Fortunately for my sanity and the structural integrity of the Teagues' throats, the Haven Herald offices aren't very large. They are, however, packed with miscellaneous crap and therefore information, and as a result this actually ends up being the largest home analysis yet. The outside of the Herald is painted a soft lemon color, with white steps that look like they've seen better days and could at least use a good sanding and coat of paint, and windowboxes full of what might be grape hyacinths and a few ferns. There's also an American flag out front, which is interesting at the beginning and after the reveal that they knew and were close to Sarah Vernon, is even more intriguing. It might be that the flag is due to inclinations they had from their family; certainly we've heard them discuss family members in ways that suggest they picked up a number of traditions and customs willingly, but it might also have something to do with the fact that Sarah Vernon was an Army nurse, and enough of an influence on their lives and emotions to imprint some of the patriotic spirit of the time more deeply than they might have taken otherwise. A small sign with the goddamn lighthouse on it (seriously, we're just going to start calling that The Goddamn Lighthouse, the way Agent Howard is actually Agent Fuck You) shows to what business the building belongs, and there's an old yellow-painted newspaper dispenser, the kind that looks like it dispenses the Herald for free. In retrospect, that should have been our first clue that the brothers were loaded. For all their nosy habits and various hobbies, the Herald does not look like it brings in enough income for them to do all the things that they do, especially not if they're putting the Herald in free newspaper dispensers.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
When You're At Home: The Grey Gull
And once again, we have a look at the Grey Gull both before and after its current owner got ahold of it! Which is not quite as useful as a look at the Cape Rouge before and after Duke got ahold of it, as the Grey Gull is a commercial establishment with all the constraints that entails, different from the layout of a home. But we can still determine a few things from how Duke chooses to decorate and run the place.
When we first see it it's a restaurant in progress, the Second Chance Bistro, run by the McShaw brothers and a sister in law, mostly propelled by Geoff McShaw as what he considers a favor to his brother and the memory of their parents. This may or may not influence the decoration and layout choices for the building, if not the building itself; there's so little data on when the building was constructed and the elder generation of the McShaws that it's hard to say anything about that part of it. It does seem likely, especially on further watching, that the upstairs was never intended for commercial space. In the downstairs, for the restaurant, the kitchen is towards the parking lot side of the structure, and it's a small kitchen. There's a stove, what looks like a prep area or two, shelves, a sink, and that's about it. It's pretty much a galley kitchen, which would drive me absolutely bonkers if I had to prepare dinner for a restaurant full of people every night, so I sympathize a little with the head chef. There's a pigeon coop on the upper floor, the back room seems to be in the same place as Duke's back room, which is largely storage for both businesses. And so the layout is pretty much the same, which makes sense on both a Watsonian (all the pipes and spigots and outlets would need to be rearranged otherwise) and a Doylist level (easier to rearrange the smaller pieces of a set).
Saturday, February 23, 2013
It's Just A Shot Away (Person of Interest S1E04 Cura Te Ipsum)
Drinking game for this recapalypse: sip whenever we say oh John,
drink whenever we say oh $NAME, drink twice when we go off on a tangent
about moral ambiguity. Chug when Boondock Saints is referenced. You may
wish to have an ambulance on standby. In other words, this is the
episode of John Reese's Issues, volumes ii-iv, and hoo BOY does that
barely scratch the surface. Not least because he spends this ep using
his issues against other people to get them to do what he wants, which
is probably the first major indication just what the spy part of his
spyssassin training with the Company involved. But I get ahead of
myself. Our first shot relevant to the week comes with a shot of Meg
Tillman in the crowd, looking a little weary and like any other New York
professional 20- or 30-something. Probably 30-something, as a resident.
The Machine gives us some clips of the city while an as-yet-unknown
woman speaks on the phone, probably leaving a voicemail. We can guess
it's both of these judging by the recording quality and judging by the
content of her words, which most people would be interrupting by now.
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Arcana
Taken from an essay/info page on my website, we're publishing this here because after ten years, a lot of this informs how we talk about characters and fiction. Plus, it's the answer key to all those personnel files we've been talking about in our fourth-wall-what-fourth-wall profiles of Haven characters.
The Arcana got started on account of being an over-educated liberal arts major and needing to classify all the character patterns I saw in my own writing in a manner similar to Jung and Campbell and all the rest. Then it growed. Like fungus. As you'd expect, they're highly interconnected, so instead of trying to create further order out of chaos, I give them to you in alphabetical order. Note: not every character is going to be Arcane or fit neatly into these patterns, nor is it unlikely for them to change type over their character arc; they're archetypes for a reason, folks.
The Augustine
Did I mention over-educated? If Julius Caesar is the most famous Caesar, Augustus is arguably the most successful by several benchmarks. He built up the Roman empire from a state of lawless near-anarchy to a greatly expanded and largely stable world power. He was also a ruthless, cold, manipulative empire-building bastard. And yet he's frequently remembered as a benevolent force of light and truth, due to really good press. Augustines, however cold and ruthless they may be, are possessed of a damn near uncanny ability to spin events so they come out looking like golden boys in public. They're second only to Sorcerers in their ability to manipulate others, though it's less a matter of inferior ability and more because the Augustine reckons everything in a cost-benefit balance. History and fiction tend to record these as being public kingmakers. What others know of them in private may differ, of course...
(Examples: Johnny "Gentleman" Marcone, Lara Raith, Varys the Spider, Mycroft Holmes, Lord Vetinari)
(Examples: Johnny "Gentleman" Marcone, Lara Raith, Varys the Spider, Mycroft Holmes, Lord Vetinari)
The Blade
Serial killers tend to follow a very restrictive pattern. In real life, the study of the pattern of serial killers happens in the FBI and in criminal psychology courses. In fiction, we call it studying the crime genre. The Blade is the character who exists to hurt and kill, whether for a cause (i.e. a wielder) or because that's all the character knows how to do (i.e. unwielded.) They might be visibly broken or subtly broken and highly trained, but they're rarely given in the narrative to suggest that they have anything in their life outside of the hunt and the kill. When a history is given, it generally points to an all-too-familiar cycle of abuse. Blades are never stable and are so-called because they cut in both directions, if they're of the wielded variety.
(Examples: John Reese, the Corinthian, Dexter Morgan, Sweeney Todd, Clarice Willow [Caprica])
Serial killers tend to follow a very restrictive pattern. In real life, the study of the pattern of serial killers happens in the FBI and in criminal psychology courses. In fiction, we call it studying the crime genre. The Blade is the character who exists to hurt and kill, whether for a cause (i.e. a wielder) or because that's all the character knows how to do (i.e. unwielded.) They might be visibly broken or subtly broken and highly trained, but they're rarely given in the narrative to suggest that they have anything in their life outside of the hunt and the kill. When a history is given, it generally points to an all-too-familiar cycle of abuse. Blades are never stable and are so-called because they cut in both directions, if they're of the wielded variety.
(Examples: John Reese, the Corinthian, Dexter Morgan, Sweeney Todd, Clarice Willow [Caprica])
The Brute
Not all patterns are cerebral in nature. The Brute is a simple type, who may be unintelligent or who may simply prefer physical solutions to problems. They may be violent, but they don't have to use that violence to abuse others; they're as likely to be found in a boxing ring as in a domestic call-out. Unlike the other archetypes who do violence the Brute has a personal code of behavior and doesn't feel a need for some sort of leader or controller, although sometimes they do join an organization with a leader whose orders must be followed. The Brute is also not necessarily unintelligent; although often portrayed that way because of either lazy or simplistic writing, sometimes he just doesn't see the need to be smart all the time. What the Brute is not is highly educated in an institution, all other intelligence-related qualities are up for grabs. The name comes from the fact that someone who prefers physical solutions, uses short words, and stumps about being blunt and sometimes uncouth is usually seen as brutish.
(Examples: Jayne Cobb, Raven [Snow Crash], Max Hansen, Sandor Clegane, Xander Cage)
Not all patterns are cerebral in nature. The Brute is a simple type, who may be unintelligent or who may simply prefer physical solutions to problems. They may be violent, but they don't have to use that violence to abuse others; they're as likely to be found in a boxing ring as in a domestic call-out. Unlike the other archetypes who do violence the Brute has a personal code of behavior and doesn't feel a need for some sort of leader or controller, although sometimes they do join an organization with a leader whose orders must be followed. The Brute is also not necessarily unintelligent; although often portrayed that way because of either lazy or simplistic writing, sometimes he just doesn't see the need to be smart all the time. What the Brute is not is highly educated in an institution, all other intelligence-related qualities are up for grabs. The name comes from the fact that someone who prefers physical solutions, uses short words, and stumps about being blunt and sometimes uncouth is usually seen as brutish.
(Examples: Jayne Cobb, Raven [Snow Crash], Max Hansen, Sandor Clegane, Xander Cage)
The Child-Bride
For various reasons, there's a class of protagonist who is young, inexperienced, and thrust into a position of either authority or leadership-by-example while being paired with an older, more jaded character. Usually this provides a protagonist a young person can relate to (in the case of young adult fiction) while being singled out as special, or it's done to show contrast and create benign conflict and progress the story via dialectic. The Child-Bride, not the abducted and enslaved kind but the young person thrown into an adult role, provides energy and stability beyond his or her years, as well as hope and fresh thinking. Usually she or he learns some lessons about disappointment, hardship, or pain, while the older person the Child-Bride is matched with learns to have new hope in the world. It's a very old device, but it still works.
(Examples: Sarah Williams from Labyrinth, Lucy Pevensie, Luke Skywalker (arguably), Wendy Darling, Amanda Graystone)
For various reasons, there's a class of protagonist who is young, inexperienced, and thrust into a position of either authority or leadership-by-example while being paired with an older, more jaded character. Usually this provides a protagonist a young person can relate to (in the case of young adult fiction) while being singled out as special, or it's done to show contrast and create benign conflict and progress the story via dialectic. The Child-Bride, not the abducted and enslaved kind but the young person thrown into an adult role, provides energy and stability beyond his or her years, as well as hope and fresh thinking. Usually she or he learns some lessons about disappointment, hardship, or pain, while the older person the Child-Bride is matched with learns to have new hope in the world. It's a very old device, but it still works.
(Examples: Sarah Williams from Labyrinth, Lucy Pevensie, Luke Skywalker (arguably), Wendy Darling, Amanda Graystone)
The Innocent
There's very little to say about the Innocent because they're so rarely found in fiction. They're more of a proto-Arcane than anything else, a blank template, if you will. They have significant force of personality but little experience to direct that personality in a specific manner; they may be found at the start of a journey/quest narrative and morph into another Arcane by the end of the story.
(Examples: AudSarLu as a construct, Alcuin no Delaunay, Twoflower, Vir Cotto at least as he begins)
There's very little to say about the Innocent because they're so rarely found in fiction. They're more of a proto-Arcane than anything else, a blank template, if you will. They have significant force of personality but little experience to direct that personality in a specific manner; they may be found at the start of a journey/quest narrative and morph into another Arcane by the end of the story.
(Examples: AudSarLu as a construct, Alcuin no Delaunay, Twoflower, Vir Cotto at least as he begins)
The Madwo/man
This be madness, yet there's method in't. That's the core of the Madman character, though the madness itself can take a lot of different forms. The two requisite parts of the madness are that the character must be damaged or nonfunctional according to the standards of the setting in which the work takes place, and the character must possess wisdom and knowledge that the rest of the characters don't. Maybe the Madman is aware of the knowledge or maybe not, but the point is that there's truth, often valuable and helpful, in all the deranged blather, if the characters have the patience to sit down and sift through it or, in the event that the Madman is a part of an ongoing journey, the patience to care for the Madman character.
(Examples: Zathras, Stark the Banik, Don Quixote, Delirium of the Endless, Ponder Stibbons)
This be madness, yet there's method in't. That's the core of the Madman character, though the madness itself can take a lot of different forms. The two requisite parts of the madness are that the character must be damaged or nonfunctional according to the standards of the setting in which the work takes place, and the character must possess wisdom and knowledge that the rest of the characters don't. Maybe the Madman is aware of the knowledge or maybe not, but the point is that there's truth, often valuable and helpful, in all the deranged blather, if the characters have the patience to sit down and sift through it or, in the event that the Madman is a part of an ongoing journey, the patience to care for the Madman character.
(Examples: Zathras, Stark the Banik, Don Quixote, Delirium of the Endless, Ponder Stibbons)
The Priest/ess
Many of these archetypes use their perception and knowledge for evil or at least for not-very-nice. The Priest/ess uses that perception for good. If also not necessarily for nice. Because of this the Priest/ess generally ends up fixing things, not only rescuing people but fixing problems, instructing people to be self-sufficient, employing strategy and counseling before defeating enemies with violence. Though when the violence comes, generally the Priest/ess is capable as everyone else at either dealing it, deflecting it, or both. They also tend to, because of this perceptive ability, be shown as the flip side of or in danger of becoming the Sorcerer. Of all the flaws inherent in the Priest/ess, the greatest is the tendency to disregard personal weakness because, dammit, people need help and s/he is qualified. Also known as the Super(wo)man complex.
(Examples: Phedre no Delaunay, Delenn, Jeffrey Sinclair/Valen, Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, Granny Weatherwax)
Many of these archetypes use their perception and knowledge for evil or at least for not-very-nice. The Priest/ess uses that perception for good. If also not necessarily for nice. Because of this the Priest/ess generally ends up fixing things, not only rescuing people but fixing problems, instructing people to be self-sufficient, employing strategy and counseling before defeating enemies with violence. Though when the violence comes, generally the Priest/ess is capable as everyone else at either dealing it, deflecting it, or both. They also tend to, because of this perceptive ability, be shown as the flip side of or in danger of becoming the Sorcerer. Of all the flaws inherent in the Priest/ess, the greatest is the tendency to disregard personal weakness because, dammit, people need help and s/he is qualified. Also known as the Super(wo)man complex.
(Examples: Phedre no Delaunay, Delenn, Jeffrey Sinclair/Valen, Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, Granny Weatherwax)
The Sorcerer/ess
Into many stories an anti-hero must fall. The Sorcerer is the bad boy, the one you love to hate and hate to love. Usually depicted as male, he's severely damaged in some way but still capable of passing for functional in his native society. The core of his narrative is that at some point, he was offered a choice between power and love (be that platonic or romantic) and chose power above all. While the name for the trope suggests this power must be magical in nature, it can also be temporal or cerebral. The Sorcerer knows exactly when and why he's become the person he has, and regrets it on some level. His true power comes not from whatever he hoped to gain, but from his self-knowledge and knowledge of others' motives, and ability to manipulate them into choosing against their own self-interest and/or for their worst desires. This gives him the self-satisfaction of knowing that what he's done, everyone else can fall to. Sorcerers tend to come in stages, which for the sake of pedantry have been split into five, with one being the lightest and most capable of turning back to another Arcana's path and five being terminally self-destructive. Unless the story is about their redemption arc, they're usually found on the more self-destructive side of things, as the examples list shows.
(Examples: Jareth, Lucifer, Randall Flagg, Melisande Shahrizai, Raistlin Majere)
Into many stories an anti-hero must fall. The Sorcerer is the bad boy, the one you love to hate and hate to love. Usually depicted as male, he's severely damaged in some way but still capable of passing for functional in his native society. The core of his narrative is that at some point, he was offered a choice between power and love (be that platonic or romantic) and chose power above all. While the name for the trope suggests this power must be magical in nature, it can also be temporal or cerebral. The Sorcerer knows exactly when and why he's become the person he has, and regrets it on some level. His true power comes not from whatever he hoped to gain, but from his self-knowledge and knowledge of others' motives, and ability to manipulate them into choosing against their own self-interest and/or for their worst desires. This gives him the self-satisfaction of knowing that what he's done, everyone else can fall to. Sorcerers tend to come in stages, which for the sake of pedantry have been split into five, with one being the lightest and most capable of turning back to another Arcana's path and five being terminally self-destructive. Unless the story is about their redemption arc, they're usually found on the more self-destructive side of things, as the examples list shows.
(Examples: Jareth, Lucifer, Randall Flagg, Melisande Shahrizai, Raistlin Majere)
The Star
As much as people like an anti-hero, sometimes the grimdark gets depressing, and that's where the Star comes in. Stars are shiny, very very shiny, shiny squirrels on speed. And acid. They tend to be performers of some kind or another, for best and most widespread effect, but the core of the Star is simply to bring lightness and laughter to wherever they are. That said, if someone mistakes them for empty-headed or stupid because of this, well, they tend to be quickly proven wrong. And if they aren't, it's because it amuses the Star to play dumb. The Star's function in a work is not only to provide levity but also to provide the strength and energy that comes with hope and optimism, and generally the moments of greatest despair see the Star getting both more serious and more heartfelt and uplifting. Narrative permitting, of course, because the Star is another type that can easily turn to Sorcerer if you're working with the grimdark aspects.
(Examples: Tank Girl, Marcus Cole, Cuthbert Allgood, Carlos Ramirez [Dresden Files])
As much as people like an anti-hero, sometimes the grimdark gets depressing, and that's where the Star comes in. Stars are shiny, very very shiny, shiny squirrels on speed. And acid. They tend to be performers of some kind or another, for best and most widespread effect, but the core of the Star is simply to bring lightness and laughter to wherever they are. That said, if someone mistakes them for empty-headed or stupid because of this, well, they tend to be quickly proven wrong. And if they aren't, it's because it amuses the Star to play dumb. The Star's function in a work is not only to provide levity but also to provide the strength and energy that comes with hope and optimism, and generally the moments of greatest despair see the Star getting both more serious and more heartfelt and uplifting. Narrative permitting, of course, because the Star is another type that can easily turn to Sorcerer if you're working with the grimdark aspects.
(Examples: Tank Girl, Marcus Cole, Cuthbert Allgood, Carlos Ramirez [Dresden Files])
The Tragedien/ne
Sometimes there just is no happy ending. Sometimes the character is screwed every which way until they end up dead, or worse. This used to be a far more popular character type than it currently is; now it's more required that the character be justified in their eventual doom than simply 'they're the main character in a tragic story.' In any case, often for a variety of reasons, the Tragedien/ne is the protagonist who can't escape the death of the self, usually with accompanying physical death. Sometimes the base of the tragedy is of his or her own making, but events conspire to prevent them from learning crucial information, or taking the hard-but-livable way out is simply a choice they can't see. (See especially Morpheus, who ends up in a tangle of familial duty and debts owed.) Often the character even realizes their end is coming, providing some commentary or wisdom on the situation.
(Examples: Morpheus-Dream of the Endless, Juliet, Eddard Stark, Londo Mollari, Roland Deschain)
Sometimes there just is no happy ending. Sometimes the character is screwed every which way until they end up dead, or worse. This used to be a far more popular character type than it currently is; now it's more required that the character be justified in their eventual doom than simply 'they're the main character in a tragic story.' In any case, often for a variety of reasons, the Tragedien/ne is the protagonist who can't escape the death of the self, usually with accompanying physical death. Sometimes the base of the tragedy is of his or her own making, but events conspire to prevent them from learning crucial information, or taking the hard-but-livable way out is simply a choice they can't see. (See especially Morpheus, who ends up in a tangle of familial duty and debts owed.) Often the character even realizes their end is coming, providing some commentary or wisdom on the situation.
(Examples: Morpheus-Dream of the Endless, Juliet, Eddard Stark, Londo Mollari, Roland Deschain)
The Twins
There are two prevalent types of twins in fiction; the first type is the type that's nearly one person in two bodies, Fred and George Weasley, the twins from the second Matrix movie. This archetype deals with the other sort, the kind that is light and dark, day and night. Not necessarily good and evil, because many of these twin pairings are on the same side, but they have opposite approaches to the problems presented within the story. Sometimes you can find this archetype within a single person, Fight Club being probably the most pop-culture prevalent example of it but also some renditions of Jekyll and Hyde (Moffat and Nesbitt I'm looking at you) present this way.
(Examples: Vash the Stampede & Nicholas Wolfwood, Apollo & Artemis, Cain and Abel of Mysteries and Secrets, Sally and Gillian Owens, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern [Stoppard, not Shakespeare])
There are two prevalent types of twins in fiction; the first type is the type that's nearly one person in two bodies, Fred and George Weasley, the twins from the second Matrix movie. This archetype deals with the other sort, the kind that is light and dark, day and night. Not necessarily good and evil, because many of these twin pairings are on the same side, but they have opposite approaches to the problems presented within the story. Sometimes you can find this archetype within a single person, Fight Club being probably the most pop-culture prevalent example of it but also some renditions of Jekyll and Hyde (Moffat and Nesbitt I'm looking at you) present this way.
(Examples: Vash the Stampede & Nicholas Wolfwood, Apollo & Artemis, Cain and Abel of Mysteries and Secrets, Sally and Gillian Owens, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern [Stoppard, not Shakespeare])
The Warrior
Unlike many of the other archetypes here, the Warrior isn't a leader, or at least, not in the independent sense. The Warrior might lead soldiers, and will do so very capably, but if the Warrior is the protagonist it's generally, pun intended, in service of a cause or a leader. This may result in conflicts between the leader or others in the cause and the Warrior's own sense of justice and responsibility, which is acute. Words most often associated with this archetype are loyalty, duty, and honor, engraved into 50 ton anvils and dropped on toes at any convenient point within the narrative.
(Examples: Commander Vimes, Joscelin Verreuil, Jorah Mormont, Detective Joss Carter, Paksenarrion)
Unlike many of the other archetypes here, the Warrior isn't a leader, or at least, not in the independent sense. The Warrior might lead soldiers, and will do so very capably, but if the Warrior is the protagonist it's generally, pun intended, in service of a cause or a leader. This may result in conflicts between the leader or others in the cause and the Warrior's own sense of justice and responsibility, which is acute. Words most often associated with this archetype are loyalty, duty, and honor, engraved into 50 ton anvils and dropped on toes at any convenient point within the narrative.
(Examples: Commander Vimes, Joscelin Verreuil, Jorah Mormont, Detective Joss Carter, Paksenarrion)
The Witch
Witches come in a lot of different flavors and archetypes, but for these purposes if (arguably) the Priestess is the Crone and the Child-Bride is the Maiden figure, then the Witch would be the Mother. The Witch represents a more organic, gradual, and passive form of nurturing and teaching, and a less chaotic form of wisdom than the Madman. The Witch brings wisdom and healing from simplicity and provides an often much-needed grounding element, usually in earth-based philosophy and magic but sometimes just in the importance of ordinary things like cooking a meal or cleaning up a living space.
(Examples: Radagast, Juliette Silverton, Tara Maclay, Poledra, Nanny Ogg)
Witches come in a lot of different flavors and archetypes, but for these purposes if (arguably) the Priestess is the Crone and the Child-Bride is the Maiden figure, then the Witch would be the Mother. The Witch represents a more organic, gradual, and passive form of nurturing and teaching, and a less chaotic form of wisdom than the Madman. The Witch brings wisdom and healing from simplicity and provides an often much-needed grounding element, usually in earth-based philosophy and magic but sometimes just in the importance of ordinary things like cooking a meal or cleaning up a living space.
(Examples: Radagast, Juliette Silverton, Tara Maclay, Poledra, Nanny Ogg)
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Hail to the King: Haven References
Most
of you are probably fully aware by now that we're a) Stephen King dorks
on here (though far from the biggest ones in Haven fandom) and b) we
are ALL ABOUT the themes. SyFy has kindly created an entire page of the
Stephen King references that they consider
prominently featured in Haven, and because I am nothing if not a
glutton for punishment I thought it would be a great idea to see what
those choices say about the themes inherent to each episode.
We are, sadly, missing several eps from this page: the first two, along with most of s3. I think we've called out a lot of King references in s3 eps in the recaplyses anyway, but if/when the SyFy page gets updated I'll come back here and put the rest in. Again, this is because I'm curious what themes the writers are trying to throw at us like large cartoon anvils, as opposed to the ones they're hoping to sneak by. Not that I would suspect the writers' room of such ninja tactics. Of course not.
Consider this fair warning: below the fold you will find spoilers for any and all King novels, novellas, short stories, mini-series, movies, and any other form of media the Haven staff have referenced. If you don't want spoilers, don't yell at us for putting them in. Also, while we're King fans around here, there's likely to be gaps in our repertoire because the man is fucking prolific - feel free to fill in in the comments.
We are, sadly, missing several eps from this page: the first two, along with most of s3. I think we've called out a lot of King references in s3 eps in the recaplyses anyway, but if/when the SyFy page gets updated I'll come back here and put the rest in. Again, this is because I'm curious what themes the writers are trying to throw at us like large cartoon anvils, as opposed to the ones they're hoping to sneak by. Not that I would suspect the writers' room of such ninja tactics. Of course not.
Consider this fair warning: below the fold you will find spoilers for any and all King novels, novellas, short stories, mini-series, movies, and any other form of media the Haven staff have referenced. If you don't want spoilers, don't yell at us for putting them in. Also, while we're King fans around here, there's likely to be gaps in our repertoire because the man is fucking prolific - feel free to fill in in the comments.
Monday, February 18, 2013
When You're At Home: Audrey's Apartment
The best part about analyzing Audrey's apartment is that, unlike Duke's boat, we have some idea of what it looked like before she got ahold of it. In Love Machine (episode 2x03) we see the loft above the restaurant before anyone lives in it, and it looks as though it's being used as a storage area. At this point Duke has had the Grey Gull for a couple of months, so it's not an unreasonable use of a space he likely hasn't had time or inclination to clear out and do other things with. He already has a place to live, and refurbishing it to be part of the restaurant/bar proper would be a pain in the ass. So, storage it is, until renting it out becomes a possibility. We don't see what prompts him to rent it out, but we do see that while he's not exactly sanguine about the prospect of having two members of law enforcement living above his bar, he's even less excited by the idea that his estranged wife might be living that close to him. Oh Duke.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
And The Wind Began To Howl (Person of Interest S1E03 Mission Creep)
And we're back! Today's unsub number is a fit-looking guy in his mid-to-late-twenties, early-thirties or so, at least according to the clip in the opening credits. Sadly, all Reese is doing is shadowing him (blatantly, which might be for some purpose other than surveillance) so we don't have much of an advance warning as to what this episode is about. Not that less than a minute before the opening credits is advance warning.
After the Machine wanders around New York City for a bit, stretches, has itself a cup of computer-coffee, we're over at the library-slash-base of operations where Reese is walking up on... aww! Finch has fallen asleep over the keyboard! Not drooling on his hand, so he's doing better than me already, but the fact that he lets Reese walk right up to him while he's asleep is a sign of exhaustion, trust, or an utter lack of the kind of self-preservation skills that cause one to jerk awake at the slightest sound of someone walking up on you. I'd go with the first and third, personally. Not so much an utter lack of self-preservation skills (although it is astounding the areas in which he's rusty or lacking and the areas in which he's wildly competent) as a lack of that particular trick. Which Reese no doubt has in spades. Anyway. Reese also has a cup of green tea for Finch, thus beginning the first of a long, long series of little domestic moments that cause huge swaths of fandom to Trollface. I myself have no Trollface for this, but I will happily paste one on yay and wave it around for moments like this. Because really.
After the Machine wanders around New York City for a bit, stretches, has itself a cup of computer-coffee, we're over at the library-slash-base of operations where Reese is walking up on... aww! Finch has fallen asleep over the keyboard! Not drooling on his hand, so he's doing better than me already, but the fact that he lets Reese walk right up to him while he's asleep is a sign of exhaustion, trust, or an utter lack of the kind of self-preservation skills that cause one to jerk awake at the slightest sound of someone walking up on you. I'd go with the first and third, personally. Not so much an utter lack of self-preservation skills (although it is astounding the areas in which he's rusty or lacking and the areas in which he's wildly competent) as a lack of that particular trick. Which Reese no doubt has in spades. Anyway. Reese also has a cup of green tea for Finch, thus beginning the first of a long, long series of little domestic moments that cause huge swaths of fandom to Trollface. I myself have no Trollface for this, but I will happily paste one on yay and wave it around for moments like this. Because really.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Omnia Vincit Amor: The Saga of Duke and Nathan
One of the big theories flying around about the origin of the Troubles, or at least of AudSarLu's role in it, is that it started out involving her and two men. We've seen this theory in one form or another in a couple of different places, and we've put it forward ourselves given the parallels between Duke and Nathan, and Vince and Dave. In Lucy's era it might have been James and Garland, as the two male figures who were closest to her as far as we know, but we know so little about Lucy's time that it's hard to make anything out of it more solid than a guess. That said, the overwhelming body of evidence is in favor that something was going on with Lucy and two men, in a similar way to something going on between Sarah and the Teagues, and now Audrey and Duke and Nathan. And it is the general opinion of this esteemed pair of ladies that the show is working both the rivalry and the camaraderie in balance to resolve Haven's Troubles. If love is the answer, as described in the season three finale, then any form of love tying Nathan and Duke together despite or because of their differences may be the clue to fixing Haven that's been missing all these years.
So! Starting out, we're introduced to Nathan first as a soft-spoken cop, gentle and relaxed but also serious and dedicated. He cracks jokes with Audrey as he saves her from toppling off a cliff, but he also clearly takes his duties and responsibilities seriously. And Duke also, in fact, cracks jokes after saving her from drowning after being knocked unconscious into the water, meaning that both men are introduced in the pilot episode as being fun guys to be around who will, without hesitation, save the life of a stranger. We're also introduced to the conflict between them, what with Nathan describing Duke as "all bad" since he was five years old, and saying that "everything about this guy is a pain in my ass." Poor Duke. Still, this portrayal isn't reinforced by the narrative, as Duke is depicted by the writers, director, and actor to be more of a gentleman rogue than an actual asshole.
So! Starting out, we're introduced to Nathan first as a soft-spoken cop, gentle and relaxed but also serious and dedicated. He cracks jokes with Audrey as he saves her from toppling off a cliff, but he also clearly takes his duties and responsibilities seriously. And Duke also, in fact, cracks jokes after saving her from drowning after being knocked unconscious into the water, meaning that both men are introduced in the pilot episode as being fun guys to be around who will, without hesitation, save the life of a stranger. We're also introduced to the conflict between them, what with Nathan describing Duke as "all bad" since he was five years old, and saying that "everything about this guy is a pain in my ass." Poor Duke. Still, this portrayal isn't reinforced by the narrative, as Duke is depicted by the writers, director, and actor to be more of a gentleman rogue than an actual asshole.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Our Troubled Evolution (Person of Interest S1E02 Ghosts)
Last time on Person of Interest, we were introduced at length to a variety of people and we may or may not have reveled in our ridiculously broad knowledge base that lets us pore over all the military and tactical things they're doing in this show, to say nothing of our usual focus on writing, acting, and cinematography. For those of you just joining us, yes, we're those dorks who never met a topic we couldn't research if we didn't already know something about it.
This time: Reese just can't stop getting his hands sliced up, we really like the person of the week, and Finch is really not who you want in the field. (This will be a refrain. Finch is the dumbest smart guy we know, dear lord.)
This time: Reese just can't stop getting his hands sliced up, we really like the person of the week, and Finch is really not who you want in the field. (This will be a refrain. Finch is the dumbest smart guy we know, dear lord.)
Friday, February 8, 2013
When You're At Home: Cape Rouge
Well, to start with, the fact that Duke chooses to continue living on his boat rather than take the apartment upstairs from the Grey Gull says something about him, if only that he's comfortable in his living conditions and prefers not to change. The boat is safe, the boat is familiar. The boat is also a means for him to escape the craziness of Haven, even if only for a little while, even if that promise of escape is more along the lines of a security blanket than anything he'd actually do. For his smuggler contacts, for whom trust and routine are important things and changes in routine signify potential threats or complications at best, keeping the boat indicates that he's keeping his old way of life at least inasmuch as he's not going to turn rat on them. Plus, I bet it makes a nice handy side business for the Gull.
So, for this first profile of the places in which our Havenites spend the bulk of their quality time, Duke Crocker's home, the Cape Rouge.
So, for this first profile of the places in which our Havenites spend the bulk of their quality time, Duke Crocker's home, the Cape Rouge.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Weird Science: Speculations on Wesen Biology
For the last in the series, we'll deal with the data that we have on Wesen in general, since there's a fair amount of that as well. A lot of it amounts to either things which are implied to work by magic, but some of it also says interesting things about the ability of Wesen to interchange various things between species, such as diseases, drugs, and genetic material. We'll start with that genetic material part, also known as Wesen hybrids.
It was a discussion of Wesen interbreeding that started this whole essay in the first place, and if I had a smidgen more biology knowledge or the time to research the subjects relevant I could probably go on for the length of a doorstopper. In the interest of not hurting either of our brains, let's just summarize and speculate wildly, which is much more fun. We know that cross-breeding between Wesen and human creates a viable offspring, because we have the example of one Sean Renard, half-hexen sexybiest royal pain in the ass. In the first season we also had the Ziegvolk-Human pregnancies but since we never saw those women carry to term we don't know how viable those offspring would have been; Renard's example suggests they would be physically healthy and capable. We know that crossbreeds between Wesen are potentially physically possible at least through artificial genetic mutation, because we have Pierce the Lowen-Geni Innocuo crossover. Who is violently unstable, but it's impossible to say without an exhaustive study of just what was done to him (which we're not going to get and I can't say I'm sad about that) whether that was a result of the choices made during the course of the experiment or whether all such experiments would be unstable. And let's please not to be repeating that, yes? Yes. On the other hand, we also know that natural cross-breeds creating a child is possible, because we have the pregnant Seelengut at the end of The Good Shepherd. Whether or not that offspring would be healthy and viable or whether there would be similar aforementioned instabilities or other genetic difficulties is another question never answered. Traditionally, species hybrids are infertile, although there are less than a hundred known instances of mules (a hybrid offspring between a male donkey and a female horse) bearing offspring to one of the parent species. In the case of Wesen and human hybrids, barring certain other social phenomena taking place, the resultant hybrid does seem to be capable of siring or bearing offspring, indicating a high degree of compatibility, perhaps higher than that of a Wesen subspecies hybrid.
It was a discussion of Wesen interbreeding that started this whole essay in the first place, and if I had a smidgen more biology knowledge or the time to research the subjects relevant I could probably go on for the length of a doorstopper. In the interest of not hurting either of our brains, let's just summarize and speculate wildly, which is much more fun. We know that cross-breeding between Wesen and human creates a viable offspring, because we have the example of one Sean Renard, half-hexen sexybiest royal pain in the ass. In the first season we also had the Ziegvolk-Human pregnancies but since we never saw those women carry to term we don't know how viable those offspring would have been; Renard's example suggests they would be physically healthy and capable. We know that crossbreeds between Wesen are potentially physically possible at least through artificial genetic mutation, because we have Pierce the Lowen-Geni Innocuo crossover. Who is violently unstable, but it's impossible to say without an exhaustive study of just what was done to him (which we're not going to get and I can't say I'm sad about that) whether that was a result of the choices made during the course of the experiment or whether all such experiments would be unstable. And let's please not to be repeating that, yes? Yes. On the other hand, we also know that natural cross-breeds creating a child is possible, because we have the pregnant Seelengut at the end of The Good Shepherd. Whether or not that offspring would be healthy and viable or whether there would be similar aforementioned instabilities or other genetic difficulties is another question never answered. Traditionally, species hybrids are infertile, although there are less than a hundred known instances of mules (a hybrid offspring between a male donkey and a female horse) bearing offspring to one of the parent species. In the case of Wesen and human hybrids, barring certain other social phenomena taking place, the resultant hybrid does seem to be capable of siring or bearing offspring, indicating a high degree of compatibility, perhaps higher than that of a Wesen subspecies hybrid.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
We Told You What To Dream (Person of Interest S1E01 Pilot)
Well, you voted! Overwhelmingly, too, in favor of Person of Interest. In the interests of full disclosure (since you're sure as hell only getting that from us, on this show), we've watched most of the first season already. It's safe to say that we'll be well ahead of watching as compared to our recaplysizing, on account of this show. We devour it like mind candy. Which it isn't, but that tells you something about how skewed we are! Fair warning; this is likely to be a much longer recapalypse while we set out all our premises for various characters' tells and interesting bits of cinematography, which we will then get to shorthand a bit in future posts! Yay! So without further ado, we give you Person of Interest: the pilot.
For a show that's all about a broken stone killer and the equally broken mathematical genius who operates him, two very cold subjects, we open on a surprisingly and deceptively warm scene. The colors are highly saturated, plants and clothes and skin tones. It's a flashback, shot with warm lights to contrast the cold wash of most of the rest of the show and through waving curtains and at angles designed to give us a good emotional impression of the scene but not give us much in the way of detail or a clear picture of either person. We're not supposed to empathize with the person Reese was, we're meant to get a glimpse of what he either used to be, or had, or both, something to contrast with the scene 25 seconds later. Again, the lighting is yellow, but instead of being a warm and natural-toned yellow it's sickly, dirty, the kind of yellow that comes out of poorly maintained lights and is at least half reflections off the seat around him. By the voiceover we know the scruffy looking bum on the train is the same person even before we get a good look at his facial structure. His clothes are a traditional mish-mash of styles and states of cleanliness, although overall he's still more scruffy than unclean indicating that either the costuming department slacked on distressing the clothing or he hasn't been living on the streets long; either is possible at this point in time.
For a show that's all about a broken stone killer and the equally broken mathematical genius who operates him, two very cold subjects, we open on a surprisingly and deceptively warm scene. The colors are highly saturated, plants and clothes and skin tones. It's a flashback, shot with warm lights to contrast the cold wash of most of the rest of the show and through waving curtains and at angles designed to give us a good emotional impression of the scene but not give us much in the way of detail or a clear picture of either person. We're not supposed to empathize with the person Reese was, we're meant to get a glimpse of what he either used to be, or had, or both, something to contrast with the scene 25 seconds later. Again, the lighting is yellow, but instead of being a warm and natural-toned yellow it's sickly, dirty, the kind of yellow that comes out of poorly maintained lights and is at least half reflections off the seat around him. By the voiceover we know the scruffy looking bum on the train is the same person even before we get a good look at his facial structure. His clothes are a traditional mish-mash of styles and states of cleanliness, although overall he's still more scruffy than unclean indicating that either the costuming department slacked on distressing the clothing or he hasn't been living on the streets long; either is possible at this point in time.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Weird Science: Speculations on Wesen Biology
And we're back! This time with the Lebensauger, and I cannot begin to describe how disgusting that is. So. Lampreys have a reputation for being repulsive (which to our mammalian brains they probably are) and parasitic (which they all of them are not although some are), and in this case it's probably more their reputation that comes into play rather than their biology. In the episode itself Chekhov's Intern shows no extra-human abilities and a whole lot of abnormal behavior, which leans neither in the direction of his Lebensauger nature nor the direction of his non-functioning alcoholic mother's lack of nurturing abilities. Even odds what caused him to go off the rails, and most likely a combination of both. Since Lebensauger means 'life suck' the writers are going with the common view of lampreys as being parasitic, which does not convey any particular threat or ability in the animal kingdom. In the Wesen kingdom... who knows. One interesting thing I have now discovered about the lamprey is that they possess an immune system similar to our own, which has contributed to our understanding of how the immune system has evolved. However, the Lebensauger's presence in the show showcased his biology less than his body dysmorphia and antisocial personality disorder. (Not that this is a bad thing! It just makes for a sparse paragraph on speculations of what a lamprey wesen might do.)
Internal Memo: Updates
To: Danielle Matheson <dmathes@[redacted]>
CC: Peter Torkarov <ptorkar@[redacted]>, Sam Connor <sconnor@[redacted]>, Eve Marlowe <emarlow@[redacted]>, Ash Dunlevy <adunlev@[redacted]>, Jared Engel <jengel@[redacted]>, Daifyn Ifans <difans@[redacted]>, Alec Cray <acray@[redacted]>, Thomas Marlowe <tmarlow@[redacted]>
Date: 2/1/13
Re: Updates
I don't think we've gotten to do the I-told-you-so dance this many times in a row in recent memory. Enjoy, and pace yourselves, this is a lot of reading.
Please take special note of the updates to recommended action. Sam, remember that we're on recon and document detail and are not to interfere, no matter how much you want to tear that stupid barn to shreds. Be better. Or we'll lock you in the office with Danielle and a case of Monster again.
Danielle, if you could run a genealogy chart on the Crocker bloodline that would be especially helpful. Look for melded branches, as in HV-205. Might want to check on Carver as well.
AH, KC
Attachment: (audsarlu-eval11813.docx) 27k
Attachment: (nwuornos-eval1913.docx) 25k
Attachment: (dcrocker-eval1313.docx) 24k
Attachment: (howardakabarn-eval101512.docx) 19k
Attachment: (theguard-eval12312.docx) 19k
Attachment: (teaguesprofile.docx) 21k
Attachment: (jmckee-eval12312.docx) 19k
Attachment: (dhendrickson-eval92112.docx) 15k
Attachment: (arlacoganakaunsub919.docx) 22k
Attachment: (coganakakid.docx) 13k
CC: Peter Torkarov <ptorkar@[redacted]>, Sam Connor <sconnor@[redacted]>, Eve Marlowe <emarlow@[redacted]>, Ash Dunlevy <adunlev@[redacted]>, Jared Engel <jengel@[redacted]>, Daifyn Ifans <difans@[redacted]>, Alec Cray <acray@[redacted]>, Thomas Marlowe <tmarlow@[redacted]>
Date: 2/1/13
Re: Updates
I don't think we've gotten to do the I-told-you-so dance this many times in a row in recent memory. Enjoy, and pace yourselves, this is a lot of reading.
Please take special note of the updates to recommended action. Sam, remember that we're on recon and document detail and are not to interfere, no matter how much you want to tear that stupid barn to shreds. Be better. Or we'll lock you in the office with Danielle and a case of Monster again.
Danielle, if you could run a genealogy chart on the Crocker bloodline that would be especially helpful. Look for melded branches, as in HV-205. Might want to check on Carver as well.
AH, KC
Attachment: (audsarlu-eval11813.docx) 27k
Attachment: (nwuornos-eval1913.docx) 25k
Attachment: (dcrocker-eval1313.docx) 24k
Attachment: (howardakabarn-eval101512.docx) 19k
Attachment: (theguard-eval12312.docx) 19k
Attachment: (teaguesprofile.docx) 21k
Attachment: (jmckee-eval12312.docx) 19k
Attachment: (dhendrickson-eval92112.docx) 15k
Attachment: (arlacoganakaunsub919.docx) 22k
Attachment: (coganakakid.docx) 13k
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