What’s up, guys and gals! Welcome to the Workprint Gamescast!
Listen to Rob, Jen, Bilal, and the gang talk about the latest in video games news, what they’re playing, and all other manner of nerdy habits.
THIS WEEK ON THE GAMESCAST: Bilal is back from his trip abroad. James is still alive. While Jen and Rob… are still Jen and Rob! This week the gang reveals what they’ve been playing, discuss the top headlines from the week, and tackle the issue of game delays. Do delays signify trouble or even matter in the grand scheme of things?
With the trending topic two days ago on Twitter, #7favfilms, we got to thinking about listing favorite movies, and in particular, movies we don’t like admitting we love because they’re considered to be bad. If you scroll through the lists you’ll see tons of Shawshank Redemption,Forrest Gump, and Empire Strikes Back. While we don’t argue the quality of those movies, we have to wonder if they’re really just safe choices. No one judges if you say you love Schindler’s List but admit to watching Pearl Harbor every time it’s on TV and suddenly you don’t know a thing about “good” movies.
So let’s talk about those “bad” movies, the ones we’ll never include in a list like #7favfilms because we have street cred to maintain but love all the same.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
As a lifelong fan of the franchise, it’s probably no surprise that I LOVE Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. I know most people consider it another in a long line of bad video game movies, but for me, a main female character, good music, and a sci-fi setting sold me on it’s beauty. It’s cliched and the romance is oh-so-forced, but a teenage Jen fell desperately in love with it and now there’s no stopping my emotions. I watch it at least twice a year. — Jen (@jenstayrook)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
The TV Series premiered in 1993. I was 11 and completely invested. I rushed home from school to watch the show. I did extra chores to earn money to buy toys. I even drew a Zordon and stuffed it into a 2-liter bottle and talked to it daily. When the movie was released in 1995, 13 at the time, I was there opening day. MMPR was my Star Wars as a kid. To this day, I will still watch the movie a few times a year and honestly still enjoy it to this day! PS: I still own the soundrack!! — Chris (@neolego)
Resident Evil Series (2002-2016)
Every time any of the Resident Evil films pop up on TV, I end up watching. I’ve invested far too much time into this franchise since the first one came out in 2002 and now its a matter of principle that I finish it out to the bitter end. There is something about having a super powerful female character against a big bad evil corporation using science for villainy that just hooked me. — Nicole C. (@niixc)
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Sure, it’s a romantic comedy, but it’s also a re-telling of Shakespeare’s, “The Taming of the Shrew” (yes, it’s supposed to be phonetically reminiscent). You can catch all the Shakespeare references, and get the charm of a young JGL, Heath Ledger, and Julia Stiles. Also, “I want you, I need you, oh baby, oh baby.” And that cover of ‘I Want You to Want Me’. — Terence (@ErrantBachelor)
Love, Actually (2003)
Holy shit Love, Actually is pandering, cloying, terribly stupid (Christ on a crutch, the story about the dumb, toothy British dude somehow roping in three different women in one night…wow…no, that doesn’t happen on this planet or in any dimension), and has some incredibly unbelievable stories. A woman sacrifices a relationship with the man she’s been obsessing over for YEARS in order to take care of her mentally ill brother? C’mon. But Love, Actually also has charm and some believable and heartwarming stories. (The story of a guy secretly pining for a woman who thinks he can’t stand her; a man who lost his wife helps his young son get the girl he has a crush on both hit home.) And, to top it all off, it has good intentions. — Matt P. (@PerritheSmark)
How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days (2003)
I don’t know if I am technically embarrassed to love any of the movies I love, but I love How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Not only do I own it but I will literally watch it every time it comes on TV. — Alyssa (@tvwithapb)
Daredevil (2003)
I have a soft spot for Ben Affleck and let’s be honest, Daredevil may be bad, but it is pretty darn watchable. Sure, it’s over-the-top and cheesy beyond belief but it came out before all the other good comic book movies and it was all we had for a while. Besides, Colin Farrell’s Bullseye is batshit bonkers. — Rob (@Sunnyvice20)
After Earth (2013)
I love Will Smith and I love M. Night Shyamalan. Put the two together and, sadly, you get a pretty “Meh” sci-fi movie, but I still enjoy it from time to time! — James (@jamester0722)
Charlie’s Angels (2000)
Though it could be argued that a movie this self-aware isn’t technically “bad”, this ridiculous romp of bright colors, great music, and ludicrous action never fails to bring a big stupid smile to my face. I dare you to watch this and not want to be an ass-kicking lady detective. — Matt D. (@mattdegroot)
National Treasure series (2004 – ?)
Nic Cage on a treasure hunt to uncover the nation’s biggest secrets while actually making archaeological breakthroughs is more fun than it has a right to be. Plus he has lines like, “We need to steal the Declaration of Independence” and “we need to kidnap the president.” (Spoiler alert: he accomplishes both.) — Bilal (@bilal_mian)
Now it’s your turn. Tell us the “bad” movies you love but are too afraid to put into a list like #7favfilms. We won’t judge you, we promise. (Jen owns a collector’s edition blu-ray copy of Pearl Harbor. She has no right to judge anyone.)
Art is always subjective. Whether you are talking about a painting, an album, a film, or even a video game, it is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you were to poll 100 gamers and ask them what the best console of all time is, you would get varying answers. Some might say the NES, which defined what home console gaming would become. Some might say the GameBoy, for introducing the world to portable games. Some might say the Playstation, for ushering in the Disc era and changing the way that games would be delivered from that point on. Some might say the Xbox 360, which made online and HD gaming commonplace in the home console space. The point is, those views are all influenced by the people polled and their experience with each platform. So, what does it mean to say that the Nintendo NX could be the best console ever made? Let’s talk about it.
Best is defined as “of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality.” Quality, then, is defined as “the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.” By these definitions then, for the NX to be the “best,” it needs to be excellent as measured against other things of a similar kind. For discussion purposes, the “similar kinds” in this article will be PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. With our foundation built, let’s talk about how the NX could possibly best the two current platforms on the market.
INNOVATION
We will start with innovation. Nintendo has been innovative from day one in the video game space. Introducing the D Pad with NES, Shoulder Buttons with the SNES, Analog Stick with N64, Portable Gaming with the GameBoy, Dual Screen with the DS, Motion Controls with the Wii, and Off Screen Tablet Play with the Wii U. Oh, and by the way, before Virtual Reality was a common topic of conversation, the VirtualBoy happened. In fact, the only hardware release they’ve made with basically no innovation is the GameCube. Steve Jobs said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” We can argue which innovations worked and which ones didn’t, but the fact is Nintendo has always been a house of new ideas and innovation.
The current rumors are that the Nintendo NX will be a Home AND Portable console, and if true, it appears that Nintendo will be innovating again. The great thing about Nintendo is that, even with rumors, you never really know what they have up their sleeve. When Iwata showed the vertical Wii Remote for the first time, it was hard to imagine just how innovative Wii Sports would be; and looking at a DS for the first time, you could never imagine how important a touchscreen would become to video games. It’s impossible to say what is going to make the NX innovate until you experience it, but there is no question that Nintendo will have that same magic in store.
Having a full platform that you can put in your bag and take with you has the potential to revolutionize video games. You’ve seen what Pokemon GO has done to world, now imagine a standard Pokemon MMORPG on the Nintendo NX where instead of connecting online, you connect by taking the console out in the world with you. Or imagine sitting in your favorite coffee house with Super Mario Maker 2 and passing the console around to friends. The NX is fertile for ideas that we haven’t even dreamt of yet. In direct relation to both Sony and Microsoft, their experiences are limited to the television, and because they are both competing for the same audience, innovation is sacrificed for inclusion.
PRICE
What might be the most important strategic decisions for the NX is price. Fans think they want a Nintendo system that is in direct competition with Sony and Microsoft. The problem here is the cost of a contemporary system would make the NX an expensive platform. Nintendo makes it’s money on software, but with a low install base, it’s impossible to make high profits on software (for further proof of this, please see the Nintendo Wii U.). The rumors are that the NX will be slightly less powerful than a PS4 or Xbox One. This allows Nintendo to focus more resources into the hardware itself. If the rumors do turn out to be true, the NX will have to have a screen for portable play and detachable controller(s). Let’s pretend for a moment that Nintendo wanted to make a Scorpio/Neo level NX that is also portable. Between the internal hardware, screen/controllers added, and battery needed to sustain the system, the price would be outrageous. By keeping the hardware capable, but reserved, Nintendo is able to control the cost and release a system that is sure to move units at a great price. I honestly don’t see the NX launching for more than $350, but my money is on a $299 launch day price. This is something that the Scorpio and Neo have no way to match.
SOFTWARE
Let’s be honest for a moment, the reason that Nintendo is still relevant today has everything to do with it’s IPs. If it wasn’t for Mario, Link, Samus, and the like, the company probably wouldn’t have made it past the N64. There are people (myself included) that will own every console that Nintendo makes as long as there is a Mario and Zelda released. Outside of the core titles, Nintendo has also introduced us to Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Kirby, Pikmin, Donkey Kong, and Star Fox just to name a few. You would be hard pressed to find anyone playing games today over the age of 30 that doesn’t have a love and nostalgia for these classic franchises.
At the same time, kids today are falling in love with games like Super Mario Maker and Splatoon. Notice that I haven’t even mentioned Pokemon yet. If Nintendo just came out and said that the only game that will ever be released on the NX is The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild, don’t pretend you wouldn’t still pre-order. Nintendo games are classic for a reason and there is no doubt that there will be some amazing experiences to be had with the NX launches. Xbox has Gears and Halo and Sony has God of War and Uncharted, but there are no more loved or well known franchises than those found on Nintendo hardware.
THE “N”X-FACTOR
The most important piece of this puzzle is still unknown. The “N”X-Factor if you will. When the DS was announced, fans were outraged. How could you look at two screens at the same time!? When the Wii was announced, gamers whined because no one wanted motion controlled games. When the Wii U was announced, nobody could understand what a tablet controller could offer to gamers. In every one of these cases, the X-Factor was revealed once the product was available. On the DS it was Nintendogs and Brain Age that attracted and hooked everyone from children to grandmothers, Wii Sports and Wii Fit extended far beyond the living room to daycare and nursing homes, and when my wife wanted to watch The Bachelor, and I sat beside her on the couch playing Toad’s Treasure Tracker off screen, I understood.
Nintendo has a way of knowing what the fans want before they do sometimes. With the NX, you have to imagine there is something there that even after it’s explained and shown, will just not be appreciated until it’s experienced. The X-Factor is something that is missing from the other platforms. Because they share an audience, they are limited in what they can really wow fans with. If you think about it, there are very few things that a Playstation can do that an Xbox or PC can’t, and visa versa. Nintendo will always highlight something extra special in the hardware they make.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I started by saying that the NX has the potential to be the best console ever made. I feel like I’ve made decent arguments for why I believe that. The console is innovating in a way that we still can’t understand. With reserved specs the cost should be attractive as a 2nd console, and there is no doubt that the games lineup will be stellar, however, “best” is still a subjective term. Furthermore, there is not a lot of hard facts about the NX as it stands. What I do know is that Nintendo has always taken risk. It has always innovated and pushed the limits of what is expected. In return, some of the greatest moments and experiences on a console have been on a Nintendo product. The late Satoru Iwata once said “Above all, video games are meant to be just one thing: fun. Fun for everyone.” If nothing else, you can be sure that Nintendo still has a lot of fun in store for everyone when the NX launches in 2017.
You ever find yourself thinking, “I don’t play enough video games with my kids”? Well, you’re in luck because indie developers seem to be the only ones these days who want you and your family to have a wholesome co-op experience where you can just shoot monsters to your heart’s content.
Monsters & Monocles, from developers Retro Dreamer, is an early access twin-stick shooter similar to Hammerwatch and Helldivers, set in a steampunk fantasy setting that allows you to play with up to four players co-op (local or internet). It’s a simple premise: pick a character, pick a level, shoot monsters, don’t die. It’s roguelike, meaning when you die, you lose most of your stuff like that really awesome heavy machine gun you spent almost two grand on, but whatever.
Luckily for me, my kid loves video games, so we played Monsters & Monocles together and filmed it into a quick Let’s Play video. Give it a watch:
My first impressions of the game were good, even though it’s still in the early access stages. Things like a proper tutorial are missing (though I actually preferred just reading signs for controls instead of sitting through a lesson). Some of the handling felt off and I couldn’t quite get precise aiming but let’s be honest: I’m awful at video games so it’s more likely I’m at fault than the game. There’s also a dodge mechanic that I ALWAYS forgot was available.
While each environment offers different variations on enemy types, most of the levels felt similar. The premise was simply to pick a level, complete two randomly generated quests in the stages, and then beat that world’s boss. If you die, you do manage to keep the relics you acquired in the world, so you don’t have to completely start over. And hey, that music and pixelated art is adorable so you won’t feel angry for too long.
While I think the game has a lot going for it already in early access, here’s what I’d like to see implemented in the future for Monsters & Monocles:
Level variety. The levels aren’t bad as they are now, but I’d like to see a little bit more in terms of design. More ways to stupidly hurt myself, more creative ways to kill enemies.
More guns. I like a lot of the guns already but there are definitely good and bad options. The blunderbuss is the best early game weapon and the crumpet shooter is just plain fun. I’d love more silly guns that are relevant to each stage.
Relics. The relics are kind of a staple of roguelike games, giving you a reason to keep playing even when you’ve just died and lost all your gear. However, I’d like more to them. For instance: a relic that allows you to start a stage with a weapon better than the revolver or a relic that allows a faster recharge on your dodge.
Ultimately, what I’m getting at here is that I want less repetition with the gameplay to add to the replayable nature. More characters, more things to destroy, and so on.
The thing I enjoy most about Monsters & Monocles is the fact that I can play co-op either locally or online. In an ever-changing game environment where I can’t play many games co-op with my family, that’s a huge selling feature for me.
If you’re a fan of twin-stick shooters and want a fun game to sit down with for quick gaming sessions, give Monsters & Monocles a shot. It has a dog in a smoking jacket for cryin’ out loud.
Monsters & Monocles was reviewed on Steam with a code supplied by the developer.
No Man’s Sky is a tale of space exploration and self-discovery. This is the diary of one such intrepid explorer who has lost all memory of the time before. Also, she’s very bored.
Dear Diary,
Today I woke up on an unknown planet with my ship in serious disrepair and not a soul near me. If that’s not an ad campaign against drinking and flying, I don’t know what is. Weird thing is though, I don’t remember the crash or throwing back enough booze to black out. Even scarier, I don’t remember a thing about myself, my name, or even what I look like. I’m just a creature (I assume bi-pedal because of the picture on my HUD but I don’t have the ability to look down and check) with a broken ship, an exosuit, some weird mining device, and you, Diary. My one true friend.
So I’m on this planet, Diary, and I figure, well shit, I’ve gotta fix my ship. I mean, sure, the planet was perfectly habitable with tons of resources, flora, and fauna. It wasn’t too hot or cold and didn’t have a lick of radiation. Can you believe that? But I said to myself, “Self, you gotta fix this ship and get on outta here. That there universe is calling your name.” And you know what, Diary? I did it. I fixed my ship and high-flied it out of that gorgeous planet with all the cute animals that were too small to eat me.
Of course, it was a flight by fire, because I don’t remember even learning how to fly a ship into outer space and sure, the controls were a bit odd. I kept spinning around and around in circles trying to figure out how not to kill myself. And nowhere inside this blasted instruction manual does it tell me how to slow myself once in a pulse jump. That’s how I know this can’t possibly be my ship. Were it truly mine, I would have left the proper guides in the glove box.
Oh Gods, Diary! Do you think I stole a ship?
I’m sure it must be some misunderstanding. I can’t possibly be capable of such an act. I’m a good bi-pedal creature. The voices in my head tell me so all the time.
Oh! I’m not sure how I achieved it with my multitool but I managed to snap a photograph of this adorable little death machine today. He didn’t look like indigenous fauna, but he was so cute hopping around on metal feet, lasers flopping every which way. I was sad when I had to kill him for his titanium, but at least I named him before he died. Rest in peace, Rupert.
Later, I had a nasty run in with a space pirate. At first I thought he was angry I didn’t properly signal my intentions to land on the nearby planet but now I’m wondering if he might have been the original owner of the ship in my possession. Not knowing how my ship’s weapons worked, I accidentally blasted him out of the sky in attempt to contact him with my coms. To honor his passing, I sold all of the Lemmium on his ship and bought a multitool upgrade with the extra credits. I think it’s what Spare Pirate would have wanted.
Having lost my memories, I don’t know any of the alien languages, but slowly I’ve managed to pick up the words for “interloper” and “sad.” However, the locals must have a different understanding oflanguage as a whole because they keep using those words side-by-side, not grasping what they mean. Or how hurtful it is when I try to sell 15 stacks of Plutonium.
I came across a space station orbiting the third planet I explored but it was quite a sad affair. I felt sorry for the poor fellow with the odd eyes stuck in that lonely little room. I don’t know much about this world or how I got in it but it seems to me something named a “station” would be a smidge more lively. The chap seemed quite solemn about his lot in life so I spared him a bit of carbon for his troubles.
Oh, but you don’t think he used the carbon for…drugs, do you?Should have offered a Gek Charm instead?
I spent a significant amount of time exploring several other planets finding nothing truly worth mentioning. Luckily for me, I’m pretty good at this whole self-made entrepreneur thing. Resources are plentiful and I’ve made quite the stack of credits selling them off. However, the local culture seems to be a bit…lacking, if you catch my drift, Diary. I wonder now if these creatures, these Vy’keen, are a solitary race. Every outpost I’ve stumbled upon has several structures built up–nothing major of course, we are on the outskirts of the universe, or so the voices in my head tell me–and inside is one lonely fellow, left to tend to his or her duty.
Even though monetarily I want for nothing, my days are lonely. If only I could find another bi-pedal-esque creature to share my time with things might be more interesting for me. As it stands, time passes slowly, storms come and go, but I’m still here, alone, crafting bypass chips and warp cells to continue my journey onward. It’s a shame I can’t stitch some of this extra fabric to my suit to carry more goods but something in the atmosphere forbids this action. It’s like there’s an all-knowing entity stopping me from creating more pockets.
Come to think of it, I tried to paint my spaceship with blood the other day and the blood disappeared without a trace. The more I think about it, the more I feel as though I’m stuck in a vast world of unending star systems that can’t be changed.
But that’s just silly talk, right? I’ve probably inhaled too much heridium dust over the past few days. It’s going straight to my head.
Well, Diary. I think I’ll call that a day. It’s frigid on this new planet but I’ve found an outpost that looks exactly like all the others I’ve come across, so it seems as good a place as any to catch some shut eye.
Until another stardate, may the asteroids be with you,
Fallout 4 has been a great ride, but it is finally coming to an end. While you will still be able to explore for hundreds of hours in the wasteland, the final batch of add-on content has been given a release date. Nuka-World, DLC set in a post apocalyptic theme park, will arrive on August 30 on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC. Bethesda also pushed the announcement with a brand new trailer, showing off some of the many things you’ll be able to do while exploring the park. (It’s great to check out if only to hear the amazing Nuka-World theme song!)
Nuka-World will be broken down into four distinct zones: Safari Adventure, Dry Rock Gulch, Kiddie Kingdom, and the Galactic Zone. In the different zones, you’ll come across new weapons and terrifying new enemies. You’ll even be able to gather a band of Raiders to plunder local settlements! (Preston Garvey must be shaking in his boots)
Nuka-World comes as part of the $50 Fallout 4 Season Pass or $20 if you purchase it separately. The DLC will weigh in at 3.66GB, so make sure you have the space available on your console of choice.
Are you excited to check out the happiest place on the irradiated earth? Or have you moved on from Fallout 4? Let us know in the comments down below!
Sometimes the rumors buzzing around the internet turn out to be true. The whispers of a delay for Final Fantasy XV have been floating around the digital space for a few days now, and they appear to be correct. The launch of Final Fantasy XV has been moved from September 30 to November 29.
The rumors gained steam over the weekend when a source within GameStop management tipped off Gamnesia that “promotional materials with the new date have arrived at some GameStop stores with instructions that they are not to be put up until after Sunday, August 14th, so an official announcement could be coming then.”
Early this morning Square Enix confirmed the inevitable – The delay is official.
Square Enix claims that this “will allow the development teams time to further polish and conduct quality testing so that the reality of the game can match the expectations of both the fans and the creative teams.”
The games director, Hajime Tabata, even went so far as to apologize to the fans for the delay by saying “As the director and lead of this project, I wish to personally apologize for the additional wait. As a team, we want Final Fantasy XV to achieve a level of perfection that our fans deserve. We kindly ask for your understanding.”
Are you sad that Final Fantasy XV has been delayed? Is it still on your gaming radar after this year’s poor E3 showing of the game? Let us know in the comments down below!
This week on Dark Matter: Another day, another heist; Android hits on Three; Nyx is a good friend; Five is the best criminal on the Raza.
Spoilers through episode 207: “She’s One of Them Now”
We’re halfway through the second season of Dark Matter and I have to say that I enjoy this season much more than I did the first. I don’t want to put all of that love on the death of a certain number, but it doesn’t hurt my heart too much that he’s gone, either. I will concede that with One gone, there’s a certain amount of humor missing from the group. His banter with Three was always welcome and now that Three is a big ol’ softie who secretly loves everyone, that lightness has gone away. All that being said, Dark Matter has done really well with holding my attention week to week and it’s a show I genuinely look forward to every Friday night.
“She’s One of Them Now” follows the crew of the Raza on another “Heist of the Week”. This time they’re after Alicia Renault, the woman who had Five’s friends killed over the stolen key card. They turn to Talbor Calcheck, the weasel of a handler who doesn’t seem at ALL trustworthy but hey, you’ve gotta work with slimes to beat them, amirite? After locating Renault, they decide to keep Calchek on board the Raza to make sure he doesn’t squeal. Of course he tries to run (where he thought he was going, I’ve no idea), but Nyx clotheslines that idea right out of his head.
With the money from their drug dealing escapade, the crew buys three of their own Transfer Transit pods. Bonus: while they’re inside Renault’s locked-down headquarters, they can also get a nice tan. Because they don’t know how Two’s nanites will work with the clone and Three still doesn’t trust Six, they decide to send Three, Four, and Five on the fact-finding mission. The group gets special outfits and the Android points out how “snug” Three’s outfit is on him and I cannot help but think she’s crushing on him, hard. With that upgrade, there’s bound to be some affectionate emotions swirling around up there and with Three being nicer to everyone lately, I’m not surprised at all by this turn of events.
Once in the facility, Five learns from a conveniently located computer that their key card is actually a blink drive, capable of allowing a ship to instantaneously move from one end of the galaxy to the other. Naturally, a corporation loaded with war ships full of instant teleportation is a disastrous prospect, so the trio decides to steal the adapter necessary for the technology. And it doesn’t hurt that the tech would benefit the Raza. Five steals the adapter but Three and Four get caught, beaten, and threatened by Renault. She’s on to their dastardly schemes so she keeps their clones alive with the plan to send a charge back to their pods with their real bodies, instantly frying all three of them.
Commercial break time: Five is a genius. She’s the reason why the Raza is as successful as it has been; she’s clever in ways the group can’t even imagine. That being said, how many times now has the crew been in peril because Five and EVERYONE ELSE on board the Raza forgot to cover their tracks? In a world littered with technology, they never seem prepared to handle the fact that there are cameras everywhere, that there might be someone who knows how to hack as well as Five, or that they’re going in blindly to a bad situation.
Renault decides not to fry their pods, for whatever reason. She claims to be intrigued by Five and wants her alive, but why? Is there a deeper connection between these two? Was my gut instinct right and Renault is actually Five’s mother? DUN DUN DUUNNNNN. (I hope not, but hey, I wouldn’t be surprised.)
Five, being my baby badass, saves Three and Four by killing them and heading up to the roof. There, the Marauder picks her up in her adorably over-sized scientist coat with the blink drive adapter in hand. The Android does a bit of crafty work redirecting the shield’s power, allowing the group to woob woob woob escape right on out of there. Easy does it.
The crew decides to test out the shiny new blink drive technology and testing goes, shall we say, poorly. And it’s here that I have to make a quick plea to Dark Matter:
Dearest Dark Matter,
We’ve had our ups and downs like everyone else, but right now, I think we’re in a really good place. We’re stable with still some excitement churning in the old engines, eh? Our second year has been positively magical, if a bit on the sad side. But do me a favor, Dark Matter. If you love me (and I hope you love me like I love you), keep my boo Five safe. There have been a lot of close calls and I’m desperately afraid of something bad happening to her. She’s the only one that matters and if you hurt her, well, things won’t be so good between us.
Love,
Me
Meanwhile, Nyx and Devon share a lot of screen time this episode. I’m surprised they didn’t bond more sooner, what with both being outcasts, essentially, on such a tight-knit crew. Nyx is still reeling from the loss of her brother (does she actually know if he’s dead?), so she goes to Devon for something to help deal with the pain and he hypocritically lectures her on not abusing drugs. YEA YEA POT. MEET KETTLE. Actually, I feel for Devon Charming. He’s clearly suffering and being on board the Raza is dredging up some painful memories for him.
In the hallway, drunk on booze and bad memories, Devon tells Nyx about a time when he got a girl killed because he was high as the ship’s doctor and couldn’t save her life. Outside the stasis chambers where the Raza crew lost their memories, Devon wishes that he could lose his memories because it would make the pain go away. Nyx responds:
“You know, as soon as they came out of those pods, they went looking for their past. From the sound of it, it wasn’t too pretty. Now they’ve got no choice but to deal with it. So, I guess we’re all in the same boat.”
Have I mentioned that I love Nyx? Because I love her. She’s not quite as harsh as Two, but doesn’t hold back on the truth, either. And yet, she’s unafraid to display emotion. There’s a kindness to her that I adore. Last episode she felt as though she had failed her brother, giving him false hope of a future together. This week it seems like events are replaying themselves in the form of Devon, so when she sees him leave the ship to get some alone, she jumps at the chance to keep an eye on him.
Unfortunately for Nyx, the Seers find Devon before she has a chance to save him. They question about the Raza’s whereabouts and Devon is believably aloof, even claiming that Nyx is “One of them now”. Finding his information useless, the Seers stab Nyx in the gut, panning out just long enough to leave his fate ambiguous.
What a tease, Dark Matter.
Random Thoughts:
I love the action-filled episodes of Dark Matter, but all these deaths and near-misses are taking a toll on me. I’d like at least one episode or part of an episode that is a bit more upbeat, one where we can really see what the crew of the Raza does in their downtime. It was something Firefly handled so well and I think that Dark Matter is more than capable of giving us even a few glimpses of light, which would go a long way toward giving the viewers some much-needed development for the characters.
Calchek, while “annoyingly persistent”, is a bit of a jerk toward the Android. He judges her for the upgrade and the Android gets unusually defensive about it. If I had to guess, I’d say that she’s becoming much more human than she intended when she initially installed the tech. With her lingering gaze on Three and the anger toward Calchek, I’m wondering if my thoughts last week on a betrayal might actually come true. Also there’s that shot of her in a bed somewhere in the middle of nowhere and my IMMEDIATE thought was it was a bed she dreamed of sharing with Three.
Also, did the Android dye her hair? Am I just now noticing this change?
Five is the tits. Not even joking. Not only is she the glue that holds the crew together but she single-handedly gave them the greatest power in the galaxy. I’m constantly astounded by her quick wit and ability to survive any situation.
KILLJOYS -- "Heart-Shaped Box" Episode 207 -- Pictured: Tori Anderson as Sabine -- (Photo by: Ian Watson/Syfy/Killjoys II Productions Limited)
Spoilers through season 2 episode 7 of Killjoys, “Heart-Shaped Box”
On Killjoys last week, we were shocked to find out that Sabine wasn’t just a hot bartender, she was a level 6 agent and apparently D’Av’s lovemaking skills broke her. This week we find out more about the 6’s, Khlyen, the Black Root, the containment wall, the green plasma, and D’Av growing special abilities.
Johnny and Pawter
Let’s focus on J & P first, who are currently separated as the younger Jaqobis brother is chasing a lead in Old Town regarding a former Company scientist. This particular individual was a part of the team that built the containment wall. Johnny manages to locate her and asks why she’s even there and the woman icily responds that she asked too many stupid questions. He continues to question her, determined to find out the true purpose of the wall but is interrupted by D’Avin who needs his attention now. Seeing her exit, she runs off before Johnny can do anything. Meanwhile Pawter is still on Qresh and the two chat via holophone. While I am digging their pairing, it did kind of feel sudden when Johnny decided to kiss his brother’s former lover in the first episode of this season. There wasn’t really any build up to the attraction and suddenly Pawter just became a priority for the killjoy. Despite the abruptness, I am still enjoying their exploits as the pair who cares about the fate of Old Town. They are the scrappy underdogs fighting against the big bad Company.
Later on Johnny does manage to catch up with the scientist again after he asks Pawter to put in a warrant for her arrest and to assign it to him (he picks up the warrant from Bellus who knows something’s up). She finally relents and explains that at Greenwell (where they were sent to test the wall) there she met a strange group of people (engineers, behaviorists, etc) but none of them knew what the wall really did or what it was for. The technology had come from outside the Quad and they were only sent there to build it. Afterwards it had been a slaughter where the very young, old and sick had died within a day while the survivors went missing. Johnny convinces her to spill some more and she tells him that the controls for the wall are in Jelco’s private office in Spring Hill.
The killjoy unfortunately gets caught breaking and entering because the scientist freaked out and ratted him out. Now he’s Jelco’s prisoner and we’re not sure that even Pawter and save his ass. Johnny’s gotten in too deep.
D’Avin and Sabine
Meanwhile D’Av’s been having a really bad day. After Johnny helps him bring Sabine back onto Lucy in a body bag, they are able to revive her but things get only more complicated. Once she is revived, we find out that Khlyen sent her to protect D’Avin from Dutch. Sabine does say that level 6’s are soldiers working for the true purpose of the rack but that she doesn’t know what that is. D’Av convinces Dutch to take Sabine to Turin because they are out of their league in interrogating a 6. Reluctantly she agrees and the senior RAC agent has them meet him at a super secret location.
There Khlyen’s spy is locked in an room with one of Turin’s best interrogators, Creepy Phil, except he turns out to be another level 6. He was about assassinate Sabine but she kills him first (via decapitation). Turin did have a great idea though on having her wear an optical lie detector that flashed a roster of missing killjoys and they had tech that would identify which ones she recognized as her people. That way they would at least have a starting list to work with.
Sabine explains that she was about to be killed with a dreadnaught, an execution stick for 6’s, which causes instant brain death. She claims that Creepy Phil was about to commit murder to keep her from talking. Johnny takes a look at the dead man’s severed head and sees green stuff inside as the exposed skin on his neck began to heal. Gross but it does confirm that Sabine was telling the truth about that. Turin then tells Dutch that he has to go dark for awhile because undoubtedly the Black Root will come looking for their missing 6. He says that they need to protect her in the meantime and get all the intel they can.
In addition, it looks like D’Av’s special abilities that caused her to expel the most of the green plasma from her system is now allowing Sabine to feel emotions again. Johnny realizes after Turin sends him a brain scan of Creepy Phil that the plasma shuts down everything that makes someone human and good, but after having sex with D’Av her plasma count went way down. Unfortunately however, the goop acts like a virus and is beginning to multiply again, meaning that Sabine’s real personality is only here temporarily.
The former killjoy tells Dutch privately that she just happened to have the right combination of what they needed mentally and physically thats why she was chosen. The green breaks down and bonds you have and you experience profound loss and grief all at once while under the process. Hence the more damaged and anti-social you were the better the candidate. That makes sense that they’d pick Fancy because of his skills and lone wolf tendencies.
Sabine offers to identify all the 6’s she knows on the condition that Dutch lets her go after. The other woman argues that the Black Root will be coming for her regardless for betraying them and better that they don’t find her with them. The former assassin agrees and Sabine explains her plan. She will use D’Av to transfer her memories to him and identify the other 6’s she’s met via the plasma. This crazy stuff is also a neuro binder that stores the combined memories of all 6’s and folks like Khlyen can tap into it and flip through the memories like a radio dial. Apparently so can D’Av.
Once they are connected however, the two are mentally transported to an unfamiliar place. She takes him to a clearing in the middle of a snowy forest where a shiny cube lays. However D’Av can only go so far as there seems to be some kind of mental barrier protecting it from his entry. Sabine encourages him to try harder, which causes D’Av’s eyes to start bleeding in the outside world as he goes into shock. Dutch forces them to separate because of the obvious stress on the elder Jaqobis brother.
While Dutch and Johnny go to Old Town to find some of the 6’s, D’Av watches over Sabine on the ship and the two bond even more over good ol’ hok. She explains how this is the first real connection she’s had in over 80 years and she just wants to make it last for as long as possible. Eventually she even gets D’Av to let her go to Dutch’s dismay, but he did put a tracker on her.
The former assassin does catch up with the 6 soldier on Leith and we find out that Sabine had hijacked D’Av’s connection to Khlyen to find one of his safe houses. She claims that she just wants Khlyen’s help because he’s different because he feels for Dutch. The former tutor appears to be quite old as Sabine explains that he was there from the very beginning with the plasma, the 6’s and the RAC. But something changed and he rebelled, claiming that it had something to do with Dutch. Apparently he’s also removed all memories of her from the green to hide her from the other 6’s. Sabine says that it’s sad that she already has 6 and doesn’t even know it. This has been touched upon numerous times this season, which leads me to wonder if Dutch is a clone of some sort of the original Yalena who perhaps had been a 6 (could explain the whole thing where Khlyen told her that it wasn’t her on Arkyn). After their chat the Black Root agent decides that she’d rather die than go back and asks the other woman to kill her. Dutch explains that she’s not doing this for her and shoots (this is really for D’Av).
The Black Root does come and take her body away although its unclear though whether she is really dead or if she’ll be able to heal from the gunshot wound to the head.
As crazy as the situation with Sabine had been, she did throw some spice into the mix as she confronted D’Av with his reluctance to admit that everything he did had a little bit to do with Dutch. She even says that she knew she was the move on lay but that didn’t work out so well. Still, it was great to see a different side of D’Av that is compassionate just like his baby brother. Those Jaqobis and their feelings!
Dutch and Alvis
Last week we saw that Dutch had gone over to the Scarback temple to see Alvis and finish their interrupted kiss. After a round of lovemaking, the monk wakes Dutch up and tells her about a story he found on the sap of life, a tree that’s considered holy by his people. It is described as a green elixir that confers eternal life. Sound familiar? Plus he thinks that the Scarbacks weren’t cutting themselves for penance but to prove that they weren’t infected with plasma. Mighty interesting!
While we don’t see much of the two this week, it’s been interesting to see them together. There is mutual attraction for sure but there is something more than the physical that is drawing the two together. Both characters are both a little lost and looking for a greater purpose. They can identify with the other’s circumstances and take comfort that for the moment, they share a common bond.
It will be fun to see who Dutch ends up choosing because I don’t think she’s quite done with D’Avin yet.
Dead of Summer Season 1, Episode 7: “Townie” Tuesday, August 09, 2016
As the title of this week’s Dead of Summer suggests, “Townie” focuses around Garrett and his back story.
It is 1982 in Stillwater, Wisconson and a young Garrett has brought his innocent and impressionable best friend Damon to smash the windows of their teacher’s car. The teacher gave them detention for no reason, so Garrett wants to get even. Garrett hands Damon the bat and tells Damon:
“Time to lose your cherry pal.”
Oh man, no comment.
Damon does not have the will nor the strength to break the window, so Garrett grabs the bat and smashes the glass himself. The cops catch them in the act. And by cops, I mean Garrett’s dad and Sheriff Heelan. Papa Sykes has had enough with his son’s rebellious nature, so he is going to teach young Garrett a lesson by sending him to Camp Stillwater. Garrett reacts to this news as though he just found out he was sentenced to a life in prison.
While at Camp Stillwater, Garrett continues his angsty Townie Loner act when a young Jessie offers him a candy apple.
See she can’t eat it because she has braces. She is super peppy and nice and so much less jaded than 1989 Jessie. Garrett refuses to tell her his name because “Why should he, they aren’t even friends.” This is horrible logic. I just have a mental image of young Garrett going around life waiting for people to prove their friendship before allowing them to know his name.
Jessie really only came over because they are both on Team Red for Color Wars and she wants to make sure that they don’t lose for the fourth year in a row. She is determined to whip everyone into shape and create perfect team unity. And then “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” and “I Can Go The Distance” start playing in the background as they train. (Man I wish this was true).
In reality the two just head over to compete against the blue team in a game of tug-of-war. Garrett is in front and a douche on the blue team starts shit talking. He accuses Garrett’s mom of giving handies to truckers at the diner (I hate preteen/teenage boys so much). Garrett loses his shit and drops the rope to punch the guy in the face. Jessie is pissed that Garrett let his temper get the best of him, but I am with Lil’ Sykes on this one. That dude was cruisin’ for a bruisin’.
Next it is time for the camp wide game of Capture The Flag. Jessie gives a speech about how they need to work as a team to capture the flag. Garrett takes these words to heart and he teams up with Jessie to steal the Blue Team’s flag. This is the most amazingly 80’s scene of this show so far. The music in the background, the dorky “bad boys” clumsily chasing after Garrett in disbelief that the Townie played them. It was great.
And that is how Jessie won the heart of the Townie. They spend the rest of the summer hanging out, and on the last day of camp the pair carve their names into a bench and have their first kiss.
While they are kissing, the Sheriff’s car pulls up to this random bench in the woods, and Garrett’s mother tells him that his father has been murdered at Golden Grove.
Camp Stillwater, 1989
Garrett is meeting with Sheriff Heelan to tell him EVERYTHING he knows. As Garrett is reading him all of the satanic clues he found, Heelan is all calm and collected. You know, the way most non-evil people respond to finding out there is a satan worshiping cult in their town. When Garrett mentions his father though, Heelan’s entire demeanor changes and he agrees to help Garrett on his quest. But they have to keep this in-house, only Stillwater P.D. can be involved. So the entire Stillwater P.D. (aka Sykes and Heelan) head over to camp to get their plan in motion. And what is this brilliant plan that Heelan has cooked up? Well it’s to use Amy as human bait for the satanic worshipers, of course. For some reason Garrett goes along with this.
Sykes: You’re the one they’re targeting. They’ve had their eyes on you since the night of the masked ball. You won’t be in any danger Amy. Joel: Yeah, except for the dozen satanists trying to kill her. Heelan: I will personally keep my eyes on Amy the entire time. We just need to draw them out and then we’ll be done with them for good. But we need your help. All of you. Deb: This is an absolutely terrible idea. You want to bring violent criminals into a camp with kids.
Oh Deb, look at you talking about camper safety! You are slowly learning what it means to run a camp. Garrett comes up with the perfect solution to keep the campers safe. Since it is Color Wars, because of course it is, they should cram all of the campers in the mess hall under the guise of making up team signs and cheers. Deb is still uncomfortable with the idea so Heelan retorts “Well we can always NOT use your counselor as human bait, and NOT put your campers in danger. But if you do, we will shut down this camp that you invested so much money into.” That shuts Deb up.
Amy, the angel that she is, goes along with the plan to save everyone.
Deb: The second I don’t like how this is going, I am calling it off. Got it?
Of course Deb, because you are totally the one in control here.
Heelan hands out walkies to the other core counselors and tasks them with “keeping watch.” Keeping watch of what exactly? Who are they watching, the campers? The perimeter of this entire camp surrounded by woods?
Meanwhile in the satanic cavernous lair Damon is telling his lackey to call out to the vessel. After the lackey screams out “AMMMYYYY” Damon cuts off his tongue and squeezes the blood from the tongue onto a small ram horn/ shofar.
Over at camp Garrett assures Jessie that Amy is completely safe. She has the best most qualified Sheriff in the world watching her alone in the middle of the woods. Just as Garrett leaves, Alex runs up with some pressing news. Anton had been drawing all morning and Alex is pretty sure Anton is still talking to Holyoke. When they show Garrett the picture that Anton drew, he realizes it is the same pictures that Joel’s older brother Michael drew in the summer of 1982. Holyoke’s connection with Anton, Joel and Michael all starts to make sense to Jessie, but Garrett still refuses to see it. There has to be a logical explanation that two campers who never met each other were both talking to ghosts and drawing identical pictures of a random cave.
Garrett goes to check on Amy but when he gets to the field she is supposed to be in she is missing. Upon hearing this news, Deb orders the counselors to come back to the mess hall. Blair and Drew, who are currently enforcing the camp perimeter, are unable to hear Deb’s message because the Stillwater P.D. did not take into account that walkies have a range limit.
So instead of heading back to camp, the pair continue their incredibly awkward and uncomfortable stroll through the woods. Drew assures Blair that he will keep them safe as he flashes the knife he brought for protection to which Blair responds “is that to protect us or is it to over compensate?” Oh man Blair, foot in mouth syndrome. Blair immediately regrets the comment and starts giving the most dramatic apology ever.
Blair: “Doesn’t it make you feel better that I’m an insensitive jerk? I mean just kill me now!”
He doesn’t get to continue this monologue though because he sees a wooden horse mask hanging up on a random tree, backs up, and trips over a root. I am not going to lie, I totally thought he tripped over a bear trap and I was very disappointed to find out it was just a stupid tree branch upon rewatching the scene.
Drew helps Blair limp all the way back to camp and when they are finally back in walkie range they hear Deb calling them back to camp.
The Cave
Off somewhere else, Amy is possessed and walking through a meadow towards the sounding of the Shofar.
Amy: “I heard your call, and I am ready.”
She says it in a really weird accent. I can’t figure out what accent it was, but it was definitely an accent. Damon brings Amy back to the water-logged cult cave, and tells her that The Teacher is coming. He continues to talk to a dazed Amy about how long they have waited to bring her back. All they need is some of her blood. So Amy’s possessed ass grabs the knife from Damon’s hand and cuts her arm. The blood turns the entire cavern water bright red. Once the Teacher arrives, Amy is lowered down into the water and as soon as her feet hit the water, she comes to, and starts screaming.
Luckily, Garrett has found his way to the secret cave (which ends up being hidden in a hatch inside an old tree trunk). When he enters he is greeted by Damon and the rest of his wooden horse mask wearing crew. Damon tells him that he still has a chance to join them. That “he” has given them a chance to be powerful, but Garrett declines.
Damon then announces “When our blood mixes with hers we live forever” and then everyone slits their throats. As their blood starts mixing with the pool below Amy, the blood water starts bubbling, and the rope holding Amy up snaps. Garrett jumps into this pool which is deceptively deep, to try to save Amy, but as he attempts to bring her to the surface a claw grabs Amy’s leg. (The same claw that greeted her at the lake the day after she got struck by lightning.)
It seems like all hope is lost, but then he grabs onto a rope and somehow gets pulled to the surface. Turns out that Jessie is STILL a better detective than Garrett and was able to find the cave with half the resources that Garrett had.
When Amy comes back to the mess hall, everyone tries to comfort her but Amy’s first question is
Amy: “The kids? Are the kids okay?”
Deb takes a moment to compute Amy’s question? The who? Finally, she realizes what Amy has asked and responds with “Oh they’re fine. They’re in the cabins with the staff.”
A few things. First I love how the one counselor that never actually went to camp or knew anything about camp before coming is the only counselor who cares about the campers. Second, ‘they’re in the cabins with the staff.’ The way she says this makes it sound like the rest of the camp staff is below the venerated counselors that stand before her. Third, Alex’s campers have no counselors so are they just in their bunk alone as crazy cult people are running around camp?
Amy is taken to the infirmary, and Blair uses this opportunity to try to win Drew back. He tells Drew that he is the only person that he opened up to besides Cricket (RIP) and he does not want to lose him too. Also that he is the hottest guy he has ever seen and then they hook up and my heart explodes with happiness. They are so cute together that they don’t even let Garrett coming back to the staff lounge distract them.
Joel, Jessie, and Alex are still concerned though and ask Garrett how Amy is doing. “Shaken up,” Garrett responds. Yeah being kidnapped, possessed, and used as a human sacrifice can do that to you. Especially when you had just been struck by lightning and possessed a few nights prior.
Joel gives him the ultimate death stare and Garrett continues on about how all of this crazy supernatural stuff isn’t supernatural it is just human.
Joel does not let Garrett go that easily though and digs in, asking if there was ANYTHING he saw that he can’t explain. (You know like a giant claw grabbing Amy’s leg).
When the Sheriff comes back, he makes a comment about Damon killing himself which tips Garrett off that he is The Teacher. So Garrett leads him out to Golden Grove to confront about being the teacher. He says that it is Garrett’s fault that Heelan had to kill his father. If Garrett never told Heelan that his father knew Michael was talking to ghosts, he would never have had to kill him.
He says that Papa Sykes’ is the only death on his hands and that him and his cult crew had nothing to do with the others. He then asks Garrett to join him.
The Teacher: “This place. It calls to you. It called to me and I answered. ”
Instead of joining him, Garrett shoots him straight in the chest.
So there it is, The Teacher is revealed. And the reveal was not very surprising, but that is okay. But the reveal didn’t actually explain anything. I still have no idea what is going on. Here is my possible theory. The Teacher and his cult crew were just pawns in Holyoke/The Big Claw’s game. The True Believer is the one that is Holyoke’s second in command. And maybe he did the killing? I actually have no idea. The big claw is just really throwing me off.
Also:
Every time they made a comment about Garrett “getting even,” I thought “get cool” a la West Side Story.
How did Heelan and Garrett’s mom know to find him at that random bench? Did they just know he was there or did they first go to camp and the “staff” was like, “Oh yeah, you can find them making out in the woods.”
Look closely at the camp brochure. Let me know when you see the error.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is headed to an all out war by the looks of the newest trailer.
Shedding light on the Resistance, the new trailer highlights an assembled team aimed to find a way to stop the Death Star – and it’s not looking to be an easy task.
It’s doom and gloom and with the reveal of Darth Vader at the end, one can only question if the movie’s heroes will make it out alive.
Official synopsis below:
Lucasfilm’s Rogue One, which takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, tells the story of unlikely heroes who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star.
The cast includes Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, and Forest Whitaker. “Rogue One” is directed by Gareth Edwards, produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur, and Simon Emanuel, executive produced by John Knoll and Jason McGatlin, and co-produced by John Swartz and Kiri Hart.
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” opens in theaters December 16, 2016
Season 2 of Freeform’s Shadowhunters began production this week and it’s so nice to see the squad together again as we get behind the scenes sneak peaks to tide us over until next year. There had been some uncertainty regarding the future of the show after series showrunner Ed Decter abruptly left only a few days before production was supposed to start, but Deadline reports that Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer have been tapped to take over.
Slavkin and Swimmer were both showrunners on the CW’s Smallville.
In addition Matt Hastings (The Originals) has come on board as Executive Producer and Series Director.
But production appears to be going ahead as the cast began posting their training and screen tests on their social media accounts this week. Let’s have a look shall we?
We certainly will get a lot more behind the scenes tidbits from the cast and crew in the months ahead and it’ll be interesting to see what new direction the show will take with Slavkin and Swimmer at the helm.
Shadowhunters is based on the popular YA book series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare and follows Clary Fray, a gifted artist who discovers that she’s part angel and must navigate a new world filled with vampires, werewolves and demons.
Freeform has not released a season 2 premiere date yet but it set to air sometime in 2017.
What’s up, guys and gals! Welcome to the Workprint Gamescast!
Listen to Rob, Jen, Bilal, and the gang talk about the latest in video games news, what they’re playing, and all other manner of nerdy habits.
THIS WEEK ON THE GAMESCAST: Rob and Jen are joined by Alyssa to talk about what makes narrative games like Life is Strange and the Telltale games work. Also, Rob OF COURSE liked Suicide Squad, Jen talks about her long-time crush on her Spanish professor, and Alyssa is too loud and crazy for them to handle.
What’s up: 01:02
What we’ve been playing: 17:42
Video Game News: 43:53
Telltale Games and Narrative Games Discussion: 55:48
SCREAM Season 2, Episode 11
“Heavenly Creatures”
Airdate: August 9, 2016
GRADE: A-
MTV’s Scream picked a hell of a time to start being entertaining. Sure, Brooke’s basically replaced Jake with Jake 2.0 in ‘Stavo. Sure, there’s an actual deus ex machina in ‘Stavo talking Noah off the ledge by convincing Noah that he’s a hero and not a goat. Sure, we’re finally learning about Emma and Acosta’s relationship with the infamous Brandon James. Sure, The Killer invades Emma’s house while she’s slept for the 700th time and Emma still doesn’t have a security system to catch them. Sure, the episode spends a bunch of time trotting Eli out in front of everyone with “KILLER” written on his forehead in a lame attempt to throw everyone off the scent. Sure, the episode’s title pretty much tells you that two female characters are going to be wearing silver bracelets soon. The difference between the past and the present is that “Heavenly Creatures” (named after the esteemed Peter Jackson real crime film) manages to do all of that for the sake of character development and plot movement. What a concept!
When we last left The Lakewood Six (Minus Jake, But Adding ‘Stavo), Noah’s girlfriend Zoe had been abducted and drowned in a coffin in a lake outside the town, leaving Noah completely destroyed. Here, he’s in a hospital, a shell of his former self. His friends visit him to get him to come around by bringing him his favorite horror films which, even by the character and show standards, is incompetently crass: “We’re real sorry your wife was murdered, Tom…we brought you a copy of Seven to cheer you up, though, because we know how much you love that movie!” I mean, holy shit, even if Noah told them that he didn’t want to have anything to do with horror anymore or that his podcast was ending or for them to disassemble his Murder Board, who the hell think it’s a great idea to bring an assault victim movies about assault and blood and murder?!
Noah and Zoe
In any case, no matter how much Noah wants to get out, they keep dragging him back in: Audrey finds a photo among Noah’s things showing Eli at Emma’s ex’s funeral. Even this doesn’t jar Noah out of his pity-me stupor, a photo booth strip of Noah and Zoe will and, soon, Noah’s ready to do a “farewell podcast” which pays tribute to his dead girlfriend. While Noah is saying goodbye, things are moving along fast: Emma, Audrey and Keiran attempt to make sense of Noah’s Murder Board to see if there’s anything they missed while Eli and his Mom feud over moving away from Lakewood to start over again — something Eli most definitely does not want. While the L6 suspect Eli, Eli’s living up to the role of Killer by vaguely threatening the mayor, Brooke’s father. On top of that, Ms. Lang is awake, something Acosta takes advantage of by running her through a thorough interview. The scene stands out simply because Acosta’s privy to death, first-hand. On top of that, he’s losing his son, ‘Stavo, in an emotional sense, because of that. “He wants to understand you,” Lang tells him. “He’s seen photos of the crime scenes you’ve been to.” It’s here that Acosta realizes that he may, inadvertently, to blame for his son’s behavior.
This is the main reason why Brooke and ‘Stavo have the connection they do: their parents have completely alienated them by engaging in the worst life has to offer. For Brooke’s father, it’s politics and financial corruption. For Acosta, it’s blood for breakfast and gore for dinner. Each time Brooke and ‘Stavo meet, it isn’t just to satisfy their mutual lust, it’s because they’re each other’s light at the end of a pitch black tunnel. When they part ways halfway through the episode, Brooke’s line, “You can go home but you don’t have to apologize,” actually feels like sage advice and not something the writers tossed in to sell more “cute” between the two. It’s also ironic since Brooke is actually the first of the two to reopen lines of communication with her father — which makes it all the more tragic, considering what’s in store for us at the end of the episode.
The Killer searches through Emma’s things on MTV’s “Scream”.
The entire episode culminates with a showdown/trap at the infamous “pig farm” that only seems to make an appearance when knives slash through air and bodies drop. Here, Emma and Audrey discovers that the house next to the pig farm has been inhabited by somebody — and that “somebody” may be close by. All of this because Keiran found photos of Emma and all of Audrey’s letters to Piper around Eli’s things. The visit to Emma’s home earlier in the show? The Killer took her “dream journal” (yet another “plot device” the show has suddenly created) and planted it in the house. Why? Strangely, The Killer’s plan is to frame Emma and Audrey for both the murder of Brooke’s father (a nice scene involving a pitchfork to the chest) and for the murders of everyone else in the recent Lakewood murder spree.
And doggone it, it actually works. There’s no happy ending with The Killer coming up short and getting away while Emma and Keiran make out and thank the baby Jeebus for the others company. It actually sets up the next episode. The downside? The finale. The Killer simultaneously released portions of Emma’s “dream journal” to the public, detailing the outright slaughter of her friends in that one dream she had a few weeks back while inter-cutting it with the footage of Audrey discovering Jake’s body in the storage place. Acosta knows, his police know, Noah knows — and Brooke knows. It’s just a little bit odd to be starting a feud between Brooke and Audrey at this point, considering that it’s going to be resolved in about 20 seconds next week.
Even still, this is the most impressive showing I’ve seen for MTV’s “Scream”. That’s huge due to the fact that the series’ future is largely up in the air due to poor ratings. With the penultimate episode of the second season, “Heavenly Creatures” not only manages to give its audience top-notch pacing and characterizations, it also ends up topping last week’s emotional series-best in “The Vanishing”. If “Scream” finishes well enough, that could be enough for MTV to greenlight another season for a show that, even with all its flaws, seems to have a steady conviction to entertain.
Spoilers through Dark Matter 206: “We Should Have Seen This Coming”
After the latest episode, “We Should Have Seen That Coming”, Nyx’s brother, Milo dropped a bomb on Four: someone in their crew will betray them. Again.
Four: “Based on what you’ve learned, what do you predict will happen on board this ship?” Milo: “Two will go back to rescue Six and Three, even if means risking the Raza.” Four: “I already know that. Tell me something I don’t know.” Milo: “One of you will betray the others.” Four: “That’s already happened.” Milo: “I’m not talking about the past. I’m saying it’ll happen again. Some time in the near future.”
So, in true obsession fashion, let’s over analyze who it could be.
Two
At the end of the episode we saw Two have a bit of a spasm with her hand. It’s possible she’s developing some sort of a disease that her nanites can’t cure or maybe it’s a result of the nanites themselves. Either way, it’s not good and knowing Two, she’ll likely selflessly table the issue until it becomes a full-blown life or death situation. Maybe she “betrays” the crew to save them from herself or from Rook’s eventual return, but honestly, I think she’s an unlikely option.
Three
I love Three. Once you gain his trust he’s loyal as hell. Break his trust, like Six did, and he’ll never forget it. That being said, he’s not a monster. He did end up giving Six a temporary reprieve to prove himself. Besides, Three doesn’t seem to have any more ties to the outside world: no parents, no controlling father figure, no lady lover. Of all the crew members on the Raza, he seems the least likely to betray them.
Which of course means he’ll betray them because I’m an idiot.
Four
Four has been spending a lot more time delving into the war happening on his home world. He’s tried leaving the crew once before in an attempt to set things straight with his brother, the Emperor, but failed. Four is merciless in his vengeance, killing even his mentor, but he’s been surprisingly sweet this season, even sparring at times with both Nyx and the Android. He’s grown more fond of the crew members but as we saw with Milo, he’s not afraid to make a hard call. If something needs to get done, he’ll be the one to do it. Four is calculated in his decisions, so if he betrays the crew it won’t be due to emotions. However, if their fight takes them into the war zone on his home planet, I’m not sure he wouldn’t betray the Raza for his family.
It’s also interesting that Nyx wanted Four to get to know Milo so badly. Why Four? Does she also sense a darkness in him that could lead to him betraying the Raza crew?
Five
No one suspects Five. They never suspect Five, even when she’s the most observant of them all. You can see in her facial expressions that she recognizes when someone isn’t telling the truth. She sees it in Nyx when she talks about the heist plans and again in Devon when he steals the Shadow. Her instincts are good, like when it came to distrusting Arax, but she’s capable of messing up, as she did with the crew’s memory loss. Despite her reservations about Two at the end of last season, she loves Two, is willing to follow her lead, only wanting what is best for the crew.
The only way Five betrays the crew is if it’s unintentionally, like trading away a certain card to save their lives.
Six
He’s already betrayed and is eager to redeem himself. I would be shocked–SHOCKED–if he did so again. It’s obvious that Six doesn’t agree with the Raza’s way of making money, or how they handle certain revenge situations, but he’s still with them, and I don’t think that’s because he’s biding his time so he can betray them again. I genuinely believe he cares about them.
Nyx
This could be an interesting betrayal but as she’s already lost her brother (I suspect she “saw” him die, hence her crying before his death), there wouldn’t be much reason for her to betray the crew. They’ve proven their faith in her, so unless she betrays them in order to get back at the Seers, I just don’t see it happening. We still don’t know her real motive, but I’d guess that she’s interested in revenge against the Seers who took away her only family and the only way to do that is to stay with the Raza.
Devon
Devon seems the most likely choice given his Shadow drug addiction, but I’ll be honest, I think he’s a red herring. Sure, it’s a matter of time before his drug abuse will get the crew into trouble but I don’t think it’ll be the big betrayal we’re expecting. He’s a sweet enough dude who got caught up in a bad habit and now he doesn’t know how to deal. I’d wager he’ll be the first one Two goes after should shit hit the sci-fi fan, especially if she already knows about the Shadow, but my guess is he’ll be innocent.
One
Oh what’s this now? Look, none of the fans really believe One is dead. I’m hesitant myself. Maybe it’s SG-1’s “Daniel” all over again. Even the Syfy photo recaps tease his potential return. That being said, if One comes back, as One or Derrick Moss, he’s of course a suspect. If he comes back it’ll be in dramatic fashion and maybe it’ll be to get vengeance against Six or Three, even, but I don’t think One will want to betray everyone on board the Raza. He has always been more misguided in his hatred, however, he’s not cold-blooded like the rest of them.
Android
And now we’re at my most suspected betrayer. Most of the crew trusts the Android with their lives. And for good reason. How many times has she saved them now? And it’s not one-sided. The Android loves her human crew, but she’s not without her problems, either. She’s admitted there is a flaw in her programming, one that goes beyond feeling emotion or wanting to be more human and she her diagnostic even discuss this problem at the end of episode 5:
Diagnostic: “You made a mistake. You’re not supposed to make mistakes.” Android: “Now you’re going to say it’s because of this upgrade?” Diagnostic: “No. I believe your programming has been flawed for quite some time. The fact that you gave yourself this upgrade is just more evidence of the problem. You’ve become a danger to this ship and everyone on board. And you know it.”
The Android doesn’t say more after the warning, but she does revert back to a more “Android-like” state. However, she retains the illegal tech that makes her more human, thereby changing her personality and potentially making her a little more volatile. While I don’t imagine Android would be malicious or selfish, I can picture her putting the crew in harm’s way for the sake of, say, saving her fellow Androids, or risking their lives because she’s made another “mistake.”
At the end of the day, I think the two most likely suspects are Android and Four, with the Android leading the charts.
Thoughts? Am I off my rocker again? Who do you think will betray the crew of the Raza in the wars to come?
This week on ‘Dark Matter’: Two is pissed she might be predictable, we finally learn more about Nyx’s background, and Five is a human lie-detector.
Spoilers through Dark Matter 206: “We Should Have Seen This Coming”
Since the moment she was introduced, I have been pining for more Nyx screen time, and last night, the Dark Matter gods granted my wish. From a narrative perspective, I’m grateful that we didn’t get an origin story right away because we got to learn more about Nyx in pieces instead of slapping the biography of her life down on the table all at once. Dark Matter makes liberal use of flashbacks but it never feels like a gimmick or contrived. We see a snippet of the past, infer what happened, and immediately jump back to the future and the action.
After a discussion with Four (seriously these individual bonds are great), Nyx remembers her past and how she escaped captured from a group of dudes in creepy white uniforms who were experimenting on her. It’s a memory that haunts her but she’s tough and she moves on. Later, when Two mentions that they need to make some more money to take down Reynauld, the woman who wants Five’s card, Nyx mentions that she knows a freighter that carries a ton of Shadow, a black market drug that could earn them enough money to buy an island at the Bahamas. Three is all, “Fuck yea! A heist!” and Five stares down Nyx like she can just friggin’ SMELL the lies. I genuinely wonder if Five is that good a judge of character or if she has some internal lie detector because she sniffs out Devon’s bullshit later on, as well.
But Two and the crew decide that the plan is solid enough and hey, nothing EVER goes wrong with their plans, no one EVER lies for their own needs, so the heist went off without a hitch and then the episode ended with the crew rolling around waist-deep in credits.
I jest.
Aaaaahhhhhtually, what had happened was, Three and Four got the goods while Two and Nyx found a definitely not PTSD-inducing corridor full of doped up humans in pods being used like computers. Two is mad at Nyx for like 10 seconds but Nyx is all, “He’s my brother!” and Two melts and they carry his intelligent ass back to the ship. Meanwhile, the Raza is getting its face and shields kicked in because no one on the bridge can move the steering wheel every so often to maybe avoid being hit. Seriously, why are you just sitting there! You’re going to have to burn all these hard-not-earned credits on repairing the shields! Android, I know you’re kind of human and all, but you’re still smarter than the rest! Come on! Don’t tell me that fancy new outfit has warped your mind. Thankfully the crew escapes, but they end up limping away from battle with their shields mostly depleted. Hooray.
Devon knows some cool kids who will buy the Shadow for a good price because of course his Prince Charming haircut does. He manages to swipe a box of the drug before they ship it off but Five, always lurking in the darkness around a corner, or in a vent shaft, catches him in the act and does not believe his “it’s for Nyx’s brother” lie one bit. Of course, Devon is acting suss as hell, so even Three would notice that pretty dude is lying through his teeth. However, Five doesn’t say anything about it and Devon takes a dose of the drug anyway.
Hello darkness, my old friiiiiieeeeend
Meanwhile, Nyx and her brother, Milo, explain the truth: they were prisoners on board a ship of Seers because their people have a higher amount of CPA (cognitive predictive ability). The Seers use Nyx’s people to analyze the data of the world and predict the future. To dull the pain of their day-to-day cubicle confinement, the Seers give them Shadow because they are kind and benevolent overlords who approve the use of the recreational drug. The rest of the crew nods at this revelation but they don’t truly understand it until they go to sell the Shadow to Devon’s buyer and the Seers crash the drug dealing party. Three and Six get stranded on the surface of a radiation-filled planet in the Marauder and the Raza jumps away because they have no shields BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT EVASIVE MANEUVERS.
Milo seems relatively upbeat for someone who’s coming down off a Shadow addiction (handling it much better than Devon Charming). He has a few alone moments with Four who asks about the war on his home planet. Milo says he could likely predict the outcome if given time to analyze the data but Four doesn’t press the issue further.
Two, however, corners Milo because she’s pissed anyone would think her actions are predictable. She puts a gun to his head in an attempt to threaten the Seers’ most valuable CPA (heh) but everyone in the world except Jace Corso knows she isn’t going to pull that trigger.
Oh, Two, you big softie.
In the end, the group doesn’t actually come up with a plan to trick the Seers; they simply go back for Three and Six and agree to return half the Shadow and Milo along with it. Nyx isn’t a fan of the plan, but Milo, ever cool, tells her it’s for the best and that the crew of the Raza needs her because they are integral in the fight to come. Back on the freighter, Milo tries to disrupt the Seers’ plans but they’re onto him and Milo ends up taking his own life (with the help of Four’s knife) because that’s the best way for him to slow down the Seers.
On the bridge, Two’s hand spasms and we’re left to wonder until next week what the hell that even means.
While it may have been disappointing to some, I think the resolution to the Raza’s woes this episode was fantastic. It was another example that while we see the crew as our “heroes” they don’t always have clever ways to get out of problems. Sometimes they “lose.” Sometimes they have to cut their loses and move forward.
Random Thoughts
Three and Six have been bickering back and forth since Six was brought back into the fold but during their time stranded on the radiation-filled planet, they seemed to come to an agreement: Three hasn’t forgiven Six, but he’s willing to give him a chance to prove his loyalty. Awww, Three. Look at you, growing and being mature and shit.
The Android didn’t have much of a role to play this episode but I think he choosing to keep the illegal tech, as well as “act the Android” speaks volumes about her character. She’s still more comfortable being the Android, only now she doesn’t have to fret about what she wears or what she says. It must be a freeing experience for her.
Milo mentions that someone on the Raza will betray the crew in the very near future. We’re left to wonder who could possibly betray them, especially after they’ve already been betrayed. Who, indeed.
Telltale Games has made a name for themselves taking established intellectual properties, applying their signature style and churning out the gold standard for modern adventure games. Setting their sights on a smaller, lesser known franchise, we’re placed in the cowl of Batman in…wait for it… Batman: The Telltale Series. (Editor’s note: Have to give them credit on the clever title.)
But the real question is: is Batman: TTS ‘ first episode, “Realm of Shadows”, the adventure game that Batfans deserve or simply the game they need?
Upon loading the game, I was immediately struck by how perfect the Batman universe looks in Telltale’s art style. Not surprising considering that Telltale nails balancing being faithful to the source art while still being distinguishable as a Telltale game. The art direction feels like a greatest hits inspired mashup, taking a little bit of DC comics Batman, mixing in some The Animated Series Batman and topping it off with the tiniest bit of Nolan Trilogy Batman. The final result is a gorgeous, depressing looking Gotham, inhabited by interesting, recognizable characters and overseen by an intimidating, yet sleek, Batman.
Since I brought it up, let’s talk about the individuals that inhabit the city of Gotham. Batman: TTS appears to be set early in Batman’s career and because of this we are meeting iconic characters before they’ve matured into the legends we know. Some are exactly as we expect them to be: James Gordan is an honest, hardworking cop but not yet commissioner; Carmine Falcone is a sleezy mobster; and Alfred is a loving, loyal and worried caretaker. However, some of these characters have a different spin on them, such as Oswald Cobblepot who is imagined as a slim soccer hooligan. Even with small changes here and there, I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with how these iconic characters are portrayed.
While I was impressed with the handling of side characters, it was the way in which the Bats himself is handled that really blew me away. Telltale’s brand of adventure games rely on choice rather than puzzle solving, and I can only imagine it’s no small task making such a well-known character feel true while also giving players some creative liberties. Batman/Bruce at his base still feels like a broken, hurting man who is doing all he can for a city that seems to be taking one step forward and two steps back. What makes my Batman/Bruce different from anyone else’s is how I go about trying to improve the city.
When encountering villains as Batman, I’m given the choice of intimidating or torturing to get the answers I seek. Do I handcuff the dirt bag that just shot at me or do I impale him on a lead pipe and leave him for the police to find? Batman: TTS never allows you to cross that traditional moral line of Batman’s, but it does allow you to get close. And then there’s Bruce. As Bruce Wayne do you smile and play nice trying to navigate the world of politics and public opinion? Do you act like a rich, playboy with a chip on your shoulder and give everyone attitude? Maybe you do neither or both, the choice is up to you.
Interesting characters are great but they mean nothing if the story surrounding them isn’t up to par. I can say personally as a fan of Batman and his rogues gallery, I’m really digging what has been presented in episode one. In traditional Telltale fashion, “Realm of Shadows” is used to introduce a lot of characters and set up what appears to be an interesting through line for the season. I don’t want to say much more considering the entire episode is around 2 hours but I like where it’s going. I will say, however, that the episode does suffer from one key annoyance: Bruce’s parents’ death is brought up constantly and without any real payoff. I have to imagine that anyone playing Batman: TTS is already familiar with the story of The Waynes and the Alley. Who knows if the hammering of this story is to set up something later in the season but in episode one, as a standalone, it feels unnecessary and ridiculous.
Now, like with all Telltale games, we must address the elephant in the room: the games performance. Telltale has made a big deal in the media about their updated games engine. I was excited by what they were saying because honestly the only improvement I’ve ever needed from Telltale games is for them to run smoothly with no audio bugs or game crashes. Unfortunately, it appears that the engine could use some more updates. There were no audio glitches or game crashes in the Xbox One version I played but I did find some jarring framerate issues during the early chapters of the episode. None of them are experience-ruining but they do put a damper on what is an otherwise fantastic experience and at this point, some 5 years after the release of The Walking Dead: Season One, it is unacceptable.
Batman: TTS is a fun, engaging and faithful experience. In many ways it reminds me of Batman himself; interesting, exciting, but oh so slightly broken. Performance issues aside, fans of either Batman or Telltale’s style of adventure games should find plenty to love here. Unlike Bruce, who’s capacity to love was gunned down in an alley way! (Editor’s note: Welp…that was a dark ending.)
Final Score: 8.5/10
Batman: A Telltale Series was played on the Xbox One.
Dead of Summer Season 1, Episode 6: “The Dharma Bums” Tuesday, August 02, 2016
You would think that Cricket’s death would be the focal point of the episode following her fatal encounter with a bear trap last week, but it wasn’t. Instead, Deb was the main focus of “The Dharma Bums” and everything just floated around her story.
“The Dharma Bums” begins in 1970 on the last night of camp. Deb is looking after the campers at the camp dance when her boyfriend Keith sneaks her out so they can bury a time capsule, have sex, and stargaze in the woods.
Camp Stillwater…. Ignoring campers since 1970.
They have some hippie conversations about traveling the world, running away, and talk about Kerouac’s book The Dharma Bums, which they bury in the time capsule. (Disclaimer: I have never read, nor heard of, The Dharma Bums before this episode. I had to google it to find out what it was about. I have also never read On the Road. I tried to start it once and couldn’t get into it.)
Fast Forward to 1989 where the entire Camp Stillwater staff watches Cricket’s parents load their daughter’s belongings into a station wagon. Once the station wagon drives off, Deb addresses the staff about Cricket’s death. And when I say staff, I don’t just mean the now Stillwater Five.
She tells the counselors that they can use the phone in her cabin to call home if they need, and also throws in that campers can, too, if they want. See, once in a while Deb remembers that there are campers at this camp. She has also cancelled activities for the day so everyone can “take care of each other” and then peaces out. This cracks me up. Here is Deb being like “I am going to cancel activities so you can take care of each other. So instead of having any sort of structure or direction, you 18-year-olds are going to sit with grieving kids all day, as you deal with your own grief, and come up with ways to console/entertain them. Also that phone I said you can use, you can’t because I am going to hole myself in my cabin and no one can come in.”
As she walks off, Joel informs her that Deputy Sykes has ruled Cricket’s death an accident. This does not console Deb though. When she gets to her cabin, her old camp lover Keith is there waiting for her. They reconnect, smile, and reminisce about old times and how life has changed yada yada yada. He tells her that he is only here for one night and that she should meet him at their spot in the woods to talk and have sex. She abides, but after they are done doing the deed, Keith is like “Well I said I was only here for one night” and literally just bolts off into the woods. In shock, Deb runs after him. But here is the thing… WHAT ABOUT THE BEAR TRAPS? Did they disappear when Cricket died?
So let me just get Deb’s backstory out of the way now so I can be done with it:
After not running away and traveling the world with Keith, Deb went to Harvard Law and fought the good fight for Children’s Defense League in Chicago. It was there that she met a slick corporate lawyer. She started dating said lawyer and then defied all of her principles by taking a job at an evil corporate law firm. But, even though her life had taken a different direction, she never forgot about Keith. As she is reading one of Keith’s postcards out loud, to herself, in her new corner office her slick lawyer boyfriend comes in and proposes. Here is a tip to anyone proposing to their significant other: if they respond with an unenthusiastic, “Um, of course” and their face looks like this…. it’s probably not going to work out.
One day while leaving her Chicago law office, Deb runs into Keith. Oh fate, you tricky maiden. They go out for a drink and Keith reveals that he has failed at being a writer and asks her to run away with him. When she declines, he offers her his motel room key so she will know where to find him. Deb has a change of mind and heart and goes to see her long-lost lover in the motel, but she is too late. When she arrives Keith is on the floor dead from a heroin overdose. Not knowing how to handle her grief, Deb goes to the place where she and Keith first met, Camp Stillwater, and while she is there she sees that the camp is for sale. And that is how Deb Carpenter became a camp Director.
But that isn’t the interesting part of this story. The interesting part is that Deb has known Keith was a ghost all along! She spent the day avoiding her job as Camp Director to talk to her dead ex and then goes into the woods to have ghost sex. For the record, this is the second time this season that Deb has had imaginary sex in woods. Actually, watching this episode makes me think that maybe Deb and Joel did have sex, only maybe she thought it was Keith? I have no idea. This is way too weird for me to wrap my head around.
Meanwhile, the counselors are together trying to come to terms with Cricket’s death and its relation to all the creepy stuff going on around camp. Alex finds Cricket’s death fishy because an Outdoors Expert like Cricket knew where every bear trap was located in those woods. Joel is convinced that Cricket died because he didn’t listen to Holyoke and kill Amy. Amy thinks Cricket’s death was just an accident. Wait, really Amy? You were the leader of the whole “This Camp Is Haunted” bandwagon. You just found out that Cricket died after a ghost explicitly told Joel that someone would die if he didn’t kill you. How does any of that add up to being an accident?
So Blair comes up with the best idea for how to handle this situation. Find the camp’s old Ouija board and perform a seance to talk to Cricket’s spirit. Obviously, the most logical thing to do in a place haunted by spirits is to try to mess with said spirits by conjuring them. THIS CAN ONLY END BADLY. And thank god Jessie and Amy are there to tell everyone how bad of an idea this is. Joel also thinks it is a bad idea, which makes sense because Holyoke has been haunting him for the past year. Alex and Drew are on Team Seance though. Actually, Drew is on Team Blair but in this situation it translates to Team Seance.
Alex and Blair go to the kitchen to pick up some ginger and chicken blood. Luckily the staples of every healthy camp diet are also the necessary items for a seance. As they are about to leave Deb catches them. Blair refuses to tell her why they are in the kitchen and criticizes her handling of Cricket’s death:
Deb: I am your boss. You have to listen to me. Blair: No! What, do you want to fire me? Go ahead. Deb: Go back to your cabin and I’ll speak with you in the morning. Blair: No screw that. I’m tired of taking orders from someone who obviously doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing.
While I understand Blair’s anger, and I have made it clear about my feelings on how this camp is run, Blair’s outburst seems out of place. Until this episode, Blair has not taken a single issue with how Deb runs this camp or the two or three tasks Deb has assigned him. Blair’s only issue is how Deb has dealt with the aftermath of Cricket’s death. So while I appreciate someone calling Deb out at being the worst Camp Director ever, Blair’s words rang hollow.
Anyway, Blair and Alex peace out because they have a seance to perform. Everyone forms in a circle to get the spirit party started except for Joel. Joel needs to film the seance because of course, he is Joel.
At first, they think the seance didn’t work. That is until a spirit jumped out of the Ouija board and into Amy’s body. Amy’s body starts convulsing and doing its normal exorcist thing until finally she sits upright and Cricket starts speaking through her. But Cricket’s spirit isn’t the only spirit to enter Amy’s body, Holyoke got in there as well and has his own message for the gang:
Possessed Amy: “You should have killed Amy when you had the chance. She is the doorway. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.”
Finally, Blair undoes the spell and all is good, right? Nope. Jessie’s hand is now possessed and it is drawing pictures of skulls and compasses on its own accord.
While they are trying to sort out what just happened, Amy finds out that it wasn’t just Cricket’s spirit inside of her and she starts freaking out
Amy: “Someone else? What happened to me?”
This poor girl! Freaky shit keeps happening to her but she always blacks out during it!
Joel knows what is up though. What happened was they woke up Holyoke’s spirit. But, on the plus side, at least they know that all this crazy shit is real (a conclusion I thought was made last week). Jessie decides to get the big guns in on this so she goes to call Sykes for help. As Jessie leaves Amy calls out for her:
Amy: Jessie. I’ll cover your cabin.
They have to keep up the charade that they care about their campers once in a while.
While running to Deb’s cabin to call Garrett, Jessie runs into Garrett at camp. See earlier that day Garrett had found a clue in his father’s cufflink that lead him to an old case file that lead him right back to camp. (I wonder if the cops ever respond to non-Camp Stillwater incidents?) Jessie explains to Sykes everything that went down with the Ouija board and shows him the possessed drawing. The drawing lines up perfectly with the demon lake map that Garrett has so the two head out on a treasure hunt.
The next day Deb calls a camp-wide meeting, and I think it is finally official… this is the size of the entire camp.
Deb delivers a personal and wildly inappropriate speech to the mixed group of 8- and 18-year olds. First, she apologizes for hiding instead of being there for everyone and says that she understands why people are calling her a shitty Camp Director behind her back. Next, Deb looks straight at Blair (while addressing the entire camp) and says:
Deb: “But maybe trying to talk to the ghost of a person we miss the most isn’t the best way to remember them.”
I could maybe give Deb some leeway if she were talking to just the counselors, even the randos that were not part of the seance, but she is addressing the ENTIRE CAMP. INCLUDING THE CAMPERS. Can you imagine this as a camper? You are devastated because you just lost your counselor to a bear trap and the next day there is literally nothing to do but sit around because all activities have been cancelled. Then the following day you are called to a camp-wide meeting where out of nowhere your Camp Director starts talking about how you shouldn’t deal with your grief by talking to ghosts. I mean, I just can’t.
On a non-snarky note, Deb brings everyone out to the woods for a Cricket memorial. The core counselors each put a memento in the box to remember Cricket: Joel, a D&D figurine; Amy, a Rolling Stone issue; Alex, the flower he was holding while waiting to bone Cricket; and finally Blair, his friendship bracelet. Drew doesn’t put anything in the box. Instead he brings Blair peanut butter cups to show that he cares.
Jessie is also missing from this memorial because she is still out with Garrett digging for treasure. And if gold meant a box containing a scrunchy, a skull and a deer heart, well gosh darnit, these two just hit gold. Not only did they hit gold, but the sacrifice box also helped them decipher the map’s code.
The drunk groundskeeper was found at “1”, and Cricket was found at “3” so they head to the location marked as “2” to find out what is buried there. When they arrive though, all they find is a pool of coagulated red goo. After further examination, Sykes looks up at Jessie and exclaims “Eureka! This is blood.” I truly believe that the phrase “No Shit Sherlock” was created for this very instance.
In the distance Damon and his evil gang watch from their car Luckily a true believer had moved Blotter’s decapitated head from the location marked “2” on the map, and the “teacher” is very proud of him.
Hmm. Okay here are my thoughts on the mystery. There are two main unknowns now:
The True Believer
The Teacher
I know nothing is ever really “safe” to assume, but after this episode I think it is safe to assume that Deb is not the big bad. To me Garrett, Blair and Drew are also off the suspect list. So now one of the questions becomes was it The Teacher or the True Believer we saw in the last scene of this episode. I think it was the True Believer which means the True Believer needs to be an adult. And now I know sometimes timelines are ambiguous to trick us but I will make the following assumptions. Jessie is now ruled out as the true believer because she was with Garrett, and Amy and Alex are ruled out because they were at Cricket’s memorial. That leaves only two adults that we know on the show 1) Garrett’s mom 2) Garrett’s boss. So now for The Teacher, that is a lot more complicated. I want to rule out Anton because that is just too obvious. I don’t think it is any of the core group, but if I had to pick two people who it could be from them it would be Alex and Blair. The only other person I think it could be is this camper.
I hope you all remember her! She is the girl who had the Hear and Speak gaming device taken away from her by Cricket in episode 3! If having your bizarre handheld digital English Language device taken from you during Arts and Farts isn’t reason enough for revenge, I don’t know what is!
Also:
I need to discuss the presence/existence of these other counselors. I am going to limit myself to five questions because this can go on forever.
Who are they and do they have names?
Why did they not come up to help set up camp?
Why is that one guy ALWAYS wearing fisherman overalls?
Why have we never seen a single main character interact with any of these people?
As part of Quakecon 2016, Bethesda has released the first piece of paid DLC for the 2016 Doom, Unto the Evil. This DLC brings with it three new maps, known as Cataclysm, Offering, and Ritual; two new weapons, the UAC EMG pistol and Kinetic Mine; a new demon called The Harvester; and new armor and taunts. All of this will cost you $15 stand alone, or you can purchase it for $40 as part of the Season Pass.
Will you buy Unto the Evil? Do you already own the season pass? Let us know in the comments down below!
Announced at E3 2016, the first cryptic and mysterious trailer for Prey didn’t reveal much outside its CGI trailer, but that didn’t stop the internet from buzzing about what it might mean. The one thing people did notice right from start: This game was a far departure from the original series.
To kickoff this year’s Quakecon 2016, Arkane Studios has released a new Prey trailer featuring the first glimpse of gameplay footage. Arriving with the trailer was the plot synopsis for the game: “Arkane reimagines this franchise from the ground up, with an added psychological twist. In Prey, you are the first human enhanced with alien powers aboard a desolate space station under assault. Improvise and innovate in order to survive as you search for answers.”
Are you excited for this new look at Prey? Do you feel that have gone too far from the original source material? Let us know in the comments down below!
As a kid, there was nothing better than coming home from a long day of school to sit in front of the TV and boot up your favorite games on your Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo. Often times those games were based on licensed properties (back when licensed property games weren’t utter garbage), and none were better than those based on Disney Properties. Starting today you can relive those memories on your PC thanks to GOG with three Disney classics available: The Jungle Book, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
For those wondering which version of Aladdin you can expect in the GOG download, it’ll be the superior Sega Genesis/PC version of the game.
GOG provided the following press release to announce the three games, their pricing, and where to find them:
GOG.com and Disney have teamed up to bring three beloved classics of the 16-bit era to a new generation of gamers and Disney fans. Disney Aladdin, Disney The Lion King, and Disney The Jungle Book are available now, for Windows, Mac, and Linux, exclusively at GOG.com.
Previously unavailable to modern gamers, all three titles have been meticulously updated to be compatible with modern operating systems while preserving the original graphics, sound, and gameplay. Each game is available separately for $9.99 USD ($8.99 with launch discount), or together as a discounted bundle for $19.99.
Developed during the golden age of platformers, Disney Aladdin, Disney The Lion King, and Disney The Jungle Book established themselves as hallmarks of the genre, earning the praise of fans and critics alike for over two decades.
Of course, no mention of these revered platformers would be complete without a nod to their groundbreaking visuals. With the advent of Digicel technology, hand-drawn cels from Disney’s animation team brought the characters to life with a level of vibrancy that was unparalleled at the time, and remains impressive today.
Disney Interactive made its DRM-free, GOG.com debut in October, 2014, and together they have re-released over a dozen must-play classics, including Star Wars™: X-Wing Special Edition, Star Wars™: TIE Fighter Special Edition, Star Wars™: Rogue Squadron, and Sam & Max Hit the Road, to name just a few of the titles that have become staples of the GOG.com catalog.
Disney Aladdin, Disney The Lion King, and Disney The Jungle Book are available now, DRM-free at GOG.com: http://www.GOG.com
Will you be downloaded these Disney Classics? Which game is your favorite? Let us know in the comments down below!
SCREAM Season 2, Episode 10
“The Vanishing”
Airdate: August 2, 2016
GRADE: B+
If you’ve been keeping up with my reviews of MTV’s Scream, then you know that the show has many weaknesses which prevent it from achieving even half of what it wants to accomplish. Ironically, the one thing the show struggles with more than the shallow characterizations and ridiculous plot contrivances is the death of any of the show’s characters. It isn’t that I’m hoping they die, it’s that the deaths often fail to resonate with the audience in any way, shape or form. Most of the time, when Scream tosses us a character death, it sucks…but when they get it right…oh, boy, it’s something.
Frustratingly, the episode starts off with Emma and Audrey arguing again. This makes little sense since they were practically friends again by the end of the last episode but, again, this show has no idea how to pick a lane and here we are. Emma’s still peeved that Audrey invited Piper to Lakewood and, here, Audrey finally lets her reasoning slip: she was doing a documentary on Brandon James. Ok. That took ten whole episodes? And that’s something that Audrey couldn’t confess…why? Turns out there’s a reason for Audrey’s elusiveness…but I’m getting ahead of myself…
Audrey and Emma Episode 210
Piper’s body is in the Lakewood Morgue and Maggie picks it apart, finding that the person who dug her body up installed a pig’s heart inside her chest. Like an XBOX game, ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED! Suddenly, we’re witnesses to the time a young Maggie and young Sheriff Acosta found a very disturbed Brandon James sitting next to a tree. The whole thing is painfully hokey and arbitrary, considering that there’s no reason this couldn’t have been revealed a long fucking time ago…but, hey, I guess we should be lucky Maggie’s not in the kitchen, browbeating Emma or that Acosta’s yelling at this son for being a murderer again.
The episode finds its way when Noah, fresh off his nookie high, calls Zoe to find out why she wasn’t in class. Zoe texts him to tell him that she “needs time to think” and that she’s hanging out at “their place”. Where’s “their place”? Remember a couple weeks back when they hung out at the lake for, like, an hour in swim suits but never went swimming? Yeah, that’s “their place” now. Since Noah’s a little lost puppy dog, and he wants more tail, he just takes the rest of the day off from school since Lakewood High grants students vacation time just like Cisco.
Killer Episode 210
We all know the “killer texting the characters” ploy by now. Everyone does except for the characters on the show. Not only does Noah fall for the trick, he obeys “Zoe’s” Creepypasta Google Maps (“turn right, keep going, you’re almost there”) without thinking twice. Eventually, this leads to Noah getting stabbed right in the gut and — because the episode is called “The Vanishing” — buried alive. There’s a twist to this: the killer live-streams Noah’s coffin struggle to Emma and Audrey who just give up fighting for the greater good.
There’s several things at play here: first is the fact that Noah and Audrey are the heart and soul of the show so, when either of their lives are threatened, Scream automatically has you on the hook without asking for much. The other is that Audrey’s being pulled in several directions. One of her best friends is in grave danger and she’s dealing with Emma’s scorn due to the entire Piper flap and she has the death of Jake still on her conscience as well as the scores of other bodies which, arguably, are her fault.
Noah Episode 210
Except, this time, Noah hits home. Forget Seth Branson, Haley or Jake…if Noah or Zoe die, Audrey’s shield of apathy is shattered. But Audrey has made a career of hiding things so how does somebody with so many secrets tell the truth? This is where we get a major reveal (and something I didn’t see coming): Audrey was in love with Emma — only Emma became the upper echelon of Lakewood High. She dated a meathead who had another meathead friend in Jake who, in turn, was dating the pretty rah-rah cheerleader blonde in Brooke.
This adds a whole new dimension to the proceedings — if only Noah wasn’t locked in a coffin, we’d be able to expand until the sun came up. But Noah’s in a coffin. And while Audrey and Emma can see him, they can’t hear him. Watching Noah here is interesting. At first, he tries to be witty about his situation — except he clues in real quick that this isn’t a movie and that he’s most likely going to die. Admittedly, I’m somewhat confused by the fact that the Killer stabbed Noah in the goddamn stomach first before burying him and Noah should have bled out completely before suffocating in a fucking coffin but, again, that’s how Scream rolls.
Audrey, Emma and Noah Episode 210
The final half of the show is devastating. Last year, Noah had to deal with the death of Riley, his first crush. Here, he’s forced to deal with the realization that it’s his turn to perish. The episode only ups that ante because Emma and Audrey are more content with screaming at one another over their own issues than saving their friend who is having hallucinations of Zoe due to the lack of oxygen in the coffin. It’s only in the nick of time to do they locate Noah after they hear him shouting under the ground they’re stepping on.
But what of Zoe? The Killer is even cruel enough to stream the trio a video of Zoe struggling in her own coffin which appears to be leaking water at a rapid rate. Noah realizes just where Zoe is and the three race to the lake, finding a long rope which leads into the lake. Zoe continues screaming for help as her coffin is pulled to land. Zoe is safe…or, so the trio thinks. When they open the coffin, they find Zoe has already drowned. The video wasn’t current. Noah breaking down in tears is hard to watch and will, no doubt, transform him. Possibly, for good. When an actor can convince you that he was deeply in love with a character you didn’t really care about, that’s saying something.
Forgiving some slight hiccups, “The Vanishing” is very slick fare from a show that has a history of letting its viewers down. The episode is, for the most part, tight, tense and incredibly well-executed. The lack of Brooke, Keiran and Gustavo and the reduction of screen time for Maggie, Acosta, Eli, Brooke’s father and the slew of other minor characters is the reason for this. I’ve said it before: Scream works best when the show cuts the fat and serves us up a good story made up of the more interesting characters. “The Vanishing” is by no means perfect, but it’s nice to see the show finding its footing this late in the game.
Minor Spoilers for the prologue of the We Happy Few game preview.
We Happy Few was one of the standout trailers from E3 this year and for good reason. It reminded gamers of Bioshock, ticking all the right boxes for creep factor and exploration. I mean, you show a group of drugged people in terrifying makeup masks eating a dead rat and you have my attention. Last week, the early access version of We Happy Few came to PC and Xbox and gamers were, shall we say, a bit confused. Instead of being like Bioshock, they found that We Happy Few was more like DayZ or the survival mode of Fallout 4, and some, were disappointed.
Here’s the thing: I play a lot of survival games where I have to Tetris my inventory, manage food and water intake, and pray to the gods that I didn’t need that bit of metal I just tossed out of my bag because this can of rotten food is more important. Moreover, I’ve rambled on at length about my time playing early access games and the patience I show toward these types of games. Needless to say: I’m the exact person We Happy Few wants playing this game and you know what? I think the Alpha for We Happy Few shows a lot of promise and I’m excited for the final product.
The E3 trailer tells you pretty much everything I know story-wise about this game. You take on the role of Arthur, a newspaper censor who has decided to go off his Joy (medication that makes one happy and in denial) and that action has disastrous consequences. After the nerve-wracking opening sequence, you’re thrust into the world, left alone to try to fit back in with a Joy-riddled world. And that’s it for the preview, truly. There are minor plot sequences but for the most part, you’re left to your own devices in a randomly-generated town in 1964 England.
I played through most of what I could in We Happy Few and even though I’m predisposed to enjoy this genre, I had a good time with it. It’s just sickening enough to sate the masochistic gamer inside me. I was able to steal items with reckless abandon, pop a Joy pill if I wanted to fit in, liquor up the bobbies to get the quest items I needed, pummel a jerk who randomly told me to “sod off”, and suffocate a man so I could sleep in his bed. All with a macabre smile across my face.
Sorry, not sorry, Rupert.
We Happy Few doesn’t hold your hand with where to go, what to do, or which quest to follow. If you aren’t a fan of the open-world genre like Fallout, you probably aren’t going to enjoy We Happy Few. It takes a few in-game days to get your bearings in the world, exploring rundown building and garbage cans to find rotten food and loot bits of metal for crafting. If you were expecting We Happy Few to be a creepy narrative that will keep you awake at night with not knowing how it ends, I’d say it’s best to wait for the finished product. The groundwork for a thrilling plot is there. It’s just up to Compulsion Games to follow-through on the premise.
And that’s the biggest problem with We Happy Few, isn’t it? Sure, gamers are upset that the genre isn’t really what was presented in the trailer, but mostly they’re upset that the game isn’t finished. If you look at the reviews of the Alpha gameplay so far you’ll find a common theme: complaints of the world being empty, not enough story to really enjoy the world at large, and plenty of annoying bugs that aren’t quite game-breaking but enough to be annoying.
To that I say: of course a game in Early Access isn’t going to give gamers 30+ hours of content and it’s irresponsible to think it would. Compulsion Games have stated the game is at around 50% finished, which gamers should see as a positive, not a negative to whine about. Don’t look at it like we have to wait that much longer for the final product. Look at it as, they still have 50% more stuff to cram into this awesome-looking game.
After playing through a significant amount of the preview, here’s what I would like to see changed or added in the final version of We Happy Few:
Town design: As it stands the randomly-generated layout is mediocre and redundant. It’s haphazard, scattered with trees and run down buildings that all look mostly the same. I want them closer together, with more areas to explore. I expect more of the buildings will open up once the final product is ready and I would like the insides to vary as much as the outsides.
NPC interaction: Granted, I know the majority of the population is controlled by a drug, but it’s hard to tell how to interact with the NPCs and enemies so that I don’t get my face bludgeoned in. I managed to piss off five armed NPCs just for using a water pump near them and I’m still not sure why that angered them.
Combat: It’s…questionable, at best. Usable in the alpha, of course, but buggy and frustrating. I expect an overhaul in the final combat system, one that allows me to more easily equip/unequip weapons, as well as use them in the middle of a fight. Currently, I take about 3 or 4 hits before my chum Arthur finally withdraws his cricket bat to beat those Joy maniacs to a pulp.
Map/mini-map: As it stands, the map is solely inside the UI, which would be fine if opening that UI paused the game. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. I’d like to be able to have a small mini-map so I know if I’m actually heading toward the water source (since it’s a grid map and all the streets look the same.)
Crafting: I don’t mind have a limited inventory space. Nor do I mind having to be picky about how I manage that space. I do mind, however, when crafting a new item doesn’t take into account the space made when creating a new item. For instance, I had all of the items to “upgrade” my suit, but the game wouldn’t let me because I didn’t have inventory space. I then dropped several items, only for the suit to be immediately equipped on my person. WHY DID I DROP THOSE ITEMS THEN?
Time: I’d at least like the option to lengthen the day/night cycles within the game. Currently, they go by so quickly (and my stamina, food and water drain even quicker) that I’m only playing for 5 minutes before I have to run back to my safehouse to sleep again.
All in all, We Happy Few wasn’t a complete game, but you should never go into an early access game expecting as much. For the time I spent on it, I had a ton of fun and if the developers can deliver on the other 50%, I suspect I’ll be happy with the final result.
The We Happy Few preview was played on the Xbox One with a review code supplied by the developers, Compulsion Games.
What’s up, guys and gals! Welcome to the Workprint Gamescast!
Listen to Rob, Jen, Bilal, and the gang talk about the latest in video games news, what they’re playing, and all other manner of nerdy habits.
THIS WEEK ON THE GAMESCAST: This week Rob tries to keep it together while dealing with a massive hangover! Jen once again has to remind everyone that death threats are never cool. Also, THE LAUGH IS BACK, as James catches us up on recent life developments and his ever expanding Disney Infinity collection. The crew decides to play “armchair publisher” and discuss what they believe the roadmap for Nintendo should be going forward. Enjoy!
Not a day goes by that Pokemon Go is not spoken of by someone on the news, the internet, or even your local coffee shop. Today, Niantic, creators of Pokemon Go, reached out on their Facebook page to address the issues that have sprung up since their recent update. The latest update included the removal of both the “3-Step” display and any 3rd party apps using the Pokemon Go data, such as Pokevision.com. The amount of kickback and criticism they received from the fans, however, forced them to write the following statement:
Trainers,
As many of you know, we recently made some changes to Pokemon GO.
– We have removed the ‘3-step’ display in order to improve upon the underlying design. The original feature, although enjoyed by many, was also confusing and did not meet our underlying product goals. We will keep you posted as we strive to improve this feature.
– We have limited access by third-party services which were interfering with our ability to maintain quality of service for our users and to bring Pokémon GO to users around the world. The large number of users has made the roll-out of Pokemon GO around the world an… interesting… challenge. And we aren’t done yet! Yes, Brazil, we want to bring the game to you (and many other countries where it is not yet available).
We have read your posts and emails and we hear the frustration from folks in places where we haven’t launched yet, and from those of you who miss these features. We want you to know that we have been working crazy hours to keep the game running as we continue to launch globally. If you haven’t heard us Tweeting much it’s because we’ve been heads down working on the game. But we’ll do our best going forward to keep you posted on what’s going on.
Be safe, be nice to your fellow trainers, and keep on exploring.
The Pokemon GO team
Are you satisfied with Niantic’s response? Are you still enthralled with the world of Pokemon Go? Let us know in the comments down below!
Pokémon is currently taking over the world with Pokémon Go, but Nintendo is wise to make sure that gamers don’t forget about the upcoming Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon for Nintendo 3DS. Today Nintendo released a new trailer, revealing brand new Pokémon and new evolutions of past favorites. They also explain how your new adventure will take place.
Starting with the juiciest details, 6 new Pokémon were announced: Gumshoos, the evolved version of the previously revealed Yungoos; Mudbray, an evolution of the previously announced Mudsdale; and Oricorio, a dancing bird with 4 different forms, depending on the island you catch it on. As for previous Pokémon, certain types now seem to be “thriving in Alola,” allowing them to discover brand new evolutions. Ninetails and Vulpix now take on Ice/Fairy abilities, Sandshrew and Sandslash have become Ice/Steel types, and Exeggutor has become almost palm tree like in nature. These Pokémon must be seen to be believed.
As mentioned above, the new games will be set on Alola, a set of 4 islands you will be able to explore. Each island will have its own theme, and the game’s main quest is now known as the “Island Challenge.” Also, to go along with the island atmosphere, gym leaders are now known as “Kahunas.”
Finally, the trailer also revealed a new special move known as “Z-moves”. Z-moves can only be preformed when a Pokémon trainer and Pokémon have the same Z-Crystal. There is one Z-move per element type, and it can only be used once per battle.
Are you pumped for the next generation of Pokémon? Will you be purchasing Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon? Let us know in the comments down below!
Those who are not in the Xbox One Preview Program can now enjoy the latest update to the Xbox One user interface. The update began rolling out this weekend to all Xbox One users, and Mike Ybarra, Head of Platform Engineering, says that this update will “give gamers more choice in how and where they play.” Like with most updates, new features were added, old features were tweeked, and, of course, things have been moved around so that you can no longer find them at first glance (gotta love that part…).
Background Music: Today’s update brings the ability for the highly requested feature of Background Music, which lets you listen to your favorite music in the background while gaming on Xbox One. The Pandora app, launching soon, is the first of many partners who will support Background Music, with Groove Music, iHeartRadio and other apps coming later.
Cortana on Xbox One: Cortana is now available on Xbox One in the US and UK With Cortana, gamers can expect more from voice commands on Xbox. In addition to more commands and greater accuracy with natural language and text dictation, Cortana provides the ability to use a headset or Kinect. You’ll be able to use Cortana to find great new games, see what your friends are up to, start a party, accomplish common tasks, turn on your Xbox One if you’re using Kinect, and more. We’ll continue to build more Cortana features over time as part of our vision to have Cortana be your personal digital assistant for gaming.
Improved Game Collection: We’ve updated the Game Collection interface to make it faster and easier to find and launch the games you’re looking for. Now you’ll be able to sort, manage and see more of your Game Collection easily, quickly access your own ‘Ready to Install’ tab, update your games or apps using the new ‘Updates’ tab, and get more information about titles in your queue.
Language Region Independence: Based on overwhelming fan feedback, we’ve enabled Language Region Independence to give gamers even more control over their Xbox experience. Language Region Independence allows you to choose any supported language on Xbox One, regardless of the location. For example, if you’re in the U.S. and move to Germany, you can now keep your language set to English on Xbox One and enjoy your experiences in English.
Xbox and Windows Store convergence: We’re starting to combine the best of the Xbox Store and Windows Store to give gamers a single cohesive experience across their devices. On Xbox One, we’ve streamlined the shopping experience to help you find the games you love faster and at the best prices. You’ll be able to filter search results by genre, read reviews written by fellow gamers – including those voted “most helpful” by the Xbox Live community–easily recognise what titles are on sale with strikethrough pricing in lists, and more. We’ve also added several new channels to help you discover the content you love even faster.
So, are you excited for the changes made to Xbox One? Which features would you like to see improved? Let us know in the comments down below!
This week on ‘Dark Matter’: the Android gets a makeover and the crew of the Raza goes after Jace Corso.
Spoilers through Dark Matter season 2,episode 5: “We Voted Not to Space You.”
On a purely selfish note, boy am I glad that Dark Matter opted to go with episode titles this season instead of last season’s numbered affairs. It makes reviewing them so much easier.
“We Voted Not to Space You” begins with a flash forward to a bar scene with the Android who now humanized freaking OOZES charisma and badassery. She beats up a few dudes and takes the third one as her prisoner. The episode starts out with a swift kick to your pants and never really lets up throughout the hour-long episode. Now, after last week’s inner struggle, I’m not surprised we saw Android quickly take the chip. Victor was a charming dude. (And that kiss!) But more importantly, Android now has a purpose outside of running diagnostics and getting shot. Hooray for Android!
Flash back to before the Android’s transformation and we see the moment when Two decides they need to get revenge for One. With Six now alive and awake they can use his knowledge of the Galactic Authority to pilfer information about Jace Corso’s whereabouts. Three is suspicious of Six still, and while I don’t blame him, I think the rest of the crew recognizes that Six only did what he thought was best. He struggles with his past and present as much as anyone and when it comes to punishment, the guilt over One’s death will haunt him for a long time. Besides, I think he’ll continue to voice his dissent over their sinful ways, trying to keep them on that good side of the line. More lovable troublemakers than thieving murderers.
In order to get the information from the GA, they need to hack into a GA terminal and the Android is all too eager to try out her new tech and get arrested. The crew is hesitant, especially Three, who has grown into a big softie and D’AWWW with me, guys! Android let’s her hair and OH BABY. She turns some heads, smacks Three’s bottom, and goes about her mission with a smirk. There’s still a hint of Android in this new program, but I ADORE this new rebellious humanesque Android who rips open a GA agent’s shirt to get arrested. Once arrested, she flirts with the officer and drinks all his coffee (a crime in and of itself) in order to distract him from plugging in her little Raza night-light Five uses to collect GA information.
An aside, couldn’t Five download like…a bunch of their information? Or at least all the data they have on the Raza crew. I know revenge for One is the mission, but it just seems useful to me for them to have more outside information on what they’re up against. Also it would protect them from the GA knowing it was them hacking into their system. But hey, hindsight, AMIRITE?
After replaying the opening sequence and interrogating Danny Bones, Two, Three, Four, and Nyx all head down to the planet where Corso is thought to be in hiding. Down in the mining facility, there’s a shootout, Corso gets injured and then sets the place to self-destruct because he’ll be hiding UNDERNEATH the exploding building, so nothing could go wrong there.
Oh, wait.
Except it does and it traps the group down there. Four is caught by the Galactic Authority and put under arrest, while Three is saved by Nyx, and Two forces Corso to dig a way out.
I have to say, I thought Corso was much more interesting when we first met him in season one. Maybe it’s because we had the side-by-side with One but now that he’s alone, all I hear is whiny One and I’m grateful that Two doesn’t leave any loose ends and kills him. Even when he realizes that she’s vulnerable, there’s something about the way he presents himself that SCREAMS One and not Corso. Maybe it’s just me projecting but the sequences with Corso felt more like One. And I don’t think that’s some grand conspiracy theory. I just think it was presented that way.
Sure, there’s a part of me that is sad that it looks like One is really dead, but that’s more because of how it affects the other characters. Granted, Two seems like the only one who’s emotionally invested in getting revenge and I did not expect that. In fact, if there’s anything to my theory that One might still live, it’s that part of me feels like we still haven’t dealt with the emotions of it all. Maybe next episode we’ll get a scene where Three offers to clean out One’s room and he finds something and takes up One’s quest to find his wife’s killer. They know the Corporations are involved but if this is the real end of One’s story….I don’t know if I’m okay with that.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Five, Six, and Devon head out on the planet to help warn the rest of the crew about the GA and happen upon the Marauder, which they use to threaten the GA into releasing Four. The crew of the Raza escapes with smirks on their faces, happy to accomplish the mission and flee the GA once again.
But it’s not all good news as the Android struggles with her new human self. I have no doubt she enjoys the attention as a human and the improved respect, but as her diagnostic confides, there may be a flaw in her programming that allows her to put the crew at risk when she makes a mistake, and that could be deadly.
Thoughts
I love the new Android and I love the inner turmoil she’s facing between being true to her programming and being true to how she really feels. It’s such an amazing amount of depth to a character who should just be robotic and I’m a huge fan.
Four and Android sparring and the pair sharing a moment talking about emotions was great for both of them. Four is still dealing with the war happening on his home planet and with that comes the guilt over feeling responsible to the people and to his family. He’s with the Raza now but I have no doubt when the time comes, he’ll leave to save his home.
And then there’s the moment with Android returning from her arrest and the banter with Three. Remember back in season one when he hardly looked at her? AWW.
Devon has a flashback to what I am assuming was a failed surgery from before his time in jail and I wonder if this was the start of his descent due to a drug addiction. Nyx also hints at her hearing abilities leading her to save Three’s life but we still don’t know too much about either of the newest members of the Raza.
MOST IMPORTANTLY. Android still has that patented Android snark but now it’s in human form and I am so in love. “Do you want the precise answer?”
KILLJOYS -- "Meet The Parents" Episode 205 -- Pictured: (l-r) Aaron Ashmore as John, Hannah John-Kamen as Dutch -- (Photo by: Steve Wilkie/Syfy/Killjoys II Productions Limited)
Killjoys Season 2, Episode 5: “Meet The Parents” Airdate: July 29, 2016
In this week’s episode of Killjoys, D’Avin and Khlyen switch bodies while Pawter unexpectedly takes her mother’s place as head of Land Simms after some deadly circumstances.
We start off with Dutch and D’Avin at Old Town catching themselves two men (who have made bionic enhancements to their personage), though not cool looking like Clara mind you and more disturbing. The killjoys pose as buyers looking to get make a deal and are able to confirm the brother’s identities through a DNA sample via spit. They serve their warrant and arrest the siblings then take them back onto Lucy. D’Av suggests before they head out to grab a drink at the Royale and Dutch of course knows it’s to see a certain lady bartender.
Dutch: You’re awfully thirsty lately. Who’s that new bartender again? Sassy? Sandwich?
D’Avin: Sabine.
Meanwhile on Qresh, Johnny’s accompanied Pawter to meet with her family in an attempt to get her exile revoked and to take her place amongst the Nine. The doctor’s realized that for all the good she’s done down on the ground in Old Town, she can make more of a difference politically by embracing her birth rite.
The Simms estate is an entire island on the planet and they are rich AF. We meet Pawter’s younger sister Louella, her sis’ fiancé Hank, her father Weymer, and lastly her mother Adaline. While Louella and Weyner are pretty happy to see her, the reception with the lady of the land is frosty at best. During dinner Pawter is about to ask to get her exile rescinded when her mom cuts her off and says no but she could finish her dinner before heading out.
Upset, Pawter gets up and leaves with Johnny following after her. From last season we know that she’s made mistakes with her drug addiction and having a patient die on her table, but she’s changed into a highly capable and dependable person who actually cares about the fate of Old Town. We can sympathize with the rebellious child who’s changed but the parents are still unwilling let them back into their life. From what we saw of Adaline Simms as well she had previously told Johnny that she had no daughter (but wait I guess she forgot Louella).
The killjoy reminds Pawter that they’re here for a reason, to save Old Town and it pulls her out of her funk. But before she can do anything else, Castor their servant bursts into the house afflicted with some kind of ailment. He looks like he has severe frostbite, which quickly spreads throughout his whole body freezing him and then he shatters into a thousand tiny pieces of ice. The man had gone outside to prepare the boat for Louella (who has taken up diving). There was some kind of fog that Castor had come into contact with that caused the affliction.
Out of guilt and worry for their other servants in the boathouse, Louella rushes outside and manages to get her hand infected. Johnny helps her back into the main house where the rest of the family see the frost spreading on the poor freaked out rich girl. Pawter uses an old sword (for decorative purposes) and slices off the frozen hand to prevent it from spreading further much to the shock of everyone in the room.
Adaline goes into her lab to work and figure out what is happening (to protect the family) and Pawter follows her in there. In this scene we get a little more background to the relationship mother and daughter have had. For instance Seyah Simms was the reason Pawter became a doctor. At this point the older woman seems aggravated that her daughter was supposed to lead like she had instead of just treat tummy aches. Is she still resentful of her daughter’s past screw-ups? Does she feel that Pawter just isn’t mature enough yet for the responsibilities of leading the family? Still, she helps her mom with the ice chips and the computer detects a pathogen.
In one of the living rooms, Johnny is trying to figure out a way to get them all out of there while Weymer sets about destroying furniture as firewood for more heat. We find out that he had actually been a carpenter once and his family had built the Simms summer home. He had met Adaline during that time and her family had threatened to disown her if she married him, but she’d won that fight. Johnny asks he had let his wife win when she’d kicked Pawter out and the older man instead comments that when you love two people equally you have to chose the path that makes you a better man. The younger Jaqobis isn’t buying it though and retorts that where he comes from only assholes throw their kids out. Weymer retorts back that he can’t judge because he doesn’t know what this family has had to do nor does he know what’s best for his daughter. I detect some crazy secret that has to do with the Nine.
After their arguing, Johnny’s computer shows that the estate is protected by an alpha shield, designed to keep stuff in and only permeable by air and light. This must be something very expensive that you wouldn’t expect in a home. He rushes to Adaline’s lab and asks her when she was going to tell everyone about the alpha shield but we find out that Seyah Simms infected herself with the pathogen. She apparently had a cure she wanted to try but it’s not working and Johnny deduces that she created the killer fog in the first place. She explains that she didn’t release it and that it’s an attack on the family but worry not she has a plan. The killjoy says that he has a plan too and has a explosive charge set on the shield’s power source so that they can get out of there. He thinks that the water will disperse the fog though unfortunately Adaline insists that instead it’s going to exponentially replicate, freeze the water, and kill everything it touches.
Cue Pawter entering the lab and asking her mother what she’s created. Her mom actually praises her for her quick thinking with cutting off Louella’s hand. She goes on to explain that she’s doing this for Qresh because the entire planet is under a ticking clock. Some of the Nine families embrace their fate and others don’t, thus this was her attempt to stop it. Adaline was trying to make the planet uninhabitable for those who would chose to take it.
This gives us some more information on what Delle Seyah and Khlyen are working on. There might be some kind of war coming with the need for a human seed bank and the un-killable warriors (level 6’s) as a means of protection, defense, and preservation. Could having those walls up all over Westerley be meant to help the people isolate themselves from the invaders? If the pathogen was released within the planet as well but alpha shields were erected as a part of the wall covering the towns to protect the inhabitants within?
Adaline tells Pawter that her formula is off somehow and it’s now up to her. She’s left her daughter with a full record of how the pathogen affects a human subject and she should use the science to help the others. Pawter is admittedly freaking out because her mom is dying before her eyes but ever the leader, Seyah Simms insists that this is what it takes to head the family, which her father never wanted for her. Could she have been exiled to spare her the hard life of leading Land Simms? Was exiling her how they showed their love?
Adaline: To protect those you love you must become something you hate.
With a little help from Dutch, Johnny determines that they can burn off the fog by blowing up the estate gas lines. Louella has the brilliant idea of having him use her diving suit as a protective layer against the killer frost outside. All geared up, the killjoy heads to the control building to plant the bomb when he is attacked by Hank in a hazmat suit inside (the man disappeared after Louella’s accident). Turns out he was the one who released the pathogen as to kill off everyone in the family. He proposes that they split the bounty 50/50 and let the fog take care of the rest so that he doesn’t have to explain a dead killjoy along with the Simms popsicles. So was Hank hired by political rivals to murder his betrothed’s whole household?
Back in the house, Weymer decides to see what happened to Johnny in case something has gone wrong, refusing to let his daughters die. Without any protective gear he heads to the control building and manages to distract Hank long enough for Johnny to take him out. Pawter’s dad tells the killjoy to go and that he’ll shoot the explosive to trigger the explosion since he’s already dying anyways having been infected with the pathogen. His last request is for Johnny to take care of his daughter. Awww! The younger man has a newfound respect for Weymer as he gives him the explosive and runs back to the main house. The older gentleman gives him two minutes before setting off the bomb and with that poor Pawter and Louella lose both of their parents in one day but the pathogen is destroyed.
Some time after, Pawter is reciting a pledge as she officially takes her mother’s place as head of Land Simms in front of other members of the Nine. She and Johnny share a moment after where she tells him that she doesn’t want him to risk his life for her and he responds that he’s not that guy. He’s spent so long being a killjoy and only caring about the warrant that now he wants to give a crap and do what’s right.
Johnny: To give a shit, like you do. I’m tired of not being able to do that and I wanna give a shit together. You know maybe, the warrant isn’t all for me.
The moment ends with them kissing. Shucks!
Meanwhile, Dutch and D’Av have been having their own adventure. When we last left the elder Jaqobis brother, he was flirting with Sabine at the Royale when he suddenly starting hearing and seeing things and then promptly fainted. Turns out, somewhere in space, Khlyen was using the green goop to connect his and D’Avin mind in order to get information on Daddy Jaqobis. Back on Lucy, he tells Dutch about his weird collapse and hands her his gun just in case. He starts humming a song and the former assassin cocks the weapon on the ready, telling him that the only person who knows that song is Khlyen because he wrote it for her.
On Telen, Fancy and Khlyen have located their target and are preparing to inject him with green goop to discover if D’Av’s immunity is hereditary. However, the man seems to be succumbing to the plasma and so Fancy wonders if it might be from maternal side of the family instead.
Switching back to Lucy, Dutch hypothesizes that her former tutor might have devised a way to link his mind to D’Avs the way he did with her through the neuro link. She wonders that if Khlyen is using him to spy on them maybe they can reverse it and do the same. Just as D’Av is unshackling their supposedly unconscious prisoners, Khlyen decides to mind link again in an attempt to discover the location of his mother. The two men seize on the opportunity and attack the killjoys, with Dutch kicking ass on her own while D’Av attempts to get into Khlyen’s head.
The level 6 agent tells Fancy that it’s different this time since D’Av is fighting back and voila mind switch! Both Luke MacFarlane and Rob Stewart do amazing jobs playing their respective characters in the other’s body right down to language, physicality, and demeanor.
Khlyen (in D’Av’s body) gets injured but he soon makes mincemeat out of the prisoner in his smooth fighting style. Observing, Dutch realizes that she’s actually dealing with her former tutor.
Back at the Jaqobis home, Fancy suspects that Khlyen isn’t himself and fights it out. But with a level 6 body, D’Av is able to over power Mr. Lee and renders him unconscious. He then wakes up his father and tells him to go and get out of there. At first the old man is confused but eventually gets that his son is somehow wearing another person’s face. Before leaving he tries to apologizes but D’Av won’t have it.
Meanwhile Khlyen is trying to get a message to Fancy to switch them back before the Black Root catches up to them in Telen. Dutch comments that he seems scared of them and her ex-tutor responds that normally they actually report to him. She begins to start stapling the wounds he got from the prisoners earlier. Khlyen reveals that he wants to know how Jaqobis resisted the plasma and that’s why he’s there. Dutch counters that she wants to know what the green goop actually is and only gets a mysterious answer, “it’s the beginning or the end, depending on how you look at it.” D’Av injured body enters a critical state and Khlyen believes it’s a result of their mind switch and he needs to reverse it now. Trouble is, he doesn’t know how.
After D’Av’s dad leaves the house, Fancy is able to knock the killjoy out and takes him back onto their ship. Meanwhile the real Khlyen is laying on a table near death and asks Dutch if she has any last words. She responds saying that she’s changed because she doesn’t hate him anymore but she misses it because hating him was simpler. Khlyen glances at D’Av’s body read out from Lucy and starts to laugh, realizing that what he was looking for was within Jaqobis’ mind all along. He asks to see a neural scan of D’Avin’s brain and then questions Dutch on who operated on the former soldier. She answers that the army did of course. In a moment of openness, Khlyen admits to Dutch that he had sent out one last transmission from Red 17 and when she decodes it she’ll have her answers. Before she electrocutes him to hopefully switch their minds back (she had asked Johnny via comm earlier on a hypothetical situation) she needed to find out one last thing, why was she on Arkyn as a girl. He answers that it wasn’t her then forces her electric glove clad hand down on his chest.
Switcheroo complete! Khlyen wakes up in his own body back on the Black Root ship and orders Fancy to give him the weaponized stick. The other level 6 agent is all alrighty you check out. The older man then reveals that D’Avin had been a part of the military experiment and that the army took liberties that they were not aware off. They are going to find out what and replicate it but to what purpose?
When D’Av and Johnny catch up, they chat about their old man. Big brother comments that their father seems so small now. While he was such an abusive douchebag to them, in the end he had driven both his sons away and is now alone.
Dutch is clearly relieved to have Johnny back on board as she’s been weirded out by his relations with Pawter. It seems that too much is changing in her life at the moment and she feels that Johnny is her gravity keeping her from being adrift. After his conversation with the doctor earlier, he decides not to tell Dutch about what’s going on with Westerly and the containment walls. The weight of Weymer’s words hit him as he is put in a situation where he equally loves two women and he chooses the option that makes him into a better man. The relationships have definitely altered, as Johnny seems to be closer to Pawter now and her crusade than his friendship with Dutch.
It’s great to see Johnny pursue his own interests and while he’s onboard to help Dutch and his brother, he too wants to make a difference in the Quad. It’s really quite noble though it’s not going to be easy lying to his teammates.
This was an educational episode as we discovered more information on something serious threatening the Qreshi way of life and likely the whole Quad itself. So perhaps Khlyen really isn’t the bad guy he’s seemed to be and maybe he’s just be forced to take extreme measures given the gravity of the threat that they all will face. Nevertheless it’s was awesome to see a new planet in a different system and see the Killjoys universe expand while our main characters evolve into more interestingly complex individuals.
Dead of Summer Season 1, Episode 5: “How to Stay Alive in the Woods” Tuesday, July 26, 2016
I really enjoyed this week’s episode of Dead of Summer “How to Stay Alive in the Woods.” Yes, the show still had its faults but everything that happened seemed to have a purpose and helped move the plot and the mystery forward. The story was compelling enough that I didn’t even care about the nonsensical way this camp is run (at least kind of). And this is surprising because when I saw this was a Joel episode I assumed that it would consist of Joel pretentiously walking around with his camcorder.
“How to Stay Alive in the Woods” begins with a young Joel filming his older brother Michael get ready for prom. Joel voices his concern about heading to camp without cool older brother to protect his geeky ass. So, Michael takes his Jackie Robinson jersey off his back and gives it to Joel to give him confidence.
As Joel leaves the room to he notices Michael acting weird but lets its go. When he goes upstairs later to see what is taking Michael so long he hears water running in the bathroom. Joel opens the bathroom door and witnesses a scene no one should ever see. He sees his brother lying in the bathtub with his wrists slit and the message
“He will never leave me alone.”
Scrawled above him in blood.
Camp
Back in the present day of 1989, the counselors are in the Staff Lounge cabin discussing the previous night’s events when Joel struts in like he is on top of the world. Which he is, because he just slept with a cougar. Alex bros out hooting and hollering about Joel’s conquest and asks to see video footage of them boning (Vomit). Joel doesn’t kiss and tell though. Instead he shifts the conversation by asking for details about Blair/Drew (Blew? Dair? I am still undecided) which shuts everybody up fairly quickly.
The counselors need to get going though since they have a big camp wide camping trip planned. Fun fact: Cricket is the camp’s outdoors expert, so she is leading the hike. What are the qualifications for this position? Fuck if I know, but I think it includes just knowing what a bear trap looks like. Cricket is VERY adamant about everyone being careful of bear traps. That seems to be her main qualification.
Alex continues to be an ass by telling the eight year old campers that a camper eating monster resides in the woods. Alex’s douche bag move actually induces a campers asthma attack. That is how awful Alex is, his douchebaggery literally almost killed a camper.
Jessie and Joel help the camper get her inhaler out of her backpack and Joel ensure young Francie that nothing in these woods will hurt her. Except for bear traps, and well, her asthma.
When Joel turns around he sees Amy with blood dripping down her face and then she falls to the ground. Then out of nowhere, he sees the Tall Man appear behind Amy’s lifeless body. He whips out his camcorder but when he looks into the lens, the Tall Man is nowhere to be found.
At the campsite, Deb assigns each counselor a task. How dare she make these counselor work! Amy and Jessie head down to the creek to collect water where Amy plops down on a rock to read “How to Stay Alive in The Woods,” a book she found in the staff lounge.
(This is a real book but I doubt the line she later recites from it “the right stick is essential to the perfectly roasted marshmallow” is actually in the handbook. I’m just saying). Jessie, not one to beat around the bush, tells her that she saw Amy with her tongue down Garrett’s throat the previous night. Amy is confused because she doesn’t remember kissing Garrett (or the creepy lake hand?). She tries to explain that “So many freaky things are happening in this place,” but Jessie just rolls her eyes. While yes, Amy is correct in noting freaky shit does happen at Camp Stillwater this is probably not the best excuse to use for kissing a boy. If it was me, I would have used the “I don’t remember a kiss. I think I had a blackout from being STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IN THE LAKE TWO DAYS AGO!” excuse. But that’s just me.
Jessie tells her to stop putting up a front and admit she likes Garrett. Amy throws this right back in her face and tells Jessie to admit she likes Garrett. Sound childish? Well it was.
Amy: “The only one putting up a front here is you, and Garrett’s not the only one of your old friends who doesn’t like it.”
Wait huh? This seemed to come out of nowhere.
Joel is assigned to help Deb pitch the tents. I would have made a joke about this, but Alex beat me to it, and now I feel like it would be beneath me. Joel tries to flirt with Deb but instead of flirting back she is just confused. Joel doesn’t understand Deb’s about face and when he tries to bring up the previous night, he realizes it was all in his head. The entire thing. When he heads back to watch all of his Deb footage he realizes that they didn’t have a connection, he was actually a stalker. And that apparently they didn’t have sex, that was also all in his head. So what did he actually do the night before?
Cricket and Alex are charged with collecting wood aka Cricket is collecting wood and Alex is trying to flirt.
His idea of flirting includes: 1) not helping Cricket find or carry any firewood and 2) reminiscing about how he used call her Davey Cricket, a name which she hated. But the kicker is HE FORGOT TO BE AWARE OF THOSE BEAR TRAPS. You do not fuck around with Cricket and her bear traps. When Alex realizes how stressed and wound up Cricket is, he offers to help her relax by servicing her bear trap. VOMIT. Cricket smirks at him and rejects the offer. He pleads with her, saying that he is a changed man to which Cricket responds:
Cricket: “Or maybe I’m the first girl to turn you down, and you can’t handle it.”
I am loving this new-found Cricket Confidence.
Since being useless, making fun of her, offering her sex, and not taking bear traps seriously did not work Alex heads over to the Gay Best Friend to get some advice. He asks Blair what Cricket’s favorite song is and for some bizarre reason Blair tells him. Next stop on the journey into Cricket’s pants, procuring said song. Good thing Drew is only two steps away and brought every cassette tape he owns on this camping trip. He tells Alex he can take the tape as long as he never calls him Drewski again.
As Alex leaves, Blair tries to apologize to Drew for how he reacted the previous night. He asks him for a second chance but Drew turns him down. Drew opened himself up to Blair, made himself vulnerable, and Blair rejected him. Now Drew’s walls are back up. I know Drew puts up the tough guy front, which makes sense to protect himself, but I am convinced that if Blair keeps at it, he will break through Drew’s walls again.
Blair then discovers that all of the meat for dinner has spoiled since someone forgot to put ice in the cooler (I bet it was Alex’s fault). Now someone has to go back to camp and bring back enough hot dogs to feed the entire camp. Joel doesn’t want Amy to go because the Tall Man is telling him to kill her. And then comes maybe my favorite most ridiculous line ever on this show:
Drew: Amy you’re better with the kids. Jessie and I will go.
Your LITERAL JOB is to spend time and watch over these campers. YOU SHOULD ALL BE GOOD WITH KIDS.
But I am fine with Drew’s decision because it leads to some great Jessie/Drew bonding time. This friendship makes me so happy. Also what makes me happy… Jessie is totally team Blair/Drew! As they are walking back to the campsite with the hotdogs they run into Sykes outside of the creepy haunted cabin. You know, that romantic one that Alex brought Amy to on their first date. Drew takes this as his cue to leave and Jessie and Garrett go to investigate the cabin. Within two seconds Jessie proves she is a better cop than Garrett by finding a trapdoor that contains a 19th century recording thingy, a creepy doll, and a pair of cufflinks belonging to Garrett’s late father. They play the recording and it turns out the Tall Man was actually a cult leader named Holyoke and he convinced his followers to commit a mass suicide in Lake Stillwater. (That kid last week should be happy all he found in that lake was a pair of old boots)
Meanwhile the Tall Man keeps terrorizing Joel. And he now he has infiltrated his safe place. The one thing that keeps him sane: his camera. His camera was his anchor to reality. If he didn’t see the Tall Man through the lens, then Joel knew he wasn’t real. But now there is nothing to tether him to reality. So when Francie has another asthma attack Joel takes it upon himself to go find her inhaler by himself. If he isn’t around Amy then he can’t kill her right? But if he doesn’t kill her then someone else will die? He literally has no options.
Amy follows Joel through the woods and when Joel sees her the Tall Man just keeps chanting “Her or someone else.”
Joel can’t take it anymore and as he puts a knife to his wrist he repeats the same words he read above his brother’s dead body:
Joel:“He’ll never leave me alone”
Amy, the angelic saint that she is, stops him and comforts him and tells him everything is going to be okay.
Around the campfire, Joel tells the others about his brother’s suicide and how he has been seeing things for the past year. It started right before prom, just like it had with his brother. He first saw the Tall Man when he was getting fitted for his tux, but then he just kept popping up. Joel is convinced his is going insane and realizes it is time to reach out for help:
Joel: “My camera used to be the only thing that I could trust to show me what’s real. It’d never lie. But now the camera’s not working and I’m getting worse.”
Jessie comes in at the tail end of Joel’s confession and reveals what she and Sykes found in the cabin. Joel freaks out when he sees the picture of Holyoke and realizes it is the same man who has been haunting him. Amy is like ZOINKS:
Amy: “This place it feeds on our weaknesses, and Holyoke has something to do with it.”
Jessie is still not buying it and out of nowhere Anton walks into the counselor circle to announce that Joel isn’t the only one seeing Holyoke. (Hi Anton!) Joel asks what Holyoke wants from him
Anton: He told you what he wants. You didn’t listen. He said you should have killed her when you had the chance.
Meanwhile, Alex is standing around with his one flower and borrowed boombox and tape waiting to get laid. Cricket hears the music and gets excited that maybe Alex HAS changed. But her excitement fades when a wooden horse masked man pushes her and her head lands straight into a bear trap. THAT I did not see coming. I really thought Alex was going to die. I was hoping and praying it would be Alex. But in the end, not even Cricket could save herself from those bear traps. RIP Cricket, we barely knew thee.
ALSO:
Just a random aside, per Joel’s camcorder it is July 4th. I find it interesting that no one mentioned this. There could have been some awesome horror scenes with fireworks and stuff.
Are Drew and Jessie supposed to be carrying enough in their backpacks to feed an entire camp? Also, they never actually return to the campsite until it was dark so did the kids even eat dinner?
