Evil - 2 Fathers

Discussing Ep. 1.7

Okay, this was the weirdest episode yet!

I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll start with David and Kristen's journey to see David's father, Leon.

What I found interesting about this storyline that was reflected throughout the episode was how my expectations were thwarted each and every time! I didn't know what to expect with Leon, David's father. It was bomb after bomb after bomb of revelations with this guy. First, he introduces his first wife, Esther, to whom he got married and did not tell David. Okay, that was the first one. Then, his wife is six months pregnant. Okay, that's the second one. Then, he introduces his second wife, Cori, and they describe themselves as a "throuple."

For a moment, it felt congruent with the artistic side that Leon presented. I could see someone like him being eccentric enough to engage in such a relationship with such free-spirited people. The whole community seemed to engage in a sort of hedonistic lifestyle, coupled with a kind of New Age belief system when they mentioned communicating with their ancestors and calling on the "names of power." That phrase kind of pinged my evil meter. I was fully expecting them to call out demonic names but they never went that far.

When David asked him about the sigil that he kept using in his paintings, Leon went on about how it wasn't him who was painting but something else, or someone else. They hinted that Leon might have been possessed but they never really confirmed that either way. The sigil kep showing up everywhere, even on pottery.

Everybody kept claiming that they had no idea where the sigil came from until David ran into a woman at the party. An oddly dressed girl named Annie Commerce. I had a sense that she might be a ghost but I really didn't believe they'd go that far until they actually went that far. Her history was that she was brought on a ship in 1859 and sold as a slave to a man named John Bertens. The scars that she showed were lashes made to her when she holding on to a baby that was being snatched away from her. I have a feeling that particular detail is going to be relevant later on. In the end, it turned out that the particular sigil was, in fact, Berten's seal, the slave owner. When David confronted his father for using it, for using a symbol that represented hate and slavery, Leon explained that he took the symbol for himself and was trying to take the power of what it represented in the past and using it for his own power....using it for "grace and resilience."

I kind of found this explanation to be akin to African American's rationale for using the n-word. Because the rationale is pretty much the same: take a word that represented hate and slavery and has all kinds of negative historical connotations to it and use it in their own community, thereby taking the original power away from that word. I don't know if what Leon did was right or even logical, but David seemed to accept it. However, it doesn't at all clear whether or not Leon is being influenced by demonic entities, since he never confirmed what that "spirit" was that controlled him when he painted. Leon claimed that the duality of good and evil that David believes doesn't exist, that what is....is. I found that to be very interesting and an indication that perhaps there is a demonic influence that hides behind such a non-threatening philosophy.

Of course, Kristen's experience with the sangria and Esther and Cori would prove that perhaps there is something seriously demonic going on. Then again, they're really keeping things vague because Kristen was, after all, high as a kite!

Then all of a sudden, she hears a woman screaming. At first, I deduced that it was Esther giving birth just because it sounded like a woman giving birth. But she was about 3 months early, so it didn't make a lot of sense. I was sort of expecting perhaps Cori maybe performing a C-section on her or something like that. But that's not what happened. Esther gave birth and it was NOT what I expected!

This was seriously fucked up! What the fuck is that? What kind of weird demon baby is that? The weird thing about this is there's no proof that what happened is what ACTUALLY happened! Kristen walked away from this as though it was all a part of a delusion that she imagined because of the spiked sangria. She and David both laughed off their respective experiences as being thanks to the sangria. But again, the show leaves you wondering if that is indeed true. Because there was this one shot of the house where a figure in the window suddenly appears.

Was that Annie? Who is that? I don't know if they will come back to this story but I hope they do and I hope they answer these lingering questions.

Speaking of returning to past storylines, I was happy to see Ben return to his burgeoning relationship with his once-costar, Vanessa. Again, they went somewhere with this story that I was totally not expecting.

When they were arguing about the phone number being written down wrong on Ben's hand, I assumed that perhaps it was something related to The Sixty and the sigils and all of that. That perhaps Vanessa herself was part of The Sixty. But then she reveals something that was just completely unexpected. Apparently, her sister (twin?) died and her spirit (?) was grafted onto her right arm. So Vanessa....this hard line sceptic who believes only in what she can see....believes that her dead sister continues to live on and is grafted onto her shoulder! While I did agree with Ben's reaction, I had to admit that I liked Vanessa's comeback about how Ben's belief in quantum theory can be equally regarded as absurd seeing as how he believes in something he cannot explain. To me, that's a fair argument. I could see why Ben wouldn't believe that but I think it's because his bias colours his opinion.

Still, I couldn't help but laugh when Ben is still tempted to sleep with her (and I don't blame him....she was looking good!) but is suddenly unable to shake off the feeling that this woman is insane and he's trying to convince himself to brush it off. I laughed so hard as he was giving himself a pep talk in the bathroom mirror and then called David to further convince himself. It was funny how he changed his name on David's phone to God. David seemed unimpressed. Actually, I liked Ben's talk with Kristen at the beginning as it seemed they were becoming like brother and sister and I like the way their relationship is developing. Once again, they kind of left things hanging here because after David told Ben that "the world is weird," we don't know if Ben continued on with Vanessa or not. I kind of hope he did but now I'm worried about Vanessa's state of mind.

And lastly, we got the long awaited return (or introduction) of Kristen's mountain climbing husband, Andrew.

I gotta say, this storyline did not put Kristen in a good light. Throughout David and Kristen's adventure, I was SO anxious, so nervous, and so hoping that nothing would happen between them. Because they were so high and so flirtatious with each other, I was totally expecting them to make out if not sleep together! Even at the end, I was expecting them to kiss and Andy would see them kiss when he came to greet Kristen, and THAT would not have been good at all! Thankfully though, nothing happened between David and Kristen this night or any other night for that matter.

They tried to paint Andy as somewhat of an absentee father, with Sheryl (I'll get to her later) labelling him as "frat boy" who was always gone on some next climbing adventure. I was shocked to learn that he was gone for only three months. Sure, that's not exactly a weekend but I've heard of soldiers being on deployment for longer times than that! And perhaps we're not getting the full picture here since we just got introduced to him but having Kristen have little to no self control over her feelings and already starting the early stages of infidelity, it really makes her look bad. Andy is trying to earn a living to provide for his family, who cut his trip short so that he could spend more time with them. And here's Kristen getting high and developing romantic feelings with her coworker. I'm sure Andy is already wondering if Kristen's been unfaithful to him, since he assumes that Ben is the one she's been seeing but he doesn't know the whole story. And I have no doubt that he's going to be a wrench in the works for Kristen and her continuing relationship with David, both professionally and personally, since I have no doubt that Andy will be a non-believer. Either way though, Kristen came off looking bad here.

Well, perhaps Kristen is more like her mother than she'd like to admit. I thought it was ridiculous how Sheryl basically fucked Townsend in Kristen's office! What was the point of that? Even if Sheryl felt that Kristen was being unfair and truly believed that Kristen wanted her to be single for the rest of her life, why do that? No doubt Townsend persuaded her but it just goes to show that Sheryl is really going to be a detriment in this fight against Townsend and The Sixty.

Speaking of The Sixty, we got the return of a potential Sixty member, Rose390! I wasn't expecting this and again, I wasn't expecting the end. I thought Andy was going to mess everything up when he joined the girls in that VR game. His daughter, Lynn, was feeling really nervous as they approached Rose, with Rose morphing into a creature that reminded me of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the movie The Cabin In The Woods. 

Eventually, though, Andy and Lynn were able to finish the game by hitting the 'Goodbye' button on the virtual Ouija board. I was fully expecting Rose to pop up somewhere in the real world but that didn't happen. Nothing happened. Instead, they finished the game and everything was all hunky-dory!

So it was definitely an episode of "subverted expectations," to borrow a phrase that's popular in the Star Wars community. I do hope they revisit these storylines again. I can't imagine that they are going to let what happened with that monster baby and what happened with Leon and Vanessa and Rose390 to just go away to Offscreenlandia.

They've been good in revisiting past storylines so I am hopeful.

Legacies - That's Nothing I Had To Remember

Discussing Ep. 2.6

Finally....FINALLY....Freya makes her appearance!

I'm glad they eventually addressed the elephant-in-the-room, so to speak, about how the Mikaelson family would have photos of Hope but have no idea who she is or why she is in those photos with them. I'm surprised that Freya didn't do more investigating on her own considering she should have found it weird or at least suspicious that something happened to her memory and perhaps she might try and figure out what happened. It begs the question....had Josie never come to her, would Freya have even bothered to figure it all out?

It was funny hearing about what has happened to Freya and her wife (Keelin?....trying to remember the name). They now have a son named Nik....short for Niklaus, no doubt. I was sort of surprised but not surprised, at that. I suppose it makes sense to name the kid after Klaus, but what about Elijah. He died too! Isn't anyone going to name a kid after him? Hell, I wouldn't have bat an eyelid if Freya named her son Mikael or Finn, considering she was rather close to those two even though the other Mikaelsons weren't. I was intrigued that she and her wife were considering Salvatore School as a potential future for Nik. Is Nik a witch or a wolf? I'm curious to know whose eggs they used. And who is the father? My money's on Vincent, and if so, then it makes sense that it was Freya's eggs that were used so that Nik is a full-fledged witch. They kind of retconned the whole 'only family lineage dictates witch potential' by having it that ANYBODY can be a witch (kind of like anybody can be a Jedi according to the new Star Wars....I'll touch on Landon and Lizzie later!)....so, I guess Vincent's sperm wasn't necessarily needed, but it'd have been nice if it was his (even nicer if Vincent 'donated' the sperm the old fashioned way! Frincent Forever!).

It was good seeing her again and it was nice how she and Hope reunited. I did have an "awwww!" moment there because of how Hope was looking at everyone else being with family and loved ones and she was alone and then she suddenly sees Freya. My only gripe, of course, is that Freya is the only one to show up! Where's Beks? Where's Kol? Where's Marcel? Didn't they get their memories back too? Wouldn't they be eager to go and seek out Hope and give her a hug? Maybe they'll have some throwaway lines about them all next episode.

The Croatian was a rather weird monster (I know it's Croatoan but I just kept calling him the Croatian while watching the show so that's what I'm calling him....no offence to Croatians!). It was kind of funny because he was dressed as a Puritan but looked all kinds of fucked up. I kind of liked how he would stab his victims with his nose and then melt their insides. Gross! But he was rather humorous, if not exaggerated, in the way he moved around, almost like he was doing performance art or something. The one thing I didn't like and was thoroughly disappointed in was both his motive and how he came to be.

And it seems we have Drowned Pirate to thank for the Croatian.

This sucked! While I will say that I like DP and his interaction with MG in particular, I was expecting him to be something other than your run-of-the-mill vampire. I expected him to have some loftier goal than be just some vampire who was lying around and showed up at this opportune moment when the Croatian happens to show up too and he's the only one with the background info needed to stop him. He just happened to know the witch, Cassandra, back in the day who summoned the Croatian to root out liars in that Puritan community and he just happened to show up in the here and now when the Croatian showed up and he just happened to have a memento of Cassandra that Hope could use to bring the Croatian down. Sigh! This felt like classic TVD S5 writing right here. Contrivance and Convenience also seemed to make their glorious return with Freya!   

I'm assuming DP is sticking around for a while, which I'm not upset about. I could envision moments of humour where he's trying to get acclimated to the 21st century, especially with Lizzie teaching him. If anything, both of them will make a killer couple in regards to their snide comments. I spit out my coffee in laughter when he called MG and Kaleb "turnips." And then you have Lizzie with lines like "once you bone, you can never un-bone" and telling Hope that she still has a chance to "plant your flag on muppet treasure island!" I could see Sezzie (Sebastian and Lizzie) being a cool, sassy kind of couple. Then again, I do wonder about Lizzie and Landon. Those two are just funny as hell with each other, especially when Lizzie is like "Where do you stand on Ewoks" and then she endures Landon's diatribe on Ewoks. The two of them sort of remind me of Damon and Bonnie but are less serious than Damon and Bonnie were. Lizzon....Lanzie....I'll go with Lanzie....they're a neat frenemy kind of pairing.

Here's a couple I don't have such high hopes on now. I gotta say, I was upset at the way Sheriff RIP treated Alaric. She's a working mom with two kids. A working mom who is a sheriff, no less. Surely, she's had her moments of having to put her work or her kids before a romantic interest. And yet, she didn't accept Alaric's excuse of him having to look after his kids as a good enough reason for him "ghosting" her at the bar? Like....really? How many times has her job or her kids gotten in the way of her romantic life? I was completely unimpressed with her lack of understanding in regard to Alaric's busy life.

And then you have her interrogating Alaric for what Vardemus/Mudman Jr. did to that 80's woman. It was funny when she pointed out how all of Alaric's love interests seemed to come to a tragic end and then he pointed out how her history was no better. That was a sweet move for Alaric to have done his own background check on her. Turnabout is fair play! So of course, she's looking to pin the murders of the 80's lady at the bar on him, when Alaric plays this card:

Mayor Donovan! MAYOR MATT DONOVAN! Really? I suppose it's cool that Matt's still in the TVD Universe, but with him being the mayor, you'd think he'd be seen even MORE often now? Well, at least he's moving up in the world. And hopefully part of the perks that come with being mayor is that he has a better hair stylist!

The other couple I'm not too keen on is Hope and what's-his-name (I need Baby to come up with a name for Sheriff's RIP's son. The football guy).

I don't know why I didn't like this, but I just didn't. This feels more like typical TVD or CW style of writing, with Hope falling for the hunky, charming, football quarterback. I'm surprised we didn't get a shirtless scene of him with Hope drooling at the sight of his abs! But at the same time, I'm conflicted. I didn't want her necessarily falling for Rafael simply because I didn't want a love square between her and Raf and Landon and Josie. But when Rafael came to her and expressed his feelings for her and realized she didn't feel the same way, I felt bad for him. I really did. In a lot of ways now, Raf is irrelevant. Which isn't to say he wasn't before but he really has no role anymore, other than being Landon's buddy.

And the other thing that I'm not too keen on is the potential that Hope is bi-sexual. I get it was one line and perhaps it didn't mean anything and maybe it was inserted for comedy, but when she confessed that at one point she had a crush on Josie and Lizzie flat out said that THAT will never happen.....I was shaking my head. Is Hope bi-sexual? Was she just bi-curious? Is she going to be like Aunt Freya where one day she's banging guys and then the next day, she inexplicably and suddenly falls for a girl? I get the day and age we live and people can be whatever they want to be and all that....but can they not decide here and now what Hope is? Is she going to be a tri-brid and a tri-sexual at the same time? I don't even know what a tri-sexual is but I'm throwing the term out there. Is she going to be everything all at once? Just fucking decide what you want her to be here and now!

Moving on. The other person who is deciding who or what she is is Josie. I didn't mind this conflict and I even liked it, her conflicted emotions on whether to bring everyone's memories back or to erase them forever, thereby keeping Landon to herself. I liked how she gave in to her selfish feelings by launching that attack on Freya. Bold move, considering how powerful Freya is! But then, she called Caroline, asking for advice on what to do. I really liked this because she was so conflicted and she reached out for help. She wanted to be selfish but at the same time, she knew it was wrong and she couldn't make the decision on her own. I felt this was a highlight of the episode.

Well, that and now this. What the fuck is this? If you're going to spy on someone, there are better ways to do it that this. We have cameras and other technology that can collect intel without having some weird detached eyeball slithering around the kitchen, spreading E-Coli and other diseases along the way!

Oh, and then there's this!

What the fuck is this? A rotary phone? I harp SO MUCH on Riverdale about their backwards technology, especially when it comes to phones because they use NOTHING but rotary phones. Like...EVERYWHERE!!! I thought it was a Riverdale issue but no.....apparently the whole of CW have nothing but rotary phones on their shows! Look, I like rotary phones. I still have one somewhere locked up in a box. But fuck me....why are any of these places using a rotary phone? Why? How? Kids these days don't even know how to use rotary phones. That's not an assumption....it's true!

You can't text. You can't one-button dial a number. You have to dial all seven numbers! Seriously.....how many people, kids or adults, even know their home fucking number? People today are so used to one-button dialing that remembering a seven-long digit number is practically a lost art form! Look, if you're going to go old school....go all the way:

Get one of these fuckers! I actually want to get a cell phone that looks like this. I'd carry it around in my bag and when people ask if they can use my cell phone and I whip out this antique throwback, they'd be like "what the fuck" and I'd have a laugh seeing them trying to use it. Because I'm strange that way.

Anyway, it was a mixed bag of an episode. I'm glad Freya made her appearance and I hope we see more of her. I'm worried that we're going down the familiar TVD path in regard to the romances with Hope and Football guy (I need a better name for him). We'll see how Lizzie and Drowned Pirate make out and whether Landon will choose Hope or will he go with Josie. And what monster will show up next? 

We'll see.

Riverdale - The Ice Storm

Discussing Ep. 4.7

- I was like...."Thanksgiving?!? We already had Thanks....oh, wait, this is American Thanksgiving. I forgot!" LOL!

- "Hiram ran unopposed, allowing him to ascend to power overnight." Only in Riverdale could a new mayor come into power overnight!

- Damn it.....I KNOW HER!!! Where do I know her from?

- Alcoholism? That's the best excuse Dupont could give for Chipping killing himself?

- The phones......again....the phones.....

- Fucking hell! So Toni's problem isn't that she killed a human being....it isn't Cheryl's nonchalant plan of dumping a family member into the icy river to get rid of the evidence.....it's that someone is watching her?

- Oh, that's wonderful logic, Cheryl. Toni should free herself of the guilt because she committed manslaughter, not murder! The fuck is this nonsense?

- Wooooooo!!!! FP is there to shut down Archie's little Thansgiving get-together. I should feel horrible about that....but I don't!

- "Ronnie, where did you get all of this?"

Where she gets everything else, Archie....she pulls it all out of her ass when it's convenient!

- BAH HA HA HA HA HA....FP claims the gym is still an active crime scene? Then why the fuck didn't he cordon it off? Why didn't he shut it down? Any evidence he was hoping to collect is probably worthless now with all the activity that's gone on since Dodger's beating. What kind of incompetent sheriff do we have here?

- Oh, look at how cute and domestic Falice looks!

- Wow, Ronnie! Real mature. Way to go and ruin Hermosa's first Thanksgiving with the family!

- Ya know what....it's about time someone shed a fucking tear over Fred Andrews and missing him on Thanksgiving. You'd never know he was missed by looking at anyone else! Good on Mary for that!

- Why isn't Aunt Cricket calling the cops and issuing a missing person's report? If Uncle Bedford was last seen at Thistlehouse.....wouldn't that be the first place she'd send the cops to? And Cheryl and Toni's complete lack of concern or guilt or emotion over committing murder is rather unsettling.

- Quill and Skull. Now they're going with the whole campus secret society a la Skull and Bones from Yale.

- "Of all the burger joints, they have to walk into ours." What other burger joints are there in Riverdale? Does Riverdale even have a McDonald's?

- Okay, I barely get Hiram and Hermosa going to Pop's for a meal amidst the "worst ice storm ever," but I don't get Falice doing that at all. Unless the power went out at their place, then I could believe it. Otherwise, why bother? They had food at home. Cook at home! Has anyone on the writing staff ever been through an ice storm before? I've been through one. You can't drive! It's fucking ice out there!

- AHA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I loved FP's reaction to Alice inviting the Lodge's to join them!

- Whoa! Looks like the Easter Bunny has had enough with kids taking his chocolate eggs!

- Why is the infirmary locked up? Why is there no staff there during an ice storm when all the students are still in residence and they....I don't know....may need emergency medical attention?!?

- "You're too good for this world, Archiekins." Oh, shut up, Veronica! Just shut the fuck up!!!

- Whoa....what? Did Darla just point out a glaring absurdity?
"I'm Archie...I run the centre."
"But...you're just a kid yourself!"
Yes, it's absurd, isn't it, lady?

- Oh, fuck off, Riverdale! Just fuck off! So now Betty can stitch wounds too?

I bet if she were to enrol in medical school, she'd quit in like a month in because it was "too easy" for her! Fuck this show!

- Who the hell is doing the cooking at Thistlehouse? I refuse to believe that Cheryl can cook.

- I laughed when that woman pulled out the gun. And it's funny that Archie says that "no one here tried to hurt Dodger" when he beat the shit out of him dressed as the Masked Avenger!

- Why would Jug assume that Bret would cop to being in a secret society.....when it's a secret society?

- So Betty took the pin. Why didn't she just take a photo of it and leave it there so as to not draw suspicion that SHE WAS SNOOPING AROUND DONNA'S ROOM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! I fail to see how she's too good for the FBI. She sucks!

- I'll say this....at least they're consistent with Archie's stupidity. His grand plan is to go and get all the weapons he's confiscated (knives, bats, etc.) and start an all out brawl with Dodger's family. And why? Because violence is Archie's first and only response to problems! I give Ronnie credit for being the voice of reason in this.

- "You know what I think, Carrot Top? I think you got a hero complex!"

I love this woman! I'm rooting for her in this encounter.

- "Now that was a touching display. Hell, another day, I might have even cried. But not today!" This woman's awesome! I want her to be a regular on the show!

- Yeah, I'm not surprised Mary Andrews could pull that level of violence out of herself. Archie's penchant for violence has to come from somewhere!

- FP is reminding Hiram about the hit he put out on Jughead. Jug barely acknowledges it. Archie has been the target of Hiram's wrath far more times than Jughead, and he seems to have COMPLETELY forgotten about that. Why is FP still hung up on it?

- I liked that confrontation between FP and Hiram. It felt more gritty than any of the encounters Archie and friends ever have.

- Nana Blossom is awesome!

- Cheryl better be bluffing. She had seriously better be bluffing because if she legit baked Uncle Bedford into those meat pies, then all hope is lost!

- I fail to see how Cheryl could prove Aunt Cricket of committing cannibalism without incriminating herself and Toni of murder or manslaughter.

- Oh! That was unexpected. Mr. Chipping and Donna....having an affair?

- So they're going to be bringing back the Serpents? Again? Sigh!

- Man, I seriously hope there is a ghost of Julian that wreaks havoc on Cheryl and Toni because I cannot stand the two of them!

- Oh, fuck Betty and Jug too! I'm glad Bret is filming them and hope he blackmails them by threatening to put their sex tape on the Internet! Then again, knowing Betty and her kinky side, she'd probably welcome the attention and even offer to dress up as Dark Betty, black wig and all, for the next sex tape release.

- An unexpected tribute....but a nice one just the same.

Once again, I find myself rooting for the guest villains. Mrs. Dodger was awesome! I hope we have not seen the last of her but I fear she'll go the way of Penny and come to some unfortunate end.

It's a funny thing about Cheryl and Toni. I COULD be into them if they had established this kind of Addams Family quirk to them in seasons before. But not now! Now, it just comes off as stupid. Toni and Cheryl committed manslaughter, at best. And despite how they felt about Uncle Bedford, who they knew for all of 10 minutes.....he didn't deserve to die. But neither of them feel remorse or guilt about it and instead are all giggles and happy feelings after they cooked his meat and served it to his remaining family. Again, the Addams Family doing that.....I could applaud that because with them it's darkly funny.

These two buffoons? No! They haven't earned that at all and it's not funny, it's stupid. I hope Julian's ghost and that doll really goes poltergeist-clown on them and destroys them both!

Evil - Vatican III

Discussing Ep. 1.6

This was a really fascinating episode, delving further into the mythos that they're creating with the 60 demons and David's visions, but also including issues that very much are impacting the world today. I'll start with the incel storyline.

This storyline made me both cringe and laugh. I cringed because I could feel the awkwardness, I could feel the rejection and I could feel the elevated sense of entitlement that Sebastian was feeling when he got turned down for a date with the cashier. I laughed because whoever did their research on incels for this story did quite a good job. When Sebastian asks the cashier out and she politely explains that she is in a relationship, he can't for the life of him figure it out. She works in, what I assume, is a Starbucks-like location where she gives nicknames to people and is naturally friendly....BECAUSE THAT'S HER JOB! Of course, this guy takes her friendliness and the fact she gave him a nickname as proof that she was into him and when she tells him she's in a relationship already, he's like "Why were you so nice to me then? Why did you give me a cute nickname?"....only to realize that she does that with ALL the customers. He misread her friendly demeanour for attraction.

As a guy who was that age once and wasn't popular with the ladies in high school or college, I understood the 'confusion' that comes with misreading cues from women and misinterpreting various behaviour. It basically stems from a sense of insecurity and a certain degree of desperation. Thing is, you learn through experience and time that a smile from a woman is not a sign that she wants to fuck you! You learn that a woman extending a warm and friendly attitude is not an indication that she has the hots for you! It may be part of her job or may be her attitude in general. Thing is, desperate guys tend to look too far into such attitudes or behaviours and are seeing what they want to see because they're so desperate for the attention, not allowing "reality" to colour their point of view. Thus, you get guys like Sebastian, who saw what he wanted to see only to have reality smack him in the face! And the way guys like him take rejection speaks volumes about how insecure and essentially weak they really are. They lack the ability to learn and grow from the rejection and instead use the pain of it towards hating on women in general and hating society as a result.

Enter Townsend. I liked his role here because it's what I felt he needed to be: seemingly innocuous but at the same time, you could tell he had an agenda that wasn't benevolent. He fanned the flames of Sebastian's feelings at being rejected and his newfound hostility and resentment towards women in general, seeing them as shallow and just flat out 'bitches' who can't appreciate a 'nice guy' like him. I felt like this storyline was really well done because it really spoke to how dating and society is nowadays with Youtube videos and courses for guys in particular. This frame of mind is probably more prevalent than some would like to believe and I think that it's become prevalent due to the various factors in society these days. There is so much information and misinformation out there, from the Pick Up Artist communities who teach guys how to just get sex from women and the guys who are going MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way) and Red Pill and seek to use women for sex and shun relationships because they've been burned by women and guys (and gals) who teach men how to be all "alpha male" and all that shit to get the women they want. Then you factor in pornography which COMPLETELY skewers what reality and sex and romance and women are like and is it any wonder you get incels like Sebastian? And that's not to say that women don't have it hard either, because they do. They are bombarded with mixed messages as well and I think that's why dating and relationships are just so fucked up these days because people are getting different messages and signals that no one is on the same page anymore.

Some of what Townsend was 'teaching' Sebastian was....amusing. When Sebastian stepped aside for those two women who walked by him, Townsend scolded him by essentially saying that a man doesn't step aside for women....that women step aside for a man. Basically, assert your alpha male persona, to which Townsend proceeded to demonstrate. What made this and another piece of advice that he gave him so dangerous was how the advice itself wasn't necessarily bad. The way Sebastian carried himself reeked of insecurity and low self esteem. It's not necessarily bad advice to tell someone like him to assert himself and to be more confident.

Townsend further proceeds to tell him "You hold the power to make your life what you want." Again, this isn't necessarily bad advice and it's rather empowering when you think about it. But that's what made Townsend's role in this truly demonic.....he took positive advice and warped it enough to make the advice dangerous and destructive. It's advice like this that gets misused by incels like Sebastian, where they take a "be more confident" line as "be an asshole because that's what women like" and the whole message gets misinterpreted. This line of reasoning was sort of echoed later on by another incel who claimed that that he "never got laid until I was a jerk" to women. I was shaking my head at that line because it's such a typical incel line of reasoning. It's a line of reasoning that I will admit that I once believed: that the nice guy routine only gets you walked on like a doormat and taken advantage of and that one had to be an asshole to get the attention and sex by attractive women because women seemingly only sleep with assholes. Thankfully, I grew out of that mindset but there are scores of others who haven't and their views are only being enabled thanks to the Internet. Also, when Sebastian stated that he was "a good American and I deserved to get laid! I deserve to have sex!".....my goodness! The sad thing is is that such senses of entitlement are a real thing in this world. Real guys think this way and it's scary.

 I had to laugh at the 'incels' they got because they so looked the part!

Especially the last guy with that haircut! While their appearance was humorous, their philosophy was not. This really reinforced what they said at the beginning of the season, how Townsend makes 'evil' people connect with other 'evil' people. It exemplified what I said about how the Internet has made it easier for people of a like mind and philosophy to connect with each other and enable each other to go down a destructive and dangerous path together. I have to admit, I was really worried as to what type of revenge Townsend was talking about when he was 'counselling' Sebastian in regard to his revenge on the cashier who shunned him. I honestly thought that he was going to encourage Sebastian to rape her! Thankfully, that didn't happen and he gave her a gift instead, which caused her to scream. Then Townsend suggested the Incel Army, where men act like men and the seedlings of an armed reaction to women turning these incels down seem to have been planted. I am legit concerned as to where this is going to go because with real life incels taking their anger and frustration at not getting laid at women in general and at society.....this is going to get very bad, very fast!

 
What I found funny about these guys were how typical Vatican emissaries they were. It seems like the Vatican is essentially portrayed like the government, only they speak Italian or Latin! I had to laugh because it feels like this show is somewhat anti-Catholic, with everything Ben says about them and how they are portrayed. Not that I could imagine that it's way off base, but it was pathetic how they were interviewing Kristen, David and Ben and asking them about their personal lives, including asking Kristen her sex status and asking Ben why he left the Muslim religion. I actually thought Ben would have been Sikh or Hindu but I could buy his family is Muslim as well. The line of the night was when David asked the emissaries to apologize to Kristen and Ben for their questions and the emissary responded "The Vatican doesn't apologize!" Well, so much for the humility of Christ!

But this storyline added a new element to the ever expanding connections in this show and I love them. The Sixty demons, from the possession of the woman in the Halloween episode, are vaguely mentioned with the map of the sigils of demons.

A map which seems to show one particular sigil or demonic symbol that Townsend scribbled down in those blank diaries that he gave Kristen's girls. According to David, that sigil represents the demon Anatas, a ruler of 30 legion of demons and a feeder of lies and sins of humanity. So Townsend is not the devil but a high-ranking demon in the demonic hierarchy. Though I liked the connections they were making with these symbols and The Sixty and Townsend, I didn't like how at the end, these symbols were suddenly showing up everywhere.

One sigil showed up on the board the husband of the "possessed" woman (who I think turned out wasn't possessed but had like split personality disorder) who carved a sigil into a board where he kept the murdered boys' possessions.

Then, of course, you have the ending where David's father, an artist, stamped a sigil onto every piece of his artwork in a magazine. Given that sigils are used in magic to summon demons, I wonder what they're trying to say in regard to David's father. But all of a sudden, all these sigils are popping up out of nowhere! I didn't like that because it felt a bit contrived. I liked it in regards to the books that Townsend gave Kristen's daughters because I knew that it would be significant later on, but having these symbols show up more often in this one episode, somehow connecting David's father and the possessed's husband and Townsend and The Sixty to the Codex feels a bit forced. Although having said that, the possessed woman from the Halloween episode did say that "they" knew of David's vision and they were trying to stop him so they are trying to link everything up, so I'll give them credit for that.

The possession storyline seemed more like a distraction than anything else. I'm assuming she wasn't possessed and that "Howard" wasn't a demon but simply a personality of hers that wanted to appear demonic. It appears like her husband was the killer and was influencing her to take the blame. It was sort of a red herring since the last possession case was legit and this one wasn't, and it seemed to serve no other purpose other than to reveal the sigil at the end, suggesting that The Sixty are moving through various people to achieve a particular objective. What that objective is....I guess we'll find out.

Lastly, it looks like some progress was made in the romance between Kristen and David, with them agreeing to go out for drinks. I have to say, I was glad that Kristen told David about Townsends appearance at her house, though I think it was a big mistake that she didn't tell him everything that happened. I agree that she has to be allowed to protect her family the way she sees fit, but the fact is, she's dealing with forces she doesn't understand. David saw that Townsend was targeting Kristen and using Sheryl to do it. I wouldn't be surprised if down the line, "Brenda" and Rose390 also were sent by The Sixty to infiltrate Kristen's life. I'm awaiting that moment where Kristen's daughter's lives are in danger and she's forced to admit that this isn't something that science or psychology can adequately deal with. Then again, they've made a habit of pulling the rug out from under the audience and debunking a lot of things so perhaps they'll do some of that there. I'm intrigued to find out.

Overall, a very good episode. I like the mystery they're building up. They continued the tradition of having numbers in the titles so we thus far have: 177, 3, 390, 31, 9, and 3 again. The odd number out is 31, which isn't divisible by 3. I'm still trying to figure out a pattern.....if there is one.

Legacies - Screw Endgame

Discussing Ep. 2.5

This was a really fun episode, however it had its pitfalls with one very underwhelming reveal at the end.

I loved the 80's theme, even right down to the logo. I thought Lizzie's hair looked really good all frizzy like that. Frizzy Lizzie! I'll copyright that.

It was interesting because it was sort of like the prison world that Bonnie and Damon went back in time to, however there were people in this one and also the Minotaur! Back on that later. Seeing as how it was like they went back in time to the 80's, I was kind of hoping we'd get like a cameo from Elena's parents. However, it wasn't a real time travel (despite the DeLorean making an appearance) though it was still fun. I was amused at them having to play Frogger in real life in order to make it through the world.

I have to say, the Minotaur costume was both corny but cool.

I give full credit to the guy who had to run around in that thing because running around in that thing looked like it would be the most awkward and difficult thing a person could do. But damn.....that guy could run and he'd run at full speed too!

So props to that guy for doing a really good job in that Minotaur costume.

While I did like this storyline, much like some of the other storylines in this episode, I was sort of let down by the purpose of it all. The original Keeper got stuck in the labyrinth because some sorcerer got rejected by some woman he was pursuing and like a typical modern-day incel, he created the labyrinth and put her inside of it with the Minotaur as punishment for rejecting him. Her only way out was to find another lovely maiden to take her place. First off, this apparently had nothing to do with Landon. Previous monsters showing up out of Malivore were all about finding Landon and taking him back to Malivore. Here, the Keeper wasn't concerned about that at all.

While my problem wasn't necessarily with the story itself, it felt like they created that history specifically for the moment at the end where Lizzie takes the "women are doing it for themselves" approach and decides that they will not let themselves be controlled by the whims of men anymore. I don't know.....it just felt awkward the way they interjected that message of female empowerment because they didn't really need to do that. They've been able to get the female empowerment message across just fine in these episodes. There really isn't a need to spell it out for the audience.

Case in point, I liked that it was Lizzie who picked up on the Keeper not telling the whole story about the labyrinth which caused Lizzie to break the cycle by destroying that bracelet. It follows her character's ability to figure out puzzles and mysteries (like she did when she figured out how to beat the genie last season). I do hope they bring that side of her out more often because it's a positive for her character. I found it hilarious when she knocked Hope out with that stick. Damn! Girl was swinging for the fences when she hit Hope in the head! And I also liked that she and Hope were able to once again become friends although I'm sceptical since Lizzie seems to flop back and forth about that particular status. But for the time being, it was nice that Hope found somebody who remembered her, which seems like it's going to be the whole world who remembers her now judging by the ending. The one thing I did find rather funny, if not convenient, was that the labyrinth was 80's themed and the school party was 80's themed. What a coinkidink! Oh well.

Surprisingly enough, I actually liked the interaction between Drowned Pirate and MG. They worked really well together and I kind of wish they had kept going, which they just might considering the ending. I'll get out my TVD Mythology book and start nitpicking on something.....if Sebastian is indeed a regular vampire, then how or why was he able to appear to MG or Kaleb or Lizzie at all when desiccated? They wrote it that he got a taste of blood and therefore was strong enough to mentally project himself to Lizzie and then MG and finally Kaleb. That being said, to my recollection, that's never been done before. I recall that Elijah was able to talk to Rebekah in a dream or vision when he was daggered, but not full blown interaction in the real world where nobody else could see him but Beks. And he's an Original vampire! How could Drowned Pirate be more powerful than Elijah to do what he did? I remember Damon able to speak to Caroline when he was desiccating. So I can agree that vampires actually do have that ability to communicate while desiccated. But none of them have been able to project themselves the way Drowned Pirate was able to. So that's why I'm not sure if he's 'just a vampire.' That said, I am thus interested to see what he is and what his agenda is. If it turns out he's just some run-of-the-mill vampire who is just out to become the next Ripper, that will be real disappointing.

As for the other storyline with Lasie, again I was impressed but at the same time worried about how and why they were having Landon and Josie hold back on having sex. First off, I laughed so hard when Landon is looking for a condom and Bonnie Tyler's I Need A Hero is playing in the background. That was totally unexpected and that brought a real smile to my face. I liked this scene between Landon and Dorian.

It's refreshing to have a character like Landon who isn't cocky, who isn't smooth, who isn't so sure of himself and that he needs to talk to someone older and more experienced about what he's feeling. He's not the typical CW teen hunk with abs of steel and a rugged personality who knows how to seduce and make love to women naturally, all at the tender age of 17! Even when you compare him to a character like Rafael, it's amazing how 'typical' Landon actually is. Within the TVD Universe, let alone the CW itself, this was something else because it felt real and I'm sure it felt relatable to some of the teen viewers watching. And I applaud them for that. What I was worried about though was that Landon was holding back because, when Dorian mentioned how Landon would know that the time was right and that the person was right, I feared that Landon was holding out for Hope, if only on a subconscious level. I didn't want Landon to hold back on having sex with Josie because there was some weird sixth sense that would only allow him to feel the need to have sex with Hope as though Hope is his one true love or something like that.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case and Landon was raring to go once he got a condom. So the chase was on to find a condom and what I also found refreshing and very responsible of the writers was how, when Landon came back with condom in hand and Josie didn't want to do it anymore, he didn't push it. It might not seem like a big thing but after hearing and reading stories of girls and women on dates (of all ages) who, when the guy buys dinner and buys tickets to the theatre or movie and what not and then expects to get some action because 'she owed him' after all the money he spent on her, this was an important message to get across and I liked how they did it. She could say 'no' at any time and he should respect that. He could say 'no' at any time and she should respect that. So, a round of applause for that!

Now, of course, the reason as to why Josie didn't want to do it anymore, that being that Landon's journal (?) which was being filled in again with thoughts of Hope, it seems like people's memories of Hope are coming back? I didn't really get how and why Lizzie's memories came back and I'll be curious to know why others memories are coming back too but I won't harp on that.

And finally, the big reveal at the end. Who or what is Vardemus?

I have to say, I was rather disappointed. For him to turn out to be none other than Mudman Jr. in disguise? That was weak. I wanted Vardemus to be his own character....to be someone new who had his own agenda and who could be a completely new player in the grand scheme of things. I don't mind if he decided to team up with Mudman Jr. This just spells doom for Alexis as a regular on the show. Not that I expected him to be a regular necessarily but I expected him to have a long run throughout the season, to have a bigger role to play. I don't mind Clark coming back but not like this! This was just.....I didn't like this at all.

And so now I'm sure they're going to have to retcon Vardemus' history because he was hired by Caroline and that obviously could not have happened if Clark was stuck in Malivore with Hope! And I'm trying to remember the sequence of events. I suppose Vardemus did indeed show up when Mudman Jr. got out of Malivore, so I suppose it all lines up. Either way, it sucks and I was really, really hoping for something different.

One last note though, my props to Alaric for pulling off this costume.

He looked really good! I think the beard really completed the outfit. I swear, if Matt Davis wanted to play the role of Indiana Jones in a remake, he probably could do it!

So aside from the ending, it was a rather fun episode. The crew pulled off some really cool dance moves during the dance scene and the 80's theme was a pleasant treat. I kind of like that they've thrown a wrench in the works in terms of the love rectangle, although I am worried that Hope might just drown her sorrows in a sexual tryst with Rafael, which would hurt Landon who hasn't slept with Josie yet and would give Rafael the wrong impression. I see things going very wrong, very fast!