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.
It’s a very personal case for Pez when Conchobar ends up kidnapped by an anti-terrorist group. It should go without saying at this point given age, but spoilers within.
Kate’s Five Thoughts
1. This Time, It’s Personal
Up until now, the Witchblade has been the one connecting Pez to the cases she and Jake investigate. This week, it’s more personal, with Pez’s Irish rocker boyfriend Conchobar kidnapped by an anti-terrorist faction who want him to pay for the crimes his brother Edward committed as a member of the Irish Republican Army. This is another one of those timely episodes, airing three years after the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland – – the deadliest of the incidents during the period of The Troubles, and the event that finally led to the Northern Ireland peace process. No doubt that bombing provided the influence for Edward’s crime; the circumstances he was involved in sounded rather similar to Omagh.
2. Angry Pez
Pez is uncharacteristically angry throughout this episode, and on one hand you can’t blame her: someone she loves deeply is in grave danger. Wouldn’t you react the same way? It does push her to a mental and emotional edge, to a point where I was questioning just how dirty she was going to play to get her boyfriend back safe. And this begs the question: what would you do for love? How far would you go for love?
3. Dirty Cops
The B plot here is a very minor one, but plays a role in the larger narrative. Early on in the episode, Pez and Jake witness one of their NYPD brethren enjoying the company of some ladies of the evening (in broad daylight) but also accepting a bribe. Twice over with this, Pez is at her most clever: first in doctoring a roll of 35mm film to appear that it had been used (implying that they got pictures of the crooked cop), and then using that doctored roll to put this cop between a rock and a hard place to give her time in the evidence locker: time to get counterfeit money to pass for ransom that the anti-terror group demands.
Although it’s Pez playing dirty, it’s incredibly clever, showing just what a good detective she is, Witchblade or no Witchblade.
4. Creepy Kenneth
If you thought Kenneth watching Pez and Conchobar making the beast with two backs was creepy . . . well, that’s just one of the holds he has on Pez’s life. He can sense the Witchblade’s presence, particularly when it is not on Pez. He can feel her moods. And he can use those as weapons against her, such as when she comes to Kenneth asking for the $2 million to free Conchobar. It’s certainly not that he doesn’t have the money; this is a dude who can probably get a cool million from the cushions of his couch. But it’s the principle more than anything. And that principle is control. He wants control of the Witchblade, and he wants control of Pez.
With last week’s episode focusing on the Catholic Church’s desires for the Blade, I would love to see this desire for control explored not just between Kenneth and Pez, but between Kenneth and others after the Blade.
5. Farewell Conchobar
Dammit. I really liked Conchobar. And now he’s dead at the Witchblade’s hand. (Though not by Pez’s hand on the Blade; it was the female anti-terrorist group member that wielded the Blade and gave the slow, final blow.) With their past life connections, I have no doubt they will meet again in another life. But it’s heartbreaking to see Pez lying next to her dead lover, heartbroken and anguished. I really wanted to see her have something resembling happiness and normalcy.
Continued belowBut perhaps that’s the price one pays when wielding the Blade, the price of normalcy, the price of a life lived ordinary.
I hope she finds love again.
Afterthoughts:
- Man, those Irish accents from our anti-terrorist group were laid on thick. Stereotypically Irish thick. Having spoken with folks from Ireland and Northern Ireland in my day job, I can tell you they do not sound like how we heard them in this episode.
- Street cart hot dogs for breakfast? It’s been a while since I tailgated and had questionable foods at early hours in the day, but my stomach turned just a little at the morning tube sausage from a dirty water hot dog cart.
Frank’s Five Thoughts
1. The IRA vs. Northern Ireland
This week’s episode refers to a conflict that really is not seen on television much any more: the IRA and Northern Ireland. Would kids these days even understand those references if a TV show made them? In “Maelstrom” we are introduced to a Northern Ireland hit squad that was seeking to bring an IRA terrorist to justice (at least some of them were). I mentioned to Kate during the episode that this is similar to the units assembled by Israel to hunt down Nazis after World War II or the squad Mossad sent after the bombers at the Munich Olympics. The fugitive being sought is Conchobar’s brother, Edward, who had been responsible for a deadly car bombing. The squad assumes that Conchobar would know how to contact his brother and planned to use him as bait. I feel it was apparent, though, that Conchobar did not even know how to contact his brother, which put him in a very difficult situation. Also a shoutout to the terrorist’s favorite gun of the 90s: the Uzi submachine gun! Lots of Uzis in this episode.
2. Corruption Stinks
Ever since Captain Dante (played by the great Nestor Serrano – this was the series that made me a huge fan of his) took over something has not felt quite right at the precint. We are now starting to see why – corruption. Pez gets a flash of prescience from the WitchBlade that leads to her and Jake watching a police sergeant taking a payoff (in more than just money… nudge nudge wink wink) from a local hoodlum. Pez uses this knowledge as leverage to get access to the evidence locker to steal cash needed for ransom. Unfortunately this also tips her hand to Dante and his cronies who order a hit on her.
In the same vein, Pez steps over the line herself trying to find out what happened to Conchobar. She threatens and beats a Mafia henchman to get information. It’s enough to unsettle even Jake who has shown a couple of times that he’s willing to get rough with a suspect.
3. Shaping Destiny
At one point in the episode, Kenneth Irons suggests to Pez that maybe the WitchBlade was jealous over her relationship with Conchobar and maybe that is why is abandoned her when she felt she needed it the most. I think he may be closer to the truth than we think. The WitchBlade has shown that it has the capability to shape the world around Pez and I think that is what happened here. First off, it is possible that Sara was starting to get complacent with her life – having a good relationship with Conchobar and acquiring some modicum of control over the powers of the the WitchBlade. But it needs her to push further and become more. To delve deeper into the ancient mysteries. So it needed to do something to spur her along – enter the hit squad and the kidnapping and death of Conchobar.
Additionally, I believe that the WitchBlade is aware of Kenneth Irons’ interest in controlling it and it needed to act to prevent this. One of the notable results of this episode is the wedge that is placed between Irons and Pez when Irons refused to provide the ransom money. It’s arguable that Ian’s presence seriously escalated what happened in the final showdown that led to Conchobar’s death. But Ian’s presence also led to the WitchBlade being reunited with Pez and staying out of Irons’ hand for a while longer.
Continued below4. Matters of the Heart
This was an emotional episode for Pez. So much of her actions were motivated by her love for Conchobar pushing her over the line in several areas. She threatened a suspect, stole from police evidence, and even begged for Irons’ aid. She found herself helpless despite wielding the great power of the WitchBlade. Ultimately she finds herself confronting the power that she sacrificed for love. That sacrifice ultimately punishes her by killing her heart’s desire. The guilt she is going to deal with after this is immense.
A lot of what Pez deals with also stemmed from a matter of the heart. The North Irish woman, Fiona, should never been on the hit squad because of her own emotional connection to their mission. Her fiancé was killed in the car bombing instigated by Conchobar’s brother and this caused her to be unsettled and unpredictable. It’s possible that without her presence, the whole operation may have happened a lot smoother.
5. Disobedience
Ian specifically disobeys the orders given to him to retrieve the WitchBlade and return it to Irons. We have seen that Irons can be a cruel master, and he is extremely displeased at this act of rebellion. This raises the question of why. Why would Ian go against the man that raised him, however harshly? I think it comes back to the WitchBlade shaping the world around its wielder. All the former wielders of it are shown to be women of influence and leadership and leaders need followers. As Sara grows in her power with it, the WitchBlade is going to draw allies to her to help fight for her cause. Now we only need to learn what great conflict is coming.
Stray Thoughts
– When Pez was “acquiring” the money from the evidence lockup, Danny’s spirit was watching over her, but she was unable to sense or communicate with him because she no longer possessed the WitchBlade.
– It’s hard to imagine how wealthy Irons really is when you see how easily he is able to get hold of $2 million in cash and how easily he disposes of it in the fireplace.
We’ll see you next week for “Periculum” and let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments!
