Anime Review "86" Mecha/Horror/Psychological/Dystopian

 This is such a good show for so many reasons, and it's not quite finished yet, but the next episode isn't set to air for a couple of months so I need to talk about it and this is my outlet. 86 takes place in a world where sentient war machines have taken over large areas of land and the remaining humans fight to keep humanity alive. When the war started, the republic made a pretty racist decision of collecting all the people who weren't Alba (didn't have silver hair and eyes) and putting them in concentration camps. Those people were labeled 86 and the Alba were told that the 86 were not even human. The 86 were then experimented on to create technology and then used to fight the war machines. The republic tells its citizens that the war is humane, that there are no casualties and so most of the Alba go about their business without even worrying about it. Lena, however, understands the true cost of the war. She is one of the handlers (Alba tasked with organizing the fights and leading the 86 into battle -- from a distance using powerful tech, of course). She knows that the 86 have human emotions and fears. She wants to change how society perceives them, but she is laughed at and scolded for her views.

Lena gets assigned to a specific team of 86 who have lost most of their Alba handlers to insanity. This team is called Spearhead and their self-appointed commander is Shinei Nozen (codename: Undertaker). Nozen has a unique ability to hear the enemy's communications with one another which helps the team out several times in battle. He is called Undertaker because, since the battle machines will take the brain of a living human to power more machines and they are multiplying by harvesting the heads of 86 who have been left to die on the battlefield, Nozen prevents this by killing anyone who is too badly injured to be brought home instead of leaving them for the Legion (the war machines) to find. 

I should mention that the 86 are all children, kind of like a more messed up Hunger Games. The children are conscripted at age 13 and told that if they survive 5 years of battle they will be released and allowed to live outside of the camps where their families have been sent. Lena soon grows attached to the Spearhead team and does her best to help them survive. She also calls to talk to them every night. After a death, though, she is forced to face her own ideas and she realizes she might not have been treating them as much like humans as she thought.

The story has two parts. The first part follows mainly Lena, and the second focuses mainly on Nozen, although it does show glimpses of the other side, more so in the first half.

What I liked about this show: The characters are all very well-written, especially Nozen. The story is very dark and twisted but also moving. It tackles real world issues like war and racism in a dystopian setting. The relationships between the characters feel real and their emotions feel raw so the impactful scenes are that much more powerful. 

If you like this show, I would definitely also recommend From the New World which has a similarly messed up world. There's a little bit bigger of a supernatural element in New World vs. this one, but the relationships, the setting, the story and the characters are all excellent. Both shows have some pretty effed up things that are revealed about the people in charge. Both shows focus on a few characters who have development. Both shows deal with loss and let beloved characters die. One of the biggest differences between the shows is the amount of time that passes over the course of the show. From the New World follows the kids from early childhood until mid to late twenties. 86 follows the characters for maybe 2 years max (unless the last few episodes that haven't aired yet have some time leap montage). 

I am really looking forward to the ending of this show. The exposition of the world has been very slow and painful and I have so many unanswered questions about how the Legion came to be. I hope the last few episodes don't disappoint because I have really enjoyed the journey thus far.

Thank you for reading, Happy New Year! Here's hoping next year will be the one that sees my career take off (either as a teacher or a writer, preferably writer).

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays (whatever floats your boat)

Hey all! I'm in a particularly good mood this morning since (for the first time ever I think) my kids got me some stuff for Christmas. Anyway. I used to hate Christmas for its being a walking contradiction (i.e. a holiday originally celebrated by "pagans" but adopted by Christianity to convert them, and widely commercialized even though one of the key tenants of the religion it's named after is anti-wealth), but now I find it hilariously ironic that these contradictions exist and I enjoy an excuse to get all and sundry gifts (I enjoy picking out the perfect gift and seeing the faces when they open the gift, although if I get the wrong gift I really don't like the reaction then). As a celebration, here are some of my favorite shows with a Christmas episode I loved or movies with a Christmas theme:

Anime: Toradora, Horimiya.

TV shows: Frazier, 

Movies: It's a Wonderful life, Klaus, Nightmare before Christmas,  

(Can't really think of anymore off the top of my head, but if I come up with any, I'll add later)

Durarara!!! (Anime: Psychological/mystery/supernatural)

This is an older anime, available on Netflix at the time I watched it just this last month, but being removed by the end of this month. Sadly, I do not know where else this show may be available for viewing, so hopefully you can find it if you want to check it out. One of the things I liked about this show was the art style, which is a flavor all its own. All the characters are unique and the show has its own pacing. The direction is confusing at first, but it becomes clear eventually why it is done in this particular way. All the characters introduced are significant in some way to one another and the show doesn't really have a main character, being more about Ikebukuro than any one particular character.

Favorite characters: Simon, a Russian immigrant who sells sushi at a place called Russian Sushi, he starts out mainly as comic relief, but over the course of the show you realize his character is much more than he appears. Celty: without spoiling too much, I can tell you that Celty is one of the few non-human characters in the story. She is a dullahan (Irish fairy who calls on people who are about to die, basically a grim reaper type) Dullahans carry their heads with them but somehow Celty has allowed hers to be stolen and she has traveled to Japan to recover it, and along with it, her memory. The headless horse she rode through Ireland is too conspicuous to take along on the boat, so it shapeshifted into a motorcycle, which she rides through the city. Celty is the subject of many urban myths which float around Ikebukuro, mainly because her motorcycle does not need headlights to function and that some people say she doesn't have a head (she covers this fact with a motorcycle helmet, but it does get knocked off from time to time). She communicates with others via typing out texts on her phone, and she has one of the most developed personalities in the show. Walker and Erika: a pair of otaku who ride around in a van, this duo and the van's driver used to be members of a dangerous gang but that doesn't stop them from being the most quirky and fun duo on the show. Kida: The show starts with a kid from the country coming to Ikebukuro to attend school with his best friend. If the show were to have a protagonist, this country bumpkin would be it and Kida is his best friend. Kida has a past with the darker side of the city, something he hopes his bff (Mikado) and the girl he has taken a shine to (Anri) never find out, but they both have secrets of their own.

The plot is a little reminiscent of Crash in that it connects every single character who is introduced in some way or another, sometimes in more significant ways and sometimes in more subtle ways. It is interesting and pulls you in. The direction is very well done and the music is beautiful. I watched the subtitled version (I rarely watch a dub, usually only if I am showing the anime to one of my kids because they don't like reading subtitles all the time) but I can't really imagine how this show would be translated into dub since a lot of the misunderstandings have to do with certain characters having a poor grasp of spoken Japanese (or at least speaking very badly), even Simon the character I mentioned first, his main thing is that his Japanese is mediocre at best but at one point in the show one of the characters says "You know, sometimes I think you're only pretending you don't really understand Japanese" and then there's the few times it shows Simon speaking in Russian (his native tongue) I don't know how those would translate into a dubbed version of the show, if they'd just leave it in the Russian and with English subtitles, I don't imagine they could dub it, since the fact it's in Russian is significant.

Villian/person you love to hate: Izaya. Basically a sociopath, this guy just loves to manipulate people into do all kinds of things and he basically is somehow connected to every shady thing you can find in the city. His character takes sadistic pleasure in the misfortunes of others even though he claims to love people, he just treats them like pieces on a board for him to manipulate. He has this hate/hate relationship with the most loveable violent character on the show, Shizuo. Apparently, the two have been trying to kill each other (unsuccessfully) since they were in middle school together. It is debatable whether or not these two have some sort of attraction to one another, possibly because of their opposite personalities. Of course, being this worthy of hate also makes for a pretty complex and interesting character.

Both arcs are good in their own ways. If I have to choose between them, I'd pick the first. Kida's character isn't really flushed out until about halfway into the second arc, though, and it isn't until the second arc that Simon really begins to shine in his own right. Another thing I should mention is the chat room. The chat room is almost a character into itself, although it does nothing without the input of the actual characters, it is important in moving the story along and each of the characters hides behind a false name so you don't know, until it's revealed, who everyone is.

Favorite moment in the show: When it is revealed who the leader of the dollars really is. Again, if you want to know what I mean, watch the show. I bet you like it. I know I did.

Have a nice day, and thank you for checking out my blog.

First Anime Review: "Horimiya" (Romance/Slice of life)

So, even though I really love and get into a lot of anime, I haven't really tried reviewing one yet. There are a myriad of reasons for this, but the most relevant is that I feel like my review wont be able to do justice to the complex relationship I have with the show and the reasons I felt the show was deserving of the rating I gave it. However, I'm going to give it a shot anyway, and I'm going to start with a show I fell in love with almost immediately.

This show focuses on the relationship between Kyoko Hori and Izumi Miyamura. Hori is an outgoing, popular girl. The kind of girl you'd expect to be hanging out with friends outside of school, not rushing home to do housework and babysit her younger brother. None of her school friends know she's really a homebody either, as she hides this aspect of her personality. Miyamura is a quiet kid who wears glasses and everyone thinks he's a loner/otaku and doesn't really try to get to know him, but outside of school, he has multiple piercings and wears his long hair up to show them off. So, it's no surprise that Hori doesn't really recognize Miyamura when he helps her younger brother home after he's fallen and gotten hurt. What is surprising is the friendship that forms between the two over the fact they each know one another's secret.

What I really liked about this show: The show grabbed me first with a catchy opening and beautiful animation. Then, as I met and learned about the characters, I fell in love with them as well. Hori is a lot more than the popular pretty girl trope. She has a temper, but she's not your typical tsundere either. Miyamura isn't the loner/otaku he seems in school or the rebel he looks like out of it. He's actually just not very good at making friends on his own and the story behind his piercings ends up being quite interesting. The relationship dynamic between the duo pretty much flips the gender script in some ways, Miyamura being the first to confess his feelings to Hori when he thinks she's out of it and can't hear, and Hori often being the more domineering of the two. The show also has great secondary characters and interesting romance plots between them as well. Unlike so many other romance anime out there, Horimiya does not keep the viewer in suspense about their relationship and where it's headed. They start dating fairly early in the show without a lot of misunderstandings (there is one, but they sort that out pretty quickly) that get in their way. The show is less about whether or not they will date, and more about their relationship and them growing as a couple and learning about one another.

This show also gave me the feels pretty hardcore. I know, I know, like that's hard. But there was something about Miyamura in particular that I identified with and especially in the episodes that expose his past and why he ended up the way he did. In one episode he has a dream where he talks to his past self (I'm tearing up just thinking about it) and the younger version of him talks about hating doing various things because of people and not having friends and the older tells him that it will get better, but one particularly heart-wrenching moment was when the younger self says "can I die?" and when Miyamura wakes up, you see tears streaming from his eyes, and his immediate reaction is to call Hori. 

I also liked the directing. I thought they did a very good job of using the animation to convey what the characters were thinking and feeling and they coupled this with a soundtrack which was perfection itself. The voice actors all did superb jobs as well. Basically, I loved everything about this show. There are some people who think it's over-rated, or not as good as some other shows, but I disagree. The only thing I could possible find to fault it on, was that they didn't adapt enough of the source material. I would have watching a 24 episode show that kept more of the manga and loved it just as much.

For those of you who have seen it, one of my favorite scenes was when Miyamura stole Hori's candy. And for those of you who aren't in on the joke, watch it and find out. (currently available on Hulu)

Thanks for reading and see you all soon.

History

When I read history, specifically this history of European settlers and Native Americans, it angers me. It angers me because of the atrocities that were committed, because of the high and mighty (better than thou) attitude that the Europeans held. Because these strangers barged onto land that was already inhabited and decided it was theirs and they had a right to "claim" it because the inhabitants were not living in the way they deemed fit.

Imagine someone comes to your door. Whether you answer it or not, they barge in. Once they see the way you're living, they decide they don't like it. You don't deserve to live here if you're not going to live the way they think you should. So they take over. If you resist, they kill you. If you don't conform, they designate a certain sub-par space (attic or crawlspace) to be yours and you are not allowed to live the way you used to live because your home has been reduced in size. Then they expect you to be grateful they let you have even that. They teach their children, who grow up in your home, that you were the enemy, that they had no other choice but to imprison you and kill your family. 

It angers me, even knowing that without that history America would not exist as it does today. But perhaps that would be a good thing. What if, like the French, all European settlers had decided to live with, trade with, and coexist, with the natives? Or, if they'd just decided to leave the continent alone because it was already inhabited? We're certainly not the only ones in history to violently take over spaces of land and dominate the existing natives. Far from it. However, we do not deserve to teach history like we did nothing wrong. This land was inhabited, we invaded. Just like any other invader in the history of the world, Europeans invaded this continent and took over government. Don't teach history like we had the right to do it just because we succeeded. Don't pretend that the Natives that inhabited this land didn't have a history before Europeans showed up and started eradicating them and their history. Don't try to erase the evils of our past, because if we don't learn from them, we are doomed to repeat them.

Chasm

I just learned that an old coworker from when I worked at Sonic committed suicide. We weren't super close, but I did consider her my friend. She even offered to be a reference for me when I bought my car. I never knew she was dealing with any kind of depression and I guess that's what really gets me. There's a lot of people I've grown apart from over the years. People I see from time to time and ask how they've been, but never really know about their struggles. I wonder if I would have been able to help her if I'd known. 

My heart goes out to her kids, some of whom went to school with mine but who I never met. I've been in some dark places at times in my life, I think most people have. It's something you dont really tell people and that's probably because of how stigmatized it is. I don't know what she was going through, or why she felt like there was no other way. I guess the chasm left behind is something most people don't see from that place of darkness. All they can see is the chasm inside which opens, looming ever larger, and seems to consume all hope. 

She was around my age, so if I'd gone to school we'd probably have been classmates. Some of our kids did go to school together, although I dont think they were ever friends. I interviewed her once for an article I was planning to write on single mothers, or was it working mothers? It's been a long time. I also talked to her brother for a bit before we mutually decided to go our separate ways. But we weren't close, so I dont have a right to grieve, not really.

"Bugs" Supernatural S1: Ep 8

 Oh my, so much to unpack here. This was an amazing episode, even brought me to tears which normally they don't. Lots of the familial stuff and character development for Sam and a little bit for Dean. No damsel in distress in this one and no leachery so all-in-all, an excellent episode for me.

So it starts off with some construction guys working at a development of high-dollar houses. They are talking about how they wish they could afford something like this when one of them falls into a sinkhole. His leg is broken, and he hollers at his friend to help him get out, he's too far down to reach, so the friend goes for a rope. That's when the bugs start crawling on the guy in the hole. The friend rushes to the truck and reaches it just about the time the guy in the hole starts really freaking out and hollering for help even more as more bugs appear crawling up his shirt. By the time his friend (Travis, his part is really short-lived but his name is important because it shows up later) gets back, the guy in the hole is dead and he's bleeding from every orifice in his head. The title hints that the beetles had something to do with it, but the mystery element is really high here because you don't know why the bugs are attacking.

Cut to the Winchester boys. Sam is waiting outside a bar and Dean comes out proudly displaying his winnings from hustling pool. Sam expresses displeasure that they need to earn their money by scamming people. He asks Dean would it hurt to get a "day" job, to which Dean replies that hunting is their "day" job. Then Sam shows Dean the newspaper article he's been reading about a mysterious death a couple of towns over in Oklahoma. So they head that way.

Sam and Dean arrive to the site of the death armed with little information than that the authorities are crediting the death to "mad cow" disease even though it takes years to manifest. The boys talk to Travis to get the DL on his friend's death, posing as the guy's nephews. Once they learn everything they can from Travis, they head to the scene of the death. They find the hole, cordoned off with yellow caution tape, and they investigate. Sam comes out with a beetle and Dean gives him a "you're kidding me with this, right?" look and Sam proceeds to explain that beetles sometimes eat human tissue, the caveat being that it's usually dead tissue, not living, and that they would have had to work in a large group. The first thing they rule out is ghosts. If it were a vengeful spirit there would be evidence of activity, and they're not finding any. Plus, there's no precedent for ghosts using bugs. Dean asks if Sam thinks someone might be controlling the bugs. Sam says maybe. They need to talk to the locals.

They find an open house which is offering a free barbeque to prospective home buyers, so the brothers pose as interested parties to gain access. This is where things get a little interesting, because everyone they meet assumes they're a couple. Dean corrects the first person to make this mistake, and Sam claims they're trying to find a home for their elderly father. However, the next time the mistake is made, typically alpha-male Dean actually is the one to roll with it giving Sam a playful pat on the rear and calling him "honey". Later in the show, Dean comes out of the shower with a towel on his head, further breaking the "gender norm" and the norm for his character. I have to say, I liked seeing this side to Dean, although the part where he acts a bit self-righteous was less than ideal, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So, the boys talk to Larry, the developer who set this whole neighborhood's construction underway, and he introduces them to a woman whose name I couldn't be bothered to remember simply because the significance of her character was to point the boys towards the red-herring of the show, Larry's bug obsessed son Matt.

Right about the same time that Dean is figuring out that Larry's son has a thing for bugs, Sam is talking to the real-estate lady previously mentioned when Matt tries to scare her with a tarantula. Sam puts the nix on this operation and takes a liking to the boy who seems to think his father is ashamed of him (he's probably right, because Larry certainly acts like it). Sam tells Matt that things will get better, eventually and we can see that Sam identifies with the kid.

From the party they've gleaned that another person died the previous year from an allergic reaction to multiple bee stings. So they're pretty sure that someone is controlling the bugs and they're pretty sure that someone is Matt, but they need more. They get what they're looking for the next day (after squatting in one of the empty houses where Dean likes the shower a little bit too much, this is where we get the towel scene). The real-estate lady was attacked by spiders in the shower. The boys have a suspect. They follow Matt as he gets off the bus and heads into the woods. He asks them if they're serial killers. They respond in the negative and he seems to believe them because he immediately acts comfortable with them enough to show them what is going on with the bugs. He says he's been studying them since his family arrived at this place and they're acting strange. He brings the boys to a place where there are swarms of various insects and there they find several very old skeletons. During the conversation with Matt, Sam tells him he will eventually get away from his overbearing father when he goes off to college. Dean takes offense to this (this is where I think Dean gets a little bit self-righteous), because Sam has expressed that he feels a kindred spirit in Matt, which he confirms later as they walk to the anthropology department of a nearby college. Sam says their father was disappointed that Sam wanted a "normal" life instead of being a hunter. That he wishes his dad had been proud of him. Dean expresses displeasure that Sam told Matt to look forward to getting away from his family because Dean thinks family is the most important thing and that family should stick together. The anthropology professor tells the boys that the skeletons appear to be about 150 years old or older and that they are probably Native American judging from their structure. Dean asks if there have ever been any tribes that would have lived in this area and the professor stresses that "officially" there aren't, but that several tribes were relocated by white settlers and that the boys might find their answers by talking to some of the Native Americans that live about 60 miles away.

The boys head there and find an old man playing cards. The first thing he does is call Dean a liar. I like this dude. Then Sam asks him if there were ever any NA who lived in the area of the deaths. The man asks why they want to know. Sam says bad things have been happening and he thinks it might be related to some NA skeletons they found. The old man weaves a tale which brought me to tears about how the Calvary came to relocate his peoples 200 years ago. Not everyone was willing to relocate, so the Calvary raped and pillaged and murdered for six nights and on the sixth, they killed everyone remaining in the village. As he was dying, the village chief cursed the land. He swore that the white man would never again set foot on that land and that if he did, when the sun and the moon were equal in the sky, nature would rise up against him for six nights. 

The boys figure out that this happens every year around this time, the curse takes effect. Sam ponders "how do you stop a curse?" but Dean says that you can't, "You get the hell out" or words to that effect. Anyway, they try to convince Larry to get his family out by claiming there's a gas leak, but he isn't buying it. He asks who's there and Dean claims to be Travis from earlier, but Larry has worked with Travis and he's not buying it. Sam then gets hold of Matt and tells him to get his family out, somehow he has to convince Larry. Dean says to tell him his side hurts and he needs to go to the ER, but when they get there the family is still there and Larry is yelling at them to get off his property. Matt apologizes, saying that he told Larry the truth. Dean tries to convince Larry, but he's not listening, not until it's too late to leave as the bug swarm approaches.

So the Winchesters hole everyone up in the house trying to seal off all the cracks, but they don't figure out the flue is open to the chimney until they hear the bugs coming through it, so everyone hauls ass upstairs. Dean holds off some of the bugs with bug-spray and a lighter. They make it into the attic, but then they see that there are termites eating through the wood. Eventually that part of the roof caves and the boys find something to block it off with a piece of metal and a beam, but that eventually fails and just when everyone thinks they're doomed, dawn breaks and all the bugs dissipate.

The boys show up to the house as Larry and his family are loading a moving van. Larry says he's going to make sure no one ever lives here again, and that the place has been shut down while the government investigates the bones the boys found. Larry says he's not really sad even though this turned out to be a really big financial disaster and he looks over to his son who's throwing out all his bug paraphernalia. Sam goes over to talk to him. Turns out the whole almost being killed by swarms of insects turned him off them. "Now they kind of creep me out" he confesses. Sam says he'd be disturbed if that weren't the case and laughs. After they say their goodbyes to the family, Sam and Dean talk some more about their father. Sam says he wants to find their dad so he can apologize for all the nasty things he said to him, and Dean says they'll find him, Sam will apologize and then five minutes later they'll be back to being at each other's throats.

Okay, so side characters in this were really interesting. Larry less so than Matt, but that might just be because I understand the "weird" kid syndrome far better than the "I'm just doing what I think is best for you" overbearing parent. I'm giving side characters a 9/10, creep element was also pretty high, but I really don't like bugs. So horror/suspense also gets a 9/10. I don't have to take any points off for misogyny, so yay! Sam and Deans development was also really high in this episode and I'm going to give that a high 8/10 as well. Mystery, well even though we knew it was bugs, there was a high mystery factor in figuring out why they were attacking and the reveal was all I could have hoped for so I'm giving that a perfect 10/10. So all-in-all, this episode rates a solid 9/10. And I believe that is the highest rating I've given one of these shows since I developed this system.

That's it for now, tune in next time... wait, how many episodes left in the first season? J/K see y'all later, thanks for reading.

A quick rant completely unrelated to the topic at hand

So I was on Facebook. I know, I know, stop doing that. Anyway, I was reading the comment section of this post. It was a post about the absurdity that women's breasts are sexualized and criminalized while men's chests aren't. A lot of people pointed out that post-op trans men can be topless and cis men with "man boobs" are also allowed that luxury. Anyway, there was one comment about the misogynistic nature of our society and I read the replies and there was a lot of back and forth about a "not all men" comment. One person was trying to explain (and not doing a very good job) why the phrase "not all men" is problematic. To me it's the same as the "not all white people" comment. The reason it exists is that the privileged want a way to pretend to be allies without having to actually acknowledge the problem. They want it both ways. They don't want to be hated, but they don't want to fix a system that rewards them just for existing. The problem with that is, when you say "not all men" or "not all white people" you're not helping. Misogyny and racism still exist and the oppressed group is still being oppressed whether allies exist or not. Only by acknowledging the problem can the privileged help and change it. So, by saying "not all men" or "not all white people" you are insulting those who suffer at the hands of an unjust system. It is, in effect rubbing your privilege in their faces. That is why the comments are met with disdain. It is not because we believe that there are no male allies (or white allies for people of color), it is because whether those allies exist or not, the oppression continues and refusal to acknowledge it just perpetuates it. 

Okay, rant over. Thank you for indulging me. See you next week probably for another episode of Supernatural (maybe sooner if I feel like doing one this weekend).

"Hook Man" Supernatural S1: ep:7

Okay this episode is rife with that Dean Winchester lechery I hate so much. Not much in the way of character growth for our main duo, although Sam is presented with a conflict of sorts. The side characters in this one are a little interesting, but there is still the whole "damsel in distress" trope that seems to pop up quite often in this show. So here's the DL.

The show opens with a girl (Lori) getting ready for a date. She starts out in a very conservative outfit, which her party girl roommate (who just happens to be black, seems a tad like a racial stereotype) thinks is too stuffy and of course she lends her something a little more revealing to wear. Lori and her date park on a deserted road because he insists they can't show up early. She knows he's up to something and doesn't seem to mind at first. Then he tries to slip his hand inside her shirt, she tells him no, he tells her it's okay (seem a bit rapey to you? It did to me too). He tries again, but they begin hearing some kind of metal scraping against another metal. The guy goes out to investigate and the car is scratched by an invisible hook and the tires slashed. The guy disappears and the girl, frightened out of her mind, locks the door and rolls up the window. Then she hears scratching on the roof. Eventually, she decides to make a run for it and that's when she sees the mutilated corpse of her date hanging above the car. The horror element here is pretty high. With the hook scraping and only getting glimpses of the killer, the ambiance of the lonely deserted road also plays into this well. After seeing the body, she does the characteristic "damsel in distress" scream. I guess that's a common trope in horror too.

We cut to Sam and Dean. Sam is still trying to find their father. Dean reminds him that "Dad probably doesn't want to be found" then redirects his brother's attention to a news story from a nearby town about a college girl who witnessed a murder by an invisible assailant. The boys decide to investigate. This time they pose as new fraternity brothers as they investigate the murder. A frat boy is painting himself purple and asks for help which Dean defers to Sam while giving a kind of disgusted look (seems a bit homophobic). He tells them about the guy that was murdered and how he was taking out a hot sorority girl named Lori who is also a preacher's daughter the way he says this is dripping with innuendo (what did you expect from a show centered on frat boys and sorority girls?).

Sam and Dean go to Lori's dad's church as he's giving a sermon about the tragic death of one who has only begun to live and to my very pleasant surprise I recognize the actor. It is Bob Bulldog Briscoe from Frasier. Although I hated his character in the show Frasier, it is cool to see him playing an altogether different and much more nuanced character (albeit a short lived one) in this show. The boys talk to Lori to get a feel for what happened. Sam believes her, so they hit the books. They are looking through old arrest records and they find one that seems to fit the bill. A preacher about 200 years ago butchered a bunch of prostitutes and he used a hook, not to mention the red light district where he committed the crime is in the same vicinity as the attack. The boys think they're on to something and go to find the ghost, carrying a shotgun filled with salt. Meanwhile, daddy dearest tells Lori he doesn't think she should go back to the sorority, and that he knows what goes on in that type of place and what kind of a person her roommate is.

Lori gets in and the lights are off. She sees that her roommate is already asleep so she doesn't turn them on. She cuddles into bed. Cut to the boys off to fight the ghost only to run into a sheriff who's patrolling the area. Sam, who's holding the shotgun is in a lot of trouble. The next day, Lori awakens to find blood dripping from her roommate's bed. Her eyes roam up to find a mutilated corpse and the words "aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light" along with a symbol carved into the wall above the bed. Lori screams her "damsel in distress" scream one more time. The scene then changes to the Winchesters who are leaving the sheriff's office. Dean has somehow convinced the sheriff that Sam was just being hazed into the fraternity by being forced to "hunt ghosts" because salt repels them. I should mention that Dean makes several remarks about sorority girls during their time in this town especially once they find out that a murder was committed in a sorority house. The boys break in, which isn't hard because the small town police security is pretty bad, and see the message. Sam recognizes the symbol and they check it out. It matches a symbol they saw on the poster about the murderous reverend 200 years ago. So they have their hookman. Now all they need to do is salt and burn the bones. Too bad the guy was buried in an unmarked grave.

The boys attend a party (who knows why because all they do while there is talk about the murder and the likelihood that the ghost has attached itself to the reverend Bob Briscoe [sorry I couldn't resist]) and Dean agrees reluctantly to find the spirit's grave and get rid of the bones while Sam keeps an eye on Lori. Sam is sitting outside of Lori's house and witnesses her fighting with her dad about some relationship he's in. Dean, digging to unearth the bones after he sees the same symbol on a gravestone, laments that he didn't get to watch the "cute" girl's house. Lori comes out of the house to where Sam is. She tells him how her father is having an affair with a married woman and how she thinks that when people do immoral things they should be punished. Then she tries to kiss Sam but he tells her no. She guesses correctly that the person he lost was his lover. Then her father is attacked by the hookman, but Sam is able to chase it off with the salt packed shotgun. At the hospital the next day Sam asks Dean why he didn't burn the bones and Dean says he did. They decide the ghost is attached to the hook so they need to find it. Going over the execution record tells them it was given to the church and going over the church record says it was re-forged. The boys need to find whatever object the silver hook was repurposed into and melt it in a salty fire. They also realize that the ghost is not attached to the reverend at all, but to his daughter Lori.

The mystery element in this is pretty high because it surrounds not exactly who the spirit is, or why he's vengeful (obviously he's a self-righteous prick who wants to kill anyone he deems unworthy) but whose emotions he has attached to and what is keeping him tethered to this world. Lori comes back to the church to pray as the Winchester boys are burning everything silver they can find. Sam hears her and goes to investigate. Lori tells him she thinks the murders are her fault and that she deserves to be punished at which point the hookman makes his appearance. Sam fend him off, but gets hurt. Dean comes up after melting all the silver then they realize that the necklace Lori is wearing is silver. It was a church keepsake that her father gave her. Dean leaves Sam with the shotgun while he runs to throw the necklace in the fire. The necklace melts and just as Sam and Lori are about to be hacked to pieces, the hook begins to melt and hookman burns away.

The sheriff doesn't seem to believe Deans story about the hookman which they all saw but who got away, but he doesn't act like he thinks he can do anything about it. He gives Dean a warning but Dean tells him not to worry, they're leaving town. Sam is at the back of the ambulance just having gotten his arm bandaged from the hook's gash. Lori thanks Sam but he leaves her and it shows her in the rearview as they drive away. Dean tells Sam they can stay, but Sam shakes his head not quite ready to move on from Jess.

I didn't mind certain elements of this show, but others were extremely distasteful to me. Here's my rating: For horror this one gets a solid 9/10, mystery suspense is also pretty high at 8/10, the misogyny is there and undeniable so I have to take -3 points off this for that, not a lot of character growth for our main duo I give that part a 5/10 for showing just a bit of Sam frustrated about not being able to find their dad and his hesitation to move on from Jess. The side characters were pretty interesting, especially reverend Briscoe (lol, you can't stop me from calling him that). Lori was interesting in her own right, but not quite as nuanced. I give the side characters a solid 8/10 for this episode. Overall this episode nets a 6.75/10.

"Skin" Supernatural S:1 Ep:6

This was a really good episode story wise. It had some really vomit inducing effects though and that is because the monster is a shapeshifter (someone who can change shape to look like someone else) and the way that he shapeshifts is he sheds and it really shows a lot more than it has to. I'm going to rate this one a little lower on the horror scale even though it has really good special effects because there's more of a slasher feel to this one. I also don't really like gore horror as much. It feels a little cheaper I think to just show revolting things to elicit a reaction. Mystery element is not so high either. It's pretty obvious what the monster is pretty early on and it's just a matter of catching it. Interestingly enough, the girl they're helping doesn't end up really being a damsel in distress, instead it is Sam who needs rescuing in this one. For that reason I'm not going to take points away for misogyny even though Dean does spend a little time ogling the main girl (Becky).

The show actually opens up with a swat team zeroing in on a crime in progress. They find the victim who is being tortured tied to a chair and she directs them to the perpetrator who is about to escape out the window. We get a good look at the guy's face and it is Dean. Then the scene cuts to a week earlier. Even though it isn't obviously a shapeshifter at first, the mystery element doesn't last long because Sam and Dean go to help Becky with her brother Zack who was charged with his (wife/girlfriend)'s murder. Becky insists that Zack was with her at the time of the murder and he'd have to have been in two places at once, but police have him on surveillance entering the apartment before the murder.

First let me talk about how this is such a good episode for Dean's character. At the start he's telling Sam he needs to cut ties because the stuff they do isn't conducive to maintaining friendships. Sam says he'd rather not be a loner like Dean. Then they backtrack 400 miles to help one of Sam's college friends. Sam lies to Becky and tells her that Dean is a policeman so that she will let them look at the crime scene. When Sam's lie comes out later, Dean tells him that's why he should cut ties. Then the shapeshifter takes Dean's body and seems to take his memories as well. Then we start getting some of the emotional turmoil Dean has been holding inside in the form of what the shapeshifter says while he is Dean. 

Before becoming Dean, the shapeshifter attacks another woman as her husband but the husband comes home and catches him. Well, not catches him so much as finds his wife tied to a chair bloody and gagged and when he tries to release her she begs him not to hurt her anymore. Then the shapeshifter jumps out and knocks the guy out and we see him being hauled off while Sam and Dean hunt for clues in the Zack murder case. They decide they're looking for a shapeshifter after hearing the story the man told police of coming home to find himself attacking his wife. They also figure out how the shapeshifter is disappearing and that he sheds his skin when he changes because they find piles of human flesh in the sewer (I know, pretty gross).

After chasing it through the sewer, it gets away. Then Sam and Dean get separated and that is the first time it appears as Dean. Sam catches on pretty quick but still hesitates to shoot which results in him getting captured and hauled to the shifter's lair. While at the lair the shifter comments on how messed up Sam and Dean's lives are and talks to Sam about how Dean resents the fact that he got to go off to college and how Dean is afraid that everyone will leave him and he'll end up alone. The shifter then announces that he's going to pay a visit to Becky.

He knocks on her door as Dean and uses the old lady charmer trait to worm his way into her good graces. He tells her that they think it is a shapeshifter and says he identifies with the shifter. He talks about how lonely it must be, and how everyone else must think it's a freak. He then comes on to Becky and Becky turns him down. Then he whispers something in her ear and she calls him a freak. He then attacks. He tells him it's too bad, that he kind of liked her and he proceeds to begin her torture. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean who are tied up in the shifter's lair escape and call the police who are able to get there before Becky is killed, but who now think Dean is the attacker. The shifter does not get caught by police and escapes to the sewers where it sheds (the whole thing is super gross, I recommend fast forwarding if you're at all squeamish). They go to get their car, but there are police so Dean has to make himself scarce. Sam makes him promise not to go to the sewers alone, but Dean is Dean and he goes anyway. Sam is going to see Becky because the shifter didn't finish the job so he thinks she might be still be in danger.

Dean, however, finds Becky in the sewer. She has been bound and gagged. She tells Dean she wouldn't have believed it until she saw the shifter transform into her. Meanwhile, "Becky" is talking to Sam and he's completely off his guard when it attacks. It then transforms into Dean so it can kill Sam as him. Apparently this thing gets off on having family attack family. Of course, Dean is on time to rescue Sam and put down the shifter (who doesn't stop looking like him when it dies). The story concludes with Becky sending the boys off still in disbelief that this is what they do for a living. Dean asks about Zack Sam says that they're pinning it all on Dean Winchester because they found Zack's (girlfriend/wife)'s DNA or blood or something on Dean's clothing and so the police now think the tape has been tampered with. They expect Zack to be exonerated. On this note, the boys drive off. Dean laments that he didn't stay because "how many times am I going to have the chance to attend my own funeral".

So this episode is rated 7/10 for horror, 6/10 for mystery/suspense, (no points deducted for misogyny), side character development is very minimal. Becky's character isn't really explored a whole lot and she's really the only side character we see so I give it a 6/10 for that but another 10/10 for Dean's character development. Overall a solid 7.25/10. It would have been higher if the mystery element had been better or if the horror element wasn't mostly gore. I really liked the Dean character development in this episode, as I've said and I hope we get another good Sam episode soon as well. (Although I know there are some really interesting developments with his character as the show progresses).

Thanks for sticking with me through this review. If you liked it, check out my other reviews. Stay tuned for more (I'll try to get this season finished by the year's end but we'll see how it goes).

Ending of "Maid", Start of "Feel Good"

 I want to talk about the end of maid, but I'd also like to talk about this new show I just started watching called Feel Good. Actually, I watched the first episode a while back, and I liked it, but I waited a little while before I watched any more and I watched the second episode tonight. 

So, the end of Maid. I felt that, although it ended well (a little bittersweet), it wasn't as realistic an ending as the rest of the show has been. That is because in the end Shawn did the right thing, realized what he was and what he'd been doing, and decided that he didn't want his daughter to grow up with that. I don't feel like that's realistic. The really infuriating part was the guy with the beard whose name I don't even remember, although he is in half the show, because... well he's the typical "nice guy" isn't he? He has that mentality that ultimately he's expecting something from Alex and she knows it, she can feel it, that's why she's so standoffish to him. If he were a really nice guy he would have understood what had happened to her. He comes into her life (after her breakup with Shawn anyway) as she's sleeping on the floor of the ferry station with her daughter. That had to raise some bells. Then there's the insistence that she can't go back to Shawn no matter what. The need to keep working even though she's barely staying afloat. All of these were context clues that she'd been in an abusive relationship, and the kicker is that she's not ready to move on and that she turns to her abuser when something really bad happens. Because that's what they do. That's how they control, by being there for you at your lowest point so you let them back in. And that bearded asshole did exactly what Shawn needed him to do to get her back under his thumb and I'll never forgive his asshole of a character. But then again, perhaps Alex needed to go back so that she could leave and leave for good and end up with the happy ending (although it's not realistic that it went down like that).

Now for Feel Good. The show is about a lesbian Mae who is a comedian, an ex drug-addict, and who (in the first episode) starts a whirlwind romance with a girl who has been coming to her shows (George). Mae and George are a good couple, in private. But George isn't open about her sexuality. While hanging out with her friends, George pretends to be dating a guy to keep a creepy jerk at arms length. Mae repeatedly asks George about meeting her friends and George keeps making excuses and then lying to her friends. Then, last episode she went to a family member's wedding and told Mae that she wasn't allowed a plus one then lied to her family about why she didn't bring a plus one.

Of course, George didn't find out about Mae's past with drugs until Mae was talking to her acerbic mother on skype, so there's a little bit of dishonesty on both sides. I'm liking the show so far. It is realistic about how addicts will replace one addiction with another, especially if the new addiction is something that also brings them shame. Mae's new addiction is George, and although being with George doesn't bring her shame, she's ashamed of being too clingy and thinks she might be driving George away. Meanwhile, George is in head over heals but too ashamed of being gay to openly admit it to family and friends. I look forward to continuing this series to see where it goes. I also really like the roommate. He's a fun character.

Maid: Ongoing thoughts

 So I'm up to episode 6 in the series and it tackles some very tough issues, like income inequality and co-parenting, in very realistic ways. One of the episodes handles problems like the inhabitable living conditions some lower-income landlords expect you to live with. Alex notices mold and her landlord suggests that she open the window to air the place out, but Maddie (Alex's daughter) is sick and she isn't getting better. They end up having to move and temporarily stay with Alex's bio dad until Alex figures out that he used to beat her mom because she has flashbacks to her childhood while cleaning the estate of a mother who has recently passed away and noticing the evidence around the house that this woman was extremely abusive (locks on the kid's bedroom door, a small crawlspace with a lock on it where there are child's drawings, etc). Naturally after dredging up the repressed memory, Alex doesn't want to be anywhere near her father, so she moves in with her mom who had gone awol for a bit but is back and married to the guy who seems to be fleecing her. (Alex notices several things that lead her to this conclusion, and there is little evidence that the guy has any real feelings for her mom).

It also explores online dating, moving on from a relationship, and co-parenting, all in realistic ways. Alex keeps falling into places where she needs help because government assistance is just not enough and in order to qualify she has to limit the hours she works so it's basically a catch-22. This is an extremely good representation of income inequality. And there are social pressures on her from her former friends (who are Sean's friends), from her mom (who doesn't understand that emotional abuse is still abuse) and from her own feelings for Sean (which are portrayed beautifully when she goes out and finds him and gives him a ride home after he's been gone 2 days on a bender). Alex finds little help from the rich people around her, most of whom see her kind of like a tool for them to use rather than an actual person.

I find myself getting more and more invested in these characters, hoping against hope that she doesn't go back to Sean, because that would be bad, and maybe seeing a bit of my own struggles with raising kids and financial troubles at the very least. I remember when the kids were young enough to require daycare it was so expensive that it was almost a day's wages just to pay half. If I'd had to foot the entire thing, I don't think I could have done it. And not having a family she can fall back on (even her mom is flighty and unpredictable) is something I also relate to, as is feeling isolated by the people you thought were your friends because it turns out they were only friends with you because of the person you were with. It doesn't help that the only person who is remotely willing and able to help seems to have ulterior motives (in that he's attracted to her). The show hits home and I like it. I might write one more review when I finish it just to let you know what I thought of the ending (or how it left off if it seems likely to continue beyond one season).

Thank You

 I just wanted to take some time and thank each and every person who reads my blog (yes that includes you mom) for taking the time to read my posts. Much thanks to those of you who also jumped through the hurdles and actually left a comment. I hope you like what I've been doing with the reviews. I'll get back on that soon. I've been reading a fair amount recently, which means I've also been writing more, and I've also been working an inordinate amount of time. I will try and get back on the Supernatural reviews soon. I will definitely be reviewing at least the first five seasons, as I said in a previous post. Anyway, thank you so much. Please feel free to leave feedback, I do moderate my comments which means it may take longer for your comment to be posted, but don't let that stop you. I am still watching Maid, and it's getting better. I recommend it to anyone who'd like to check it out.

A Side Note

 Sometimes I get bummed. I guess that's putting it mildly. But when I get like this it's hard to find the motivation to write and I get in a space where I'm not doing the thing I love most and that just makes me more bummed because I'm not really working towards anything I actually want to do, I'm just wasting time on stuff I don't like. So I recently watched an anime called "Remake Our Life" it's a time-leap anime where the protagonist (a man in his late 20's) time leaps to a point in his life where he made a decision that effected his whole life and he goes down a different path. I'm not going to spoil anything for those of you who might want to watch the show, but at one point he runs across an artist who has no motivation to draw. She says: "There's just not anything I want to draw anymore" and I get that feeling, because when I'm bummed that's exactly how I feel about writing. I think "everything has been done, and done better than I could ever do" or "there's just not anything I feel like writing" and so I put it off just like the character in the story. However, one of the ways he is able to help her is to remind her what inspired her to draw in the first place. I have been reading more recently and I just started realizing that when I read things that perk up my imagination and pull me in, even if it's not remotely in the same genre that I am writing, it makes me want to write. So, if you're a writer and you're struggling for inspiration, maybe start reading some new stuff that awakens your imagination. That is all, thank you, and see you with my next review.

"Maid" Netflix Series First Impression

 So much to unpack with this show so far. I haven't finished it yet but these are my initial thoughts. First, it is an accurate depiction of the reality some people find when trying to extricate themselves from abusive relationships. For instance, in the first episode Alex flees her home after her boyfriend has a violent outburst which leaves her fearing for her child's safety. The first place she thinks to go is a friend's house, but this friend has close ties to her boyfriend who is immediately alerted to her presence there. She leaves that place, but has nowhere else to go and ends up sleeping in her car at a public park. 

The second realistic thing is the finance issue. Many abusive partners control the money in the relationship so they can cut it off at any time for any reason. This gives them financial control which makes it more difficult to leave. Alex at the offset has about $20 to work with and as she puts gas in her car, we see her funds going down.

The third realistic thing is how difficult it can be to find work if you don't have a place to live or any kind of daycare for your children, which would be difficult if all your close friends were tied to your abusive partner. This is why abusive partners tend to alienate their victims to keep them from having someplace else to turn.

Something else I found interesting and extremely true to life is that people who come from troubled pasts tend to fall into these kinds of relationships more easily. Alex has a flighty and irresponsible mother, and a father who isn't really a part of her life because he has a family outside of the probably toxic one he had with her mother. One reason for this is that people with this kind of past have fewer familial ties, less confidence, and more neediness than their more stable peers.

And finally, and perhaps the most realistic part of all is the way other people tend to view emotionally abusive relationships and why it can be so hard to leave. Because it's easy to say "it was just one outburst" and ignore all the other things that person is doing or has done especially if it's not all the time. Abusers often begin with emotional abuse before they escalate to physical violence. This tears down their victims mentally and makes them more susceptible to physical attacks. Abusers often call their victims names, tell them they're worthless, scream in their faces, hit near them to intimidate them or throw things. All these actions take a toll on the victim and break down their willpower.

All-in-all the show has a very good start and I am eager to see more. So far, I rate the show a 10/10

"Bloody Mary" Supernatural S1:Ep5

Finally we get some semblance of closure for Sam and an idea that he might be able to one day get past his feelings of guilt over Jessica's death. This episode has a pretty big creep factor, although the monster is something we've encountered before (we see a lot of different types of ghosts), this ghost is different because there are no bones to burn since the body was cremated. I'm getting ahead of myself. The main thing I didn't like about this episode was the recurring damsel in distress trope where the boys put themselves in danger to save some girl. In this episode, the most important characters are the main characters with the only real exception being Charlie, the girl who ends up needing saved.

The show starts off with some 12-year-old kids playing truth or dare. One girl is dared to go into the bathroom and say "bloody Mary" in the mirror, a superstition we've all heard. Just in case we haven't, however, the girls clarify what will happen in order to frighten their friend. The girl does it, and nothing happens apart from her friends jerkishly banging on the door to freak her out. The girl's father, however, starts having a creepy woman with ratty black hair show up in any reflective surface he passes (mostly mirrors). It comes to a head when the man notices something weird about his own reflection as he's looking into the bathroom mirror. The scene cuts to the 12-year-olds and and older girl walks in. The one who said "bloody Mary" teases her that she is past curfew, but the teen ignores her and heads upstairs. Once there she finds blood leaking out of the bathroom but appears unperturbed by it at first. She curiously opens the door further to find even more blood and then her eyes fall on something that makes her scream. The audience is left to imagine what has happened to her poor father who is no doubt the victim of Bloody Mary. All this, the candle light, the creepy ghost figure popping into reflections and finally the large amount of blood without showing the body, all up the horror element.

The next seen shows Sam and Dean. Sam is having yet another nightmare about Jessica's death. Dean lays into him a bit, but Sam brushes it off like it's nothing. It is obvious Dean wants to help Sam but doesn't know how. This is a good Sam/Dean moment, and there are quite a few of those in this episode. The first stop for the boys is the morgue where they have to bribe an orderly to be able to see the corpse. Evidently weary of their fake ids the boys pose as college students instead of federal agents this time. The orderly tells them how much blood there was on the guy's brain and that his eyes were melted in their sockets. He thinks it was an aneurism. As they're leaving the morgue, they discuss the possibility that it is just some freak medical thing and not a hunter thing, but they both agree that is unlikely. Next stop is the funeral where they talk to the guy's daughter who discovered the body. She is with a few of her friends. Sam and Dean pretend they worked with the father and ask if there were ever any signs of an impending aneurism. The younger daughter then says it was her fault because she said "Bloody Mary" that night. The boys look at the bathroom where the man died and are found there by Charlie, one of the daughter's friends. Charlie threatens to scream if the boys don't tell her exactly what they are doing. They say they think something ominous might have happened and they don't want it to happen to anyone else. It's pretty obvious from the moment that Sam gives her his number (in case anything happens to shed light on the situation) that this is going to be the episode's damsel in distress. I really wish they wouldn't do this every episode, it's kind of wearing on my patience. 

A friend of Charlie's is mocking her and says "Bloody Mary" three times in the mirror, after which she is attacked. Sam and Dean go to investigate and find a name on the back of the mirror she was killed in front of. They find out the name belongs to an 8-year-old boy who was killed in a hit and run. Charlie tells them that it was her friend who was driving the car. They boys go to the first victim's house and find the name of the man's wife on the mirror. The daughter tells them her mom overdosed but that it was an accident. The ghost is punishing people by revealing their secrets and killing them. The boys find that a woman named Mary was murdered in front of a mirror, but it was in Ft. Wayne Indiana. They go to speak to the lead investigator on the case. He tells them that Mary's eyes were cut out with surgical precision and that her diary indicated that she was planning to tell her lover's wife about their affair right before her murder. She was able to write the letters TRE on the mirror before she died, and the investigator thinks that she was trying to out her murderer. The boys try to track down the mirror, sure that if they smash it Mary will be vanquished. They find out that it was sold to an antique shop in the town Mary is currently haunting.

Before the boys get back, Charlie has an argument with the daughter of the first victim and that girl says "Bloody Mary" in front of the school's bathroom mirror. Charlie then begins seeing Mary in reflective surfaces and starts to freak out. She smashes the window at school, then sees Mary in her teacher's eyeglasses, screams and runs out of the building. When the boys return, they put Mary in a room without any reflective surfaces and tell her they're going to vanquish the ghost. They ask her what happened, and she tells them that her boyfriend committed suicide after a fight. Now they know that Mary only cares that there was a secret and someone died.

On the way to the antique store, Sam tells Dean he thinks the only way to make sure Mary doesn't keep appearing is to make sure she's in the mirror when they smash it. He tells Dean that he thinks Mary will come after him because of Jessica's death. Dean tries to talk him out of it, obviously worried. This is another good Sam/Dean moment. Besides, Dean reasons, he knows everything about what happened to Jessica so it isn't a secret. Sam then says that he hasn't told Dean everything and then refuses to divulge his secret because then "it wouldn't be a secret". 

They boys break into the antique store, but they trip the alarm. The cops show up before Sam is finished saying "Bloody Mary" and Dean goes to deal with them. Sam is set to smash the mirror, but he is surprised that instead of seeing Mary he sees his own reflection telling him what he did. It turns out Sam didn't only keep the fact that he was a hunter from Jessica, he was also having premonitions about her death for days before it happened. Dean tries to convince the cops that he's the owner of the shop's son, but it isn't working and so he chooses to knock them out instead so he can go back and help Sam. He returns just in time and smashes the mirror. Sam is saved. But Mary crawls out of the frame and attacks both boys. Sam manages to hold up a nearby mirror, which causes Mary to see her own misdeeds and vanquish herself.

After telling Charlie she's safe, Sam tells her that her boyfriend's suicide was "absolutely not her fault" and by so doing, we see that Sam is starting to forgive himself as well. Still, as they drive out of town, he refuses to tell Dean what the audience now knows and he sees a mirage of Jessica on the side of the street just before the credits roll.

I have decided to start rating various parts of the show, then giving a whole grade to it, based on the individual grades. For horror/suspense this episode gets a 9/10 (the creep element is high, but not the highest we've seen) for side characters, this episode gets a 6/10 (most of them were kind of predictable and I didn't like the damsel in distress trope once again. Would it have killed them to make this character a guy whose girlfriend died? I mean, they wouldn't have even had to change the name.) For main character bonding this episode gets a very high 10/10 (there were lots of really good moments and you can see how much the boys care for each other). For misogyny this episode gets a -2 out of -10 (one Paris Hilton joke and the damsel in distress trope). And finally, for mystery, this episode gets a 7/10 (it was pretty predictable, but some of the mystery elements were good). Overall, this episode gets a 6/10.

"Sex Education" Whole TV Series Review

This TV series is not for the prudish among us. I have seen someone call it pornography, and I am almost certain that is how my father would describe it. However, it is a very good show that touches on some very important topics especially where it concerns the LGBT community. For this reason I would like to do a whole show review. I may do episodic reviews at a later date, in order to give this show the credit it deserves. It does feature quite a bit of nudity. I would caution that people uncomfortable with LGBT relationships should not watch, except I really think they would benefit most from the show.

The main relationship the show focuses on is not LGBT, and that is a little disappointing. I didn't really enjoy the main ship of the show, even though the show fought so hard to make me care. I would have rather seen the main two end up with one of their other relationships. For a little while I thought Otis and Ola would be a good match, but I think the show was right to split them, they're better as siblings. I still think Maeve was best paired with Jackson, and I really couldn't stand that she broke his heart like that. Still, I think his friendship with Viv was the best thing that came out of his breakup, and he might not have gotten to know Cam either if they had stayed together.

And I've started talking characters before I've even given a premise. The show is about a group of British teenagers who are in the last few years of their education. The school they are attending is run by an uptight prick called Mr. Groff. The main character is a boy (Otis) who hasn't quite grown into his sexuality yet, having been scarred at a young age by witnessing his father cheating on his mother, then overhearing the subsequent fight between his parents after which they divorced. His best friend Eric is openly gay, but it is never suggested that this makes Otis even slightly uncomfortable. They interact as freely as any other two friends might. Otis is very uncomfortable with his mother's occupation (sex therapist) choice of art work (many erotic or phallic designs) and the tools of her trade (mostly sex toys, but some anatomical depictions of the female sex organ). He shows this in the first episode by trying to hide all this from his assigned study partner Adam when he comes over to study.

The headmaster's son Adam takes some viagra in order to help him with his girlfriend problems, but cannot get his girlfriend Aimee to meet up with him because she's still angry that he was having problems the night before. So he goes into the abandoned bathrooms, where all the teens go to do forbidden stuff. While he's there, Otis and Mauve happen to stumble upon him. Otis gives him some advice, which Adam totally takes the wrong way, but it works to help him overcome his problem, and Maeve is given the idea that Otis is really good at giving sex advice and there's certainly a market for it. They start what they call "the clinic" which is a business where teens come to Otis with their problems and he helps them. He doesn't want to do it at first, but he has a crush on Maeve, so he goes along with it.

Throughout the show, the problems addressed are valid issues, and the show also criticizes the poor excuse for sex education most schools give their teenage students, since it ill-prepares them for the adult world of sex and the internet is not always the most useful source of information because of the vast array of bad and potentially dangerous material you can find on there. Some of the issues addressed are: female pleasure, the right to choose, asexuality, gender identity, sexual phobia, STDs, safe sex practices, masturbation, slut-shaming and sexual assault.

The show also addresses many different child-parent relationship dynamics. The relationship between Otis and his mother Jean is the most prevalent, as is Eric's relationship with his family, but the dysfunctional ones (Maeve and her mom, Adam and his dad) are also a very good part of the show.  Jackson's anxiety about his moms getting a divorce is a key point in his character arc and eventual growth.

One of the most potent storylines of the show concerns the slightly airheaded Aimee who starts off the show dating Adam and is part of the popular posse, but secretly meeting Maeve in the bathrooms to hang out because Maeve isn't the type of person her friends would approve of. Aimee is an important part of the show from the very start. It is a party at her house where Otis and Maeve give the advice that starts the ball rolling for their clinic since Adam didn't like the result after his session (Aimee broke up with him because he exposed himself to the whole cafeteria). The storyline in question happens after Aimee has chosen her friendship with Maeve over the popular crowd because Groff decides to suspend Maeve despite her unparalleled intelligence after an incident where her brother was selling drugs at a school dance. Groff thinks she and Otis have been dealing because of the clinic money. Since Aimee's no longer part of the popular crowd, she starts riding the bus to school. One day, while on the bus, a man begins to masterbate next to her and Aimee, who is uncomfortable, asks to get off the bus. After she exits the bus, Aimee finds that the man has ejaculated over her best jeans. When she tells Mauve about the incident, Maeve insists she go to the police. Aimee brushes it off initially, and plays it down, but it really hits home how much this affected her when she is unable to board the bus on subsequent days, electing to walk several miles to school, and when she can't abide her boyfriend's touch because she keeps seeing the man who assaulted her. This really shows how traumatic any type of sexual assault can be.

The best relationship in the show was Adam and Eric. Although Adam started out with Aimee, even going so far as to show up uninvited to her party and he keeps acting slightly jealous at her relationships with other men after him, it is obvious even in the beginning while he mercilessly bullies Eric, that he has a crush on him. This comes to a head when they are both put in detention and end up fighting over how to put up a music stand. They struggle and end up on the floor, then Adam kisses Eric and goes down on him, but afterwards swears him to secrecy. Their relationship is put on hold when Adam's dad ships him off to military school. After Adam is gone, Eric starts dating the new kid (Anwar) who's from France, but Adam gets kicked out of military school after he accidentally stumbles on two of his classmates jerking each other off and they plant drugs on him to get him expelled. He ends up working at the shop that Anwar's father owns and this is how Eric finds out he's back in town. Adam starts showing up to Eric's house late at night and taking him to a secret spot where he goes to smash stuff when he's angry. They smash stuff together until it's almost morning then go home and kiss. Eric is confused, but finally decides he wants a boyfriend who isn't ashamed of him, so he choses Anwar. Adam doesn't know what to do at first, but he figures out that he's bisexual and then he decides to tell Eric how he feels, in front of the whole school. He gets up on stage during the school performance of Romeo and Juliet to tell Eric "I want to hold your hand". So they start actually dating.

Second best relationship is Ola and Lily. I thought at first that Ola would have been a good match for Otis and she is the one who is able to help him overcome his sexual phobias, but he still has feelings for Maeve, who decides to tell him that she reciprocates those feelings right before what's supposed to be the night he and Ola go all the way. Then, after he tells her he's with Ola and can't return her feelings, she texts him sorry interrupting the two of them on what is supposed to be their first night. Ola gives him an ultimatum, but Otis can't respond right away. While he's deciding, Ola starts having confusing dreams about her friend Lily and this is how she figures out that she's pansexual (attracted to the person, not their genitalia) and that she is in love with her best friend. So when Otis finally decides to tell Maeve he can't see her, Ola tells him it's not going to work because their personalities clash. Ola kisses Lily, but at first Lily starts avoiding her. It seems she has never considered whether a lesbian relationship would be right for her and at first it makes her uncomfortable.

The best heterosexual romance in the story is definitely the music teacher Mr. Henricks and the English teacher Ms. Sands. Their relationship is so sweet and weird at the same time. It never says just when they started dating, but during the school trip arc, when the kids are in their last year, she says they've only been dating for a year because he proposes to her. She compromises and says they should move in together instead.

Most supportive family goes to Eric Effiong's family who try their best to support him and keep him safe. They welcome both Anwar and Adam into their home with open arms, and even give him dating advice. There is not a hint of homophobia about them. His father is a little scared for him to go out in make-up and flashy clothes, and for good reason because that is when he gets attacked after Otis selfishly ditches him for a clinic thing with Maeve. At first, he lets this get to him and he starts toning down his fashion choices, but eventually, he decides that he has to be himself even if no one else understands. His father tells him that he loves him and wants him to be safe.

Although I'd like to give most dysfunctional family to Maeve since her brother deals drugs and her Mom is an addict, they both still love her and are supportive in their own way. Instead, most dysfunctional goes to the Groffs, especially between Adam and his father. Adam is constantly berated and belittled by his father, to the point that when he's being expelled from the Military academy he begs the headmaster to let him stay rather than go home to his verbally abusive father. It turns out Adam has a gift for training dogs and he works really hard to train their small house dog Madame in a competition. When he doesn't win anything substantial he tells his mom, who he wasn't going to invite in the first place and who he hasn't come out to as of this moment, that he doesn't want her to tell his father because, since he didn't win anything Mr. Groff would "just be disappointed" in him.  

The show also explores asexuality in a productive way when a girl who identifies as asexual is supposed to be playing Juliet in the school play, but the director doesn't think she's showing enough passion. She goes to Otis for help, but he just tells her she needs to meet the right person. Her friends are pressuring her, and she doesn't know what to do, so she confides in Jean, who has set up a presence at the school to feel out possible curriculum changes for the SRE (Sex and Relationship Education) class. She tells Jean she thinks she's broken because all the other kids her age are wanting sex, but she doesn't. Jean tells her that sex doesn't make us whole so she could never be broken.

In season three, it even introduces two non-binary characters, one of whom (Cal) becomes a big part of the story. They become friends with Jackson, and Jackson develops feelings for them, but when they start to express affection and Cal tells him that it will be a queer relationship, he realizes that he's been seeing them as a girl. That is a problem, Cal tells him, because they're not a girl. Cal gets into it with the new headmistress (Mr. Groff gets fired at the end of season 2) who is trying to tell them their gender expression is wrong because she doesn't understand it.

"Phantom Traveler" Supernatural S1:Ep4

 First let me start off by saying this episode was special in that it did not contain even one hint of Dean's usual objectification of women. There were, of course, moments when Dean displayed his usual "macho" persona, like when he denies being haunted by the job despite keeping a knife under his pillow when he sleeps, but none of his comments, even when he's talking with the "damsel in distress" character Amanda.

First things first. The monster this episode is a demon who possesses people. As we'll be seeing those crop up often in the coming episodes, I'll take a minute to explore the lore. From my history of watching the show previously, I already knew it was a demon the moment I saw it. Demons are always depicted as black smoke when they are not possessing someone and always cause the victim to have black eyes and act in a way that they normally would not. Later in the episode, Sam suggests that the concept of demonic possession is inherent to all religions, and Japanese culture also links them to natural disasters. Demons leave behind a sulfuric residue, and victims of possession have no awareness of anything they did during possession. Later in the show, the lore suggests that demons are like a different type of ghost, they are human souls which have been tortured in hell for enough time that they have become warped beyond recognition. They are also hard to kill and the only way to save the victim they're possessing is to exorcise them, which is also difficult. While possessed, the human gains super-human strength. Unlike vengeful spirits, the demon has no underlying motive and is generally not tied to a specific place but has the ability to move freely. Without corporeal form the demon cannot do much, hence the possession, but after possession it becomes very powerful. 

The show starts out in the lobby of an airplane. A man fidgets around, then goes to use the bathroom where another man reassures him that the odds of dying in a plane crash are infinitesimally small. The man does not seem to have been convinced, but smiles awkwardly and nods. After the other man exits, a black smoke finds its way out of the vent and enters the man's body through his nostrils. His eyes become black and he seems to have gained confidence suddenly. Upon entering the plane, the man tells the stewardess who tells him she's sure he'll have a good flight, that he's "counting on it". After the flight is up in the air, the man asks his fellow passenger how long they've been up. "About forty minutes" he's told. He responds "time really does fly" but the other passenger doesn't find this as funny as the man apparently does. At that, the man says he needs to stretch his legs, and gets out of the seat. He promptly walks over to the exit hatch and opens it. He's sucked out of the plane and the depressurized cabin is suddenly in chaos as the pilot struggles to land. The stewardess manages to find a seat and don her oxygen mask. The horror element relies on the suspense, but there is also a darkened atmosphere at play. The plane's dim lighting, cloudy conditions. It is obvious the plane will crash, but we don't know if there will be any survivors to help solve the mystery of why it happened.

The scene cuts to Dean sleeping. Someone enters but we can't see who it is. The suspense is held for just a moment before Sam speaks up. He has brought coffee. It turns out Sam has not been sleeping well. He's still having nightmares.  Sam asks Dean if the job ever bothers him and Dean denies it. "But don't you ever get scared?" Sam asks. Dean says he never does, which Sam counters by revealing that Dean sleeps with a large knife under his pillow. Dean says that's not fear, that's precaution. Later in the show, it will be revealed that Dean is afraid of flying, so this is a nice little setup for that "macho" masquerade to be knocked down a peg.

Then the boys receive a phone call from a man (Jerry) that Dean and their father had helped out a few years ago. Dean says they took care of a poltergeist for him, but it is unclear at this point whether a poltergeist is a different monster than a vengeful spirit. Jerry works with planes in some capacity, they meet in a hanger, he has possession of the black box from the crashed plane, but it never says specifically what Jerry's job is. He does not have clearance to allow them to view the wreckage which is locked up tightly by homeland security. They listen to the recording and there is obvious interference, but you cannot tell what's being said.

There are survivors, the pilot is one, but the boys zero in on a specific one in particular. He is currently in a mental hospital. The boys, posing as homeland security agents, go to interview him to find out if he saw anything. After some prodding, the guy answers that he thought he saw a man open the emergency hatch, but that he's researched it and there's two tons of pressure on the door. There is no way someone could open it, so it must have been a hallucination. They ask if there was any type of glitch when he looked at the man, and the patient asks if they are sane. He tells them the the man was another passenger and that he was sitting in front of him. Sam and Dean find out who the passenger was, and visit his widow. They think he might have been some type of superhuman monster, but find that he was just an ordinary dentist with ulcers. 

The boys decide the must have a look at the wreckage, and buy themselves suits so that they look the part of homeland security. While studying the wreckage, Dean uses a EMT to find evidence of supernatural activity. Sam asks why it looks like an old Walkman. Dean replies that he made it out of one, and seems quite proud, although Sam is less than impressed. The two find a substance on the exit hatch handle, which they take a sample of just before actual homeland security agents show up and the boys make a hasty retreat over a fence. Dean uses his suit jacket to avoid the barbs and the boys' escape is final. Jerry is able to analyze the substance for them and tells them that it's sulfur. That is when Sam and Dean decide it must be demonic possession. Dean then verbally wishes their father were here to help them because demons don't "want anything, they just want to kill and destroy" and it's going to be difficult to take down. 

The next scene shows the pilot nervously preparing to fly his first plane since the crash. A black smoke exits the vent and enters him. Suddenly he doesn't seem so nervous. He is in the air with a co-pilot who tells him he'll be back to flying the big planes before he knows it. The pilot says "time really does fly" and knocks out the co-pilot before sending the plane into a nosedive. As it crashes, the plane takes out telephone wires. The scene cuts to Jerry telling the boys that the pilot is dead. Dean suggests that perhaps the demon was after the pilot all along, but Sam has another theory. Both flights went down 40 minutes into flight. In the past ten years, there have been six other flights with this same pattern. For the other flights, there were no survivors. The interference on the black box said "no survivors". Sam and Dean decide that the demon is targeting the survivors.

Most of them are not planning to fly any time soon, but the stewardess, Amanda, has a flight that departs that evening. Sam and Dean decide that the demon will try to tamper with her flight and the best way to prevent that is by keeping her off of it. The problem is that she will not answer her phone. They arrive at the airport and succeed in paging her to a phone nearby, but they are unable to convince her not to board the plane. It is then that Sam suggests that they need to get on the flight and exorcise the demon to prevent the plane from going down. Here's the payoff from the earlier claim Dean made that he doesn't get scared because his face goes white. He is afraid of flying. Sam tells him that he needs to get a grip, because if he's got a chink in the armor, he opens himself up to demonic possession.

Dean has brought holy water with him to help find the demon, but Sam suggests a subtler approach. He says that the demon will flinch at the name of God and tells Dean he needs to say it in Latin "christo". Dean goes to find out if the stewardess Amanda is possessed. Despite the fact that she is a woman, Dean does not go his usual route of hitting on her. Instead, possibly because he is nervous from flying, or perhaps because he's on a mission, the two simply exchange light conversation about flying. He ends it by saying "christo" but she doesn't respond and he walks off with her obviously thinking he's a little strange in the head. Next, Dean attempts to find the demon by walking around with his EMT, but he has scanned all the passengers and had no luck. Suddenly, the EMT starts going off when the co-pilot enters the cabin for a moment. Dean says "christo" and the man flinches and looks back, his eyes black. Sam and Dean convince Amanda that she needs to bring the co-pilot back so they can "have a talk with him". When the co-pilot enters the back of the plane, the two jump him and duct-tape his mouth shut. Amanda is horrified by what they're doing until they sprinkle the man with water and his skin begins to smoke. They use Dean's strength and the holy water to keep the demon incapacitated while Sam chants the exorcism in Latin. The exorcism rite has two parts. The first part gets the demon out of the body of the victim, but it corporealizes him making it so that the demon can wreck havoc without a body. The second part sends the demon back to hell. Sam is almost finished with the first part when the demon, who has managed to rip the duct-tape of his mouth, turns to him and says "I know what happened to your girlfriend. She must have died in agony." Sam falters, but quickly regains his composure and continues the exorcism. The demon flees into the vents and the book has been knocked out of Sam's grasp. The plane begins to experience turbulent conditions as the demon, now corporeal, shakes it. Sam struggles to find the book so he can continue the ritual. He finally gets it, the lights are flashing, the plane is shaking, the passengers are all terrified, and Sam is shouting in Latin in the center of the aisle.

Sam succeeds, of course, and the plane calms down. Next it shows the crew being interviewed. The co-pilot says he has no memory of even boarding the plane. Amanda is telling her story but she manages to mouth "thank you" to the boys who are standing off to the side. They decide it's time to go. Jerry thanks them and it is only then that Dean wonders how Jerry was able to get his new number since he's only had it for about six months.

"Your dad gave it to me." Jerry says. Dean and Sam are taken aback, but Jerry explains that he didn't actually talk with their father. "It was on his voicemail."

Sam wonders how this could be since he's tried calling their father and it hasn't gone through like his service had been disconnected. Dean tries and they get the message. "This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean." The boys look at one another and Sam is visibly upset. Their father knew he was going to be unreachable, and had the temerity to send people looking for help their way. The episode ends with them driving their car down the road.

This show has a bit of mystery, but not as much as "Dead in the Water". It doesn't show Dean's lascivious side, which is good, and it takes down his toxic masculinity a peg, which is great. It also shows both boys being vulnerable in different ways. I didn't really like that they rescued yet another woman, (does it always have to be a woman?) who was grateful. Jerry doesn't count even though he's the one who called them in, because he was never in any danger. The horror and suspense elements are pretty good too, capitalizing on the fear of flying which is a common phobia even though flight problems are rare. After carefully weighing all elements, I give this episode an 8.5/10, slightly lower than the last episode which had a better mystery element. 

"Dead in the Water" Supernatural S1: Ep 3

This episode has a much more in-depth look at Dean's character and what makes him tick. He is also more personable for most of the episode, although he does do some eyeballing and failed pick-up lines near the beginning of the show. It focuses more on the mystery element of the show than on the horror, although the horror element is not missing, it is simply toned down. For these reasons, I particularly liked this episode and would rate it a surprising 9/10, higher than either of the two previous shows, despite the fact that the monster is similar (a vengeful spirit) to what we encountered in the first episode.

Now let's get to the meat of what makes this show so good in comparison to the others. First, the characters. The show gets off to a rocky start as a grown brother teases his sister that "guys don't like buff girls" as she's headed out to the lake to swim. She cuts back with a comment about girls not liking guys who still live at home and we're set with the gender stereotypes for the show. Then the girl goes swimming and something in the water is obviously watching her. She stops, glances to the shore, then starts swimming again. Whatever drags her under is not seen and we're not even showed her struggle, just the bubbles that rise to the surface when she doesn't. This ups the suspense but it's not as big of a horror element as some of the things on previous episodes.

The scene cuts to Sam and Dean discussing the disappearance as being one of three such "accidental" drownings this year where the body was never recovered. Dean flirts with the waitress and gives her a lecherous look telling Sam that they're "allowed to have fun". Then, the two of them argue about why they're hunting monsters instead of searching more diligently for their missing father. Sam finds their father's disappearance to be more pressing, but Dean argues back that he is just as worried since he has been the one fighting at their father's side for the past two years while Sam was off getting an education. Dean belittles the college experience (another thing that does not bode well for my feelings about his character). Then the two of them set off for the town.

When they show up to talk to the victim's brother (introducing themselves as wildlife specialists), he tells them what he saw, which wasn't much of anything. They ask to speak to the father (Ben), but they're given the brush off. The son says he's "been through hell" and he didn't see anything anyway. Then they talk to the sheriff, who insists that there's nothing in the lake, and they even brought in sonar equipment to prove it. There, they meet the sheriff's beautiful young daughter Andrea who catches Dean's eye, and her son Lucas. The sheriff tells the boys that his grandson has been through a lot. Dean tries to hit on Andrea, but she gives him the brush off and the boys head to their hotel room for a little research. It is there they they find out Andrea is the widow of one of the victims and that her son Lucas saw his father's death. 

They head to the park where Andrea is watching Lucas from one of the benches. She tells Dean he is wasting his time, but he goes to talk to Lucas anyway. Andrea obviously thinks Dean is still trying to put the moves on her and she tells Sam that his "Jerry MacGuire" routine isn't going to work. The scene leaves the two of them and focuses instead on Dean talking to the mute Lucas. Dean can't seem to get Lucas to say anything but he suggests that Lucas could draw what he needs to say about his father's death. Dean draws some stick figures that he says are his father, his mother (he chokes on this word) himself, and his dumbass brother. Finally, he seems to give up and wanders back over to Andrea and Sam just as Andrea is explaining to Sam how Lucas has not spoken a word since his father's death. Just then, Lucas runs up and hands a drawing to Dean. It is of a house. Dean folds the drawing and pockets it.

Next we find a mournful Ben being attended by his son who is trying to convince him he needs to eat. The boy is fixing dinner when the sink starts filling up with a dark liquid which looks like lake water. Even after the guy pulls the plug it will not drain, so he sticks his hand in to try to plunge it or catch whatever is clogging it. Here the horror element comes in at the unseen force which pulls him beneath the water and holds him there long enough to drown before the sink drains itself and leaves his body in the sink. Sam and Dean find out about the drowning and go to follow up. Ben is beside himself as he sits in a chair by the lake. He tells Dean that both of his children are dead and that it is worse than dying. The boys go to leave and they agree that Ben is hiding something. That is when they notice, Ben's house is the same as the one in the picture Lucas gave Dean, down to the very last detail.

They go to question Lucas, but Andrea tells them they're wasting their time. Dean tells her if she really thinks these are all just coincidental drownings that they'll leave, but if she thinks that there's even a chance something else is going on, she needs to let them talk to Lucas. Dean is the one to talk to Lucas. This is the part where Dean really opens up. He tells Lucas that when he was a boy, he saw something "bad" happen to his mom and that he didn't want to talk after it happened either. He says that he knew his mom wanted him to be brave and suggests that Lucas' dad might want the same thing. Lucas hasn't looked up from his drawing this whole time, but he gives Dean another house drawing. This one is of a yellow house near a church with a red bike and a little boy standing out front. Sam and Dean hunt the house down and the inhabitant tells them that the boy "has not lived here in a very long time" she tells them of her son's disappearance and says that losing him 35 years ago was "worse than dying". There is a connection. That is when the lake disappearances started. Sam or Dean finds a picture of two boys, one of them is the boy that disappeared, the other is Ben.

Sam and Dean go to confront Ben, just as he has decided he knows what the vengeful spirit wants from him. It is too late to stop him from propelling his boat out onto the lake where it is promptly upended by an unseen entity and he is pulled beneath the surface.

Next they are in the sheriff's office where Andrea calls them by their first names and the sheriff seems angry about this. Before Andrea takes Lucas away, Lucas seems frightened and clings onto Dean. The sheriff tells them he knows they aren't who they were pretending to be and gives them two options. He can arrest them for impersonating federal officers, or they can leave town and never be seen again. They pick option 2, but as they are in the car, headed for the interstate, Dean hesitates. He turns in the wrong direction. He has a bad feeling about Lucas' fearful clinging earlier that day. If the vengeful spirit has been satiated by Ben's death as Sam thinks, then why was Lucas so afraid.

The scene cuts to Andrea running bathwater. We all see the attack coming before the water even begins to run out muddy, we just don't know if Sam and Dean will be there on time. She has time to scream before she gets pulled under and a frantic Lucas answers the door and leads the boys into the bathroom where Sam is able to pull Andrea from the clutches of whatever is trying to drown her, albeit with some difficulty. They ask Andrea to tell them what happened and Andrea begins to tell Sam a tale of hearing someone say "come play with me" just before being pulled under. Dean finds a picture which links the sheriff to the boy who went missing. Now we know why this family is under attack. Lucas then leads Dean to a spot where they begin to dig and unearth the red bike the missing kid used to ride.

The sheriff shows up and has a gun on Dean and Sam while Andrea comes out from the house to find out what's going on. Dean explains that he knows that the sheriff and Ben killed the boy 35 years ago and that the spirit is going to take everyone he loves away until he knows what the boy's mom felt and then it will take him too. He tells the man that if he wants to have a chance, they have to destroy the remains. As this scene plays out, we see Lucas, we hear the voice "come play with me" an eerie faraway child's voice, and we see him leave the safety of the house. Andrea confronts her father telling him to look her in the eyes and say he didn't murder anyone, but he can't and so his confession is heard. He and Ben were both bigger than the missing boy. They used to bully him. That is what they were doing that day, holding his head under water, only this time, they held it too long and the boy drowned. They let the body go and it sank to the bottom. This part does take away some from my suspension of disbelief because the body was never found and it is pretty well known that decomposing bodies fill with gas and become more buoyant. That is why gangsters would give their victims "cement shoes" before sending them to "sleep with the fishes". Okay, but I can get past that. Maybe some algae grew over the body before it became buoyant.

Anyway, just in time to watch Lucas get pulled into the water Sam, Dean, Andrea and the sheriff notice that Lucas is near the edge of the pier. Then the sheriff sees what he's been denying. The ghost of the boy he drowned. As Sam and Dean desperately search the water for Lucas, the sheriff wades in and begs the ghost to take him instead and leave the boy alone. The ghost obliges, and Dean surfaces with Lucas, but he's limp. The next scene shows Sam consoling Dean that "we can't save everyone" and for a moment the audience believes that Lucas drowned as well. Lucas and his mom, however, show up moments later. Lucas has even begun to talk. They say goodbye, Dean seems especially sad to leave because of the bond he's formed with this kid and then Andrea kisses him. Dean seems to linger before they get in the car and drive off, indicating that he'd much rather stay and explore a relationship with Andrea and Lucas.

A few notes -- I loved the mystery element to this episode. Most of them have at least some mystery to be solved, but this one really took it to the next level. It was on par with "What lies Beneath" down to the vengeful spirit punishing its murderer(s). I didn't even mind that the monster was another ghost. We will meet other kinds of monsters down the road. 

I also loved the vulnerability Dean showed in this episode. If there were more moments like this throughout the show, instead of portraying him as the picture of toxic masculinity, I might be more prone to like his character. I'm not entirely certain, but this mom and son might be the same ones that feature in Season 5, if that is true, this is good foreshadowing of what is to come. I have not decided if I will continue these reviews past season 5 (where I believe the show should have ended) even though I have watched the more recent seasons (to a point).

Andrea is a good character, despite eventually falling into the category of "damsel in distress". Lucas is also an interesting character, although it is never explicitly explained why he suddenly became able to speak after the ghost got its vengeance. Perhaps what was stopping him was fear because he knew the thing that killed his father was still out there. I do also wonder about the 7 drowning victims which were never named and what their relationship to Ben and the sheriff might have been. Still, I rate this episode high because it did a good job with character development and execution.