhrgkMw7ACgwdVMw1l4MG54M-eIqjOYYGaVOA07yB9rr0eFQgSZOSCGCGKQ9sRul86czB1BHTf7c2c0R52exqpfLz0NLt1DkeFOA_aKOd1Scu9E1GAFp-Je07vhQrQw20Ce3JIDQCzeVfyIXAjsX0TdxJ_kuvbaxHjsfHRTiIBKDbR0RGFT2iVN/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1582).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_2c4F0K3uzCS54qoMtpTU9BLJUX9NIJgwXWhePe1NOOIFCdBdwqbbgzGBHXzjIRUIVOYn4tKHyNiD1r422d_N2_1maRzNc4UdHtZHJOQCoSot2XoQSEPtqpyH8FMKQ-JXm_YpvEGESqHzw7GQGpMYHBBLVTcOWuCCeldO2sOSctjxC8aPElHZ73SsJP3/s1366/Screenshot%20(1583).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_2c4F0K3uzCS54qoMtpTU9BLJUX9NIJgwXWhePe1NOOIFCdBdwqbbgzGBHXzjIRUIVOYn4tKHyNiD1r422d_N2_1maRzNc4UdHtZHJOQCoSot2XoQSEPtqpyH8FMKQ-JXm_YpvEGESqHzw7GQGpMYHBBLVTcOWuCCeldO2sOSctjxC8aPElHZ73SsJP3/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1583).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I actually wasn’t sure whether Cara was going to get back to Thaddicus in time or not, as it would have been a fairly appropriate send-off for this character if his sacrifice had been permanent, but they go for the happy ending and let her bring him back. On the other hand, the easy fix of the Shadow Water has been removed from the board, which (as much as I liked the idea of Thaddicus finding purpose and redemption by distributing it freely) is probably for the best.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But then we get a very strange ending. First of all, Thaddicus is guilt-ridden and tearful over the fact he gave away the location of the Shadow Water to Rahl, claiming that he’s a selfish old man who has lived a meaningless life. Thanks to him, the Baneling threat is still loose on the world.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> But then the final scene depicts him once again in cahoots with Sebastian, selling soil from around the pool of Shadow Water as a hair tonic. So... nobody has learned anything. Okay then.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nWxCaiZukmfGdPv1Eq1hTMLbw9cJpYRCN7ICklD8tjziluBRyhz-n26UTGweLNwFfAQmYl_OH5ZNAvYyupPB1lO7MQlBuXhoVy9S5a5SLiu_15bDYdNnFOtQnLJYL8uNXdSXSk5fIGl3pX7wfz32eG9wL-EqrOYAP3wppCwT_R2-eSoPRLyE8MfKhDF8/s1366/Screenshot%20(1585).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nWxCaiZukmfGdPv1Eq1hTMLbw9cJpYRCN7ICklD8tjziluBRyhz-n26UTGweLNwFfAQmYl_OH5ZNAvYyupPB1lO7MQlBuXhoVy9S5a5SLiu_15bDYdNnFOtQnLJYL8uNXdSXSk5fIGl3pX7wfz32eG9wL-EqrOYAP3wppCwT_R2-eSoPRLyE8MfKhDF8/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1585).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aside from the bizarre tonal whiplash, this was a decent episode, especially if you’re a fan of Cara. From the woman who fearlessly strikes a bargain with Rahl at its start, to the Baneling struggling to hold onto her newfound humanity and forced to rely on her friends to provide succour by its end, this was a great showcase for her character, who has more than proven her worth to the others by this point. As ever, she is motivated by one singular goal: protecting Richard – but close proximity to him has allowed things like compassion and mercy to creep into her system.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This episode was also impressive in the way it worked within the magical rules the show set for itself, namely the conditions surrounding the Banelings and the Kiss of Life; even the making of the magic map. It’s more difficult than it looks to keep track of this kind of thing while not getting boxed in by narrative requirements, and (other than giving Thaddicus considerably more time than poor Silas to have the Kiss of Life administered to him successfully) the writing remained consistent within the established world-building.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miscellaneous Observations:</span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I felt that Cara was perhaps a bit too confident throughout her first encounter with Rahl, though it provided a comparison to her demeanour with him later in the episode (when she’s more broken) and raises an interesting implication. That she asks for the deal so unhesitatingly suggests she’s thought about what she would do if this situation actually presented itself – though at the same time, she obviously never considered the toll that killing people in cold blood would take on her, or of sharing her condition with the others.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet at this point she is driven so completely by her mission that it’s initially an easy choice for her to make – it’s all about keeping her innate sense of purpose by protecting Rahl’s bloodline, which now resides with Richard. Her key motivation is to protect him, she makes no bones about it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But by brushing past her motivation with Rahl, she drives home just how much is truly at stake. As Rahl points out, the Keeper isn’t interested in anything but wracking up a body count, and in this pursuit, it’s the Seeker and his allies who are tallying up the most kills. They might be destroying enemies in the name of defeating evil, but that hardly matters to the Keeper, in which every death only swells his ranks.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, you can’t help but notice Cara and Rahl’s rapport. She goes full sultry mode and is not remotely self-conscious about standing there completely naked. Yup, they have a history.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m still very confused on the nature of the underworld and the fact that it’s filled with torment and pain. Is this where <em>everyone</em> ends up? The bad <em>and</em> the good? Because that should be triggering a full-blown existential crisis in our heroes, knowing that nothing they do in life matters if a hellish afterlife is the only thing that awaits them when they die. Has the Keeper somehow hijacked the natural order of things? Where is the (presumably benevolent) Creator that everyone keeps mentioning during all this?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kudos to that random nobody who managed to get the drop on Cara and successfully kill her. Not everybody gets the chance to take out a main character, even if it <em>was</em> temporary.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On that note, it would be nice if in coming episodes, everyone feels a little twitchy that this actually happened. All the skill in the world can’t prevent someone from getting in a lucky shot, and like I said, it’s a shame they never touched on the possibility that Cara might feel resentful that Richard’s saviour complex is technically the thing that got her killed.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, if the gang had discovered that Cara was a Baneling sooner, what would they have done? This show has occasionally touched on the issue of trading lives for the greater good, and there was always the possibility that they would have helped Cara find appropriate victims, ranking her life above theirs. Heck, in order to make sure she has a surplus by having Kahlan confess a number of men and ordering them to travel with the group could have provided a disconcerting parallel to the kidnapping of the villagers to sell to the Banelings. Just a thought...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cara’s Baneling makeup was fantastic. Tabrett Bethell has amazing skin, so seeing it “zombify” was suitably appalling.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGTxsAU6PnlQNnyOTUxui9hlA2WAKZW_RMPCD1_Dx4Mo6AINz9wKs-pD3wuEJwlUpqAfcaQnqQq_VpZZLtSRtQYSR-T9vpAsEb2lrG39dsmooIPfwMEH06qW93nkemjYz6e8OC6P7CZlIAFl0VPOlWYyGL_-Jh0zawKXnPx735ZDUMu58RbBdTKeuqI4k/s1366/Screenshot%20(1576).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGTxsAU6PnlQNnyOTUxui9hlA2WAKZW_RMPCD1_Dx4Mo6AINz9wKs-pD3wuEJwlUpqAfcaQnqQq_VpZZLtSRtQYSR-T9vpAsEb2lrG39dsmooIPfwMEH06qW93nkemjYz6e8OC6P7CZlIAFl0VPOlWYyGL_-Jh0zawKXnPx735ZDUMu58RbBdTKeuqI4k/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1576).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgJrrZIid7eMtsyjLO1KEFesPDvb2knTmwiqYOwMw6ydPHUJnjNr0GEYCa4GFoMjFfADJsyVEK84QXSx-t7kOsho6W0XQVW20Ol-PQ2p6x_VUU_QXyu0eGB2p_aOlSwT_BYUWBmnSTXGz_iKHd-fMCquh56Rqbf8RhwvxkOkANWkLGwaOwfXyvyxVCKsM/s1366/Screenshot%20(1579).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgJrrZIid7eMtsyjLO1KEFesPDvb2knTmwiqYOwMw6ydPHUJnjNr0GEYCa4GFoMjFfADJsyVEK84QXSx-t7kOsho6W0XQVW20Ol-PQ2p6x_VUU_QXyu0eGB2p_aOlSwT_BYUWBmnSTXGz_iKHd-fMCquh56Rqbf8RhwvxkOkANWkLGwaOwfXyvyxVCKsM/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1579).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We did <em>not</em> need Rahl’s voiceovers reminding us of the Baneling requirements once Cara returned to life. We were paying attention the first time he explained it!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I know we’ve seen this get-up plenty of times, but <em>what</em> is Kahlan wearing? Yes, it’s fantasy, but it really bugs me when women are put in outfits that they clearly have trouble moving in. I mean, what is the function of those big flappy flaps flapping around her legs? They would drive me up the wall!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, it was nice that Kahlan offered Cara some words of comfort in their final scene, especially when she seemed relatively blasé about her impending death earlier on. I think Cara is at the stage of her development when she’s acutely aware that Kahlan and Richard have a slightly more elevated moral compass than she does – and for the first time, is concerned of what that might mean for their relationship.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In all, I feel that this episode served to gather up a few story threads, remind the audience of some important seasonal plot-points, and get us ready for the back-half of the remaining episodes.</span></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-8495846741652709682023-11-01T11:26:00.000-07:002023-11-24T13:35:24.860-08:00Woman of the Month: Sam and Tara Carpenter<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6abaFb1FOs212vXy-6IuzPL7OSxH63MQntfvRofKIXi8gKR7kfZchGOKMwukaiG_RPIIp1i94JivPswD0cWXphyx4LHqDJKNmuF_ZMGGTLpgGArjGdCSb4WnAL4ifZ1W3K5gDwtU2eMIZar6k_BmvWlzZg-mn_zxv9rYW2BNyYoDyLHVqV0CB9MMt5mi-/s2780/carpenter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1696" data-original-width="2780" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6abaFb1FOs212vXy-6IuzPL7OSxH63MQntfvRofKIXi8gKR7kfZchGOKMwukaiG_RPIIp1i94JivPswD0cWXphyx4LHqDJKNmuF_ZMGGTLpgGArjGdCSb4WnAL4ifZ1W3K5gDwtU2eMIZar6k_BmvWlzZg-mn_zxv9rYW2BNyYoDyLHVqV0CB9MMt5mi-/w400-h244/carpenter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sam and Tara Carpenter from <strong>Scream 5</strong> and <strong>6</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m doubling back and editing this post to finally bring you November’s Women of the Month (plural).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For the first time since starting these posts in August 2014, I was completely without inspiration. I couldn’t think of a single female character to showcase. The ground rules I set for myself meant I could only feature one woman per film/book/story, and that she had to be heroic (or at least not overtly villainous) in nature – but given that most of my reading and viewing this year has been continuation of stories rather than new material, the well had simply run dry.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then last week, I watched <strong>Scream 6</strong>. It was a lot of fun, and held up surprisingly well given the absence of both Neve Campbell and David Arquette, largely due to the baton of main character being passed to sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter. For my money, I think they fill Sydney Prescott’s shoes pretty well – though of course, there’s no replacing the original <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FinalGirl">Final Girl</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Once the credits rolled, I filed the Carpenter sisters away in my mind, expecting to one day write about them at some point (maybe in an end of year retrospective) but <em>not</em> before their shared story reached what would have presumably been its conclusion in the inevitable <strong>Scream 7</strong>. Despite moving past their differences and teaming up to take down their would-be killers, the ending definitely left room for more growth – especially given the fierce, almost deranged glee they demonstrate when turning the tables on the Ghostface killers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Except... now there won’t be. Just yesterday news broke that Melissa Barrera had been fired from the franchise after speaking out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. This morning, Jenna Ortega also announced she wouldn’t be returning for <strong>Scream 7</strong>, and although the official word is she wanted a release from her contract so she could film season two of <strong>Wednesday</strong>, that this announcement came so quickly on the heels of Barrera’s firing is pretty transparently <em>not</em> a coincidence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So that’s it for the Carpenter sisters. It’s disappointing, and a terrible look for Spyglass/Paramount studios who have lost their first leading lady by not offering her a decent pay-check, fired their second one for speaking out against genocide, and then promptly losing their popular young starlet a day later. Where on earth does the franchise go from here?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet given the way <strong>Scream 6</strong> ends... it works as a conclusion to Sam and Tara’s development and relationship with each other. The two of them were first introduced in <strong>Scream 5</strong>, with Tara in the franchise’s traditional role of victim in the cold open: the young girl who gets a phone call while she’s alone in her house at night, which quickly escalates into a full-blown attack by the Ghostface killer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The twist on expectations is that Tara <em>survives</em>. The action then cuts to Sam, who we quickly learn is Tara’s estranged sister, living with her boyfriend and working retail in Modesto. She rushes to her sister’s hospital bed in Woodsboro, where the two of them quickly realize they’re in the eye of the storm when it comes to the township’s latest killing spree. In a somewhat dodgy but still interesting reveal, it turns out that the reason for the sisters’ estrangement (and their parents’ divorce) is that Sam is the illegitimate daughter of Billy Loomis, one of the killers in the original <strong>Scream</strong>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As such, the story is just as much about Sam coming to terms with this potential hereditary darkness within her as it is surviving the rampage of a serial killer, who is clearly very aware of this biological connection with the franchise’s first murderer. It’s a theme that continues in <strong>Scream 6</strong>, which gives time and space to exploring the natural consequences of surviving a mass murder: intense psychological trauma.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The sisters now live in New York, with Tara trying to live life to the fullest and Sam getting trapped inside a paranoid outlook in which anyone and everything could potentially be out to get them. And yes, their relationship is still very strained. But Sam’s overprotectiveness of Tara leads to the inevitable thematic outcome when she eventually trusts her to take care of herself (complete with an echo of her “you have to let me go” admonition), after which the girls call upon their own resourcefulness and strength to take down their assailants.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like I said, there was room for more character exploration here, particularly in the way the sisters are clearly relishing the violence they inflict upon the Ghostface killers (which we are vicariously sharing in). As Sam feared, there is darkness not only in her, but Tara as well.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet in the final scene, Sam casts away her father’s mask and joins her sister and her friends as the sun rises. The Carpenter sisters get to walk away together, having come to terms with their history and their relationship. Like Sydney before them, I hope they enjoy their happy ending – and that the actresses are able to move on to better, more worthy projects. </span></p><p><!-- wp:paragraph -->
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<!-- /wp:paragraph --></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(And hey, a character played by Jenna Ortega gets to be Woman of the Month two months in a row!)</span></p>Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-23577108411397944862023-10-31T12:36:00.012-07:002024-01-15T17:58:51.697-08:00Reading/Watching Log #95<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s the spooky season and along with a glut of scary stories, I decided to apply an EIGHTIES WEREWOLVES THEME to this October. I don’t know what was in the water during that decade, but films in the eighties were rather obsessed with that subject. In 1981 alone, there were no less than three werewolf films.</span></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m a big fan of themed viewing/reading, though it often bites me in the ass when I end up getting tired of whatever subject I’ve decided to focus on. And as it happens, werewolf movies can be strikingly similar in the major narrative beats they hit, and they’re often a metaphor for an individual losing their inhibitions.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are some plot-points that reappear in nearly every film: the fateful bite or wolf attack, a gradual heightening of senses in the recipient of the bite, a few brutal killings, the horrific (and prolonged) transformation sequence, and an opportunity to either reject or embrace the curse.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But in almost every case, turning into a werewolf grants a character a level of freedom and confidence they’ve never experienced before, from the light-hearted <strong>Teen Wolf</strong> (Michael J. Fox suddenly gets popular) to the much darker <strong>Wolf</strong> (Jack Nicolson gains stamina, ruthlessness, and the inexplicable ability to be attractive to Michelle Pfieffer).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But of course, there’s always a price; a reason that werewolfry is referred to as “a curse.” Many of the transformations are painful and grotesque to behold – particularly in <strong>The Howling</strong>, <strong>The Company of Wolves</strong> and <strong>An American Werewolf in London</strong>, and actually <em>being </em>a wolf leads one to massacring innocent people before waking up naked in a strange place with no memory of what you were up to the night before. In such cases any transformation will be framed as a tragedy, in which the protagonist’s identity is at risk of being lost to the wolf persona.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet although the protagonist is usually desperate to stop the transformation in order to save lives (Brigette in <strong>Ginger Snaps: Unleashed</strong>, Karen in <strong>The Howling</strong>), they can just as often find a new lease on life with their new condition (<strong>Wolf</strong>, <strong>The Company of Wolves</strong>, <strong>Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning</strong>). On that note, sometimes becoming a werewolf is an extended metaphor for puberty. Scott’s hair-growth and sex drive in <strong>Teen Wolf</strong> is a very blatant example of this, but <strong>The Company of Wolves</strong> is filled with symbols and motifs that signify Rosaleen’s sexual awakening through an overtly feminine lens.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But if the film’s protagonist is <em>not</em> the werewolf and instead the character trying to <em>hunt </em>the werewolf (as <strong>The Howling</strong>, <strong>Silver Bullet</strong> and <strong>Wolfen</strong>) then any wolf will be portrayed as terrifyingly animalistic and brutal; creatures which simply must be stopped by any means necessary.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And interestingly enough, the idea of a silver bullet being the only thing that can kill a werewolf is seldom used. In fact, <strong>Silver Bullet</strong> (obviously) is the only film that has this be the case. In everything else, normal bullets will suffice.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, this pelthora of werewolf films were interesting to view in quick succession, though I simply don’t have the time to delve deeper into the implications and meaning of the werewolf as a symbol. Mostly it was just fun to revisit the eighties, as the multitude of shows/films that are made today in tribute to that decade don’t really compare to anything actually <em>made</em> in that decade.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I suspect that the surprising amount of werewolf stories made around this time was due to the advances in practical effects that made the transformations so intense and visceral. These days, you’d just run it all through a computer.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale </strong>by Jon Klassen</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsWNhtfRC1IzpUeza3XQizYvgnhtK9wTiH8lK0re_rtKIh0RsBRB72SvXSw6zCFxpO8BdoI-KJ17Rt7klFqXdNt3xv_WzvlJ-G7z_GJuWbXDlYLV5K6cBzrYgVswKC58OFZ-FHFd5umTfW9Kv9qO_aCtWQQ72P63QeMe_kGiZBXvpZIk1hN0dOqdHIC2a/s127/!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="127" data-original-width="96" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsWNhtfRC1IzpUeza3XQizYvgnhtK9wTiH8lK0re_rtKIh0RsBRB72SvXSw6zCFxpO8BdoI-KJ17Rt7klFqXdNt3xv_WzvlJ-G7z_GJuWbXDlYLV5K6cBzrYgVswKC58OFZ-FHFd5umTfW9Kv9qO_aCtWQQ72P63QeMe_kGiZBXvpZIk1hN0dOqdHIC2a/s1600/!!!!.jpg" width="96" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first scary story I ever read was the one about the teeny-tiny woman who finds a bone in the cemetery and takes it home with her. That night she hears a voice whispering: “give me back my bone,” a refrain that grows louder and louder as the voice gets closer and closer until she yells: “take it!” and the story ends.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What was the bone? Who did it belong to? We never find out.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a bizarre story and one that deliberately leaves things unanswered, and I suspect <strong>The Skull</strong> will have the same effect on children as <strong>The Teeny-Tiny Woman</strong> did on me. Matched with the deeply sardonic energy of Jon Klassen, who brought us <strong>I Want My Hat Back</strong> and <strong>Sam and Dave Dig a Hole</strong>, this is quite a macabre story with a warm beating heart.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It begins with Otilla running away – no, <em>finally</em> running away, which suggests an escape from abuse. She runs, she falls, she weeps, she keeps going. She eventually reaches a house where a talking skull in the window says it will let her in on one condition: she carries it around so it no longer has to roll everywhere. She agrees, but does better – she feeds it though it cannot taste, dances with it though it cannot move.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The skull eventually tells her that a skeleton chases it each night, and strangely (though this <i>whole story</i> is strange) it doesn’t want to be caught. So Otilla comes up with a plan...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A lot of the story isn’t in the text at all, but Klassen’s distinct illustrations make their own point. One room in the house has a wall covered in masks that the skull says aren’t to be worn – on the very next page, Otilla is wearing one. Another room holds a portrait of a man the skull identifies as himself in life, but we only see his boots. It’s unclear what the skeleton wants or why the skull doesn’t want to be taken (as it’s easy to presume the skeleton is the skull’s actual body) or why and how there’s a bottomless pit in the dungeons.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And that’s part of the story’s charm: it’s so utterly opaque in its details, caring only about two oddballs finding a place of safety and belonging with each other.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also of note is the author’s afterword, in which he mentions reading the story in a library before making a presentation in Alaska, and rediscovering it a year or so later, only to realize he had mentally rewritten the original tale significantly in the interim. This is <em>his </em>version, as befits the mutability of folktales and Klassen’s quirky imagination.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Wait Till Helen Comes </strong>by Mary Downing Hahn, Scott Peterson, Meredith Laxton and Russ Badgett</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVUnPFxoK70M7WeLNP5u9e8rQvP2Z0593PonB8_21eu-_JW8VVDXquMz1MrHQOgWTsA7e-WfhEs2TZalUHD5d45jm5hlEKJztoiJ3W1d0X5taWte1jTirMI-dyGkEi2tw1NIPcX22Q7FBtz_k6WyWVnSOJLjWWo9AMVHj1KV2l-_OdlANclFOG_loWv2Mg/s116/!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="80" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVUnPFxoK70M7WeLNP5u9e8rQvP2Z0593PonB8_21eu-_JW8VVDXquMz1MrHQOgWTsA7e-WfhEs2TZalUHD5d45jm5hlEKJztoiJ3W1d0X5taWte1jTirMI-dyGkEi2tw1NIPcX22Q7FBtz_k6WyWVnSOJLjWWo9AMVHj1KV2l-_OdlANclFOG_loWv2Mg/s1600/!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mary Downing Hahn, along with Betty Ren Wright, was one of the seminal children’s ghost story writers of the eighties/nineties – though she’s still going strong today! This is her most famous title, which I never read as a child, but managed to absorb through pop-culture osmosis, even in the days before the internet.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hahn and Wright were masters of mingling family drama with supernatural occurrences (the ghost is always a metaphor for troubled family dynamics), with one wound so tightly around the other that when the ghost story is resolved, the family unit can heal or make peace with itself. It’s thanks to these writers that I became genre savvy about ghost stories even as a kid, and so I had feelings of nostalgia for this title even though I’d never actually read it. It was simply THE ghost story of that era.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Alas, it isn’t available in the library catalogue, but there’s been a resurgence in graphic novel adaptations lately (I think we have the success of <strong>The Babysitters Club</strong> comics to thank for this, and I’ve noticed <strong>Sweet Valley Twins</strong> is getting the treatment as well) and so finally I can at least read a <em>version</em> of the original text.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Molly and her younger brother Michael became part of a blended family when their mother married Dave, who is already a father to a little girl called Heather. His wife died in a housefire a few years ago, and Heather isn’t coping well, especially when the adults decide to abruptly leave Baltimore to go and live in a restored church.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s pretty much the start of every single pre-teen ghost story out there: being uprooted from your home, tension within a new family dynamic, a spooky and unfamiliar new setting. Expect a trip to the library to find clues, spooky nighttime occurrences, and absolutely useless parents. That last one is a staple part of the genre; obviously you can’t have responsible adults resolving the situation too quickly!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The family rather uncomfortably settle into their new environment, but Molly and Michael find themselves in constant trouble over Heather, who tells lies about them to get them into trouble, and is soon sneaking out of the house to speak with an imaginary friend called Helen. Only, as I’m sure you’ve surmised, Helen is not imaginary at all.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amusingly, I did start reading with one misconception. I had assumed that “wait till Helen comes” was a shortened take on something like: “we can’t do this yet, we have to wait till Helen comes,” as if something important couldn’t happen without her presence. In fact, it’s more of an explicit threat (which makes far more sense for a ghost story): “wait till Helen comes and then you’ll be sorry.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When it comes to the transition into a visual medium, the artists do pretty well. The colours are atmospheric and the artwork is realistic rather than stylized. The setting has been updated from the eighties – no overt use of cell-phones or anything, but at one point a character mentions they’re living “in the twenty-first century.” A particular challenge would have been threading the needle with the character of Heather, who has to be cute and vulnerable, but also a complete brat (honestly, Molly was a bigger person than me – if I was stuck with this monster of a stepsister, I’d be begging the ghost to drown her in the pond).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The story also deals with some incredibly heavy stuff, as when Molly ponders mortality in the graveyard near her new home: “it was horrible to die, horrible. Just to think of myself ending, being gone from the earth forever, terrified me. I wondered if it might not be better to live on as a ghost; at least some part of Helen remained. I was anxious to get away from the bones buried under my feet but knew I couldn’t get away from the bones under my skin. No matter how fast I ran, they would always be there, always – even when I would no longer be alive to feel them.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hello, existential crisis! Maybe it’s a good thing I <em>didn’t</em> read this as a child.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>A Guest in the House </strong>by Emily Carroll</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcf-zaieTpTpoTvlNA0fgpZfdhks_kWLhRvZiBIBegl4Z9UwgrPPygss_ALG_0naM38rfKUmXxp_IXw4r59qAzAhIx2OzGawMuq0fUJZKg0VbaVwopqCKU3xfEcY4tUCUgmA67pProd0mlfFlmqX5WvHDTzHM1nzGPvf41XGYalk2H7ZUlaHjz_ZBSwSn/s133/!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="96" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcf-zaieTpTpoTvlNA0fgpZfdhks_kWLhRvZiBIBegl4Z9UwgrPPygss_ALG_0naM38rfKUmXxp_IXw4r59qAzAhIx2OzGawMuq0fUJZKg0VbaVwopqCKU3xfEcY4tUCUgmA67pProd0mlfFlmqX5WvHDTzHM1nzGPvf41XGYalk2H7ZUlaHjz_ZBSwSn/s1600/!!!!!.jpg" width="96" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Emily Carroll is one of my favourite writers/illustrators, so this was on hold at the library the moment it appeared on the catalogue. It’s also wonderfully <em>long</em> – a graphic novel in the real sense of the word, with a meaty story to devour over a number of sittings. I didn’t want to rush anything, and ultimately it demands <em>two</em> reads – the first to soak it all in, and the second to better grasp the twist and to parse through what exactly was happening in real life as opposed to what was just in the protagonist’s head.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Abby is a young woman who is recently married to a widowed dentist, a stepmother to his daughter Crystal, lives with them in a house by the lake, and works shifts at the local Valu-Save. She floats through life, acting fairly diffident towards everything around her, which is matched by the novel’s colour scheme: everything is rendered in black and white except for her fantasies, which are in garish colour.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Said fantasies are of herself as a knight in shining armour, with a closed visor and no flesh to be seen: constrained, protected, one might even say – closeted? Like the second Miss de Winter in <strong>Rebecca</strong>, she lives in her predecessor’s shadow, and after seeing some disturbing pictures drawn by her stepdaughter (also in colour), her husband’s first wife Sheila begins appearing to her – though as a dream or as a ghost is difficult to discern.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The clues as to what is going on are strewn throughout, though every page demands your close attention. What really happened to the first wife of Abby’s husband? Was there really a housefire that destroyed all of her possessions? Why is her husband so weird about the lake? What does Crystal know about the whole thing? How do the counterfeit bills mentioned at the Valu-Save fit in? Or do they at all?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally any genre savvy reader will have their eye on Abby’s husband, who looks exactly like a guy in this type of story <em>should</em> look (the bushy moustache is practically its own character) and who behaves in much the same way: not overtly cruel, but relentlessly overbearing and condescending. In many ways it’s a bit like <strong>What Lies Beneath</strong>, that bad Harrison Ford/Michelle Pfieffer vehicle, though it takes an unexpected turn towards the end.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Abby of course, is not your typical heroine. She’s a little overweight, almost painfully introverted, and her mannerisms and body language convey a life of quiet desperation. She’s also an unreliable narrator: she tends to conflate certain things, misremembers a children’s book that her stepdaughter is currently reading, and clearly prefers her imagination to anything going on in the real world. Fantasies like the fairy tale of Rapunzel, a photograph of her dead sister, and Sheila’s painting of a lighthouse all get churn together in the landscape of her mind.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In fact, she’s so wrapped up in her own imaginings that she doesn’t notice what sharp-eyed readers should: that her husband is absent-minded (if he can muddle up the names of his wife and daughter, presumably he can also lose track of the stories he’s told to different people about what happened to his first wife) and the idiosyncrasies of a nosy neighbour (why would she care where a painting is hung, and why does she leap straight to calling Abby’s husband “Dave”?)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It all leads to the question: who exactly is the titular guest of the title? You don’t find out until the book’s final pages, and even though I would have killed for a bit more clarity, I also can’t deny that the last image takes the story out on an unforgettable note.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Kristy and the Secret of Susan </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH18kGXIijIh4MLiM0eOzrKuSFFY8Zdsh3l01EDcytPFV7gn5h5nzGufnJqjG9Bzs55qk1wKlY33-hvmZTe2Y3oFt8HCkOQy75lCq1wCcvnx9A-nI6c8dHmG_xmBsBTc92HCaZCP4UlZ-BJjc0blhOVIqcrDZjPR2db2Xb_ablgFZA8ZDyTaVGbP4XVt7B/s122/!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="122" data-original-width="91" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH18kGXIijIh4MLiM0eOzrKuSFFY8Zdsh3l01EDcytPFV7gn5h5nzGufnJqjG9Bzs55qk1wKlY33-hvmZTe2Y3oFt8HCkOQy75lCq1wCcvnx9A-nI6c8dHmG_xmBsBTc92HCaZCP4UlZ-BJjc0blhOVIqcrDZjPR2db2Xb_ablgFZA8ZDyTaVGbP4XVt7B/s1600/!!!!!!.jpg" width="91" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is one of those Very Special Episodes of <strong>The Babysitters Club</strong>, in which Kristy babysits an autistic girl called Susan Felder. Now, I concede that Anne Martin (who worked with autistic children before becoming a writer) has her heart firmly in the right place and wrote this story with the very best of intentions, but <em>so many</em> things have changed regarding our understanding of people on the spectrum since 1990.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In one of those truly amazing coincidences that sets up the plot from the very first chapter, the babysitters are at a meeting when they a. notice a new family moving into Mary Anne’s old house, and b. simultaneously see a woman and her daughter walking down the street, identified as Mrs Felder and her daughter Susan, who have apparently been living in the neighbourhood this whole time without ever being mentioned before. And what do you know? At that very meeting Kristy gets a call from Mrs Felder to book a regular babysitting job with Susan!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kristy is enthusiastic about meeting a new client with special needs, though is somewhat taken aback at how Susan functions. Martin gives her almost <em>every single</em> autistic trait on record: she doesn’t talk, she stims, she clicks her tongue, she’s doesn’t like to be touched or make eye contact, and she’s a savant when it comes to remembering dates and playing the piano. According to Kristy: “I understood what Mrs Felder <em>wasn’t</em> saying: Susan’s future looked bleak.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Um, yikes. Kristy being Kristy, she decides to help Susan make friends and hopefully convince the Felders not to send her off to a special school, which involves her roping neighbourhood kids into spending time with her, which absolutely nobody – especially Susan herself – wants to do. Eventually some bullies start exploiting Susan’s musical talents by charging money to have other kids go to the Felder house and test her abilities, something Kristy is stupidly slow to catch onto.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The somewhat-connected subplot is the arrival of the Hobarts, a family of Australians that move into Mary Anne’s old house and are bullied for their accents. It’s rather bizarre how the babysitters deal with this, as at one point the bullies are described as “sauntering into the yard”. Um, why are they allowed to walk onto private property with the express purpose of harassing the children that live there? Later, they randomly become friends with their victims when one of the Hobarts demonstrates how well he can karate-chop a crate. What.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, none of the children in this book exhibit anything that actually resembles realistic childlike behaviour.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In short, I spent this entire book wincing, from the repeated use of the word “retard” (though I give Martin a pass for this, as it was the accepted term back then) to the description of children with Down’s syndrome as having “sort of slanted eyes and flattish faces, who are usually docile, affectionate and friendly” (what are they, a breed of dog??) to the fact that at the end of the story, Susan is shipped off to a special school and never seen or heard from again. Oh, and her parents are expecting another child which they plan to call “Hope.” As in, they hope this one isn’t autistic? They mention having several prenatal tests done, which implies they’d rather abort than end up with another autistic child. Yikes.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It does end on a rather sweet note, with Kristy deciding that when she’s grown up she’ll devote her life to helping children like Susan, but I can’t help but wonder what the reissue of this book is going to look like (if they ever get that far). It would have to involve significant rewriting.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Also: Mary Anne and her father moved out of their house and into the Schafer residence because their home would have been too small for four people. But the Hobart family is comprised of two adults and four boys... Just admit it Martin, you didn’t want to give up the house with the secret passage).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Claudia and the Great Search </strong>by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFWarWCkyPXYpqzAWSsn9CDv4Zf2hIxXYNHBTci_nj9i9CS2X6rloNt2R_Slbe63NXMBwOh0QdTjfT58Xs0HzQMM_tBg5nVJuz9v9KYbNUKvJV7QsQqHio-5YFC1z5EmOSODvTE10SZcc-vF63ue9tgTbUcSI9Chz9RnToI1nMrnRX6D3TnAgHT5YO12p/s122/!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="122" data-original-width="91" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFWarWCkyPXYpqzAWSsn9CDv4Zf2hIxXYNHBTci_nj9i9CS2X6rloNt2R_Slbe63NXMBwOh0QdTjfT58Xs0HzQMM_tBg5nVJuz9v9KYbNUKvJV7QsQqHio-5YFC1z5EmOSODvTE10SZcc-vF63ue9tgTbUcSI9Chz9RnToI1nMrnRX6D3TnAgHT5YO12p/s1600/!!!!!!!.jpg" width="91" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This story is profoundly stupid, but in an immensely understandable way. Basically, Claudia comes to the conclusion that she’s adopted due to the fact that she’s nothing like her parents or genius sister, and there are very few baby photos of her in the family album. It’s ludicrous, but what else would you expect from the girl who reads nothing but Nancy Drew novels? Besides, what kid <em>hasn’t </em>pondered the scenario of discovering you were swapped at birth or adopted out as an infant or otherwise don’t belong to the family you were raised in?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I think Claudia is my favourite babysitter partly because her voice is the most distinct of all the other girls, <em>and</em> the funniest. This book opens with her simultaneously looking forward to getting out of science class early and dreading the reason why: she’s attending an awards ceremony at the high school where her sister is getting a special award.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having to deal with gushing teachers, hearing about the troubles of Emily Michelle (Kristy’s adopted Vietnamese sister) at a Babysitters Club meeting, enduring a celebratory dinner in Janine’s honour, and feeling utterly alienated by her parents, all puts her in the right frame of mind to consider the possibility she was adopted. Why doesn’t she appear as an infant in the family albums? Why doesn’t she look or act anything like the rest of her family? Why was there no birth announcement in the local newspaper? What’s in the locked strongbox in the study? (She assumes adoption papers).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her subsequent search defies all logic, but hey – it’s a book for thirteen-year-olds <em>starring</em> a thirteen-year-old. I’m not going to criticize the plot too much since it’s a masterclass in confirmation bias. After a fairly ludicrous investigation involving leaps of logic that could cripple an Olympian long-jumper, Claudia simply <em>asks</em> her parents for the truth and realizes she is <em>not </em>adopted, with all her questions having perfectly logical explanations.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the book’s B-plot, we learn that Emily Michelle isn’t coping very well. She has limited vocabulary, isn’t toilet trained and doesn’t know the basics like shapes or colours. She’s also only two years old, making this the second book in a row that seems to have a minimal understanding of children and their development process. (My nephew is two-and-a-half, is <em>not</em> an adopted child from Vietnam, and also cannot do any of the stuff that the Brewer parents are so worried about – including <em>answering the phone</em>).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, Claudia is called in to be a tutor for Emily Michelle after she impresses Kristy’s mother and stepfather with some of the learning games she played with her while babysitting (weirdly, it doesn’t occur to anyone that Emily Michelle might also benefit from having another Asian-American in her life).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I mentioned before that Claudia is the funniest of the babysitters, and it’s true, as when she’s forced to eat a cake bought in Janine’s honour (“the best part about the cake was that someone had spelt my sister’s name wrong”) or looking through the multitude of photos of her sister as a baby, including one in which she’s holding a magazine (“she was probably <em>reading</em> it”).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is one of the Babysitters Club books that I actually own, and there’s one passage that always stuck with me, when Claudia is trying to teach Emily Michelle colours: “I realized something. I wasn’t teaching Emily colours, I was teaching her how to match. Was this what being a teacher was all about? Guiding someone toward something, step by step? It wasn’t easy. I began to have a little more respect for the teachers at SMS, especially <em>my </em>teachers, who probably had to work harder with me than they did with most other kids.” This is what I mean by Claudia having such a distinct voice, as none of the other girls could have had this insight.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, this is the first book that features Claudia’s Aunt Peaches and Uncle Russ, though I think they’ve been mentioned before (and they’ll figure into more stories later on in the series). Oh, and both this book and <strong>Kristy and the Secret of Susan</strong> draw attention to the fact that Stacey isn’t looking or feeling well. Is there a diabetes-related book coming up in the queue?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Complete Making of Indiana Jones </strong>by J.W. <a>Rinzler</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFiqJL_PAzJ7fKEj-y-LFHLdqzF8lCZiaz8JELzn0Ur9wVRx9yLL4_YGW15NZXGKKdr0MpRMAP3oSwAuptaDjrWLKzmZOyLRZ-IP0JXjj2tqv5FDAmoqQldsuaqtS7yg5HDQ2cOa4raVpXLKmCtsf82sva6ii7rSGPXC0ltJP1Uiq1QnYTg8wyniiLZfi/s100/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="91" data-original-width="100" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFiqJL_PAzJ7fKEj-y-LFHLdqzF8lCZiaz8JELzn0Ur9wVRx9yLL4_YGW15NZXGKKdr0MpRMAP3oSwAuptaDjrWLKzmZOyLRZ-IP0JXjj2tqv5FDAmoqQldsuaqtS7yg5HDQ2cOa4raVpXLKmCtsf82sva6ii7rSGPXC0ltJP1Uiq1QnYTg8wyniiLZfi/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="100" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As part of my ongoing run-through of the entire <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> franchise (including its best computer game) I ended up browsing through this tome of a book, which covers the making of the first four films. There’s not much to say: it’s filled with lots of colour photographs of movie stills, promotional material and behind-the-scenes footage, with the occasional two-page spread that features the scripts and transcribed conversations between Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan on what each film would actually involve, <a href="https://indiefilmhustle.com/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-story-conference-transcript/">including the famous story conference</a> for <strong>Raiders</strong>. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's pretty straightforward, though I can offer some of my favourite tidbits from each film. That aforementioned story conference had each man contribute something significant (obviously Lucas had the premise, but Spielberg pitched Indy’s fear of snakes, while Kasdan named Marion Ravenwood after his wife’s grandmother and a street in California) and plenty of the ideas thrown about in that meeting were used in later films: an action sequence in Shanghai and a mine cart race with the Ark, for example.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kasdan’s original script was so dark that it implied Marion was prostituting herself to survive, and for a while he toyed with the idea of “fake out” final credits: the film would end with the Ark obliterating the Nazis and presumably Indy and Marion as well, followed by the credits starting to roll over an empty bay, and then – gotcha! Our heroes emerge safely from the water. This was perhaps a bit too meta for 1981.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There were also a lot of other characters that were eventually removed or streamlined, and amusingly, the script was allowed to refer to “Marcus Brody” or “Marcus,” but never just “Brody” due to a real museum administrator of that name working at the time. Of course, there’s mention of the fact that Lucas envisioned Marion as being only eleven years old when she and Indy started a sexual relationship, and with that in mind, it’s merciful that the film cut a scene in which Indy “entertains” a student in his private apartments.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's interesting to note that Spielberg deliberately tried to tamp down on his own perfectionist inclinations during the filming of <strong>Raiders</strong>, allowing shots to be “good enough” before moving on, while still taking especially care with what he considered the main production-value scenes: the Peruvian jungle opening, the Well of Souls, and the opening of the Ark. This is probably just as well considering they filmed during Tunisia’s hottest summer in twenty-nine years in which <em>everyone</em> got sick. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ever wonder how Sallah escaped the Nazis at Tanis? Apparently, a real-life German teenager who was vacationing at the time was roped into filming a scene in which he was ordered to execute Sallah, and instead let him go. It’s a pity the footage has never turned up, though there are some stills featured in the book.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Another cut scene (or at least snippet of dialogue) revealed the fact that the Hovitos kept their idol and Belloq was lucky to get away with his life – and given this franchise’s unfortunate implications when it comes to their portrayal of indigenous cultures, it’s a shame that was deleted. Another fun fact is that the sound of the Ark closing is actually... wait for it... a toilet tank cover clanging shut.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When it comes to the quirky of shooting scenes out of order, it turns out that the last sequence shot was the opening one in Peru, which actually worked in Harrison Ford’s favour since by this point he had a handle on the character and could go into the introductory scenes all guns-a-blazing. Likewise, <strong>Temple of Doom</strong> shot the village’s celebratory parent/child reunions <em>first</em> since it was easier to defoliate the place than beautify it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Temple also had a few deleted scenes, the most important being one in which Short Round realizes that pain wakes the cultists from their mind-control, and the most poignant being that Mola Ram was meant to “wake up” in the moments before his death. Due to the documentaries of a while back, I already knew that the bridge collapse had to be taken in one shot (and therefore <em>had</em> to be perfect) though I was unaware that Spielberg attempted to make sure every sequence had at least two more activities happening simultaneously: for example, the grotesque dinner is juxtaposed with Indy sharing exposition with the Prime Minister, while Indy and Shortie in the collapsing room is naturally intercut with Willie grappling through the bugs.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Speaking of, Kate Capshaw had real trouble with all the wildlife in this film, to the point where she took a relaxant to get through the bug scene, while another involving her getting a python wrapped around her was scrapped entirely (in compensation, she grit her teeth and did the whole “Willie grabs a snake thinking it’s an elephant trunk” in one take).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, she spent weeks practicing the steps of the dance in the opening number, only for the dress to be too tight for her to participate!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was completely unaware that Harrison Ford took <em>seven weeks off</em> due to back trouble, and I’m impressed that his absence doesn’t register at all in the finished film (the magic of editing, I suppose). I always found myself impressed all over again by the ingenuity of practical effects: when Mola Ram holds the heart up in his hand, you can see it beating thanks to a small electric motor concealed inside, and when it catches on fire the actor doesn’t wince due to the fact it’s a fake arm. These days all this would be done on a computer, and yet the effect is completely seamless.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There was surprisingly little that I found memorable about the making of <strong>The Last Crusade</strong>, beyond the fact that Spielberg always wanted Sean Connery for the role of Henry Jones Senior due to his disappointment he never got the chance to direct a James Bond film, but there was a lot more to say about <strong>The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was George Lucas who pushed for the sci-fi angle, while Spielberg uneasily described it as “genre-mixing,” which I thought was quite interesting given the aliens were a point of major contention among the fans. (Though we can be profoundly grateful they didn’t go with their first title: <strong>Indiana Jones and the Saucermen from Mars</strong>).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I had a bit of a d’oh moment when the book points out Mutt was called as such because it was a clue to his true identity as Indy’s son (the pair of them having been named after a dog) though a little disappointed that he was originally going to be Indy’s <em>daughter</em>, as per the canon of the <strong>Young Indiana Jones </strong>television show. Spielberg vetoed that because he had only recently worked on <strong>The Lost World</strong>, which heavily featured a father/daughter relationship.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The producer Frank Marshall notes his embarrassment with the fact that they had called Indy’s university Marshall College on a whim back in <strong>Raiders</strong>, only for <em>this</em> movie to shoot extensively on its campus – which meant all manner of fake signs and slogans had to go up with Marshall’s name on them.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There was also a funny anecdote about the logistics of the infamous “nuking the fridge” sequence: “I don’t think people know how much time goes into selecting something as simple as a fridge. You need one that’s going to work in terms of Harrison being able to climb inside it, but it can’t be anything too weird, and stylistically it has to be perfect. Then for legal purposes, we had to invent a new company for the chrome plaque on the refrigerator. Plus, the back had to come off, and extensions were made so Harrison could go through the back and come out the front. It was actually quite a big character piece.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's an insightful read, though approximately half the page-count is given over to <strong>Raiders</strong>, which is clearly where most of Rinzler’s interest lies. Amusingly, the book also makes mention of the fact that the franchise was originally conceived as part of a five-picture deal – now that this vision has finally come to fruition, will there be an updated edition of this book that includes <strong>The Dial of Destiny</strong>?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Killers of the Flower Moon </strong>by David Grann</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPT7m84auYwD7BQFX6SoCl6KsEOj0A5-pLh3OX4Dhw4LgcbB6YW1eL_HJWqleWYOCvAWUkMK78WzYIMgwew-l7vi0JKTojcxnHYsFMaEedQ-9voq_CMYTSj4JEVYiXBlNaqRWBSeMC2M3mJfP3lSSj-oTfJ3tjXPAVtBa3zLzQMPJGgvUz_Ft_zLugMb8n/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPT7m84auYwD7BQFX6SoCl6KsEOj0A5-pLh3OX4Dhw4LgcbB6YW1eL_HJWqleWYOCvAWUkMK78WzYIMgwew-l7vi0JKTojcxnHYsFMaEedQ-9voq_CMYTSj4JEVYiXBlNaqRWBSeMC2M3mJfP3lSSj-oTfJ3tjXPAVtBa3zLzQMPJGgvUz_Ft_zLugMb8n/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My sister lent me this after I accidentally locked myself out of my house (long story) and I devoured most of it while waiting for a spare key to arrive. Knowing that a Martin Scorsese film was in development certainly piqued my interest, though I found out afterwards that David Grann was also the author of <strong>The Devil and Sherlock Holmes</strong>, a book of non-fiction articles/essays that I also really enjoyed reading a few years ago.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You probably know the gist of this by now – after oil is found on the land where the Osage tribe was forcibly settled, they unexpectedly become some of the wealthiest people per capita <em>in the world</em>. (In one of those fascinating bits of historical connectivity, these were the very people Laura Ingalls witnessed as a child taking their enforced journey in <strong>Little House on the Prairie</strong>). Astounding fortune was certainly <em>not</em> the American government’s plan when the Osage were sent there, and unsurprisingly, great wealth did very little to protect them when the vultures started circling, who had no qualms whatsoever about laying claim to their wealth by whatever means necessary.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a difficult read for obvious reasons, as page after page details the Osage being killed in order to bring the headrights under white control (the scheme was to take advantage of the legal system of inheritance by getting a family member to marry an Osage woman, then pick off <em>her</em> family so that all the headrights came to her – at which point they could dispatch of her as well). This meant a staggering number of people were found dead, either in “tragic accidents” or obvious execution-style killings.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can’t even imagine how terrifying this would have been for surviving family members, and the first part of the book captures this atmosphere of horror and fear, from the death of Mollie Burkhart’s sister to the disappearance of an attorney who was thrown from a train in the dead of night, on his way to present evidence of conspiracy to the Osage county sheriff.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The second half of the book deal with the government response to the killings once they became too widespread and notorious to ignore. J. Edgar Hoover, wanting to create a law enforcement bureau and justify its existence to the country, sent in Tom White, a former Texas Ranger, to investigate the murders and bring the culprits to justice, which – as the book’s subtitle says – formed the genesis of the FBI. In due course, the mastermind behind the killings is found (I won’t give it away, though if you’ve seen the movie trailers, you probably already know).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the audacity and corruption and sheer self-justification is staggering. I still can’t quite believe it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It ends with David Grann interviewing the descendants of those that were killed, and the terrible history they carry with them (it’s also eye-opening to realize just how <em>recent</em> all this was. Some of the major players in the drama died in the seventies). It’s clear that even though some of the killers were brought to justice, the exploitation of the Osage people was practically a cottage industry. <em>Everyone</em> was aware of the monetary gain in marrying an Osage woman and reaping the benefits of the headright system, and there’s no way of truly knowing just who was responsible for what deaths.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve already seen some of the reactions to the film (especially regarding whose perspectives are favoured) but I’m going to have to watch it regardless. It’s just too compelling a history.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Cruel as the Grave </strong>by Sharon Penman</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKLiKWtei06ThmFj3u_wkB1QoWsT88uI-ihR8l1SMhyphenhyphen1IrpzgzRBanMm9wk7WlAsVpiEt-pXvLBbsz0X1s2jQ6baoQg5FkGVMln7u2ZXPlUg0cj2nLHHwIXQY4Jqp2jinwk-lq8qxLo_oPpQJFZWhbxTQ6KlU0ueHJ35lxMpJeUCH1A-uiVfsjMrxlMZ3/s129/!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="83" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKLiKWtei06ThmFj3u_wkB1QoWsT88uI-ihR8l1SMhyphenhyphen1IrpzgzRBanMm9wk7WlAsVpiEt-pXvLBbsz0X1s2jQ6baoQg5FkGVMln7u2ZXPlUg0cj2nLHHwIXQY4Jqp2jinwk-lq8qxLo_oPpQJFZWhbxTQ6KlU0ueHJ35lxMpJeUCH1A-uiVfsjMrxlMZ3/s1600/!!.jpg" width="83" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is the second of Sharon Penman’s Justin de Quincey novels, foregoing her usual historical tomes in favour of focusing on an entirely original character solving mysteries against the backdrop of King Richard’s imprisonment in Austria and his mother Queen Eleanor’s attempts to free him – while also trying to get a handle on the mercurial nature of her younger son Prince John.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The bastard-born Justin has only recently discovered that the man he considered his patron is actually his father, and the first book detailed the twist of fate that led him into the employ of the Queen Mother. Now he works as her messenger and spy, navigating the fraught politics at court while solving mysteries for the commonfolk on the side. It’s a somewhat uneven combination of plots, as one subject has very little to do with the other, but Penman is a solid writer who thankfully doesn’t get bogged down in the minutia of what it was like to live in the Middle Ages (some feel the need to include every scrap of their research in the text, no matter how irrelevant). These are quick, entertaining reads.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">While Queen Eleanor attempts to forge an understanding with her youngest son, whom she suspects of plotting against her eldest, Justin is called in to assist a friend whose nephews are suspects in a murder case. A pretty Welsh peddler called Melangell has been found dead in a graveyard, her wounds and torn clothing suggesting a rape gone wrong.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The sons of a local merchant, Geoffrey and Daniel, are the most obvious culprits, as both were romantically entangled with the girl and had reason to do away with her – Geoffrey to protect his engagement to a girl of higher standing, and Daniel out of jealousy that she loved his brother. Justin begins to ask questions of the family, only to be called away with a missive from the Queen: to break into the siege of Windsor Castle and deliver a message to Prince John in the hopes of bringing the stalemate to a close.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As stated, the two plots have very little to do with each other, and it’s clear that Penman is constructing a longer narrative involving Justin’s entanglements with regular characters like Prince John, the courtier Claudine, and the Queen’s spy Durand, within the format of standalone mysteries. It makes for almost episodic reading, like a television show that has a “case of the week” merged with a seasonal story-arc.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the prose is good, the mysteries intriguing, and the historical backdrop imminently fascinating. Penman says in her afterword that she likes nothing more than to write about Queen Eleanor and her brood, and you can tell in the way she delves into the complexities of the royal family’s relationship with each other. In this case, Eleanor wants to protect her youngest son from harm while raising funds for her eldest, knowing one brother deeply resents the other and any attempt to prevent him from usurping the throne might well be pointless if Richard doesn’t survive his imprisonment. What a family.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In comparison, Justin’s difficulties with his father are much simpler, but he makes for a worthy protagonist in his determination to seek out justice for those who are otherwise ignored by the law (in this case, a Welsh peddler’s daughter). I’m looking forward to the next two books.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>By Rowan and Yew </strong>by Melissa Harrison</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4vuLRg3xxYt6seiXeAFA7BIXNy5v9CzbnEF-9L6yh4sSMxrYhj2kBLXBb9oltYyK8AjGKoB6yh0m_OY5DiPMqWrs6Nc97x0lAhYijf2BKIbD6BGKWqGqirtlud_qH-TfGbSaoegz24NjUny7JVtgPc-HC61yfJZQxFOYPgI0l9rDDEon97QYqPb7FTZu/s129/!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="82" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4vuLRg3xxYt6seiXeAFA7BIXNy5v9CzbnEF-9L6yh4sSMxrYhj2kBLXBb9oltYyK8AjGKoB6yh0m_OY5DiPMqWrs6Nc97x0lAhYijf2BKIbD6BGKWqGqirtlud_qH-TfGbSaoegz24NjUny7JVtgPc-HC61yfJZQxFOYPgI0l9rDDEon97QYqPb7FTZu/s1600/!!!.jpg" width="82" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was a holdover from last month’s reading list, the sequel to <strong>By Ash, Oak and Thorn</strong>, in which the Hidden Folk are forced to leave their home after the toppling of their tree in a storm, to seek out their own kind and hopefully discover the reason why some of them are turning invisible.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having found house-dwelling Hobs at the end of the last book, they now concentrate on getting home again, with a plan to save themselves and their communities by sharing their existence with children and fostering in them a love for nature. It’s fine for what it is, but so many other books have captured that “cottagecore” vibe so much better, and it’s entirely missing the spiritual awe that should always be present when deities like Pan are invoked.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The main characters, who are meant to be thousands upon thousands of years old, act more like children with all the hand-holding and hugging they engage in, and the wordplay of the title is just *cringe*. It’s part of an ancient prophecy that says things will be restored “by rowan and yew,” which turns out to mean Rowan, the little girl the Hidden Folk befriend who is referred to as “Ro”, and you. Yes, YOU. By helping the wildlife in your neighbourhood, you can stop the Hidden Folk from permanently becoming invisible (also, you can bring Tinkerbell back to life by clapping your hands).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Look, I feel a bit mean for criticizing such a harmless book, but at the end of the day it’s been done before and much better elsewhere.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Long Lankin</strong> by Lindsey Barraclough</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08CtSKRpSzLxV-AVCdnLS6pRwgO7hduSv6_JkciSQdmeLmJkiqvYdU_xdHhDEAt5pHHTHDOvUubZWcgHlQOWnlh_gLKpgvUUXEw9rCc1w1FEngc5GvGWt8t2VPeZTzh5mK426E8PNUMyJ_y9lAgJYMsmj1xx2MC5csok2diFhuDhyrNduv2edhOpSealV/s127/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="127" data-original-width="80" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08CtSKRpSzLxV-AVCdnLS6pRwgO7hduSv6_JkciSQdmeLmJkiqvYdU_xdHhDEAt5pHHTHDOvUubZWcgHlQOWnlh_gLKpgvUUXEw9rCc1w1FEngc5GvGWt8t2VPeZTzh5mK426E8PNUMyJ_y9lAgJYMsmj1xx2MC5csok2diFhuDhyrNduv2edhOpSealV/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I feel like I didn’t do this book justice, as I ended up speed-reading it at times – not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but because I kept getting distracted by other stuff going on. So I’m going to have to read it again sometime, as it was an intriguing and atmospheric story, apparently based on a read ballad/folktale, which is totally my jam. Tonally, it reminded me a lot of Joseph Delaney’s <strong>Spook’s Apprentice</strong> series (in that it doesn’t hold back on the horror) and Anne Pilling’s range of ghost stories (in regards to the sheer levels of oppressive foreboding that permeates every page).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a post-war England, Cora and her little sister Mimi are sent to stay with their great-aunt Ida in the village of Bryers Guerdon. Their welcome is not a warm one, as Aunt Ida is inexplicably horrified at the thought of two little girls staying in her home, claiming it’s because she lives so near the marshlands, but obviously holding something back. And yet, she has little choice but to let them in.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As is the way in ghost stories, Cora begins to gather clues from the house and surrounding grounds: a grim painting of an autocratic-looking man, the strains of a lullaby sung in an upstairs bedroom, the mutterings of an elderly neighbour, strange words scrawled in Latin throughout an abandoned chapel, the distant figure of a man lurking in the graveyard...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Befriending a local village boy called Roger and his little brother Pete, the children attempt to figure out what exactly is going on at Bryers Guerdon, and what it has to do with an old song that begins: “Said my lord to my lady, as he mounted his horse: ‘Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss.’”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The format is unusual in that it’s not divided into chapters, but shortish segments told from the points-of-view of either Cora, Roger, or Aunt Ida. In a clever move, each one of these characters is privy to information or perspectives that the others aren’t, and it’s up to the reader to connect all the dots – though the constant switching between the three of them can get a little discombobulating at times. Sometimes their segments only last a couple of paragraphs before the story switches to someone else.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But it beautifully creates an atmosphere: the post-WWII era, the ancient buildings, the dangerous marshlands, the heavy sense of dread that lies over Bryers Guerdon – and when the blinkers come off and the monster makes itself known, it’s genuinely terrifying. I should have savoured it more.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Scarecrow </strong>by Danny Weston</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5DbuETt6JouTRBv6PlYXtxjilSQ0Z-uEPgMSKTtqji_vC-INVAUyDsIW2AWUFsqr1KjzHBqlFn593gaBaaxLs8ElVtmsKKS8hEdViVt9x0nScHn1_Lq3u4eBRKpriZbPbLpuhl1DBnL5kCkxRwkypgweNF4Nv6orUUuVhMqFxIz7ZUglB7I5dBucHWSJ/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5DbuETt6JouTRBv6PlYXtxjilSQ0Z-uEPgMSKTtqji_vC-INVAUyDsIW2AWUFsqr1KjzHBqlFn593gaBaaxLs8ElVtmsKKS8hEdViVt9x0nScHn1_Lq3u4eBRKpriZbPbLpuhl1DBnL5kCkxRwkypgweNF4Nv6orUUuVhMqFxIz7ZUglB7I5dBucHWSJ/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This book features what is quite possibly the most misleading cover and blurb I’ve ever come across in a book. Obviously with cover art like that, you’re going to safely assume that the living scarecrow is the monster of the book, when in fact the exact <i>opposite</i><em> </em>is true – and that’s not even a reveal left to the end of the story. He makes friends with the protagonist almost straight away, and there’s very little doubt over whether or not he’s a good ‘un.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jack’s father comes to him one evening and inexplicably tells him to pack his things – they’re going on a holiday. He’s bewildered, especially since it’s a school night and they end up driving into Scotland, hiding out at a friend’s lodge in the remote highlands. It’s only once they’re there that his father confesses what’s going on: he’s exposed the names of several inside traders at work, making him a whistleblower. Now he’s afraid that they’re coming for him.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The father/son duo aren’t very good at staying undercover, and Jack is concerned about running out of his medication – even more so when he sees a scarecrow in a nearby paddock grab a crow and stuff it in his mouth. Going out to prove himself it was just his imagination, he’s stunned to strike up a conversation with the scarecrow, who calls himself Philbert.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There is only a little ambiguity around whether it’s all in Jack’s mind or not, especially when no one else is around to see Philbert move or speak. But then things take dark turn when it becomes apparent that the men sent after Jack’s father have found them, leading to a variation of <strong>Die Hard</strong> in the Scottish Highlands when he’s taken hostage. Jack is left following the instructions of a talking scarecrow to take out the rest of the men and free his father.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's not bad, just so completely not what you’d expect, or what the blurb describes. There are a few puzzling aspects strewn throughout – for instance, everyone seems to know Philbert’s name automatically, almost <em>magically</em>, suggesting it has some added significance... but nope, it’s just a name. There’s also a little bit of insight given into how Philbert was made and why, though it’s odd that he appears to Jack and not the person he was actually constructed to protect.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a quick, fun read but not remotely scary, as aside from chomping down on a few birds, Philbert is less off-putting than Worzel Gummidge. “Humans are the real monsters” and all that.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Haunting of Jessop Rise </strong>by Danny Weston</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPy4QOaGp9c3-2s8bkIx6frWtwBCaJn71bJvjoCtNos3L1GvcD1eD1UewV6D8fAvoaGYyG44sihnt7sZlbo4nVmldbRo3C30tFhoOS5IAP08MSr1P2nYMx8O8HqyGUEnw8cimTy28cZwRNjp2wKwp_ZxiQsDXsw6H6YLiFTbjCQumGOuB4zbrWnv8NFJAC/s120/!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPy4QOaGp9c3-2s8bkIx6frWtwBCaJn71bJvjoCtNos3L1GvcD1eD1UewV6D8fAvoaGYyG44sihnt7sZlbo4nVmldbRo3C30tFhoOS5IAP08MSr1P2nYMx8O8HqyGUEnw8cimTy28cZwRNjp2wKwp_ZxiQsDXsw6H6YLiFTbjCQumGOuB4zbrWnv8NFJAC/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was probably my favourite of the three Weston books I read this month, though the ending is rather dire. It starts out pretty well: it’s 1853 and after the death of his father in a factory accident, William learns of his uncle Seth who lives in a remote mansion in Wales. With no other way to get there, he walks. On the night of his arrival, he briefly speaks with a cloaked and shrouded woman who watches the house of Jessop Rise.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Getting a cold reception from his uncle and his step-cousin Toby (that is, his uncle’s stepson) William starts to work in the house as a servant – Toby’s valet in fact. This seems somewhat inappropriate, and yet he has no other recourse. Making friends with Mrs Craddock the housekeeper, Idris the stablehand and Rhiannon the scullery maid (like Rhona in <strong>Scarecrow</strong>, she’s another redhead – it seems Weston has a type) he gradually starts to settle in.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But he can’t shake the fact that something is <em>wrong</em> here: his possessions keep moving, he hears whispers when he’s alone at night, and is haunted by the lingering mystery of Toby’s mother, Seth’s wife, who simply disappeared one day and was never seen again.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's all very atmospheric and unsettling, at least until the final pages when things fall to pieces. Essentially, William confronts his uncle with his suspicions, who then goes on a detailed chapter-length confession/rant, and eventually starts laughing maniacally while telling his nephew he’s going to kill him for knowing too much. Why would William confront him in this way? Why would Seth confess all? Apparently because we’ve reached the end of the book and Weston can’t think of a more organic way of wrapping it all up.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And it’s a pity since the story was great before that, and finishes on a strong note with the dead coming to take their vengeance on the living via the use of a carefully-seeded ring of standing stones. It’s just a shame about that awkward, detailed, too-long and completely absurd confrontation/confession scene.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Inchtinn: Island of Shadows</strong> by Danny Weston</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6sKZB04DDLlAEMVFJE0Q2qcniW_sppBaKa8eyEc_ilpMteoMbi0PlfxRb6Mpjzbau-Pzrg2lFgxsk9X3I31_vQCn_XEqAneMbePcjtqpOv-1wWYo3emFAkRwcFPQotbC9Zq4Pucw-uTmyM6NlmDY2XdcnJ59dKyJGojYNNsNJq4dwYC6i9PpTwzIGdIXD/s120/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6sKZB04DDLlAEMVFJE0Q2qcniW_sppBaKa8eyEc_ilpMteoMbi0PlfxRb6Mpjzbau-Pzrg2lFgxsk9X3I31_vQCn_XEqAneMbePcjtqpOv-1wWYo3emFAkRwcFPQotbC9Zq4Pucw-uTmyM6NlmDY2XdcnJ59dKyJGojYNNsNJq4dwYC6i9PpTwzIGdIXD/s1600/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Another period drama, this one set just after World War II, during which Noah’s father was killed in action. His mother, a children’s book writer, has suffered writer’s block in the wake of her husband’s death, and in an attempt to get her creative juices flowing again, has hired out a cabin on a small island called Inchtinn off the coast of Scotland, which used to be a leper colony. The name of the place translates to “Island of the Sick.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, Noah isn’t very keen, especially since he’s terrified of the water. Not helping are all the salty seadogs who insist the island is a strange and haunted place, where one of the previous inhabitants killed himself from leaping off a cliff.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a very atmospheric book, but one that’s made up of a lot of moving parts that never quite mesh together properly. There’s Noah’s recurring nightmare about a terrible sea monster in the bay, and the history of the old leper hospital, and a strange girl living in a cave, and the ornithologist/hermit somewhere on the island, and the diary of the man who killed himself.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It turns out that the ghost haunting the place is the descendant of the man who originally ran the leper hospital, who was basically a Jeremiah Springfield: remembered as a great, noble man, but actually a liar and a fraud. For some reason, this caused his descendant to kill himself (why? It’s not his fault!) and become an angry ghost who attacks Noah’s mother. Again, why? Even stranger, his ghost is never laid to rest – it’s still floating around somewhere by the end of the book.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The girl in the cave ends up being... a selkie? Or a ghost that can possess seals? It’s unclear. Likewise is the fact that Noah is adopted, a detail that’s unnecessary to the story and never figures into it in any way. I suppose there are plenty of adopted kids out there whose biological parentage isn’t an issue, but it was odd for the story to bring it up so regularly without it having any relevance.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Altogether it’s just a very strange, piecemeal sort of story. My favourite bit was the fact that Noah’s mother Millicent is clearly an expy of Enid Blyton, who writes children’s books called “The Adventurers” that feature young siblings who catch smugglers and drink lashings of ginger beer and say “jolly good” a lot. Noah hates them, and finds himself in a strange competition with Douglas (the Julian expy) who he despises for being his mother’s perfect “dream son.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At one point he has a dream about these fictional characters coming into his bedroom and chiding him, and I honestly wish the story had involved more material like this. It reminded me a little of Lev Grossman’s <strong>The Magicians</strong> and that odd reality of the Chatwin children.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Howling </strong>(1981)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmpe8MCNDWJfZJJ0UgIhxdt7F63VCL8vkKv4NwD5tpKpHC3dh3-bDj4eq1AuilQyT101eC89XuShIaH_NMnhNXo3_mYIcvLuUWwzmiFFBPjtiFLrs41vM-XFwTAEzcx-HCqRlYfLt3c5_JTFivK5xMvLN4WP7-So9hbcL7UW8obMl_1hYdNrgU0gXV23p/s140/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="90" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmpe8MCNDWJfZJJ0UgIhxdt7F63VCL8vkKv4NwD5tpKpHC3dh3-bDj4eq1AuilQyT101eC89XuShIaH_NMnhNXo3_mYIcvLuUWwzmiFFBPjtiFLrs41vM-XFwTAEzcx-HCqRlYfLt3c5_JTFivK5xMvLN4WP7-So9hbcL7UW8obMl_1hYdNrgU0gXV23p/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So begins my October viewing of werewolf movies from the eighties (and one from the nineties, see below). I didn’t watch this one first, but I went in considering <strong>The Howling</strong> to be the Big Kahuna, knowing that it was a cult classic, that it spawned a million sequels, and that it was considered good – not <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoBadItsGood">So Bad It’s Good</a>, but actually <em>good</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So I wasn’t totally prepared for the <em>strangeness</em> of this movie, though the plot hangs together surprisingly well, as does its overt themes of repression and the way television has desensitized us to pretty much everything.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dee Wallace (the mum from <strong>E.T.</strong>!) is a news anchor called Karen White who has been stalked for some time by Eddie Quist, a serial killer known as the Mangler. The screenplay does a great job in the opening act of conveying the situation: she’s going to meet him in person while retaining contact with her colleagues at the station and the police. The necessary exposition is woven into the conversations and actions taken by the characters, and it’s a fairly riveting sequence as a result.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">After that, it gets a bit silly. The confrontation ends with Eddie shot dead and Karen traumatized, being unable to remember anything that happened in the porn booth where the meeting took place. Finding it impossible to bounce back into her news-reading role, she’s advised by her therapist George Waggner to attend counselling in an isolated commune called the Colony with her husband, while her friends/co-workers Terry and Chris continue to investigate Eddie, whose body has disappeared from the morgue.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is naturally only the <em>start </em>of their ordeal, and things devolve into terror and panic as the characters uncover the secrets at the Colony. Spoiler alert: <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SarcasmMode">it involves werewolves</a>, and though Eddie’s big practical-effects transformation into a werewolf is the film’s highlight, it also asks us to believe that Karen just <em>stands</em> there for three minutes watching it happen.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The movie toes the line between dark comedy and overt horror, though I’m not sure what tone its final scene (in which Karen deliberately turns into a werewolf on live television as a warning to viewers before being shot) is trying to hit, especially with the montage of viewers reacting with nothing more than bemusement.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>An American Werewolf in London</strong> (1981)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxV-Anba06kN0cDs89rVmprIiMobv3yRo1eL-0vUjvd8U8ZaqkaWWH2JaNjZaLE6yw9OxcfFoGF9rNNjT7FnIGlqfIYSnbYTFIEEMDUoj-JKzSzYQAM9gTRubFerSnynpR8RetiIhky1RP6ncoUKW34UX2r3gow7amQxsxSJkZAMSTpShzGaBOnAcJhkko/s145/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="145" data-original-width="93" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxV-Anba06kN0cDs89rVmprIiMobv3yRo1eL-0vUjvd8U8ZaqkaWWH2JaNjZaLE6yw9OxcfFoGF9rNNjT7FnIGlqfIYSnbYTFIEEMDUoj-JKzSzYQAM9gTRubFerSnynpR8RetiIhky1RP6ncoUKW34UX2r3gow7amQxsxSJkZAMSTpShzGaBOnAcJhkko/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="93" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was absolutely not what I expected. I knew it was a dark comedy and that it was safe to assume it involved a. an American who b. goes to London and c. becomes a werewolf, but this was... I’m not really sure what to make of it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">David and Jack are two friends backpacking across the Northern English countryside, stopping at a pub and getting weirded out by the vaguely hostile demeanour of the locals. Opting to leave, they’re warned not to go out on the moors – so of course, that’s where they end up, where one is killed by a terrifying beast and the other bitten.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">David wakes up in the hospital three weeks later, haunted by violent dreams and visions, but somewhat distracted by a beautiful nurse who (like so many women in these movies) finds him attractive despite the multitude of red flags that are being frantically waved all around him.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Urged to kill himself by the increasingly terrifying visions of his dead friend, who claims he’s been infected by the werewolf curse, it’s only a matter of time before the full moon rises...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a reasonably fun, albeit random movie (what was up with the child in hospital who kept saying “no” to everything? Or the congratulatory message to Prince Charles and Diana Spencer on the occasion of their wedding at the end of the credits?) though there’s a lot of emphasis on the <em>dark</em> part of the comedy. Like a lot of these movies, I’m a little bamboozled by its popularity, but that’s the thing about cult classics – you really had to be there.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nobody acts like a rational person (Londoners keep running <em>toward</em> disturbances involving armed policemen) and some of the funniest bits have nothing whatsoever to do with the story itself (at one point the characters are watching a porn movie, which involves a guy interrupting the lovers and accusing the woman of cheating on him, after which he apologies and leaves after she points out she’s never seen him before in her life). I also give points to Doctor Hirsch, played by John Woodvine, who retains po-faced seriousness throughout the lunacy of the events he’s wandered into.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then it just ends. It just ends <em>so hard</em>. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The special effects are impressive though (special-effects artist Rick Baker also worked on <strong>The Howling</strong>) and damn was Jenny Agutter a beautiful woman in her youth.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Wolfen</strong> (1981)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpH3-4sSfFH4CRaVfPRcC0UR0fxEmmJRBcIKkNkt_7Rkq1CHJd0qyVQQI1u3_sAWM0_yDGQkB3URQGvGmBEOmgtHBx1NBbEQp92WUCoPEiu2PMlndcQRYtbP7TsHTk0nwB22wnZXnzHTXUtW__agjq_tKw405JcONRww0t4D6oWzS2V_276kvnfcbTLLB1/s126/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="88" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpH3-4sSfFH4CRaVfPRcC0UR0fxEmmJRBcIKkNkt_7Rkq1CHJd0qyVQQI1u3_sAWM0_yDGQkB3URQGvGmBEOmgtHBx1NBbEQp92WUCoPEiu2PMlndcQRYtbP7TsHTk0nwB22wnZXnzHTXUtW__agjq_tKw405JcONRww0t4D6oWzS2V_276kvnfcbTLLB1/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="88" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of the three werewolf movies released in 1981, this is definitely the least-known, though it’s also become something of a cult classic in the intervening years, and is especially notable for its extensive use of thermographic vision to depict the point-of-view of the wolves hunting their prey. Six years later, <strong>The Predator</strong> would make it really popular, but <strong>Wolfen</strong> definitely got there first.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s also fairly impressive (for its day) in its inclusion of various Black and First Nation characters. Granted, a lot of them are stereotypes or killed off, but there’s certainly a lot more diversity here than in <em>any</em> of the other movies I watched this month, and its sole female character is a respected criminal psychologist.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It starts with the deaths of two millionaire socialites and their chauffeur, leading to the NYPD bringing Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney) out of retirement to solve the case. He’s bewildered by the means and motive of the killings, which don’t seem to fit with any of the usual suspects, and follows clues to large tracts of city blocks filled with demolished buildings (which allows for some incredible cinematography, in which characters pick their way across vast acres of rubble that stretch across the entire screen).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is the film that most differs from the other two werewolf flicks of 1981: there is no singular werewolf character, no transformation sequences (instead using what look like actual wolves) and no mention of any “curse” that can be passed from one individual to the next. It’s a strange, almost dreamy kind of story, with an ambiguous ending and no clear answers given as to what exactly was going on the whole time – but it <em>earns</em> that abstruseness through its tone and atmosphere. Whereas <strong>The Howling</strong> and <strong>An American Werewolf in London</strong> were both dark comedies, <strong>Wolfen</strong> takes itself completely seriously.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Company of Wolves </strong>(1984)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXeU1x0z3kEHlnQoBB7pHjObtbocvWUdJxAYw2FXwURpeQSddFGT-zptoQmXzHHTr9N0b570oo1kcVSFUcCy-RTbKX1xXznqie3gLnMGk9morFop-1-Slf04V1LnlhmTD_XBLMAiZvqK61sxBf2VcdncTDJIAE8y-bWQ2B8IYsLReAM2LzXQVvQp_N3Q7u/s128/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="86" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXeU1x0z3kEHlnQoBB7pHjObtbocvWUdJxAYw2FXwURpeQSddFGT-zptoQmXzHHTr9N0b570oo1kcVSFUcCy-RTbKX1xXznqie3gLnMGk9morFop-1-Slf04V1LnlhmTD_XBLMAiZvqK61sxBf2VcdncTDJIAE8y-bWQ2B8IYsLReAM2LzXQVvQp_N3Q7u/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="86" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I LOVE this movie. I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH. Not to sound old, but they don’t make ‘em like this anymore (and never will again). I’m not just talking about its experimental plotless structure in which stories are nestled within stories within a framework of a young girl’s dreamscape, but the practical effects and the way the budget is stretched within an inch of its life to create a totally immersive, folkloric ambience.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rosaleen is a girl on the cusp of adolescence, who falls into a dream/nightmare in which she dwells within a medieval village with her mother and father. Her sister Alice has just died, and she’s temporarily taken into the care of her Grandmother, who fills her head with all sorts of tales involving the wolves of the forest.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And um... that’s it really. There’s no real semblance of a plot here, at least not until the last ten or so minutes when a variation of Little Red Riding Hood plays out. Perhaps it’s better described as a series of vignettes (which makes sense, as it’s inspired by <strong>The Bloody Chamber</strong>, Angela Carter’s book of retold fairy tales) in which Rosalee navigates the obstacles and pitfalls of prepubescence.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A lot of the content is just plain surreal, as when Rosaleen climbs a tree and discovers a nest filled with eggs that crack open to reveal tiny porcelain babies, or when her hapless village boy paramour is visited by the devil (played by a cameoing Terence Stamp) who pulls up in a white Rolls Royce in the middle of the forest to give him a potion that puts hair on his chest. Just go with it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then there are the nesting stories, in which various characters in Rosaleen’s dream tell each other tales, which are themselves dramatized by a whole new set of actors (and contain some familiar faces, including Stephen Rea and Jim Carter!) They too exist solely for their own sake, and I suppose to enrich the overarching theme of love, pain and adulthood being inextricable.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I mean, I <em>guess</em>. It’s very hard to discern what exactly this film is trying to say about its own subject matter, as the story of Rosaleen in the medieval village ends on a <em>very</em> different note than the one afforded to the “real” Rosaleen when she wakes up from her dream, and a lot of it depends on what you think the wolves represent. A girl’s sexual awakening? The predatory nature of men? The wilderness impinging on the comforts of home?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Freud would have a field day trying to parse through all the motifs and symbolism rife throughout this: the colour red, stolen lipstick, porcelain heads, rampaging wolves, apples with worms inside... There are blatant allusions to <strong>Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland</strong> (especially at the very start and very end), some intensely bloody/gory transformation sequences, and an ambiguous ending that’ll leave you wondering: “what just happened?” And hey, here’s Angela Lansbury as the Grandmother, along with David Warner as Rosaleen’s father!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To be honest, the framing device of the modern-day Rosaleen isn’t entirely necessary, and the narrative conclusion of her dream-self is a more satisfying (and logical) ending for her character – but then, would I really want to trade-in any of this film’s weirdness? No.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can’t promise you’ll love or even like this film. It’s completely batshit on a number of levels. But it’s <em>fascinating</em> and I never get tired of watching it. Thanks be to the English teacher who originally showed the first five minutes of it to me and my baffled classroom, which led me to purchase it without hesitation when I found it on DVD all those years ago...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Teen Wolf </strong>(1985)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfYeaTYtcgJhL_fh4hivDk4i6OLfwL7gN4SUAuBP2RQ-cF7nx1CDiSnbJgz19-nD3-P_2jB7Tw8KXT64IzSCX1G1t4T-pG91OxrRnQHKbsqdWB7t-MZ9V47WWnKx7ETouXMpkVtqxsBAkwsC02dLSbpBVKBFkfSpgSW-JjHP_0jC4oW13dQlFSH0I9cCF/s126/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="84" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfYeaTYtcgJhL_fh4hivDk4i6OLfwL7gN4SUAuBP2RQ-cF7nx1CDiSnbJgz19-nD3-P_2jB7Tw8KXT64IzSCX1G1t4T-pG91OxrRnQHKbsqdWB7t-MZ9V47WWnKx7ETouXMpkVtqxsBAkwsC02dLSbpBVKBFkfSpgSW-JjHP_0jC4oW13dQlFSH0I9cCF/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="84" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This ended up being the last werewolf-themed movie I watched this month, and it’s a strange one. Though let’s be real, they’re <em>all</em> pretty strange in one way or another.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This one sets itself apart by being considerably lighter in tone. Heck, it’s the only one that’s a full-blown comedy, though it’s interesting to note that it also follows the trend of not being remotely interested in the origins of the werewolf curse. When protagonist Scott (Michael J. Fox) discovers that he’s changing into a Wolf-Man, he opens the bathroom door to expose his transformation to his father – and discovers that <em>he’s</em> one too. According to him, it runs in the family, no other explanation given.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Furthermore, this more than any other werewolf film I watched this month (except maybe <strong>The Company of Wolves</strong>, though that had a <em>profoundly</em> different tone) makes it clear that werewolfry is a stand-in for puberty and coming-of-age. I mean, it’s so unsubtle that I’m not even going to bother pointing out the details.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Suffice to say that by the time the end credits role, Scott is happier in his own skin, is willing to share the victory of a basketball game with the rest of his team, and even choses the right girl to date. Yes, this involves a classic <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BettyAndVeronica">Betty and Veronica</a> love triangle which is quite literally between the girl-next-door/childhood friend (bewilderingly called “Bouff”) and the blonde drama student who is just using Scott to make her boyfriend jealous. <em>And</em> is implicitly slut-shamed by the movie for having sex with Scott in the school’s dressing-room.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s not a lot to say here. The clothes, soundtrack and casual sexism makes it an <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnintentionalPeriodPiece">Unintentional Period Piece</a>, and it’s rather bittersweet to watch Michael J. Fox in his prime. The transformation sequences are the most understated of all the movies featured here, obviously because this was a light-hearted teen comedy, and Fox's physical appearance as a werewolf is... well, just a guy who looks like he has hypertrichosis. He’s also almost-completely in control of himself as a wolf, with no blackouts or murderous rampages at all.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s not much more to say, except that comparing this to my vague memories of watching the first season of MTV’s <strong>Teen Wolf</strong> is rather amusing, as it’s obvious they carried absolutely nothing across from this film except a. a guy called Scott turns into a werewolf, and b. his best friend is called Stiles.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Silver Bullet </strong>(1985)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDP5Fhv6FHbsjW80nosYAbXDxjuVo82RCyZcmLEUsfViBFUYyhTIJz2NgWtSrWvIvVIdcCZpFVVsAIZsTMeTcOz-JVWQXhuZD-hemHVz-eu6Ubaf8WemykcgTq57LxQN2_y_txa3a7MxllZDFbSsqjg41stru_SeT329ZFfvaUqGWJDeZVzWm9x2bVslS_/s123/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="81" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDP5Fhv6FHbsjW80nosYAbXDxjuVo82RCyZcmLEUsfViBFUYyhTIJz2NgWtSrWvIvVIdcCZpFVVsAIZsTMeTcOz-JVWQXhuZD-hemHVz-eu6Ubaf8WemykcgTq57LxQN2_y_txa3a7MxllZDFbSsqjg41stru_SeT329ZFfvaUqGWJDeZVzWm9x2bVslS_/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sometimes movies are fun not because they’re <em>good</em> but because they’re a perfect time capsule of a particular time and place. I’ll admit to not ever having read a Stephen King novel (except speed reading/flicking through <strong>Rose Madder</strong> on a summer holiday when I was <em>far</em> too young to have been doing so) but I’ve seen plenty of the eighties film/miniseries adaptations of his books, and there is a very distinct aesthetic to them all: small town Americana, sordid secrets brewing under the surface, hot summer days that stretch on forever, dodgy practical effects, plucky children facing down horrific supernatural forces, and a distinct sense of unease that permeates everything. Oh, and Maine of course.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Even without a huge amount of familiarity with King’s work, the aesthetic he inspires is so strong I can almost instantly tell whether a story is based on his work or not.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So despite never having seen <b>Silver Bullet</b> before, it felt instantly recognizable to me. The past really is another country, but the eighties is one that I grew up in, and so everything about this very odd little story that has no pressing reason to exist felt familiar. (Nostalgia goes in thirty-year cycles, which is why everything from <strong>Stranger Things</strong> to this newest influx of Stephen King remakes have capitalized on that decade, though none of them can really capture the vibe of things that were actually MADE in the eighties).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And this <em>is </em>a strange little film, not in the sense that it’s outlandish or bizarre (though it is) but because the plot is so straightforward, the characters so simplistic, the themes and subtext so non-existent that you really find yourself wondering: “why’d they do this? What was the driving force behind making it?”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The answer is that it was based on a Stephen King novella and he was at the height of his fame and popularity back then, but you still come out the other side of this film thinking: “huh.” And these days, its main source of interest is in showing us what a low-budget werewolf movie made in the mid-eighties looks like. Why settle for shows that recapture the decade when you can just watch something FROM that decade?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A small town in Maine is being plagued by a series of mysterious and gruesome deaths, though Jane and Marty Coslaw are more wrapped up in their sibling rivalry with each other. In truth, Marty isn’t a bad kid – but because he’s paraplegic, Jane is under the impression that he sucks up all the world’s attention for himself. However, after a run-in with a terrifying creature that Marty believes is a werewolf, the siblings have to work together (along with their reprobate uncle Red) to identify the beast in its human form.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A fun detail is that the “silver bullet” of the title is actually Marty’s modified wheelchair, and of course, this is packed to the rafters with familiar faces: Megan Follows, Gary Busey, and (most surprising, to me at least) Terry O’Quinn in his youth. I almost didn’t recognize him!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Wolf</strong> (1994)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2mbSmMyYFQWpmlkkG4WlOvZswEhuliY6_q9WiDvILKw7g7GXMHcne_kIJtHPEnh8KGR3ihFu0dw0jFaAQLFDHiBs7dLC7KFv5DZdGqTAB1jKdrs5lSeXNFvLqAUsSjOm-e0e6pTIgEqLKrIIovW3BKipDVvalC4FO7eCJaIy_vcxn-WCB4WrHjUfA8Fk/s135/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="91" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2mbSmMyYFQWpmlkkG4WlOvZswEhuliY6_q9WiDvILKw7g7GXMHcne_kIJtHPEnh8KGR3ihFu0dw0jFaAQLFDHiBs7dLC7KFv5DZdGqTAB1jKdrs5lSeXNFvLqAUsSjOm-e0e6pTIgEqLKrIIovW3BKipDVvalC4FO7eCJaIy_vcxn-WCB4WrHjUfA8Fk/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="91" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m finding that the most ludicrous aspect of all these werewolf movies isn’t the transformation of a man into a wolf, but the behaviour of the women who interact with them. Nurse Alex decides to take a man ranting about becoming a werewolf into her home and sleep with him in <strong>An American Werewolf in London</strong>. Diane Venora decides to do the same with Albert Finney, a man she’s barely interacted with, in <strong>Wolfen</strong> (though I suppose in <em>that</em> case, he wasn’t the werewolf).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here, we are asked to believe that Michelle Pfeiffer in her prime finds Jack Nicholson attractive. In no world does this ever happen, for any reason.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">By this point, the werewolf formula is very much in play. Nicolson is driving down a deserted road, stops when he hits a wolf, goes to drag it out of the way, and is bitten by the not-yet-dead creature. He gets a rabies shot the next day, but soon finds himself changing: feeling younger and stronger, more ruthless at work, more sexually voracious with his wife, and experiencing heightened senses, especially sound and smell. He gets back the job he lost to a younger employee, realizes his wife has been cheating on him, and starts a relationship with the boss’s daughter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But all this comes at a price: by the light of the full moon he transforms into a rampaging wolf. And... that’s kind of it? Towards the end they introduce a secondary threat in which the aforementioned younger employee (played by James Spader!) also gets the curse and ends up hunting down Nicholson and Pfeiffer, but it feels a bit tagged-on. (Plus, even though I give them credit for letting Pfeiffer ultimately shoot and kill this guy, it only comes <em>after</em> a slow-motion attempted rape).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ll be fair to this movie – by this point I was just a bit wrung-out with werewolves, and a lot of what was presented here had already been done <em>many</em> times before in the deluge of eighties films on the subject. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it had been the <em>first</em> one I watched this month.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And if it hadn’t asked me to believe that Michelle Pfeiffer was hot for Jack Nicolson.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed </strong>(2004)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pKKBHgUAMt_B8Lq1mQCMZztv-Y_yefnvsj_x4BxNJfjLOSvsu2DYUDYTEBVRXcsC8RWOeYMJ7MtBEYWwLMrbYCvnf_Zkfe_0pak5FWe7xmOCWvIEGJpTfcE5wWpUfRGY9yrx9eRaAxEo13_TM0_mseNfy_T8egvswRoAZu86zYJ4vzUaCyk1VlEkErq9/s134/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="93" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pKKBHgUAMt_B8Lq1mQCMZztv-Y_yefnvsj_x4BxNJfjLOSvsu2DYUDYTEBVRXcsC8RWOeYMJ7MtBEYWwLMrbYCvnf_Zkfe_0pak5FWe7xmOCWvIEGJpTfcE5wWpUfRGY9yrx9eRaAxEo13_TM0_mseNfy_T8egvswRoAZu86zYJ4vzUaCyk1VlEkErq9/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="93" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Back in November 2020, I watched <strong>Ginger Snaps</strong>, the cult classic that equates a teenage girl’s period with becoming a werewolf. That analogy checks out, and I loved the low-budget, self-contained nature of the whole thing, from the fact we never find out who the original werewolf was, to the devastating final scene in which Brigette is forced to confront the tragedy of her “dead before sixteen” mantra.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There was no fat in any of it, just pure story that needed no elaboration; a one-and-done that was pretty much perfect. So, I was a little leery about the existence of two more films in the franchise (one sequel, one prequel, filmed back-to-back and both released in 2004) – though really, they themselves are so disconnected from the original that it hardly matters.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Technically <strong>Unleashed</strong> is about the aftermath of Giner’s death and Brigette attempting to stave off the transformation in herself within the confines of a mental institution, but truly, you could watch any of these three films in any order (or even just one and not the other two) and you’d get a complete story. Not seeing the others wouldn’t make a difference to your understanding of any one of them.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like I said, Brigette has been institutionalized, and desperate to get her hands on confiscated wolfsbane, the only thing stopping her from becoming a werewolf. In there with her is Tyler, a slimy orderly who smuggles drugs to the girls in exchange for sexual favours, and Ghost, the grand-daughter of a burn victim who has nobody else to care for her (hilariously, these characters are played by Eric Johnson and little baby Tatiana Maslany, who will eventually have sex with each other in the back of a car in <strong>Orphan Black</strong>).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Making matters worse, another werewolf knows where Brigette is, and is trying to get to her by whatever means necessary. So she has to escape the institution, fight the curse, <em>and</em> be careful about who she can trust – not to mention enduring visions of her dead sister, who spends most of her time mocking Brigette’s lack of choices.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a good story, though it ends on a fairly grim note. SPOILERS. Turns out Tatiana Maslany’s character is a budding sociopath, who successfully tricks Brigette into becoming a werewolf before locking her in the basement, with the intent of siccing her on anyone she doesn’t like.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a very different type of story than the original, and if not for the presence of the lead character, wouldn’t even feel like a continuation of the first. (And where on earth are Brigette’s parents during all this?)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, it tries to eke out some sympathy for Tyler by making him a big brother figure to Ghost, and eventually revealing he's <em>not </em>guilty of one particularly horrific crime. But the guy has spent the first two-thirds of the film exploiting drug addicts and sexually harassing Brigette, so excuse me for not caring when she tears him apart.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning </strong>(2004)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2RpIDvq8KVPq8KK4vSAMGCA2DvA2m_d1CIlWKX9mxcQrdbBKZfat6GLdl55v2qonnebwSQ2w4hUyXIAKaUDfoHnAR74BSAmtXbwg-cMoUPWQYwSPVzJ40B2Wb5fv6bY86VBT5IwgHmjk1tljHFOsCpQc_WBqqNnliabrM7Kn4h9vAP4T_fJr6DmnW8ev/s133/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="90" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2RpIDvq8KVPq8KK4vSAMGCA2DvA2m_d1CIlWKX9mxcQrdbBKZfat6GLdl55v2qonnebwSQ2w4hUyXIAKaUDfoHnAR74BSAmtXbwg-cMoUPWQYwSPVzJ40B2Wb5fv6bY86VBT5IwgHmjk1tljHFOsCpQc_WBqqNnliabrM7Kn4h9vAP4T_fJr6DmnW8ev/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This film is <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SomethingCompletelyDifferent">Something Completely Different</a> – a prequel in which actresses Emily Perkins and Katherine Isabelle play ancestors of themselves (or so I assume, it’s not really explained) who are somehow still called Brigette and Ginger. They’re essentially the exact same characters they were in the original, only now in a period setting.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a little weird, to be honest, and the ending (in which the girls share the werewolf curse with each other) doesn’t really jive with the original film. Is it all meant to be the genesis of the wolf that bites Ginger in the first movie? Because that’s pretty tenuous, and completely at odds with that film’s complete lack of interest in who this random werewolf actually <em>was</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I suppose it has a slightly more upbeat ending in regards to the emphasis on sisterhood, but again, if you look at it within the chronology of the trilogy as a whole, the story still ends with Ginger dead and Brigette stuck in a basement.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, <em>this</em> movie starts with a variation of Brigette and Ginger in 1815, lost in the Canadian wilderness in search of shelter. They’re attacked by a wolf but manage to stumble upon a degree of safety when they reach an outpost where nerves are already frayed among the <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DwindlingParty">Dwindling Party</a> of men, who are fending off wolf attacks each night. Naturally, there is a different kind of danger at work within the fort, and various archetypes to check off the list: the Native American hunter who knows a prophecy, the racist soldier gunning for a fight, the religious fanatic who thinks all women are witches, the reasonable military leader hiding a dark secret...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's all well put-together and interesting enough, though I couldn’t help but feel a little bemused by the whole thing. It’s an odd duck to be sure. If nothing else, you certainly can’t accuse this trilogy of repeating itself – in fact it’s best described as three singular films that just happen to involve the same two actresses and a few werewolves. Though I don’t regret watching them, I doubt I ever will again.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull </strong>(2008)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLYwcLceZjw3eGb0WRdn30bSwd_ioFOVIJymNWsZ8jNozD4muuHiKsiDgaZHcMHpVRte8uM0krLPe4uzS9qq_-hw49sj6eErzrtoU5gU1drxBooI4Sl5HCj-if3gAurNhPTr87kt1qizNIuQNhtm4x_WnMi553ZOjMl5N8MQZFQnmG6tiEQClzZdAUu-P/s144/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="94" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLYwcLceZjw3eGb0WRdn30bSwd_ioFOVIJymNWsZ8jNozD4muuHiKsiDgaZHcMHpVRte8uM0krLPe4uzS9qq_-hw49sj6eErzrtoU5gU1drxBooI4Sl5HCj-if3gAurNhPTr87kt1qizNIuQNhtm4x_WnMi553ZOjMl5N8MQZFQnmG6tiEQClzZdAUu-P/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="94" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I approached this film with some trepidation, knowing its reputation as a big disappointment. And yet, probably because I’ve heard it so criticized over the years, I ended up enjoying it more than expected – though the final act was a bit of a letdown, and I didn’t feel as invested in Indy or his relationships as I wanted to be.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The strength and weakness of the <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> franchise is that all the movies are standalone adventures. This means there’s very little connective tissue between instalments, which means that anything not on the screen, that which is significant to whatever adventure Indiana happens to be on at the time, is irrelevant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For twenty-seven years, what happened to Marion after the conclusion of <strong>Raiders</strong> was a complete mystery. Short Round’s whereabouts after <strong>Temple of Doom</strong> are STILL unexplained. As said, this is largely because of the franchise’s design, in which each instalment is its own singular story – though in these days of heightened continuity and interconnected universes, that creative decision feels almost bizarre.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So on the one hand, you can enjoy any of these movies in any order, without any baggage. On the other, the format sometimes leaves its protagonist feeling oddly untethered. We jump into his life at its most exciting stages and learn very little about him or his day-to-day existence. Supporting characters appear and disappear from one story to another, and there’s nothing remotely resembling a long-term arc between films. Like I said, there are pros and cons to this.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Crystal Skull</strong> is most like <strong>Temple of Doom</strong> in regards to the appearance of characters that have never been seen before, and never will again. Ray Winstone’s Mac and John Hurt’s Oxley are introduced as long-term acquaintances of Indy, though we’ve never heard of them before. Ditto Jim Broadbent as the new Dean of Marshall College, who I’m pretty sure doesn’t return for <strong>Dial of Destiny</strong>. And of course, for obvious reasons neither Marcus Brody or Henry Jones Senior appear in this film – it’s a shame Sean Connery didn’t turn up for a brief cameo, but I suspect he was sicker than anyone realized by this point.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, Crystal Skull marks the grand return of Karen Allen as Marion, though (once again) I wasn’t much impressed by the material they give her. She’s certainly got the same spunk, but she doesn’t turn up until the halfway mark, and – as in <strong>Raiders</strong> – doesn’t get much to do besides just tag along.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sure, she steers the boat down the rapids, but her plan to drive it off the side of a cliff into a tree which then lowers it and its passengers safely down into the river is just as absurd as the fridge stunt at the start of the film. And as nice as it was to see her and Indy finally tie the knot at the end, their reconciliation fell flat for me – they just argue and bicker until it’s time to embrace, without any discussion about the fact that <em>he</em> left her at the altar and <em>she</em> neglected to tell him he had a son. Why do movies continue to treat these types of betrayal as no big deal?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then of course, there’s Mutt. First of all, I didn’t dislike him as much as I thought I would. He’s a reasonably good character with an important part to play, and the inciting incident of him coming to Indy for help in rescuing his mother is a good hook.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the concept of him is a strange addition to the story on several levels, form the fact that he turns out to be Indy’s biological son (they’re given absolutely NO ROOM to process this information, so I wonder if it wouldn’t have worked better if he’d just become the kid’s stepfather after they win each other’s respect <em>before</em> Marion turns up) to the obvious problem that he’s nowhere to be seen in <strong>Dial of Destiny</strong> (yes, I know what happens to him, which makes the setup of passing the baton on to him all the more excruciating).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s even an anecdote I read in <strong>The Complete Making of Indiana Jones</strong> that tells of Harrison Ford giving Shia LaBeouf one of Indy’s hats with the words “it’s all yours, kid” written inside the brim, and – oof. Just OOF. Not until David Benioff confidently predicted that the Snake Snakes would become fan-favourites in <strong>Game of Thrones</strong> would there be such a staggering misconception of how well a fictional character would be received by audiences.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The fact that he was played by LaBeouf, whose fifteen minutes of fame are long over, dates this film even more than Harrison Ford’s advanced age. I’m not sure why they cast such an obvious flash-in-the-pan for such an ostensibly important (as in, <em>taking over as the star of the franchise</em>) role.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But enough complaining; here’s the stuff I liked. Given that this was set in the fifties to match Indy’s advancing age, I didn’t mind the fact it dealt with aliens and crystal skulls and mind control. It matched the backdrop of the Cold War and the Soviet threat pretty nicely, and naturally Cate Blanchett is in top form as the franchise’s only female <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad">Big Bad</a>. On that note, I also liked the film leaning into the fifties setting, from the greasers to the diners to the motorcycles, and the implication that Indy was involved in the Roswell landings (and how that led into the larger plot).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I didn’t even really mind the “nuking the fridge” or the “swinging with the monkeys” scenes, as I’d been warned about them in advance, thereby making them less terrible than I’d anticipated. In fact, the first two acts of this I <em>sincerely</em> enjoyed, until it devolved into CGI glurge and weightless action sequences in the third.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, it was at least NICE to see Karen Allen as Marion again, even if they underuse her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But it feels odd to watch this over a decade after its release, knowing it was badly received by fans who no doubt overhyped the return of Indiana Jones in their imaginations and were disappointed as a result. Because I waited so long, it still feels brand-new! From what little I know about <strong>Dial of Destiny</strong>, the franchise once more tries to cleave more to the precedents set in <strong>Raiders</strong> and <strong>Crusade</strong>, but by the time of its release audiences were simply wrung out on big blockbuster franchises (see <strong>Mission Impossible</strong> and <strong>The Flash</strong>, which also underperformed).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In all, <strong>Crystal Skull</strong> was something of a curiosity piece for me: a big-budget movie tacked onto the end of a franchise that had already reached a satisfying conclusion, and which will be undone by the next instalment in its turn (RIP Mutt).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Red Riding Hood </strong>(2011)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQPr7tyGY5BPiUpTqKNlqVgj0xkOHYR0FDV_j3wHABuWUnVocTaFQz4E1XhgZEo5-TPrg3egmoU0nqLDz6IA7YPSVR-rhJCkmDXbyguhyRi_8l5ZB7pdB5K6PNERedxwnlqupi-4tq8Q7gs7AnFBqywRNGlzhQfBNiNaRFD_v2Tt45CFGDBywG8a7A-cj/s129/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="129" data-original-width="87" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQPr7tyGY5BPiUpTqKNlqVgj0xkOHYR0FDV_j3wHABuWUnVocTaFQz4E1XhgZEo5-TPrg3egmoU0nqLDz6IA7YPSVR-rhJCkmDXbyguhyRi_8l5ZB7pdB5K6PNERedxwnlqupi-4tq8Q7gs7AnFBqywRNGlzhQfBNiNaRFD_v2Tt45CFGDBywG8a7A-cj/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="87" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I unironically love this very terrible movie. Usually, I’d expect myself to feel disappointed at the fact a movie with a fairy tale premise ended up being fairly shite, but in this case, the perfect blend of YA dramatics and love triangle nonsense and deeply confused aesthetic makes it what it is: a glorious mess.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Besides, if I wanted a decent movie retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, I’d just watch <strong>The Company of Wolves</strong>. That this was directed by Catherine Hardwicke (of <strong>Twilight </strong>fame) who centres the story on love triangle involving a werewolf, even bringing Billy Burke (Bella’s father) along for the ride as <em>this</em> protagonist’s dad, is truly the recipe for glorious trash.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Valerie is living in a little medieval village that’s plagued by wolf attacks, to the point where they call in assistance from Father Solomon, a famed hunter (played by Gary Oldman, who I can only assume was being blackmailed or held hostage) to put an end to the beast. His presence heightens tension in the community, especially when he announces that one of <i>them</i> might well be the werewolf. How will Valerie figure out which boy she likes amidst such turmoil??</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The visuals of this film are all over the place. At times it looks like modern teenagers (with glossy hair and sparkling teeth) are cosplaying on an obvious set, other times it manages a genuinely lovely fairy tale ambience (I liked the massive, albeit inexplicable, thorns on the trees in the forest). Valerie acts nothing like the docile village girl she’s ostensibly supposed to be, especially when it comes to black leather-clad Peter, who was apparently on the shortlist to play Edward Cullen (doesn’t surprise me).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's like three different movies shoved into one – marvellous!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s also amazing who actually turns up: Micheal Shanks (from <strong>Stargate</strong>), Virginia Madsen (Irulan in the original <strong>Dune</strong>), Adrian Holmes (Frank Pike from <strong>Arrow</strong>), Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh in <strong>Battlestar Galactica</strong>) and Julie Christie as Valerie’s Grandmother. And some of them are barely walk-on roles!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And for what it’s worth, the identity of the werewolf not only comes as a genuine surprise, but makes logical sense within the context of the clues that have been strewn throughout the film (I watched with a friend who was <em>really</em> trying to figure it out and still got caught off-guard). So, we have to give the movie credit for that, even if absolutely nothing else makes sense.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Elementary: Season 1 </strong>(2012 – 2013)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxr0CBAgdZSWDtjtwZccR7idS6yHOtoqAgaaTWSqQ9rNgXGRBZOtNygN8JcFE3wnuTvr-baYZWYXI9-nB9Ms2IFrNEnhkgQcRP0NreWEF01ZauZw5B48Wa8NMS8EEpy9fuhwezMALroqpP2AW3yOmjYvtVBfQ9uvlNKfNq6Ay6sDxr6EN9pJCfidZ8Hy5/s125/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="92" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxr0CBAgdZSWDtjtwZccR7idS6yHOtoqAgaaTWSqQ9rNgXGRBZOtNygN8JcFE3wnuTvr-baYZWYXI9-nB9Ms2IFrNEnhkgQcRP0NreWEF01ZauZw5B48Wa8NMS8EEpy9fuhwezMALroqpP2AW3yOmjYvtVBfQ9uvlNKfNq6Ay6sDxr6EN9pJCfidZ8Hy5/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="92" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Words can’t describe how nice it was to settle back down into this show. Like the first sip of hot chocolate on a stormy night while you’re wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. The ultimate in comfort viewing – especially these days. It kinda blew my mind that this only ended in 2019, as that doesn’t feel like that long ago, and yet the show premiered last <i>decade</i>. Such was the case in those halcyon days of television, when shows went on for more than five or six seasons, and had over twenty episodes apiece.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It doesn’t feel real that I’m about to enjoy <em>so much screentime</em> with these two characters, and yet here I am: at the beginning of a journey that I know isn’t going to get immediately cancelled.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also well-remember the truly insane reaction to news of this show’s imminent existence. It came about at the height of <strong>Sherlock</strong>’s popularity, and when that fandom found out that the Americans were adapting their own version of the material, set in New York with a gender-flipped Watson (now <em>Joan</em> Watson, as played by Lucy Liu) the histrionics were something to behold.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sure, there was something a little eye-roll-worthy about such an obvious <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FollowTheLeader">Follow the Leader</a> variation on a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, but the hand-wringing and boo-hooing was just beyond the pale. Recall that this was the fandom that coined that whole “write strong women, write weak women, write depressed women, write women who are happily single, write women who are desperate for a man” (or however it went) meme. Write women as <i>anything</i>, it seems, except an important lead character.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But <strong>Elementary</strong> certainly got the last laugh. While <strong>Sherlock</strong> floundered in outdated tropes and racist/sexist stereotypes, eventually disappearing somewhere up its own ass with its increasingly absurd plot-twists that culminated in a last season so bad the fandom gaslit itself into believing there was going to be a secret fourth episode that would make Sherlock and Waston gay and thereby salvage the whole project in retrospect (because that’s the only thing that mattered to them at that point), <strong>Elementary</strong> sailed through its consistently good seven seasons, providing commentary on substance abuse, domestic violence, the importance of second chances, and how to cope with upheavals in one’s life.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The setup for this iteration of the famous partnership is that Joan has recently left behind a career as a surgeon after a botched operation left a patient dead, working instead as a sober companion and hired by Sherlock’s father to keep an eye on his son’s recovery. Sherlock is obviously an eccentric, but unlike Benedict Cumberbatch’s colder take on the character, there is a great reservoir of compassion within him. An ongoing theme of the show is that he and Watson prioritize the cases of those that would otherwise be ignored by the system.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The chemistry between Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu is impeccable. They manage to forge a deep bond between their characters that is nevertheless devoid of any sexual tension, and watching their relationship deepen in trust and understanding is the highlight of the show. Rounding out the cast is the always-reliable Aidan Quinn as Captain Thomas Gregson, and Jon Michael Hill as Detective Marcus Bell, Sherlock and Watson’s allies on the NYPD.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is an entirely modern show, but in many ways it updates Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories better than the BBC did. Gatkiss and Moffat simply transposed the cases into a contemporary setting, whereas this show takes their conceits – the transcendent friendship, Sherlock’s habitual drug-taking, his powers of observation and deduction, Moriarty’s mind games – and explores them through modern eyes. In other words: <strong>Sherlock</strong> updates the setting, but <strong>Elementary</strong> updates the themes and their context.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The show is clearly familiar with Doyle’s original stories, sometimes quoting straight from the books themselves (Sherlock’s distaste of blackmail, his moniker of Irene as “The Woman”) but isn’t afraid to play around with them, leading to a bounty of riches. Watson is an equal partner, not just an awed tagalong! Mrs Hudson is a transgender woman! Irene Adler, initially introduced as a fridged woman whose death triggered Sherlock’s downward drug spiral, turns out to be Moriarty! I’m still not over how they telegraphed this twist in the opening credits right from the start, which featured a Rube Goldberg machine that eventually smashes the bust of a marble woman, nor how they subvert her exceptionalism by having Watson be the one who ultimately takes her down.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's also funny to see who’s going to turn up as a guest star, especially those that have since found greater fame elsewhere. Detective Bell’s brother is played by Malcolm Goodwin, who I watched for five seasons as Clive Babineaux in <strong>iZombie</strong>, while none other than David Harbour appears as a corrupt surgeon for an episode, just a couple of years before he catapulted to fame in <strong>Stranger Things</strong>. John Hannah, Anika Noni Rose (the voice of Princess Tiana) and Roger Rees (the Sheriff of Rottingham!) also turn up as one-shot guest stars.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are a few wobbles along the way – the premiere episode features a character called Javier Abreu who operates as Captain Gregson’s righthand man, who then disappears entirely after he’s replaced in the second episode by Bell. I wonder what happened there. Likewise, Joan is given a range of friends, ex-colleagues and family members who stick around for a single episode before vanishing entirely (though I suppose some might reappear in subsequent seasons – we’ll see).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I ended up losing track of this show during its initial run, dropping out at some point during season three. But I’ve always planned to do a giant rewatch at some point, and knowing that it sustained its quality for the duration of its run-time and went out on its own terms is thrilling. After the odyssey of watching all ten seasons of <strong>Spooks</strong>, I’m ready for another long-term commitment.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Puffin Rock: Season 1 </strong>(2015)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQpJ0ABZY5PxuXxABZuPS2GSpzGiA1syYqP3MLvHuz7gkZUUCPMBiltXfyU-cL44BNtQe9nmIecqcGQcZWfZpgOrThZWT_TqdhJYyLQI4xyhSIzX86eNDB4Vkcu6eZSenrsufob1QHjHPJHGRHHvBzlaFzkX-6v90ublqZdzWE3AbQpaqopiQI9Ax3Urc_/s124/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="124" data-original-width="88" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQpJ0ABZY5PxuXxABZuPS2GSpzGiA1syYqP3MLvHuz7gkZUUCPMBiltXfyU-cL44BNtQe9nmIecqcGQcZWfZpgOrThZWT_TqdhJYyLQI4xyhSIzX86eNDB4Vkcu6eZSenrsufob1QHjHPJHGRHHvBzlaFzkX-6v90ublqZdzWE3AbQpaqopiQI9Ax3Urc_/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="88" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This has been on the backburner of my watch list for a while now, but given my love for Cartoon Saloon animation and my need for something featherlight to watch, I was very grateful to absorb what it had to offer.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, two puffins – a sister and little brother called Oona and Baba – have adventures on Puffin Rock, the island where they live with their parents and a host of other birds and animals. That’s it, that’s the premise. It’s delightful. I think the highest stakes they face is finding shelter just before an impending storm, and trying to get away from some greedy seagulls. Bliss.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Narrated by Chris O'Dowd (you know, from <strong>The IT Crowd</strong>) the show also takes the opportunity to fill the viewer in on some educational nature facts regarding puffins, seals, shrews, crabs, and the multitude of wildlife you might find on islands off the coast of Ireland, as well as concepts like nocturnal and diurnal and so on.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Actually, the narrator’s role in this show is quite interesting – often these voiceovers become characters in their own right, breaking the fourth wall and interacting with the on-screen characters, but <em>this</em> one stays firmly “behind-the-scenes,” commenting on events as though he’s watching along with the viewer.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also found myself pondering the depiction of anthropomorphic animals in shows such as this, and just how human they’re allowed to be. Here, the puffins talk and interact with each other, but – well, compare this to <strong>Bluey</strong>. The animals in <i>that</i> show are essentially human beings – driving cars, living in houses – with a few doggie traits. The animals in <i>this</i> show are living in their natural environment, living as their real-life counterparts would do.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I bring up <strong>Bluey</strong> because I also wouldn’t be surprised if <strong>Puffin Rock</strong> directly inspired that show, what with its animal families and gentle life-lessons. But it has a distinct feel of its own: the Glockenspiel music, the stylistic Cartoon Saloon animation, the easy pace – honestly, the fact that there’s a show about animated puffins who just hang out on a little island every day fills me with a very specific type of joy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The White Princess </strong>(2017)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6HeE0YV1t2gvNtKS9KLQUIpUs4HvegVfdqoyidDbryxrNATQecMn42Kch0qjOK7I3tkWacGSuOeF99AkK5ZGTNTYnUzoq7Im0BduSfHy4COAwOzNVlFO4aN_jhRLl9N3CXom-T0FxGiEy1wSEoqUH4atinVtwppcidOZRn1E8WC-DevfPhJaTBdpp-p5k/s132/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="132" data-original-width="89" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6HeE0YV1t2gvNtKS9KLQUIpUs4HvegVfdqoyidDbryxrNATQecMn42Kch0qjOK7I3tkWacGSuOeF99AkK5ZGTNTYnUzoq7Im0BduSfHy4COAwOzNVlFO4aN_jhRLl9N3CXom-T0FxGiEy1wSEoqUH4atinVtwppcidOZRn1E8WC-DevfPhJaTBdpp-p5k/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="89" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having rewatched <strong>The White Queen</strong> last month, I was compelled to continue with its sequel series. And it was a little strange seeing this for a second time, as Jodie Cormer has since become a megastar. <strong>The White Princess</strong> wasn’t exactly her <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StarMakingRole">Breakout Role</a> (that was obviously Villanelle) but it was clearly an important stepping stone on her way to fame and fortune. It’s almost funny to realize that she was an unknown quality at the time of its release.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Since then, I’ve also seen Patrick Gibson (Richard of York) and Amy Manson (Cathy Gordon) in <strong>Shadow and Bone</strong> and <strong>The Nevers</strong> respectively, and of course, Joanne Whalley in <strong>Willow</strong> and <strong>Carnival Row</strong>. There are some actors that just seem to follow me around.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rewatching <strong>The White Queen</strong>, I was struck by how abruptly it ended: not with the logical endpoint of Princess Elizabeth meeting Henry Tudor and bringing an end to the War of the Roses, but with Elizabeth Woodville and her oldest daughter quietly pondering the fate that’s in store for her. This is in accordance to the book, but watching <strong>The White Princess</strong>, it’s also clear that the showrunners were saving that meeting for any potential follow-up.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Though it’s <em>also</em> odd that they replace almost the entire original cast. Caroline Goodall is the only returning face, which somehow ends up being <em>more</em> distracting than if they’d simply replaced <i>everyone</i> – there’s a lack of consistency in their lack of continuity. Granted, they probably wanted to age-up the characters of Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beauford, which might in turn have necessitated changes in the rest of the cast, and of course a few might have simply wanted to move onto other projects.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But it does seem odd that the likes of Freya Mavor and Michael Marcus (the original Elizabeth and Henry) would have passed on leading roles in the sequel to a fairly popular minidrama. We can only assume they weren’t given the opportunity to reprise them, though at this point I suppose we’ll never know for certain.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And not only do we get a complete cast overhaul, but plenty of personality transplants as well. Elizabeth Woodville, whose former self was motivated primarily by love and self-protection, is now a full-blown schemer. Cecily was a nice enough girl in <strong>The White Queen</strong>, now she’s a spoiled brat. Lord Stanley damn near stole the show when he was played by Rupert Graves, now the character barely registers. Cecily Neville was an embittered old harriden, now she's a kindly grandmother.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Another problem emerges: there’s simply not as much story this time around. There were ten episodes of <strong>The White Queen</strong>, and the Cousins War could have quite easily accommodated ten more. <strong>The White Princess </strong>is clearly struggling for material to fill eight episodes, and what it does dramatize is clearly preposterous. Yes, there <em>was</em> a Perkin Warbeck who claimed to be one of the lost York princes, but how that plays out here leads to the downright hilarious disclaimer at the end of each episode: “some historical events and characters have been altered in the film for dramatic purposes.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yeah, no shit.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The problem is that we know (relatively speaking) very little about Princess/Queen Elizabeth – after so many years of war and suffering, she was seemingly content to simply keep her head down and do her duty in becoming Queen of England. To infuse her with agency and the story itself with some drama, the show – and presumably Philippa Gregory’s novel – take very drastic liberties.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can’t really hold that against them, but it still pales in comparison to what I’ll call the “broad strokes accuracy” of its predecessor, even if it hurts to apply that word to <strong>The White Queen</strong>. And like that prior show, this one ends very abruptly, with important characters simply falling out of the plot, never to be seen again. We <em>hear </em>what happens to the likes of Cathy Gordon and Margaret of Burgundy, though it’s odd that we never see them in any wrap-up after the substantial parts they played.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s the problem with history, it doesn’t arrange itself into neat narrative arcs.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Ahsoka: Season 1 </strong>(2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrTbRErHKvdPn4zR1ZceuvnBCrgLS1NRVTk5MVXSp0ik9Mi7cZFQKMru0lIu5xYOGLykpxsipCEn498nSu8niY2SkO1_9DCullSURBGfaGhgx41JYmpm6e95m_Ob1-UBUgHR0AywHycuuBBI3ONyucGxrwzUp1UP-jH41-P9kp25_2PNTP7qU85DLo0T9N/s151/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="101" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrTbRErHKvdPn4zR1ZceuvnBCrgLS1NRVTk5MVXSp0ik9Mi7cZFQKMru0lIu5xYOGLykpxsipCEn498nSu8niY2SkO1_9DCullSURBGfaGhgx41JYmpm6e95m_Ob1-UBUgHR0AywHycuuBBI3ONyucGxrwzUp1UP-jH41-P9kp25_2PNTP7qU85DLo0T9N/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpeg" width="101" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Well, <strong>Andor </strong>has officially ruined <strong>Star Wars</strong>. Nothing is ever going to be that good again. Perhaps if <strong>Ahsoka</strong> had come out <em>before</em> that series dropped it would not have looked so clunky in comparison, but it did, and does, and there are some choices made that are just inexplicable.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So yeah, I’ve put my <strong>Star Wars</strong> hiatus on hiatus because <strong>Andor </strong>was excellent and I couldn’t say no to my girl Ahsoka. I even went back and watched the episodes of <strong>The Mandalorian</strong> in which she appeared, just to get a grasp of Rosario Dawson’s take on the character. (That show also introduced Diana Lee Inosanto’s Morgan Elsbeth, who features heavily here).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And I suppose it wasn’t <em>too bad</em>, though it sure as heck wasn’t <em>good</em> either. A plodding pace, excruciating dialogue, bland acting – I’m kind of baffled at how a premise that looks so good on paper ended up being so blah on-screen. Ahsoka is essentially a sequel to <strong>Star Wars Rebels</strong>, the animated show that dramatized the adventures of the Ghost during the fight against the Empire, and which ended with its lead character – Ezra Bridger – sacrificing himself to take Grand Admiral Thrawn off the field.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Only neither of them actually died, Ezra just called on some hyperspace-jumping space whales to wrap their tentacles around the two of them and transport them to an unknown destination outside the known galaxy. It sounds absurd, but it was actually quite a moving scene. The whole thing ended with Sabine Wren, a young Mandalorian, vowing to track down her quasi-foster brother in the wake of the Galactic Empire’s defeat, and joining forces with Ahsoka (who was a regular guest star on the show) in order to do it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s a rock-solid premise for a <strong>Star Wars</strong> story, though what actually unfolds on-screen can be best summed up in the many shot-by-shot comparisons between the final moments of <strong>Star Wars Rebels</strong> and the episode of <strong>Ahsoka</strong> that recreates it: the former is a tight, poignant sequence in which Sabine silently looks at a mural of Ezra and then turns to join Ahsoka, while the latter <em>drags</em> out this scene to an almost ludicrous extent: they stop, they stare, they turn and walk slowly. The show doesn’t even get the continuity of Ahsoka’s outfit right.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The green makeup on Mary Elizabeth Winstead looks ghastly, they completely waste Ray Stevenson in his last performance, and of course, the entire show is stuffed full of fanservice. I officially despise fanservice.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That said, there’s plenty of stuff to enjoy as well. It’s gorgeous to look at, and when a solid 70% of “Star Wars magic” comes from its aesthetic, that’s enough for me. I especially liked the alien wolfhounds that are ridden like horses by various characters, and the turtle-like community that Ezra has been living with. As with <strong>The Wheel of Time</strong>, there’s a surplus of female characters of differing races and ages who pass the Bechdel Test with flying colours. And I even felt a little feeling when Ezra and Sabine were finally reunited (even if it <em>was</em> bizarrely muted).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hayden Christensen returns for a long-awaited reunion with Ahsoka (played as her younger self by Ariana Greenblatt, who was also young Gamora in the MCU – imagine having <em>that</em> on your CV) and I’m always intrigued by anything involving the World Between Worlds, the Mortis Gods and the Morai – it’s just a shame most of this was tied up with Ray Stevenson’s character, which suggests a recasting or heavy rewrites are on the way.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also enjoyed Ivanna Sakhno’s Shin Hati, the surprisingly excellent depiction of the Purrgil (space whales) and David Tennant refusing to phone it in as Huyang (it was an easy gig, but he does some excellent voicework). Looking at what I’ve written, there’s a <em>lot </em>of good stuff on display throughout the show, but between the sluggish pacing, the tedious dialogue, the rote action sequences, <i>and</i> the fact that all the good stuff has clearly been saved for later seasons – it’s more of a disappointment than a success.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And as ever, it’s fascinating watching people go from idolizing Dave Filoni as the saviour of Star Wars to pushing him off the pedestal. As with Joss Whedon, Russo Brothers, Taika Waititi – fandom adulation turns so quickly to scorn and sarcasm. It’s not necessarily without reason, but honestly, who would want to be in this business? Everyone is so fickle and quick to turn on you.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the fact remains that there’s been a string of bad <b>Star Wars</b> offerings of late, and far more misses than hits: <strong>The Rise of Skywalker</strong>, <strong>The Book of Boba Fett</strong>, <strong>Obi Wan Kenobi</strong>, the third season of <strong>The Mandalorian</strong>, and now <strong>Ahsoka</strong>. None of it has been very good and – as with the MCU – it’s obvious that audiences are just wrung-out by this sort of storytelling. I wonder if any viewer not clued in on the events of <strong>The Clone Wars</strong> and <strong>Star Wars Rebels</strong> could even follow this show at all. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Wheel of Time: Season 2 </strong>(2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9TWuwdZDoGUZazBTs-HaUEOMePlcqq0tg5MX8aX5uQPxmteULPvB7Vv1nGXa7jgu92btOrlXhxkEyh4C-3OmBkE7nSt4xWcAcVGMACstdt-EBK1KifvJGnaEU05FonSVzf0onoiDjgD5j_dl_YRX1sXyXM6eSwT2GWcjBbhyphenhyphenZOyXVn5uA3HXH68OHTEL/s143/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="143" data-original-width="115" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9TWuwdZDoGUZazBTs-HaUEOMePlcqq0tg5MX8aX5uQPxmteULPvB7Vv1nGXa7jgu92btOrlXhxkEyh4C-3OmBkE7nSt4xWcAcVGMACstdt-EBK1KifvJGnaEU05FonSVzf0onoiDjgD5j_dl_YRX1sXyXM6eSwT2GWcjBbhyphenhyphenZOyXVn5uA3HXH68OHTEL/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="115" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I still haven’t read a single word of Robert Jordan’s magnum opus (and have no plans to) but for my money season two of this television adaptation is considerably better than the first. I found that my memories of season one were a little fuzzy, and a couple of names/faces took a while to place (and I don’t just mean Mat, now played by a new actor who brings a <i>very</i> different energy to the role) but for the most part this was a consistently entertaining ride through a world filled with likeable and/or intriguing characters.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The highlight is still Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, who sets the tone for the entire piece by elevating what might otherwise be very silly material. By following her lead everyone else manages to up their game, and other highlights include Sophie Okonedo returning for a couple of episodes (though honestly, they need to stop filling up her dialogue with so many fishing analogies) and Lindsay Duncan for an extended run as Moiraine’s younger sister. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first season ended with one of the Dark Ones being released from his prison (I refuse to look any of this up, if I get any of the names or terminology wrong, sorry not sorry) and effortlessly severing Moiraine’s link to her power. Her dramatic loss of magic has also destroyed her bond with Lan, and for the first time in years they’re on the outs, which is fairly heart-rending for both of them.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, Rand has disappeared, and the other four friends from Two Rivers have been separated: Perrin has taken to the wilds, Nynaeve and Egwene are acolytes of the White Tower, and Mat is being secretly held prisoner by Kate Fleetwood and her incredible cheekbones (I watched this with a friend who couldn’t stop commenting on them).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The basic arc of this season is to give each of these characters their fair share of development by putting them through the physical, mental and emotional wringer, which culminates in their reunion atop a tower in a city under siege. Given the lengthy run-time of the episodes (some are over ninety minutes long!) and the fact that they were released on a weekly basis, the story feels suitably vast and epic. It was actually <em>nice</em> to be forced to experience the story at a slower, more leisurely pace, as it gave me a chance to properly absorb what was unfolding. Hopefully I’ll retain more of this season than I did the first, and now that it’s over, I actually miss it!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, I still find Rand to be the show’s least interesting character (which is ironic since he’s ostensibly the lead) though his newfound relationship with an older woman called Selene certainly spices up his narrative a little. Nynaeve gets an incredible showcase when she’s put through one of the Tower’s initiation rituals, which involves her reliving traumatic experiences from her past and negotiating a “fake future” in which she’s a happy wife and mother... for a little while.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have to admit to not fully warming up to this new Mat, simply because the actor (who I feel for, as it can’t be easy coming into a role knowing you were the second choice) has such a different vibe from the first. Meanwhile, Perrin finds a wolf companion and ends up on the set of <strong>Dune</strong> with some very cool warrior women who communicate in sign language. More of them please!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But it’s Egwene who really steals the show, even as her storyline is the most harrowing. Taken prisoner by a group of conquerors, she’s forced to go through training that magically bonds her to another young woman who will command when and how she uses her magic. The saddest thing about the whole affair is that this woman, Renna, is totally on-board with the belief system she’s trying to sell to Egwene.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When she lets Egwene keep her name, she obviously feels it’s a true act of kindness. She’s genuinely enthusiastic about their potential relationship with each other and takes no sadistic pleasure in her prescribed training methods. She’s truly saddened whenever Egwene defies her. It’s a fantastic performance from the actress because you can <em>feel</em> the sincerity in her eyes and voice, and are fully aware that Renna herself is just a brainwashed victim in her turn.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I always find it easier to feel sorry for villains when the writers don’t <em>demand</em> that I sympathize with them, and though Egwene does what’s necessary to free herself from Renna’s monstrous control, it’s a credit to the show that it doesn’t feel triumphant – just really, really sad.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A couple more things: at times there is a disappointing lack of ambiguity when it comes to the characters and their allegiance to either good or evil. Sure, there are a few awful characters who truly believe that the atrocities they commit is in service of saving the world from a greater evil, but much of the time anyone who shows the slightest bit of amorality or self-interest will inevitably be revealed as a Darkfriend working against our heroes. I found none of these reveals particularly interesting or surprising, and as motivation goes, it’s rather dull.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m also a bit on the fence when it comes to the Dark Ones themselves. They very much operate as old school witches and devils: they make promises and deals and are certainly a lot of fun to watch... it’s hard to articulate, but I guess I don’t find their <em>tactics</em> very interesting, nor their relationships with those they’re manipulating. Not yet anyway. There are certainly some attempts to get the audience to grasp their point of view, and what it is they’re actually trying to achieve, but it’s not quite in focus yet.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, it still very much looks like characters are wearing costumes and walking around on sets. I don’t need everything to be dirty and gritty, but at the same time everything is rather too clean and shiny to feel truly <em>real</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But one thing I find truly remarkable about this show is the sheer number of women that are involved. As I said in my review for season one, every time you think they’ve reached their surplus, they add ten more. And women of so many ages and ethnicities and alignments. It’s incredible! And it’s so unapologetic! Nobody expects applause or congratulations on including them – they just do it and get on with the story! With that in mind, Natasha O'Keeffe was clearly having the time of her life as Selene (like I said, the bad guys aren’t always very nuanced, but they’re great fun to watch) and I nearly spat out my drink when I recognized Hayley Mills. THAT Hayley Mills of <strong>The Parent Trap</strong>!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And there’s Ragga Ragnars from <strong>Vikings</strong>, and Katie Leung from <strong>Harry Potter</strong>! I squealed when they turned up. There’s just <em>so many </em>women it’s dizzying...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m profoundly glad season three is already locked in – but are we going to make it all the way to the end of this <em>extremely</em> long story? I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I’m officially invested now.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-37852724317934752282023-10-16T23:44:00.003-07:002023-10-18T01:47:24.575-07:00Legend of the Seeker: Torn<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And with this episode, I am halfway through the season! (Though <em>well</em> over halfway through the year, which is an annoyance since I was hoping to get this project wrapped up before 2024).</span></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If the last episode provided a minor character study on Richard, then this is Kahlan’s turn to step into the spotlight. This entire story is devoted to exploring the duality of her character, by using that favourite fantasy trope: splitting the individual into two halves. That is, their personality is split between two separate (and identical) bodies, which TV Tropes calls a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LiteralSplitPersonality">Literal Split Personality</a>.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4B8yDho_PxRHVcOpMI1-D2w7SyHHnFLe5134SNiH6R_8bmvfceXpLGsZrhAxRXph3NT1XGPgyAKGtfS_WSsQYw0fiHwFOD68pZajDKwlItcz3wH9xaqUsXf60FZioSbUw8MqFjZRemGe26Vee0VAbLrGPnb7BOaZ86M0VH58vhXojvMhoHLVQ-oF7CG0J/s1366/Screenshot%20(1527).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4B8yDho_PxRHVcOpMI1-D2w7SyHHnFLe5134SNiH6R_8bmvfceXpLGsZrhAxRXph3NT1XGPgyAKGtfS_WSsQYw0fiHwFOD68pZajDKwlItcz3wH9xaqUsXf60FZioSbUw8MqFjZRemGe26Vee0VAbLrGPnb7BOaZ86M0VH58vhXojvMhoHLVQ-oF7CG0J/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1527).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You’ve seen it in early episodes of <strong>Charmed</strong> and <strong>Farscape</strong> (though there Prue and Crichton were divided into <i>three</i> parts) and <strong>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</strong> (where it was Xander, making use of the convenient fact that actor Nicholas Brendon is a twin). I also recall a <strong>Star Trek</strong> episode where two separate people are merged into one, and then refuse to be turned back since he doesn’t want to die, a storyline that’s somewhat relevant to this episode of <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And those examples are just off the top of my head. I’m sure there are thousands more out there.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It makes for a fairly interesting look at what makes Kahlan tick, though it’s rather on-the-nose compared to the last episode’s more veiled depiction of Richard’s fears and how they pertain to his self-image. This is essentially just knocking Kahlan’s fundamental personality out of kilter and demonstrating that the two sides of a person need to work in harmony – which is true, but true of <em>anyone</em>, not just Kahlan.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Our heroes are back to following the compass bearings (God, it’s been so long since I watched the beginning of this season, I can’t even remember where this thing came from or where it’s meant to be taking them) but I feel another detour coming!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Richard and Kahlan are being pretty damn insensitive when they start discussing the romantic ambiance of a famous waterfall they both want to visit in front of a woman who has just watched the man she was falling for burn to death in a blaze of magical fire right in front of her, but here’s that detour, right on schedule!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amusingly, Cara is not impressed by the torture that’s been inflicted on their bodies (it’s not good enough, according to her) and Kahlan is perturbed by the sign hanging with them: it bears the Aydindril seal, as well as a title that she claims does not exist: High Lord Regent.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoL6IZn9f-lVriN1A2MVy_8kdp1DMOAhwEVbTmjOa1u1kFi6vP6O_UBZGtzhZ9pSHLqtUwNWmX_nOBH3BPhmLZYT0YlQm-upqWVUYZnbi6FaHJWJ7vU34DcP7G2kMxqVZH2ZLmnBtCdI9PqQHyFm8Wk0JekayfYeTlxswlwI38Rc6neCg1uvwHPYGAtsct/s1366/Screenshot%20(1499).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoL6IZn9f-lVriN1A2MVy_8kdp1DMOAhwEVbTmjOa1u1kFi6vP6O_UBZGtzhZ9pSHLqtUwNWmX_nOBH3BPhmLZYT0YlQm-upqWVUYZnbi6FaHJWJ7vU34DcP7G2kMxqVZH2ZLmnBtCdI9PqQHyFm8Wk0JekayfYeTlxswlwI38Rc6neCg1uvwHPYGAtsct/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1499).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s our cue to cut to the very man: he’s sitting on an important-looking chair, all clad in black, and is pretty good-looking (though the acting isn’t exactly great). All three things indicate his status as a villain, and just to drive home the theme of <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LawfulEvil">Lawful Evil</a>, he’s currently showing no mercy to a poor bewildered peasant who couldn’t find work to feed his family and so resorted to stealing grain.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">He’s already had one hand cut off, and now he’s sentenced to death, much to the shocked gasps and mutterings of the assembled people. It’s not a particularly nuanced scene, but it gets the point across. As the struggling man is dragged away, we see the exchange has been witnessed by two grizzled old men with grave expressions. You know the kind:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0pPB1tpeZHzzpxTxudvnNf-GHpTKQcit9PF2lnWEt3gXnJDcSwEnatv7VJTaVZX3DJQVcxc7pU7d5ejnejCao_KdOtpOpe8DC3qy2XlFQDeKoBNLnDHpA4KzUgrDLGZfSwrxnm1_TpyO_cMcW5y55Ap-6LkMaKVMfnjbqJdNzRm_jXj9mfMyKp6Uzqt_/s1366/Screenshot%20(1496).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0pPB1tpeZHzzpxTxudvnNf-GHpTKQcit9PF2lnWEt3gXnJDcSwEnatv7VJTaVZX3DJQVcxc7pU7d5ejnejCao_KdOtpOpe8DC3qy2XlFQDeKoBNLnDHpA4KzUgrDLGZfSwrxnm1_TpyO_cMcW5y55Ap-6LkMaKVMfnjbqJdNzRm_jXj9mfMyKp6Uzqt_/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1496).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Their names are Alferon and Silas, and we get some whispered exposition: the former has summoned the latter to Aydindril to witness Lord Regent Fyren’s cruelty, making mention of the fact that he commands an army surrounding the city that has rendered the people too afraid to oppose him. Silas floats the possibility of using Oloron’s Amulet, currently locked in the vault and guarded by Fyren’s men, to summon help. He’s warned about the dangers in retrieving it, but dangerous times...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sadly, we only get to see the tail-end of Silas’s daring heist, as the next scene shows him fleeing from the vault with the amulet in his grasp, only to be shot in the back as he makes a run for it. He just manages to recite an incantation before disappearing... and reappearing right at the feet of Richard, Kahlan, Cara and Zed.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVC1Vfm72l6YzlrCSzylteX43ABnm_uhmOTt3Z5w4-dFE20t59rD4528yAGIrLvj3bXj9u1gwPqvZhwNpSFmNOC3ayfEYWCpT2vdnMoUdVQjq8PN8bD2Zbe30NYj_Xh2V9N1kEVS1yDbatKYhBKy-7oE4qSVpAQ3sF7hyphenhyphenxEDBnHQRBKkFgEGmUS0vp3gpQ/s1366/Screenshot%20(1501).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVC1Vfm72l6YzlrCSzylteX43ABnm_uhmOTt3Z5w4-dFE20t59rD4528yAGIrLvj3bXj9u1gwPqvZhwNpSFmNOC3ayfEYWCpT2vdnMoUdVQjq8PN8bD2Zbe30NYj_Xh2V9N1kEVS1yDbatKYhBKy-7oE4qSVpAQ3sF7hyphenhyphenxEDBnHQRBKkFgEGmUS0vp3gpQ/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1501).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They recognize him by name as a Wizard of the Second Order, and the amulet he’s clutching as a safeguard to ensure the Mother Confessor can always be reached in an emergency. All one has to do is say the incantation and it will transport a person to wherever she is in the world, and then allow both her and the bearer of the amulet to return magically back to Aydindril.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which means we’re looking at another team split-up: Kahlan and Zed will investigate the goings-on in Aydindril that led to Silas’s death, and Richard and Cara will continue following the compass bearing.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But Kahlan is... wait for it... TORN. Hey, that’s the name of the episode!</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pSlTj0TU3ySsq7Zo7ONoF31j1Wqn8TNBuRkwNbZDt0j13saEw-P-qssHBd4UnCFd4z0ZcpQU4q5KcEvrH3NHNhRgXCD1Idq9Ma_91jdppvuRNekhX4PBfGRFYpeiZ-OWHJZYb7iqjBOAQJOLRJ2rmrVSKt5g8IktXlDqFWUCzGtJc0zg9zt_QSHQ6iZ0/s1366/Screenshot%20(1504).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pSlTj0TU3ySsq7Zo7ONoF31j1Wqn8TNBuRkwNbZDt0j13saEw-P-qssHBd4UnCFd4z0ZcpQU4q5KcEvrH3NHNhRgXCD1Idq9Ma_91jdppvuRNekhX4PBfGRFYpeiZ-OWHJZYb7iqjBOAQJOLRJ2rmrVSKt5g8IktXlDqFWUCzGtJc0zg9zt_QSHQ6iZ0/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1504).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her conflicted feelings over this development means that when Zed makes the incantation over the amulet, Kahlan remains with Richard and Cara on the road... but also travels with Zed to Aydindril. Obviously each group is none-the-wiser, though the fact the amulet has been broken in two – one piece with each party – is a hint that something went awry.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a reasonably elegant way of getting the story where it wants to be, and gives Bridget Regan a chance to pull double-duty as the two very different sides of Kahlan, which she starts slipping into almost immediately.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(As a side note, is this the first time we’ve seen Aydindril? I think it is. And if memory serves, its significance is that Kahlan was born, or at least raised and trained as a Confessor there. It’s nice to see it finally, but surely it deserved a little more fanfare than this).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At this point, the narrative divides into the arcs of the two Kahlans, so I’ll follow them both separately...</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Kahlan who remains with Richard, who wanted to stay with him and who represents her personal devotion, love and longing for an ordinary life, is worried about Zed – whom they have to assume arrived in Aydindril by himself. Unclear about what the situation is, they chose to forego following the compass and head to Aydindril together.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the way, Kahlan admits she’s pleased she doesn’t have to leave Richard (and is a little uncharacteristically gushy about it) but when the group comes across soldiers harassing a pair of young lovers in the forest – there are always <em>so many</em> young lovers in these types of shows – Kahlan realizes mid-fight that she doesn’t have her Confessor abilities.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And you know what that means! Honestly, it’s actually kind of hilarious watching the characters/writers try to tiptoe delicately around the fact Kahlan simply wants to stand up and yell at Richard: “we can fuck now!”</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VFfUSkWV1vCmZ52H86eZr5wda1odWjYBDTgeqpOOPU3PAkToJ4_FrP5iY956ZnjnfBKOCixvo8tZzaEcYKpTwzX4hMbH9FScL-US7xkKnphUUmj83hrCmv-4BnKZZNAZlnJ4q1d7AM3zY_63Kql7aHkwlAH_K8pUfu58nR5fIM1xokSt8DAOlnDBpTDI/s1366/Screenshot%20(1520).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3VFfUSkWV1vCmZ52H86eZr5wda1odWjYBDTgeqpOOPU3PAkToJ4_FrP5iY956ZnjnfBKOCixvo8tZzaEcYKpTwzX4hMbH9FScL-US7xkKnphUUmj83hrCmv-4BnKZZNAZlnJ4q1d7AM3zY_63Kql7aHkwlAH_K8pUfu58nR5fIM1xokSt8DAOlnDBpTDI/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1520).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hey, at least they actually get some distance first, CARA.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And so they do, excusing themselves from Cara (who knows exactly what’s going on) and finding a comfy spot on the forest floor, under the silvery moon. Sound the trumpets, unfurl the banners, Richard and Kahlan finally get to have sex!</span></p>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBSRQURugLHjDVkYrHfNYvyHTj03XgHHrsX9F2EMXbdj3nlimsteaP_wNKdBC7CLsJBuoyoMmKfIhcBdSpzZfUjvrNgELH2I6bZmZ1u9PRWjWtgaCTlYv-gvGNzUCwFZPs3cHMZsG5YH-evFqF6seWIbsy28G36zeauj5LDA4G6Oj5umPawTwhU6s84fY0/s500/!.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="500" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBSRQURugLHjDVkYrHfNYvyHTj03XgHHrsX9F2EMXbdj3nlimsteaP_wNKdBC7CLsJBuoyoMmKfIhcBdSpzZfUjvrNgELH2I6bZmZ1u9PRWjWtgaCTlYv-gvGNzUCwFZPs3cHMZsG5YH-evFqF6seWIbsy28G36zeauj5LDA4G6Oj5umPawTwhU6s84fY0/w400-h169/!.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They wake up post-coital in some rather OTT mood lighting, and... Richard can’t get away quickly enough. Okay, he’s not rude about it or anything, but come on – he’s finally spent the night with the woman he loves, and he’s up getting dressed and talking about Cara almost immediately. It <em>does </em>lean into the theme of duty versus love, but is clearly also setting up for the next scene, when you can’t help but feel Richard would have lingered for a little while longer.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, Kahlan pitches the dream of a house and children and domestic life, only for him to head back to Cara and start planning their journey into Aydindril. Cara pulls a leaf out of his hair and... ugh, I hate this part. Kahlan turns up just in time to see this physical interaction between them and flips her shit: she accuses Cara of trying to seduce him, decides that Richard actually loves <em>her</em> instead, and flounces off in tears.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Urgghhhhh. Look, I realize that all this is the split personality messing with Kahlan’s head, but one of the best parts of this show is that it never stoops to jealousy between women or silly catfights. This could have been snipped out entirely and we still could have had Kahlan’s emotional breakdown, which ends up being more about the fact that if they go to Aydindril and figure out what’s going on with her Confessor powers, she and Richard won’t be able to be together anymore.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Richard – who is probably wondering what the hell he’s gotten himself into – consoles her, and comes up with another classic line: “I want you to get your powers back because they’re a part of you.” And it’s at this point that he begins to smell a rat. Kahlan encouraging him to abandon his quest and run away isn’t something she would ever say. She hasn’t just lost her powers, but something <em>else</em> as well.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's perhaps a little dodgy that he didn’t get the chance to notice this until <em>after</em> they’ve slept together (because it kind of throws up some consent issues if she’s not in her right mind) but I give both Richard and Zed over in the other subplot credit for figuring it out reasonably quickly.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They saddle the horses and gallop off, which brings us to the second arc...</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan and Zed get the lowdown on what’s been happening in Aydindril from Alferon, who tells them all about Fyren and the way he’s been running the place. In a very fun little sequence, Kahlan is brought before Fyren in chains, waits for him to beckon her closer, and when he asks: “what can I do for you?” she responds: “you can get out of my chair.” Boom! He’s confessed.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhff6ljdjknjA5IZ9fHpOmkuFn9_2nQWBaFmF7ZaJAwUIop5sGJe5UO-Gl0r4AyhCyZ4pNOaXXjvZfTQb6k0Pq1cKqYqPjupZ11XkeoSb3qHEriYiQjM1URLzyLQEVZUeKq4-V2SFaFZGEXQLfnYEl9TeW9gUok_wKAvGlW442NJYIdaT5Ky0a7T5hF31MK/s1366/Screenshot%20(1507).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhff6ljdjknjA5IZ9fHpOmkuFn9_2nQWBaFmF7ZaJAwUIop5sGJe5UO-Gl0r4AyhCyZ4pNOaXXjvZfTQb6k0Pq1cKqYqPjupZ11XkeoSb3qHEriYiQjM1URLzyLQEVZUeKq4-V2SFaFZGEXQLfnYEl9TeW9gUok_wKAvGlW442NJYIdaT5Ky0a7T5hF31MK/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1507).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Watching this for the first time, I thought straight away that this was a pretty drastic measure for Kahlan to take. I mean, the guy was clearly a power-addled fantatic, but she’s also just stripped him of his identity and autonomy. <em>Forever</em>. That’s our first clue that something is not quite right with Kahlan, as she’s usually a lot more careful about who she dishes this punishment out to, and the circumstances in which she does it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's followed up with some rather eyebrow-raising comments nestled amidst her declaration that Fyren’s edicts will be overturned... with the understanding that she’s now in indisputable charge of things.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(But honestly, it’s always <em>so much fun</em> to watch Kahlan turn arrogant, overbearing men into her obedient servants. As a power fantasy, it has no equal).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The next we see her, she’s on the throne and looking totally fabulous. The hair! The boots! The robes! It’s enough to make us forget that even though she cancels the execution of the thief, she also forbids Zed from magically regrowing his hand back (this is another nice bit of continuity, as he did the same for one of the Confessors who had undergone a similar punishment in the first season).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYCT0WWxulVaR_hEEyPyf1HCU28ncJ92Q0opesnKpBIsn4hutG_UaM_XxEBUjjq1e5gNr51NcswWib4lw-5KS5ipKk10Blpy5X9Y9kF6BPPHU-w4OO8EzmwRUKA5jxyk1hDosoCFbnmIUVjeiVUhaPn-JJqVUZ6_8i3sMrTW5Tr5JAUdffQT8X3PkECEWI/s1366/Screenshot%20(1512).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYCT0WWxulVaR_hEEyPyf1HCU28ncJ92Q0opesnKpBIsn4hutG_UaM_XxEBUjjq1e5gNr51NcswWib4lw-5KS5ipKk10Blpy5X9Y9kF6BPPHU-w4OO8EzmwRUKA5jxyk1hDosoCFbnmIUVjeiVUhaPn-JJqVUZ6_8i3sMrTW5Tr5JAUdffQT8X3PkECEWI/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1512).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Zed is a little shocked, but lets it slide for now... though there’s a nice exchange with Alferon, who says: “she’s changed since I last saw her,” to which Zed replies: “she’s changed since this morning.” Again, top marks to the writers for having Zed immediately realize that’s something’s up... and even though Richard takes a bit longer to realize the same about <em>his</em> Kahlan, it’s more understandable since Emotional!Kahlan is still a kind person, and he can attribute her initial strangeness to her reacting to the loss of her Confessor abilities.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">While Hardass!Kahlan is browsing through papers in a private room, Zed tests the waters by asking her about her sudden lack of mercy. She puts up a somewhat reasonable defence, stating that she’s using the old laws to establish order and can’t afford to demonstrate any inconsistency, but it’s obvious she’s dipping her toes into authoritarianism. Zed is troubled, but again decides to withdraw for the moment.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which may <em>not</em> have been the best move, as the next scene shows Kahlan calling Fyren into her chambers and informing him that his strength, genealogy and leadership makes him a great candidate for a Baby-Daddy. She wants him to sire the next Confessor. No kissing, just screwing. I bet the Fyren actor remembers this role very fondly.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg668XnmpNtA1m740hwApwpuUCV9bxtxpxQg2nOw9f4h4Bd6hsWVvUgRr43WFoxavp1sjXHsF8Np-vX88y6x8culXwtc9WUxbMOdJtmBol6IMfQbGR5ZiQAShTreXiuRsm_KfYqfzOWbneiRe-Fy3k8gQMQwn3f-kcFnnJaoKvUnE1vXQ0CZheX9XncJnmM/s1366/Screenshot%20(1518).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg668XnmpNtA1m740hwApwpuUCV9bxtxpxQg2nOw9f4h4Bd6hsWVvUgRr43WFoxavp1sjXHsF8Np-vX88y6x8culXwtc9WUxbMOdJtmBol6IMfQbGR5ZiQAShTreXiuRsm_KfYqfzOWbneiRe-Fy3k8gQMQwn3f-kcFnnJaoKvUnE1vXQ0CZheX9XncJnmM/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1518).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The following day, Zed confronts Kahlan about a rumour he heard at the local tavern: that she’s getting it on with Fyren. He’s shocked, SHOCKED I say, that such a thing could be possible, but Kahlan just shrugs and admits to it. Also, they call it “mating” which is just... ewwww. But she states she has a duty to continue the line of Confessors, at which point the Council <strike>of the Midlands</strike> of Funny Hats arrives, just in time to hear Kahlan’s declaration that they’re all fired for how ineffective they were in dealing with Fyren.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAJlndGYKeE6AZv1moMb0I_la8CxWPYMlFNDEAX5Rr9ifAIRf3NRtXMlKkSQt-FJqgSqxxGdWF9ak9PXiM8vq0Ai2LsGguU6ZzoUl7xUPO_i-VumYXoz9A5KAOaRSydNtn9NW-R6BgGqesFDlCIhClniaqlaNlW0Bo7mW_Plo_M-hoY_rU2J2nug3ca7z/s1366/Screenshot%20(1524).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAJlndGYKeE6AZv1moMb0I_la8CxWPYMlFNDEAX5Rr9ifAIRf3NRtXMlKkSQt-FJqgSqxxGdWF9ak9PXiM8vq0Ai2LsGguU6ZzoUl7xUPO_i-VumYXoz9A5KAOaRSydNtn9NW-R6BgGqesFDlCIhClniaqlaNlW0Bo7mW_Plo_M-hoY_rU2J2nug3ca7z/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1524).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>See? So funny.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Zed attempts to talk reason, realizing at this point that the amulet has something to do with her behaviour. In a private conversation with Alferon, he discusses the ways in which he can restrain her, at which point we get a nice twist: Kahlan is already two steps ahead and confessed Alferon yesterday – now he turns against Zed and magically binds him for the guards to arrest him.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s at this point the two plots converge, with Richard, Cara and Emotional!Kahlan arriving just in time to see Hardass!Kahlan sentencing Zed to death and justifying this decision to the crowd. There can now be no doubt that something went very wrong when the amulet snapped during the magical journey to Aydindril.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Richard decides to take the simple approach and simply confronts Hardass!Kahlan during one of the daily assemblies. She also plays it cool, reminding Richard that he has a quest to get one with, and that Zed has become a threat to her – and she’s always right when it comes to reading people’s intentions. I liked that Richard plays the personal stakes card by saying he’s there because he was concerned about her, and that he calls Zed “my grandfather.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She doesn’t deny him a visit to the dungeons, and Zed exposits what’s really going on: because the amulet was connected specifically to Kahlan’s heart and because it was metaphorically torn when the spell was cast, she was <em>literally</em> torn into two. And since her desire was to stay, but her duty was to go, the two separate versions of her embody both these fundamental traits. Neither one is the real Kahlan, instead they’re both manifestations of these two halves: duty and desire, the heart and the head.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I really like this as an explanation, as it has a neat fairy tale logic to it that a lesser show probably wouldn’t have bothered with. To say that the amulet is connected to Kahlan’s heart makes sense (as it was designed to find the Mother Confessor and bring her back to Aydindril in times of trouble) and that her magical connection to its magic split her into the Confessor sworn to serve the Midlands and the woman in love with Richard, a development which is <em>also</em> symbolized in the breaking of the amulet itself, all hangs together very nicely.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But now that the mystery is solved, the question remains: how do they put her back together? She’s completely out of balance when her two halves are divided in this way, but Richard thinks that if Hardass!Kahlan is guided only by reason, then he can try and reach her with reason.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">He ends up... not doing this. First of all he points out Zed’s great achievements and tries to connect this to the Code of Aydindril that Kahlan claims she’s attempting to uphold – though as she points out, his past deeds don’t cancel out his attempt to overthrow her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Richard’s rebuttal is that the Code was laid down by <a>the first Mother Confessor, Magda Searus</a>, who said that justice must be tempered with mercy... but then negates the very point he’s making by revealing that <em>she </em>was the Confessor who decreed that all male Confessor babies be killed at birth because their powers were too dangerous.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Er, isn’t that precisely the point Kahlan is trying to make about Zed? That he’s too dangerous to live?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whatever, Richard isn’t too great with the cause-and-effect logic, but it gets him to the big reveal he’s been leading up to this whole time: Hardass!Kahlan has no compassion, for all of it is to be found in Emotional!Kahlan, and she is therefore unfit to be the Mother Confessor.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZFG6WjgGi0YC1O5wTfhwvEndjlH-MDM0rnxUWSWELUfBez1tgwDWj5vKyN_EgttncOEuQY7tg2cp9EdLrOL6jNQ786UvZqTJyv572-9AP2UlR0gj4jl0nP2pDklf4PTWH4GmQsyTi1DjsiLOU-bS7cBZsqaH185IPU7RxCUBTDnQrzos08gUkwH0-GLU/s1366/Screenshot%20(1529).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZFG6WjgGi0YC1O5wTfhwvEndjlH-MDM0rnxUWSWELUfBez1tgwDWj5vKyN_EgttncOEuQY7tg2cp9EdLrOL6jNQ786UvZqTJyv572-9AP2UlR0gj4jl0nP2pDklf4PTWH4GmQsyTi1DjsiLOU-bS7cBZsqaH185IPU7RxCUBTDnQrzos08gUkwH0-GLU/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1529).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The two Kahlans approach each other while Richard explains what happened with the amulet. Kahlan counters that her love, kindness and compassion is what kept her from her duties in Aydindril, and she’s a better leader, judge and confessor without it all.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hardass!Kahlan is much better at this reason thing than Richard is, as he tries to argue that leaving Emotional!Kahlan without her power is fundamentally unjust, only for Hardass!Kahlan to flip the dispute around, pointing out that <em>without</em> her power, she and Richard can be together. And of course, Emotional!Kahlan <em>would</em> rather be with Richard than have her power returned to her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It gets pretty damn weird when she suggests that Richard can have Cara too if he wants; she’s just do <em>anything</em> for the two of them to be together. Again, I say... urgh. Losing her reason doesn’t mean Kahlan should lose her self-respect as well, and all this duality material would have worked fine without bringing a love triangle into it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then Hardass!Kahlan throws down an argument that would make all the bad-faith “bringing social politics into this drama to make my opinions feel like they have moral import” fandoms applause wildly when she tells Richard: “I understand that you miss some idealized version of the Kahlan you loved. But you do not have the right to murder two distinct individuals simply to get the one that <em>you</em> want.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s <em>not</em> what’s happening here, and she knows it, but it makes her sound like she’s deeply concerned about matters of consent and free will and thwarted male desires, and that’s all she needs to win this argument. It’s pretty fraught stuff, you guys.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On Hardass!Kahlan’s orders, her soldiers move to arrest Richard. Cara deflects Alferon’s power (glad they remembered she <em>has</em> this ability) while Richard swordfights Fyren and the guards. Emotional!Kahlan is about to help him when she’s grabbed by Hardass!Kahlan who promptly confesses her. Yikes, we’re in real <strong>Inception</strong> territory now. Also, is this the first time we’ve seen Kahlan confess another woman?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She sends Emotional!Kahlan after Richard, but Cara manages to subdue Hardass!Kahlan with her agiel, forcing a stalemate: Cara knows that getting confessed will kill her, Hardass!Kahlan knows that Richard will never let Cara kill <em>her</em>, and Emotional!Kahlan is frozen due to fear of her mistress’s safety. Richard bluffs and says they don’t necessarily need both Kahlans alive in order to fix her, and Hardass!Kahlan relents – though decides to keep the drama going by claiming she might be pregnant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not to be outdone, Emotional!Kahlan declares this too.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s all a bit soapy, but I do see the logic behind it: if either of them <em>were</em> pregnant, then what would the reemergence of their bodies to do an unborn child? Would they both die, would she be carrying twins, or would it be a Chimera-like situation where one foetus eats the other one?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Zed is released from prison and – in the episode’s funniest scene – does what can only be called a wizard pregnancy test in which he just sort of hovers his hand above each Kahlan’s uterus. His face is what cracks me up the most:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaSReZnFDku0cZJqJU_m1UPFrwzv-wbnyVVGvD9MTVCGCzG10EtEYydIZsEvK9pYs4GX8Q8nMXx-ObITUUS5HIhdn9zDO5GBVndiS1G2zXgVueZ_ty_zi9iRvOwZ9nswOev43Q-y7YBO7sR5PcGVzTbVr9_yGbYu9bf7J2AARX3CdhyPdY755obQH9e-Z/s1366/Screenshot%20(1530).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaSReZnFDku0cZJqJU_m1UPFrwzv-wbnyVVGvD9MTVCGCzG10EtEYydIZsEvK9pYs4GX8Q8nMXx-ObITUUS5HIhdn9zDO5GBVndiS1G2zXgVueZ_ty_zi9iRvOwZ9nswOev43Q-y7YBO7sR5PcGVzTbVr9_yGbYu9bf7J2AARX3CdhyPdY755obQH9e-Z/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1530).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This nonsense is to be taken extremely seriously.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But neither of them are pregnant, because they’re just fragments of a magical spell gone awry. Not wanting to die, they each play their final card of emotional manipulation to Richard: “[don’t do this] if you still love me,” says one and “if you care about the Midlands” says the other, consistent to the last.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Richard isn’t moved, and Zed casts the spell, restoring the amulet and therefore the two halves of Kahlan at the same time. Alferon is unconfessed, which is rather convenient, but also suggests that Hardass!Kahlan was in fact <em>killed</em>, despite Zed declaring that she never should have existed in the first place.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Furthermore, the restored Kahlan has no memory of what happened to her, also convenient. In her final conversation with Richard, she admits regretting some of that memory loss, and points out that in restoring her two halves, he lost something too. Thankfully, Richard tells her that if he’d known she wasn’t her true, full self, he never would have slept with her; that he’d rather have whole and complete her, than everything else with another woman. He really is the perfect guy, isn’t he.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan appreciates the chance to set things right: not by staying (because let’s be real, these people probably don’t want her around anymore) but by reinstating the Council and sending for her sister so there’s a Confessor at Aydindril. She’ll always be torn (GET IT?) but can only be in one place at a time – and right now, that’s with Richard.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As is often the case in this show, the theme of this episode is whether a person should put their love for another person before the greater good. In this, Kahlan and Richard are largely opposites. Kahlan will <em>always</em> see the bigger picture, while I’ve lost count of the times Richard has detoured from his quest in order to help some one-shot characters – including <em>this</em> one, where he puts the greater-scope quest to find the Stone of Tears on hold to rescue Zed and then Kahlan. Just as Kahlan was thrown out of balance, so too are Richard and Kahlan out of balance when they’re away from each other.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In this case, Richard reminded her that as Mother Confessor, she probably <em>should</em> have returned home to Aydindril at the start of the season, though she believed her duty was to assist him in fight against the Keeper (though I’m sure she was pleased that her personal desires coincided with the greater good in that particular case).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Likewise, Richard here was given the chance to leave his quest and go live a quiet life with Kahlan, but refuses to do so, not <em>just </em>because his sense of duty forbade him from doing so, but because he knew the real Kahlan’s would as well.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">These characters are always being asked to do so much, to be everywhere and to solve everything, which is one of the advantages of a long-running serialized story. You simply couldn’t explore this theme in today’s television landscape, with their eight-or-ten-episode seasons (or you <em>could</em>, but it would be largely <em>telling</em> rather than <em>showing</em> all these distractions, side-quests and one-shot guest stars).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yet back in 2009, we can feel the fatigue and disillusionment our characters are experiencing, because we’re watching it unfold right in front of us. And for now at least, they’ve still got miles to go before they sleep.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miscellaneous Observations:</span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Once again, Cara is unable to revive a person by using the Kiss of Life, and you can tell this particular skill-set is getting on the writers’ nerves. It was easy enough to justify the Sister of the Dark and Leo’s deaths (the former cut her own throat and the latter was burnt to a crisp) but Silas is apparently “already cold,” which... come on, we saw him get shot just a few seconds ago. The writers just needed to neatly dispose of him to get on with the story.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I kind of ruined some of the beats of this episode by going through each of Kahlan’s arcs separately – for example, there’s a deliberate contrast in the montage between Richard and Emotional!Kahlan finally consummating their relationship with Hardass!Kahlan calling Fyren into her chambers and calculatedly telling him he has the honour of siring the next Confessor.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">One thing I’ve commented on before is that this show does great job with its interior sets. In these days of green-screen, it’s so nice to see actors performing in real locations or on actual sets – even if they are very small and cramped. And yet this show still manages to get across distinctive and cultural details: the beauty and colouring of Aydindril is clearly very different from the rooms of the Palace of the Prophet, or the temple Richard visited in “Fury.” I’ll take low-budget but attractive and real sets over the Volume any day of the week.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, it was a great showcase for Bridget Rega, and it was obvious which of the two Kahlans she was playing at any given point. Even her voice grew softer as Emotional!Kahlan, with more demure body language, <em>especially</em> compared to Hardass!Kahlan who sat in that chair like a boss. Let’s see that screenshot again:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOv3BQiBzJqT3Mhj2Tc9U2jcd5K8m0yfzGV5fJ0mumhXlBbOxL5jA6iXcpN0XhCGewLvy1U9rtZVd06Npfi55qbW_BUfN9D3iJc-T9nVKJYBZPNWALLw1vWHSmoo4fNKiAgEE16huedoUOltyvek7Wddx0pGvaT5bfK0nlJ0ez27klguL9A6jfwqcrtJA/s1366/Screenshot%20(1523).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOv3BQiBzJqT3Mhj2Tc9U2jcd5K8m0yfzGV5fJ0mumhXlBbOxL5jA6iXcpN0XhCGewLvy1U9rtZVd06Npfi55qbW_BUfN9D3iJc-T9nVKJYBZPNWALLw1vWHSmoo4fNKiAgEE16huedoUOltyvek7Wddx0pGvaT5bfK0nlJ0ez27klguL9A6jfwqcrtJA/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1523).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oh yeah.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">We get a little more lore in this episode, learning for the first time that the original Mother Confessor was called Magda Searus, and that it was she who decreed that male Confessor babies should not be allowed to live. Interesting. I wonder if we’ll learn more about her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A nice touch: at the start of the episode Kahlan mentions visiting the Falls of Aldermont with her sister, subtly reminding us that she <em>has</em> one. As such, it doesn’t come out of the blue when she mentions sending for her in the last scene. But if memory serves, isn’t Dennee raising another woman’s child? What’s going to happen there?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On my rewatch I realized that after Zed appears in Aydindril with Kahlan, he asks her: "how do you feel?" She replies: "All in one piece." Hah.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Altogether, it’s a solid, compelling episode that explores the duality of Kahlan in a tried-and-true fantasy formula, though some of the minor elements were a little disappointing. For instance, we’ve been hearing about Aydindril since the beginning of the show, and this was a very lacklustre way of finally showcasing the place Kahlan calls home. Why is it so special, what is its connection to the Confessors, and what does it really mean to her?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUki1fACe5jXeEWDJQRCgSD7FkaTO8P-yK-iOAvAHNEPAiH1wLzntfKcf9Y-SYIhIkZI_me7NaesXtFCD21U0D2GeIf8oYbuPdLHK27oKYRckysFX2DRhLHIIb66lBOk4fvTnfA6_eXETr2JtTLeKXTcVuDJfUoWsBkSmFv6uUPpyPniK8z4PCte_MYhV/s1366/Screenshot%20(1531).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUki1fACe5jXeEWDJQRCgSD7FkaTO8P-yK-iOAvAHNEPAiH1wLzntfKcf9Y-SYIhIkZI_me7NaesXtFCD21U0D2GeIf8oYbuPdLHK27oKYRckysFX2DRhLHIIb66lBOk4fvTnfA6_eXETr2JtTLeKXTcVuDJfUoWsBkSmFv6uUPpyPniK8z4PCte_MYhV/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1531).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">More criminally, this is the episode in which Richard and Kahlan finally get the chance to consummate their love, and it’s marred by a spell. Kahlan wasn’t truly herself and doesn’t even remember it afterwards. That feels deeply unfair, and both this relationship and the visit to Aydindril should have been treated with more weight by the show itself.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-42030636507374605332023-10-07T22:25:00.005-07:002023-10-31T01:55:46.873-07:00King's Quest: To Heir is Human<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This game could well have been called <strong>King’s Quest: Something Completely Different</strong>, as the introduction throws out everything previously established in the series thus far in favour of a brand-new set up. So much so, that initial reactions to the game were negative simply because Graham and Daventry were nowhere to be seen. And if there’s one thing that fans hate, it’s change.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3bt5tAqHFa0lBK4eUBmpUZe9-F4Ks53nbjZrmjfOtM6snAe7Ibz1aXTQhAXtTKXbl01n9HPHfJb5-lun46r0OIisVRA4Yeu1sVRnbVw7umqPVeeKTM5Px4teBCDVPcV7H3NNXV7Lzl_vgoL_3nG27Ger-yhbElrZ1VsMdVQ-EVWWP2O4QG1v2DMdGof3/s317/@@@@.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="256" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3bt5tAqHFa0lBK4eUBmpUZe9-F4Ks53nbjZrmjfOtM6snAe7Ibz1aXTQhAXtTKXbl01n9HPHfJb5-lun46r0OIisVRA4Yeu1sVRnbVw7umqPVeeKTM5Px4teBCDVPcV7H3NNXV7Lzl_vgoL_3nG27Ger-yhbElrZ1VsMdVQ-EVWWP2O4QG1v2DMdGof3/w323-h400/@@@@.jpg" width="323" /></a></div><p></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The opening introduces us to a seventeen-year-old boy called Gwydion, who lives as a slave in the clifftop mansion of a cruel wizard called Manannan in the land of Llewdor (yes, Roberta Williams had clearly been reading up on her Welsh mythology). He lives a lonely, miserable existence, longing for freedom and the answer to the question: “who am I?”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The game manual reveals that this Gwydion is only the latest in a long line of Gwydions, for even though Manannan is powerful enough to conjure spirits to do his housework, he prefers the cruelty that comes with having a mortal child at his beck and call. As such, he’s been kidnapping babies for years in order to raise them as his slaves – only to realize that with age comes agency. After the first Gwydion was found dabbling with spells in Manannan’s secret laboratory, the wizard vowed never to let another child live past the age of eighteen.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So the clock is ticking on the latest Gwydion – quite literally, as there’s a timer at the top of the screen that eventually spells doom if the player does not complete the game quickly enough. Unlike the quest narratives of the first two games, the main goal of <strong>To Heir is Human</strong> is <em>escape</em>. The player must wait for Manannan to leave the house or go to sleep, at which point you have approximately twenty-five minutes to put an escape plan into effect. This involves rummaging through Manannan’s house, discovering his secret laboratory, and descending into the countryside to search for magical ingredients – specifically to perform the spell that permanently transforms a person into a cat.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having made this “cat cookie,” you must then find a way to trick Manannan into eating it, never forgetting that you’re constantly at the mercy of the clock. If Manannan catches you somewhere you shouldn’t be, or in possession of something you shouldn’t have, then you’re immediately blasted into ash. The evocative cover art on the box effectively captures this scenario – Gwydion is being constantly monitored, trapped within the confines of the wizard’s magical control. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzkCOAFe9rCVOSplAm7a5egUtH8cYsV7YDcJa62ThKZJ156Mdlt4MnbiTSUg1xP26o9HWUpxmqAeqzSXkyt-w-vgwaMHSokSjQ5oQkUMkqT2MwPybUdr3WXwHLElXR9JmoHaB9sAqiyMgTx6kURyjhYcAtVG_hUGyEklZdPXlW_UhTrmVwuRlmsNsdQfy/s1366/Screenshot%20(295).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzkCOAFe9rCVOSplAm7a5egUtH8cYsV7YDcJa62ThKZJ156Mdlt4MnbiTSUg1xP26o9HWUpxmqAeqzSXkyt-w-vgwaMHSokSjQ5oQkUMkqT2MwPybUdr3WXwHLElXR9JmoHaB9sAqiyMgTx6kURyjhYcAtVG_hUGyEklZdPXlW_UhTrmVwuRlmsNsdQfy/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(295).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Suffice to say, it’s a harrowing scenario to play out as a child. Not only does Manannan sporadically appear in various rooms with a menacing musical cue (often to just <em>stare</em> at you silently for a few seconds) but you have to continually remember to get back to the house before his return, concealing your belongings under the bed before he discovers them. If you obtain his magic wand, then that also must be returned to its cabinet in the study before it’s missed. One must always be conscious of how much time has passed; always remember to conceal the evidence of what you’re doing.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I well remember the horror of Manannan appearing if it took too long to return to the mansion, and the desperate scramble to try and escape the screen – though once he appeared in that billow of smoke, it was already too late.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Although the game is far from over once Manannan has been defeated, it is a very front-loaded game in the sense that you spend most of its run-time trying to get rid of him. One has to wait until he goes on a journey or retires to his bedroom in order to start your mission, then spend yet <em>more</em> time searching the house and picking your way up and down the horrific path that leads down the mountain. Seriously, just look at this thing:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5p6l5m-w8RRGHwzQg0_WXAeLLFsWK1DHXOiSmbKzW4qPySbhSimQHQLPVFrIzujcb6D0KYwAva0mWTS0lX42zykEpDL_X_a8r6odcoJfFWq5xgR1bRpv4LEjsbu73BNJIvOqs8jBpZdulmtlfSHqsjtJHZa9_GHv-JEm3dUPH9aT2XOYK4wXzARAEIJP/s1366/Screenshot%20(305).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5p6l5m-w8RRGHwzQg0_WXAeLLFsWK1DHXOiSmbKzW4qPySbhSimQHQLPVFrIzujcb6D0KYwAva0mWTS0lX42zykEpDL_X_a8r6odcoJfFWq5xgR1bRpv4LEjsbu73BNJIvOqs8jBpZdulmtlfSHqsjtJHZa9_GHv-JEm3dUPH9aT2XOYK4wXzARAEIJP/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(305).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The search for ingredients also takes up precious minutes, and the land of Llewdor is not without its dangers. There are bandits in the forest and a gorgon in the desert that stand between Gwydion and the materials he needs in his spell-craft, not to mention irritatingly timed puzzles that rely on being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. It’s bad enough waiting for the Three Bears to leave their home so you can pilfer their porridge, or poking around the oak tree in search of three dried acorns, but I was almost reduced to tears waiting outside the tree house for the bandit inside to fall asleep. It took me about fifteen minutes before the screen-text told me that he’d fallen asleep.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And then there’s the eagle feather. AARRRGGGHHH. Every now and then, an eagle will fly across the screen and drop a feather that you need for an essential spell. But it only appears on five screens, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvFN_-KN0Zs&t=10s&ab_channel=SpaceQuestHistorian">according to this video</a>, only has a twenty-five percent chance of turning up. And even on the off-chance it DOES appear, it <em>still</em> doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to drop a feather – <em>those</em> odds are fifty-fifty. It is <em>so frustrating</em>, and one gets the sense it was designed that way to prevent the player from doing too much on their first trip.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQqIH9Oubh_9ervO0d9GmRpimCezfKRCVtg5tc4cYIOCkqBKr3nkGmmS38fymsQHvkqTSUqO4xuJW34RXrsbtwGa5daBDyGNdornOnEq1bXkTVEV0_0HNCDfsBS4ouavpZFsFObxfQYA1jPM-U_EX2fWzNuPa8hv9qBzuihej_DLuuhkJrIjpGgH78k2U/s1366/Screenshot%20(387).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQqIH9Oubh_9ervO0d9GmRpimCezfKRCVtg5tc4cYIOCkqBKr3nkGmmS38fymsQHvkqTSUqO4xuJW34RXrsbtwGa5daBDyGNdornOnEq1bXkTVEV0_0HNCDfsBS4ouavpZFsFObxfQYA1jPM-U_EX2fWzNuPa8hv9qBzuihej_DLuuhkJrIjpGgH78k2U/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(387).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But of course, that only posed a challenge to me. Could I get all the ingredients for every spell, including the more difficult items (the porridge, the acorns, the eagle feather, the purse that allows you to buy things from the store) on a <em>single</em> trip down the mountain, then return to the mansion and perform <em>all</em> the spells before Manannan returned from his initial journey? Turns out, yes, I could – and that includes getting rid of the giant spider in order to access the cave and meet the oracle, an interaction which triggers the arrival of the pirates in the tavern.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But of course, the pirates don’t stick around for long, and I found the game unwinnable after arriving back at the dock to find that they had left without me. The game automatically ends at that point.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiRPblf3tHQZQK-qCPEGhHNtDk6GoTsTSp2cmmwJB5RkPSdO5THb9ohdn96NHlovVPdF47gH_T1yg3OoKwh9QenpAMua2ZrxcO6pWnEsL9FcdKouVgBXEpoHqK1rJdiQ29xXCCF9cEbcnI7PRHkhDhE8rsBQ3nX3aY3yl_IHgeWeEV-OoyIy3BYzotbgEV/s1366/Screenshot%20(419).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiRPblf3tHQZQK-qCPEGhHNtDk6GoTsTSp2cmmwJB5RkPSdO5THb9ohdn96NHlovVPdF47gH_T1yg3OoKwh9QenpAMua2ZrxcO6pWnEsL9FcdKouVgBXEpoHqK1rJdiQ29xXCCF9cEbcnI7PRHkhDhE8rsBQ3nX3aY3yl_IHgeWeEV-OoyIy3BYzotbgEV/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(419).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So I had another go, and on my second try I got everything done in time to get to the pirate ship within thirty minutes of game-time – only for a glitch in the system to stymie me when it turned out I couldn’t retrieve any of my possessions from the captain’s quarters. (I was also curious to see what would happen if I boarded the ship <em>without</em> dealing with Manannan, but it turns out that distance is no object, and he appears once the timer runs out – though oddly, he kills Gwydion over the fact his wand is missing, not that his slave managed to hide himself on a ship bound for another country).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having proved I could at least manage it, I paced myself the third time around, and finally ended up on the pirate ship, heading towards Daventry, all tasks completed. Why Daventry? Because it turns out that our hero isn’t an orphan boy called Gwydion at all. As the mysterious oracle informs us, Gwydion’s real name is Alexander, the son of King Graham and Queen Valanice of Daventry, who was kidnapped by Manannan as a baby from his cradle. (I believe supplementary material informs us that the family was specifically targeted in revenge for how Graham thwarted Hagatha – Manannan’s sister – in rescuing of Valanice from her captivity).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadrgf3RMj_8boJHMvSTWSLP-_p-gGaqt46oMOeeGx5yRpv471oor88YNOTY0MnQ3q_ZrQoCibkmzjyRqT2F7032Eiz5uAtmg5qNNIZyEtipPY5lCrZK-KEmbHX8oXEK4i8mjToVrS9Lm3PHyGDPuAZhfs5RQybXhSCmVENJ_zo3pWTc2-xbDLqRtJ25eN/s1366/Screenshot%20(408).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadrgf3RMj_8boJHMvSTWSLP-_p-gGaqt46oMOeeGx5yRpv471oor88YNOTY0MnQ3q_ZrQoCibkmzjyRqT2F7032Eiz5uAtmg5qNNIZyEtipPY5lCrZK-KEmbHX8oXEK4i8mjToVrS9Lm3PHyGDPuAZhfs5RQybXhSCmVENJ_zo3pWTc2-xbDLqRtJ25eN/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(408).png" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So the clue to Gwydion’s true identity was in the title the whole time! It’s a play on the phrase: ““to err is human, to forgive divine” by Alexander Pope, pointing to the fact that Gwydion is secretly Graham’s heir, and ending the complaints that this story had nothing to do with its predecessors. The oracle puts a new task before him: to travel home across the seas and mountains to save a princess – his own twin sister Rosella – from a three-headed dragon that’s ravaging the kingdom of Daventry.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">At this point the game becomes more of a straightforward quest narrative, with very little in the way of puzzle solving. In fact, the only thing that stretches out the run-time is that you have to spend an interminable amount of minutes waiting for the pirate ship to get where it’s going, and picking your way across pixelated pathways through the mountains that are so narrow you’ll be ready to throw your computer out the window by the end of it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But once you’ve climbed and descended the mountain range that lies between you and Daventry, you use the remaining magical spells in your arsenal to defeat the dragon and save your sister. The pair of you arrive triumphantly back home, and though Gwydion-Alexander is probably going to need several years of intensive therapy to deal with the ordeal he’s gone through, it’s all a happy ending when Graham takes his adventurer’s cap from the hook on the wall and throws it toward his children...</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDFCGi2XBdYZDGq7dIFtGcmvZF_5RiRb5wG0_zB7hRXDwXxpBi21zmO0lvo2YRzb99wY2GFAKgVhzPen1ikjFMBa57bmbiYRq_oT2Tx5wroT6WIn_c688KphO2OLzsH6Lj1lr14mBhI4BVdbEC6UahcFC9PexAmJP-z0WXKR_5Q69yZtKzyo5ViP6fn14/s1366/Screenshot%20(504).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDFCGi2XBdYZDGq7dIFtGcmvZF_5RiRb5wG0_zB7hRXDwXxpBi21zmO0lvo2YRzb99wY2GFAKgVhzPen1ikjFMBa57bmbiYRq_oT2Tx5wroT6WIn_c688KphO2OLzsH6Lj1lr14mBhI4BVdbEC6UahcFC9PexAmJP-z0WXKR_5Q69yZtKzyo5ViP6fn14/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(504).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Or IS it?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The ending is something of a cliff-hanger, as it freeze-frames just before the hat reaches either Gwydion or Rosella’s outstretched hands, and the next game in the series, <strong>The Perils of Rosella</strong>, picks up right where this one finishes. But I’ll leave that for my next post...</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Growing up, <strong>To Heir is Human</strong> was always my favourite of the games, though now I’m hard-pressed to say why. Even though I never actually completed it on my own (heck, I never even got as far as turning Manannan into a cat – if memory serves, I was never able to retrieve the purse from the bandits’ treehouse, which prevented me from ever buying the necessary goods from the store) I loved the basic premise of the story and the way in which ingredients had to be collected for spell-casting.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Although, being the bizarre child that I was, I occasionally just played as the obedient servant: doing all the chores required of me, and just wandering around harmlessly when Manannan left the house).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjta60Nw96qkNrHVbiQmfwCu6OPhuuHvTu8dBKQ1uzhawdJuDwJAOsfxM6_oQx5s_vBNt10YO_Cx93xX72Ehc84XCPtx7KEimzWJ4UMoWUSGWaN0rCoWNii6_6pLwyi6dUGZrYRkJl6kzvK_cNVPSiEvUeZiXnlPwlukePqXz2g_pylgNded4VpfZeEjWgW/s1366/Screenshot%20(300).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjta60Nw96qkNrHVbiQmfwCu6OPhuuHvTu8dBKQ1uzhawdJuDwJAOsfxM6_oQx5s_vBNt10YO_Cx93xX72Ehc84XCPtx7KEimzWJ4UMoWUSGWaN0rCoWNii6_6pLwyi6dUGZrYRkJl6kzvK_cNVPSiEvUeZiXnlPwlukePqXz2g_pylgNded4VpfZeEjWgW/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(300).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That said, spell-casting certainly sounds more fun on paper than it does in practice, as the way in which it works in the game is <em>very</em> fastidious. Each manual came with a few pages of the book that features in the game itself: The Book of Sorcery. These pages come with a list of ingredients, the instructions for performing the spell, and an incantation that must be spoken aloud (that is, typed out in a text-box). The hitch is this: every spell must be performed <em>exactly as it is written</em> in the manual. And I mean <em>exactly</em>. Everything must be done in the correct order. All the ingredients must be used properly. The incantations must be written out with the correct spelling and punctuation. And that last one is particularly hard, since the manual has them written in <em>cursive</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you do something wrong, you’re dead. If you don’t have one of the ingredients (or other tools, like the bowl or the knife) you’re dead. In fact, you’re <em>worse</em> than dead: you’re living forever under the consequences of the botched spell. Did you do the cat spell wrong? You’re half-boy, half-cat. The causing a deep sleep spell? You fall asleep and never wake up. The teleportation spell? You’re teleporting uncontrollably on and off the screen. The brewing a storm spell? You have a perpetual thundercloud over your head. Game over.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaYTzrEjwSmzVgoDf0Dugyi7j9xx9bUuE2wsB_MlMjS7HvgXsWQJ5kpZJDwlFRMjjpoX2Mhx5pNBl4LZxLA6glQoU4TwA2sZlPfnBX_Tp5PYTtyNOgcwp4ybVzXY0nniDLWJTebrerl8qMzLjaHtcHZbD3dJ4gScAR949XUz4Rp6YLoEEsf9m_nwmd69R/s1366/Screenshot%20(614).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaYTzrEjwSmzVgoDf0Dugyi7j9xx9bUuE2wsB_MlMjS7HvgXsWQJ5kpZJDwlFRMjjpoX2Mhx5pNBl4LZxLA6glQoU4TwA2sZlPfnBX_Tp5PYTtyNOgcwp4ybVzXY0nniDLWJTebrerl8qMzLjaHtcHZbD3dJ4gScAR949XUz4Rp6YLoEEsf9m_nwmd69R/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(614).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This could be one of the most stressful aspects of the game, as once you’ve started casting a spell, you can’t back out until it’s finished. And there are <em>so many</em> of them. Well, seven in all, but it takes a while to get through them all, and four of them are absolutely essential in finishing the game.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>King’s Quest III</strong> boasted an upgrade in graphics, and although Llewdor is much smaller than either Daventry or Kolyma (only four by five screens) it’s beautifully rendered, with natural rock formations, wind-swept trees on the bluffs, woodland groves, and a desert. Just try not to contemplate the absurdity of an endless desert existing only a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from a vast ocean. That’s extremely questionable topography. Perhaps to make up for it, there’s a village on the shore with an <em>actual economy</em> in the form of a general store and tavern.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The ocean to the east and the desert to the west go on forever, so there’s no point trying to traverse either one without the proper transportation – and indeed, if you go too far into the desert, you’ll never be able to find your way back. But this has always been my favourite screen, with the cross-section of the water:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PSbj2isjL2x_Ec1Uim9CGOtrge5obT1GLPNuioRwdaNrLNvGYKBT5fow-jtEIoOCBhCir4gvUI813GpjiMFx0f9WK5Fp6fTYoPvZCzzDZa4QVbiFfgW-oV8TypCieRPVF6p2sl8ZzXXYvIM-pzhf5mzHMMfjRO5dgHXoT6yFfbUzBe0dHFMMPM9tKuxY/s1366/Screenshot%20(340).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PSbj2isjL2x_Ec1Uim9CGOtrge5obT1GLPNuioRwdaNrLNvGYKBT5fow-jtEIoOCBhCir4gvUI813GpjiMFx0f9WK5Fp6fTYoPvZCzzDZa4QVbiFfgW-oV8TypCieRPVF6p2sl8ZzXXYvIM-pzhf5mzHMMfjRO5dgHXoT6yFfbUzBe0dHFMMPM9tKuxY/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(340).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, there’s the magic map. If you search Manannan’s wardrobe, you’ll find a blank sheet of parchment with a grid on it – and once you start exploring Llewdor, the squares fill up with the places you’ve been, allowing you easy access to them by placing the arrow curser over the area you want to visit. (Of course, as I played this game on-line, that option wasn’t available to me, as pressing F6 had no effect whatsoever – <em>that</em> meant I had to keep manually walking up and down that blasted mountain path!)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It was a fun innovation at the time, and really gave you the sense that you were performing actual magic. Later, the map depicts the pirate’s course across the ocean to Daventry, and then the pass through the mountains and the very limited geography of Daventry (though by that point, the gameplay is so linear that it really makes no difference that you can teleport around).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3Dc-eWMHifrkWY5jZuv_Q7UvdG0uLsO1SuMDP1oNeE1rA31x5zeL7ZFPvVMRfyJrWFhB9G5dgFcOqERRkzFMWIwRHOETJwY4-csXtaBEzaUj2mlLChzgQ4hJH_371zy7m-FksDlKZlUlTkAb_QWwdk1k_hLYUXFLmjsPOCgbQhO_ZM5dIHvQ5tZYfBeI/s1366/Screenshot%20(625).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3Dc-eWMHifrkWY5jZuv_Q7UvdG0uLsO1SuMDP1oNeE1rA31x5zeL7ZFPvVMRfyJrWFhB9G5dgFcOqERRkzFMWIwRHOETJwY4-csXtaBEzaUj2mlLChzgQ4hJH_371zy7m-FksDlKZlUlTkAb_QWwdk1k_hLYUXFLmjsPOCgbQhO_ZM5dIHvQ5tZYfBeI/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(625).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And hey, if you <em>really</em> can’t get enough of disappearing and reappearing in a cloud of smoke, you can also perform the teleportation at will spell, in which an amber stone given to you by the oracle is magicked to take you anywhere at random just by rubbing it. It’s the most negligible of all the spells, as you can’t control where you end up and can easily finish the game without it. It <em>can</em> be used to escape the pirate ship and get past the Abominable Snowman, but there are easier (and more rewarding) ways of doing either of those two tasks.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because I’m a bit anal retentive about these things, I was curious about how <em>quickly</em> one could finish this game, and what the lowest achievable score was. As mentioned, I was able to collect everything required in Llewdor before Manannan returned from his first journey away from the house, and turned him into a cat before completing the rest of the spells and going straight to the waiting pirate ship – but a glitch in the game prevented me from getting any further due to the fact I wasn’t able to retrieve my belongings from the captain’s quarters.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Eventually I managed to obtain a perfect score at a time of 1:18:20, though there are plenty of shortcuts you could potentially take. As it happens, you don’t need the teleportation spell or the communicating with animals spell to win the game (the latter’s only real purpose is to give you access to the buried treasure, which you <em>also</em> don’t need) and the causing a deep sleep spell isn’t necessary either. I was warned that if you didn’t cast it in the brig to put all the pirates to sleep, a stray pirate would appear on the shoreline to kill you – but after a quick experiment, found out this wasn’t the case.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So those three spells, plus all the ingredients you need to collect in order to perform them, can be skipped. I also discovered that you can change yourself into an eagle on board the pirate ship and (at the fastest speed) fly in a matter of seconds across the ocean and up the cliff face to the Abominable Snowman’s cave. However, the game very sneakily does <em>not</em> let you bypass <em>this</em> monstrosity by turning into an eagle or a fly:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSm07e6QhfipC8EIpojAixVcfnBfc0dCHFVXBnhmxMxdvJ5cHFdK8PfzEMnyqA7ugPoBgUN6NafD5zUnLmJB-lblGVJjuQMVX2WisXJAOJvrJguvdNHMTf82pYFnf5-srfMoq5DDgrJzqQ9PqLkFnPkxA9QehKgrF3WXsaRSW6B-q3kbHWzwzR4JFRwGl/s1366/Screenshot%20(615).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSm07e6QhfipC8EIpojAixVcfnBfc0dCHFVXBnhmxMxdvJ5cHFdK8PfzEMnyqA7ugPoBgUN6NafD5zUnLmJB-lblGVJjuQMVX2WisXJAOJvrJguvdNHMTf82pYFnf5-srfMoq5DDgrJzqQ9PqLkFnPkxA9QehKgrF3WXsaRSW6B-q3kbHWzwzR4JFRwGl/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(615).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You simply cannot enter this screen as one of the two creatures, and if you attempt it while <em>on</em> the screen, the wings/feather will be caught in an updraft and lost forever. You <em>can</em>, however, use the spell <em>after</em> completing this nightmare screen and fly straight into Daventry – not that it’ll make much difference.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You also don’t need the extra points that come from listening in on the bandits’ conversation in the tavern about where their hideout is located (which requires you to transform into a fly, then enter the hole at the base of the oak tree to discover the secret rope that activates the ladder). Instead, you can simply find the rope manually, by sticking your hand into the hole. Which means you don’t need to pick up the fly wings either.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Come to think of it, you don’t actually need the magic map at all, except to move around faster – but because I couldn’t actually <em>use</em> the map in that way thanks to the formatting on my computer, it becomes superfluous. In doing (or rather <em>not</em> doing) all this, the lowest score I could attain was 142 points out of 210, and the fastest time at 53:54 minutes.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As the third game in the series, <strong>To Heir is Human</strong> was also (at that point) the most ambitious, with better graphics, better sound quality, and – most importantly – a more elaborate story. As Roberta Williams herself said: “My previous games... were essentially glorified treasure hunts... your object being to win the game by finding and collecting items. It was not possible to have bigger and more complex plots than that thanks to technical limitations.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But there’s much more going on in this game, and it’s easy to get invested in Gwydion’s plight. Unlike Graham, who went on quests for valuable <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin">MacGuffins</a>, Gwydion is in a fight for his very life, and the format of the gameplay – which included chores, punishments, a ticking clock, and limited windows of opportunities – added to the immersive experience of <em>actually being</em> the captive of an evil wizard.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkxQWAIXn2TPlF2eIWoGdHZfTTOv5DGCW0pjyPAagCC3YNlKZLLas6LnslHbYCKPAEa4cZeOF5ROLfJ9eR1lbn-jZrRKmvxkNOohMrilLcsl6teFFVpa7boGSMgYQmau1BQId2YNufe2oMJKIbittHzacP1Iv_pj2m3-2SgX2zs-nVydxCQCUVSG4jNDd/s1366/Screenshot%20(357).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkxQWAIXn2TPlF2eIWoGdHZfTTOv5DGCW0pjyPAagCC3YNlKZLLas6LnslHbYCKPAEa4cZeOF5ROLfJ9eR1lbn-jZrRKmvxkNOohMrilLcsl6teFFVpa7boGSMgYQmau1BQId2YNufe2oMJKIbittHzacP1Iv_pj2m3-2SgX2zs-nVydxCQCUVSG4jNDd/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(357).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">With that in mind, it’s inevitable that Gwydion would feel more three-dimensional than Graham, simply because there’s more at stake, as well as an actual mystery to solve regarding his true identity (which caused no end of confusion for me as a child when I started playing <strong>The Perils of Rosella</strong> <em>before </em>finishing <strong>To Heir is Human</strong>, only to see a guy dressed in Gwydion’s clothes in the throne room and being referred to as Alexander).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">With the light-hearted quest narrative replaced with a fraught escape from slavery and certain death, the game can’t help but feel considerably darker – especially when you take into account the events of the <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TimeSkip">Time Skip</a>. Graham and Valanice have clearly <em>not</em> had a happy seventeen-year marriage, what with the kidnapping of their infant son, the destruction of their kingdom, and the near-sacrifice of their last remaining child.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As a youngster I just absorbed the story as it was given to me, but as an adult, it’s rather depressing to realize just how dire it all is. It’ll take years to restore Daventry to its former glory, the entire royal family is probably suffering from PTSD, and Gwydion lost his whole childhood to the machinations and cruelty of an evil wizard. <em>And</em> there’s still another crisis to come, which takes place within the opening seconds of the very next game.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ah well, at least the scavenger hunt for all the spell ingredients was fun.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As it happens, there are not one but <em>two</em> remakes of this game, one from Infamous Adventures in 2006 and the other from ADG Interactive in 2011. The latter also created the <strong>King's Quest II</strong> remake, of which this is a direct sequel, with several of that game’s original ideas carrying over into its gameplay (namely the existence of The Father, a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GreaterScopeVillain#:~:text=A%20Greater%2DScope%20Villain%20is,do%20with%20it%20at%20all).">Greater-Scope Villain</a> who deliberately targets the royal family and governs over the Society of the Black Cloak).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Infamous Adventures version is a pretty straightforward remake with a facelift. The music and graphics are obviously better, and it uses the opening title-card from <strong>KQ5</strong> and the font from <strong>KQ7</strong> for their introductory sequence (since this predates <em>both</em> the AGV remakes, I wonder if this earlier game is where they got the idea for that, not to mention the fact that each remake of <strong>To Heir is Human</strong> starts with Gwydion having strange dreams that provide hints as to his past. Both also have a fake-out regarding whether or not the cat cookie has worked on Manannan).</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LswhHZinovY6dKCd1TRTGe5cx1L3etu1fzkKKoIfjjWsjLrRUziiikFgroyD89lf1-aDw3l_71Vnjx-DiqMHp8BAOH_Jd1CI2Idv6xAqvgGhfkqqVcucWexeYI3201C5aUFx8GgBwa28GeceU6taswc1nOCPzUFLJSGOEnNx49kMhHxyWoJ5B7NjqL5s/s1366/Screenshot%20(1457).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LswhHZinovY6dKCd1TRTGe5cx1L3etu1fzkKKoIfjjWsjLrRUziiikFgroyD89lf1-aDw3l_71Vnjx-DiqMHp8BAOH_Jd1CI2Idv6xAqvgGhfkqqVcucWexeYI3201C5aUFx8GgBwa28GeceU6taswc1nOCPzUFLJSGOEnNx49kMhHxyWoJ5B7NjqL5s/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1457).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Infamous Adventures, 2006</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34oJc4IVTmrVXLyBiBbcEA6qwJ_V9TmlVwog-v1rbM3cbO83Lbg_KmivVhBAu1w0Zb8L0skxotmpqWV1kx3dFjDiQ_MKNuuCntiuj19qp1phv4osl4Co-u1rUfRMDkmMhKzKFfyvv_EUbdfWwSMnwjg7kjhzixDBLIsQ8EgO4odlx06Ip4XiEAiVOLBAN/s1366/Screenshot%20(1459).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34oJc4IVTmrVXLyBiBbcEA6qwJ_V9TmlVwog-v1rbM3cbO83Lbg_KmivVhBAu1w0Zb8L0skxotmpqWV1kx3dFjDiQ_MKNuuCntiuj19qp1phv4osl4Co-u1rUfRMDkmMhKzKFfyvv_EUbdfWwSMnwjg7kjhzixDBLIsQ8EgO4odlx06Ip4XiEAiVOLBAN/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1459).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">King's Quest V, 1990</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But there’s not a huge amount to say about this one, only a litany of minor changes and Easter eggs: the exterior visuals of Manannan’s manor are divided into two screens, with the house and the chicken pen spread further apart. The house itself also feels larger, with a more opulent-looking interior, including a grandfather clock on the upper floor to remind one of the ever-ticking passage of time.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The laboratory looks more like an underground cave, while the mystery of the bizarre object hanging from the kitchen ceiling is solved: it’s two baskets!</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsH8MAkuLbNt5EagAFRsE2jOlbozUItIb4GcEQ5Fms5J2hbnwSwZlP95hKg0F7DKQuC-56_Qm4_VfZyOlnlT3J9DEqY8FGVKaSdc8yaBqJ2qYGBCtw3TLsHiCqbM0YnX1keoBoJJSFJozYVziew5F4PbeZ8EDeYLaS4j4Z0sElNsqp573J6aZdEPSohtP/s1366/Screenshot%20(1464).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsH8MAkuLbNt5EagAFRsE2jOlbozUItIb4GcEQ5Fms5J2hbnwSwZlP95hKg0F7DKQuC-56_Qm4_VfZyOlnlT3J9DEqY8FGVKaSdc8yaBqJ2qYGBCtw3TLsHiCqbM0YnX1keoBoJJSFJozYVziew5F4PbeZ8EDeYLaS4j4Z0sElNsqp573J6aZdEPSohtP/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1464).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The game repurposes the opening shot from the official <strong>King’s Quest V</strong> (which there depicts Graham picking some flowers) as part of Gwydion’s backstory, in which a woman hurries through the rain with a baby in her arms, handing it over to Manannan waiting on the docks while a ship waits on the water. Naturally, she’s immediately killed once the evil wizard has custody. (Later, the graphics for the suspended walkway inside the cliff are the same as those seen in the official <strong>KQ1 </strong>remake).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The spell-casting has been streamlined, to the point where you simply have to have all the correct ingredients and click the curser over the spell you want to cast. The game then says: “you mix the ingredients exactly as the spell books says,” followed by Gwydion automatically reciting the incantation. I dunno, I feel this is almost TOO easy. Half the challenge of the original game was being ever-so-careful that your typing was correct.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The robbers in their treehouse are always asleep, which spares you the agony of having to leave the screen and return again, while the storekeeper looks just like Stephen Spielberg. I’m not sure if that was on purpose or not. A lighthouse has been added to the township (though you can’t explore it) and on being turned to stone, Medusa cries out to her sisters to avenge her. That’s cool, though it amounts to nothing. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When Gwydion speaks with the Oracle, we’re treated to a cutscene of Graham and Rosella in Daventry, in which the latter volunteers to sacrifice herself to the three-headed dragon – though honestly, the most exciting part is seeing what Graham and Valanice’s private chambers look like. And hey, Josh Mandel returns as the voice of Graham!</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vYeU9gboIPnjbg0iMZ3MmgjHel6kS6EuiW4ofxGFnVsf-9R7MR-AkhGE_eIVHr7Z1mklor8mQtzM4LZeKcTQXVl_O-JFT_mLLuHVIXIMlclgV-3Tv9Tr8R-Jrsm2JBcvxJOMWWtRJA1OLjpiSi6VKvFziIFLZxpo59lEtlOUf3xQ10u4fOVkvV19fTxL/s1366/Screenshot%20(1466).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vYeU9gboIPnjbg0iMZ3MmgjHel6kS6EuiW4ofxGFnVsf-9R7MR-AkhGE_eIVHr7Z1mklor8mQtzM4LZeKcTQXVl_O-JFT_mLLuHVIXIMlclgV-3Tv9Tr8R-Jrsm2JBcvxJOMWWtRJA1OLjpiSi6VKvFziIFLZxpo59lEtlOUf3xQ10u4fOVkvV19fTxL/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1466).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Later, there’s another cutscene that demonstrates the journey across the mountains was a cold and arduous business, and later Gwydion is given the line: “up until a few days ago I believed my name to be Gwydion,” which suggests his captivity on the pirate ship and in crossing the mountains took a while. The sprite for the Abominable Snowman is the Yeti from <strong>KQ5</strong>, and once you reach Daventry there’s a better sense of the fire-damage and desolation that’s been wrought. Also, the entire Daventry sequence is set at night, which provides a nice excuse to contrast the devastation below with the cold stars above.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's in the final ten minutes that things get really interesting: first of all, this remake mercifully drops the need for Gwydion to prove his identity by showing his sister the birthmark on his butt-cheek. Furthermore, the journey back to the castle involves Rosella quelling her brother’s fears by telling him the entire kingdom searched for him after his kidnapping, and the reunion with Graham and Valanice takes place at the castle gates. (Rumpelstiltskin also gets his cameo, and he’s given a strong Scottish burr).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also another post-game cutscene which depicts Alexander and Graham engaging in some father/son bonding while rebuilding the kingdom – and hey, they’re working on the woodcutter’s cottage from <strong>King’s Quest I</strong>! That’s a nifty Easter egg. All this happens <em>before</em> they reach the cliff-hanging finish in which Graham flings his adventurer’s cap toward Alexander and Rosella... so I liked the fact that this remake gave the family a chance to get to know each other before the next crisis hit.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNMP1md5R_XFsUeyldpC6P-Uet9i4X5dpPAFg0H1YTANuurP6w-g8qX8tuY0i3gVH47OmGSpQ0qJ-PIuYX2ZmeAL0v6_KaIOBrweFJC5vr2kvuSgZM6eyUsFGhkUNFIJe_ig-zUebMo31BTVHp_dzyQOQO06B8swrLuMsywVxd0GpiLhuF5iS58j7jbol/s1366/Screenshot%20(1469).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNMP1md5R_XFsUeyldpC6P-Uet9i4X5dpPAFg0H1YTANuurP6w-g8qX8tuY0i3gVH47OmGSpQ0qJ-PIuYX2ZmeAL0v6_KaIOBrweFJC5vr2kvuSgZM6eyUsFGhkUNFIJe_ig-zUebMo31BTVHp_dzyQOQO06B8swrLuMsywVxd0GpiLhuF5iS58j7jbol/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1469).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I watched this game on a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpDU-Fc0Wgk">YouTube Let’s Play channel</a>, and the uploader also managed to get all the necessary ingredients within one trip down the mountain, <em>and</em> got through the entire game in just under one hour. I have to admit, the close-up faces whenever there was dialogue weren’t particularly attractive, and for some reason a voice-actor was credited as “Mordack”, even though I’m extremely certain that character never appeared in the game.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, watching it drove home the fact that this game feels more like an actual <em>story </em>and not just a quest. The stakes are both high and personal, there is a mystery to be uncovered, and there is something genuinely emotional about Gwydion finding his way home and being reunited with his long-lost family.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All of which meant I was very excited to play the AGV version of the game, which had already expanded the world and story of <strong>King’s Quest II</strong>. As noted, this operates as a direct continuation to that remake, in which various original concepts and characters are carried over from one game to the next, to the point where the curse of The Father, as uttered at the end of <strong>Romancing the Stones</strong>, kicks off the gameplay: “Thrice now I curse, and from the first, your family shall feel the worse...”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That character was established as the leader of the Black Cloak Society, who was once a sorcerer called Morgeilen, brother to Legenimor, the founder and first king of Daventry. It’s hinted he’s in search of a magical artefact known as The Item (yeah, not the greatest word for it), and his entire purpose in posing as Graham’s Prime Minister and sending the king off to Kolyma to search for Valanice in <strong>KQ2</strong> was to provide him with the opportunity to search Castle Daventry for it without interruption.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And as we learn in <em>this</em> game, the royal family was deliberately targeted by Manannan on the behest of the Father, with Alexander kidnapped as a baby precisely <em>because</em> he was the child of Graham and Valanice. There is a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CanonWelding">Canon Welding</a> plot at work here, which draws together all of the series’ villains under the umbrella of the Black Cloak Society.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSQ2tJQCbt1PzhRsSBVcorAa1NIkBERKYlO2im6ztmw1yKF5mJp_K50LwF9zRaL0NGY6oTcP-xy8mCFnswH_iVb9sRqIPhIBvgQ6xeYenPrkA1kKVpIS2HR-2nc1H9Zbq8m7QSwO7GxvhZjDSk80OF6Umu6ATDf7jUORcoZ-TLu5cwVhTvSsJeKx7aKSG/s1366/Screenshot%20(1080).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSQ2tJQCbt1PzhRsSBVcorAa1NIkBERKYlO2im6ztmw1yKF5mJp_K50LwF9zRaL0NGY6oTcP-xy8mCFnswH_iVb9sRqIPhIBvgQ6xeYenPrkA1kKVpIS2HR-2nc1H9Zbq8m7QSwO7GxvhZjDSk80OF6Umu6ATDf7jUORcoZ-TLu5cwVhTvSsJeKx7aKSG/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1080).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The game’s cold open depicts Manannan stealing Prince Alexander from his cradle and taking him to Llewdor, which is an effective start, and one that’s followed by Gwydion awakening from a dream in which someone is calling his name, climbing to the tower room where Manannan’s telescope is kept, and looking through it to see the oracle beckoning him from her cave. From there, it cuts to the familiar beats of the original introduction: Gwydion stares sadly out over the countryside from the clifftop before Manannan demands that he return to his chores.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whereas <strong>Romancing the Stones</strong> added elaborate new subplots and character motivations, here the designers hew much more closely to the original <strong>To Heir is Human</strong> game, presumably realizing that the plot was complex enough on its own to sustain a remake. That’s not to say there aren’t some extra puzzles and paths, with minor structural changes made to the two halves of the game.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When it comes to the first half, during which Gwydion explores Llewdor and gathers spell ingredients, added depth is given to some of the original obstacles. For example, Gwydion’s encounter with Medusa (here renamed Smaude by rearranging the letters of her name, just as they did in <strong>KQ2</strong> in calling Dracula “Count Caldaur”) now takes place in a desert cave, where the gorgon forces Gwydion through a test of character, making him answer a number of questions to win her favour.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtf6eNEmUW2iUMJuc0SULIerRI9qiSRm2Tvg3RVjW-DykVOWdpQGDL7AZh_pOLcX1Uw86qYPPgHDkIwIrAWxeKBKmxEC-uVz7qCgT-Z3yUe-xu7XYtP07tqLYJS-buuW_kGKgEDtOSqNgKFGiLLREsP7sfgcPdPR9QuWKibULb9Rpp6E-n44FIelkTmmk-/s1366/Screenshot%20(1128).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtf6eNEmUW2iUMJuc0SULIerRI9qiSRm2Tvg3RVjW-DykVOWdpQGDL7AZh_pOLcX1Uw86qYPPgHDkIwIrAWxeKBKmxEC-uVz7qCgT-Z3yUe-xu7XYtP07tqLYJS-buuW_kGKgEDtOSqNgKFGiLLREsP7sfgcPdPR9QuWKibULb9Rpp6E-n44FIelkTmmk-/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1128).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The stone of amber is given to you by her, not the oracle, and though the mirror <em>can</em> be used to destroy her, it can also be given as a gift after she transforms back into a mortal woman. She also seems to be some sort of seer, telling Gwydion: “a great change is encroaching upon you. Beware those that offer help, particularly those that ask a price.” (Is she referring to the pirates? Because that description fits, but you <em>have</em> to trust them to win the game, which renders the warning moot).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A brand-new spell is also introduced in order to extend the gametime, since it <em>must</em> be completed in order to start the domino effect that leads to Manannan’s defeat. First Gwydion must gain musical talent in order to obtain the lute from the barmaid, then give the lute to the minstrel to gain his magical flask, then use the flask to fill the hollowed-out rock with water, which allows him to reach the bottle with the torn-out page of The Book of Sorcery inside – the one that contains the spell for transforming a person into a cat...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This isn’t the only way in which the game slows down the speed with which a player can move through the action. In the original, it’s perfectly possible to get everything you need and turn Manannan into a cat within the timespan of his first journey abroad. Here, Gwydion must see the oracle before he can obtain the mandrake root, and gain an eagle feather through cunning means before he can defeat the spider at the oracle cave, and eavesdrop on the bandits by turning into a fly before he can gain access to their treehouse. You technically <em>don’t </em>need to do this in the original game (you could just find and pull on the rope immediately) which always seemed like a waste of a puzzle.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAxhxo7M_oM4TTS3S1JQ6SlsL4vTSR268gI-BlWcuhAV0J7mZgnB4wJmdBfsADtpSnXruWibOR50SMMhF-hcwaN-D_YSJw9yZVSecg8cLXdDF0V0upGrKiJJK10zMg1CLQ-r7FLa6FxA2QVuYkMfKB780rFJGJRdru8XpZCqfjQYCtYABdvSvdSTH8I9e/s1366/Screenshot%20(1107).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAxhxo7M_oM4TTS3S1JQ6SlsL4vTSR268gI-BlWcuhAV0J7mZgnB4wJmdBfsADtpSnXruWibOR50SMMhF-hcwaN-D_YSJw9yZVSecg8cLXdDF0V0upGrKiJJK10zMg1CLQ-r7FLa6FxA2QVuYkMfKB780rFJGJRdru8XpZCqfjQYCtYABdvSvdSTH8I9e/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1107).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’d be very surprised if anyone could do everything that needed to be done within the time allotted to one wizard’s sleep or journey.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The second half of the game, in which Gwydion voyages with the pirates to Daventry, is expanded through the inclusion of the developers’ own worldbuilding. In the second half of the game, in which Gwydion voyages with the pirates to Daventry, there is a lot more of the developers’ personal worldbuilding. On the way to their destination, the pirates send Gwydion through an island of magical obstacles in order to retrieve a treasure (here, nothing of this nature is overheard from the ship rats) which ends up being the stash of Daventry’s founder, the King Legenimor. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQs1sgIlo_eQrsHAos6vAA-IK1IZ9rrQae4i5tqh50fBp3F85NhTgWrfcIc1MOCJcECyBU7Sj4VIFeUgoWv55YzZ8ZcRYofDg6sG-NKtKkG9r7_4AJwymu8H0wzx5HTtVva52GYy5CalGsXe1SSly6QeeXgdIKpMIHTBMrb12cTVtGM_rJtHa1p6dpNSV/s1366/Screenshot%20(1472).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQs1sgIlo_eQrsHAos6vAA-IK1IZ9rrQae4i5tqh50fBp3F85NhTgWrfcIc1MOCJcECyBU7Sj4VIFeUgoWv55YzZ8ZcRYofDg6sG-NKtKkG9r7_4AJwymu8H0wzx5HTtVva52GYy5CalGsXe1SSly6QeeXgdIKpMIHTBMrb12cTVtGM_rJtHa1p6dpNSV/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1472).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gwydion obtains an orb of power that will provide instant rejuvenation to the land of Daventry at the end of the game, and a strange artefact that looks like two hands cupped together, described as: “a vessel in the likeness of the First King’s hands in his tomb.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The final act proceeds as you’d expect, though said orb and vessel have their part to play. The game cleverly includes the latter end of the cutscene from <strong>Romancing the Stones</strong>, in which Graham is standing on the parapets and tempted by the Father, who tells him that he’ll call back the dragon if he gives him his crown. We don’t <em>see</em> this happen, but it’s clearly just taken place when Gwydion returns to the castle with his sister.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The fiery landscape is rendered very well, with the familiar layout and landmarks from <strong>KQ1</strong>, though if you’re not careful, Gwydion can perish right at the finish line. As the family is reunited, a thread is tied off just as another one is left hanging: Graham realizes that his crown reacts to the presence of the vessel in Gwydion’s possession. Realizing that this is what the Father was searching for the whole time, he throws it from the castle parapets. In our last cutscene, the Father picks up the pieces with a scowl...</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4VvkYgtpftKnPwTZCbydhXIhSaQ8gK6BPg-1oyELZqEyepg6rpZ1Xb1nIpiRlzZiZSjGY3y51ZuBn7wDDDgE6oajGozC-bXKw1MsvcGvPtY085Z8NUxS5x3YSjHOIbgk7p8jk0ODlqAj2d9FBtT47nR_QX0hAYLEyppol04i1E5rt2k3yxbS-vp8qraH/s1366/Screenshot%20(1462).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4VvkYgtpftKnPwTZCbydhXIhSaQ8gK6BPg-1oyELZqEyepg6rpZ1Xb1nIpiRlzZiZSjGY3y51ZuBn7wDDDgE6oajGozC-bXKw1MsvcGvPtY085Z8NUxS5x3YSjHOIbgk7p8jk0ODlqAj2d9FBtT47nR_QX0hAYLEyppol04i1E5rt2k3yxbS-vp8qraH/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1462).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A scene midway through <b>Romancing the Stones</b></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLwUYc_vBqBDGUb7igJaq6GE4qpqNvwoNDUzg-00Hu1xbuUV2ytzdfyugEdqfvNEjK9G_wsWU8369pnF5wHW9-pJ3QPbe0xYW4Dlvrlxds3N5HP-cSqVhNXmw7EJtgh7qTOFegdjxBR5Le6bhzYBMeQC781dXA0fSpNciPQfPYtc4lbbo66iIRcxnHH8O/s1366/Screenshot%20(1475).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLwUYc_vBqBDGUb7igJaq6GE4qpqNvwoNDUzg-00Hu1xbuUV2ytzdfyugEdqfvNEjK9G_wsWU8369pnF5wHW9-pJ3QPbe0xYW4Dlvrlxds3N5HP-cSqVhNXmw7EJtgh7qTOFegdjxBR5Le6bhzYBMeQC781dXA0fSpNciPQfPYtc4lbbo66iIRcxnHH8O/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1475).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The conclusion of <b>To Heir is Human</b></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It all points to a much broader story arc, but sadly, whatever AGV Interactive had in mind never materialized, as their plans to adapt <strong>King’s Quest IV</strong> fell through (I think it came down to budgetary reasons). What would have happened next with the Father and how they would have explored their own variations on <b>The Perils of Rosella</b>, we’ll never know.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But what we <em>do</em> get is done very elegantly, melding the plot-points of both the original game and what the studio established in <strong>Romancing the Stones</strong>. Not all the changes and additions work, but it contains a better sense of history and new context for familiar puzzles that make a lot more sense.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The graphics alone make it a more detailed, immersive experience, and are quite lovely. As with <strong>Romancing the Stones</strong>, I was particularly impressed when some logical world-building is done: in this case, the township of Llewdor has more buildings you can enter, and a honey tree is situated close by the Three Bears’ house.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVawqhYhW3u6F3ejLyEyLsdtYKwowk1VI5G7FQ1OWvQhfv-VjP0CDVwIBV3K9wg-5b9fV2ZMu_anmb9bEkP1fTv8Ms9M0jfXF0UkdcCsyxaqf7mct8EUkRMLI82yAj7XozaQYOJKBfhDsXeYb_niVhyR5VkVCdnbvy64lzvGKBfqmJxTXnTCGvF8oO0nhw/s1366/Screenshot%20(1103).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVawqhYhW3u6F3ejLyEyLsdtYKwowk1VI5G7FQ1OWvQhfv-VjP0CDVwIBV3K9wg-5b9fV2ZMu_anmb9bEkP1fTv8Ms9M0jfXF0UkdcCsyxaqf7mct8EUkRMLI82yAj7XozaQYOJKBfhDsXeYb_niVhyR5VkVCdnbvy64lzvGKBfqmJxTXnTCGvF8oO0nhw/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1103).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On a more technical note, the game also updates the formatting itself, making certain elements easier to function. This is a point-and-click adventure, with no requirements to type in commands, which is most notably utilized in the making of magic spells. It’s a little more complex than the Infamous Adventures version, as you <em>do</em> need to manually prepare the ingredients, but the speaking of the incantations is automatic so no spellchecks required!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You can also speed up Manannan’s absences by having Gwydion take a nap in his bedroom, and the timer at the top of the screen turns from green to orange to red to indicate how much time you have left. Items in your inventory have a blue outline if they’re dangerous to carry. There’s even a new interface for buying things at the general store or stashing things under the bed.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miscellaneous Observations:</span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, the designers have a bit of fun with the gameplay. For example, Manannan will sporadically give Gwydion one of four chores to perform: sweeping the kitchen, dusting his desk, emptying his chamber pot, or feeding the chickens outside. If you don’t have Gwydion complete these tasks in a timely manner, Manannan will punish him in one of four ways: locking him in his room, magically hanging him by his feet by the kitchen ceiling, transforming him into a snail, or forcing him to do calisthenics in the entry hall. It’s all quite funny (for the player, if not Gwydion) and worth checking out at least once.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnCE7EaERbqeqoJagKncaxtPVP1qC0Q7miRes8iCR67HYAQ2g4teWpW_2ydzJ0OX2HLRCBp7m4av3Gi8hyRA_lENS2sm0lYxzwRZBPXDtT8tWzIGqqr4y1pm3qY-N28lrO2jfkyLl2gZryS9s_AeLujTS3-togXuHxrIvQLYMYTs3b1LXzD3RWgvhPgG9/s1366/Screenshot%20(587).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnCE7EaERbqeqoJagKncaxtPVP1qC0Q7miRes8iCR67HYAQ2g4teWpW_2ydzJ0OX2HLRCBp7m4av3Gi8hyRA_lENS2sm0lYxzwRZBPXDtT8tWzIGqqr4y1pm3qY-N28lrO2jfkyLl2gZryS9s_AeLujTS3-togXuHxrIvQLYMYTs3b1LXzD3RWgvhPgG9/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(587).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLoDQzU43ZlsnYQx42tw4CGstbgVs9wR18R4GZtqBUbKsOh47yiSHkF7x28TcOE25bcYvj72uqq-I1bjmkESA_24BEsQbDjzC7iDATlLYz0SQvBd9QMp_fqih2i-FrFwvubtH0Hryx-7lTj_GK7_sDiuz9SpPYjQtIDBP8v7lrXEpmUvttRhuA4acP8xm2/s1366/Screenshot%20(593).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLoDQzU43ZlsnYQx42tw4CGstbgVs9wR18R4GZtqBUbKsOh47yiSHkF7x28TcOE25bcYvj72uqq-I1bjmkESA_24BEsQbDjzC7iDATlLYz0SQvBd9QMp_fqih2i-FrFwvubtH0Hryx-7lTj_GK7_sDiuz9SpPYjQtIDBP8v7lrXEpmUvttRhuA4acP8xm2/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(593).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6RX4xMPKkUbm17vy1EV1mDU39jc03MU7zkBg-H2GGtWa4jZXJhCVaxTI7jnu16PWbsmONgWSuNqoC-G_bE3GbbPuaxfxLYGrQ77uXv_avy9Z8z6abdXEx9TQ38cib6kJCGMGUiFp8ZNv7mPvOJWq9OLWY77t84U59hJKnWCgVc-F5Wdgd2ZN6D76Wp4Y/s1366/Screenshot%20(578).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6RX4xMPKkUbm17vy1EV1mDU39jc03MU7zkBg-H2GGtWa4jZXJhCVaxTI7jnu16PWbsmONgWSuNqoC-G_bE3GbbPuaxfxLYGrQ77uXv_avy9Z8z6abdXEx9TQ38cib6kJCGMGUiFp8ZNv7mPvOJWq9OLWY77t84U59hJKnWCgVc-F5Wdgd2ZN6D76Wp4Y/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(578).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are a couple of other fun Easter eggs: you can buy a drink at the tavern which results in Gwydion stumbling around drunkenly for a few seconds, and look under the tapestry in the upstairs hallway to see some notes for <strong>King’s Quest IV</strong>, which was currently in development at the time. Much later on, you can visit the Abominable Snowman’s cave if you are so inclined, provided he doesn’t appear on the previous screen to block your way, and with the understanding that there’s nothing you can do or see in there besides the gory remains of his previous victims.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Manannan can also appear in his study to write (at which point you don’t want to interrupt him) and in the tower room where his telescope is kept. This is where things get particularly interesting in a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrypticBackgroundReference">Cryptic Background Reference</a> sort of way, for sometimes you can chance upon Manannan peering through his telescope, getting increasingly agitated by what he sees and ranting to himself:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkR62R4XSWRLLPvWPhHjp8DoFj9Z99SEPlKOYI5VWfltkMPwGvE65XLZR6KPkv6DDRuf1BZlIqhr4EN1syEGVE5uBM3xv9SPYOzGXDsXTUw_mSNKKr7w60LYFdw_tJl274L8LQkyR4zD1MKLlr6rvFA_SnzS5ZUxoP0OKyVQGRlN_vyzcXzxC6cq8HJp6/s1366/Screenshot%20(513).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkR62R4XSWRLLPvWPhHjp8DoFj9Z99SEPlKOYI5VWfltkMPwGvE65XLZR6KPkv6DDRuf1BZlIqhr4EN1syEGVE5uBM3xv9SPYOzGXDsXTUw_mSNKKr7w60LYFdw_tJl274L8LQkyR4zD1MKLlr6rvFA_SnzS5ZUxoP0OKyVQGRlN_vyzcXzxC6cq8HJp6/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(513).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What is he referring to? Who is he watching? Given the direction the telescope is pointed, we might infer that it has to do with the bandits that live in the forest, but we never find out for certain, and the scene has no impact on the plot whatsoever. It’s an enticing detail to add to the proceedings, demonstrating that other characters have a life outside the immediate gameplay.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The familiar fairy tale featured in this particular game is <strong>Goldilocks and the Three Bears</strong>, with Gwydion in the role of Goldilocks (in that he enters their house while they’re away and helps himself to their belongings). Breaking-and-entering is necessary in this case, as you have to retrieve Baby Bear’s bowl of porridge from the table (in which the cat cookie is disguised) and the thimble from the upstairs drawer (with which you collect dew from the flower garden outside for another spell).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the game has some fun with the proceedings: interacting with the Bears is never fatal, but if you knock on the door while the family is at home, Papa Bear will throw you off the front doorstep. Likewise, if you dare to tread on Mama Bear’s flowerbed while she’s working in it, she’ll go a step further and throw you clear off the screen.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHJxIom-XZljsSfCZB5JhfYHG5M_yzF6tn9Na9ioGWE__Tsqr6POnwoYYXu7gBu9pYmgDBCs4r0gAKN4OKU-mLm6eiIeqYVCAla4H915hT2OoHZC7MT8pgtoaOjLSLa-LRSyTT8zI4Eq8rml0d7rt7aopLk5kW2nDl2rl_iRXZFU-RLx0BzRm0D-Y1xKF/s1366/Screenshot%20(377).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHJxIom-XZljsSfCZB5JhfYHG5M_yzF6tn9Na9ioGWE__Tsqr6POnwoYYXu7gBu9pYmgDBCs4r0gAKN4OKU-mLm6eiIeqYVCAla4H915hT2OoHZC7MT8pgtoaOjLSLa-LRSyTT8zI4Eq8rml0d7rt7aopLk5kW2nDl2rl_iRXZFU-RLx0BzRm0D-Y1xKF/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(377).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, if the mood is upon you, you can choose to re-enact the story in its entirety, by tasting the three bowls of porridge (too hot, too cold, and just right), sitting in the three chairs (too hard, too soft and just right – at least until the little chair collapses beneath you) and lying in the three upstairs beds (you know how it goes). But by lying in Baby Bear’s bed, Gwydion will fall straight to sleep, and it’s only a matter of time before Papa Bear returns home and rightfully throws you from the house. It’s probably the most amusing way a fairy tale has been integrated into a <strong>King’s Quest</strong> game.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On that note, the Greek myth featured in this game is Medusa, who lives in the western desert and can only be defeated by taking a page out of Perseus’s book and showing her her own reflection in a hand mirror pilfered from Manannan’s bedroom. It’s a neat little puzzle that requires a degree of timing and nerve (you can’t show her from too far away, you have to wait until she’s closer) as well as foreknowledge of Greek mythology.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ever since I’ve been a child, I’ve been haunted by this portrayal of Manannan’s kitchen – specifically just what on earth is hanging from the rooftop. When you type “look at roof,” the game tells you that “pots, pans, baskets, and drying herbs and spices are hanging from the rafters”, but I still can’t figure out what that yellow thing is meant to be. It looks like a megaphone, but perhaps it’s meant to be a basket. The mystery endures.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxCDOp3TskD5hQTg4WDi5leHIzIKt4rTEKw9ncZBAssHBOz03RBbESqWfOSLjC3c4VDX9nIRKXzbeuvvYJWvsIO4lLofwj_F0b6rqmMk2Sy1j4-lt05RS4i0nd3sBsCMziQgTGwPsnRzIgyu6bFLmv6CPcZpQtfnfjiORBk_Auhzq6ng5TUF01YnemAfkz/s1366/Screenshot%20(297).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxCDOp3TskD5hQTg4WDi5leHIzIKt4rTEKw9ncZBAssHBOz03RBbESqWfOSLjC3c4VDX9nIRKXzbeuvvYJWvsIO4lLofwj_F0b6rqmMk2Sy1j4-lt05RS4i0nd3sBsCMziQgTGwPsnRzIgyu6bFLmv6CPcZpQtfnfjiORBk_Auhzq6ng5TUF01YnemAfkz/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(297).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Try as I might, there was no way to take The Book of Sorcery from Manannan’s laboratory. At first, Gwydion claims that Manannan would immediately miss it, which is fair enough, but after his transformation into a cat, you <em>still</em> can’t take it. Any typed command to do so just goes to an irrelevant comment on the state of the laboratory. At least say it’s too heavy, or magically stuck to the table, or something!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If it wasn’t obvious before this game, then it’s made very clear in this one that Roberta Williams does <em>not </em>like cats. Manannan has a black cat that Gwydion despises, which can send you plummeting to your death should you trip over it on the steps down to the wizard’s laboratory (and if you have the communicating-with-animals dough in your ears at the time, it will openly rejoice your demise).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">To get the necessarily cat fur for the transformation spell, Gwydion has to grab the cat and tear a handful of fur from its body (resulting in a loud screech and Gwydion going “heh, heh, heh”) and if you’re so inclined, you can also <em>kick</em> the cat for absolutely no reason.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Speaking of communicating with animals, you have the chance to concoct a spell that allows you to listen in on the conversations various animals are having: the chickens have nothing interesting to say besides complaining, and the cat is only to happy to see you suffer, but Llewdor’s wildlife knows quite a lot about Gwydion: if you put off visiting the oracle in her cave, the birds, squirrels and lizards can fill you in on his backstory – that he was kidnapped as an infant, that his parents are Graham and Valanice of Daventry, and that he has a twin sister called Rosella.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIFuuUy_rtVrH1PNFKamDb8DJHjjJPcgmcdneIH6sh804EKMiFbKyaIoNxZQWHtJNcc8SvKG2K155jIUYfaRPkbrt5CEwbqq0QMzP9nDvkEJiPYsbulibSLilI7EWyM1skyiGZ2Hh9nQNHrao6oQsl3J6R6_EuR_Vc1pWkzHZHlESU1lhppfvzil-WEdE/s1366/Screenshot%20(554).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIFuuUy_rtVrH1PNFKamDb8DJHjjJPcgmcdneIH6sh804EKMiFbKyaIoNxZQWHtJNcc8SvKG2K155jIUYfaRPkbrt5CEwbqq0QMzP9nDvkEJiPYsbulibSLilI7EWyM1skyiGZ2Hh9nQNHrao6oQsl3J6R6_EuR_Vc1pWkzHZHlESU1lhppfvzil-WEdE/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(554).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a little anticlimactic hearing it from <em>them</em> than the oracle, who relates the entire story with a crystal ball and a light show, but what could be more fun than eavesdropping on conversations between wild animals? It’s also kind of heart-warming that they all feel sorry for Gwydion, and hope that he can successfully escape the clutches of Manannan.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">More importantly, you can overhear a pair of mice in the brig of the pirate ship, who apart from worrying about a ship’s cat and the possibility of the pirates making their latest cabin boy walk the plank, also discuss the location of a buried treasure on the shore. Having stolen a shovel from the pirates, Gwydion can retrieve this treasure, though <em>only</em> if he overhears the mice disclose its exact location.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Entering Daventry can be a bit of a trip, as although Gwydion can’t remember any of it, there are plenty of landmarks from the first game: namely the old well, the royal castle, and the stone stairwell up to the clifftops where Graham once obtained the magical chest of gold, which is now the dwelling place of the three-headed dragon. Granted, they’ve all been terribly damaged by the dragon’s rampage, but it’s really the only time the games will geographically intersect in any meaningful way.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That being said, there’s already a bit of dramatic license going on, as these three landmarks definitely weren’t in close proximity in the first game, whereas <em>here</em> they’re all within three screens of each other.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAco-pmdt1ZZbSKvN20CyWmDJYGd20etCS0_OOfamP_OnMJFuOtNvWUonNlWZrLfYiu3iChca0pWDUKU2rZjTd5XOVFJFAzyJ3DY2PaDIlMbpBhYZhqME0EvEvmNLt_zvhoCX_IXqipfgJgbf88d09fzZ6NCSqnDnjZ-_EaSfQYMt2RUcjPZhs0Ud4KXQ/s1366/Screenshot%20(461).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAco-pmdt1ZZbSKvN20CyWmDJYGd20etCS0_OOfamP_OnMJFuOtNvWUonNlWZrLfYiu3iChca0pWDUKU2rZjTd5XOVFJFAzyJ3DY2PaDIlMbpBhYZhqME0EvEvmNLt_zvhoCX_IXqipfgJgbf88d09fzZ6NCSqnDnjZ-_EaSfQYMt2RUcjPZhs0Ud4KXQ/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(461).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Outside the royal family there weren’t many recurring characters in these games, but this marks the second appearance of Rumpelstiltskin (or Ifnkovhgroghprm, if you want to be facetious) who greets Gwydion as he arrives back in Daventry and gives him the lowdown on the whereabouts of his family. He’s inexplicably whistling the theme tune to <strong>The Smurfs</strong> when you come across him, and seems to have upgraded his abode from a lean-to to a tin shed, but it’s a fun little cameo. In the AVG remake, he’s called “the royal weaver” by Valance, which is a nice nod to his fairy tale roots. (Though for some reason he looks and sounds more like a leprechaun than a gnome, complete with making a little rainbow bridge for the twins to cross).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hands down the game’s most WTF moment is when you introduce yourself to your sister and prove your identity by pulling down your pants to display the birthmark on your butt cheek. Mercifully you don’t actually <em>see</em> Gwydion moon his long-lost sister, but it’s an extremely bizarre way to stage that particular family reunion. Even stranger is how Rosella came to even <em>know</em> that little factoid. For some reason, the AVG remake keeps it as well, and this time we even get to see it happening.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj01Fihbz3-qBZuzHv5F9Q-IA8oS2WZpdJIT9G-W0f-T9mYE6uMa-CJGn0vDQPyx-bFOjvHUAQlhNBmgFvAeloI3hzt9VDzIfkrCKdfvQBJBEz-K3Qmbax1jH7xyIxi1HOKWDsZqtGDjlq2HejlnY1huZwNq3ETi3s4W4n7XQ3ZDj8VMo0VYUrr9w3-LCWq/s1366/Screenshot%20(1477).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj01Fihbz3-qBZuzHv5F9Q-IA8oS2WZpdJIT9G-W0f-T9mYE6uMa-CJGn0vDQPyx-bFOjvHUAQlhNBmgFvAeloI3hzt9VDzIfkrCKdfvQBJBEz-K3Qmbax1jH7xyIxi1HOKWDsZqtGDjlq2HejlnY1huZwNq3ETi3s4W4n7XQ3ZDj8VMo0VYUrr9w3-LCWq/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1477).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On that note, the AVG remake is filled with fun cameos and Easter eggs, from the aforementioned bard (who is introduced with his musical cue from <b>KQ4</b>) to a brief glimpse of Cedric, to being told “you feel a strange pulling sensation” whenever Gwydion uses the map (this being amusing refrain that is constantly used whenever you use the map in <strong>Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow</strong>). And good old Josh Mandel returns as the voice of King Graham.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, there’s a mysterious scene in which you can enter the desert and see this:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmOaLNQ7xd9i-vwBzzjAoVbw5WMpqILuOpmMeFfx-Eo8fKOJM0O5Mc0WUntu8ceG0BX3RD4IPc7UpAUq6tKbc2ZJtww6HdkiUz9dRcYVPjW1qTIJyGK3D6gY2Q8EnfHKe2b5ezl3x3pLy3A3dekHe9IZ9oU05pbALkV5i59LYvMuHxlB0ztQtRlqSBI-L/s1366/Screenshot%20(1119).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmOaLNQ7xd9i-vwBzzjAoVbw5WMpqILuOpmMeFfx-Eo8fKOJM0O5Mc0WUntu8ceG0BX3RD4IPc7UpAUq6tKbc2ZJtww6HdkiUz9dRcYVPjW1qTIJyGK3D6gY2Q8EnfHKe2b5ezl3x3pLy3A3dekHe9IZ9oU05pbALkV5i59LYvMuHxlB0ztQtRlqSBI-L/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1119).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve no idea what’s going on here, but I’ve the sneaking suspicion it’s a nod to <strong>Quest for Glory</strong>, as this game is also referenced later on if you go through Legenimor’s archway the wrong way.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The credits have some funny brick jokes, like the Bear family (here spelt “Behr”) leaving their home, then doubling back to lock the front door, and one of the pirates appearing back in Llewdor after messing with the magic map onboard the ship (the developers must have realized the map was fairly obsolete after Llewdor, and so remove it from the game). But I particularly liked the very last one: Manannan exits his house in cat form and sits on the cliffside, swishing his tail in quiet contemplation.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZYIoGvcs-RIqbS3VRPR3NhowMF4DvM1vr6FKsamFqrQKO10LbdAaHLaf5DBfqb6tCl-Db-ZjierhChU8euHi2rTds3rIN6MMjTmP8XI8UTnbc_eKGauDnJFi6FnsJzJ81FbPmvQd2iGoF3RuQjIOzZFlJPdUTEaABqVDBjWwGV1ak1XtGAocvi_eNOxF/s1366/Screenshot%20(1482).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZYIoGvcs-RIqbS3VRPR3NhowMF4DvM1vr6FKsamFqrQKO10LbdAaHLaf5DBfqb6tCl-Db-ZjierhChU8euHi2rTds3rIN6MMjTmP8XI8UTnbc_eKGauDnJFi6FnsJzJ81FbPmvQd2iGoF3RuQjIOzZFlJPdUTEaABqVDBjWwGV1ak1XtGAocvi_eNOxF/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1482).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In terms of the visuals, Manannan’s house is a lot dingier (and the strange object is missing from the kitchen ceiling) and there are some fun little details, such as the cat actually <em>catching</em> the fly before you retrieve its wings. After Manannan’s death, his portrait on the walls darkens to a black square, and (as in the previous game) you can find a letter from another villain – this time Lolotte, who encourages Manannan in his schemes, alludes to her son Edgar, informs the reader that Gwydion was “handpicked” by the Father for kidnapping, and tells him to: “usurp control from the unfaithful, and prepare for the Great Day.” (Sadly, the end of AVG’s remakes mean we’ll never know what this could refer to).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It fills in other minor plot-holes (or at least answers some lingering questions) of the original game. Like, what was Manannan doing on all those journeys? A conversation that Gwydion hears between the animals has the chilling answer: he’s looking for a replacement servant. The malevolent black cat (which in this game doesn’t just trip Gwydion over on the staircase to the laboratory, but actively attacks him) was himself one of Manannan’s rivals that he transformed into a cat. And of course, the aforementioned <em>reason</em> why Alexander was kidnapped in the first place.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s an early cameo appearance from the minstrel that Rosella encounters in <strong>King’s Quest IV</strong>, whom Gwydion provides with a lute from the tavern that a <em>previous </em>Gwydion used to play for the customers (right before Manannan caught and obliterated him); the very one that his sister will eventually obtain in her own adventure. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And just lots of cute little details. The key to the cabinet containing Manannan’s wand is found in a black cloak hanging in his wardrobe, which is a nice touch. When the bard first appears, you can hear his musical cue from <strong>KQ4</strong>, and you see him arrive in Tamir during the end credits, taking his familiar seat on that tree stump.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The same sprite is used for the Abominable Snowman as the Yeti in <strong>KQ5</strong>, and if he corners you in his cave, Gwydion can reuse the sleeping powder to get past him (it also being a dank place) – though it wakes up in time to chase him through the cave network, elevating the risk of that particular sequence. When Graham goes to fetch his adventurer’s cap to fling at Alexander and Rosella, he briefly clutches his heart, foreshadowing the very start of the next game.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitj_vlKv4onOpS-aJY2Os5Zw1WFQqdxPb8m-srD5piqS5p6749GxErip_wYazlg2BmeXvUZoa6GdSxdem4LYdEeBKYhO_kZpc06mCiyTmnyJiUDHF5eukKAZH1ReypkueZww-Q6BKHI2RVB2mMp_L7X4wrlquGSmXguvhMHeDLcj9HYdUDSMLfpEUlmqlV/s1366/Screenshot%20(1480).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitj_vlKv4onOpS-aJY2Os5Zw1WFQqdxPb8m-srD5piqS5p6749GxErip_wYazlg2BmeXvUZoa6GdSxdem4LYdEeBKYhO_kZpc06mCiyTmnyJiUDHF5eukKAZH1ReypkueZww-Q6BKHI2RVB2mMp_L7X4wrlquGSmXguvhMHeDLcj9HYdUDSMLfpEUlmqlV/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1480).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apart from all this, there are some variations on the familiar puzzles. To open the trapdoor to Manannan’s secret laboratory, one must first pull a series of levers in a particular order, while the eagle does not randomly appear, but instead waits from its nest in the foreground of the path down the mountainside. To obtain a feather, Gwydion places a leg of ham on an outcropping and waits for the eagle to swoop down and retrieve it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Early on, Gwydion can find a number of vials in Manannan’s bedroom drawer, each filled with hair of different colours that are all labelled “Gwydion”. Later, it makes for a rather harrowing scene when Gwydion breaks into an abandoned library and discovers a journal kept by one of Manannan’s prior servants. It recounts his attempts to flee, only for one escape to be thwarted by the bandits in the forest, and his discovery of the wizard’s laboratory where he finds a scrap of paper on the floor:“I picked it up and beheld my doom. Written over and over down one side was a list of names. My name. Each dated eighteen years apart. I have little time.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The journal ends with:“Today is this Gwydion’s eighteenth birthday. I can only hope the next will have a better one.” It’s all horribly sad, but also touching in a way, that some of the clues <em>that </em>Gwydion leaves behind assists our protagonist in his own escape. For example, you have to find this journal in order to access the trapdoor to the laboratory, and one of the pages in The Sorcery of Old has been torn in half – the all-important How to Turn a Person Into a Cat spell.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hYDKGqjspDxNG-2dbFbHWfUO8G4qT18M8293vEm3RNNuLANwnxR36RsTDPAInZKzS0rxe0VFHUmklJsBqxVbHMp2U_K3bOPJSVk1fA9pU0FX9EeI-MGdcOlE5VoRcXTWl7Cr8jzJaiPRhVf-DlGYzzux5sxZp20t3iBS95AtADPYZuLLJ0WsBBhwpQ5V/s1366/Screenshot%20(1117).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hYDKGqjspDxNG-2dbFbHWfUO8G4qT18M8293vEm3RNNuLANwnxR36RsTDPAInZKzS0rxe0VFHUmklJsBqxVbHMp2U_K3bOPJSVk1fA9pU0FX9EeI-MGdcOlE5VoRcXTWl7Cr8jzJaiPRhVf-DlGYzzux5sxZp20t3iBS95AtADPYZuLLJ0WsBBhwpQ5V/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1117).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The other half of the page has been secreted in a hole in a rock, encased within a glass bottle, placed there by the former Gwydion whose scribbled note on the back reveals that he’s desperately searching for a mandrake root to use in the spell. In this way, <em>our</em> Gwydion gains the tools he needs from those that have come before.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(In fact, the game does a great job of establishing that our Gwydion is just one in a long line of Gwydions. On finding his immediate predecessor’s journal, the game tells us: “You feel strange knowing your predecessor left this, and that later Gwydions might find it.” After Manannan’s defeat, he also remarks upon the fact that they have all finally been avenged).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The nature of the gameplay means that Gwydion cannot cast this spell until <em>after</em> he’s visited the oracle in her cave, for its there that the mandrake root grows. This grants the story an interesting retextualization, for though it’s possible in the original game to meet the oracle <em>before</em> Manannan is dispatched (or to even learn the truth about his identity from the birds and the beasts in the forest once you have the “talking to animals” dough in your ears) this game opts to make his defeat very personal.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">More time is spent talking to the oracle on exposition about here Gwydion comes from, his true name, the identity of his parents, and the danger that his sister and homeland is in. Although things like Morgeilen’s curse and his black cloak are mentioned by the oracle, they’re also dismissed as something “beyond what is yours to reckon with.”</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyZ-4J-ipk2wNecCZovpLATJcJ0IdO0zlBatMZHskcNv9IK3xeA_-C68XsdtlOOHGkt6cNXncWFf9XBDu_vodJ6fyM_yiVtqTyU97M5nc-ESAHzAjYfGJjU3C-g6kvvAowW2Yqc-R_YZPWFGsjEDaZxnpEhQ76MWlXdVrW72SxkjEd_64P0oTjUKNAB65/s1366/Screenshot%20(1483).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyZ-4J-ipk2wNecCZovpLATJcJ0IdO0zlBatMZHskcNv9IK3xeA_-C68XsdtlOOHGkt6cNXncWFf9XBDu_vodJ6fyM_yiVtqTyU97M5nc-ESAHzAjYfGJjU3C-g6kvvAowW2Yqc-R_YZPWFGsjEDaZxnpEhQ76MWlXdVrW72SxkjEd_64P0oTjUKNAB65/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1483).png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7DteVu21C9mWcP6jyb74IJfEWI43bn6RpM8aHpeIT_jJQRA_zNiCL6ZU0rmh2iGdWXSoUf8XH84cGiC5m0E6ilPzXkKA-u9tX4RAQbTILc_9qsbaeqB5glBumeDAFXfh3EfYwSn0d0t80IThdpoa-p0vKJipc21Kuq9mbEeifOT2IDb1jbSfDyEhk4jl/s1366/Screenshot%20(1485).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt7DteVu21C9mWcP6jyb74IJfEWI43bn6RpM8aHpeIT_jJQRA_zNiCL6ZU0rmh2iGdWXSoUf8XH84cGiC5m0E6ilPzXkKA-u9tX4RAQbTILc_9qsbaeqB5glBumeDAFXfh3EfYwSn0d0t80IThdpoa-p0vKJipc21Kuq9mbEeifOT2IDb1jbSfDyEhk4jl/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1485).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also a lovely visual in which the stark cave is filled with moss and greenery while the oracle speaks – not to the mention the appearance of the all-important mandrake root. It deepens and enriches the context of Gwydion’s story, and naturally gives it more poignancy and resonance.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, it’s not perfect. For some reason the giant spider is now <em>tiny</em>, and I’ve no idea why they changed Kenny the dog’s name to Hank (perhaps an inside joke?) And the voice actor playing Gwydion is clearly trying to channel Robbie Benson (who voices the character in <strong>Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow</strong>) but just comes across as monotonic.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYeFq7XBcaW05NOMMl1aRaKSdtqBaQMNK04jBOe6LP6oORXee0BF6BYJ8bl62YpQJQwF0iA0abWsa9nEfn6BXRLUSfe-uw9UIYmMdGFgs0024d6_eiF95kgalJcgGfqvp6rs_5oXgFOoUTeaQP7u0McgQVCfPodgdFnFOispgwxJKBpWTespdG-YbHfBd/s1366/Screenshot%20(473).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYeFq7XBcaW05NOMMl1aRaKSdtqBaQMNK04jBOe6LP6oORXee0BF6BYJ8bl62YpQJQwF0iA0abWsa9nEfn6BXRLUSfe-uw9UIYmMdGFgs0024d6_eiF95kgalJcgGfqvp6rs_5oXgFOoUTeaQP7u0McgQVCfPodgdFnFOispgwxJKBpWTespdG-YbHfBd/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(473).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, perhaps the most important element to come out of this game from a storytelling standpoint was the introduction of Princess Rosella, whose appearance in the final act foreshadowed her role as the protagonist of the next game. Here she’s just a stereotypical damsel in distress, tied to a stake and sacrificed to a dragon. In <strong>The Perils of Rosella</strong>, she gets to be the hero...</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-39515591250973386392023-10-01T23:01:00.004-07:002023-11-04T01:38:58.859-07:00Woman of the Month: Wednesday Addams<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhl4BB-leCDZPBddldNGL6OAEsejf3b23S8CIoQz38CoKg9sfRiSOryDWjm5KgjxhqihVjxwLcAn6FfKQNKCeHMEod27zxMmXQ3BAoMuBRi9aSTHJU4mxyAX4WIPp_Vk_oGCxFO2s2HBM279Yy2WFGA59Z_GbP_qEnEht7YsoS2bxrrG1Cn_G3LHwsafF/s3600/!.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3600" data-original-width="2400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhl4BB-leCDZPBddldNGL6OAEsejf3b23S8CIoQz38CoKg9sfRiSOryDWjm5KgjxhqihVjxwLcAn6FfKQNKCeHMEod27zxMmXQ3BAoMuBRi9aSTHJU4mxyAX4WIPp_Vk_oGCxFO2s2HBM279Yy2WFGA59Z_GbP_qEnEht7YsoS2bxrrG1Cn_G3LHwsafF/s320/!.webp" width="213" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wednesday Addams from <strong>The Addams Family</strong></span></p><!--wp:heading {"level":1,"placeholder":"Title","className":"heading1"}-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s the spooky season, which requires an appropriately Halloween-y entry for Woman of the Month. And what better choice given the success of her recent Netflix show than Wednesday Addams?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That said, the character has been around a <em>lot</em> longer than Jenna Ortega’s take, which means this post has ended up just as much a retrospective as a spotlight on her latest interpretation. I dug a little deeper into the history of Wednesday, and the results are a fascinating look at how a character can evolve over time.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Created by cartoonist Charles Addams, she first appeared (without a name) in the August 26, 1944, issue of <em>The New Yorker</em>, in a comic that featured her being told to stop whining and “go tell your brother you’ll poison him right back.” In fact, <i>none</i> of the iconic characters had names at this point, they were simply designed to be the deliberate antithesis of the idealized American nuclear family.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It wasn’t until the comics were adapted for the 1960s television show that names were bestowed, with the daughter dubbed Wednesday, adapted from the familiar children’s nursery rhyme: “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But whereas the comic iteration of the character, with her pale skin and oddly-shaped egghead, was obsessed with dark subjects such as torture, death and crazy science experiments, the Wednesday of the show (as played by Lisa Loring) was in many ways a normal little girl. She liked ballet and dolls, is well-mannered and sweet-natured, and comes across as surprisingly normal.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, so her doll has no head because she’s just learned about Marie Antoinette, and she raises spiders as pets, but there’s no sign of the <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadpanSnarker">Deadpan Snarking</a> that would eventually become the staple part of her characterization. In fact, her first day at school leaves her in tears after she’s read a story about a knight slaying a dragon. Poor dragon!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The 1991 film takes Wednesday back to her comic roots, but still doesn’t go too hard on the deadpanning. Yes, Christina Ricci’s take on the character is definitely our most popular rendition of the character, but she also regularly demonstrates fear, excitement and joy. It’s the <em>second</em> film, <strong>Addams Family Values</strong>, that really codified Wednesday as the cold, emotionless pre-teen we recognize today.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Slightly less known are the two Hanna-Barbera cartoons (one in the seventies and one in the nineties) as well as two animated movies in 2019 and 2021. These all very much depict Wednesday as she appeared in the original comics: chalk-white skin, an oval-shaped head, and dark hair in two braids. I can’t say I have much interest in watching any of them, but a quick glance over the Wikipedia and TV Tropes pages tells me Wednesday is borderline psychotic in these iterations, making – among other things – several serious attempts on her brother’s life.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then there’s the Broadway musical and the straight-to-video releases and the webseries, the most famous of which features <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlIAhjRwOIE">Wednesday confronting some cat-callers</a>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But to watch the three most famous adaptations of <b>The Addams Family</b>: the original television show, the two nineties films, and the Netflix adaptation, is to watch the character grow from child to tween to teenager. By the time we’ve reached Jenna Ortega, the emotionless deadpanning has become the very crux of her character.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, her introductory scene is wrecking bloody vengeance on her brother’s bullies by unleashing flesh-eating piranhas in the school swimming pool, and her subsequent investigation into the mystery of Nevermore Academy is as much to do with s sense of societal responsibility as sating her own curiosity (though she’d never admit it). There’s a heart beating somewhere deep beneath all those layers of black.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But what to actually <em>make</em> of Wednesday Addams? What’s the appeal given her <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnsembleDarkHorse">Ensemble Darkhorse</a> status within the franchise? For my money, it’s that subversive element, her complete refusal to conform.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In a world where teenage girls (and women in general) are meant to be bright and bubbly and cheerful, Wednesday has zero interest in following the crowd. She’s the girl we <em>want </em>to be when we’re tired of smiling, tired of conversation, tired of being endlessly polite. She’s our sadistic tendencies and morbid obsessions; the melancholic disposition that we’re meant to keep concealed at all costs. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And she’s completely unapologetic about it. How freeing it must be to truly not care what other people think, to always have a devastatingly backhanded comment at the ready, to be completely unmoved and unfazed by any attempt at bullying. The character’s appeal lies in her ability to be both a projection <em>and</em> a fantasy – albeit a dark one.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-68250728342596578802023-09-30T22:18:00.010-07:002024-02-07T23:04:42.651-08:00Reading/Watching Log #94<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thanks to an accumulation of annual leave, I had three weeks off this month, and spent a fair portion of it desperately trying to make a dent in the massive pile of library books that I’ve brought home from my new place of work. This is not as much fun as it sounds, as after a while it began to feel more like a chore than a pleasure, which is <em>not</em> how you should be spending your holidays.</span></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rest assured, I also went on plenty of walks, and took my friend’s daughters to the movies (<strong>Barbie</strong> again). Spring has finally arrived in Aotearoa, and I’m soaking up all the available Vitamin D after what feels like a very long, cold and dark winter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When it comes to the general theme of this month’s reading material, I temporarily put aside Slavic Fantasy and focused instead on what can only be called Old English Children’s Folktales. There were plenty of books based on English folklore or set in specific English locales, with titles like <strong>Sisters of the Lost Marsh</strong> and <strong>The Green Children of Woolpit</strong> and <strong>By Ash, Oak and Thorn</strong>. In terms of their general collective vibe, think <strong>The Borrowers</strong> by way of <strong>The Wind in the Willows</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Viewing wise, my choices were much less <em>themed</em>. We had another movie night at work, and thankfully everyone seemed to enjoy <strong>Casablanca</strong> (I say that because it was my recommendation). I finally caught up with Netflix’s <strong>Wednesday</strong>, which means I also watched the two <strong>The Addams Family</strong> films of the nineties. My sister introduced me to <strong>Vigil</strong>, a show I didn’t even know existed before she told me about it (which is very weird, since I usually have at least <em>heard</em> of most things) and rather sadly completed <strong>Carnival Row</strong> and <strong>The Nevers</strong>, two shows that vibed perfectly together, not least because they were both completely screwed over by their networks.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I did however manage to get in one unofficial “trilogy” – that is, three projects that were directly inspired by the works of H.G. Wells: the 2019 adaptation of <strong>The War of the Worlds</strong>, the 1979 film <strong>Time After Time</strong>, and the 2001 miniseries <strong>The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells</strong> – all so different, and yet all standing as a tribute to the reach of this man’s vision.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And <em>three </em>of these projects featured Eleanor Tomlinson!</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Luna and the Treasure of Tlaloc </strong>by Joe Todd-Stanton</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyde1ZGMT7uCLxxuVo-bc-TWGP6GjfZ9FIcQoO9Ipns1kPoL_jjAFbk2mYMf42JIHj9Qe3kpxpu29hyphenhyphen4H8zCSMMtYh7NhfA5cPRPbitbGathR4v8ZU5ywxz-53kvtGVR4VBRcII7a0p-5D4r_fXZq0fFHxls-mI4O2z2m7LG308s26ve13mW8vdAv1BYKZ/s109/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="109" data-original-width="81" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyde1ZGMT7uCLxxuVo-bc-TWGP6GjfZ9FIcQoO9Ipns1kPoL_jjAFbk2mYMf42JIHj9Qe3kpxpu29hyphenhyphen4H8zCSMMtYh7NhfA5cPRPbitbGathR4v8ZU5ywxz-53kvtGVR4VBRcII7a0p-5D4r_fXZq0fFHxls-mI4O2z2m7LG308s26ve13mW8vdAv1BYKZ/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The fifth and sadly final book in Joe Todd-Stanton’s series on the Brownstone family, a huge clan of adventurers and explorers, whose children often end up participating in exploits involving gods and mythical creatures from all over the world. So far we’ve dealt with Nordic, Egyptian, Chinese and Greek mythology – now this deal with the comparatively little-explored Aztecs.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Its heroine is a bit different too. Luna Brownstone is more of an anti-hero, who commits herself to stealing precious artefacts for her own self-gain after her parents are betrayed by those the family had been coming to assist. She’s especially interested in the gold treasures of Central Mexico, whose people are suffering through an unprecedented drought.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She arrives just as a young Aztec girl called Atzi is sent by her people to petition the rain god Tlaloc for deliverance, and Luna quickly makes herself part of the quest. Of course she’ll learn the value of friendship and unselfishness by journey’s end, though along the way we’re threated to Todd-Stanton’s gorgeous illustrations, including at least four of his favourite two-page spreads filled with monsters, obstacles and other dangers, and which depicts several versions of his characters traversing its perils.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The story itself serves as an early primer for Aztec mythology, features two adorable little heroines, and leaves us with what is hopefully the promise of more adventures to come. This was promoted as the last book, but our narrator in the framing device is surrounded by portraits of his extended family – surely more of them could have their tales told.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Once Upon a Hillside</strong> by Angela McAllister and Chiara Fedele</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyCkqV_ufS-wXsjsWMYq0r3j8t6DwCMIE1Ou9jdEf1KRLljL9eEPLLv6DSY1W0xrdG03T5uG5-DJgBhZx4uxEl2FkDy09YSMgARIJ7eotywVmARwU1xxxjh4WHIHeR6xayg2NbUdLueImphnyyhJXzlTDJtGIvOPrCD6uFwiWYgh6eWx480GvmYx18gVW/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="87" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyCkqV_ufS-wXsjsWMYq0r3j8t6DwCMIE1Ou9jdEf1KRLljL9eEPLLv6DSY1W0xrdG03T5uG5-DJgBhZx4uxEl2FkDy09YSMgARIJ7eotywVmARwU1xxxjh4WHIHeR6xayg2NbUdLueImphnyyhJXzlTDJtGIvOPrCD6uFwiWYgh6eWx480GvmYx18gVW/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="87" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a very lovely book, which reminded me of Natasha Farrant’s <b>Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror</b> in its structure. Set on a single hillside in Dorset, it contains seven short stories that take place in seven distinct time periods: the Stone Age, Roman times, the Middle Ages, 1650, the Victoria Era, 1930 and today, with seven young people (six girls, one boy) having an adventure in the countryside.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What connects them is that each successive child finds a token left behind by their predecessor – an engraved arrowhead, a carved dog, a magnifying glass – which becomes a precious keepsake.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Neolithic Tani provides her tracking abilities to her tribe, Roman twins Lucilla and Corio tend a wild hare back to health, Ailith is trained by her mother in the healing arts, only for them to be accused of witchcraft, young Liddy finds his family while working as a crow-scarer, Clara solves the mystery of a seemingly haunted excavation site, siblings Peggy, Dennis and Stanley struggle to adapt to the countryside while their parents go job-hunting, and modern day Amari tries to cope with an ailing grandmother and overworked parents.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Together they paint a portrait of the dizzying span of time humans have been upon this earth, yet remain connected by the things that really matter. Some of the stories end a little too neatly or tritely (no less than three involve families realizing the solution to their problems is just to move to Dorset) but it’s a wonderful idea for a book, and accompanied by bright, evocative illustrations by Chiara Fedele. This would make a great gift for a young reader.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Moth Keepers</strong> by Kay O'Neill</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqvqNf_lE33VeFEqvmmmFW1UbDOQHh-fIR0nadk9GvYm1VYwPbCY9ER0oFSk1Br86NHk92AFtWBb4-lX9IU-ZoHGEI0u0KsuPF_lLOjhpIqEsCUxWfgGMnQaiaz1Pc3bqY0O1zJ-MP6C5StFlBNEg1D88rKEawfVEzwd_OSQknXvdz_52uZW6_jH0nz-G/s117/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="117" data-original-width="81" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqvqNf_lE33VeFEqvmmmFW1UbDOQHh-fIR0nadk9GvYm1VYwPbCY9ER0oFSk1Br86NHk92AFtWBb4-lX9IU-ZoHGEI0u0KsuPF_lLOjhpIqEsCUxWfgGMnQaiaz1Pc3bqY0O1zJ-MP6C5StFlBNEg1D88rKEawfVEzwd_OSQknXvdz_52uZW6_jH0nz-G/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A children’s graphic novel by a kiwi writer/illustrator, it depicts a fantasy world based on the high alpine regions of Aotearoa: specifically, the Southern Alps and Tongariro National Park. I suppose this is a little ironic, as the fictional setting is a vast desert, the one ecosystem that New Zealand <em>doesn’t</em> have.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Instead, Kay O’Neill draws inspiration from the symbiotic relationships that exist between flora and fauna, in a very gentle story about a young fox-girl (in a community full of people with rabbit ears, quail feet, or horse bodies) learning about her place in the world. I know this comparison comes up a lot in my reviews for children’s graphic novels, but this one really does feel like a Studio Ghibli film, both in its low-stakes storyline and anime-like style.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The central myth of this world is that of the moon spirit, who was so lonely that a group of desert dwellers chose to live under the stars to keep her company, leading to two distinct cultural groups: diurnal and nocturnal communities. In gratefulness, the moon spirit bestows on her people a gift of Moon Moths, which pollinate a tree that provides all sorts of useful benefits.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the story proper, young Anya has taken her place as a protector of the Moon Moths, guiding them across the desert with a lantern in order to keep the trees healthy and thriving. But it’s a lonely existence, out there in the vast deserts all by herself each night, and over time she finds herself wondering if she’s made the right decision.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unusually for a fantasy story, it’s not the world that’s at stake, but just the inner turmoil of a single person that needs to be resolved. O’Neill seems to take great pleasure in depicting the details of this desert culture (the foods, the chores, the celebrations, the clothing) and several of the community’s stories – such as the tale of the moon spirit or that of a young ghost girl – are rendered in a slightly different style and colour palette than the rest of the book. The moon spirit in particular has a gorgeous design: a combination of owl, griffin and Chinese dragon. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a very soft and gentle offering from a writer/artist best known for <strong>The Tea Dragon Society</strong> books. Gonna have to track those down...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Shuna’s Journey </strong>by Hayao Miyazaki</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-bF331VSNDabJsYCNKFcVaZnE2YawW3kz0yvJt6XNnGCPEmm_8QATO_o5wKZ-g-03dyg2RUL-H-zvf7wYV4VyHAC0cBl-6TJawtsNWCTbnIkxYdmKQ-I_Zzuqhv85Qu5DwDrG5oxFcL82xkLpysfsvoYOSLGI47Dh1T8N1a2wBgfywBdtJNF7tLmV6-s/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="85" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-bF331VSNDabJsYCNKFcVaZnE2YawW3kz0yvJt6XNnGCPEmm_8QATO_o5wKZ-g-03dyg2RUL-H-zvf7wYV4VyHAC0cBl-6TJawtsNWCTbnIkxYdmKQ-I_Zzuqhv85Qu5DwDrG5oxFcL82xkLpysfsvoYOSLGI47Dh1T8N1a2wBgfywBdtJNF7tLmV6-s/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="85" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here’s something that caught me by surprise: a graphic novel by Hayao Miyazaki, first written in 1983, but only translated into English in 2022. So it’s something that <em>feels</em> brand new, but is also one of the first projects Miyazaki ever put out into the world – that’s a strange thing to be, and you can see the genesis of many of his more famous stories and films in this compelling little tale.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Based on a Tibetan folktale called “The Prince Who Turned into a Dog,” it involves a young prince called Shuna who hears rumours of a beautiful golden seed that might feed his impoverished people. Setting out on a journey into the wilderness, he has many dangerous adventures and suffers the miseries of the world before reaching a far-distant shore where the “god-folk” cultivate their crops.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having escaped with a few grains, the point-of-view shifts to a pair of young sisters that Shuna liberated from slavery earlier in the story, who find Shuna without his memories, a voice, or even the ability to behave as a human. As they gradually nurse him back to health, the seeds are sown and begin to sprout...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">According to translator Alex Dudok De Wit’s afterword, <strong>Shuna’s Journey</strong> is not a manga, but what the Japanese call an <em>emonogatari</em>, or illustrated story, in which there are captions instead of speech bubbles. Miyazaki’s watercolours are gorgeous, but his true genius is in not delving too deeply into explanatory world-building. The reader never learns exactly what happened to Shuna after he escapes the island of the god-folk, and many of his experiences remain mysterious in nature (such as an early encounter with some spooky people who live onboard a massive grounded ship). A lot of questions are left unanswered, but not the most important ones – and Miyazaki knows the difference.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">His usual themes are all present and accounted for: a brave, self-sufficient heroine, humanity’s loss of a symbiotic relationship with nature, the horrors of war and unchecked capitalism, but the story is also serves as the wellspring of many of his later works – almost too many to list.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s a lot of <strong>Nausicaä </strong>here (the desert landscape, vast edifices, dwindling natural resources, a small, windswept kingdom with a protective young monarch) and <strong>Princess Mononoke</strong> (Shuna is a dead ringer for Ashitaka, and his steed simply IS Yakul, though here that word becomes the name of the species rather than the personalized name of the creature). The eerie peace of the god-folk’s home also reminded me of Luputa in <strong>Castle in the Sky</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a fascinating, dream-like book, a worthy read on its own merits, but also as an early glimpse of the artistry Miyazaki would soon unleash on the world; a primer of his key interests at the very beginning of his career.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Mary Anne and the Great Romance</strong> by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtn2r_hbk_2J_ZeENFAFO3NNmjaIjf3gvrH6SRHggax3nyLXs6CZ1_TC36ICT0kbB-xrfC-b0Rz-eNzk6qnbcN14_L5UbCMR360fEFldiZQ8xuIUkxwv2v93cJ1hRAogSYTZ001MpMpyOKtOkhkm7ecz9aUnzTRDJBKqgOBUNoKfVQ2_gK2U40qcF-T5-9/s133/!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="89" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtn2r_hbk_2J_ZeENFAFO3NNmjaIjf3gvrH6SRHggax3nyLXs6CZ1_TC36ICT0kbB-xrfC-b0Rz-eNzk6qnbcN14_L5UbCMR360fEFldiZQ8xuIUkxwv2v93cJ1hRAogSYTZ001MpMpyOKtOkhkm7ecz9aUnzTRDJBKqgOBUNoKfVQ2_gK2U40qcF-T5-9/s1600/!.png" width="89" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the heels of Mary Anne’s framing narrative in <strong>Babysitters Winter Vacation</strong>, she again takes centre-stage in the first of a two-parter that deals with the wedding between her father and Dawn’s mother. More Mary Anne. Hooray.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">After what feels like interminable introductory exposition (we’re well into entire chapters of these books being superfluous to anyone familiar with the series, as they’re just page after page of explaining everything) we get into the familiar formula of dual storylines, in which a babysitting problem runs parallel with a major event or issue in one of the protagonist’s lives.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the first, the girls in the club become aware of increasing tension between twins Marilyn and Carolyn. In the other, Mr Spier – that sly old dog – pops the question to Mrs Schafer during a surprise birthday dinner with Dawn and Mary Anne. The girls are delighted at the prospect of a huge wedding and reception, only to learn it’s going to be a small civil ceremony instead.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The weird thing about this book is that I’m pretty sure it spends more time on the twin drama than it does on the lead-up to the wedding and the merging of the Spier/Schafer families. In fact, the two adults in the room seem to have put very little thought into how this blended family is going to work: he’s a neat freak, she’s a slob. Mary Anne worships her kitten, Mrs Schafer doesn’t like cats. The Spiers are carnivores, the Schafers are vegetarians (maybe, they might just be health food fanatics – it’s never really made clear).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A <em>lot </em>of conversation and planning needed to take place before they tied the knot, and even then Mary Anne is totally blindsided by the fact she’ll be moving to Dawn’s house (<em>and</em> into her room, even though we’ve just spent the entire B-plot discovering that the twins are fighting because they need separate spaces). The excuse is that the Schafer house is supposedly bigger, but you KNOW Martin doesn’t want to give up the house with the potential ghost and the secret passage.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s all a bomb waiting to go off.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some more notable things: Mr Spier comes across as a right weirdo. According to Mary Anne, he doesn’t like her using the word “hey”, he only permits her to wear clear nail polish (colour is for whores, I guess?) and doesn’t like being interrupted. Okay, that last one is fair enough, but after Mary Anne does so, she has this bizarre thought a few minutes later: “I knew he’d forgiven me for interrupting him.” Er, being interrupted is annoying, but it’s not a cardinal sin requiring forgiveness. Oh Mrs Schafer, what have you gotten yourself into?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Over in the Marilyn/Carolyn plot, the girls observe that Carolyn is feeling left out in the wake of her sister’s popularity, but don’t twig to the fact that Carolyn’s friend “Gozzie Kunka” is someone she’s made up. Just how dumb <em>are</em> these girls?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It made me laugh that the entire club went to the wedding (I mean of course they did, even Mallory and Jessi who have absolutely no reason to be there, or to <em>care</em> about being there) and so I can’t be accused of being <em>too</em> mean to Mary Anne, she does get a nice moment when she slips Kristy a note reaffirming the strength of their friendship, knowing that she’ll feel insecure about Mary Anne and Dawn becoming stepsisters.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister</strong> by Anne M. Martin</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN93cqGSzp7fczGhctJzYiTYd02I2XR_zUEeDlrpbbxEZ0yfA2TDaG1pxTe1viSAXG-GdxClKuukLUC0jbZSc50Ohn3qEYPXlmFQYw7Y6xNRFHaS1OlpWDDZ47ulz289iq9p3j27xM-gri5xBzxcTAG9SYIXWSaEI-JSLDtVVehRtpCSr9V6lno1nmLb1T/s118/!!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="118" data-original-width="84" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN93cqGSzp7fczGhctJzYiTYd02I2XR_zUEeDlrpbbxEZ0yfA2TDaG1pxTe1viSAXG-GdxClKuukLUC0jbZSc50Ohn3qEYPXlmFQYw7Y6xNRFHaS1OlpWDDZ47ulz289iq9p3j27xM-gri5xBzxcTAG9SYIXWSaEI-JSLDtVVehRtpCSr9V6lno1nmLb1T/s1600/!!.png" width="84" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, that bomb I mentioned? It goes off here. As you can tell from the title, the point-of-view switches from Mary Anne to Dawn, and deals with the difficulties the Spiers and Schafers have in becoming a blended family in a single household.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I went over most of it in the above review, but some of it is really stupid. Like, why does Mr Spier keep serving his wife bacon when he knows she never eats it? Why do Dawn and Mary Anne think it’s a good idea to share a room where the whole subplot of the last book was that the Arnold twins had to have their own space?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m also back to thinking that Mary Anne is THE WORST. She gives Dawn the silent treatment when she’s mad, brags about having a boyfriend, claims that her skirt on Dawn look a little “tight”, passive-aggressively tells her: “don’t think of yourself as someone who can’t get a date, okay? It’s not healthy,” and generally acts like a tradwife-in-training.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also one incredibly sloppy continuity error, in which Dawn states she wants to save up money to buy Mary Anne a “now we’re sisters” present to make up for the one Mary Anne gave her. Except... she didn’t. In the last pages of the previous book, it’s clearly stated that DAWN was the one that gave MARY ANNE this gift. Did the ghost writers get their wires crossed?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And how is this situation resolved? With the girls calmly and maturely discussing their differences? Of course not! Dawn gaslights Mary Anne into thinking she’s being haunted by the ghost of Jared Mullray by claiming she has a babysitting job and then doubling back to the house to ring the doorbell and leave creepy gifts on Mary Anne’s desk via the secret passage. I’d call foul, but Mary Anne has been so insufferable up till this point that she fully deserves to get scared out of her wits.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the B-plot, the entire Pike family comes down with one malady or another, requiring the babysitters to pull double-duty in looking after an entire household full of sick kids. The MVP turns out to be Kristy’s brother Charlie, who not only picks up the Pikes’ groceries, but sticks around to help cook a meal for them. He’s not just a taxi service for a bunch of teenage girls!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kirsty also gets a nice follow-up from the previous book, in which Dawn goes to her for advice on how to handle Mary Anne’s behaviour, and Kristy comes through for her without any jealousy or pettiness. It’s also the book that introduces Carol, Dawn’s father’s new girlfriend (though we only hear her voice over the phone when Dawn rings her brother).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, this wedding/marriage two-parter is notable for being the first books in the series to get published in the nineties. It’s full-speed ahead into the decade of leggings and scrunchies.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Mulberry Tree</strong> by Allison Rushby</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-1rkcjDWSV9hJWmyvETcZq91DNJ_Gu2XSN8WtkUexOrD-9qcum91_ir_EJ32s6vbioHmufU6L20wx1YmdWf5JEH6vThUZliqnH77b3KtlhF3e6xYi-BVb9HbSXaBWoHdTNdclrYSGc3H_uNag5XO1s3Jyt8ZnzYUgpbX5ItjizfTByXt5TjEsPWEzd4e/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="79" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-1rkcjDWSV9hJWmyvETcZq91DNJ_Gu2XSN8WtkUexOrD-9qcum91_ir_EJ32s6vbioHmufU6L20wx1YmdWf5JEH6vThUZliqnH77b3KtlhF3e6xYi-BVb9HbSXaBWoHdTNdclrYSGc3H_uNag5XO1s3Jyt8ZnzYUgpbX5ItjizfTByXt5TjEsPWEzd4e/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="79" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Damn, I have had this book checked out of the library <em>for so long</em>. Months ago I read <strong>The Ghost Locket</strong> and <strong>The Turnkey of Highgate Cemetery</strong> by the same author, but for whatever reason didn’t get the chance to immediately follow up with this one. And it’s probably my least favourite of the three.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Immy and her parents have moved to a tiny village in Cambridgeshire after an upheaval in her family. Her father was a GP whose elderly patients required him to sign off on their driver licenses, only for one of them to ignore her father’s rejection of renewal, and end up killing a young mother and her daughter with his car – which Immy’s father blames himself for. This is annoying on several levels, from the fact that this is tragedy was obviously in no way his fault, to the fact that none of this is thematically connected in any meaningful way to the ghost story.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The best ghost stories are often a metaphor for something else going on in the protagonist’s life, though this backstory is only tenuously linked to the weird occurrences that follow. The family end up staying in Lavendar Cottage, where an ancient and twisted mulberry tree takes up all the space in the back garden. The real estate agent is reluctant to lease the place out, there having been two reports of girls going missing on their eleventh birthday while living on the property.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Local superstition tells that the tree took them, a story that is all the more spooky due to there being two very large knots in the tree trunk: <em>human</em>-sized knots. You know how this goes: the family scoff at this story and end up leasing the place, only for inexplicable things to start happening...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">SPOILERS</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Immy starts to investigate the history of the place, but unfortunately, the story doesn’t come to a particularly satisfying conclusion. As in, Immy figures out the problem with the tree (it’s angry that a small sapling that grew from one of its cuttings was removed from the garden, as it considered this to be its child – yes, really) and once Immy returns a branch from the “daughter” tree, she ends up resetting time itself so that neither of the girls ever disappeared.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Up until this point, there has been <em>no indication whatsoever</em> that time travel was a thing that was possible, much less changing the entire course of history. It almost feels like the book switches genres right at the finish line, which results in a very lopsided read (here I was thinking they’d cut the knots off the tree and find two skeletons, though I suppose that’s a <em>bit</em> too dark for a children’s book).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I liked Rushby’s other two books just fine, but this one didn’t quite hit the mark.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Sisters of the Lost Marsh</strong> by Lucy Strange</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHK6bWZ1H5qc1ADC6fihnFx0xCvwteJh93boWIB6WpNTmT5cUlyLYlwBJuwkb2_imxckNkCm6vWYUyUdo3htubHQheCd2qGUUFt4m9yEcOwlLnQ5xYpW0Jc_ZMWAZJ6HCSomR-JExekllCsUCRVJDA7jU7ODn_dDReMpGoDKfkpsaykd8KRhnFvTSX_iI/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="80" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHK6bWZ1H5qc1ADC6fihnFx0xCvwteJh93boWIB6WpNTmT5cUlyLYlwBJuwkb2_imxckNkCm6vWYUyUdo3htubHQheCd2qGUUFt4m9yEcOwlLnQ5xYpW0Jc_ZMWAZJ6HCSomR-JExekllCsUCRVJDA7jU7ODn_dDReMpGoDKfkpsaykd8KRhnFvTSX_iI/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="80" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is another historical mystery by the author of <strong>The Ghost of Gosswater</strong>, though one that veers more toward fantasy than ghost story. According to the afterword, it was heavily inspired by Thomas Ingoldsby’s <strong>The Ingoldsby Legends</strong>, which Wikipedia tells me is a collection of myths, legends, poems and ghost stories based in and around Romney Marsh in Kent and East Sussex. The author goes on to cite several more historical anecdotes, works of art and folklore traditions that inspired what she called her “rural gothic fairy tale.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And whatever else you may think of the story, it is imbued with the distinct, heavy atmosphere of this time and place. The dialect, the local colour, the descriptions of the marshlands and the people who live there... Strange vividly captures the setting of her story, to the point where I could almost smell the brackish water and hear the wind in the reeds. Top marks for ambiance.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As for the story, it involves six sisters living with their abusive, drunken father and their elderly grandmother. The eldest are Willa, Grace and Freya, and the youngest (also triplets) are Dolly, Deedee and Darcy. Their mother is long-dead and their father is obsessed with a superstition that spells out the fate of his six daughters: “Be sure the first girl marries well, the second in the home to dwell, a third maid can do little harm if set to work upon the farm. Four and five must both be wed, or six will bury you stone dead.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As a result, Grace has recently become engaged to a local man called Silas in exchange for a fine horse. She’s not looking forward to the match, and neither are any of her sisters, who know Silas to be just as bad as their father. When a travelling fair comes to the village, the elder girls take the opportunity to sneak away and eke out some enjoyment from life before their inevitable parting – though when the fair moves on, Grace is nowhere to be found.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Interestingly, the protagonist of the story is neither the eldest daughter nor the youngest (as you usually have it in fairy tales). Instead, third daughter Willa decides to go after her missing sister, following the fair through the Lost Marsh and its dangers. It’s important not to get too intrigued by the curse, as despite some fantasy elements, this story is really more of a coming-of-age drama, in which Willa – and to a lesser extent – her sisters, must learn to brave the world around them.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Green Children of Woolpit</strong> by J. Anderson Coats</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RwN_RG1aXWGaArq-f-hkUMcJSD0Y2OdaBncgSv5GQx7RTluCEbVt9RIlqTdjhrO7vEWRyw8fPzXgj_7rgcNZt7PeVziLJwLVuPJvVWOW3blwm1aiMYbY8vs-MRhwr95ngg1yVgct73lJ-IbKGzbUtMJBkZth33iBAeu0FnCcLlAcf8U1OYbSxtcogds2/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="81" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RwN_RG1aXWGaArq-f-hkUMcJSD0Y2OdaBncgSv5GQx7RTluCEbVt9RIlqTdjhrO7vEWRyw8fPzXgj_7rgcNZt7PeVziLJwLVuPJvVWOW3blwm1aiMYbY8vs-MRhwr95ngg1yVgct73lJ-IbKGzbUtMJBkZth33iBAeu0FnCcLlAcf8U1OYbSxtcogds2/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I knew going in that this story was based on a “true” story – in the sense that there are very-real records from the Middle Ages of two children that were found in a wolf pit near the village of Woolpit, who spoke a language no one understood, would eat nothing but raw beans, and – strangest of all – had green skin.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Coats takes the barebones of these records and shapes her own narrative around them, resulting in a poignant and rather bittersweet story about the dangers of the fey and the power of stories. In the autumn of 1160, the dreamy and easily-distracted twelve-year-old Agnes hears frightened voices calling from the nearby forest. She leaves her chores and discovers two children in a deep wolf pit: a boy and a girl with green skin.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Speculation rages as to where they come from and who they are, though Agnes is sure they’re Fair Folk, or the Good People, who are subjects of the King Under the Mountain. Desperate to be “the girl in the story,” Agnes is drawn to the pair of them, and easily persuaded that they’ve come to the mortal world to find <em>her</em> specifically. Knowing that she was a foundling, whose mother gave her to her adoptive parents before disappearing into the night, Agnes is thrilled at the news she’s the missing princess of the Good People, long-searched for and finally found.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But of course, when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Soon enough Agnes finds herself trapped under the mountain, not as a beloved princess but a lowly servant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Coats winds in a lot of lore about the fey: the sickness caused by salt and iron, the effects of glamour, their inability to lie (but skill in bending the truth), the swift passage of time while you’re in their kingdom, the dangers of eating their food – it’s all here, and woven into the story beautifully. As ever, our young heroine must use her wit and cunning to escape her captors, but Coats adds an extra level of depth in how Agnes – rather gullible, but fiercely compassionate – navigates the world around her through the familiar beats of the stories she’s been told.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">She’s constantly comparing her situations to the tales she’s heard over the years, and parsing whether or not the lessons in them are applicable to the problems she’s facing at any given moment. There’s room to critique the lack of female solidarity in the old fairy tales (as she says at one point: “there should be more stories where girls help one another”) and how easy it is to imagine yourself in the role of heroine.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It can get surprisingly dark at times, with scenes of what the Romans did to the early inhabitants of the British Isles (which helps explain the desperate choices of one important supporting character), and an equally surprising bittersweet ending. Let’s just say not everyone lives happily ever after, not even those that deserve to.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>By Ash, Oak and Thorn </strong>by Melissa Harrison</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBx1oYbSyjIuAisZLcWux9FdyDra7maI7I_s_qY7L0KuWzilM03teSQkX0uiLgHebEyakFhdXJJTpMn8UhGSqIudEi7kTseca_TbkJdPREgLrRZBzt9fggn2M7RPmqv203b1_wL9BTG3253LwBGEE5Ux9aeEaOaKa7_QkqJNM03jRXlCYjJ1bYDAbJ7fx/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="81" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghBx1oYbSyjIuAisZLcWux9FdyDra7maI7I_s_qY7L0KuWzilM03teSQkX0uiLgHebEyakFhdXJJTpMn8UhGSqIudEi7kTseca_TbkJdPREgLrRZBzt9fggn2M7RPmqv203b1_wL9BTG3253LwBGEE5Ux9aeEaOaKa7_QkqJNM03jRXlCYjJ1bYDAbJ7fx/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="81" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a very sweet little book... which is part of the problem. It needed a little more <em>bite</em>, a few more sharp edges, especially given its subject matter. Moss, Cumulus and Burnet are three members of the Hidden Folk: tiny fey caregivers of nature who remain largely hidden from the human world, even as the wilds they inhabit are further encroached on with each year that passes.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">One fateful day, the tree in which they live is felled by a freak storm, and the trio realize they’ll need to go in each of their own kind if they have any chance of survival. So off they go, from the quiet neighbourhood in which they live to brave the dangers of the wild world: predators, motorways, vast distances, and the fact that two of them are slowly succumbing to a strange invisibility that’s taking over their bodies.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yeah, it’s largely the plot of <strong>The Borrowers</strong>, mingled in with a bit of Enid Blyton and <strong>The Animals of Farthing Wood</strong> – even a dash of <strong>The Wind in the Willows</strong>, what with the characters’ reverence to the god Pan. According to some of the quotes and blurbs on the cover, it was inspired by a book called <strong>The Little Grey Men</strong> by an author called B.B., who I had honestly never heard of before now. This may well come as a shock to some, as I get the impression that it’s quite a famous book series, and even won the Carnegie Medal. So, er... as a children’s librarian I should probably get on that.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The odd thing about this story is that it’s not really what it purports to be about. There’s a lot of discussion about how human beings are destroying natural habitats, and yet none of the obstacles our three protagonists face have anything to do with mankind’s destruction of the natural world. It’s a storm that brings down the tree in which they live, and the terrifying disappearance of Moss in the book’s final chapters is due to a feral cat.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And the big mystery that’s woven throughout this story – why the Hidden Folk are gradually turning invisible – isn’t even resolved. That’s for the sequel, <strong>By Rowan and Yew</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s a great love here for the English countryside: the flora and fauna, the turn of the seasons, even the phases of the moon, and it’s not a surprise that the final pages contain birdwatching tips and glossaries on all the natural elements the book has been exploring. But there’s something missing here, something that was present in all the stories that it clearly drew inspiration from. Maybe it’s just a little too <em>cozy</em> when it should have been <em>perilous</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Queen’s Man</strong> by Sharon Kay Penman</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXv7cL52NySSe4bue4g7SiG5ioSLTnAGkIEIKMNIrnMvN_QPHtBTNU1C85Trogag6YSj29Sp6lNzCINB3ApZBxQPSnS3oe1LYqpZkegezp6BEMyKuec2viLx4oida1MYWOxuFZTSNfguDQJaps3mv1ILJdrVctrzQwCtL5Oh3PoiWzOxgfm83lb8Hzc-w6/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="90" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXv7cL52NySSe4bue4g7SiG5ioSLTnAGkIEIKMNIrnMvN_QPHtBTNU1C85Trogag6YSj29Sp6lNzCINB3ApZBxQPSnS3oe1LYqpZkegezp6BEMyKuec2viLx4oida1MYWOxuFZTSNfguDQJaps3mv1ILJdrVctrzQwCtL5Oh3PoiWzOxgfm83lb8Hzc-w6/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve read a couple of Penman’s novels over the years and have a huge amount of respect for the research and commitment to accuracy that goes into her novel-writing (correct me if I’m wrong, but she’s considered one of the most historically accurate writers of medieval fiction, no?) Most of her books are centred around real-life figures and the events that shaped them, but she takes a different tack with this four-part series by centring them on an original character.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's 1193 and Justin de Quincy has just learned that the clergyman who has served as his benefactor and patron is in fact his father. In disgust at the man’s dishonesty and hypocrisy, he leaves the only home he’s ever known to seek his fortune in London, only to foil a highway robbery along the way. Unfortunately, the man he tried to protect from bandits loses his life, but not before putting a letter in Justin’s hands and imploring him to deliver it to the Queen.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The missive informs Queen Eleanor that her son Richard the Lionheart has been captured on his way home from the Crusades, and is currently languishing in an Austrian prison. Knowing that her younger son Prince John has designs on the throne of England, the Queen hires Justin to investigate the messenger’s death further, to ascertain whether or not the crown prince had anything to do with it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Learning that the dead man was a jeweller called Gervase Fitz Randolph, Justin travels to the man’s home in Winchester and begins to ask questions, quickly realizing that the man’s family all have reason to want him dead. Not only that, but getting embroiled in court politics (including a fling with one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting) puts a target on Justin’s back, and catches the attention of Prince John himself.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, Penman writes concisely and carefully, ensuring not only that details of the distant past are correct, but that the characters think and speak the way that twelfth-century people actually <em>would</em>. This works in both the book’s favour, in terms of setting the scene, but also its detriment, since Penman being such a stickler for accuracy means that the question surrounding Randolph’s death (was he killed on the orders of Prince John for the letter he carried?) is already answered well before the end of the book.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But that hardly matters, as I enjoyed this – and there are three more of them to look forward to!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Amber Spyglass </strong>by Philip Pullman</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8W-0_6wySgLTQFzDOMAgFg9QqYFXNhtnHmP7dXu8_LeaVKgwj96JdV1-o_MTRa4eEnk-EWB4KC5UpvTsDeW7CddnXXvM78VlimwcOx2xl5SICDBn8tQTQGwQA8inlL8LoX06UWsweXQCuFlSA4mvbNtoSnhxd-CCSqsvWWGIw4FVAsHZViH40C-NJIAe/s120/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="78" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8W-0_6wySgLTQFzDOMAgFg9QqYFXNhtnHmP7dXu8_LeaVKgwj96JdV1-o_MTRa4eEnk-EWB4KC5UpvTsDeW7CddnXXvM78VlimwcOx2xl5SICDBn8tQTQGwQA8inlL8LoX06UWsweXQCuFlSA4mvbNtoSnhxd-CCSqsvWWGIw4FVAsHZViH40C-NJIAe/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve just finished reviewing the third season of HBO’s <strong>His Dark Materials</strong>, so is there anything to say about the original text, which I concurrently read alongside watching the show? Yeah, a little.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was published in 2000, which means I would have been about sixteen when I read it for the first time, and I recall being a tad bewildered by it. After the staggeringly formative impact that <strong>Northern Lights </strong>and <strong>The Subtle Knife</strong> had on me, I have to admit that this was a disappointment. Where was the no-holds-barred battle between Asriel’s forces and the Kingdom of Heaven? Where was the almighty payoff for mysteries like the alethiometer and the subtle knife? Was Mary’s role as “the serpent” really just to tell the children the story of her sexual awakening? </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ve certainly come to appreciate and understand it more over the years, but... well, first impressions count for a reason. In this most recent reread, I wondered if perhaps some of my dissatisfaction stemmed from the lack of atmosphere that was so prevalent in the previous two books. I was enraptured with the vivid descriptions of Oxford in the first book and the beautiful deserted Cittàgazze of the second. Here, most of the action takes place in the desolate wastelands of the underworld, or the equally grim adamantine tower that holds Asriel’s forces. There’s no sense of <em>place</em> like there was in the previous books.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Pullman’s credo that a writer only has tell the reader what they need to <em>know</em> for the story to work also leads to some rather questionable creative choices. Like sure, I don’t blame Pullman for not being particularly interested in the logistics of what it would take to wage war against a massive fleet of angels. But I would also have enjoyed reading about it. The details would have been fascinating. Can we get George R.R. Martin onto it? That’s the sort of thing he’d love, and as it stands, the final battle not only happens largely off-page, but we get no real closure on <em>who actually won</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But for better or worse, Pullman is the sort of writer who is more interested in the challenge of how a two-inch tall man can get a key off a guard’s keyring than in the movement of vast metaphysical armies.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">He also skips some fairly important narrative steps in an attempt to wring a coherent, small-scale story out of his massive backdrop, as there are plenty of other examples of him just <em>making things happen</em> to expedite the plot. Like, John Parry magically knows that a bomb has been targeted at Lyra while in the land of the dead, and later tells the children that their daemons are in Lord Asriel’s world. How does he know this? Well, he was a shaman, so he <em>just knows</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some things aren’t explained and don’t need to be; they’re better off mysterious, like John Parry inexplicably being in possession of Lee Scoresby’s mother’s ring, or the origin of all the prophecies (gyptian, witch, alethiometer) that identify Lyra as Eve, or how the philosophers made the subtle knife in the first place and how a bearer is identified by losing two of his fingers. Yet in <i>this</i> book, I wanted more connective tissue in this sprawling narrative; a little more care in tying everything together.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are too many coincidences, too many “well that’s convenient” moments. In the book, Xaphania is little more than a plot device who turns up at the end of the story to explain everything to Lyra and Will. We learn nothing else about her, despite her being the one that apparently discovered and then blew the whistle on the Authority not being the creator.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There is also a fair share of retcons. In <strong>The Subtle Knife</strong>, the angels are depicted as strong and dangerous; now they’re explicitly weaker than human flesh to make Asriel and Mrs Coulter’s defeat of Metatron more plausible. I suspect that Pullman originally had another destiny in place for Mrs Coulter, as Serafina made a big deal in the previous book about etching the woman’s name on one of her arrows – here Serafina barely appears, and ends up breaking the arrow in half.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Asriel does a complete one-eighty on the subject of Dust, telling Mrs Coulter in the first book that it’s sin, and that he plans to destroy it. Obviously this doesn’t make any sense by book three, so he has to tell her: “I thought you would prefer a lie,” in an attempt to make her come with him.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Look, stories change and evolve in the telling of them, and characters are obviously capable of telling lies, but in this case you can tell Pullman just had to cover for a discrepancy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also the fact that conclusions to a few subplots go completely ignored. Throughout the course of Mary’s adventures in the world of the mulefa, she has a few run-ins with terrible white birds called the tualapi, who destroy their homes and food stores for no readily apparent reason. They were left out of the adaptation for good reason, as they serve no discernible purpose in the book itself, and their presence is never properly dealt with (when the gyptians arrive at the end of the story, it’s briefly mentioned that the birds are “keeping their distance” and that’s it).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And some things just plain aren’t explained that well. The book has Tialys say, on hearing that Lyra and Will plan to break the dead out of their holding cell: “This will undo everything. It’s the greatest blow you could strike. The Authority will be powerless after this.” Er, why? And how? I mean, I can put together some of the pieces through what the text implicitly suggests: we know the dead returning to the world of the living and dissipating into Dust will increase the amount of consciousness in the world – but how does Tialys know that? And couldn’t Metatron and his angels just close the window and add more guards to the land of the dead?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And why are all the dead locked up in that place anyway? To deliberately prevent Dust from accumulating in the world? I suppose that had to be the reason why the Authority made up concepts such as heaven and hell – to control people while they were still alive – only to throw them in the metaphysical equivalent of the garbage bin once they died. But since all the windows between the worlds have to be closed by the end of the story, how does the dead dissolving into Dust help anyone but those in the mulefa world?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, I’m overthinking it. In many ways Lyra and Will’s journey is a metaphorical one, not a logistical one. Maybe we’ve all been spoiled by nitpicking YouTube videos and articles which purport to “explain” the end of television shows, which makes us want answers on <em>absolutely everything</em> instead of letting the story just tell us what it wants. But in this case, the fact this is a book that has something to <em>say</em>, and that this message often gets in the way of the actual story, means you can <em>see</em> Pullman pulling the strings to get his characters where they need to go, and to say what they have to say, in ways that don’t feel particularly elegant.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which means that some of the bigger mysteries <em>do</em> require an explanation. The structure of a story should be sturdy; the water clear all the way to the bottom when it comes to the crux of the matter. It wasn’t until this reread that I realized Dust was mainly in danger from the abyss that opened in the wake of the Magisterium’s bomb, and I’m still not totally sure if that’s correct. There’s just so much more that I wanted to <em>know</em>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the reason I feel this way is simply because I found the entire trilogy so fascinating. All my nitpicking should be taken as a compliment, as these books totally changed my approach to stories (especially fantasy) in a myriad of ways, from its prose to its world-building to the way it linked the story of Genesis to the experience of growing up and the underlying themes of Pullman’s own inventions – the daemons, the alethiometer, the Spectres.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The richness with which Pullman described his worlds, often with so little words – it’s like a magic trick. That profound and private relationship he crafts between humans and daemons was like a world unto itself. I really feel like I’m exploring another universe whenever I crack this trilogy open, and I can say with certainty that I’d never read anything like it before – or since.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Casablanca </strong>(1942)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVPeZCN4Dx6FL4ESuTVr2uGugD_QcCrG1P6fedxR9Sv3qGjU4brbNFR-1jQczd0BMA-czkDw0vRnHsm9e6whXbMpbzgHo5-TnQGiw4yC6XpCI0izi7lp9W95wxRK_YIfwtv-l8XaDJw0Yss6DN8w07G8zOtbWtxx-Ktpi0BlBIxR7XjI0Q8X8nQMsvRI2/s128/!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="95" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVPeZCN4Dx6FL4ESuTVr2uGugD_QcCrG1P6fedxR9Sv3qGjU4brbNFR-1jQczd0BMA-czkDw0vRnHsm9e6whXbMpbzgHo5-TnQGiw4yC6XpCI0izi7lp9W95wxRK_YIfwtv-l8XaDJw0Yss6DN8w07G8zOtbWtxx-Ktpi0BlBIxR7XjI0Q8X8nQMsvRI2/s1600/!.png" width="95" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What’s left to say about the most famous film of all time? It was movie night at my place of work, and I was a little nervous about this one since it had been my recommendation. Thankfully it seemed to be received well among the attendees, but so it should – it still has all its power, all its suspense.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I did a little bit of research into it this time, and was fascinated to discover that no one working on the film – not the director, the scriptwriters or the actors – had the faintest inkling that the finished product would be as iconic as it has since become. The budget was low and the script was adapted from a relatively insignificant theatre play. To everyone involved, it was just another project in the Hollywood churn, which perhaps is what worked in the film’s favour: no one had any preconceptions or egos weighing them down.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's the reason why people would be hard-pressed to tell who you directed this film, and why there are no obvious stand-out shots that define the work as a whole: it was cleanly and simply made, straightforward and workmanlike.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But that’s fitting for a movie with such emotional complexity. The relationship between Rick, Ilsa and Lazlo is surely one of the most famous love triangles in cinematic history, and yet the script knows what it’s doing when it comes to how they respond to each other in any permeation of the triangle. Rick is embittered, yet is humbled by Lazlo’s nobility. Lazlo loves his wife, but is devoted to a higher cause. Ilsa is by no means unhappy with Lazlo, but her heart truly lies with Rick.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That at least, is one interpretation of the characters and their dynamic. The richness of their internal lives means that there are several ways a person can grasp what really happens between them, and the ambiguity is the reason we’re still pondering them all these years later.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For instance, when Ilsa breaks into Rick’s apartment on that fateful night, armed with a gun in case he doesn’t give her what she wants, what is her true motivation? She wants to save Lazlo’s life obviously, and if she’s desperate enough to murder, does that mean she’s desperate enough to lie? Can she make Rick <em>believe</em> she still loves him in order to secure those transit papers for her husband?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For what it’s worth, I don’t think so. To me, she’s being utterly sincere to Rick throughout these scenes. But the fact that it’s at least a <em>possibility</em> she was playing him speaks volumes as to the quality of the writing and performances.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then there’s Lazlo. As it happens, <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/as-time-goes-by-its-the-still-the-same-old-glorious-casablanca">Roger Ebert had a very critical view of this character</a>, saying: “He is a heroic leader of the Resistance, but he has no humour and no resilience. If in peacetime he finds himself in political office, I believe he will be most comfortable in a totalitarian regime. When at the end of the film Rick tells a lie about what happened between himself and Ilsa, in order to preserve Ilsa's image in Laszlo's eyes, Laszlo hardly seems to care.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Um, <em>what?</em> Not resilient? The man withstood torture in a concentration camp. Comfortable in a totalitarian regime? He’s devoted his life to the overthrow of the Nazis. And I have a completely different take on his seeming indifference to Rick’s lie: this is an astute and emotionally intelligent man. He <em>knows</em> that Rick is lying about whatever went on between him and Ilsa, knowing full-well that his wife fell in love with someone else during his absence. But he accepts Rick’s falsehood because he loves her and respects the man who has just saved his life.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Come on Ebert, the <em>whole point</em> of Lazlo is that he’s the only man in Rick’s estimation worthy enough to make him give up the woman he loves. And yet, Ebert’s take is a reading that the film allows for, such is its depth and ambiguity.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There is also something of an urban legend that states that nobody knew for sure how the final scene at the airport would play out (and who would be getting on that plane) until the day of shooting, which subconsciously filled the actors with the suspense and confusion required to pull off this famous sequence.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is disputable, as the Hayes Code was in effect at the time, and never would have allowed Ilsa to leave her husband for another man. But then, perhaps this is the <em>one time</em> that we can be thankful it existed. The movie would have lost all its power had she stayed behind; if Claude Rain’s character had been proved correct when he said: “love has triumphed over virtue.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Speaking of Claude Rain, that’s my personal complaint about this movie. By the end of the story he’s a friend to Rick and an amoral ally to the cause. But a significant subplot of the film involves him pulling a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScarpiaUltimatum">Scarpia Ultimatum</a> on a young woman whose husband is desperate to get to America; something she’s seriously considering going through with to get the required travel papers before Rick intervenes. So... Claude Rain is a monster, I don’t care how many suspects he rounds up).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Aside from that, <strong>Casablanca</strong> is simply a perfect storm. Everything and everyone came together at precisely the right time and in the right way to make this story happen – almost accidentally. If there were such a thing as a God of Films, then he had a heavy hand in the creation of this one.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Time After Time </strong>(1979)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmyS2WyVfW1gh3ZzFSOXVq1PO9G6f0-w5waeiU9vtzB7KL4h1-QmnmkpN_IPjqZUJONIoda5SR9h63LA6MJRiKW3ZDqY9W4NRq4Yw2ScDx0k14IZY8VPqwDByXqMjVB7GyxEfZBl6ZtUqcG5mzsxQFtywRO-vwyOc9CkRJb9ryuBSd3PKrKB-Epnqb0Lx/s116/!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="83" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQmyS2WyVfW1gh3ZzFSOXVq1PO9G6f0-w5waeiU9vtzB7KL4h1-QmnmkpN_IPjqZUJONIoda5SR9h63LA6MJRiKW3ZDqY9W4NRq4Yw2ScDx0k14IZY8VPqwDByXqMjVB7GyxEfZBl6ZtUqcG5mzsxQFtywRO-vwyOc9CkRJb9ryuBSd3PKrKB-Epnqb0Lx/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="83" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was the first of three H.G. Wells based stories I watched this month, and it came with one hell of a premise: what if Wells really <em>did</em> invent a time machine, only for his friend John Stevenson to turn out to be Jack the Ripper, who steals the machine and flees into the future, forcing Wells to follow him and try to negotiate the technology, culture and social mores of the early eighties while tracking down the most famous serial killer of all time?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That’s a <em>lot</em>, and the film doesn’t entirely know what to do with it all. The first act plays out exactly as I described in the first paragraph, with Herbert George Wells arriving in 1979 and finding that the future is not in fact the social utopia he envisioned. What’s more, he’s on the hunt for the Ripper, who is fitting into the future just fine. In the film’s most iconic line, he says: “Ninety years ago I was a freak. Today I'm an amateur.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s odd in a way, as many of elements in this story would be derided as woke by today’s insane standards, what with Stevenson gloating about how easy it is to purchase a firearm and Wells enthusiastically applauding women’s liberation, while others are cringingly dated. At one point Amy casually states: “I’m not a dyke,” and later (when Wells asks for her consent before they get intimate) she replies: “Herbert, I’m practically raping you.” Uh... why would you say that? Why would anyone <em>ever</em> say that??</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Malcolm McDowell and David Warner are two of my favourite character actors, and it’s a lot of fun watching the two of them play against each other here – especially McDowell, who is still best known for <strong>A Clockwork Orange</strong>. Seeing the difference in performance between the psychotic Alex and the mild-mannered Wells only proves he never really got the A-list career that he deserved.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the other hand, Mary Steenburgen is also present as the requisite love interest/distressed damsel, and I’ve no idea what’s going on there. I’ve seen her in plenty of things where she puts in a good performance, but here she just seems completely zoned out. Her declaration of love to Wells (followed by an immediate smash cut to a completely different scene) and her reaction to the gruesome murder of her co-worker are downright funny.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Still, it’s a fun movie. The premise is a winner, the two leads are game, and there’s some amusing <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FishOutOfTemporalWater">Fish Out of Temporal Water</a> throughout. And hey, was that Corey Feldman?!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now, I wonder if I should track down the short-lived 2017 series based on this film...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Addams Family </strong>(1991)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_QZKJNgLo_LAY9GOxdVp_mpvoeyVVmPWnidyqXL-VDwyAUc7q2Mpep25FBeUzRwru0zM3FCAawwqBHvjxBAjI9Za_OxTCtrj52IIu_30PgVYWjW52iUMCYRZig6Tgv-YAkxRZfXBTBwnNnVRLaJlaQ7vP5YcA6Kh9L9QDW6Oufd1fGenHYSO-XfIlhYv/s123/!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="84" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_QZKJNgLo_LAY9GOxdVp_mpvoeyVVmPWnidyqXL-VDwyAUc7q2Mpep25FBeUzRwru0zM3FCAawwqBHvjxBAjI9Za_OxTCtrj52IIu_30PgVYWjW52iUMCYRZig6Tgv-YAkxRZfXBTBwnNnVRLaJlaQ7vP5YcA6Kh9L9QDW6Oufd1fGenHYSO-XfIlhYv/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="84" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In anticipation of Netflix’s <strong>Wednesday</strong> I naturally had to go back and watch the two nineties movies, which for any Millennial is <em>the</em> definitive take on <strong>The Addams Family</strong>. Raul Julia and Angelica Huston are <em>the</em> Gomez and Morticia, and Christina Ricci’s take on Wednesday is the performance that solidified this character as a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadpanSnarker">Deadpan</a> <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Goth">Goth Girl</a> (which she really wasn’t in the comic strip or the sixties television show).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet, perhaps because I haven’t seen this movie in such a long time, I wasn’t hugely blown away (no pun intended, given the film’s climatic scene). There is the barest thread of a plot: Gomez’s brother Fester went missing some years ago, only for a shady lawyer and a professional loan shark/con-artist to come up with a plan to get their hands on the Addams’ family fortune: use a lookalike to pose as the long-lost Fester and ingratiate himself into the household.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Said lookalike is the con-artist’s son Gordon, who initially struggles with the eccentricities of the Addams clan, only to eventually discover he has a lot in common with them. That’s because he <em>is</em> the long-lost Fester, suffering from amnesia and brainwashed into thinking he’s someone else entirely (which is explained in literally the last scene of the entire film). The bad guys are defeated, the brothers are reunited, and the family is whole again.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The thing is, most of the runtime (or so it felt) is made up of small vignettes of the family being... well, the Addams family. Gomez and Morticia are obsessed with each other, the kids play dangerous games with knives, electricity and other sharp implements, and the likes of Grandmama, Lurch and Thing get their own little skits as well.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They’re not bad; some of them are extremely funny (no one alive would cut the “are they made from real girl scouts?” gag) but they’ve got nothing to do with the plot. In many ways, it feels like the film would <em>prefer</em> to be a very long string of Addams Family sketches than having to bother with the <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExcusePlot">Excuse Plot</a> of the missing Fester.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But that’s simply the nature of the movie, take it or leave it. For me, the most interesting part of watching it was having some of my misconceptions resolved. For instance, it surprised me that the Addams family lived in such a derelict house: I remembered it as being an opulent Gothic mansion. Also, Wednesday is not as <em>completely</em> emotionless as later depictions (like the animated movies and the Netflix series) portray her as: there are plenty of times in which she’s happy or visibly frightened. Also, I was not expecting that brief appearance from Sally Jessy Raphael!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But really, this movie was just the warm-up act for...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Addams Family Values </strong>(1993)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCFXZYmgHVHVwHhZJKnnIjEngFVbBh_9TWonI0yx9jP4t0eMW4SeoIEyQNU0zmTzO2DwBfclNxgiAlV7kAIlz_9b4BX31XDZ2Im3aeTu-Mv2UwLewQyfH1gwf86VQGmGwFwguMYHKWWlehdx5r6RWD4dqQlH6g80Y1LOspC7mmf0TCRxieLidfqCpldFD/s126/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="86" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCFXZYmgHVHVwHhZJKnnIjEngFVbBh_9TWonI0yx9jP4t0eMW4SeoIEyQNU0zmTzO2DwBfclNxgiAlV7kAIlz_9b4BX31XDZ2Im3aeTu-Mv2UwLewQyfH1gwf86VQGmGwFwguMYHKWWlehdx5r6RWD4dqQlH6g80Y1LOspC7mmf0TCRxieLidfqCpldFD/s1600/!!!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="86" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is one of those rare cases in which the sequel is indisputably better than the original, and it’s all down to two things: Joan Cusack as the villain and the film’s devastating parody of summer camp, overenthusiastic counsellors, white privilege, and America’s valorisation of Thanksgiving in the Wednesday/Pugsley subplot.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It takes everything good about the original film and elevates it. Obviously, the stellar cast is back – not just Angelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci, but a larger role for Mercedes McNab as the snotty girl scout. This time around the vignettes serve the plot and not the other way around, drawing upon Fester’s loneliness as a bachelor and the birth of a new Addams baby to justify the arrival of Joan Cusack’s Debbie Jellinsky, a nanny hired to take care of the children.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Joan Cusack is phenomenal in this, to the point where she almost (<em>almost</em>) steals the movie from the Addams family itself. She’s a black widow who sets her sights on Fester’s fortune, neatly disposing of Wednesday and Pugsley at summer camp when they get too suspicious of her activities, and throwing everything’s she’s got at Fester himself (not that it’s difficult, it’s pretty much love at first sight for him).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Her performance is so darkly hilarious that even her body language and voice modulation can make me cackle. There’s a scene in which she’s simply wrapping a package, and her entire being is just <em>oozing</em> with malicious intent. Likewise, her shift from breathless, wide-eyed ingenue to spiteful, raging murderess is something to behold. In my opinion, Cusack makes this movie, and no one else could have done it but her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But the studio also recognized that they had something in Christina Ricci’s Wednesday, and her adventures at summer camp are a fantastic send-up of wholesome all-American holiday traditions. Christine Baranski and Peter MacNicol play camp counsellors who are the absolute antithesis of the Addams family, and so manage to be utterly terrifying in their relentless enthusiasm and cheerfulness.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It becomes their mission to bring Wednesday into the fold, and truly, there is no greater gag in the history of cinema than Wednesday and her cohorts being taken to the Harmony Hut for some social conditioning. They’re put in front of a TV and VCR, Wednesday visibly braces herself, and then we cut to the exterior of the cabin as Julie Andrews belts out: “THE HILLS ARE ALLIIIIIIVE” through the trees.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, the deliberate sabotage of the racist Thanksgiving play. Few things are as cathartic as that particular sequence, though it amuses me to imagine that if it had been filmed today, half the audience would be bawling about how woke it is, and the other half would be complaining about cultural appropriation.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, I couldn’t help but be chuffed that the film features Christina Baranski, Nathan Lane and Cynthia Nixon (the latter two in cameo roles) who thirty years later feature together in <strong>The Gilded Age</strong>. It’s a small, small world.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Definitely a superior sequel in every conceivable way.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells </strong>(2001)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQM7zv8mms4Ymr5_01CfMW1Mp7vwewVVCYpUJ6Tr7g90HDMxQArgCbGRq2tfC5dDmJJW3_cTTwdEZ5Vl6xKf_QgQLc9uubg5TvShosFi2HqNkVy9qOjVsYPdMXRHBbA4fWD5KqPmoY76mtEEVyc5WtCndyOU8jNKoFKLfQ8-SXnRCjuMsRyN9irCJ5yxY9/s126/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="93" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQM7zv8mms4Ymr5_01CfMW1Mp7vwewVVCYpUJ6Tr7g90HDMxQArgCbGRq2tfC5dDmJJW3_cTTwdEZ5Vl6xKf_QgQLc9uubg5TvShosFi2HqNkVy9qOjVsYPdMXRHBbA4fWD5KqPmoY76mtEEVyc5WtCndyOU8jNKoFKLfQ8-SXnRCjuMsRyN9irCJ5yxY9/s1600/!!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="93" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Storytime! Ages ago, my parents had Sky Television, which was the New Zealand equivalent of cable. Then one day, they decided to not have it anymore. And I was in the middle of watching this miniseries when the feed cutout. Now thanks to the power of YouTube I’ve finally finished what was so rudely interrupted over twenty years ago.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Back in the early noughties, the Hallmark Channel was putting out a huge number of sci-fi/fantasy miniseries, most of which were divided into two or three parts, and all seemingly produced by father/son duo Robert Halmi Senior and Robert Halmi Junior. There were dozens of them: <strong>Merlin</strong>, <strong>Arabian Nights</strong>, <strong>Gulliver’s Travels</strong>, <strong>The Voyage of the Unicorn</strong>, <strong>Jason and the Argonauts</strong>, <strong>The Monkey King</strong>, <strong>The Snow Queen</strong>, <strong>The Odessey</strong>, <strong>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</strong> – some of dubious quality, but others surprisingly good.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This was one of the surprisingly good ones, though also something of a curiosity piece. It’s one of those shows that make you wonder how it got made and what was the pitch; a production with a reasonable budget and decent cast, but also a bizarre structure and other odd creative choices.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The whole thing is based on six of H.G. Wells’s short science-fiction stories, though they’re presented as events that actually happened in his life, and which inspired his writing in the years to come. Along with his love interest Jane Robbins (more on her in a bit) Wells investigates phenomena such as an accelerating drug that allows a professor to move faster than sound, a man displaced in time, an extra-terrestrial crystal of sinister design, and a truth-telling serum that’s tipped into London’s water supply. Most of the stories take place at the university where Jane is teaching, and their deepening relationship is woven throughout each episode.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a clever way of showcasing some of his lesser-known fiction, though the whole thing is wrapped in a framing device that feels completely unnecessarily. In the first episode, an elderly Wells is introduced to a young journalist who is visiting to write a profile on him, only for him to confront her on the fact she’s actually been sent by Home Security. The second episode has the two of them go to a military base, where Wells explains the nature of some strange artefacts that he wrote about in his past, and is reunited with an old work colleague.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Finally, the two of them return to Wells’s home, and he regales her with a couple more stories about his past. Then she leaves, and he gets to writing again. Um... okay? It’s such a strange way of structuring the whole thing, as nothing that happens in the framing device has any bearing on the stories themselves, and it has no real narrative arc in and of itself.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But perhaps it’s <em>because</em> of these strange creative decisions, rather than in <em>spite</em> of them, that I found this project so charming. Longer than a movie, shorter than a television show, it’s something that almost certainly wouldn’t be made today – or if it was, there’d be tighter editing, better computer effects, more action/suspense/melodrama, and franchise potential.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As ever, some of the faces that turn up are amusingly familiar, though with twenty years melted away – most notably a very young Dominic Cooper as a lab assistant who becomes trapped in hallucinations of a shipwreck on a deserted island. The journalist is non-other than Eve Best, currently kicking ass and taking names as Rhaenys Targaryen in <strong>House of the Dragon</strong>, and in a supporting role are the unmistakable cheekbones of Kate Fleetwood who features in <strong>The Wheel of Time</strong> as Liandrin Guirale.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then there’s Pip Torrens as a man who gets more than he bargained for with a hair-growing tonic, who I also watched this month in <strong>The Nevers</strong>, filmed over twenty years later. Man, time flies. (On that note, I also found Torrens’s kind-but-no-nonsense housekeeper in <strong>The Nevers</strong> vaguely familiar, and sure enough – she was in this as well as a kind-but-no-nonsense landlady).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As for the man himself, H.G. Wells is played by Tom Ward, the guy you call if you can’t afford David Tennant. Amusingly, everyone calls him “Wells,” including his girlfriend, presumably because someone on the writing staff thought the name Herbert was too dorky. Katy Carmichael is in the rather thankless role of love interest Jane Robbins, though the show at least makes her a teacher at the Imperial College of London, and she’s fairly involved in the adventures that follow.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That said, a little research on the real Wells was quite eye-opening – he was already married to his cousin at this point, and divorced her so he could marry Amy Robbins, one of his students. Her name wasn’t even Jane, he just called her that because he didn’t like the name Amy – which explains both Mary Steenburgen and Elinor Tomlinson’s character’s names in <strong>Time After Time</strong> (above) and <strong>The War of the Worlds</strong> (below).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In all honesty, I can’t bring myself to recommend this. It’s weird and uneven and it drags in places. But like I said, it’s a curiosity piece that has its own distinct charm for being so unlike anything else. I’m fascinated that it exists at all, and that I finally got to finish it after two decades of waiting.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The White Queen </strong>(2013)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxCA4fEAPBAr7BhD7QWex6qDrslYZd_uspiSNMcut9eGrID33nKHfH-kIMc_UksKkmbvjN9gvxumycMWEIVWO5h0C8TbFdE8Q60VWVQonltd6_KzgwSFB6JfnCJuspsooOvQYaaQfeExt0eSjYXEE-SzI4xjhzy3mRzZ0kFB4qXf8QmdRsQbFsw1YXcfsT/s120/!!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="85" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxCA4fEAPBAr7BhD7QWex6qDrslYZd_uspiSNMcut9eGrID33nKHfH-kIMc_UksKkmbvjN9gvxumycMWEIVWO5h0C8TbFdE8Q60VWVQonltd6_KzgwSFB6JfnCJuspsooOvQYaaQfeExt0eSjYXEE-SzI4xjhzy3mRzZ0kFB4qXf8QmdRsQbFsw1YXcfsT/s1600/!!!!!!!!.jpg" width="85" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s been ten years since <strong>The White Queen</strong> aired, kicking off a number of subsequent miniseries based on Philippa Gregory’s “historical-romance” novels, which was reason enough for me to revisit it. Ten years already? Yikes.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m not entirely sure if “historical-romance” is an established phrase or if I’ve just pulled it out of thin air, but it neatly incapsulates the specific subgenre of what Gregory writes: dubiously-researched historical fiction which has an emphasis on the role of women and their love stories with powerful men. Yes, there is an air of condescension around that description, but there isn’t a sordid rumour or scandal that Gregory won’t take as genuine fact – including nonsense like Richard III seducing his niece, or the Woodville women dabbling in witchcraft, or Queen Elizabeth successfully rescuing one of her sons from the Tower of London.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Watching these adaptations, you commit to the melodrama of it all, or you go mad.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Covering over twenty years of history and the main events of what would become known as the War of the Roses, the miniseries actually adapts <em>three </em>of Gregory’s novels: <strong>The White Queen</strong>, <strong>The Red Queen</strong> and <strong>The Kingmaker’s Daughter</strong>: Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beauford and Anne Neville, respectively. Through the eyes of these three women, we see the court intrigue and power struggles that made up the behind-the-scenes drama of the ongoing conflict, in which they had to find ways to exert their power in subtle ways. As the tagline said: “men go to war, women go to battle.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In this sense, you can tell the show struggled a bit. On the one hand, the role of women during fifteenth-century warfare and politics was rather limited. On the other, passive heroines don’t make for interesting protagonists. So the screenwriters – and Gregory herself – had to come up with various ways to imbue their female characters with more agency, like how the Woodville women are now <em>real</em> witches that can conjure the weather, or how Margaret’s husband inexplicitly asks <em>her </em>for instructions on whether the York princes should be rescued or assassinated.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And yet, I can’t complain that the show doesn’t commit itself to a female perspective, from Isabel Neville realizing that she’s simply a pawn in her father’s politicking, to Margaret’s use of piety and prayer to protect herself, to the obvious advantage Elizabeth Woodville has over other women when it comes to her beauty and fertility. Women are the lead characters of this drama, the windows through which the audience watches the War of the Roses play out, and it never faulters from that objective.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s also a reasonably even-handed show, with very few outright villains. Elizabeth and Anne Neville are always on opposite sides of the conflict, and yet each is a sympathetic character, whose suspicion and dislike of the other is rendered completely understandable. Even Margaret, who is the closest thing the show has to a villain, has understandable motives and a few moments of rather pitiable vulnerability.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In many ways, she’s the show’s most fascinating character. Is she a religious fanatic who will do anything to put her son on the throne? Yes. But she’s terrifying because ultimately, <em>she’s right</em>. Her son becomes King Henry VII, exactly as she ordained it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally, it’s packed full of familiar faces – though for many of the performers, this was their big break. Rebecca Ferguson is obviously the standout (currently saving the world with Tom Cruise in the <strong>Mission Impossible</strong> movies) but a very young Faye Marsay is also impressive (who has since ticked off a lot of franchise boxes: <strong>Game of Thrones</strong>, <strong>Doctor Who</strong>, <strong>Star Wars</strong>...). David Oakes kicks off his career as the guy who plays slimy connivers in period dramas, James Frain and Janet McTeer are as solid as ever, and Rupert Graves damn-near steals the show as the brutally pragmatic Lord Stanley.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Keen eyes can also spot Joey Batey (Jaskier), Otto Farrant (the latest Alex Rider) and Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen Baratheon) in some of their earliest roles. I was also amused to recognize Andrew Gower and Eve Ponsonby, who I also watched this month in <strong>Carnival Row</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, it’s a stacked cast, though its most memorable male performance would have to go to Aneurin Barnard as Richard III, who gets a far more sympathetic treatment here than Shakespeare afforded him (though that’s par for the course these days, thanks to the Ricardians). It’s a shame he hasn’t really become more notable in the decade since, as he has the acting chops for stardom. In any case, his Richard is introspective and melancholic; a man trying to do the right thing but not entirely sure what that <em>is</em>; too honourable for court politics and yet eventually dragged down by them.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The show absolves him of responsibility for the death of his nephews, a historic possibility that I’m open to, though in all honesty – this guy had <em>one</em> job, to put his nephew on the throne, and he very much <em>did not do that</em>. Casting him as a villain in the centuries to come might not have been fair, but you can’t say it wasn’t reasonable.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you allow yourself to indulge in the glossy hair and the pearly white teeth and the gorgeous outfits, there’s a lot to enjoy with this miniseries, and it’s easy to see the inspiration for <strong>Game of Thrones</strong> in the War of the Roses – some of the backstabbing and side-switching defies belief. In fact, I may just continue down the line of period dramas that cover the Tudor dynasty: this was followed up by <strong>The White Princess </strong>and <strong>The Spanish Princess</strong>, and then of course there’s <strong>The Tudors</strong> and <strong>Becoming Elizabeth</strong>...</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The War of the Worlds </strong>(2019)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYP-_oEx7K769Ky5isgIUoPRbA_4-gZpMgaehu6abWKCPCiueU-TcCszV5LOk89-h_uRCCx5jXMDt5QZYO-a8gh720wzfPLQzLZ_fDZIxcDpuce61EdIoTtgIU2mYQldOaVgam9YxpYwPLbX6-5jd38HXC7EsQnFk-6cKFju83tE2F2d0XR_PWtJ55Djy/s116/!!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="77" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYP-_oEx7K769Ky5isgIUoPRbA_4-gZpMgaehu6abWKCPCiueU-TcCszV5LOk89-h_uRCCx5jXMDt5QZYO-a8gh720wzfPLQzLZ_fDZIxcDpuce61EdIoTtgIU2mYQldOaVgam9YxpYwPLbX6-5jd38HXC7EsQnFk-6cKFju83tE2F2d0XR_PWtJ55Djy/s1600/!!!!!!!.jpg" width="77" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have nothing to back this up, but it almost feels like halfway through the production of this latest take on H.G. Wells’s famous invasion story, the producers realized Eleanor Tomlinson was a bigger name than Rafe Spall and so started tampering with filming to make <em>her</em> the protagonist.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I was looking forward to this adaptation given that my only real familiarity with this story is the 2005 Tom Cruise vehicle, which had its problems to say the least. Yet going in, I knew this miniseries hadn’t been particularly well-received either, despite returning it to its original setting (late Victorian England).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It got off to a good start, though with some interesting wrinkles. I know enough about the book to know that the unnamed first-person narrator is a thinly-veiled expy of Wells himself, and so making protagonist George a married man who has left his cousin-wife and taken up with a younger woman called Amy (as Wells did himself) wasn’t an egregious change. The problem is – this doesn’t really go anywhere, or mean anything. The couple get a few sidelong glances and sniffy remarks from the neighbours, but it naturally has no relevance when the tripods start to attack.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My favourite part of any invasion story always comes <em>after</em> the setup about the family dynamics and how cheerful/unhappy everyone is, but <em>before</em> shit hits the fan and the grim task of just surviving kicks in. It’s the part in which the characters know something strange is happening, but not <em>what</em> exactly; there’s a growing sense of foreboding and confusion, and we the audience are left with that excruciating sense of helplessness due to the fact that <em>we</em> know precisely what is going on and cannot warn the characters.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This sequence is handled well here, what with the steady ratcheting of dread and panic, and follow-up scenes of the destruction of the village and the massacre at the beach are rendered remarkably well for what must have been a television budget.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, in episode three the whole thing loses its way. Throughout all the episodes we’ve been sporadically shown flash-forwards of the time <em>after</em> the Martians have been defeated, but <em>not</em> before their terraforming red weed has been eradicated from the planet. No one really knows why the former happened, and nobody is interested in trying to reverse the latter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m aware that the book ends on a relatively cathartic note: not only have the Martians been defeated by earthly bacteria (which is common knowledge), but the narrator is reunited with his wife, whom he had counted among the dead. No such luck here. Humanity is on the brink of extinction, no one much cares about Amy’s theory that typhoid might destroy the red weed, and her son (one of the few children left on Earth) is very sick. It just ends without any sort of hope or closure at all.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Neither does it settle on its theme. Early on, Amy remarks “all life is selfish” in regards to her relationship with George, which feels like it might be the show’s thesis (many characters abandon others in order to save their own lives). Between George, Ogilvy and the unnamed clergyman, there’s some discussion about God’s will versus Darwinism and which of the two people should turn to for survival.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And of course, George eventually states the obvious: that it’s all an analogy to imperialism, with the British Empire now suffering the same fate as the people and countries they’ve colonized throughout their history. Look, it’s not like I disagree with what he’s saying, but you’re not meant to <em>spell out</em> the allegory! That defeats the purpose of an allegory!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So in the end, it just sort of fizzles out. How George and Amy get separated for the first time is very contrived, as is George’s temporary enlistment in an army garrison (why would they want an amateur mucking up their operation?) And ultimately George pointlessly sacrifices himself so that Amy can get away, even though they probably both would have been fine if they’d hunkered down and stuck together.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some old reliable faces turn up here: Rupert Graves (the second thing I’ve seen him in this month, after <strong>The White Queen</strong>), Jonathan Aris (ditto, he having played Lord Roke in <strong>His Dark Materials</strong>), Robert Carlyle, Harry Melling, and hey – that’s Freya Allan and Joey Batey, right before their big consecutive breaks in <strong>The Witcher</strong>! I’m glad I watched, as it’s certainly compelling while it lasts, but much like the Cruise/Spielberg offering, it ultimately has nothing to say.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Vigil: Season 1 </strong>(2021)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FKWdagcyJWhPoE8Hbvk91vWN8wr0osGK3U1a3lFUAvW4pWP7-AmD7UhNE0tvORcTQWz43J63_gbg9lmnH0h2928trdyS5Q2jvj_8r6eyMSUE298UBBZqzaWJ4eV4xrrCw10kvSIA_wc2UuqvBUTVXyPq_hYG0PmNMYs15wVL-gbIgxsjeSuW6UzWi16x/s135/!!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="90" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FKWdagcyJWhPoE8Hbvk91vWN8wr0osGK3U1a3lFUAvW4pWP7-AmD7UhNE0tvORcTQWz43J63_gbg9lmnH0h2928trdyS5Q2jvj_8r6eyMSUE298UBBZqzaWJ4eV4xrrCw10kvSIA_wc2UuqvBUTVXyPq_hYG0PmNMYs15wVL-gbIgxsjeSuW6UzWi16x/s1600/!!!!!!.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m stunned that I had no idea of this show’s existence before my sister told me about it. I wasn’t too captivated by the pitch either (“murder mystery in submarine”) but felt I had to comply considering I had even <em>less</em> interest in the other show she keeps trying to get me to watch: <strong>Foundation</strong>. (Which I’m not opposed to, just very skeptical that it’ll get renewed enough times to complete its story).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, <strong>Vigil</strong> is a six-part procedural with a twist: most of it takes place on a submarine, in which our lead investigator struggles with claustrophobia, a hostile crew, and an inability to communicate properly with her colleagues back on shore. The ever-reliable Suranne Jones (how does she find time to be in everything??) is sent to HMS Vigil for what her superiors hope will be a straightforward investigation into the death of a crewman on board, presumably from a drug overdose.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But of course, things are never simple. Jones finds evidence that the drugs were planted on the body, but her every effort to discover what exactly happened is stonewalled by the crew. Everyone has their secrets, and just to make things even more complicated, the submarine <em>cannot</em> cease in its mission, it being a nuclear deterrent in a very delicate balancing act with other world powers.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, Rose Leslie plays Jones’s colleague and ex-girlfriend, who is following her own line of inquiry on the surface, involving a camp of nuclear protestors and what she comes to believe is a Russian sleeper agent. It’s to the writer’s credit that these parallel plots are nicely balanced, and although the investigation on the submarine is clearly the show’s drawcard, it’s certainly never boring when we join Leslie on land.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The flashbacks to Jones’s traumatic past were rather unnecessary, and reminded me of the similarly tragic backstory given to Florence Pugh’s character in <strong>The Wonder</strong> (seriously, not every female investigator needs to be grappling with trauma and/or grief – it’s okay to just let these women do their jobs, I promise!) But aside from that, it’s compelling a compelling watch, though I question the need for a second season. This was a near-perfect one-and-done. Thanks sis.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Wednesday: Season 1 </strong>(2022)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJyGMSZONWTKL7rlkDXVvk3GP5eyTDkq4ohmrSJc1AbIB5otoGDJzBb-jvh4xNjdNmO4xbysTi2LEC5aj1Rnz8Ud__cDHBnRXiZgQzyBEVJe0Vg4mZjopCYJbO_RR2ZhN6DkSd_hvjdVODCPBTZ8N0VnSgNJ5PDGkooq9Youfke4Bi-QoQHCmlZTLXmNOU/s135/!!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="92" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJyGMSZONWTKL7rlkDXVvk3GP5eyTDkq4ohmrSJc1AbIB5otoGDJzBb-jvh4xNjdNmO4xbysTi2LEC5aj1Rnz8Ud__cDHBnRXiZgQzyBEVJe0Vg4mZjopCYJbO_RR2ZhN6DkSd_hvjdVODCPBTZ8N0VnSgNJ5PDGkooq9Youfke4Bi-QoQHCmlZTLXmNOU/s1600/!!!!!.jpg" width="92" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That was... fine. Aside from Jenna Ortega’s impressive commitment to the role of Wednesday (she never even blinks on-screen, or so the internet tells me) I have to admit that I was a bit bamboozled by the runaway success of this show, which is apparently one of the most-viewed and rewatched shows in Netflix history, even beating season four of <strong>Stranger Things</strong> for how many hours were watched.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I suppose taking a familiar IP – in this case, <strong>The Addams Family</strong> – and putting its <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BreakoutCharacter">Breakout Character</a> in a fresh but still familiar setting (a boarding school that is essentially a spookier version of Hogwarts) and shaping the storylines around a generational mystery, with gorgeous set design and directing/composing contributions from Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, was a recipe for success.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m only being half-sarcastic. I mean, there’s nothing in that sentence that’s <em>bad</em>, but it still feels so manufactured in a way – like the best possible outcome of taking a survey of what people are watching and then deliberately parsing that through an AI show generator. It’s good enough, with a neat premise, great visuals, and a generally decent story... but on some level it’s still deeply mediocre.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oh, it was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar? Okay, that explains everything. EVERYTHING.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">After being expelled from high school after she takes vengeance on her classmates for bullying Pugsley, Wednesday is sent to Nevermore Academy for outcasts, which her parents attended when they were young (which begs the question, why wasn’t Wednesday <em>already</em> at this place?) As mentioned, this school is essentially a spooky version of Hogwarts, where the students are werewolves, vampires, sirens and other weirdoes, though Wednesday still finds herself an outcast among outcasts.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The premiere throws in everything but the kitchen sink, with a generational mystery involving Gomez, a student trying to kill Wednesday to avoid the fulfilment of a premonition, a vicious monster on the loose that’s killing residents of the nearby township, festering resentment between said township and the students of Nevermore that dates back to pilgrim-times, dozens of fellow classmates and teachers that try in their different ways to connect with Wednesday through various school activities, and Wednesday herself trying to cope with her psychic visions.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That the underlying story holds up as coherently as it does is a point in the show’s favour, though that doesn’t mean that said story is particularly elegant or clever. The culprits behind the killings are obvious from the moment they step onscreen, the historical conflict between the God-fearing pilgrims and the poor-downtrodden outcasts is material we’ve seen a gazillion times before, and plenty of the subplots involving Wednesday’s fellow students (Enid can’t transform into a werewolf, Bianca’s mother wants her to lead a cult) don’t really have much to do with anything.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And that Wednesday-centric love triangle. Oof. This was an astonishingly bad idea, and I couldn’t buy for a second that Wednesday would be into either one of these boys (or that she could even tell them apart, to be frank). We’ve <em>seen</em> what kind of guy Wednesday likes in <strong>Addams Family Values</strong>, and it was the dorkiest dork that ever dorked: an asthmatic David Krumholtz. By that logic, <em>this</em> Wednesday should have been into either Rowan or Eugene. Bonus point for the first guy, since he actually tried to kill her.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also found it interminably annoying that one of the olden-day characters is referred to as “Goody” as though it was her first name. This was not a name, it was an honorific, short for “goodwife.” Please tell me I wasn’t the only one bugged by this. It’s like when people refer to the burning of Salem witches, or use the word “hung” instead of “hanged” to describe executions.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But it’s never unwatchable. The production values are sky-high, and everyone certainly <em>looks</em> the part. It’s nice to see Christina Ricci and Gwendoline Christie, even though the latter is criminally wasted. Thing was a lot of fun, as is Fred Armison as Uncle Fester for a single-episode appearance.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But at the end of the day, I feel as though I’ve read and/or watched this story a million times over the year. It was a generic supernatural teen drama, though admittedly with a very different type of female lead (kudos to Jenna Ortego, who was clearly fighting that love triangle nonsense every step of the way). The whole thing had very little to do with <strong>The Addams Family</strong> beyond the names and aesthetic, and they were clearly the vehicle used to get this show greenlit. In that sense, this is comparable to the likes of the CW’s <strong>Nancy Drew</strong> and Fox’s <strong>Sleepy Hollow</strong>, which also have absolutely nothing in common with their source material beyond the names. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it’s certainly something that’s becoming more common in recent years.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Maybe the fact it’s just so generic is what made it so popular.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>The Nevers: Season 2 </strong>(2023) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHYu3KeB6yU8tOXQjDbTv73zqUBxvYaqn9SzrqLBD42uXJiZ_hmnt_LD35FqRGgR6sO3_QJGCfjh0GklNmib1PbTuTv8A3XgfaNdiU-J_OYF0IuZNJ4FClafLwpXkebodXy_3B2-xD0EgeSSZjh9Y1HAL5rwnBR_OpgLHwi0FszheHS10vDRCAVdRZK37/s120/!!!!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="81" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHYu3KeB6yU8tOXQjDbTv73zqUBxvYaqn9SzrqLBD42uXJiZ_hmnt_LD35FqRGgR6sO3_QJGCfjh0GklNmib1PbTuTv8A3XgfaNdiU-J_OYF0IuZNJ4FClafLwpXkebodXy_3B2-xD0EgeSSZjh9Y1HAL5rwnBR_OpgLHwi0FszheHS10vDRCAVdRZK37/s1600/!!!!.jpg" width="81" /></a></span></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Another one bites the dust – though in hindsight, <strong>The Nevers</strong> never stood a chance. Between HBO destroying its intellectual property for tax write-offs and Joss Whedon’s misdemeanours and Covid restrictions and probably a thousand other things, <strong>The Nevers</strong> was always on shaky ground. This technically isn’t even season two, but the last six episodes of the first.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which is a shame, because it’s my jam. Best described as “Victorian X-Men” but with more women, it leans more towards sci-fi than gas-lamp fantasy due to the reveal that the powers which have manifested within a multitude of people living in an alt-world Victorian England are the result of a time-traveling alien known as the Galanthi. After the creature drifts through the upper atmosphere on a certain day in 1896, various people with seemingly nothing in common besides being marginalized (which explains why so many of them are women) gradually start to realize they’ve been gifted – or cursed – with strange abilities. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Naturally they’re regarded with suspicion by society at large, though under the patronage of Lavinia Bidlow (a wealthy woman in a wheelchair, just to drive those <strong>X-Men</strong> comparisons home) many of them find sanctuary at St Romaulda's Orphanage, which is run by BFFs Amalia True and Penance Adair. The former has glimpses of the future and the latter is a genius inventor who instinctively understands machines and their inner workings.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But as the first six episodes gradually revealed, there was something more to Amalia: she made cryptic comments about <em>when</em> she was from, seemed oddly unimpressed with Penance’s technologically-advanced inventions, and on the whole acted more like a middle-aged soldier than a young Victorian lady. Yup, she’s a time traveller too, sent back to this era and put in a new body to fulfil some undefined purpose given to her by the Galanthi.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All this we learn in the first six episodes, along with a dark conspiracy to exploit the Touched (as these individuals come to be known) by various groups of unknown origin, who may or may not be working in league with each other. It’s a solid enough premise, and was delivered at such a hectic, exhilarating pace that it was impossible not to get caught up in it.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some fairly established names turn up: Olivia Williams, Tom Riley, Nick Frost, James Norton, Claudia Black, Eleanor Tomlinson, Pip Torrens – though it also provided a well-deserved leading role for Laura Donnelly, who feels like she’s been on the verge of her big break for years now. High production values, twisty plot, great dialogue, fascinating supporting cast – this show had everything it needed to become a hit, but of course – it aired in 2021. Like I said, it never stood a chance.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">These last six episodes answer <em>some </em>questions, but it’s clear that the writers were just getting warmed up, with an open-ended conclusion that is not remotely satisfying as a wrap-up to the story. I’m so tired of getting invested only to end up disappointed.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because that “fascinating supporting cast” I mentioned? Really was fantastic. Primrose, the six-feet tall teenage girl with beautiful manners. Myrtle, the young omniglot who can understand everything but communicate nothing. Desirée, the prostitute whose clients can’t help but pour out their secrets to her. Bonfire Annie, who shoots fireballs from her palms, in a budding relationship with Nimble Jack, the dapper transgender thief who can form energy shields. Harriet, a Scottish Sikh who’s studying to be a lawyer. Horatio, the West Indies doctor that can heal with a touch. Su Ping Lam, a tiny woman with supernatural strength (played by the woman who was in the Po suit in <strong>Teletubbies</strong>!)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">They were a wonderful, charming, delightful ensemble and I’m mildly devasted that we’ll never see them again.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Carnival Row: Season 2 </strong>(2023)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rma-3YJWTlTK1iZCpmOgVIKkcXeks3bYqCzHjvwtEVt2E1P0URhAZIbeuscobla5MH98SY9NJAD_WViokLBBtZbuZwT9xhgYNZZw3xkk0GuQAwiJop0MGdcCQroTUbW7J_Xlyjhtq3TCGeprN0XAywzeWinI19ymsDhaER6-ymChrumx51WP1qnIThGL/s121/!.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="97" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rma-3YJWTlTK1iZCpmOgVIKkcXeks3bYqCzHjvwtEVt2E1P0URhAZIbeuscobla5MH98SY9NJAD_WViokLBBtZbuZwT9xhgYNZZw3xkk0GuQAwiJop0MGdcCQroTUbW7J_Xlyjhtq3TCGeprN0XAywzeWinI19ymsDhaER6-ymChrumx51WP1qnIThGL/s1600/!.png" width="97" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The similarities between <strong>Carnival Row</strong> and <strong>The Nevers</strong> are somewhat amusing: a “magical” minority class faces horrific prejudice and violence from the rest of the population, in an alternative version of London that leans heavily into a gas-lamp/steampunk aesthetic, culminating in the minority’s safe haven being invaded by a murderous mob. By watching both you can also play the “guess what show this crazy name comes from” game: Vignette Stonemoss. Amalia True. Tourmaline Larou. Desirée Blodgett. Piety Breakspear. Primrose Chattoway. Imogen Spurnrose.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And you guessed it – cancellation. I suppose I should be grateful that this one at least got a definitive ending (even two more episodes than its previous season) but in a way it’s just as frustrating to watch since you can <em>see</em> the parts of the story that have been put on fast-forward. Developments that were clearly meant to unfold over a number of episodes – even seasons, as I believe the original plan was five in total – are now either accelerated (Agreus and Imogen’s sojourn in Ragusa was probably meant to last <em>much</em> longer, not to mention be more even-handed in its portrayal) or dropped completely (there was a lot of talk about Philo being the subject of a prophecy in the first season, something that has now disappeared entirely).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are two major characters who are abruptly killed off mid-season who had <em>plenty</em> of mileage left in their arcs and absolutely would have been spared had the show continued, and others that perform sudden about-faces when it comes to their allegiances and motivations (turns out Sophie was far more sympathetic than she initially appeared in season one, though this reveal comes as more of a “huh, okay then” moment than a “whoa, this changes everything” eye-opener). In a word: truncated.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My sympathy mostly goes to show creator Travis Beacham, for whom this was apparently a passion project that he’s been trying to get off the ground for nearly ten years. It must really, truly suck to have to chop up your vision to this extent, especially after a three-year hiatus between seasons to account for Covid, the lead’s maternity leave, and a lengthy post-production period. At least it looks amazing.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For what it’s worth, the story still works. It’s engaging and nuanced and takes place within some of the most detailed and fascinating world-building I’ve ever seen. Where <strong>The Nevers</strong> was a gas-lamp/sci-fi mashup, this leans more towards steampunk, though both occur in alternative histories. Here a generational war has been waged between Britain and Russia (or the Burgue and the Pact) over Tirnanog, an Irish-coded realm of pixies, fauns, centaurs, kobolds and other fae-folk, most of whom have been displaced from their homes and forced to seek refuge in the Burgue.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Arriving as unwanted refugees, many find work as domestics or labourers, while others are relegated to the ghetto-like Carnival Row. All of them face daily prejudice from humans, who see them as little more than animals – a situation that gets worse as various murders, kidnappings and other frightening events start to occur.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If season one’s plot revolved around the hunt for a Jack the Ripper-like killer, then season two is more interested in the wider political landscape of its invented world. This doesn’t exactly work out in the show’s favour, since there is simply <em>no time</em> to delve very deeply into the inner workings or delicate nuances of Ragusa, the new country that’s introduced this season, which has recently undergone a revolution and overthrown the old regime.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’ll give the writers the benefit of the doubt and believe that their portrayal of fantasy-communism (complete with Eastern European accents, the sharing of manifestos, and everyone calling each other “comrade”) was originally meant to be more even-handed, especially when compared to the cruelty and classism of its political counterpart, the industrialized Burgue.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because I agree that communism is bad news. It looks great on paper, but the moment it hits reality, everything falls apart. In the real world, I absolutely advocate for reform and progress without political violence, and so it came as no shock to me that the paradise initially presented to Agreus and Imogen quickly reveals a rotten core, even as they acknowledge it has its advantages (such as giving them leave to be together without racial prejudice). I’ve no problem with demonstrating that revolution is a double-edged sword that comes with a hefty price.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But in the wider context of the story (and in <em>so many</em> stories – *stares at Marvel*), it ultimately means that we’re looking at yet another fantasy analogy that turns a left-coded desire to overthrow political injustice into a bunch of mass-murdering, war-mongering hypocrites, in which our our protagonists are eventually made to desperately defend the status quo. Really? <em>Really? </em>And of course, because the show was cut short, it stands no chance of really delving into the complex nitty-gritty of any political reform: the good <em>and</em> the bad.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s a really good (albeit brief) conversation between Agreus and Vignette, in which the former (a faun trying to integrate himself into the Burgish upperclass) defends capitalism/classism as something that inspires people to work hard, that revolution must be done peaceably and slowly, and that waging war will only leave the world in ashes – all those familiar talking points. Vignette counters with the fact that nobody gets their rights by asking nicely, that the world he describes is one she’ll never see in her (or her grandchildren’s) lifetimes, and that he’ll never be accepted by Burgish society. As toxic as this particular phrase is these days, it’s a solid example of <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BothSidesHaveAPoint">Both Sides Have a Point</a>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But ultimately, I’d side with New Dawn. We’ve just spent two whole seasons having to watch the disgusting racism and classism of the Burgue, including a scene in which its citizens scream abuse and throw garbage at the fey-folk (including children) as they simply try to leave for their homeland. It genuinely boggles the mind that I’m supposed to care about any of them. I’m with Vignette – burn it all to the ground.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(Not helping is that they cast Joanne Whalley as the New Dawn revolutionary. Sorry not sorry, but I’d follow Joanne Whalley anywhere).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But then of course, by doing the “right thing” and trying to save the very people that have treated them like excrement for the last eighteen episodes, our surviving heroes get to live happily ever after in a world that’s <em>magically</em> gotten better during a convenient time-skip. Agreus and Imogen can safely declare their love to society. Humans and fae-folk mingle happily in a cleaned-up Carnival Row. Tirnanog has been declared independent of its colonizers. All off-screen.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There is some lip-service given to the fact that there’s still a lot of work to do, but c’mon. It rings so false, and ends up feeling like a cautionary tale about being not being TOO mean to your oppressors, lest you become like them, or that if you’re part of a persecuted minority, all you have to do is play nice long enough for the people standing on your neck to see the light and <em>maybe</em> stop trying to kill you. One day.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When will a story have the balls to commit to an overthrow of right-wing politics, even if it’s just to scare the shit out of Tories or Republicans or Nationals? <em>That’s</em> something I’d like to see in fiction.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, a few more things. I was reasonably happy with the way the shipping endgames played out, though I can’t disagree with some of the bemused comments from Tumblr which are forced to admit the more hetero ships worked better on-screen than the gay ones. I’m not talking about Philo and Vignette, who never really had much spark, but Tourmaline and Darius, who form a very sweet little friendship/crush in the time they share together.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But honestly, the couple with the most chemistry is the unexpected pairing of Philo and Kaine, the latter being a member of the fae and one of Vignette’s cohorts. They only get a few scenes together, but holy shit – they just crackle with chemistry, whether it’s a reluctant team-up to break Vignette out of prison, a silent “now what?” exchange when they get caught, or a close-quarters knife fight that culminates in one stitching up the wounds of the other. I mean, damn.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Vignette is another casualty of the condensed season – she changes her mind and switches sides so many times that she just comes across as a fickle brat. What’s more, her constant flip-flopping ends up costing the life of the show's hottest guy, which kinda makes me hate her. On the other hand, I’ve absolutely no idea what was going on with Tourmaline throughout most of this season or what any of her visions meant, but hey – she got her happy ending. As the character who seemed the most obviously marked out for death, I’m good with that. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also, the monster is meant to be terrifying, but just looks silly. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ah well, at least we got an ending. It’s really sad that that’s a rare thing these days.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis </strong>(1994)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRVhGrn3kz-0u7sZpc_i-uPAagyE5gMwq8kUeEyQtwj_Sciao98xaQu_yXzYpyn9xva3qBDrVfL03foDpfyJ0l7eBv1_4KCdJcmH51SK98d0T-MswTLPgE83UvbpKmZDM-fl4IM35qsvbVkAHD_Cn3ZoItqZYcx9fCzjec9oTqADnhdovd0lKwLZmeBAu/s123/!.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="93" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRVhGrn3kz-0u7sZpc_i-uPAagyE5gMwq8kUeEyQtwj_Sciao98xaQu_yXzYpyn9xva3qBDrVfL03foDpfyJ0l7eBv1_4KCdJcmH51SK98d0T-MswTLPgE83UvbpKmZDM-fl4IM35qsvbVkAHD_Cn3ZoItqZYcx9fCzjec9oTqADnhdovd0lKwLZmeBAu/s1600/!.jpg" width="93" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">My fourth month of all things <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> temporarily leaves behind the movies for what many fans believe is the only <em>truly good</em> sequel of the franchise. And it’s a computer game! I have to admit, my own private Indiana Jones trilogy is <strong>Raiders of the Lost Ark</strong>, <strong>The Last Crusade</strong>, and this: <strong>Fate of Atlantis</strong>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And it just feels <em>so satisfying</em> to play something that is well-crafted, beautifully detailed, and which has clearly had a lot of time and thought poured into it. <strong>Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis</strong> is all those things, which captures the tone and aesthetics of the franchise, while delivering on a multi-branched story that could have very well made for a fantastic Indy movie – well, minus the whole “multi-branched” part.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And some aspects of the gameplay are just <em>so clever</em>, like how it opens in what looks like a treasure cave of some kind, only for Indy to burst through the windows in a shower of glass and reveal that he’s actually in Barnett College, searching for a specific artefact. We don’t know what it is at this point, and the controls are limited to just wandering around. But if you click on the right thing (a trapdoor, a rope, a bookcase) Indy ends up crashing through all five floors of Caswell Hall, from the attic to the furnace room, with a short pause at each descent in which the credits appear. Finally he discovers a small horned statue in a locker, and heads across the campus to his office where Marcus and a man calling himself “Smith” are waiting.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of course, “Smith” ends up being a Nazi spy, who makes off with the statue at gunpoint. From there, Indy must contact a former colleague/archaeologist called Sophia Hapgood, who has since become a psychic. She gives lectures on the Lost City of Atlantis, and claims to have a spirit guide from that very place, who feeds her with information about how the city was designed and the technological marvels that existed there.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Realizing that the Nazis are interested in her expertise, Indy flies to New York to warn her, leading to the pair of them teaming up to try and beat the Third Reich to whatever remains of Atlantis and the energy source found there that could shape the course of the impending war.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, the designers knew there was a lot of setup to get through before the gameplay could properly start, and they do a great job of breaking up their exposition with mini-puzzles and cut-scenes: first Indy attempting to find the Atlantean artefact at Barnett College (which also gives the player a chance to familiarize themselves with the place, as he returns to it later) and then in trying to bypass security at the theatre in New York to see Sophia.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s also a clever detail in that with many of the early conversations, Indy is given an array of replies that have no impact on how the character he’s with will respond – but the choices listed at the bottom of the screen widens the context of what he’s talking about, giving the player a greater understanding of what’s at stake.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s a great way of easing the player into the world and its objectives: first to find the Lost Dialogue of Plato, which is said to contain clues about Atlantis’s location, and then a variety of Sunstones, Moonstones and Worldstones, which operate as keys to various Atlantean outposts in places such as Algiers, Crete and Thera. Along the way, there may or may not be adventures in a German submarine, a hot air balloon, a deep-sea diving suit, and the streets of Monte Carlo.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I say “may or may not” because at a certain point the gameplay branches into one of three possibilities: Fists, Wit or Team. I didn’t realize it until <em>this</em> replay, but how Indy gets into the theatre at the start of the game (whether he moves crates to reach the fire escape, diplomatically manages to talk his way past the doorman, or simply punches the guy out) determines which of the three paths Sophia will suggest when the time comes for the game to diverge.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">As you might have guessed, Fists requires Indy to fistfight various Nazis during the course of the game, Wits is more oriented towards complex puzzle-solving, and Team has Sophia tag along and occasionally take control of certain situations. Each path is distinct, even when they take place in similar locations.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">For instance, the labyrinth under the island of Crete is visited in each one of the paths, featuring many of the same puzzles, and all culminating in a room containing a scale model of Atlantis. This screen also includes three separate doors, and depending on what path you’re on, the successful solving of the puzzle will open <em>one</em> of these doors – a different one for each story.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8aCCsHd6X3vI2hf10U12Gdf6jNgiN442ag3Gh-DkLslJ8IapZn2VlQSItI9s2nfYOAxvOUVCMu2aAS3oc14Oniv697VZikera8qUS6ymid-UPsbcGVcPondluxyPiJd_IZqKJ4wbb0EAglAqnhVaItCdHpWm5k7JJ1vIBB7SkghQL6Rp3XgPvwI87eVQ/s1366/Screenshot%20(1348).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu8aCCsHd6X3vI2hf10U12Gdf6jNgiN442ag3Gh-DkLslJ8IapZn2VlQSItI9s2nfYOAxvOUVCMu2aAS3oc14Oniv697VZikera8qUS6ymid-UPsbcGVcPondluxyPiJd_IZqKJ4wbb0EAglAqnhVaItCdHpWm5k7JJ1vIBB7SkghQL6Rp3XgPvwI87eVQ/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1348).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Characters can also change from one story-strand to another: in Fists and Team, Omar Al-Jabbar is a relatively helpful guy. In Wits, he’s more of a villain. Furthermore, if you chose to play <em>each</em> of the three paths, you may attain some spoilers for the others – in Team, Omar conceals his identity from Indy and Sophia, but if you’ve played Wits or Fists, you’ll immediately know it’s him. Other times the storylines echo each other: in Wits, Alain Trottier is lured to Monte Carlo with the promise of a (non-existent) séance with Sophia, while in Team, this is the tactic she and Indy use to get him into a hotel room to obtain his Sunstone.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s also interesting to see how each path might skip certain characters or locations. In Wits and Team, Trottier is a fairly prominent character. In Fists, he gives you his business card and disappears completely. In Wits you’ll find a secret compartment at an Algiers dig containing an Atlantean statue; in Team it’s a Sunstone, and in Fists there’s nothing there at all.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Team omits the island of Thera; Fists skips the adventures on the submarine. Team and Fists require Indy to obtain an amber fish; in Wits it’s switched out for a statically-charged comb on a string. You might get chased by Nazis in trucks across the desert, or it might be the local law enforcement on camelback. Sometimes the Nazis are ahead of Indy at every turn, other times they don’t overtake him until the finish line.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All the paths will eventually coincide when Indy reaches Atlantis, at which point the gameplay will become more-or-less identical no matter which path you took to get there (though there are still some potential variations, such as what to do about Sophia when her spirit guide takes over her body, or who ends up on the plinth of the machine that makes mortals into gods).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which is all to say: this is such a <em>rich</em> gaming experience, one that’s designed to the best of its ability to remain fresh and surprising each time you play it. There was clearly a lot of research done into the mythology of Atlantis: the concept of it being built in three concentric circles, the use of orichalcum to fuel its machines, and the inspirations taken from Minoan civilization (particularly their love of bulls). As a result, everything looks and feels like it belongs to a specific culture, one grounded in real historical precedence.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And it’s gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Just look at some of these stills:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-vjPKS1c_taVmRlxXyJfSKzYOfmdMuUQpkvcdG7Th8BtCNw_Y63Ek37nVHaHDO0XPH3s4jVg_ZHH3MprmPXZQXID0fScLcfsljv9Q1V8jbhvxb-lOov0QtrYZ3HI0RhrdWyUOy8Gx0JrA53p3WSGAVlD9cFWjbB8VRwn2uCgADDK8HZy9QHEBoEGROSY/s1366/Screenshot%20(1226).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-vjPKS1c_taVmRlxXyJfSKzYOfmdMuUQpkvcdG7Th8BtCNw_Y63Ek37nVHaHDO0XPH3s4jVg_ZHH3MprmPXZQXID0fScLcfsljv9Q1V8jbhvxb-lOov0QtrYZ3HI0RhrdWyUOy8Gx0JrA53p3WSGAVlD9cFWjbB8VRwn2uCgADDK8HZy9QHEBoEGROSY/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1226).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHrWzWA4OUpk0KenOQprHU-n8ipYchG2gHgJiUdn8vAq4Oxs_FYSF2ZtIFXT3zFlE1bZRSVIDHx-TMYIGXZFMdqHwSzdpIGhmrBGJqzuJ_JJoW_MBq0kDAcK2gM4w9fqrAjZKC-XrBUD1t1ThLtXeVPOuj0f4A3R8UVQ89FVGbGYIsr6U4nJ1wUeIirnyV/s1366/Screenshot%20(1233).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHrWzWA4OUpk0KenOQprHU-n8ipYchG2gHgJiUdn8vAq4Oxs_FYSF2ZtIFXT3zFlE1bZRSVIDHx-TMYIGXZFMdqHwSzdpIGhmrBGJqzuJ_JJoW_MBq0kDAcK2gM4w9fqrAjZKC-XrBUD1t1ThLtXeVPOuj0f4A3R8UVQ89FVGbGYIsr6U4nJ1wUeIirnyV/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1233).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxMkkYx4qkzrOWhHC8zougL__aOQdvspYGaqogH0S2-V-plUbZYeQuPy16RemtheOmjV5lcR-yMeO9kBW1RickltjhV5yCVGTskuhL1wjTqYkZq1o3-OtHsSwkMWHyMUtI3f8r0fCtSkdcY3RZIKWngn8aExeOSdnXTCYHxGTQaD9v-Qgt37slv8MRjfl/s1366/Screenshot%20(1240).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxMkkYx4qkzrOWhHC8zougL__aOQdvspYGaqogH0S2-V-plUbZYeQuPy16RemtheOmjV5lcR-yMeO9kBW1RickltjhV5yCVGTskuhL1wjTqYkZq1o3-OtHsSwkMWHyMUtI3f8r0fCtSkdcY3RZIKWngn8aExeOSdnXTCYHxGTQaD9v-Qgt37slv8MRjfl/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1240).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTnTCGntzjxJUo3P-qA9Wmz_Lk6-9MHYRz6uuNzf8qx6oiUEnj-j4_xi-ZeihgQ6yohKlyt9l0T0F_BgKZKuFw5NEBiTC1Fg08TYPUT-qvP8K68zNR-dvnU0b01ov4EsC6VNmUI6y2jGufNQg2VAlq4g9TT29s6olTZoBo4RgtB7f9K07QhfOa_odeOkt/s1366/Screenshot%20(1248).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTnTCGntzjxJUo3P-qA9Wmz_Lk6-9MHYRz6uuNzf8qx6oiUEnj-j4_xi-ZeihgQ6yohKlyt9l0T0F_BgKZKuFw5NEBiTC1Fg08TYPUT-qvP8K68zNR-dvnU0b01ov4EsC6VNmUI6y2jGufNQg2VAlq4g9TT29s6olTZoBo4RgtB7f9K07QhfOa_odeOkt/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1248).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpor2Q86JAf7NUE6CfZQKkV_Em9_Lt6rXkayd2LAdT4uWtyV-x7DQnPYcdc9bCYDG-X0Ul0M1wBE4O6o6R3WdAnhte6M5JVguxFqRP209Bm1UvyXwtiaMhHnXyNAL66Nn8HkgABLDgCHDs_nHmHP3VXINbz_mMY8WfoXTEOTmatNdYhL-YtSOzXiO9kN0l/s1366/Screenshot%20(1261).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpor2Q86JAf7NUE6CfZQKkV_Em9_Lt6rXkayd2LAdT4uWtyV-x7DQnPYcdc9bCYDG-X0Ul0M1wBE4O6o6R3WdAnhte6M5JVguxFqRP209Bm1UvyXwtiaMhHnXyNAL66Nn8HkgABLDgCHDs_nHmHP3VXINbz_mMY8WfoXTEOTmatNdYhL-YtSOzXiO9kN0l/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1261).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8PT_IyJGQ0NEeRT2Y8rVH5LvqIXWalhZqTnQY6xPAB_-FfRDQd_WdzB_-LjaRqZyxFxeO9idkf4pawgqKcb-ff5uAURHjbVgNdCwyweUwz5flgQ0CmK7Qys_ewLbLyNTdn8n6aVeIhOBVIkSC3I4R0iECVhRzeZeLWRnly-0gBqio3x6WbnAo4BexJqu/s1366/Screenshot%20(1302).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8PT_IyJGQ0NEeRT2Y8rVH5LvqIXWalhZqTnQY6xPAB_-FfRDQd_WdzB_-LjaRqZyxFxeO9idkf4pawgqKcb-ff5uAURHjbVgNdCwyweUwz5flgQ0CmK7Qys_ewLbLyNTdn8n6aVeIhOBVIkSC3I4R0iECVhRzeZeLWRnly-0gBqio3x6WbnAo4BexJqu/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1302).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzpijzrUI2MZW3KdeOHw4uB64Alcr9KQ-CVC45ge0SM-_0pkTfOBSzD-a2oRFzLT8BCxxNkjX5Y8PfgZEB1xtgpBiooVxGRl8J3ZISQd7SrHVHoDnU7mEF1_tTQv84bb_Or5vnrWagE__lAG3tWiLdXthFAgiefR_lhJ2u1oX4E-FUx-3ys78THjwVQ2R/s1366/Screenshot%20(1310).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzpijzrUI2MZW3KdeOHw4uB64Alcr9KQ-CVC45ge0SM-_0pkTfOBSzD-a2oRFzLT8BCxxNkjX5Y8PfgZEB1xtgpBiooVxGRl8J3ZISQd7SrHVHoDnU7mEF1_tTQv84bb_Or5vnrWagE__lAG3tWiLdXthFAgiefR_lhJ2u1oX4E-FUx-3ys78THjwVQ2R/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1310).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhroSlbkZWm16vjOc0tf7mAWLl_EHd8_Zs0YlruajZkzahvIpFBPgBLe0pf0R2nHbAhzJHqFRvj1ijRtYmtoNTFPpDIn8M4C3E-1OkyE5K19BjToyLfkh_txHKxlizTxB8nzUnHzZ6cYUCU0kAsDrsMdE-nWY05Ybn_zg9eEnrMehWfD0ekIL-qu5Nmpnpc/s1366/Screenshot%20(1314).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhroSlbkZWm16vjOc0tf7mAWLl_EHd8_Zs0YlruajZkzahvIpFBPgBLe0pf0R2nHbAhzJHqFRvj1ijRtYmtoNTFPpDIn8M4C3E-1OkyE5K19BjToyLfkh_txHKxlizTxB8nzUnHzZ6cYUCU0kAsDrsMdE-nWY05Ybn_zg9eEnrMehWfD0ekIL-qu5Nmpnpc/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1314).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iKQVNLjwuBfDextEOBDVTyN2serZFo6chC3seF2_E_Qw92oh7Fez_vD_rDr8FJ8lfDnVTEFvX9CgQ9nGN5_mhVelIjqp9u0BsZMaTZE_w1ugiVEqT_Iro5D7MFkm_JP3ne9E239dUxkxdL5Spd4nRf0eJDM16FaZud3yNOjJnwSgrrzksnh8cCmY3dQ8/s1366/Screenshot%20(1353).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iKQVNLjwuBfDextEOBDVTyN2serZFo6chC3seF2_E_Qw92oh7Fez_vD_rDr8FJ8lfDnVTEFvX9CgQ9nGN5_mhVelIjqp9u0BsZMaTZE_w1ugiVEqT_Iro5D7MFkm_JP3ne9E239dUxkxdL5Spd4nRf0eJDM16FaZud3yNOjJnwSgrrzksnh8cCmY3dQ8/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1353).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEuDdIxeDIrpmlDkrn0323AODOUuAD-wZUivtqfvhj2ooqNCbRQ0Qeb7R5BBXz1Zzh6DZBwxcuO0KyJVJXTziaWvpQ3V1FnITtL6KRt5vCieHTVn1o3vbzqmK1FEBehyphenhyphenZx9f19gy8W8s2Yh0hk3JTq-MifX4dqfsn8_j0RrxZD5ZTmcrMDRtNz6c_YG3w/s1366/Screenshot%20(1433).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEuDdIxeDIrpmlDkrn0323AODOUuAD-wZUivtqfvhj2ooqNCbRQ0Qeb7R5BBXz1Zzh6DZBwxcuO0KyJVJXTziaWvpQ3V1FnITtL6KRt5vCieHTVn1o3vbzqmK1FEBehyphenhyphenZx9f19gy8W8s2Yh0hk3JTq-MifX4dqfsn8_j0RrxZD5ZTmcrMDRtNz6c_YG3w/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1433).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In short, it simply <em>feels</em> like an Indiana Jones adventure in a way that even some of the films (<strong>Temple of Doom</strong>; <strong>Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</strong>) do not. There’s a familiar-looking boulder at one point, a couple of allusions to previous adventures, and a huge, muscled Nazi who I’m pretty sure is a nod to Pat Roach, who appeared in all three of the original Indy films as an intimidating physical threat to our hero. And in one of the paths (I’m pretty sure it’s Fists) there's a moment in which Indy has to cross a ravine by flicking his whip onto a stone outcropping and swinging himself across – and as he does so, the Indy theme briefly plays. It’s such a fun little moment, though it has no further impact on the gameplay. It’s simply there to make you smile.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, vibing so well with the films also extends to the female sidekick. I’ve said in the past that this franchise has no great female characters, and Sophia is no exception. The writers lean into the old <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BelligerentSexualTension">Belligerent Sexual Tension</a> for her and Indy that was so popular between fictional couples in the eighties/nineties, in which perpetual annoyance and resentment is a solid basis for a romantic relationship. It also provides an example of writers a. knowing that a damsel in distress is an outdated trope, b. needing it to happen anyway for plot-purposes (she gets captured <em>twice</em> in every path) and so c. trying to avoid the worst clichés by having their female character – you guessed it – <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike">Complain About Rescues She Doesn’t Like</a>.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I mean, she’s a helpless damsel, but she’s <em>feisty</em> about it! That alleviates the sexism, right? Not helping are scenes in which Indy forces her to volunteer in a knife-throwing demonstration by <em>pushing</em> her into the arena, later insulting her weight to convince her to crawl through a narrow tunnel, and bestowing not one but two <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ForcefulKiss">Forceful Kisses</a> on her. She's even a damsel on the cover art!</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeLihLni2fP1mlvne_McwyOqAPdEi2v6DvgcadYCu56tzrsEPXG1jDm31aPz2OhOWO88aO4oUNiyofnD8LQccAhk749geaLTxQSWgP-dg2iDgxI9LhhLr62WLwb5bKlj_z7sq3DIPIRLPXbMyZ2Fnheqw2dLyiCPgSznKpj98x1PkC58FgoVSVw5I4ByM0/s1366/Screenshot%20(1372).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeLihLni2fP1mlvne_McwyOqAPdEi2v6DvgcadYCu56tzrsEPXG1jDm31aPz2OhOWO88aO4oUNiyofnD8LQccAhk749geaLTxQSWgP-dg2iDgxI9LhhLr62WLwb5bKlj_z7sq3DIPIRLPXbMyZ2Fnheqw2dLyiCPgSznKpj98x1PkC58FgoVSVw5I4ByM0/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1372).png" width="400" /></i></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Lady, he has literally <b>just rescued you</b>.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Plus, her voice actress made her sound eerily like Willie Scott, which can’t have been on purpose. Still, I’m told Sophia was popular enough with the designers to turn up in future games, though I’ve no idea in what capacity.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But with the exception of that one sour note (which I have to admit is par for the course for this franchise) there’s very little to complain about with this game. It’s gorgeous to look at, it’s innovative and clever, it has immense replayablility value, and it just <em>feels</em> like an old school <strong>Indiana Jones</strong> adventure. I know I’m not the first to feel like it’s more akin to the spirit of the franchise than some of the movies.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163433168019315772.post-33069105280199589122023-09-20T13:12:00.001-07:002023-09-20T13:38:19.680-07:00Legend of the Seeker: Perdition<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Back to it! I’m hoping that I can get through this season before the end of the year, but I’m not even halfway through these episodes and life isn’t getting any less busy. Plus, I don’t want to rush it. Once this season is over, that’s it. Show’s over.</span></p><!--wp:paragraph-->
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This episode starts with Verna waking up Richard, who is very confused to find himself back at the Palace of the Prophets. Naturally there’s some weird shit going on, and though Verna has an easy explanation about what’s happening (his wizard powers are messing with his head) Richard isn’t remotely convinced that this is reality.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZL8aUDFdW5f4pgBIX3tQ4cHtP8C40DWdJf5kOAAMNvfT6L3EjXolMiAU-oCz3Uoeczd88jc1Nyx5MBIT0PgagEnohaWs5x54GB_Y8nccEXGZEeAWKnaeUsylC-jb6jLoXQcsSo5svwO0mAC-cWuOHfnKV3jXWuo3-h_NQo4JxUx4RRghSZ0p-fEilES4m/s435/!.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="435" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZL8aUDFdW5f4pgBIX3tQ4cHtP8C40DWdJf5kOAAMNvfT6L3EjXolMiAU-oCz3Uoeczd88jc1Nyx5MBIT0PgagEnohaWs5x54GB_Y8nccEXGZEeAWKnaeUsylC-jb6jLoXQcsSo5svwO0mAC-cWuOHfnKV3jXWuo3-h_NQo4JxUx4RRghSZ0p-fEilES4m/w400-h328/!.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Neither is the audience, who has seen this scenario play out in countless television shows: <strong>Xena</strong>, <strong>Buffy</strong>, <strong>Angel</strong>, <strong>Charmed</strong>... they’ve all done a “trapped in a false reality” episode. Heck, I’ve just watched one on <strong>The Wheel of Time</strong> with Nynaeve!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thankfully the show doesn’t insult our intelligence by trying to make us believe any of this is really happening. In fact, they reveal Richard’s true circumstances before the first ad-break, and instead chose to use the illusion as a chance to delve into his psyche and explore what he fears the most.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, let’s have a run-through of what exactly that is...</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan has arrived at the Palace of the Prophets, but she’s not alone: with her is a little girl called Sonya and another man called Phillip, who she introduces as the Seeker – in fact, the <em>third </em>one since Richard disappeared. They’re married, and Sonya is their daughter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Richard refuses to believe this, pointing out that Kahlan would never confess a Seeker, only for her to inform him that she lost her powers some time ago, and that she married/procreated with Philip of her own volition.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In other words, Richard doesn’t fear that Kahlan will die or betray him, but that she’ll simply move on and start a family with someone else. It makes for an interesting contrast with his reaction to what she did in “Reckoning,” knowing that she had no choice but to marry Darken Rahl and have his child if she wanted to save Richard from that <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BadFuture">Bad Future</a> (in that sense, it's important that Phillip is clearly a good, honourable man). To Richard, this is a much worse scenario.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">According to Kahlan, the short time that has passed for Richard has been the equivalent of seven years in the outside world. The rift opened, the Stone of Tears was destroyed, Aydindril fell, and the remaining survivors have made for the Palace as a final refuge. Cara was cut off by Banelings on the way, and Zed is dead (poor Bruce Spence, he’s never allowed to appear in any of these alternate realities).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan asks Richard to use his wizard powers to mount a final defense, and though he doesn’t believe for a second that any of this is real, he agrees to help. He has so much faith in Kahlan, even a facsimile of her, that he’ll still do whatever she asks of him.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Elsewhere, the Prelate backs up Verna’s story: that Richard has never left the Palace, and has mastered his wizard powers – as he finds out firsthand when Banelings break through the doors and he takes out half-a-dozen with lightning from his fingertips. Despite seeing Kahlan and Philip embrace their daughter, he makes one of those rousing speeches he’s so good at to the assembled survivors.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, things are about to get worse. The food stores are inaccessible, the priestesses commit mass suicide, and Cara betrays him when she turns up at the door, uses their friendship to trick Richard into opening it, and promptly starts slaughtering everyone.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4jXAFbt3lTJeiO9dxvfqpGymM5M2pDXz7Yt8RWdidCA7ZHrqS11JDJgZzqUmTXwaiIFK3Twnx29-1vH8ObM98xCS5f8_EWzuPgcz89lIQkd8Ni6AFPnlghO5Bg6tIMP_kHT7znqX9hI8p5JZRYVziiVWhQ-y9s2QEouqnh3uZJOcXvD4vdFD7VkvNRCUC/s1000/!!.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4jXAFbt3lTJeiO9dxvfqpGymM5M2pDXz7Yt8RWdidCA7ZHrqS11JDJgZzqUmTXwaiIFK3Twnx29-1vH8ObM98xCS5f8_EWzuPgcz89lIQkd8Ni6AFPnlghO5Bg6tIMP_kHT7znqX9hI8p5JZRYVziiVWhQ-y9s2QEouqnh3uZJOcXvD4vdFD7VkvNRCUC/w400-h300/!!.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Kahlan watches as Sonya and Phillip are murdered, kills Cara herself, and then refuses to let Richard heal her so she can die with her husband and daughter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Again, this provides much deeper insight into Richard’s fears than just a simplistic portrayal of “everyone dies and that’s sad.” In truth, Richard fears that everyone around him <em>just gives up</em>, that his instincts regarding the relationships he has with other people are wrong, and finally, that he’s left all alone in the world. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is a guy who defines himself through his ability to help others, <em>and</em> on his circle of trusted friends. Now he’s suffering through an illusion that’s taken these things from him in the cruellest way possible. Kahlan would rather die than be saved by him, Cara betrays him despite their history together, and no one is remotely inspired by his determination to save them all.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbcUJYm52NoUy6Ld74izbcEOME5yI7Jy6KRBmvb0AlsGlQbexgIlqJ3QstdYHrTzo1qSrzxFdwHAq0STW7HSJtxmD0Xh-45THJSm9LwTQa5WXTLn73s_qPWj56HKNnLQ__VD4ll0dzv_as0Ej2Bko3m4-lOErdizSe6uULXqU4_nrn42tnaNd_ycwM5T1/s1366/Screenshot%20(1200).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbcUJYm52NoUy6Ld74izbcEOME5yI7Jy6KRBmvb0AlsGlQbexgIlqJ3QstdYHrTzo1qSrzxFdwHAq0STW7HSJtxmD0Xh-45THJSm9LwTQa5WXTLn73s_qPWj56HKNnLQ__VD4ll0dzv_as0Ej2Bko3m4-lOErdizSe6uULXqU4_nrn42tnaNd_ycwM5T1/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1200).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And it turns out there’s a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CoupDeGrace">Coup de Grâce</a> to this psychological torture. Darken Rahl turns up in a small cameo to mock his current state: as the last survivor left on earth, there’s no one left to kill him, and Richard will have to live out his days alone. Richard staggers out into the wasteland, where he sees a vision of Kahlan urging him to kill himself...</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Long before the end of this particular “alt-world” narrative, the audience has been clued in on what’s <em>actually</em> happening. All this time Richard has been wandering aimlessly in a place called the Desert of Perdition, which was designed as a defence mechanism for the Palace of the Prophets.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Verna and the Prelate are watching him from a safe vantage point, and because the latter is so fixated on the prophecy that states Richard will end up <em>helping</em> the Keeper, she decides to leave him there. If he dies in the desert, he can’t deliver the Stone of Tears to their enemy. Neat, clean, easy.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFqWBUmarqmMCn5wspgR4YWikGIpyvCZ0CeccXNRDL92gsM4GXDPmmX0oKJ6QJ7tI69Iyxgc5vxUGGwZcXDEf0rZC7vTnTmdDUS1p__hR_R0Enk9mi1iQzNmSME3Gu7Hi9OxS0QDcSZ6mI5EyuH4NqmWoyOp4DbK6DmRYVIKOVTIqgZt8drixgDwlsbHE/s1366/Screenshot%20(1190).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFqWBUmarqmMCn5wspgR4YWikGIpyvCZ0CeccXNRDL92gsM4GXDPmmX0oKJ6QJ7tI69Iyxgc5vxUGGwZcXDEf0rZC7vTnTmdDUS1p__hR_R0Enk9mi1iQzNmSME3Gu7Hi9OxS0QDcSZ6mI5EyuH4NqmWoyOp4DbK6DmRYVIKOVTIqgZt8drixgDwlsbHE/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1190).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(She also states that leaving him there is the will of the Creator, which is always how you can spot the religious fanatic. Their own beliefs and decisions always <em>conveniently</em> happen to match up with their deity’s will. Funny that).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The pair return to where Nicci has been chained up the palace dungeons, still wearing the Rada Han to tamp down Richard’s powers. Some barbs are exchanged, but just before the torture gets serious, Nicci goes ahead and lists the names of all the Dark Sisters who were in league with her... and adds that they’ve already left the building to go find and assist Richard.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I do like the inherent irony in this scenario: that the ostensible good guys who are trying to protect the world are leaving Richard to die, while the baddies intent on the world’s destruction are trying to save him.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSExhv-lOxaEdPPEwAqdaDPBuWRJD_zzOCUrKeHexBPsN4mdugh8QJYUi3dA3j6bxQ-cKSm_dvqXWomFoLzQGwhn3-5XedF2oZO5tciYZwbPiDyIfqfnZJfjzy_opzJLWowm58YF8NGzIyquc5Tcs9EAb3J-s3gOSqoI8nEohWoFwnt0wtgLnVyvsQuYnB/s1366/Screenshot%20(1199).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSExhv-lOxaEdPPEwAqdaDPBuWRJD_zzOCUrKeHexBPsN4mdugh8QJYUi3dA3j6bxQ-cKSm_dvqXWomFoLzQGwhn3-5XedF2oZO5tciYZwbPiDyIfqfnZJfjzy_opzJLWowm58YF8NGzIyquc5Tcs9EAb3J-s3gOSqoI8nEohWoFwnt0wtgLnVyvsQuYnB/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1199).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In any case, the other Dark Sisters have gathered in a circle to call upon the Keeper for aid in freeing Nicci. And the Keeper sends to them... a cute little spider! In what is the funniest part of the whole episode, one of the sisters solemnly tells the spider to free Nicci, and so it crawls into her cell, climbs up to the Rada Han, and... blows itself up to open it? I guess? You probably should have left some guards in that room, Prelate.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nicci breaks through the prison walls with all the strength of Richard’s power and rejoins with her sisters, who clue her in on the new prophecy concerning Kahlan: "As long as the Mother Confessor's pure heart beats, the Keeper is doomed to fail." Ergo, they must find and kill Kahlan.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(I’m left wondering if the writers came up with this new prophecy so that Nicci and the Dark Sisters could act aggressively towards our heroes instead of trying to help them. I suppose we’ll see in future episodes if the prophecy concerning Kahlan has any further relevance, but it’s a shame that they cut short the interesting incongruity of the Keeper’s minions trying to save Richard’s life).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I’m also left wondering: what exactly is the motivation of these women? Are they aware that if the Keeper is triumphant, all life on earth will be eradicated? What are they hoping to get out of that scenario?</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">***</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Over in our third plot, the team of Kahlan, Cara, Zed and Leo enter the Old World (I still have no idea what this is) by following the new direction the compass is giving them. Presumably it wants them to reach Richard, but they’re all feeling a little bewildered about what exactly they’re meant to be doing, as demonstrated by this truly awful line of dialogue, said by Kahlan to Zed: “You're wondering what you might've done differently so that Richard never would have gone off with the Sisters of the Light?”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Oof, what a mouthful. Bridget Regan must have struggled with that one.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">But Kahlan is as tentatively hopeful as Zed is pensive, while Cara and Leo continue with their banal flirting. This time around it’s a game of “what kind of bird would you be?” which Cara apparently finds <em>such</em> a turn-on that she jumps Leo the first chance she gets. Which is when the four travellers take shelter in a cave and Kahlan and Zed just sort of... move off-screen a little. I mean, they’re <em>in a</em> <em>cave</em>, which aren’t generally known for their privacy. Perhaps it was a <em>network</em> of caves and the two of them at least got out of Cara and Leo’s line of sight, but honestly! What was stopping them from just wandering back in? And how awkward would it have been if they realized the two of them were screwing just a few feet away? How are you supposed to sleep with that going on?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Did anyone think this one through?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Okay, so they finally reach the Palace of the Prophets, seemingly untraumatized, where the Prelate starts lying through her teeth as to Richard’s whereabouts. Her plan is to seal them into the building so that they can’t assist Richard, but Verna is finally having second thoughts – which has taken her long enough considering that she’s literally been searching for him for twenty-three years. You’d think that level of investment would have instilled a protectiveness right from the word go, but hey – at least she’s on board now.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The ruse is over very quickly, what Kahlan being able to tell that a young handmaiden is lying about Richard’s presence in the building (apparently the Prelate was powerful enough to bypass Kahlan lie-detecting skills) and there’s a good, old-fashioned stalemate between our heroes and the Sisters of the Light.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxe0ueqf65h__jlg6MSZ-u8iyifSJmRXbqn3SSS6mxdYKXDKdt0Our7n4tBtDrb3whNEa2PxlPVn28benO4qcSn7_kEoL0tGQo6bm0-5e8O9aKOj5E9hVDlZo4sSUp6aB8KpHQ7E3QI1e6d73xtzA9tcQxFJaz96Xz39kVJXUPDzH9YZ8sEPBQ6bfjXPZ/s1366/Screenshot%20(1203).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxe0ueqf65h__jlg6MSZ-u8iyifSJmRXbqn3SSS6mxdYKXDKdt0Our7n4tBtDrb3whNEa2PxlPVn28benO4qcSn7_kEoL0tGQo6bm0-5e8O9aKOj5E9hVDlZo4sSUp6aB8KpHQ7E3QI1e6d73xtzA9tcQxFJaz96Xz39kVJXUPDzH9YZ8sEPBQ6bfjXPZ/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1203).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Zed tries to pull down the magical barrier with his own power and the Prelate throws one of her dacras into his shoulder. Kahlan retaliates by grabbing another sister by the neck, threatening to confess her. But Verna comes through for them, disarming the Prelate and calling her out on her self-righteousness: “[is this] the Creator’s will or yours?”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">All parties converge on the Desert of Perdition, where Kahlan and her allies are attacked by Nicci and her sisters. Yes, it’s <em>that </em>fight scene, the one we’ve all seen a million times as gif-sets, and for good reason. They knew they had a great visual here and milked it for all it was worth, with the Sisters of the Dark advancing in slow-motion with their billowy red sleeves and veils, dacras and firebolts flying everywhere, Kahlan’s hair swirling around dramatically, and everyone getting the chance to do something cool and heroic-looking.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOU8Awu6VXlZPQRJW0wxTfXvW2vCNsAjMUcVy5-R7aDkenwW2Kmt3zt0Ds9P71JatcEj2sBz6UDg-1NO7RDLJ5DD92K-1aK5YbCB_yTkL4X7Ayiz4a3Ip1xuvbEyReMWpYREDN6tCLl_4Rk5dLEQz_9b2BT4v1Dq0cgmj2LeNcGbJV_zo_K8vDEn2dMnU/s1366/Screenshot%20(1206).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOU8Awu6VXlZPQRJW0wxTfXvW2vCNsAjMUcVy5-R7aDkenwW2Kmt3zt0Ds9P71JatcEj2sBz6UDg-1NO7RDLJ5DD92K-1aK5YbCB_yTkL4X7Ayiz4a3Ip1xuvbEyReMWpYREDN6tCLl_4Rk5dLEQz_9b2BT4v1Dq0cgmj2LeNcGbJV_zo_K8vDEn2dMnU/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1206).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEs-FI31m6TXlCI_OXC8bL7Oju0l1SSiT8abfJCDSEAlnFNpDexX9IoedkUOHQJQP6BUc_xbvWQ-JaLwQiPn9j1XhEddClUcC-4153_g1UpoH8DiSOZSXSdjoi9GHhhsH0IxbNF74EcYJBD7mnj-x_wD_xbXXQXQ1g0cT7qIQQMq6fCPt3_7jUKUJ_IwS/s1366/Screenshot%20(1208).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEs-FI31m6TXlCI_OXC8bL7Oju0l1SSiT8abfJCDSEAlnFNpDexX9IoedkUOHQJQP6BUc_xbvWQ-JaLwQiPn9j1XhEddClUcC-4153_g1UpoH8DiSOZSXSdjoi9GHhhsH0IxbNF74EcYJBD7mnj-x_wD_xbXXQXQ1g0cT7qIQQMq6fCPt3_7jUKUJ_IwS/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1208).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbip_Cepod0FJq3jzMxs6r27BNETCn4p3aL9cde1m0vA2tNmExXYAo7J_doxzjbuI8szPvr7xXJ3ecYNaGuvf1dSVc3-tfhSrBFnPdz0Lh9ObEBSzgE-gTSlZV3Cdb0mxmnTncJhgg08FpAg0LwJfyeT6f73tiDhm6QVcqGBq2c7XynGq88o6ecG9AOrWL/s1366/Screenshot%20(1209).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbip_Cepod0FJq3jzMxs6r27BNETCn4p3aL9cde1m0vA2tNmExXYAo7J_doxzjbuI8szPvr7xXJ3ecYNaGuvf1dSVc3-tfhSrBFnPdz0Lh9ObEBSzgE-gTSlZV3Cdb0mxmnTncJhgg08FpAg0LwJfyeT6f73tiDhm6QVcqGBq2c7XynGq88o6ecG9AOrWL/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1209).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Yx5X8SVEuBX_j-tbHdunCn87ZCd-DzTTdJEWG2gq2c-jncdBR_nsLeIZ4BRxASu2MMmba2aQZQ0lt-Hwpt8YtI7r2kD8H1jxl5Wb7BOl3V9f9-kF1lVIK0ifZyxhSdG-awdQg9B39Of3dEJ0r75a-BNt5JkZa_RnWqFu2SVJrFLP_Swk8DlHoWcGQMr4/s1366/Screenshot%20(1211).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Yx5X8SVEuBX_j-tbHdunCn87ZCd-DzTTdJEWG2gq2c-jncdBR_nsLeIZ4BRxASu2MMmba2aQZQ0lt-Hwpt8YtI7r2kD8H1jxl5Wb7BOl3V9f9-kF1lVIK0ifZyxhSdG-awdQg9B39Of3dEJ0r75a-BNt5JkZa_RnWqFu2SVJrFLP_Swk8DlHoWcGQMr4/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1211).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bfovYtGGYQLDjZ3BLXWPblmSNKNYLErousO7U2-h5zRk61pSKJcmAB3xOq54Zz28tj9Q0pb_FC7OrAPwgshMJcg2chR-CdkM2bDvQ0mTmu7wWee1dk92VQgcSWrvIycGtIiJqnbtgt8bfxHhueAa1tcEd8BQwXMDqKS3cjEn6GzbOW9jrw4pPJZGUZGZ/s1366/Screenshot%20(1212).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9bfovYtGGYQLDjZ3BLXWPblmSNKNYLErousO7U2-h5zRk61pSKJcmAB3xOq54Zz28tj9Q0pb_FC7OrAPwgshMJcg2chR-CdkM2bDvQ0mTmu7wWee1dk92VQgcSWrvIycGtIiJqnbtgt8bfxHhueAa1tcEd8BQwXMDqKS3cjEn6GzbOW9jrw4pPJZGUZGZ/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1212).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHpkDi-vLb693Ue1zIb5NCwlXtpNyOwYRaCrtinglMC4y_iJYYmBkjWnkXr7F9RwWY3rJZwqPc2RYkP4xtwHk0BHre8NWJbno8UGY_paP9l6RFNa2UC3EpwthZVAUPDXfq8gSNBzR_vMQ3PMt-QCtKoUvgHLramsDAGWgsYV16y-vzkrXYSD69QZBuphZ/s1366/Screenshot%20(1213).png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHpkDi-vLb693Ue1zIb5NCwlXtpNyOwYRaCrtinglMC4y_iJYYmBkjWnkXr7F9RwWY3rJZwqPc2RYkP4xtwHk0BHre8NWJbno8UGY_paP9l6RFNa2UC3EpwthZVAUPDXfq8gSNBzR_vMQ3PMt-QCtKoUvgHLramsDAGWgsYV16y-vzkrXYSD69QZBuphZ/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1213).png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>"Are you posing?"<br />"Google Earth. Always taking pictures."</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's at this point that Richard manages to wake himself up from the illusion he’s been trapped in, after realizing that Kahlan would never ask him to kill himself. He rejoins his friends and reclaims his sword, though sadly not soon enough to save Leo, who pulls off a classic <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TakingTheBullet">Taking the Bullet</a> dive in front of Kahlan, who Nicci has targeted on account of the new prophecy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Richard uses his sword to deflect Nicci’s power back upon her, and she’s a goner as well.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGABCL1H_-kCTtBSt_0TO6tlAvJPzAuUhpge9zpK7i5h6lHYO7iyE1YIWqfGVi2HXTMCt1ZEnbeK9T3c5lCKLbW4rf7SviQbX7-bn5kPEhY0-L-IVup5UTi6ZIUvPrzx0h8DlLetsohJ9bGBknljnadb8BfOSc1zOWt9ggftPcteVqHXhljKRxJaJTJdW/s1366/Screenshot%20(1221).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGABCL1H_-kCTtBSt_0TO6tlAvJPzAuUhpge9zpK7i5h6lHYO7iyE1YIWqfGVi2HXTMCt1ZEnbeK9T3c5lCKLbW4rf7SviQbX7-bn5kPEhY0-L-IVup5UTi6ZIUvPrzx0h8DlLetsohJ9bGBknljnadb8BfOSc1zOWt9ggftPcteVqHXhljKRxJaJTJdW/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1221).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YGrR4GBlf872w0Cfi5j638seUHy2fUDaz5064t7vmcB4xPJcH75eg9Ce2owtI1q3Wewy1FUwfxCz4rXd5NVgB_1J15WfH4kDgl6_JrA3FN3nGxzmbJKpVGYVM-8SyPEd-_gdeYeuSg2GdwLeM5K2cISJbrPd8gXfZbtvyZDxtOz6ZNf4RJVki34-3L8Y/s1366/Screenshot%20(1223).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YGrR4GBlf872w0Cfi5j638seUHy2fUDaz5064t7vmcB4xPJcH75eg9Ce2owtI1q3Wewy1FUwfxCz4rXd5NVgB_1J15WfH4kDgl6_JrA3FN3nGxzmbJKpVGYVM-8SyPEd-_gdeYeuSg2GdwLeM5K2cISJbrPd8gXfZbtvyZDxtOz6ZNf4RJVki34-3L8Y/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1223).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Uh, really? That’s really it for Leo and Nicci? They <em>just</em> got here, and they’ve already been written out? Okay, I’m sure we’ll see the pair of them again in some capacity since this season is all about bringing people back from the dead, but still – that’s very anticlimactic. They’ve only been around for two episodes!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So with the sword and compass back in Richard’s hands, the team cremate Leo’s remains and Cara quietly admits her feelings for him... even though it’s too late. I can’t say I’m sad to see an end to this particular “romance”, but it was still a nasty way to get rid of the poor guy. I expected a lot more from his introduction. Ditto Nicci, especially on the heels of Denna’s death. Is it too much to ask for a sexy, power-hungry villainess to stick around long-term?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbi9xIZjlDh93VSyLYF64UH_HgsVQ3_tqfnBfqtyZ3JojSmC9U0e5YdPngVj9Pe9-wLMzWqaBIZRh_RjY7hiP0w9Cv6KUJZRgNTjjPFvd-hJJHvb8B374tJUHrBAjTCt3jxWwXE8C2z5CHZtcOC-lDYWFMDKyXEOcmTG0zuhdL7E8x7KgiSLHjDzpMLYIB/s1366/Screenshot%20(1225).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbi9xIZjlDh93VSyLYF64UH_HgsVQ3_tqfnBfqtyZ3JojSmC9U0e5YdPngVj9Pe9-wLMzWqaBIZRh_RjY7hiP0w9Cv6KUJZRgNTjjPFvd-hJJHvb8B374tJUHrBAjTCt3jxWwXE8C2z5CHZtcOC-lDYWFMDKyXEOcmTG0zuhdL7E8x7KgiSLHjDzpMLYIB/w400-h225/Screenshot%20(1225).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miscellaneous Observations:</span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Prelate tells Kahlan that she knew her as a little girl, and that: “my dear sister who raised you always said you were destined to become a great woman.” Uh, what? I’m going to assume that the term “sister” is figurative, referring to another one of the Confessors as opposed to any biological connection, but it still seems odd that the Prelate would have this connection to Kahlan. These women are a completely different sect from the Confessors, and have been in the Old World this whole time. How is any of this possible?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">There’s been a lot of discussion about the formatting and pacing of television these days, specifically the loss of filler episodes and the drastically shortened seasons. Watching <strong>Legend of the Seeker</strong> has been a reminder of how shows <em>used</em> to be structured: a whopping twenty-two episodes per season, with some episodes providing forward momentum in the overarching storylines, and some just playing around with the characters in comedic situations (with a dollop of characterization stirred in).</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">These were the days when you watched things on a weekly basis, in which the story was carefully metered out in the writer’s room, and not conceived as an eight-or-ten-hour movie divided into segments, designed to be binge-watched in one big go. It’s fascinating to (re)experience the difference.</span></p>
<!--/wp:paragraph-->Ravhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09152296184925188730noreply@blogger.com0