Last week our main characters all turned into geese and
flew to Antarctica. Because why not?
There they study under the teacher Myaskovsky, who is
basically a vodka-swilling short tempered Russian stereotype. He’s an awesome
teacher and kind of fun but we can’t deny that he is a stereotype. Just because
a character is awesome doesn’t mean he isn’t a stereotype
His lessons are harsh, his contempt withering and, at
times (especially with Kady), creepy but he does manage to teach them several
difficult lessons in harsh conditions. He also finds Alice and Quinn’s endless
sexual tension immensely frustrating – speaking for the audience when he says “why
don’t you two just fuck?”. And doubly so when he says:
“Why are you both determined to be so fucking bland?”
Yes. In fact, let’s repeat this:
“Why are you both
determined to be so fucking bland?”
His urging, and some kind of mind control involving
foxes, eventually ends up with Alice and Quinn finally having sex. While part
of me is glad we can leave the will-they-won’t-they behind, part of me also
wonders just how much informed consent you have when a drunken angry authority
figure keeps forcing you together while naked.
While Alice and Quinn continue to try not be so fucking
bland, Penny and Kady also work through their issues after the relationship
rift caused by her revelations last episode. This episode she decides to
explain herself by allowing the psychic Penny to read her mind so he knows all
about her history with Marina and the situation her mother is in. They
reconcile (and sleep together) and Penny tries to offer her a way to buy off
Marina forever by stealing from Myaskovsky
It turns out to be unnecessary because he also took the
opportunity to read her mind – and is surprisingly kind and gentle with her –
he recognises the wrong that she’s suffered and to tell her she’s free: a bitter
sweet offer since that freedom comes with the death of her mother. He’s also
warning her since Brakebills knows she’s been stealing from them and will
punish her harshly regardless of extenuating circumstances: he’s giving her
chance to run since he doesn’t agree with that punishment. But she has to leave
Penny behind – because as a traveller he needs training if his powers aren’t
going to get him killed. It’s a very sad scene – and does a lot to ensure that
Myaskovsky isn’t entirely a 1 dimensional stereotype.
He also works on Penny – having nothing but contempt for
the idea that Penny should suppress his powers to be “safe” and continues to
resist all things boring.
We stop by with Julia who has been joined by her sister
who sees Julia is basically crashing and burning; her home is a mess and it
doesn’t help that Julia used the excuse that she was on drugs to try and cover
her behaviour. Said sister is especially worried because a) their father was
both an alcoholic and mentally ill and b) their mother is high profile, values
her reputation and will go to extreme lengths to suppress Julia if she thinks
she is the same
This promises to be a difficult storyline with a lot of
potential pitfalls.
Now, to Elliot and Margo. Sometimes I think these two are
so much fun that a lighter, funnier show that just followed them would be so
much more fun. This is not one of those times because of the homophobia of this
episode – because, not content to just make him the sexless-yet-sex-obsessed
joking token, they’ve decided to dump a whole lot of worse on him this week.
In between reminiscing about the time they may have eaten
someone while on drugs and summoning a djinn (which they thought was magical
gin – and you know they would) we meet Mike, a love interest for Elliot. Within
minutes of meeting, Margo is absolutely outraged that her Gay Best Friend is
not giving her his complete and utter undivided attention. After demanding they
just have sex and get it over with (which, unlike all the straight sex, we don’t
see – we don’t even get a fade to black) doesn’t make Elliot get rid of the
competition for her attention so she gets angry and mentally has her new djinn
banish Mike
Yes, after a few hours of him not focusing entirely on
her, she wants the male competition to vanish. As an added bonus, we also get
Mike being forced to erotically suck a door knob. Because this is the level of
this show.
I hoped for some come back on this because Elliot doesn’t
just give up Mike like a good little GBF, but then we close with a scene of
Mike communing with/being possessed by an evil bug. Elliot you need to be
punished for not giving all your attention to the straight woman one way or the
other.
Bonus points – the guy Margot does take on holiday with
her is given last minute care advice from Elliot, including “sun block and
waxes” just in case there was even the slightest
I really wish this wasn’t what passed for representation
so many times. It’s damn depressing.
