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aunt_zeldaEpisodes 61 - 80 (+ Q&As)
Copied/expanded on from my twitter liveblogging on episodes. They contain my thought processes as I gradually learned what was unfolding.
Spoilers below the cut:
Hard Shoulder: Heck yeah another woman! She’s very angry and I’m not sure why yet, I hope we get context to that eventually.
We get the answer to what was in the coffin which … idk kinda ruins the coffin story now? Ooooooo it’s a portal with stairs that eats people :(
Like I loved that story and part of the appeal is you don’t find out what’s in the coffin! And now we know and like … it’s underwhelming. To me at least. I hope this doesn’t happen often with previous stories, some of them are so good and I’d hate for them to get spoiled.
I mean even if it leads to a great plot … the very strong mysterious horror story from Episode 2 has now been completely undercut and I can’t get that back. I get what Mr. Sims is doing here for the ongoing narrative but I do wish it wasn’t at the expense of the horror.
I’m just really disappointed about this. It could lead to a great plot, I get it, but for now it’s like … welp, completely undercut that cool story. Kinda like movies that show the monster way too soon: less is more, and the audience will always imagine something far worse.
Like I was imagining spiders, flesh eating bugs, a mummy that trades places with you if you open the lid, the Devil Himself, a Pandora’s box situation, all sorts of stuff. And the horror was that I just didn’t know! And the guy never found out! And now we know. Ho hum.
No shade to Mr. Sims he’s a fantastic storyteller and I really appreciate all the work he’s put into this. I’m just … disappointed. And not looking forward to what this means for future episodes. It’s a difficult issue: the more things get explained, the less scary they become.
It’s kind of the downfall of a lot of horror franchises and ongoing narratives. Eventually you have to explain and give rules and make stuff consistent and it just … loses some of that luster, I guess, for me? It’s still interesting! Just not very scary anymore.
He said something in the S1 Q&A that there will be some mysteries that will stay mysteries. I’m clinging to that like a lifeboat right now.
Jon’s intervention was just as upsetting as I predicted, it disturbs me that NotSasha isn’t being noticed, and Elias continues to be a shitty boss and a shady bitch.
Also lol of course the cops suspected you of the murder Jon! You’re acting extremely suspicious, inserting yourself into the investigation, and benefitted from her death! You were the best suspect that wasn’t “an Eldritch Thing from Beyond SpaceTime.”
Glad Jon asked about the vampire stuff, I was wondering about all that myself.
I do wonder though … Trevor Herbert seemed overtaken by the Thing that makes people wanna go hunting. (The one I’m tentatively calling the Sexy Werewolf Thing.) Could Daisy be in danger of that, since she’s technically also been hunting these vampires?
I don’t know how any of this works, if Things chose people or people attract Things or what. It’s all extremely vague and contradictory at this point. Some people are prey and some people are … idk avatars? Dark paladins? Warlocks? It’s very confusing right now.
First Edition: I LOVE THIS EPISODE. Love this creepy old woman who was a creepy little girl. Love that she was furious about the doctor not deserving the eldritch powers. “Your patron” implies the Institute is associated w/ a specific Eldritch Thing? I think?
Not sure if “The End” is a name of the Eldritch Thing or not? Possibly?
Also YES, good detective work Jon! Found the hidden compartment and the laptop! And a KEY!
The statement-giving lady seems to indicate you can like, devote yourself to one of the Eldritch Things, or play the field. At least, she has. Come back, creepy lady! I wanna hear all your stories!
I’m very curious how these “domains” get decided. As in an earlier post I was theorizing and trying to figure out which Thing is which and like, there’s overlap to my perception right now. Is this Thing the Thing of skin? Of death in general? Of violent skin death?
I’m pretty sure now the Meat Thing and Bone Thing are the same Thing but … is there a Music Thing? If so it seems to be related to the Bone Thing, but it doesn’t seem to be related to the Meat Thing. Where does the Disease Thing factor in? At least three Things have bugs? I feel like bugs are over-represented in the Eldritch Thing market here.
Don’t even get me started on how the Meat/Bones/Skin Thing seems to be distinct from the Sexy Werewolf Thing.
( @angel-ascending said they hadn’t picked up on the Music Thing by the point I was at when they were listening first. I responded:
I’m pretty sure some of my favorite episodes are related to the Music Thing, so I might be picking up on it because of that? I was SO SURE it was related to the Bone Thing! But it seems like the Bone Thing and the Meat Thing are the same Thing? I don’t know! This is very fun!)
Me: *drags Mr. Sims for his very obvious fear of elderly women*
Also me: *banging my mug on my desk* BRING BACK THIS CREEPY OLD LADY!
Seriously though you know what should be creepy? Elderly men! They’re much rarer! Elderly women are far more common for a variety of societal and health factors. And yet they get maligned as creepy witches or murderers all the time. Has Mr. Sims examined this fear of his?
Lol watch the Eldritch Thing at the Archive be Elias. Eldritch Big Boss has been blazing it since 1996 and shows no plan to stop.
The End of the Tunnel: This one was soooooo good & unsettling! Fantastic increasing tension & nastiness. And that image of the camera flash illuminating the scene … *shivers*
Said it before I’ll say it again: no good comes of British women going into caves. [GIF of the Descent]
Burial Rites: YESSSSSSSSS! This is EXCELLENT!
There’s carved bones again. Hmmmmm.
That moment where the hand has grabbed him!!!
Also yeesh that twist of what happens at the end was super disturbing.
Binary: This one was deeply scary and I loved it.
Tim’s confrontation was a long time coming. And then the revelation that he CAN’T quit … oh dear that’s frightening. Some THING does have control over the Institute.
Held in Customs: Another situational one that gives me the creeps because Mr. Sims is so good at putting us in that predicament with his words. Again that freak Michaelo Seleza.
Also Gertrude wtf was going on with you. Collecting those books for what purpose?
Burning Desire: really good story here, with strong hints about the greater narrative with the people … idk worshipping the Things? Being their avatars? Being given over to them?
Also lol women can’t win on this show. Old? Creepy! Ageless? Creepy!
Basically … don’t be a woman in this world. You are creepy and untrustworthy no matter what.
I don’t know that this “most women are not good/creepy” thing is intentional, probably just an unfortunate trend that he didn’t pick up on. I’m also consuming the show very quickly it’s probably standing out to me more because of that.
The Tale of a Field Hospital: This one was very good. I’m just a big fan of spooky books with curses and this is another one of those statements. The Disease Thing horrifies me and makes me very sad, but also I’m a fan of like “the horrors of war” manifesting in weird ways.
Jon seems, gratifyingly, as confused as I am about the distinguishing features of the Disease Thing vs the Bugs Thing vs the Spiders Thing. Feels good to be on the same page roughly as the protagonist.
Thought for the Day: WHY DID THEY DO THIS EXPERIMENT. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT. YOU ARE ASKING FOR TROUBLE.
Considering a good chunk of these Things seem to be Manifested Human Fears, seems like this … idk summoned one? Invoked it? Made it?
Which came first, the humans or the Fears.
Were there cavepeople sitting around going “Gog eaten by sky, too big out there, good to hide in cave, but not TOO deep or darkness eat you.” Were there dinosaurs fleeing in terror from an enormous spider?
If humans made the Things, then like … how does that happen? What level of belief/power/terror causes one of these Things to manifest? There’s nothing about cold, a pretty powerful human motivator/fear, yet there’s like three bug-related ones.
I keep thinking these are the fears of primarily city dwellers, or perhaps more accurately people who live in civilization/a society/“modern human history” in the loosest sense of the word. Most of these are fears of modern humans. Modern humans don’t fear the cold.
Do these Things change over time? Do they evolve, get replaced? The Sexy Werewolf Thing seems very old indeed, but the Disease Thing seems a lot more recent and is especially tied to the world wars.
Unclear if this is a story clue/indication of the Things being more recent, or if it’s just literally Mr. Sims IRL thinking about what scares him, a modern man in a modern world, and not what All Of Human History Was Afraid Of.
Aw I’m gonna feel bad if this isn’t something he considered and I’m like poking holes in his storytelling. He’s such a great storyteller! I just spend a lot of time thinking about this kind of stuff!
Poor Jon sounds so tired … and afraid.
Book of the Dead: … aka Mr. Sims missed the deadline for submissions to Machine of Death and this annoys him very much. *laughing crying emoj*
Seriously though this was way good. I just, I’m very familiar with the Machine of Death anthologies so this one didn’t hit me as hard.
Again, skin, and I’m increasingly convinced the Skin Thing is a Death Thing, and related to making the books perhaps? Relates to the creepy old lady’s recorded statement for sure.
I feel like Jon finding that scrap of paper is gonna be Very Relevant when I know what it means.
What was the point of that book? Is it a curse, a prophecy, a way of driving people into such anxiety they kill themselves? Any of these is super troubling.
Underground: Another claustrophobia one. I have to wonder if this is a specific Thing, the previous instances I thought were related to other Things, like Darkness and Lonely. Is there a Claustrophobia Thing? Submission/acceptance/lack of fear seemed to free her. Interesting.
Did it free her, or was she marked by the Thing though? She still rides the train, leaves dirt, and had a literal mark of a grasping hand on her.
Can the Things chose their warlocks/paladins? Why? For what purpose?
Oh jeez who’s living in those tunnels? That’s concerning.
Takeaway: eughghghghgh another Meat episode. Gross gross gross. Most distressing to me is the detail about the wounds healing and fingers growing back.
Police Lights: This is the first one where I really majorly feel the ongoing story is impacting the horror in a bad way. It wants so badly to be like a Monster of the Week tv show episode, and it just … comes off kinda flat to me? Idk maybe I’m being too harsh.
I feel like once you introduce cops, guns that can impact the eldritch things, and government bureaucracy … the horror kinda fades and it becomes a lot more mundane and not as scary anymore.
Fatigue: Another one that’s just … sad. Very very sad. And leaves us with far more questions. Is the point to slowly kill humans? Drive them insane? Eat them?
Creepy reality-bending person living under the place, stealing files. That’s probably not good.
A Long Way Down: the Sky Vore Thing strikes again! As someone who loathes climbing ladders, I feel very badly for the guy who got taken. A deeply unsettling story, and a great one.
More questions about whether the Things use people or are invoked or what.
Poor Basira, disillusioned with the police force and how they framed her dead colleague as dirty to cover up what really happened. At least Jon finally has those tapes, I crave more Gertrude talk.
The Smell of Blood: I’m unclear whether the trauma of the world wars keeps coming up because it’s more of a cultural thing in the UK, or one of the Things is specifically related to war, or what.
I love Melanie King and I love her fights with Jon. Her calling him a “pompous ass” was satisfying, especially considering how cruel and dismissive he was in S1.
Jon snapping “yes I know what a meme is!” might be my favorite line?
Also love how Melanie is suspicious that Jon is gaslighting her in regards to the Not-Sasha thing. And that’s what finally tips him off. Considering how S1 ended with all major female characters dead, S2 has been a steady improvement.
The Kind Mother: this one upset me very much. Ever since I found out about Capgras Delusion, it’s scared me so much. It being her mom especially makes me sad. All the Things are pretty horrible but this one … I think this one revolts me the most.
Like you wanna cut people up and eat them, whatever, that’s gross and mean but that’s pretty standard monster work. Replacing people’s loved ones and taunting them with that fact, when they’re the only ones who can see the truth? That’s even more disgusting than the Meat Thing.
I’m just so sad and angry about it. Most of the other Things seem to have a purpose, even if that purpose is “I’m gonna eat you up.” This one is just … messing with people for the lols, ruining their life and sense of trust, and moving on. It’s awful. I think I hate this Thing.
We’ve got an Official Name: The Stranger. Considering how many of them take the form of well, strange weirdos lurking around, that doesn’t exactly narrow it down. Is that “Michael?” Is it not? Idk.
“The tapes that went missing after the Prentis attack all had Sasha’s voice on them”
YIKES YIKES YIKES ON BIKES
Jon sounds extremely frightened at the end of this tape. I appreciate it when male characters get scared in media. You don’t often hear male characters terrified like this, in this capacity, you always always hear women scared like this though.
Distant Cousin: oooooooooh dear. What the HECK. Wish I could draw ‘cause that final glimpse of the Imposter Thing getting sucked into the table is like, super cinematic.
“And now I see you” JON HONEY NO
Bless him, sending the boys off to be safe. I stan one idiot academic.
“It is remarkably easy to purchase an ax in South London” JON WTF OH MY GOD
Also lol, no guns, no tasers, no pepper spray … these goofs facing eldritch abominations with nothing but blunt objects and their pathetic strength stats are braver than a US Marine.
… so the Things are like, at war with each other? I guess? I’m so confused and I love it.
Also … Michael is NOT the Imposter Thing, I guess? He gave Jon a door, but a door to where? That’s not gonna end well.
Michael’s eerie cheerfulness in that like “lol I’m soooooooo satisfied with myself and my existence this is sooooooo amusing ahahahahaha” way creeps me out so bad.
-
Hide and Seek:
…
…
*LOUD SCREAMING*
Auuuuuuw poor Martin lost his poetry recording!
Tim’s right, Jon was talking Ominous.
… how big can a Thing get? Physically? Is the whole Institute a Thing?
Glad I’m not listening to this one in my car. Too much shouting.
Good on them not describing WHAT they saw but that it was horrifying and “not Sasha.”
Hearing Jon rant about theories sounds a lot like my own thoughts on the Things, which is fun.
Terrible idea: the Institute Thing made Martin fall in love with Jon to keep him there.
Martin SNAPPED.
Tim: Stay back!
Michael: … no.
Me: Eughghghghghghhg
Michael: Either way it’s amusing, I think it’s called a sport?
Me: EUGHGHGHGHHG
“I’m going to wear you Jon”
I feel like this would be scarier if I could understand more of the words through the distortions.
Jon is hyperventilating now. It’s very good sound design work.
So the Things definitely relish invoking fear. That seems to be their main desire.
Had to look up transcripts for this episode. Can’t understand half the words. It’s like Bane from The Dark Knight Rises.
Hate to say it but it’s a bad look that the S1 and S2 antagonists have been female presenting and most of the main heroes have been men.
-
The Librarian: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH ELIAS WAS A SHADY BITCH ALL ALONG!
Jon: Statement of Jurgen Leitner
Me: *almost drops my pasta dish*
Jurgen sacrificed “dozens” of assistants to the books. Gross
I’m torn. I wish Jurgen had been a woman but also that’d be yet another evil/ambiguously evil woman on the show.
So the Things can like … work together?
Gertrude had assistants? GERTRUDE PREQUEL SERIES WHEN!?!??!?!
The anthill attack analogy reminds me of the VtM elephant analogy.
Oh god this is so much information. No wonder I was so confused about the Bones.
Also holy shit Gertrude was gonna destroy the Archive? Good for her!
“you belong to it to” GROSS
ELIAS YOU SHADY BITCH WHYYYYYY
Seriously … Gertrude Prequel series WHEN?!
IRL Mr Sims, I will pay money. Much money. All money.
Gertrude Prequel Series Please?
God I said Jon was a bad boss earlier on and he was but … jesus H Christ, Elias is the Worst Boss. What a shady bitch!
Elias, 1996: *puffing a joint* I’m gonna … become the Man … and work for the manifestation of a surveillance state … and frame one of my employees for murder …
Elias’ stoner friends: … dude I think you’ve had enough.
-
Q&As
Baffled as to why they keep the Q&A “short” and have to “rush” through the questions and split the episode into two halves. They … they do know they’re in charge of the show, right? That Q&As are for the hardcore fans, who will eat up any scrap of content?
Things I’d wanna ask:
-Are you aware of your fear of elderly women?
-How are you handling being inspired by Lovecraft and working to make things he would despise (because he was a terrible person)?
-Thus far both seasons have ended with a female-presenting villains, why?
-Have you ever seen Warehouse 13?
-Have you ever read the Machine of Death anthologies?
-How did you come up with the specific things, and were they based on things you personally fear, common phobias, a combination?
-Are the references to brass important or a coincidence?
-Is the classism a deliberate choice for Jon the Archivist?
-How old are the Things? Were they harassing cavemen? Dinosaurs?
-What voice instructions did you give Michael?
-Has Elias been high this whole time?
-Was the Carlyle name a reference to Robert Carlyle and the movie Ravenous he was in?
-Why was Jon surprised Elias was a stoner in college? Is that not common in the UK?
-Do you have any experience with Vampire the Masquerade?
Glad to hear Jon hates horror that uses sexual violence in an exploitative male-gazey way.
Omg Gertrude is his MOM? And his dad sounds like Christopher Lee?!?!?!?! OH MY GODDDDDDD!
Jon the Archivist collects “something just a little bit weird”
DO A MUSICAL EPISODE YOU COWARDS
UZAMAKI OH MY GODDDDDDD I KNEW IT IN MY SOUL SOMEHOW I just realized the spiders WERE friends all along? Sort of? “you’re assuming a book needs to be written” eughghghgh
