Trollheart

Season One: Signs and portents --- Points on the Arc
At the end of each season I'll recap on the main arc points, going back to where I mentioned them in previous episodes and examining how, or if, they have resolved themselves by the end of that season. As each season progresses, this section may then stretch back into previous seasons.

The Battle of the Line
Arc Level: Orange
So, what have we learned about the Battle of the Line, and Commander Sinclair's part in it? Well, to be fair, not a huge amount. We have discovered that he was captured while trying to ram a Minbari cruiser, was taken aboard their ship and examined, possibly tortured, and that Delenn was present. We've also seen that whatever they saw when they examined him, the Minbari were impressed/scared/shocked enough not only to return him alive to his people, but to ensure that he was awarded the job of running Babylon 5 when it was built. In fact, to give their request weight they lent a lot of support, both political and one would assume financial, to the Babylon project. The command of Babylon 5 being awarded to such a low-level officer has annoyed many in higher positions, and Sinclair has not only made enemies, but been accused of being in cahoots with the Minbari, in effect doing their bidding. This may or may not be the case, but it's abundantly clear that the destiny of the commander is tied in inextricably with the Minbari people, and perhaps Delenn in particular.

Narn vs Centauri
Arc Level: Red
To be fair, up to now we've really only seen skirmishes between G'Kar and Londo, as representatives and ambassadors of these races. They've almost toyed with each other, kind of like best enemies but apart from a few isolated occasions there's been nothing of any major concern. Now, in the final episode of season one, things are ramping up. At the beginning, Londo is angry about the establishment of a Narn post on the border of Centauri space, and issues a dark warning to his adversary. Later, despite that threat, he is aghast to find that Morden has had the entire installation destroyed, and it's clear that, whether he was totally complicit in this act or not, Mollari's involvement is bound to become known, after which there will be no more easy rivalry between the two races. Indeed, in season two the pressure is ramped up on the Narn and this sector of space will be torn apart. Londo, thus far mostly a figure of fun, is slowly being overtaken by a very dark shadow which will cast itself across the rest of his life, and the galaxy too. Season two is going to be a lot darker. The time for easy banter is coming very quickly to an end.

G'Kar, for his part, seems to have his own suspicions as to what may have happened, and has returned to Narn to put his theory to the test. He too realises the time for sparring is over, and he must act if he is to save his people. He is afraid of the future, but not afraid to face it. Already he has begun to subtly change, from the militant, belligerent person he was at the start to a more thoughtful, pragmatic one.

Vorlons
Arc Level: Red
Despite a whole season gone by now we still know very little about these mysterious aliens. We have seen that they are connected in some way to the Minbari; Delenn at least seems to defer to Kosh, almost as if she were his servant. The only real impact the Vorlons have had on any of the races so far has been to destroy the anti-ageing serum brought to Babylon 5 by Deathwalker, telling Sinclair "You are not ready for immortality". Kosh himself has rarely been seen and hardly ever takes part in the councils on the station, seeming disinterested in the affairs of the other races, but what is he hiding underneath that encounter suit? And why does he speak in those riddles? Also, what does he mean when he says "It has begun"?

We can also infer, from Morden's avoidance of and then confrontation with him, that he and his associates do not like, or perhaps fear the Vorlon, and when they do meet it seems they can cause damage to Kosh, as his suit ends up being torn. After a full season, we know about as much of the Vorlons as we did at the start!

Telepaths and Psi Corps:
Arc Level: Orange
We've seen that Psi Corps, and especially Bester, exercise control over the government of Earth, and how they almost --- or maybe literally --- run black ops either with or without the approval of the Senate or the president, but one thing is certain: they are a power to be reckoned with. Talia thinks they're a force for good, but Ivanova thinks the opposite, having seen what happened to her mother. Babylon 5 has already made an enemy of Bester, and they are made to pay for this by having an internal investigation initiated after Sinclair embarrasses Bester over the Jason Ironheart affair. Now, with the change of leadership on Earth, will their power grow? And will Babylon 5 be safe from them under the new president?

The presidential race
Arc Level: Red
I said at the beginning that the end of season one would see a seachange in the running of Earth, and so it has. President Santiago is dead, whether by accident or design cannot be proved, but Garibaldi's information would seem to point to the latter. Now the vice president is in charge, and has already indicated he will pull back from his predecessor's policy of alien appeasement. As Babylon 5 is a joint human/alien venture, what place will there be for the station in the new regime? More to the point: if the death of the president was an assassination, then surely his successor's failure to be onboard Earth Force One can only be seen as at best complicity and at worst blame for the attempt. Did Clark want Santiago out of the way? Was he just making a power play, or are there other elements in the mix here? Is the now president of Earth working for, or being controlled by, forces beyond the government?

It's interesting to note that when Santiago was trying for another term, Ivanova said she was voting for his challenger, and though he won the term she is as upset as anyone when he is killed. I suppose it's a hard thing to witness, whether you agree with the leader's policies or not: nobody wishes to see their leader killed.

Satai Delenn
Arc Level: Green
It has been hinted at that Delenn is a member of the Grey Council, the shadowy conclave that akes policy and basically rules the Minbari, handing out edicts from their cruiser floating through space. Now we learn this is certainly true, and she has been offered the leadership of that council, but turns it down because she believes her work on Babylon 5 to be more important. This will also have quite the repercussion later, when we see who has been chosen in her stead.

Homeguard
Arc Level: Orange
We've met this organisation already once, and it's clear they're very anti-alien. Could they be behind the alleged assassination of President Santiago? Having a man in power who is obviously sympathetic to their point of view would certainly help further their cause.

Morden
Arc Level: Red
Who the hell is he? When we first met him he was little more than a messenger, trying to find out from each of the ambassadors what they desired most, and in the process settling on Mollari. Now he has used whatever influence he has to destroy an entire colony, and makes a smiling but chilling response to Londo's question of the price of his help. And later we see him surrounded by weird, alien beings who he seems to be in league with. He talks of Mollari doing what they want. So what do they want, and who are they? And are they tied in with the huge spider ships that we have seen twice now?

Babylon's Burning
Arc Level: Red
In "Signs and portents" we saw the Lady Ladira's vision, through Sinclair's eyes, as the station tore itself apart and exploded. Now, in "Babylon squared", he sees the same thing, as Garibaldi holds off whoever the invaders are and tells Sinclair to get going. Is this a vision of a future to come? Ladira told Sinclair it was a possible future, and she hoped it might be avoided. But how, if they don't even know what's going on, when this attack will come, who it will be and why? Is Babylon 5 doomed?

"Chrysalis"
Arc Level: Red
At least we now know what this meant, and why Delenn was so quick to try to shut the idea out of Alissa Beldon's mind when she realised she had detected it. Whatever Delenn is doing in the cocoon, whatever is happening to her, it seems vital that she has to go ahead with her plan, and had it been discovered it is perhaps possible that she might have been stopped. Now she is inside the chrysalis, and nobody can stop what is about to happen.

Free Mars/The Mars rebellion
Arc Level: Red
We know a bit more about Mars now. We know that Sinclair was born there, and that Garibaldi lived there, and was stationed there before he took up his position as head of security on Babylon 5. The rebellion on Mars was put down fairly quickly, though not without loss of life. What effect is the change of leadership on Earth going to have on the colony? Will they lobby the new president for their independence, and will he be prepared to grant it? If he sees the Martian colonists as technically aliens, then the chances of Clark being sympathetic to their cause is not good. Chances are this can only get worse.

Babylon 4
Arc level: Red
Just so you know, there will be no further mention of Babylon 5's predecessor until well into season three, but when it comes back into the story... oh man!

SEASON ONE RECAP
And finally, a quick recap of the important points of this season.

Babylon 5, a space station constructed in neutral territory in an attempt to bring humans and aliens together in a spirit of peace, becomes the focal point around which many of the major events taking place in that sector of the galaxy revolve. The Narn and the Centauri, two races at each other's throats for centuries, vie for power and support while the human commander of the station tries to come to terms with what happened at the Battle of the Line, Earth's last stand against the Minbari, at which the aliens inexplicably surrendered on the very cusp of victory. The Minbari have a special interest in Sinclair, but nobody knows why.

A strange man called Morden comes to the station, offering his help. Londo takes him up on this and his influence at court grows, but tensions are growing among his people and the Narns. When Morden returns and offers to solve Mollari's problem, a Narn outpost which is causing the Centauri security concerns, the outpost is obliterated by the same spider-shaped ships that retrieved the missing Centauri artifact for Londo when Morden first offered his help.

Sinclair and Ivanova find a gargantuan machine which seems to be powering the planet over which the station orbits, and a friend of Delenn's takes the place of the alien who has been operating it. Babylon 4, which had mysteriously disappeared years ago, reappears but then vanishes again, but not before Sinclair meets an alien who tells him the station is to be used in a great war. Finally, on New Year's Day 2258 Garibaldi is shot when he discovers a plot to assassinate the president of Earth. Sinclair tries to pass his concerns on but it is too late, and President Santiago dies in an explosion as his ship goes down over the transfer point at Io. Vice president Morgan Clark is sworn in as the new president of Earth.

As all this occurs, Delenn goes to Kosh, the Vorlon ambassador, and then retreats into some sort of coccoon, from which she cannot be removed. As a new year begins, we can only guess at what 2259 has in store for the crew of Babylon 5.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Season One, Episode Three

"Other points of the compass"

Back in Liverpool and reality quicky asserts itself, as James realises that due to his cleverness money will be coming in, but not right away, and at the moment he has not the wherewithal to pay his harbour dues and stowage fees. When he suggests giving the harbourmaster a letter of credit the man scoffs: the Onedin Line is new, not even listed and certainly not trustworthy enough that a letter of credit would be honoured. Grumpily, James has to amass any money he can get his hands on and with Anne's help he manages to meet his debts. He gets some money too from his client, Watson, for whom he has transported a parcel, and immediately sets Baines to undertaking another short trip, to Cork, with Irish emigrants. Meanwhile he learns with interest that his old arch-enemy Callon is on the board of trustees of the Harbour Board, so he can expect a rough ride from them; probably why his credit note was refused just now.

With no money left for lodgings James moves in with Anne and her father, much to the annoyance of Captain Webster, who demands rent, rent he is unlikely to receive from the currently penniless newlyweds. Fraser comes calling --- no doubt with prodding from James --- and sets Elizabeth all in a tizzy, as she tries to ignore his gentle mocking that she is meant for better things than to be the wife of a sea captain. When he leaves and Daniel arrives she receives him with bad grace, the situation not helped by Fogarty's discovery of Frazer's hat, which he has left behind (purposely?) as well as Elizabeth's total failure to lie about it. They have a big row and she refuses to attend the lunch they are supposed to go to with Callon, to discuss Fogarty's being given a command.

Callon is interested though when he finds out that the absent ladyfriend Fogarty has spoken of, and who was expected to have accompanied him, is none other than James Onedin's sister. This is news to him, news he can perhaps use to his advantage. He makes Fogarty aware of James's deals with Albert Frazer, and carefully floats the idea that Elizabeth's "tantrum" may owe more to James than to her. If he is using his sister in such a way, who is to say what else he might do? And of course, this only serves to widen the gulf and fan the flames between the three: James, Albert and Daniel. All of which suits Callon's purposes admirably.

Other wheels are spinning back at the docks, set in motion by the wealthy shipowner. A sudden influx of empty wine casks arrives from Callon's warehouse, and the harbourmaster will not allow them stay on the dock. James's ship is nearly full, but Frazer, visiting him, offers the use of his father's shipyards as a temporary storage, something for which James is grateful, but knows he will pay for, one way or another, in the future. Elizabeth goes to return Frazer's hat, but he has left the Charlotte Rhodes and Baines tells her the dock will shortly be swarming with rowdy sailors who have come in on a clipper, making it unsafe for her to return home alone. While she's waiting for him to call her a cab, Fogarty comes looking for her, and after a tempestuous exchange during which she tells him their engagement is over, she will not marry him, they end up in each other's arms and, well, consummate their love, as was the style of the time. Afterwards it appears that she has changed her mind, as Daniel gleefully tells James she has chosen to marry him, which obviously does not sit well with the would-be master of the seas, and puts quite a crimp in his plan for an alliance with the Frazer shipyards. But by now we know enough about James Onedin to know that he will not let as small a thing as his sister's happiness, or her choice, stand in the way of his grand plans!


QUOTES
Anne: "Have you any jewellery yourself?"
James: "Nothing that glitters."
Anne: "What?"
James: "My partner's my only adornment!"

Elizabeth: "That's my life now, forever waiting for Daniel to come home..."

Frazer: "A lady who has no time to flirt is hardly alive!"

Frazer: "You're angry because I've dared to suggest there is something else in life other than arranged marriages, business luncheons, and appointments conceived for no other purpose than private gain. You're angry because underneath me banter I've dared to suggest one more thing, and that is, that another's happiness, the true fulfillment of a lovely human being, should always be declared importantly and at once. I have, as James would say, wasted a morning, but I think not. I have, at last, declared meself. There are other points to the compass besides profit and loss."


FAMILY
ANNE
With their return to home Anne quickly shows she is learning to stand on her own feet, and will soon enough become the rock upon which James depends. When he is despondent about not having the harbour dues she scolds him, and offers her mother's wedding rings and anything else she has that they can pawn to make money. She is not about to see their new venture sunk before it has time to even take its first breath at its home port! As she says herself: "For shame! Hangdog for twelve sovereigns!" She later confides to Elizabeth that despite all the hardships, going with James to sea was the best decision she ever made, and she has really taken to it. Elizabeth, in the same conversation, sounds jealous of Anne's comparative freedom. Paradoxically perhaps, though the younger woman is prettier, has two men after her and the world is ostensibly her oyster, she would in some ways trade places with Anne, her sister-in-law now, burdened with debt and fighting the odds in a new business venture with her new husband.



ELIZABETH
We're left in no doubt as to Elizabeth's growing boredom with Daniel Fogarty. In truth, it's not the man she's bored with but the expectations that she will marry him, and what she has to look forward to when that day comes. Her assignations with Albert Frazer, by comparison, must seem lively and more than a little naughty, and this suits her fine, as Elizabeth is one to court rather than avoid controversy. She does not see herself the wife of a sea captain, settling down and watching the docks for sight of her husband's ship, and worrying when he is away if he will return. She does not think widow's black will suit her.

It's quite possible she's leading Daniel on, when onboard the ship that night she first tells him that she will not marry him, then allows him to make love to her and later lets him think that she in fact is going to marry him. This notion will not last too long though. It's also possible that Elizabeth, whom from the strictures of nineteenth century England we can assume at this point to be a virgin (up to that night) is giving herself to Daniel to both experience what sex is like and to give him what he wants before cutting him loose: her sights are already set on Albert Frazer, whom she believes will give her a much better life than Fogarty can provide.

DANIEL FOGARTY
A man used to getting what he wants, usually by a shout or a fist, Fogarty cannot understand Elizabeth's change of heart on his return to Liverpool. He is unable to fathom anything happening while he is at sea that would bring about such a reversal in his romantic fortunes, and thinks that time stands still while he is away. He is angry to discover that he now has a rival, and that this man is here all the time, unlike he who has to be away so much. Absence, in Elizabeth's case, does not make the heart grown fonder, but more weary and restless, and while Fogarty is at sea Frazer will always be there to comfort and distract his woman.

He knows when he has gone too far though. When he argues with her, trying to convince her to come to the lunch with Callon, he tones it down to a concillatory murmur, but then blows it just as she is about to agree, by declaring to Robert that his sister is throwing a tantrum. A red rag to a bull, this sends Elizabeth into a fresh fury and he is left to go see Callon alone. Elizabeth can also hardly be enamoured or flattered by his couched view that a man with a wife and family makes a better prospect for promotion than a single one: she does not like being used, even though she is not at all averse to using people for her own ends.

He even goes so far as to purchase "a fancy hat", like Frazer's, an expense he can ill afford, just to try to please her and measure up to her expectations, but is crushed when she rejects him. Disappointment is followed by elation though and by the next morning he is loudly proclaiming to her brother that he will soon be part of the Onedin house.

ALBERT FRAZER
After what must be months of tip-toeing around the issue, teasing Elizabeth and dropping hints, and with his rival for her affections back in town, Albert visits the object of his infatuation and finally declares his intentions, albeit obliquely, but Elizabeth knows what he means. She is now in the perhaps unenviable position of having to choose between two men. Frazer knows she has little love of the sea and no real wish to be a seaman's wife, and he has the advantage of being pretty much always there, unlike his rival who spends much of his time at sea. No doubt he will utilise that time to turn Elizabeth's head with presents and outings and declarations of love, and by showing her the kind of life she can expect should she decide to choose him. He also knows he has James on his side, as the owner of the Onedin Line fancies an alliance with Liverpool's biggest shipbuilder, and Fogarty has nothing to offer him.

TIGHTFIST
Though it may be a little unfair to say in this case James is being miserly about the money involved, as he is in dire straits and needs every penny piece he can muster, he still has no compunction about squeezing the very most he can out of his new client. When Mr Watson wants to pay with a credit note, but James says he needs cash, and now, the man says this will be subject to the usual discount (as we learned last episode from Robert, cash always comes with a discount for the payer to the payee), in this case two percent. When he asks, rather bemusedly, if James is sure he wants to deal with "such trifling little sums", Onedin confirms he most certainly does. When Watson counts out the money and rounds it down, James wants it rounded up: "Nine pounds six shillings --- call it nine pounds" says Watson, but Onedin counters, "Call it nine pounds six!"

A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE
From this episode we learn about the drinkable qualities of paraffin. On Daniel Fogarty's ship he challenges the leader of the men who are refusing to go any further without fresh water. He sets down a jug of water which is full of paraffin, and each man must drink. What the leader, Ginger, doesn't know is that paraffin settles on water, so that Fogarty, who drinks second, does not taste as much of it as Ginger does. Plus he has lined his stomach by eating fat beforehand. It's a pretty horrible tale, but it is interesting, and shows something of the appalling conditions these men often had to work under.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

1.20 "Dead man's blood"

Foreword: I worry when I see the co-writer of this episode is the same John Shiban who penned the truly awful "The Benders", but two things give me heart: one, he has another writer working with him, and two, the episode features the return of John Winchester, so surely this can't be a bad one? Also, we're getting close to the end of season one and the big shattering finale, so I can't really imagine there would be duff episodes from here on in... fingers crossed!

We open on a bar, where an old man called Daniel is sitting when some strangers enter, and he looks worried. He is flicking through some sort of notebook, which looks like it may be similar to John Winchester's journal. Shortly afterwards they all disappear. We see Daniel on his way back to his home, where he is confronted by a woman, one of the party that entered the bar earlier. He throws a knife at her but unfazed she pulls it out of her chest, while two others of her comrades crash through the window and seize the old man.

Reading about the assault in the paper, Dean recognises the name and realises that their father knew this guy, and it looks like he was a hunter like him, and now them. They go to the home and find a circle of salt around the door, which they recognise as protection against evil, and discover scratches on the floor, which turn out to be a Post Office combination and a location, indicating a mail drop Daniel must have used. They go to the drop and recover a letter with the initials "JW" on it. While they're pondering if this refers to their dad, there's a tap on the window of their car and indeed there is their father!

He says he came when he heard about the news concerning Daniel Elkins, who was his mentor until they fell out. He reads the letter and tells the boys that Daniel was guarding a very special revolver, a Colt 45 that it is imperative they recover. He tells Dean and Sam that Elkins was a vampire hunter, and Dean is a little surprised, as he certainly believes in vampires --- in his line of work it would be stupid not to --- but thought they were extinct. John disabuses him of this notion, though he says most of the lore that has grown up around vampires in media and novels is made up. Nevertheless, vampires are still around and they have obviosuly taken this revolver, which the trio must get back.

Vampires being vampires, and having to feed, the three soon pick up their trail from police reports about a young couple attacked and abducted on the road, and we see the vampires partying and taunting the humans, but when their master, a dark figure called Luther, arrives they are cowed. The girl vampire, the one who had initially taken Elkins' dagger to the chest, hands him the gun, and Luther looks interested. He does however chide the vampires, saying that killing a vampire hunter was not a clever move, as it will bring more of Elkins' kind down upon them, looking for revenge.

And how right he is, because at that moment Sam, Dean and John are bearing down upon them, though Sam is incensed at the lack of information their father is giving them and the fact that, again, Dean is just following orders like a good, unquestioning little soldier. They argue and almost come to blows, but settle down and as they near the barn where the vampires are holed up. Luther decides to turn the woman they captured. When the hunters arrive John says that the idea of vampires not being able to walk in the sun is a myth: they can, it just hurts them. He says the only way to kill them --- forget a stake through the heart, that's just legend --- is to cut off their heads. They arm themselves with machetes and prepare to enter the barn. But before they do, John decides to satisfy their --- or at least, Sam's --- curiosity about the gun they are trying to get back.

Seems in 1835 Samuel Colt himself made the gun for a hunter, and legend has it that it can kill anything, but it only has thirteen special bullets it can fire, half of which the hunter used in his lifetime. John of course intends to use it to kill the demon they've been hunting all season, but their efforts are thwarted when Sam tries to free the girl, not realising she has been turned into one of the vampires, and she alerts the others. They barely escape in time, and have to leave the gun behind, for now. When the boys realise that their father plans to just finish this job with them and then disappear again, hunting down the big demon, they are both disappointed and annoyed. Sam in particular tries to convince John that they are stronger together, but he will not waver.

He sends Dean to a funeral parlour to get some dead man's blood, which vampires are apparently allergic to; it won't kill them but it will slow them down and make them groggy. While he's gone he has a father-son chat with Sam and explains to him that he was so hard on them growing up because he knew what they must face in later life, and wanted to prepare them for it. He apologises, but Sam finally sees that their father was only doing his best to protect them the only way he knew how. A lot of the anger and tension is released from both, and it seems that the bad blood between them is coming to an end.

Using Dean to lure two of the vampires out they shoot them both with crossbow bolts tipped with the dead man's blood, which paralyses them. They kill the male but keep the female for hostage purposes, hoping her scent will draw the other vampires out, and indeed it does. While John leads the vampires, headed by Luther, away from the barn, Sam and Dean head back there to kill the remaining monsters and set free their human captives. Then they return just in time to see that their dad is in trouble. He had proposed exchanging the Colt for the female vampire, but she had kicked out at him and he was in danger of being bitten. Two arrows put paid to them as the boys arrive to save the day, Luther is shot by the magic gun and John finally agrees that perhaps they are stronger as a family, and should now remain, and hunt, as one.

MUSIC
Tito and Tarantula: "Strange face of love"

Stevie Ray Vaughan: "The house is rockin'"


QUESTIONS?
Will John Winchester actually stay with his sons this time, or as he continues to see and lead them into danger, will he again change his mind and decide he would be better on his own?

Can that gun really kill the demon?

The "WTF??!" moment
I'm not so sure there is one in this episode, but maybe when the boys are unexpectedly reunited with their father?

BROTHERS
Although Dean is unswervingly loyal to his father, in this episode we see his unquestioning obedience waver a little, as he considers what his brother is saying about their father always rushing ahead, sometimes recklessly, and not explaining what he's doing or why he wants them to carry out certain tasks. Of course, John Winchester has been alone for so long now and fighting the forces of evil as he makes his way ever closer to his goal that he probably doesn't even consider other people: he's a lone wolf, but that sort of mentality can get you killed. Three heads are always better than one, and three weapons certainly trump a single one. So when Sam starts pushing him over the way he treats the two brothers Dean is initially supportive of their father, perhaps automatically or instinctively, but the more he thinks about it the more he begins to come down on Sam's side, and by the climax of the episode he's ready to support his brother in trying to convince their father to stay with them, so that they can hunt as a family.

There's an interesting and touching little scene when John talks to Sam on his own, while Dean is gone to get the dead man's blood, and he tells the younger brother that when he was born he put a hundred dollars into a college fund, and the same for Dean. Every month he would add another hundred. He did not want the life of a demon hunter for his sons, but things just turned out that way. He says he wanted to keep them safe, make sure they never had to follow in his footsteps. When Sam asks him what happened to the money, he grins and says he used it to buy ammo!

There is a dark moment though, when in an almost annoyed tone as the boys ask what will happen if John goes off on his own and dies, what would they do and how would they feel, he admits gruffly that he does not expect to come out of the hunt alive. Once he has killed the demon, he seems not to care what happens to him as long as his boys are safe. Commendable in one way, but quite selfish in another. He's trying to ensure the boys stay safe but won't afford them the same courtesy himself. Not that he wants to die, of course, but he doesn't seem to see any way out.

WISEGUY
Though I'm not using quotes from the series, some of the things Dean says are just too good not to note, so here I'll be listing any smart wisecracks or observations the older Winchester brother makes in an episode.

Meeting Kate, the female vampire, Luther's mate on the road as she entices him to come home with her, not knowing who he is, he grins "Nah, I'll pass thanks. I draw the line at necrophilia!"

And later in the same scene, "Sorry. I don't usually stay with a chick that long. Definitely not eternity."

CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?
Surprisingly, given the tone of the monsters and beings in Supernatural, who have all pretty much been black-and-white (mostly black) evil, there are occasions where the lines are blurred and you wonder, something like the "nicer" demons in "Angel", whether their very existence is actually excuse enough to kill them? Here, the vampire leader, Luther, asks "You people. Why can't you leave us alone? We have as much right to live as you do." John doesn't think so and kills him, but we do see a spark of humanity in the creature, where he asks John not to hurt Kate, when he genuinely seems to feel some affection for her, and worries she might die. For a moment, you wonder...

And yet, it's not like these vampires are laying low, trying to blend into society and live with them in peaceful coexistence, is it? I mean, they're not Anne Rice's Louis or even Buffy's Angel, forswearing blood and trying to atone for their long lives of debauchery and evil. Kind of hard to plead for species tolerance when you're the one hunting the other species...

The ARC of the matter
Obviously a big piece to the puzzle is the revelation of the existence of the Colt, which is said to be able to kill anything, and which John intends to use to destroy the demon. Up to now we've wondered what he was planning to do once he caught up with the thing that killed his wife and tried to take his son, but now we know, and he demonstrates that it's not just a fairy tale by using the gun to kill Luther. So now they have the gun, surely the faceoff cannot be long away, the big showdown, the grand finale?

1.21 "Salvation"

Speaking of grand finales, we're almost there. One more episode to go in season one. The evil Meg returns, as might be expected, and tries to get a priest in Minneapolis to reveal where the Winchesters are, but he refuses, saying that he knows what she is, and she kills him. Meanwhile John, Dean and Sam are on their way to Salvation, Iowa, as the father tells his boys that when the demon is about to strike there are signs: cattle deaths, electrical storms, fluctuations in temperature. And he's seen those signs now in Salvation. The demon always goes after families, particularly six month old babies. On the way to the town though he gets a call to tell him that his good friend Pastor Jim is dead. Obviously the priest Meg killed. The news, while it shakes John, serves to harden his resolve and he vows "This ends now" as they head to the hospitals in Salvation, expecting the demon will be drawn to any babies there.

While they're checking records in the hospital, Sam has a vision of a woman and her child being attacked by the demon. He manages to find them near a railroad track, as he heard in his vision the sound of a train, and meets the woman, Monica, and her daughter Rosy, who is six months old today. He can't do much though, just warn the mother to keep her child safe. Then he has a second vision, in which he sees Monica die as Jessica did, and presumably also his mother. When he tells Dean and John about it, the latter is shocked, as he was unaware of Sam's power, but he tells his father cuttingly that he shouldn't be surprised that there are things he doesn't know about his sons, as he is away so often and for so long, which John rather guiltily has to concede.

Just then there's a call for John, and it's Meg, who says she has his friend Caleb, and that if John does not hand over the magic Colt 45 she will kill him. John says he doesn't know anything about the gun, and Meg makes good on her promise, warning that she will go after more of his friends if he doesn't admit he has the gun and deliver it to her. John agrees, but intends to give her a fake, while he leaves the original with his sons, charging them to save Rosy and Monica.

When he reaches the meeting point, an old warehouse (Meg seems to have a thing for abandoned warehouses!) John climbs the water tower, opens the top and blesses the water, using some rosary beads. When he meets Meg she has backup, and he hands her the fake gun on demand. The man who is with her takes it, shoots Meg to see if it's real, determines it's not and looks up to see John running off. They pursue him but he opens the valves on the pipes as they pass and the now-holy water blocks the path of the creatures who cannot pass. He makes it to his truck but notes in anguish that the tyres have been slashed, and takes off down an alleyway.

Meanwhile Sam and Dean see the signs that presage the coming of the demon, as the lights on the house go on and off and a cold wind whips up. They enter the house and, after tussling with Monica's husband, who believes they are intruders, get to the bedroom just in time for Sam to shoot at the demon, who has Monica pinned to the wall. The demon roars and vanishes, and the two brothers get mother daugher and father out of the house just before it erupts in flames.

They have not long to celebrate their victory though, as when they call their dad it's Meg's cold voice that answers, and she tells them they will never see their father again...

MUSIC
Kansas: "Carry on my wayward son"


QUESTIONS?
Was this the same demon? And are they closer to killing it now? Why did the Colt not kill it?

What are the guys going to do about their father?

Why is the demon going after babies that are exactly six months old?

The "WTF??!" moment
Hard to say really, as this episode has a lot of them. Perhaps when Sam shoots the demon and it disappears but does not die. Or maybe when Meg kills Caleb so callously and casually. Or, again, when the other creature with her casually shoots her, not knowing whether the gun is real or not. Like I say, there are a lot of them, and it's leading to a powerful, hammerpunch finale.

BROTHERS
For once the strain is showing on Dean, and he confronts his father in a way he perhaps had never expected to. As John Winchester chides them for not telling him about Sam's new abilities, Dean snaps "Call you? Are you kidding me? Dad I called you from Lawrence all right? Sam called you when I was dying. I mean, getting you on the phone? I got a better chance of winning the lottery!" This is probably the first time we see Dean being anything that could be called disrespectful to his father, whom he idolises, but finally the months, years of following orders with nothing really coming from the opposite end has caused him to snap, and it's clear that the fact that his father wouldn't, or couldn't contact them when they were in need really hurts Dean, and has affected him more than he realises. John sees this, but chooses to ignore it, instead berating Dean for "this new attitude" while it is up to Sam to calm things down and get everyone back on message.

Sam is further convinced that everything is his fault when he learns of the reason the demon targeted him (not that he could control his ageing, as if anyone could!) but Dean is also on edge and must see Sam's behaviour as almost selfish, thinking of himself and blaming everything on him, instead of seeing the bigger picture. Sam's self-pity is beginning to wear thin with Dean, who no doubt thinks him weaker than he is himself, and he knows that they are going to need all their strength and resolve to face what's coming: there will be no room for pity or self-doubt, either of which could get them, or the demon's next victim, killed.

As they wait outside Monica's house for the demon, Sam decides it's best to say what's on his mind, in case they don't have any more opportunities, so he thanks Dean for always looking out for him, always having his back. Dean makes light of it, but he too must feel there's a good possibility they're not coming out of this alive. Later, when they've faced the demon, it's disappeared and Sam sees it silhouetted against the burning house, he wants to go back in, despite the danger --- and the suicide factor --- and deal with it, but Dean holds him back. Dean swore to protect his little brother from everything, and that includes himself.

As they argue while they try to call John in the aftermath of the escape, there's another rare moment where we get to peek behind the facade of Dean's toughness, and he admits that although he wants to kill the demon, it's not worth losing Sam, or their dad, or both over. He reveals that the three of them are the only thing that keeps him going, and without them...

The ARC of the matter
A few more elements are starting to come together now. The fact that it is other children who are being targeted by the demon (or demons?) has already been hinted at in "Nightmares" but here we learn that it's a pattern: children become targets on the occasion of their six-month birthday, and prior to the demon's arrival there are certain signs, which have led John Winchester this time to Salvation, Iowa, where he hopes to confront his nemesis.

We also hear for the first time about a weapon that is said to possess magical properties, a gun that can theorethically kill anything, even a demon, perhaps even their demon. John places so much trust in its power and sees it as his only weapon against his implacable enemy that he is even prepared to sacrifice his own best friend rather than give it up, and when it becomes clear he must deliver the gun to Meg or risk losing everyone he has ever loved, even then he concocts a plan to use a dummy gun, in the hope his ruse will not be discovered before the boys have a chance to take out the demon. Perhaps he hopes that if they kill the thing Meg will be hauled back to hell, lose her powers or just die, or maybe he knows that in taking this action he's sacrificing his life for his sons, and for the chance of revenge and justice for those the demon has killed, and for the chance of stopping it killing any more.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

1.21 "Devil's trap"

And so we come to the end of season one, with a two-parter cliffhanger to end on. Hearing the awful news about the capture of their father, Dean and Sam look for help from an old friend, Bobby, who gives them a flask of holy water and one of whiskey. Sam thinks John may be dead already --- would not put it past Meg --- but Dean thinks she would have been ordered to keep him alive until the demon has the Colt. Bobby tells the boys that the rate of demonic possession is increasing exponentially this year, and he fears there are far more demons walking the earth than ever before. He foresees a dark time ahead, and tells the brothers they are right in the middle of it. He gives them an ancient book called "The Key of Solomon", which is supposed to contain the incantation for trapping a demon.

Just then Meg bursts in and demands the Colt, but she has been outmanoeuvred, as the boys and Bobby have already inscribed a protection circle on the ceiling, and she is now trapped. They tie her up and demand to know if their father is alive, and if so, where he is, but Meg will not break. Bobby tells the boys that there is a real girl trapped inside Meg, that she is possessed by a demon, and they work an exorcism, trying to force the demon out. Under threat of losing its host body, the demon gives in and tells them that John is alive, in Jefferson, Missouri. Having got the information that they require, Dean tells Sam to finish the job, but he is reluctant, on two counts: one, he thinks they may be able to use the demon inside Meg to get further information and two, when Meg fell from the window in "Shadow" the only thing that saved her life was the demon's strength. If they exorcise it now, he reasons, Meg, the real Meg, will most likely die.

Dean understands but says he can't leave the demon in her, it just isn't right. If she's to die, let her at least have the dignity of doing so as a human. They complete the rite and the real Meg thanks them for freeing her, confirms what the demon in her told them was the truth, and then dies, with the word "sunrise" on her lips.

As the boys load up to make the trip to Jefferson, Sam draws some strange symbols on their car's boot (trunk, for you Americans), saying that he's making a "devil's trap". No demon can pass through a devil's trap, so he tells Dean to put the Colt in there while they go search for their father, but Dean is reluctant, thinking they might need it. He does however do as Sam asks. They discover an apartment block called "Sunrise Apartments", and believe this must be where their dad is being held. But there are families, including children around, so they can't just charge in. They set off the fire alarm and watch for the apartments to empty, knowing that the one that doesn't will be where their father is being held.

Appropriating two firemen uniforms they gain access to the building and go to the occupied apartment, where they break in and fight the couple holding John prisoner, using holy water they have loaded into the fire extinguishers. They trap them in a closet and pour salt outside so the demons can't get back out, and go to free their father. Finding him alive --- and checking to make sure he has not been possessed --- they head out until they are accosted by two other possessed people, who force them back into another room. Again securing the entrance with salt they make their way out the window, but once they reach the ground they are attacked by the male demon we saw with Meg in the previous episode. He starts to beat the crap out of Sam, but then Dean shoots him through the head: he brought the Colt despite what his brother said, and now out of four bullets that were left in the gun, but two remain.

As they take shelter that night, John notices the lights flickering and says that the demon has found them. He asks Dean for the Colt, but there's something in his eyes and his voice and Dean instead pulls the gun on his father, realising he has been possessed. When he can't get the gun by subterfuge he reveals his true identity and throws the boys across the room, grabbing the gun. Dean asks him why he killed their mother and Jessica and the demon, in John's voice, tells the boys that they were simply in the way of the plans he had --- has --- for Sam and the other children. He is however angry because the demon inside Meg and the one Dean shot were his own children.

When Dean then needles him about his offspring the demon begins to torture him, but John manages to gain control for a moment, just enough for Sam to grab the Colt. He is now faced with a dilemma: if he kills the demon, he will also kill his father. The demon knows this and laughs at the decision Sam must make, but Sam shoots his father --- in the leg. The shock jolts the possession for a moment and John begs Sam to shoot him, as the demon is still within him. Sam hesitates though, as Dean, badly wounded, begs him not to kill their father, and in that instant the demon takes his leave.

As the Winchesters rush Dean to the hospital their father berates them for being so soft: they had a chance to kill the demon and blew it. Now they have only one bullet left. As he says this, out of nowhere a semi sideswipes the car and it goes careening off the road, turning over and over and at the last moment we see the eyes of the driver of the truck, black and possessed.

The rest, to quote the Bard, is silence...

MUSIC
Triumph: "Fight the good fight"

Joe Walsh: "Turn to stone"

Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Bad moon rising" (again)

QUESTIONS?
The most immediate one that springs to mind is, are the Winchesters dead? Obviously you'd have to say not, because this is only season one and there are seven more to go, but the way Supernatural goes, you can't really be too sure.

The "WTF??!" moment
There could be only one. I tell you, it shocked me like nobody's business when I first saw it, particularly as it takes place just as the episode, and the season, is winding down, and you're expecting a sort of exit monologue to take us into the new season. Literally, out of nowhere. That's how to end a season on a cliffhanger!

PCRs

Bobby's mean old junkyard dog is called Rumsfeld. You'd have to assume that refer to Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defence under George W Bush, and one of the architects of the Iraq war.

When Meg asks if they're really performing an exorcism, Dean snaps "Oh we’re going for it, baby – head spinning, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards. " Obviously a reference to the cult movie, "The Exorcist".


BROTHERS
Dean and Sam face one of the biggest challenges of their lives, as they fear for the safety of their dad, and wonder if he is even still alive. But he has trained them well, and they know who to go to for help. They're also wise to the tricks of the demon, evident when Dean realises his father has been possessed, and yet when it comes down to it and Sam is ready to shoot the demon by killing their father (well, he probably isn't; he hesitates) Dean is the one pleading for him not to do it. Dean also confides to John that he is concerned at just what he will do to save his family.

It's also interesting that things have almost reversed themselves. At the beginning, it was Dean who was the hunter, who wanted to chase down the demon and Sam who was reluctantly roped in, but who then became more determined after his fiancee was killed. Still, Sam has always been the one less enthusiastic about their mission. As time has gone on though, particularly as he has learned that so much of what happened back in Lawrence that night was as a direct result of the demon wanting to kidnap him, he has taken more of a personal interest in the quest. Now, as Dean worries about whether or not their father may still be alive, it's Sam who wants to finish the job while they can, and Dean for one who says "Screw the job!" For probably the first time since he took up the quest, it's not the most important thing to Dean. Reality has hit back hard, and he's having a hard time dealing with it. In some ways, he's back to being that scared little kid who couldn't shoot the Shtriga as it bent over his brother.

The demon, in John's form, baits Dean by telling him that despite everything he has done Dean is not his favourite, Sam is. This must hurt, as like I mentioned in my notes to "Home", the same thing happened when their mother's spirit appeared: she fussed over Sam but barely acknowledged Dean. At that time, it could be argued that Sam had nearly been killed, but then, Dean had been in danger too. Now his father (through the demon) tells him that all the years of following his orders, keeping Sam safe and hunting have been for nothing, that it's Sam who is the important one. Dean is singled out as the one most expendable, and it's him the demon turns his fury on, trying to kill him before John manages to intervene and the demon has to escape.

Dean also regresses a little here: we see him almost act as a child, as he interrogates Meg and she insists their father is dead, and he is only short of stamping his foot and covering his ears while shouting "HE'S NOT! HE'S NOT! HE'S NOT!" Whether he believes it or not the possibility scares him more than he can believe, and when they have a chance to rescue him he goes against Sam's instructions and brings the Colt, something that ends up saving his brother's life. Sam is now seen as the responsible, level-headed one and Dean the more impulsive, almost uncontrolled brother. And yet Dean is able to realise his father is possessed because he knows him well enough to realise that John would have "torn him a new one" for wasting a bullet; the demon makes a fatal mistake by brushing the incident off, and Dean knows he is not talking to his father.



WISEGUY
It's obviously a coping mechanism he uses to shield himself from the harsh realities of the world he moves through, but even so it's good to see that Dean can, even at this tense and worrying time, crack wise.

As they head into the building disguised as firemen, he quips " I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."

The ARC of the matter
And so it all comes full circle. Well, not quite. In fact, not at all. If Supernatural had been (god forbid!) cancelled after season one we would have been left with an awful lot of unanswered questions, because to be fair even at this season finale there are still only the barest hints of what's truly going on, revelations which will shock and amaze us come later seasons. The power of the Colt to kill demons is no longer in question: in "Salvation" we saw it could certainly kill a vampire, but here Dean uses it to kill one of the minor demons, yet we still don't know for sure if it could take out the "big daddy". He does appear to want it though, whether to remove the possibilty of someone using it against him or for other, as yet unguessed-at reasons, is still unclear.

The idea of possession only comes into the story now. Up till now, we've seen demons as demons, but now we're told that they are, in the main, ordinary people under the power of demonic possession and as such compelled to do the main demon's wishes. It also seems that he can command as many people as needed --- or maybe not. After all, he didn't possess the entire population of the apartments, which would surely have made Sam and Dean's job harder. Perhaps he has limitations. But he can possess people without having to be present, and this will be a problem in future days.

Until now we've learned to hate Meg, initially thinking she was just a hot chick (which she is!) and then being shown she is a cold-hearted, murdering devil, but now it's explained that there is a girl in there, being possessed by the demon. She tells the guys when she is released that she's been possessed for a year, and for most of that time she was able to look out through horror-struck eyes and see the awful things the demon possessing her did in her form. In some ways, given what she's seen, it's probably a blessing for her to die. But it's also revealed that the demon inhabiting her was one of the big demon's children, as was the other, male one, and now Dean and Sam have killed at least one (with the Colt) and if not killed the other then at least sent it screaming back down to Hell. It would appear the fight has now got personal, and can only get bloodier.

Bobby tells the boys that "there's a storm comin'", echoing the words of Sarah Connor at the end of the first "Terminator" movie, and he has seen more possessions this year than any other. He knows something big is on the horizon, and there are more demons walking the earth than ever before. Sam is obviously a part of whatever plan the demon has in mind, he and the other children who have been selected, but what this is will have to wait for further seasons. Again, we see Sam's inability to move things by the power of his mind; the only time in fact he has managed this is the once, in "Nightmares". Perhaps the power was temporary, a once-off that will not be repeated? The demon certainly seems confident in his impotence, jeering him and daring him to take the gun by telekinesis, which of course Sam cannot.

The ending is of course dramatic and powerful, unexpected and heart-stopping, and we can only wait to see how, if and how many of the Winchesters have survived.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Some final notes on the first season

So we've seen, as I mentioned in the introduction to this show, that Supernatural had its beginnings in a fine pilot which then kind of devolved into a monster-of-the-week sort of show, but soon began to lay down and then gather in strands of a tapestry that will go together to form one of the most ambitious and successful horror-based dramas on television. The relationship of the two brothers is of course key, and forms the lodestone that drives them on to their next quest, and the intermittent appearances by their father, culminating in them meeting back up and he almost being killed, add extra tension and suspense to the show.

The writers are certainly not ones to throw all their ideas at your in the first season, and like that guy doling out the gruel in "Oliver Twist", hints, facts, clues and snippets are doled out with almost miserly effect, makign us hungry and shouting "We want more!" But we have to wait. This is how good drama is created of course: the old maxim "always leave 'em wanting more" works very well for a show of this nature, and we can't wait now to see what happens in season two. What seems certain is that more people will die, more will be possessed and slowly, at times agonisingly slowly, the true story arc will begin to take shape and make itself known.

If you haven't been drawn in to Supernatural by now, I'd be very surprised. If you have, hang on, because it's about to kick into third gear. Strap yourself in and hold on, cause this is going to be some wild ride!

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

How do you follow an act like the Simpsons? I mean, the show that redefined animated comedy, opened "cartoons" up to adults and even forced some new words into the dictionary (D'oh!), surely becoming the most popular animated show of all time? So when Fox approached creator Matt Groening in the mid-nineties for a new show to bolster up sliding ratings for the later seasons of the Simpsons, he had to think hard about it. No point in doing a Seth MacFarlane, taking your main show and simply transposing all the characters, with the tiniest of amendments and tweaks (look, Stan IS Joe, all right? He's the same guy and nobody is going to tell me otherwise!) and calling it a new show. So this show would have to be completely different, and yet retain the quirky, off-kilter sense of humour that Groening and the Simpsons had become famous for.

Step one then in disassociating it, or at least distinguishing it from the flagship show: set it in the future. A thousand years, in fact. Step two: no family. Well, other than the workmates, who kind of fucntion as a generic family, the same way people who work too much and spend too much time with their colleagues see them as their family. But no lazy, craxy father. No well-meaning mother. No mad, uncontrollable kids. And definitely, no dog. Or cat. Meh, maybe a lobster.

Futurama concerns the exploits of Philip J Fry, (who for several seasons was known only as Fry) a delivery boy who gets accidentally trapped in a cryogenic chamber and ends up being thawed out a thousand years later. Only seconds have passed for him, but the world he has known is gone forever. Earth is a far different place. Trying to find his way in this futuristic world, he looks up his only relative, his great-great-great-something-grandnephew, who is running a delivery company, and joins the crew. Here he meets the strange characters who work for his nephew, the hundred-odd-year-old Professor Hubert Farnsworth, and tries to adjust to the new world he is basically now trapped in.

Futurama successfully melds science-fiction tropes with comedy and also with PCRs (Pop Culture References, for those of you not reading my "Supernatural" writeups) that give the show a sharp, witty and knowing feel. Much of the technology is, as you would expect, not explained, but most of it sounds if not feasible at least possible. Fry then embarks upon many adventures, some of the space type, some more close to home, but always hilarious. Well, almost always.

Having been cancelled in its fifth season and then renewed, Futurama is not above taking sidelong pot-shots at Fox, who quickly realised there was a bigger market for the show than they had thought, based on DVD sales (sound familiar? They never learn), and at one point in an episode the network executives are portrayed as cold but stupid robots. Take that, Fox! Futurama has so far run for eight seasons, but news came through recently that Fox have again cancelled it. Whether it comes back again from the dead is open to question, though you would certainly expect at the least some straight-to-DVD movies, as happened after the original cancellation.

CAST AND CHARACTERS
Philip J. Fry, voiced by Billy West

Fry is a pizza delivery boy from the twentieth century, who on delivering a pizza to Applied Cryogenics on New Year's Eve 1999 falls into a cryo tube and is preserved in suspended animation for a thousand years. On emerging he realises (slowly) what has happened and tries his best to build a new life for himself in the future. Sadly, as a pizza boy he was a failure and that failure has carried through with him to the future. Coming in at the lowest level in Planet Express, the cargo company owned by his only descendant, he is basically a delivery boy again, and not great at his job. He soon falls for Leela, the one-eyed alien girl, but she is not interested in him. He also befriends Bender, the antisocial robot on the crew, and the two become comrades in arms, though Bender treats Fry most of the time more like a pet.

Turrange Leela (usually just Leela), voiced by Katey Sagal

A cyclopean alien with purple hair, Leela is the pilot and captain of the Planet Express Ship, and Fry falls instantly in love with her. His love, however, is not reciprocated, as he is basically a slob and Leela wants better for herself. They do form a friendship though, which progresses to a kind of relationship. Leela is the smart one on the crew, always ready with a sharp retort to Fry, or Bender's reluctance to do their jobs, and dedicated to her own position.

Bender Bending Rodriguez (usually just Bender), voiced by John DiMaggio

Fry meets Bender when the robot is trying to use a suicide booth, but the boy from the past convinces the robot there is something to live for, and they both gain employment at Planet Express, though truth to tell Bender does as little work as possible. Like all robots, Bender runs on alcohol, with the result that he drinks a lot, and also smokes cigars. He has contempt for just about everyone and everything, human alien or robot, and is also an inveterate thief. He enjoys living life on the edge, and is always one for the ladies.

Professor Hubert Farnsworth, voiced by Billy West

One hundred and sixty years old, Professor Farnsworth makes Mister Burns look like a callow teenager, and is Fry's only living relative. He runs the Planet Express Company to fund his increasingly eccentric experiments, and is happy to provide Fry and Bender with jobs, as he is not exactly inundated with applications for the positions, Planet Express servicing some of the more dangerous sectors of space.

Doctor John A. Zoidberg (usually just Zoidberg), voiced by Billy West

A lobster-like alien, Zoidberg is a doctor but knows little about humans, or indeed anything. He is always short of food, due to being poor, and despite being Farnsworth's best friend is treated like dirt, not just by him but by everyone. He is the staff physician at Planet Express, probably because he works for fish heads and whatever scraps the professor tosses to him.

Hermes Conrad, voiced by Phil Lamarr

Hermes is the accountant of the company. A strict bureaucrat, he likes nothing more than a full in-tray and a big rubber stamp. Jamaican by descent, he does not take part in the deliveries but audits everything, trying to save money and cut corners anywhere he can. If he could ration the crew's oxygen, or cut it out altogether as an "unnecessary expense", he would.

Amy Wong, voiced by Lauren Tom
An intern at the company, Amy's parents are the richest people on Mars. They basically own the planet. Amy is gaining work experience at Planet Express, and does much to show Fry what's cool and in here in the thirtieth century.

As with most other shows, there are other characters, some of whom become semi-regular, some just popping in and out, and as these are introduced I'll talk about them. But for now, this is the main character list.

And so, if for some weird reason you haven't seen this amazing series, lock the bar and make sure it's securely in place before the ride begins, as the management will not be held responsible for patrons ejected from the cars and catapulted into space during the ride.

Welcome to the world of tomorrow!

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

1.5: "The rose bed memoirs"

Released from prison after serving a sentence for embezzlement, a disgraced former MP meets with Harry and Tessa to advise them he has written his memoirs while in prison. These memoirs could be very damaging to the government, which is Hampton Wilder's revenge on those for whom he took the fall, accepting the charge of embezzlement so as to avoid more serious charges of treason, when he was involved in illegal arms deals with known enemies of Britain. He has, however, become a born-again Christian while in prison and regrets writing the thing, but tells Harry and Tessa that when he went to get it from its hiding place it was gone. "This may come as a surprise to you", he tells Harry archly, "but prison is full of thieves!" Now it's a race to find and destroy the book, before it can either be made public or used as a political bargaining or blackmailing tool.

He tells them that it's buried in a rose bed in the prison grounds, but when they dig something out they find no memoirs, and Tessa is annoyed that they have been duped. Tom gets home to find himself face-to-face with Ellie's ex-husband, who not surprisingly takes an instant dislike to him and begins having him checked out. When he has left, Ellie tells Tom that she and Maisie are moving. Tom says it's not safe: now that she's "linked" with him she may be in danger, but Ellie is not impressed and is more angry than anything else. When the MP whom the memoirs would affect the worst, Richard Maynard, comes to Thames House to help to supply them with a full inventory of weapons sales, it transpires that Tessa knows him better than most, and tries to warn him he is being investigated.

Lernov, a Russian agent in London, confirms that Maynard is who the memoirs say he is, that he's been selling illegal arms to an arab state funded by the Russians, but when Tessa meets him (whether or not this meeting is sanctioned or based on her own personal feelings for the man is not mentioned) he acts all innocent. Meanwhile Ellie's ex is picked up by MI5; his enquiries have set alarm bells ringing and he's in a whole heap of trouble. Harry worries that Lernov may be lying about Maynard, but Tom says that the Russian said he had "powerful friends" and Harry sees the dark, interfering hand of MI6 in this. In point of fact, a scene or two ago we've seen Jools Siviter indeed meeting with Lernov, and he relates a tale that tells us he has power over the Russian spy, having saved him from scandal and perhaps worse in the past.

Tom and Harry go to meet Jools --- at the opera, how wonderfully decadent! --- and he admits that MI6 have the memoirs. They had an agent inside the prison who dug up the rose bed where they had been hidden before Wilder could get to them. He then reveals that it was Maynard who shopped Wilder, so this whole accusation looks like one big attempt at revenge by the disgraced MP. Zoe, burdened by the guilt of the secret she now shares with Tessa, tells Danny about it, and he tells her she has to go to Harry. Lernov is murdered as a traitor, and Harry starts wondering how such a thing could have happened in so short a space of time since they found out that he had fingered Maynard. Jools is not happy about it either, accusing Harry of disloyalty in the ranks. He relents and hands over the memoirs which Harry then has his people read for inaccuracies, errors or indeed consistencies. Harry believes Jools is setting MI5 up, but can't work out how.

Tom goes to meet Maynard, to put the fear of God into him. He points out that it's very convenient that the one person who could implicate the MP in illegal arms deals is now dead, but Maynard continues to protest his innocence. When Tom produces a photograph that shows Lernov, Wilder and him together with the arabs, Maynard admits that Wilder had asked him to keep quiet about an arms deal he was brokering, but that Maynard went straight to MI6 and betrayed Wilder, ending in his jailing.

The next day the memoirs are all over the papers. There's been a leak, but Harry knows it didn't come from his department. It's obvious to him now that someone in MI6 wanted rid of Maynard, and has used the memoirs to achieve that end. Harry fears MI5 will be blamed, as Jools no doubt intended when he handed over the memoirs. He's just not sure why "Six" want to dispose of Maynard. He eventually weasels it out of Jools: Maynard is a CIA asset, and with his progress through government ranks and his knowledge of the middle east he was headed for the post of foreign secretary. How could the British government have a F.O who was controlled by the CIA? And so they used the memoirs to blacken his name and engineer his resignation from the cabinet.

Family
It seems that, with the return of her ex-husband and his treatment, perhaps disappearance (we're not told but it's alluded to by her) at the hands of the Secret Service, Ellie wants nothing more to do with Tom. She has moved out, and when he calls on her to try to explain she says he is "despicable". No, she is not Daffy Duck...

Harry's world
On Hampton Wilder
Tessa: "There's a sense of ... evil about him."
Harry: "MI5 doesn't do evil. Just treachery, treason and armageddon."

About Lernov
Harry: "He works for a charity called for Hope for Chechnya, which is trying to bring food and medicine to that wretched corner of the world --- no doubt wrapped up in the odd rocket grenade launcher!"

On the subject of Maynard vs Lernov
Tom: "I admired Maynard! I thought he was a good man!"
Harry: "He is! Lernov is probably lying."
Tom: "Why?"
Harry: "It's in our nature; whichever side you work for."

Ruminating on how MI5 is used to clean up MI6's messes
Harry: "What are we on the great ship of state? The engine room? Hardly. I think we're the laundry: cleaning disgusting stains from the officers' sheets."

On his distrust of and contempt for politicians in general
Harry: "Don't brood,Tom. Politicians are conniving, wheeler-dealing scum. Don't have a fit of morals over them: they wouldn't over you."

Rivalries
Jools, as ever, sees MI5 as the children, and refers to them specifically as so. When Harry and Tom meet him at the opera he says "Glad to see someone's working late while the rest of us are at the opera!" and later on when he fumes at Harry about a traitor in MI5 Harry says that's not a very nice thing to say about his sister service. Jools' reply is thus: "Sister service? Well, my sister should be bent over and given a good spanking!"


And isn't that...?
Apart from the return of Hugh Laurie as MI6's Jools Siviter, this episode features an appearance from Tim Piggott-Smith as Hampton Wilder. Piggott-Smith is of course a well-known and respected actor, known for among others the movies "V for Vendetta", "Gangs of New York" and "Quantum of Solace".

Nicholas Farrell plays Richard Maynard. He is also a well-known actor and we will meet him again in the second part of the "House of Cards" trilogy, "To play the king". He has appeared in "Chariots of fire" as well as the recent movie "Iron Lady", and various TV shows including "New tricks", "Torchwood" and "Waking the dead".


The Shock Factor
Near the very end of the episode we learn that Tessa is not only prepared to feather her own nest by inventing imaginary agents and pocketing their fees, but that it was her who had Lernov murdered, in order to try to protect Maynard, whom she has evidenced feelings for. When he finds out what she has done, and how easily, he is totally cold to her, realising they could never have a future together. Tessa seems somewhat crushed by the fact that she risked so much, and had a man killed, all for nothing. And yet, you get the feeling that she'd do it again in a heartbeat.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Episode Two

Rather than let the story about the insider trading break right away, Urquhart decides to "let that one mature for a while" and instead tips off the press to the location in France where the PM sends his alcoholic brother for his holidays, resulting in more embarrassing headlines linked to Henry Collingridge. Against this backdrop, the party conference takes place, a chance for the candidates for the leadership to surreptitiously put their case for election as the new leader of the party, and thus the new PM. Urquhart watches them, and sees Patrick Woolton as a problem. The old adage, pick out the biggest and strongest of your enemies and kick the **** out of them, comes into play.

He orders Roger O'Neill to "offer" his assistant, Penny, to Woolton, for "research", knowing the man's sexual habits. Roger is aghast, but Urquhart has him over a barrel and both know it. He must convince Penny to allow herself be seconded to the pretender to the throne. Then Urquhart has a confidential opinion poll dropped into Mattie's hands, showing that the lack of support for the Prime Minister is gaining momentum. When her editor refuses to accept it as genuine and tells her she's been set up, she decides to track down the pollster. He reluctantly confirms that the poll is genuine, but Mattie is incensed when her editor, despite this, refuses to run the story. She hears this while at the conference and realises that as the paper is owned by someone who backs the Conservatives, they have been gagged.

Still fuming, she bumps into (literally) Charlie Collingridge at the bar, while Urquhart talks to Ben Landless, owner of her paper, about deposing Collingridge. When he realises which way the wind is blowing, Landless rescinds his order to block Mattie's story. Let the PM drown, and a new man, better suited to look after Landless's priorities, take his place. He then makes sure Penny's room is bugged so that he can record the assignation between her and Woolton, and confirms to the PM that his friend Billsboro is the man after his job.

Shortly afterwards the "big story" breaks, about the shares scandal. It's pretty much the final blow. It's believed --- even provable -- that the Prime Minister's brother had bought shares in the medical company before the news broke of their new drug and the share price rocketed, making a killing in the process. Insider trading is never looked on kindly --- as long as you're caught doing it --- and the fact that this scandal is linked to the PM is bad news for Henry Collingridge.

Urquhart offers to have Charlie moved to a safehouse, but of course has the details leaked to the press and they're in full force when the PM's brother is moved. When the Prime Minister is presented, on national television, with irrefutable proof that he seems to have been involved in the scandal, he falls apart and it's quite clearly the end. Mattie makes a play for Urquhart, while he scoffs "I'm old enough to be your father!" She replies, "Yes, that may be something to do with it."

QUOTES
Lord Billsboro (as they discuss the theme for the upcoming Conservative Party conference, "Finding the right way", and are not happy with the word "finding"): "Perhaps going the right way?"
Urquhart: "Rather implies that the party, or someone in the party is on the way out, don't you think, Teddy (Billsboro)? With the greatest respect : Going, going, gone?"

A sly dig at Billsboro, who unbeknownst to him is one of Urquhart's targets, as he feeds Mattie the false story of the advisor's intentions to challenge for the leadership.

Urquhart (to camera): "A party conference can be many things. A show of confidence. An agonising reappraisal. Or, in this case, a series of auditions by pretenders to the throne, while the lost leader withers before our eyes."

Urquhart: "Bright girls for research. Where would the House be without them?"

Roger (as he snorts cocaine): "I can kick this stuff any time I like." The perennial cry of the addict, as they try to convince themselves it's true.

Patrick Woolton: "I'm damn glad it's you that's handling this, Francis." (taking soundings as to the level of confidence in the Prime Minister and who might replace him) "There's not many men I'd trust with a job like this." He doesn't have a clue how misplaced his trust is, or how the man now smiling obsequiously across the table from him is even now orchestrating his downfall and his removal.

The Royal "We"?
In much of his narration, at least, that directed at us, the viewers, in asides to the camera, Richardson as Urquhart uses the plural noun. He says things like "We can't do that" or "We must be careful." It's a device that's carefully chosen. It could be seen as arrogance, as when Thatcher left office and declared "We are leaving Downing Street", utilising the royal pronoun favoured by monarchs. This, many thought, made it look as if she thought or believed she was the queen of England. Urquhart though, uses this "we" in order to draw in the viewer, to take him or her into dark, shadowy corners and reveal his plans, or much of them. To make the watcher an active participant in his machiaevellan schemes. It's as if he's saying, well you could have turned me in, but you never did: you're as guilty as I am. We're in this together now, up to our necks. No point whining about it now. This theme runs right through the entire series.

Here Urquhart tells us "We must not forget that he is Her Majesty's secetary of state for foreign affairs. We mustn't make the mistake of underestimating Patrick Woolton!"

Power behind the throne

To further cement the ties of trust between Mattie and her husband, Elizabeth makes perhaps the ultimate sacrifice, telling him he should sleep with her, and that she will do all she can to facilitate that happening. We assume Elizabeth loves her husband --- nothing is ever said or shown to the contrary, and they seem to have the perfect marriage --- but she realises that in order to remove any last lingering doubts about the girl, and to allow Francis to operate to his full potential, and also to draw Mattie in more and make her more dependent on, and willing to serve the interests of Urquhart, sexual intimacy is required. To her, it's not cheating, it's not adultery. It's simply necessary, something that must be done. A means to an end.

It's interesting that Urquhart is not the one who suggests --- or perhaps even thinks of --- this course of action, but his wife, who must really trust her husband implicitly to not only allow, but encourage him to enter into an affair with a girl who is much younger and prettier than her. She knows his head will not be turned; he values Mattie for her mind, but why not let him have a little fun too? In this respect, she is a most singular woman, and an extremely powerful character, central to every storyline in the series. She is the one from whom Urquart draws his strength, the one who reassures him later when he begins to lose focus and indeed belief in himself, and the one who will make many of the hard decisions that perhaps he cannot.

The user and the used

Henry Collingridge

Urquhart advances his plans to get rid of the PM, by forming an alliance with Ben Landless, who is disappointed with the hoops he's having to jump through in order to get what he wants, and also in the government's poor performance. Having supported them to the hilt, he feels he has backed the wrong horse, but Urquhart tells him it's not the horse but the jockey that's the problem. Replace the rider with someone else and that horse will tear all the way to the finish line, leaving the competition trailing in his dust. So Landless releases the ban on the story Mattie had submitted, showing how badly the confidence in the Prime Minister has slid, and Urquhart inches closer to his goal. He tells Landless that he should throw his support behind Woolton, but he has plans for him too.

Urquhart's plans are so carefully laid, and he covers his tracks so well that when things begin to spiral out of control it is to he that Collingridge turns, rather than his usual faithful advisor. Doubt has been placed in his mind about Teddy Billsboro's loyalty, and he foolishly believes that Urquhart is the only man he can now trust, playing directly into the hands of his assassin.

Charles Collingridge

Knowing all too well the "weaknesses" of the PM's brother, Urquhart sees him as the perfect patsy. He sets up the accomodation address in his name (well, has Roger do it) and lodges the money, buying the shares and having a statement sent to the address, all of which implicates both Collingridge brothers. He then tells Henry that he can have Charlie moved to a safe house, but makes sure the press are anonymously notified, to put further pressure on the PM.

Patrick Woolton

Tying two "puppets" together in the one scheme, Urquhart uses his power over Roger O'Neill to pressure him into asking Penny to sleep with Woolton, while making sure the room is bugged, so that he now has something to use against him, when the opportunity presents itself. He's certainly playing the long game, and as all of this plays out he smiles and assures Woolton that, when the time comes, should he declare, then he, Urquhart, will support him.

The Puppet Master

Playing into Landless's dissatisfaction with the government and the problems it's causing his business empire expanding, Urquhart arranges for the media magnate to switch allegiances, or rather, back Patrick Woolton against Henry Collingridge, little realising he is actually backing Urquhart himself, who has smiled at the prospect of becoming PM but hinted that should such a thing happen, Landless would not lose by it. Indeed, by helping him out, he would have a friend in the current Chief Whip.

Notable scenes
As Urquhart delivers the "terrible news" about Billsboro to the Prime Minister, he sympathises with him and Collingridge says, without looking at him, "You're a good man, Francis." Urquhart pats his shoulder and retires, his expression that of a vampire that sense his prey is almost in reach, and wait to administer the killing blow. He's only short of a cape and fangs to complete the picture.

Again, as he consoles Collingridge and the man declares "We're not finished yet", Urquhart raises his eyes to camera in a knowing smile; he knows the man is practically dead and buried, and the sweetest part is, the one upon whom the PM is lavishing such praise and thanks is the very man who has dug that grave and is now forcing him into it. But he is unable to see that, and thinks Urquhart one of his staunchest allies, one of the few men he can still trust.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Title: Downfall (Der Untergang)
Year: 2004
Genre: War/Historical
Starring: Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler
Alexandra Maria Lara as Traudl Junge
Ulrich Matthes as Josef Goebbels
Corinna Harfouch as Magda Goebbels
Julianne Kohler as Eva Braun
Heino Ferch as Albert Speer
Ulrich Noethen as Heinrich Himmler
Thomas Thieme as Martin Bormann
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Writer: Bernd Eichinger

There are, of course, as everyone knows, hundreds, maybe thousands, or more, war films. This is not surprising, when you consider that the Second World War was over seventy years ago now, and there has been a steady stream of directors, writers and actors who either took part in the greatest war the world has ever known, or wish to pay tribute to those who did. It was a massive world event, and it's only right it should be commemorated on film, both to praise the courage of those who fought and died for our freedom and to warn future generations against another such conflict.

But the vast majority of these films have, not surprisingly, looked at the war from teh side of the Allies. You would expect that: the Allies won, after all, and who doesn't like to celebrate a victory, particularly one which, ostensibly, freed the world from tyranny. War movies, on the other hand, seen from the perspective of the Germans appear to be few and far between. Again, this is no surprise: Germany both started and lost the war, and at its conclusion had to carry the stigma of being on the losing side. In post-war Europe, Germans were seen as much as pariahs as Jews were in pre-war and wartime Germany. So they weren't exactly going to be queuing up to tell their side of the story.

Not that there would be much to tell. As long as you stick to history and don't try to distort it, there's not a lot of good to be seen from the German side. Naturally, as in any war, there were good men and women on both sides, ordinary people who fought for a cause they believed in. These people were generally not terribly politically motivated: they fought for their country and their family, and their honour, and they believed in what they were struggling for. Most may not have known about the atrocities being committed in their name, though it must be supposed some if not all must have had some idea of what was going on. But these were not politicians, or SS guards, or Gestapo officers. These were just men (mostly) who hoped to live to the next day, to return one day to see the families they had left behind. They were men who shivered in the freezing Russian winter, swatted at the flies and sweated in the baking sun of the African desert, or flew in bombers or fighters over England or Europe, anxious to complete the mission and get home safely.

While it is not possible to over romanticise these people, films like "Enemy at the gates" and "Das boot" do a good job of showing us that not all Germans were ravening, evil Nazis who wanted to take over the world and considered certain races subhuman. Wars are not won --- or lost --- by mad genius and canny commanders alone. Without the ordinary footsoldiers to do their bidding such men would languish in dark rooms, plotting their schemes but never able to put them into practice. The only casualties would in all likelihood be plastic or tin soldiers. Without willing manpower, wars would never occur. More's the pity, there's always willing manpower.

Now, I could not say with any degree of certainty that this is the best of the German-made war movies I've ever seen, as I've seen very little; a handful at best. But of the ones I've seen it is far and away the jewel in the crown, and I was extremely impressed by it. The fact that it runs for over three hours, is in black and white and subtitled makes the fact I not only lasted through it, but was disappointed when it was over, even more special. I'm not a great one for subtitled movies, though you'll see a few crop up in this journal from time to time.

So, the movie. Well, as I say it's a long one --- over three hours in some cuts --- and of course most of the story will be known by anyone who knows anything about World War II, so I'll be briefly skipping over the plot, otherwise we'll be here all night. Essentially, the movie opens in November of 1942, with the Reich three years away from defeat but at the moment the power in Europe, indeed the world, though by now the Japanese are no doubt making their presence felt on the other side of the world. Hitler is looking for a secretary, and has called five of the best to his retreat. He talks to them all briefly before selecting Traudl Humps, whom he then engages to take his dictation. The film is told as part of her recollections, her memoirs if you will.

At this late stage of his wartime career, with the debacle of Stalingrad behind him and the Battle of Britain lost, with his abortive Russian campaign in tatters, Hitler looks old and tired, but to the women he appears benign. More that that: to German women (and men) he is no less than a god, a feareless leader, the man who has promised to return them to their former glory, and despite the setbacks thus far most have still great confidence in der Fuhrer.

The narrative switches two and half years on. It is now April 1945, and even as the Allies, led by the Red Army, close in on Berlin preparations are under way for Hitler's 56th birthday. He, however, is more angry to find how close the enemy is to his capital; apparently he was unaware they had advanced this far. Himmler wishes him to leave the city, afraid that if he stays, when Berlin falls there will be no opportunity to sue for peace. All ministries are abandoning the city, burning or otherwise destroying their files, but Hitler refuses to leave, saying he's tired. Himmler decides to contact the Allies, believing his Fuhrer doomed and seeing his own rise to power, even if it's only at the sufferance of the soon to be victorious Allies.

Hitler is not about to admit defeat, ordering armies that are ten times smaller than their Russian enemies into battle, even though his generals ask how it is supposed to be done, and know the war is lost. Goebbels, the propaganda minister, ever the politician, says that the Americans will side with them against the Russians. Hitler refuses to allow the evacuation of the old and the wounded, the women and children. He wants to pull everyone down with him into his own personal Gottedamerung; he believes the German people have failed him. Their will has not been strong enough, their faith in him has deserted them and they have become weak. They deserve to die. Everyone deserves to die.

His generals begin to discuss what is to be done. The Fuhrer is losing --- has lost --- touch with reality, and everybody now wants to do anything they can to save their own necks. Even ending up in an Allied prison has to be a better choice than dying pointlessly here in the bunker, or out in the streets of the rapidly-collapsing centre of the Reich. Traudl Humps berates herself for taking the job as Hitler's secretary, since this has now quite possibly made her a target, more than just a German girl. Eva Braun, determined to deny reality as much as Hitler, declares they will go upstairs and have a party, and while Berlin shakes to the explosions of artillery shells and plaster falls from the ceilings, the lights going off then on again, she immerses herself in her own personal fantasy, pretending that what is going on outside is not happening, probably because to face such a solid fact is to court insanity, or at least, a different type of insanity. But when a shell hits the room and they are all driven back underground like rats scurrying back to their sewer, reality isn't long about establishing itself.

SS Doctor Schenke, searching for medical supplies to be brought to the bunker, finds a hospital wherein there are only corpses and abandoned patients; everyone else, including doctors and nurses, have fled. Hitler continues to orchestrate phantom strategies, but when he is told one of the generals, whose attack was central to his plan, could not do so, he flies into a rage. He does not seem to be able to grasp the fact that the general did not disobey orders: he failed to attack because it was impossible for him to. His force was outnumbered and in reality, the only strategy the Nazis have now is defence, and even that is a poor possibility. Any talk of attack, turning the tide, surprise offensives, is pure madness.

From outside his office everyone can now hear as Hitler gives vent to his fury, talking about executing his generals, how everyone is against him, and it's quite clear now that he has passed beyond the limits of denial and into total, dumb, unreasoning and illogical insanity. He is almost foaming at the mouth, blaming everyone else for his gargantuan failure to win the war, and there is a light in his eyes like the fires of hell. Women outside cry, men shake their heads as they finally realise and accept the terrible, inescapable truth, that their Fuhrer, the man they have looked up to for the last seven years or more, the man who was to have put Germany back on its feet and who would lead them to a glorious new dawn, is gone, and in his place is a rabid lunatic who is determined to take them all down with him when the city burns and the Russians arrive to lay waste to everything.

Magda Goebbels and their children arrive at the bunker. The parents have made a suicide pact, and it includes slaying their five children. Hitler has since slid back into his fantasy world, telling Keitel that they must rebuild the Reich. He rages at a telegram from Goerring (who is never seen in the movie; odd, as he was one of the pivotal figures of the Nazi movement and second-in-command to Hitler himself) where the Reichsmarshall asks for permission to take over the reins of power. Hitler considers it treason of course, and lays the blame for everything that has gone wrong at his feet. He declars Goerring is to be stripped immediately of all his power, and should Hitler not survive the war he is to be executed as a traitor.

Speer comes back to the bunker, but he has not come to die with Hitler; he has come to say goodbye to the Fuhrer. He calls in on Magda, trying to get her to see the selfishness and pointlessness of killing her children, but she truly believes a world without the Nazi party is not one she wants them growing up in. He goes then to see Hitler, pleading for mercy for the German people, but Hitler does not care about the people. He actually wants them all to die, as he considers them unworthy. Speer then admits that he has disobeyed the "scorched earth" orders Hitler had given, to destroy everything that stood, in order that some part of Germany have some hope of survival and rebirth. The Fuhrer hardly seems to hear him; he does not rage, he does not condemn, he does not demand reasons. He is an old man now; tired, spent, defeated. He waits for death, even as his city, his country, waits for the final blow as the Allied forces smash into the city, tasting victory.

Even so he appoints another head of the Luftwaffe, now that he has dismissed, in his absence, Goerring and branded him a traitor. He still believes somewhere in his addled mind that the German air force can be rebuilt, that it will be afforded the chance to be resurrected. But when word comes through of Himmler's attempts to surrender in the name of the Nazis, he is infuriated. The one man who he had always considered loyal, a kindred spirit, turns out to be a traitor? He can't believe it, and another little chip is knocked off his sanity. So much so that he tells his inner circle that he has decoyed the enemy into attacking Berlin, and that even now his generals are massing in the north and the south, waiting to come in in a pincer movement and surround the Allies, winning the day for Germany and delivering the crushing blow that will both liberate Berlin and bring about the final victory for the Nazis in the war.

Of course, no such attack is beng mounted. His generals are scattered far and wide, their power completely depleted and the best they can hope for is to survive long enough to escape, surrender or die with their armies. There will be no salvation for Berlin, no last cavalry charge, no incredible escape from the fate that is now bearing down upon it. Hitler's armies are gone, his city is doomed and his rapidly-unravelling sanity cannot cope with this, so he makes himself believe that it is all part of his plan, and that he will in the end, through brilliant strategy, save the day.

Like the Roman Empire in Caligula's day, Berlin has descended into an anarchy of hedonism. Those who realise they cannot get out of the city have decided to throw all inhibition to the wind, and enjoy their last hours before the Russians arrive. Booze, drugs, sex: it's all available to those who want it, and Berlin looks on as her denizens, her children, forget her and leave her to her own devices; as she prepares for rape and destruction, they have all essentially abandoned her.

Traudl Junge (now married) is called to type up Hitler's will, and the Fuhrer marries Eva Braun. It's interesting to note that Hitler sees himself as above his own law, as when he is asked --- as he has set down must be asked under the racial law --- to prove he is of Aryan descent before getting married, he shrugs off the question irritably. He is the Fuhrer; the law does not apply to him. Braun marries Hitler, even though he has just had her brother-in-law executed as a traitor, and knowing their marriage will only last a few hours at best. He makes arrangements to have his body and hers burned after their mutual suicide, fearing that the Russians would display his corpse if they were to get their hands on it, as surely they would. He even has his own dog put down, unwilling to allow the animal live on after he has died. Eva Braun, now Eva Hitler, makes Traudl Junge promise her that she will try to get out of Berlin before it is overrun, and she agrees.

Frau Goebbels makes a desperate, impassioned plea to the Fuhrer at the end, trying to make him change his mind, leave Berlin instead of take his own life, but there is a weary finality in Hitler's eyes which is not mirrored in the almost dancing madness that shows in the eyes of his new wife. With a crazy wide smile on her lips, Frau Braun looks almost eager to die, as if this will accord her some great honour, rather than seal her fate as one of the most hated and perhaps pitied, certainly ridiculed, women in history. Soon it is done, and the bodies of the man who would be ruler of the world and his wife of a few hours are taken outside and burned, as per his last orders.

Out in the burning, blasted streets a weird sort of symmetry holds court: loyal Nazis arrest and hang people they see as cowards or traitors, despite the death of their leader, while weaving through these death parties, revellers and drunks sway and totter their way towards oblivion, insensate to what is going on around them. If there is a Hell, Berlin must come close to being that place at this moment. Magda Goebbels has a Nazi doctor administer a sedative to her children; her chilling "Goodnight children" are the last words the children will ever hear, for once they are asleep she returns with poison capsules for them all. It's only as the last is administered that she allows herself a brief moment of weakness, sliding down the wall outside their dormitory. But when her husband tries to comfort her she shakes off his hand angrily. It seems that she blames him for things having come to this pass. Though she idolised and loved Hitler, perhaps now she wonders what their life might have been like had they never allied with him?

Frau Junge finally decides the time has come to make her move, and begins preparations to leave the city. Disguised as an ordinary German footsoldier she joins the exodus of the thousands of others trying to make it out of doomed Berlin. In the company of a young boy, she manages to slip away, as Berlin burns behind her, a stark testament to one man's twisted vision of the world, and what he was willing to do to make it come about.

And to the people who followed, obeyed, fought and died for him.

And perhaps worst of all, the people who did nothing while evil was perpetrated in their name. Those who turned away, closed the curtains when the knock came next door, when the jackboot kicked in the door, stopped their ears to the screams and the cries, and tried not to see the dark, thick plumes hanging daily over places like Dachau and Auschwitz. The people who tried to tell themselves all was normal, or that there was nothing they could do, and who forgot the old adage to their cost: for evil to triumph, it is enough that good men --- and women --- do nothing.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Notes:
The incredible arrogance of the Nazis has been proven down through history, most keenly during the Nuremberg trials, where even when faced with their awful, heinous deeds, few if any admitted their guilt; they all, or almost all, believed they had done the right thing, what was required of them, what was necessary. Here, Heinrich Himmler, leader of the feared SS, clings to these ideals when he talks to a subordinate and confesses he is concerned about meeting General Eisenhower: "Should I shake his hand or give the Nazi salute?" he wonders. The fact that he could even expect to be entertained by the leader of the Allies, never mind actually shake his hand, speaks volumes not only about Himmler, but about the leadership of the Reich in general. They lived, mostly, in their own world and nothing would shake them out of their fantasy. Reality was not in vogue in Nazi Germany if it did not conform to the standards they had set down.

Hitler, of course, is the most tragicomic example of this. As he considers the destruction of his beloved Berlin, he comments to Albert Speer that at least it will be easier to rebuild once the city has been reduced to rubble. He believes a new Berlin will rise out of the ashes of the old, and rather like the emperor Nero in Ancient Rome, convinces himself that the old must be swept away for this to happen.

There's a bitterly touching scene near the beginning of the film where a father is trying to convince his son, who has joined the defence of the city with others barely past childhood, to come home. He outlines the pointlessness of dying for a city which is doomed, a war which is lost, but his son calls him a coward and runs from him. In an epilogue to this, we later see a young girl, who had been with the group, watch her friends take flight as they are overrun. Handing her gun to her commander, she asks him to shoot her, which he does. Having done so, the officer frets for a moment, quite obviously unsure what to do now. In the end, he shoots himself. In that one little scene is encapsulated the complete insanity, and the rabid patriotism of the Nazi party. They would rather die than surrender. Of course, in the girl's case she must have feared rape from the oncoming Russians, but even so, she preferred to die (with honour!) than surrender or try to escape.

Another bitter, though in no way touching scene is when Dr. Schenke come across a small group of soldiers --- Griefkommando --- who have been tasked with hunting down any traitors, anyone who tries to get out of the city. The officer in charge has two old men up against the wall, and despite Schenke's attempts to stop him, kills both men. He clearly enjoys his work, calling the men traitors but it's obvious that he doesn't really care: he's just a thug who is happy to have a chance to dominate someone and kill anyone he likes. Goebbels, meanwhile, is about to take the coward's way out. While Himmler actually believes he can broker a peace deal with the US Army, the propaganda minister knows the game is up, and he can only look forward to being hanged if captured. He has done enough in the war to merit that penalty twenty times over. So he has decided to take his own life, and in an insane suicide pact his wife will also die, after they have poisoned their children.

It's almost beyond belief to watch the doting father and the proud mother present their five children to Hitler, knowing that in a few short hours they will all be dead. Frau Goebbels turns out to be as cold and unfeeling as her husband; which is not to say that she does not love her children, for any mother would of course. But she truly and deeply believes that a Germany without the Fuhrer is not a place she wants her children to grow up in, so she convinces herself that she is performing an act of mercy. Hitler discusses suicide, too, with Eva Braun, and tells her shooting herself in the mouth is the quickest way, but she says she wants to have a nice corpse, so will take poison. Like children asking for sweets, Frau Junge (previously Humps) and Gerda both request a capsule, and Hitler, like an old grandfather doling out treats to his favourite nieces, obliges.

It's debatable whether, as he sits with the children around him, the youngest on his knee, and they sing to him, Hitler realises they are to be killed. I don't know if he even knows his propaganda minister is considering suicide. But if he does, he presents a forlorn figure as he watches what he must surely consider the flower of Germanic youth crowd around him, and knowing he is to die soon himself, must wonder how they will fare in the new Germany he has left them, this blighted, scorched, blackened thing which he must barely recognise as his beloved fatherland?

The moment when Frau Junge realises the full gravity of what is happening, the hopelessness of their situation is when she is told by Speer that "He (Hitler) needs nobody for what awaits him, least of all you", as he counsels her to get out of the city. She responds by pointing out that the Goebbels are staying, and have brought their children. A sad look and a nod is all it takes to explain to her why this is so, and even in the depths of this despair, she cannot bring herself to believe that any parents would willingly sacrifice their children in this way. Perhaps now she realises the depth of the fanatical devotion to the Fuhrer which remains in some quarters, though not many, and how far those who still follow him are willing to go to prove their loyalty, and evade justice.

QUOTES
Hitler: "In a war such as this one, there are no civilians".

Hitler (to Peter, a boy who has fought in the defence of Berlin; he can't be more than ten, twelve years old, if that): "I wish my generals were as brave as you". He of course means naive; there is little bravery lacking in the generals who command Hitler's military, but unlike Peter, they understand the futility of fighting and dying for a lost cause. In this scene, Hitler does that famous "pinching the cheek" of the boy that we've all seen in the newsreels on hundreds of documentaries about World War II: nice touch, I feel.

Traudl Junge: "I can't go; where would I go? My parents and all my friends warned me: don't get involved with the Nazis." Interesting turnaround: when we see Fraulein Humps (before she is married and changes her name to Junge) in 1942 she is delighted to have landed such a plum assignment, one of the highest and most coveted positions surely that a German woman could expect to rise to. But now, as it all comes tumbling down, literally, around her ears, she whines about making the wrong choice. She fears now that if she makes a run for it and is captured, she won't just be another German woman to be raped; she'll be Hitler's secretary, possibly an important prisoner. She may be interrogated, tortured, imprisoned. Even executed. Though she does not relish sitting in the Berlin bunker, listening to the sounds of the approaching artillery and waiting for the end, it is still preferable to taking her chances out in the wartorn streets.

Hitler: "If the war is lost, what does it matter if the people are lost too? The primary necessities of life of the German people aren't relevant, right now. On the contrary, we'd best destroy them ourselves. Our people turned out weak, and according to the laws of nature they should die out." Far from being the saviour of his people, Hitler has turned out to be their doom, but now that they are doomed it quickly becomes apparent that he only cared for the German people as long as he could use them, as long as he could push forward his plans and glorify himelf off their backs. Now that his dreams have all come crashing down, he blames them for not being strong, not being the people he imagined them to be, and sees the imminent defeat of his armies as their fault. As far as he's concerned, none of them deserve life. He sees them as nothing; mere pawns in his game and now that the game has been lost he is prepared to throw them into the fire rather than try to save any.

Hitler: "What remains after this battle is only the inferior. The superior will have fallen." What a fallacy! How could a superior force fall to an inferior one (well, David and Goliath, yes, but generally) and if the "superior" falls, then surely it can no longer be considered as such? Rather, Hitler should be admitting he has been beaten by a superior force --- superior in numbers, in strategy, in will --- and accept that his army, despite what he earnestly believes or believed, is the inferior one. There is no other conclusion that can be drawn. But Hitler refuses to see this, and sulks like a child who has suddenly discovered he is after all not the best ball player, or runner, or fighter.

Traudl Junge: "It's all so unreal. It's like a dream you can't get out of." Indeed it is. As Berlin shudders to the approach of the Red Army, as the Reich that was supposed to last a thousand years crumbles in less than seven, as Hitler's final hours leak away and his generals begin to desert him, Eva Braun and her cohorts determinedly, defiantly dance as if nothing was wrong, as if the music and the swaying and the singing can keep at bay the dread spectre that is even now placing collossal dark footprints in her beloved city, tearing it apart like a matchstick toy. It certainly does seem unreal. But it is very real, and the truth has finally come looking, like a landlord with an eviction notice, for Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Officer: "The Fuhrer was very impressed with your report. He has placed you in command of the defence of Berlin."
General Weidling: "I'd preferred if he had executed me!"

Hitler: "I never went to the academy. But I conquered all of Europe on my own!" Well, that's not strictly true, is it? Hitler gave the orders, made the plans, was the leading light and figurehead of the Nazi movement, but it was his generals, like Rommel and Keitel, and the ordinary soldiery of the Wehrmact that conquered Europe for him. His was the masterplan for the Master Race, but it was simple, honest, courageous if misguided men who brought about that plan, who fought and killed and died for his ideal, who made his dark vision a reality. Hitler personally never lifted a finger in the war against the enemy. He never shot a soldier, drove a tank or flew in a Messerschmidt escorting a Heinkel III on a bombing run over London. He never ran across fields or ducked behind bushes, watched his comrades die in his arms or heard them calling for their mothers at the end. He never even laughed with them as they pushed the British back to Dunkirk and kicked them out of Europe. Like most generals, most commanders-in-chief, he was safe in his headquarters when the blood was running in the streets and the tank tracks were crushing his opponents. Like most people in command during war, he has no physical blood on his hands, though in reality the blood of millions of men, women and children coat his shaking hands like glue that will not come off.

Brigadefuhrer Mohnke: "Your Volksturm are easy prey for the Russians. They have neither combat experience nor good weapons."
Goebbels: "Their unconditional belief in the final victory makes up for that."
Mohnke: "Herr Minister, without weapons these men can't fight.Their deaths will be pointless."
Goebbels: "I don't pity them. Do you hear me, I don't pity them! These people called this upon themselves. We didn't force them; the people gave us a mandate. And now they're paying for it."

It's clear from this exchange that Goebbels subscibes to Hitler's belief that the German people asked for this by allowing the Nazi party into power, and that now that it's all crumbling they deserve their fate. He doesn't care about the Volksturm, the regiments hastily cobbled together and made up of mostly old men and young boys in a final, desperate attempt to defend the city. They are merely a delaying tactic to hold back the Russians for as long as possible. But it must also be said that they are willingly thrown to the wolves in almost a gesture of contempt for them: cannon-fodder, no use for anything but that. Like broken toys they are thrown away and forgotten about.

Eva Braun, in a letter to her son: "Our entire ideology is going down the drain, and with it, everything that made life beautiful and worthwhile. After the Fuhrer and National Socialism, there's nothing left to live for. That's why I brought the children too. They're too good for the life that awaits them".

Speer: "Think about it. The children have a right to a future."
Magda Goebbels: "If National Socialism dies, there will be no future."

Hitler: "This so called humanity is religious drivel. Compassion is an eternal sin. To feel compassion for the weak is a betrayal of nature. The strong can only triumph if the weak are exterminated. Being loyal to this law I've never had compassion."

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018