The Spoiler's Review

!!SPOILERS AHEAD -- LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BEFORE YOU COME HERE!!

This chapter has offered us so much material I hardly know where to begin. I can’t just simply recap and review. This will probably be a fairly long entry so bare with me. If necessary I’’ll break it into two parts. I feel like Writing’’s giving us a blindfolded taste test and said, "Here, what’s this?" It smells like celery. It tastes like celery. But no dammit, it’s parsnip! And then Chef Ramsey eats your brains.

**I had a heck of a time getting this post up. Between the power flickering and restarting my computer to the forums randomly logging me out and losing my formatting, it's been quite a test of patience these last 24 hours. If you see any odd punctuation or formatting errors, I apologize.**

Chapter 23.3 - Idle Minds

Welcome to the first episode of WA’s Wife Swap! If you’re not familiar with the show I encourage you to watch this 90 second video (it’s the husband edition but you get the idea). Basically the show finds two families that live opposite lifestyles and have them switch wives for two weeks. WA’s twisted edition is for more entertaining because they have contestants that will eat you.

On with the show!

The chapter starts off with the events taking place at Cain Hospital. Last time we left off with a tearful cliffhanger as the group was forced to split leaving Burt and Angel to remain trapped in a room. Between Kalani’’s bromance with Angel and Riley’’s loyalty(?) to the Tower, they’re not about just walk away with the boys deaths on their conscience. Instead they search for the buildings generators to power the elevators and stumble upon the mental health wing which is suspiciously not labeled on the map.

"Cain Mental Hospital:I bring relief to troubled minds."

A quick plug into Google brings up "Cane Hill" psychiatric hospital in Europe with this quote as its motto. However, for some reason it’’s this excerpt [from Wikipedia] that jumps out at me immediately:

"The water tower of the asylum housed a low-power analogue television repeater belonging to National Grid Wireless. This was powered by a diesel generator,since there was no mains power supplied to the site (asylum) after the switchgear was destroyed following an arson attack."

Hmm, now why does that incident sound familiar? What are you trying to say Writing? I sense there’s more information given here than we realize. I’ll try to explaining that later. Since it appears this place holds some significance, I’m reminded of our dear Lizzy’s former occupation as a psychiatrist. Her profession isn’t randomly selected. Nothing in this story is.

As our unlikely duo proceeds into the lair of the beast, they discover a little workshop of horrors. Based on the info given in Riley’s description, Writing’s cued us in that this place has a connection to the Little Ones (and probably the Big Ones too). Even with all these signs, the questions still linger and without facts any further speculation is just a guess.

A Smart One appears in the hallway, certainly aware of their presence. He giggles at Riley’s attempt to kill him and they flee. Kalani recognizes this one as the "one from the Arena." Now, this Smart One could have easily taken them both out but it allowed them to live. Why is this?

I’d like to think it smelled Riley’s alcohol on her and kept its distance. However it’s hard to determine if she actually got a swallow or two in before Burt made her put it away in 23-1. Since that evidence isn’t solid there’s the possibility that his priorities lie elsewhere. Maybe there's a reason he didn't want the other creatures storming that area? Based on the evidence they found in the mental ward, it’s apparent that he wasn’t following them, but actually returning there for a purpose.

I don’t believe this is the same Suit Zombie that visited the Tower. In fact, I’m not so sure this is even the "Colored One" that Skittles mentioned. In Chapter 10, Datu described the figure in the Arena as having "weird looking skin." If this is the one that ate Samantha, perhaps his authority is greater than that of Ink/Suit Zombie(?). Because everyone has their own way of describing the creatures, it’s difficult to determine just how many Super Smarties are really out there. But maybe that’’s the point. Perhaps this is Writings way of saying "there’s more than one."

Cue cute and eerie audio trill into the next scene. (I feel like I'm in an Abbot and Costello movie!)

The story shifts over to Burt and Angel still trapped into the room. Like the Vikings they are, they’ve accepted their fate and decided to go down in a blaze of glory after they hear the helicopter take off. Kalani and Riley step in to save them at the last minute and use a clever bomb trick to get everyone into the elevator. Numbers 8-2 and 2-1 are brought up. Unless I was looking in the wrong place I found no connections to any Bible stories. I re-listened to Chapter 8-2 and the only major developments involved was Cindy’’s missing body and something Riley said that I found a little interesting.

At 5:25 she says "While I was filling my pack I kept kicking myself for volunteering for this. But deep down, I knew why I did."

Riley never elaborates on her past, but maybe, just maybe, there’s someone out there she was looking for. A lover perhaps? Possibly the same "we still have her" Scratch was talking about in Chapter 20? There’’s no way to know or to even prove it, but it’’s something to note.

The major developments in Chapter 2-1 involve the addition of Lizzy to the cast, Michael and Angels power struggle, and Saul’’s colorful assessment of their small survival group. They mention Pegs reluctance to use guns (psst Writing! It’s all just an act isn’t it? She’’s really the friar eh? Eh?!) and Saul hints at his suspicions about Riley’s sexuality.

Burt’s bomb works and the group heads up to the landing pad. Apparently he stole the move from a movie. I haven’t had the chance to research it yet since there’s so much to look into already. The titles in the most recent chapters have forced me to pull up an e-encyclopedia, dust off the Old Testament, and recall memories of being held hostage every Sunday by the family elders so many decades ago. I’ll be lucky if I can get at least half this entry finished before the end of the week.

They breathe a sigh of relief that no one had to be left to die. Riley expresses how elated she is to see the boys made it. I laugh at Angel’s reaction. You really like me? You really REALLY like me?! Rip his heart out Riley. Rip it out and smash it into the ground. Do it! DO IT!

I don’t hate Angel. I just want him to turn in another direction. Compared to his two army buddies, he’s a late bloomer. Almost everyone in the main cast has matured in some way but Angel continues to be the same spoiled brat chapter after chapter. Every time I feel like he’s going to start a major transition, her elapses right back into that childish attitude that I cannot stand. I want to believe that one day he’ll become an honorable figure in the Tower or at least reach a status beyond tolerable.

The only thing that gets him going is Riley. So yes, I want her to break him. Strike him down! Crush his heart and soul to bring him over that threshold…… Or she can just give him what he wants. Whatever works.

The helicopter is dubbed "perfect." Of course it is. That’s why I was the first one to say "why don’t they just find a medical or police helicopter" or something to that affect. Yeah it was me that said it.*Puffs up chest* Yup. One daring rooftop escape later and the Tower now has one fully operational chopper.

We return to Saul whose on the Mallers trail, now armed with Tardust’s forgotten map of the city. After a brief chat with the Tower he sends out a broadcast on a clear channel to the Mallers demanding they respond. Scratch’s saucy voice answers his call and Saul makes the proposal that I've been waiting to hear for months.

Chapter 23 Review

High marks all around. I think nearly every Maller andTower voice actor was used for recording. This is the first time in a long timethat we’ve actually taken a step forward in the story. We didn’t move far butthe suspense was continuous throughout the chapter and kept us from gettingbored. Lizzy’s been gone since Chapter 20 and this search for her andhelicopters has carried on for months. Now with one (soon to be two)helicopters they should be able to get moving right?... WRONG! Of course it’snot going to be that easy. There’s no such thing as easy in the world of WA. “Easy”is as real as “obvious” or Bigfoot.

Saul is no fool.

I don’t care how love sick the boy is, he’s not going to willingly hand Pegs over to save Lizzy. I don’t think Lizzy would even go for that crap. I believe this is a clever scheme to get the Mallers to come to him. I don’t know what his plan is. For all we know, Victor and the others are in on it and waiting inthe wings. Yeah, no one is safe, I remember. KC can always throw in a twist and kill her off, and then we can watch Michael flip out and go on a Maller hunting rampage.
No one died in this chapter, but there’s still time. Worst case scenario, the Mallers take a helicopter (with Pegs flying it). Fort Irwin is probably farther away than we think.

Even though Riley’s been placed in the spotlight as oflate, I’m still having difficulty understanding her character. In 23.1, she showed reluctance to the idea of “running” away by relocating north. This is funny coming from someone who get’s scared just as easily as anyone else when those things show up. Her fear of heights is also being showcased in this chapter. Perhaps we’ll learn why soon.

Since the story has been stationary for so long, by adding the firefight in 23-2 to the beginning of the chapter, the audience at leastknew they had something to look forward to. With this Writing managed to keep us guessing to the end about the fate of the hospital crew. I felt this chapter is definitely worthy of a good grade and perfect for leading us into the season finale.

Chapter 11 can’t compare to all the suspense, suspicion, and questions that arose in 23. But that’s how Season 2’s are supposed to be: Bigger and better.

Now for the fun part.

Writing threw a bunch of puzzle pieces in our face and I’ve been sitting here all week trying to determine if anything fits. Do any ofthese dots connect in ways that we haven’t thought of yet?

The term “Cain” translates to “from the evil one” in Greek’sNew Testament, also said to be “the son of the serpent” aka the Devil. In the Bible, Cain and Abel were brothers. One was a crop farmer and the other was a shepherd. Abel sacrificed the best ofhis flock and God accepted it however Cain’s offering from his fields was turned away because he did not sacrifice in faith.

So this part of the scripture brought me back to Chapter 10 when the creatures gathered in the Arena. Maybe they’re not killing for sport. Perhaps Samantha was actually a sacrifice to the Super Smart One? I honestly can’t tell you. Between the scriptures and reading the history behind Cane Hill hospital, I determined that there’s just not enough info to draw up any solid conclusions. I’m stumped, but that’s a good thing.

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