Last month I put the first Tomahawk album in my car and listened to it more than I have in more than a couple years. Today I swapped it out for Mit Gas and realized I had forgotten just how goddamn awesome that record is. Nothing against the first, but here's a case where the Sophomore effort totally one-upped the original. Also, while previously contemplating my favorite song on the album, I would always rotate between Mayday, Capt Midnight, and Aktion 13. Today I'm sticking with When the Stars Begin to Fall, which really just makes me want to drive fast and shake my fist in the air in time to the guitars.
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It's been a bit, but join me once again for...
Last night I picked Mr. Brown's X-Files playlist back up with Season One, Episode Twenty-One, "Tooms." This is the sequel to the previous episode on Mr. Brown's list, "Squeeze," which I watched back in mid-December, and enjoyed very much. However, with a show like the X-Files, I knew there would be some ups and downs quality-wise. It's network, in the early 90s, and full old school twenty-two episode seasons. While overall I enjoyed this second part in Doug Hutchinson's creepy AF Eugene Victor Tooms, I didn't really feel the writing was up to snuff. You know you're in trouble when the brooding doctor shows up to free the monster from captivity for no fucking reason at all. This is a common trope, especially I'd guess, at the time this aired, before audiences had been exposed to high-end writing on a regular basis and a flurry of meta-narratives that make them ask questions like, "Hey, why on Earth would this doctor want to get this obviously creepy guy out of the institution that protects the general populace from him?" I mean, maybe there wasn't enough time in the episode to set up a reason, like, say, he wanted to get Tooms out in order to prove a point for a research grant. Or - and I'm reminded a lot of Clive Barker's Nightbreed here - he wanted Tooms free so he can somehow figure out and usurp his longevity. But no, the doctor, played more than adequately by Paul Ben-Victor, just wanted to get Tooms free because the episode hinged on that.
Bad reason.
There were other rather inexplicable actions here as well, and a lot of weird, murky misdirection. At one point, we see that Tooms has entered the sewers to get into a new victim's home. Then we see said victim-to-be's wife fighting a backed-up toilet with a handheld toilet snake, and we're thinking, "I know Tooms can make himself squeeze into small spaces, but is he really in the fucking toilet?" But no, he comes in through a window on the second story.
Huh? Yeah, my sentiments exactly.
My critiques may sound bitter but assure you, they most certainly are not. As I said, I ended up enjoying the episode (again with the bile cave! Ah! How's that for an action figure playset, Todd McFarlane? Make it happen!), and my cynicism is merely the product of disappointment. I've already seen that this show can be damn good, so it irks me when it fails to be so. That's alright. Tonight I take a step backward to Season One, Episode thirteen for what I believe was the first appearance by Don "General Briggs" Davis as Scully's father. Can't wait.
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Fangoia.com launched recently and it is AWESOME! Seriously, how do you augment such a well put together quarterly magazine? With an avalanche of awesome articles. Here's a screencap of what I saw when I logged in for the first time:
And that's before I even looked at the scroll bar.
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The new episode of The Horror Vision went up yesterday. This time, Anthony and I do a dynamic duo episode after we watched Rob Grant's FANTASTIC new flick Harpoon. Strongly recommended. Also discussed, Daniel Isn't Real, Enemy, Sweetheart, and Anthony's season-by-season trek through American Horror Story.
The Horror Vision on Apple
The Horror Vision on Spotify
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Playlist:
Tomahawk - Mit Gas
Etta James - Second Time Around
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Beth Gibbons/Henry Gorecki - Symphony No. 3
Kevin Morby - Oh My God
V - Budos Band
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Card:
Solid foundation; I needed that reminder. Editing the first episode of the newest iteration for Drinking with Comics has pushed my writing time to zero the last week. I need to finish and jump back into my outlining for Book Three of Shadow Play. Once that's done, my hope is I'll be able to bang the second book out fairly quickly. I still plan to release it this year.
