The Spoiler's Review

!!SPOILER ALERT -- LISTEN THE THE PODCAST BEFORE YOU COME HERE!!

It’s almost blissful... there are no startup adverts this time. We go from Michael Swans always-awesome introduction and straight into the eerie ambience of a Michael Meyers movie. I was watching Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds the other day and marveled at the scenes which foretold of the danger to come without the use gloomy music in the background to spell it out. Whenever I see an A.H. movie, I have a bad habit of pretending it’s the 50s and 60s and that I’m seeing it for the first time. You know you’re watching a good thriller when it invokes the same emotions in you through every viewing.

Chapter 21.3 - Blondie and the Beast

Pippy Long Stockings goes on trial before the Tower authorities. Audio’s amplifying the suspicions of the general audience that this man is clearly a mole with harmful intentions. Writing conveniently made sure to plant that idea in our heads at the beginning of the chapter. You’re up to something Writing… I’m 50% sure of it.

The interrogation bounces around the room as each Tower vet plus Victor gets their piece in. Super Lawyer Kelly is on the job to sniff out evil, a wise move indeed. I must say that it’s good to hear from her again. Pippin's vague on the detail which makes us shake our heads and say “Ha! A likely story.” His frustration and exasperation doesn’t seem convincing. Given the circumstances I can’t tell if that’s because the character is supposed to be genuine or false or if it’s over-exaggeration on part of the actor. We know nothing about him or his intentions so I can’t give an accurate evaluation for either counterpart.

Otto Sturcke, has anyone ever told you that you sound sexy when you’re suspicious? Just saying.

Kelly brings up a notable point that Pippin doesn’t look like prison bait. Still, it’s not hard to bribe or blackmail someone into being a rat. Since Scratch's little "We have her" comment I sense that I'm not too far off at least. On the other hand I’m a bit surprised at Kelly’s reaction to the idea of a forged passport. I put my vote in for her being the rat so I could just be imagining it.

Michael says he doesn’t wear his ID or dog tags anymore. If memory serves me correctly I don’t think it was ever mentioned when he took them off. Before the trip south? I smiled at this bit of symbolism with his character transition. Michael is not the same soldier he once was in Season 1. And Post-Colony Michael is not the same leader either. Originally he probably would have thrown Pippin to the wolves to get information, but having seen the affects of such cruelty within the Colony, he’s altered his thought process to be more lenient. However, it’s still questionable how far this leniency will go.

Pippin’s full name literally means “an old apple tree” and “foreigner.” The obvious is obvious. But I don’t know how that’s supposed to play out, if it does at all. Maybe Writing threw it in there as a joke or to disguise his true purpose in the Tower from us literary types that enjoy finding clues and connections. Either way, I’m seriously frustrated that I don’t even have an ide-

Wait a minute…

An apple tree. If we continue with the religious themes that our forum members have brilliantly discovered through uncoordinated collaborations… Eve sinned with an apple. It’s universally known that apples don’t fall from trees. We also know that one bad apple spoils the bunch. (If you have anything else I’m open to hearing it!) So does this mean Writing is hinting to us that Pippin has some connection to sin? Hooray for double meanings!

I swear I just thought of that as I was typing. Must.. post.. on …forums... must.. finish.. blog…

Burt narrates the next bit and his voice sends chills through me. Good chills. How long has it been since Scott Marvin got to narrate from his journal like this? It has to have been a while (I’m not counting the tidbits in 20.3 as narration). With that in mind, I’m a little anxious about Saul. Granted he’s been too busy or too sick to write anything but the fact that he HASN’T weighs on my mind. Lizzy’s passing through zombie hell right now and even she has had time to write. But we haven’t even heard a “We’ve been searching for Lizzy for days and haven’t found any sign of her” voiceover from Saul.

Don’t die, baby, don’t die.

The guys search the Costco of all airports for an airworthy bird while actually expecting to find something left. They make a pact to stay behind to find Blondie when the Tower makes it’s move north to Fort Irwin. Expected but necessary. The light-hearted exchange between these two is most relieving given the circumstances. I don’t think I’ve laughed with the podcast since we met Tanya. It’s a much needed break in the serious atmosphere that’s loomed over these recent episodes.

Writing keeps the following events somewhat vague (it is Part 3 after all). The guys find a helicopter surrounded with blood and body parts, note bullet holes have been shot into it, and then Burt makes a comment that could mean a million different things. It’s not much of a cliffhanger but it does leave one wondering. If we take his words literally it could mean that the chopper was intentionally disabled or accidently damaged in the firefight. Both causes have a different effect but the same result. The helicopter cannot fly but the “WHY?” is something to speculate. We could be heading in the direction of 28 Days Later or into the realm of Resident Evil.

No point in making guesses without facts.

Writing 99%
Audio 99%
Acting 98%
Episode Rating 98.6%

Chapter 21 Review

This is our first chapter since the 3 week break and Flesh Event in April and it was almost worth the wait. The zombie creature ambush in Part 1 certainly surpasses anything Part 2 & 3 have to offer. However I realize that these episodes are merely set up for the future. They opened up new questions about the Mallers but answered nothing. For the first time we're able to get a better view of the Mallers working together as a team. We saw a hint of depth in Scratch's character. When you piece all her parts together we learn that she's extremely loyal to Durai, almost as if she's indebted to him. She wants to please him and not fail but of course we don't know why. I'm glad to finally see one of the "original" bad guys getting some character development. My interest in the Maller's just jumped several notches.

Writing made Pippin's character all "too obvious." Everyone immediately determines that he's been planted as a mole for unknown reasons. If you and I have been listening to the same podcast, you'd know that the obvious answer is not always the correct one. Seriously, think back to Season 1 (for those of you that started back listening then) or Season 2 when you just KNEW you were right and turned out to be wrong or things didn't pan out the way we expected. Kelly, the Catalyst, Tower residents breaking up, etc. Obvious is not part of KCs writing style. I don't even think it's in his vocabulary therefore I'm suspicious as hell.

As of right now I'm not seeing a connection between the title and the content of this chapter. It's been assumed that Scratch and Suit Zombie would play a major role based on their appearance but their parts ended up being quite minor. Bricks and Tardust have been in the spotlight since they were introduced. The ambush was not just a remake of what happened to The Other Tower convoy. It was also used as a subtle way to tell the audience that Suit Zombie was nowhere near the Arena explosion and is therefore still alive.

Riley's outburst suggested that she views Lizzy as being more than just a friend. We all knew that. Still Angel hasn't figured it out (nor anyone but Saul). Seeing her breakdown also made this character seem more human but I don't feel like it was enough. There are enough pieces of the puzzle put together to get the big picture so why hasn't Mr. I View the Whole Picture caught on yet?! Huh!? Tell me that Ra1th!

Chapter 21 presented us with a lot of "WHYs" and "WHATs" but no answers. I think the most new information we got out of this installment was that Durai is still alive. The cliffhangers of 21.2 and 21.3 aren't as intense as they have been in the past. Lizzy has to have time to write in her journal about the Mallers at some point so I'm not at all worried about her. Saul however has me on edge. As I stated in 21.3s blog entry, his lack of journal narrating scares me. Burt's been doing all the talking for quite some time now and I'm fearing the worst. Since Chapter 20.2 I've had this foreboding sense of doom that one of our favorites is going to meet his end by the time the Season finishes. The show must go on.

Overall I felt this chapter was well-written and well-acted but in light of all the new questions I expect to get some answers in 22.

Chapter Rating Average 97%

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