Thursday, June 14, 2012

Blood Ties: Season 1, Episode 11: Post Partum



 
So, Coreen wants an advance (which Viki won’t give) which results in lots of passive aggressive stomping for the episode.

And we have a woman in a pool describing how she wants to be a mother until dark murky stuff is dropped in the water. Yes, it’s going to be a creepy supernatural pregnancy episode – it’s a trope that rises over and over again. This becomes Vicki’s case when the father turns up and describes how his wife went from talking to the foetus to conversing with it. Which lead to her being checked into the clinic full time – and he can no longer get in touch with her. She’s there of her own free will, but he thinks she’s fallen into the grip of a fertility clinic cult.

So Vicki needs to go undercover and she can’t take Henry to pose as her husband because of his whole combusting in daylight thing. So she goes to see Celluci, causing his colleague to choke on her coffee with her novelly worded request. He also shows (it contains the word “holistic” this is proof that they are devious. No-one honestly uses the words “holistic” or “synergy” it’s known). Mike seems very disturbed at the idea of Vicki being lovey and sweet – which amuses me immensely

Undercover they go and check Vicki into the clinic for a month. Which is already suspicious considering how quickly and easily they took them as patients. This involves lots of amusing awkwardness of course. Vicki gets to meet one of her fellow cultists who is so perky I’m amazed Vicki doesn’t just strangle her. She also learns that there are “Alpha Mommies” who spend all their time alone! And isn’t that just perky and super! I can’t wait for Vicki to strangle these people.

Meanwhile Coreen and Henry are interviewing previous clients (and Coreen trying to get Henry to buy her blood) of the clinic who seem fine to meet in the middle of the night. His wife has since died in an accident and it’s just him and his demo- err, child (nah, let’s be honest here, it’s a demon-child. This doesn’t like we’re going to have much of a twist here). Henry leaves quickly because he can smell blood on the demon-child that is not his. Pets are apparently missing all over the neighbourhood.

Coreen goes to check other people who went to the clinic but many won’t talk to her. Re-interviewing the father of the demon-child and finds a picture of another baby born in the clinic which looks identical to Travis (the Demon-child) when he was born (I think, anyway. Babies don’t look all that different to me anyway). And his father describes how cold and inhuman the boy became.

Henry, meanwhile is following the kiddy on his nocturnal wanderings where he meets up with another boy – who he tries to stab. Awww, kids and their games. Henry intervenes, glamours the other kid to go home and disarms little Travis. He glamours Travis not to hurt more people or animals. Though, because he’s not completely human and he is controlled by an external force and ancient darkness) and the glamour will not last.

Doing some research, Coreen discovers the concept of changelings where fae exchange their twisted children for humanity. In particular the dark elves, the swartalfs, which are nasty naughty elves. We also get some world building over vampire progeny.

Vicki gets to spend time with lots of perky people and drink really horrible herb drinks that apparently gives strange nightmares. And she puts her hand on a baby bump and sees a horrible alien-like thing moving about. She quickly spills all to Marlisse Lafoy, the woman whose husband hired her but she’s far too blissed out to listen. There is more perkiness.

Vicki reports everything to Celluci who tells her the doctor has no black marks against him. Celluci urges her to leave rather than drink more of the gunk (some of which she sends to Mohadevan to check) but she is determined to say. In her wandering she finds a woman doing the spooky “I’m ready to open my body to new life” ritual that involves her bath water turning black with nurse Jonah giving them a shoulder rub, but she is chided for spying on others and she is threatened with being kicked her off the programme for not co-operating.

This doesn’t exactly scare Vicki who does some nocturnal spying and finds how big these baths (hydrotherapy with nurse Jonah) are in the treatment schedule. She faxes some information on to Celluci. Who is having an early morning meeting with Mohadevan (who is awesome). The herbs are fertility herbs and not harmful but the concoction would make someone happy and compliant (hence the blissed outness of everyone in the place). 

Vicki encourages Marlisse to stop taking the goop and, once she comes down from her happy place she realises how wrong her baby is – especially with the odd shapes moving in her belly. She wheels to Vicki and asks her what’s happening and Vicki gets to ask her about the hydrotherapy. Vicki says all the women who got pregnant had hydrotherapy and asks Marlisse if she wants to leave – she does. But the Jonah the nurse intervenes and separates them, pushing Vicki back (really Vicki? We’ve seen you go one on one with windigos and one man manages to push you back?)

Meanwhile Celluci thinks he has found a record on the doctor – which points to him as being a GP in the 40s – and no, he does not look that old. And Coreen drops in with her swartalf research. And she shares their weakness of iron. In return Celluci points out it’s not actually the doctor who is the immortal bad guy, it’s Jonah, the creepy nurse (who has creepy tattooed on his forehead)

Time for action – Henry meets up with Vicki in the clinic to fill her in on Jonah the swartalf and needs killing with iron – but they have to act now because Marlisse is going into labour. Henry wants to go get some weapons but Vicki is determined to act now. Then someone turns on the dry ice machine and they have to fight the swartalf in the smoke (so we can’t see the shoddy costume) when Celluci arrives with a tire iron to smack it

The baby is born and Jonah tries to run off with it – but Marlisse stabs him the back with Vicki’s discarded iron weapon (while Henry holds the baby). There’s some debate on whether the baby will grow up and be evil or not – but they’re leaving it to hope and we end with an ominous look at Travis with his pointy ears. Definitely some loose ends left in this episode

 
So, it seems Celluci has been entirely forgiven for betraying them and working with a vigilante. Gah, yes I’m not impressed. Vicki has also rather forgotten her disability again.

I do think the whole “evil pregnancy” thing is an overdone trope – especially given the paucity of mothers in Urban Fantasy in general. It's like a special evil fate for women - the grimdark pregnancy