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twdmusicboxmystery · 4 years

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TWD 10x15: The Tower - First Thoughts

The episode is SOOO good! How did everyone like it? It also really sucks because we won’t get the next episode for a while. It definitely feels like a transition to the big battle. And it literally ends on the steps of Grady. I swear they’re doing this to us on purpose. Like the last shot in the episode is Beta showing up at the hospital with the horde and it shows a shot of the exact door Daryl carried Beth out of! Gaw!

But there’s TONS of good symbolism the spoilers, of course, missed.

***As always, spoilers for 10x15 abound below. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

Symbol #1: Negan walks into the hospital with…a possum. That stuff he’s cooking? It’s possum stew. No lie. They draw attention to it several times. Recap: possums like to “play dead,” so it’s an apt metaphor for Beth seeming to be dead, but not being, and rising up to live again at some point. There are only two times I can remember seeing the possum symbol: at the moonshine shack, and then Daryl shot one when they first got to Alexandria. Definitely a Beth symbol.

So here’s the thing. I think the possums represent the coming death fake out in a particular arc. So the one at the moonshine shack obviously represented Beth.

I think the one Daryl killed outside Alexandria represented Glenn’s death fake out. (Remember, it knocked over some garbage cans; and Glenn slid underneath a garbage can.)

I’m sort of missing one. I’m thinking there must have been one around Rick in S8, but we missed it, or at least I don’t remember it.

In the other two cases, we saw one the season before the death fake out happened. S4 for Beth, and her fake out happened in S5. S5 for Glenn, and his fake out happened in S6. So there must have been one around Rick in S7 or S8. So, this possum really may be to represent Zeke’s death fake out, which will probably come next season. But, the tie to Beth is clearly there. And, Glenn survived his death fake out, so…

Cats:

At first, I was really confused about the cats. I don’t mean symbolically. The symbolism around them is resurrection-oriented. 9 lives and such. What I mean is, the stuff going on with them in the episode was extremely weird and random. Carol pets Dog (which, btw, happens once, for all of 3 seconds; that’s it. Yes, that’s sarcasm because the spoilers were extremely weird about that point) and she says, “he’s keeping all the cats away.”

Why would stray cats leave because Dog was there, or because TF moved into the hospital. And why would they care whether the cats stayed or not? And you could argue it was just a joke or something to say (which we know the writers don’t do anyway) but they keep mentioning it.

Lydia later pets a cat and Judith says, “I thought all the cats left.” And there’s the cat that crosses Beta’s path. Which, btw, they give no indication that he followed that cat to the hospital. I suppose he MIGHT have followed it, but what I could tell, he saw the cat, but kept going. It wasn’t until a little later that his horde turned toward the hospital. So either the source misunderstood, or if it turns out to be true, it’s just more proof that the spoiler source knows things that aren’t actually shown in the episode. At the very least, I wouldn’t have thought Beta followed the cat to the hospital if I hadn’t read it in the spoilers. And we don’t see the cat again when the horde reaches the hospital.

Anyway, obviously the cats are symbolic. But wasn’t even sure how they were justifying putting them into the episode at all. The plot around them wasn’t making sense to me. Plot-wise, I’m still unsure.

However, while making the episode edit, something finally occurred to me. I was taking some screenshots to make an edit for the episode and thought I might include a picture of one of

the cats, since they have such a huge presence in this episode. I was staring at this one

(which incidentally I didn’t end up using, LOL) and something occurred to me. Lydia is wearing pink here. Pink = Beth.

It kind of came together for me all at once. Lydia = Beth because of the pink. Beth tamed Daryl. Daryl = cat, because Joe Claimer called him a cat in S4. But Lydia also kind of tamed Daryl because parenting her is what gave him purpose again. So, I think all the cats in this episode represent Daryl in some way. It just makes some of the weird lines about them make more sense.

For example, in this particular shot, Lydia is playing with the cat and Judith walks up to her and says, “I thought all the cats left.“ Lydia replies, “not this one.“ Later in the episode, Judith tells Daryl she was afraid he would leave if she told him about Michonne. He tells her that he won’t. So, he’s the only cat that didn’t leave.

I had to think about what the line about Dog keeping the cats away meant. Because taken literally, with Dog =ing Beth, that would mean that Beth kept Daryl away. And obviously that doesn’t make any sense. But then it occurred to me that Joe Claimer was specifically talking about Daryl being an “outdoor” cat, or a wild cat. So, Beth keeps Daryl tame and civil, rather than having him become wild.

Lydia has had a similar civilizing influence on him. I’m not entirely sure what to make about the cat crossing Beta’s path, but I half think it might be a death omen for Beta. In terms of Halloween symbolism, a black cat crossing someone’s path is a bad omen. And I’ve always believed that Daryl will kill Beta, just as Carol killed Alpha, even if she didn’t actually deal the killing blow. She orchestrated it all. But I’m not positive about the cat that crosses Beta’s path. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of it.

@wdway added these thoughts:

“The reason Daryl and Beth work so well together, the reason you could say they complete each other is that they have a sweetness, a kindness that is about being able to understand another person’s pain. Even though they might not have had the same experience themselves.

Beth understood Daryl's past life, the pain he had as a child growing up just as Daryl understood her loss of a beloved father, something he never experienced himself. They both are extremely strong people and it's not about the ability to physically fight, it's about not losing themselves in the fight. Beth realized that in Daryl, their souls share the same heartbeat. Daryl was drawn to Lydia because just like her he had been a child of abuse and he recognizes that her heart beats a similar rhythm as Beth's. I would like to point out the fact that the one-eyed dog in Alone was a stray. Beth (dog) and Daryl (cat) are both strays. The only true home either of them will ever have will be with each other.”

In short, Beth = dog, Daryl = cat. Yet another way they complement one another.

More evidence of this:

Judith is SO Beth in this episode. I know we already knew that because…obviously. But there were like 16 things aside from the obvious hat/braid/trained by Daryl. She was up in the tower/Grady/ hospital and sort of snuck out to be with Daryl. He trains her, of course. After he kills the whisperer woman, she gets upset that he just leaves her there. She doesn’t actually say the word burial, but she says, “we’re just gonna leave her?” and is obviously upset they aren’t burying her or returning her remains to her people.

There’s a line where Daryl tells Judith to go back to the tower and she says, “No. I hate it up there. It smells like cat pee.” It reminded me of the line Daryl said in 5x11: “This barn smells like horseshit.”

The scene between Daryl and Judith was STELLAR. Like when she gave him the vest, it’s sweet and beautiful and SO Full of Beth. Judith literally gets mad at him for leaving that woman behind. (It’s important to note that Judith worries the woman might have a family that is looking for her—also a Beth parallel. I doubt that, as the woman is a Whisperer and didn’t show any signs of being chummy with them. Plus she told Daryl that she left Beta anyway. But I think it’s sweet that Judith thinks that. She’s just young and naïve enough, and has grown up with people who care about her, to think everyone must have a family who would look for them.) Anyway, she says, “I can’t believe you just left her there. In a ditch. What if you were lost? And no one could find you…?” Sound like what happened to Beth?

He asks where all this is coming from and she tells him she talked to Michonne. And this is interesting. She does not tell him about the possibility of Rick. As the spoilers said, she just says Michonne went to help people who needed it. She says she didn’t want to tell Daryl and when he asks why, she says, “Because I was afraid you’d leave, too.”

I think this is 1) the answer to whether or not Daryl will leave to go find Rick. Even if he found out now, I don’t think he would. He knows Judith needs him too much. And 2) I think that’s why she didn’t tell him about Rick. She had really no reason to think he’d leave to go help Michonne unless Michonne actually asked him to. But I think Judith instinctively knows that if he knew about Rick, he might have. Just really interesting.

But then it gets better. Judith has an “it doesn’t matter” line. (Beth.) When she asks Daryl to promise not to leave and he says no, she gets upset. My favorite line was when he said, “Nothing will take the place of someone you love being gone. But that doesn’t mean that everything that follows will break your heart.” He’s SO thinking about Beth there. I mean, he’s been training Judith, she talks about leaving people behind, and not being able to get back to one’s family. Then there’s the “gone” reference. Remember, he literally told Rick that Beth was “just gone.”

And actually, we get at least three different references to the “old days,” meaning S4/S5 in this episode. There was this one (the one Daryl loved who is gone). When he’s trying to radio Michonne and she doesn’t answer, he’s talking about how being on the run like this, outside the walls, reminds him of the old days and the old gang. The last time they were on the run was between the prison and finding Alexandria. In other words, when everything happened with Beth. And the third one is when Kelly is talking to Carol. She says everyone has heard stories of things Carol did in the old days. Before. I can only imagine she’s referring to Terminus. So yeah. Lots of reminders of that time.

I think the whole Princess arc in this episode was a Beth parallel. That gets into Detail territory, so I’ll go over that on Wednesday. Carol and Connie’s scenes were kind of interesting. Not particularly ground-breaking but setting something up. I’ll talk about them later, too.

That was most of the big stuff. But it totally blew my mind that one of the last shots of the episode was this one: guys, that’s LITERALLY the door Daryl carried Beth out of How can that be a coincidence?

There have been plenty of times that they’ve filmed in locations they used several seasons ago. But they make the place look so different in the episode that we don’t even recognize it. They usually have to tell us that it’s a familiar locale. For example, I remember at some point during S7 or S8 (don’t remember for sure) they said they’d shot some forest scene in the same place they’d shot where Sophia went missing in S2. Now, granted, most forest locales look similar, but my point is that they had to tell us that. Here, they’re not even trying to make it look different. They’re not showing us a different side of the building. This is the exact door from Coda. No way that’s not purposeful.

We REALLY think we’re going to see her in the finale. Which SUCKS because we don’t know how long it will be before we get to see it. But I really do think we will. I’m going to show you why tomorrow, even before I do the Details. It’s that important.

Stay tuned!

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theorie #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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askdarus · 6 years

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“Out of the barn!” Dante, a Hilltop soldier, yelled, “We get pinned in here, we’re dead!”

The dead were surrounding them. It had been their first solo mission without their group leader, Kal, and they’d been taking a break the heard came out of practically thin air, completely silent one moment and loud, screaming growls from walkers the next.

And they were closing in.

“We can fight our way out, Dante, but we don’t know what we’re fighting our way into!” Marco called, fighting beside Ken.

“Doesn’t matter right now!” Dante yelled to him, “In here, we’re as good as dead! All the exits were blocked!”

They cut through the walkers, swords swinging and guns banging loudly with bullets courtesy of Eugene Porter.

“Oh, hell,” Dante breathed out when the sea of walkers continued, “Get in formation!” he yelled.

“Really need more people for this to work with how many they are!” Ken yelled, pressing his back to his two fellow scouts.

“We’ll only do five steps, stop complaining before we die!” Dante snapped at him, “Get hacking!”

They called out their steps loudly, just like Kal had taught them all the years ago when he trained them. It had taken years, but he finally let them go out without him. And they were good, despite the normal plan calling for five people. They cut the walkers down easily, the ones that were dead longer falling easily.

“THAT ONE HAS A KNIFE!” Marco yelled, pointing with his sword at the walker he saw.

“That’s impossible!” Dante yelled, “Keep fighting! Let’s end this before more come-”

“Wh-” Marco yelled when the walker got closer, slashing at him, “They’re attacking us! They have fucking knives, Dante!”

“Just fucking run!” Ken yelled, breaking the formation and starting to turn. But before he could, the walker shoved the knife into his back.

“KEN!” Marco screamed.

“I heard you!” Dante screamed at the walker, “I heard you talk!”

“We can kill too,” it hissed at him, shoving the knife through Ken’s neck, making him fall to the ground.

Dante slashed at another walker, cutting it’s head clean off with his sword, “What the hell are you?!” he screamed, “How can you talk?!”

“We whisper and the dead don’t mind,” it hissed at him, “You’ll see...you’ll be dead soon yourself, then you’ll see.”

“Not today,” Dante said, slashing his sword, though it was met with the walker’s knife.

The two fought, slashing, until Dante finally shoved his sword through the thing’s head.

Dante stood there, breathing heavily and looked at Ken, who was shaking over Ken’s fallen body, “Ken...Ken, we have to g-”

He was cut off when something hit him in the back of the head and everything went black.

Paul was completely zoned out, if he was being honest. Sure, he’d never tell Maggie that, but he really hated these meetings with the Hilltop leaders. They were always asking something and they always needed to make a decision on something.

“Jesus?” Maggie asked, pulling him out of his daydream.

“Hmm?” Paul looked up at her.

“We were talking about expanding the fields by a foot after winter,” Aaron whispered in his ear, “She needed your vote.”

“Oh, uh...sure,” Paul said, smiling at the farmer in front of them, “Let us know if you need anything else.”

They nodded to them before walking out.

Paul looked over at Maggie, “How many more?” he demanded.

Maggie looked down at the paper in front of her, “Ten more people. Pay attention, Paul,” she sighed.

“Maggie,” Paul sighed back at her, exaggerating his own, “I’m pretty sure he just droned on for ten minutes about expanding the fields by a foot.”

“Nine minutes and thirty seconds,” Enid piped up from where she was taking notes beside Hershel, who was sitting beside her working on his homework.

Paul rolled his eyes, “I nominate that I’m taken off this board.”

“Wait, we can vote to be taken off the board?” Aaron asked quickly.

“No!” Maggie said quickly, pointing at them both, “There needs to be three on here so we don’t have any ties and you’re the only two who can sit here long enough to do this. It’s once a year, you’re gonna sit here and do your job.”

Paul groaned, putting his head on the table.

When the next person came in, Paul found a source of entertainment.

His godson, Hershel Rhee, was working on his homework at one of the empty tables, waiting on his mother to be done with the meeting.

Paul glanced over to Maggie and coughed loudly, making Hershel look up at him.

Paul smirked and crossed his eyes, making a face at Hershel.

Hershel snickered, but hid it behind his hand.

Aaron elbowed him as the person left and Harlan came in with Alex and Siddiq, getting his attention.

Finally, something interesting.

“Hey,” Maggie said suspiciously, “I thought this meeting was just supposed to be with Doc Carson.”

The three medical men in front of her shifted awkwardly before Harlan elbowed Siddiq.

“Uh…” Siddiq said, taking out a paper from his pocket. He put it on the table in front of them and cleared his throat, “We’ve already ran this by the construction crew, they’d be on board with it, starting in the spring.”

Maggie looked down at the paper and Paul scooted over so he could as well.

Drew on the paper were houses, including writing on one building in curly writing that had hearts around it, that said “Hospital.”

Maggie looked up and raised an eyebrow.

“We could spend the winter getting materials,” Alex added, pointing at the paper, “I drew the hospital,” he added with a smile at Aaron.

Paul rolled his eyes and looked down at the paper, “Oh, Maggie, those houses would be amazing…” he trailed off, thinking about his eyesore of a trailer, packed with too many people.

Maggie sighed, looking down at the paper, “We’d have to do a wall extension project first, we won’t be able to sustain this many houses without doing an expansion.”

“It’s been years, the walls need updated anyways,” Aaron added, “The wood is rotting…” he trailed off, looking at Maggie hopefully.

He was probably just tired of the creaking floor that was really just the roof of their trailer.

Maggie nodded and smiled, looking down, “I’ll go over the blueprints...add it in. We’ll have to see where we’re going to extend the walls to. I’ll start to talk to the crew that we’ll have on it.”

Aaron grinned at Paul.

“So much better than the person who wanted to extend the crops by a foot,” Paul mumbled, getting elbowed by Aaron again.

“Anything else?” Maggie asked, smiling now too. She always got that smile when it was something that was going to expand the Hilltop.

“Uh…” Siddiq looked at Harlan.

“Oh!” Harlan said quickly, “The survivors you brought in last night...they’re all healthy. Yumiko is a little banged up, but nothing we can’t handle.”

“Good,” Maggie said, “Daryl will take care of their weapons and keepin’ an eye on them.”

“Also we have about fifty things we’re low on and we’re going to need to stock up for the winter,” Alex deadpanned, holding out a list.

Paul groaned, putting his head on the table again.

“Good?” Daryl called loudly.

“Yeah!” a little voice chirped back.

Daryl jogged back into the house, tripping over a few things when he walked inside. He stepped over Snowball, who was lying in the middle of the floor, narrowly managing to miss one of her kittens as well. He walked back to the kids room and checked the window, making sure Richie had definitely made sure it had been weather sealed for the window.

“Good job, buddy,” Daryl said, high-fiving him. He looked over to Meredith and the nine year-old was lying in her bed, reading a book, “You wanna help?”

Meredith looked up at them and shrugged lazily, “I’m reading,” she said, at least giving him an answer.

Daryl rolled his eyes, “Okay, well me and Rich are gonna head over to the storage and get the rest of our weatherproofin’ stuff. Don’t leave the trailer or answer the door if ya don’t know ‘em.”

Meredith raised eyebrow, “Dad, you’re going to be, like, twenty feet away. I’ll be fine.”

“Get your aunt if ya need anything too,” Daryl said, ignoring her brushing off his worries. He turned back to his son, “Get your coat, we’re gonna go get the storm windows for the rest ‘a the house.”

Richie sighed and went out to grab his coat.

Daryl ruffled Meredith’s hair, “You feelin’ okay?”

“Yeah,” Meredith sighed, “Hate the cold though.”

Daryl laughed, “Yeah, you and your daddy,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed, “You worried about somethin’?”

Meredith closed her book and flopped back, “Me and Gracie were takin’ a walk the other day and Doc Carson and Doc Alex were outside the trailer gettin’ it ready for winter,” she explained, “Doc Alex mentioned...something. He didn’t know we were listening though.”

Daryl tensed, “What’d he say?” he asked immediately.

“He was tellin’ Doc Carson that he’s worried about daddy ‘cause of the winter...Doc Carson said it would be fine, b-but Doc Alex brought up that he almost died once,” Meredith said in a small voice, “Is that true?”

Daryl pursed his lips, “Look,” he sighed, “When your daddy was little, he, uh…” he trailed off, trying to figure out how to explain this to a nine year-old, “You know how me and your daddy aren’t your bio parents like we talked about?”

Meredith nodded.

“Well, his bio mommy did a lot of drugs when she had him in her belly,” Daryl swallowed, “It makes him a little bit weaker than us, he gets sick a little easier ‘cause his immune system isn’t as good.”

Meredith swallowed, “Why’d she do drugs?” she mumbled.

Daryl pursed his lips, “I don’t know the answer to that, sweetheart. Some people don’t mean to get into it, some people can’t help it...she might not of meant for that to happen.”

She did. Paul’s biological mother abused him for years. But he didn’t know how to bring that subject up to his daughter, especially with his own past.

“Okay,” Meredith whispered, “So...he did almost die?”

“One winter, years ago, before we had you two,” Daryl explained, “And before we had such a good medical unit. It’s why we make the trailer all winter proof, so everyone here don’t get too cold when the snow hits.”

Meredith went silent for a minute before she grinned at him, “Can I help?” she asked excitedly, “I wanna help keep us warm.”

Daryl smiled, “Yeah, go get your coat on with your brother.”

Meredith got up and ran out of the small room quickly.

Daryl sighed, scrubbing his hands against his face. When he walked out, Violette was leaning in the hallway, her arms crossed.

“You handled that well,” Paul’s adopted sister told him, a smile on her face, “He wouldn’t have been able to explain it that well.”

“Woulda handled it better,” Daryl sighed, glancing down the small hallway to make sure the kids were getting their coats on, “Would had something a psychologist would say to ‘em...woulda made more sense.”

“I think you explained it well,” Violette smiled, glancing down to make sure the kids weren’t listening, “Not to change the subject, but…” she trailed off, taking a small box from her pocket, “Look what I got Earl to make me.”

Daryl looked down and grinned when he saw a small, golden ring, “Really?”

Violette nodded, “I’m going to propose to her after the fair.”

Daryl nodded, “Lily’s so excited for it, it’ll be the icing on the cake,” he laughed and pulled her into a hug, something he wouldn’t have dreamed of doing years ago, “M’happy for ya.”

Violette hugged him back and sighed, “Thanks, man,” she said before pulling away and leaning back to look at the kids, “Be good for your dad, goofs!” she called before smiling and going back to her room, closing the curtain behind her.

Daryl walked out, grabbing his own jacket and zipping up both the kids’ jackets for them, “Okay, let’s get goin’,” he said, walking out.

As he walked across the yard, both Richie and Meredith took one of his hands and Meredith swung their arms as they walked, skipping. Richie just walked at Daryl’s pace, keeping quiet.

Richie was always the more shy one.

Daryl watched Magna’s group at the guest trailer. Magna was sitting on the porch with Yumiko and the door was open; Daryl could see the curtains were drawn and there were lights on inside, along with all the cots that the room usually had.

“I like them,” Richie said suddenly.

Daryl looked down at him, “Huh?”

“We gotta trust new people or we’ll never grow,” Richie shrugged, “S’what daddy says at least. You should trust ‘em too.”

Daryl gave him a half smile and let go of his hand briefly to ruffle his blonde hair, “Too smart for how young you are, kid,” he said before taking his hand again, going towards the storage shed.

Kal walked into the room after their meeting had went into break and sighed, “Guys, we have a problem.”

“What is it?” Paul asked.

“Marco, Dante, and Ken are late to get back,” Kal sighed, “I knew I shouldn’t have sent them out without a lead, this is my fault-”

“No, you’ve trained them all you could,” Maggie cut him off, “They’re your group, you should go to look for them.”

Kal nodded, “I know the route they’re taking and where they were going. I’m sorry to cut the meeting short, but my men are out there and I need to make sure they’re okay.”

“Do what you need to do,” Maggie nodded at him.

Kal nodded again, “Thank you. I’ll pack up and leave after my gate shift, I’ll stop in before I leave,” he said before jogging out.

Paul sent Aaron a worried glance, “It’s not like Dante to not show up on time…” he trailed off nervously, “Should we go with?”

Aaron shook his head, “Nah...he’ll be fine. Dante’s with Marco and Ken, they probably just convinced him to stop off and dick around somewhere, knowing those two.”

Paul nodded, “You’re probably right.”

“No getting out of this meeting,” Maggie told them, “We’re talking about the greenhouse extension next, that’ll keep you both focused. Dante will be fine...I know him.”

Daryl laughed as he watched Meredith and Richie push the cart with the storm windows on it together, both of them running. He looked back at the guest trailer and saw just Magna sitting on the steps now, when his eyes caught something on her boot.

“Hey, you guys push that back and start takin’ em in, I’ll be there in a minute,” Daryl told them and then called, “And don’t let none of the animals out, I ain’t chasin’ after ‘em! You let ‘em out, you’re doin’ it.”

“‘Kay!” Richie called, still running with the cart.

Daryl knew he’d be chasing after at least one of the animals within the next hour, but this was more important.

Daryl walked over and leaning on the railing of the steps, “Hand it over,” he said, putting out his hand.

Magna raised an eyebrow at him.

“Look, I know ya don’t like the rule, but no weapons for the next few weeks. We got kids here, ya gotta understand,” Daryl said, putting his hand out, “Trust me, if there’s a breach or ya need it, we’ll give it to ya.”

Magna narrowed her eyes and started to take off her belt before handing over the buckle, which was actually a knife, “Whatever,” she said simply, staring out at the Hilltop.

“Necklace too,” Daryl told her.

Magna sighed, “How the hell-”

“Got a husband who hides knives all over his body an’ all through the house, I’m good at spottin’ ‘em,” Daryl gave her a small smirk.

Magna took off her necklace and handed him the small blade, “Me and him should hang out...maybe trade some.”

“After the two weeks are up, sure he’d love that,” Daryl said, pocketing the knives, “I’ll keep these safe, I promise,” he told her, “They got any.”

“Nah,” Magna said, shaking her head, “They didn’t even know I had these ones...don’t blame ‘em.”

“Hell, I don’t even blame you,” Daryl shrugged, “I get it. I used ta be against all these places that took your weapons...that’s why we don’t do it for too long here. We’ve had back experiences...we get it,” he nodded.

Magna met his eyes and nodded as well.

There was something there...the knowing that they had something in common.

“We’re seen the worst, especially at the beginning,” Magna whispered, “Our fair share of crazy places...but this place...it seems real. It seems like you all are actually doing something here.”

“What we’re tryin’ ta do,” Daryl nodded and looked at their trailer, “We’re winter proofin’ trailers today. After I finish mine, I’ll stop over to yours and show ya how it’s done so ya’ll won’t freeze. Winters can get rough around here,” he said before nodding to her, going to walk away.

“Hey!” Magna called, standing up and jogging the small distance to him, “Thank you,” she told him before holding out her hand, “We weren’t formally introduced, I’m Magna.”

Daryl nodded, “Daryl...Daryl Dixon-Rovia,” he said, giving her a smile.

Paul was walking back to the house, smiling when he saw the kids outside with Daryl, putting window covers on. As he looked around, he saw everyone doing different jobs. The doctors were outside of the medical trailer, getting things ready for the winter kids were running and playing in piles of leaves.

He was about to call to his family, but Kal yelled from the top of the gate.

“OH MY GOD!” Kal screamed, “MARCO!” he yelled, jumping down.

Eduardo opened the gate as fast as he could and Kal was already climbing down.

When the gates opened, Marco was on the ground, bruised and covered in blood.

“In the house, go!” Daryl told the kids, giving them a light shove towards the door. He grabbed his crossbow from the porch and started to get the stray walkers as Harlan ran over, Alex following close behind.

“Gonna need the stretcher!” Harlan called to Siddiq, who ran inside the trailer to get it.

Paul’s eyes widened when Harlan helped Marco up and a walker stumbled into them. He ran over, taking the knife from his boot and shoving it through it’s skull, throwing it to the ground.

“Go, I got this!” Paul told him, cutting into the other two stray ones that were nearby before going inside the gate.

As the gate closed, a walker’s hand stuck through, getting closed into the gate.

Paul took out his knife and cut the hand off before walking back to where they were now putting Marco on the stretcher, looking down at the man worriedly.

What the hell happened to him?

“He’s stable,” Harlan told Maggie and Paul, walking outside of the trailer to where the two were waiting, “No ideas about Dante and Ken though. He’s not saying much.”

“Let us try to talk to him,” Paul said, “Maybe we can get something.”

“I can’t recommend that right now,” Harlan shook his head, “Alex just finished his stitches and cleaning the rest of his wounds, he’s on a high dosage of pain medication for tonight. He’ll be watched over in shifts. You’ll have to talk to him tomorrow,” he explained.

Maggie nodded and looked at Paul, “Get home. Kal’s out searching tonight...I’ll wait up for him to get back,” she said, touching his shoulder, “I’ll let you know if I hear any news.”

Paul smiled at her, “Okay...doc, let me know if you need any help, I’ll just be at home,” he said before going back to the trailer.

He entered the trailer and Daryl was just setting dinner down on the coffee table in the living room. They only had room for a dining table with four chairs and with Aaron and Gracie living with them, along with Violette and Lily, there was no way they could all sit down to a family dinner if they weren’t in the living room.

“Smells good,” Paul said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, “Thanks for cooking.”

“Aaron helped. We made spaghetti,” Daryl smiled at him, kissing him back, “How’s Marco?”

“Harlan says he’s stable...no word on Ken or Dante though,” Paul sighed, “Kal went to search, Maggie’s going to wait up.”

Daryl nodded and sighed, “Best we can do right now, I guess.”

“Daddy!” Richie cheered, running out of their room with Meredith, throwing himself into his legs and hugging him, “I helped cold proof the house!”

“Me too!” Meredith said quickly, hugging his legs as well and smiling up at him.

“Well, thank you two,” Paul said, kneeling down to their height, “What else did you do today?”

“I finished another book!” Meredith said excitedly, “I can’t wait to tell Lily when she gets home!”

“I’m sure she’ll be very happy that you’re all done,” Paul grinned.

“I took Daisy for a walk,” Richie grinned as well, “She tried ta chase a squirell but I held on!” he said proudly.

“Well, good job to you too,” Paul smiled at him, “Hey, go wash your hands for dinner, I’m going to call Gracie and Aaron down so we can eat.”

The two ran off quickly.

“Where’s Vi and Lily?” Paul asked.

“Barrington, they needed to work on some lesson plans for class, so they’re usin’ the library there,” Daryl explained, “I already made ‘em plates and put ‘em away.”

“Thank you, dear,” Paul said, kissing him again. He grabbed the kitchen chair and stood on it, pounding on the ceiling a few times, “Dinner!” he called.

He heard footsteps, then the upstairs door open and close. A few seconds later, Gracie ran inside, followed by Aaron.

Hours later, the medical trailer was dimly lit, with just the desk lamp on. They’d turned it off, so Marco could get some rest. Harlan, Siddiq, and Enid all went to their respective homes, going to rest. Alex had first watch, so he was working on his notes by the small desk light.

A small groan snapped him out of his bored daze at his notes and he turned around on the stool, rolling it over to Marco’s bed, “Marco? It’s Alex, can you hear me?”

Marco grabbed him by the front of his shirt in a tight grip with bruised knuckles, “They were...they were talking.”

“Who was talking?” Alex asked quickly.

“The walkers,” Marco breathed out, “The walkers were talking,” he gasped before he drifted off again, eyes drooping closed.

The kids were all in bed now, and most of the adults too. Paul was asleep beside him, sprawled out on the bed with his arm across Daryl’s chest.

Daryl was still running his hand through Paul’s hair, not yet asleep, when he heard talking outside.

There wasn’t exactly a noise curfew at the Hilltop, but everyone was usually really quiet. It was harder to fight walkers in the dark, harder to track them, and noise just drew them near.

Daryl slowly got out of bed, being sure not to wake Paul up and he quietly grabbed his crossbow and jacket, going outside. He twisted the knob so it would close quietly and he walked over to where there was a small group, Maggie included.

“What’s goin’ on?” Daryl asked.

“Daryl,” Maggie walked over to him quickly, “You need to listen to me-”

The group moved slightly and Daryl finally managed to catch a glimpse of why they were there.

Dwight and Sherry were standing at the gate, one child holding Dwight’s hand and another holding Sherry’s.

“What the hell?” Daryl breathed out.

CAST

Tom Payne as Paul “Jesus” Dixon-Rovia Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon-Rovia Ross Marquand as Aaron Raleigh

Elodie Yung as Violette Rovia Tessa Thompson as Lily Marie Teller

Samuel Joslin as Richie Dixon-Rovia Zendaya Coleman as Meredith Dixon-Rovia Anabelle Holloway as Gracie Raleigh

Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee Katelyn Nacon as Enid Rhee

GUEST CAST

Diego Boneta as Dante Andrew Scott as Ken Gustavo Gomez as Marco

James Chen as Kal Jesse Spencer as Alex R Keith Harris as Harlan Avi Nash as Siddiq

Nadia Hilker as Magda Eleanor Matsuura as Yumiko

#anb;#cutscene #cutscenes

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bibliophileiz · 6 years

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Charmed Labor Day marathon 2k18: Season 1 Episode 1

Episode 1: "Something Wicca This Way Comes"

We open in a fancy apartment in San Francisco where a lady with 90s hair is feeding her cat and chanting at an altar.

Outside in the rain, a figure dressed in dark clothes climbs the fire escape, presumably for nefarious purposes. The figure somehow gets into the apartment and creeps up behind the witch. She turns around and seems to recognize him, asking him what he's doing there. He immediately pulls out a knife and stabs her.

Note from crime reporter: Generally people don't commit crimes outside their own homes when it's raining (because who wants to go commit burglary in the rain?), but I guess that rule doesn't apply to warlocks.

The scene then switches to the Halliwell sisters. The first scene with Prue and Piper passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. The conversation -- which also serves as a pseudo-introduction to Phoebe in dialogue -- veers from conversations about scheduling and maintenance issues, which include a mention of Prue's busy job at a museum, to Piper's burgeoning chef career. There is a mention of Piper's boyfriend, but I think we should let it slide because the sister's agree he's a "nice boyfriend" for demonstrating support for Piper's career by picking up something she needed for a job interview and also because (spoilers!) he's the baddie of the episode and needs an early introduction.

"(Phoebe) has no vision, no sense of the future." A little on the nose, show.

Lame Netflix theme song is lame.

We switch back to the murder victim from the first scene's apartment where we meet our intrepid detectives. Inspector Andy Trudeau, wearing a tan trenchcoat I love, believes the serial killer who killed the woman is targeting witches. He's been at occult shops chasing his theory. His partner, Inspector Daryl Morris, is skeptical. He doesn't believe in witches and wants Andy to stop talking about them.

Outside the apartment building, reporters have gathered, including Piper's boyfriend, Jeremy. He asks Andy to comment. "A woman was stabbed, plain and simple," Andy says, quoting Morris.

Then we get a real introduction to Phoebe. She's come back from New York to move back in with her sisters -- she told Piper, but not Prue. Turns out, she and Prue are estranged. Prue tells Phoebe they're not selling Grams' house. It's been in their family for generations. Phoebe doesn't need a history lesson -- she grew up here too. But it appears Prue's also mad because she suspects Phoebe of hitting on "Roger." Phoebe says she never did that and calls Roger an "Armani-wearing, Chardonnay-slugging trust funder." I really love Phoebe.

Anyway, Piper can't get them to speak civilly to each other, and they each depart to their rooms. Later Piper brings up some food for Phoebe and tells her to go easy on Prue -- after all, Prue practically gave up her own childhood to help Grams raise the them after their mother died. But Phoebe says she doesn't need a mom anymore -- she needs a sister.

Once tempers have calmed down, they all dress in pajamas and go downstairs to play with their old spirit board. Random fun fact about 11-year-old Iz: Piper's line "I asked it if Prue would have sex with someone other than herself this year," was the first time I ever heard masturbation referenced in a TV show.

Suddenly, the spirit board starts working on its own! Prue and Piper accuse Phoebe of pushing the pointer. "You always used to push the pointer," they say. Phoebe insists it wasn't her. Piper sees it move too. It spells out 'attic.' Piper is spooked enough to go to Jeremy's house -- they've never been able to get the attic door open. Prue is hyper-rational. The pointer didn't move by itself, Jeremy's not home, it will not be cheap for Piper to sit in a cab waiting on him to get home, and they'll hire a handyman tomorrow morning to get the attic door open. But Phoebe doesn't want to wait. She's going to the attic.

When she gets there, the door opens at her touch. She finds a book of witchcraft on an altar and reads a spell out of it. According to the book, if she reads the incantation, she and her sisters will receive magical powers that have been passed down from their maternal ancestor, a witch named Melinda Warren. Prue and Piper walk in as she's reading. Prue is furious and Piper is panicked. Luckily nothing has happened, they all agree, not noticing a picture of the three of them on the mantle has changed so that they're all standing closer together in the frame.

Also, Phoebe is wearing socks with sandals. In her house. Oh, the 90s.

Side note: Prue is so fucking gorgeous I can't even handle it. (She's really sexy in the pajamas.)

The next day, Phoebe tells Piper she stayed up all night reading a prophesy about three sisters destined to become the most powerful witches of all time. They protect the innocent by battling evil witches called warlocks. They're known as the Charmed Ones. But Piper tells Phoebe they don't have magical powers and heads off to her job interview.

Meanwhile Prue is already at work at the museum job.

I HATE ROGER!!

Roger is Prue's boss and former fiance. He tells her that the board of directors has decided to go ahead with a museum exhibition she implemented. But, they wanted someone with more experience to take it over. Prue is furious -- even more so when she correctly guesses that Roger is the one who gets the project. He tells her he couldn't say no to the entire board of directors and after all what's good for him is good for her. Prue disagrees and as she stalks off, the pen in Roger's pocket mysteriously starts squirting ink everywhere.

Anyone who says this show isn't feminist should watch this episode. Roger is every Lawful Evil villain in the RPG called Life As a Woman in a Patriarchal Society. Then you have the explicit sexism with Chef Moore in the very next scene, when he scoffs at Piper's audition recipe because it came from a women's magazine.

Speaking of that scene, when Chef Moore starts to try some of Piper's dish without her having added the very last ingredient -- port -- she throws up her hands in protest and he freezes. She calls his name, waves her hand under his face, and he doesn't move. Deciding to take advantage of her newfound power to freeze time, she quickly adds a drop of port to the bite Chef Moore has on his spoon. Then the power wears off and Chef Moore, having not noticed anything, takes a bite and declares it "Magnifique!"

Piper has the job! She runs outside to call Phoebe from a payphone. Phoebe doesn't answer. As Piper hangs up and leaves the phone booth, she runs into Jeremy.

Back at the museum, Prue walks into Roger's office and announces she quits. Roger tells her if she leaves with no notice, she won't get references. She's not worried. She's sure Roger's intellect will make quick work of the mountains of files she left behind. She thought breaking up with him was the best thing she'd ever done, but this tops that. As she leaves, he yells after her that he hopes she doesn't have any office supplies in her purse. Scowling, she mimes choking him and suddenly his tie tightens around his throat. Prue doesn't notice though, because she's already out the door.

Meanwhile, Phoebe is having a good day, riding her bike around the neighborhood. All of the sudden, she has a black-and-white vision of a car hitting a man on roller skates. As soon as the vision's gone, she sees the roller skating man -- just as a car rounds the corner. Yelling a warning, she darts into the street on her bike and is hit by the car herself.

Prue goes to the hospital to pick up Phoebe where she runs into Andy. Turns out, they are old high school sweethearts and he is recently back in San Francisco. He asks her if she's still seeing Roger -- turns out he's been checking up on her. He is boyishly bashful, although his checking up on her is slightly creepier in the era before Facebook, when that sort of thing takes more effort. Anyway, they go their separate ways and Phoebe, who is ok after her run-in with the car, goes with Prue to Quake. Phoebe excitedly tells Prue about her vision and her theory that they, along with Piper, are the Charmed Ones. Prue tells Phoebe they do not have magical powers. Now where is the cream? At that moment, it magically appears in her coffee.

They go to the pharmacy to pick up the medication the doctors prescribed Phoebe after the accident. By this time Prue is stressed and pissed off. She asks where the Asprin is while Phoebe tries to get her to open up to the idea of powers. After all, everyone inherits something from their family. Phoebe mentions Roger and several boxes of Advil fall off the shelf. Phoebe realizes Prue moves things with her mind when she's upset and begins pressing her buttons. She brings up Dad, and now the real issues between the two sisters come to light. According to Phoebe, Prue is mad that Dad left, mad that he's alive, mad that Phoebe went to New York to find him and mad that she came back. Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad. The entire aisle's worth of medicine shoots off the shelves and clatters to the floor. Prue feels better.

Meanwhile, Piper's still hanging out with Jeremy. They've had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and are now in a cab heading back to Jeremy's place. Piper asks him if anything unexplainable has ever happened to him. He says sure -- it's luck or fate or destiny. Why does she ask? She tells him to forget it -- even if she could explain it, he'd swear she was crazy. They flirt some and then he asks the cab driver to take a detour. He wants to show Piper something.

He takes her to a creepy abandoned building. They get on the elevator, even though Piper is reluctant. He promises her the view is amazing. He bets she tells Prue and Phoebe the moment she sees them. Piper is surprised -- she hadn't told Jeremy Phoebe was back in San Francisco. "Oops," he says and whirls on her, holding a knife. He's known they would receive their powers ever since Grams died. He's been waiting for Phoebe to come home so he could steal all their powers. In the meantime, he's been killing other witches for their powers.

Panicked, Piper throws up her hands and Jeremy freezes. She manages to escape the elevator and goes home where she tells Prue and Phoebe what happened. They run upstairs, find a spell in the Book of Shadows to make a former lover go away (useful spell, amirite?). They cast it and thorns burst out of Jeremy's flesh as he approaches the house. It hurts, but it doesn't stop him. Phoebe has a vision that he will be there and tells her sisters.

At that moment, Jeremy breaks into the house. Prue tells her sisters to go to the attic and stands in the stairway, blocking Jeremy from following them. "You were always the tough one, weren't you Prue?" he says mockingly. Prue turns and runs into the attic after her sisters. The barricade the door and grab hands. They begin chanting the spell out of the book. "The power of three will set us free." Jeremy ... explodes.

(image from imdb.com)

The next day, Andy shows up at the house while Prue is checking the mail. He asks her out, but she is hesitant. She tells him her life has gotten complicated. He promises to see her around. As he's leaving, Piper and Phoebe come outside. They discuss whether Prue can date -- Piper and Phoebe assure her she can because witches usually get the best guys -- and they all realize their lives are about to change. Prue says they are going to be careful, they're going to be wise and they're going to stick together. As they all get into the house, she turns around, smiles and closes the door with her mind.

If you do a meta reading of this episode, it's all about the power of women standing up against men trying to steal their power -- from Roger taking Prue's exhibit at the museum to Jeremy literally murdering women to steal their magical powers. The women prevail by embracing their strengths and abilities. Prue one-ups Roger by quitting, leaving him to do the labor she would have done had she been in charge of the exhibit and which he's not capable of doing. The Halliwells defeat Jeremy by combining their magical powers, strengthened by the bond as sisters, and killing Jeremy. Good, strong, feminist episode and a good start to the series. If I have a problem with this episode, it's that the sisters don't really do any mystery-solving -- Jeremy reveals himself to them, without them doing anything to seek him out. But since they're only just discovering their own powers, I think it's fine in this case.

This episode was the most important one to recap because it sets up the whole show. My other posts will have more episodes and shorter watch notes -- promise.

#charmed labor day marathon 2k18 #charmed #iz does meta feminist readings of things sometimes #i didn't intend for this to turn into an episode recap but here we are

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