Crazyhead episode 5: “Downward Facing Dog” sees Raquel getting closer to Harry and Amy struggles to convince her friend that her new guy pal is going to attack her. Apart from her prophetic dream showing that Harry is not what he claims to be, Amy also seems to see her own death.
Amy attempts to warn Raquel about Harry but the half-demon has shut her mobile phone off. The date goes well right up until one of Weaver’s henchmen follows Raquel into the bar’s restroom . Harry intervenes and shoves the demon’s head into a faeces filled toilet bowl.
He then reveals that Sawyer, Raquel’s dad, sent him to protect her. Harry is a demon hunter who was friends with her father, he says. Raquel is upset at first but then forgives Harry for lying to her. They kiss in the public lavatory and he walks her home, forgetting that his car is back at the bar.
Amy and Raquel have their first real falling out over Harry after revealing that he is a demon hunter. She tells Amy everything that Harry told her but Amy insists that he is going to hurt her.
Amy insists that they should double-date. Raquel reveals that she snogged Harry’s face off in the toilets and that he attacked a demon for her. Mercy and Weaver talk about “the plan.”
The two couples go bowling. Jake meets Tyler and is not impressed, he is also very aggressive toward Raquel’s brother. Amy gets Harry some bowling shoes and quizzes the demon hunter.
Harry tells Raquel that Amy does not like him and she confronts Amy about her attitude.
Raquel is completely swept away by Harry and later, when Callum’s henchmen try to kill Amy, she and Harry save Jake and Amy. Harry even leaps in front of Raquel and takes a bullet for her.
The wounded demon hunter goes into hospital to recover. After Raquel goes to visit him, Callum drops by and we learn that Harry has been possessed by a demon.
Mercy seems to have second thoughts about having her child possessed by a freshly released demon from Hell.
Raquel, whose nature allows her to react rather spectacularly when use, is the key and in the rescue scene, she once again moves things about telekinetically.
The best bit of the whole episode had to be the kidnapping of Amy and Jake. Flung into the boot of a car, the two have their hands and mouth’s taped up by Callum’s henchmen.
Amy’s friend discovers a sharp piece of metal and begins struggling to cut the tape on his wrists. As he rhythmically rubs the tape against the object, it looks, and sounds, as though Jake is having sex with Amy.
Funny and awkward, it is the highlight of the episode and may just qualify as the comedic high point of the series. Show creator Howard Overman is letting his Misfits roots shine through here and it results in making this supernatural comedy horror a cut above the rest.
Crazyhead is streaming on Netflix and can be downloaded as well. Head on over and catch this one. This series is irreverent, funny, rude and worth every minute that one spends watching this brilliant offering from E4.
Crazyhead Episode 4 “Penguin or Cow?” Suzanne is being held prisoner by Callum Weaver and he plans to use her to lure Amy away from Raquel. We learn more about why the half-demon girl is so important; she is a portal.
The two girls spend the night at Raquel and Tyler’s apartment since Amy does not want to stay in her flat with Suzanne missing. Raquel has two sets of pajamas; both are onesies and she offers Amy the choice of “penguin or cow” onesie.
Amy takes the penguin and goes to make them both a cup of tea. Earlier Jake professes his love for Amy who explains that the timing is a bit off at the moment. Later she and Tyler have sex. She has a prophetic dream about Suzanne and a bloke attacking Raquel.
She also wets the bed. Sneaking out she starts dressing when Raquel asks what she is doing. Amy explains that it now appears that she can tell the future and that she wet the bed.
Tyler comes out of his room with the soiled bedding and Amy lies saying that the sex was so good that it caused her to wet the bed.
Amy and Raquel get Jake to take them to single mum/demon Mercy’s house so they can question her. The girls send Jake back to the car and go into Mercy’s house. She is there with her son and she is baking muffins.
Raquel comes up with Mercy who is putting her son to be and Amy stays to take out the burnt muffins. Mercy knocks Raquel down the stairs and Amy goes up to get the demon.
Mercy wins out over Amy but not until after she stabs the demon with a model jet plane. She also tries to strangle Mercy with a toy snake. The demon escapes and heads over to Weaver’s house.
She learns of his plans to remove Amy from the equation and that they need Raquel to open the gates of Hell. He also explains that he never reveals his demon face as a sign of self control. Instead, Callum says, he beats someone to death and releases all his frustration that way.
Callum brings Suzanne a meal, an innocent bystander picked up at Burger King by his henchmen. “That’s why you shouldn’t go to Burger King,” says Callum. Amy’s roommate holds off as long as she can but caves in and calls Amy giving her the address where she is being held.
The head demon then takes out her “takeaway” meal and snaps the lad’s neck. He wants Suzanne good and hungry for when Amy shows up.
Raquel, Jake and Amy go to rescue Suzanne. They split up and Amy goes to rescue Suzanne. They go into the lift (elevator) and Callum’s demons shut the electric off, trapping the ravenous Suzanne and Amy on the fourth floor.
Jake and Raquel try to open the lift doors and Amy cuts herself so that Suzanne can feed. The demons turn the electric back on and the lift goes back to the top floor.
Suzanne leaps from the opened door. Grabbing the waiting demon she takes them both out of the 12th floor window. They both die and part of Amy’s dream has come true. The second part, where Harry attacks Raquel has yet to happen.
Harry has tracked Raquel down to her flat and calls her for a date. Raquel agrees and Amy sees Harry from the window. She rushes downstairs to warn Raquel but she is too late.
So far Crazyhead continues to be that perfect blend of “Misfits” irreverence and comic horror. Tony Curran is still the master at downplaying his role as the demon leader. (Such as change from his character on Defiance. Cara Theobald and Susan Wokoma are the perfect double act and Lu Corfield is just brilliant as Mercy.
The comedy still verges on the rude and crude, the whole “portal to Hell is Raquel’s vagina” was hysterical. (As was the “would you rather it be her arsehole?”)
The dynamic between all the characters is spot on and the “love triangle” between Tyler, Jake and Amy is amusing. It looks like Jake may be left out in the cold after Amy’s inadvertent affair with Raquel’s brother Tyler.
It looks like Raquel may be in danger with Harry and Amy will have to pull out all the stops to help her new friend.
Crazyhead is streaming on Netflix and can also be downloaded to watch offline. All six episodes are available right now.
As Crazyhead, episode two “A Pine Fresh Scent” continues the “Buffy-like” atmosphere a lot more is revealed about this demon filled verse. The demon who “hangs around” is not Raquel’s former lover, he’s her dad.
In an expository scene we learn that a demon infested her father just before having intercourse with her mum. The end result is that she is now “half-demon” which explains her ability to see them and to royally kick their butts…sometimes.
The “Misfits” touch is still present as Raquel and Amy talk a lot about sex, jizz and, at one point, Raquel’s brother Tyler believes he is going to have wild and wanton sex with Amy.
Callum puts out the word that he wants Raquel’s father taken care of and Mercy rises to the task with a few of her minions. Amy drags Jake into the fracas and we learn how to dispatch demons. (A shard of ice driven through the chest on the surface of an ice rink.)
After killing Suzanne in the previous episode, Amy and Raquel go to buy a couple of spades to bury Amy’s former roomie. As they shop at what appears to be a giant Costco, Raquel grabs two tins of Tango and a couple of large spoons.
As they head to the till, they ask if the store sells spades. After freaking them out by alluding to the two women burying a body, the clerk then orders two spades to be brought to the checkout. He does this a number of times.
The two women then bury Suzanne in the woods.
There is still a lot of comic moments in this episode where the show’s creator leaves the Misfits template alone and pays a homage to Shaun of the Dead. (The scene in the nearly deserted store with the vapid music playing over the store’s PA system is reminiscent of the first Cornetto film and Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and the 2008 remake.)
Much of the humor comes from the fact that these two demon hunters are not necessarily the sharpest tools in the shed. Amy, whose day job is working in a bowling alley, appears to be slightly smarter than Raquel but that may be because the half-demon girl has trouble communicating.
Callum is adamant that the trouble making demon daddy be killed and the violence displayed is, once more, less Bruce Lee and more brute force. There is a brilliant bit of fighting “backstage” at the ice rink where Amy takes a demon out with a giant penguin figure.
Another one is used to knock out Raquel, only this time it is a demon doing the damage. The unconscious demon hunter is taken out on the ice to watch her father get stabbed with a “dick – sized” bit of ice.
Raquel shows some of her demon side by telekinetically smacking down the demons threatening her dad, but too late to save him from being sent back to Hell.
Of course the big shock of the episode is when the “dead” Suzanne comes back from the freshly dug grave. Amy dreams of her bestie turning back up and while brushing her teeth, Suzanne appears behind her.
“You killed me you silly b*tch.”
Cue end credits. It now appears that Raquel’s formula for driving out the demon inside Suzanne worked after a very dodgy fashion. What remains to be seen is whether Raquel’s father can come back and just how far Callum is willing to go.
Crazyhead is available to stream or download on Netflix. All six episodes are up on the site for binging.
Last week on Defiance the episode saw things come to a head with the Datak Tarr family being threatened with the “unhinged, unstoppable” daughter of the dead T’evgin. It also saw Doc Yewll released from the control of Kindzi and the Omec were being stopped from feeding. Kindzi had Luke and Andina died.
This week in Upon the March We Fittest Die, aka the season finale, Yewll finds complete redemption and sacrifices are made by many, some are ultimate in nature and others are life changing.
At the start of the episode, which begins where last week’s ended, Kindzi has knocked out Alak and has baby Luke. Stahma pleads with the new Omec leader for her grandchild’s life. Just as Kindzi tells Stahma that the baby will die anyway, Datak shows up with his bionic arm and that long “Wolverine-type” blade. He shoves this through Kindzi’s neck pinning her to the wall. The Omec “All Mother” screams with rage and pain as she struggles against the sword shoved into her neck.
“You’ve upset my wife,” he yells and as the family Tarr escape, Alak (Jesse Rath) gets the line of the evening.
It is the actor’s delivery that sells it, “How is she still alive??” Alak is amazed and terrified and Rath shows it with this one line. Just brilliant.
*Sidenote*This line does almost get overshadowed by Grant Bowler’s performance towards the end of the finale. That “big-kid” grin of excitement as he prepares to leave is just brilliant.
After Datak rescues his family, sadly losing that cool blade in the process, and the lawkeepers are talking strategy. This is a brilliant scene, the group (Nolan, Irisa, Berlin and Amanda) are eating while Yewll observes. The topic is about the Omec being weak when they arrive and getting stronger when they feed. Great set up as that is exactly what the lawkeepers are doing. Tarr comes in with a shotgun to kill Doc Yewll.
Nolan talks Datak down and tells the Castithan that Yewll is “back on our team.” “Yeah? Are you sure,” asks Datak. Doc gets the second best line of the episode as she shouts back, “Yes! I’m sure! We’re all sure!” The camera pans over to Irisa and Amanda who nod affirming that Doc is back on Team Defiance.
Yewll goes on to prove her good intent by outlining how to blow the Omec ship to pieces. When Nolan asks Doc how she knows so much about Omec ships, she replies, “it is entirely possible I’ve done this before.” This answer reveals a lot behind the question of who sabotaged the Omec ships before. Yewll asks for volunteers to go to the ship.
Nolan and Irisa volunteer as does Datak. “If the mayor will have me,” he says. Amanda replies, “Ship full of Omec…A violent psychopath could come in handy.” “Be my pleasure to serve,” Tarr says and Stahma mutters in Castithan, “I married a fool.” She is not, obviously, pleased at his decision to go on what could be a one way trip.
Amanda goes to tell the citizens that the Omec are no longer allies. Her speech is combination warning and a mea culpa admission. She apologizes for putting her constituents in harm’s way. Irisa and Alak have a moment with Luke. Apparently he is not too disturbed by Andina’s death as he invites Nolan’s daughter to come visit after everything has calmed down.
Berlin and Amanda are talking when they hear gunfire, it is one of the Omec’s intended victims from last week shooting an Omec who is collecting “food.” The man collapses after being tased and Amanda is wounded after a brief standoff. Berlin shoots the Omec who badly cuts Rosewater.
Nolan carries a wounded Amanda to get treated.
Nolan comes and grabs Amanda taking her to Doc Yewll’s office. She is treated and it looks very bad for the mayor of Defiance.
The team of volunteers leave Rosewater at the clinic, where Samir monitors her process and Stahma tends to Amanda’s needs. The group of volunteers head to old St. Louis and use the pods to access the Omec Ship. Yewll asks for someone to go first and Nolan leaps to the platform, “I’ll be point,” he shouts.
Yewll says dryly, “Like I had to ask…”
When they arrive, Doc places herself in a control pod. She has to be plugged in to manipulate the ship. The plan is to start the engines and have Nolan shut the vents causing them to overheat and explode. Datak and Irisa help Doc while Nolan fights off security bots until Yewll can shut them down.
Back in Defiance, Amanda wakes up, despite the sedative that Doc Yewll ordered for her, and hears a baby crying. Rosewater picks up a gun from the floor and with her wound steadily dripping blood she follows the noise. Slowly she goes out of the infirmary and into the street. The Omec have taken everyone from Yewll’s. Earlier, Amanda sees one of the Omec decide not to take her “Spoiled meat,” the creature grunts , turning away from the mayor’s drugged and inert form. Rosewater sees the Omec in the street and shouts, “Hey a**holes!” As they turn to take her, she fires killing them all. As Stahma approaches, Amanda smiles and collapses.
Doc Yewll back on Team Defiance
Doc Yewll continues to operate the ship while fighting off the system’s firewall.
*Sidenote* Trenna Keating as Yewll, rocks it in this episode. Her delivery as the Indogene “savior” was spot on and she almost pipped Jesse Rath to the “line of the evening award” with her response to Tony Curran’s Datak Tarr line, “No, you’re a real person with enormous honor and infinite soul.” Yewll pauses for a moment and then says, “Just stick it in me, sailor. ” She is amused and obviously pleased at Tarr’s comment.
Earlier in the episode, before the “Hey a**holes” incident, Amanda and Stahma share a moment in the infirmary. Both are strong women and very different. Stahma reveals she is frustrated by the fact that the one woman she admires can never be her friend. Amanda reveals that Stahma frustrates her as she often does not do her best. Two frustrated women who will most likely never be friends but who know understand one another.
As Nolan begins the process of destroying the Omec ship, Kindzi (Nichole Galicia) shows up and the two battle for control. As she and Joshua fight, Kindzi tells him that he is a “natural born predator.” “You are no better than me,” she says. The Omec leader begins to open her jaws to feast on her one time pet and Nolan, as he pulls a knife from Kindzi’s belt, replies, “When you’re right, you’re right.”
He plunges the knife into the side of her head and heaves Kindzi over the edge of the platform and she falls down to the engines below. Her snarling and screaming descent is interrupted twice by beams before she falls into the whirling blades at the bottom.
Kindzi is chopped to bits.
*Sidenote* Even if Nolan had not killed Kindzi, or if they had not opted to destroy the Omec ship, it was apparent that her days as “All Mother” may have been very limited. Her madness was obvious to her own people. Her edict that it was alright for Omec to eat Omec may just have been that despotic, and insane, step too far.
Nolan starts the ship back up, Kindzi had stopped the process that Yewll started, with the taser she used on him. Doc tells him and the rest to get out. Irisa tells Joshua that she is staying. The two share a moment. Irisa tells her father that the Omec deserve a chance to live. Nolan asks Doc if there is a way to vent the energy and not blow up the ship.
Yewll reveals that they can vent the energy but it will “slingshot” the ship out into space with no chance of it ever finding Earth again. “Well, that’s kind of what I was going for,” Joshua says. He goes to hug his daughter and taser’s Irisa, he then puts her in the descent pod.
The “Butcher of Yosemite” has decided to go with the Omec ship. Later Irisa says, via voice over, that the people of Defiance say Joshua “saved the world” and name the rebuilt arch after him. Irisa finishes her narration with, “He’d laugh his a** off about that if he were here.”
The season finale of Defiance was an adrenaline fueled mix of comedy (Doc Yewll) and tragedy (Doc Yewll and Nolan.) along with some pretty satisfying moments. Kindzi finally getting her just deserts and the Tarr family finally getting over the death of Luke’s human mother were two of these satisfying moments as was Doc Yewll and Datak Tarr regaining their friendship.
Kudos to Trenna Keating, Grant Bowler (who obviously will not be back if the show is approved for a fourth season) and Nicole Galicia as Kindzi. The Defiance writers pulled out all the stops for this end show of the season and it was appreciated by all who watched the finale.
*Final Sidenote*Julie Benz proved, yet again, what big chops she has. It was a cold hearted viewer who felt nothing when she had her scene with Julie Murray (another performer with mammoth chops) and then that beautiful smile (at Stahma) before she collapsed…Whew, tissues required for both of those scenes. Aw Ms. Benz, “We are not worthy…”
With the death of T’evgin becoming general knowledge last week in Defiance, along with Doc Yewll busily collecting “food” for the new Omec leader Kindzi (who is now the show’s new “Big Bad”) just the title The Awakening has an ominous ring. This foreboding feeling does not abate by the episode’s end and this penultimate season end installment sets the stage for a big finale.
Before the episode ended, Datak Tarr once again proved that, like a magician, it helps to be the smartest person in the room/Defiance. Nolan learns that Kindzi is now practically indestructible, Stahma finds out that T’evgin, the one person who could protect her from his psychotic daughter is dead, Amanda learns of the full Omec threat, Doc Yewll is discovered as the Omec Dark Harvest enabler and Joshua and the mayor “have a moment.”
At the start of The AwakeningNolan arms up and goes Kindzi hunting. Later, when they catch up with the Omec “mother” he shoots her in the head, with a long range rifle. The bullet knocks her down but she then removes the spent round from her forehead and starts toward Nolan. He shoots her a few more times with the rifle and then empties his pistol into Kindzi. She does not flinch as she runs up the hill toward Nolan.
After this attempt on her life, Kindzi sets herself up for a fall with her own people. Lying about T’evgin’s demise, she tells the Omec that Defiance denizens murdered her father, and she opts to rule behind this lie. The enchanters are following her lead but it is doubtful that they will continue when she is found out.
Amanda proves just why she is in charge of Defiance be revealing that she knows why Kindzi is so powerful. Nolan and the rest learn that Doc Yewll’s recent patients have all gone missing, a total of 13 and they go to question her. Meanwhile, Kindzi orders more takeout and Yewll obliges.
Kindzi notices Datak on the menu and they talk. The new Omec leader tells Tarr, “You Castithan, I recognize you. You’re Stahma’s mate.” “I’m also the last person you’ll see before you die,” he says. She makes a threat against Stahma and Datak scoffs at her, reminding the Omec that Earth will not give up easily. Mixed into his diatribe are a number of insults, including one about inbreeding. Kindzi tells her captive meal that she is going after Stahma.
Nolan and Amanda reach Doc Yewll’s office and she is not there. Mayor Rosewater has a moment of crisis. She feels responsible for the Omec invasion and it concerns her. Amanda tells Nolan that it is all her fault. The Mayor heads to a corner and starts crying and Nolan pulls out that motivational streak inside him and regenerates Amanda. Joshua tells her that he believes Defiance needs her to be in charge and that he, Nolan needs her.
They kiss.
Yewll is ordered to bring out another meal for the newly arrived Omec and there is a short comic moment where two of the intended meals argue about who should be next. Datak Tarr pushes all of the doctor’s buttons forcing her to let him out to be the next Omec “un-happy meal.” He insults the Indogene and when he calls her a “golem” Yewll lets him out.
Alak and Jake are sharing a moment and interrupts by Andina bringing Stahma for a visit.
Meanwhile back at the Defiance smorgasbord Tarr reveals that he really does have a trick up his sleeve, or to be more accurate up his Votan manufactured bio-replacement arm. Datak shoots a long blade out of his fist and the first Omec that gets in range is skewered in the head. Tarr holds off the others and while the rest of the captors cheer his victory, he escapes.
Yewll puts the injured (and bellowing) Omec in the back of her roller and turning up her music takes him away to be treated. Stahma tells Alak that Datak is missing. Nolan and Amanda stop the doctor and as she protests Rosewater removes the control stem. Yewll is relieved and borrows the mayor’s pistol, emptying the entire clip into the Omec in the back of her roller. “Looks like momma got her groove back,” Yewll says looking at her victim.
*Sidenote* This has to be mentioned, was anyone else “freaked out” by the appearance of the Omec that Yewll dispatched with Amanda’s pistol? If nothing else this scene spoke volumes of just what the race really are. The dead Omec, face frozen in a overly large snarl, fangs extended and mouth stretched, and one eye distended looking for all the world like a giant fish eye. This viewer took that image to bed last night. Defiance delivered one shudder scene on a roller platter.
Alak and Stahma talk further and after he declares that his family is a fraud, she reveals a few home truths of her own. The two sort of make up. Stahma decides to leave, after Alak informs her that she put Luke in danger by showing up. Stahma leaves and Alak asks Andina if he should go after her.
Andina: (Holding Luke) “Do you want an honest opinion?”
Alak: “Yeah of course.”
Andina: “Forget your mother. Think about Luke. He’s in danger if we stay here.”
Andina is a clever castithan handmaiden, she knows the way to Alak’s heart is not through his stomach but through his half-human son.
Samir is removed from his cage to be the next Omec offering and true to his belief (stated earlier to Datak, who offers to urinate in Samir’s cage as a response) Nolan does indeed save him. The veterinarian rolls in the Defiance dirt laughing hysterically as dead Omec surround him.
Back at the Alak household, Andina makes her move and her target responds. While Alak tells Andina that it is too soon, she responds that she is patient and her “Favi” tells the handmaiden to call him Alak. There is a knock on the door and in stumbles Stahma, “Run, Run.”
Kindzi follows.
The Omec knocks Stahma down the length of Alak’s hallway and Alak goes for Luke. Andina rushes to intervene and Kindzi snaps the ambitious handmaiden’s neck. The Omec leader follows Stahma down the hallway and in the kitchen Alak’s mother grabs a knife. “Really?” Kindzi says, amused and as she starts to kill Stahma, Kindzi is stopped by Luke’s cries.
The Omec heads to the baby’s room and Alak empties his pistol into her. Knocking Alak away, Kindzi grabs the baby and sniffs him.
*Sidenote* Right up till Kindzi snapped her head back to touch her spine, the Castithan handmaiden Andina looked to be moving into her own. Alak seemed to be in danger of being “owned” by this beautiful hair brushing servant. As she proved last week in her scene with Favi Tarr Stahma, this young lady had plans and the will to make them happen. Baby Jake was definitely set to get a new mommy. Sadly, with one push of Kindzi’s hand, Andina is now out of the equation. So long Andina and Amy Forsyth the actress who brought her to life.
This week’s episode of Defiance was brilliant. In one go, the show started the invasion and then pretty much shut it down before the end credits rolled although now it seems that Kindzi is about to “up the stakes.” The denizens of Defiance still have to defeat the seemingly un-defeatible Kindzi but she really has set herself up for a big fall with her own people.
Kudos to Julie Benz who proved, yet again, that this performer is not just a beautiful face, this gal’s got chops mate. Great big beautiful ones that are capable of knocking everyone else off the screen. Grant Bowler gave a lot in the Doc Yewll’s office scene, but the lovely Ms. Benz rocked it.
*Sidenote* It seems that Berlin might be suffering from a severe lack of intestinal fortitude since she got back from her boyfriend’s loving arms. The lawkeeper seemed pretty freaked out by the Omec threat, it looks like she may just bolt again if things get too bad.
The season finale is next week. As things stand, Datak Tarr is set on rescuing his Stahma, Alak is either unconscious or dead on the floor, along with Stahma. Andina is in Castithan heaven, or its equivalent. Doc Yewll looks set for a little payback, Nolan and Amanda are dangerously close to being an item and Kindzi looks to be seriously considering a snack of baby back ribs. (Sorry, could not resist that one, it begged to be used.)
Defiance airs Fridays as part of SyFy Fridays. At this point, the network have not revealed their plans for the series, so news on whether it has been cancelled or renewed is still up in the air. Till then, tune it to see how this season ends next week.
Last week on Defiance the episode saw things come to a head with the Datak Tarr 
You must be logged in to post a comment.