Tonight’s episode finds Malcolm tangoing with a black swan…OK, puns aside, this episode really does feature a dead ballet dancer.
If you watch enough network TV, especially crime procedurals, you notice certain case-types are inevitable. You have the murder at the psych ward, the murder at the (insert sexual fetish) gathering, the murder at the high culture event, etc. Prodigal Son is no different. Tonight, is our ubiquitous murder at the ballet episode.
Between the crime is the personal drama we’ve come to expect care of the Whitly family. Malcolm’s dreams of Eve’s sister direct him to get the information he seeks straight from the source (she’s a lot less murdery than last we saw her). Jessica’s got another rich Daddy (Dermot Mulroney) interested in her (though he might be a murderer, poor girl – she really knows how to pick ‘em), which, unless I’m blind made Gil jealous! And, Martin is none too pleased about having his son’s expert profiler skills turned against him (I mean, there’s got to be some fatherly pride in there though, right?).
The murder has symbolic ties to Malcolm this time around. Our victim was already a victim once before, forced to witness the deaths of his ballet company family at the hands of someone he loved and respected. Malcolm can relate – kind of. I mean, Martin was stern in his conviction to never go after his family. Sure, he may have thought about killing his son, but in the end he didn’t actually go through with it. He may be a malignant narcissist, but he does love his family (in as much as he can). But still, learning the man you love and look up to, who has always treated you with kindness and compassion, is a cold-blooded killer? Oof. It’s gotta be a hard thing to come to terms with. And, much like Martin can’t live without his family, our killer can’t seem to escape his either. He follows our victim to the world they both love, with tragic results.
Things we’ve learned this episode:
Still not JT’s first and middle names. I commend the writers on a strong running gag.
Based on its representation on network TV, I would NEVER want to be a professional ballet dancer. Not sure how realistic the cut-throat underbelly of professional dance may be, but if it even comes close…no thanks!
Malcolm studied ballet for five years, he also appears to have taken in a lot about it. I mean, most people they take ballet as a kid, dance for a bit, and then give it up. I took it, I know maybe one term from it. This guy takes it and he knows everything about how the company hierarchy works, the different terminology, you know…the usual unimaginable collection of knowledge TV profilers always have about subjects that happen to come up as murders. This is a staple that’s always bothered me about high concept procedurals lead by some eccentric specialist. I’ve met a good number of people in my assuredly short life, but none of them came even close a Holmes style photographic memory for random shit. Sure, Malcolm grew up in high society, but do you expect me to believe he took everything he learned and internalized it??? But, I get it…suspension of disbelief should be this show’s tagline.
More importantly: Sophie, maybe, isn’t dead (remember, we don’t actually see Martin not kill her). But searching for her might kill Eve, and definitely inspired Martin to drive Malcolm away from her case. It’s intriguing.
And lastly, Jessica has really, really bad taste in men. Though, the preview from the next episode does promise a kiss between her an Gil – finally! Gotta wait 3 weeks for it…Boo!
Cover Art for 'Banana Tail and The Checkerboard Jungle’ by Mark McKenna
Banana Tail is a children’s series about the adventures of a unique little monkey and his friends on Oops-N-Ouch island, created by comic book veteran Mark McKenna.
In this special feature, we got to interview comic book veteran, Mark McKenna, creator of the beloved ‘Banana Tail’ children’s series.
Mark is a longstanding comic book veteran, whose 35-year career in both Marvel and DC, has included works on such titles as Batman, X-Men, Iron Man, Punisher, Doctor Fate, and Doctor Strange. He’s been accredited in the production of a staggering 600 different comic book issues, with well over 12,000 pages of inking accredited to his name.
I was able to talk with Mark about his latest Kickstarter campaign for ‘Banana Tail and The Checkerboard Jungle’, as we talked a bit more about the series, and the upcoming exciting first meeting between Banana Tail and his good friend Tic Tac, the Plaid Zebra.
You can read our chat below.
For those unfamiliar with your series, I’d like to ask: Who is Banana Tail and what is this series about? What can readers expect from this newest adventure?
MARK: So.. Banana tail was originally done as a pitch tool to try and get published by a brand publisher of kids books like Scholastic, Golden Books or Simon and Schuster. My dad came up with the concept of a monkey who had a “banana for a tail” I tried it out but the imagery kinda looked bizarre so I opted to give him a yellow tail that he initially doesn’t realize is his tail, he starts out thinking its a snake in the tree with him. The series is basically the adventures of Banana Tail and his BFFs Reena the mood-color changing female rhino and Tic Tac who’s a plaid zebra on the unique Oops-N’-Ouch Island. The new book completes the trio of storybooks I had planned spotlighting on the three best friends. Banana Tail and the Checkerboard Jungle focuses on the first meeting between Banana Tail and Tic Tac all the while trying to stay away from the hunting team of Snap and Snare the alligator and snake, hunting team.
You’ve been making Banana Tail for years. From children’s book, to Halloween special, to children’s computer-generated hardcover. Could you share about what inspired you to create this series and talk a bit about Banana Tail’s different mediums over the years?
MARK: When my daughter Erin was 4 years old, she had to get a cyst removed from her throat and it was a difficult time for us, despite it being a low-risk procedure, the last thing you want to see is your child going under the knife. As soon as she was released from the hospital we took her to now-defunct Toys R Us and I told her she could pick anything in the toy store she wanted. At that same moment, I thought to myself, “Hmmm, Id like to see what its like on the creating end of the spectrum” vs being a consumer. As far as other mediums, the BTail Halloween comic is a step beyond the picture book phase and I treated it like if you were a young child who liked BTail and had fond memories of it, but outgrew it now you can be a bit older and read a comic book with short stories focused on now, young readers vs having the picture books read to you.
You have a Kickstarter for Banana Tail and The Checkerboard Jungle. Can you tell us a bit about your history with crowdfunding and using Kickstarter? Maybe talk about some of the latest offers you’ve put out for ‘The Checkerboard Jungle’
MARK: Since the rise of crowdfunding has become so popular coinciding with me getting older and significantly less busy as a mainstream comic artist it felt like a natural progression to step into that arena and try it out. I have to say, the fan base that follows me was with me while I self-published my own projects right from the start. I’ve published 6 comic books and 2 Banana Tail books with their support and have always managed to make funding. I’m finding the current Kickstarter project, Banana Tail and the Checkerboard Jungle to be an exercise in patience and also awareness of where we are during this pandemic of CoVid 19. People are afraid.. many people don’t have funds for entertainment and I would think because the new book isn’t ready for immediate shipping, it’s not an immediate fix for people who aren’t quite sure where they’ll be 3 months from now… and I get it. I can’t quit though and I’m floating my A-game at the project in the hopes that I get to the finish line and move forward with the project. My A game being, as much new art as I can get done, Banana Tail coffee mugs, tee shirts, art portfolios, new art by some recognizable comic artist friends to name some rewards.
Times are hard with everything happening right now. Many children are indefinitely off from school and so are reading more than ever. Could you tell us a bit about the importance of children’s stories and some lessons you think parents could learn from the Banana Tail series?
MARK: That’s the thing WITH Banana Tail, I do create moral settings with the characters to find their way through.. The first book is about being different and being OK with it. The second is about friendship and the issues of value of friendship vs material things, the third book touches on bullying but none of the books are staunch in the morals, but theyre there…
Do you have any happy thoughts or words of advice for any parents or children or fans?
MARK: My happy thought about this book is, it will get published at some point.. Anybody who helps me by pledging, whether I make goal or not, all the rewards that I can create and ship I will with the exception of the new book orders. I will save all the income from these rewards in a fund and when our planet gets healthy again, I will Kickstart the book again, minusing the amount Ive accrued from the previous rewards Ive handled and will need less to fund the book printing.
KICKSTARTER
And that was it. I’d like to thank the wonderfully talented Mark McKenna for his time and if you’d like to support Banana Tail you can click on the Kickstarter page below.
I experienced Phogs by developer Bit Loom Games two years ago at PAX East 2018 when they were housed in the Indie Megabooth, which is cordoned off section for up and coming games still in the works. As was a mere floor-dweller and Rebecca was working out front as an Enforcer for the convention. Back then, their humble booth held a respectable and consistent queue of 3-4 players waiting their turn to get their mitts on such a scintillatingly silly title. Oh, what a difference two years make.
Now, because Rebecca and I played this at the same time, we were fortunate enough to schedule some quality sit-down time with Jack Sanderson, the PR and Events Manager for Coatsink, the platformer’s publisher whilst playing it. This means that though we didn’t have quite an interview, there are a few memorable moments with both the game and Jack to speak about.
First thing’s first. The game is a single or co-op adventure puzzler wherein you play as a duo of doggos, Red and Blue, connected at the hip- literally. Think Cat-Dog (for those of you in the “Nicktoons Know.”) The difference is, unlike the aforementioned cartoon star(s), Red and Blue can streeeetch their conjoined belly in order to work in tandem to complete super fun and creative tasks. This super fun superpower, along with your ability to bark, bite and bounce will take you through three different realms relatable to any calamitous K9: Food, Sleep and Play. Aww! Just thinking about it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Beware, however, as your forever flank may help you, but may also be a hindrance at times if you do not work in concert together.
Through the duration of PAX, the line for Phogs’ immense booth (now quadruple in size) was constantly looping around. There was no shortage of attendees, chomping at the bit to get their paws on this glorious looking game. Luckily, Norton and I were allowed to cut the line for this fortuitous opportunity.
Hey, the cob ain’t gonna pop itself!
Robert J. Kijowski: So, we both got a chance to play a game in concert and skip an insane line. Kinda felt extra special, since it was basically crowded the entire fucking weekend.
Rebecca: Yes, though that’s the power of a press pass. As for playing in concert, it was a nice change of pace given the nature of a lot of games are solo.
RJK: Wasn’t Jack the coolest? It was the one time I’ve played a game where we actually didn’t talk about the game that much! We actually diverted discussion into the series, Kidding! He was chill as fuck though. He was all about that Showtime life… as we both were trying to work in tandem with a dual-headed doggo. You kept pushing me in a different direction!
RN: Le sigh. Yes, you and he geeked out. It was a fun game, I wasn’t expecting that. And yes, I pushed you in different directions because you were clearly distracted and not paying attention, which means one head of that “Phogs” “ass” had to have a brain.
RJK: You calling me an ass?
All play and no work makes for the literal best canine life evaaar!
RN: I’m saying every creature has a head and an ass, and as I was clearly directing things, you were the ass. And yea, I get it, it’s a two-headed creature, but one of those heads is vomiting out everything it eats – you can’t beat the laws of nature.
RJK: You also can’t beat how goddamn adorable this game is! Honestly, it was fun playing with you. Oh, and Jack did something we hadn’t experienced with any of the other interviews… He actually gave us food!
RN: Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that, because, you know, I was actually focused on the GAME. I did enjoy how they used the two-headed mechanic (and complete disregard for the laws of biology) to solve problems on your journey to…actually, I’m not entirely sure what the point of the game was.
RJK: The point of the game is to just have fun! Come on, you have to admit, with the physics of Red and Blue to expand and contract, bark, bite and play, it’s just a fucking joy. It brings a smile to my face and working in tandem, with everything like using one another to pop corn to using another as a hose to grow flowers, everything about this game is awesome. And the art style!
RB: Yeah the art style is very nice, it matches the themes and gameplay very well. The puzzles are equally engaging without being too frustrating, though that’s largely up to your partner, you know, paying attention to what you’re trying to do instead of, I don’t know, getting fed some treats and losing his focus to a conversation about a “certain” paid cable program…
RJK: Nicely played. Oh, and through the fun chaos of playing it together, I realized all the people waiting in line were having fun with us, watching us. It’s a rather social game. Fun for those playing as much as those watching.
RN: Well, as a rule, if you’re forced to wait for satisfaction, cognitive dissonance will kick in and you will find satisfaction in watching someone else having the pleasure you’re waiting for.
RJK: Makes perfect sense. So, wrapping this up, I am giving the demo an easy 10 out of 10, sans question. It’s super colorful, super chaotic, super cute.
RN: I’d have to agree, for a game I honestly didn’t think I would enjoy, I had a lot of fun playing it. 10 out of 10 as well.
Sweet dreams, you glorious duo.
P.S. A massive shoutout to Jack Sanderson. One of the coolest dudes ever and super fun to have shared this experience with.
I’m a fan of art imitating life, especially through the medium of film. Being able to recreate life as accurately as possible, while providing substance in an engaging and thrilling way, is a difficult endeavor. One that needs to be applauded.
Good artists connect with us in the moment. Great artists connect with us in the future.
We talk about ‘Contagion’ on the latest episode of TheWorkprint’s ‘Movie Talk’. Available on GooglePlay, iTunes, and Spotify.
Steven Soderbergh does this impeccably in his 2011 thriller “Contagion.” The acclaimed director presents a well-researched movie that warns of how disruptive a disease can be in the modern world.
Contagion is a fantastic movie because it balances out a well-paced and engaging story while presenting a subtle commentary on the systematic failures and personal tragedies within a pandemic.
With good pacing and a phenomenal cast, Soderbergh presents a timeline of events centered around the deadly MEV-1 disease traveling across the globe by means of Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays the very touchy-feely patient zero, Beth Emoff.
This film is our Modern-day Godzilla movie (specifically Gojira, 1954)
Let me explain. The story is centered around the protagonist, MEV-1, and contains several narratives that show how different aspects of society reacts to the arrival of the pandemic, but from a personal lens and not a systematic one.
For example, one story provides a perspective on an average American family during the pandemic, specifically the Emoffs, played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon.
We are also presented with another narrative that focuses on the medical perspective. In this story line, Laurence Fishburne stars as the CDC Director, Kate Winslet plays an epidemic intelligence officer, and Marion Cottillard portrays, as a Word Health Organization epidemiologist, with each character trying to contain the disease.
Laurence Fishburne stars as Dr. Ellis Cheever of the CDC in Contagion.
This is similar to the original Godzilla flick that presents multiple narratives from different parts of society.
One of the most fun story lines within Contagion follows that of Alan Krumwiede, played by Jude Law. He is a web-based blogger who is either a journalist or a conspiracy theorist that interesting interactions with the government and the public, making one question the role of freedom of speech within a crisis.
Cottillard’s character, Dr. Leonara Orantes, also has a great storyline where she gets kidnapped in China while studying the virus and has to care for a small village that is endangered of being eradicated by the pandemic.
What’s great about the plot is that it presents a fairly accurate representation with what the systematic steps are, as well as what would happen to these figures during a pandemic, albeit with a much deadlier disease.
This is because Soderbergh and his cast and crew researched what the standard practices are during a global pandemic. The actors prepared themselves by interviewing and shadowing and captured the essence of what they would go through on a day to day basis.
By capturing the anxieties and mundanities of the characters, they are able to put their own personal touch to each character, making them more relatable to us the viewers.
And of course, the story is centered around our monster, the villain-protagonist of the story, MEV-1 – the Godzilla if you will. A deadly disease that has a 20% mortality rate, MEV-1 is ever present throughout the whole movie, a silent killer stalking all the susceptible characters.
The fact that it is invisible to all the senses —aside from the symptoms shown by people — and that it can infect anyone, is an extremely scary thought. The actors do a phenomenal job in reacting to the virus, showing how the fear can affect everyone in a nuanced way.
Laurence Fishburne’s performance as Dr. Cheever is a fantastic example because he can relay various emotions under stressful situations, as his character is torn between his job as a CDC director, while balancing being both a responsible husband and doctor.
The cinematography and the film editing are top-notch and plays into the overall angst that flows through the film. Many shots are close ups, providing a personal look into the characters expressions, an almost tightness of being there within them in that moment.
The Soundtrack Compliments the Story Telling in the Film.
Although, I’m not a fan of the music itself, it’s definitely recorded in a way to add to the overall pressure and suspense within the film that the characters have to deal with.
This is important for building up suspense and tension in the film, which the soundtrack completely does. Cliff Martinez, who composed the soundtrack, successfully matched the tone of the movie, providing anxiety ridden movie that complimented the pacing in the script. Knowing when to speed it up and slow it down, Martinez’s score definitely brings you one step closer to the characters in their moment of stress.
This is a Movie for the Vicarious at Heart
Within his thriller, Soderbergh connects with us in the future in a sense that he looks at a “what if’” scenario and provides a realistic answer to what would happen. That is why we see so many similarities to what is happening today, nine years after the release of the movie.
The movie is predicated on a lot of research, as well as a historical understanding on how plagues work, which gives it a unique edge when imitating life through art. By being able to understand the complexities of today’s societies and it’s history, alongside issues that regular people deal with, Contagion proves itself to the be a scary monster movie based heavily on reality.
THE MAGICIANS -- "The Balls" Episode 512 -- Pictured: (l-r) Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice Quinn -- (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)
In the second to the last episode ever of Syfy’s The Magicians, the team find themselves undergoing one last heist to steal the world seed from The Couple while Julia and Penny 23 search for the traveler’s mom.
One Last Heist
Marina 23 having had her terrible impulses released again explains what happened when she and her cohorts tried robbing The Couple the first time around. The Nave hotel is set up to be a super safe zone and very difficult to do anything nefarious. There are emphatic golems who patrol the floors making sure that there are no fights, lies, or trickery on the premise. There is also a highly warded vault in the basement that Gavin and another individual were attempting to crack in order to get the world seed, except when they finally managed it the item wasn’t in there. Since it took so long the traveler was severely injured by a golem and the other man lost his life. Fen interjects that Marina 23 had bad info because the instruction page is actually in an ancient Fillorian language and it said that the seed can only be stored in a place that is 99 degrees with 99% humidity.
The heist book is unveiled and it’s a very detailed 3D map of The Nave hotel. Marina 23 also reveals that The Couple took the world seed from the top hedge witch of the west coast and Margo figures out that they must have spelled a fake Birkin handbag as an incubator to transport it. So Fen, Margo, and Josh are to go locate the bag in The Couple’s suite while Eliot, Kady, and Alice are tasked with cranking the temperature to their room down from the controls in the basement. Kady is also to cut the phone line as the guard in the suite will freak out because of the drop in temps and when he tries to call his bosses won’t be able to. As soon as he/she takes the seed out of the room in panic mode, Fen, Margo and Josh will be there to intercept. Marina 23 brings up the golem guards though and Alice suggests they pull the fire alarm to blend in with the emotional pandemonium. They only have one other problem because the what’s happening in the basement needs to be timed with what’s going on in the seed room and it’s Zelda who comes up with a solution. She proposes a conductor spell that will allow the group to act like orchestra and be in sync by only hearing the conductor and not each other. Added bonus is that the spell is designed to help artists and is innocuous enough not to trigger any of the hotel’s defenses. The last piece is of the puzzle is who plays the conductor and while Zelda would have been happy to do it, the job goes to Marina 23 because she knows the building’s layout and the plan. The librarian though will watch the other woman to make sure nothing goes wrong.
Z casts the spell when they suddenly hear a loud voice outside and it turns out to be Sir Effingham who is at the door with a musket of sorts. Unfortunately, because he was in range during the casting he has been added to the group mind link. The Fillorian male is there to ask one of them to kill Julia, which sets the group off and when he asks the men to control their women the spells goes haywire from all the heightened emotions. Sir Effingham begins to sing and dance and we get another musical episode!! The rest of the team all join in and all sing Cruel To Be Kind. To get Sir Effingham out of their hair, Josh promises to kill Julia. Zelda supposes that their emotions overloaded the spell somewhat and because it was originally created by a conductor he/she used music (which is the purest manifestation of feelings). To get around this issue Alice suggests they bottle up their emotions so they don’t break into song. This has the added bonus of helping them stay under the radar with the golems.
The heist begins with Pete checking in and once he gets inside his room Fen, Margo, Josh, Eliot, Alice, and Kady emerge from his suitcase. They’ve all bottled up their emotions and now Kady’s second in command is up creating a distraction. Pete sits with the villainous duo, says that he deals with top of the line spells and totems. He’s just ordered a very fancy bottle of wine for them to drink as they discuss business. Meanwhile, Margo uses a make-up bedroom sign in order to get into their taget’s suite after the cleaning staff leaves. Josh manages to find the transport bag and Fen informs them that The Couple’s translation of the world seed page is wrong. They take the two items but are stopped from leaving by Fogg 17 who seems to be serving as a guard. Downstairs, an attendant whispers something to The Couple and they quickly depart. Soon after Pete is thrown out because he lied about the fancy wine. Marina 23 tells the rest that team incubator was stopped by Fogg but Kady decides they should rescue the other group. They get momentarily stopped first by The Couple showing up at the elevator banks which resulted in a threesome make out session and then by a golem who is looking for unauthorized guests in the building. This results in a scuffle and Alice’s bottle breaks returning her emotions. She breaks into song as the golem is strangling her two companions but it begins to malfunction being overwhelmed by the ex-niffin’s feelings. Back inside another room, Eliot has Kady take out Fogg 17 while he stays and helps the phosphoromancer. He takes a sip from his bottle and tells her that she can tell him whatever is bothering her. Alice answers that she can’t stop thinking about what The Couple did to her and how useless she feels. The two then launch into another musical number.
Upstairs Fen tells The Couple that their translation is incorrect and they’ll end up killing the seed and she can do it accurately because she’s Fillorian. She’s willing to help them as long as they don’t kill her friends. They take her up on it and proceed to the seed room while Margo and Josh are still with Fogg 17. Fen tells the duo that they will need to tell the seed why they want a new world as the object is alive and will know if they are lying. The Couple reluctantly reveals that they were cursed with infertility on Earth and on a new world they would have a chance to have a family.
Meanwhile Kady heads to The Couple’s suite where Fogg 17 greets her. She tricks him into drinking scotch in her flask as she’s dropped some Archie in there that sends him to the etheric realm. Somewhat back on track, Marina 23 tells Eliot and Alice that Pete got booted out with the suitcase (which was supposed to be their exit strategy) but the ex-niffin has an idea and sends a message off via enchanted paper airplane. Another mishap happens though when Anna appears at the apartment and gets royally pissed at her lover. Anna ends up snapping the baton and severing the conductor spell connection. Marina 23 tells the other woman that this is who she really is and if she (Anna) can’t get on board with that then she can leave. Needless to say Anna departs angrily.
At hotel basement, Alice and Eliot are ready to turn the temperature down when another golem appears. El downs his bottled-up emotions in order to short circuit the creature. They manage to take out the golem temporarily and lower the temps. Upstairs, team world seed is on their way to find Fen and The Couple when they themselves come upon two more golems. Josh, Margo, and Kady all drink their bottles as well and are able to overwhelm their own enforcers. The trio make it into the seed room and accost Paloma who goes outside. Kady has a blade to her throat when they enter the suite and Paloma’s hubby puts a knife to Fen’s neck. But as the temperature is decreasing Margo tells them to both put their blades down so that she can put the seed in the bag so that it doesn’t die. Another complication arises when the spell on the fake Birkin conks out. Quick thinking though Margo shoots the hubby and Kady punches Paloma but the seed is also dislodged from its little stand. While The Couple are distracted by a bleeding hand, Fen drinks her bottle and tells Margo that she’s got the seed under control. Marina 23 then mentally tells them to head to the roof where Alice has an exit for them. Also kudos to Fen because she explains that their package is tucked away in a place that is warm and moist. At the rooftop, the phosphormancer explains that the escape plan is more of an escape plea to Santa Claus. Just then bells can be heard and Christmas has come early!
We Meet Penny’s Mom
Julia wants to track down Penny 23’s mom (though technically it would be original Penny’s mom right?) so they can find out what happens to traveler moms and the only one they can talk to is his. She’s even managed to already find the other woman (she’s in Connecticut) through a locator spell. So they head on over there and as Jules asks a nurse if she could see a patient named Neela Adiyodi, the other woman says there must be some mistake because that’s her. When the two magicians chat in the hospital hallway, Penny 23 is shocked that his mom seems fine because he had always thought she was a basket case. Julia says that she can’t even imagine what this is like for him right now, but she promises that he won’t be alone through this.
Penny 23 reunites with his mom and at first things are going well between them. He tells her that he’s going to be a dad and that’s why he’s there, to find out everything that she went through. She started hearing voices three months into the pregnancy and it got worse after he was born. The doctors thought that it was a latent psychological condition that she probably inherited that was triggered by the stress of parenting. It’s so heartbreaking to see the two of them when Neela explains how sorry she was the first time she had to send him away. The voices went away when he did and they returned when he did. She had truly wanted to protect and raise him but she turned out to be the the one he needed protecting from. Suddenly she calls out saying that someone was asking for her. Penny 23 is confused because he doesn’t hear anything and when Neela freaks out that her condition is back. He goes to find Julia who is inside a room behind the nurses’ station. She shows him through a glass that there’s a magical bond between him and his mom. The former traveler is annoyed that his abilities don’t work and yet he’s still screwing over the woman who gave birth to him. Julia says that they just need to figure out what that tether is and figure out a way to cut it.
Julia goes to Neela and shows her the bond between her and her son and reveals that magic is real. She even goes to say that she’s a magician and so is Penny 23. But the elder woman refuses to believe and sadly tells Jules that she just can’t go through this again. Before Neela leaves she asks the hedge witch to tell William that she’s sorry. Unbeknownst to her he’s watching the scene via a monitor. As the two magicians leave the hospital, Julia gives Penny 23 something from his mom. It turns out to be a picture of the two of them when he was little.
Final Thoughts
So it seems like a traveler’s tether to their mom crosses over from different timelines!
Much respect to Fen for thinking fast and storing the seed in a very safe space.
So glad they were able to sneak in a musical episode before everything is said and done.
Will we ever see Sir Effingham again?
Marina is definitely a sociopath but at the end of the day no one can force her to change. While she must love Anna to try, the other woman is going to have to accept all of her or not.
Santa’s back!!!
We’re almost at the end of this journey and what a crazy, emotional, and amazing ride it’s been. Every major character has shown incredibly depth and grown tremendously. The storylines have been whimsical but also raw and thought provoking. Still not ready to say goodbye.
Sister Jo rocking some seriously curly hair in a flashback
The finale road through familiar faces continues on Monday night’s episode…
There’s enough to unpack so let’s get started.
First there’s Alternate Sam and Dean who initially show up seemingly as a one-off joke, then a little later as a callback joke, and finally a “this how your life could have turned out” joke. That last is less funny since the visual punchline was already delivered. Instead, we get to see what Sam and Dean’s life might have been like if John didn’t die.
The better twist is that while our brothers Winchester might lament not having their father, the alternate brothers (Dean especially) envy the freedom such a loss provides. The reason they dress so well and look so polished and not tired, is because John had the bright idea to get paid to hunt monsters, the downside being he eventually went public with the company (as a rule I’ve learned in life going public is NEVER a good thing). This partly evokes memories of the corporate structures that both Hell and Heaven have followed in the past in this series (again the running theme being corporations suck).
As for why an Alternate Sam and Dean show up, that’s fairly simple: Chuck is going around destroying worlds and escaping to another one was their bid to survive (they also mention John traveled with them, but he isn’t here now, could this be how we get to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the finale???). In the end they are eager to stick around, but of course Dean’s not having it. I will say bits like these are one of the big reasons I’ve loved this show all this time, they really do know how to have fun not only with their characters, but at their expense.
Meanwhile, it’s a trip down cameo lane for us, courtesy of Death Billie. She tasks the boys with finding a McGuffin called the Occultum. After an offscreen convo with Sergei (the shady shaman) Cass, Sam, and Dean pay Sister Jo (played by Danneel Ackles – wife of…you guessed it, Jensen!) a visit. She turns out to have been frenemies with Ruby, who, according to Jo, stashed the item in Hell for safe keeping. Seeing as how we’re past the point where traveling to Hell might have been a hang-up, Sam and Dean drop down in search of the prize only to realize they’ve been had.
Cass, who doesn’t trust Jo for shit, conjures up his own plan with Jack’s help. He travels to the Empty which gives us our next two forgotten faces. While calling for Ruby who should appear but Meg (in her more familiar Rachel Miner version, no offense Nicki Aycox)! I was thrilled to see Yellow Eyes’ demonic “daughter” on the screen once more – even if it was just the celestial entity that runs the Empty and hates Castiel using her visage.
Following some casual threats, “Meg” allows Castiel his audience with Ruby. Fun fact – Jo is played by Jensen’s wife, while Ruby is played by Jared’s (Genevieve Padalecki). Talk about your first wives’ club, er…only wives’ club in this case, but you get the joke. Cass’ plan pans out much better with Ruby divulging to him the real location of the Occultum (so long as he promises to get her out of the Empty, which apparently isn’t as empty as the name would suggest – sounds a lot like Hell to me).
With everybody united and the Alternates playing their part as “Sam” and “Dean” in case God’s looking in, our quartet go to the hiding spot of our episode’s purpose. They must have the right place because Hell Hounds are guarding it. As Sam – all by himself for no real reason, I mean…yeah, Cass and Dean are looking around for the thing, but what the fuck is Jack doing? As you can probably tell, I’m not a fan of that boy…Anyway – bars the door against the bloodthirsty hounds, Dean, Cass, and Jack do their best Indian Jones impression to uncover the hidden. They ultimately succeed with Jack eating the fruits of their labor (a perfect term for it since it transports him to the Garden of Eden).
And as the hellhounds break on through to the other side, Sam, Dean, and Cass are ready to make their last stand when a bright light appears and vanquishes the beasts. It’s Jack, back from Eden, and surprise! He has his soul back. Umm…the fuck?
All in all I enjoyed this episode. While I’m not all about Jack, I do find the twist return of his soul to be an interesting one. I’m hoping this means a bit more on the mythology surrounding the concept of the Garden. Of all the religious incidents and places Supernatural has made mention of, Eden hasn’t come up that often (aside from failing to protect it leading to Gadreel’s debasement, and later impersonation of Ezekiel). Given that the snake is the one who appears to trigger Jack’s soul-regrowth, I’m wondering if God has anything to do with souls really…I like it when a show makes me curious.
Unfortunately, due to the current situation, the news is that this episode will be the last for a while. It’s too bad, but fingers crossed the gods of network allow the fans their just desserts and show the remaining 7 episodes.
Tonight’s episode promises answers to the girl in box, will it make good? Let’s find out!
First off let me say I’m happy to see this episode is not only written by two women but directed by one as well. Ladies don’t get a lot of love in media-land, so I praise the people who made this opportunity possible. It’s a fitting episode to be directed and written by women because it deals with a subject very close to many women’s hearts: babies! Personally, I’m not a fan, but I do appreciate how difficult motherhood can be and how disingenuous it might feel to constantly see shows and movies that explore motherhood which are written and directed by men (no offense to dads, I believe strongly in the importance of a good father, but being a mom is different). Now, with that out of the way, shall we get back to the show…
Malcolm is a profiler, he’s studied psychology, and as someone who has also studied psychology let me confirm that the education can have a side effect of convincing you there’s something wrong with you. I’m not sure how much of a Freudian Malcolm is, but he certainly values some of the old man’s views as he takes his troubling dream of Eve quite seriously. Ainsley argues he’s just emotionally unhealthy, naturally paranoid because of his profession, and while she might not be wrong, you and I both know Eve’s got some explaining to do. It works out for Malcolm though, as his sister’s competitive streak gets fired up and they both investigate Eve. It is a little funny that all of Malcolm’s resources are hell bent on stopping him from doing a background check on his girlfriend (Dani claims she doesn’t want any part in his self-destructive habits, JT reveals he did the same and almost lost his wife). Personally, I think Dani’s unconscious reasoning might be that if she’s responsible for Malcolm’s breakup it ruins their chances at a romance, but I will 100% cop to shipping them super hard, so…maybe not?
Ainsley once again proves that she’s highly capable and extremely undervalued. While Malcolm putters around trying to get his colleagues’ help looking into Eve, Ainsley doesn’t outsource the work and gets it done by mid episode. My suspicions about Eve were right – the girl in the box was her sister. She also turns out to be adopted. When her sister stops contacting her, and The Surgeon pops up in the news, Eve puts those dots together. Our profiler is none-too-pleased he ignored his instincts for some sweet, sweet, domestic lovin’. Can you blame the guy? I was hoping this set him and Dani up for something, but I’m also not surprised it just winds up bringing him and Eve closer (barf). Also, also, how can you just trust the memory of a guy who saw the girl when he was a kid, and was drugged repeatedly during that time? The level of suspension of disbelief this show requires is INSANE (appropriate, right?).
The case tonight, as briefly mentioned, involves a baby, a mother, a father, and a nanny. The usual conclusions are drawn when daddy winds up dead – he was obviously fucking the young, hot nanny, and his wife killed him out of anger. However, as the story unfolds a much richer tale is told. Mom is an influencer – making a living by being loved by the faceless millions which occupy cyberspace (unless their insta account pic is actually their face), but the problem with being an influencer is that you have to look the part. Alessa (Mom), can’t have kids. She fakes her pregnancy while the surrogate Christine (who infiltrates the family as the nanny) does all the heavy lifting. Ezra (Dad) isn’t killed for the typical reasons – turns out Christine had escaped a domestic violence situation and when trying to pay off her abusive husband didn’t pan out; the poor guy gave his life for his family. Whew! That web tangled enough or you?
One interesting observations about this episode:
Malcolm mansplaining motherhood to the Mom. As a type-A personality (an evaluation made by our profiler), Alissa would definitely have known all of the minor facts he drops on her throughout this episode. Sure, you could argue his attempts are an effort to bond with the victim/get close to a potential suspect, but given the episode is written by and directed by women, I can’t help but feel it’s a not-so subtle jab at the opposite sex (though I do have a tendency to read into things)
The only time his mansplaining isn’t a bad thing? When he’s doing it to another man. Malcolm’s sniffing out JT’s baby surprise is a cute moment in a surprisingly uncute episode (given that it centers around a baby – which is a popular option, not mine). It’s a fun little Sherlock Holmes send up – I mean, let’s be honest, isn’t every TV detective Holmes?
Will Malcolm and Eve survive? Will Eve kill Martin for the death of her sister? Do I care? Ok…fine, I care enough to watch the next episode. Are you happy, Eve?
In this week’s episode of Syfy’s The Magicians, the team splits up to locate The Couple, acquire a pocket world, and translate some instructions.
Ember and Umber Return Again, Sorta
After Josh, Eliot, and Julia get back to the apartment from Fillory, everyone is playing catch up regarding Rupert Chatwin, pregnancies, Hades, and saving lives. Josh and Margo patch things up after he tells her that risking her sanity to save him warrants a clean slate for them. Meanwhile Julia and Penny are on the balcony trying to figure out what having a baby means for their relationship. He wants to be there for his kid especially after his own father didn’t stick around for very long. Alice suddenly interrupts their moment though to announce that Fen and Eliot suddenly passed out unexpectedly.
It turns out that Fen, Eliot, Margo, and Josh have all been summoned via dream by the emanation of Ember, triggered every time Fillory is about to face a catastrophic world ending event. Of course Margo already went through this before. The group is brought here because they are all the former living high kings of Fillory, though Alice ought to be included in the list no? In any case they were all brought together because the current ruler is the one causing the pickle (Rupert) and he explains that the dead drain life while also contaminating everything they touch. Problem is of course that the only way they can kill the Dark King is by destroying Fillory to which Ember isn’t opposed to. Suddenly knocking is heard and the god claims that it’s only a mouse. Eliot goes to open the door and finds Umber. Looks like this manifestation was designed to intervene in case his idiot brother did something like blow up the planet. The other god explains that he created pocket worlds that could transport all Fillorians to safety, rescuing them from the chaos that is Fillory. The two siblings then slap each other for hours.
A New Fillory
When the foursome wakeup, they fill in Alice, Julia, and Penny 23. It’s the ex-niffin who has the idea of using the world seed to create a new Fillory. She works on finding the seed, Jules tackles deciphering the instructions, while Fen, Margo, Eliot and Josh will find the pocket world. Unfortunately, Penny 23’s traveling abilities are still not functioning so he removes the stasis charm from Hyman who rejoins the physical world. The reunion between the two men is a big aww moment. Hyman then gets his own set of tattoos so that he can transport team pocket world to Vancouver. By chance he ends up chatting with Fen who looks conflicted. He tells her that he thinks that she’s bothered about the magicians’ plan because its zany and if she tries to speak up they won’t listen to her. Hyman confides in her outsider to outsider that this feels like the part where the good guys are just wrong because while their hearts are in the right place they haven’t learned the lesson yet which almost makes them as bad as the villain.
After Hyman takes them to Vancouver, Eliot quickly dismisses him that they’ll call him when their done. Margo quickly follows leaving Fen and Josh as the nicer individuals who feel bad for the traveler but go inside themselves. This is interesting because these two of all people know what it’s like to be the sidekick characters. When the four get to Umber’s door, another Umber appears. This one appears to be some kind of magical butler program that begins to tell the tale of a tigress (blind in one eye) came to a lonely shore and looked upon this raw world. He trails off though and its Fen who saves the day, explaining to the group that this is a Fillorian scripture, the birth of Ember and Umber. She finishes the story by saying that the tigress drowned herself in the ocean and as her body disappeared two shells washed ashore. From those two shells came Ember and his shadow Umber. Ghost butler then allows them entrance into the house.
Eliot leads the group downstairs but all the pocket worlds seem to have disappeared. Ghost butler soon appears again though and Josh explains that Umber sent them there for the arc. It then surfaces a number of snow globes and presents them with a challenge, that if the god really sent them they would know the correct one to pick. However should they choose poorly the consequences would be more explosive as for copyright purposes this security precaution is only inspired by Indiana Jones. As Margo snaps at Fen to hurry up and pick one, the other woman stands up for herself and tells them to figure it out on their own. A little later, Eliot goes upstairs to talk to his wife and she says that she can’t give him permission to destroy Fillory because of all the things that they (Fillorians) can’t take with them. If it had been Earth the magicians would try a lot harder to find another way. Eliot sympathizes and asks if she has any other ideas because they are all ears. She didn’t have any and he gets real with her that having a voice means having to make difficult decisions. He wasn’t going to sugar coat it for her and she would need to choose whether to save the people of Fillory or some rocks and trees. Suddenly though they hear a triumphant Margo who thinks she found the correct snow globe when they all start exploding one by one. Fen rushes downstairs and manages to save the actual arc, the globe with a seahorse in it because that was how Ember and Umber first brought people to Fillory in their stories.
Meanwhile, Kady and Alice consult with Pete about trying to find The Couple. He tells them that the only other person who believes that they are real is Marina. Last time they saw her though they screwed her over the moon and stopped the harmonic convergence that she was going to use for some heist of the century. Pete clarifies that he doesn’t think the other hedge with would help them, just that she’s the only one who can. The two make their way to Marina’s new pad and but when the homeowner opens the door something has clearly changed. She hugs Kady and apologizes profusely for all the times she’s hurt the other woman. Then she invites them in for cookies. Inside, Marina explains that she’s made some bad decisions and went to a trans healer who put a blocking spell on her. The spell suppressed parts of her personality that was aggressive and caused self-destructive behavior. Alice asks for help to find The Couple because they have an object they need. Marina of course knows that it’s the world seed, possibly the most valuable thing in the multiverse. This had also been what she was trying to steal before they stopped the harmonic convergence. She also reveals that the seed is hidden inside a hotel called The Nave that she and her partners were planning to rob. They had worked on a detailed map of the building for months but things went terribly wrong and now she didn’t know where their heist book was. Although she does bring them to Gavin, who suffered serious injuries from their attempt and was now at the hospital. He informs them how Marina sent them on a suicide missions where one of their associates died. The traveler has no plans to help them. Kady and Alice try to get Marina to convince Gavin to aid them but the other woman refuses to use her leverage against him. So as a last resort, they threaten to remove his mental wards with Alice’s less than perfect casting with circumstances still being wonky and her recently amputated fingers. The ex-librarian gives in and says that Anna has the book.
The three women head over to Anna’s (who happens to be Marina’s former girlfriend) where the two former love birds are having major disagreements. Understandably Anna reveals that Marina told so many lies that she doesn’t know if any of it was real. The hedge witch though tries to convince her ex that she’s better now and that she was a terrible sociopath but had started doing things on the other woman’s list to get better. But still the ex is unconvinced because why was Marina here asking for the heist book. Alice tries to intervene and explains that it’s really her and Kady that need the plans. But this current incarnation of Marina cannot lie and adds that she would still help them because they need her. The ex-niffin takes even more drastic measures by proposing to Kady that she remove Marina’s blocker because they need her to lie to Anna in order to get the book. Before that though she creates a word is bond contract so that they don’t get betrayed. They watch evil Marina lie to her ex-girlfriend who falls for it and agrees to hand over the book. Before they leave, they get a wink from the mistress of manipulation.
Julia Makes a Discovery
While Professor Lipson is examining the passed out foursome, she also realizes that Julia is pregnant and does a quick check. All looks ok but the other woman has accelerated through the first two trimesters and since the baby is a hybrid there could be complications. The teacher advises that Julia come to Brakebills so she can run more tests and the hedge witch says she will as soon as she can since they are currently dealing with stuff. Also it looks like she’s had some psychic aftershocks, though Julia has already set up every mental ward she knows. This news seems to greatly alarm Penny 23. He notices that Julia is having another psychic episode but she quickly brushes off that she’s fine. Penny 23 then goes to Hyman to ask him if his own mother had any mental problems from being pregnant with him. The answer was no but it’s because she had a lobotomy. He then gets the other traveler to help him with an urgent task.
It turns out that they went to get some food (Chinese and ice cream) as well as the circumstances control panel, Penny 23 figuring that The Couple would need it in order to cast appropriately. In addition, since Lipson needed to run some more tests she could do it with both Julia and the control panel there. Jules though is annoyed that she is being trapped there without being asked when the former traveler just wants to make sure that both she and the baby are ok. Hyman intrudes on their private moment though and is told to respect boundaries but the hedge witch adds so does Penny 23.
Later on the Penny 23 finds Hyman trying to put his body back into stasis and the traveler admits that having a physical form back is not that great. Before he had been a part of everyone’s narratives but now he was a minor character in his own story. Penny 23 says that the trade off to not listening in on other people’s intimate moments was that he gets to have his own. But Hyman notes that would only work if someone wanted to talk to him. If that was the case he wouldn’t have been spying on people to begin with. He then asks Penny 23 if he’s doing that thing where he gives advice but it’s really for himself, causing the other man to realize what he needs to do. The former traveler makes Hyman give him the locket and suggest he be honest and go have a conversation with someone.
Meanwhile, Julia finds Sir Effingham at the Brakebills lab. Apparently Todd had not turned out to be the hero he needed and so he’s bestowing the quest upon her. His vision of Fillory’s demise has become clearer as the villains have visited his land many times through a tree. Sir Effingham adds that the scoundrels plan on spiriting away every soul in Fillory before destroying the world. She realizes that he must be talking about a portal tree. Julia asks the Fillorian how exactly would they obliterate the world and he answers that they would turn back the clock. When she also questions if the fiends would succeed in taking the people and building a new world for them Effingham realizes that he did not mention the latter. Plot twist! The quest she was on to save Fillory was actually from herself and her friends. The Fillorian then angrily parts adding that the death of his world would come at a cost and they would lose their loved ones.
Penny 23 finds here at the lab later on and the two have an honest conversation. Julia says that she’s been irresponsible but is just scared that she no longer has any control over her life and that what if Lipson finds something wrong with the baby. He reveals that around the time when his dad left his mom started having episodes with disorientation and hearing things that weren’t there. Doctors thought it was because of his dad bailing on them but he thinks it’s because of him. What’s happening to Julia looks just like what happened to his mom and it only got worse after he was born. Penny 23 adds that when his mother burned down their apartment it was when he was first thrown into foster care and she tried to get him back but then she’d get sick again. Eventually the state took him in for good and he was always more scared for his mom because he screwed her up for life. He doesn’t want what happened to her to happen to Julia. She understands and agrees to go through the scans and treatments. Jules assures him that it won’t be the same for her because they know about magic and will have ways to deal with this. Penny 23 in turn promises not to put her in a cage.
When Penny 23 returns to the Physical Kids cabin, he finds Hyman with a bloody nose. It seems that he tried talking to Fogg (from a different timeline and had broken out of his cell) who punched him. The dean is now working for The Couple and is there for the control panel. Julia comes in soon after and Fogg asks if Penny 23 stupid enough to try and stop him. Now that he has to protect his child and her mom, he lets the dean walk out of there. Uh oh The Couple have everything they need and they need to steal the world seed stat.
Final Thoughts
We’ve seen so many versions of Marina over the years and she’s just the character you love to hate! And at least she really did try to change her ways this time in the name of love.
What a plot twist that the team was actually the ones responsible for at least one of the possible destructions of Fillory.
I’m really not ready for the final two episodes. Will Q come back??
New night, old time, but Sam and Dean are back to rock out for their remaining eight episodes!
We start tonight off with a simple quandary:
You ever get someone in your head? Under your skin? So deep you can’t get them out, no matter what you do. No matter how many versions of them you make? Oh, well, that last part might only apply to Chuck. See, God’s got something of a problem on his hands. He made the world, he filled it, and of all his creations Sam and Dean became his favorites. But they didn’t want to play, and once they found out about him, they weren’t exactly thrilled. Gotta hurt for the ultimate fanboy, right?
Maybe the moral of the story isn’t supposed to be “fans ruin everything” but that’s the one I’m seeing. Ever see that Futurama episode where a sentient ball of space gas kidnaps the entire original Star Trek cast because he “loves” them? Fan love can turn to hate so fast it’ll make your head spin clear off. Chuck tried to do the responsible thing (I guess?), to turn his attention to other worlds, make other versions in order to exorcise his unhealthy obsession and neediness, but to no avail. Now, he’s reached the inevitable conclusion that all spurned fans reach – destroy the thing you love.
Granted, he was after an end, but this is different. This is more along DC’s lines – which is a little funny considering the CW just ran through their “Crisis” storyline (also featuring the destruction of a multiverse). Good luck, Chuck! Saving the best for last?
With that out of the way, shall we explore the other aspects of this episode?
Jack is still back and on power lockdown, but he has learned some new tricks. Our soulless god grandson has a lot more understanding this time around. When faced with a “no”, he assesses the situation and turns it into a “yes”. Wonder what Billie’s been teaching the boy…
Sam and Dean are dealing with an old “friend” and an actual old friend. Sherriff Jody Mills gets kidnapped by Dark Kaia who is angry because Dean never returned her staff. This leads the Winchesters to help out the homicidal dream-walker, or, try to. Unfortunately, nothing they know of can open a portal to another world except Jack (hence my previous paragraph). With some help from a reaper, and Cass, the kids head back into Dark Kaia’s world – why? Oh, because their Kaia is alive, naturally.
Alls well that..oh shit! Billie just killed a bitch! Billie is not playing. Jack’s ability to convince the reaper (RIP Merle) sent to watch him to cooperate in their scheme to save/return Kaia/Kaia is a short-lived victory considering how it ends for her (this could apply to either Merle or Dark Kaia). For us, however, it’s super satisfying.
In the beginning of this episode Chuck walks into a Radio-Shack approximation and announces he’s going to monologue – which he does. But, aside from the revelation that he’s going to destroy all the worlds he’s made, it’s a lot of the same stuff we’ve heard already. Billie shows up in the bunker – scythe in hand and action – towards the end of this episode, and monologues with actual useful information.
What’s really nice here is that a lot of times characters in shows or movies can represent an unrealistic portrait of human memory and comprehension. The fact that Dean forgets what Death told him all those seasons ago is possibly partly because the writers’ gaffed, but more believably because he’s human and it’s been over ten years, who wouldn’t forget? There’s also Chuck’s ability to convince the boys that killing him would upset the balance of nature (again, contradicting what Death mentioned), thus destroying Sammy’s hope and ensuring his safety for a little while. Billie is a cosmic being. Sam and Dean are just humans. Humans may be able to think outside of themselves to an extent, but certain large-scale concepts can be hard for them to grasp. The idea that God can die being the important one here.
I’m liking where this is going, though I wasn’t a huge fan of this episode overall. As I may have mentioned the downside to a series’ final season is how they play it out. Will it be a hastily thrown together tie-up of loose ends the audience is clamoring for? Will it be a slow, satisfying burn of some loose ends tied up, with new and exciting twists and turns that lead to an inevitable finale? Will it be a normally run season that ends on a cliff-hanger and you don’t realize it was the final season until the show is cancelled (much less likely these days)? So far Supernatural’s final season could potentially be that second option – though I really do wish the stories were stronger. Yes, loose end tying is great, but if I compare this to the original intended final season (5) it’s no contest.
Ah well…let’s give the boys some time, is eight enough?
Our cliffhanger is resolved fairly quickly on tonight’s episode, but that’s no reason to leave!
Lots is happening so let’s get to it. Eve is back, and my theory about her being connected to the girl in the box has been confirmed. I’d say I feel a sense of pride, but when you watch as much TV as I do, it just becomes inevitable. Exactly what her relationship is to the girl is up in the air, but no one crawls into a creepy empty chest in a serial killer’s basement because.
We also get to meet a friend of Malcolm’s: Vijay (Dhruv Uday Singh). Shows of this nature rarely introduce new characters so late in the game that have any hope of being more than reoccurring guest-stars. Though, Vijay does have that feel to him. He and Malcolm bonded over their criminal fathers, but then Vijay’s father got out of jail and their friendship fell apart. Malcolm believes it was because their common thread had been broken, but Vijay sees things differently. I’m more inclined to believe Vijay given how enthusiastic he is to see his old friend again. If you dumped a friend because secretly you didn’t really care about the person but were just using them to deal with a hard time, I doubt you’d be so eager to run into them again (unless you’ve got a lot of guilt about it).
The murder presents as a simple smash and grab gone wrong, however this being Prodigal Son that’s not the case. Instead we discover a group of thieves where one member is killing women who look an awful lot like the only girl in the crew. Why? Duh, because he likes her! That’s quite an evolution from pushing her down on the playground, eh? Ah well, either way the undercover motive gives Malcolm’s profiler powers the upper hand when he and Vijay get in over their heads. This situation also allows for our Prodigal Son weekly “Malcolm nearly dies” moment – in this instance it’s when he’s knocked backwards and cracks his skull on the concrete floor. After another staple (“Malcolm hallucinates his father”), he wakes up and manages to avoid dying care of help from Vijay (who operates on his wavelength in a true gesture of friendship).
Finally (really, Firstly), the cliffhanger resolution between Malcolm, Martin, and Jessica results in Malcolm agreeing to two visits a week to his father. There’s nothing in the agreement having to do with phone calls, yet Martin feels right in threatening Jessica’s freedom when Malcolm fails to take his calls.
Overall this episode is not one of my favorites. It doesn’t have the usual spark a lot of Prodigal Son episodes have had, but it’s certainly not the worst. Vijay’s appearance and addition to the cast is welcome, and his enthusiasm with respect to Malcolm is definitely a nice change of pace. As opposed to Malcolm always feeling like the outsider trying to inch his way in, Vijay is proud to join him in being outsiders together. I hope we see more of this friend – he’s cute to boot!
The Eve twist hardly registers because, again, duh. Super attractive woman shows up out of no where on Jessica Whitly’s doorstep, and is conveniently single and interested in her son??? Come on…practically screaming the reveal here. Still, for people who aren’t familiar with this kind of show it’s probably a fun twist.
And, it was fun to see Martin experience some parental anxiety. Jessica’s comment about psychopaths not having feelings is interesting, as is Martin’s response of being able to turn them off – is it true? Doesn’t look like it…Especially when Jessica throws Gil in his face! Oooo, that was fun, I can’t lie. Even Malcolm threw Gil in Martin’s face. Albeit funny, it might end badly for Gil.
In “Drowning in The Floating World,” author Meg Eden assembles a collection of evocative poetry about the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Using a skillful assortment of styles, “Drowning in a Floating World” explores many themes associated with cataclysm and tragedy. Poet Meg Eden presents powerful depictions of helplessness in the wake of a grand catastrophe and how it feels to have to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.
These narratives, each unique in its own discourse and disclosure, confronts the fatalities of these tragic and historic events, and how crescendoing waves of sudden death forever terraformed both the landscape and the community. How a government failed its people. The lives were lost and never found: siblings, mothers, and even children, forever encapsulated in the haunting imagery of the no-named bodies and drowned corpses.
It’s as brilliantly touching as it is heart-wrenching.
Eden has a beautiful way with language, utilizing sensory details and varied approaches to the theme of water, which holds multiple useful definitions throughout the mythos of the story.
The work shares a common thread about drowning, though it is mostly utilized in environmental depictions of saturnine gloom. The sensation is overwhelming; if not by being surrounded by water, then by the feelings of a now lost history and a haunting resonance in the air. There is an emphasis on each person: who they once were, and what they meant when they were alive before they drowned away. Each poem, an effigy dedicated to loss and longing, exposes the uncomfortable malaise associated with the guilt of surviving when so many had not.
The end of the book provides some facts on the inspiration behind each poem. As the author seeks to educate, she leaves behind footnotes. Eden takes into account the different things that most haven’t noticed before, in a way that poems about the ghosts of a place can only do: elicit emotions out of the unspoken to form spoken truths.
Personal Favorites From “Drowning in the Floating World”
Corpse Washing
A haunting tale of preparing a drowned and maggot-filled victim of the tsunami for her last rights and cremation in front of her family. There’s a line I liked, which occurs after the narrator tries to prep the body’s hands in a symbol of prayer:
“The beads between her fingers cannot hide the skeletal hand, a ghost against the fleshy one.”
It’s simple, but I like it. Despite all the attempts at making it feel humanizing and look better, it’s still a body. One that has to go through the decomposition process like all the others. That despite the attempts, it’s just another corpse amongst the many… and the tragedy in that feeling.
It was also apparently inspired by the 2008 film Departures.
Coming Home after a Tsunami
I like this one a lot because it’s about surviving and the failures of the government to relocate and take care of its people. While the memories of the dead are memorialized, the living are being forgotten. Displaced people unable to live or feel at home.
It’s also noted to be Inspired by Shuntaro Tanikawa, a legendary poet and acclaimed translator, who had translated the Peanuts comic into Japanese. “A master of magical realism combined with good humor and accessibility” – Meg’s words, not mine.
The Water Trade
What stood out about this one was the unique play on metaphor, comparing the act of ‘sex work’ to the ‘water trade.’ Both emphasize body preparations for an empty exchange of service, and, in the process, both stimulates and simulates feelings of emptiness. This unspoken sense of floating away on an emotional level of disconnect from the inside.
Buy a Copy
You can purchase a copy of “Drowning in a Floating World” below:
We’re coming close to the end of The Magicians and in this episode we finally learn what the Takers actually are thanks to Josh.
The magician is still in Fillory and finds himself with the Dark King, aka Rupert Chatwin, inside the forest. Rupert ends up placing a gold chain with a blood thumbprint on his neck before summoning a Taker with some gold. Poor Josh then gets dragged beneath the soil into a whole other place. When he wakes up, the Taker who had accosted him comes over, seemingly drawn to the shiny object around his neck. However, once the creature touches the medallion it appears to get poisoned and collapses on top of Josh. Now that’s super interesting that Rupert’s blood is somehow affecting it. Is it because the king is tied to Fillory through magic that somehow makes his blood special? Or did he do something else to create that response?
In the meantime, Josh is trying not to freak out and remembers that he still has Margo’s eye and tries to use it to let her know where he is. Margo does get the message but somehow her eye being in another realm is not meshing with her body physically. Her nose starts to bleed and she nearly passes out on the couch with Kady, Alice, and Fen looking on in concern. Back in Taker land, Josh runs into a little girl who had also been snatched along with her friends. Her friends however were put into a shiny monster with a yellow eye that when pushed opens its mouth. The magician realizes that is an elevator and it strikes him as odd to have one there. The young girl doesn’t want to help him though because adults lie when suddenly a Taker arrives and snatches her up. Josh then entices the creature with his gold medallion and he and the girl take off.
They make their way to the elevator and when they enter there’s only one button inside, to the Underworld. As another Taker notices their presence and begins to rush towards them, Josh decides that going to the land of the dead is better than this place. Thankfully the doors close in time and deposits the duo to what seems to be a hotel lobby. The girl asks if this means their dead because this is where people go when they die. Josh says that technically they didn’t actually die. He is honest though and says that things aren’t looking good but promises he’ll do whatever he can to get them both out of there. They approach the front desk where a small sign saying, “Welcome you are dead. Please take a card.” Beneath the sign is a box of Underworld metro cards much like the one Quentin got at the end of season four. Josh rings the bell for assistance and an old man comes who informs them that they are dead. The little girl begins to get cry when the man says fine he’ll try to get someone who they can talk too. Excellent acting skills by this young lady! Suddenly someone calls out Hoberman and we find original Penny!
Penny has one of his cohorts take care of the Fillorian girl for a bit while he chats with Josh. The bad news, he can’t really help get them out of there because not only have they been affected by the loss then return of magic but a lot of librarians have been relocated. Trouble is they don’t know where. To make matters worse, Hades has vanished because he could have stepped in and helped solve crap. The god of the dead also controls the Underworld’s connection to the top and so currently they are stuck. Normally folks who mistakenly find themselves there have 24 hours to file a dispute which are routed above, but they can’t do that right now. Josh asks if there’s a map of the Underworld so that he can try to start checking out places that the god could be in. Penny realizes that he knows someone who can help and the duo go to Benedict Pickwick! He’s resumed his tradecraft even in the Underworld. Interestingly enough as well the traveler didn’t know about the Takers.
Benedict (who is still trying to get Penny to attend his brunches) is a little miffed that they’re just there because they need something. Josh asks him as the expert if he knows all the places where Hades likes to hideout or frequent, but the god was apparently super strict on what the mapmaker could track regarding his whereabouts. It did give him an idea though and he shows the other two the location of an area he wasn’t supposed to include but he did add in everything else around it. The trio head to this uncharted area that looks to be Hades’ spa retreat. An attendant soon appears and informs them that the lord of the Underworld may be gone for good. Josh though rummages through a discarded robe on a lounge chair and seems to have found the god’s wallet and inside is a piece of paper that may be a clue to where the powerful entity is. He then puts his MargoPro (Margo’s fairy eye now attached to a leather cord) to it so that she can read what’s on the sheet.
Except that Margo currently is unconscious because Kady, Alice, and Fen are trying to figure out a way to sever her connection to her eye to save her life. The phosphoromancer comes up with a plan to redirect the signal from the former high king of Fillory into a prism. Said object is lodged into Margo’s empty eye socket and as soon as she gets up from the table Josh’s image comes through and projects onto a screen via the prism. Bonus is that the magician is no longer in pain. Josh mouths that he’s still alive, shows Penny and Benedict, asks for their help to find Hades and gives provides an address in Queens.
Alice and Kady head to the location where they find the god in a bathrobe eating junk food and playing video games. He has apparently been expecting them though but refuses to help because who said death is fair? Alice realizes that Hades is in mourning for his wife Our Lady Underground (killed by the Monster’s sister last season). She tries to talk to him and he informs her that it’s not the same when a god dies (they’re not supposed to for one thing) but he doesn’t know what happens to them after and that’s all he gets forever. Alice wishes that there was something she could say that would help but explains that their friend Josh isn’t head but he was in the Taker realm when Hades interrupts her that isn’t possible. He explains that place is not connected to the world above to which the ex-niffin responds that someone opened a door. The god further states that is very bad news and reveals that the Takers are actually guard dogs and that their realm (Purgatory) is a security measure to protect their world and the world of the dead. Apparently if a soul tries to leave it takes them back to the Underworld. Well that makes total sense now. Alice adds that she thinks she knows who opened the door in Fillory (Rupert) because he just wanted to bring back someone he loved. Reluctantly Hades agrees to help Josh and in return they need to clean up this mess because if they don’t their world will be destroyed too. So if Lance makes it passed the Takers into the land of the living again, the door would essentially allow passage to all the dead. Hades claims that could be the end of everything.
Josh and the young girl take the elevator back up to Fillory where they come upon many Takers who appear to be dead from poison. This is likely the work of Rupert since dead Takers would clear the path for Lance to be able to come up through the elevator. Could the Dark King be aware of the greater ramifications of his action? If given the choice would Rupert choose to die to be with his love? Hopefully that option becomes available before the series finale.
[Here for the Workprint, my name is Robert J. Kijowski] and I am speaking with-
Jacob Burgess: I am Jacob Burgess, I’m the Community Manager and Director of Operations for Sukeban games.
RJ: And we are talking about N1RV Ann-a-
JB: Yeah!
RJ: Which is the newest game from-
JB: Sukeban games.
RJ: Now one of my questions is that you had a title before this, VA11HALLA-
JB: Yes-
RJ: Where did the influence come from this game? The look, the feeling itself?
JB: Well a lot of it is based on anime and Japanese culture and a lot of this style feeds from the first game. It’s set in the same world. Chronologically, N1RV Ann-a takes place VA11HALLA but you don’t have to play the first game-
RJ: To enjoy the second game.
JB: Absolutely!
RJ: I do like the mechanic of fixing drinks! Personally, because I think there’s a humanistic element in it, especially if you go to any bar, contingent on the drink itself, a whole plethora of stories may emerge. Different drinks, like demon drinks people may have, more intense stories come out. You have the more mellow concoctions, where somebody may open up a little more… Was that the intent of this game?
JB: As far as I understand, 100%. In the conversations I’ve held with Sukuban, that’s definitely one of the intents on this.
RJ: The aesthetic influences- Neo-noir… is there a bit of Blade Runner influence on it?
JB: There’s a cyberpunk influence to it, but I’m not going to necessarily say Blade Runner. That is within the cyberpunk genre and this is there as well. I’m not going to draw a direct line from Blade Runner to this, though Blade Runner is usually when people are like- “Ah fucking cyberpunk! God sent! Fuck yeah, Harrison Ford! Is he a Replicant? I don’t fucking know! This is Cyberpunk.”
RJ: And there are so many fucking sub-genres, but so many beautiful things you can cull out of!
JB: Yes!
RJ: Especially with this game. It’s beautiful, it definitely sets a mood. Now is there in this game you would like to create more than others for the patrons of the bar?
JB: That a good question because in the first one, everything is corruption and bullshit, so when you come in, everything is crap outside!
RJ: Yes!
JB: It’s Cyberpunk, and you’re just finding out information from people that come into the bar! The same basic thing for this game, EXCEPT this is set in St. Lucia, which is this big resort town where everything is glitz and glam and looks really nice! But you still find out fucked up shit, but that’s in the background where you need to tease the world-building out of folks because everything is kind of polished and upfront. Like it’s really cool. So to answer your question about drinks- in the first [game], it was a bunch of chemicals that you put together and you made a drink.
RJ: Yeah.
JB: In this one, because it is a wealthier city, set in the same world, there are actual recipes and actual alcohol. You can still make some of the chemicals, but you actually have THEE STUFF… So I can’t answer your question… without spoiling anything. Sorry.
RJ: Okay, okay. I do like the fact that they give you the recipes. So you if actually wanted to make these while you’re playing it, have at it! That’s great! And I like that they have some really traditional recipes like your Black Russians, your White Russians-
JB: Oh yeah!
RJ: -Your Tequila Sunrise, and that’s just a great dynamic.
JB: Yes!
RJ: And do like in the story itself they mentioned things like body modifications, sparing no expense to live that lavish luxury. I think that adds a great element to the story itself. That does remind me of the Japanese cinematic culture of body modification, like Tetsuo the Iron Man and stuff like that. Do you think there was any influence on that? Maybe Akira or body modification? Not as insane or intense, but just a little bit-
JB: I would say comfortably yes, there was an influence in this.
RJ: Now, without spoiling anything, because I just played the demo and it’s amazing- what might there be an added element gameplay-wise that I have not seen yet?
JB: (pauses) I really enjoy how you phrased that question.. because almost no matter the answer I can give, it is going to give something away. Yeah! That was very, very clever and I enjoyed that, I’m not going to answer that question! That was really good though!
RJ: Thank you.
JB: That was REAL GOOD.
RJ: Thank you!
JB: I’ve done a lot of these interviews and that was *Muah!* That was fucking choice!
RJ: For those of you who can’t see it now-
JB: *Muah!*
RJ: -He just gave me the “Chef Kiss.” So thank you very much.
JB: Ohh, man that was choice. You’re a real son of a bitch, I love that!
RJ: I mean, I try-
JB: Good!
RJ: It’s that Jersey attitude, ya gotta have it!
JB: (laughs)
RJ: But I look forward to playing more of this game down the line. I will recommend it to anybody, especially because I’m a screenwriter and it’s VERY dialogue-heavy and I LOVE games like that.
JB: Thanks-
RJ:-Games where it does branch off in different areas, almost like a tree, it just goes off in any area-
JB: Yep.
RJ: And you control that. And depending on any answers that you give, you might get a different answer the next time, depending on the drink that you get!
JB: Yeah, it’s what dialogue choices and drinks you make.
RJ: So thank you for talking with me.
JB: It’s my pleasure, this has been cool.
RJ: Tell the people your name again.
JB: Jacob Burgess. I’m the Community Manager and Director of Operations for YSBYRDGAMES and the publisher of Sukeban games.
(I’ve also included the audio. It’s just so fun to hear.)
My first impression of the demo is it fucking lit, all definitions en pointe like a goddamned ballerina! Or on the rocks, if you like your libations cooled down. This game is super dialogue and story-heavy, so anybody that doesn’t want to click and make actual drinks (they give you the recipes so you can drink along with them), closeout your simple, basic-bitch Shirley Temple tabs out now. This deals with real shit, complex storylines that can root in any direction depending on what you get the characters sippin’ on. This is the constitution of an evolved game from what I’ve played and its old-school graphics show that you don’t have to be all flash and lights to intoxicate me… Let that jazzy soundtrack do the talking!
All you have to do is tell me your story over a drink.
P.S. A very special shout out and thank you to not only Lena Leray of Stride PR but also the incomparable Jacob Burgess, who was a sensation to interview!
Gina Rodriguez stars as the titular character in Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal. PC: Netflix
The latest interactive narrative by Netflix is another choose your own adventure in a similar fashion to last year’s ‘Bandersnatch‘ episode of Black Mirror.
Gina Rodriguez plays the eponymous character as Carmen has to work for the infamous criminal organization: Vile, to rescue her friends.
‘Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal’ is the latest amongst Netflix’s interactive storylines. What’s great about it is that with little exposition it begins right at the heat of the action, highlighting the series’ strengths by starting us off with a choose your own caper series of adventures. Thus, serving as a light introduction to those new to the storyline.
Those familiar with the series will note that the movie is light-hearted but action-packed. Knowledgable about its fanbase and the expected around-the-world adventures. Filled with many familiar characters established within the first two seasons, though in very little detail as it’s more for cameos than anything else.
Much like last year’s beloved ‘Bandersnatch’, the platform seeks to capitalize on the franchise’s target demographics: seeking to attract more youthful gamer types and those who grew up with the beloved children’s videogame series. All in hopes to recapture some of last year’s success and develop more choose your own adventure interactive stories.
In the interactive special, Carmen loses her friends Zack and Ivy to VILE, the series central antagonists, who threaten to brainwash the pair into becoming their newest minions. Forced to work for the organization, Carmen goes on capers with Player, her tech-savvy companion, accomplishing a series of heists while stalling to find a way to rescue her friends.
All while YOU make Carmen’s decisions for her.
Much like in Bandersnatch, each decision-making juncture pauses the story and two options are presented. Each choice leading to an evitable one of eight different endings.
And while entertaining, it’s also quite campy and kid-friendly with stakes that never feel all too high. Every wrong decision is able to be backtracked to the moment of choice. With certain scenarios forcing a debriefing with the chief of Acme, who will imply what the ‘right decisions’ should have been, thus forcing a ‘try again’ approach in a similar manner that Steve had in the beloved Nickelodeon series: ‘Blues Clues’.
Which, I found a little condescending.
Though, there’s definitely replayability as to how the paths are chosen. With each decision and different approaches granting more details to the story. Highlighting features you might miss the first time around. Still, for something adapted from a beloved Netflix series, the approach feels a tad shallow. As nothing feels all that innovative or important about what choices get made.
The Take
7/10
Fun but forgettable. Which is disappointing as the series is excellent.
You can try ‘Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not To Steal’ right now.
When you cannot go around, sometimes you must simply go through.
Though I wasn’t able to cull an interview, I was fortunate to get my hands on the demo of Wasteland 3, the tertiary and revolutionary (in more ways that one) installment from developer inXile Entertainment and publisher Deep Silver.
Picture this: It’s been years since we’ve experienced the Radioactive Heat from the American Southwest in the last game and we now land ourselves in another pickle: a perpetual Nuclear winter in Colorado.
As a Desert Ranger, trying to keep your beloved Arizona from falling, you get an estranged call. He claims he’s the Patriarch of Colorado and he’s got some work for you, boy. He’ll promise you aid if you can fulfill one task for him- take back his land from his own murderous kindred.
You start from whole cloth in this new mission from hot to cold, building up your squad and cutting through people who would rather see you bleed out than freeze to death.
The gameplay itself was super solid, as fluid as it can go. The rub is that for every move you, your squad or your vehicle makes, it will cost you some currency in the form of when to shoot and how to shoot, when to move, how to move and how much punishment one of your soldiers can take before expiring.
This creates and compounds another level of complexity to the RPG gameplay in addition to building weapons and provisions that can be used, making difficult decisions morally on how to move forward and most importantly strategizing a plan of action that will not be the most pretty or bad-assed, but suit your own survival. Hey, nobody ever said you had to come in like a bad-ass and leave like one or vice versa. War is tough, and the prettiest one is the one still breathing.
As for the voice over and the music choice, this is a cinch to say one of my favorite things outside of the phenomenal visuals. This gave a clear understanding from the get-go of what sort of mire you were conscripting yourself into the moment you clicked ‘Start.’
As someone not familiar exactly with RPG’s on a PC platform, I must admit I had a little trouble during the first few minutes of the demo. The controls moved fluidly and the combat system was great. I was just failing at it at a certain point when I needed all of my squad and therein lie the wonderful thing.
This is a game that relies on the help of your teammates. What was the saying- A lone wolf dies the quickest? Well, that’s true. Nobody in a pack is dispensable and everyone has an equal role to play, albeit with varying strengths and weaknesses. It feels like a cross betwixt Fallout and Bioshock. It’s a time warp and it will have you feeling its ups, downs and all that surrounds you as you strive to meet that goal to simply survive for a task to help the greater good… no matter how may ugly you may look in the end.
The revolution WILL be televised on your screens of Xbox One, Xbox Game Pass, PC, Playstation 4, Mac and Linux on the 19th of May in the year of our Lord, 2020. Consider yourself prepared…
P.S. A huuuge shout out to Alex Q. Ryan of Deep Silver, Thomas Schulenberg and especially Stephanie Tinsley Fitzwilliam for hooking this session up! This is a game to be totally on the radar for and you guys did not disappoint!
Though I didn’t have a recorded interview with this, I got a good 15 minutes with it. This is a fucking sweet and creative game. Ready?
Picture this… Oh, I’m sorry, you can hear AND see this better? My mistake. Let me back-cue this record a little bit.
Ok, first off, the gameplay is very intuitive and very beautiful. It’s extremely music based, but also hack and slash based and you can Get By With A Little Help from Your Friend. You are Mayday, here to save rock with the help of your drummer Zuke. Though the bosses are very Zelda-akin and super awesome looking, with their musical prowess, the soundtrack never stops with you losing. In fact, it keeps you in the game, coach- as even if you are feeling you are losing, the amazing soundtrack and the music you can make with your cohort through attacks can be uplifting and even heart palpitating. You are never at a loss because though music and notes are universal, sometimes one musical genre tries to overtake another, so you may even feel you want to crank that volume up!
This is a very beautiful and creative choice of the creators, that deploy and wonderful art style with a level design that is dare I say, NEXT LEVEL. The humor never misses A BEAT. The voice acting and character design is ON POINT. The six-stringed mission statement is colorful with an air of wittiness and self-awareness that is only rivaled by the music they are trying they are to combat against.
Either way, ya gonna rip it up!
ROCK has always been the outlier, the absorbing of music that they sometimes are cooler than. In this instance, it’s EDM.
I mean, who wants to listen to machines when true emotion and musicianship is created through 4 instruments? I mean, really, is true musicianship over? Different styles make work to break a band up but in this case, you have to work IN CONCERT to wherever the boss make take you in expressive and dynamic moves, through working together (because as a band, you need to work together to get yourself out there,) and through sometimes giving yourself up in knowing that you are the greater than the sum of its parts.
In future content, they want to expand it out of EDM. For instance, I played a level that was based on rock (for my character’s powers) and classical. The goal of this game is not only quirky but also clever and intuitive.
For those of you who like “hack and slash but shoot at the enemy” games, this will not disappoint in the least. The learning curve if easy enough to pick up, but steep enough to be rewarding for those looking for a fun and mellifluous challenge. The weaponry is only your instruments and your wits.
Think of this like a Fooly-Cooly game if you got to switch characters on the fly. The humor is on goddamned fleek, the boss battles are epic looking and feeling, the marriage of your sound and the soundtrack (which always keeps you back in the game, no matter how hard you may fail at times) will have you not knocking, but rather scratching at this Heaven’s Door.
Who knew notes could be so harmful? Oh, wait. Mothers.
This is a game made for music lovers, but you don’t have to be a hardcore record store junkie to love it. The art style is Ax-ecuted wonderfully by Wan Hazmer, lead game designer of Final Fantasy XV and Daim Dziauddin, the concept artist behind Street Fighter V. The intuitive controls and camera work of the characters you pilot make it a sight to behold along with the imaginative set pieces of levels. With optional two-player co-op and the different levels and bosses being based on different musical genres, why would you not give this little record a little spin on PS4 and PC coming 2020?
That being said, I give this six electric guitar strings out of five. Now what you do with those open strings… is your own song.
P.S. A huge thank you and super shout out to Katie Clark at Sold Out Sales and Marketing Ltd. for facilitating this. She was super helpful seeing me through the demo and was open to any and all queries. Katie… you ROCK with two metal horns up!
Oh yeah, your enemy is that strong. Like 50 Cent, I am in DA CLUB!
[This is Robert J. Kijowski] and I am here with Radoslaw Ratusznik. We are talking about his groundbreaking game Ghostrunner. Fucking amazing. It got my blood pumping from start to finish. I liken it to Groundhog Day because you have to learn with each mistake.. and adaptability. That’s the name of the game. I love the level design as well because there’s more than one way to skin a cat. First of all, who the fuck skins cats and why did they come up with more than one way? What was the inspiration behind this?
RR: The main inspiration was our previous title, God’s Trigger, which was a top-down shooter that had a one-hit, one-kill mechanic. This was the core gameplay that influenced Ghostrunner. We mixed things up this time with enhanced movement- running, dashing, sliding, combined with Bullet-Timing. When we mixed it all up, it comes up with something unique and fresh that is super satisfying. The juicy slashes alone turn you from what is a ‘basic’ ninja into a cybernetic one. You are not so generic because you can run through and on walls, dodge bullets-
RJ: I did like the Bullet-Time Dodge because I felt as though I was Neo in the Matrix. Even if I died, I could change my course of action the next time to get that satisfying kill.
RR: That was totally our inspiration.
I know Wall-fu.
RJ: The sound design for the blade going ‘SNKKKT’ was great too. It made me a little giddy inside. I’m not gonna lie. Now, as a melee weapon as your only defense, was that a conscious choice? Were there other means of dispatch in the works?
RR: The main type of combat works for this game because you have to REACH the enemy. Had it been a shooter, you could shoot from afar or sneak up from a corner and fire. With this, you have direct combat with the enemies and are trying to find out different ways how to reach them. The level of design lets you do so. You can choose different paths, different walls to run on and it proves satisfying for different players.
RJ: That kind of reminds me of a scene in Leon: The Professional. Leon, the assassin teaches Matilda, his protege of sorts what the first level of being a hit person is. The sniper rifle is initial. It’s furthest from your client. The last level is the knife. It’s more personal. More intimate. That’s what I feel with this game.
RR: That’s an amazing comparison, oh yeah.
RJ: What grabbed me too was the music and the atmosphere. They both fed into one another. What was the inspiration for them?
RR: So, we’re in this CyberPunk world. The synth-wave and retro-wave music felt good in that setting, and our music producer Daniel Deluxe, from Denmark, knows the game and the soundtrack of the game really well.
RJ: I feel that the level design itself has a very Blade Runner-esque feel.
No witty caption. This is just gorgeous.
RR: Oh, yeah.
RJ: Very neo-noir, very post-apocalyptic- it leads into the music itself and vice versa. In terms of the characters themselves, there is the Key Master, which is the main villain, and there is the Architect, the person who built the whole thing. What was the inspiration behind those in terms of narrative?
RR: I can’t give much away, but there are a ton of references in the game.
RJ: I love that the world itself is nothing but up. You have to climb a tower. That is such a daunting journey. When you think of all great literature, Jack and the Bean Stalk, Rapunzel, there is an element of getting to the top. Even with old school games like Donkey Kong. To the top!
RR: The inspiration for it was Judge Dredd with added elements of Snowpiercer. You have to go forward to reach the highest ranks. You start at the bottom and then you have to climb, climb so you can encounter the final boss. It’s kind of simple in theory, but it truly works with this kind of gameplay.
RJ: If I may ask, no spoilers affixed, but are there any plans for the future, down the line with this amazing game?
RR: We haven’t shown it yet, but we’re going to have levels in Cyber Space. It will be a hacking mechanic, so we’re going to incorporate logical and action-platforming based puzzles. In that realm, the player may feel safer because your character can jump between two worlds, the physical and the cyber, where enemies can’t broach.
RJ: Jeeze, that adds a whole other depth to an already deep game. It’s pretty sweet to take a breather from the intense nature of the game and go into a more cerebral realm.
RR: It will be fun because it helps you slow down a little bit from all the chaos.
RJ: I find this game clever to be challenging and rewarding at the same time. The one hit, die mechanic makes it so addicting. It makes you rewire your brain about the next time you’re hitting that same scene.
RR: Well, we were inspired by Hotline: Miami. We were all big fans of it and we wanted to move that gameplay into a first perspective from our previous game, the same mechanics.
RJ: I like that because the one thing that is interesting to me is the music, the zero lag time throws you right back into the game. You WANT to fucking conquer that space in one fell swoop. Or try to. Norton taped me dying a shit ton but learning each time. Each death was rewarding because it was a new way to look at a level.
RR: And the next try you may have a different plan, you may have a different feat of the enemy. That’s part of the game. No failure is feeling like one. It’s just a different way to success and you have to be prepared for anything.
“Deep in the dungeons of rap…”
This will be on PC, PS4 and Xbox One for now. For the gameplay, it is addicting. It’s like Thief combined with Dishonored combined with a one-hit-kill that brings you into a rage quit… but without quitting. It feels great getting through a part of a level to be more clever than your last death. The graphics are very pretty, super-stylized and make you feel that you are truly in that world. The challenge is super hard, but if you’re a perfectionist like me, you can easily spend hours of your life spending your time on a beat of a section.
If the rhythm section gives this 10 out of 10, I will give this 15 out of 10… factoring the ending fill.
P.S. Shout outs and big props to AJ Trulin from Stride PR and Radoslaw Ratuznik, Co-Founder of One More Level for being more than accomodating and being like the coolest people ever in a very chaotic PAX. You guys rule.
There’s actual musicality to cracking a safe. You have to hear the rhythms and turn to a beat. There’s a reason you may have to use a stethoscope but imagine if you have music in your ears instead of simple micro-clicks that helped guide you through the process and made you feel like a bad-ass. With a first-hand experience of the game, Spin Rhythm XD, here is my interview with one of the creators.
What will I have for breakfast today?
[This is Robert J. Kijowski] for the Workprint and I am speaking with Dave Curro from the Spin Rhythm XD team. Right off the bat having played the demo, my blood is pumping, my heart is racing.. so where did this originate?
Dave Curro: That’s kind of complicated. It’s been in the works for some eight years floating around as an idea and our artist, Shath [McGuire] who used to work at Halfbrick on Fruit Ninja and Jet Pack Joy Ride who was responsible with those looking great with another member of our team Steve [Last] who formed the Ninja Pack- they really know gameplay and visuals and Shath always loved Rock Band, Guitar Hero- that sort of what we really had back in Australia back in the day.. we didn’t have all these crazy rhythm games in the arcades and stuff, and these days it’s like, damn where have all the rhythm games gone? Like there’s Beat Saber and all the different arcade games we can’t get back home, so we’re like, let’s just make one!
RJ: Of Course!
DC: It initially was thought up as a mobile prototype, but when those were getting big, they were all tap-tappy types and we wanted to deploy all the spins that you could utilize while holding and tapping a flow, a scratch zone, the notes to what amounts to simple but complicated and ultimately rewarding gameplay. So it started on mobile but wanted to release it on PC but we wanted to release it on premium.
RJ: I noticed you wanted to make it more authentic! I’ve noticed you have included the option for a MIDI DJ set up, which as a former DJ, was very rewarding. I mean you have your Rock Band, you have your DJ Hero and stuff, which has peripherals of sorts, but when you deal with true MIDI, true musicianship, you bring a lot of DJ’s into the fold. Definitely, respect.
DC: It looks intense, I know.
RJ: But the look and feel of it were so smooth. With the Pioneers and all?
DC: Well at the first PAX, we were exhibiting in Australia in 2017, and we had this really solid CDJ’s that were Pioneer with a solid mechanized wheel that goes “ZZZZZ” when you spin it (Onomonopeia), we saw if we could get that same sensation into the game. We tested out with MIDI and it tested great and was so robust so we wanted to incorporate and it exposed so well. People saw this wheel and they wanted to tinker around this wheel and even though it initially was mouse and track-pad based, we realized we could make it for every DJ wheel out there. That is like our mission, ya know?
RJ: I think everybody that steps up to the demo feels like a DJGOD. They are like, “I have got two turntables, it feels extremely intuitive, it feels super awesome…” I have to query about the music. Who curated the music, because it’s a phenomenal soundtrack.
DC: We had a lot of directions we could go and a lot of our fans put in their thoughts of how the music could go. Some wanted more anime music, some wanted more rock. We were like, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! You can’t please everyone, so we might as well please ourselves. So we hand-picked out artists like Monstercat or NCS to independent or whatever we could find. We’re getting a track by Haywire pretty soon. We basically reached out to him and he was down for it. Sometimes it’s simple, sometimes it’s complicated, but the setlist is off something we really like.
RJ: It’s off the charts amazing-
DC: We’re also a bit picky. Some music is a good thing to listen to but sometimes it goes on for a long time and it’s a really good vibe, but what we like is rhythmic and harmonic motion, changes in different sections and contrasts.
RJ: You want a little bit of a challenge melodically in the game as well.
DC: We don’t want to have in the game just vibes. Even though some tracks are just amazing if you put it in there, you want it to go somewhere. Know what I mean? What we really love is melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, structured electronic music that works with what game requires.
RJ: Visually, the game looks stunning.
More like Ocean’s 3005!
DC: That’s all Shath.
RJ: Because everyone’s familiar with the Rock Band colorway, you need to have your choice of colors stand out above the rest. You take it to another level. In my mind, this looks like a DJ’s brain thinks!
DC: Shaf’s really picky about colors and could make anything look really good. And as opposed to Rock Band, he’s shifted from primaries more to neon pastels, like cyan and magenta and for the beats like a really neon yellowish-green. The spin prompt is this purple and they still represent the color spectrum and blend together really well when playing the game, but it’s not quite what you’re used to. It feels futuristic.
RJ: A completely new color palette that’s palatable. Lastly, I must ask, do you have any options for recording and sharing mixes?
DC: For legal reasons, we cannot facilitate the sharing of music, but we will have an option soon to be able to import your own music and create levels and it will be open-sourced. What you can do now is edit your own tracks in the game proper, as we have full editing tools, you just can’t slow the BPM’s down or cut them up, BUT you once coming up with bringing your whole suite of music.
RJ: That’s fucking awesome! I highly recommend this game to anyone, especially if you wanted to feel like a DJ bad-ass because again, it got my blood pumping and heart racing-
DC: -I saw you on there, man! You were in the zone! In another dimension.
RJ: I was because and it was super fun because I’m used to being on normal turntables and got a little too intense with the CDJ’s.
DC: Well it’s hard because the sensitivity with those changed, the sensitivity is high now but you can customize and control it.
RJ: That’s beautiful.
DC: Check out Spin, early access on Steam, coming out towards the end of the year!
RJ: You’ve heard it heard first, people!
Thankfully, I got to cut a huge swath of people salivating at playing this demo. They tried me at hard because I wanted a two-hander (on the turntables, people!) but started me out hard. I failed a shit-ton and when the fixed me with an easier mode, I still failed because I was so in my element. This game actually utilizes both lobes of the grey matter. It’s visually appealing and hits the auditory in a way that only can make the best parts of you stand up and want to make you DJ an actual party. How many records could I give for the experience and interview? Yeah, that many records. It is a fucking gold record experience.
P.S. Super shout out to Dave Curro for Super Spin Digital and Zack Furniss at Stride PR for hooking this up. It is something I cannot recommend enough as a leveled up experience to rhythm games. This will change everything.
Hi, this is [Robert J. Kijowski] and I am speaking with Alex Atkins.
Alex Atkins: Hello. I’m the head writer for The Moonlight Kids and our newest game, The Wild at Heart.
RJ: The game itself is stunning, the artwork, beautiful. What’s a bit of the synopsis behind the game?
AA: It’s about a boy named Wake who runs away from home and into the woods behind his house and kind of gets lost. He stumbles upon a pocket-dimension, you know, almost kind of like a Neverland, where he meets these little nature-based creatures called Spritelings. They’re interested in him, curious about him and they follow him about. Wake figures out that he can utilize them to interact with the environment in addition to building things, breaking things and carrying things. He also possesses this self-constructed vacuum that he uses in tandem with his newfound friends to interact with his surroundings as well. Going into the forest, Wake interacts with this secret society of humans called the Greenshields, who are responsible for taking care of their magical creatures in this land called the Deep Woods. However, these Greenshields are not exactly doing the best job of it at the moment, having lost their way for a while. The Deep Woods also serves as a prison for something evil that is growing stronger. The Greenshields is now ineffective for many reasons. {laughs}
O, Serpent, My Serpent!
RJ: Because of the Greenshields having lost their way and dropped the ball, it is up to Wake to help them pick it back up and become once again forte, strong. I’m visually loving the feeling of the game.
AA: Thank you.
RJ: I’m really feeling the narrative of escapism into the woods because as a kid, I LOVED venturing into the woods.
AA: Me too.
RJ: Especially to escape problems. The great with about the woods as a backdrop is that they are so vast and it’s so easy to literally and figuratively lose your way.
AA: Absolutely.
RJ: What was the inspiration behind the woods setting?
AA: Conceptually, the artist and I used to get lost in the woods but with this, we’re all pulling from nostalgia, like Where The Wild Things Are, getting lost in that way and finding yourself in a new world. It’s really an amalgamation of our childhoods and things that we enjoyed when we were young.
RJ: I am a fan that the two things on your side in the game are creative ingenuity in crafting a vacuum and the Spritelings themselves. I truly like there exists this peaceful element while playing the demo in using your vacuum in creative ways along with using your squad, the Spritelings in moving the pace along.
AA: Thank you!
RJ: I’ll be honest. The look and flavor of the game remind me a little of Wes Anderson due to the nascent brilliance in a kid’s mind. As a writer, were there any cinematic inspirations?
AA: Wes Anderson is one that I haven’t really thought of, but I’m sure he’s one of my favorite directors. A lot of influence behind this was Studio Ghibli stuff. I like the blending of humor and heart that they do and art-wise as well, as you can see. But yeah, lots of anime, I would say serve as inspiration behind the game.
RJ: In terms of characters, for me as a screenwriter, there are a few characters I really get hung up on writing for a lot. As the writer of this game, were there any particular ones that you just went to town on that you loved?
AA: Yeah. I’m not sure how much I wanna say-
RJ: Oh, you can be totally vague!
AA: There’s a lot of other Greenshields that you meet, each with their own quirks. There are these twins in the game and that’s all I’m gonna say. (laughs)
RJ: (laughs) Oh, that sounds great! Interplay is fun because you can go as quirky as you wanna. So what platforms is this out for now?
AA: We are still in development and about the first Quarter of 2021 is what we’re shooting for which will be released on Steam and Xbox One.
RJ: Awesome! Do you have any plans for the future without giving too much away in terms of possible additional story content or additional gameplay?
AA: It’s certainly on our minds. Nothing we’re workshopping on right now, but we’d certainly love to.
RJ: I will say that the demo so far is great, so artwork beautiful- I love the writing on it-
“The Woods are lovely, dark and deep..”
AA: Oh, thank you!
RJ: It’s cute, quirky, fun. It’s something I would easily pick up and play if I was having a bad day.
AA: Oh, awesome! That’s kind of why we wanted to create it. Honestly, we wanted something very chill. It’s very combat-light and we wanted more environmental puzzle-solving rather than a straight shoot-em-up. Kind of like a Miyazaki movie, it’s very ambient.
RJ: As a writer for a video game, what’s the hardest process?
AA: Probably making sure that I have the right story to get across because it’s kind of hard to tell what one player will do from another. It’s up to choice a lot and making certain that I give them room to breathe and interpret in specific ways. It’s not like writing for a movie where the engaged is watching something linearly. Here, there are other elements for approaching things from another side and thinking of how you can
approach it from other angles is really fun but also challenging.
RJ: Lastly, what’s the most rewarding thing about watching people play your game?
AA: It’s just weird that I’m at PAX right now and people are watching my words and story on the screen in front of thousands of people.
RJ: And you can see people play ‘em and have fun. That’s so awesome!
AA: I get a real kick from when the funny lines hit and you can see the player’s shoulder tilt a little for a chuckle. That’s a good feeling.
RJ: So this is coming out again, in the First Quarter of 2021.
AA: Yeah, you can follow us on social media [@moonlightkids_ , IG: wildatheartgame], Moonlightkids.co , we have a Discord as well. You can follow us there. We answer questions, sometimes do live Q & A’s, live streams like the demo and Wish list us on Steam.
RJ: Sweet! So check this out people, this is one to watch, check it out! Ya won’t regret it!
Now having played the hands-on, it’s very intuitive and is one of those games that anybody could pick up a controller and play. To me, this seems like a game made for the young and young at heart. Nothing ever slows down and is always rewarding, either through dialogue, story or accomplishment on moving the narrative forward. Eight out of eight Spritelings.
P.S. A huge shout out to Moonlight Kids and Alex Atkins for taking out the time for being so fucking cool and letting both Norton and I try out this game. It’s a story of his creation and you guys should check it out! You won’t regret it.
Do you know why the dodo went extinct? Spoiler, it wasn’t their fault. Dodos were the victim of colonization, and, ok, sure, their own inability to adapt to change. They were weird flightless birds that became easy pickings for the new people and animals that invaded their lands. On the bright side, none of this dark history is necessary knowledge to play the game Dodo Peak.
That’s right, this addicting mobile game come console entry has a much lighter mission. Sort of…I mean, you’re a mamma or papa dodo that’s lost their eggs, which means you have to go out into the world and rescue you’re ready to hatch babies. In the meantime, snakes, rocks, and all other manners of obstacles will be standing in your way. Oh, and there’s one more hitch you should be aware of. This game is an homage to Q*bert!
Not only are your movements are limited, but as a bonus complication, the movements of your babies are limited. As you jump down onto a platform, your babies will trail behind you leaving them exposed to danger unless you keep moving (or stop, depending on their position and the danger). The more babies you have to rescue, the more complex your return back to the nest becomes. It’s a satisfyingly frustrating mechanic that adds a new layer of challenge to the old Q*bert groundwork.
Along the way, you will unlock new dodo skins and levels. New dodos come with new advantages and weaknesses, while new levels come with better rewards but harder routes to success and more wily enemies. Not too shabby for teaching an old dog (err…dodo) a new trick!
My time with the game was short (if any of you have been to PAX then you know it’s nothing but long lines, waiting, and longer lines), but in my brief experience, I enjoyed my visit to dodo island. The visuals are especially enchanting. Your dodo parent is all soft edges, while your chicks are adorable tiny copies, and when you get new dodo skins, the kids dress up too! The layout of the levels is geometric without being as blatant as its inspiration – you walk on squares, stacked and aligned so as to create the illusion of walls and walkways. Bridges, mountains, bodies of water, and of course plant life to round-out these beautifully crafted islands of terror. The dodo skins themselves not only come with added features such as speed or strength, but they are also fun to collect and see. Some are historical (Hi, pharaoh skin!), some are movie callbacks (Hi, Indy!), and some are fairly random (Ski suites, Gold dodos, and Penguin dodos to name a few). Honestly, if I were to play long enough to get really good at the game, collecting the different dodo disguises would probably be my favorite part.
The following is an interview that my colleague did with the creator of Dodo Peak:
[ Robert Kijowski: I am here with Patrick, one of the developers of Dodo Peak. This I would describe as very Q*Bert meets the Last of Us. What would you say is your inspiration?
Patrick McAvena: We were definitely inspired by the classic 80s games of yore. Growing up in the 80s and we felt that we wanted to do that art style and mechanic and put that clean, easy to learn gameplay in place.
RJ: How crucial was it as a game designer to keep the place between open to anyone that can play but not too easy for the seasoned gamer?
PM: That’s always a constant balance because there are people that say it’s too easy and there are people that say it’s ever too hard, so you have to make the decision of ‘What’s the game that you want to make?’ and though it’s a constant struggle, we push the boundaries of what is rewarding for any player.
RJ: I noticed the color palette in the game. It’s very 80’s-esque. It’s very vibrant. It’s very soothing. How much thought went into the specific colors themselves?
PM: My background was as a VFX artist and commercial industry for a while and one of the other co-creators, James, was a motion designer so with our powers combined did a lot of R & D and found this amazing art director named Maxime Bourgeois and we just went to town on those.
RJ: I wanna say, though it may be a lead-in question, what is your favorite aspect of the game? Is it the speed round? Is it being able to control the difficulty of one level? Or is it an amalgamation betwixt the two?
PM: I think it’s the whole picture for me. To get the right feel and the right pacing is super important and we ended up having a lot more mechanics and then pair it down the bare essentials.
RJ: In terms of traps, let’s be honest, was that not fun to create to thwart whom you are piloting?
PM: I actually really, really loved that aspect and it was a lot of fun, and we tried. There was a lot of things that didn’t end up in the game because it didn’t read right. What we found was a lot of static obstacles, but people enjoy more those that they can interact with. The latter ended up being our rule of thumb.
RJ: Is there anything new on the horizon for the Dodo Universe?
PM: We’re coming to Switch this Summer. We also have a really awesome content update next month. Sky world. A whole new way to use the mechanics. Outside of that… we have plans that you’ll have to stay tuned for… ]
I recommend, if you have the time and platform (an iPhone, or a Nintendo Switch in this case) to check this game out.
P.S. Shout outs to Patrick McAvena and Moving Pieces for granting us the pleasure of playing this amazingly chill, sometimes frenetic but always fun and beautiful game.
Imagine, if you will, that you’re living in Viking times. Only…being a rampaging, pillaging, and conqueror isn’t exactly your idea of a good time. Unfortunately, you belong to a very proud family of warriors and they are gung-ho for a fight. You reluctantly join in the mayhem only to accidentally perish – at least you’re free, right? Wrong. Your borderline coward’s death somehow still counts as heroic enough to land you in Valhalla. Sure, it’s a great place for dead warriors, but you? You’d rather be in Helheim (Viking Hell). Lucky for you there’s a less than capable god and a botched resurrection spell in your future!
This is Helheim Hassle where you play as Bjørn, a pacifist Viking just trying to make his way to Hell. Pesto, a god in need of help, resurrects you, and you have the bright idea of using this turn of events to your advantage. See, Pesto is trying to get to Helheim, and your help is required – she isn’t corporeal, opening doors and whatnot isn’t an option – but you are, and you can. However, Bjørn is no dope. If he agrees to help her, then Pesto has to agree to talk to Hel about him staying in Viking hell. She agrees and our adventure begins.
Helheim Hassle is by Perfectly Paranormal, the same creators who brought you, Manual Samuel. I have never heard of it or played it, but some quick research shows exactly how one game influenced the other. In Samuel, the player learns to control each part of Sam’s body, in this game, Bjørn’s body can detach, and these jettisoned body parts are used in creative ways to solve the many puzzles it takes to make your way to Helheim. It’s an original concept, to say the least, and interesting evolution of the creators’ initial outing.
The gameplay is not hard, which is important. Learning to pick up and use your body parts isn’t challenging at all, and that’s probably because this game doesn’t concern itself with simple controls. No, this game is all about using your head (come on, I had to!). Solving puzzles is the key – how you use your body parts, what kind of combinations you can make, are how you’ll get to Hell. And figuring that out is a lot of fun.
The game starts you off with simple problems, like most games, the first couple is designed to get your comfortable with the mechanics. Press one button to break a body part away, press another to switch between body parts, press another to pick up a part or combine various parts, and you build on these basic beginnings to form a complex toolbox for getting you through any future puzzles. But that’s not all this game has going for it.
The writing and art are sublime. The cartoon style fits the spirit of the gameplay perfectly, while the dialog is both smart and funny. For such heavy subjects as death, existentialism, and spirituality you never feel any weight. The text is witty, self-referential, and down-right honest at times, with characters speaking plainly instead of affecting a faux old-English style. It’s refreshing, and it works excellently for the material.
The following is an interview my colleague did with the creator of Helheim Hassle:
[This is Robert J. Kijowski] for the Workprint and I am speaking with Ozan Dros, the creator of Helheim Hassle from Perfect Paranormal. Do you want to describe the game for me?
Ozan Dros: It’s an adventure game and as much dealing with friends as it deals with limbs.
RJ: It’s a puzzle game, but what goes on in it?
OD: So you play as Bjørn, an unusual Viking. All of his tribe is all about dying in battle in order to get to Valhalla, which is the reward for being a warrior. Bjørn, now is the outlier that doesn’t enjoy combat and wants to die of old age so he can go to Helheim, which is basically the chill-out lounge in the afterlife. The other Vikings think that’s super boring, so they want to do the opposite. In the beginning, he’s trying to get out of a major battle, but in doing so he dies in what constitutes as dying in battle.
RJ: He dies in a glorious fashion, people!
OD: Yes! He gets taken to Valhalla against his will and we begin the game there. A thousand years later, he is met with REDACTED to pick up something for REDACTED. The game ties into Manual Samuel and it happens upon the same day.
RJ: Kind of reminds me of James Joyce!
OD: Yes! We put in creatures like Satan and the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse in the previous game and we’re expanding into Norse mythology and one day I hope we can touch onto every story.
RJ: That would be fucking great. Now, I have to say, the humor in this game is ON POINT! It’s very self-referential, it’s super self-aware. With the character design and the color choices, it all fits in to be wacky and kooky. Was there any influence behind the design of it all?
OD: We have one guy that does character designs. We have a lot of characters as well. You can interact with over 80 characters, and that’s just the storyline. Every time a new character pops up, he designs like ten designs for them. The previous game was influenced by old Hanna-Barbara cartoons. This new style is influenced by early 2000s cartoons, like Samurai Jack-
RJ: I was JUST about to say, this art style is very Tartakovsky!
OD: That is really good because we look up to that show so much. It is so good.
RJ: Talk about the gameplay mechanics.
OD: You are dead, a cadaver. You can take up your limbs, throw them around, combine them in unique ways to solve unique puzzles along your journey. It’s basically a team effort. When we did Manual Samuel, you had to do everything manually. Someone said, though not accurate the limbs had a life of their own. We took that to HEART and ran with it. Why not have an arm and a leg go each on an adventure separately?
RJ: To me, that’s nearly RPG, where you have different characters, and the limbs are their own character, doing something for a unifying goal!
OD: Yes! Whenever I see an RPG, like the guy with the mallet, he can do one specific goal to help the greater good, or you switch to a character that can fly. Much of that is the same here. Just imagine, like Power Rangers, they can combine their forces.
RJ: With our powers combined!
OD: With our powers combined… you can turn into a normal-looking body.
RJ: The story itself is totally relatable. You have someone that just wants to fucking go to war. He just wants to chill the fuck out and live his life. Bjørn is like a lot of us. We just want to chill and don’t want to be conscripted into battle. Everybody around him is so gung-ho about dying a warrior’s death and Bjørn teaches us, yeah, that’s boring. Was that the pervading theme?
OD: Throughout the game, you may end up in situations where your best bud, Pesto, who is from regular Hell working her way up to Viking Hel, cannot sometimes read the room and gets Bjørn into some serious shit. They play off one another and pays in comedic dividends. She is straight forward, Bjørn is more diplomatic. There’s little combat in the game. It’s mainly puzzle-solving.
RJ: I love that! I love a game where the only thing weaponized is your brain. Are there any future plans for the title?
OD: Right now, as a milestone, we’re looking to release the trailer. Be on the lookout for that! This will be open to everything. Switch, X Box and PC to begin with, with Playstation down the line. ]
I highly recommend this game. It is fun, challenging, and a joy to look at and listen to. As Pesto says “Hells are always better.”
P.S. Shout out to Ozan Dros and Perfectly Paranormal for taking out the time for such insight and a really fun romp through a very innovative and funny game!
It's about living in the moment... unless you're reincarnated.
What steps would you take to heal a sick heart? Or the hard of seeing what’s right in front of you? Clearly, you wouldn’t search for a new body but rather find what part ails you and take steps to amend it. The self always has the chance of rejecting what could give you a new life, but it can also succeed and through some pain, the whole can take and heal itself with time. Welcome to the season two finale of Kidding (Showtime), “The Puppet Dalai Lama.”
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama XIV
Welcome to Tibet, 1706. A chase on horseback is underway. As the chased comes to a clearing, we find out he is the Holiness. He admits he’s being chased because he’s not a virtuous monk. He enjoys drink, song and the woman he’s met too much. He departs with a kiss and his verboten love learns of his fate- he will be killed and supplanted by a puppet.
Back in the present, Jill (Judy Greer) notices Will’s open tome of Mysticism. Reading it, she gives pause on the spell to turn back time depending on one thing: Phil. Her oculars deceive her, however, as the word is written is Will.
Will (Cole Allen) apologizes for remitting the letters of Phil’s donors to his father. This is something that Jeff (Jim Carrey) is in the right for knowing, though Jill refuses to let Jeff call these seven recipients a part of the Pickle family. The letters were Phil’s gifts, not his father’s. The media would’ve had a field day had Jeff reached out. The glory is not Jeff’s to cull because it was never his- it was Phil’s.
Jill wants to move on through Jeff blaming her for their son’s death. Jeff’s outright refusal to comprehend how Jill feels solely responsible for that fateful day simply causes her to rend herself asunder more. Jill, not one to let the only person in the world who could tell her the truth to her face leaves Jeff at an impasse.
We transfer back to happier (?) times, when Jill and Jeff are mere acquaintances, taking community dance classes so Mr. Pickles can teach the Dalai Lama how to Charleston. At the bar, Jill’s friends pester Jeff with boilerplate questions as he passes over his gratis shots to her.
After Jeff helps a drunken Jill into her apartment, he proceeds to his quarters right above hers, practicing his Charleston before a knock is heard. Jill commands Jeff to sit down on the floor, tie his shoes together and strap in. She’s falling for him, but Jeff clearly isn’t ready for a romantic relationship of any kind. This monastic predisposition exasperates Jill. She wants to move forward with him or nothing at all. Oh, we’ve all been there before. Because Jeff is not truly in touch with what’s in his heart with her, a dejected Jill retires back to her pad. Jeff lies to himself and says it’s for the best.
The for the remainder of Jill’s stay in the residence, Jeff can only observe her from afar, but she’s never too far from his mind nor his heart.
Back on Puppet Time, after Mr. Pickles cuts up a rug with the Dalai Lama, his Holiness (Michael Yama) presents Jeff with a token of his appreciation, a puppet the Salvador Dali Lama. After being tepidly received by Jeff, the Dalai Lama gives Jeff some sage advice on how to approach a lifestyle that precludes them from intimate relations. Economically spoken, his Holiness knows his own title of a monk, but simply calls Jeff “children’s puppet guy.” His dharma is to raise the world’s children, not be looked at or approached as a reincarnated deity. Jeff is told to embrace the fleet nature of happiness and enjoy it the only time he has on this big blue marble.
“Love is friendship set on fire.” – Eric Fromm
Inspired, Jeff leaves for New York City and runs after Jill into Little Italy. As his Holiness had imparted to Jeff, if we could stop time, we’d be happy forever, but simply not possible. With one last scream after Jill, however, this is what exactly Jeff has accomplished.
Walking through a frozen tableau of Little Italy, Jeff with wonderment reaches for some newly released balloons proceeds to press Play on this paused vignette, nigh being hit in the process. Jeff wants to hit Play on the conversation they should have had that night. He wasn’t being a paragon of truth and was scared of a future without Jill. Now that that’s all he feels, so akin to the group of balloons, all they can go is up. Right?
As His Holiness officiates over the matrimony of Jeff and Jill, with puppets and bridesmaids in tow, Jeff looks into the eyes of his bride-to-be and asks if he vows to nature, protect, nourish so they can grow together in the world.
“I do.”
These are the two most heart wrenching but necessary words for Jill ever to hear since the Jeff she knew said them with zero compunction on their happiest day.
On Jeff’s live addressing over his listen-to-me Pickles, he tells the children of the world, both young and old that it’s impossible to turn back time, but stealing it can be accomplished. He prompts all listening to turn back the watch an hour and utilize it to spend time with family. This I would consider a worthy endeavor and/or “challenge” to impressionable minds that wouldn’t involve you eating a fucking Ghost Pepper or reliving a goddamned Fight Club scene via salt and ice.
As Deidre (Catherine Keener) prepares for liftoff of Astronotter in Cape Canaveral, Scott’s new girlfriend is met with a slight tongue lashing by Maddy (Juliet Morris) about sitting on her buddy ax, Dolores to Scott’s dismay.
Elsewhere in the world, Josip (Johnny Kostrey) makes his on-screen debut as Mr. Sour Cucumber, James, recipient of Phil’s eyes does a puzzle with his sister, Tara Lipinski plays cards with her long-suffering assistant and Jill tries to reach Jeff through his own toy. She’s also spared an hour for her family.
Driving to the location to meet someone with Jill, Will sees his mother and father getting along for the first time in a long time. As he scans through the library card of his Spell Book, he notices one last date: 1/5/97.
As it turns out, a runner with the number of 1597 has finished the Columbus, Ohio marathon, complements of Phil’s heart. As the family meets her for the first time, Deidre on the East Coast meets the feeling of success as Astronotter’s launch to the Space Station.
As both Jeff and Jill listen to their son’s thumping ventricles once again, all the memories of the four of them come flooding back until the beating stops. Both of them realize maybe stopping time isn’t impossible to feel unbridled hope and happiness together in a world that truly needs it the most.
As this second season draws to a close, I’ve found a sophisticated growth in not only all of the characters but also the plot lines and tonality. The first season experimented with a lot of plot lines and some really strong character development but this second season knocks it into the upper echelon. The humor is sharp as ever, but the writers shine more at showing in no uncertain terms that actions have consequences through taut as a snare drum dramatic tension. Whereas the first season focused more on the Jeff Pickles that was keeping from experiencing normal human interaction, these 10 episodes found Jeff coping with the loss and gain of his family along with confronting and making peace with the only organ he’s only ever truly shared: his own heart.
Sometimes life throws you lemons. You try to make lemonade. Sometimes life throws you a test of faith. You either crumble or you make do with your illusion that isn’t divine providence but rather a concatenation of events you had worked so hard for, it just had to succeed… Sometimes, life is just so fucking weird and random that you can’t just magic away, wish it away, hope it away or in very special times, erase it away. Sometimes moments in life just exist and nothing will ever be the same moving forward. Welcome to the penultimate episode of Kidding (Showtime), “The Nightingale Pledge.”
“The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
We open in on the failure of Pickles on Ice. Tara Lininspky’s throat, not in the operating room is freshly cut. Seb (Frank Langella) and Derrell (Alex Raul Barrios) cut their losses and toss the big heads into the trash. As Divine Providence would have it, a few hoodlums looking to knock up a convenience store decided to use them. Yep. One of them got a shotgun to the face, sorry, “head,” blood spurting all over the other one that managed to escape, life intact. Turns out he who lives another day was cashing in that cheque to fire-bomb Jeff’s former domicile. With that warmth, welcome to the ninth goddamned circle of Hell.
We continue on Jeff (Jim Carrey) being confronted by his stalker, Bobby Belongo (Matt Gourley). There is mutual and odd respect betwixt the both of them. Instead of being run over, Jeff gets to breathe for another day. This isn’t exactly the case with Jill (Judy Greer) and her family though. She takes Jeff to task for putting them in harm’s way and basically painting a target on their well being.
Not having any house for which to reside in, Jeff sleeps decamps to the house he created… The house that bought him a house- his set.
In a house that is not a home, Deidre (Catherine Keener) is at the end of her rope with Maddy (Juliet Morris). Her daughter can’t sleep without her ax, and yes she named it, too. Didi’s life is falling apart and the only person that can save her is her daughter. She can regain her characters, but it’s going to take a leap nobody think she would or could take.
Back on set, Jeff is awakened by Seb, protecting him with a fucking rifle. Jeff, full of remorse from firing his father from the show, finds out that his father is suffering from dementia. Sometimes, when these things hit, they hit hard and quick. Seb tries to cook an egg tart in a non-functioning oven on set. Yep, it’s hitting hard and quick. Seb’s languished freak out is something so far removed from his comprehension, it’s scaring Jeff. He’s suddenly a kid in a grown-ass man’s body. How does one handle their own god wasting away in front of their eyes?
Meanwhile, Scott (Bernard White) is living his best, smarmy life. He has a new commercial on TV with him bedding a woman (I mean, come on, if you hit the nail on the head any harder, it would be a stud), he has a huge mansion and he has Astronotter. Deidre came to play, knocking on his door. She has an offer so good, he cannot possibly refuse.
Scott agrees to forfeit Astronotter, Snagglehorse, Ennui Le Triste, Uke-Larry, Thump-Thump and last but not least, the aptly named Oops. This all came at a price more expensive than the millions of dollars that intellectual property was valued at. Didi’s bargaining chip was Maddy and the sole custody of her.
“Some days, there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” – Emory Austin
At the hospital, as Jeff stares down his idol and his ruler, now bedridden, he breaks down. He’s not seen a giant fall before and he honestly doesn’t know how to grapple. He breaks down and wants some guidance when such can’t be sourced.
As Scott scoops up Maddy, Didi is super regretting her decision… But zero time to worry about what currently is. Jeff calls his sister to worry about what will be.
Seb had a massive stroke and may not be able to come back to the living world. Didi admits that she was responsible for all of this and responsible for winning the show back. Jeff is too overwhelmed to deal at the moment.
Back at school, when offered a hit of that sticky icky from his friends, Will (Cole Allen) refuses for once. He’s talked to someone who’s inherited his brother’s lungs. Both friends look out for him. This is part of the Nightingale Pledge. He is also stalked by Bobby Belongo. This stalker is wildly intent on affecting every corner of Jeff Piccirillo’s life. What’s the saying, you fuck with my family you fuck with me? Oh wait, I’m getting a little too ahead of myself. Continuing…
Bobby sits down and has a heart to heart with Will. He blames his mother for killing off his brother and bedding another man. This broke the Nightingale Pledge, which is anti-deleterious, and this weirdo doesn’t want Jill to harm Will like she harmed Phil.
Will asserts that due to magic, Phil is still alive because he can turn back time. He’s looked into his brother’s eyes, talked to his lungs. This gives the new Mr. Pickles pause and he takes off his head, asks Phil to put the faux head in the trunk and drive with him. If there is ever a time to make a choice, this moment is it…. until it isn’t.
Like a goddamn golden hawk out of the blue, Jeff breaks the window of his car, chokes the stalker out and proceeds to beat the ever-living shit out of Jeff Pickles 2.0. Oh, it was filmed in glorious fashion. Oh, he got a little bit stained with blood. Just a little.
As Will recites exactly what brah said in his mother’s presence, Jill recoils. He said she was responsible for his brother’s death and would rather spend the rest of the day with his dad, not with her. Did she purposefully leave Phil’s seatbelt off?
Jill realizes that Will took all of Phil’s letters. Yeah, say that three times fast.
At the hospital, Didi tries to win a one Seb’s heart back by telling a comatose version of him she won all the intellectual property back. She is basically talking to a momentary corpse, attempting to win his affection, which she never had in the first place.
Will questions his father about people not liking him from his rage going viral. “Even Jesus had enemies.” “Jesus also never be the shit out of anyone.” “He didn’t have a son.” Probably the three coolest lines in tandem ever.
As Didi and Jeff figure out what to do, Mr. Pickles is now trending. Beating the fuck out of a stalker and protecting his family is now the new porn.
As Didi and her brother are figuring out what to do with their father, Will comes in and talks of turning back time. This gives Jeff an idea since his little entre into violence made his toy more popular than ever. Ostensibly, children want to talk to someone who will go back to the mat for them.
Back at the Turn Back Time Station, Cornell (Tyler, the Creator) outfits Will with his new role. He is now a player in his grandfather’s story. Seb isn’t alone. In fact, he’s better than okay. He’s found Louise (Annette O’Toole) and fights with her as only one intellectual can do. She matches him.
Deidre, Jeff and Will watch as Seb match wits with someone with whom he had a passionate love for- his ex-wife.
The episode itself, pithily put a lovely and gratifying tie on the end of Seb’s story for the season. The fact that we had the family acting in concert for doing what will invariably soothe the soul of their sometimes asshole father and their absentee mother in the twilight of their lives seems like an extremely sweet and dignified way to help them find peace in the tortured beings they are. They didn’t kill off Seb, which would have been the easier thing to do in a penultimate episode.
This can only mean the next episode can tip the scales in a good or bad way. Out of miasma may come a brighter day, but one thing is for certain- nothing ever will be the same.
After binging ‘The Witcher’ Netflix series I downloaded ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ to learn more about the lore and where the next season will be going. Having now spent 300 hours finishing every single quest in the game (including both DLCs), here are Tips and Tricks that most guides aren’t telling you.
Geralt casts Igni on a wooden demon known as Leshen. PC: CD Projekt Red
With stellar graphics, well-crafted characters, and a deep branching storyline with heavy in-game choices, ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ was a phenomenal game for its time. Paying homage to both folklore and fairies in a grim tale filled to the brim with detail. Taking on a life of its own.
Which, in all this excitement, left several loopholes to exploit in the gameplay. For all the wonderful things The Witcher 3 does right in its design, combat, and story – there was actually quite a bit wrong in terms of its gameplay and in-game economy. This is why many early game guides became a bit obsolete, as tricks such as cow farming or breaking down shells to pearls in the market: no longer work. Strategies in how to kill supposedly late-game bosses (like the cow fiend. Which was added when attempting to patch the cow exploit) at level 1, or even juggle both in-game romances between both Yennefer and Triss (You can only say I Love You to One of Them), have been resolved by the company.
The developer, CD PROJECKT RED, had eventually found most of these loopholes and if not fixed them, then had patched them. If not by eliminating the exploits then by using its own in-game quest patch, as you’ll later learn once you’ve earned a great deal of coin and the ‘tax quest’ appears. But thankfully at this point, the company is more interested in developing ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ and its many, many, editions, rather than continue patching ‘Witcher 3.’ Which means, all the remaining coin exploits, strategies, and techniques left in the game that work, are very likely here to stay this time.
That said, here are some TIPS for those new to the game and who want to perform a perfect run, or just make their lives easier on their first time playing.
Weird to admit this but much of this game is just item sorting and seeing what items sell for the best profit. Which is why you need to toss a coin to your Witcher for a reason. The in-game economy requires A LOT of money and doesn’t make it easy to earn on the initial playthrough. The biggest expenses coming down to…
Grandmaster Witcher Armor (Blood and Wine DLC)
Building Your Winery/House at Corvo Bianco (Blood and Wine DLC)
Unlocking the Runewright and building his business (Heart of Stone DLC)
Alchemy Ingredients (White Gull mostly) for all the decoctions in-game.
And if you’re like me and most of us who downloaded the game after watching the Netflix series, you’ll likely have also bought the DLC bundle that came with it. So if you’re going for EVERYTHING on your first run, you’re probably looking at a whopping 300,000 coin or more that you’ll need to earn in-game from beginning to end. Depending on how many rare items you salvage/find.
For context: collecting every sunken treasure in Skellige only nets you around 40-50k. So, you need to earn huge profits to do a single run and hope to unlock everything.
EASIEST WAY TO EARN COIN
To be blunt, HANSE bases in the Blood and Wine DLC are the best place to farm gear-for-coin. Or, if it’s early/mid game, loot all the ‘?’ chests littered throughout Skellige. With an interactive map of all of Skellige here.
The easiest way to earn is to loot everything and sell it to the right dealer. Most items can be kept to a maximum of 20, with the excess sold on almost everything, minus these select things…
WHAT ITEMS TO KEEP
Minerals, gemstones, infused crystals, and dusts – All of which you’ll need for crafting. Most of which, you’ll find on the occasional chest or wraiths (who drop rare dusts).
Meteorite and Dark Iron/Steel related items – Needed for all the Witcher gear but especially to build enriched dimeritium plates. Better to hoard a lot of these all-game as you’ll save TENS OF THOUSANDS in coin.
Gold, Silver, Copper, and Nickel – Needed to build the ingredients for dimeritium ores, which build ingots, that build dimeritium plates.
Chitinous Shell/Cured Draconid Leather and Hardened Leather – Essential for late-game gear. Also, hunt for centipedes and breakdown their loot for Acid in Blood and Wine DLC. This makes Infused slyzard hides.
Again, all of this is meant to construct the Grandmaster Witcher sets late in the game. Armors that are, honestly, absolutely worth it as they’re both overpowered in a fun way and serve as decorative trophies for your home. The Grandmaster sets are so fun that you’re going to want to bring them over to New Game+.
Speaking of New Game+, anything you want to keep/carry over to your new file you can place into your storage chest. Including decorations (paintings, armors, and tiny genitals statue too) and equipment (grandmaster swords/armors).
A portrait of Geralt fighting Centipedes in the Blood and Wine DLC. You can bring decorations like these into New Game +
BEST PLACES TO SELL ITEMS
These are the proven best places to sell items for the most profit as of 2020. After all the patches and final updates.
Food and Drink:
White Orchard, Alchemist – Tomira, whom you met early-game. Her hut’s conveniently right by the signpost too and she buys honeycomb at the highest rate in the game (6 or 7 crowns). I came here often for alchemy ingredients. Also sells the white gull recipe you’ll need in-game.
Inn at the Crossroads, Innkeeper – One of the first innkeepers you can challenge in Gwent for a card. He’s the one you asked details about Bloody Baron in one of the first quests into Velen.
Lindenvale, Innkeeper – He’s inside the tiny town inn to the left. The outer foregrounds, being where you had a Velen boxing match. His rates match the Inn at the Crossroads.
Alchemy:
Novigrad, Merchant’s Square Fish Seller – This is also where I got most of my ingredients for white gull as he sells mandrake and cherry cordial in abundance. You’re going to need a LOT of white gull to craft alchemy ingredients and rare items.
Novigrad, Merchant’s Square Herbalist.
Novigrad, Halfling Herbalist Store by the waterfront – A bit northwest of Rosemary and Thyme.
Oxenfurt, Halfling Herbalist North East of the City – Has a hut and says he understudied with Gremist, the master alchemist you meet in Skellige.
Weapons:
Novigrad, Eibhear Hattori – Besides being an obvious ‘Kill Bill’ reference (A master swordsmith who makes sush… ahem… dumplings), Hattori will become your best exclusive crafter most of the game once you unlock him by finishing his quest. He’s a master level crafter in the city who also has some of the best payouts for both weapons and crafting materials. He also has the most coin in Novigrad. Hattori should be your blacksmith for almost everything, and your first option when selling excess or rare swords (I don’t bother keeping rare swords unless I want it as decoration as The Witcher gear ones are always better).
Novigrad, Blacksmith – He’s the journeyman level one in a corner of the fish market located between Merchant’s Square and Hattori. His coin is very limited, however, and he pays slightly less than Hattori, but he is a nice in-between visit on occasion.
Skellige, The Blacksmiths at Kaer Trolde and Kaer Muire – Technically, both are journeyman level so they should have similar selling rates as the Novigrad Blacksmiths… but they still can’t match Hattori’s selling rates. Only use them if you’re desperate in Skellige and don’t feel like traveling back to Novigrad.
Armor and Horse Gear:
Novigrad, Merchant’s Square “TOP NOTCH SWORDS” Armorer – Oddly enough, he’s the best person to sell armor to in the game as he has a large pool of crowns. With selling rates similar to Mastercraft armorers.
Skellige, The Armorers at Kaer Trolde and Kaer Muire – Same ordeal as their blacksmiths listed above: easy access in Skellige but a bit worse rates than in Novigrad.
NOTE:Avoid Selling in Crow’s Perch – Velen sucks for so many dreadful reasons in this game, including its broken in-game economy, as the rates for the master crafting dwarf are actually at the amateur levels and for some reason, the ‘actual’ master-level crafter here doesn’t have good selling rates despite the large pool of coins.
Junk:
Novigrad, Merchant’s Square – The merchant who sells teapots and candelabras. This is a good place to purchase silver related goods to breakdown at Hattori’s (surprisingly, you can run low on silver late game due to all the crafting. Especially when you need silver powder).
Novigrad, Merchant’s Square – The book dealer closest to the armorer. He also buys the books and notes at a good price.
Books:
Novigrad, Merchant’s square – The same guy listed above.
Novigrad, Merchant’s square – Bookshop of Marcus TK Hodgson.
THE BLOOD AND WINE DLC:
Behold Toussaint. Meant to be experienced as a separate game on its own.
Once you unlock Toussaint you should throw everything you know out the window, as this last DLC is meant to feel like a separate game with over 20 hours of material. You’ll be better off selling everything to the blacksmiths in Toussaint at this point and ignoring the other maps, as you’ll not only find other master-level craftsmen like Hattori, but also a grandmaster craftsman in the heart of the city.
SELLING FOR FULL PRICE
This is the reason I made this walkthrough. There is, as far as I know, only one place to sell items now at full price as most of these locations were fixed through in-game patches. Look for the ‘Clever Clogs Tavern’ in southern Beauclair just past the Nilfgaardian embassy. There, after the ‘Father Knows Worst’ quest in blood and wine DLC, you should be able to unlock Hugo, who buys items for their full price. This includes trophies and crossbow arrows. Making it the best market in the game.
Go there to find every card in the game and every card purchase location. For first-timers on a new playthrough, my suggestion is to build a Northern Realms deck focused on siege and drawing.
Essential Northern Realms Cards:
Foltest (Siege Master): Win from Nilfgaardian Nobleman in Vizima. In the middle of the grassy court.
Catapults: 1 from Elsa or Bram (Both near the main tavern) in White Orchard. 1 from the Marquise in the Passiflora brothel in Novigrad.
Crinfrid Reavers Dragon Hunters: Elsa or Bram in White Orchard. Claywich and Midcorse Merchants in Velen.
A 323 Gwent Score using a Skellige Deck in The Witcher 3. In the Blood and Wine DLC, this new faction is introduced to the card game and is needed to complete the Touissant Tournament.
GAME TRICKS
Finally, I leave you with some random tricks.
Stock up on Potion ofClearance when you can. I buy them from Keira Metz and The Pellar in Velen particularly. With this, you can redistribute skill points and sort of play a build you like however you see fit.
While horse racing, it’s better to conserve stamina by staggering to the left or right at a walking pace and blocking your opponents from galloping. Less a race and more getting in your opponent’s way.
In a match of Gwent always carry 1-2 decoy cards in your deck. Save it for when a spy is used against you to then play the same spy on your opponent.
Gwent is more about outdrawing your opponent’s hand and having more card combos (like having both catapults and a horn. That’s one combo. Or all three dragon hunters cards. That’s another) to play than they do. You’ll often win if you play with a deck focused on drawing cards and using the right point combos at the right time.
The platforming sucks terribly in this game. Beware of cliffs and drops.
Save often and before a big bout/quest. Always.
THE LEGENDARY SWORD: AERONDIGHT
Basically, it’s Excalibur.
Undoubtedly the greatest sword in-game by a long shot, once you obtain one, you’ll never need another silver sword the rest of the game or proceeding games after. It’s that powerful.
This unique Aerondight (the others don’t have this ability) critical hits like no other blade in the game, has extended reach/length, and can uniquely scale-up in strength along with you as you level up.
You obtain it from the Lady in the Lake after finishing the quest: There Can Only Be One in the ‘Blood and Wine’ DLC. You can also bring it into New Game+ file and use it throughout the entire game.
LEVELING UP AERONDIGHT: The trick to leveling the blade’s strength up is to run a 10-hit combo without being hit to have the blade fully changed, and then, use the sword for a killing blow (should trigger automatically so long as the next blow is strong enough for a kill shot). I’ll admit, there are lots of times the sword destroys everything in sight before this can happen, so a good tip is to TURN ON MANUAL DRAWING of Geralt’s swords. This will make using Aerondight against human or bestial enemies (which silver swords are inefficient against) easy. Wolves are my favorite to level up the blade with but if you want to save repair costs, just 1-2 hit regular enemies with a steel blade, then switch to Aerondight for the kill shot. You can also just use Aerondight with whirl to whittle away every enemy in your path for easy blade leveling.
FINAL TRICK AND TIP
Have fun with it. ‘The Witcher 3’ was not a game I was expecting to dedicate this much time into but just absolutely fell that in love with, much like the TV series. It’s easy to get lose and lose time in it, which is why I listed a lot of efficient time-saving strategies up above. But, play how you want to play, and enjoy the story. And if you feel cautious or worried about breaking your game or getting the wrong ending, check out the video below in how to accomplish every ending. And I hope these articles dedicated to ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ were helpful.
Youtuber ‘xLetalis’ has some great videos on missed things and even a small tutorial above in how to accomplish every ending. I’ve used his videos in coming up with a lot of ideas for this feature.
Geralt of Rivia. Witcher 3 and Netflix versions. PC: CD Projekt Red and Netflix.
After binging ‘The Witcher’ Netflix series I downloaded ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ to learn more about the lore and where the next season will be going. Having spent now 300 hours finishing every single quest in the game (including both DLCs), here are some things I think show fans will find interesting that the game expands on.
All Image Credits: CD Projekt Red
HOW WATCHING THE SHOW ENHANCES THE GAME
It was just past the new year and ‘The Witcher’, despite early negative reviews, was doing fantastic for Netflix in terms of viewership. There were a lot more people interested in the series than anticipated. With well-spoken regards into Henry Cavill’s acting and uplifting support of the series, not just as the lead, Geralt of Rivia, but as a fellow fan of the series. I’d binged ‘The Witcher’ to record a podcast and do scene-by-scene recaps simply because of Cavill’s enthusiasm.
And as I’d diligently watched the show, I’d quickly found myself fully enmeshed into the fantasy elements of the story. Enough to find myself downloading the game during a New Year’s sale to try it out.
At first, I disliked the gameplay, which I list several reasons why the game is flawed below. But as I kept going because of the very detailed story, I found myself lost in the lore. Caught elements from the TV series that I had recognized in the game which made me want to play for hours more. The Geralt and Yennefer future storylines of course, but also Nilfgaard, and their soon to be seen longstanding wars against the North. As in the show, what we’ve seen so far in the conflict is truly just beginning.
Most importantly, we got to see the adventures of Ciri. Who didn’t have as large of a role in season one of the show, but plays arguably the biggest role in the overall story. Moreso than Geralt.
And over time, I got used to the controls and started to really enjoy the game. What’s nice about the lore in The Witcher 3 is that it’s incredibly detailed and full of conflict, with decisions that focus less on the nature of good and evil, and often, falls upon choices that seem morally grey. The lesser evil. A living and breathing universe onto itself with a rich history that feels alive on its own. Even when you’re not playing.
Priscilla, Zoltan, and Jaskier/Dandylion chat with Geralt. Each has their own featured story.
We covered what makes this game so great a long time ago, along with the many reasons why the game was groundbreaking for its time. But what’s nice about playing the game after watching the show, is that you start to recognize who and what is important in the grand scheme of the lore and why. How a lot of the people we’ve met in the show are just introductions to bigger and better dramatic stories.
A member of The Wild Hunt being attacked from behind by Vesemir.
WHERE THE GAME EXPANDS UPON THE TV SERIES
Now, there are some storylines exclusively adapted in the TV series: Geralt’s ‘Butcher of Blaviken’ origins, The fall of Cintra, Renfri’s Curse of the Black Sun, Yennefer’s origins, and the mage school of Aretuza. All plots well-executed and developed by the Netflix series that hadn’t been explored to that depth in both the source material or games. Conversely, here are some of the plotlines that the game expands on that the show already mentioned.
The Druid, Mousesack. Episode 1.
Better known as Ermion in the game, we spend a great deal of time with him in Skellige in ‘The Witcher 3’ and see the kind of druid he is and why his respect is well-deserved by his peers. He plays a larger supporting role in the game than in the series. With an emphasis on the differences between druids and mages.
The King of the Elves, Fillavandrel. Episode 2.
Despite his minimal screentime, both the introduction to Filavandfel and the conflict of the Elves regarding the loss of Dol Blathana to humans, play a huge role in the lore of The Witcher. Especially, regarding the themes of racism against non-humans. In Witcher 3, we learn more about the Elven rebels and their organization, the Scoia’tael,also known as the squirrels. These rebels prove to be a troublesome raiding force who are promised a free and independent Dol Blathana if they choose to join the fight against the North and join the Nilfgaardian empire. It’s a major twist and a great way the show can explore racism and ‘the lesser evil’ dilemma in the North.
Temeria and King Foltest. Episode 3.
I really thought episode 3 was going to be a one-off adventure, but as I played the game I soon realized: King Foltest is arguably the biggest political figure in the series. Which I did not expect nor see coming. He’s a major deal in The Witcher games, as Foltest’s armies are the strongest force after the fall of Cintra, and Temeria soon becomes the leader of the main opposition in the North against Nilfgaard. Expect plenty more from this storyline.
The Hedgehog Knight. Episode 4.
Once you play The Witcher 3, you start to realize just how unbelievably important this episode is in the whole of the series. There is so much more to elaborate upon but I won’t for spoilers. Just remember, it’s crucial for the story to remember ‘The child that was promised’ and the importance of the Elder Blood. And how this knight will play a large role. Which is a game-changing reveal close to the heart of the series.
The Last Wish. Episode 5
‘The Last Wish’ is addressed again in The Witcher 3.
‘The Last Wish’ becomes a story of legend in The Witcher, as Jaskier’s story is found and collected everywhere in The Witcher 3. In the game, they also discuss Geralt’s wish to Yennefer in detail and make a tough decision about whether theirs is a relationship of actual love. During this late-game quest, the game also delves into D’jinns. With an option to battle one or two of them in-game.
Villentretenmerth. Episode 6
It’s a Golden Dragon. What’s not to be awestruck about it? And while this tale becomes a Legend in almost every iteration/adaptation of ‘The Witcher’ material, what’s not known until you play ‘The Witcher’ games is that the baby dragon Villentretenmerth adopts, later to be known as Saskia, plays a major role in the lore. Particularly, with the war with the elves and the conflict with Nilfgaard.
The Sorceror Vilgefortz. Episode 7+8
They don’t really do a good job of it in the show but Vilgefortz is a MAJOR deal in the series. He plays a major role in the lore and history and his treachery by the end of the show’s season finale is very telling. Can’t stress enough, he’s a powerful wizard who influences much of the events in the story.
The Battle of Sodden Hill. Episode 7+8
It’s not referenced in the show but in the games, this actually marks the end of the first Nilfgaard war (There’s 3 in total in the games). Its a major turning point in the ongoing war between the North and South. With Triss’s scars and role becoming something of legend.
Speaking of which, I’d be remiss not to mention Yennifer and Triss’s stories in the game. Though Yenn is seen as Geralt’s true love, Triss actually has a romantic relationship with Triss in the first two games that’s heavily explored upon in The Witcher 3. Though both are important to the order of the sorceress.
If you’d like to see more differences, UnleashTheGamer.com has an interesting comparison between the books, games, and Netflix series.
GAMEPLAY
The game had paid so much attention to detail that people are still finding secrets about gameplay choices and Easter eggs its fifth year into its original release. Which speaks wonders about the quality of Witcher 3 five years later. ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ resurging onto the scene because of the Netflix series, but also because of its massive attention to detail.
But the gameplay, like many modern RPGs, has its fair share of bugs, platforming issues, and UI problems. There are areas you can glitch stuck in such as marsh holes in Velen or behind object crevices. There are also herbs that seem annoyingly difficult to pick up, as the run/pickup buttons are the same (a horrible decision in my opinion). There’s also a really annoying glitch where I found myself unable to submerge underwater in Skellig due to combat against sirens. In fact, there are a lot of problems with the battle engagement/running away system, especially when dodge and jump are interchangeable depending on if you’re exploring or fighting. And though a lot of people praise this game as groundbreaking at its time, in 2020, after massive adventure games like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Red Dead Redemption and Breath of The Wild the experience just doesn’t hold up as well in comparison.
But the story is still fantastic.
Still, problems aside, it’s combat system is fun and challenging. Especially, once you learn a style that suits you: mixing sign use, sword slashing techniques, and potions. With builds that can be reset mid-game using potions, so you can tweak your character in different ways you’d like to suit your style. There’s a very cool feature to scale enemy battles more toward your level so that it’s always a challenge. Even after the late game-breaking parts where you Geralt becomes a bit overpowered depending on your build.
Atop of this, there is an insane amount of quests. With every quest feeling like a tiny world in itself due to its massiveness. Everyone has backstory and motivations, with consequences that matter and influence your game’s ending. ‘The Witcher 3’ having distinctly different endings depending on your in-game decisions, in a branching story that’s one of the few games that seems to do it right.
CHOICES
Much like the weighted decisions depicted on the show, the game emphasizes choices and how it influences your game’s many ending. Below are a few major ones I’ve listed that I think exemplify some of the challenging choices in the game.
Ciri and Geralt discussing the life she wants to live. What you choose determines your game ending. Particularly, her fate and by proxy, the fate of the world.
Vivienne, whom you meet in the Blood and Wine DLC, is inflicted with a rare bird curse. As a witcher, you’ll be helping different NPCs with curses, their fates boiling down to how you choose to help.
One of the things most updates don’t delve into is that you have to make a decision between choosing Yen or Triss. You can’t profess your love for both without consequences.
LOCATIONS
Below are a few new locations explored in the game that are of interest. Technically, we’ve visited the palace of Vizima (Foltest’s home) so I omitted it form the examples.
Novigrad
The wealthiest town of the north, smack dab middle of the action in the third Nilfgaard war. Run by a religious organization and secret mobster rulers, it’s a city on the edge of racial tension, as non-humans are kept outside the city in shantytowns, and mages are being persecuted and burnt at the stake.
Skellige
The Witcher 3 really captures the beautiful Viking culture of Skellige. Think Iron Born from GOT but with honor. It’s Interesting that King Eist and Mousesack are from here, as they claim in episode 4 that the wedding was a boring affair compared to Skellige celebrations. Which we learn is absolutely true in Witcher 3.
Touissant
Fairytale Land deep in Beauclair. One of the beautiful Endgame Locations.
I can’t stress enough that this DLC is a small 20-40 hour game in itself. This part of the game is along sought breath of fresh air meant to be a paradise. A take on Don Quite. The food is delicious. Everything sells for a lot higher. And they even introduce new Gwent card decks. With a new special features system, where you can unlockable more abilities. Though all necessitated on Red/Green/Blue Mutagens so definitely save some.
There’s also a vampire murder mystery. And as depicted above, a fairytale land with Rapunzel, Thumbelina, Giants, etc.
This is hands down one of the best epilogues and DLCs I’ve ever witnessed in a game.
On a side note. Did you know actress MyAnna Buring who plays Tissaia De Vries is also the voice actress for Dutchess Anna Henrietta from Touissant in Witcher 3?!
MONSTERS
Easily some of the best things about The Witcher is the monster designs and creatures. We saw a few of them get slain by Geralt on the path in Netflix: The Kikimora, Sylvans, Striga, Dopplers, and Dragons. But ‘The Witcher 3’ really opens up on the monster bestiary. So Listed below are some of the most terrifying creatures in the game in detail that you should definitely check out/slay.
LESHEN
Based on the Leshy of Slavic lore, Leshens are powerful demonic like protectors of the forest scattered in several locations throughout Witcher 3. They can disappear from view in an instance, try and teleport to flank and impale you with sharp wood claws. They can summon packs of wolves to devour an unsuspecting foe, and even summon or turn into a swarm of crows. A Leshen’s danger is in its range, utilizing the aforementioned techniques to distract you and create space as the Leshen impales with a penetrating rooted attack from the ground can nearly one-hit kill you if caught off-guard.
HYM
The best way to describe a Hym is if suffering were a person’s quite literal shadow, following and haunting them everywhere they turned. A demonic spirit that posses those conflicted with acts of extreme guilt, they drive their hosts into madness, whispering to them in silence and causing severe depression, often driving them to acts of aggression, violence, and especially: self-harm. You encounter one as part of a secondary quest in Skellige.
THE CRONES
Easily some of the most horrific bosses in-game, the three witches are known as the ‘Ladies of the Wood’ in Velen, serving as somewhat demi-gods that are worshiped by the populace. A play on the evil witches in the woods from folklore, with all the usual tropes of a coven of three, sexy alluring counterparts, using candy to lure children, and of course: blood and cannibalism. Beyond the horror factor, you also get a nifty questline where you sort of decide the fate of the Gods in Velen, with The Crones playing a huge factor as to what happens to the surrounding swamplands.
TOAD PRINCE
Minus the spoilers, we sort of meet Prince Charming in the ‘Heart of Stone’ DLC and he’s not at all what he’s cracked up to be.
For more, check this out for some of the creepiest enemies of The Witcher 3
FINAL THOUGHTS
I, like many people, bought the game on sale because of the TV series but had no idea what I was getting into. That said, I loved everything about the game and this story is beyond fantastic. Dare I say, even on the levels of characterization and fantasy where I can see it potentially even challenging the best Fantasy TV Adaption Throne now long-held by ‘Game of Thrones’. And yes, it’s a very different story, but after Throne’s final disappointing season and seeing where this story can go I have high hopes.
And officially declare myself team Cirilla over team Daenerys any day.
Tomorrow, I’ll have a new ‘Tips and tricks’ guide to ‘The Witcher 3’, as many of the walkthroughs and guides have become out-of-date; with much of the ‘best’ strategies for earning coin in the game now patched. So if you’d like to play the game… I’ll show you some of the best/easiest ways to do it and show you where to sell items for the most coin.
On this week’s episode of Syfy’s The Magicians, we discover the Dark King’s origins, Plum Chatwin returns, and Alice meets The Couple.
Plum’s Back!
Having been gone for three weeks with no real idea where she went, Plum finds herself back at the Physical Kids cottage with Penny 23 present (having just smashed Quentin’s old welter’s trophy). The only thing she can remember is being inside a room with no door or windows. The senior traveler explains to Plum that she just has to picture the location in her mind’s eye and boom she can go there. Except that she has never done it alone before (nor does she want too) and she does not want to go back to that place. Penny 23 says that she won’t have too and inks the same tattoos he has on himself in order for her to take others while traveling. He then proceeds to have her practice by taking baby steps, first sending them from one side of the lab to the other. Plum is understandably still reluctant to involve her professor any further. He however counters by saying that he’s used to Chatwins messing up his life, besides even though Martin tortured him, Jane did everything she could to stop her brother including changing time. As far as he’s concerned the scales are even. The two hold hands as Plum attempts to send their physical bodies across the room. She appears to have done it except Penny 23 notices that the chalk circle he just drew is missing and as they rush outside to the hallway, they come across a student who tells that they are going to read the Starr Report. They then notice a banner indicating the 181st Annual Welter’s Games, October 1998. Looks like this Chatwin can travel through time and space.
The two go to Fogg (who still has hair!) wearing ski masks in an attempt to conceal their identities. The professor though says that he’ll still be able to recognize their voices in the future so they should have tried something else. Plum asks the elder magician what he knows about time travelers and he promptly answers that they’re a myth. However, he may be able to help them through a time bridge. Fogg removes the temporal compass from the small device and hands to Plum, explaining that it should point the way back to 2020. She gives it a go but instead they go even further back in time to 1921. To complicate matters further, back at this period Brakebills was an entirely white student and faculty population and so the two travelers aren’t allowed in the library to try and figure out what went wrong with the compass. But an overheard conversation gives Penny 23 an idea on who might be able to help them. Hyman Cooper! They confront the other traveler where Penny reveals that they know he’s the pervert ghost and either he helps them or they’ll reveal his secret to everyone.
Hyman gets them access into the library by telling a professor that the duo were helping him translate text that he needs for a paper on magic from the West Indies. They don’t find anything useful but Hyman does overhear Penny 23 talk about time bridges and he takes them to the lab where the exact device that Fogg had is currently being built. Plum then realizes that the book she was holding on to was printed in 1998 and that the compass took them back to 1921 the day it was created. It’s Hyman again who clues them that the objects are totems, as remedial traveler students sometimes have trouble picturing exactly where they need to go. Penny 23 explains that they need something from their time period in order to get home.
But time travel is always tricky and inevitably something happens that screws up the timeline. In this instance Hyman ends up getting expelled because someone probably heard his conversation with the duo. Penny 23 then has to explain to his student that Hyman needs to get stuck on the astral plane to be able to help him in the future in order to save magic. He comes up with a plan though and convinces Hyman to project himself to the women’s locker room one more time while they leave his body on the couch of the Physical Kids cottage. Plum has other ideas and has taken a time stasis charm that she wants to leave with Hyman’s body in order to help him out. Penny 23 is initially against it but then comes around after a lecture from her and it dawns on him how they can get them back to 2020. They hide the limp body inside a storage compartment with the time charm and he gives her the small welter’s plaque from the trophy he broke when she herself arrived back at the cottage. Having damaged it created a new action and so it would theoretically take them back on the very day they needed.
The two do make it back to 2020 when they are suddenly pulled by the mysterious signal into the room with no door or windows. Plum is unable to travel them out of it. Uh oh!
Alice and The Couple
Back at the apartment, Alice confides in Kady that she’s being harassed by The Couple because of Quentin’s page that turned out to be an instruction manual for something called the world seed. This seed apparently can grow into an entire world and The Couple has been looking for it for a very long time. The leader of the hedges knows a guy though and contacts him for information. Luckily the dude wants to meet but unexpectedly at the Library in the Neitherlands. The two women are able to get there thanks to Alice’s key and soon encounter Zelda who points them out to George (Kady’s contact). The phosphoromancer asks the elder woman what’s going on there as it looks like hedges and librarians are working together to repair and rebuild this branch. Zelda confirms it after explaining that she was helping Kady and Harriet remove Reed’s Mark from those who received it and those individuals were looking for something to do afterwards. George and Kady join the other two women in Zelda’s office and he says that he knows a guy who knows The Couple but will need a day to track them down. In the meantime, the librarian asks for their help in saving magic while they wait.
The two women try to problem solve in a different room where Alice says that they can’t fix magic because they did some stuff to the moon who is now royally pissed and she’s screwing with circumstances as a result. Kady finds a passage saying that they can regain the celestial body’s favor via a virgin sacrifice, which they can’t do. While contemplating, the power seems to temporarily go off with Alice getting peanut butter in her turkey sandwich. She attributes it to hedges learning new spells that Zelda noted in an earlier conversation. The ex-niffin does end up having a crazy idea though of firing the moon and replacing it with a completely new one. If there’s a spell to create a new one, it’d be in one of these books from the Poison Room. Kady comes across another book in their research talking about a seed that can grow into anything, maybe even a moon. Alice takes a look and realizes that it’s the same book that Q’s page was ripped out off. The phosphoromancer begins to question if this isn’t some kind of trap because it all feels too easy. The other woman argues that maybe they’re just catching a break after having circumstances being so crappy for them all the time.
Alice goes to Zelda and fills her in on the situation. The librarian offers to collect the page for her by sending some underlings with security but the ex-niffin realizes that something isn’t right. She confronts the other woman and asks where she really is because there’s no way that the Neitherlands should be affected by lunar glitches happening on Earth. The elder magician freezes and George pops up behind her, revealing that this is a psychic spell and they are still very much on Earth. They’ve also been doing this loop 18 times and she keeps figuring it out. Alice asks who he is and he’s like duh you’ve been asking about me. So George is The Couple and is really annoyed that she won’t just give up the paper. He takes them back to the real world and puts up an ultimatum that she needs to provide him the page or he’ll kill Kady. To make her believe that this is real, he begins cutting off her fingers one by one so that she can feel the pain. Still got to hand it to her as she only relents after his threat that the hedge witch leader is next. Kady herself regains consciousness and thanks Alice silently.
Eliot and Julia are Locked Up
In Fillory, Eliot and Julia are locked up in one of the cells beneath Whitespire. She reveals that she’s pregnant and because it’s Red Monkey month everything progresses a lot faster. As they joke about baby showers the mood is interrupted by the appearance of Seb. Jules asks if he’s going to execute them to which the Dark King responds that he can’t because he needs their help. The two magicians are given scrolls to look at and Julia determines that it’s some kind of communication spell that will take the three of them to perform. Eliot asks what’s the point because they’ll be killed after they help but she counters that Seb at least won’t kill him. The Dark King sounds way too hurt when he talks to El meaning that he cares about the other man. She then promises that they’ll figure something out but for now they need to determine what this spell is. He ends up recognizing a sigil that looks to be similar to sending a message across a lake when Julia realizes what this is, it’s a casting for a séance. They wonder why it requires a cooperative spell when the hedge witch muses that it the Dark King must be trying to contact someone who died a long time ago. Eliot suspects it’s likely Seb’s deceased love.
Plover is Still Alive
Fen and Margo make it back to the apartment from Fillory with Eliot and Julia having been taken by the Centurion guards and the Dark King. Margo (who left her fairy eye with Josh to watch over him), notices dirty tracks on the floor and find a very scraggly Christopher Plover inside one of the downstairs rooms. He isn’t very coherent though and Fen determines that he may be trying to tell them something about Fillory and the Dark King. She also adds that there’s an insect on the edge of a Fillorian river called a Tongue Twister that supposedly crawls into one’s skull and causes word confusion. Margo contacts Gordy the magical vet who confirms that Plover is indeed infested with insects. He does reveal that this is a possession which allows the ex-high king to grab her handy axes to forcibly remove the critters from the writer.
Once he is stable and able to talk again, Margo demands that he tell them about the Dark King and how to kill him. Plover explains that he was curious about this new ruler only having heard the same stories that they did that he appeared after the Takers arrived and only he could vanquish them. He was shocked to discover though that he actually recognized the man, but to adequately explain the monarch’s origins they would need to look back at a time before Martin Chatwin became The Beast. Long before discovering the Wellspring, Martin had another plan that would make certain he would never be sent back to Earth. He was going to use a conduit spell that would tie himself to Fillory. Margo interrupts that they took care of that by chopping the tree that the Dark King was tied too, but the writer further expands that the all the roots of Fillory are intertwined and that the trees are also tied to the land. So anyone who bound themselves to the world could only be killed by destroying said world. The currently one-eyed magician asks if Martin screwed up but apparently he was thwarted by his own brother, Rupert Sebastian Chatwin! So there we have it, the Chatwin family tradition of going by middle names continue and the Dark King’s true identity is revealed. Rupert knew what his brother could become and so sacrificed himself by tying his life to the conduit instead. After discovering what happened, Martin cursed his brother to eternal sleep with the people of Fillory believing the elder magician dead. In an unexpected twist, the magical surges actually woke Rupert up. Plover’s tale does confirm that Rupert’s goal was to reunite with his long lost love who died while he was unconscious.
Meanwhile in Fillory, Rupert, Julia, and Eliot perform the séance and Lance (whom Julia and Q met as a ghost awhile back) enters El’s body. The Dark King tells Lance that he finally knows what to do and they’ll be together soon. He insists that the other man wait by the door. Later, Julia confronts Rupert telling him that she lost someone too and but it wasn’t an excuse to hurt people just to get them back. He counters that maybe she didn’t love as much as she thinks she did because clearly she doesn’t get it.
Back at the apartment, Plover concludes his story by saying that Rupert recognized him and had been the one to curse him with the insects. He was planning on staying on Earth now that the Dark King ruled Fillory and he would resume writing. In a brilliant move, Margo releases the bugs from the jar and they re-enter Plover’s body.
Final Thoughts
Stella Maeve was pregnant in real life while filming season 5 of The Magicians!
Eliot has a bad track record of being possessed.
Penny 23 seems to imply that Plum was descended from Jane Chatwin I think, though if that is the case would that mean that Jane had a child/children while she was trying to stop Martin?
Looking forward to learning the backstory of The Couple, why does he want the blueprint for the seed? What does he intended to do with it?
Can Rupert only truly be killed by destroying Fillory? Since he’s also intending for Lance to be resurrected in some fashion, would the gods allow that?
It was announced this week that this is the final season of The Magicians and my reaction continues to by noooooooooooooo!! While all good things must come to an end, it does make these final episodes even more special.
The beauty of live air is also the tragedy of airing live. They are two sides of the same coin. The first Moon landing. The Columbine massacre. The Fall of the Berlin Wall. 9/11. Princess Diana’s wedding. OJ Simpson verdict. These crystalline moments in our brains show us that nothing could ever be the same. They can change us for the worse, but they can also change us for the better. Welcome to the eighth episode of Kidding (Showtime), “A Seat On The Rocket.”
We are greeted to scenes of smiling kids in classrooms as NASA is getting to launch one of their most ambitious missions yet, the Space Shuttle Challenger. This is a big deal for students as it features the first civilian in space. As the launch ignites, all the children’s light up for a matter of moments… until they dim in abject horror. This includes Jeff (Jonathan Dylan King), now at Ohio State. Shocked, he goes to the dorm of Deidre (Lena Drake) and has an idea of how to ameliorate tragedy on the air.
Back to modern times, as Jeff (Jim Carrey) heads back into WROT, noticing some vandalism with pickles. On air, speaking as Jeff through the identities of Pickles-san , Senor Pipinillo, Smorgas Gurka and himself, Jeff reassures the camera that though his family left him, he’s okay with that because he’s found a new family- his viewers.
During his break attempting to learn Nigerian for Baba Pickles, Derrell (Alex Raul Barrios) informs Jeff that Peter (Justin Kirk) is drunk in Hopsquatch’s giant hand. Peter is turning jaundice from drinking due to Jill refusing his proposal at Hershey Park.
At the house, Jill (Judy Greer) is so furious with Will going to a funeral unannounced, she can’t even listen to Jeff make the case for Peter. Will (Cole Allen) hears this excoriates Jeff can’t fight for his now ex-wife. Jill is fighting for Peter because she wants to mend him. Will antagonizes the situation by telling his dad that he can’t even be happy that she said no. Jeff leaves with the last word, causing Will to storm off. I notice he’s donning now purple tight jeans and a green hoodie. Sound familiar?
Throwing all of Phil’s artifacts back into his drawer, Will storms out and goes to Seb’s (Frank Langella) house and complains that everything is upended. Grandpa wants to get his nut because he’s going to die, so he shuts the door.
Back in Serbia, Josip’s (Johnny Kostrey) listen-to-me Pickles lights up and wakes him up. This is Jeff’s call to action. To find 24 new international Mr. Pickles and it starts with him- “Mr. Sour Cucumber.” Josip’s eyes light up and just as he’s about to accept, Jeff’s app goes down. His cell rings and someone on the other threatens they know where he lives.
We are now greeted with a troop of the Pickles Platoon and two girls talking about the existence of god or lack thereof according to Mr. Pickles. Scout leader Bobby Belongo (Matt Gourley) assures them that god exists in different forms for everyone. They don’t seem convinced. Clearly, Bobby’s pissed. He picks up their pickle jars with painted lids and loads them up into hatchback crudely painted to look like Jeff’s. Creeeepy.
Approaching the studio, Deidre sees the same smashed pickle jars with the numbers 10, 9 and 8 painted on the lids with glitter. Something tells me blastoff is imminent.
As Deidre oversees Jeff’s taping, she’s interrupted by the TV behind her. Ever since Scott’s (Bernard White) acquisition of the characters, he’s been pimping them out. It started with Snagglehorse shilling reverse mortgages and to this- Astronotter chilling with Blake Griffin in the new Mercedes S-Class.
Deidre now looking for ammo asks Darrell to help in some good PR for Puppet Time, starting with the letter Nasa wrote Seb back in ‘97. They wanted to send Astronotter to the space station, but Seb refused on the risk of it ending up like the Challenger and the company having to eulogize their own. Now Deidre wants NASA on the horn. Something is clearly up her sleeve.
At Seb’s both “Louise” (Annette O’Toole) and Blair (Matthew Hancock) emerge, in one when he’s in the room and one when he’s out. As they enjoy a little bit of romantic time, Will is heard rapping at his door from before. After blowing his own grandson off, Seb is more pleasurably blown off.
As Deidre storms out, Darrell notices pickle jars 7-3 closed and number 2 being open. Taking a whiff, Darrell notices it smells like gasoline. Not a good sign.
At a promotional shoot with Astronotter and the car, Scott tries to assert his manhood to Blake by talking about how his salt and pepper look really gets women’s dicks hard, “If ya know what I mean.” Yeah, Scott, I mean Blake can shoot a J and fail, it’s no big deal. Scott, you just try to shoot and ya fucking brick. Him talking further is just making the nails on the chalkboard worse. It’s like, just shut-up man!
Deidre interrupts them and pleads to have Astronotter back. Scott agrees to the tune of $28 million. Deidre has no choice but to storm off. Scott complains he’s had to put up with her for 25 years.
Flashback to Deidre in college leaning on a then college-age Scott (Jared Wernick). He reads to her the acceptance letter to the Japanese Design Exchange program. Deidre doesn’t seem happy though due to the distance from everyone. That night, Deidre sees Christa McAuliffe on tv, talking about pushing yourself into the unknown. The choice is clear for Didi.
That is we see Deidre experience the Challenger Explosion on TV. Jeff knocks on her door and this is the beginning of Deidre as we know her with her first design being Astronotter. On the set, college Jeff loves it but suggests the character make noises instead in lieu of words. It’s a character misunderstood.
In the present, Darrell informs Didi that the head of PR for NASA may have a seat on the rocket he’ll be launching in a few months since he grew up with Puppet Time. Deidre is without a doubt taking him up on that offer.
Deidre grabs Maddy’s ax as Jeff is earlier seen making sandwiches. I will say anybody with an ax is fucking scary but a woman scorned brandishing one will make anybody renegotiate. Scott, scared shitless around the studio tries to negotiate Astronotter for one day with his daughter. Before resolution can be made, Deidre is informed that due to Jeff’s information being leaked on a forum from the talking dolls, TOYCO had to shut the entire network down due to threats.
This prompts Jeff to immediately turn the cab he’s in around, even though he’s supposed to have a flight to Serbia.
As we see Bobby Belongo fill up pickle jar 1 at the gas station, trouble is headed their way.
At the house, Jill informs a puking Peter that she’s just not ready for marriage yet. I get it. She’s in such a whirlwind of emotion and events that how could she be ready for something like that? She does reassure him though that Peter makes her feel something truly special.
As Jeff bangs on the door, Jill puts on Peter’s ring as a sign of good faith- to say yes when the time is right. Peter agrees. Since Jeff can’t get to them and Will is ignoring his dad, Jeff frantically pries the numbers off the house.
Mr. Pickles first debut of Astronotter is intercut with Bobby getting ready to firebomb. Oh, and he does it… Just on the shitty one next door. As they try to extinguish the flames, Will notices his house has been changed to 4181, the next number on his library card.
Later that night as he crosses off that number, guess whose alarm clock goes off?
This episode, also directed by Bert & Bertie had a lot more urgency with the characters having more agency. The Jas Waters penned script had shown flashbacks and flash-forwards through the origination of what becomes Puppet Time on the air. This episode also had a special place in my Thump-Thump. Though I was alive, I was too young to remember the Challenger tragedy. My mother did teach at a middle school though that had honored that very crew. As a child, I remember wandering those hallways in awe of each corridor possessing names of the deceased, as if they were street names. I later attended that middle school and of all the memories I’d made there, the names of the hallways will still haunt me to this day.
The year is 1993. We open in a commercial for a Pickles branded cereal- Best-O’s. Now if this isn’t subliminal messaging at its best, Ohh I don’t know what is. The character is Maestro Fermata. As we know, he’s known for his singing pickle choir. Inside every good or shitty cereal is a toy. In this case, a pickle that plays “You Can Feel Anything At All”. The box also folds out into a holder for not one, not two, but four sized pickles that can play in tandem.. but fuck the box. We know what moms want and it’s not a bland cereal with no additives. As the mother in the commercial recites the tag line “It’s The Cereal That Makes You Go Oh!” Welcome to the lucky seventh episode of Kidding (Showtime), “The Acceptance Speech.”
At the supermarket, there’s a cleanup on Isle 4, though the spillage would be later as women flood the cereal section to scoop up boxes of the cereal.
Back in present-day, Deidre (Catherine Keener) is blowing up Seb and Jill about Jeff’s whereabouts since the funeral. They couldn’t be bothered. Frustrated, she spends an inordinate amount of money on a vintage box of that cereal that makes ya go Oooh. Oh yeah, it went there. Mid-orgasm her daughter interrupts her and the Pickle apparatus gets lodged up in her vaginal canal, on the day of Jeff’s Lifetime Achievement Award, no less. I could spot what will happen later on a mile away, which doesn’t make it any less hilarious.
Deidre flits about the kitchen in physical agony and worried that Jeff might not show up. Assuring her that he won’t miss it, Seb (Frank Langella) at that moment bows his head, leaving Deidre to freak the fuck out. She harangues him with questions he is not answering. Maddy (Juliet Morris) notices a glazed over look in her grandfather’s eyes that Deidre in her moment of rage doesn’t. Didi storms over to the car, but Maddy stays with Seb. As the man comes back to, Maddy could tell Seb was going through something beyond his control and he tells her they need to go see a doctor stat.
At the Smithsonian reception, Derrell (Alex Raul Barrios) confronts Deidre as to Jeff’s whereabouts. All Deidre could do is flash a pained look and walk away. Zooming in on the Mr. Pickles timeline installation, we go all the way back to 1960.
There, we find Jeff (Jim Carrey) as a bartender, taking shots of J&B as two old men argue whether Kennedy or Nixon will sink the country. Jeff plays Larry, a sniper-cum-bartender. Larry goes to refill the bottle, opening a freezer door which is merely an entre into a break room. The patrons aren’t imbuing their tissues thoroughly with 80 Proof, more like 100 False. It’s Arizona Tea. What is this madness? Checking his phone for texts, Jeff laments. The last ones were all negative from Jill and Will while Deidre’s are simply worried. Jeff decides to bounce as his co-worker Cornell (Tyler, the Creator) goes after him.
At the doctor’s office, Maddy keeps Seb company. Seb suddenly swears he saw his ex-wife pass by but before he can make sense of it, his doctor comes in and drops some bad news on his lap. Seb experienced a minor stroke and at risk for a major one, as his red blood cell count is extremely high. Seb pinky swears with Maddy to keep all of this on the hush-hush.
Cornell walks the halls of his establishment with an older woman and her son, explaining that though no cure for dementia or Alzheimer’s exists, treatment does in the form of nostalgia therapy. In the facility, it’s perpetually 1960. This calms the elder mind from outbursts. Jeff leaves and Cornell senses something is up. He wants to show Jeff one more thing before he leaves for the day.
Inside, the building, in addition to a bar, promenade, and other themed rooms, there is a bus stop. A lone woman looking about sits and waits. This new addition was installed to solve the problem of patients wanting to leave. They are simply escorted there and wait until they forgot what made them want to depart in the first place. Jeff worries that this is a form of lying, but Cornell counteracts with the lie being for those working there, the experience of the lie is for those staying there. Compassionate deception working at the top of its game. Reality is the disease wherein the fantasy is the pill. Jeff seems fine with that if it heals.
At the ceremony, in a moment of silence to honor the slain Filipino Mr. Pickles, Deidre, um, “goes off.” Mortified, she retreats to the bathroom. Ah, callback comedy at its finest.
Who is also not attendance is Jill (Judy Greer), who is meeting with a real estate agent Joanne (Kelly Coffield Park) for Jeff’s place. The agent believes it’s for the best to combine both houses as a packaged sale. Jill’s interrupted by an emergency call from Deidre, now in the handicapped stall. I mean, technically, she was capped by way of her hand. Jill honestly couldn’t give a shit about the whole situation but that song humming from her celebratory place now makes the situation dire.
Back at the facility, Jeff is having an escapist ball. From helping an octogenarian that thinks Jeff is his dad tie a tie, to dancing with a woman who believes Jeff is her husband. Jeff’s joy hits the skids though when approaching the Louise (Annette O’Toole) he’d seen on the bench before. Jeff calls her mom, but she doubts him. Jeff correctly guesses that she’s “headed” to Niagra Falls. He clearly knows who she is.
In the bathroom, Jill is livid for even having being put in this situation, screaming at her sister in law- “This wouldn’t have happened if you used the Alto.” Attempting to make small talk, Didi asks Jill about the proposal that Will told her about, while let’s be honest, he was being kidnapped on a ‘Copter to a fishing vessel.
As Maddy checks Sebastiano out of the hospital, he notices a woman that is a doppelganger of his ex-wife, Louise. Maddy knows it’s not, but because he asserts it, she forces him to go and say something. Indeed it does look like a more kept version of the lady Jeff was conversing with on the bench. But aren’t residents not allowed to…
As Maddy is left to fend for herself with her own dinner of an entire octopus, the tentacles are in play approaching the final act of the episode. At the restaurant, the nature of the conversation between Seb and his date goes smoothly. As the mystery woman excuses herself, she enters the men’s bathroom. In enters however as a handsome black guy, Blair (Matthew Hancock). As he returns to the table to a smiling Seb, he turns back into his ex-wife. However, panning out, we see the reality of it. Remember, the lie is for those in the know. The fantasy is for them. Oh, Sebastiano, what have you gotten yourself into?
On the bench, Jeff confesses to Louise that he just doesn’t want to be himself. The him he wants to be is someone who’s life isn’t falling completely apart or he wants to be someone who can cope. She reassures him that he can feel anything at all. Anything at all, he can feel it. Sage words from the back of a prophylactic.
Louise has the way out though. She cites her bastard of a husband and two kids she simply calls paperweights. You can always escape though. Failure doesn’t have to follow you like a slime trail. Her escape is to Niagra Falls. The only way out is simply getting on that bus.
At the event, Deidre is introduced. Well turns out she’s in a bit of a pickle or, well, vice versa. Still, on the toilet with no successful result, Didi blames all of this on men- Duterte for having draconian laws, Scott for stealing her livelihood, Seb for entrusting her with it all and Jeff for not showing up. Jill, not really having the time for any of her rantings lays something fierce into Deidre, so far as calling her Duterte. Deidre comes to the moment of clarity that’s she’s been fucking her life the whole time. Pop Goes The Pi-ckle!
Jeff arrives in full regalia to the event, crossing a glassy-eyed Jill quickly before moving on without a word. Darrel witnessing this simply says sooner or later, Mr. Pickles has to accept reality, with sooner being optimal. At the podium, Jeff talks about choosing work or family, because one is real and one’s a fantasy. Mr. Pickles is back, son!
This episode is still solid as ever, especially being centered around acceptance of all kinds. Some painful, some happy and some bittersweet. The directing duo of Bert & Bertie bring the visuals in Cornell’s facility home, almost feeling Spike Jonze like. This is a duo, though still not a household name has really good things coming to them, as a British and South African woman directing duo known for videogame scripts and fashion shoots. They’ve brought Jeff back to the light when the darkness is hitting everyone else and they perfectly set up the stage for what is bound to be three heart wrenching remaining episodes.
They say never meet your heroes. I think that’s fair game, but I also think you should. I say never completelyemulate your heroes. Inspiration through their medium is beautiful and may one day land you that dream job you’ve always wanted… but nobody should be a complete copy of someone else. We are not machine people. We possess unique flaws and have unique thoughts. Imitating a hero is a task in of itself and you may never live up to that standard you’d set in your mind. For those, you are Xero copy and could land you in a position you did not want to be in or ask for. Welcome to the Dave Holstein writ, Michel Gondry helmed episode of Kidding (Showtime), “The Death of Fil.”
“Only entropy comes easy.” – Anton Chekov
We open up in Manila, Philippines. Two cops enter. One bilks free snacks and the other looks on as a troop of girls are besotted by a live Puppet Time. As the Filipino Mr. Pickles, Ginoo Pickles (GlennThomas Cruz) among his off-set looking Pickle Pals, including Blastonutter, a cousin to Aston-Otter. Get it?
So police fully armed with semi-autos break the fuck in Mr. Pickles domicile and fuck shit up. According to the law of the land, divorce is NOT for the best. In fact, it’s downright illegal. As Astonutter is hit in the face, John Q. law puts a black bag over Mr. Pickles’ head, carry him to the top of his studio, throwing him off to his demise.
Back in the States, as Jeff (Jim Carrey) is interviewed by 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl. He asserts that his last episode sent a positive message that homes don’t truly break, they change. Jeff is informed of the international incident involving Fil and questioned on whether he feels responsible. This gives him a sudden pause, as Jeff wasn’t aware that overseas, this deceased proxy is simply called Filipino Pickles.
As Deidre clues Jeff into the grievous details of the event, Jeff learns that there won’t be a service for Ginoo Pickles. His own homeland refuses the internment of his corpse in their soil, thus a waterlogged grave will be waiting for him at sea.
Deidre (Catherine Keener) tries to hash things out with Seb (Frank Langella), who already is furious over his own demise at the company along with the impudence of Jeff going forward with the listen-to-me Pickles toy. Turning on the TV, Seb shows Didi a commercial with Snagglehorse and Stacy Keach reverse mortgages. Fuming, Seb gives the advice to not let Jeff attend the burial at sea and blames her for the whole mess since her first stab on-air as Showrunner was a very heartfelt and necessary but very irresponsible move on her part. Deidre is taking the reigns on cleaning up this shit storm.
After hearing some of the voice messages some VERY pissed parents have left through his toy, Jeff goes next door to pick up his passport. He’s fully intent on making this right. As Peter (Justin Kirk) paints the exterior of their house, he asks Jeff on whether he would co-invest in an Affenpinscher for the sake of breeding. Jeff is on board. Peter also asks Jeff what he thinks of taking Jill and Will on a vacation. He wants to propose to Jill. Relenting, Jeff gives him his blessing, though he’d rather not have will there.
Proceeding into the house, Jeff finds Jill (Judy Greer). Though Jeff is now on good terms with Peter, the pained expression painted on Jeff’s face speaks volumes. Before leaving, Jeff convinces Jill to take the time off from work to go on vacation. Rifling through the three passports, Jeff sees Will’s.
Back at school, Will (Cole Allen) and his new girlfriend, Havana (Jenna Z. Alvarez) talk briefly on how his dad may have killed a guy before Havana asks him to buy her some ‘Skitties’, Cassidy is annoyed… that is until Havana shows her up and drops the mic with a ‘fuck you Cassidy.’
In the science lab where B.D. (Coda Boesel) and Gigs (Juliocesar Chavez) sip high-tea, Will tells him he’s thoroughly convinced he might be magic due to the book of Mysticism appearing to work for him. The first date of the book being checked out was the number of the house of the kid who inherited Phil’s eyes and the second check out date was the number of Skittles that he’s the owner of. Will’s convinced that it cannot be a coincidence, to which Gigs disagrees due to the dates going forward and not backward in time. B.D. counters with the numbers simply being treated as numbers go down, not up and can be construed as Fibonacci numbers, numbers that have a direct connection to nature and biology. The numbers could be working for him. Jeff picks Will up, as he always does and he’s informed that Will would be joining him on his sojourn to the middle of the South China Sea.
In a helicopter containing the Picarillo family, a film crew from 60 Minutes and one large Pickle Barrel, Will seems impressed, thinking that his father has a pretty cool job. Jeff asserts to his son that no matter what happens, Will is of two families: Picarillo and Pickles as he hands him his own signature green tie. This to me this is slightly unsettling, as it gave vague vibes of grooming. Seb apologizes to Deidre and gives her props on how she’s running the show.
“It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.” -Hunter S. Thompson
On the giant vessel, multiple Pickles from around the globe send their quite literal fallen brethren with a solemn “See You At The Bottom.” Jeff goes last with a brief but elegant eulogy partially in the departed’s native tongue and with one final push of the Barrel, Ginno Pickles is now part of the briny deep… which is where Jeff might end up, as he continues his speech, with the rest of the Pickles International family turning on Jeff live on air. Deidre is put on the spot by New Pickles-san (Arnold Chun) for fucking his brother.
The Pickles mob is really growing truly ugly. Why should they be forced to repeat what Jeff has to say? It got one of own killed in a country known for its militant Catholicism. Will comes to Jeff’s defense in impressive Spanish. They don’t give a fuck. A pickle is chucked at him. But what hurts more than that? All their signature green ties or cravats being thrown down on the floor in solidarity. Their god is dead… but hey! They got a case of Vodka! Seb encourages this delinquent behavior as Didi looks on in horror.
Back in the cabin, Will assures his dad that Mr. Pickles didn’t kill someone, gravity did. Jeff finds this comforting. Extracting from his jacket pocket the library card, he notices the next date of the checkout matching a buoy staring out at him from the porthole. Will has faith except that his mother is getting remarried and upon second look, the number on the buoy wasn’t the number on his card.
Topside, things have gone from terrible to sheer chaos. Binge drinking, lewd behavior, Deidre is lost. She is confronted by Australian Pickles (Gina Torrecilla) and Monsieur Cornichon (Michael Lanahan), the former of which is pissed off by the sudden change of characters due to the sudden loss of them and the latter getting hit by Deidre for talking out of line due to her wifely duties or lack thereof.
Deidre at this point goes into Give-Zero-Fucks mode, tossing out the 60 Minutes camera and the dude’s cell phone. New Pickle-san flirts with Smorgas Gurka (Charlotta Mohlin) but a drunk Seb cuts in and scoops her up. Pickle-san goes up to Didi and because the Japanese have a familial sense of duty, he threatens her.
Back in the less debauched section of the vessel, a very angry Will and a very acquiescent Jeff have a heart to heart… and by heart to heart, Will proposes Jeff ‘em wit da hee. Of course, Jeff’s going to say no and Will storms off.
On deck, Deidre runs away from Pickle-san. She tries to take refuge in a bathroom, but we know Seb’s getting some. Didi storms away. Will runs through the carnage and as Mr. Pickles Original Flavor runs after them, they all chant “murderer” at him.
Deidre’s hiding, Seb gives her the thumbs up. It’s Will’s last stand. This is the one Mr. Pickles that would break everything he’s tried to hold on us far. Who would’ve thought a tie dropping hitting the floor could be so goddamned loud?
The episode devolving into unbridled chaos is a prime example of an idol’s reach from exceeding his grasp. You can’t control, no matter the purest of intentions what lie in the hearts and minds of others. You can only TRY to sternly stem the flow.
So here we are. The first episode of the 31st season of Puppet Time. How many shows can you say have been on the air for more than 30 seasons? Simpsons? No. How is that even a show anymore? Can TV watching constitute a task because that show certainly is belabored?
On the heightened heels of that last episode, wherein Diedre loses most of her IP and Jeff gains self-confidence, we come to an understanding on the Michel Gondry directed Kidding (Showtime), “Episode #3101”.
We open in on the “WROT Columbus” logo. Oh, we are watching a full-fledged episode of Puppet Time. In true Mr. Rogers fashion, we pan over a model of Pickle Barrel Falls to find Mr. Pickles (Jim Carrey) in his house at the summit of Pickle Barrel Falls. Packing in his murphy bed crafted from a bookcase, we welcomed through song. This is a safe space and after being in absentia for quite the while, Jeff wants us to know that nothing has changed… but indeed it all has.
Extracting a colorful array of balloons, Mr. Pickles sets up his narrative for a half-hour. He’s back from what many considered a public meltdown and his next song is about the ephemeral but magical nature of balloons. See, these aren’t just any old balloons. They’re for his wife, Jill to celebrate what’s about to change both of their lives for the better and worse… If only she weren’t late.
Mr. Pickles’ house is suddenly rocked by an immense external force. He descends to the bottom of Pickle Barrel Falls to investigate. The entirety of the town below is in utter chaos and disarray. Mr. Pickles approaches Snagglehorse (Dave Holstein), pinned under his own crumbled Snaggle Barn. Mr. Pickles’ barrel, his only mode of transportation comes undone. Everything is becoming unglued. The houses are falling apart and Mr. Pickles doesn’t understand why… but never to fear, for Do-It-Yourself Diedre (Catherine Keener) is just an Emergency Chicken away. Yeah, that is what I said.
Arriving in a four-wheeled barrel and looking like the offspring of a Team Fortress 2 class and Nicktoons character, Diedre makes her on-screen debut. Now Diedre fought for on-screen presence last season, but Seb simply wasn’t hearing it. Now with Seb out of the picture that is this simulacrum of life-changing, Diedre is the showrunner, willing to fix every home in Pickle Barrel Falls. Mr. Pickles wants to wait for his wife though. Diedre doesn’t think she’s going to show up and their friends need homes stat.
This is Diedre’s first number with Jeff. They are singing about uniting for a common goal- sticking together… though it’s a song mainly sponsoring glue. Ennui Le Triste (Dan Garza) interrupts the song and rightfully says you simply can’t create magic out of good vibes. Jeff counters with Picolla Grande (Ariana Grande). Oh yes, they’ve come with fucking ammo in the beautiful form of Ariana Grande as a forest nymph.
Similar to Tinkerbelle, this faerie operates on something intangible. Not exactly happy thoughts, but rather hope. This is the cue for the trio to sing about sticking together. A little bit of glue I’m learning can fix anything. Diedre has no longer a glue problem but rather a glue solution.
This seems thus far like the main song of the entire episode. I mean they got Ariana fucking Grande to contribute her siren song vox for this. Oh no. They fix the town, but we’re only to half the problem. Sometimes that glue just doesn’t hold, no matter how good your intentions are. Diedre swears she can fix it, but her glue simply cannot hold it together anymore. Any of it. The characters ask her to try new glue, but she only has what she started off with. With a heavy heart, Diedre suggests the denizens of Pickle Barrel Falls find a new home.
This is probably one of the most clever ways of addressing both Jeff and Diedre’s problems. Change is painful sometimes… so we might as well rip that band-aid off before it becomes a part of us.
The characters of Pickle Barrel Falls question if they did something wrong to have this wreckage befallen upon them. Both Diedre and Jeff assure them it wasn’t their fault. Some of the characters blame themselves, but Deidre asserts that sometimes the harder you try to keep things together, the more they fall apart. Diedre gathers all the characters and sings her big number.
This is where Michel Gondry shines. Through a pastiche of transforming and changing backgrounds through paper, Diedre navigates through a very poignant song that nothing lasts forever and things can break and you’re only left with the glue you started out with. It’s a very moving piece and nothing can take that away from Diedre.
The characters turn on Diedre and blame her. Ennui Le Triste is freaking out and cries his eyes out, leading to a new formation of Pickle Barrel Falls. Though Mr. Pickles tries to comfort him, Ennui denies it all and wants to stay in the town, disguising himself as a tree, one of the things that didn’t crumble. Jeff explains trees can change too. Through the majesty of the Bickering Beavers, we see that, though rooted in the ground, a tree can transform into stuff like furniture or musical instruments. This is Jeff’s time to shine.
As the Beavers output included a toy piano, so did they create Jeff’s divorce papers. Trees do change. Sometimes into something fun. Sometimes into something not so happy. As Mr. Pickles begins his song on the newly created keys, Jill (Judy Greer) enters stage left, forlorn. Jeff on-air reveals he’s getting a divorce and Jill explains it with tears in her eyes.
Ennui Le Triste cannot fathom that even though two adults love each other to the moon and back how they could be separating. Jill explains that no matter how much two people may love each other, sometimes they just become unglued.
Both Jeff and Jill basically, on-air tell each other what they wanted to but were too afraid to say in person. This moment is cathartic and super heart-wrenching. Hop-Squatch (Dick Van Dyke) brings it home. It’s finally time to sign the papers, on air.
As Deidre is confronted by her creations and assailed with bread on behalf of Ennui Le Triste (basically a talking baguette), Mr. Pickles intervenes. Ennui has his big number as Jill holds him. He sings of the pluses of leaving a broken home rather than being crushed by it. It’s for the best.
As a still trying to keep it from not fully breaking down in sobs Jill sings to Jeff and as his Pickle Pals and his sister surround him, it’s his moment of truth. The divorce papers are now in front of him and he must sign them in front of all the youth of the world. Sometimes change is painful and ugly. Sometimes it’s beautiful and we didn’t even know it. Jeff relents because his heart can’t take it… Save the best for last.
The last Pickle Pal to be seized by Scott pops out of Mr. Pickles’ chest- Thump-Thump (Jane Carrey). This character is a literal heart that sings operated by Jeff’s left arm. She sings that though change is dangerous and scary, it can be fun and exciting. Looking at his wife, he lets Thump Thump grab hold of the pen and sign the papers. Fuuuuck, this is where I lost it. It was all building up to this moment and it was hard to keep the oculars from flowing, like Pickle Barrel Falls.
As Hop-Squatch lends a helping hand to the Pickle Pals on their last episode, Mr. Pickles sends each them off with a balloon that we had seen in the beginning. Ariana Grande makes her final and angelic bowing out as the characters basically confront their own demise.
Diedre seeing off her own creations is especially moving. Mr. Pickles hands a balloon to his wife but lets it go. It’s into the unknown… as are they.
I found the script amazingly writ. It’s no surprise that master puppeteer and writer Joey Mazzarino put this whole thing together with Michel Gondry. This episode is a fucking work of art and should stand on its own merit. It should be put in the Museum of Television and Radio to observe and discuss.
