Bates Motel SN4 EP3 – ‘Till Death Do You Part’

Quick recap of last weeks episode ‘Goodnight Mother’ SN4-EP2

So last week Norman and Norma each think that the others has committed a terrible deed, meanwhile Dylan thinks about his future with Emma. Remero Romero makes a choice that has a dramatic impact on the Bates family

‘Till Death Do You Part’ SN4-EP3

Ok so let’s get down to business……. Romero and Norma tie the knot albeit awkwardly, during the ceremony Norma tells the celebrant she can that part we’ve heard it before, I actually laughed out loud, they seal it with a kiss and you can see there is a little spark between them. Norman is at Pineview and struggling to accept his new circumstances. Now that Remero and Norma are married he tells her he has to moves some of his stuff into the Bates home so the marriage looks real.

Emma is getting better with each day, her and Dylan take a walk around the hospital and he tells her he is sick of growing weed and he wants to do something better with his life. While Norman is being shown around Pineview, he spots a woman wearing pearls and he gets a little twinkle in his eyes as if he is reminiscing killing Miss Watson (Keegan Connor Tracy). Dr. Edwards asks Norman if he has ever been in therapy and Norman tells Dr.Edward, he believes that his mother is the problem not him. While having dinner another young man Julian sit with Norman and strikes up a conversation. Definitely foresee trouble ahead if they become friend’s they are both unstable.

As they have drinks, Norma tells Romero this is her 3rd marriage and with a little more alcohol she opens up about parts of her past. Remero tells Norma he was married once before while in the Marines, when they get home he helps a tipsy Norma up to bed and says “goodnight Mrs Remero” Norma quickly replies “I’m keeping my name”. The following morning Norma wakes to find a wedding present of a coffee machine in the kitchen with a note attached saying he called some one to fill the pit. One of the nurses asks Norman if he would like to participate in yoga, he replies that he would rather stick pins in his eyes. One of the men filling in the pit hands Norma an earing – an earing that belonged to Audrey Decody (Emma’s mother).

As Dylan gets to the farm, Gunner (Keenan Tracey) is about to leave for California saying he is quitting. Dylan calls Emma and complains that Gunner had quit, he wanted to fire him as he had prepared himself for it. Romero returns home to find his ex girlfriend there, when she tries to kiss him, he tells her he got married widow Norma Bates. Before she leaves she asks him about Bob Paris, as she hasn’t heard from him since the DEA stormed his house. She is worried she might be in danger, but Remero reassure her she’s safe. Remero returns home to Norma’s with Bob Paris’s money.
Dylan goes home to see his mother and she tells him she married Romero, she believes that Remero doesn’t like her but I beg to differ there is definitely little sparks starting, she is also worried about Norman and leaving him at Pineview, but Dylan reassure’s her she has done the right thing. Norman has another session with Dr. Edwards, and tells him he has blackouts occasionally and can’t he just give him medication for them, he goes on to tell Dr. Edwards that he never wants to upset his mother, because she is the most wonderful person in the world and that he is in Pineview because of her, when Norman is asked why he is so angry at her if he loves her that much, he breaks down and starts ranting before storming out of the room.

Norma arrives at Pineview and convinces Dr. Edwards to let her see Norman, even though it’s against Pineview policy but we all know how persuasive Norma can be when she wants something. Before she see Norman she removes the her rock from her finger, she finally gets to see Norman but he is not happy to see her and tells her as much, he tells her that he will never for give her for putting him in Pineview. A very upset Norma returns home and Romero comforts her, then they kiss and Remero tries to stop her but she tells him it’s what she wants and he carries her upstairs and you can all use your imagination for what would have happened once upstairs. After seeing his mother Norman storms into Dr. Edwards office, but his behavior lands hin into solitary confinement. Norman tells Dr. Edwards that he believes his mother is insane and maybe killing people, a surprised Dr. Edwards tells Norman that such an accusation warrants being reported and investigated to which Norman agrees.

Call me crazy but I think Romero and Norma might just work, I have always thought they an undeniable chemistry, and after this episode you definitely see little sparks between them. Let me know your thoughts on this episode. Check back next week for episode 4, i know i can’t wait! It just keeps getting better and better each episode.
I give this episode: 🎬 🎬 🎬 🎬 🎬

Once Upon A Time SN5 EP13 – ‘Labor Of Love’

Hook is trapped in an Underworld prison with a young girl. They’re trying to escape and he tells her to find Emma, he’ll hold off the hellbeast, he knows Emma is looking for him.

Snow is in Fairytale Land past and is asked to stop a bandit from hurting her loyal subjects. Snow flees into the forest and falls into a hunters trap, only to be rescued by demigod Hercules.

Hercules and Snow become friends, Hercules trains Snow how to shoot the bow and arrow and to stand up for herself and her people from the bandits.

Hercules and Snow are reunited in the Underworld where Snow learns the truth about Hercules and why he’s reluctant to finish his last labor to defy Cerberus.

Snow eventually motivates Hercules and with help they defeat Cerberus together.

After defending Cerberus, Hercules realizes that he knows the girl from the prison, her name is Megara, her friends call her Meg. Cerberus killed her after killing Hercules.

Snow realized Hercules only unfinished business wasn’t just Cerberus, but he found Meg and moved on and together they bid farewell to their friends and were welcomed into Olympus.

Robin Hood and Henry headed off to find maps of Storybrooke.

As Henry enters Cora’s office, Cruella is there waiting and tells Henry that she wants to go back to the real world and he’s the only one that can help, as he’s the Author and the quill he broke is here in the Underworld.

If he helps Cruella, he can help Emma too. She’ll no longer be a murderer. Henry keeps the meeting with Cruella a secret.

Once Upon A Time S5 EP 12 – ‘Souls Of The Departed’

Opens with Emma in her yellow VW with Neil, he’s happy and smiling. You almost think she’s dreaming until they start talking. Neil assures her that’s he’s happy and has no unfinished business, he’s in a better place.

They arrive in the Underworld, which looks exactly like Storybrooke (of course).

Cora appears and is told of Regina’s arrival in the Underworld.

Cora threatens Regina with sending her father into the flames if she and Henry don’t leave immediately.

Let’s NOT forget how King Henry got into Cora’s hands, way back in Season 1 when Regina requested the Mad Hatter to get her to Wonderland to retrieve a box?

Her father was in there. She fed him a resizing mushroom and in return left the Mad Hatter in his place. Hat rules… Number of people entering have to equal number of people leaving.

In the end, Regina prevailed and stood up to Cora, finding a way for her father to meet Henry before he walked towards the light.

Being changed, Regina wonders if others in the Underworld can be saved, but Gold wants no parts of it. Is he selfish? Or afraid of his father?

Hook is in distress, pain and alone. He has no real idea that Emma still loves him and is trying to rescue him.I’m personally hoping for a face to face soon.

Emma and Killian are the Modern Day Snow White and Prince Charming…

It’s very fitting considering those are her parents.

Damien SN1 EP3 – ‘The Deliverer’

Here’s a quick recap from episode 2

Last week when we left Damien he was taken down to a room in Rutledge’s house where everything from his childhood was displayed and at front and center is Damien’s red trike that was used to kill his mother, Damien is starting to put all the pieces together.

Now it’s time for the latest episode!

Detective Shay is starting to piece the puzzle together and believes Damien is a crucial part of the puzzle, as he can be connected to the death of the professor and the taxi accident. Damien and Ann are talking about his mother and he doesn’t understand why he would kill want to kill her but Ann ensures him that he didn’t try to kill his mother. Damien’s starting to remember bits from his childhood that he previously couldn’t remember and he is learning just how well Ann knows him, she has watched and protected him from a far for a very long time.

Ann tells Damien that he will soon realize that he is the Anti-Christ and he is being groomed for a war of biblical proportions, and Ann has been in the background for every step, she is part of a larger collective who are there to protect him as he grows. Kelly’s sister Simone goes to see their prist and shows him Kelly’s notebook he tells Simone that it looks like she was doing a religious story and not to read into it, as she is walking out she see blood pouring from a religious statue, but when she grabs the prist to look there is no trace of the blood, Simone thinks there is a connection between Damien, Kelly and the Devil. Damien consults with his friend Amani about looking into Ann and finding out what she wants from him, Amani thinks it a bad idea and goes on to tell Damien that they were fired from their job and that he has a new job lined up in Kiev Damien tells Amani he is not going.
Damien has a meeting with John Lyons (Scott Wilson) who he knows from when he lived in the White House, he tells Damien that Ann terrifies him, but then we see John and Ann having a conversation, whoever this mysterious religious group is, Ann and John are most definitely in the center of it, making sure Damien stays alive and on the path of evil he is destined for. In the meeting John asks Ann how she could have let a would be assassin to nearly take Damien out, John goes on to tell Ann she to close and that another member of the group will take over guiding Damien and preparing him for the apocalyptic business. Ann is not happy with that idea but for John, Ann is done and no longer on the case, but for her nothing has changed. The man set to take over Ann in guiding Damien, thinks Ann is giving him directions to help keep Damien safe, when in actual she is manipulates him and then pretenders to be pushed by the man in front of the building.

Damien has been doing surveillance on Ann across the street, when he sees Ann fall to the ground and scream for help, he runs to her aid but doesn’t see what really happened. The man ordered to replace Ann runs away in hopes of getting as far away from Ann and Damien as he can, but that plan fails when he fall on the escalator and his tie gets stuck and literally loses his face. Damien how had been chasing the man, stops to save the life of a child that had been knock onto the tracks with a train fast approaching, this is an important moment as it makes us believe that there is in fact still a genuine decent side to our potential Anti-Christ. After the escalator incident John quickly learns that taking Ann off the case wasn’t and option and he now knows where he stands with Ann. Looks like he gets it now, you would be pretty stupid to mess with her again.
Detective Shay is obsessing over these cases when rather unexpectedly, evil forces come into play and the Detective is attacked by one of the watchdogs that we continue to see watching over Damien, the Detective survives the attack by putting a bullet in the dog, if he hadn’t of had his weapon he wouldn’t have survived the attack that’s for sure, you can see he’s concerned and that what he just experienced isn’t in the realm of normalcy. Damien’s head is spinning with information and unanswered questions, He answers a knock at the door and its Ann baring sushi. They continue to talk about the Anti-Christ and Damien is not convinced at what Ann has to say, before she leaves she re carves 666 on her arm before she leaves Damien tells her of his birth mark, and it would be an understatement to say Ann was excited about the birthmark.

What are your thoughts on this episode?

Be sure to check back next week for episode 4 “The Number of a Man”
This week’s episode I give: 🎬🎬🎬🎬

An Interview With British Actor Cai O’Leary

How about another interview?  I was happy to get to talk to a multi-talented young man recently.  Cai O’Leary has several appearances in TV series under his belt, including Blodau, Deep Cuts and more, along with several short films like Johnny Oneline and a film he wrote, directed, produced and starred in entitled Man Is Beast, which is a Chinese language film.  Let’s get to know a little more about Cai, shall we?

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1)  How did you get into acting?  Did you always want to be an actor?

I was 19 and had just returned from a gap year in Australia where I was coaching rugby at a school.  I had deferred my place at University in the UK where I was due to start a Law Degree, in order to travel.  When I got back I told my father that I would prefer to pursue my childhood dreams of becoming an actor.  Luckily, my father is an artist so he was over the moon with this decision and I have not looked back since.  I think coming from a small quarrying vilage in North Wales, becoming an actor didn’t even seem like an option that was open to me.  I had never even heard of drama school.  Apart from a run in the local drama club (there was only three of us there) there was zero opportunity.  It was only when I was in Australia and I met some actors out there that I realised I could make a living out of it.

2)  Tell us about your latest project…

My latest project Is another short film, which I wrote.  This time it is a love story between a homeless couple on the streets of London.  It follows the story of ‘Ariel’, a transwoman who is used to the hard knocks given to you as a homeless person.  She finds love and this comes in the shape of ‘Paul’, an Irish man.  It is quite different to Man Is Beast, more poetic and I have tried to dig into how society has a way of placing people.  Actually in saying that, I guess it is quite similar to Man Is Beast.  There is a hierarchy in Society whether you are human or an animal.

Other than this I am currently penning my first feature film.  A Chinese language action Thriller which takes place in China and London.  Much more light hearted and easy to watch!

3)  You wore many hats in Man is Beast:  Actor, Director, Producer and Writer.  Which hat was the hardest to wear, and why?

The producer.  100%.  Mainly because I have no interest whatsoever in becoming a producer.  However, needs must and in the wonderful world of short film you sometimes have to wear more than one hat!  But from now on I am concentrating on my writing and acting only.

4)  If you could be in any existing film playing any character, which would it be?

Jason Bourne.  I love action films and for me the Bourne films are the best.  Obviously Bond is huge as well and has now caught up but for me the earlier Bourne films led the way.

5)  I know that you’re a skilled martial artist.  Could you be the next Chuck Norris?  (On the lighter side – What’s your favorite Chuck Norris joke?  Mine is:  Before he goes to bed every night, the Boogey Man checks under his bed for Chuck Norris.) 

Ha, yes.  No I don’t think I am the next Chuck Norris.  I am more of an actor who happens to have a lot of experience in martial arts.

Quotes… oh there are so many… urm, I think I will have to go with ‘Why are there no Chuck Norris lego’s?  Because no one can take Chuck Norris apart.’

6)  If a film was made about you, what would it be called and who would play you?

Oooh, tough question.  I guess because of my single parent upbringing (my father) and where I grew up, It would be something along the lines of Billy Elliott.  There are a lot of similarities there to my upbringing.  Except I got into acting, definitely can’t dance!

7)  What can we expect from you in the rest of 2016?

Hopefully I can get my Chinese feature film into production.  I also have a couple of projects closer to home on the horizon.  And as a writer look out for my short film ‘Ariel’ which is currently running the festival circuit.

8)  Tell us a fun fact about you, something that our readers might not already know about you…

I am trilingual, I speak the worlds three most influential languages.  English, Mandarin Chinese and… Welsh 🙂

9)  And, last but not least, do you have any advice for young, up and coming actors?

I have a lot of advice actually.  But the main thing for me is don’t wait for things to come to you.  Hopefully they will (it does happen)  but most of the time it doesn’t.  Make films, write, hook up with other filmmakers and be creative.  The film festivals are great but very expensive.  Post your work online, create a buzz – you never know who’s watching!

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For more information about Cai, check out Cai’s IMDB page here. Don’t be shy go say hi, check out Cai on twitter here and tell him ‘Skatronixxx sent me’.

‘Divergent: Ascendent’ Has Its Budget Cut

Last week, Part 1 in The Divergent Series finale Allegiant, hit theatres to a wavering fan-fare leading to the lowest opening weekend for the young adult franchise so far.

Sources out of The Hollywood Reporter are circulating the news that in reaction to Allegiant’s disappointing return, Lionsgate are slashing the budget for its predecessor Ascendent – the final film in the franchise – due out next year. The source revealed that “the budget for the next one will be reduced,” but “they haven’t said by how much,” indicating that a significant cut will be in effect given Allegiant’s $110 Million budget.

The first film in the series Divergent earned a $29.1 Million on its opening weekend, with its sequel Insurgent giving the series an all time high with $52.3. The dwindling numbers showing the franchise inability to retain a new audience outside of its core fan base.

Although the weekend opening is a disappointment for the studio, It is believed that Lionsgate still plan on releasing Ascendent alongside Universals eagerly anticipated The Mummy reboot and Paramounts sequel World War Z 2.  Going head-to-head with both Summer Blockbusters on June 9, 2017.

For all your Disappointing-Young-Adult-Genre-News, stick with @mitch_rated at Skatronixxx

Vampire Diaries Returns on April 1st

The Vampire Diaries ends their Spring Hiatus with a big episode directed by star Ian Somerhalder.  The episode titled Days of Future Past will in Somerhalder’s words “tug at your heart strings”.

The official synopsis of the episode says… “Stefan will find himself with a choice to make and his decision will determine the fates of everyone he cares about, especially Damon.”  I’m definitely going to need therapy after this episode!

And, I’m in luck.  Ian himself will be live tweeting the episode!  Ian will also be choosing a twitter handle at random to give a special prize… his leather script binder that he’s used for each episode of the show up to this point!  What a great prize for some lucky fan!  I don’t know about all of you, but I will certainly make sure he sees my twitter handle while he’s live tweeting!

S7E16 airs on Friday, April 1st on the CW.

Interview & Review: Dark Libra Films; Bloody Mary: Possession

I am a massive horror film fan. I always have been and always will be. It’s where my passion for film lies. So, being given the opportunity to interview the members of an up and coming indie horror film production company was a big thing for me. I was also given the chance to view their latest release; Bloody Mary: Possession. This, as I’m sure you can imagine, is a big thing for me! Here is the interview….. review at the bottom of the article:

INTERVIEW: Dark Libra Films

Hi guys,

Firstly, thanks very much for agreeing to let us interview you. It’s always a privilege to be able to interview people who are passionate about film.

So, let’s jump straight in here….. I hope you don’t mind, but I like to cut to the chase!!

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1) How long have you been going as a production company?

We’ve had films in the works for nearly a year now.

2) How did it all get started?

I think we were inspired primarily by the constant improvement within Smartphone technology. It was once hard to imagine that a cell phone’s camera would be able to shoot 60 frames per second; now it’s the norm.

3) Where does the name Dark Libra come from?

Pretty simple, really. The name “Dark Libra” was drawn up because our founder’s zodiac sign is Libra… and he prefers darker films; we ran with it as it seemed to have a nice ring.

4) Who, or what, has been your biggest inspiration overall?

The biggest inspiration would have to be old, black & white horror films such as “Nosferatu”, “The Wolfman”, “Frankenstein”, etc. It dawned on us that nothing like those classic films has been developed for almost a century now. That was how the idea of our premiere film “Angelic Wolves” was born. We wanted to bring back that vintage, black & white look while also implementing some more modern attributes, such as sound, gore effects and so on. Some viewers appreciated the hybrid elements, some didn’t. We then wanted to try something different with “Bloody Mary Possession”, combining high resolution (color) cinematography with both horror and slapstick-comedy characteristics. So far the response has been mainly positive.

5) Why have you chosen to concentrate your efforts in the horror genre?

The horror genre was appealing in the sense that you could have a ton of fun creating an entertaining product without the added pressure that many other film genres can face. I think it’s apparent that we want to create films that an audience can have fun with, but by no means are we trying to win an Oscar!

6) Which movie of yours has been the most fun to film and why?

“Bloody Mary Possession” was more fun in the sense that it was a bit more planned out, which led to a more efficient shoot. Being that “Angelic Wolves” was our debut film, it served as more of an experimental project to see if we could actually complete a project solely with the use of an iPhone.

7) If there was one horror movie you wish you could have made, what would it be?

Truthfully, there is no existing film that I wish I could’ve created and taken credit for. I see A LOT of films, I like A LOT of films, but there are always many aspects of every film that I would tweak if it we’re in my hands.

8) Do you do all of your own special effects?

Yes, we do indeed do all of our own special effects. We prefer to have total control over our product, aside from the work of the actors of course.

9) What inspired you to write and film Bloody Mary: Possession?

I must say I’ve always found ghost based films to be the most terrifying out of the bunch. Therefore, I thought it would be interesting to group some of those frightening images with a sense of comedy. I’ve always found the urban legend of Bloody Mary to be fairly creepy and it became apparent that there aren’t many Bloody Mary titles out there.

10) There seems to be a lot of films made about possession recently. Does Bloody Mary offer anything new for viewers?

Again, it does have some similar characteristics to other films, but I believe the added humor here and there adds a pleasant aspect of unpredictability.

11) How far do you think possession movies have come since The Exorcist?

It’s clear that a vast amount of horror fans still claim “The Exorcist” to be #1; I certainly can’t argue that. Any film that is perceived as ‘revolutionary’ within its genre is going to be talked about for some time, maybe even eternity. One could say that certain visual effects have come a long way since then (although I prefer to use less CGI than what is currently expected) but as far as writing and overall production comes, I think it’s tricky to compete with some of those oldies.

12) Do you feel that horror has become more acceptable for mainstream audiences in the modern cinema era, or do you still consider it to be a niche taste?

I think the majority of audiences prefer a little horror now and then. Even though some viewers may be bored by the plot, writing, etc. it’s hard to claim that you never, ever appreciate an adrenaline rush.

13) If you could have any famous actor/actress in one of your films, who would it be?

We sort of prefer to use ‘unknown’ cast members in our films but if I had to choose a famous actor I’d probably have to go with Christopher Walken for a variety of reasons. 

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REVIEW: Bloody Mary: Possession

It’s not very often that you get asked to view a film that is trying to take films into a new era of technological advancement. Dark Libra film all of their movies on iPhones. Given the recent acceleration in smartphones, it seems like a logical step to take for independent production companies. There’s less equipment to carry around, which leads to reduced overheads and increases the ability to produce exciting films on a lower budget. 

Bloody Mary: Possession is one such film. Based on the urban legend of a figure that will tell you who you are going to marry if you complete a ritual, it’s a story that many people will recognise. However, it’s given a modern twist by the injection of humour that infiltrates the film throughout its 25min running time. The only downside of the film for me is that I feel it could have been a little longer, if only to explore the subject matter in greater depth. 

Centered around the a couple who are struggling with their day to day life together (the daily grind of the 9-5 job and a struggle to fully understand eachother), an argument ensues. A night apart leads to an interesting discovery in the basement and the ritual is performed. What follows is both amusing (the look on her face the following day was a proper laugh out loud moment for me…..) and suspenseful, which makes for an interesting combination. 

This film is not full spoof, but not full suspenseful horror. It’s an interesting blend of the two which keeps you interested for the whole length of the short. It’s also very groundbreaking, given that it was filmed entirely on an iPhone. Sure, independent filmmakers have been making movies using basic filming equipment for years, but Dark Libra are really seeking to exploit the technology of the Smartphone and really show it’s capabilities with this film. 

It will be interesting to see where Dark Libra films take their inspiration from next and what they do with this new blend of genres. It will also be interesting to see how much they can really do with the iPhone. I suspect that this will be the beginning of a new way of film-making that, eventually, the big players of the movie world can’t ignore. 

Rating: 8/10

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 Interested? You can rent the film here and be don’t be shy add go say hi and add them on twitter too they’re @darklibrafilms and tell them ‘Skatronixxx Sent Me’.

An Interview With American Actress Erin Stegeman

It’s time for another interview on http://www.skatronixx.com , this time we chat with ‘modern day triple threat’, Erin Stegeman. She can act, write and produce films and was previously a stand up comedienne.

Erin is one of our followers on our twitter account and I approached her for an interview after reading her bio. I thought her wide array of talents would be an interesting read for you. After a couple of emails and getting to know Erin an interview was agreed.

Let’s find out some more about another insanely talented and awesome member of our #SkatFamily Erin Stegeman !

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1) Wow you’re certainly a triple threat, can you tell us how you got into acting and film making?

A: Well thank you. I’m so honored to hear that! It’s a weird adjustment to really sink into this idea of multi-tasking because, for a long time, I felt like I was pretty crappy at most of those things. I never studied screenwriting or film directing formally, so most of my training has been on set literally doing it. I’d write and perform plays with the neighbors. I always wanted to do everything back then too, mostly because I was the oldest and I was a ten-year old with a vision! The kids all revolted one day and called me bossy. I believe they’re all in computer science jobs anyway…

So my mom put me in piano, dance, theater – anything to keep me from running around the house and dancing in the living room next to breakable objects. I’m from the Midwest, and I was a class clown for sure, but sort of nerdy and introverted, and I was also a bit of an athlete. I felt really unclear as to what I was – there was a lot of pressure back then (and still today) to be defined by what you do and like. I loved a lot of things – which can appear unfocused and indecisive, especially when it came time to pick a major in college and then pick an area in the entertainment industry to pursue. When I was strictly acting in NYC and LA, I was miserable. Even though I loved performing, there was something missing for me. Being happy was an uphill battle. Then, one day I just decided to start doing more things that I truly enjoyed, whether they were acting-related or not. I started experimenting with Twitter and writing. I quickly fell in love and opportunities began to come easily. I found a comedic voice, but also a reunited love of genre content. Instead of fighting the divide I started blending it all. Now I approach things project to project as opposed to this title of what I do. It’s much more from a place of “how can I best serve this idea?”, which feels more like who I am.

There was this moment though in college – I was presenting a scene for my theater directing class, and I had selected one of the witch sequences from MACBETH. I added a dance routine, the Harry Potter theme song, special effects, modernized it, and made Macbeth a female…I just went all out. To this day one, it’s still of the best moments of my life. When that scene ended, I knew I wanted to direct. I still have the feedback sheet from my professor from that.

2) You are well known from ‘Once Upon A Time: The Rock Opera’, can you tell us how you got involved with the project and how the idea came about? Also are you a fan of the TV show?

Back when the show first aired, a few friends from Facebook started posting the show’s poster on my feed and asked if that was me. I had literally just dyed my hair back to blonde from red after being compared to Emma Stone at every single audition. Life is super ironic and you just have to go with it. I checked out the show and became addicted quickly…it was around season 2, I had just started writing and Youtube was booming. I wanted to do something, so I came up with this idea of these fairytale characters not yet seen on OUAT in a 12 step support group in Storybrooke, led by Emma. It was written, shot, and up in less than a week. We had an amazing response to the video which allowed us to make a few more episodes. I want to be clear – this wasn’t poof and now life is easy! It meant launching social media, networking in the once community, and taking daily actions to stay relevant. But, I loved it, so it was easy to stay motivated.

I started exploring making short films and wanted to go in a different direction with the series. I love films like ROCKY HORROR and DEVIL’S CARNIVAL, that are much more of an audience experience, sort of merging movies with convention culture. I wanted to mirror the same, so we decided to go with a rock opera. I had no clue how to write music and even hired another director because I’d never done a feature. As fate and scheduling would have it, I ended up doing both.

3) You even got to perform at Comic-Con what was that like and did you see many famous faces watching your performance?

COMIC-CON WAS AMAZING. Truly a bucket list experience. I don’t think it sunk in for us until we all went back to our rental house afterwards. My cast just sat in the living room together and we kept saying, “one milestone down”. You can’t really beat singing songs you wrote, on a pirate ship, with your best friends, in front of a shit ton of people in cosplay. I owe it all to my friend Brandon, who I met at another con. He invited us to perform and I will never be able thank him enough for that opportunity. I love when I go to other cons and people come up and say, “I saw you perform at Comic-Con!” That’s nerd gold.

4) Your first short film you wrote and directed was ‘Meet The Tweeds’ how did this come about?

Honestly, I was so jealous of my husband and his friends who were making all these horror films and having a lot of success with them, that I sort of invited myself to the party. We both have a lot of connections in the horror space, but I had never written anything. So I saw an opportunity to get a team together and possibly get some exposure. I love sickly dark comedies and satire, which is essentially what it was – this super conservative family who eats children.

The night we shot it, I thought I was going to die. It was so unbelievably difficult for me, and I was miserable. It’s very technical compared to directing theater, and when you have a lean mean team and you’re the weak link – it’s just awful. My husband sliced his arm open on set, we had 3 kid actors, we went way overtime…I thought for certain I would never direct again. Then it went up on Dread Central’s home page on Halloween, and I thought I just need to keep practicing. Maybe it will get better. Honestly it’s still awful, but enjoyable-awful.

5) You have a background in journalism, how did you find this prepared you for your very versatile career?

I was that kid that preferred to do essays instead of multiple choice growing up. Journalism was very natural for me. I had already been blogging on my personal site for about a year when I was offered a couple gigs with LA WEEKLY and THE HOLLYWOOD JOURNAL through friends of friends. The LA WEEKLY stuff was focused on reviewing web series, which absolutely trained me for everything. I interviewed successful creators, saw what they did versus others, started to cultivate relationships at YouTube and at Sundance, and really learned everything behind the scenes of content creating. I was unattached to the job, so networking became fun again. I highly recommend sinking your teeth, however you can, into the world you want to be a part of. I interviewed celebrities that I would NEVER have the courage to approach, but because I had this fancy PRESS badge on, it gave me courage…and contacts for future projects.

6) Is it true you have been in over 50 commercials? If so could you tell us what some of these were for?

I’ve not been in 50 commercials – just a handful, but I have been in over 50 films, shorts, and tv shows. I’m currently the customer in that musical commercial for Amazon Prime. That was one of those incredible coincidences because I filmed that just a couple days before shooting the rock opera. Such a learning experience – I don’t think I ever left the set.

7) What’s this I heard about you winning a ‘Pig Roast Pie Eating Championship’????

My agent made me take that off my resume lol. At my college (Stephens College in Columbia, MO) the theater majors spend one summer in Okoboji, IA, performing at a local theater. It’s a crazy experience – I even wrote a screenplay about it. To break up all the stress, the theater puts on this festival called the OKOBOJI PIG ROAST. You can enter with a team and compete in these ridiculous obstacles. One of my events was pie-eating contest. I’m like a really fast eater. Impressively fast. It’s been a concern to my parents on numerous occasions. I freakin nailed this. You compete with a teammate and mine started to vomit – it was a whole cherry pie, which is the worst kind of pie. So I picked up the slack and won by a landslide. My husband (although not at the time) was on another team and he and his partner didn’t even make it through. I bring that up from time to time. My team won the entire event and I got MVP – also one of my favorite life moments.

8) What can we expect to see from you in the 2016?

The Rock Opera will be doing a screening and convention tour in the spring and early summer (indietix.net). Depending how that goes we may extend into early fall. I’ve partnered with another production company and we’re rebranding my YouTube channel (erinstegeman), so you can expect more sketches and content that expand past OUAT at a higher production value. My company is slated to direct a Sci-fi pilot this year as well, and I’m in pre production on two features – a psychological thriller and a horror fairytale musical. Aiming to start shooting the first in the late fall/winter. I have seriously never been this busy, but I honestly love every second of it. It’s been over ten years in the making to have a year like this, so I’m just gonna drink a lot of green tea and enjoy the ride.

9) Tell our readers one fun fact about yourself that they may not already know?

I love these questions and can never think of anything remotely cool enough. I climbed into the chamber of a volcano on my honeymoon. I’m a certified personal trainer. My aunt dated Brad Pitt. I didn’t get cast in any musicals in college. I see ghosts (seriously).

10) Finally what advice would you have for an upcoming actress?

I think the biggest hiccup for me was trying to be like everyone else. Be a Kate Winslet type, be a funny girl, lose 20 pounds, be younger….but YOU are a brand new thing, it’s evolutionary. Spend time really getting to know yourself. There’s no rush – I’ve had more success in my 30s than in my 20s. Have a ton of fun. Give up the diet. Self-improvement is a total myth. There’s only self-discovery – which is presenting to the world who you’ve always been. And it is so, so powerful. When you can really tap into that, there’s no stopping you.

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Wow what an interview! I for one wish Erin all the best and am sure the musical will be a huge success. If they are lucky enough to tour the UK I for one will be there supporting them!

Check out Erin’s personal webpage on erinstegeman.com and find out more about the ‘Once Upon A Time: Rock Opera’ including where to buy tickets and tour dates on  on onceuponatimespoof.com

Don’t be shy go say hi and follow ‘Once Upon A Time: Rock Opera’ on Twitter @ouatspoof and Erin’s personal account on Twitter at @erinstegeman and tell her ‘Skatronixxx sent me!’

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. SN3 EP12 – ‘The Inside Man’

This review contains spoilers.

Last episode, we left off on HiveWard playing the worst game of ‘pull my finger’ known to man, whilst Coulson and the team gear up to take on Malick, to take down the final head of Hydra once and for all. Alongside this, we find out the President has assigned our favourite General Talbot as the new head of the ATCU.

 This weeks episode is largely a good, old fashioned undercover episode. It’s good to see these kinds of episodes where the whole team work undercover with new stories and names, and show the spy work SHIELD also does outside of helping the Avengers.

The episode starts with a flashback to the mid-season finale scene where Coulson kills Ward by crushing his heart inside his chest – because what better was to violently and personally kill the man who shot the person you love?

The flashback then proceeds to show the gross and violent possession of Ward’s corpse, and a series of flashbacks of Ward’s life before and after Shield before it cuts to his possessed face opening it’s eyes and saying “Grant Ward. I wish we could have met under different circumstances.” It makes Hive all the more terrifying that to accompany his ever decomposing Ward-Suit, that he constantly refers to himself as “we.” – and the other part of the “we” there probably isn’t Ward.

Then, they proceed to drag in Lucio, the Inhuman cop from Bouncing Back who can paralyze people simply by looking into their eyes – at first he’s bandaged, but then Hive demands to see his eyes. Creepily (but kind of predictably enough.), Hive isn’t hurt by this Inhumans particular power, which naturally causes Lucio to be just a little bit on the afraid side. Then Hive proceeds to step backwards out of an outline of his body, and when Lucio asks “what are you?”, Hive responds with “What are we?” before sending the outline of himself forward. Yikes.

Then, we open up the episode post the Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D logo and we’re in an airport with General Talbot and his very angry wife, Carla. He’s asking her not to leave like this, to which she angrily responds telling him he’s always put his work above his family, and now they’re paying for it. Talbot calls after her, looking rather defeated, that he will fix it – and Carla storms away with one last disappointed look. I can’t help but feel a bit sad about it – it was fairly obvious from their last interactions that they have a deeply loving relationship. (Taco Tuesday’s was so adorable.) Then Phil meets up with him, and they proceed to talk/argue about their roles and relationship now, and about the undercover operation they’re involved in – and then we find out shortly later, much to the others agents horror, that Talbot has Creel on his side.

The next 40 minutes of the episode, we’re treated to Talbot and his overwhelming inability to do espionage. The man was in the army for God’s sake, and yet, the man can barely hold it together. He makes casual racist ignorant (“I don’t just wear a dress for anyone!” – regarding the ceremonial robe he’s been asked to wear to honour the country he’s in, and “It’s good to finally put faces to all of your unpronounceable names” – oh, oh dude. Why have you been made head of the ATCU when it requires being a people person.) There’s also some really cool spy moments in there, including Coulson using his high-tech prosthetic to create film gloves for his team-mates to break into their targets rooms and try and find out which one of them is working for Malick.

Then, during the meeting in which three very important politicians want to make a sanctuary state for Inhumans, the absolute unthinkable happens – Talbot blows Coulson’s cover wide open. He exposes the team, Phil’s arm, everything – and then just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, Malick strolls on in and tells the room that Phil Coulson is the director of Hydra.

At the point, I briefly started to worry about the direction this show is going in – because it makes literally no sense for Talbot to be Hydra, and it wouldn’t have held the same shock value as say, when Ward turned out to be Hydra. However, it turns out that Malick has Talbot’s son (which explains Carla’s fury in the beginning of the episode.) – and Talbot is bound to helping him to save his son.

There’s also some side action going on with Lincoln and Daisy but it’s not an awful lot – it’s mostly them fighting and being cute. And oddly enough, pushed to the side is this little tidbit – Creel’s blood contains the secret to stopping people with Inhuman blood from transforming. Why this is only a side story and not a massive focus, I’m not entirely sure, but it does crop up an argument between Daisy and Lincoln, with Lincoln on team “not everyone should change” and Daisy on team “It’s a birthright and if this gets into the wrong hands they will wipe us out”. Both have really valid points – it’d be nice to have control over the people who could turn and use whatever powers they’re given to murder or hurt people, but who gets to decide that path for another person? I wish this had been given more focus than just fleeting scenes between the spy-story side of things.

Overall, this is a fun episode. It doesn’t hold anything too consequential in the main characters story lines, because by the end of it, Talbot’s son is safe again and Phil and Talbot go back to their “hate-buddy” routine. I think if they’d kept the child with Hydra longer, kept using Talbot as a pawn, it might have held some more weight, but this was just more of a filler episode. That’s not a bad thing – it was still a lot of fun, and I always really enjoy the undercover SHIELD stuff a lot. The gadgets, the cover stories, it’s just good old-fashioned spy stuff that makes the show enjoyable.  It’s a bit of a fluffy episode with some action, a few character pointers and very little development, but that’s honestly fine, as long as this is just a bit of ground work for the adrenaline pumping stuff we’ve become used to on this show.

 Well, all was fun until the end of the episode.

About halfway through the episode, Hive asks for five regular, healthy humans to be delivered to him. Under the assumption he’s going to choose one as a host body because Ward’s is literally rotting around him, he’s left alone with them – and outside, you hear a lot of horrifying screaming that seems to even make the bad guys deeply uncomfortable.

And then the end of the episode reveals why they were screaming. Because standing in the middle of five skeletons, red bloody and still with a bit of flesh on them skeletons, covered in human slime and blood, kneels Hive. And slowly, oh so slowly, he rises up and stands, dripping so much of this sickly ooze, rising until he looks dead into the camera through the muck, staring right into you for a really uncomfortably long measure of time, before the episode ends.

It’s very rare of Marvel, particularly Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to go all out on the gore like this. While it has had it’s gross connotations and it’s violence, I can’t pinpoint much of a moment when it’s been that grim and visually shocking. It had a tonne of weight behind it, and it’s made me scared and excited to see what Brett Dalton’s character is going to do next.

I’m hoping next episode, more actual plot will start to weave it’s way into the main team, and that we get those full rich episodes that make this show fantastic.