The following contains spoilers for “All Out [...]]]> We’ve got some serious fireworks this week! Aidan brings Julia back to the house (and complications ensue.) Josh and Nora prepare for their first change together (and complications ensue.) And since the house is getting crowded, Sally decides it’s time to move on (and…well, yeah.)

The following contains spoilers for “All Out Of Blood”. You have been warned.

The episode opens up in a Public Storage-type place (other storage units are available.) Josh has rented two eight by tens side by side for Nora and himself to change in tomorrow night during the full moon. He assures Nora that Sally will lock them in and let them out in the morning and they’ll be safe and sound. Nora’s not so sure. She reminds him they’ve already changed together once and they’re still alive, but Josh remembers what her wolf did to Hegeman. Josh insists it’s not just about safety, it’s also about research and he has a Handycam that he’s going to use to record his change. He meant to do it ages ago, but then he and Aidan tried to settle down and live normal lives and studying the wolf went by the wayside. But Nora’s change has rekindled his need for finding out all he can about the wolf and find a way to be human again. She thinks it’s creepy that he wants to lock her up in a storage unit and videotape her while she takes her clothes off and turns into an animal. Josh steps up and kisses her and Sally moves off to give them a moment alone, but sees the shadow of the thing that came after her and is paralyzed with fear until a woman turns the corner and the shadow disappears.

"I rented this storage locker especially for you!" Credit: Syfy.com

Elsewhere, Aidan and Julia have spent the night together. She wakes up to find Aidan’s been “sleep peeping”, which he denies. Julia said her ex used to do that and she found it kind of cute “until he turned out to be dead inside.” Aidan mentions her big day tomorrow: Julia got her residency at City Hospital. She wonders if it will be weird working together, but Aidan says it’s a big place and they’ll probably never see each other but admits he’s looking forward to running into her in the halls. They start to kiss again and Aidan starts to lose control. He hastily excuses himself to the bathroom before she sees his black eyes and sucks desperately out of a pint of blood he hid in his bag. She asks if he’s okay and, since his eyes have changed back, he shouts, “I’m good!”

Sally is walking with Josh on his cleaning rounds and tells him it’s not right to put Nora “in storage.” “It’s not like I’m leaving her in a well! And I’m getting locked up too, remember?” Just then, Aidan arrives, half an hour late for his shift. “Well, well, well! Nice to see you among us daywalkers,” she snarks. Josh and Sally give Aidan a hard time about his “princess minding”. When Aidan insists he has other things to do, Sally presses the attack. “Are you doing this other stuff with another person and, if so, is that person female? And if so, are you doing that other stuff with her vag-wah?” Embarrassed smirks from all three and Aidan admits he is seeing someone, it is a woman and she has a pulse. Josh wonders if it’s a good idea, seeing as how the last person Aidan dated (Rebecca) ended up without a pulse. Aidan says it will be different because he has more control now, so Sally asks when Josh will get to meet Aidan’s new flame while she stands by and silently judges her. Aidan says it’s not to that stage yet – it’s casual and normal, which is what he needs right now. Sally asks if “enjoying each other’s company” is code for “tapping that ass.” Josh and Aidan walk away kidding each other about asking for and wanting approval while Sally is distracted by the babies in the nursery. A nurse tells her to get out and Sally is shocked that a living woman can see her and is talking to her. The nurse is very blase: “Second sight, sixth sense. It’s a gift, it’s a curse. Crazy stuff. Now get in line with the others.” Sally notices the line – there are at least eight other ghosts waiting around…but for what?

Aidan casually swings around the corner and swipes his access card on a door, but it beeps at him and doesn’t open. He asks a nearby nurse if he can borrow her card, but she says hers won’t work, either. They’ve increased security at the blood bank, including cameras, and only the shift supervisors have access. Seems they finally figured out someone’s been taking a lot of blood, presumably to sell it to junkies for drug tests. She apologizes and Aidan’s smile fades as she walks off.

Sally’s in line with the other ghosts watching the nurse in the nursery. Sally’s being all sulky until a stoner ghost tells her she doesn’t want to piss off the “reincarnation chick”. He explains that Zoe (the “reincarnation chick”) can help get them into the babies, but she salts the nursery door so they can’t get in and try it themselves. And even if she didn’t, it has to be the right kid, a sickly kid. The ghost will give them the energy boost they need to survive. And ghosts freak the babies out, so Zoe is there to make things easier. He also warns Sally that Zoe “is a bit of a picky hard-ass, so I’d watch out if I was you.”

Aidan brings Julia back to his room, already hot and heavy before they hit the door. They strip off each other’s clothes, but Aidan stops and says he has to go to the kitchen. “You keep your condoms in the kitchen? That’s really inefficient.” He says he’s going for water, but he’s really going down to take a hit off his last blood bag to help him stay in control. Josh sees him downstairs and says he heard a feminine voice, then asks if sucking down blood is how Aidan’s controlling his urges. “Look at us. Two dudes, standing in their kitchen, having a chat before bedding down their women.” “Yeah, we’re livin’ the dream,” Aidan replies as he drains the bag. Before Aidan heads back upstairs, Josh flashes him the “thumbs up” which even he realizes in retrospect is pretty douchey.

Josh goes back to his room where Nora is lying on the bed. She asks if he’s been eating oregano and he says he had spaghetti four days ago. He explains that’s her sense of smell getting cranked up. He tells her to go to the window and asks what she smells. She can smell the tomatoes the neighbor across the street grows in her back yard. She also smells cigar smoke from the publican taking a smoke break down the street and the distant sugar refinery. She can also hear Aidan and Julia going to town and suggests they out-compete them. It doesn’t take long for Josh to agree.

In the morning, Nora’s reading the paper in the kitchen and Sally casually asks what was with the bang-off she had to listen to last night. Josh uncomfortably shouts “I. Love. Eggs!” to change the subject and Sally replies, “Whatever. You can start swinging naked from the chandelier for all I care. I’m moving out. I’ve decided to be reincarnated.” Josh laughs and says reincarnation isn’t real and, even if it was, she’d be way too chicken to go through with it. Sally adamantly insists that not only is it real, it’s happening at the hospital. The more emphatic she gets, the more the kitchen starts to shake. Aidan tells her to calm down because his girlfriend is still upstairs. Just then, Julia comes down and Aidan prepares to introduce her, but she sees Josh and he sees her. The other shoe drops for Aidan and he realizes she’s that Julia – Josh’s ex-fiancee that he ran away from when he became a werewolf.

Julia dashes down the steps but Josh stops her before she gets away. He tries to apologize but it seems ineffectual. He asks what she’s doing in Boston and she tells him she got her residency at the hospital. Josh asks if she knew that was where he worked. She didn’t, but tells him not to make it any more awkward and awful for her. He apologizes again as she walks away and wishes he had an explanation she would believe for why he ran away. Then he says “believe me when I say, it was for the best,” and she slaps him hard on the cheek. Without letting him say anything else, she turns and walks away and Josh walks back to the house, only to see that Nora has seen, if not the whole thing, at least the end of their conversation.

Sally tries to get into the nursery at the hospital, but she’s stopped by a force field. Zoe has salted the entrance to the nursery and she’s inside with the stoner ghost who is about to reincarnate as a baby girl. Zoe whispers into the baby’s ear and touches her head. The baby begins to radiate a yellow light and Zoe nods. The ghost reaches out to the baby and is enveloped by her light and drawn in. As soon as the moment is over, Zoe leaves the nursery and angrily confronts Sally. “Do you have any idea how delicate a procedure that is? Any notion what it takes to coax a newborn spirit into accepting someone else?” A visibly stunned Sally apologizes and says “You’re kind of amazing, by the way.” They go walking outside and Sally asks how Zoe can do that. A ghost attempted to possess Zoe when she was a baby and she screamed so loud it scared him. She hypothesizes that he left a piece of himself insider her and that’s why she can see and communicate with ghosts. Zoe asks why she should help Sally and Sally goes through all the standard responses of how she’s a good person and came from a loving home, etcetera. Zoe replied that Osama Bin Laden came from a loving home, so that means nothing. She tells Sally if she’s such a good person, she should just wait on her Door. When Sally tells her she passed up her Door to help her roommate, Zoe is surprised – not because she passed up her Door, but because she has roommates.

Sally decides it's time to move on, but she needs Zoe's help. Credit: Syfy.com

In the kitchen, Aidan and Josh have a man-to-man about their common girlfriend. Aidan says he met Julia in a bar but Josh says she doesn’t go to bars. “Uh, okay, but she does now,” Aidan asserts. Josh starts giving Aidan the third degree about what he was doing in the bar and how he’s controlling his urges and whether or not he was in control when he met Julia. Aidan admits he was tempted, but says he hasn’t hurt her. Josh is still obviously very protective towards Julia, especially where Aidan is concerned. Josh asks if he’s going to continue to see her and Aidan answers “Of course not! Believe it or not, this was never a design to hurt you.” Josh pulls up a chair and takes a deep breath, then asks, for the first time, how Julia is doing. Aidan winces and says Josh really did a number on her. She hasn’t said anything explicit, but it shows. Josh asks Aidan, but is really just talking to convince himself that Julia is better off now than when she was with him. Before Josh can work himself deeper into a shame spiral, Sally comes in with a Dawson’s Creek reference and tells them Zoe will be here any minute to interview them for her suitability for reincarnation. She was only 23 when she died and now she can’t live, she can only be an observer on other people’s lives, but now she has a shot to live again.

Zoe’s all business as she sits down across from the trio. Aidan offers her a soda but she curtly answers “soda kills.” Josh tries to ingratiate himself by saying how weird it is that they’ve never hung out and Zoe just looks uncomfortable. Zoe says she wanted to meet people like them. “People like her,” Sally quickly interjects, “Ordinary human beings who, for whatever reason, can speak to the dead.” Zoe tells Sally she needs to get out so she can interview the boys alone. Sally waits on the steps until the interview is over. She asks how it went as Zoe leaves and Zoe flatly answers, “I can’t help you” as she keeps on walking. Sally follows her, pleading her case. The guys didn’t scotch it for her, she did by not telling Zoe about how she almost slit Danny’s throat. Sally pleads duress – he killed her then tried to exorcise her! “In my experience, a dishonest ghost is a damaged ghost. I can’t work with a damaged ghost.” Sally begs – she needs to get away. Zoe says she has a house and friends who care about her. Sally has it better than any ghost she’s met. So Sally finally levels with her about something dark that’s hunting her. Zoe tells her that if something really is after her, what’s to stop it coming after her when she’s a defenseless infant?

Julia is lost and wandering around the halls in the hospital. She passes the nurses’ station and Nora, who steps up and offers directions. There’s an uncomfortable bit of conversation as they both recognize each other from the kitchen. Nora offers up her name and Julia reveals she already asked around to find out. She figured since they were all going to be working together, they should just get the awkwardness out of the way. Nora says they’ve been together a few months and that Josh told her about his fiancee. Julia says Nora’s got a better handle on things then, because she has no idea what went on. When Nora tells her she should really talk to Josh instead, Julia says she just doesn’t have it in her to listen to him stammer and lie through an explanation. Nora says he’s different but Julia says she still sees “the same selfish, cruel piece of garbage who ran away.” Nora defends Josh and Julia tells her it’s just a matter of time before Josh runs away from Nora like he ran away from her.

Aidan is experiencing the worst nightmare of a detoxing vampire: he’s called in to help with an emergency surgery where the patient and staff are covered in blood. The head surgeon demands suction and the next thing we see is Aidan rising up from the patient with blood all over his lips. The rest of the OR staff are shocked and he nonchalantly asks, “what?” It turns out it was a nightmare after all. Aidan’s at home on the couch and going through detox. He explains the situation to Sally who suggests he go to a blood den. He insists he can’t, because drinking live would be bad and those who knew could use that information against him. She asks what happens when he goes cold turkey and he says he’ll revert to instinct then binge. Sally asks what exactly he means by “binge” – “am I gonna come home and find bodies stacked like firewood? And then what happens after the binge? Are you okay?” Aidan says it’s harder to control and impossible to stop and he will slip back to the way he was before, which is someone Sally wouldn’t ever want to meet. He then changes the subject and asks how things went with Zoe. She shakes her head and he’s worried they blew it for her. He tries to reassure her by telling her “there’s probably millions of ways out of here. You’ll find a way.”

What Sally finds is her way back to the nursery. She takes advantage of an orderly sweeping up the salt to enter and check out the babies for a likely host for reincarnation. She focuses on a little boy: “S. Russell”. She tries to talk the baby into letting her on board but the baby becomes fussy. He becomes increasingly more agitated as a shape congeals out of smoke behind Sally. She turns and demands the shape leave the baby alone and it rushes her. She disappears just in time and reappears outside the nursery and in front of Zoe. Zoe angrily calls her on trying to jump into a baby and Sally says “You were right. You’ll never see me again,” and starts to disappear, but Zoe calls her back and asks why she didn’t go through with it. Sally says it wouldn’t have been fair, because whatever it was would have followed her. Zoe asks what it looked like because her shift is over and she has nothing better to do than help Sally with her problem while she drinks alone.

Josh is putting the finishing touches on his wolf-cam when Nora appears to tell Josh she can’t let herself be locked up, she wants to run free and never look back. Josh tries to tell her that’s the wolf talking. She’s anxious, but she’ll learn to fight it. She tries to convince him that maybe their wolves will be calm together but when he refuses to go along, Nora becomes rebellious and says she’ll go to the woods. As a last resort, Josh tells her her wolf killed last month, but she already knows. She didn’t say anything because she didn’t want him to feel guilty. She viciously digs at him and says if he’d really wanted to protect her, he would have run away before he cursed her, like he ran away from Julia. “But me? You had no problem cursing me.” With that emotional bombshell dropped, she stalks away.

Aidan runs into Julia in the hall at the hospital. He wants to break it off but she’s clearly not ready to let the complications stop her. He says he won’t throw away a friendship over her. She tells him to look her in the eye and tell her the last few weeks haven’t meant anything to him, but he can’t concentrate on anything but her pulse pounding and the skin of her neck. He regains his composure and tells her in a monotone, “it was just sex. Leave it alone.”

In the locker room at work, Nora begins stalking Julia. Interspersed with shots of her intently following Julia away from the hospital we see Nora’s wolf mauling Hegeman. Julia reaches her door and enters and Nora steps into the street. She’s so focused on Julia she doesn’t notice the car that stops mere inches from running her over. This shocks Nora back to her senses.

At the storage place, Josh recounts his attempts to find Nora but Sally isn’t really listening. She tells him she wants him to know she’ll miss him when she eventually goes. She says Zoe is going to help her figure things out, but she won’t be jumping into any babies. Josh tells her he knows she’ll find another way out.

Aidan is twitchy and nervous as he knocks on a door in a rundown apartment building. A middle aged woman opens the door and recognizes him. She invites him in and he sees a burly skinhead. Perry is her protection, because her vampire visitors have been getting rougher with her lately. Perry brandishes a stake to show he means business. She lets him know it’s $300 up front and makes small talk as she cuts into her heavily scarred forearm. Aidan tentatively drinks, becoming more and more insistent. She tells him to stop, but he can’t. Perry has to pull him off and as she sags to the bed, Aidan falls to the floor with an ecstatic smile on his face.

Aidan's back to drinking live. Will he become someone Sally wouldn't want to know? Credit: Syfy.com

Nora comes striding into the storage place, past Josh and into one of the lockers. She says he was right, she needs to be locked up. She closes the door on herself and Josh goes into the other locker. Sally locks them in and they begin to strip. The last thing we see is both locker doors bulging out from impacts inside.

Wow, what a powder keg of an episode! Josh and Aidan having shared Julia, albeit unintentionally, is going to really ratchet up the tension at the hospital! I admire Aidan sticking with Josh in this, but I have a feeling all bets are going to be off now that Aidan’s drinking live again. I can imagine it’s going to be harder and harder for him to keep his day job when there’s so much temptation. I suspect he’ll be fleeing into Suren’s arms within an episode. Julia’s sure to cause more trouble being as damaged as she is. She’s the epitome of a woman scorned, but she has the added bonus of working not only with the man who ran away from her, but the woman he ran to (in her view) so she’ll be able to poison their relationship by dribs and drabs every day.

I’m still loving how Josh and Nora’s dynamic is so different from George and Nina’s but equally truthful. I’m very glad they didn’t just rewrite the original Being Human – Syfy’s version is definitely developing its own unique identity. Seeing Nora so single-minded that she nearly got hit by a car in her pursuit of Julia shows just how dangerous she can be. We tend to forget with Josh, who’s so mild-mannered and used to dealing with the impulses of his wolf, it’s nice to see Nora as someone who’s completely at the mercy of her wolf because she’s only had one change under her belt. She doesn’t really know who she is and what she’s capable of and neither do we. But it’s going to be fun (and possibly frightening) to find out.

Sally’s story continues to show us new things about the ghost ecosystem that we never suspected, or maybe got the barest hints of, in the BBC original. I don’t understand how the whole reincarnation concept works – where does the baby’s soul go? Is it pushed aside? Does it merge with the ghost who reincarnates and form some sort of gestalt soul? Is the ghost subsumed into the baby and is there to provide “life essence”? I have a feeling they’re going to leave this open ended, which is unsatisfying, but deeply practical. How could they possibly definitively answer the unknowable? I’m more interested in the shadow and how Zoe thinks she can help Sally.

Sally was definitely the star of this episode. The writers gave her all the best lines and Meaghan Rath seemed to revel in Sally getting her snark on. Then again, she could just be picking up on all that “bang-off” action she’s been subjected to lately. Whatever the cause, it was nice for the writers to give someone besides Josh all the good lines and they should definitely spread them around a little more.

It’s kind of funny that I was randomly handed this issue by a co-worker because after stumbling across the second American Vampire graphic novel at work one day, I [...]]]>

Cover by Rafael Albuquerque

It’s kind of funny that I was randomly handed this issue by a co-worker because after stumbling across the second American Vampire graphic novel at work one day, I was thoroughly intrigued by this series. I only ever found the second volume, however, so I never read any of the American Vampire series. It was quite a stroke of luck that I was given this particular issue, therefore, since it’s the beginning of a new storyline.

Now, I’m not really into vampires; even as a kid and horror movie fan aficionado, vampires kind of bored me. It’s just hard to make them seem new and fresh (right now, zombies are suffering from the same sort of uninteresting malaise in pop culture) but Snyder managed to invigorate the vampire myth and catch my interest.

American Vampire #22 is one of the best comic book issues I’ve read in a long time. It has excellent writing, intriguing and believable characters, suspense and horror, and a thoroughly gripping cliffhanger of an ending. Now, like I said, I haven’t read anything else in the American Vampire series so I have absolutely no background in its universe and previous incarnations. Based on some other reviews I read, there’s obviously a lot more history to this world that what I read. Nonetheless, Snyder managed to craft a story with just enough exposition for a new reader and enough hints for those familiar with this universe. His talent is even more apparent here than in his fabulous work with Swamp Thing, which I also clearly love. He’s definitely ranking as my favorite writer right now.

I’d rather not give too much of the plot away as one of the joys of this issue was losing yourself in the story and experiencing the awesome “gotcha!” moments. Suffice it to say, American Vampire #22 takes place in 1950s Southwest America, starring a leather jacket wearing, pompadour sporting 19-year-old Travis Kidd. He’s a teenage smartass and he is definitely not at all that he seems to be. Snyder, if anything, excelled as injecting fresh ideas into what could have been stereotypical 1950s archetypes: the teenage rebel, the poodle skirt wearing good girl, her angry parents, etc. No one is what they appear to be and nothing is straightforward in this issue. America itself is a strange and dangerous place and Kidd must always stay on his toes in order to survive.

My one complaint with this issue was the use of Kidd’s “girlfriend,” Piper. Snyder unfortunately fell into Women in Refrigerators syndrome by having Piper as merely a spectating catalyst for the action and conflict in this issue. She never actually did anything and Snyder purposely portrays her as having absolutely no agency. She only serves as an object to push the plot in a certain direction and motivate Kidd towards action. I was sorely disappointed by this and am hoping that she develops much more as a character in this arc.

I did thoroughly enjoy the art by Albuquerque and McCaig’s coloring. Albuquerque’s art had a very fast and active feel to it, which definitely highlighted the plot and Kidd’s own “live fast die young” attitude. Meanwhile, McCaig’s coloring drew on 1950s advertising and illustrations by using bright, stark colors. He deftly used lighting in realistic ways to color the scenes that took place at night, as well.

Well, after just one issue I’m definitely hooked on American Vampire. Now I just have to run out and purchase the graphic novels, along with the rest of this four-part run.

Series: Yes, part one of The Promise series
Genre(s): Comics/Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Release Date: 7 February 2012
Available Formats: Trade Paperback
Description: The wait is over! Ever since the conclusion of [...]]]> Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise Part One by Gene Luen Yang, art by Gurihiru

Series: Yes, part one of The Promise series
Genre(s): Comics/Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Release Date: 7 February 2012
Available Formats: Trade Paperback
Description: The wait is over! Ever since the conclusion of Avatar: The Last Airbender, its millions of fans have been hungry for more – and it”s finally here! Think of it as Book (season) Four of Avatar! This series rejoins Aang and friends for exciting new adventures, beginning with a face-off against the Fire Nation that threatens to throw the world into another war, testing all of Aang’s powers and ingenuity! Written by National Book Award Nominee Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese), in close collaboration with series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, this is the story that Avatar lovers have been clamoring for, as well as a perfect jumping-on point for new fans!

This review is based on a copy received from NetGalley.

TDF Pamela’s Review:

I was late to the game when it came to the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon. My friends had been telling me to watch it for ages, but I finally got around to Netflixing it last year. And man, am I hooked. I have to stop myself from compulsively rewatching it.

So I was VERY excited to hear about The Promise, a three part graphic novel series that will bridge the gap between the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender and the upcoming series set in the same world, The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra. I’ve also heard great things about Gene Luen Yang and have been meaning to read American Born Chinese for ages. So Part One is awesome for me: I get to indulge my desire for more Avatar stories, and I get to check out Yang’s writing.

Suffice to say, I was not disappointed at all in The Promise Part One. The story picks up not long after the end of the series, with new Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang attempting to find a solution to the Fire Nation colonies that will keep the Fire Nation people happy and also keep the Earth Nation protesters from smashing the colony cities with giant boulders.

The storyline is great, focusing on Zuko’s difficulties in ruling the Fire Nation and trying to not turn into his father along with Aang’s reluctance to keep his promise to Zuko that he would take Zuko down if his friend ever started to act like Fire Lord Ozai. As part one of a trilogy, the plot is mostly concerned with setting up the conflict for parts two and three, which is okay. It’ll leave you frustrated at the end, because part two won’t be out for how many more months?! But it is alternately serious and funny, much like the television series, and Yang has the characterizations spot on. Toph and Sokka in particular made me laugh out loud a few times.

The artwork works really well, too; it’s like the artist has taken the fluid animation of the series and distilled it down into still images that still somehow manage to capture the motion and grace of the cartoon. I love the subtle aging in the young characters; they still look much like they did in the series, but you can see that they’re taller, a bit more developed, a bit more adult-like in their expressions. They’re still teenagers, still young and trying to find their place in this new world, but you can see the seeds of maturity in them.

Click to embiggen

My only complaint? Aang and Katara constantly calling each other “sweetie.” But luckily, the other characters are as uncomfortable with the cutesy pet name and rib the couple incessantly. So it’s not really a complaint, but more of a high-five to Sokka for making fun of them for doing it. ;)

Everything looks great, and this really feels like a solid continuation of the series. I can’t wait to read the next two parts.

Preorder:

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Series: Yes; Book 1 in the Lunar Chronicles
Genre(s): Teen/Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fairytale Retelling
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Available Formats: Hardcover, Ebook
Description: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, [...]]]> Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Series: Yes; Book 1 in the Lunar Chronicles
Genre(s): Teen/Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fairytale Retelling
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Available Formats: Hardcover, Ebook
Description: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

This review is based on a copy I bought myself.

TDF Pamela’s Review:

Holy amazing book, Batman. I absolutely loved Cinder. It’s a science-fictiony retooling of Cinderella, complete with a downtrodden cyborg, a terrible plague, a handsome prince, and an evil queen from the Moon.

I mean, how could this story not be awesome with a description like that?

The best fairy tale retellings are the ones that take the heart of the old story and mold it into something entirely new and exciting. You can see obvious threads of Cinderella in Cinder’s story, but Meyer has woven those threads into a much larger, socially-aware tapestry than the usual “poor girl falls in love with prince” retelling. Cinder deals with social prejudice, racism, classism, totalitarian threats, and the fear of epidemic, a nice backdrop for the story of a girl who is just trying to get along in the face of her adoptive mother’s near-irrational hatred of her.

Cinder is a very likable character. She’s pragmatic and intelligent, and unlike the original Cinderella, who meekly did what she was told, Cinder gets angry at the injustices thrust upon her, and she’s not afraid to let people know. Her snarky retorts to her adoptive mother and older sister had me doing internal fist pumps. Cinder knows she has to do all of the menial crap her family dumps in her lap, but she’s not going to let them think that she’s doing it happily.

I also like her strong devotion to doing what she thinks is the right thing. After finding out some very shocking news about herself and her history, she could have easily just melted into anonymity, escaping New Beijing and starting a new life elsewhere. Her sense of morality prevents her from abandoning the people who, even though they are unaware of it, depend on her to do the right thing. Way to go, Cinder.

I liked the supporting cast of characters, too, and it was especially nice that none of them really felt like stock characters. Her adoptive family, despite their pretensions and prejudices, all had something that you could sympathize with. Dr Erland is nicely complicated; I could never quite figure out his motives, and I’m still not sure if I trust those motives even after he explains them. Prince Kai is kinda perfect–he’s my kind of dreamy YA love interest–but at the same time, he has a very realistic reluctance to take over rule of his father’s empire. He’s gorgeous and charming, but he also has very human fears and anxieties.

The story itself is very exciting. It dug in its claws pretty much on the first page, and I was hooked the rest of the way through. There are occasional moments in the prose that are a bit stilted or unclear, but it didn’t get in the way of my enjoying the story. There is some predictability and heavy-handed foreshadowing, but for me, the intriguing setting and entertaining story overrode any complaints I would have had. My only real complaint is that it ends on one heck of a cliffhanger, and I’m a very impatient reader. I want book 2 now!

Buy It Now:

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Series: Book 2 in the Demon series
Genre(s): Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: 1 January 2012
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook
Description: Bestselling author Linda Wisdom, with 13 million category romances sold, is working to build her single title audience with [...]]]> A Demon Does It Better by Linda Wisdom

Series: Book 2 in the Demon series
Genre(s): Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: 1 January 2012
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook
Description: Bestselling author Linda Wisdom, with 13 million category romances sold, is working to build her single title audience with the hottest new area of the romance category– sexy demon heroes.

Lovely witch Lili Carter takes a job at a paranormal hospital where patients have been disappearing. There she encounters Jared, a dangerously sexy demon on a mission that gets Lili into a world of trouble. Lili can’t avoid Jared for long and soon they find themselves creating a whole new kind of magick…

This review is based on a copy received from NetGalley.

TDF Pamela’s Review:

I’m kind of thinking that I just wasn’t in the right mood for this book. Other reviews for it are glowing, but I absolutely could not get into the story. At all. I felt no emotional connection to the characters, the prose was clunky and off-putting, and by page 100, I still had no idea what the main plot thread would be. Let’s break this down into things that annoyed me:

The Characters
I just wasn’t interested in the protagonist, Lili, at all. There wasn’t any kind of emotional connection between me as the reader and Lili as the main character. I know I was supposed to feel bad for her that her mother died and her best friend is missing, but I didn’t. In fact, I really didn’t get any kind of emotion off of Lili when she mentioned those two big life events. I was told she was feeling sad and worried, but I never got a sense of it. She was just… there, and I could never get a feel for her.

The love interest, demonic Jared, was the same. He’s described as sexy and mysterious, but I just couldn’t ever muster enough interest in him to care who he is, why he’s locked in the magical hospital’s psych ward, or what the amazing chemistry is between Jared and Lili. Even that felt perfunctory: there will be a romance between these two characters, therefore they are suddenly and inexplicably attracted to each other. Meh.

The majority of the supporting characters were cardboard cutouts: the bitchy head nurse, the creepy old doctor, the sweet and supportive best friends, the sexually adventurous new friend. The only supporting character with real potential is Cleo, Lili’s cat friend who used to be Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. I like the idea of Cleo, but the execution was lacking. To me, Cleo is that stock sassy friend character who says, “GURL!” a lot to the protagonist and nudges her into the romance.

The Prose
Infodumps, ahoy! I’m wondering how I would feel about the infodumps if I had read the first book in this series (nothing on the Amazon page indicates that it’s book 2, so I went in flying blind). As someone without any background in the universe, I was annoyed that I was dropped into a world and had little, incongruous nuggets of information dropped on me randomly. If I were familiar with the world, I might not need those nuggets of information, but I still think that they really do nothing to enhance my enjoyment of the world.

The Plot
There are just too many plot threads brought up haphazardly. Lili has started her new job at the magical hospital. She sees the sexy demon dude. She’s feeling regret over her mother’s death. Okay. By this point, I’m not sure where the story is going (other than that Lili and Jared are eventually going to hook up), but I’m willing to stick around and see. At around page 70, Lili suddenly thinks about her best friend who used to work at the magical hospital but mysteriously quit her job and disappeared. Huh. It seems like that’s something that Lili would have thought of sooner, since she’s in the hospital all day. You’d think that would bring up memories of her friend or something. At page 100, yet another new character, the bitchy headmistress of Lili’s old witch school, suddenly shows up to chat.

And I still have no idea where the plot’s going. I try to be a forgiving reader; I’ll often give a book way more time than I should to draw me in. But with this one, I just couldn’t go on. If within the first hundred pages, I haven’t been given an inkling of what the main plot thread is going to be, I have to give up.

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When we last saw our supernatural trio, Aidan cut of Bishop’s head and became the de facto leader of the [...]]]> Hey there, Discriminating Fans! Long time, no see! It’s been a long wait for the second season of Syfy’s Being Human, but it’s finally here. And what a season premiere it is!

When we last saw our supernatural trio, Aidan cut of Bishop’s head and became the de facto leader of the Boston vampires, Sally settled her score with Danny and Nora saw Josh transform (and was scratched in the process) and she lost their baby. The last thing we saw was Hegeman telling Aidan that “she” wanted to meet him, with heavy emphasis like it was most definitely not a request but an order.

The following contains spoilers for “Turn This Mother Out”, with small spoilers for series 2 and 3 of the original BBC Being Human. You have been warned.

The episode opens with a montage of a young vampire out on the hunt. Aidan recognizes him and stops him before he kills a young couple enjoying a walk and some ice cream. Aidan takes him into an alley and gives him a bag of blood, which the other vampire downs greedily, then cries that he can’t stop hunting. Aidan assures him he can, but it takes getting used to. As Boston’s new senior vampire, Aidan is trying to deal with the power vacuum left by Bishop’s demise and realizes that all the systems they had in place to “handle” vampire activity before now risk exposing them to the wider world. He’s trying to limit damage, thereby limiting the risk to all of them. Bishop’s new recruits are feeling very alone and abandoned in the new regime and Aidan says he’s working on it. The young vampire says he keeps hearing “She’s coming” and wonders what that means. Aidan knows, but he tells Tommy he’ll tell him tomorrow.

The others are having a hard time getting used to their new normals, too. Sally is doodling pictures of doors when she can maintain her concentration enough to hold a pencil, Josh is writing and rewriting an email asking to be re-accepted into medical school and Nora is poring over Josh’s werewolf book and wearing long sleeves, even in bed, to hide her scars from Josh. And outside the house, a dozen or more vampires are waiting on the steps for Aidan to come home, begging him for blood when he finally arrives. There is a lot of uncertainty and our four (because Nora’s neck deep in it now) are at the epicenter.

The next morning, it’s been four weeks since the night of Nora’s miscarriage. That means it’s also been four weeks since Josh’s last change…so tonight’s the big night again. Josh is feeling randy but Nora’s not. She wants to know more about what it feels like when Josh changes. He begins to describe the heightened senses and stops, saying she doesn’t need to take on all of his werewolf stuff. He wants to be normal the rest of the time and that’s the point of having a girlfriend and an apartment and all that normal stuff.

Downstairs, Sally is having a hell of a time trying to open the door on the microwave. Her ability to touch things has suffered dramatically since she passed up her Door and she’s angrily determined to do simple physical tasks, which probably makes it all the harder. Josh mentions the “tweaky-looking vampires on the doorstep” last night and Aidan insists he’s doing his best to contain things so everyone can survive the transition and work on civility and normalcy. He tells Josh that Mother is coming and she will finalize the running of Boston, then everything will be okay. Josh reminds them that Nora will be coming down, so less talk of “Mother” and floating coffee cups would be greatly appreciated. Sally reminds them that Nora knows about the three of them so “it’s all good.”

Nora arrives and asks if Sally is there, since she can’t see her. She found Sally’s high school reunion letter in the bathroom trash, which Sally says she took a lot of effort to put there so it wouldn’t be found. Sally is definitely not going to her reunion. They try to convince Sally to go, with Nora standing in the wrong direction (until Aidan spins her around) and excitedly telling her “it’s like going to your own funeral!” Josh relays Sally’s reservations to Nora and Nora keeps at it, “you’ll be seen in the best light! ‘She was so young! So beautiful!’” This convinces Sally, who goes off to look at her hair, even though she can’t change anything. Not knowing she’s left the room, Nora continues to encourage the space where Sally used to be until Nora realizes by the guys’ reactions that Sally’s buggered off. The guys leave for work, leaving Nora to wash up and consider her scars…and what that means for tonight.

At work, Josh enters a room to change the sheets of an elderly man, only to find him dead with the vampire equivalent of an ankle biter actually…biting his ankle. Tommy smugly tells Josh he’d better go get Aidan. By the time Aidan arrives, he’s remorseful and worried about The Culling – the murder of Bishop’s illegally created army of new vampires. Aidan says he’ll do what he can to deal with it. As Josh helps Aidan wheel the dead man down the hall, Josh asks if there wasn’t some sort of vampire Merry Maids who came in and cleaned things up. Aidan says that all fractured when Bishop died and he’s still picking up the pieces.

Sally shows up at her old high school and immediately sees Stevie Atkins, a boy from her class who committed suicide in their junior year. He’s been hanging around the high school a lot, remembering how much it sucked. But they glamorized his suicide and made it “a great message for the kids.” Sally smugly says she’ll steal the spotlight because she was murdered by her fiance but he tells her they’ll both be overshadowed by Diane Alcott who died of malaria as a goodwill ambassador in Africa. “Well, that’s just stupid,” Sally sulks, her thunder stolen. “They have drugs for that.” Inside, Stevie explains reunion dynamics to Sally who says he is far too wise to look so young. They watch the “in memoriam” montage and bicker about Diane when Diane arrives and introduces herself to the two of them like they’ve never met. From Diane’s perspective, they probably haven’t, because she was popular and Sally and Stevie weren’t.

No one loves you like Mother. Credit: daemonstv.com

Aidan arrives at the Halloway Hotel (which may become important later on) for the meeting with Mother. Hegeman greets him, which surprises Aidan, who thought this was going to be a simple meet and greet, not a spectacle for the entire council. Hegeman lays down the rules. “When she asks you to accept, you say yes. That is all you say. That is all that is ever said. Tradition, Aidan.” They sit down in the designated meeting room and await Mother’s arrival. She descends the staircase looking very stately and very ancient, despite the physical appearance of a woman in her mid- to late-40s. After the most modest of pleasantries, she gets down to business, asking Hegeman what should be done with Bishop’s Orphans. Hegeman reminder her that since they were made in violation of their laws, the orphans must be culled. She then asks Aidan, who suggests mercy. It’s not their fault they were turned and they shouldn’t be tarred with the same brush as Bishop. After hearing him out, a flicker of a smile crosses her face before she announces that they will be culled. Second order of business: Mother wants her daughter to lead Boston’s vampires. Though they try to hide it, the Council are surprised at this proclamation and express measured concern for the daughter’s health and well-being. Hegeman goes so far as to hint that it might be unwise for her to return to that hotel because of an unfortunate event in the past. Mother insists that this is exactly where her daughter needs to be and Aidan will be the best of stewards to guide her. In return, Mother will overlook Aidan’s peccadilloes and heresy and, once her daughter is successful, would be willing to grant him “true release from all this.”

Nora’s at work, ready to sit down to lunch which is…a raw piece of steak in a Tupperware. Another nurse sees it and asks if raw meat is her secret to staying so thin. Nora blags it off as some new spin on the Paleo Diet, but the worry is written all over her face. She meets up with Josh outside and asks him when he turns, saying she wants to pick him up and take him to the woods, to be there for him. He brushes her off without answering her question. She wants to know him and he tells her she knew the version of him he wanted her to know, but now she knows the rest. She angrily says they’ll put it off discussing it for another month and walks off.

It's the full moon and Nora's asking a lot of questions about what it's like to be a werewolf. Credit: Philippe Bosse/Syfy

Back at school, Sally and Stevie talk about death and Doors. Stevie reveals that those who commit suicide don’t get a Door, meaning they don’t get to pass on. But he tells her he can sleep and dream and suggests she try it because it’s a good way to pass big chunks of eternity. Later, on the dance floor, Stevie bares his soul to Diane and Sally can see she’s not listening to him at all. Sally lays the verbal smackdown on her: “We’re dead, you’re dead. That pretty much levels the playing field. So don’t write off a guy like Stevie just because he’s not cool enough for you. Nobody from high school is watching, so you can do whatever you want.” Dian retorts if she can do what she wants, why then is Sally trying to force her on Suicide Stevie? Sally brings out the big guns and tells her she probably hasn’t gotten to the soul-searching part of being dead yet since it’s so new to her. Diane was selfish and shallow and didn’t even remember Stevie even though she thought she could maybe organize a memorial service because it would get her votes for prom queen. “Life is easy for people like you. Death shouldn’t be.” Diane has an instant revelation, so quick Sally suspects the sincerity of her confession. Diane says she was jealous of girls like Sally. With her last living thought, she felt she could finally relax – because she had been sucking in her stomach for fifteen years! She gives an underwhelmed Sally a cathartic hug and notices her Door. She’s so new to death she doesn’t even know what it is and Stevie offers to lead her to it. Diane walks through into the light and is gone.

Hegeman comes to see Mother alone. She wonders how Aidan has become a heretic. She insists he cannot fail and neither can her daughter. Not again. A lackey brings in a large wooden case which contains an elephantwerewolf gun and silver bullets. “No folly, no distractions, no wolf.” Hegeman understands.

At the kitchen table, Josh confronts Aidan. They made a deal and Aidan says it’s the most important thing in his life, but in order to be really, truly free, he has to do this and there’s a good chance that he’ll become “something” Josh wouldn’t recognize. He needs Josh to promise to remind him of what they’ve built together.

Aidan and Mother are ready to go somewhere, but Mother senses a presence. It’s Tommy and two other newbie vampires. They want to plead their case to Mother, but they brought stakes along just in case. Aidan tries to talk them down, telling them now is not the time. But they attack and Aidan is put in the position of defending Mother and staking Tommy. The other two get the drop on Aidan but Mother pushes them away and, with a practiced gesture decapitates them both. The next time we see Aidan, he’s digging a hole in the woods. A hole with something in the bottom we learn when he hits something solid. Mother appears and stares down into the hole. “My little girl,” she says through clenched teeth.

Aidan goes digging for trouble. Big Trouble. Credit: scifimafia.com

Sally’s at home alone and decides to try sleeping and dreaming. She sees her Door and opens it, seeing the bright white cloudy tunnel. She calls for the guys to come and see, but no one answers. Then the clouds go dark and wind starts blowing. She sees a figure at the other end of the tunnel which starts rushing toward her. She desperately calls to it and tries to shut the door when no one answers but a black smoke figure washes over her and she screams. She’s still screaming as she wakes up and finds herself floating ten feet in the air.

Nora does wind up driving Josh into the woods. She tells him a story about how she got so drunk once in college she woke up naked in a Theater major’s apartment and her hair still smelled of vomit as she did the Walk of Shame. She wants to be there for Josh and emotionally hold his hair back while he vomits. Josh assures her that he loves her, but he wants her to get as far away from him as possible. He leaves and she sees the full moon rising between the trees. Josh goes off into the woods to change and Nora is still sitting in the car. She hears him change and looks at her hands – she isn’t changing. After a multitude of thank yous, she gets ready to drive away when the pain hits her. She watches her teeth and fingernails grow and struggles in a blind panic to get out of the car, but her seat belt is holding her in. She calls out for Josh who hears her and starts running toward her, but is shot in the arm by Hegeman. Josh struggles to get up as Hegeman closes on him and as the screen goes black, we hear another shot.

There was a lot going on here to kick off the season and most of it was original plot, which pleased me greatly. I’m looking forward to Syfy’s Being Human to hit its stride this year and this episode was a good indication of things to come. We knew at the end of last season that BHUS would be following the original BBC storyline of having the werewolf’s girlfriend become a werewolf herself, so the Josh/Nora plot wasn’t anything new, but it was well acted, especially by new series regular Kristen Hager. At least I think she’s a regular. She has been upgraded, hasn’t she? I’ll have to check the title credits next episode. An interesting divergence is how much more supportive Nora is than Nina, at least initially. I’m looking forward to next week and we can see if the reality of her change impacts on whether or not she wants to be the emotional rock for the man who cursed her.

Sally’s story, while not advancing her character that much, brought some interesting tidbits of information about ghostly existence. We found out that suicides don’t get a Door so people like Stevie are stuck here forever. The one complaint I have about the Sally story was Diane’s turn-on-a-dime realization and how her vapid admission that she was jealous of girls like Sally (who, presumably, didn’t face the pressures to be pretty or popular like Diane felt she did) got her her Door. But while it was emotionally unsatisfying (I was neither pretty nor popular in high school, as many people probably weren’t,) it fit. Sure life was easy for Diane, so of course death would be, too. She was vapid and shallow in life, so her small admission, which to her must have been an albatross around her swan-like neck, was enough to satisfy and get her her Door. And that makes Sally’s dream of her Door, with its black clouds and menacing smoke monster, all the more sinister. We know that nothing is going to be easy for Sally from here on out. I’m curious to see who The Powers That Be send after Sally (because the US version doesn’t seem to have The Men With Sticks And Rope) and how they go about it. I’m also hoping Stevie becomes a recurring character since we know he can’t move on. Maybe Sally can find a way to help him move on in spite of his suicide. That would fit with American redemptive, “happy ending” storytelling.

And now we’ve finally met Mother. From the moment I saw her, she reminded me of Akasha from Anne Rice’s vampire novels. Not the movie version, but a more sedate yet equally sadistic and scheming version. She moves like a woman who’s been a queen for thousands of years, with an ancient presence behind the eyes of a woman seemingly in her 40s. Plus, her hair reminded me of ancient Egyptian styles. Intentional or accidental? Hmm. I liked Deena Aziz’s characterization from the moment she descended the staircase and her casual dispatch of the two orphan vampires with basically a wave of her hand makes me want to see more of her. And the way she talks about her daughter has me wanting to know all her millennia of back story right now!

And speaking of her as yet unnamed daughter, she’ll be played by Dichen Lachman, formerly Sierra on Dollhouse and most recently seen in Torchwood: Miracle Day. I haven’t seen Miracle Day, but if her performance on Dollhouse is any indication, she’s going to be one helluva sexy, dangerous (and probably crazy considering how the Council were talking) woman!

Did you stay watching for the season preview trailer? Nora and Sally have a real conversation! Josh finds “purebred” werewolves! (YAY!) Sally calls the things after her from beyond the Door “Reapers”! Aidan and the daughter get it on! Historically! And ZOMGWTFBBQ…BISHOP’S BACK! (Though it could be a flashback.) I know trailers are made to entice and use up all the best bits, but I have to say I am really looking forward to this season in a way I definitely wasn’t at the end of season one. Bring on those new plots and bring on those werewolves!

I think it would be fair to say, some viewers had quite a lot of opinions about Series one’s mid-point, The Blind Banker, and were not particularly optimistic about its writer Steve Thompson taking on this particularly [...]]]> This post contains SPOILERS for the second series of Sherlock, episode three, The Reichenbach Fall.

I think it would be fair to say, some viewers had quite a lot of opinions about Series one’s mid-point, The Blind Banker, and were not particularly optimistic about its writer Steve Thompson taking on this particularly enormous storyline. Well, never judge a man solely by his Chinese gangsters (or space pirates, if you saw the last series of Dr Who) because it has to be said he’s pulled together something pretty fantastic for this, the third and final act of Series two.

We’ve had The Woman, we’ve had The Hound and now, it seems, it’s time for The Fall. And believe me on this one single point- If John (Martin Freeman) and Molly (Louise Brealey) don’t break your heart along the way, at least just a little bit, then you probably don’t have one.

I don’t even really know where to start with everything going on here, there’s a lot to get stuck in to. Not least of all a slightly unexpected cameo from a previous Sherlock Homes, Douglas Wilmer, here taking the part of a scandalised patron of The Diogenes Club. I may have possibly found this slightly more thrilling than it deserved to be. That aside, however, The Reichenbach Fall is a chunky, paranoid end to the series, and almost entirely sparked by the triumphantly psychotic return of Andrew Scott’s rather fabulous Moriarty.

Do you want to break into The Bank of England? Steal a crown or two? How about turn the prison system entirely upside-down? Well, why not do all three at once cause now there’s an app for that, and Moriarty’s got it, ready and waiting for the highest bidder. But not everything is as it seems and with trained assassins moving in to the flat next door and the press dogging Sherlock’s every footstep, it’s probably the worst possible time for someone to start casting doubt upon the origins of his apparent deductive genius.

Moriarty’s got a plan, and it involves making good on his promise to destroy Sherlock entirely. Though not before they’ve had a nice cup of tea and a sit down first. It’s a meeting that sets off a cascade of events, revelations and achingly subtle emotional punches that leave not just Sherlock’s honesty but also his sanity in question. Even the most dogged loyalties are pushed and betrayal comes from probably the last place you would have expected. There are plenty of repercussions all round, with the depth of Moriarty’s insanity finally becoming apparent and Sherlock’s determination to stop him coming at the cost of almost everything he’s ever worked for.

Of course there’s only one place Reichenbach can end, and that’s with a cliff-top confrontation. It’s a great scene, the foamingly crazy Moriarty both baiting Sherlock for his failings and visibly aching for him to prove himself as an equal. It’s a climax that in less capable hands could have degenerated into sheer scenery-chewing but if there’s one thing that’s always pulled Sherlock above its peers it’s the incredible performances of its cast. Cumberbatch is at his most furiously unearthly, sneering and aloof against Scott’s fickle and psychotic villain. For me there’s not one wrong note in that. From Molly’s quiet tradgedy, to John’s bitter grief at the end, it simply proves all over again what really good TV is actually capable of.

It’s an incredible season finale, and I loved every breathless, tense second of it. But it would be remiss of me not to mention that cliffhanger…

Of course we all knew that final reveal was going to happen, it simply had to. But damned if I know exactly how it was done. Or, indeed, how long we’re going to have to wait to find out. But there are enough hints peppered through to keep the determined guessing for a good while to come.

Sherlock will be available to watch on the BBC iPlayer until 22nd January. Sherlock Series 2 comes out on Region 2 DVD and Blu-Ray on the 23rd January. The Sherlock Soundtrack will be available to buy on CD or as a download from the 30th January.

Steven Moffat also confirmed via Twitter that The BBC actually commissioned the third series at the same time it commissioned the second, though no dates have yet been specified.

Links

• Sherlock BBC Official Homepage
• John Watson’s Blog

Arthur instated the Round Table.
Lancelot realized he stands no chance with Gwen.
Merlin broke the Cup of Life defeating the Immortal Army and thwarting Morgana’s EVOL plans. No biggie.
Excalibur was safely hidden in a stone.
And Gwaine’s hair came through it all unscathed. THANK [...]]]> Previously on Merlin –

Arthur instated the Round Table.
Lancelot realized he stands no chance with Gwen.
Merlin broke the Cup of Life defeating the Immortal Army and thwarting Morgana’s EVOL plans. No biggie.
Excalibur was safely hidden in a stone.
And Gwaine’s hair came through it all unscathed. THANK THE GODS.

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS.

Seriously. You’ve been warned.

Now –

Season 4 opens a year after the events in season 3 with Sir Leon & the gang questioning a woman who’s pulling a wagon. The woman slowly turns around and surprise! it’s Lady Morgana! She throws the knights back using her mojo and then checks on her cargo: Morgause with some sort of leprosy on her face. “We have far to go, sister.”

Oh, intriguing! You have my attention.

At Camelot, Merlin’s gallivanting through the castle as servants ready for a celebration. After bumping into a guy, Merlin discovers he’s gotten wine on Arthur’s shirt. Zee horror! Lancelot appears from nowhere, sporting a nice new cropped coif, and tries to give Merlin laundry advice but instead Merlin just magically cleans the stain.

Suck it, Billy Mays.

Merlin arrives at Arthur’s chambers and discovers that the Prince, while self-dressed, has done a piss-poor job of it. Merlin tries to tell Arthur that some skin is showing but Arthur brushes him off, exclaiming that he has a speech to write. Don’t worry Merlin, he’s just pissy because he can’t remember how to spell…well anything. I mean look, he can’t even dress himself. He’s all about swords, that one. But Merlin, being Merlin, gives Arthur a speech he wrote and Arthur tosses his.

Elsewhere in the castle, Uther is keeping to his chambers, barely talking, eating, or sleeping and probably not bathing at all. Ick. He’s Bella Swan-ing over Morgana’s betrayal. You reap what you sow, Uther. No “#1 Father” mug for you this year. Gwen appears with even more of a heaving bosom than last season and attempts to converse with the King, to no avail.

In the meantime, Sir Leon and Sir Elyan arrive and inform Arthur of their brush with Morgana and her increased powers which took the lives of two knights. Morgana 1, Knights 0.

Gaius butts in and says Morgana is headed to the Isle of the Blessed. Agravaine (or Uncle to Arthur) furthermore butts in and announces he’ll send out a patrol. Note the shade of his clothes and the way he walked out to the shadows. Ignore that beeping, that’s just my villain radar.

That evening, Morgause and Morgana arrive at the Isle of the Blessed while Camelot is celebrating Samhain (and HOLY WYVERNS, someone on a tv show actually pronounced it correctly! Good on ya, cabbagehead). Morgause hops onto a stone altar while Morgana chants a bit of Ye Olde English then stabs her sister. How very Greek.

Shit hits the fan and Morgana is knocked unconscious.

Meanwhile, time goes all wibbly-wobbly for Merlin as he feels a shift in the Force and before him stands Madame Pomfrey a hooded crone. Merlin drops the wine basin and the entire hall watches as he faints.

The Rift in the Veil

In doing so, Morgana has released The Dorocha — the numberless voices of the dead — and they will serve her by wreaking vengeance on her enemies. Downside, in tearing the veil Morgana has created an alternate universe where her destiny and doom now walk hand-in-hand with that of Emrys. Oops.

The next day, Arthur is summoned to an urgent council where he learns that faceless floaty thingies are killing his subjects. The knights are readied for battle.

The village is “too quiet” when they arrive so they go in swords drawn. Gwaine noshes loudly on an apple, like some foolish Took but eventually they find some villagers. Except they are corpses which look a bit like they were caught in a sudden blizzard. At this moment, I half-expected Jake Gyllenhaal to come out and say Dennis Quaid would soon be there to rescue them but he never did. The Day After Tomorrow anyone? No. Just me then. Anyways …

Things start getting a bit spooky and they realize something unnatural is flitting about in their peripheral vision. Night falls, torches are lit, and the investigation continues. Merlin gets separated and nearly becomes a victim but is saved by Lancelot. Turns out Merlin’s mojo doesn’t work around the Dorocha. Hmmm.

They arrive back at Camelot to total chaos. The Dorocha have begun attacking the castle, turning the entire kingdom into a top candidate for an episode of ‘When Vaporous Skeletons Attack’. Gwen fends them off with her heaving breasts torch while Gaius wraps up body after body.

The Dorocha

Morning comes and Gaius drops more useful knowledge on Arthur’s pretty little bubblehead. The Dorocha cannot be fought with swords, he says, the only way to get rid of them is by repairing the veil. And since it was opened with a blood sacrifice, only another will close it. Couldn’t you have said that like, TWO DAYS AGO!? Arthur gets all noble and says he will sacrifice himself, nothing new here.

Cut to Agravaine who arrives at a small hut belonging to Morgana and informs her of Arthur’s plans. *le faux gasp* Forsooth!

Back at Camelot, Arthur says his goodbyes to Uther and Gwen, and gives the royal ring to Agravaine, naming him heir if something happens. Merlin says goodbye to Gaius. Gwen comes to Lancelot — and the poor sod actually looks hopeful — but Gwen simply asks Lancelot to look after Arthur. He swears to do so and everyone finally sets off for the Isle of the Blessed. LONGEST GOODBYES EVAR.

Night falls and we see Morgana having a nightmare of a bloody battlefield. In the field walks Emrys, and a hand reaches up from the ground towards him. We hear Morgana weakly say, “help me, Emrys.” She jerks up in bed, shaken, but even more determined to find this Emrys chap.

Day comes, and night falls again. Arthur, Merlin and the knights are holed up in some ruins with fire and torches. The Dorocha attack but shit, they don’t have enough wood to burn. Arthur goes to get more, and of course, Merlin accompanies. More flying, skully things and in an attempt to fondle save Merlin, Arthur loses the torch.

They become cornered in a room, and have a bromance moment. The Dorocha get in and in a split second Merlin pushes Arthur out of the way and sacrifices himself. Moments later the knight burst in with a torch, but it’s too late, Merlin already looks like a frozen fish stick.

DAMN YOU CLIFFHANGERS!

Not a bad season opener, though. Definitely gives hope for a great season.