#samantha petrie

[torpublishinggroup]

This advertisement is for Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree, a high fantasy adventure of first love and secondhand books set prior to the events of New York Times bestseller Legends & Lattes.

The art featured in this image is by Samantha Petrie. 

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going super great. When she suffers a dread injury during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, the Ravens pack her off for some obligatory and undesired R&R. 

The sleepy beach town of Murk is relaxing, but so far from anything resembling excitement or action that she worries she’ll never get back in the game. But then this down-on-her-luck soldier of fortune starts whiling away her many free hours at a beleaguered bookshop and in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor. 

We don’t always know what we need, or which small choices change the paths of our lives. 

And adventure isn’t so far from Murk as Viv thinks! A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons would like a word.

[callhimnowmarisamylove]

"I was thinking about my wife... sorry, my ex-wife. I miss her. She's moved on, and I thought if I could have a fling, I might be able to move on too." "Can I ask you a question? Did the sex feel like you were cheating?" "It did. It felt like a betrayal."

MICHAEL and MAUREEN GROFF in SEX EDUCATION

[lily-s-world]

I finished Sex Education, and I loved the ending, but there are 3 characters arcs that I feel deeply appreciation for and that is the Groff’s. As someone that is the only one that goes to therapy in a family that is emotionally broken and loves to bury their issues, their growth was like a dream come true for me.

Starting with Maureen, who is presented as this submissive housewife; it must had been extremely challenging and terrifying for her to ask her husband for the divorce because that was the life she knew, but by doing so, her life improved completely. She was able to discover that life could be enjoyed in so many ways, and that not everything needed to revolve around her family, just because she was a mother.  She got herself on dates with nice guys, learned new things and went to amazing parties, and that lifted her confidence. And that new confidence was a key part on understanding that she couldn’t go back with her husband, unless he also fixed himself and the relationship with his son. Maureen really went “I do miss you and may want to get back but learn to be a father first”; and I love her for that.

Adam growth wasn’t linear, it took a lot of hits and heartbreak before he reached the self-love he required. I was never a fan of Eric and Adam, because I really despise the bully to lover’s arc; but I did was a fan of seeing Adam get out of his bully self and grow into a better person. Accepting his bisexuality was probably the first step for him to start analyzing himself outside of what his parents taught, that gave him more confidence in himself and made him realize that maybe school wasn’t for him. That he was good with animals and could get a job and a career out of that. Then his father comes and criticize that dream again and he start self-doubting so much to the point of thinking he was going to get fired; but he wasn’t, someone told him “you made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t good at this.” That was probably the first time in his life someone had told him that and it was illuminating for him. It gave him the courage to confront his biggest bully, his father, and lay down all the harm he did and how much it affected him in his daily life. It takes a lot of bravery and self-confidence to do that.

Which takes me to my favorite character growth of all the series, Michael. Because when you think about it, all the growth Maureen and Adam did wouldn’t affect or care to Michael, if he wasn’t also working on himself. We are told that Michael was a bullied child, by his father and brother, which turn him in this cold and hard man that took things for granted and really didn’t care for how people felt. Maureen asking him for divorce took him out of nowhere, but it didn’t give him any ideas on improving himself. It was until he talked to Jean and saw how awful his brother was, that something clicked inside of him and made him realize he didn’t want to be like that anymore. And he tried to be better for Maureen, and she saw that but reminded him he also had a son. He also tried with Adam and failed a few times – when he yelled at him in the car, when he makes him feel that he only wanted to get back with his wife; but it were these failures and Adam standing up to him, what helped him finally understand which path to take. He needed to start removing from his life what made him miserable to be happy and love himself, and that was hard and scary, but he could do it. This time he listened, and that it such a key part on healing, he listened to the people he hurt and didn’t put the blame on them or justified himself – like so many parents do with the ‘I just wanted the best for you’. His final speech to Adam had me in tears because he realized from where all the pain and misery was coming from, and he now knew how to start working on that.

They aren’t completely healed by the end of the series, but they are way better than when they started. And it may still take them some time to be fully comfortable with each other, but healing isn’t linear and thar is so important to hear.

[camyfilms]

SEX EDUCATION 2023

Meeting you cracked my heart open, and now it's forever changed. And because of that, I will carry a part of you with me wherever I go. I think what I'm trying to say is thanks for everything, dickhead.

[stuff-diary]

Sex Education (Final season)

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2023

Sex Education (Final season, 2023, UK)

Creator: Laurie Nunn

Directors: Dominic Leclerc, Michelle Savill & Alyssa McClelland

Mini-review:

Wow, it feels kinda weird knowing that we won't be seeing these characters again. This final season wasn't perfect, but it wrapped everything in a way that felt absolutely satisfying for me. Yes, I know some fans are very angry about certain things, but I dunno, it all felt completely true to the characters, something that is always key for a finale. If anything, my biggest complaint is that the show clearly struggles when it comes to handling and connecting so many characters and storylines. That already happened during the previous season, but I think the show's team had an even harder time with this one, because they needed to provide some form of closure for everybody. Anyway, I expected it to happen, so I got over it pretty quickly. I want to end this review by reminding everyone of how groundbreaking this show is. It basically set new standards when it comes to inclusivity and representation in mainstream television. Although it only premiered four years ago, its impact on the industry has already been incredible and undeniable. So, yeah, this was a flawed but satisfying final season, and Sex Education will be deeply missed.

[hotjaneaustenmenpoll]

Robert Martin 1996 (ITV, Alistair Petrie) propaganda:

The thing I LOVE about this version of the character is that despite barely having a line, you can tell not only that he loves Harriet, but that he's intelligent and compassionate and notices things. Which explains in some ways the interest and sympathy Mr Knightley has for him.

We have the first time we see him, meeting Harriet and Emma, before he proposes:

(Look at how happy this man is at seeing her!!!)

Now this is the look he gives Emma when he sees her after the rejection (the day Harriet goes to visit the Miss Martins):

He knows, and we now know that he knows.

And that's such an interesting take on the character? That he also realizes that it is Emma's influence and what that can mean for Harriet in the long run? And he can really do nothing about it?

And then comes this little scene this adaptation adds, after Box Hill, of Jane walking through the fields and crying her heart out. Robert Martin sees her:

It's just a little scene that ties in two people Emma has harmed without thinking much of it at all. There's compassion there, and sympathy.

Then comes the end! The harvest! Mr Knightley and Robert Martin both have now their "romantic harvest and greet each other. They are clearly friends:

At the "harvest celebration", Emma makes the gesture of going to Harriet and requesting an introduction to Mr. Martin. Look how happy these two look:

But then he sees her coming:

This is the face of a man who has not forgotten.

IDK. There's something about this whole journey (in a 1 hour 45 minute movie in which he speaks a total 2 lines) that gets me, and makes him my favorite Mr. Martin ever, even if I like the others too.

Also he emotionally destroyed me in Cranford (2007)

Also Samantha Morton is a treasure.

Robert Martin (2022) Vs Robert Martin (1996)

[randomfoggytiger]

Arcadia Analysis: Mulder’s Struggle

Contrary to popular belief, it was Mulder (and not Scully-- my long post of her experience here) who was having a rough time in Arcadia. 

When Mulder arrives, his enthusiasm shines brighter than Scully’s placid happiness, momentarily disguising his true mood from her, the neighbors, and the viewers: dour, trapped, tense. 

He immediately oozes saccharine charm and cuddles up to Scully, 

letting her bear the weight of the giant welcome basket alone. A perfect set-up for his motivations and responses this episode. 

(This is also when Scully begins to pick up on Mulder’s strange mood.)

In the Petries’ house, Mulder briefly reaches out to Scully again

but drops his hand and turns away immediately to avoid her intrigued eye contact. 

He tosses his sweater in overt rebellion after a jab at how clean the house is;

then implies he’s the house-himbo, further annoying Scully by subtly denigrating this way of life (discussed here). 

When Scully pushes his arms off (a “whoa, buddy” measure to him involving her in his games), Mulder nods acquiescence and respects it. ...That will change once he feels cornered by her motives. 

As the neighbors insist on helping move the furniture in before cut off time, Mulder maintains a strained smile with his unusually direct eye contact for a guy who usually maintains direct eye contact. 

When Win strongly advises him to keep the basketball hoop in the garage, the best Mulder can drum up is a head twist and half-smile. Already his miserable assignment just got more miserable. 

The only genuine smile he cracks is when Scully reciprocates his jokes and ups the ante. 

After ditching evidence hunting to tease Scully on her video taping--

Mulder seats himself on a kitchen counter, his jabs becoming one too many for her to ignore. She finally questions him on his laissez-faire attitude toward the case. 

This is the pivotal kitchen scene: 

Mulder insists he is “taking it seriously”; but just doesn’t see the point since it “isn’t an X-File.” Scully pokes him in turn (”aliens, tractor beams”); and he realizes she’s let something crucial slip: she WANTED this case. She is ENJOYING this case. 

“Wow. You just wanted to ‘play house’.”

And when Scully doesn’t deny it, he immediately doubles down on being annoying and needling her for a long, long time. 

This realization kicks up Mulder’s in survival mode, diluting any potential intimate danger zone with saccharine humor; pushing Scully’s buttons in hopes she’ll withdraw. His mood only picks up when he’s distracted from the present environment by analyzing evidence or investigating the neighborhood. Speaking of which-- 

The next day, after an accidental hose spray from Win mid-coverup, 

Mulder and Scully try to get details about Big Mike’s whereabouts. Win’s gall to (badly) lie through his teeth further unsettles Mulder, rubbing against the raw sore this case reopened: forced conformity and lies shrouded in idyllic circumstances. 

Mulder is deeply nostalgic. He remembers his childhood fondly (talking about the Vineyard and settling down in “Home”, any episode dealing with Samantha’s possible return, the alternate dream reality in “Amor Fati”, etc.)-- that everyone could leave their doors unlocked and children could safely play until dark. His golden years were torn from him by his sister’s abduction; and that pain was further compounded by his parents’ coldness, divorce, and half-truths they fed him all his life (and continue to feed him.) Paradise and deception are tightly twisted together in Mulder’s experience, making him wary of miracles; but that doesn’t stop him from hoping he’ll find that blissful happily ever after. The fear of forgoing that possibility of healing in losing sight of his sister, the quest, the Truth, haunts Mulder and keeps him focused on the stars. (It’s not until Milagro’s realization bleeding into The Unnatural’s refocus that he is able to resolve these fears at long last.) 

But back to Mulder’s continued torment.  

In one of the precious few “normal” moments between the two, Mulder backs away from Win; and Scully scoots over to fill in the distance. Unthinkingly, he drapes his arms around her shoulder and doesn’t seem to notice when she rests her head on his shoulder (which she initiates both steps, see here.) 

Gogolak’s house is where Mulder’s barriers spring back up with a vengeance. His arms are locked around Scully in faux domestic bliss; but the minute she makes an unprecedented move-- laying her hand on his in wifely sympathy-- he stares her down until she retreats. His method works so well that Scully later retracts her own hand unprompted, remembering his earlier bristle. Any possible display of domesticity that isn’t used as a joke or a farcical weapon against the Arcadia residents is off-limits, and Scully gets the memo. 

(Again, shameless plug: In this analysis, I discuss how Scully has been advancing on Mulder, only to be shoved back by discomfort or overt displays of reciprocations.) 

During the Schroeders’ dinner, Mulder teases, pokes, prods the couple, at first using Scully as a mild punching bag before ~generously~ including her in the suspect-questioning fun.

Mulder ends the dinner on an overt gesture with Scully; but his smug smile is still tinged with admiration by her expert dodge. 

(You gotta give Scully props-- she was persistently optimistic and patient this episode, even mildly sympathetic.) 

After he retrieves Big Mike’s caduceus from the storm drain, Mulder tosses his shirt to cause more mess, purposefully throwing it in front of Scully’s face to draw her attention. 

While she putzes about discussing their domestic practices (shared toilet?? shared toothpaste??), he keeps her on task by asking work questions. When she insists on being called “Laura”, he mouths “okay” sarcastically and promptly plops on her bed with his sneakers on. 

Scully’s face mask genuinely surprises him for a moment, shocking him out of his careless facade briefly

...that is, until he gets a shirt to the face, 

and his pokes return-- “Compulsive neatness... you fit in really well here.” At Scully’s flat “And you don’t”, he is gratified and gets another tease in before she kicks him out. (Through it all, Scully persists. What a trooper.) 

His flamingo surveillance is a brief reprieve for poor Mulder, 

but quickly becomes a failure. After his second surveillance and mailbox trap-- after he takes his pent-up aggression out on the innocent mailbox, of course-- 

he is awarded with a warning note... which he immediately puts to the test. 

He very nearly challenges Win (in all sense of the word) while dribbling after dark;

but is stopped by Cami Shroeder’s screams and a glimpse at the monster. 

From then on out a burden has been lifted from Mulder’s shoulders, and he charges ahead with a new pep in his step. 

Mulder gets Scully-- who nearly bashes his head in with a poker-- 

on board his tulpa bunny-tunnel theory; and tries to reassure her “do you want to hear what I think?” with an “always.” His mood swing up is a little late for Scully’s mood swing down. 

Regardless, Scully still supports his excavation project the next day (though she’s not around when he lords it over the neighbors); 

and, when it doesn’t give satisfactory results, checks in to make sure he’s doing okay.  

When Mulder finds the Whirligig of Doom, 

he tears off to arrest Gogolak. He rails against Gogolak’s selfish whims, 

asking him if it was so important that everyone had “the same color mailbox.” (Arcadia Mailboxes here.) 

I’m going to skip the climatic finale, because that is going to get a post of its own. The worst nightmares for Mulder and Scully are reenacted (though their full potential was never utilized. Oh, well.) 

After Mulder witnesses Gogolak’s brutal death, he stands, petrified, as the garbage tulpa comes for him. It collapses as its master finally dies; and he is left with only a garbage heap at his feet, the perfect analogy for the place he so disdains. 

An interesting thing to note: as Mulder and Scully are leaving, he tries to fix the Petries’ wonky mailbox. The damage he had inflicted the day before hadn’t dented it; but now it was beyond repair, permanently demolished with Gogolak’s demise. 

I touched briefly on the symbolisms of the mailboxes in Arcadia (mentioned previously); but I like that Mulder had a whole scene dedicated to watching the mailbox with hostility, only for him to almost appreciate its value as the note conduit, the deliverer of buried Whirligigs, and the prison post for shackled Gogolak. He seems remorseful at its fate as he briefly wobbles it in place; 

but shrugs it off and puts it out of mind when he realizes it’s irreparable. Much like the rest of his time here, Mulder ignores the problem, believing there’s nothing he can do about it. (Meanwhile, Scully looks on by the car, silent and withdrawn.) 

All in all, Mulder had a very-not-fun-time until he was able to find his X-File distraction, the polar opposite of Scully’s fun time slowly deteriorating as she realizes Mulder is distancing himself from her own wishes and hopes. 

Now that THAT’s done, it’s time to slowly pull together my last post:  

Mulder’s and Scully’s worst nightmares explored in one moment. 

[intergalacticaquarium]

Part 8- Upside Down and Inside Out

Eddie Munson x soon-to-be-step!Henderson! female original character

Summary: Sam has been trapped in the Upside Down and Eddie and the rest of gang have to save her!

Contents: a lot of stuff from the upside down stuff in the last episode of part 1 but I skip over a lot of it because we've all seen it and I don't need to repeat anything, a lil canon divergence, Sam's cool dad who I just now realized is Bob Newbie 2.0, characters that should have struggled to climb ropes struggling to climb a rope, feelings realizations, miscommunications, and a plot relevent van

5.2k words (sorry_

(Series masterpost/chapter links here!)

   ---------------

  Eddie was trapped between a long swim or a short swim with a dead body and a guy that was trying to kill him and either way what he needed to do right now was find Samantha. 

The boat had tipped, he had surfaced, witnessed a gruesome death, and when he looked around she was there. He swore and smacked the water in anger before diving down into the dark water. Normally Lover’s Lake was like trying to see through beer, but in the dark it was truly impossible. He dove a few times, swimming blind and waving his arms and legs about wildly hoping he would just bump into her. He wasn’t surprised when that didn’t work, but his panic and frustration were combining and getting worse as he looked around with nothing but still water and the trees on the outskirts coming up like walls. He felt like he was in a petri dish with no way to escape. He dove again, fruitlessly trying to get to her before surfacing and gasping for breath, and trying to stay quiet when he heard his wheeze carry across the water. 

After a few more minutes he made the hard choice to swim to shore, telling himself it’s what she had already done no matter how cowardly it felt. He got to shore and stared back out at the lake and the commotion that was just starting to build and hated how much he felt like this was running away again.

He started off to Skull Rock, praying to a God he had never believed in or bothered with until yesterday when monsters started existing in the real world and he figured maybe now would be the day to give the cleric thing a try. No atheists in foxholes and such. As he walked in He took his radio out of his soaking wet bag and tried it a few times, only for nothing at all to happen. He swore, looking around him as he walked for Sam sneaking through the forest, but he saw nothing. Not even his imagination could conjure her now. He tried to radio a few more times, but it was fried. Instead of throwing it on the ground like he wanted to he shoved it into his bag again and continued on. 

That was when he heard the static. He quickly dug back through the pack to see the radio, still looking broken, but making static.

Eddie didn’t know how radios worked, he wasn’t an AV type of nerd, but he was obviously getting some kind of signal. He got to the edge of the forest and saw policemen talking to each other, and he snuck up and grabbed their radio before dashing back into the woods. The static happened again in the one he was holding, and he frowned.

“Dustin, Wheeler, do any of you copy?” He whispered “Sam? Are you there?” He tried again when there was no response.

“Ddie-! I--- hcshdhshsss” He didn’t make out any words but he swore that it was Sam’s voice. He didn’t know if this worried him more or comforted him. As he trekked towards the walk like he was slogging through Mirkwood looking out for spiders he rationalized that if she had a radio, she was obviously with the other group by now, and if he got to Skull Rock, everybody would be there and he wouldn’t have to worry anymore. Even thinking it felt naive and too good to be true, but that thought was all that would keep him safe from his traitorous thoughts posing terrible possibilities.

When he got to Skull Rock it was abandoned. With just some trash and the sunrise to keep him company he sat down hopelessly nearby and put his face in his hands.

“Sam? Are you there? This is Eddie.” He tried the radio again, unable to keep the utter misery out of his voice. Static again, but there was something strange about it. Like it was pulsing. 

He heard bickering as more people came around the corner and he hid. Always hiding and running. But quickly he realized that it was Steve and Dustin, and at the perfect moment he jumped out and chimed in that Dustin was being a total butthead. Dustin hugged him in relief and Eddie patted him on the back, but as he got an eye of their party he was anything but comforted.

    “Where’s Sam? Is she not with you?” He asked, all of his worries rushing back at once. He had been telling himself for the better part of an hour that she would have found the others but she wasn’t there. Where was she? 

    “Is she not with you?” Dustin asked, suddenly worried.

    “We were supposed to wait here if we got separated-”

    “How did you get separated?” Steve asked angrily.

    “It happened really fast, alright? One second we’re running away in the damn boat and the next second that guy is up in the air and we’re underwater.”

    “Dustin, do you know where the gate is?” Robin asked him, and Eddie looked at her angrily and confused.

    “Nobody is going anywhere until Sam gets here.” Eddie said, putting his foot down.

    “If she’s missing we’re not going to find her sitting around.” Nancy said, putting her bag up on her shoulder.

    “We said that we’d meet here-”

    “We need your help, you can’t just stay here. We can leave a note!” Max suggested.

    The group of them bickered until they heard some static on the radio, just a quiet and frightened hum

    -amnit, why won’t it ju- -cking wo- Came the static from their radios. The voice was broken up but unmistakable to Eddie.

    “Sam? Sam is that you? Can you hear me?” He said frantically into the walkie talkie and listened.

    “Eddie? Is that--I don’t know where I--” Was all she got out before it cut off. He smacked the side of it and shouted her name into it a few more times before the rest of the group forcefully shushed him.

    “Dustin- can you like, I don’t know, trace this call?” He asked helplessly, and Dustin eyed it doubtfully.

    “That’s not really a thing, man.” He said, and Eddie groaned in frustration until Lucas took his radio to inspect it, to Dustin’s annoyance.

    “I already told you you can’t trace a radio signal-” Dustin started, but Lucas’s face stopped him from speaking further.

    “Eddie, this radio is broken. It’s completely fried.” Lucas said, and they looked at him, confused.

    “That’s what I thought too but Sam was talking on it.” Eddie said with worry, and didn’t like the looks that the rest of the group gave each other.

    “---ings ar-----darkne----I’m he----” the static came back over the radio, and Eddie couldn’t figure out why he was the only one overjoyed.

    Dustin took the radio and looked at Eddie with fear and sympathy. “I think she’s in the upside down. She must’ve figured out a way to reach us.” He said, afraid but obviously a little impressed.  

    Eddie froze and all the color drained from his face. They had explained about their little hell dimension earlier and he swore that nothing besides being kidnapped by a monster like that one kid would get him in there. Now, Eddie knew that maybe there were two things that would get him there.

    Because the second that he heard that Sam was trapped in that place he was absolutely sure of three things. One- he really. Really. Didn’t want to go into the Upside Down. Two- he was going to go to the Upside Down, and Three- he would do it because, unbeknownst to him, he had fallen a little bit in love with Sam Campbell and she was trapped there, and there was no way in hell he wasn’t going to do everything he could to get her back and maybe consider telling her that. 

So when he found himself on a boat traveling to the middle of the lake and the other three dove in, he followed with minimal complaints and hesitation, even though he knew it was probably going to get him killed. Worth it. 

------

The Upside Down was exactly as bad as he was expecting, huge evil bats that went straight for the kidneys, mysterious particles, vines that could snitch on them to an evil wizard, and more terrible things that he hadn’t seen yet, but all Eddie could think was how Sam had already been here all night. 

As soon as they were safe from the demobats, if that was really what they were going to call them, he grabbed his fried radio and started to try and contact her, but it remained silent. 

“We should go to Skull Rock- that’s where she said we should meet so maybe she’s waiting there.” Eddie suggested, and the group didn’t seem to like it.

“Yeah, those woods seem super scary. I don’t know Samantha that well but wouldn’t it be more logical to, I don’t know, go into town?” Robin said.

“It’s close by and not a bad place to start.” He said, starting to walk in that direction. He didn’t see the others pause first and wait before shrugging and following him. 

As they walked they started to plan, but Eddie was too anxious to contribute to their whispered conversation. He constantly fidgeted as he carefully stepped over vines and tried his best to calm his thoughts to no avail. They got to skull rock and it was all he could manage not to scream in frustration when it was devoid of life. He started to pace nervously, only just catching something about guns in Nancy Wheeler’s bedroom when he saw something strange. A scrap of paper stuck under a small pile of rocks, stacked up like a girl scout had been there.

He scrambled down towards it and grabbed the note, and when he unfolded it he gasped in relief so strong he felt tears pricking at the corner of his eyes threatening to emerge. 

I’m headed to town. I have an idea. Don’t look for me until you hear me coming. Xoxo -Sam.

They all crowded around him to read it and looked at him curiously like he was supposed to know what that meant, and all he could do was shrug helplessly.

“Hear her coming, what’s that supposed to mean?” Steve asked in confusion.

“Well, either way we’re headed to town, so let’s go.”

------------

    Back in Hawkins, the kids had been arrested, and if you ask Dustin, it was Steve’s fault for leaving them alone anyway. 

    “Everybody shut up!” The officer yelled, and they all quieted down. “Look, we’ve got three people dead and one person missing, we can’t waste time bickering.’

    “Missing?” Max asked tersely, and the officer looked to Ron Campbell, Sam’s dad and Dustin’s Mom’s fiance. Ron looked down in worry that he was trying to push down into stoicism, but he wasn’t fooling anybody.

    “We found Samantha’s van yesterday broken into and we can’t find her anywhere. People around the trailer park said that Eddie guy goes out to her van almost every night so he must have-” Ron pursed his lips and drove back tears valiantly as Claudia patted his arm.

    The kids looked at each other, trying to ask each other what to say without giving themselves away.

    “She’s probably…fine.” Max said, and Dustin and Lucas nodded. 

    “Alright, we’re gonna question you all one at a time.” He said, and took Max away, leaving him and Lucas awkwardly on the couch facing their families who had so many questions, and a very sad middle aged grocery store manager that was hard to look at in his current state.

    Dustin liked Ron. He knew he was supposed to hate whoever it was that was ‘trying to take his dad’s place’, but he liked seeing his mom happy. He liked how Ron had eventually given up on teaching him baseball and let Dustin teach him about the radios. He was a good guy. He now knew why Sam didn’t talk to him anymore, from his perspective his daughter witnessed a massive tragedy and had a nervous breakdown before running away and coming back different. Dustin didn’t blame him for worrying, though he understood why it messed Sam up so much.  And now the thing that had actually driven them apart had taken Sam. He looked at the worry in his mom’s fiance’s face and felt a stab of guilt.

    The light flashed SOS, and they knew they had to devise an escape plan, though if they got to the gate without finding Sam first, as they had explained with the word ‘no’ that they hadn’t found her yet, then Dustin was going to have words and force them back into the Upside Down. 

Dustin told them all to wait and silently waved over Ron. Ever interested in his new stepson’s wellbeing, he came after him.

    “Ron, we need to talk to you and it’s of the utmost importance. You can’t tell anybody. It’s a matter of life and death.” He whispered, and Ron’s eyes went wide from behind his glasses.

    “Oh, boy, well sure Buddy. Tell away.” He said joyfully, but looked concerned when Dustin dragged him to the kitchen.

    “Okay Ron, I’m really gonna need you to trust me on this because it’s going to sound really weird.” He said, and took a deep breath, suddenly unsure where to start. “Eddie isn’t a murderer and Sam was never crazy.” He blurted out, and Ron looked taken aback.

    “C-crazy? Did she say that? I never called her crazy- I just wanted her to get help-” Ron said, now looking heartbroken, but Dustin waved off the spiral.

    “No, she just said that she saw a monster and you didn’t believe her. But she did see it.” He insisted, and Ron deflated.

    “Dustin, it’s complicated-”

    “Yes, it is, but not the way that you think. She saw the monster at Starcourt that night and I know she’s not making it up or hallucinating because I saw it too. And so did Lucas, and Max, and Nancy and a ton of other people I’m not gonna list out right now. It’s too much to get into but we are at a crucial moment and-” he leaned in to whisper. “Sam is in danger.”

    Ron jerked back, his face horrified. “Dustin are you- this can’t be real-”

    “It can be and is very very real.” He said solemnly. “And if I’m lying the worst that happens is we get in trouble and I’ll tell my mom not to be mad because I lied to you, but if I’m not lying and we can’t go? Much, much worse things will happen.”

    Ron looked back at the group of parents and then back to Dustin. “You’re going to find Sam? You promise?” He asked with a shred of hope that told Dustin that he had already feared that Sam was dead. Dustin nodded resolutely, suddenly filled with a sense of pride that his new stepdad trusted him so much.

    “Okay. I’ll distract everyone.” He said, and looked at Dustin proudly. “Be careful, though. And call me if you need anything and I’ll help.” He said comfortingly, and before Dustin could think about it he hugged Ron around his middle. The man seemed confused for a minute, but after a second he hugged Dustin back.

    “While we wait for the kids to get back out here- does anybody want to see me juggle? I just learned how.” Ron said boisterously, and Dustin snuck everybody out of the house. 

--------------------------

    Eddie, Robin, Steve, and Nancy had been biking for miles and Eddie was getting tired. A quick glance to the others told him that they weren’t having the same problems and he laughed to himself, remembering when he had told Sam that they didn’t have the lung capacity to run from monsters. 

    The ride was terrifying. Normally it wouldn’t take more than forty five minutes or so to bike to the trailer park but this road was covered in evil vines and had monsters lurking around every corner. They were all on their feet, walking their bikes over a patch of completely destroyed road, when they heard a banging sound and looked at each other in fear as another swarm of demobats crossed the horizon, and waited in fear for them to descend. But instead of swooping down to destroy them and peck out their eyes or whatever it was that bats did, they swarmed past them towards the woods. They looked at each other in confusion, and all came to the same conclusion before they started running towards the danger. 

    Eddie spent a lot of time running over the past few days, but this was the first time he would sprint headfirst into danger, but despite that determination to find Sam, all of them stopped in their tracks when the trees before them started to shake, and the four of them backed out of the way of whatever beast was roaring towards them. The bats sensed them and started to crawl towards them until a crash brought the scene to a halt.

    Samantha’s Van, in all it’s glory, huge, purple, a little cleaner and with a lot fewer stickers, but unmistakable, struck the demobats out of the way and shielded her against the others. Eddie ran forward and slid that familiar door open before ushering the others into the back, quickly closing it just before another beast was about to dive through the crack and they heard the thud as it crashed into the side and rocked the van.

    The four of them breathed heavily and looked to Sam in the driver’s seat, grinning in the way she always did when she just called Eddie a sellout. It was usually far too proud and victorious for the situation but here it fit, and he beamed back at her.

    “You guys need a ride?” She asked, and they nodded, laughing in relief.

    She started to drive carefully, the van chugging a bit from knocking down all those trees. Eddie’s overwhelming relief gave way enough for him to start noticing things that weren’t life or death for the first time since Sam went missing, and he looked around. The van was different. Decorated in a pure hippie style with a beaded curtain and huge chipping painted flowers on all the metal surfaces that he vividly remembered being scraped up and nearly during all the time that he spent there in the last few months. 

“Sam, is this your van? Your style’s really changed.” Robin asked from the backseat before Eddie could comment, observing the hippie vibes of the back seat. 

    “It is my van, but I guess I don’t own it yet. I went to where I left it parked at the general store-” she said, and paused when Robin and Steve let out an odd noise and she looked at him expectantly. 

    “Yeah, your van was kinda broken into by the time we got back.” Steve confessed, and she paused, clearly upset but filing it away for later.

    “Right. Okay. I guess there’s nothing I can do about that right now, is there? I meant to say that I got there and it was gone but also the general store was the old drug store. So if that store was somehow back in time I figured maybe everything else was too, so I went to the house that I bought the van from and it was right in the driveway and my keys worked. I kinda didn’t expect it to drive but it’s in way better condition than it is now. I mean, it was. Before I drove through that forest.”

    “And how did you get in contact with us?” Nancy asked curiously, and Sam tapped the beige box on the dashboard.

    “Carphone. I guess it gets a good signal.” She joked, and the others looked at her in confusion that she couldn’t see from the front seat. 

Eddie couldn’t stop staring at the quarter of her face he could see at that angle and the hand anxiously tapping on the steering wheel. She was alive. He had to keep repeating that to himself over and over. Before he could stop himself to wait for a safer moment he stood up and hopped over the bench seat to sit next to her, and his heart melted when she smiled at him.

    “You know I was kinda hoping I’d get the chance to rescue you this time, Sam.” He said quietly so the others couldn’t hear. She didn’t look at him and kept her eyes on the road, but a slow and warm smile spread over her face.

    “We can just say the van saved us both and thank her instead.” She said, affectionately patting the dashboard. “You were right when you said this was the most valuable thing I bring to the party.” She grinned when she said it but he shook his head.

    “I’m really glad we found you. Or you found us, I guess. I’ve been kind of losing my mind since we got separated.” He said, awkwardly running a hand through his hair.

    “Pretty sure we did that at Rick’s, right?” She said back in a joking fashion, but a quick glance at him sobered her. For once he was being serious, and the little part of her with the little crush on her friend wanted to hear everything he had to say- the other part of her, the part currently running the show and making sure that she didn’t die a terrible death,  needed him to stop talking, because anything he said would probably make her start to cry after the absolutely grueling and terrifying night she had had, and if she began to cry then she wouldn’t make it for the rest of the inevitably grueling and terrifying things to come.

    From the corner of her eye she could see his huge sad brown eyes filled with guilt and relief and she wished he would just go to the back seat again, regardless of how much safer she felt for every second he was in her field of vision.

“Sam I just wanted to say-”

    “Please don’t do this, Eddie.” She said in a strained whisper, and he froze.

    “Do what?” He asked, feelings and fears came bubbling up.

    “Whatever it was you were about to say. I just…can’t handle it. Okay?” She asked, glancing over at him to see him deflated. She told herself it was because they had been through so much tonight and he was simply exhausted, because even clarifying that she just meant right now and she wanted to hear what he had to say might have been enough to break her.

    He wanted to ask her again what that meant, ask her if she was angry for tipping the damn boat, tell her he was sorry for leaving her behind. He turned back to the window and the grotesque landscape because that might be easier right now than looking at her, despite how looking at her was the only thing since they got here that made him feel like they might be able to escape.

They arrived at the trailer park and Sam pulled up in their regular spot and they got out, each of them brandishing a weapon in case the bats came back, and they rushed into the trailer.

Sam looked around and smiled to herself when she realized that besides the evil vines and the regular upside down wear and tear, it looked exactly the same. She glanced at Eddie to see him grimly staring at a massive pustule on the ceiling.

“This is where Chrissy died. LIke…exactly where she died.” He said, and Sam touched his arm in a way she hoped he found comforting, but when he looked at her he just seemed confused, so she let go.

The awkward moment went unnoticed and was completely forgotten when the fleshy pit on the ceiling started to move. They all stood back in fear, Eddie instinctually put an arm out in front of Sam to keep her safe. Whatever she meant before and however she felt about him now, he was still going to keep her safe. Steve and Nancy brandished their weapons and Robin stood still like maybe whatever it was wouldn’t be able to see her if she wasn’t moving. 

    Whatever it was broke through and they crept forward until they relaxed at the sight of Dustin and Company’s wide grins that they matched as they gave a little wave.

    “This is so trippy.” Robin said, and Sam had to agree, even more so when they tossed the rope through the portal. Sam couldn’t help but wish it was a ladder, and if she had to bet she’d say that Eddie and Robin were also reliving some pretty humbling gym classes at the sight of the rope.

    The kids dragged out Eddie’s mattress for them to land on and they all grimaced.

    “Yeah those stains are…” he paused, looking at them uncomfortably. “I don’t know what those stains are.”

    “At least one of them was bongwater and that’s on me.” Sam chimed in, getting a grin from Eddie that released some of the tension in her shoulders.

    “Yeah you do spill a lot of stuff, Campbell.” He said affectionately, then furrowed his brow like he remembered something and stopped laughing, and Sam sighed, knowing she would have to clear up the obvious misunderstanding sooner rather than later. 

    “I guess I’ll go first.” Robin volunteered, and struggled up the rope.

    The four of them remaining looked at each other, and Eddie gestured for Samantha to go up the rope, and she was a little flattered that he wouldn’t leave without her.

    She started up the rope and spent what felt like way too long until she got to the ceiling and fell onto the mattress and laughed at being on normal ground again. Dustin helped her up, and while Eddie huffed and puffed his way up the rope, Sam turned to her little brother.

    “I heard how you found the gate and everything. It’s pretty impressive.” She said, hoping he could tell that she was proud of him, and Dustin grinned back.

    “I am a certified genius.” He bragged, and she ruffled his hair.

    “Thanks for the rescue.” She said genuinely, and he shrugged like it was no big deal.

    “No man left behind. Besides, I promised your dad I’d bring you back safely.”

    “My…Dad?” Sam asked, wondering what on earth she had missed.

    “He thought that Eddie had kidnapped you.” He said simply, glancing up at Eddie still trying to get to the halfway mark, and Steve starting to push on his feet.

    “What did you tell him?” She asked anxiously, and Dustin looked a little sheepish.

    “The truth. Some of the truth.” He said, and she stared at him until he said more. “I told him the monster you saw was real and that you were in danger and he helped us sneak out.” He said with a little grin.

    “Wait- my dad helped you sneak out?” She asked incredulously, imagining jolly Ron Campbell sneaking a bunch of teens out in the dead of night.

    “Yup. As soon as I said you were in danger he was in.” He said. “He believes you now too, by the way.” he said, as if those words weren’t a huge deal that made her lean against the wall at the lack of a chair.

    “That’s. That’s …great.” Was all she could manage as she watched Eddie plummet out of the ceiling onto his own disgusting mattress, and she helped him up, gripping his hand tightly. They looked up and it seemed like Steve and Nancy were having a little talk before going through the gate. It made her nervous, but Sam was so happy to be out of there she didn’t feel like yelling at them. Instead, she turned to Eddie and smiled.

    The way that Sam was looking at him made him pretty sure that he had misinterpreted what she said before. She looked a lot worse in the light of his trailer, covered in filth and scratches that made it clear that she had been there longer than the rest of them, and that she had walked all the way to East Hawkins alone. Without thinking he pulled her in for the hug he’d been wanting to give her since her van came bursting out of the forest, and she winced away. He let go instantly, reconsidering the miscommunications before she looked down at her side and saw her soaked in blood and his eyes widened.

    “Are you hurt?” He asked, then scolded himself for asking a stupid question while she nodded. “Yeah, of course you are, c’mon, let me help you clean that up.” He said, and pulled her to the bathroom by their still linked hands.

    The van obviously didn’t have a bathroom, so she unfortunately did have to use Eddie’s more often than not, and it was, without question, the worst room in his home. It was dark and every surface was covered in razors and empty soap bottles and the grime was all she could see. He had cleaned it up for her when he realized how gross she thought it was, but between him and his uncle it was hard to keep up with. Even though it was her least favorite room in Hawkins, Sam felt as wholly safe and happy there in that moment as somebody that was losing blood could be as she sat on the side of the lime stained tub and pulled her t shirt up over her wound.

    Eddie got some paper towels wet and started to clean the wound.

    “I’m glad you’re okay.” Eddie said, careful not to say more in case she shut him down again.

    “Thanks for coming to my rescue.” She said with a soft smile.

    “Always.” He said absentmindedly and she looked at him softly. “Alright, this is going to sting.” He said, unscrewing the rubbing alcohol and pouring it over the gash. She groaned in pain and gripped his hand hard until the pain went away and she sat back, breathing heavily as he got out some extra large band aids and put it on gently.

    “Voila. All better.” He said, not getting up from where he knelt in front of her, eye level with her tummy. 

    “What were you going to say before? In the van?” She asked gently, and he looked down in embarrassment as he stood up.

    “Are you sure you want to hear it?” He asked cautiously, and she tilted her head in confusion. She was about to open her mouth and say of course when she heard a commotion outside the door.

    “Uh- guys? We have a situation here!” Dustin shouted to them and they tumbled out of the bathroom back to the gate to see Nancy in a trance.

-------okay so that’s it for this for now because obviously we don't know what's gonna happen, but there's some feelings and interpersonal stuff that will happen after the adventure I'm still gonna post, and probably rewrite the end of this one and add more when the new episodes come out. Thanks for reading!--------

tag list:

@youngflower @nostandards94 @simonsbluee

@koroktsuya @kriffingstars @anths-girl

[notasapleasure]

The Stretch (2000)

So pleased I managed to dig this one up!

Turns out all three hours are on YouTube! Don't mind me, I'm just humming Cornershop as we wait for Richard Asher (yes different spelling to the song, I know).

"Let me do the worrying for you! That's what you pay me for..." He's a high-flying-wheeler-dealing naughty tax-dodging accountant >:3

Baby. *Pinches his cheeks* Looooook at those sideburns :3

Richard and Lawrence are Terry's accountant and solicitor. Terry's been jailed for life for murder. His wife Samantha, who stood by his alibi and everybody believes lied for him, is faced with the fact he's currently too broke to appeal.

She and Terry split up 18 months ago (per Richard). 15 months ago (per Samantha). Richard is indifferent to such details.

Samantha: "So what you're trying to tell me is if Terry drops his balls I'm out on the street."

It's ok! Terry's arranged for a consignment of cannabis resin to be brought into the country :)

Also in a 'currency deal' in Spain :))

He's signed all his business deals legitimate and....otherwise .. over to Samantha :)))

A man who is not taking the piss and would just like the hysterical lady to sign some forms pls.

Sam: "You're as bad as he is!! .....both of ya!" (wouldn't want to leave Lawrence out)

Oh, Alistair Petrie is here being menacing! i.e. beating up his wife, Sam's daughter >:( BAD.

So ginger!

And bb Graham McTavish!!! The trustworthy and loyal tough guy and driver. VERY GOOD!

Sam gives in and goes back to the lads Richard and Lawrence when her mother-in-law's on the verge of being kicked out of the private care home she's in.

Richard says nothing but we keep seeing his hand fiddling round his face. Coke fiend? Or oral fixation?

Much drama in the meantime, but I clowned myself saying 'I'll go back to work when we get another Richard scene'. Nearly an hour on and we're still waiting...

Here we go! End of the first half. Of course loyal associates are invited to Terry's getting-out-of-jail-because-someone-else-admitted-to-the-crime party!

He's taller than everyone else at the party by a mile :')

Episode 2...

Joplin's voice is in the 'previously on' but I'm holding out for another scene or two :')

Besides, this is genuinely pretty good. Slower and more thoughtfully written than TV tends to be allowed to be these days.

Aaaaand it all comes out. Sam learns about Terry getting with widow of the dead man pregnant. She learns about all the people who've been paid off, and that Richard Asher, like everyone else, knows everything, and he's the one who's been paying people off for Terry.

Sorry the image quality is abysmal :')

Things keep going tits up, but Terry's convinced he can get them out of their financial problems with One Last Deal. He just needs some money to buy the heroin first.

Oh dear me no, solicitors and chartered accountants draw the line at heroin deals!

Terry rightly notes that the rest of the money they've handled for him hasn't exactly been squeaky clean.

We are not thrilled at having this pointed out.

Terry: "The chance for one last...HOO-RAH."

And in the end they probably just end up somewhat out of pocket, but this is the last we see of them.

---

Rating

Dead? Nope!

Evil? Go to jail for your crimes against the tax man you horrible little inside trader :3

Affects the plot? Technically, yes, but not in a way with any actual agency/character acting with their own motivations

So this is a genuinely fun thriller! The lead actors are Leslie Grantham aka Dirty Den from EastEnders (that's a wild Wikipedia page, let me tell you. Life sentence for murder. Inspired into acting by T. Dan Smith while they were in prison together. EastEnders. Attempted suicide three times after a sex scandal) and his on-screen wife from EastEnders, Anita Dobson. Who is actually married to Brian May. Yeah, that Brian May, who does the soundtrack to this film. Which is, for the most part, pretty cool - though now and again I had a Pavlovian response to the screaming guitars and started looking for Clancy Brown in leathers or a pouting Christopher Lambert. I will say though the eagle screech that happens when the camera focuses on Terry remains unjustifiable, Brian May or not.

Uhh where was I

Oh yeah, rating. Idk, like...2/5? Joplin's not in it much, but he's very cute when he is there. And I genuinely enjoyed watching the rest of the show. The ending is so nearly perfect (I think the final shot through a scope was unnecessary).

[torpublishinggroup]

Have you pre-ordered Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree in paperback yet? Well, we've got a special treat for you...order the new paperback and submit your receipt by 11/30 to receive this adorable acrylic charm, art by Samantha Petrie!   

Submit your receipt: https://bit.ly/lnl-preorder

[ericeffiorg]

why don't you care for the adults? i think the guy that plays ola's dad is really funny (not saying you have to just curious!)

sorry i was gonna reply to this earlier but forgot!!

but yeah, i forgot to say other adult characters' actors but on top of rakhee and jim i love samantha, anne and hannah too! but i never cared for them until season 3 (hannah.. didn't care til i saw ted lasso tbh, so like - summer 2021?). genuinely not sure why but i never really cared about the adults on this show. maybe bc i'm more invested in the teen stories so the adults never really crossed my mind lol

i used to like gillian but she has had way too many negative stories about her on-set behaviour (look into her x files history for starters) so i stopped liking her. i also don't have an opinion on petrie and that's bc i've always despised his character and as an adult character i never looked into him. he seems really sweet tho but i've just never really followed him or his work. like.. if he played a teen i would've looked into him the way i became a connor fan despite hating adam, but yeah. the other adults aren't in the show enough for me to care tbh and as for ola's dad... (sorry this is gonna go down a dark path so please have some discretion x) he was accused of sexual assault by over 50 women so he can choke for all i care.

[hollywoodnewssource]

Review: Sex Education continues to soar above the rest with Season 3

We watched the newest season of Netflix’s Sex Education, and it did not disappoint. Read on to see why you should run, not walk, to your TV and dive in to this epic new season.  Series Launch Date: September 17, 2021 Format: 8 x 60min  Showrunner: Laurie Nunn Executive Producers: Laurie Nunn, Ben Taylor and…

Review: Sex Education continues to soar above the rest with Season 3 was originally published on Hollywood News Source

[camyfilms]

SEX EDUCATION 2019

You know in rom-coms, when the guy finally realizes he's in love with the girl, and he turns up with a boom box outside her house, blasting her favorite song, and everyone in the audience swoons? Yeah, that makes me sick.

[ljones41]

"EMMA" (1996 TV) Review

"EMMA" (1996 TV) Review Several months after Miramax had released Douglas McGrath’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1815 novel, "Emma", another version aired on the BBC and later, on the A&E Channel in the U.S. This version turned out to be a 107-minute teleplay, adapted by screenwriter Andrew Davies and directed by Diarmuid Lawrence.

As many Jane Austen fans know, "EMMA" told the story of the younger daughter of an English Regency landowner, with a penchant for meddling in the lives of friends and neighbors. Her meddling in the love life of her new protégé – a young woman named Harriet Smith – ended up having a major impact on the latter’s search for a husband. Emma also becomes involved with Frank Churchill, her former governess’ stepson, and the highly educated granddaughter of her village’s former curate named Jane Fairfax. This "EMMA" incorporated a heavy emphasis on class structure and conflict, due to Andrew Davies’ adaptation. This emphasis was hinted in scenes that included a conversation between Emma and Harriet regarding the role of the neighborhood’s wealthiest landowner, George Knightley. Greater emphasis was also placed on Jane Fairfax’s possible future as a governess. The movie included moments featuring tenant farmer Robert Martin’s barely concealed resentment toward Emma’s interference in his courtship of Harriet. And the movie concluded with a harvest ball sequence that allowed Mr. Knightley to display his role as Highbury’s wealthiest and most benevolent landowner. I cannot deny that I enjoyed "EMMA". Davies’ script and Lawrence’s direction captured a good deal of the mood from Austen’s novel. The movie also featured scenes that I found particularly appealing – scenes that included Mrs. Cole’s party, where Mr. Knightley becomes aware of Emma’s friendship with Frank Churchill; the comic reaction to Emma’s drawing of Harriet; and the Box Hill incident. Yet, for some reason, my favorite sequence turned out to be Mr. and Mrs. Weston’s Christmas party. One, production designer Don Taylor created a strong holiday atmosphere that seemed distinctly of another era. And two, the sequence featured some of the movie’s funniest moments – John Knightley’s rants about attending a party in bad weather and Mr. Elton’s marriage proposal to Emma. Of the actors and actresses featured in the cast, I must admit that at least five performances impressed me. Mr. Elton must be one of the novel’s more exceptional characters. I have yet to come across a screen portrayal of Mr. Elton that did not impress me. And Dominic Rowan’s deliciously smarmy take on the role certainly impressed me. I also enjoyed Bernard Hepton’s rather funny portrayal of Emma’s finicky father, Mr. Woodhouse. The man possessed timing that a comic would envy. Samantha Bond gave a warm and deliciously sly portrayal of Emma’s former governess, Mrs. Weston. But my two favorite performances came from Raymond Coulthard and Olivia Williams as Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. From my reading of Austen’s novel and viewing of other screen adaptations, I got the feeling that these two characters were not easy to portray. Frank Churchill never struck me as the typical Austen rogue/villain. Yes, he could be cruel, selfish and deceitful. And yet, he seemed to be the only Austen rogue who seemed to possess the slightest capability of genuine love. Actor Raymond Coulthard has struck me as the only actor who has managed to capture the strange and complex nature of Frank Churchill with more accuracy and less mannerisms than any other actor in the role, so far. And Olivia Williams struck me as the only actress that managed to portray Jane Fairfax’s travails without resorting to extreme mannerisms . . . or by simply being there. Many have praised Samantha Morton’s performance as Emma’s young companion, Harriet Smith. And I believe that she deserved the praise. I found nothing defective about it. Unfortunately, Davies’ script left the actress with hardly anything to work with. Morton’s Harriet almost came off as self-assured and nearly flawless. Mind you, I do not blame Morton’s performance. I blame Davies’ script. His interpretation of Harriet almost seemed . . . uninteresting to me. Prunella Scales gave a solid performance as the garrulous spinster and aunt of Jane Fairfax, Miss Bates. But I must admit that I found nothing particularly memorable about her portrayal. And Lucy Robinson’s Mrs. Augusta Elton never really impressed me. In fact, I found her performance to be the least memorable one in the entire movie. How do I describe Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong’s portrayals of the two lead characters – Emma Woodhouse and George Knightley? Superficially, their performances seemed solid. Both knew their lines. And neither gave any wooden performances. But if I must honest, Beckinsale and Strong turned out to be my least favorite screen versions of Emma and Mr. Knightley. Beckinsale’s Emma not only struck me as chilly at times, but downright bitchy. I suspect that her performance in "COLD COMFORT FARM" may have attracted the attention of this film’s producers. What they failed to realize was that Beckinsale’s role in that particular film had acted as straight man to the rest of the comic characters. And back in the mid 1990s, the actress lacked the comic skills to portray Emma Woodhouse, a character that proved to be one of the funnier ones in this predominately humorous tale. I have been a fan of Mark Strong for several years. But after seeing "EMMA", I would never count George Knightley as one of his better roles. I have seen Strong utilize humor in other movies. But his sense of humor seemed to be missing in "EMMA". Strong’s George Knightley struck me as a humorless and self-righteous prig, with an intensity that seemed scary at times. The best thing I could say about Beckinsale and Strong was that the pair had decent screen chemistry. Andrew Davies did a solid job of adapting Austen’s novel. Was he completely faithful to it? Obviously not. But I am not particularly concerned about whether he was or not. But . . . I did have one major problem with the script. I believe that Davies’ treatment of class distinctions in Regency England struck me as very heavy-handed. This lack of subtlety seemed very obvious in scenes that included Robert Martin’s silent expressions of resentment toward Emma, her little speech to Harriet about Mr. Knightley’s role as a landowner, Emma’s overtly chilly attitude toward Robert Martin and in the movie’s last sequence, the harvest ball. Which literally made me cringe with discomfort during Mr. Knightley’s speech. No one felt more relieved than I, when it finally ended. In the end, "EMMA" seemed like a decent adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. Some of its qualities included first-rate performances from the likes of Raymond Coulthard and Olivia Williams. And there were certain sequences that I enjoyed – like the Westons’ Christmas party and the Crown Inn ball. But I found Davies’ take on class distinctions in the movie about as subtle as a rampaging elephant. And I was not that impressed by Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong in the lead roles. In the end, this "EMMA" proved to be my least favorite adaptation of the 1815 novel.

[nprbooks]

Illustration by Angela Hsieh/NPR

It’s here it’s here it’s heeeere! Our famous Summer Reader Poll is back and this year we want to hear all about your favorite funny reads. What makes you laugh? (Because we could all use a laugh about now) Tell us, using the form here, and our *chef’s kiss* judging panel -- Aparna Nancherla, Samantha Petri, Guy Branum and Samantha Irby -- will use your votes to curate a final list of 100 reads guaranteed to make you LOL (or at least giggle, or even just a quiet snicker, as long as you laugh, we’re happy). You can vote for up to five titles -- and don’t restrict yourself to the comedy shelf! I mean, yes, we’re expecting a lot of votes for David Sedaris -- but really, we want to hear about anything that makes you laugh!

-- Petra

[randomfoggytiger]

Arcadia Analysis: Their Worst Nightmares and Trauma Responses

In my previous Arcadia posts, I made the case that the mailboxes were leitmotifs, Scully was NOT upset about the repercussions of Diana or One Son (or anything at all), and that it was Mulder who was the one struggling and upset with “married life” in suburbia. Now, we round it all up with the climax of Arcadia: Mulder’s and Scully’s worst nightmares actualized (if briefly and with good endings) and their trauma responses to it. 

Here we go! 

To begin, Scully calls the forensics’ team for a full sweep “tonight” while Mulder runs off to arrest Gogolak (the leadup to that is in my analysis of Mulder’s actions in Arcadia here.) However, stomps on the stairs alerts her to an intruder; and she stops the call to get her gun.  

When she goes to retrieve her weapon (hidden in her personal drawer of neatly folded laundry-- an apt descriptor of her life) and finds only an empty holster 

Scully begins to internally panic. But she REALLY panics when she’s mugged from behind. 

Scully’s personal nightmare is invasion of her personal spaces: her body (by her abduction, cancer, and constant recapture) and literal home invasions (first in Squeeze, then in Duane Barry; now in Arcadia, and eventually in Orison.) 

Her flailing only stops when she recognizes Big Mike, who motions for silence 

and begins to intermittently explain that he’s been hiding in the sewer protecting her and Rob/Mulder from the monster. As he does so, Mike shoves furniture to reinforce the bedroom door... and starts to drag her dresser near the closet. 

He ignores her pleas to “just give me the gun” and promptly shoves her into the closet, 

barricading her in before the monster can break the bedroom door down.  

Scully is now trapped in the place of her most traumatizing experience: her imprisonment by Donnie Pfaster. She goes absolutely silent, fully concentrating on grasping the door handle and turning it repeatedly, attempting to break free. 

Her efforts are halted when the monster knocks the door down and Big Mike begins firing her gun at close range to seemingly no avail 

while furniture is being tossed around him weightlessly. 

When Big Mike yelps, she ducks back, but not completely into the shadows--

until he is thrown violently against the closet door, screaming as the monster proceeds to beat him to death. 

(Her wedding ring is given a clear shot as she does so. ~Symbolism~ similar to a previous shot explained in my analysis here.) 

Scully’s response to trauma-- flight-- is crippled in this circumstance; so she cowers, watches garbage mixed with blood splatter on the door slats, 

and begins to go into shock as Big Mike’s lifeless head splats against the blinds.

Meanwhile, Mulder is escorting his prisoner back to the Petries’ when he stops dead in his tracks-- 

the Petries’ door is wide open and the house is completely still. 

He immediately launches into investigative mode, cuffing Gogolak to the mailbox and running into the house. 

His horror mounts when he sees ketchup-red footsteps leading through the door,

up the stairs, and deeper into the house. 

Mulder’s greatest fear has always been the inability to prevent losing someone he loves. Obviously, it stems back to being frozen while Samantha was abducted, unable to respond to her screams for help; but it also bleeds into his close calls with Scully’s safety (on the job, her abduction, coma, cancer, etc.) He fights tooth and nail to prevent someone being taken from him ever again. 

But his first trauma response-- freeze-- blooms in the face of the escalated wreckage around him: stains on the carpet, the walls; pictures askew, footprints straight to the bedroom.

As he ascends the stairs, he keeps flickering back in and out of a trauma response; but when Scully won’t respond to his calls, it begins to solidify. 

Because-- fight as hard as he might-- when Mulder feels like he can’t do anything, when it’s irreversible and all hope is lost? Mulder freezes, shuts down. Just as he did in One Son (hate that Diana took advantage of that moment, YUCK), in Drive, The End, Emily, Redux II, Elegy, The Field Where I Died, Herrenvolk, Oubliette, One Breath, Ascension-3, etc.; and just as he will in Milagro, Amor Fati, Sein und Zeit, Requiem, and Three Words (and more!) 

Speaking of Milagro, in a scene eerily similar to that episode (which happens a few episodes after this one), Mulder slowly makes his way through the heart-stopping crime scene, 

mouth open, 

eyes popping, barely breathing, 

panic climbing as finds no sign of life. 

He’s about to hyperventilate when Scully calls from the closet, 

whereupon he SPRINGS into action, 

grasping at her dresser in an attempt to quickly free her.

(Also, the musical cue picks up from dreadfully calm to tensely upbeat, highlighting his adrenaline kicking back in and underscoring his deliberate calm as he tries to draw out responses from Scully.) 

He quickly pivots to tearing the door slats away when he hears the hollow shock in Scully’s voice, his movements becoming choppier in response to her distress. 

Mulder halts his efforts when he hears screaming outside, 

and dashes away, deeming Scully safer in the closet than out. (She then continues freeing herself, knowing Mulder’s propensity to run headlong into danger without the wherewithal to protect himself.) 

When faced with the tulpa looming over Gogolak’s dying body, 

Mulder freezes, allowing the monster to tramp menacingly towards him (proving Scully’s determination to get out of that closet to be correct.) 

Before the tulpa can kill him, Gogolak dies, which causes his creation to crumble to dust (and ketchup and garbage) at Mulder’s feet. 

He blinks-- “reawakening” from his paralysis-- 

and stares at the remains in disgust. A fitting end to his nightmare of a stay in this neighborhood (analysis of his very-not-good-time linked here~.)

Scully arrives a moment too late (of course), 

and seems at a loss to make sense of it all. 

And thus, their stay in Arcadia comes to a close (after, of course, Mulder tries to fix the mailbox, which is explored more in previous analyses)-- their jaunt into the American dream punctuated with a reenactment of their personal nightmares. 

Hope you enjoyed!