Beauty and the Beast S2E4 - "Hothead" Recap


Cat and Tess head out for a night of fun. Cat wants to forget about Vincent, who is also stressing now that his memories are starting to come back. He tells Chandler that he needs another Beast so he can keep busy and not think about Cat. Fortunately for him, there's a serial arsonist that Gabe determines to be a fire-resistant Beast.

Cat's night out doesn't go so well as she ends up in a fight (although it's pretty one-sided when her opponents are loud-mouthed drunks). She ends up getting arrested after one of the people she punches ends up being a judge. Gabe bails her out and scolds her like a child before filling her in on the fire-resistant Beast. He wants Vincent to help catch him, not kill him, to try to undo the his Beastly condition in the same way they undid his own. If they can re-create the results on the arsonists, they could cure Vincent. Cat wants no part of this investigation or plan, seeing as how arson isn't even under their jurisdiction.

Gabe pays a visit to Vincent's boat, risking personal safety to put him on the trail of the arsonist as well as tell him a bit about their history and dangle the possibility of his becoming human before him. Vincent heads out, determined to kill it. He uses his Beastly abilities to track the arsonist down to his latest fire. It's there that he learns that this Beast, Eddie Long, is not only fire-resistant but a fire-starter as well. Eddie unleashes some flames on Vincent, kicks him while he's down, and walks off victorious.

Cat is at a spa with Tess and is repeatedly getting distracted by talking about Gabe's plan. Gabe calls to interrupt the session, but she doesn't answer. He tries calling Tess and then the spa, forcing the womyn to cut short their pampering session.

Vincent is rescued from the fire by some firefighters and Gabe has managed to get Vincent hidden in a hospital room to hopefully keep anyone from ID-ing him. Vincent shares a private moment with Cat in which he tells her he wants to finish his mission so he can be with her. Meanwhile, Chandler has arrived at the hospital in search of Vincent, knowing that "John Doe" is really him. He spots Gabe with the arson investigators, who want to interview Vincent. Gabe tells them that Vincent is named Victor and is working undercover for the DA's office. As it turns out, the younger of the investigators is Aaron Keller. When his name is mentioned, Vincent's heart begins to race as memories come flooding back. Gabe orders the arson investigators out as Cat struggles to get Vincent under control. Vincent is remembering that Aaron is his nephew, the son of Vincent's dead brother William. Overwhelmed by the memories and unable to get his heart rate under control, Vincent beasts out and leaps through the hospital window.

Vincent calls Chandler, who says that he just has a few more missions and then he'll be done. He tells Vincent some background information on Eddie being a convicted arsonist that Muirfield ran experiments on, advises him to stay calm, and to steer clear of things that will trigger memories. Vincent returns to his boat to find Cat waiting for him, wanting to be sure that he's okay. He opens up about Aaron, William, and the memories that came back of the day William died.

The team figures out that all the building are owned by a wealthy oil executive. It's not long before another one of those buildings is set on fire and the firefighters head out, realising that Aaron has run off early to try to take the arsonist out himself. At the fire, Cat tries to stop Vincent but he kisses her and tells her not to worry.

Aaron comes face-to-face with Eddie, who takes him out with a small explosive device. Vincent gets in and prepares to face off with Eddie once again. Eddie attempts to use his running fire trick but Vincent has learned from his mistakes and claws a water pipe to put out the fire and begin fighting him properly. Aaron's firefighter alarm goes off and while Vincent is distracted, Eddie runs off. Vincent struggles with flashbacks of William telling him he needs to go back to medical school since their mother couldn't handle having another son as a firefighter, and then him losing his brother in the twin towers. A vision of William guides him to Aaron, and he scoops him up to get him to safety.

Cat and Gabe encounter Eddie, and Cat has to shoot him to prevent him from attacking and/or escaping. They try to use the defibrillator but they're not able to resuscitate him. Vincent gets Aaron out and whistles the firefighters over to look after Aaron. Later, Aaron pays a visit to Cat at the station to thank her. She warns him to be more careful from now on. He asks to talk to her partner (Vincent) to thank him for saving him but he won't be able to do that in person since he's "undercover."

Cat and Vincent go for a walk. He's adjusting as best as he can to the memories coming back but he's also happy to have more of who he is. They pay a visit to the memorial site of the Twin Towers and pay their respects to Vincent's brothers. Vincent wonders if he could have saved them if he had stayed in his profession as a firefighter and Cat advises him not to think about what could have been. They hold hands and prepare for what's to come, any of which they will face together.

Beauty and the Beast airs on Mondays on the CW at 8PM.

Batgirl Volume 3: Death of the Family (The New 52)

Series: Batgirl
Writer: Gail Simone
Illustrator: Ed Benes
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: October 29, 2013
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401242723

In the Death of the Family story arc, the Joker terrorizes those closest to Batman, in the name of strengthening him. We reviewed the Catwoman arc here, and this time it's Batgirl's turn.

In the midst of trying to solve a string of fires the Joker comes back and rears his ugly head. He finds Barbara Gordon's weakness, her mother, and uses her as a bargaining chip to propose what may be his biggest joke,  marriage. With her back against the wall, she's finally ready to break Batman's rule and end the Joker once and for all, but while she's prepared for the knock down drag out battle against the Joker she isn't prepared for a betrayal closer to home as her own brother betrays her to save their mother.

At the hands of the Joker, the horrors keep coming as she and the entire bat family are presented with gifts. Only Batman can save them, and no matter how valiant his outcome, his actions up to that point may never be erased. Blood may be thicker than water, but both can drown you. The deep rifts in the bat family may remain forever, and not a single one of them comes out unscathed.

The bat family isn't the only thing that gets destroyed. Her normal life may mirror her heroic one in the end, leaving her an orphan in every sense of the word.

Writer Gail Simone returns to write another powerful chapter in the Batgirl saga. Batgirl has always had a dark history with the Joker, and Simone has written a lot of it. Simone wrote Batgirl's first confrontation with the Joker, following her paralysis at his hands in 1988's Batman: The Killing Joke. This current installment captures the heart of Batgirl's struggles, and her never ending hope. Perfect addition to the Death of the Family storyline.

The Hollow Crown's "Henry V" - All Hail King Hiddleston!

Following the death of his father, Prince Hal is now Henry V.

Time to be king

In this final instalment of The Hollow Crown, brilliantly narrated by John Hurt, Prince Hal has now risen to power as King Henry V (though thankfully without abandoning the red leather jacket). Following his rebellious shenanigans as a prince, his strategy of seemingly transforming himself has brought mixed results. While some of his advisers note the brilliance of his reformation at the start of the film, there are still those that remain skeptical of his abilities to be an effective King. This comes to a boiling point when Dauphin, the eldest son of King Charles of France, sends him a "gift" of tennis balls to poke fun at his past reputation. The insult of this gesture is enough to ignite Henry's will to invade France in order to claim it as his.

But God said so

Yet again, the role of religious superstition must be noted in understanding the motives of various characters. Though Henry believes that his position as King has been divinely chosen, he is still haunted by the manner in which his father acquired the throne. We see a touching moment of vulnerability when he prays to God to not be punished for the sins of his father. This is, of course, quite contradictory but throughout each of the Hollow Crown plays, it is often difficult to determine whether the actions of certain characters lean more towards being just or self-serving. Not only does Henry see his invasion of France as just, he believes it is ordained by God. However, these complexities are part of the appeal and legacy of Shakespeare's plays.

Let me see you climax

This play shows Hiddleston at his finest. There are countless moments that showcase his talents and he weaves his self-proclaimed love of Shakespeare into the delivery of his lines. Both the "We few, we happy few" and "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more" speech are delivered to inspire his soldiers, and the delivery of these speeches is so outstanding that the inspiration has overflowed into the army of the actor himself. The fact that the "Once more" speech was the first thing that Hiddleston filmed for the series makes the performance even more incredible, given that it is arguably the character's most climactic moment of all the plays in which he appears. As a bonus, viewers are treated to the immense pleasure of seeing Henry lay on the charm to coax Princess Catherine into marrying him. Putting aside the crude innuendos made afterwards between Henry and the Duke of Burgendy, the scene of him professing his "love" is one that will send many hearts a flutter. Bravo, Hiddleston, bravo.

The complete series of "The Hollow Crown" is already available for DVD purchase.
Previous post on Richard II: http://www.museled.com/2013/09/the-hollow-crowns-richard-ii-triumph-in.html

Previous post on Henry IV (Part 1): http://www.museled.com/2013/10/the-hollow-crowns-henry-iv-part-1.html

Previous post on Henry IV (Part 2): http://www.museled.com/2013/10/the-hollow-crowns-henry-iv-part-2-rise.html

Henry IV (Part 2) is available for viewing within U.S. territories on the PBS website until November 5: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365090800/

Henry V is available for viewing within U.S. territories on the PBS website until November 7: Henry V

Atlantis S1E5 - "White Lies" Recap

A man sneaks into the palace and delivers a secret message to Ariadne. He is found by guards who chase him through the palace. When cornered, he leaps from the queen's window and lands safely but is shot in the back with an arrow and promptly surrounded by guards.

When questioned, Ariadne lies and says that the man had wanted her jewellery. Pasiphae doesn't believe her, though, and conspires with Heptarian to get the truth. Hercules has taken all of his, Pythagoras and Jason's money and bet it on beetle racing. He and the others celebrate when his beetle wins.

The prisoner is tortured when he refuses to give Pasiphae the answers she seeks. It doesn't work at first but when Pasiphae uses magic to enhance the torture, he reveals that the message he delivered was from Ariadne's brother, Therus. She kills him after he also reveals Therus' location. The Queen visits the Oracle and is furious at her for having made her believe Therus was dead. The Oracle replies that what she had said was that he was lost at sea.

Ariadne sends one of her servants to meet Therus and the servant lies to Jason in order to get him to accompany her. Therus is paranoid and reacts poorly to their party not being Ariadne but begrudgingly allows them all to camp together. In the middle of the night, they hear the horns of the palace soldiers that the Queen has sent after Therus. The party is nearly killed when Hercule goes back to get his beetle, but they manage to escape. Therus reveals that he was accused of plotting to kill his father, the King. Therus is determine to meet with Ariadne and Jason offers his services. He plans for her servant, Karina, to return to the palace and help deliver the message to Ariadne. At night, she sneaks through the palace and Heptarian follows her but when he catches up to her, it is actually Karina, wearing her clothes. Ariadne meets Jason outside the palace who plans to lead her to Therus. Pasiphae is determined that Ariadne not reach her brother, lest she learn the truth.

The city has been sealed to prevent Ariadne from getting out so Jason brings her back to his place. He gives her clothes to change into and self-consciously begins tidying the place while she is in the other  room. Jason stumbles through speaking with Ariadne, making his attraction to her painfully obvious. They sneak back out into the city and Jason brings Ariadne to Therus. The reunion is happy and Jason gives them time alone to speak to one another. Therus reveals that right before he was to come of age, he discovered that Pasiphae had plotted to have him killed. But it turns out, there was no actual plot and it was just a fabrication to discredit him to the King. Pasiphae threatened other men in order to get them to falsely confess to Therus' being a traitor. Therus is worried about how far Pasiphae will go to claim the throne for herself. He doubts the King's ability to protect Ariadne, who refuses to leave Atlantis. However, Therus had drugged her drink and as she passes out, he carries her off in an attempt to protect her.

When the trio returns and finds Ariadne's broken mug, Pythagoras identifies the chemical used to sedate Ariadne. Jason goes after Therus and they fight when he catches up to him. They're both fighting trying to protect Ariadne and Therus is aware of this. Jason declares that he would gladly give his life for Ariadne, who has awoken and breaks up the fight. She declares that it is her duty to stay behind and protect Atlantis and those she cares for. Therus says goodbye to Ariadne in private and even questions her as to whether or not Jason is part of the reason she is staying behind. She stays vague, saying that there are many she cares for. Jason brings her back to the city and when she is about to sneak back in, he calls her back and asks if she heard what he said to Therus during the fight. She says that she did not, since she was still "drowsy," and though she questions him, he says that it was nothing.

When Ariadne sneaks back in, she is confronted by Pasiphae, and she claims that she was in the temple consulting the Oracle. The tension is palpable and it's clear that they're both well aware of wwhat's going on.

In another beetle race, Hercules' beetle loses, leading Hercules to lose both his money and the shirt from his back. He angrily denies any ownership of the beetle, calling it "fat" and "lazy," to which Pythagoras quips, "Then I shall call him Hercules."

Atlantis airs on Saturdays on BBC One.

Dracula doesn't quite get the Blood flowing with its Premiere

Fantasy and horror continue their TV take overs this year. First we got the captivating Sleepy Hollow, followed by Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, and Reign. Admittedly these have all been added to my overly full DVR. Today marks the latest entry in Dracula, but does it have enough bite to make it into the weekly lineup?

The pilot opens with Dracula’s return from a shriveled up decrepit state. Two men find a tomb, they've been searching for a long time for it. Its full of gold, and trinkets, but that's not the prize. One of the men kills the other, spilling his blood over the coffin and feeding the beast below, who regenerates into the lovely but hungry Dracula. He is reborn.

Flash forward to London, 1896, Suave. Dracula readies for a demonstration, and a new identity. He masquerades as an american, Alexander Greyson, with a fairly hideous accent. The British one suits his mouth so much better.

Grayson's party is overly posh and lavish, and looks very much like the masquerade out of Van Helsing. Grayson instantly falls in love with Mina, and he sends Renfield to dig up the goods on her while he plays the good host. Then in a scene straight out of The Prestige, Grayson illuminates dozens of wireless light bulbs using energy harnessed from the magnetosphere, but only long enough for everyone to stare in awe before his steampunk factory has a meltdown, one that could have been avoided   if the board members of the British Imperial Company would be willing to sell an "american" their coolant patents. But instead worried over their futures and see Grayson as a threat.

And he is a threat, but not just in the way that they think. The British Imperial Company is a front for the centuries-old Order of the Dragon, an evil Illuminati that Grayson plans to take down at all costs. Long ago they burned his Mina doppelgänger. But they didn't just stop there,  The Order of the Dragon also slaughtered Van Helsing's family, so the two men are in a rocky partnership, which may not be what it seems, though he was the man who freed Dracula from his fancy iron box.

Another double player is Lady Jane, who seems to be not only pursuing Dracula, but also hunting him, and other vampires. At one point she's sexing Grayson in her opera box and later tries to get information from a captive vampire, who refuses to give up her sire.

The main problem with Dracula is that it isn't what you would expect. Sure there's bloodshed, but Rhys Meyers brings such an eroticism to it that there is nothing fear worthy. The darkness of Dracula is utterly absent.

It has the beauty one expects a Dracula piece to exude, but lacks the panache. Establishing such a well known character, in fact many well known characters, takes entirely too long. There are very few changes made from their classical literature predecessors and while Rhys Meyers is lovely and a great actor, that perfect compulsive and obsessive nuance that Gary Oldman captured so perfectly in regard to Mina in the film of the same name is lacking here. There's no intensity, no intricate paring on fear and desire on a razor's edge. So far the chemistry between Rhys Meyers and De Gouw is non-existent. It's not that white hot fury he displayed with Natalie Dormer on the Tudors. It's definitely intriguing enough for another view, but so far I'm not completely sold on the series, though it certainly doesn't lack potential.

Haven S4E7 - "Lay Me Down" Recap


Jennifer is preparing for a job interview at the Haven Herald. Duke tells her he is glad she is staying in Haven. Wade shows up to get cleaning materials (for his car) and Duke tells him off for his stabbing. Wade apologises and Duke warns him that it's not easy to control. Wade asks for a few days to figure out where he'll go. Meanwhile, Freddy is sleeping it off outside the Gull. Nathan locks him up to sleep if off off of Duke's property. When he goes back to check on Freddy, he finds him bloodied and dead. The body appears to have claw marks on it but Gloria tells them that the wounds are clean without any particles in them, like what typical animal marks have. Additionally, the clothes weren't torn.

Dwight gets a call about Jordan's car being left at the marina, even though people know she was supposed to leave town. Dwight tells Duke that Freddy is dead and that the wounds resemble a bear attack. The Trouble got him while he was asleep. Duke tells Dwight that Freddy like to watch documentaries about grizzly bears. Dwight also tells him about Jordan's car.

Jennifer heads in for her interview. She tells Vince and Dave about herself. They give her a test assignment; running an extensive background check on herself.

Duke dreams that Wade attacks and cuts him to get a rush from his blood. Duke wakes with the same arm wound and calls Audrey to tell her he think he knows what happened to Freddy. Meanwhile, Wade sneaks off with a girl named Sonia Winston after meeting her in a bar. He checks her arm and sees that she has a tattoo of The Guard. He stabs her to death after getting high from her blood.

Nathan is naked at the station and tells Audrey he is late for a test. The station turns into a classroom and a sexy-teacher version of Audrey spanks him when he doesn't know the answer to a question. He wakes up when Audrey knocks on his door to tell him about Duke's theory about a dream trouble. Nathan shows her the injury on his hand, failing to elaborate that it's from teacher-Audrey smacking him with a ruler.

Gloria shows them three victims. Two of them died through dream-related causes. The third victim is Sonia Winston and they can tell she didn't die in a dream because a tip from the knife was left in her wound whereas the dream-deaths never have any traces in their injuries.

Wade is back at the Gull and Duke reminds him that he can't sleep because of the dream trouble. Wade is cleaning a knife and claims to have been gutting a fish. Duke mentions that Jordan is missing and then notices that the knife Wade was using has a broken tip. Wade claims he was clumsy. After Wade leaves, Duke checks the cooler and finds that none of the fish are gutted.

Jennifer presents her findings to Vince and Duke. She has plenty to show but wasn't able to find her birth parents. They give her the job and she is thrilled.

Audrey figures out that the common denominator between the victims is the Haven Herald. Nathan realises that Dwight is in danger, since he had read Dwight's copy. Dwight has already fallen asleep and dreams he is investigating Jordan's disappearance and connects Wade to it. A gun floats in hte iar and he is shot. Nathan's call wakes him and he finds that he is shot. However, the doctor in the hospital tells them he will be okay.

Duke stays behind at the hospital while Nathan and Audrey continue their investigation. Duke goes through Dwight's information and finds the file on Sonia Winston and the photo of the broken knife tip. He goes to the marina and and asks about the boat Wade rented, asking to see it for a fishing spot. He follows the boat's GPS to Wade's previous destination and upon arriving, discovers Jordan's body and others weighed down beneath the surface.

Audrey and Nathan visit Vince and Dave and ask if anything was different about this issue. They realise all the victims were on the same route, delivered by Carrie Benson. She is currently out making a delivery of the afternoon edition. Carrie admits to having the Trouble, saying it runs in her family, but it has only affected themselves and never anyone else. She tells them about some family lore in which you must confront your worst fears and stop being afraid of them and that then the Trouble will stop. Her great aunt did this successfully but everyone else who has attempted it has died. Carrie tells them she was mugged two days ago and this is what caused her Trouble to worsen. She will enter a lucid dream state, and knows she will face those that mugged her. Audrey promises to be right by her side and Nathan remains in the room as well.

Duke confronts Wade as he was about to take another victim. He tells Wade he found the dumping ground and knows everything. Wade says he was helping them and this is the reason for their gift. Duke tells him it is a curse and that this Trouble has turned him into a killer. Wade threatens to tell the Guard that Lexie is Audrey if he turns him in so Duke knocks Wade out.

Carrie dreams she in in a forest at night. Audrey speaks to her, telling her not to be afraid. When Carries comes face-to-face with her muggers, it is the same men who had come into the bar/barn to get to William and Lexie.

Vince and Dave show Jennifer that the man who arranger her adoption was Byron Howard. This is the Agent Howard that brought Audrey to Haven. Jennifer tells them that was one of the voices she heard in the barn and Vince and Dave promise to help her find out why he arranged the adoption.

Carrie is being beaten and Audrey encourages her to fight back. She declares that she isn't afraid of the dark or her assailant and the forest turns to light and the men disappear. She wakes with some aches but apart from that is fine.

Jennifer finds Wade locked up and she lets him out, not knowing the reason for his containment. He cuts her and drinks some of her blood but Duke charges in, rescuing Jennifer. Duke accidentally gets some of Jennifer's blood on him and gives him his super-Trouble-strength. Duke pleads with Wade to control himself or he will have to kill him but Wade says that he can't and charges him. Duke has to stab his brother and the lack of blood absorption shows him that his brother is dead.

Audrey and Nathan visit Carrie. She is okay. Audrey spots a hand print on Carrie's back that no one else can see. Carrie says the last thing she remembered when attacked was a weird sensation in that spot. Audrey tells Nathan that this might be what caused Carrie's Trouble to mutate. Perhaps the Troubles are changing.

Duke prepares to dispose of Wade's body. Jennifer comforts him, saying that Wade knew what he was doing when he charged Duke. Duke touches Jennifer's wound and the blood doesn't absorb. Somethign about killing Wade has caused his Trouble to disappear. Jennifer promises not to say anything.

Audrey and Nathan fight over the fact that they don't know what's happening with the Troubles getting worse or changing and Audrey also brings up Sarah. They're both struggling with the obstacles in their relationship. There is much they have to face. Nathan walks out angry but immediately comes back in. He tells her he doesn't care who or what she is and that he loves her. They kiss and reconcile.

Outside, the two assailants watch the house from afar.

Haven airs on Fridays on Syfy at 10PM.

"OUTLANDER" first look Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraiser

Check out the highly anticipated first look image of Scottish actor Sam Heughan in character as Jamie Fraser for STARZ and SONY PICTURE TELEVISION’S original series “Outlander.” Adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international bestselling novels, the series is currently filming on location in Scotland and will air on STARZ in 2014.  For more information go to our Facebook Page, Follow @Outlander_Starz on Twitter and Instagram.  Join the conversation with #Outlander and #STARZ.

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