From (TvSeries)

[The Cat]

Discovered From is streaming on prime, Ive been wanting to see this for a while. I love a good weird dark fey like horror.

 

[Totenkindly]

Discovered From is streaming on prime, Ive been wanting to see this for a while. I love a good weird dark fey like horror.

is it free stream yet? Or still pay for S2?

Season 1 was decent enough I'll watch Season 2.
There's some crazy shit you'll enjoy in Season 1, though.

I don't want to over-related it to Lost, but it has the same mystery box feel (kind of like Wayward Pines), and of course Harold Perrineau.

 

[The Cat]

is it free stream yet? Or still pay for S2?

Season 1 was decent enough I'll watch Season 2.
There's some crazy shit you'll enjoy in Season 1, though.

I don't want to over-related it to Lost, but it has the same mystery box feel (kind of like Wayward Pines), and of course Harold Perrineau.

Its included with prime as far as it says

​

 

[Totenkindly]

Its included with prime as far as it says

​

I just looked. Season 1 is free. Season 2 is not, although you can take a 7-day MGM trial.

Hmm, there is a season 3 listed, just no episodes and only a trailer.

 

[The Cat]

I just looked. Season 1 is free. Season 2 is not, although you can take a 7-day MGM trial.

Hmm, there is a season 3 listed, just no episodes and only a trailer.

its supposed to be coming out in September

 

[The Cat]

Episode 1 season 1 From:
The Long day's journey into night
​

Been excited to see this for a while, but I've been burned too many times to get invested in a show with less than three seasons, so with season 3 coming later this september, It's finally time for me to let myself geek out on a show that looks to be based on my favorite kind of reoccuring dreams: From.
My real time adhd comments and obsessive writing thoughts play by play in spoiler. Imagine a bunch of spirals and runes doodled all over the page and you'll get a sense of the notes I used to take in school.

No. It's not your grandma. I have always been a fan of folklore. It's always gotten to me in a visceral way. I literally feel it. So I'm going to tell my kids the folklore, so they know, when something says its grandma outside your bedroom window, and says its ok to break the rules. Dont open the window.

Im most likely going to be pulling a lot from here for my Chronicles of Darkness mortals game. The premise is just too good to not try to play with dice. Ive decided to go with a Midnight Roads style chronicle and so the idea of a bunch of people in an rv for some reason, getting lost on the road and ending up in a town like this is just a perfect set up for a few sessions.
Great Opening credits, good music choices, and the cinematography is great. I low key harbor secret fantasies of ending up in a town like this. The concept of a town that shuts down at sundown for a damned good reason no outsiders would believe just belongs in the World of Darkness.

Rustling trees, wind through the leaves, trees moving as if in the wind when there is none, these are the things I love about the woods. The feeling of being watched. Knowing that you both are always and never truly alone. Few things feel as right and proper in the world to me as being in the woods. I cant quite shake an animistic perspective in my life, so being out with the spirits of nature feels like going home again. Of course in the dark of the night that feeling transforms into land based thalassaphobia, because the same abyssal fears of the dark ocean depths(sans pressure and drowning) exist in the deep dark woods in the deep dark night, and they who move through the woods in the pitch black of night are truly haunting. That something could be watching you from inches away smiling widely in the void is ever present.

If you are a child, on a road trip, and your mother tells you there is no such thing as monsters... I've got some bad news for you kid. You're in a horror story. I can't be the only person who tells kids there are monsters and they're right to stay vigilant?

Frank, that happened to you, because you weren't there. This is your fault.

Speculation: Human Haggis. Nutritious and delicious tastes just like chicken.

Speculation: Looks like the genius loci of the town has an one out two in policy if it can. If the humans are just, fodder and entertainment (dinner and a show, who doesnt love it?) it stands to reason that occasionally there are or at least used to be purges. Perhaps still would be were it not for whatever those little sigils are. Whatever is happening here, the town clearly has a way of restocking itself OR The creatures, maybe based on sluagh, lie in repose in the otherworld, or in their mounds, and wait for new people to come, One would think that it might be a more fun game to let things lie quiet for randomly long stretches to see who gets complacent with following the rules. More study required.

Tree across the road is the classic that keeps giving. I never get tired of it.

Observation: I don't like the small boy character thus far. Try again pal, this time with a please and thank you.

Speculation: So they turn into crows by day.

Personal writing preference. They always go with the dad being more confident thant the rest of his family, which is a mask I buy for horror because what dad wouldnt try to project a sense of calm, we got this, lets just keep going strong, morale booster, but I would enjoy a few subtle hints, that that is all it is, a mask he is wearing for the sake of his family. They think the scens where he gets suddenly tense or snaps before apologizing cover that, but without previous context clues or signs pointing to it building, it just tends to come out of left field jarring, and conveys a more antagonistic vs sympathetic character.

Ah so the small boy is just a plot device to ask the questions the writer wants the audience to ask. Got it.
And the teenage daughter is the plot device that tells you whats going on without telling you whats going on. Mentioning the faeries and the crows and tying them together with stories. Handing you the information so that the revelation feels more like a twist. I like it. Typically points to narrative depth and skilled writers on the show.

The mother is over coddling the boy. She's going to have a hard fucking run of this show. The creatures will sense it and be inclined to teach her object lessons. a cruel tutalige indeed.

She is not fine. She is about as far from not fine as you can get and still have all your peices and parts. Trust your instincts her brother.

Foreshadowing: Don't forget to move the tire spikes.

Beautifully shot crash. 10/10 short simple. effective.

Speculation: Introduction of a red shirt.
Oh and his buddy's on acid. neato.

God my adhd is bad.

Using the light, the sky, the natural shadows of the setting, its such a present ticking clock, so much more classy than an actual ticking clock. I find myself getting more tense the closer to night it gets. And it can happen so fast and so early in the woods.

Aw Crazy Sister is gonna kill redshirt for what is going to seem like inexplicable reasons.
OH FUCKING CALLED IT NOT 20 SECONDS LATER

Foreshadowing pay off: You forgot to move the tire spikes. Raises the stakes, the truck stops at once the sky is blue into black.

Observation: The calls they make are distorted large crow calls.

They're coming. Perfect final line of dialgoue.

Pan out the rain, the seemingly normal humans converging.
Final scene: They're here.

Wow. A great thrill from start to finish. I have questions for the season going forwards, and was shown enough effectively to know that I will get answers, but they might be up to me to notice, the show isnt gonna spell it out for me. As an audience member it's nice to be respected by a shows writers. The acting is steller. The things that shine to me are what isnt said, and how you just feel what you need to feel and the narrative keeps the pace. It moves slower in the morning, the day sort of drones on right up till noon, there's a moment of relief but from 1pm the mood just starts to rachet up the tension and by the time dusk falls into the gloaming of night you are on the edge of your seat.

​

 

[The Cat]

Season 1 Ep 2 From:
The Way things are now​

Nights without incident: 69 That's where episode one began. Episode 2 has a lot to do in one night.

Night has well and truly fallen.

Well the deputy seems to be in some sort of distress whilst he chops down a tree. Im guessing his father got eaten. Time will tell...

They speak in whispers.

Meanwhile outside Colony House. A hard rain is falling, and our intrepid characters run, two of them blissfully unaware of how terrified they really should be, and the towns people, trying their best to not panic them and help them and save them from themselves as much as from the monsters. Solid framing. The panic at the door, and in the background the walkers calmly approach. I love slow moving monsters.

I like Donna. She's good people, colony house is interesting, but I dont think I would be able to stay there. Their protocols are not practically effective, and exist only to make them feel better, which I suppose is half the the point of protocols, but I need a couple of people there to know, otherwise they'll get complacent, and some dumb sob is gonna let the right one in and turn the whole place into a barrel of fish.

Not that town would be much better. My house would look like Robert Neville's

Back in the RV. THANK YOU FOR TELLING US YOU DONT KNOW and leaving it at that for now. Moving right into the sigil stones, we dont know why it works, we only need to know it does work. folklore in action.

Ill never understand parents who tell their children not to look. Look child. See the truth of your predicament, for it is only then that you may strive to overcome. It is a lesson you WILL learn or you WILL die screaming. Even knowing, there are no guarantees, also what is one more pin prick when there is a whole table leg running through your leg. At least there is symmetry.

Where were you planning to run mom?

Oh hey, they put a me character in there, wonder how hes tied to the woods


Dont look down, just look out; interesting advice

So theres tension between the town and Colony House. This is interesting.

And the two rival sons one surrogate and one estranged. the sheriff has many burdens to bear for.

Bemused observation: I like the Father, but he's too stable and grounding to live long.


Supposition: Ah she can hear them in her head.

Foreshadowing: Then you're in the wrong line of work Kenny.

Ok the scene with Donna and the mom. This is how dialogue exposition is done in a way that feels organic.

Effective dialogue: They like to hunt, they like to play.

There are fates worse than mere death. These are things who enjoy every moment of their existence as nightmares.

Foreshadowing: Somebody screamed...The spider came down from the ceiling.

Hey the me character does creepy drawings with crayons too. Im confident he's not a bad guy. But then I would say that wouldnt I?

And Sister Sarah let the smiling ones in. I've got some bad news for you Kenny. And I know you're gonna take it super well. >_>eeesh.

Irritated Exclamation: OK JIM. You don't just pick things up with your curious little masterbators, that's how people get killed by monsters. What part of your whole day and night were you not paying attention to?? You think this is a dream, you think this is a game??? Bro.

Joyful addendum: THAT IS HOW YOU DO A JUMP SCARE FAKE OUT DREAM SEQUENCE. Hollywood take note! Who ever wrote that just gleefully slapped convention in the face and convention blinked. well done sir and or maam..ses


The Matthews are the perfect representation for the normie family who finds themselves off the map, and their reactions to discovering that here be dragons, be realistic. This cast seems realistically diverse thus far, and I feel like this is a perfect example of by and large people like diverse representation in film and television and dont make a stink about it...so long as the writing is good. Someone should do a study. I have a theory that modern audiences demand quality writing, good direction, immersive aesthetics, and chemistry between the cast and have no actual preference or opinion on cultural hegemony they just want to forget theyre watching a show for a while and experience a new, good story.

The look on her brothers face as he realizes that Sister Sarah is so far off the reservation she's possibly damned them all is priceless. you can see the bottom dropping out from under him in his eyes in real time.

The implied horror of Kenny's father's demise is soul crushing. How many times did that poor innocent old man with dementia, snap out of a nightmare into a literal hell of reality before death mercifully came... According to Donna's lore, they make it last longer than should be humanly possible to endure. The smiling ones must feed on suffering and torment more than flesh. They gain no nourishment without it. The cruelty is the point of them. How horrific. These are the monsters of pre history. Around whom cultures are built and humans are sacrificed. old bloody gods of the earth and sky.

Every loss is felt for the failure of those who lived, that it is. Surviving is an indictment of the living. If you had been there...maybe... God save us all from the horrific terror that comes with if only maybe.

Payoff: Kenny cut down the tree.

Chess will make you cry forever now.
<_<
I should call my dad.

Oh lordie I do enjoy some creepy childrens This boy at the end looks different than the other smiling ones. hes the only one who seems superimposed on the world. But Im not willing to rule out that he's one of them. What the humans interperate as malice on behalf of the smiling ones, might not actually be malicious. Existence itself is but a game and a dream and what fools these mortals be? By what metric can you measure them that would matter to them? These are the questions in season one, that lead to a long running series. Keep this up and the audience will come and stay.

Nights without incident: 0

Anchors away me lads. Again the pacing is perfect. Night time is a non stop thrill ride a minute. You like monsters? We got monsters. You like slow burn horror? We got burns so slow you'll think you're Garey Busey in Lethal Weapon. Some questions from ep one answered, others not but that is a GOOD thing, more questions added. This episode hits the ground running and doesnt let you go until its done with you. Cant wait to see what is ahead.

 

[The Cat]

Season 1 Episode 3
Choosing Day
​

Choosy Moms choose Jiff, what will the residents of the town choose? We're about to find out. What makes a man a good man or a bad man? The choices he makes.

Opening Flashback. Just Right. All the things you need to remember.
Opening Scene: Drugs and pawg sex. Right there in the colony house. Other people, including families, just sleeping on the floor in hammocks. Im getting the sense that Colony House is equal parts hostel, bohemian flop house, and artist colony.

Supposition: I dont think Mom is gonna be ok for this series.

Acid Mcgraw sure woke up with his big boy pants on. What kind of psycho-naught doesnt remember the trip where he got in an accident, and fell and knocked his head unconscious on a rock. Im going to let it go as a gripe, because of the head trauma, but why do people think that yelling and fucking cussing(cussing specifically with lots of fuck words) at people will make them do what you want? I'm just saying I wake up handcuffed to a cot. Im gonna wake up real fucking polite till I figure out what the fuck is going on.

Thank you Donna, for continuing to be my stern aunt. "Or what?" Thank you. Or What indeed handcuffs McCot. Such a cool older gal.
"Do you have any idea who I am?"
"Oh shit, you're one of those."
Brilliant dialogue. Top notch.

Cut to Boyd, who just wakes up by opening his eyes. That kind of thing is such a subtle and effective way of establishing a burdened character. A man who is going through the motions and being strong for other people, when for him, there is no real demarcation between nightmare and awake. He sleeps in his jeans in case he needs to get moving in a hurry. Oooh a muscle tremor, is it stress, or Parkinsons? This would not be a town to convalesce in as Kenny's dad taught us last ep.

The mysterious trailer, the crow call. This must be where they lock folks up.
Nope looks like they still got a proper indoor holding cell.

Frank seems to have a better appreciation for why you don't get pass out drunk overnight.

"What happens tonight isnt personal." So Frank is going to the shed.

Im thinking this is why theres a rift between the town and colony house, and father and son.

Back to Colony house, Acid Mcgraw, I should learn his name, but meh, let him long enough and well see. Its morning and he's still not wrapping his head around things, though he is uncuffed. Jade, I guess, this is not an elaborate prank and fuck you for thinking so.

What kind of a tool do you have to be to steal some girls bike with a smile on your face thinking you're the only real person in a world of payed actors?

The boy still sees the other boy outside and wants to go outside.
The girl just states that she doesnt like people going through her stuff.


So Sister Sarah works for Kenny's mother, and she just go Kenny's father killed by leaving the door to the clinic open. And she just shows up back to work.

Ok, we get it, you have a me character. @_@

I think Fatima wants to hook up with the Matthews girl.

Television shows sure love a dopey dad. The Mufasa paradox.

God but they coddle that boy.

Im making a prediction, either Jade has a very impressive arc ahead of him, or hes gonna die screaming.

STOP TAKING SHIT FROM PEOPLE'S HANDS LIKE THEY DONT MATTER
AND CUTTING THE LINE?!
"You people all basically work for me anyway." >_<

Poor Brother Nathan. Sister Sarah is gonna get him killed.

Father Khatri is giving the Matthews the nickel tour. "The people who survive are the ones who adapt." Words to live by.
Hang the talisman, cover and nail the windows shut, dont invite them in. lock the door. It should be simple, but its not. By nature these things never are for NTs

Of course Mom notices "The shed." They call it the box. the only form of punishment they have. In this town, you are you're brother's keeper, if you fail or are negligent to protect people. You spend the night in the box.

Thank you...Jim. You are correct, you do not in fact have a choice. Buck up and shut up Tabster, shit's only gonna get worse from here. WHY ARE YOU SO DEAD SET AGAINST TAKING REALITY AT FACE VALUE??? Look, I get you're scared. You dont want to believe in monsters or that people can put other people in a box outside with monsters. But. Thine eyes have seen, and thy ears behold, honey, you're off the map. Here, the dragons arent just stories. They're real. And they want to play. The rules keep you alive. the other people keep you alive. shut up and color.

Look at Frank, facing his imminent torture and death with stoic resolve.

Well Look at Ellis just being Johnny on the spot making a crutch for the boy.

Julie is jellous of the boy..ethan i think his name is.

Jade, if you dont quit acting the fool, youre gonna end up in that box.

Yes, you're supposed to be getting a clue jade. from anyone, from anything really. You're stressing me out.

Allright what is the me character doing, i think he's making a map of the place by counting steps. Victor sees the boy in the woods too. So Victor and Ethan have a connection I guess. Checking to see if the trees are moving.
Ok, Julie, stop looking so disgusted every time you see Victor, havent you ever seen a ND person before? Sneering brat, what do you know about normal or creepy anymore anyway? I wonder what she's hiding.

Jade, youre just gonna go in that random ass cellar on the outskirts of town. Just walking into the mounds... What fools these mortals be.

Yeah, its a real body genius. You walked into a real fucking faery mound.

HOW DO YOU STILL THINK THIS IS A GAME??!!

Boyd is a damned good man. "I can't do it." You wanted the box to just be a deterrent to scare people. But the problem with that philosophy is...eventually. You either have to declare the society has grown beyond the need for the box and tear down the box...or you're gonna have to put someone in there, and feed them to the night. To a fate far worse than death.

Terrible Preist, but a wise Councillor.

Boyd I respect you more and more and more. You sit in there and be the leader this town needs. But you don't get peace of mind. You're pawning that to the Smiling Ones to keep your people safe. Well as safe as anyone can ever truly be.

Prognostication: Boyd you may have just saved your own life in the future.

Frank, for all your flaws, you're a damned big man.

Fuck you Jade. Fuck you up one side and down the other you utter dumpster fire of a human being. I would beat the holy fuck out of you on general principle if I could only reach you. It would be a beating that would give you character and save your life. It would represent all the other beatings through your life that you welched out on to make you such a loathesome toad of a man.

Oh look Boyd agrees. We'd be besties for sure.

Jade is about to learn an object lesson.

I knew Julie was gonna chose The commune. I think she's stupid for doing it, but I'm paranoid.

So it seems Im on point for my guess about colony house. Eat, drink and be merry for we only have the moment. God almighty its amazing they havent all been shredded by now. But hey if they were, we wouldnt get to see it, but I give Colony house a few more days at most, before the smiling ones get in there somehow.

Character development prognostication: Julie's gonna end up in some kind of throuple with Ellis and Fatima, its gonna drive a seasons long wedge between her and her parents, but I get it, I couldnt spend all my time in a house with the Coddle Squad and Ethan, but I'd suck it up, because it beats dying. But hey, Colony house represents an opportunity she's too young and dumb sorry I mean cool and edgy to pass up. But yeah called it a mile away, she does not get along with her family, and they havent noticed yet, because she's low key with her acting out. I suppose this is a long way of saying she's well written with a lot of character depth that is shown to us organically through the story, rather than warping everything in the show to hang a neon sign pointing to herself and everyone telling us how much of a girl boss baddie she is. Her mean ass disgusted yet not unatractive sneer when she sees victor shows us in a way that feels natural and not obnoxious.

Besides who could be more obnoxious than Jade? Why isnt Julie giving Jade disgusted faces, how is he not the creepy one?

Kenny youre a goram saint. I would have been much crueler with that revelation.
No Jade, its never been funny. Even I whose sense of humor is so morbid I cant complete the metaphor in good taste, know when to make the joke in my head instead of outloud jesus.

And you still think this is a joke, staring at the body of the guy you think is putting this show on for you. You're going very quickly from harmless lunatic to dangerous one.
Fucking FINALLY 45 minutes and 45 seconds in, you finally realize where you are.

Yeah, not so easy to walk into the box in the gloaming is it frank. Shoulda let Boyd save you. Still. You're a big man for your sacrifice.

These guys know their way around a montage. Season one of lost was great with this, hurley's beach scenes, i wonder when the music is gonna die...

Look out the window and watch Boyd. You owe it to Frank. You owe it to yourself.

Good man.

Lots of choices made in this aptly named episode. The overall mood for me was disbelief and frustration. These were well executed, experienced organically by several characters All of whom are written with complexity and depth. DMs, this is how you make a living town, authors this is how you show character depth instead of telling. More questions answered, more questions raised. I even exclaimed "Do not go in there! Don't stop, you idiot what are you doing?!" organically as an audience member, and that felt good for a lot of reasons. Cannot reccoment this show enough. Its what respecting your audience looks like as a writer, director, and producer. Showrunners elsewhere, take note. This is how you build an audience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sluagh, https://monster.fandom.com/wiki/Sluagh <This is what I think the Smiling Ones are.
Slaugh are ghostly, supernatural beings (often considered fay) found in the folk tales of Celtic nations such as Scotland and Ireland, they are part of a larger group of entities known collectively as the Unseelie Court, as well as part of the older tradition of the Wild Hunt.

A Sluagh is a particularly feared and evil kind of undead fairy from Celtic folklore that exists as a collection of wicked spirits that fly across the land looking to capture mortal souls to add to their ranks, having been eternally exiled from any true afterlife - they tend to appear as flocks of crows and cause great destruction and ruin, though there are methods to defeat them, such as closing windows facing West (which is said to be where the storm of spirits would often come from).

 

[The Cat]

Season 1 Episode 4
A Rock and a Faraway.
​

Choices have been made. Now is the time for consequences. Let's find out together what they might be..

Every time I see the opening credits I become more convinced my theory as to the Smiling One's nature is correct.

Should this indeed be the case, the boy in the woods, is likely of the Seelie while the Smiling Ones as Sluagh are UnSeelie. This is from Scottish folklore, the faery faiths of Ireland are different, they have their own heirarchies and customs, but Irish, Scottish, and Welsh mythology tend to get modern day lumped into "Celtic"


Opening scene Im guessing is adolescent victor.
Yeah Victor isny creepy, hes traumatized af. This is what it looks like when youve had to spend your life surviving.

Im thinking Julie and Victor are gonna end up as friends. But its gonna be a hellish road till then.

Yeah Julie I feel you, Hippie communes are all peace and love till you catch someone wearing your shirt. Tresspass is going to be a heavy long running theme in this show. By nature it has to be. Tresspassers William after all...Tresspassers William.

And our Good man Boyd comes to clean up whats left of our Good man Frank. Rest in peace...es bud.

Oh my...to Shreds you say...And his wife and daughter? To shreds you say...

So I guess the Matthews lost a child before all of this, probably why they were on the rv trip, and why they overcoddle ethan.
Please STOP lying to the boy, or if you're going to insist, lie better.
Also...stop promising pancakes before you fucking know if theyre an option jesus. Whatever happened to We'll see?

Jade is going to drive himself even crazier.

So is folklore really that uncommon a passion that nobody realizes what the Smiling Ones are?

I rarely say this in shows, but you need to listen to the small child. Follow the threads of the questions he's asking to the truth thats literally all around you. AND STOP LYING TO THE BOY Honestly you probably did this shit to Julie and that's why she doesnt trust you or want to live with you now.

Thank you for making his moment of doubt and break down come after he calmly and confidently excuses himself to the rest room. thank you for letting him cry rather than making him rage.Finally a name for the lost child Thomas.

The trees have moved four inches. Always trust the me character when it comes to noticing shit like that. But Im guessing theres gonna be some awkwardness with the father, because of course.

"That means he was real." This actually made me choke up. I know how fucking wonderful it feels to have confirmation that something was in fact real and not just a really vivid dream.

Ah here is the ignorant rage of the NT Alpha dad. You failed to protect your lost child, so now you will fail to protect the other in the opposite direction. But sure, I'M the crazy one. lol. What fools these mortals be.

Dad's gonna feel like a shit heel when he realized he just assaulted and abused a kid not much older than his own son, just because he looked like a grown up. Fear and insecurity turn people into reflections of the Smiling Ones. Less bright, less beautiful in their monstrousness.
And by all means continue to lie to your child and not answer their questions, it worked so well with Julie...and...Thomas. But of course you design thrill rides, you're an engineer, you know everything.

Trudy and I would have problems. Few things as irksome than a manic pixie dream thief.

Good on you Ethan. Daddy has been naughty. He does need a time out. That's not how we act or talk to other people. He owes Victor an apology.

Who in their right mind cares about things like Armani? But I guess if they'd been perfect they wouldn't be stolen. Looks just like a black shirt to me?

Mom, please stop projecting on your daughter. It's not gonna work. You need to go in the opposite direction to get her to come closer to you. You didnt protect Thomas, You're ruining Ethan, Julie is gonna cut her losses while shes still ahead.

I was right, they were getting divorced.

PSA: Stop lying to your kids.

Jade..Jade Jade Jade...life isnt all a laugh when you cant buy your way out of impossible. Stay here with the rest of us in the mud. Let it settle around you as you come to terms with impossible. Your anguish sustains me.
"im not gonna rest till I find it."
"Well then you're gonna lose your mind."
Truer words Kenny my friend. Truer words.
"They cant bend so eventually they break."

Victor and Ethan are going on a Quest.
Mom and Dad are too busy fighting.

Father Khatri is about to prove himself Boyd's best friend. Oh shit he's gonna die soon.

Victor has been there the longest. That poor kid. Stuck in the body of an adult and alone for so long.
I don't blame Ethan for going into the woods with Victor. He's been over coddled. I do blame his parents for a lot of things though. They're not going to understand. But if they were, they wouldnt be here.

Tabby "Cant do that right now" Stop the presses, I'll alert the president. Take the nail out Tabby. Or stop bitching about the nail.

Faraway trees should remove all doubt the forest is an enchanted place.

Hello not a dog. And other not a dog.

Now Victor just saved your life, and hes got a gun, are you gonna be so foolish as to misdirect your rage at the helpless situation of your failed marriage and strange circumstances cause you to lash out at the wrong man? Victor isnt a mirror Jim. Listen your son Jim, Listen to your wife Jim. They're giving you good advice. No matter who's ass you kick, you'll never save Thomas. Never ever ever. You need to find a way to live with that.

"Don't ever leave the house." So you've chosen the path of pain.

So Victors flashback. Must have been from just after the Sluagh stole the town. They slaughtered everyone but Victor who was hiding in the mound. Interesting. the whole town is Slaughtered. that is the only word for it. slaughtered.

Two cars brings a slaughter? time will tell if im right.

"There are no mistakes just choices." Oh if only that drivel were true.

"All yours" Here with us. One of us One of us Gooble gobble gooble gobble

Oh man Boyd. Have I been there. Screaming in the mirror till your voice gives out just so you can go sip coffee with the neighbors because its what you have to do. I almost want to join twitter to gush to Harold Perrineau how much he's killing it. Talk about an award winning performance.

Im sure Ellis and Fatima will indeed take care of Julie. >_>

Stay away from Victor but just walk off with Sister Sarah. Honestly Jim and Tabby probably just fed Thomas to the wolves.
And the juke box starts playing their song. By all means wax nostalgic.
I think Sister Sarah is some kind of fetch.
Kill the boy. Fetches do as they're told.
Victor, Sister Sarah, and Ethan are connected. This much seems clear. But protip Vic, people dont like to see other people digging graves. They don't know what you know, and theyre afraid to find out. This is why fey touched folks used to be politely shunned.

"I just thought I'd get a head start this time."

The shock and awe of the last three episodes is past. Now is the time for the characters to begin to settle into their current predicament. There is division in the town, between colony house and the town, between the matthews family, between Boyd and his son, and secrets abound. Everyone wants things to be normal. Even though at best there can only ever be the new normal of being lost to the world, stolen away from your old lives, the Matthews dont realize how lucky they are yet, and I dont know if they will before its too late. This is going to be a show about trauma and survival. Bend or break. Because one thing is certain in the town as in life...You are not in control. A rock and a far away is a riddle with a satisfying revelation, though most of the characters will remain blind to it. maybe even some of the audience...only one way to find out...

 

[The Cat]

Season 1 Episode 5
Silhouettes
​

What would you do to go home again? Let's find out.

All right Switches and Witches, lets rock this joint.

I like the bartender. That's definitely the vibe I try to maintain. Jade is growing on me the twitchier he gets.

Sister Sarah is the crazy everyone is afraid Victor is.

Wherever you are there are monsters in the world, and I promised myself I wouldnt let them scare the life out of me. Words to live by. Fatima is wise.

Brother Nathan came to Father Khatri too late to save Sister Sarah from herself, but just in time to save Ethan. Poor mom, she just cant protect any of her children. Yes. Ethan. This is in fact something to cry about. And Jim, Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim. This is what you get for being cruel to the weird harmless stranger. The weird pretty stranger tried to sacrifice your child to the Smiling Ones. Did you learn your lesson yet? Write that one on your wall.

The whole town is coming out to witness Sister Sarah's slasher show.

Jim you dumb son of a bitch. YOU INVITED her into your house. YOU INVITED her to play with your kid. I'm confiscating your horses mary jane. Get off that high horse. Im guessing that Father Khatri could be hiding Sister Sarah, but its just as likely she ran off into the woods. Both are equally likely scinarios that make sense to the story. This is how you create a sense of suspense and mystery. What the fuck is wrong with YOU Jim? So you have chosen the path of pain.

You got your signs.

Great episode. Moves the plot forward. Realistic dialogue. This is how real people sound when they talk. Like it. Love it. Want some of it. Other Showrunners, Start to try so hard to rise above it. Do the work. This show does the work.

 

[The Cat]

Season 1 Episode 6
Book 74​

Everybody has secrets. Everybody has plans. But is it all just fantasy? Or is it a Revelation? Let's find out.

We open on a funeral.

A sermon in the Church

Flowers on the banister of Colony House. <---I read this as a bad omen.

I love that they're referencing the end of lost controversy with a wink and a nod, iykyk But I like that they're putting it out there in season one, so if they decide to go with that as the ending. No one can say they didnt warn you. This is a good writing tactic in a mystery, throw out a lot of questions a lot of clues, and let the chips fall as they may. Long live the writer's crazy wall!!

What difference would it make if they were all dead, it would still be a great show,

Wellp. It's not the worst thing anyone's found in a Catholic Priest's basement. *rimshot* I called this last episode.

Kenny is troubled. He just buried his literal father, he doesnt want to think of his surrogate father ending up the same way so soon.

There is no wire in the chords, because its not electricity powering your houses its magic,

I knew Jade was gonna hook up with the Matthews. theyre breakers not benders.

Father Khatri looking for answers, seizing future opportunities for story and suspense. This will kill two birds with one stone as now Boyd will have back up on his journey. Putting it out there.

A literal phantom florist. the Smiling Ones have marked Colony house.

That peasant model jalopey is gonna make you eat your words Jade.

Jim climbs a tree for Captain Charisma

Father Khatri has a good take on the Bible. He's asking the right questions.

The lights flicker when the house is watching you.

The tree is bleeding on you oh thank goodness its just a bunch of horribly mutilated bodies. What a relief. Oh thank god, you're just going crazy. You got smacked with some glamour son.


They don't lie Father, not really. They can omit, they can bend the truth but they cannot tell an out right lie. They are just like you in that they are trapped and want to go home. They knew the cars were coming because they roost at the entrance to the Trod.(the Hedge)(the tree)

Behold real magic man of science. And marvel. Be inspired to create magic of your own.

Sister Sarah is a psychic. Automatic writing, her body is their conduit.

Called it PArkinsons

Mom is digging a tunnel to the underworld.

In colony house everyone is sleeping...except for one...I smell a dangerous dorkasaurus. that mustache glasses combo tells me your dick is about to get a lot of people killed badly. OH YOU DUMB SON OF A BITCH SHE DOES NOT LOVE YOU OR WANT YOU SEXUALLY APART FROM THE FACT THAT TORTURING YOU TO DEATH WILL BE SEXUAL FOR HER . GOD DAMNIT KEITH, DONT YOU DARE OPEN THAT MOTHER FUCKING WINDOW

Well that was a nice story. Lot of tender moments. Lots of revelation. Bit of a cliff hanger ending. I feel all kinds of ways about it. Remember kids, there are fates far worse than death. See you Space Cowboy...

 

[Totenkindly]

Season 1 Episode 6
Book 74​

Everybody has secrets. Everybody has plans. But is it all just fantasy? Or is it a Revelation? Let's find out.

Well that was a nice story. Lot of tender moments. Lots of revelation. Bit of a cliff hanger ending. I feel all kinds of ways about it. Remember kids, there are fates far worse than death. See you Space Cowboy...

Freaking Kevin, lol! Don't be that guy....

 

[The Cat]

Freaking Kevin, lol! Don't be that guy....

Seriously.

Every single really vivid post apocalyptic dream I have where me and a bunch of survivors have formed an actual functioning and modicum of a community and such safety as can be facilitated, and there's always a fucking Kevin that shits things up with something stupid like that. It is the literal definition of That fuckin Guy. Whom no one should ever be. That's why as much as I might "belong" with the people in colony house, I couldnt stay there. There's just no way I could trust all that hippy dippy to not get us all killed.

 

[The Cat]

Season 1 Episode 7
All Good Things...
​

Well you know how it goes... Who's end is nigh? Im betting Father Khatri and Colony House are on the Block, but we'll see...

Previously ons are just perfect. Its not always done well in shows but it sure is here.

NEVER YOU CAN NEVER COME INSIDE Kevin dont you be a moron. she only wants your penis to rip it off of you. Just jerk off through the window as your glasses and mustache and hairstyle allude youve been doing for some time. Ive seen true horror in this show yet that image leaves me cold. >_<

Kevin you dorkasaurus, you're gonna get yourself and everyone killed. If you believe in the power of love that much, just stay outside. you dumb dumb dumb dumb, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid man.

Im just so angry at you Kevin.
fuck you so much you useless tool
Im angry than Alan Tudyk's character in a Knights tale. I will fong you. till your entrails become your extrails. Pain...Pain. so angry.

there's other stuff happening but just god damn it kevin.

Kevin. This is what happens when you meet a stranger in the alps.
God damn it you dummy

Ok so back tracking from my rage at Kevin. The biggest idiot in a long sad history of big idiots.


Ellis is a mean drunk.
One dude is apparently racist.
and Kevin just learned an object lesson he should have always known.

DONT LET THEM IN

Kevin's Mom is my kind of lady. Man up JAde.

Julie is into Fatima, called it. she should live for like two more years before she goes there.

Trudy goan die

hole sex in the town

back at colony house, Kevin got off easier than he should have, and THEY ARE COMING

Julie's only saved by coming to Victor's room. Well well well

Ive got some bad news for your Pillow Trudy... They...ate your face off. while you were still alive @_@

And now the meat grinder, the thing that was always going to happen at a place like colony house.

Ellis bro, I wouldnt want to be you man, not for all the tea in china.

Fatima you're a stone cold genius

The faraway trees are trods too


Goodbye Father.

What a visceral death.

Let us pray together...

And all God's people said...

...Amen.

 

[The Cat]

Episode 7 was...frustrating. In the best way possible.

 

[Totenkindly]

Kevin and Nicholas (from The Walking Dead) should share a bunk.

Don't be a Kevin. But damn...! How exciting!

 

[The Cat]

Kevin and Nicholas (from The Walking Dead) should share a bunk.

Don't be a Kevin. But damn...! How exciting!

IT really was. And gowrsh the actors they got to play the Smiling Ones. This would be a great fun and easy group cosplay to pull off for halloween.

 

[Totenkindly]

IT really was. And gowrsh the actors they got to play the Smiling Ones. This would be a great fun and easy group cosplay to pull off for halloween.

The Smiling Ones are just freaky AF.

I'm gonna have to rewatch and then see if I can swing Season 2.

I'm impressed they snagged a third season, with some places like Netflix chopping even fan favorites after one season.

 

[The Cat]

The Smiling Ones are just freaky AF.

I'm gonna have to rewatch and then see if I can swing Season 2.

I'm impressed they snagged a third season, with some places like Netflix chopping even fan favorites after one season.

Same I wasnt gonna get excited and watch unless they got a third season, Ive been burned too many times before recently

My entire life Ive told people that slow and smiling is always scarier than frowning and running because yeah, there's just a whole nother level of creep when you know whatever it is wants to take its time and enjoy all the horrible things they plan to do to you. Trudy's ticket out, the sound effects, the way they were carerssing her, and just before the cut away you see the caresses turn into fingers hooking into her mouth and face and going in like theyre gonna kiss her with their teeth and just bite her apart its gonna haunt me for a while.

 

[The Cat]

Season 1 Episode 8:
Broken Windows, Open Doors.
​

Ladies and Gentleman, let me introduce you to the gorget. Burgonets and gorgets were among the most practical and widely used forms of armor for protecting the vital areas of head and neck. They were worn by common soldiers, mercenaries, and militia troops across Europe. I mention this for no particular reason, but Father Khatri would have done well to think of one long before now.

Welcome to the somber world of tomorrow.

In the wake of the Colony House Massacre AKA Kevin's Folly, people are picking up the pieces. But some things, once they're broken can never be mended again...

Boyd packs in silence. Still covered in Khatri's blood. Father Khatri's death, is one of the hardest Ive ever watched on screen that didnt leave a literal real life body in its wake. He died a Martyr to his faith. The Smiling One got him by calling out like someone who needed his help, he stayed outside to help others get inside first. He kept the faith. He finished the race. But he did not go out willingly. He fought to live until Boyd could give him last rites.
Kenny comes into blood on the floor.
Kenny has done top notch work organizing the survivors with places to live. He's ready to be the Sheriff.
"Let's take a walk"

Mr Fish and Loaves and Iron Abbey. What a beautiful couple. What a lovely family. I'll never stop wishing they could have gotten to ride that boat.

I will say that I think that the right temperament of person, would have the tools to get the tree out of the road enough to drive through. Im certain the genius loci of the no place, takes that into account, and i wouldnt be surprised if it wouldnt work.

Boyd wants to kill sarah so bad.

Julie Julie Julie. You need to accept that madness is a part of your moment to moment reality or you're gonna go crazy. Like Jade and Im guessing eventually Tabby and Jim
LOL Jade is right in this one instance: "Times are tough all around", we need to move past trauma and get to work with surviving as efficiently as possible.

Jim and Jade are gonna mutally hate their way into a strange friendship.


Save us painted on the barn is one of the most effective tone, mood, atmosphere, and suspence generators you can have. Simplicity and subtlety make writing truly pop and work to weave a solid visual tapestry in the audiences mind. Creatives take note.

The Smiling Ones screamed before the Sigil talismans.
Huddled quietly in a hole whispering while in the distance you hear a person running, being captured and ripped apart in the most painful drawn out ways possible. This is how you show horror without expensive effects. Our brains know exactly what happened and they will paint as graphic and horrifying and soul shaking image as can be done, with no risk of looking hokey, or being too graphic for the audience its a win win from everyone's perspective, even the budget guys are happy with this one.

I appreciate the way the show runs the logistics of the town. It feels realistically alive. The live stock wanders in, the land is arable and the climate conducive to growing. Its hard to not think of this place as a wild game preserve. Something is keeping the livestock for the humans, the humans for the Smiling Ones, and what are the Smiling Ones being kept for? Of course its entirely possible they are decieving Sister Sarah though they would never out right lie.

Even Kevin died by her telling him half truths, but no outright lies. Omission doesnt count as a lie to the Smiling Ones.

14 slaughtered by the smiling ones from Kevin's Folly. Donna will let you build your tower.

Rat holes with grass growing on top. clever but damn flimsy protection, even one crow sees you climbing out your cooked the next night. This is the most psychotic deadly game of hide and seek ever. I wonder if this why kids used to play hide and seek in the predawn of human civilization.

For who knows how long the people of No Place have just been trying to survive the night, to the point that its all that occupies them for 24 hours a day seven days a week. There is no fire. Enter Boyd and Family a military family. In true Promethian fashion they focus on building a community, because people either live and work together or suffer and die alone. Still some people cling to their petty hatreds and individual insecurities even at the expense of their quality of life.

Julie. Yes. Everything is your fault. The divorce, Fatima rejecting you, your brother dying, the fact that you're stuck here, the smiling ones, you're soley responsible for it all. You must be so thrilled. No sweetie sometimes nothing is anyone's fault. Sometime's people are just slated to endure things no one should ever have to. Life is beautiful in its myriad horrors and few joys. Our bodies and minds may hate it but on such things our souls thrive. Experience. Sensation. Uncertainty. Pain is so close to pleasure.
No matter how grown up we get. We're always going to be children to someone... or something.

Mommy's and Daddy's are good at pretending.

I'll never understand the human drive to respond to tragedy with more tragedy. Thank God for people like Boyd and Father Khatri and Donna and Fatima Community Builders. Heroes of the heart.

Oh Shit... Iron Abby....Jesus fuck, she can't bend. She's gonna break and take people with her I'll bet.

Kenny being the voice of reason in a town of emotional responses. What a trooper. What a good leader.

"The talismans were a bandaid a temporary reprieve." As are all good things.
"Things were never ok here and theyre never going to be okay here." As is the nature of the concept of here. All places are like this in one way shape or form.

The rift between Ellis and his Father are clear now. You chose the lives of many over the lives of your own. You're not protecting your family. You're Frank from the opposite direction. Your own conviction tells you, you belong in the box. You built it for yourself.

Hello again for the first time not a dog.

Never chase something blindly into the forest. The Trees will move to make you lose your way. A Forest is always hungry. A forest is always calling to keep its own inside it....forever.

Fun fact night comes to the woods earlier than elsewhere.

And now you're out in the dark with the Smiling Ones, though you know them only as the Screaming Ones at this point. Your son begged you to stay home. You promised you would talk. Promises have power. A broken promise is power lost. The Wild Hunt is loosed upon the Night Boyd. Join, flee or die.

They can see in the dark. They can smell you. But you fell into the loom of fate my friend. Your courage may yet be rewarded even as your pride is humbled and your burden made heavier.
I give easement and rest now to thee, dear man. Come not down the lanes or in our meadows. And for thy peace I pawn my own soul. Amen. Take these tokens and go back to your people with the blessings of those who came before you.

MEanwhile back in the present.
Good talk son.

Fatima is the new spiritual leader now that Father Khatri is dead. The people of No Where could do far worse, but none better. I will say it again: Fatima is wise.

Its hard to love your dad when he has to kill your mom to save your life. But you still should.

Back in the past:

Now about the price you have to pay for those talismans... I'm sorry Boyd, but you should have counted the cost before you signed the contract. Come come, don't make this harder than it has to be, think of all the many lives you'll save. Something for something. All things in equal measure. This is a bargain by my people's reckoning Boyd. Take the gun, pay the price. Save the town.

Abby, sweetie, baby, light of my life...Im so sorry. But it's time to wake up.

In life we bend. Or we break.

Good make up.

God damn it Sarah, what part of stay in the cabin was unclear? effective tension ratchet.

No more colony house, no more town, only one community. What a nice sentiment that reflects the truth that was the whole time, now people are just willing to be aware of it.

Into the woods for Boyd and Sister Sarah, but lest we never forget, the people of No Where, are never truly out of the woods, just in a clearing at the heart of them. And the forest is moving closer...

See you Space Cowboy...​