Story: Class: The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did
Written By: Patrick Ness
Length: 45 Minutes
Year: 2016
Whereas the previous episode featured a distinct lack of Miss Quill, this episode focuses on what she was up to while the kids where all trapped by the Prisoner Rock thing in Detention. As I have stated in previous reviews, Quill has been my least favorite aspect of the show so far. While the teens all seem to have depth and are well written characters, Quill always seems to be one-dimensional. She quips and snarls and always plays the badass. It never seems like there is much more to her than "I am a warrior!" Here is an episode that focuses entirely on her, on her struggles, on who she is. And you know what I found out? She is a WARRIOR.
That is really the crux of the episode. If she had some deep sadness about who she is or was or something...maybe I would've begun to see something in her. But what the episode showcased, more than ever, is that deep down there is nothing to this character. She is a warrior. She is a soldier. She is also a fighter. Her entire existence is boiled down to the fact that she wants to fight everything and everyone, and since she was stripped of her ability to use weapons by the Arn in her head, her only depth is that she is sad about that. I mean there is the loss of her people, but Charlie has the same backstory there, he just comes from the other people of her world...and her sadness seems to really be, tht her people are gone and all she wants now is revenge, which she can't take...because Arn.
She is just tiresome, and her snarky one liners aren't entertaining enough (for me) to justify dealing with this one-note character. Just snark and bitterness. And with 45 minutes of TV focused entirely on her? I felt this episode really failed to do more for her character. Most of the runtime is spent on this goofy quest in which Quill, Ames, and this shapeshifter guy (who is frozen between shapeshifts), travel via this crazy contraption that takes them to other realms of Gods and stuff. And they have to get an Arn, some thing from the devil or God of this shapeshifter guy, and the brain of a Quill Goddess. This eventually leads to the removal of the Arn, which was teased at the end of the previous episode.
How Quill seemed to age is also explained, as the Shapeshifter guy and Quill end up trapped in the Cabinet of Souls containing Charlie's people's like disembodied essences (or whatever)...and they are forced by Ames and the Governors to fight each other to the death (and seeing how they just fought next to one another and had sex...that is a bummer for them). Quill ends up the lone survivor, and is aged by the Rhodians, before being able to leave the box...apparently by the Rhodians themselves...which is weird because she first threatens to murder the last of their people (Charlie) once she gets out. Then we pick up where the previous episode left off, with one more reveal...Quill is pregnant! Oh joy.
This episode wasn't horrible, it just felt like a wasted opportunity. I haven't been fond of Quill in this show, as she seems like the weakest link of the ensemble. She doesn't gel with the rest of the cast, and her purpose continually puzzles me. She doesn't play the mentor role, as she shows nothing but disdain for everyone else and genuinely tries to avoid them. And the role of Alien of the group who can know things otherworldly seems just as easily played by Charlie (and often is). Her main function has seemed to be to be the conduit in which the mysterious Governors running thread is dispersed. Otherwise she is just a person who wants to fight everything but only can when something attacks Charlie. This episode had a big chance to add some much needed layers to her character, and it just pointed out, yet again, that she is a warrior who longs to be free from the shackles of not being able to shoot things. I hardly feel for her...because what she longs to be is kind of nasty and unpleasant (basically...an angry person who likes to shoot things and is fueled by revenge and hate). So this episode is just kind of a bummer...because it had the chance to finally do something with this character and make me get it, and it just flat out failed to do so.
NEXT TIME: Showdown with the Shadow Kin
Written By: Patrick Ness
Length: 45 Minutes
Year: 2016
Whereas the previous episode featured a distinct lack of Miss Quill, this episode focuses on what she was up to while the kids where all trapped by the Prisoner Rock thing in Detention. As I have stated in previous reviews, Quill has been my least favorite aspect of the show so far. While the teens all seem to have depth and are well written characters, Quill always seems to be one-dimensional. She quips and snarls and always plays the badass. It never seems like there is much more to her than "I am a warrior!" Here is an episode that focuses entirely on her, on her struggles, on who she is. And you know what I found out? She is a WARRIOR.
She is just tiresome, and her snarky one liners aren't entertaining enough (for me) to justify dealing with this one-note character. Just snark and bitterness. And with 45 minutes of TV focused entirely on her? I felt this episode really failed to do more for her character. Most of the runtime is spent on this goofy quest in which Quill, Ames, and this shapeshifter guy (who is frozen between shapeshifts), travel via this crazy contraption that takes them to other realms of Gods and stuff. And they have to get an Arn, some thing from the devil or God of this shapeshifter guy, and the brain of a Quill Goddess. This eventually leads to the removal of the Arn, which was teased at the end of the previous episode.
How Quill seemed to age is also explained, as the Shapeshifter guy and Quill end up trapped in the Cabinet of Souls containing Charlie's people's like disembodied essences (or whatever)...and they are forced by Ames and the Governors to fight each other to the death (and seeing how they just fought next to one another and had sex...that is a bummer for them). Quill ends up the lone survivor, and is aged by the Rhodians, before being able to leave the box...apparently by the Rhodians themselves...which is weird because she first threatens to murder the last of their people (Charlie) once she gets out. Then we pick up where the previous episode left off, with one more reveal...Quill is pregnant! Oh joy.
This episode wasn't horrible, it just felt like a wasted opportunity. I haven't been fond of Quill in this show, as she seems like the weakest link of the ensemble. She doesn't gel with the rest of the cast, and her purpose continually puzzles me. She doesn't play the mentor role, as she shows nothing but disdain for everyone else and genuinely tries to avoid them. And the role of Alien of the group who can know things otherworldly seems just as easily played by Charlie (and often is). Her main function has seemed to be to be the conduit in which the mysterious Governors running thread is dispersed. Otherwise she is just a person who wants to fight everything but only can when something attacks Charlie. This episode had a big chance to add some much needed layers to her character, and it just pointed out, yet again, that she is a warrior who longs to be free from the shackles of not being able to shoot things. I hardly feel for her...because what she longs to be is kind of nasty and unpleasant (basically...an angry person who likes to shoot things and is fueled by revenge and hate). So this episode is just kind of a bummer...because it had the chance to finally do something with this character and make me get it, and it just flat out failed to do so.
NEXT TIME: Showdown with the Shadow Kin
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