Streaming Options
I had the terrific opportunity to interview Daegan Fryklind about Bitten at their production offices in Toronto. It happened to be the first day back of production – though clearly the writers had all been hard at work already. The atmosphere in the office was laid back and we had a terrific conversation. Daegan was welcoming and very generous with her time in answering all of the questions that I’d brought with me. Do be warned there are spoilers for season one and some nice hints about season two. If you want to know more about my set visit, you can read about it here. As usual Q: is me and D: is Daegan...
Q: You’ve said that TJ Scott (director of 1.13) is coming back. The finale was wonderful. I especially loved the one shot of the mutt running toward the camera down the hallway.
D: That was on the... we... that stunt performer, we didn’t know in advance that he could do that. It was just something like I can do this, are you curious to see this? And we went yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah and he could do that and it was like oh – it was so amazing that shot. So creepy and sells all the elements of wolf and menacing without us having to spend a dime on vis effects, so it was perfect, and really just a cool shot.
Q: This leads into a question I had. In talking to some of the other actors, they said there weren’t necessarily scripted directions to do this or that, but they really seem like they are mimicking dog and wolf behavior, especially when it came to eye-contact. Did you nudge them in any sort of direction or did they just naturally do that?
D: There were a couple scripted moments, like in 1.02 where they don’t eat until Jeremy nods and says it’s ok. And then I think they just inhabited those characters and just had an innate understanding of those sorts of behaviors, pack behavior and especially with Greg in terms of the Alpha and how they related to Greg.
Aside: I gushed about the scene in 1.03 when Clay wants to go after the hunters and Jeremy just looks at him and Clay drops his eyes and submits to his Alpha.
Q: They are very tactile – such as when Logan wants to fist bump and Pete is having none of it and grabs him in a big hug.
D: One of the things and credit to Joel for that... it was a huge undertaking for Joel to be able to come in and take a character and make that character beloved so that after only three episodes, we kill him. You had to feel the weight of that. And so, he completely brought that to that character.
Q: Could he have a non-evil twin and come back?
D: laughs. Well, we keep saying we should work in more flashbacks to bring back Paulino (Antonio) who was just amazing to work with as well. He was hilarious. If we could do the half hour comedy version of this, it would be starring Paulino. Yeah. But we’re moving ahead and to different story avenues so.... We do think about that though. Where are the flashbacks to bring those guys back.
Q: Will there be flashbacks to Clay’s childhood and his time in the swamp?
D: It’s possible that we’ll go into that story aspect this season as well. Yeah, because we wanted to be able to go into a few of our backstories for our characters and really sort of expand our audience’s knowledge of who they are, where they came from.
Q: You did a great job of that in season one, but it’s hard with only 13 episodes...
D: And now we’re only 10.
Q: Are you serious? That sucks!
D: Well, it’s an interesting story-telling device to have 10 because there’s sort of... I kind of like it, actually. The stakes get higher all across the board, and you can just compress everything into a much more exciting ride.
Aside: discussion of the challenges in maintaining a story arc over 22-26 episodes.
D: It’s not only that, it’s the marathon of energy that it takes to produce 13 when we’re a fairly tight crew and it’s pretty exhausting by the time you get out the other end of 13 episodes. So 10 is really nice. It’s not that 13 isn’t doable, but with 10 you know you’ve got the energy to sprint that whole thing no problem.
Q: Will we being seeing more of Elias Toufexis and Benjamin Ayres?
D: Yeah... we have Joey and Jorge definitely in mind because they help fill out the pack. So we have some story areas and episodes that we have them in mind. Because we haven’t been breaking season two for very long, we’re doing a kind of odd drywall, spackle, drywall, spackle – like we’re kind of moving forwards and backwards at the same time to make sure that everything logically with our mythology is making sense. So we know how our core pack is playing within that and then have our wish list of other people that we’d like to bring back in this season. So, we’re looking for areas for Joey and Jorge and hopefully they’ll land.
Q: Will we see Amber – Eve Harlow – again? It seemed obvious to me that she was dead, but others aren’t quite so sure...
D: We unintentionally left it open-ended in that shot. Our feeling was that she didn’t survive because we wanted to make it clear that there are reasons why Elena is the only one. And we’re playing with this a little bit in season two as well, but in season one, we wanted to show that somebody else going through the same situation couldn’t survive.
Q: Yeah. Even if they were really motivated to.
D: I have to say from that shot, she’s got this open wound on her arm from where he bit her? And so if she didn’t die from the change, she definitely dies from the tetnus that she gets from rubbing that open wound on the rusty cave. (Laughter)
Q: Yeah, and the black ooze, it was gross...
D: John Fawcett did a great job. (Director of "Vengeance")
Q: Is Nick going to get to see his mother in the second season?
D: We’re working towards something like that... It was something that we tee’d up in season one, and whether that’s landing in season two or onwards, it’s definitely something that we’d like to honor.
Q: Is Jeremy grooming Nick to be the next pack leader? It sure seems like that to me...
D: I don’t think Jeremy is ready to stand down...
Q: Oh no – I don’t think he is, I just think he’s a good enough leader that he would want to have somebody in place and it wouldn’t happen overnight... I think that he’d want to spend time training someone...
D: I think he’s grooming Nick to be more of the Antonio that Jeremy was able to rely on, and Nick’s arc in the first season was taking him more towards that, and season two is bringing him more towards that. I think that Jeremy has someone in mind, and for readers of the books, they’ll know who that is... but we’re not close to that yet. We’re not ready to put Jeremy out to pasture any time soon.
Q: Who are the new writers?
D: Returning are Will Zmak and Garfield Miller, who was script coordinator last season. And new this year is Michael MacLennan, who came to us from Bomb Girls, Larry Bambrick, who was previously on Played and Flashpoint, and Jenn Engels, who was on Less Than Kind. Grant Rosenberg is off onto Olympus, Will Pascoe is on DaVinci’s Demons, Karen Hill is on Motive, Denis McGrath is on CampX, and Julia Cohen is on The Royals.
Q: Do you think the new writers will bring something specific to the table?
D: Yeah. They all are really great with character. And that’s the basis of our show is building story out of character. Larry also brings great procedural with him too, so we do have kind of a procedural element in the show. We play with thriller and suspense, the way that we did in season one where it was suspense until we played cards up about the mutts and then it went thriller from that point on. Same with season two. There will be a thriller aspect to the show and a rush for the big finale.
Q: Who else will be directing in season two besides TJ Scott?
D: The other returning directors will be Grant Harvey, who did 1.08, that was the Cain/Clay faceoff.
Q: (I interrupted again to gush about this scene and to lament the loss of Noah Danby who I think is a terrific actor)
D: And James Dunnison, he’s coming back. He did the combinations of episodes 10 and 11. Clay being back in Toronto with Elena, leading up to the two big fights that happened at Philip’s apartment and at Logan’s place. And JB (Sugar) is going to do an episode this year too.
Q: How hard is it to equalize storylines with such a big cast?
D: It all hinges off Elena, really, so we look at what is her story and the pack. So as you were walking past our writer’s room, without looking at the cards, we color-code our cards, and this is a technique that we brought from Motive with us. So Elena’s cards, we use yellow. The pack we use blue, and then for our other characters we use different colors for other sorts of worlds. When we look at the breakdown of an episode, the primary color we should be seeing up there should be yellow and then blue and then whatever the other colors are that we’re dealing with. As I said, it really hinges off of her and what’s the story that we’re telling about her and what are the pieces that we’re using to put that into place.
Q: So the yellow is the plaster and the other colors are the spackle?
D: Laughs – yeah.
Aside: I couldn’t really trust myself to look closely, but imagine a room with all the walls almost completely full of multi-colored post-its... I will say there were lots of yellow and blue ones!
Q: What was your reaction to getting season two, and how soon did you know that it was going to be a go?
D: The reaction was hurrah! We still have so much story to tell, and we just love our whole cast and crew and the whole spirit of our first season of shooting. For most of us it was the best experience that we had had in terms of creating a family – a drama-free family as well. To be able to come back for the fans as well because we’ve built this great fanbase. We were really excited. We had found out that we were going again, and it was about two weeks before we could announce it, and there were so many people asking all the time on Twitter, and we were just sitting on our hands and we couldn’t wait to announce it! Just knowing that there would be very, very happy fans. We finished airing and then there was a bit of a time, but we sort of anticipated that we would be coming back because the fan response, and it was just a great response to the show. The network was very happy with it.
Q: How do you think you’ve grown as a writer or showrunner, and what have you learned from season one?
D: Last year was the first year that I had showrun. There was no curve to the learning curve, it was just straight up. It’s an odd juggle because writers are sort of weird introverts a little bit and producing is extroverts, so it’s a balance between that and also sort of all the various hats that you have to wear in addition to the creative hat. The lessons that I learned were basically just exhale and enjoy the ride. Everybody’s got everybody’s back here. We’re not going to let each other fail, so just trust in the team and move forward. And take some time on weekends to run errands and buy groceries. I didn’t have any food in my house at all last year! That’s what I learned. Make sure that you have food.
Q: I suggested she could raid the fridge on set which is always packed! I did notice as the season went along we saw Elena eat less often.
D: Poor Laura. We wanted to do that just to establish the fact that they have big appetites.
Q: What were your biggest challenges in season one?
D: It was a pretty smooth ride. I can’t think of too many challenges because we had a dream cast, dream crew... Is that an awful thing to say? People look for drama but all of our drama was on the screen.
Q: Please say that there will be a resolution to Rachel and Logan’s storyline.
D: Well, resolution, I don’t think we give you a resolution... I think we give you a continuance.
Q: Are there storylines that are not in the books at all, that you’d like to create? Different directions that you may want to go?
D: One of the things that we brought in to season one, which was different than the books, was our big bad, which was Malcolm. And also Rachel and Logan. Those are elements that we’ve tee’d up to honor in season two, so those are definitely off book elements that come into play in season two.
Q: Are there any insights into season two that you can share? Specifically how it might be different from season one.
D: We do have a new Director of Photography this year and we also have a new Head of Wardrobe this year. We have a new Production Designer this year. But our network is very happy with the look of the show. So our show won’t look significantly different in season two, but because these are new people, they may bring exciting new thoughts to it. There might be a slight shift in that way. In terms of our storytelling, we’re not working with a love triangle anymore, we’re working with two people who are good together and who should be together. We’re going to throw a bunch of challenges at them though. I mean happiness is sort of the boring place in a show.
Aside: I asked about their filming schedule as we were touring the sets, and Daegan remarked that they liked having the tight filming schedule during Toronto’s summer as it was a reflection of the lush, natural atmosphere that reflected the show so well. She also mentioned how horrible it was for Laura filming the first change scene in the first episode during April in freezing rain!
Q: One of the things that really impressed me was that Philip was very sympathetic at first and Clay seemed kind of creepy, but Greyston quickly won me over. Though I did still feel bad for Philip.
D: What we wanted to do in those first few episodes was make you see Clay through Elena’s eyes. So that he feels like a creep because that’s how she’s perceiving him at that point, and then as her view of him shifts then, of course, you as an audience member hopefully as he comes onside, you start to see that he’s a decent guy and that they should be together.
Q: Some of the books don’t include the pack at all, so at that point, do you completely create a pack story or will you focus on those other characters?
D: Well, the show’s called Bitten, and the show will follow the pack. And at such point that we choose to step off the books, we’ll do so, and Kelley Armstrong has been great with the grace that she’s given us in terms of how we’re using the characters and the world that we’re taking them into. She’s been really great with the book fans too, and being really honest with them and saying you know the books and the show are two different things. What we do in the show does not affect her, and what she’s doing with the books, at all.
Q: Next season, as you’ve said, they’re clearly going after Malcolm – James McGowan is so great, especially in that final scene with Greg Bryk...
D: It was so much fun to write! And then when they shot that... they were perfect, perfect, perfect – it was that fantastic sort of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader moment between the two of them.
Q: Michael Luckett’s scene with Laura Vandervoort in the finale was also wonderful.
D: Yeah. They all were top shelf the whole season, and then in that episode they just... You know it was our... they knew it was the last hurrah. And when we were shooting out at Stone Haven it was such beautiful weather it was like being at summer camp. I don’t know if Greg mentioned this, but afterwards his kids had bought him an axe for his birthday after that, and I think he had his sons out that day that he was throwing the axe. It was a pretty cool moment for them to see Dad do that...
Q: Are we going to see Sheriff Morgan? Is she still going to be sniffing around?
D: That I’m not sure of. We have some, I mean there are a few characters that we love in season one, and so, as I say, we’re looking for opportunities for them in season two to honor them. Sheriff Morgan and Deputy O’Neil, slash Dipshit. We love Fiona and Rogan. Fiona actually went through the Canadian Film Centre’s writer’s program and she’s writing on Saving Hope. A woman of many talents.
Q: Do you worry about pleasing the book fans.
D: For us, it’s just the fans and whether they come to us because of the books or they come to us because of the show, now that we’re going into season two, we don’t differentiate between book fans and show fans, they’re all show fans. But we understand that there are expectations about where we’re going from book fans and look to honor that.
Q: It seems to me that you’ve done such a good job of bringing the core parts of those characters to life that even the hard core book fans are really on-side. I also review Game of Thrones...
D: We haven’t had any death threats – laughter. We’ve had some people, and this was in early days, some hard core book fans who just chose not to watch the show any more and that’s absolutely fine.
Q: One of the things that really struck me was how their jobs are really reflections of them. Like Clay being an Anthropologist and Logan a psychologist and Elena a photographer. They have this interest in human nature what makes people tick. One of the scenes I really loved is when they’re discussing Elena’s photography, and Clay is seeing that conflict within her and her obsession with the “pure” human form that she doesn’t really have any more.
D: And what our production designer, Rob Gray, the photographer that we were using, and I apologize, I can’t remember her name, it was a friend of his. And we play with certain colors when we go into the werewolf p.o.v. Dogs see in shades of yellow mostly and then blue. So if I’m looking around this room, and I’m a dog, anything that’s not blue is going to be in a shade of yellow, but this couch and this wall will pop. (the couch was blue) So that’s what we play with when we’re in the werewolf p.o.v. So, Elena’s art is washed in red. And it was a great idea from Rob Gray. She’s rejecting this werewolf life so she’s using the color that they can’t see in her art. And when you look at Jeremy’s paintings, they’re in the werewolf palette – blues and oranges and yellows.
Q: Will there be another cameo from the Inner Space team?
D: Maybe Teddy or Morgan this time!
Q: I loved the music in the finale by Todor...
D: Todor Kobakov – yeah! He’s fantastic. We did have a needle drop in the middle of that too. Thirteen was magic in a bottle because we also had Gillian Truster who was editing that one, who is a great fight editor. She came to us from Orphan Black. And so it was sort of the whole combination of everything. Just really pulled it together and set the bar for what we’d like to do in season two. So Todor wrote... Gillian had cut a version of that that had a lot of source music in it and then Todor wrote the majority of that just for that episode. And he came to us from the Film Centre as well. He’d done the composer’s lab there. I think we’re his first series. He’s so dedicated and hard working and fast and smart. He’s from Bulgaria originally, so he brings with him this deep musical credibility. He’s a pianist, he has a classical training, but he also works a lot with a label here called Arts and Crafts, so working with various Indie bands, so he’s able to bring both levels of it. Also? Super nice guy.
Q: Will Greyston be as naked as often in season two?
D: Oh, let’s hope so! Weather permitting because we will be shooting into November this year. We’ll keep him inside if it gets cold outside.
Q: Is it going to be set in Toronto at all for season two?
D: We’ll have some stuff in Canada for sure. We may pop back into Toronto with Logan and Rachel at some point. But in terms of are we in Toronto as much? No. Is Toronto playing as much as last year? No. But we’ll have a Canadian location.
I hope you enjoyed the interview - I know I did! Don't forget that you can catch up on season one if you missed it or re-live the magic of season one on CTV Saturday nights at 10pm if you are in Canada! Season two will air on SyFy in 2015...
Bitten episode 1.4, “Grief,” was written by Grant Rosenberg and directed by Paul Fox. Among Fox’s many credits are My Babysitter’s a Vampire, Lost Girl, Beauty and the Beast, The Listener, Rookie Blue, and Haven, so he’s no stranger to effects, action or the horror genre. Rosenberg has a similar pedigree that includes Poltergeist: The Legacy, The Outer Limits, Lost Girl, and like McGrath who wrote last week’s episode, Rosenberg also wrote for XIII: The Series.
This episode picks up where the last left off, with Pete’s (Joel Keller) funeral, picking up on threads that have already been carefully sown. Pete’s death also acts as the one catalyst that ensures Elena (Laura Vanderoort) will work with the pack, even if only temporarily. The writing on the series continues to impress. We’ve already been introduced to Daniel Santos (Michael Luckett), Zachary Cain (Noah Danby), and Karl Marsten (Pascal Langdale). We get more of an explanation of pack versus mutt politics, and we see again how the hierarchy of the pack itself plays out.
Elena struggles with keeping her two worlds separate. She goes to Logan (Michael Xavier) for help and is concerned about having to lie to Philip (Paul Greene) – the very thing his mother used last week to plant the seeds of doubt in his mind. Philip understands Elena’s invisible line and respects her privacy, but Diane (Natalie Brown) insists that lack of communication is the first step in disengagement and insists that he sit her down and talk to her. This may result in Elena realizing that she can’t continue the relationship rather than fixing anything, however. Jeremy (Greg Bryk) is surprised by her determination to get the mutt who killed Pete, commenting that it’s not like her to be consumed by bloodlust. We learn that this is her first adult experience with loss and that she lost her biological parents when she was five. Clearly, having fewer “outside” bonds must make it easier to be assimilated into the pack, especially given how clearly difficult it is to maintain those outside ties.
Bryk is terrific as the alpha. He’s patient and understanding with Elena. We are clearly meant to see that Elena’s grief over Pete’s death blends into her grief over her parents death, but also her grief over the loss of her “normal” life. She is still in the stages of anger and denial. This is nicely paralleled by Elena telling Jeremy that she often imagined she’d just wake up and her parents would be back. But it is impossible to undo the past. Elena only sees violence and death with the pack – underscored by Pete’s death – but Jeremy insists that there is also love and family and she just needs to find her balance between the two extremes. Elena criticizes Jeremy for being complacent over Pete’s death, but it is clear that he is anything but, and Bryk does a wonderful job showing his quiet grief. That complacency is what allows the alpha to remain calm and effective in the face of the violence and bloodlust. When he tells Elena it’s normal to be angry, there’s a sense that he means it’s normal to be angry about the loss of a ‘normal’ life and the loss of a loved one. Even ‘normal’ people go through that stage and want vengeance for loved ones who are murdered.
I continue to like Greyston Holt as Clay more each week. The scene in which he comes to Elena and invites her to run with him is terrific as he approaches her slowly, the way one would a distressed dog. There is a part of Elena that thrives from the very physicality of their nature as wolves, and he knows this when he invites her to run as the best way to work out their feelings of anger and frustration. It’s interesting that she tells him that they were never very good at talking – and Clay says he remembers them working out their problems by staying in bed all weekend. Yet, so far, she seems to have the same sort of relationship with Philip.
The scene between them after the run is a great one. Elena wants to clarify that the run was fine but that was all it was. Clay clearly knows that her caressing him in her sleep wasn’t nothing and that he has a better sense of what she’s really feeling than she does herself. It’s important to keep in mind that when we first saw Clay, he was teaching an anthropology class about human nature at a university. He is perhaps as aware of human nature as Logan. He’s certainly not just stupid muscle. This makes sense as great fighters are also great strategists and know something of human nature to be able to defeat their opponents.
This week sees Sheriff Morgan (Fiona Highet) become more curious about the Danvers. She visits the former Sheriff, Emerson (Richard Blackburn), who confirms that while there was never anything concrete to go on, he was always troubled by the family. He tells her to look into them but be careful. I suspect that this can’t end well for her. Biting her is likely not even an option given that Elena is the only woman to survive the change so far.
Antonio (Paulino Nunes) and Jeremy are the strategists of the pack, and Antonio is his closest confidant. It’s only with Antonio that Jeremy can really express his frustration and anger. Their discussion of strategy reveals that there are other pack families. We also learn that Antonio’s father was alpha before Jeremy. Antonio also acts as the ‘fixer’ for the pack, tying up the loose ends created by Pete’s death by visiting Pete’s boss as an FBI agent and planting the seed that Pete is wanted by the law – paving the way for him to disappear plausibly.
Jeremy assigns everyone their role, and is fine with Logan having to return to Toronto to honor a commitment in his human life. Once again, he pairs Clay and Elena. He isn’t oblivious to the pull Clay has on Elena. I loved the conversation they both overhear in the diner. The local girls completely get their relationship – Clay is wearing a wedding ring, Elena is not, and their body language shows they are on the outs. I also liked the fact that the one saying Clay is hot, clearly upsets Elena. The confrontation with the hunters was a nice demonstration that Elena does have Clay’s back. We also learn of a potential new problem as one of the hunters is missing.
Clay and Elena working together to uncover the mutt’s hideout was great. We also find out that bodyspray is a newbie mistake – I adored that touch as I can’t stand the smell of it either! It was a nice twist for them to use the bodyspray to make their escape.
We learn that the mutts are forming their own pack using psychotic murders under Marsten. Jeremy sees their pattern as creating new mutts, putting the spotlight on them, and then targeting them directly. He determines that it’s time to take the fight to them before the mutts reveal their secret and start a war with humans. It’s only the packs that are maintaining order.
Logan is also visited by Daniel Santos. Daniel comes to Logan because he fears his reception at Stonehaven. He knows that the mutts have grown tired of the pack imposing rules. There is clearly some history between Logan and Daniel that resulted in Daniel being cut out of the pack. Clay killed Daniel’s brother, but Daniel is willing to put his past behind him and join forces.
This episode sees Elena become more committed to finding Pete’s killers and protecting the pack. She’s also made a target herself as the mutt leaves a message directed at her on the wall of his hotel room. The episode also gave us more background to the larger world of the werewolves and some glimpses into the characters’ backstories. I like how they are slowly teasing these elements out while keeping the current action moving forward. I had one quibble over this episode. How exactly did the mutt get Pete’s jacket into the woods – he wasn’t carrying it when we saw him trotting through the woods and it would have been pretty difficult for a wolf to carry all the way from town where he left his clothes...
What did you think of the episode? Do you think Elena will ultimately choose to stay solely with the pack or cut them out as soon as the hunt for Pete’s killers is over? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Crossbones - The Man Who Killed Blackbeard - Review - "The Children Are Our Future"
The opening scenes do a good job in indicating how much time has passed – we see that Lowe’s (Richard Coyle) bullet wound has healed and so has the gash to Blackbeard’s head – both are now well healed scars. This helps to smooth over some of the changes between characters. Lowe and Kate’s relationship seems to have become quite serious, and it becomes clear from their first scene together that Lowe is already starting to be torn between his two worlds. He knows that things are a lot more dangerous for any of Blackbeard’s followers because Jagger is hunting for them.
Children play an important role in this episode. Blackbeard’s vision includes a child calling to his father for help – and the woman in white apparition is particularly peeved with him over it. It would seem that this might be Blackbeard’s own child – or is it symbolic of how he feels about those under his command? Nelly (Marise Alvarez) has the first baby on Santa Campana – though she doesn’t even realize she’s pregnant. I loved that Blackbeard himself points out the absurdity of that! Again, is this symbolic of Blackbeard’s own changing attitudes? Has he changed from a ruthless pirate to actually care about those under his charge – not realizing that he himself has actually born a child in the new community he’s created?
Blackbeard and Jagger are contrasted in the episode as Jagger uses Father Daniel’s (Hamilton Clancy) children as leverage to get Daniel’s to betray Kate. Blackbeard, meanwhile, is tenderly singing to the new infant. When he’s joined by Lowe, Blackbeard asks him, “Do you believe she was born into sin? Where’s the justice in that philosophy?” Lowe agrees there isn’t justice in it, but also reminds Blackbeard that the world is a harsh place. Blackbeard replies, “There are those who consider me evil simply because I’ve committed depravities. But I don’t believe that to be so.” His explanation is that he was forced because of the “inequities we had to accept as part of the natural order. King and country. God and Heaven.” He also vows that it will be different for the child – that he will free her of those inequities, presumably in his new order on Santa Campana. Lowe himself is constrained by his place within hierarchy of King and country and is beginning to see that Jagger may be even worse than Blackbeard and for a less worthy cause.
There are other conversations about children and parents throughout the episode. We learn that Blackbeard took Rose (Natalie Hoflin) and her girls (notice they are her children) in and allowed them to make money. No doubt he gets a cut, but she seems happy with the arrangement. Fletch relates that he’s been at seas since he was seven and never knew his parents – making Lowe even more of a father figure for him. James (Peter Stebbings) responds that fathers aren’t always the answer as his own father was a bastard. Let’s not forget that James is a nobleman and his father would have been an integral part of that hierarchy Blackbeard is dead set against.
Finally, we see Charles (David Hoflin) struggle with his own relationship to Blackbeard. Blackbeard has charged him with killing Selima (Yasmine Al Massri) if the Island should be taken to prevent her from being tortured or simply ripped out of their home. Charles resents having been asked to do this – because as we learn, he’s secretly in love with Selima – and he’s also confused by the stories that Blackbeard has tried to use to educate him. Selima assures Charles that Blackbeard only tells him these things because he loves Charles. However, Charles is clearly a man of action rather than thought and would rather serve at Blackbeard’s side – not be the prodigal son.
This episode provides a nice reflection on these concerns even while giving us moments of humor and action – all nicely balanced with the usual glorious scenery! Lowe is hysterical in the birthing scene. He admits that he’s never birthed a baby – but he’s read about it. In a book. A very good book.... which he’s luckily brought with him. Of course Fletch’s (Chris Perfetti) look of horror is the finishing touch.
I also loved the scene in which Lowe is discovered as a stowaway. Blackbeard wants to know what Lowe’s plan is. Lowe – hilariously – admits that he’s extemporizing. Blackbeard laments that he can’t decide if he is the most cunning or most beefheaded fellow he’s ever met. Blackbeard reassures Lowe that he has no intention of killing Kate. He is planning on buying her back. “This is the new world. Money trumps anger, money trumps hatred, money trumps nation, king, and country, money trumps God.” This is another indication of Blackbeard’s move away from being a simple cutthroat pirate. He also recognizes Lowe’s true intentions: “You’ve the soul of a pirate, if the soul of a Frenchman.”
The episode reveals, however, that not everything on Santa Campana is as Blackbeard might wish it to be – better than the “old” world of Jamaica and England. We see that Nenna (Tracy Ifeachor) is caught lining her pockets by Charlie (David Hoflin). She later takes advantage of Rose and pickpockets her, taking the jewel that Blackbeard paid Rose with. No doubt she will eventually have a hard time explaining how that came to be in her possession. Another plot point that will no doubt be revisited is the Wildman (Henry Hereford) that Fletch glimpses as they row Nelly and the baby to safety.
One of the biggest developments in the episode was that Selima suffers from some kind of disorder – possibly agoraphobia? She becomes absolutely frantic when Charles tries to remove her from the house – something Blackbeard only gently tried to do. Selima tells Charles (after stabbing him!) that “Outside around people. I find it vexing.” Selima realizes that Blackbeard left Charles to kill her and that Charles couldn’t do it. They have sex, but she immediately pushes him away in disgust afterwards. Was Selima’s motivation gratitude to Charles or a way of getting back at Blackbeard? She certainly looks troubled at the end of the episode when Blackbeard returns. Is she feeling guilty or is she worried for Charles and possibly herself? It was nice to see Hoflin and Al Massri get more to do and to flesh their characters out more. Al Massri’s performance was great and conveyed both Selima’s fiery disposition and her conflict.
I did find some of the episode a bit implausible – such as how quickly both Jagger and Blackbeard arrive at Adderly Cay. I don’t think it would have taken much – a sentence – a subtitle – to explain the distance, communication, something... We do get the carrier pigeon coming to James so that’s something anyway.
I am a bit frustrated by the relationship between Lowe, Kate, and James. Does James know about them? It seems likely, yet he goes to Lowe immediately for help in saving Kate. How do the characters imagine this ending? Kate runs into Lowe’s arms and holds his hand on the ship as they dock, but then runs into James’ arms? I think my frustration, however, is a result of how well drawn and complex the characters are.
It’s also the same sort of frustration that I imagine Lowe beginning to feel in being torn between Jagger and Blackbeard. Jagger is clearly just as cruel as Blackbeard – and we haven’t seen Blackbeard beat a woman and lock her in a coffin yet! For his own part, Blackbeard is clearly starting to trust Lowe more as he tells him that his headaches are growing worse, and he even admits that he sees a woman but stops short of revealing her identity. Blackbeard looks to Lowe for reassurance that he will live long enough to finish what he’s begun.
Crossbones is not without some problems, but overall, I’m very much enjoying the story and the acting. There is lots of beautiful scenery and action, but a closer reflection on the story itself reveals more depth than might be assumed at first glance. The benefits to a 10 episode run is that the story has to be tight, but the drawback is that occasionally some things are not given enough explanation which may result in us simply wanting more or scratching our heads. What did you think of the episode? Do you think Selima was feeling guilty? Do you think Lowe is well on his way to joining Blackbeard’s merry men? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
‘The Dark Moon’, episode 1 of season 4, brought a lot of fans to the point of being excited because their teen wolves are finally back to bringing drama and mayhem to their TV or computer screens. So let it begin….
Not a lot happened in ‘The Dark Moon’ in terms of the plot line but there was a surprising ending. Throughout the episode we learnt more about the family of hunters based in Mexico named the Calaveras, that we saw pop up in the final episodes of season 3 looking for a ‘shewolf’ which we now know as it being Kate Argent, the werejaguar.
We start the episode off with Stiles, Lydia, Scott, Kira and Malia in Mexico trying to find out who has Derek and where he is. There was a flashback showing Lydia, Stiles and Scott together trying to find out where Derek might be and when Scott goes to his loft he finds bullet casing with a mark on it that leads them into going to Mexico.
The Calaveras seem to know everything about them, their names, where they are from and what each of them are. They tie Scott up to torture him with electricity (geez they really love to electrocute people) to question him if he know who took Derek and to see what type of Alpha he really is. While electrocuting him, Scott gets a flashback to when he first became a wolf, of Kate talking to Chris Argent about whether someone can be turned by a scratch, this is when he releases that Kate is in fact not dead and has Derek.
The head of the Calaveras is quite proud of herself because she already knew this piece of information and wanted Scott to know for himself. Just before she sends him off to find Kate and where Derek is, she gives Scott a warning, “when you take the bite of an innocent; when you make a wolf of your own, then I will cross your border and come knocking at your door”.
On the way to the ‘church’ that Braeden described, Stiles’ jeep breaks down, so Scott jumps on Braeden’s bike to get to Derek before the sun sets. So Stiles, Malia, Lydia and Kira stay behind with Stiles trying to fix his jeep. (By ‘fix’ I mean poking at anything in the engine trying to make it work, but hey it’s Stiles we don’t judge)
Scott and Braeden arrive at some ruins, where Kate was supposedly seen and Braeden makes small talk by telling Scott that he should have kissed Kira when he had the chance because he might die. I’m actually kind of glad that he didn’t kiss her just yet because Allison just died for him and I don’t want to see him move on so quickly because that means we have to move pass her death as well.
Meanwhile, Scott and Braeden are being chased and followed by a monster of some sort; it kind of looked like a scorpion with bones around it. But Scott managed to scare it away by roaring at it, which also led them to the jaguar god symbol which was guarding Derek’s tomb. As Scott punches through it, a hand reaches out to them from it and Scott only reaction is ‘Oh my God!”.
Stiles, Malia, Lydia and Kira get to the ruins as Scott and Braeden is dragging Derek out, however, when the camera catches his face it’s not the rugged and scruffy Derek we know. It baby teenage Derek!!!! Dun Dun Dun!!!
In clear teen wolf style the show leaves us wanting for more in the final seconds of the episode, we look forward to another teen wold episode next week.
What did you think of the premier episode of season 4?
This week’s episode of Defiance, “In My Secret Life,” was written by Executive Producer Michael Taylor and directed once again by Michael Nankin. The title resonates with a number of the characters. This episode continues last week’s exploration of the events that have passed between seasons as well as upping the stakes of the current events.
This is another well-acted and tightly paced episode that reveals a lot about all of our main characters. Front and center are two of the things that make Defiance such a joy to watch. The first is the humor that seamlessly weaves into the show. Grant Bowler (Nolan) always looks like he’s having the time of his life, and it’s impossible to watch him and not feel the same way! The second thing that infuses this episode is wonderfully drawn and acted characters.
The episode gives us a lot more insight into Pottinger’s (James Murray) videographer, Berlin – played by Anna Hopkins. She’s a terrific new character and Hopkins has great chemistry with several of our favorite characters. Pottinger also reveals himself a little more in this episode.
Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas) and Nolan return to Defiance. The reunions between Nolan and Amanda (Julie Benz) and Nolan and Stahma (Jaime Murray) are great. We also get to see a lot more of Tommy (Dewshane Williams) this week. The episode continues to focus on how the women of Defiance have changed since last season – and I have to say again that Berlin is a great addition to the others.
There are a couple of fairly shocking scenes in this episode. Nolan is made two offers that he finds he can’t refuse – and a third that he doesn’t want to. Alak (Jesse Rath) is given an ultimatum, and things at Camp Reverie don’t go quite as planned. Intrigued? Don’t forget to tune in to Defiance tonight on SyFy at 8/7c! Or in Canada on Showcase at 10ET/PT!
When 2% of the world’s population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to come to terms with what happened. Three years later, the HBO drama series, 'The Leftovers', is the story of the people who didn’t make the cut.
Based on the bestselling novel by Tom Perrotta, 'The Leftovers' follows Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), a father of two and the chief of police in a small New York suburb, as he tries to maintain some semblance of normalcy when the notion no longer applies. Created by 'Lost' co-creator Damon Lindelof and acclaimed novelist Tom Perrotta, the series is executive produced by Lindelof, Perrotta and 'Friday Night Lights' executive producers Peter Berg and Sarah Aubrey. Lindelof serves as the series showrunner.
What we know before we even watch the episode is 'The Leftovers' is basically about a small town in New York called Mapleton. After re-reading the book I can tell you that the creators remained very faithful to the source material, which is a good thing because the novel is very well written and the characters are deep, complex and fun. Two percent of the world's population has vanished into thin air on a day everyone has labelled as the 'Sudden Departure'. For those of you who think this is not a lot of people it's approximately 140,000,000; almost half of the population of the United States. We get a glimpse of the actual event, but the story mainly takes place three years later and follows the lives of a small family in Mapleton as they try to cope with the aftermath of this unexplainable event.
The pilot episode is very good and I can't wait for everyone to watch it and read your reactions. One thing I know everyone will love is the music selection in the episode is amazing. There are parts that made me laugh and there are sad parts as well. The acting is incredible and the creators/writers did a very good job with the pilot. This isn't a cliffhanger type show, but I guarantee you will not be able to wait to watch the next episode. I'm excited for the first season of The Leftovers and feels just right at HBO.
I don't want to give to much away in this preview, but if you have any questions I would be glad to answer them in the comments section. If not, then I hope you will read my full review next week after the episode airs this Sunday night on HBO.
There were a lot of beautifully shot and wonderfully acted scenes in this week's episode.
Not sure which ones are going reign supreme.
Remember you can pick up to three scenes. If yours isn't on the list please leave comment below.
Streaming Options
(Airs June 24, 10:00 pm e/p)
Barry Al-Fayeed is a Californian pediatrician who also happens to be the second son of a Middle Eastern dictator. Barry reluctantly agrees to return home with his American family for his nephew’s wedding. Events thrust him into the complex and growing pains of a nation straining to break free from dictatorial rule.
Written by Gideon Raff & directed by David Yates
The pilot introduces two clans: Barry's (Adam Rayner) American family with his wife Molly (Jennifer Finnigan), and his two children Emma (Anne Winters) and Sammy (Noah Silver). The other part of Barry's family still lives in the Middle East: his brother Jamal (Ashraf Barhom) and parents Khaled (Nasser Faris) and Amira (Alice Krige). The first part of the episode smartly introduces each character in their own environment. Barry's American family is described as ordinary, they are a great landmark for the viewer because there is a real chemistry between the actors. The rest of the family is described as monsters – except Amira – by various acts of barbary and flashbacks of Barry when he was young. But be careful, nothing is what it seems to be! With all these characters, we know from the beginning that Tyrant is mainly a show about family but that's not all. Several characters revolve around the others: a Middle-Eastern journalist and an American couple who will certainly serve the political intrigues.
Among the large cast of characters, Barry and his brother are the two most interesting right now. Their complex and conflicted relationship is brilliantly exposed through flashbacks. The writers must not disappoint here because the parallel between the two brothers has the potential to be fascinating. The actors have some great stuff here to shine on screen. I just hope the rest of the cast has too because they are a little bit left in the background, except Noah Silver in Sammy's part.
This show is mainly about family and culture shocks. At the end of the episode, no one can know for sure what Tyrant will become during the rest of the season because a lot is happening during the hour. The direction at the end is still very blurry and it will certainly be a problem for some viewers, but that's actually a smart move because it pushes to watch the next episodes. The world of Tyrant seems so dense that it is not possible to introduce everything in just one episode.
Tyrant looks paradisiac at first glance until you realize it is actually hell. Powerful and upsetting, Tyrant's pilot is a success.
TYRANT premieres tonight at 10pm EST on FX.
Two Truths and a Lie sets right where we left off from last week’s episode, jumping into case of the week right away. It was a nice change of pace from seeing the characters starting their day before their duty of serving and protecting begins.
Traci and Dex had their mediation but Dex didn’t show up, giving Traci the advantage. They tried to make nice and remind themselves why they’re doing this; for Leo. Despite my liking of Steve and Traci, I can’t help but feel like there’s something shady about Steve that keeps increasing after every episode. I don’t have a good feeling about this.
Dov still had some unresolved feelings about Chloe’s husband, Wes. And being partnered for the day, the tension wasn’t helping either. At the end of their shift Chloe suggested for the two of them to forgive and forget. I don’t think they will be able to forget that easily because I’m sure Wes will be back.
Everybody's hiding something. Husbands? Too soon?
Gail and Nick working together turned out better than I expected because of what happened last season. Sassy Gail returned after last few weeks mental breakdown. I like Gail and Nick being friendly and working together. Nick seems to be the only one (and Holly) who knows how to be around Gail because of their history together.
Very little of Chris this week after what we saw last episode, which I guess is understandable because the writers need to give some screen time to other characters as well. I’m kind of glad because I don’t know if I could handle Chris’s foolishness when it comes to his drugs storyline.
This episode was tailor made for Mcswarek fans. Road trip in the Mcswarek truck of feelings and confessions! Sam and his estranged father met under reluctant circumstances related to case of the week. We learned about Sam’s past, but not without some nudging from Andy that caused a bit of an argument between the two. In the heat of the moment Sam brought up Jerry’s death and Andy’s departure for six months. This reminds me how disappointed I was when she left Sam and Traci to mourn over Jerry without any notice.
Awkward Silence
After the pair had their moment, Sam decided it was time for them to do their job and let Andy meet his father. Jay Swarek is not a nice man. Props to Sam for not snapping and go crazy on his dad. His was incredibly cool, if I were him I would have flipped the table and storm out of there. Sam’s level of calmness during that scene was remarkable.
I forgive you, pop.
I remember when Sarah showed up during the beginning of the season. She talked about how she forgave their father and would go and visit him. Sarah wanted Sam to do the same. Now I feel even worse for Sam because I thought for Sarah to forgive the man responsible for their awful childhood, he must have changed for the better. If their father can change, Sam could too. Now I understand why Sam is unable to forgive and forget. It’s not Sam that will never change, but his father.
I love you, McNally.
So Sam and Andy got their job done and returned to the city in the Mcswarek truck of feelings and confession. Sam opened up to Andy about his father’s arrest, afraid what Andy’s reaction was going to be. They finally said the L word to each other with teary-eyes for the very first time. It was always a one sided exchange when either one of them said it. And when that wasn’t enough, the episode ended with Sam and Andy sharing some steamy scenes together. Sam Swarek character development right there! Mcswarek fans have been waiting for this moment for years. This episode will be treasured by the fans forever.
Plus points for the episode – Duncan was not in it and I don’t feel bad for feeling really glad about it.
Rookie Blue’s on a little break and will be back on Wednesday July 9th, so I’ll see you guys in 2 weeks’ time! Let me know how you feel about Sam and Andy’s reunion, because feels (both good and bad) are everywhere so let’s process it together while we patiently wait for the next episode!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
