Your favorite summer TV binging couple is back for more! Last year, my boyfriend Frank and I tackled the first season of SyFy/Amazon’s The Expanse together – – two different perspectives on the same show, one from one person who’s seen it, the other watching it for the first time. Who just happen to be dating.
This year, we’re taking a look at the TNT adaptation of Top Cow’s Witchblade comic, which aired on the network from 2001 – 2002. And just like last year, this is a show Frank has watched, and I haven’t. Hilarity is bound to ensue (again). The series follows NYPD detective Sara “Pez” Pezzini and her adventures with the titular Witchblade, which gives her powers to fight supernatural evil and those who want the Witchblade for themselves.
A serial killer targeting the city’s contemporary art scene opens up further connections between Pez’s world and the Witchblade in “Diplopia.” It should go without saying at this point given age, but spoilers within.
Kate’s Five Thoughts
1. Diplopia
The title of this episode is the medical term for double vision, and you’re left wondering all episode how that plays into the case of the week of the serial killer targeting the art community until the very end. The suspect, artist Isaac Sullivan, is at the heart of each murder but always seems to have a rock-solid alibi. So what gives?
Clones. You read that right. Clones.
There’s more than one Isaac Sullivan out there, thanks to a fertility doctor who loved to pass judgment on the spouses of his clients and use his sperm instead. Throw in some genetic engineering (certainly in the news at the time as we’re only about five years off from Dolly the Sheep) funded by none other than . . . wait for it . . . Vorschlag Industries. And we all know who owns that company.
This means it’s time to bring back an old friend from last year’s recaps of The Expanse. Good to see you again, Charlie.
2. Razor’s Edge
When I watched the TV movie pilot, I mused on an idea of cop friend of mine put forth to me about police culture: this idea of living your life uncertain of what is to come next, because death can come at any moment. Hence, the idea of predestination would be a foreign concept to Pez. But more and more, Pez is predestined for something, as her conversation with Dominique in prison reveals that the Witchblade weaves an unbreakable web into one’s life. Is this a warning to Pez? And how will she take it when all she may have known is how to live in the moment?
3. Macho Man Jake McCartey
Bucky With the Good Hair really pissed me off this week with his homophobia, which came out in a big and stereotypical way when he realized the victims of these murders were gay. Although this show is nearly two decades old and LGBT culture is certainly more mainstream than it was at the time this episode aired, attitudes like Jake’s still persist. It’s why New York’s Pride Parade is officially called a “March” – – a recognition of its roots as an explicit political and social protest, and the commitment to those roots until there is full LGBT equality.
I’d certainly love to fast-forward Jake to see if those attitudes have changed. The NYPD apologized this year for the Stonewall riots after years of admitting this wasn’t necessary because “the past is the past” so I’m hopeful Detective McCarty’s has also had a softening of the heart.
4. In the Year 2000
I fear that our proclamations of just how timeless this show is are proving a bit to be wrong.
First of all, everyone seems to love the ribbed turtleneck sweater as a staple to their wardrobe. I don’t blame them; I know that was part of my closet for both work and casual wear in the early to mid-2000s.
The other cultural touchpoint of the early part of this still-new millennium is an appearance of that New York paper that had the pulse of the city, the Village Voice. Eighteen years later, that paper no longer exists (the print version ended in 2017, and online content ended a year later).
Continued below5. Danny and Gabriel
This episode introduces us to Gabriel Bowman, owner of Talismaniac.com (no it’s not a real domain, I tried to look it up) and some sort of glam goth 14 year old who is clearly enjoying the dot-com boom of the early 2000s. Like Kenneth, he knows things about the Witchblade and will share them with Pez, but for a price. And once again, Kenneth does not like this – – someone wants to keep the Witchblade to himself.
With Gabriel’s introduction, I began to wonder: Where’s Danny? There was this great dynamic Pez and Danny shared in the TV pilot that had potential to continue even when half of the duo is in the afterlife. And three episodes in, we certainly haven’t seen Danny all that much. Are the writers confused as to what to do with this character with an episodic series underway?
Afterthoughts:
- Pez wisely kept Jake’s back to her and away from the action when fighting the clones. She’s not ready to reveal her true secrets to him yet, but still has her partner’s back.
- Look, I grew up not far from Rahway State Prison (now called East Jersey State Prison) and I can tell you it definitely does not look that pretty on the outside. I’m also a little surprised that the show even used the old name of Rahway State Prison, since it officially became East Jersey State Prison in 1988. (But I was still calling it Rahway Prison well into adulthood, so old names do stick around.)
Real East Jersey State Prison 
TV Rahway State Prison
Frank’s Five Thoughts
1. Jake and Homophobia
This was the big elephant in the room of this episode, so it’s worth discussing first. Although I praised Jake and his instincts last week, he’s back to being the naive rookie to Pez’s seasoned veteran in this episode. He is also fitting into the early 00s macho man stereotype with his reaction to discovering that the latest set of victims were gay and had frequented a gay bar. To Pez’s credit, she immediately called him out on his bullshit and bluntly named him for what he is. She continues to push him through, forcing him to be uncomfortable about his stance. She also leaves it ambiguous as to what her own interests are. I don’t really feel that WitchBlade is breaking any new ground on this matters. While it seems like this episode aired a long time ago – it is old enough to graduate from HS – there had already been notable gay representation in genre TV by the time this was on. So I felt it could have been possible for this show to try and make a better statement in this area, but that is also a 2019 me trying to judge a show written in 2001.
2. I Think I’m a Clone Now
You all know Occam’s Razor, right? The principle that when presented with competing hypotheses you should choose the one with the fewest assumptions. So we have the situation where several murders have been committed and the most probable subject has an iron-clad alibi. There is no way he could have done the crime. So what is the most likely hypothesis? If you guessed “clones” than you cheated by reading Kate’s section first. But yes, clones are the answer.
We have seen stories like this before, where an unethical doctor takes it into his hands to push human development as he sees fit. There was an episode of The X-Files where a doctor was creating babies with tails and of course there is the magnificent Orphan Black which is chock-full of clones and unethical doctors. One thing that I find WitchBlade adds to the dialogue on this is the idea that the clones draw power from each other, and as one dies the next gets stronger. We hear about a Welsh fairy tale about nine brothers linked in such a fashion. Given the mystical powers of the WitchBlade, it may not be that crazy of an idea.
Continued below3. Drop out. Start up. Get Rich.
“Diplopia” introduces a new character into the mix: Gabriel Bowman, the owner and operator of Talismaniac.com, an online store specializing in magical talismans, trinkets, and shrunken heads. Pez is shocked to find out that Gabriel is the one running the site and company especially as he appears really young. His response is something like “Isn’t that what we do now? Drop out. Start Up. Get Rich.”; a play on Timothy Leary’s “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” from 1960s counter-culture. WitchBlade is connecting to the early 00s dot-com boom culture that was happening at the time, and to our more modern eye there is nothing unexpected about a boyish CEO of an online company.
Gabriel turns out to a potential source of information for Pez about the WitchBlade and its lore, and more importantly a source that is not Kenneth Irons. While Gabriel obviously has a price for his information – first in line to buy the WitchBlade from Pez if she decides to rid herself of it – at least his intentions are honestly about the money and curiosity about the object of power whereas we have no idea of the full extent of Irons’ desire for the WitchBlade. Pez having an independent source for her information is such a threat to Irons’ position, that he sends Nottingham to bribe and threaten Gabriel against aiding Pez. Gabriel, being the society rebel that he is, decides that he does not like being pushed around and continues helping Pez.
4. Diplopia
Diplopia is the medical term for double-vision. Of course this would reference the clones in the episode, since Pez and Jake literally see double, triple, and quadruple! There is also a deeper meaning to the double vision in the episode. One take can look at Jake and Sara’s very different reactions to the gay community. While they may align on a lot as partners, this was an area where they strayed drastically. Then there is also the variety of visions and intuition that Pez gets from the WitchBlade. A common name for visions or clairvoyance is the Second Sight and you do not need to be a word master to connect that to the idea of double vision. In a similar vein, the ailing and aging Dominique Boucher told Pez that she was not seeing everything and needed to look deeper.
5. WitchBlade’s Influence
Finally, we get another taste of the sheer power that exists within the WitchBlade and why it is coveted by so many people. In “Diplopia” we see get to see this in the way that Gabriel is brought into Pez’s circle. It could have just been coincidence that he turned up at the very crime scene where the WitchBlade was. It could also have been coincidence that a random web search would lead Pez to his door and that he would be someone with the knowledge and resources to provide valuable information on the WitchBlade. Do we really believe that though?
From what we have learned about the WitchBlade’s lore already, we know that it is able to shape fate around its wielder – although it does not necessarily do so to her benefit. This is the same way that Pez got drawn into Boucher’s world and learned about Karen and her grandmother. It would be a mistake to think this is all by chance – there is a grand plan at work or even several grand plans. It just a matter of figuring out if our characters are going to be players or game pieces.
Stray Thoughts
– When the clones capture Jake and Pez, why does she get bound to the chair with handcuffs while he is just duct taped? They’re both cops and likely had two sets of handcuffs with them.
– Pez seems to be gaining greater control over the WitchBlade, or at least its not going to be difficult unless the plot calls for it to be.
– We get our second case with the bad guys revering some fantastical creation. The first was Mobius and the black dragon. Here it was the clones and the tale of the nine brothers. Myth and folklore is important here folks!
We’ll see you next week for “Sacrifice” and let us know what you think in the comments!
