Personal Highlights
Moonbase Theta, Out: All Your Base – Episode 7: Eta. You want moon-based conspiracy theories? This episode has plenty of moon-based conspiracy theories! This week, we meet Barnett Bell – a field journalist who’s been based on the moon, travelling between the bases. Naturally, with someone who isn’t actually working on any of the bases, we get a very different perspective on the moonbases and the consortium-based shenanigans that have been going on since the beginning of the story. This episode not only allows the story to dig a little deeper into what’s been going on both on the moon and also on Earth since season one; but also to consolidate the events we’ve seen in previous episodes during this miniseries, as well as giving them some additional context. And it’s very interesting that our little rebel base Theta isn’t on any ‘official itineraries’…
Lost Terminal: 6.8 – TASSI is lying to me. There’s a sense of distrust running throughout this episode; and not only that, but also self-sufficiency as a result of distrust. The opening scene is an indication of how much Seth’s perspective has changed – he knows how much the world has changed due to rising temperatures, he’s seen it, but he chooses to distrust TASSI. There’s LUNA’s alarming decision, which obviously mimics Seth’s at the end of season one, but back then was presented in a much more rational way. This seems to be trying in with the end of this season, and I’m worried about what we’ll hear about her in the next episode – the season’s penultimate one. The episode ends on something of a more positive note, after a difficult conversation (again echoing this theme of distrust), and I wonder what plan Seth has in mind.
Within the Wires: Season 6, Episode 7 – Sunday 28 October 1973. There’s a big turning point in this episode, as Cliodhna has access to material which allows her to research the local area and its history, going back to before the Great Reckoning. After some of the previous seasons, it’s interesting to see just how much of history has survived, and how much people have managed to cling onto it after the world was re-built. It’s a clear sign that, regardless of how much the Society tries, history will never be forgotten as long as there are people around who still remember it. This is far from the first time we’ve seen people rebel against the laws of the new Society in one way or another, but this is the first time we’ve seen the past literally haunt people in such a way. There’s also some interesting insight into the Great Reckoning, which we only know some vague pieces of information about, and how apocalyptic that period of time was; which really made me think about the effort that was made to conserve records from that time.
The White Vault: Episode 5.03 – Inside. There’s a lot of information to be processed in this episode, as the audience is presented with answers to some of the questions the story has asked since the beginning of the first season – and there are two very different perspectives at play. This goes right back to the ancient secrets the Earth has been hiding, secrets that have been slowly uncovered over the course of the series, but there’s still much left to understand. There’s also an alarming piece of information about a new character, who has been keeping very quiet about her past, which explains her involvement in this journey back to Svalbard.
InCo: S3 Episode 18 – Councilor. ‘Well, the truth always comes out one way or the other.’ is an especially interesting comment coming from Nova, seeing as she’s on a planet which people are being made to believe doesn’t actually exist. She’s certainly getting comfortable on Eolara too, aware of the power she holds, now that she’s armed with a lot of new knowledge. Unsurprisingly, the meeting in this episode doesn’t give her the information she’s after, but that’s not to say that nothing positive comes out of it. This is just the beginning of her investigation, and she’s determined to blow this conspiracy wide open.
The Night Post: S2 E15 – Contract Negotiation. It’s the finale of The Night Post’s second season, and oh boy, do things happen in this finale. I absolutely was not expecting such a huge discovery, even after all the conspiracies that the couriers have been unfolding this season. There are a lot of fascinating, yet unnerving details about the Night Post and the couriers themselves, which answer some of the questions I had about the nature of the Skelter and its relationship with Gilt City. I also loved what was done with the episode’s intro!
Y2K: S2 Episode 11: Jess – Age 45 – Delgany – November 2019. (Note: I play Emma in Y2K) Set only a couple of months before Y2K’s 2020 timeline, it’s an emotional episode which provides the backdrop to Olivia’s storyline in season one – Jess and Rachel’s separation. There’s a powerful performance from showrunner Karin Heimdahl as Jess, who is trying to process the end of a 20 year relationship. The episode also provides a sad contrast to Rachel’s episode, earlier in this season, which focused on their wedding. We saw the beginning of their relationship in season one, followed it over the course of the year, we’ve seen so many key moments; and here we are, almost at the end of the series, at the end of their relationship. It’s a very sad full circle.
Starfall: Act 1 Scene x. Get in Leona, we’re going shopping. I’ve loved the dynamic between Leona and Fel since the beginning of this story, and the fact that Fel’s taken her under his wing, but… Does Fel perhaps have a crush? A tiny little crush? It’s a brand new city for Leona, and an exciting return to a cultural hub for the rest of the acting troupe, but there are some unsettling hints that Leona’s past is imposing on her even more. The mood is lightened by the opening scene’s shopping trip, as well as the addition of a new character, and the… interesting implement they carry with them.
Debuts
What Will Be Here is set on a dying Earth, and follows a ‘ragtag group of delinquents’ recording a time capsule which they’ll then launch into space. Their mission is to record what Earth and humanity was, for anyone in the future who will find it. This first episode introduces the different characters who make up this group and their different roles in the project. Jules is keen to record everything and everyone, but not everyone is as enthusiastic about it as she is.
Trailers, Prologues and Bonus Episodes
Where the Stars Fell: In the second of the show’s pre-season minisodes, there’s a curious insight into two of Jerusalem’s more unconventional residents. There’s a very different framing device, which highlights the ‘normality’ of this family and their lives together. I loved the comedic creativity of the bedtime story!
COPPERHEART (Note: I appear in this teaser). Part one of Copperheart’s four-part (!) season one finale is due to be released on the 5th of December, with episodes releasing weekly until the final part on the 26th. Part one will function as a recap of Jack Sellers’ investigation into the GL51 bunker, and this three-minute trailer contains clips from the final three episodes.
The Way We Haunt Now released another trailer for its second season, due to launch on the 4th of December. It sounds like Eulalie is going to be having a time of it, as the ghosts have some ideas which will mean that her haunting has yet to come to an end.
Returns
Black Friday’s third and final season launched on, of course, Black Friday itself. The pace of the episode is very different, presented as an interrogation in the form of a monologue; and, as suggested by the episode’s title, inspired by 1984. Freedom is a key theme in the episode, but the person who has been affected by the Black Friday phenomenon doesn’t have an opportunity to speak, as an employee at a vague institution talks about the ‘miracle’ the world is witnessing. Given the nature of the show – where white people mysteriously transform into Black people overnight – there’s an examination into racism in Western society, especially in the States, and the role of fear in stoking racism.
Casting Calls
Speak To It Productions (currently releasing Verdant Heart) are seeking pitches for an upcoming folklore anthology series.
A Sky Full of Pods 