Um…
Spoilers behind the cut.
It is HOT in the American south. You might think this would make me want to hermit indoors in the air conditioning and watch a lot of television. You would think that, but not me. I have been spending as much of my available time as possible outdoors. However, I have been keeping up with HBO this summer and their new hit series Game of Thrones.
In my opinion, the season finale was perfect television. With the shocking event of the prior episode (shocking, I suppose, only if you didn’t read the books), the stories were woven together and brought to a new level only to be continued next year.
My favorite storyline was still that of Daenerys. There isn’t much more I can say about it except that her power is awe inspiring and her story is well developed. The final scenes from her story were like an amazing rebirth. The mythology that surrounds her is captivating. I don’t want to spoil anything, but trust me – if you have even vaguely thought of checking this show out you should. The investment isn’t that long, there were only a handful of episodes.
All of the interwoven stories were exceptionally done. I could list several – the story of Jon Snow at the wall, Robb Stark’s northern revolution and Tyrion Lannister’s new adventure to court. (And seriously, if Peter Dinklage doesn’t get nominated for an Emmy, something is wrong.) But the other story that I am most intrigued by is that of the youngest Stark daughter – Arya. She is about to embark on a terrifying journey, and I want to be there along the way.
But as we come to the turning of the season, Game of Thrones has ended and a new show is about to take its place. This year is the proclaimed “Season of the Witch” for vampire series True Blood. Loosely based on the fourth book in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris (this series I have read), it will feature a new coven come to town. I enjoy the show, I am a fan and I also see the fictional witches in Harris’s series as just that – fictional. I’ll be watching, so I will be happy to provide commentary from the Pagan perspective. The first episode airs this Sunday on HBO at 9pm.
Ah! I am not ready for this! I hate the summer television season. Luckily, I can be comforted by the presence of Game of Thrones and Doctor Who as well as Haven and True Blood which will be starting later this summer.
In the meantime, I am savoring the final minutes of Fringe. When last we left our intrepid Fringe agents, we were stuck in Olivia’s mind with a wonderfully animated episode. There have been two episodes since then: the very action oriented 6:02 Am EST and the more introspective set-up episode The Last Sam Weiss. Through these two episodes, we got closer to the Doomsday Device and now, in a LOST like turn, we have more questions than answers. My question is, will this show become about time travel now?
Speaking of time travel, how about that Doctor Who two episode opening? The new season is airing on BBC America at the same time as BBC, which means I don’t have to avoid spoilers on the Internet. Not that it stopped me before. However, the Whoniverse is boiling over with excitement about show runner Stephen Moffat. The previous season was also helmed by Moffat, but it seems that this season is getting more buzz because of his writing. The first two episodes were a creepy dive into time travel and alien themed stories that are leaving fans wanting more. At least, they are leaving me wanting more. I feel like Doctor Who has grown up. The aliens are creepier and the production values are much better. Certainly there isn’t anything specifically Pagan about Doctor Who, but the epic and mythological feel still has that draw for me.
HBO’s new series Game of Thrones is proving to be a beautiful epic of intrigue, unhealthy family relationships, and polytheism. (Thanks to Juggler commenter Sophie Gale for the previous link.) I don’t know that I can really comment to much on this one except to say that it is awesome and if you have been disappointed by Camelot (which I admit I have not yet watched) this is a worthy replacement.
Soon, HBO will add the newest season of True Blood to their line-up. Fear not, fellow Pagan Geeks – I will be watching and commenting on their Season of the Witch this summer. You can check out a clip from season 4. Looks like there will be more religious tension this season.
I’ve just started reading the newest Sookie Stackhouse book by Charlaine Harris called Dead Reckoning. I find it surprisingly easy to keep the diverging storylines separate. I’ll let you know what I think after I finish this one.
Tell me, Pagan Geeks – what are you watching?
I have to admit, I tuned in to Syfy’s new series Being Human last night strictly out of curiosity. The new show is based on the BBC series of the same name and as I have written here before, I am already a fan of the British show. Series 3 of the original is scheduled to premier in the UK next week, but it hasn’t yet been announced when it will be aired it on BBC America. When I first tuned in to the Syfy version I got an awful taste in my mouth. It was nearly a scene for scene recreation of the original pilot episode but with American characters and the gratuitous insertion of American topics and slang. I feared they were quickly sliding down the path once taken by NBC’s remake of the series Coupling where they inexplicably reused the original scripts without changing a word. However, the American Being Human managed to capture my imagination by the end when they made some interesting plot changes that might take this show in a new direction from it’s British counterpart. What does all this have to do with Paganism and Pop-Culture? Well, nothing really. But I do pay close attention to science fiction television since it tends to be the most common platform for magic and witches to be showcased. I don’t think that Being Human will win any awards, but I’ll give it another shot.
However, one thing I am extremely excited about is Fringe returning this Friday at 9pm. Remember, folks, that this is a time slot that is considered the Death Slot for television shows – just ask Joss Whedon about Firefly. Speaking of Firefly, however, it seems that producers of Fringe are not without a sense of humor since they named this first Friday night episode after the short lived space western. We left off before the holidays with Olivia trying to recover from coming back up the rabbit hole and trying to get back into her normal life. The final scenes of the previous episode Marionette were heart wrenching and I can’t wait for more. Don’t let this innovative series die because it has moved to Friday nights.
In more directly related Pagan news, HBO’s True Blood has already begun promoting their “Season of the Witch”. It will be airing this summer.
Without a doubt, True Blood is currently the witchiest show on television right now. This summer, we were introduced to colorful cast of supernatural characters that included a Wiccan, a Brujo, and several Fairies.
The season finale aired on Sunday, September 12 and left us with a couple of unresolved story lines that will carry us into Season 4 which will begin summer of 2011.
Holly Cleary, the Wiccan introduced half way thought this season, was absent in the finale. However, we did learn that the love interest of fan favorite Lafayette, Jesus, is a trained witch. Or so he says. During a heart wrenching scene where Lafayette is afraid that his visions mean that he is schizophrenic like his mama, Jesus tells him that he saw things too and then he was trained in Magic. Upon hearing this, Lafayette ponders, “You’re a witch, who’s a nurse, and a dude? How’d I get so lucky?” It remains to be seen whether Jesus’s character is on the good or evil side in this dark fantasy series. It will also be interesting to see how they differentiate between the Wiccan and the Brujo or if their on-screen mythologies will parallel. Also, where will this revelation take Lafayette?
At the end of episode, we are left wondering what is in store for the part-fairy Sookie and her former vampire lover, Bill. I admit, I never really liked the Fairy story in the books, but I am curious to see how it plays out visually.
In the post show “Thank you” by Alan Ball, he tells us that we will have another roller-coaster ride next summer with his “Year of the Witch.”
Sep 082010
Full Disclosure: I am a geeky fan girl. So when I say I had an absolute amazing time at Dragon*Con, know that I was attending as a fan. That didn’t stop me, however, from being on the lookout for Juggler-Friendly material.
Emerald Rose, popular Pagan band from right here in Georgia, played several shows throughout the con. These guys are friends of mine, so I have a hard time being objective. They did premier their new song “Clockwork Love”. I also saw them at the “Mighty Fine Shindig” where they played an all dancing set including Red Haired Mary and Four Jacks. I did, of course, dance like a maniac. Seeing them live is infectious.
I also had the opportunity to attend the “True & A” panel with stars from the HBO series True Blood. It featured Nelsan Ellis, Kristin Bauer, Sam Trammell and Michelle Forbes. I wish there had been writers on the panel as well since the actors don’t always have the insight behind the material. I was able to ask a question as well about the mythology in Season Two and if they were aware of any of the controversy that sprung up in the Pagan community due to the portayal of Dionysos and the Maenad. As you might expect, they were actually surprised that there was a “Pagan Community.” They were actually grateful for controversy as it meant more people were talking about their show. Later on in the panel, there was a great discussion of the show in terms of the political and social overtones and how that will play out. I am hopeful that the newest character of Holly Cleary might be able to present a semi-realistic view of the Wiccan community to a larger audience.
As always, there were costumes and parties and never-ending fun. I did, in fact, run into Dionysos himself at the Pulse Bar at the Marriott Hotel.
Dragon*Con is a great event for everyone, but the Pagan and Pagan-Friendly programming makes it a must-see for the Pagan Geek. Dragon*Con 2011 will be held over Labor Day weekend.
I was out of town for the weekend so I wasn’t able to watch True Blood when it aired last night. I just sat down to watch it and I was pleasantly surprised.
Of course, there was the usual Vampire drama and Werewolf Drama, not to mention the shape shifter gone off the deep end. But there was also some further exploration into the character of Holly Cleary, a Wiccan.
It showed her and one of the series main characters in the woods with a circle of candles. She cast the circle with salt and invoked the Goddess with an athame. And honestly, I believe it was one of the truest and most sympathetic Wiccan rituals on television. It seemed real. Like any number of Wiccan rituals I have attended or even performed as a solitary so many years ago. Of course, the show is a dark fantasy series so she didn’t stay in the land of “real Wicca” for very long. The purpose of this ritual was to help Arlene, her fellow waitress, terminate a pregnancy that Arlene believed was evil. Not just an unwanted pregnancy but also the demon spawn of a psychopathic ex who died in the first season after a string of murders. Since the show is not set is real life, it is entirely possible that the baby was exactly that. Though an expertise in herbalism can in fact produce the desired results, I am willing to bet that most Wiccans today would not assist a co-worker in such a venture. In spite of the dark fantasy setting, I think it is entirely possible that Holly Cleary could be a television Wiccan who can be a good example to viewers. As Alan Ball has promised, next year will be “The Year of the Witch” so anything can happen in this alternate universe.
Both as a fan of genre television and as a Pagan, I am eager to see where he takes us.
As a side note, Dragon*Con is taking place in Atlanta, GA this coming weekend. I will be in attendance mostly as a fangirl, but will keep my eyes peeled for Juggler Topics. However, several True Blood actors will be guests and I plan to attend at least one panel and ask a question that would be of interest to readers here. Stay tuned for a recap after Dragon*Con.
A few interesting things were revealed in last night’s episode of HBO’s True Blood.
First, if you follow the series you were left with a question in the previous episode – what is Sookie Stackhouse? If you read the books, you know where that had gone. Alan Ball has introduced the Fairies – or “The Old Ones” as Vampire Bill put it. I know that a lot of Pagans honor the Fey, or beings similar, so I am eager to see where they take this story line in the series. Honestly, I found this concept the weakest in Charlaine Harris’s books and wasn’t looking forward to the television series’ treatment of Fairy-kind.
There was another revelation in yesterday’s episode, however, and this one felt a little more like true life. A couple of weeks ago, Sam Merlotte hired a new waitress at his bar, Holly Cleary. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary about her. Last night, after an episode of violence, she offered herbs that curbed rage to Sam. He was inquisitive and so she announced, very unceremoniously, “That’s what I do. I’m a Wiccan.” He looked at her for a moment and then said, “There are two things I don’t allow in my bar. Dancing and Religion.” What I love most about it is that Holly doesn’t seem stereotypical; yet. I know there is plenty of time for that, but they didn’t costume her as a Goth or a Hippie and I think that might be a real breakthrough in the portrayal of Wiccans on Television. The message being, “We’re just like everyone else.” Recently, Alan Ball revealed that Season 4 would revolve around witches, though if you have read the book you know that Harris made a distinction between bad witches and Wiccans. I am curious how this will be handled moving forward. You’ll have to wait for summer of 2011 for Confessions of a Pagan Geek to cover the next season. You can read some discussion on the topic over at The Wild Hunt.
To make things more exciting to our community, there was a third religious reveal in last night’s episode. Lafayette, a character for whom the sky’s the limit, and his new love interest Jesus used psychotropic drugs to take themselves on a shamanic journey that revealed to each of them the magic that lives in their bloodlines. I think this could make the rest of Lafayette’s existence on True Blood very interesting indeed.
I don’t want to spoil too much, here, but I hope if you haven’t been watching maybe you’ll check out True Blood.
True Blood is still the highlight of the summer, and the last two episodes were both gut wrenching and stomach turning. In the most recent episode Vampire Bill travels by dream to the realm where Sookie visited to meet Claudine while she was in the hospital. While there, Bill figures out just what Sookie is, but we are left without an answer at the end of the show. The producers are taking great steps to paint the alternate world very dreamlike and natural. It looks like the best Pagan festival you have ever imagined. They have also recently introduced a character who, in the books, is Wiccan but I am not certain whether she’ll follow the same path in the series or not.
Last night I settled in to watch Haven on my cable’s On Demand. In truth, it isn’t that good to carve out the time to watch when it airs. The show is really mediocre at best. I noted in my last television post that the storyline was magical in nature – a small town in Maine experiencing supernatural phenomenon that is unexplainable by science. This week, they started out the show with a bang by calling out a suspect as a Witch. My ears perked up and I watched intently. Haven is experiencing the strange murders of hunters by animals, and a woman named Jess Minion is “a person of interest”. She has even painted some sort of protection glyph that is found near the sites of the murders. The investigators appear on the doorstep of the assumed Witch – a single attractive woman from Quebec. She quickly dismisses them when they ask if she is a witch. She is an animal lover and activist that doesn’t like the killing of animals for sport. She has a stone circle on her land to honor the spirits of the animals who have died there. They ask her if there is magic afoot and she responds cryptically, “Magic is everywhere here. It’s in the soil, the water. In us.” Later in the episode, when the crime has been figured out she admits that she never was a witch and the glyph was something she had found on Wikipedia. A lost opportunity? Or maybe there will be a revisiting of the idea of witches in later episodes.
September will be here soon and with it, many favorite shows will return along with some possible new offerings. I’ll be back to give a season preview closer to the premiers.
I remember being a kid when television seasons were something sacred. TV shows began in the fall and ended in the spring and re-runs were shown over the summer. While the summer is still a slow time for TV lovers like myself, in this new century of television where cable stations are major players in original programming, there are still things available for our viewing pleasure.
The highlight, especially in pagan or geeky circles, is HBO’s True Blood. Season three is still as exciting as one and two, but it wasn’t until last Sunday’s episode that they returned to more pagan imagery as we explored what what make Sookie Stackhouse different than the rest of the supernatural world around her.
Doctor Who’s first season with the 11th doctor has come and gone, but BBC America has just started airing my second favorite British television series – Being Human. When I first heard about this show I was certain it was a slapstick comedy. A werewolf, a vampire and a ghost share a flat in Bristol. The premise sounds insane, but the show is quite engaging. The second season is on BBC America right now with the third episode airing tonight. With themes involving dealing with the afterlife and how “pass” as a normal member of society, the show would be of interest to fantasy/sci-fi leaning Pagans.
Also airing tonight is a summer series that I caught on my cables On Demand: NBC’s Persons Unknown. Honestly I started watching this show because it featured actors that I liked in other things including Kandyse McClure who played Anastasia “Dee” Dualla on Battlestar Galactica. The show has an interesting premise in which a group of seemingly unrelated strangers have all been abducted and are being held hostage in a deserted town. However, there is a mysterious organization behind the kidnappings and we have yet to learn who they are. I am not even sure if I like it yet, but there is something about the hidden group playing Gods with the lives of their victims that is keeping me watching.
I also just stumbled upon a Syfy Original show called Haven that premiered several weeks ago. On the surface, it looks like many of the other oddly formulaic “FBI Agent Investigates Supernatural Events” shows out there. It is, however, based on theStephen King book The Colorado Kid. I absolutely loved another King series, The Dead Zone, where I learned that Anthony Michael Hall was full of the awesome. I was willing to give Haven it’s day in court. So far it has has explored story-lines involving weather manipulation and nightmare manifestation giving the show a magical feeling. It’ll be a nice distraction while I wait for my current favorite show, Fringe, to return to the airwaves this fall for it’s third season.
If you prefer Reality Television, The Fabulous Beekman Boys on Planet Green is still one of my favorite offerings of the summer. I love watching these city guys learn how to live in the country. And watching the baby goats is about as cute as anything can be. Certainly not overtly Pagan but the exploration into green living is of interest to many of us.
Speaking of green, I recently learned from Treehugger.com that New Belgium Beer, which I featured recently in my Magic of Beer series for Lammas, has been voted the world’s greenest beer. You you can feel a little more sustainable when you pour yourself a cold, refreshing Mothership Wit.
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