Face Off Season Finale (SPOILERS)

So, this was it, the final three, Anthony, Wayne and Chris (sorry for the wonky photos, they wouldn't upload how I wanted them too).  So after what I think has been the most talent filled season it's time for that nail biting last episode... and I really think this one delivered as far as tension is concerned.  Now I really want Anthony to win... despite some flubs I thought he has consistently had my favorite make ups.  Though, I have to say that I was really disappointed that Fox didn't make it to the final three because I really felt his makeup, originality and personality were amazing.... but it is what it is.  But who won?  Well...  We'll get to that.

So the final challenge is that each artist has to come up with a "dream thief"  concept for the new Las Vegas show "La Reve: The Dream".  Which is a water show.  Yes.  Their makeups must be able to survive being fully submerged in water.  Yikes.  So each of the final artists gets a team and a theme, coming up with a concept of a hero being chased by a villain that wants to steal something from them.  So, I will go through it all finalist by finalist.

Wayne:  Wayne picks a supernatural theme, choosing Fox and Meagan as his teammates.  Wayne's concept is that a demon is after an angel who is budding wings.  As in most lore, his demon is actually a fallen angel and all he needs are wings to get back to heaven.  The concept is strong and as always with Wayne the sculpt is amazing but time is an issue.  Oh Wayne will you never learn?

Kris:  Kris goes with an ethereal theme, choosing House and Alam as his team.  Kris is immediately plagued by the limitations of this challenge.  He wants to go big and show the judges what he can do, but with the water element he has to scale down.  He also has the least focus as far as a story goes.  He tells the judges that his villain can't dream but his hero can, so the villain wants to steal her dreams.  I didn't really get that, but whatever.

Anthony:  Anthony chooses sinister has his theme, his team being Eric Z... and Autumn... yeah.  Anyway, Anthony's concept is that his villain has had his soul ripped out symbolized by a gaping hole in his chest, while his hero has a beautiful glowing soul at the center of her chest piece.  Anthony has a ton of issues in the work room.  First his hero's face piece comes out all wrong and he literally has to re-sculpt the whole thing.  Then Autumn fucks up his chest piece... but thank God they were able to save it. 

So after three days working, everybody flies off to Vegas and get really awesome hotel suits.  We get the same old application day we always get where everybody says they don't have time and they edit it to look really intense but really everything was fine... except Wayne didn't get to paint a few things (like always) but honestly it wasn't a grievous error.

All three makeups were really awesome.  Here is how I felt about each, these are my reactions as I watched (yeah that's right I typed these out as I watched):

• Not sure how I feel about Chris's... I love his bad guy but don't feel that his female character is very ethereal, if anything she seemed hard.  The villain has a smooth coolness while the hero is harsh and really bright... I really don't get that choice
• LOVE Anthony's sinister... BOTH characters looked quite sinister bad and good.  It's obvious they are from the same world and they both kind of creep me out.  Well done!
• Wayne's looks kind of like a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rip off...  There was something very "I've seen this before" to me, but the sculpture is quite good.

Thankfully, the judges do a pre-water close up of the make ups.  If I had to guess I thought they were most impressed with Anthony, but they only had good comments for everybody.  And then the water... I knew they would be getting wet but I didn't realized the would be FUCKING SLAMMING into it from CRAZY heights.  I couldn't even enjoy what I was seeing because I was holding my breath in terror that a cowl or chest piece would fly off.  Not only do all the makeups stay on, but they look perfect post water.  All three men nailed it

But... in the end their could only be one winner and BOY was it close.  I really had no idea who would win and when the commercial break popped up I nearly died... I just wanted to know... and who was it...

ANTHONY!

That's right, for once my favorite won!  I am so happy, but really he deserved it!  This season was so full of talent and I really think it was a close call but it's just wonderful that Anthony got it.  Now we have to wait until August to see what the next group has to offer.

Nice Town You Picked Norma: Bates Motel Episode 2 (spoilers)

So tonight was episode two of A&E's new show Bates Motel.  Now after the first episode I was left on the fence.  The show is quite entertaining, well directed, well acted and even well written, but as I said in my last post, the show has a lot to live up to.  We're talking Psycho here, one of the greatest horror/suspense films of all time directed by the most famous horror/suspense movie director of all time Alfred Hitchcock.  That's taking on a lot... especially when modernizing it.  But I have to say I find the show is sucking me in, even if I want to judge it against Psycho.

The opening scene was fantastic.  We see Norman looking at the creepy anime-esque book he found in one of the rooms.  He is looking at a shower scene while clicking a flashlight on and off.  Brilliant use of foreshadow, forever reminding the audience of the life this character is going to lead, which is smart on the part of the director.  The modernness of the show could throw people off, we must constantly be reminded of who Norman Bates is going to become.

Anyway, as Norman is being creepy his brother Dylan shows up and brings high tension even higher.  He keeps calling his mother "Norma" and making it clear that he hates her.  Even Norman seems to hate his brother, storming off to the bus stop after exchanging un-pleasantries with Dylan.  Breaking from the plot for a moment, I have to commend Freddie Highmore on his mannerisms as Bates.  He has a great awkward stiffness  even when he walks I just adore it.  There is something about the way he sets his shoulders that really gets me... I really see Norman.

He meets Bradley at the bus stop and then we see a personable Norman.  I wonder if that is a trait Norman will shake off as the seasons go by because Bates in the movie is almost always awkward around people, seeming to want to jump out of his skin at the sight of another person.  But with Bradley he is very kind and very nearly warm.

Anyhow as they wait for the bus a car comes careening in.  One of the girls thinks the driver is drunk, but Bradly realizes its her dad's car as he crashes.  Norman rips the car door open, but instead of seeing and inebriated man, we see Bradly's dad really really badly burned.  What the fuck?  Turns out he owns a warehouse and somebody set fire to it.  Norma and Dylan stand around the accident and you can't help but feel like Dylan did it.  There is no evidence of that, but it's just a weird feeling I had.

As the accident is being investigated, the car of the man Norma killed is found.  Vera is FANTASTIC in this scene you can see the fear in her eyes as Sheriff Romeo basically accuses her then and there.  She stumbles and is all over the place as she is berated with questions and the tension builds and builds until you want to jump out a window.  Awesome.

Norma asks Dylan to go pick up linens but he ends up at a strip club.  As he watches the half naked women dance he notices a man crying.  At first the weepy man gets defensive, but quickly changes his tune admitting that Bradley's dad was his boss and he is broken up about what has happened.  Feeling bad, he pays for Dylan's drink with a buttload of cash.  Dylan asks where the money came from, and later on in the episode gets caught up in some shady business.  Not sure what it is yet, but he was asked if he knew how to use a gun.  Dun Dun Dunnnnn.  Also as a side note, we find out Dylan is not actually Norman's full brother but his half brother.  Norma left Dylan's father for Norman's.  More, DUN DUN DUNNNNSSSS.

So, even after seeing a man nearly burned to death in his car, Norman goes to school.  Alright.  He get's paired up with Emma (the girl with CF) and she comes over after school.  Now this scene was ah-mah-zing.  When Emma goes to Norman's house for the the project she walks in on Norman and Norma scrubbing the kitchen.  It isn't really that weird as long as you are blind to the fact that they are trying to erase all evidence of a man being stabbed to death there.  Amazing, wonderful, uber-talented Vera gives us NORMA BATES.  This is the woman who makes her son a psycho   The way she questions Emma about everything from her last name to her life expectancy is insane.  It was just words but I literally got the goosebumps I was so creeped out.  Oh, so good.  And when Dylan jokes about them making out the look on Norma's face... oh my God so good.  I can't.  I can't.

Emma and Norman have a pretty boring scene.  As Emma waxes poetic she finds Norman's book.  Emma falls in love with it (it WAS Manga!) and takes it home with her.

The next cut is really weird as we find Norma sexily putting on lotion.  We find she has a pretty intense scar on her thigh.  Her eyes linger on it and we can see her reliving some moment until the doorbell rings.  Norma finds the cops at the door and Sheriff Romero really railroads her.  Norma gets caught in some of her lies and the scene is so intense I am nearly brought to tears.  Norma takes to flirting with Deputy Shelby who takes her for coffee and a very 60s looking dinner that I ADORED it looked like something that was in psycho.  Shelby round-a-boutly asks Norma to the most Hick sounding festival of all time.

Norma gets dolled up for her date that's not a date and sort of flounces around Norman.  Norman is not happy about her going on a date even if she assures him that she is just doing it to protect them from suspicion.  Norman then proceeds to change her shirt in front of her son and he gets really weird about it.  I mean, like, turned on.  Norma reads it as awkwardness and remarks "I'm your mother, it's not like it's weird or anything," BUT YES ITS FUCKING WEIRD.  They then sit in the bed and a swear they are about to kiss and I am dying and I am loving this show.  Soooo creepy soooo good.

While Norma is at the fair, Dylan comes home as Norman is heating up dinner.  Dylan's phone rings and Norman sees that "The Whore" is calling.  Turns out the whore is Mom.  Norman freaks out and comes at Dylan but isn't able to overpower his big half-brother.  When Dylan turns away Norman... well... GOES FUCKING PSYCHO RUNNING AT HIM WITH A FUCKING MALLET!  HE IS GOING TO KILL HIM!  HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT!  But, whew, Dylan steps out of the way just in time and cold cocks his brother.  "She's not a whore." Norman mumbles on the ground.   OOOoooooooo.

Norma sees Norman's bruise and promises to kick Dylan out.  Norman gets an urgent text from Emma and goes to her father's shop to meet her.  Norman walks through the taxidermy shop and... OH SHIT I JUST REALIZED TAXIDERMY OH FUCK.  That's literally how I reacted mid-scene.  Well Norman had to get into it somehow.  Anyway it turns out Emma has translated Norman's book and thinks its a true story about sex slaves from Japan and wants to find the body of one of the girls who was killed and buried in the mountains.  Then she out of the blue kisses Norman, stares at him intently and moves on.  Norman looks over the moon.

So here is where I get kind of unhappy with the episode.  Norman and Emma go to the mountain where they think one of the sex slaves may be buried   Emma can't keep up, panting and coughing but she insists on finding this body.  Unfortunately they stumble across a weed field and are forced to run from men with guns.  This is not the type of tension i want from this show, Psycho deserves something more psychological not a chase scene with guns and a girl who can't breath.  I can watch Person of Interest for that kind of tension.

The final image we are left with is everybody in the town moving like a hoard of zombies.  Norma is in her car and their is a crowd gathering in front of her as cops move traffic forward.  There is a burning body is hanging upside down from a flag post.  Norma has a panic attack.  WHO IS THE BURNNING MAN!? WTF IS HAPPENING IN THE TOWN!

Okay Bates Motel.  You got me.  Let's do this.  Just no more chase scenes okay?

Bates Motel: First Impressions (Spoilers)

So it's finally here, tonight was the premier episode of A&E's Bates Motel which was entitled "First You Dream, Then You Die." Before I even get into the show it should be known that Psycho is one of my all time favorite movies and in my top 5 favorite classic horror films, so this show has a lot to live up to.  I would actually go as far as saying that Anthony Perkins portrayal of Norman Bates is one of my top 10 favorite character portrayals ever.  The first time I ever watched Psycho I was was enraptured by Perkins quiet shyness and social awkwardness.  I sat through the entire movie thinking that there was no way this kind sweet, slightly off man was in fact said psycho.  Here's the other thing, A&E marketed this show specifically toward people of the American Horror Story slant.  The trailers had AHS-esque music, the posters had a very AHS feel and there's a Farmiga in it so.... Basically what I'm saying is that this show has a lot more to live up to than most pilots.

Okay, now for the show.  This pilot episode was all set up so it's always hard to tell.  The show opened with Norman looking rather ill calling for his parents.  He stumbles around the house only to find his father's dead body and his mother casually showering.  We don't find out how the father wound up on a pool of his own blood, but it's already pretty clear that Mrs. Bates is kind of creepy.  We are given a "6 Months Later" prompt and see Norma and Norman driving to their new home... the infamous Bates Motel.  Of course it's not called that yet, but God was it good to see that building again.

 My thoughts in just these few minutes of the show were mixed.  The show keeps the 50s/60s vibe with dress, music and even TV, Norman has an iPhone.  The colorization is also hard for me, as Psycho is a classic black and white, but Bates Motel is filmed with rich saturated colors.  All of that seen here:

As the episode was mostly set up I'm just going to skim through, the plot.  Basically Norma can't stand Norman hanging out with anybody but her.  First he tries to join the track team but she gives him a passive aggressive yes that really means no, than she flips out when she finds out his guidance counselor is a woman (even if Miss Watson does kind of creepily look at Norman) and when a gaggle of girls come to ask Norman to study Norma Bates really has a conniption.  Sick of Mother's bullshit, Norman sneaks out and meets the girls who take him to a high school party the likes of which no high school has ever actually seen.

Now, while Norman is out, things get totally and completely fucked up at the motel.  You see, earlier in the episode, the grandson on the original owner of the property drunkenly yells at the Bates' calling them out on having no idea how to run a hotel.  Norma gives it to him good, basically telling him to fuck off and grow a pair, just because he couldn't pay the mortgage and the bank foreclosed on the property.  Well, while Norman is at the party of the century, drunk grandson ex-owner comes in and fucking rapes Norma. The scene is disturbing and by no means is handled delicately and Norma screams for her son.  Norman walks in mid-rape, and is able to subdue his mother's attacker.  While Norman goes to find the first aid kit to deal with a cut on his mother's hand, the rapist comes too and tells Norma "You liked it," so she stabs him to death.  A proper, Psycho stabbing, multiple times, blood splashing everywhere.  Now of course, this is a pretty reasonable murder... he did just rape her, but Norma wants no police involvement, she very ironically doesn't want the property to be a murder motel.

The rest of the episode deals with how to get rid of the body.  The have to cut out all the carpets in the rooms to make up for the blood stains in one of the rooms.  It would of course look suspicious if they just de-carpeted one room.  The body is stashed in a bathtub (much like the famous Psycho shower) and Norma and Norman get to work on ripping out the carpets.  In one of the most intense moments ever on TV ever, the police pull into the motel.  They don't realize that the property has been bought and want to make sure it's not some punk kids.  The police decided to look around and of course end up in the room Norman is cutting the bloody rug in, not to mention it's the room with a body in the shower.  And then what happens... one of the cops uses the bathroom.  I think I made three or four tiny shrieking noises during those scenes.

While Norman is cutting up the rug, he finds a weird journal full of Anime-like drawings of a girl being tortured .. and he is way more into it than he should be.  At the end of the episode we see said girl getting some sort of drug injected into her vein but we have no idea who or where she is.  It should also be noted that during the episode it is mentioned that Norman has a brother.  We also meet a character named Emma who has Cystic Fibrosis and is kind to Norman when he pukes after he finds some blood on his shoe.  This is a paragraph of all the things that were only just barely hinted had but peaked my interest.

All and all I wasn't overly wowed by the show, but as it was just the first episode I think I just have to give it time.  I do have to commend two excellent performances by Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore.

Now, Farmiga has a bit of an easier task as her character is nothing more than a rotting body in Psycho she doesn't have much to live up to.  She has the luxury of creating Norma's character and going a big as she wants too without crossing any lines.  Highmore has to contend with Perkins brilliance  but I have to say I was quite impressed.  He definitely bears a resemblance to Perkins which helps, but he also has the Perkins vacant stare and creepy smile down.  Now if only Highmore could really wrangle in his American accent.  But seeing how the whole episode revolved almost entirely around only these two characters they not only kept me entertained, but they kept the tension at a peak the entire time which must have been exhausting for them.  The real problem with the show is that it has to live up to Hitchcock whether it wants to or not, but I have faith and am willing to keep watching.

Ripper Street A Series Overview (spoilers if you haven't watched the whole season)

So I'm getting around to this a bit late, but whatever I want to chat about Ripper Street so I shall!  All and all I have been nothing but thoroughly impressed and entertained by this show's first season.  Though, I often wonder if the title "Ripper Street" holds the show back a bit.  We know historically that Jack was never caught nor did he murder any more women past the point the show begins, but the constant illusions to Jack and his victims get old.  I mean, obviously they couldn't call the show Whitechapel because, well, that's been done.  That being said, I still love the show's writing, I only hope that expands even farther next season.

Now, as far as season finales go... well this one wasn't at the top of it's game.  And it involves Rose, getting kidnapped and nearly dying again.  Rose, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.  You are literally a dumb whore.  DS Drake has practically thrown himself at you, he's gives you his whole heart, nearly commits a robbery to win your heart and what do you do?  Respond to a lonely hearts ad and get yourself kidnapped and nearly human trafficked.  Well done.

Anyhow.  The tired plot of Rose's kidnapping was made up for with fantastically beautiful shots like these:

As if to distract you from the fact that Captain Jackson had been jailed, accused of being the Ripper the episode before and it really didn't get addressed it much during the episode.  As everybody is out looking for Rose, and apparently Reed is not having a full on affair with Ms. Goren now (which, btw people who didn't watch on BBC America, did they edit the shit out of that scene?  They were just suddenly in bed, were the Americans robbed of a sex scene?).

During the episode though, Reed (after Ms. Goren pretty much tells him to grow a pair) finally tells Emily what happened to their daughter, and how, not only is it his fault, but he thinks she may still be alive.  See, the bad guy of this episode who kidnapped Rose was with their daughter when the boat crashed and he survived.  And we are constantly shown him and his kidnapping family with a little girl.  You want to believe it's Reed's, but let's be honest  this is a British show and they aren't big on happy endings (I'm looking at you Doctor Who and Being Human).  I'm going to spoil it for you now.  It's not her.  But that's beside the point, Amanda Hale NAILS this scene, she deserves a billion awards just for this one single moment.  Seriously she needs to be in more things all of the time.

Anyway, my personal favorite part of the show comes after the bad guy was shot to death before Reed could find out where he was keeping Rose (and possibly his daughter who is not his daughter).  Basically, Captain Jackson performs an autopsy on the bad guy and the whore he supposedly ripped solving both cases while fucking handcuffed.  Now that's badass, clearing your own name while your wearing handcuffs.  Loved it.

But that's not even the best part.  After he clears his name, Jackson scalps the body of the bad guy in order to convince the kidnapper's sister that they are torturing him so the police could ascertain the location of the kidnapped women.  I am very pro Captain Jackson, and he's American so woot woot!

Anyway the episode ends with a bit of a sigh of relief, everybody is safe and sound.  All three men are back together again and ready to solve a new case.

So yeah, kind of a "wah, wah" ending, but I think part of the disappointment comes with the editing on American TV.  I really hope we weren't robbed of a sex scene between Reed and Goren, but it's more than that.  Seeing blurred out body parts on the dead bodies seems kind of silly and takes me out of it.  Any how,  I loved this show and look forward to another season.  I really hope the cast gets high praise and lots of awards because they were fantastic.  Really, bravo Ripper Street, Bravo!

Being Human: The Last Broadcast... Literally (Spoilers)

UGGGHHHHHH!  First they take away Fringe, then they give me a shit season of American Horror Story and then... THEN Toby Whithouse has the audacity to end Being Human.  What is a nerd girl to do!  I'm dead, inside I died.  Dead.  I am heartbroken.  In the appropriately named The Last Broadcast we see the end of the Vampire, Werewolf, Ghost trinity forever.  Unless you want to knuckle under and watch the American version... which I will not be doing.  All and all I was hoping for something better, I was more in love with last weeks' episode, but I wasn't prepared for Inception like plot twists going in and now I feel my brain slowly leaking out my ear.  Here's how it goes.

The episode starts with Hal awaking a virtual vampire army being adorable and singing "Puttin' on the Ritz" as seen here:

Bad Hal is back again, and GOD is he hot.  Oh, sorry, no I mean bad... very very bad.  Hal tells his new baby vamps that they are an army against the werewolves.  Of course Tom comes in and ruins the whole thing, killing every new vampire.  This is followed by he and Hal have a most excellent fight, but what of Alex?

Alex, you awesome lovely ghost you.  She can't rent-a-ghost out, so she goes all Kill Bill and digs herself out of her own grave, giving us some great zombie hand as she burst through the ground.  Alex is just in time to stop Hal and Tom from killing each other.  In her own badass way, she tells the warring wolf and vampire that "Shit is getting real" and explains what is happening with Hatch... you know being the devil and all.  Hal explains that there is a ritual, kinda not explaining that it will kill anybody who performs it.  On the way out the door Hal steals a dying vamps blood, because you know he ain't going down with the rest of them.

When they go outside everyone, and I mean everyone is dead.  Suicide after suicide.  And then there is Rook.  Rook who has already had a run in with the devil, who has asked for one last favor.  Rook, who just wanted his MIB or whatever department back, he wasn't expecting a deal with the devil.  Without knowing what the devil has asked of him, Rook is accosted by the Trinity.  He begs them to understand why he did what he did and then he dropps the bomb, the devil has the emergency broadcast codes... now he can whisper in the world's ear.  Hal, Tom and Alex leave Rook to get to the TV station, and Rook, well, he is picked up by the government guy who was shutting his unit down.  All of Rook's dreams have come true.

At the station, whoever isn't dead is zombie-fied by the devil who has already starting his broadcast.  It's a bit we've heard before, about why the devil exists, why God made us, just with a Being Human spin, saying that even without the devil, humans were able to do bad all by themselves.

But before he could whisper to the world, Hal, Alex and Tom come to interrupt him.  He pauses his broadcast with some classic Being Human and humor we get a "We will be back in a moment" message with somebody making some pottery.  Love it.

Before the ritual can be done, the Devil sends each of them to a moment in time that could change everything.  Hal ends up back to the day he was turned, the ghost of his werewolf friend Leo haunting him.  Alex is alive on the day of her date with Hal, just hours before she dies, with her dear father.  And Tom... Tom is the most difficult of all.  The devil shows Tom with an origami wolf what's missing from the picture.  The wolf.  Not only is Tom's wolf gone represented by nothing but origami, he is married to the adorable Allison who is pregnant with their child:

  But no matter how tempting these alternate lives are, they are not fooled by the devil.  In a last ditch effort the devil tells Tom that Hal isn't using his own blood, but at this point it doesn't matter.  All three of them know that while these worlds are worth while, the real world needs saving.

They end up back at the station, the devil has lost.  Tom calls Hal out for not giving his blood, knowing now that the the ritual will only weaken Hatch.  But it's too late and Alex says fuck it.  She makes Hal promise that the next time the devil gets strength he will defeat him, but before Alex could drink the blood, she drops the glass.  

The devil gets back on the air and is about to give his murderous message, but before he does, the black evilness leaves the body.  Hatch says something in some ancient tongue sounding really scared and confused... and then his brains get blown the fuck all over the wall by Rook.  Well... that was easy.  So, so disappointingly easy.

All goes back to normal, the mass suicide explained away my noxious gas.  Well... that was simple.  Thankfully I noticed there were 15 minutes left and hunkered down for some plot twisting.  Hal, Tom and Alex are back in the house.  Hal gives a lovely little speech about the want to be human is actually the act of being human, and it's touching and sweet.

But, we still have bad Hal and Tom and Alex  have planned to kill him.  Just before the stake goes in to bad Hal's heart, there's a knock at the door.  And that fist behind that knock is Rook, so Hal and Tom parlay.

Rook tells the trio that he has quit his job, but that his government team is back together.  Alex flips out, wanting to kill Rook for the part he played, she screams on and on and stupid me is sitting there annoyed that Rook says nothing because he can't hear Alex.  Boy am I stupid because Hal noticed.  And Rook confesses that he is now the devil.  

Shit get's really real and Rook lets out a scream like a tornado and Alex and Tom convince Hal that they have to do the ritual, and he gives in, adding his blood to Toms and giving it to Alex to drink it down.  The devil leave's Rook in his swarming blackness as Hal, Tom and Alex lay choking on the floor, writhing in pain.    

Hal is able to get control fast enough to tell Rook that he will be possessed again if they don't do something.  Rook finds a stake on the floor and tells him that once the devil re-enters to kill him.  And Hal does.  And all four of them lay dead on the floor and I have tears in my eyes and holy shit, holy shit they did it again everyone is dead.

And then a moan.  And then some movement.  AND THEY ARE ALL OK!  And I am relieved and disappointed at the same time.  And it isn't until they notice Alex is bleeding that they realize she is human again... and Tom finds the wolf gone and Hal... Hal can see his reflection... 

They are human.  Without the devil, they live once again.

Some time has passed by, and they are all still getting used to being alive again.  Alex eats her face off,

and Hal and Tom try to figure out what to do.  It's sweet, Hal obviously loves Alex and she love him back (though we are robbed of more sexy kisses).  The show ends with the three of them settling down on the couch to watch some TV and then it happens.

Inception.  A pan shot:

Mitchell's gloves.. Oh!  George's medal, Annie's Tea cup...

Nina's scan... Eve's bib...Hal's domino

The origami wolf the devil made Tom

Fuck.  My.  Life.  They did die.  And their heaven is happy together.

At least that's my interpretation.  Because this show has been brave since minute one and the only way for them to go out is with their deaths.

I'm happy with the way the show ended, but I truly believe that this show had life in it yet!  They could have had many more seasons... but we get six last episodes...  At least they were six great episodes, with great plots and a great cast.  I am disappointed that we didn't see the original three at all, I was hoping against hope that we would see Annie, George and Mitchell but no such luck... at least they were mentioned.

Well RIP Being Human, you gave me a ton of joy and tears and I will cherish the time we had.

Face Off... Double Elimination!!! (spoilers)

Oh man, I hate double elimination challenges because it panics the contestant and you tend to have this worst  looks, but after the crap we saw in last week's werewolf challenge it can't get worse.  This week's elimination challenge is to create an undiscovered creature from any of the Earth's natural settings.  The twist is that the contestants must use iridescent paint to create something completely different under a black light.

The episode started out Megan getting really sick, so sick in fact that she has to go to the hospital.  Megan's work hasn't been up to snuff, she never actually comes up with a concept for any of her makeups.  She just sort of says, oh this looks cool, and then when the judges ask her "why" she looks scared and confused.

Now, I got kind of nervous because it seemed that most everybody was doing an undersea creature.  With the exception of Megan with her venus fly trap rock thing and Eric Z with his... rock thing every other person went for an undersea look.  I guess it makes sense, most undiscovered creatures are in the oceans, but still it could be good to take a risk now and then.  Everybody seems to be doing well with their sculpts except, uh oh Eric F. may have taken on too much.  Again.  No matter how many times the judges tell him to chillax, he just can't!  And in his rush to get his molds done he doesnt test the illuminated paint.  THAT'S THIS WHOLE CHALLENGE!

On application day it seemed that House and Wade struggled the most, House's mold not coming out cleanly and Wade not getting his pieces on fast enough.  Wade just barely gets any of the bioluminescence on his character.  But I while watching I was most worried for Eric Z who seems to be randomly finger painting his rock monster... thing.

Here are my thoughts as each makeup came up, and it turned out that after the judges including Jon Ladau totally agreed with me.  This is literally what I wrote as I watched:

House- What happened?  The paint was bad the application was bad, the prosthetic was bad... your drawing was beautiful, what did you do?!

Eric Z- Great concept of rock monster, but what they hell was that illumination?  I could have painted better... a four year old with finger paint could have done better.  Boy you missed the mark.

Anthony-  There's the guy who won all those challenges!  Flawless, lovely, great use of the luminescent paint. I am so happy to see Anthony back at the top of this game!

Kris- Awesome face piece, the illumination could have been better, but the face really makes up for a lacking paint job.

Megan-  Girl I know you were sick, but he's supposed illuminate, you weren't sick when you were painting.  You were in the hospital!  You had time to think of a concept!

Wayne-  Even though he rushed and could have done more with paint, I think the concept is amazing  I love the creature as a whole, especially the face which I think was insane!

Eric F-  My dad called it, that shit looked like Odo from Star Trek.  But I have to say the illumination paint was lovely.  And in case you don't know what Odo looks like, here you go:

Anthony won this challenge by a mile.  His work was the only one with a distinct bioluminescent nature.  There was duality that provided beauty and though the face sculpt was a little like Davy Jones from Pirates of The Caribbean, I didn't mind because at the end of the day he nailed the challenge.

Our losers, well, Megan was obvious to go home, and I really don't think it had anything to do with her being sick.  She really never had any cool or original ideas.  She may be good at make up, but concept design is a huge part of being a makeup artist and if you can't come up with a reason why your character would exist well...

Eric Z was the second going home and I absolutely agree with the judges.  He had such a smart concept going in but it just didn't come to fruition.  After what happened last week with the werewolf challenge it was just his time.

So, there goes all the ladies, it's suddenly become a total sausage fest in the work room, but I am not unhappy with any of the decisions made thus far.  I just wish this season had more throw backs to other TV shows like Star Trek or DOCTOR WHO... Is it obvious that I really want a Doctor Who episode?  Also if you enjoy reading my blog, please start following me and leaving comments!  I love open discussions.

Being Human: No Care, All Responsibility (summery with spoilers)

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!  If you are down on Being Human for the loss of the entire original cast, this episode more than makes up for it.  This season has been epic, truly, every episode fantastic, but this... THIS my friends was why we watch TV.  Shit just got real folks.  I watch Being Human on my computer with my headphones on, my dad must think I'm batshit crazy because as I watch this episode I was either covering my eyes with Tom's awkwardness around women, or clutching my face in horror muttering "nonononono" as everything Tom, Hal and Alex have built fall apart around them.  Oh my God this show is so, so amazing it's orgasmic.  Yeah you heard me.  Gear up folks, this is a long one.

The episode starts years back as Rook takes some new Men In Black or whatever the hell they call themselves through a vampire feeding ground.  After one of the newbies pukes at the sight of a women's exposed trachea, Rook explains that the only way to do this job is to have "No care, all responsibility."  Now we can understand Rook's lot in life a bit better.  It isn't until he finds a little girl who survives the bloodbath that we see a tiny crack in the hard shell.  Rook determines that she is human, and saves her just in time as vampires tear apart his new recruits.  No care, all responsibility.

Flash forward to Hal doing push ups to fight his cravings.  Why did you have to drink that blood Hal!  Why did you do it!?  Your breaking my heart.  Alex calls a house meeting, urging Hal and Alex to see that Hatch has something to do with this string of suicides.  Both boys blow her off, but Tom promises to try and ask Hatch on his feelings about the occult before he leaves for work.  Then, Alex finally gets something off her chest that we've all been wondering about.  She had/has feelings for Hal, it's time they both talk about it.  Hal is a bit busy hiding a flask of blood in his back pocket, but he agrees it is time.  Then it dawns on Hal that Rook had mentioned something about the suicides.  He tells Alex he'll go talk to him.  Alex is excited and wants to go with him, but of course we all know Hal just wants blood, but he can't stop the eager Alex from going.

Not much really happens at Rooks office, Alex gets her hands on the file about all of the suicides and excitedly leaves.  Hal admits to Rook that he's back on the blood and asks for more.  Rook has some bad news, the is no more.  There is no safe way for Hal to get blood.  Uh oh.

While Tom awkwardly tries to ask Hatch about his feelings on the "quilt...on the carf..." he witnesses a girl being chased.  She takes refuge in the hotel, and Tom sends the baddie away.  He goes to check on the girl, whose received a pretty nasty hand wound.  As always Tom is the gentlemen and when the girl realizes she's missed work, he not only fixes up her hand, but gives her a job.  I mean, Tom is assistant manager (which by the way it definitely says "ass man" on his name tag) so he can hire people now.  But when Tom introduced Natasha (that's her name) to Hal the blood is too much.

Tom starts crushing on the cutie Natasha hard.  He even does a weird boner walk that is totally cringe worthy.  He convinces himself she is a succubus because he's never felt this way before, but after Alex ghost tests him they are sure she is human.  Hal worries that he is cheating on his werewolf girlfriend from last season, but Alex assures him that they are not together and its okay for him to have these feelings.

Later, Natasha finds Hal in a bad way.  She sort of flaunts her bloody hand in front of him as he goes through seriously bad withdrawal   Leaving in a hurry, Hal doesn't watch the mirror and Natasha notices his lack of reflection.  The baddie who was chasing her comes back to find her, but Hal protects her.  Later, Hal uses this mysterious past against her and fires her.  But BOOM, she calls him out for being a vampire and tells him she'll help him.  In a very disturbingly sexy scene, Hal takes blood from her thigh for ten seconds to help him curb the cravings.

Well apparently blood is the vampire Viagra, because Hal is feeling frisky.   He goes home to find Alex pouring over the file of the hotel suicides.  She is particularly interested in a image written in blood on a wall, but most of it's been wiped a way.  She asks Hal to take a look but the THIS FUCKING HAPPENS:

UGHHH THAT KISS WAS SO HOT!  Why is HAL SO HOT!  He doesn't look like the kind of guy who would make a girl swoon but HELLO SWOONING OVER HERE!  Sadly, a sexually confused Tom bursts in the door asking Hal and Alex how exactly you do the nasty.  Alex asks if McNair ever taught him about the bird and the bees to which he responds he knows all the birds in the forest and knew how to steal honey from bees.  OH MY GOD this scene was adorably awkward!  After Alex gets shot down for offering to steal Tom some porn (which he won't watch because THOSE GIRLS MIGHT BE MOTHERS SOMEDAY) Tom decided to go to the library.

The next day Tom asks Natasha on a proper date and gives her a, not as hot has Hal's, kiss.  Her phone rings, but she ignores it.  Hal meanwhile is getting cranky.  After Alex knocks Hatch out of his wheelchair in an effort to prove he can see her, Hal freaks out and tells her to just go home.  Hal, then catches up to Natasha and tells her the arraignment is off, which only ends up lasting for like 5 seconds until a bride to be comes in with a bloody knee and Hal nearly kills her.  Then he begs Natasha for just one last time.

Of course, Alex can't listen and goes to Hatch's room where she discovers that Hatch can see her, but uh-oh she finds Hal having... a snack.  She freaks out at him and tells him to never come home because she will stake him if he comes back.  They both agree not to tell Tom what was going on.

But that's not even the big reveal of the episode.  That call Natasha doesn't take... IT'S ROOK!  She is the little girl from the beginning of the episode.  She is a little Rook in training!  After meeting Tom and Hal, she doesn't want to go through with the plan, but No Care, All Responsibility.  She tells Tom that Hal forced her to let him feed from her.  Tom freaks out and leaves stakes in hand.  But as Tom is leaving Hal is coming in, and he legitimately asks Alex for help.  She ties him back up, but only to get clean, then he is out.

Flash to Natasha back with Rook and Hatch.  Natasha tells Rook she can't go through with it, she is going to tell Tom the truth.  Rook pleads with her, telling her that she is like family, but when you live your life No Car, All Responsibly, well you can't have family.  Rook leaves Natasha with a threat, but no threat is greater that Hatch and when he whispers in Natasha's ear we know there is trouble.  She goes to the supernatural house, finds Hal tied up.  With a knife she cuts Hal free... THEN SLITS HER FUCKING THROAT!  Hal tries to save her, but its in vain ans she dies in his arms.

When Tom and Alex find him, he tries to explain Tom won't hear it, and just before driving a stake through Hal's heart, Alex separateness them.  For the first time Tom truly loses it calling Alex a coward as he storms out.  Hal pleads with Alex to believe him, but with the knife having mysteriously disappeared she doesn't know what to believe.  Feeling everybody has giving up on him Hal leaves.  Hatch is in his room having a Devil freaking orgasm.  This has made him strong again.

Just after Hal slams the door on Alex's face, the ghost of Natasha calls to her.  She explains that this was all Rook's doing but she doesn't know why she committed this final act of martyrdom when she wanted to make things right.  Then, the scariest this ever happens... HER FUCKING CORPSE TALKS IN A DEMON VOICE:

HE WILL RISE.  Alex puts two and two together and realizes that was the writing on the wall.  Natasha remembers talking to Hatch, but she doesn't remember what he said.  Natasha's door opens with her confessions and Alex tells her to walk through.  Alex has to go see Hatch.  She accosts him, calling him Wrinkle Tits, which I was personally a fan of.  He ignores her until the last minute when he proclaims "I'm only the fucking devil sweetheart" and throws poor Alex through a mirror.

But there is no time to worry about Alex because it's all gone south.  Tom is on the warpath and Hal is on the blood.

Hal the monster is back with vengeance and Tom is going to kill him.

But what happened to Alex?  Where the hell did that mirror take her?  There is nothing but darkness, as she talks the audience through whats going on around her.  Something long, oh a weapon?  No its slimy.  Oh, good thing her dead self carries a cell phone.... that slimy thing... yeah it's a skull... and it didn't take the pan up to the tombstone to realize that the rotting body... was hers.  Yep..  Alex is trapped in her own coffin... OOHHH MAN OH MAN OH MAN!

WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT!  AUUGGH! I can't wait a whole week!  This show is so, SO well written an acted!  I can't.  I'm dying.  I'm dead.