I love how these characters bounce off each other, Pete
bothering Myka, Artie bouncing in with overdramatic panic (and sending Steve on
a Ping with Claudia to distract her), hoogie envy… I’d actually like an episode
where they do nothing all day but bounce off each other.
When Kelly arrives – remember Kelly? She had a brief fling with Pete before backing out because his Artefact heavy life was too chaotic. Well she’s in trouble and she’s heavily pregnant! Pete panics about the baby being his before Kelly reminds him that they actually broke up 2 years ago and human biology doesn’t work that way. Anyway, her grandmother’s television is possessed.
Oh, no Kelly, I know you think the TV is eating your
brain, but it’s probably just the Tomorrow
People, the plots will do that to your head.
Arriving at her grandma’s house, they learn granny is
missing and it seems the TV is possessed, showing a Telenovela that has been
cancelled – and still showing it even though it’s unplugged. Also, the TV’s glowing
blue. Also, missing nana is now on the TV show. Kelly’s extra worried because
the role her nana appears to be playing is likely to get murdered at the end of
the episode. Purple goo doesn’t work – and they lose the cat into the
television screen, where he appears on the show.
Which of course means convoluted things have to happen to
drop Myka and Kelly into the TV as well, Myka becoming a maid and all becoming
grossly exaggerated, melodramatic characters. Myka and Kelly hate each other
and are in competition for Armando.
Artie arrives while Pete is completely lost in the plot
(despite not speaking Spanish) and gives Artie a letter that Kelly’s nana
received from the producers of the show. As a massive fan, they gave her a
brooch used on the set – one that Nana on screen is wearing. Probably the
Artefact – Artefacts are created with strong emotional connections and Kelly’s
Nana refuses to leave the house after the death of her husband. Either way, to
save everyone before the end of the episode they need to go in and goo the
Artefact – with the help of Harvey Korman’s cufflinks to keep their real
personalities.
Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Ok, Pete revels in the sudden
ability to speak Spanish, before looking for Artie. Of course, Pete is the much
desired Armando. And quickly finds Kelly – playing Carmen his pregnant wife –
dramatically demanding his attention and threatening castration if he cheats on
her.
Dona Fausta (Nana’s character) is attacked and her brooch
is stolen. Pete wants to focus on the brooch but the whole theft/attack on Dona
Fausta insists the whole thing is linked to a convoluted plot involving her
long lost son. Pete follows that to Myka who is stuck in character as Maribel –
she leads Pete to Artie but to learn what Artie knows he has to give up his
cufflink to access his character’s knowledge. The three of them play pass the
cufflink for a while. Before going to confront Alicia (Kelly), followed by a
gun fight and more cufflink passing when Alicia and her mother run.
There’s a big confrontation in Dona Fausta’s room with
more cufflink passing until Artie breaks the brooch – just before Armando
(Pete) and Maribel (Myka) kiss.
In the real world Pete and Kelly make their goodbyes –
with Kelly saying it could never have worked between them because Pete is so in
love with Myka.
B-Plot Anyway, Steve recruits the tense and stressing
Claudia on a Ping for a guy called Charlie whose spine just randomly broke. So
they drive in a car which Steve tells us all about. No, really, it’s the most ridiculous
product placement I’ve ever seen. Even Teen
Wolf would gape and they’re probably looking for a way to paint adverts on
Scott’s abs. Gratuitous advertising aside, they speak to Charlie’s professor
who describes Charlie as a slacker who just pulled off an awesome presentation
before being slammed into a wall by a shadow – also while Charlie had a high
blood alcohol level, the professor is sure he was sober.
At his dorm room, one of Charlie’s friends confirms that
Charlie was so drunk he could barely walk. So off to where he parties (more
camera angles on the car! Focus on the car! Ye gods how much did Toyota pay for
this?), they get out and Claudia carefully mentions the brand of the car (oh
gods, I wonder if Allison Scagliotti and Aaron Ashmore felt terribly dirty
after this episode). Upon checking some damage and some videos from a phone
they conclude that Charlie fell of a bridge – an impact very much like what
happened in his presentation. The video also happened at the same time as the
presentation – suggesting he was in 2 places at once – and he also yells in Latin
“my candle burns.” For odd reasons. Steve also spies some Greek letters so
concludes a fraternity and then flees the scene while Claudia teases him about
that
To the fraternity where they find Bryce who is unwilling
to let them in - and another pair of student clones, one studying, one
drinking. Only when the drinking clone finally passes out from the booze, a
shadow flies from him to the studying clone – and studying clone starts
throwing up from the booze.
Which means they need to infiltrate a frat party using Claudia’s boobs as a distraction and get Steve into the secret Frat basement initiation. When they pull out a double ended candle, a clear Artefact, Steve gets ready to goobag it – and is discovered. So they candle him
This splits Steve into two. His clone being a ridiculously
over the top gay stereotype. Who finds a gay student by his “flawless cuticles”.
I’m sorry did we take a trip back to freaking 90s where this kind of
stereotyping was still considered forward thinking?! I’m not even going to
recount the rest of the bullshit here because I may burst a blood vessel and it’s
way too early to start drinking (more).
They grab the candle but ridiculous stereotype Steve runs
off with it. More stereotypes and fights and it all gets resolved and the
horrendous stereotype disappears.
Back at the Warehouse, Artie confronts Claudia over the
missing Claire – yes she’s missing. An unknown person has taken her
I am going to have to throw up my hands on this one. I have
little to no experience of anything resembling a Telenovela and don’t know
whether this portrayal is a parody of a genre that positively revels in its
over the top melodrama, or is an ignorant, stereotyped view of Latin American
media. I think it’s more towards the former than anything else, from the very
little I understand. It was certainly one of the whackier episodes. But I think
there was also a sense of how important this media can be, especially for
someone like Kelly’s Nana, lonely and bereaved she took comfort and excitement
from this high drama of her melodramatic shows.
Steve… look, one of the reasons why Steve is one of the better gay characters we’ve come across (admittedly, the competition for “good” gay characters isn’t exactly fierce) is that he resisted stereotype. From the very first moment he came out to Claudia, he has adamantly refused to be the GBF to her, he has always made it clear, in the excellent words of Cosima, that his sexuality isn’t the most important thing about him. Even when Claudia and Pete (oh gods Pete) kept throwing gay jokes and stereotypes at him (over and over and over again Warehouse 13) he has always refused them, rejected them and said that no, he is Steve Jinks, a character who is gay – not gay Jinks the gay agent of gayness who is gay with extra gay, did we mention gay? Just last episode we had an excellent moment were Steve told Pete that he wasn’t a walking cliché. Just. Last. Episode. Is that why we have this? Steve had a moment of finally demanding they quit the clichés – so the show has to turn him into a rough mess of clichés? And in doing so they imply that this is at the heart of Steve – indeed, any gay man – just repressed down. All the stereotypes are true, honest, and a gay man who doesn’t embody them is just burying that part of himself…
Well done writers, one of the more decent gay characters
we’ve seen and you did your utmost to destroy him in one episode. What a way
for this show to complete its last season.
