Legacies - Kai Parker Screwed Us

Discussing Ep. 2.12

A much better episode than last week's, and I'm somewhat impressed by how they explained everything, and yet there are some real headscratchers here.

I have to say, they got me going for a little bit. I could not imagine that Kai suddenly became a good guy, or even some kind of anti-hero character, because of his time in the prison world. The idea that those 3 students revived him and then hunted him for sport made no sense given Kai's past. He's a Heretic, having both the powers of a witch and a vampire, so he should have been more powerful than all of them. Plus, he took control of the original Heretics and became their leader while in the prison world. So I wasn't buying that he somehow went from alpha to beta all because 3 unruly students decided to have fun with him.

I was glad to see that that wasn't the case. Of course he assumed leadership over the 3 students. That made a lot more sense. And it was great how he didn't lose his sense of humour either. "Beard bros." "Alarry-ic." "Linda and Jonie." It was great to have Kai back, if only for a little bit.

But with Kai's appearance and his re-emergence into the real world, it begs a few questions. Why, in the world, would Josie tell him ANYTHING about Malivore? Like, I get over the course of a trip together that Kai would ask her about stuff that's going on and how they ended up in that prison world, but why would she tell him, in any great detail, anything about Malivore? I suppose she thought it was harmless but still. She obviously went into enough detail that he understood not only WHERE Malivore was, but what happened to people once they fell into it. I mean.....what the fuck? I get that it helps them all get to this point so I suppose I can't blame them for their creativity, but it just felt a bit too convenient.

As for Diego, Wendy and Jade, an interesting side story. I do hate how the Ripper tag is thrown around at any vampire who feeds excessively on people. Stefan used to be special in that respect, but apparently it was hereditary from his Ripper mom, Lily. And now MG is a Ripper and Jade is a Ripper. The funny thing was that the "Ripper" label wasn't a classification, per se. That's just what the locals ended up calling Stefan when he massacred that town. They called him The Ripper of Monterrey. It's like Jack The Ripper. It was merely a nickname, not a class of vampire. I remember Klaus sort of elevated the name, calling Stefan a true "rippah." But then they changed it all when they made being a Ripper an actual condition and not just a nickname for Stefan. Hell, they made a serum that changed both Elena and Damon into Rippers (that was just a fucking stupid storyline....I still remember it). So having Jade be a Ripper is somewhat eye-rolling.

What I find rather amusing, if not unbelievable, was the story that Jade told that led to their imprisonment. She fell for this girl, a human, who invited Jade, Diego and Wendy to a get-together simply so that they could meet her human friends who then proceeded to treat the 3 as though they were a bunch of circus freaks? I know people are stupid but that's like bringing a full grown tiger to your friends and they all laugh at it and pull its tail for fun, only to be mauled by the tiger at the end. I was actually glad that Diego wolfed out and ripped that guy's arm off. That was great! But this is part of the problem in regards to the TVD Universe, that being a werewolf or a vampire or a witch doesn't mean much anymore. If even a bunch of humans aren't even slightly afraid of meeting a legit vampire, a werewolf and a witch.....then what's the point? There used to be a sense of fear about interacting with any of those supernatural creatures, but that's all gone now.

As for Drowned Pirate and Lizzie, it was a nice twist but at the same time, kind of a headscratcher too. Where the hell did Sebastian take Lizzie? I know it was outside of Mystic Falls but it was sunny and nice where they were, while it was cloudy and overcast where Josie and Kai were. So I was confused as to where they all were. Sebastian's proposal of Lizzie and him just living in that prison world was asinine. I mean, you hear songs about such things, about living in a world where there is no one but the two of us and our love and all that bullshit, but when you really think about it, it's not very appealing. You would need some kind of human interaction. I could see Lizzie getting really bored really fast in world where there was no one else, no other humans to interact with.

I will say though, I liked the added element to Sebastian's character when he called her Cassandra instead of Elizabeth. You realize that he was merely substituting Lizzie for his lost love and perhaps didn't really care for her at all. What I don't get, though, is Lizzie siphoning magic out of Sebastian to the point of his desiccation. I don't think it works like that. I recall when Kai sucked the vampire magic out of Sheriff Liz, thereby removing the possibility that she would become a vampire upon death. If that's the case, then wouldn't sucking the vampire magic out of Sebastian, who is already dead....kill him? It's like when the Travellers put up that no-magic spell on Mystic Falls. When Tyler stepped into it, the vampire magic that animated him was gone and he essentially died because there was no magic to keep him re-animated. So by rights, Lizzie sucking the vampire magic from Sebastian should have killed him!

Well, either way, we're left with some cliffhangers and more headscratching questions. If Kai did fall into Malivore, why wouldn't Josie's memory of him and what he told her go away anyway? I don't get what the point was of her breaking the sandclock and absorbing the dark magic before Kai fell into Malivore.

What the hell is Alaric going to do with a sword against a witch, vampire and a werewolf?

Is Lizzie now a Heretic? I'm thinking not. That'd be too shocking if she were.

And what will Dark Josie do now? Will she help her dad and sister or will she turn against them?

Also, what kind of team will Kai and Ted make? Kai seems too lone-wolf, so to speak, to work with anyone, even someone like The Necromancer. Although I can see it being rather fun. I can only imagine the one-liners and the quips he will make about Hope and especially about Landon. That's going to be a hoot!   

Manifest - Coordinated Flight

Discussing Ep. 2.5

I get the feeling that they're trying to throw us for a loop in various things and I'm not buying it in some cases because they've tried this kind of thing before.

I'm going to get this out of the way now. I'm not buying that Jared has turned to the dark side, so to speak, and is aligning himself with the X-ers. As hurt as he is from Mick's rejection of him and her new relationship with Zeke, and as much as he may not understand the callings and is even tired of them popping up all the time and has made his life a mess, I don't think he's completely let go of his love for Mick or for her family. It just doesn't seem to be in his nature. Yeah, he may let his jealousy get the best of him but for all that he gave up, for all that he put on the line for Mick, he couldn't have let those feelings go just like that. He stood up for her, somewhat, when talking about her raid of the X-ers headquarters....and yet he also questioned it. So at worst, he's on the fence about everything.

His interaction with Tamara's brother, Billy, was rather surprising, given that he had bought him a drink and was somewhat buddy-buddy with him the previous two episodes. Mind you, Billy was being a real twat and I'm glad that Jared put him in his place with that 'squad car' comment. But you got the sense that Jared wasn't necessarily on his side, even though he may have superficial feelings for Tamara and may cut Billy some slack as a result. But the revelation that he tipped Billy off about the police raid was somewhat surprising and yet I'm not buying that he's on Billy's side. I get the sense that Jared is still looking out for Mick and her family. The concern he showed for Grace and the baby showed me that he still cares and is not throwing his feelings away for all of them just because of a broken heart. Having said that though, he's being somewhat careless because the X-ers are obviously well organized, perhaps even funded, by something bigger.

The minute that Ben and TJ discovered how well-organized the X-ers were and how coordinated their attacks were, I knew that they must have had something to do with The Major. The question now though is, what's the point of it all? What is the point of harassing the 828-ers to the point of almost killing them? What are these attacks meant to do? And how is professor Foster involved....what's his role? I'm thinking that Jared is going undercover, in a way, to get to the bottom of it all. I don't think he's abandoned his feelings for Mick, even though he may realize that they will never get back together at this point. And in my opinion, even if Mick wanted to get back with him, he should let that relationship go because she is totally not worth it!

I am highly UNIMPRESSED with her at the moment. She dropped Jared like a fucking piece of trash on the street and went full on with Zeke to the point that you'd have thought she and Jared were never an item! Like....wow! All her feelings, all that turmoil that she was supposedly going through when she got back, all that confusion and supposed pain that she felt at seeing Jared and her friend Lordes together.....where did all of that go? I was hard on Jared but like I said in the previous episode, I understand his pain. And though his jealousy and obsessiveness was uncalled for, he gave up a lot for Mick. And now here is Mick, sleeping with Zeke and being all lovey-dovey couple-like, and you'd have never thought that she felt anything for Jared at any point in her life.

She made such a big deal about her feelings for Jared. She made such a big deal about how she was going to say 'yes' to his proposal before she disappeared. She made such a big deal about how she couldn't fight her feelings for him despite the fact that he was married to her best friend. And now....she feels nothing. Like....NOTHING! Like I said before, what Jared did was a stupid thing to do. He made a mistake. And whether or not he could learn and grow from it is an entirely different thing altogether but I think he deserved a chance given everything he had done for Mick. And yet, Mick decides to go with Zeke, without any confusion or hesitation or anything, all because it's some cosmic connection that she has with him.

Meanwhile, it seems the problems keep piling up for Zeke. I know I'm hard on Zeke too but jeez-louise! When does it stop with this guy? He's married and he never bothered to tell Mick about it? The fuck is that? Like I said before, I don't feel the chemistry between Zeke and Mick. We're supposed to believe they are cosmically meant for each other but I don't feel it. I feel like Zeke is there to create problems for Mick and give her something to do, as if she doesn't have enough on her plate.

As for the other cosmic connection, I find it weird how TJ has so easily inserted himself into the Stone family. Like....where was this guy last season? One simple calling and he and Ben become best buds and he and Olive become a couple? Talk about fast work! Given that, I'm curious as to where this will go with him because it's a tad bit too good to be true. I don't know why, but I feel like something is going to happen with him that's going to be shocking.

What also was surprising was how well Olive stood up for herself against both her mom and dad. I really liked this exchange between the three of them because I felt like they disapproved of her being with Adrian's church without ever asking her why. While I do believe that Adrian is exploiting the miracle of 828, he's not wrong about how the 828-ers are all different. And though I loved Ben's comments about aliens and time shifts (which I'm sure were fan theories that they incorporated into the show), his belief that they are still who they always were is wrong. They are different and maybe the fact that they are getting callings that save people's lives (in some cases) perhaps points to a bigger blessing. I still think that Adrian's church is almost making a mockery of everything, but I could see how someone like Olive and TJ and others are trying to find the answers to why everything is going on, just like Ben. As a result, I think Ben and Grace are not listening enough or being open minded enough to hear where Olive is coming from. Their comments at the end made it sound like Olive was doing drugs or something. She's just trying to find answers, just like the rest of them.

Though it seems like not everyone is on board. This was surprising. I didn't expect Isaiah to turn like this. I don't know what this means. Has he become disillusioned with Adrian and the church? Is he a mole for The Major? I could easily see it being the latter because why wouldn't she have a mole there? The church is being run by an 828-er so it would make sense for her to keep tabs on that movement just in case some other "miracle" should occur that they could exploit. I think maybe that's why he was so hesitant to give descriptions about the attackers, though I'm assuming now that the X-ers aren't aware of The Major or that she has moles in the church because why would they attack Isaiah? I'm just wondering if he's just some guy they recruited or is he some high profile government agent just playing a role. Time will tell.

It was actually kind of funny seeing Ben go all thug on Adrian. I really wasn't expecting him to do this. I like how they're being consistent with his character, with him going more on impulse than common sense. And you really can't blame the guy, I guess. He's looking out for Olive and sees her life as being in danger as a result of being associated with Adrian. But this is NOT going to turn Olive away from the church. If anything, it may push her closer towards it. Even if Adrian tells her to go away and never return, she's a smart cookie. She'll put two and two together and realize that either Ben or Grace said something to Adrian to get him to push her away, which will only end up pushing her away from her parents. She'll be defiant and continue to attend, and I fear that TJ may get caught in the middle of all of it.

I don't know how I feel about this particular revelation. Felt a tad bit contrived, if not convenient. Though I'm more intrigued than ever as to what it all means. I'm guessing that they're going to try and find out who made the tarot cards and see if they also engraved that pocket watch, which will add yet another piece to the puzzle.

It seems Saanvi is back next episode so we'll get a follow up to The Major which should be exciting!

Evil - Book 27

Discussing Ep. 1.13

Wow!

Like.....WOW!!!

What an ending! And I just read that Evil got a second season so that is such great news because they could not have ended things like this. They couldn't have!

Having said that though, I get the sense that because a second season was not secure, that the writers, as many writers of TV shows often face, were forced to try and tie everything together and leave a cliff hanger that could serve as a season or series finale. As such, some elements in this episode and the way they tied things together fell a little short but overall, it was such a blast of a season and a blast of an episode!

So this guy is showing up all over the place now. He appeared in the real world talking to Townsend. He appears in Kristen's dream. He appeared in an illusion to Kristen's daughter, Lexis. And he appeared in a vision to David. Is he supposed to Satan? I'm assuming he is so we'll go with that for now.

I liked the progression at the beginning because it went from her first encounter with demonic possession in the form of Orson, then it went onto George, and finally ended with Satan. What has surprised me about this series is that it wasn't what I thought it would be. I expected that each episode was going to be like the first, where they come across some seemingly supernatural case and in some instances they will debunk everything and in some instances, like the episode with the ghost in the hospital camera, they won't and will leave it to the audience to decide.

But it looks like they've embraced the supernatural and running with it full steam ahead.

I was fully expecting them to have this be one of those mysteries where it started out as supernatural but they would write it off as natural. Eleanor is pregnant with twins and is due in 10 days, but she believes that one of her children is possessed, or at the very least, evil incarnate and shows it by hurting her with his bumping around in her stomach. I figured they would debunk this until this particular scene when David places a crucifix on Eleanor's hand, which a possessed person could not hold. Eleanor holds onto it just fine. But then he puts it on Eleanor's stomach and this fucking bump came out of nowhere! It was clear that she wasn't kidding and that it wasn't just her imagination that she was feeling this demon baby inside of her bumping her insides to smithereens! So it was up to David to convince the diocese that an exorcism was required.

Of course, the diocese didn't believe that the baby might have been possessed because possession requires consent. I was impressed that they got that part right. Then, of all people, Ben suggests that it's not possession but an infestation, which wouldn't require consent. That was impressive too! So the diocese decides to apply his own test by having Eleanor take part in communion. Then this happens!

I was expecting something when she swallowed the wafer, but not this! What the hell happened here? They said in the hospital that the one twin absorbed the other and that it happens, otherwise known as Vanishing Twin Syndrome. But fuck man....did the bad twin puree the good twin into nothing but blood? That was like all the blood in Eleanor's body that she bled out onto the floor!

So in their investigation of the case, they find out that Eleanor was impregnated through in vitro fertilization by a company called RSM Fertility. I have to say, it was really weird, if not somewhat convenient, how everything came together.

While Ben is in Eleanor's kitchen, a teddy bear suddenly starts playing the tune that made all those choir girls go nuts in that YouTuber video. He checks the bear out and finds out it came from RSM Fertility. Bizarre how the bear started playing the tune without being activated. When they check out the clinic, David makes the connection with the Euler Triangle that he had seen in his past visions.

I was a tad bit disappointed, if only because the vision that David had contained numbers and letters that I thought were going to point to something more, not just merely be the same image as the RSM Fertility logo. However, as I said before, I understand the circumstances the writers were in and they only had 13 episodes to work with so I'll run with this. After looking at some images of past clients of the clinic, David recognizes someone from a past episode.

This is the kid that suddenly became possessed and tried to drown his baby sister and whose parents ended up killing him! So now they're connecting SOME of the past cases to the fertility clinic. I'm willing to bet that Brenda, from the Halloween episode, was also birthed thanks to the RSM Fertility clinic. It would only make sense.

Adding to the revelations, David discovers that RSM Fertility is located in the very same cities that correlated to the three stars vision that he had, which he later connected to specific cities in the US.

So I kind of felt like they were going into Manifest territory here by having David have visions instead of "callings" that would later point to something in the future. So what David and Ben conclude is that RSM Fertility is basically churning out psychopaths. But it seems to go deeper than mere psychopaths and that the fetuses are somehow demonically obsessed, meaning that there is some kind of attachment to the demonic world. This is essentially confirmed by Kristen, who reveals that her second eldest daughter, Lexis, was created in vitro thanks to RSM Fertility.

Now this is where I was a bit iffy on this particular revelation. Aside from the eldest daughter, Lynn, and the youngest daughter, Laura, we haven't really been exposed to the other two daughters, Lexis and Lila. Lexis got some shine in that episode where Sheryl gave her horrible advice and caused her to injure a fellow student that was bullying her. But that was it. She started to become more involved in the last episode and this episode with her confessing weird things to Kristen, but there was really nothing there that suggested that she was any different from her siblings. If anything, I would have thought that it was the youngest daughter, Laura, that was born using in vitro. She's the one with the bad heart valve and she was the one who saw the demon outside of the VR headset when they first got that. Also, she was the one who was in the grave when Brenda took the girls to the graveyard. So all of that would have made more sense if Laura was the one who was the odd one out among the sisters.

But they're having it that Lexis is potentially a future psycho or possessed who is being visited by Satan (or Orson possessed by a demon) and so now it's a wait and see kind of thing. It's interesting because there doesn't seem to be a specific age when the change happens. With that kid who tried to drown his baby sister, it happened when he was around 10. With Eleanor's twins, it happened as a fetus. And with Kristen, it seems to have happened as an adult!

Speaking of Kristen's behaviour....WHOA!!!

So she's getting harassed by Orson, who pretends that he's become a born-again Christian and wants to make amends. But he's also throwing false accusations and also ends up going too far when he shows up, trying to break into Kristen's house and Lexis, inexplicably, lets him in as she follows the command of Satan in a bizarre vision. At this point, Kristen snaps and grabs a hiking pick with a very sinister look on her face. Given what she had done to Townsend, basically committing attempted murder had Townsend not made it to the hospital to stitch up the cut she made on his neck, it's clear that she was willing to go to great lengths to protect her family.

But now we are left with the impression that she killed Orson. We never got confirmation of it, but signs are heavily pointing to the idea that Kristen did indeed kill Orson after he successfully broke into her house and left a gift basket. She had blood on her leg which Ben noticed, and she seemed very insistent with Ben that he didn't see anything, that there was no blood on her legs. Also, when Mira (who I was very surprised was still talking with Kristen) informed her that they found Orson bludgeoned to death and figured it was his wife, that left the viewer with the serious question as to what exactly Kristen did. It's especially dangerous because the cops aren't stupid. Mind you, neither is Kristen and perhaps she did a good enough job of covering her tracks. But she's playing with fire and it seems like she's going to get burned.

Speaking of which.....

This was awesome! What a way to end the season. I mean, this was almost like Forever Knight, when Nick the vampire tries to hold a crucifix and gets burned. Here, Kristen....the atheist, the nonbeliever, the former Catholic who lost her faith....tries to hold a crucifix and gets burned! So what are we to take from this? She can't be possessed because she never consented to possession. It could be obsession, given her visits with George and Satan in her dreams and given her irrational attitude. The fact is though, I have a feeling that a connection is going to be made between Kristen and the RSM Fertility clinic that is beyond Lexis being the only one in the family from there.

My guess is that, given what happened with Kristen at the end of the episode and along with Sheryl and her relationship with both Kristen and Townsend, that Kristen herself is a product of RSM Fertility. It would explain why we've never heard anything about Kristen's father and why Kristen was so heavily targeted by Townsend, along with why she's so different from Sheryl and why Kristen's behaviour has suddenly taken a turn for the worst. It would also explain David's vision at the end, with Satan threshing the wheat and Kristen willingly going towards him, suggesting that she is already his.

Speaking of Sheryl, she's REALLY starting to get on my nerves. I get that she's "in love" with Townsend and therefore is completely blind to the red flags that circle around him, but to give him a copy of that damn Codex and to also give him a copy of her key is just absolutely ridiculous. Credit to Townsend for working his magic and proposing to her, further ensnaring her. The thing that I don't get is when Sheryl approached Kristen to get her blessing, that Kristen didn't reveal everything that she had learned about Townsend, like his real name of Jake The Flake and his previous divorces and all of that. Somehow, I think that still wouldn't have changed Sheryl's mind but it's unfortunate, but not uncommon, for someone to choose a lover (who is bad for them) over their own family.

Anyway, so while they did attempt to connect various cases from the past to this overall storyline, there are still a number of questions left behind which I'm glad a second season might yet answer.

What are we to make of the Codex and the sigils?

We never got any resolution to David's father painting the sigils or that woman who birthed that demon baby, or the ghost of that slave girl that talked to David.

What ever happened to that prayer group that David was supposed to host that Townsend was going to send Sebastian, the incel, into to shoot everyone up? Whatever happened to Townsend getting another incel to do the job?

Are we ever going to get an explanation for the ghost/angel in that hospital footage?

What was the voice that spoke to Ben and his sister through the Alexa device that seemed to know so much about them and was talking in Arabic?

Is there a resolution as to where Nurse Plague (Nancy) went and why she was trying to kill black patients?

Who left those notes that were in Julia's handwriting and kept taking photos of David and Renée together? And whatever happened to his relationship with Renée?

Why did God give David these revelations now when the RSM Fertility clinic has been operating for years?

I really do hope we get answers to these questions next season.

Overall, a great first season. This show really surprised me in so many ways and I'm happy about that. I think the chemistry between Kristen, Ben and David is awesome and they're my favourite trio right now. Can't wait to for the next season.

I'll leave off with this quote that David said to Kristen. I liked David's explanation for why he continues to believe. It pretty much mirrors my own reasons for believing.

"When this body contained a soul, an entire kingdom was too small to hold it. But now, two paces of wretched earth is plenty of room."

It is indeed, ironic.