Episode Enneagrams – Page 14 – Enneagram and Encaustic

Episode 8

One structural misstep, otherwise a moving and solid episode. See my Critical Notes after the breakdown.

ONE

Establish the house exterior, then . . .

TWO

. . . go into the front room where the ladies discuss presents (wedding, I assume). Servants carrying candlesticks and vases follow Mrs. Hughes to the drawing room. Isabelle worries that a display of presents looks greedy. Mary and Lavinia greet Matthew as he enters with a cane.

THREE

Hughes brings a letter into Carson’s office. Mrs. Bryant — the dead Major’s mom — wants to see the baby. So does her husband! Hughes is a bit gobsmacked.

The Swamp

Not bad, just not a favorite. The only point of interest is the young woman in Aang’s vision, and she’s only interesting if you’ve seen the series before. I whine in more detail after the breakdown.

BOOKEND

Iroh sits roadside, begging. Zuko finds it humiliating because they’re royalty, while Iroh is so humble it’s embarrassing. A mean person forces him to dance for money, using swords to prod him. Zuko looks on, angry.

ONE

The team flies on Appa. Relaxed, Aang thinks and dreams. Below them is a swamp.

TWO

Appa’s headed down, waking everyone. What’s wrong? I think the swamp is calling me, Aang says. It wants us to land. Sokka resists, scoffing that the earth could be speaking.

A whirlwind attacks them. Aang bubbles Appa and everyone on his back, but the ball explodes and all are thrown clear. The humans land together, but Appa and Momo are gone.

THREE

Aang air bends his way up a large tree to look around. Nothing in every direction but swamp, and no sign of the animals.

Balance of Terror

Not bad. You’ll see. Critical Notes are after the breakdown.

ONE

A ceremony. Crew prepare some kind of podium and gather on benches. Scotty sets up a camera to broadcast to all viewing screens.

Before Kirk can take the stand, though, he’s called to comms. Two Earth outposts have gone silent. Maintain course to the next outpost. He approaches the podium.

Oh! It’s a wedding! He’s officiating. Janice lights candles and Scotty takes the arm of a young woman with flowers arranged in her hair. He’s giving her away. As Kirk proclaims the words, Janice stands just behind his shoulder in a not-so-subtle two-shot.

TWO

He’s interrupted mid-ceremony by a red alert. Outpost Four reports they’re under attack, space vessel’s identity unknown. Everyone dashes, including the young couple.

Roll credits.

Return to Omashu

ONE

We start up right where the last episode stopped: Omashu is under Fire Nation control. Sokka says, you’ll have to learn earth bending from someone else. No, Aang’s going in. Bumi’s my friend, he says.

TWO

He shows the gang a secret passage into Omashu: the sewer. Aang air bends the muck and Katara water bends it, while Sokka’s left to just wallow.

In the streets Sokka comes up out of the sewer like a monster. Katara washes him, and Aang dries him. A kind of cute, pink leech, a pentapus, is attached to his face. Aang tickles it and it releases, leaving behind red sucker marks. When a Fire Nation patrol comes upon them and asks what’s wrong with his face, the team invents pentapox. It’s contagious! Sokka acts like a zombie, and the patrol dashes away.

THREE

Azula’s old lady mentors offer her advice. Form a small elite team, they say.

On a Very Special Episode . . .

Solid structure, combined with an overwhelming amount of character development. Mostly, I feel regret and a sense of lost opportunity. Critical Notes at the end.

ONE

A ranch-style house. Inside, Wanda holds one of the crying babies, begging it to go to sleep. Vision jiggles the other twin. I’m not sure what sitcom era we’re in, but he wears jeans and she has big Pebbles hair. A magic gesture won’t stop the crying, and neither will binkies. The laugh track, mysteriously, finds all this funny.

TWO

Here’s Agnes, wearing atrocious ‘80’s workout gear. Auntie Agnes, she calls herself, ready to help with the babies. Vision, for some reason, worries she’s not clean enough (?) to care for the twins. Smiling, Agnes looks at Wanda and says, “Shall we take that again?” When Wanda and Vision share a confused look, Agnes reiterates: Shall we take it from the top? Now Wanda gets it, and nervously laughs. Vision, though, doesn’t understand. What was that about, he asks. Did you really not see what I saw, he wonders. Wanda deflects: she’s just being neighborly. (Meanwhile, Agnes is chugging alcohol in the kitchen while exercising, lol.)

THREE

The room goes suddenly quiet. The babies fell asleep? No, they’re gone. Turn to the staircase and there they are, now five years old. Agnes knocks back a slug and shakes her head: Kids, amirite? Wanda and Vision give the boys hugs and say hello to their new children.

Down the Everfall

We fall. It’s kind of wonderful, actually, because if I miss a ledge, I just come out the bottom and start over at the top, falling forever. The Everfall, the place under the city we visited early on, spiraling downward, has broken away. Pieces of the walkway still exist, and these are what we grab.

It’s really a brilliant piece of game design.

Wherever I grab on my first fall will go to an explanation. “If you would heed my call, prove now your worth. Show that you’ve the strength to break the yoke that binds you.” I’m not sure who’s speaking, but a Pawn awaits us. She, like the other pawns who wander the Everfall, have been abandoned here when their masters died on quest. I think.

On every level is a room with a battle in it. (Some, like the hydra, are more challenging than others.) Dead monsters drop wakestones, and when I’ve collected 20 of them, this Pawn will send me onto the next task.

Pawns climb the neck. Mage lights the heads on fire. I stay waaay over here and go pew pew.

Episode 7

ONE

Soldiers load supplies into an ambulance outside of Downton’s front door. (I assume the hospital here is closing up.) Edith watches them leave. 1919. Hughes remarks that the Drawing Room is now back to normal.

TWO

Robert walks through the house, his good doggo prancing alongside. He checks in with Cora. They argue whether or not Matthew, the last patient, should now go home. The married couple are . . . not a strong team at this time.

Now we follow Carson with a tea tray for Matthew and Lavinia. He makes clear he looks forward to the return of a footman who would do this job. Ooh, a little Matthew dig at Carson for leaving to butler at Mary’s new house.

Strolling the property, Robert comes upon Maid Jane who’s dropped her basket in the path. They have a chat, all twinkle eyes and smiles. In asking how Jane fares without her husband, Robert goes into a moving count of all the lads on the property who are now gone, including William. He’s in a dark mood.

THREE

An arriving car breaks them apart. It’s Richard. Robert brings him inside.

Back to Gran Soren

Immediately, the endless pit in the heart of the city catches our eye. Merchants still conduct business and people meander, but the hole dominates.

We’re not allowed to wander, though, without guards insisting we see the Duke. The nobles’ district is unchanged, and I enter the castle grounds and go up to the royal solar. I’m immediately confronted. “You met with the dragon! You conspired with it to wither me and usurp my seat as duke!”

Finally I get a good look at him. Yikes, buddy.

Notice that the Duke assumes I did as he did. I abandoned my love in order to rule, he believes. That I killed the dragon is not something he can accept.

And then the crazy old man raises his sword and attacks me. He’s pretty easy to defeat, although we’re both knocked through the window and out onto the balcony.

Run. The guards don’t do much damage, and the Pawns fight them all, but it’s constant harassment through the city. Eventually they back us up against the edge of the pit. A cloud of harpies come from within, and I lose my balance and topple over the lip.

The Conscience of the King

Overall I’ve found Star Trek to be much more uneven than I had remembered. This episode has some nice moments mixed in with its duds. Critical Notes are after the breakdown.

ONE

Scary music and a dagger wielded high. Stabbing and death. A man with heavy make-up examines his bloody hand. Elizabethan music. Cut to Kirk in the audience. Enjoying the show, he sits next to another, more serious man. “Watch MacBeth,” he says. We see Kirk’s POV of the stage play.

TWO

The play continues. MacBeth speaks to Lady MacBeth, and Kirk’s friend says, “That voice.” He’s certain. It’s Kodos the Executioner.

THREE

(There is no Three.)

Roll credits.

The Cave of Two Lovers

A Three this charming should’ve been mirrored at the Six. My heart is broken at the lost opportunity, lol. Critical Notes after the breakdown.

ONE

In a shallow river Katara and Aang practice their water bending. Sokka floats on a leaf raft, soaking up the relaxation goodness. They will head to Omashu today. While teaching Aang, Katara touches his arms, sending his cheeks into a blush. He’s doing well with the bending.

TWO

Momo sounds an alert and they hear music. A group of nomads who look like ‘60s flower children stroll up. They are . . . not the brightest bunch. They’re extraordinarily cheerful, though, and good company.

Cut to Iroh examining a flower. It could be a plant that makes a delicious tea, or it could be poison. Zuko grouses that he wasn’t meant to be a fugitive while Iroh decides whether or not to chance the tea.

THREE

Appa relaxes, braids and flowers festooning his large head. Everybody enjoys the hippie vibe except Sokka, who calls it a distraction.