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And dear readers, we are almost home. Almost done with the series that is. As we approach the end, we begin to see issues resolved: either by death or other means.

We begin this episode with Gus, Eric, and Pam (and the team of Yakuza/Yakonomo corporation members) cornering Sarah. Eric runs to Sarah and lifts her up against a pole, choking her.

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Everyone around urges Eric to think rationally and he does let up after drinking from Sarah and healing from his Hep-V.

Tara in a White Dress

We finally get the conclusion to Lettie Mae and Lafayette getting high to see Tara. Last episode, we ended with the pair digging holes in the yard of an unknown family. Reverend Daniels shows up and they convince him to drink James’ blood with them to understand what is going on.

While the three are high, we see a vision of Tara in her childhood home. It turns out this is the house she led them to dig holes in. We learn how abusive Tara’s father was and how as he was hurting Lettie Mae, Tara got his gun and almost shot him to make it stop. Shortly after, Tara buries the gun in the yard as her father leaves for good.

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Tara’s spirit has led Lettie Mae to the gun and once they dig it up, Tara is able to speak to Lettie Mae and tell her that all is forgiven and that she is sorry for not pulling the trigger when she should have. Lettie Mae is able to let go of Tara with this closure and Tara disappears.

Solutions

Sookie wakes up with Bill in bed after the sex of last episode. Eric appears at Bill’s home and Sookie answers the door in a robe. Clearly he knows what’s going down but Eric becomes concerned when Sookie tells him that Bill is sick and that it is rapidly progressing because she is the one who infected him.

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Eric tells Sookie that he will be back tomorrow night to help Bill. There is a cure but he cannot tell Sookie about it. As always, Sookie does not take this as an answer and goes to Fangtasia where Gus and Eric are holding Sarah in the dungeon until her blood is synthesized. Eric must pretend to glamour Sookie to avoid her being killed by Gus.

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Sookie leaves but decides to turn around and enters the secret tunnel that leads into the dungeon of Fangtasia. She discovers Sarah and reads her thoughts, learning that she is the cure.

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Gus tells Eric he is leaving town but that his men will watch over him and Pam to make sure they don’t do anything stupid. Right after this conversation, Sookie sneaks Jessica and Bill into the dungeon so Bill can feed on Sarah. They meet up with Eric and Pam there. Eric isn’t so happy that Sookie didn’t listen to him but urges them to be quick before they are all caught and killed.

Bill hesitates and decides that he doesn’t want the blood. Then why’d you come all this way, man? Oh well, at least if Bill is going to die this will mean it was of his own accord. I can respect that for the character I know of Bill Compton.

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To the Rescue

Jason finds out that Violet has captured Adilyn and Jessica when Violet texts him photos of them tied up and urges him to hurry. Hoyt’s girlfriend Bridget goes with Jason after she and Hoyt fight about having children. Jason tries to get her out of his car but cannot wait and speeds off to save Adilyn and Jessica.

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Jason has Bridget wait outside in the car with a gun to stay safe. When Jason goes inside, Violet captures him and ties him up in the dungeon alongside Jessica, Adilyn, and Wade.

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She’s got some pretty skin-crawling ideas to torture them and make them pay for their transgressions: a searing dildo for Jessica since she was turned a virgin, a breast ripper for Adilyn, and a finger-chopper for Wade.

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I’m really glad to not have to see any of that right when Hoyt walks in and shoots Violet, making her melt into goo on the floor. Thank the heavens that Bridget got scared out in the car and called Hoyt.

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Even though Hoyt has no memory of Jessica, he seems enthralled by her and tells this to Jason later at the bar. Jason says that they are not together and Hoyt goes to Bill’s house to show his condolences to Jessica for Bill’s imminent death. He brings a bag of his blood to help Bill eat clean blood in the meantime. It’s a really thoughtful gesture as Hoyt always does and Jessica is touched by it. It is clear that the chemistry Hoyt and Jessica shared is still there even when his memories are gone. It is kind of sweet.

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Final Thoughts

This episode thankfully killed Violet before I had to watch her do unspeakable things to the most innocent cast of characters. I liked the ending she got and loved that Hoyt was the one to do it. There is some justice here, as Violet was the one who killed Hoyt’s mother (he just doesn’t know it). A great episode – fast paced – that is keeping us racing to the end. Only two more to go!

5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Sarah Moon is a stone-cold sorceress from Tennessee whose interests include serial killers, horror fiction, and the newest dystopian blockbuster. Sarah holds an M.A. in English Literature and an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing. She works as an English professor as well as a cemeterian. Sarah is most likely to cover horror in print including prose, poetry, and graphic forms. You can find her on Instagram @crystalsnovelnook.

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Things get gory in Dexter Original Sin, Business and Pleasure

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As we near the end of the series, Dexter Original Sin is heating up. Emotions are running high, and the blood is pouring. But is the story keeping up with the gore? Let’s discuss.

As a warning, I found it impossible to review this episode without a few spoilers. You’ll see why. But if you haven’t yet seen this episode, proceed with caution.

The story

We begin our story with Dexter and Harry in the kitchen after a hard night of work for each of them. Dexter tries to tell Harry that he suspects Captain Spencer killed Jimmy Powell and kidnapped his own son. But Harry doesn’t want to hear it. He’s more concerned that Deb never came home from Gio’s apartment.

The reason she didn’t come home is because Gio invited her on a day trip. He says he has to go for work, but she can come along for the fun.

And fun she has, until she finds something on his boat she wasn’t supposed to see.

Patrick Gibson and Molly Brown in Dexter Original Sin.

Meanwhile, Dexter is following Captain Spencer around. He eventually gives up to go rescue Deb, only to be called onto a SWAT call. One that turns deadly, and was orchestrated by the captain.

As if there wasn’t enough going on in this episode, LaGuerta and Harry are hunting the NHI killer. And we realize who the killer is just as Harry finds out as well. At least, we’re really supposed to think we know who it is.

What worked

At this point, we know that Captain Spencer abducted and murdered Jimmy Powell, and has now abducted his own son Nicky.

So, we already know the killer. And that’s always the big reveal, right?

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Gibson and Alex Shimizu in Dexter Original Sin.

Well, no. We might know that Spencer is the killer. But what we don’t know is why. What is he after? What does he want so much that he’s willing to not just kill innocent children, but his own son? These are the questions that will drive me to watch the next episode, and the one after that.

This was a great way to answer a question, but leave more questions in the wake of that answer. It’s the perfect way to keep up the momentum of a season.

I was also shocked and impressed by the demise of Laura Moser. No, that isn’t the spoiler, we all knew that was going to happen. We knew it since the first season of the original series. What I didn’t expect was how emotionally invested I was in this. By this time we’ve seen Laura in a way we’ve never seen her before. She is a loving mother and brave as hell. So now, for the first time, we can mourn her. It honestly reminded me strongly of when Dexter lost Rita in the original series. I am crushed.

What didn’t work

Now, we’ve got to talk about Harry. Or more specifically, we’ve got to talk about Christian Slater. Because he just wasn’t good in this episode. He was chewing the scenery so hard I’m surprised they didn’t need to replace the kitchen table. I know he’s a better actor than this, so it makes me wonder what the hell was happening. He was overly emotional. And not in a way a man stressed out might be, but in an overacting kind of way. The whole performance just felt off.

Finally, we’ve made it to the spoiler part. At least, I think we do. Given the events of this episode either we know that the NHI killer is Brian, Dexter’s older brother, or we’re really supposed to think it’s him.

I don’t like this either way. If it’s him, then this feels like a repeat of the first season of the original show in which he was revealed to be the Ice Truck Killer. We’ve done this before. But we know it can’t end with Dexter finding out who it is. He’d never heard the name Brian Moser before as an adult.

Dexter: The Complete Series + Dexter: New Blood
  • Michael C. Hall (Actor)
  • Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Last update on 2025-01-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

If it isn’t Brian, though, it feels like overkill. Showing him painting Laura’s nails with that same distinct color pattern. His therapist and nurse were among the victims. If it’s all misdirection, it’s too much misdirection. I honestly thought it was Brian as soon as I heard one of the victims was a therapist specializing in traumatized teens. We’re not dumb. We didn’t need to be beaten over the head with this.

Slater’s acting and the Brian storyline aside, I thought this was a great episode. I know the series could still disappoint me, but I’m holding onto hope. At least, like I said before, they can’t kill Dexter this time.

Right?

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

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Review: ‘COMPANION’ – Do not watch the trailer! (2025)

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Okay, Mr. Drew Hancock, writer of Fred: the TV Show and Fred 3: Camp Fred. I hear you have a new, little horror film – COMPANION. Let’s give it a go.

And I am going to try as hard as possible not to spoil a goddamn thing since its marketing did the complete opposite.

PLOT OF COMPANION (SPOILER-FREE)

Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and boyfriend, Josh (Jack Quaid) travel to upstate New York to have a friends get-away with Josh’s best friends: Eli, (Harvey Guillén), Patrick (Lukas Gage), Kat (Megan Suri) and Kat’s boyfriend, Sergey (Rupert Friend).

However, trying to fit in, Iris starts to discover a terrifying secret within this tight-knit group of friends. A deadly secret…

THOUGHTS ON COMPANION (SPOILER-FREE)

Never would I have thought I would be saying that a writer of ‘Fred: the TV Show’ and ‘Fred 3: Camp Fred’ wrote a damn fine film. But here we are.

Writer/director, Drew Hancock, created a funny, clever and interesting gem of a horror film. COMPANION is a great adventure film in the horror genre, focusing on the ideas of identity, self-preservation, the cogito, ergo sum of life, and women’s rights.

And, trust me, I know that sounds like a lot, but that’s pulled off by the superb writing and the acting – it flows together really well. It’s an incredibly precarious job to balance humor, horror and drama. If you go too hard with humor and it’s cringey. You give too much drama and it’s tonal dissonance. If there’s too much horror…well, that’s okay, actually.

But with heavy hitters with incredible comedic timing like Harvey Guillén and Jack Quaid, the cast only elevates the writing and story. Quaid and Sophie Thatcher have so much chemistry and work so well together that the drama feels authentic and raw. Thatcher is such an engaging actress, working with what could have been a very flat role. But she portrays Iris with such intelligence, wit and vulnerability, it sells the idea of COMPANION that would usually require more suspension of disbelief.

Harvey Guillen in a dinosaur outfit and it says, "Harvey Guillen is perfect."

I liked the soundtrack by Hrishikesh Hirway. Both the original soundtrack and the songs chosen work well with the tone and plot. Super fun bop. You can tell that the song selections were picked with intent and care, for example, the Goo Goo Dolls’ song playing in Josh’s apartment.

The effects in COMPANION were terrific by being used sparingly but grotesquely, for example, the scene with the slow, tortuous scene with the candle. Most of it is practical, but there are some key scenes with CGI that are really well done.

BRAINROLL JUICE: THIS HAS VAGUE SPOILERS

I love horror films. Yeah, I know, big surprise. But this type of film highlights why horror is such an important and crucial part of our history and culture. Horror is a lens of a society of the times. Looking back, we can see what creatures scared us. What people were afraid of or should be afraid of.

Horror, by large, is a very social and progressive genre. Monster movies and mad scientist movies of the 1950’s were en vogue due to the rising fears of the atomic bomb and the Cold War. The same is true for the rise in space horror as we had the Space Race and landed on the moon.

Movies of the ’60’s and ’70’s had serial killers, delinquents, social rights, and the pearl-clutching fear of losing our innocence as a nation and losing our good, Christian values.

The 70’s and 80’s saw the fear of the faceless stranger, sexual deviance, as well as our growing concern of the expanding powers of corporations.

And so on and so on (this could be an entire article itself).

However, I find this new twist on an old genre interesting – a woman’s story. From the exploitation revenge flicks of the ’70’s to the girl-power vibe of the 90’s and early 2000’s, AFAB stories are getting more attention. More realistic and substantial attention.

Iris messed up and looking pissed while emojis and cutesy weapons are all around her and it says, "living her #girlboss era"

Coralie Fargeat has been exploring this with great success with her most recent film, ‘The Substance‘, but first really dove into this with her fan-favorite, ‘Revenge‘. ‘Freaky‘ and ‘Happy Death Day‘, while comedic, explore girlhood, femininity and social expectations. ‘Don’t Breathe‘ turns the trope on it’s head (in a still gross way). ‘Babadook‘ shows the difficulty with being a mother, and ‘Hereditary‘ is a deep drama on matriarchal generational trauma.

Obviously exploring themes of the AFAB horror experience isn’t a new idea, the exploitation of a woman’s story is starting to feel strained and gross. Currently, women are facing a tremendous push back on their rights. From losing the right to choose in a wild turn of events as Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022, to the most recent (at the time of this review) removal of women in the government, a senseless war on diversity and protections in the workplace, and the guttural shout of, “fuck you!” to transwomen and literally putting them in danger of starring in their very own rape-revenge true story.

Written like a person who understands the nuances of an “adult and juvenile human female” and is definitely not an alien

What does this have to do with horror and COMPANION? Well, pretty much everything. COMPANION is about what it means to be a woman. Her fears are real and reflect the fears of our society currently. Loss of agency. Loss of identity. Loss of her voice and decisions.

Iris from Companion is speaking German while looking beat up

But like all good horror, it will stand the test of time. It will be on the right side of history, as they say. With an incel proxy as the villain and a woman learning about herself, it’s clear what Hancock envisioned for COMPANION. It’s a film about empowerment and reflection of our society right now. And unlike the newest Black Christmas, it doesn’t shove a diva cup down your throat.

And all that from a guy who wrote Fred 3.

Fred 3: Camp Fred
  • Factory sealed DVD
  • Jake Weary, Carlos Knight, Siobhan Fallon Hogan (Actors)
  • Jonathan M Judge (Director) – Robert Zemeckis (Producer)

Last update on 2025-02-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

BOTTOMLINE FOR COMPANION

A funny, terrifying and adventurous romp into what it means to be yourself.

5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

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The Formal Introduction of Evil’s “The Demon of Sex”

“The Demon of Sex” is the third episode of Evil’s season 3. The assessors investigate a new marriage that struggles with intimacy.

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“The Demon of Sex” is the third episode of Evil’s season 3, created by Michelle King and Robert King. The central cast includes Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Michael Emerson, Christine Lahti, and Andrea Martin. As of this review, it’s available through Netflix and Paramount+ and its add-ons.

The assessors investigate a new marriage that struggles with intimacy. Kristen (Katja Herbers) takes control of her family. Ben (Aasif Mandvi) has an existential crisis after facing plumbing difficulties. Sheryl (Christine Lahti) struggles with the new work culture. Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin) battles a demon.

Evil written in bold, a snake reaches for an apple. Beneath reads Season 3
Evil Season 3 Cover

What I Like about “The Demon of Sex”

Ben usually seems underutilized as a character, especially in personal development, but season 3 works hard to rectify that issue. A skeptic’s disillusionment is an obvious choice for this type of character, but the writing and Aasif Mandvi’s performance drive the execution. It also adds another dynamic to his character referenced throughout the series, if rarely shown again, in the Science League.

“The Demon of Sex” is also a good episode for Sheryl, who struggles and triumphs in her new position. While her character trajectory teeters back and forth, “The Demon of Sex” shows what her development can look like when given the attention it deserves.

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Evil: Season Three [DVD]
  • Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi (Actors)
  • Robert King (Director)
  • Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Evil: Season Three [Blu-Ray]
  • Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi (Actors)
  • Robert King (Director)
  • Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)

Last update on 2025-01-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

“The Demon of Sex” also furthers the frenemy relationship between Kristen and Sister Andrea, providing ample material for both characters to explore. “The Demon of Sex” shows Kristen’s willingness to compromise and furthers Sister Andrea’s character flaws.

Leland (Michael Emerson) finally finds an attack that might work on Sister Andrea, beginning a plot thread to explore across the season. Commenting on this plot point might give credit to future episodes, but it’s a compelling example of Leland actually being devious and in control.

“The Demon of Sex” leans on Evil’s dark comedic tone, not intending to haunt the viewer but to entertain them. It dives further into the comical nature of corporate evil and marketing, showing a general shallowness in both arenas in which exploitation occurs. It’s dark, troubling, and entertaining without pulling its punches.

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Disclaimer Kimberley Web Design

Tired Tropes and Triggers

In an episode titled “The Demon of Sex,” the titular demon seems to hold conflicting motives. First, it grows strong in the married couple’s abstinence, which suggests a different focus. But when acts become carnal, it’s the general kinkiness that makes the demon strong. Considering the couple talks about their troubles with a licensed therapist, it seems to evoke a general kink shame to the execution. However, the therapy also fails to resolve the underlying issues.

A slightly gory moment might unsettle some viewers, but it’s a single moment in an otherwise goreless episode.

A nun smiles at someone not revealed in the image, holding a notebook.
A Nun with a Notebook to Save Your Marriage

What I Dislike about “The Demon of Sex”

As mentioned in a previous review, another demon seems to indicate a more direct concept of “sex,” while the motives of this demon seem more complex. It’s a minor point, but I can’t fathom why they didn’t connect this title with the more literal succubus that’s plagued this season already. Addressing that demon also seems like a more logical entry point as the audience sees what it’s been doing.

“The Demon of Sex” sets the groundwork for future plot points. While not a fault of the episode, it blends in the background, doing what it needs to and little more. I don’t mean to pretend this is a negative, but it doesn’t haunt the viewer like past or future episodes.

A kraken emerges from the sea to devour a ship. A brown tint suggests an old map marking

Final Thoughts

“The Demon of Sex” delivers but remains buried around more memorable episodes with more lasting power. It sets up key points for several characters and allows some to shine, but it doesn’t hold iconic moments to look back on. Ultimately, it functions as intended and keeps the audience eager for future developments.

3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)

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