Personal Highlights
Hubris, 1.5 – Idle Eternity. A heartwarming story of a group of vampires with their vampire dog, who are on holiday in Paris. Some of the vampires are centuries old; but one, Jaxon, is still getting used to no longer being human. Interestingly, they all have different powers, some are able to eat garlic, some aren’t affected by the sun, and there are differences in shapeshifting powers. They discuss the sights they want to see in Paris, and how one of them, Oscar, saw these sights being constructed, and knows the stories behind them better than the tour guides. The older vampires have lived through historical events, ones which have left their mark on them. There’s a beautiful ending, as this group, this found family, talk about how they’re stronger together, and have a group hug.
Moonbase Theta, Out, Episode 6 – Pivot. (Note: I play Reception Bot in season three of Moonbase Theta, Out.) The first full-season episode without Roger, and all the plans and debates on the moonbase are going on without him – and there are a lot of plots and plans everywhere this episode. On Earth, we meet Officer Daniels, who goes to see the Enclave Officer. We find out more about the Enclave Officer’s machinations, and that he seems to still have a lot of plans, even though the moonbases are all apparently shut down. The Science Bros are still bickering, but this time they’re actually working on their various sciency things, or mostly, at least. There’s a contrast in the next scene, with Wilder working on her own outside, away from all the chaos. Tumnus surprises her by appearing – she’s concerned about the scientists. They talk through the status of Nessa’s plan, and how they need to win over the Science Bros – who aren’t fond of either Wilder or Tumnus. Tumnus thinks the next step in getting everyone on board with Nessa’s plan should be waking up someone she knows very well; and the episode ends on something of a cliffhanger.
Kakos Industries, 117 – Lackluster. It’s the first of the month, which means it’s time for Kakos Industries’ monthly shareholder announcements. The opening to this episode was one of the most relatable things I’d ever heard, and Corin does a whole thing about how much he hates January – even moreso this year. The few folks in the building have been in a funk, morale is down, productivity is down, it all feels very un-evil. The whole sentiment of such a lackluster month resonated with probably a whole lot of folks, and I found it very comforting to feel less alone with it.
The Silt Verses, Then I’ll Speak of Champions. Through the eyes of Investigating Officer Hayward – who investigates what’s called ‘religious criminality’ – we get a complete change of perspective. Through him we learn a lot more about the lore of this world and its gods, which I found really fascinating. Gods are created and invented by corporations or organisations, like the new god that was created for farmers, and introduced on cereal packets – a mandatory replacement for their old gods. All as a way to make money. The falseness, the artificialness, of these new gods are a stark contrast to not only the hold that an old god has on the farm, but also Carpenter and Faulkner’s outlawed faith.
Lost Terminal, 3.5 – Something is wrong with IVAN. Seth has a lot to deal with this episode, and there are some surprises, too. The first issue is IVAN, and how Seth’s worried that he’s acting strangely. But, as IVAN’s power usage is almost zero, this means that Seth can deal with another issue. He now has access to an array of satellites, and decides that the best way he can help Ally is by finding the search party that left her community. Seth discovers that there’s a huge amount of satellites in orbit – completely different than what he thought, and what the audience was led to imagine up until this point. It takes nearly half an episode for Seth to actually talk about the events we heard in the previous episode, with what he calls his ‘brother’ – the copy oh himself he discovered. Seth, much to his character, is very forgiving; he recognises the circumstances that made his brother want to erase him, while also understanding that they are both very different from each other. There’s also a very human speech about how some people, but not all, can cling to past identities, which affects both their present and future. There’s an interesting development at the end of the episode, as Alexander tells Seth that he received a message from Antarctica, when Seth was deorbiting, saying he should ‘expect’ Seth. Things have been uneasy between Seth and Antarctica since the events in the season one finale, when she helped him leave Station 6, as she lied to him about where he was going. It sounds like she has a much larger plan, and it’s taken Seth a season and a half to discover that Alexander was actually expecting his arrival.
Mercury: A Broadcast of Hope, Slowest Message Ever. Day 1214 of the team’s broadcasts. It’s been a long time coming, but Max has finally been able to send a message on the ham radio. He’s only ever been able to receive messages, and that’d had been going on for months. But during today’s broadcast he talks about how he was able to use morse code to send a message to someone. He still can’t actually speak to folks, because the mic’s broken, but it’s already a huge improvement. It’s a slow start, he talks about how long it takes to spell out ‘hello’ in morse code, but he has a brief conversation with a 12 year old child, who knew morse code a lot better than he does. It gives a lot of hope that the team will be able to finally communicate with people further afield, especially as they’ve now spent over a year without the nearby communities that existed before.
The Strange Case of Starship Iris, 2.03 – Deep Breath. Brian isn’t well, he’s having problems breathing, and neither the ship nor the crew have the proper equipment or knowledge to diagnose and treat him. The crew have to look at their options – and it’s the former agents, Park and McCabe who find the ship a place to land on Telemachus. There’s a dangerous ride onto the planet, things get very tense, but Krejjh saves the day in spectacular style, in a scene full of chaotic energy. After landing, Brian gets seen by a doctor, and even the doctor’s surprised at the state of his lungs. The Regime’s nanobots, and his time on a planet where the air was really bad, have done some serious damage. At the end of the episode, Other Violet contacts Sana, a reminder of what’s been forced to take a back seat this episode – the investigation into the arms deal between the Regime and a group of Dwarnians. Brian was the only one who could translate the recording that Other Violet was sent, and he was frustrated at not being able to work on it, as everyone was telling him to rest.
Solo, Episode 2. In the first episode, we met Deirdre, and in this episode we meet her friend Ren. Ren also escaped from the spaceship in a pod, and was the only one who was actually able to contact Deirdre. They last spoke to each other 6 months ago, when Deirdre eventually lost contact with them. Deirdre plays a message Ren sent, and they were still optimistic about being rescued, and spoke about eventually being reunited. It only heightens the sense of loneliness and sadness we feel for Deirdre, as she’s unable to talk with her closest friend, the only person she’s spoken to since the crew had to abandon the spaceship they were travelling on, and she has no idea where they are or what’s happened to them. The episode ends with a cliffhanger, with Deirdre’s life in danger.
The Oracle of Dusk, Oracle 2 – Message 1. In a contrast to this season’s opening episode – the first message to the first oracle who contacted Delphi – Delphi is not happy with this second oracle, and it sounds like she has good reason to. In another contrast to the previous episode, Delphi also talks about her time in college in this message – in the previous episode, Delphi talked about how she studied philosophy, and this time, it’s how she majored in theology. As her message continues, Delphi tries to lay out the common ground they have, while also standing up for herself, and it sounds like she’s going to have a difficult time communicating with this second oracle.
Me and AU, 15 – You. The series finale. It’s the day of Kate and Ella’s dinner, and they both wake up at 6.30am. And trying to convince herself that she’s got everything wrong, and that the dinner is not a date isn’t Kate, through whose perspective we’ve seen the friendship develop and grow deeper through the course of the season, but Ella. Then we skip forward, to the evening, and they meet for dinner… and they finally talk about their feelings for each other, in the most adorable way. And then, they kiss. There’s a post-credits scene, where we finally see Kate at the con, having a photo taken with Tony, one of the actors from Selkirk. The story ends in the most fitting way, with Kate thanking Tony for ‘a lot of things’. I’m not crying you’re crying!
The Magnus Archives, MAG 193 – A Stern Look. Oh boy, was I hyped when I read the episode description just before starting the episode. Picking up right from the end of the previous episode, Jon and Martin try to figure out what to do next. But as Martin tries to come up with more options as to what they can do about Jonah/Elias, there’s an abrupt interruption, as Jon has to read Elias’ statement. As with Rosie’s statement last week, Elias goes back to his job interview at the Archives – and there’s a lot that he’s trying to hide. The circumstances surrounding how he got the interview are mysterious, and it seems that he was destined for the job… I audibly gasped during that final scene!
Trailers
Ophiuchus Radio is an upcoming sci-fi show, and this trailer features case notes about a mysterious radio broadcast. Ophiuchus Radio is back on the air, and somehow, they have a question from you, even though you’ve never come across this station before. The show is due to launch in the spring.
Death by Dying released an announcement of the launch of their Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund season 2, and a teaser for the upcoming season. The town of Crestfall is trying to coming to terms with the sad events of the season one finale. The Obituary Writer is totally fine, and hints at what he has planned next.
Unwell released a third trailer for the upcoming third season, which features a character listening to a radio drama. We don’t find out who’s actually listening to it until the very end of the trailer, and what happens comes as a big surprise.
Return
A Scottish Podcast, Space Oddity – Episode 1, Season 3. A Scottish Podcast is back for their third season, and we’ve jumped forward in time, as the conversation in the opening scene tells us – about five years have passed since we last saw Dougie. Lee’s still missing, and Dougie’s now delivering pizzas, on a rainy night. He has a delivery for someone who’s up on the hills – they didn’t even provide an address – and he sees something strange in the sky. I have to admit, I had a good laugh when I realised what was happening!
Casting Calls
Under Pressure, one of the shows on the Procyon Podcast Network are casting – it’s a recast for an existing role.
Other News
PodUK’s pizza party is tonight from 6pm GMT on their Twitch channel.
The Call of the Void, a supernatural mystery set in and around New Orleans, have announced their season 2 launch date – March 11th.
Rusty Quill have launched their fourth Rusty Fears competition, a horror writing competition where the winners will have their works read by the Rusty Quill team, and published in The Magnus Archives’ feed.
A Sky Full of Pods 