People of Earth: S1 Ep3 “Acceptance”

The mystery deepens and the aliens get…well they seem to be getting wackier and wackier. This show is unique in that the aliens are not the super intelligent lifeforms  aliens are normally portrayed as. In People of Earth they’re more of the show’s comic relief…

Another note about the show: this is highbrow comedy. It’s written with the sarcastic personality in mind. If you’re sarcastic and like jokes that are more than slapstick, this show will definitely entertain you.

What happened last week?

Episode 2 went into a bit more detail on members of Starcrossed. We found out Chelsea (Tracee Chimo) and Kelly (Alice Wetterlund) had really…really…REALLY “close encounters” with one of the aliens. Quotes around “close encounters” cause you know how they got close…wink, wink, nudge, nudge…

I think you know what I’m trying to say.

We also found out who/what Ozzie’s (Wyatt Cenac) old boss, Johnathan Walsh (Michael Cassidy), is. The episode ended on a cliffhanger.

“Acceptance”

We pick up with Gina (Ana Gasteyer) arriving home after her shocking accident with the Reptilian named Kurt (Drew Nelson). When she calls the police department to report the accident, Office Glimmer (played by the talented and underappreciated H. John Benjamin of Archer and Family Guy) tells her that it was just a raccoon. It was Glimmer who took of things at the scene of the accident at the end of Ep2.

Glimmer immediately reports the accident to Walsh. Walsh has to go report the accident to his superiors.

Starcrossed

In the next group meeting, we get to hear Richard’s (Brian Huskey) story of how his wife was captured by aliens and how he’s trying to find her. He tells of how the aliens tried to message him. In reality, we see that the “message” is actually a petition for divorce. Richard refuses to accept it as real, though.

Outside, Gerry (Luka Jones) shows up after 6 days of being in jail. It turns out he tried to call Gina to bail him out, but it was the night of her accident so she missed getting his one phone call (I didn’t know they still did that one phone call thing). Gerry immediately notices her car starts to see the similarities between Gina’s accident and Ozzie’s accident.

Leave it to Gerry, the imbecile of the group, to pick that up.

Meanwhile, Richard has to go to a mediation between him and his wife. Ozzie offers to go with him. On the way, Richard warns Ozzie of how weird things might get. It seems he just won’t admit the divorce is real.

On the way there, Ozzie starts hallucinating that he’s seeing his younger self. He’s still freaking out about what’s going on in his life, too.

Alien comedy break

The aliens are trying to figure out what to do with Kurt the Reptilian. It’s in these little asides with the aliens that we can really feel Conan O’Brian’s influence on the script. Remember, Conan’s one of the show’s executive producers.

The Mediation

As the mediation is set to begin, an increasingly confused Ozzie is trying to figure out why Beacon is so important and weird to him.

While they wait, we get to see a bit more of Richard’s once happy relationship and his version of the abduction of his wife. But was it real?

Right now, we still don’t know if Richard is crazy or not; or who’s an alien and who isn’t. So Richard’s insistent rants about his wife’s abduction could be true.

Gerry, Yvonne, and the Hawthorne Road mystery

Gerry is out on Hawthorne road looking for clues to Gina’s accident. Yvonne (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) shows up and together they notice fresh tar laid in the shape of a body at the same spot Gina says she hit the “raccoon.”

They begin to strongly suspect Gina might have hit an alien and that the accident is being covered up.

The Mediation, Part 2

So, funny story, Ozzie wasn’t really supposed to be at the mediation but Richard tells the mediator Ozzie is his lawyer so he can stay.

Richard is not handling things well. He makes a scene that embarrasses himself and his wife. But he finally signs the divorce papers, or does he?

Turns out, all he did was write the reptilians a special message from the bottom of his heart.

The Next Starcrossed Meeting

The next day at the group meeting, Richard tells the group he really did sign the papers. They can’t believe he actually did it. As they’re about to congratulate him for moving forward, Debbie (his ex-wife) shows up. Despite her anger, he vehemently refuses to sign. We also find out that Debbie (Amy Landecker) used to be a member of Starcrossed.

During a break, Yvonne tells Gerry that she looked into the court records to find out about Gina’s accident. There was nothing reported. So there really is a covered up!

Ozzie tries to get Debbie to calm down. Ozzie just wants’s to know what happened on the camping trip. He’s still skeptical about the aliens and is trying to get to the bottom of things.

We hear Debbie’s version of the trip. It wasn’t as romantic as Richard’s. It turns out she was very unhappy in her marriage to him. Apparently, she asked Richard for a divorce while on the trip, just before she really…was…abducted!

Ozzie’s shocked. She doesn’t seem to want to admit the truth of the abduction. In her opinion, she doesn’t think anyone will ever find out what the truth is, so she’s decided to move on.

Richard was hiding and heard the whole conversation. Disheartened after hearing her, he finally signs the papers.

Back in the group, he’s broken but seems to have a new theory. He now thinks Debbie has really been a Reptilian the whole time.

Alien comedy wrap up

It’s starting to become apparent that most of the episodes are going to end with a hilarious look into alien life. This episode ends with the funeral of Kurt the Reptilian. It’s funny, the aliens have been watching the humans for so long that they’re starting to feel like humans. They’re also starting to enjoy human things.

BTW, has anyone noticed yet that the Grey Alien’s head looks like a hairy, male scrotum?

As we fade out, the Grey Alien comes across a clue to who killed Kurt the Reptilian and vows to find the person and get revenge.

My take on this episode?

First thing’s first. There’s an awesome version of “Ring of Fire” at that plays over the closing credits, so that was cool.

By now the stories of the aliens and the group members are starting to weave together and I’m personally getting more curious. What really happened to Ozzie? What really happened to Richard and his wife, Debbie? What’s going to happen to Gina?

Guess we’ll find out in Ep4. See ya there!

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Deven B got fat over the Thanksgiving holiday but swears to run 5K every day for the rest of his life. Find out if he really does it over on Facebook and Twitter.

Read about his other favorite shows, The Expanse and Stan Against Evil.

Stan Against Evil: S1 Ep3 “Let Your Love Groan”

Fan’s of BBC/Doctor Who type makeup and special effects will appreciate this episode.

S1 Ep2: Know, Know, Know Your Goat

In Ep2 Sheriff Barret became acquainted with the town drunk who turns out to be something else. Stan and his daughter, Denise, meet a goat who turns out to be all kinds of evil in disguise, and we found out that Denise is kinda cray-cray.

Nothing in Willard’s Mill is as it seems…

“Let Your Love Groan”

It seems we’re learning the history of Willard’s Mill through the flashbacks at the beginning of each episode. This one starts with a flashback to 18 months earlier. In the town bar, a couple meets for a blind date. The guy seems smooth, but kinda sleazy. The girl is shy and innocent. You know, they typical small town girl.

Or so you think. Turns out, she’s not what we thought. Within ten seconds of them meeting she asks him to meet her at the bathroom to…you know…

Let’s just say, she’s really aggressive when they get there. Really aggressive. Like…SUPER DEADLY CRAZY aggressive…

Present Day

Sheriff Barret seems to be a bit down since she’s arrived. She’s found out about the curse, almost been killed twice, and now she’s just met her ex-husband’s new fiancee. Deputy Drinkwater suggests she go check out the speed dating event at the local bar (yeah… the same local bar from the flashback). She agrees to that, but only if  Stan goes with her. For some reason, Denise goes too.

The event starts and we get to meet a few more of the weird locals living in Willard’s Mill. Barret meets frog after frog until finally…a prince. She leaves with him and they end up vibing so well that he asks her out again. Barret is smitten and excited with the prospect of new love. So excited that the veins in her neck start popping out.

Stan meets someone attractive, too. Attractive to him. She turns out to be just…like…Stan! She immediately talks shit to him and treats him like he treats everyone else. And he’s totally turned on by that.

I know you’re concerned, but don’t worry, Denise get’s to fall in love, too.

The next morning, a package arrives at Stan’s door. Denise opens it and finds a picnic basket with a cute little piggy inside. She’s weirdly ecstatic about this.

She decides to hide it in her room and in a funny coincidence, Stan happens to be cooking bacon for breakfast. Denise actually feeds some to the pig while Stan isn’t looking.

Pay attention to what Stan says when he finds out…his little rants totally make the show.

Meanwhile, Barret arrives at the station in a great mood. She admits to Deputy Drinkwater that she met a guy. Being the unabashed guy that he is, Drinkwater comments about how she must have had a really good time because it looks like she was out all night. When she checks herself out in the mirror she notices the veins on her neck.

Stan’s on a date with the lady from the night before and SURPRISE SURPRISE, he’s already annoyed with her. She immediately takes charge and orders lunch for him. Weirdly, she starts acting like she’s known him forever. She takes over his life. Cleans his house out. Makes him eat things he doesn’t like. She’s treating him just like they’re married.

In the middle of the episode, we get a tiny montage on Barret’s relationship. She’s really liking the guy more and more. She’s also looking worse and worse. Like she’s taking makeup lessons from Beetlejuice.

In one of the creepiest love affair montages I’ve ever seen, we get to see Denise, the pig she names Mergatroid, and the love they have for each other.

Let the really weird stuff begin.

Barrett, Stan, and Denise all start looking worse and worse. Their skin gets paler. Their eyes get redder and redder and start bulging out. All the veins on their face and neck start popping out. They’re all looking closer and closer to a corpse every time they’re with their loved one.

Finally, Barret realizes how bad she looks. Denise has no clue what she’s looking like. Barret goes to Stan’s to look through his wife’s book. Funny, Stan only looks pale and his veins only pop out of his neck when his lady-friend is around.

As Barret looks through the book, she figures out they’re each dealing with their own Succubus and that they need to break up with their boyfriend/girlfriend as soon as possible by chanting the spell in the book.

Stan is totally in agreement and says he can solve his problem by using his tried and true break up technique. I was dying with laughter when he went into detail on it and might have to try this one with the next woman I date when she starts annoying me.

Barret rushes to the bar and uses the spell to break up with her demon. He blows up and while his blood and guts fly everywhere Barret’s complexion immediately clears up.

Back at Stan’s, Barret finds Denise is looking pretty bad, too. She learns about Mergatroid and tries to get Denise to get rid of the pig. Denise shuts herself in her room and when Stan and Barret break in, they find that Mergatroid has now morphed into an evil demon pig that looks like a more menacing version of the Space Pig from Doctor Who and Torchwood that the Slitheens created.

While Stan fights Mergatroid in the worst possible way, Barret helps Denise utter the incantation to break up with the demon. Just as the demon is choking Stan to death, they finish the spell.

After that’s over, Stan’s chick arrives and it’s time for him to get rid of his succubus.

She’s pissed because she smells pork and launches into a rant about why it’s not healthy to eat it. In a comedic turn of events (this show has some really good ones), Stan utters the spell, but nothing happens. It turns out she’s not a succubus, after all, she’s just really freaking annoying. So he tries his go to break up technique.It doesn’t go over very well.

I’m seriously going to have to try that line…

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Contrary to what everyone thinks… Deven B. actually hates the Holidays but he’ll probably eat and drink his way through them anyway.

You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Or you can meet him for a shot at the local bar…

Stan Against Evil: S1 Ep2 “Know, Know, Know Your Goat”

Back in Ep1 of Stan Against Evil, we met the TV series’ main characters.

• Stan, the forcefully retired, ornery ex-Sheriff of Willard’s Mill
• Denise, his weird and high-pitched daughter who still lives at home with him
• Sheriff Evie Barret, the newly appointed Sheriff of Willard’s Mill

In the first episode, we find out that all of the former sheriffs of Willard’s Mill have been  murdered due to a curse dating back to the Salem Witch Trials. Stan is the only sheriff who was never killed. He also thought the whole time it was he who was keeping the town safe. After his wife passes away, he finds out that things weren’t as he thought…

“Know, Know, Know Your Goat”

Willard’s Mill, 1950’s

The episode opens with a flashback. An old farmer is reading the paper when he suddenly sees himself waving at…himself. Of course, he freaks. When he looks again, he’s relieved to see it’s just a goat, but it’s acting very strange. VERY strange…

Today

Sheriff Barret is getting into her normal routine of patrolling the city. One morning she comes across a DoomsDay-er (you know, those people who stand on the corners screaming about the Apocalypse and End of Days). Barret tells him to move along. He’s offended and tells her Stan never made him stop.

As he’s leaving, Barret notices that he’s wearing a necklace with a crossed pitchfork and spade. It’s the same thing she saw at Stan’s house. Apparently, Stan’s wife gave the bum the necklace.

Intrigued, Barret heads over to Stan’s house. Stan has just gotten through complaining about the crappy quality of TV shows today when Barrett arrives. She asks about the Bum/Crazy DoomsDay-er. Stan knows him well.

As they talk, Barret spots the pitchfork and spade hanging in Stan’s kitchen. She asks Denise about them and finds out they had something to do with Denise’s Mom and her witchcraft.

When Denise and Stan aren’t looking, Sheriff Barret grabs them and leaves.

Meanwhile, Denise, who’s getting weirder and harder to figure out, decides to go blueberry picking in the forest by herself. As she’s talking and singing to herself in her nasal, Betty Boop voice she comes across the cute little goat from the beginning of the episode.

Naturally, because she’s wacko, she befriends it and decides to take it home.

While that’s going on, Sheriff Barret decides to find the DoomsDay-er to find out more about what the crossed pitchfork and spade means.

Deputy Drinkwater tells her the guys name is Raymond Taft and no one takes him seriously. Barret heads to Taft’s shack. When she questions him about the pitchfork and spade, he freaks out but tells her that Stan’s wife was the one who told him all about the curse, the witches, and the demon in Willard’s Mill. That’s what he’s screaming about every day, but no one cares to listen.

He also tells Barret the goat is really the demon Baphomet (the horned goat thingy that we associate with devil worshipers. See the photo). We find out that Baphomet is a demon trickster and that he’s come to fulfill the curse and kill Stan and Sheriff Barret.

The Sheriff is about to leave to warn Stan when Raymond Taft knocks her out, grabs the pitchfork and spade, and then steals her car. When she comes to, she realizes what’s happened and has to commandeer a citizen’s truck. Naturally, he complains that Stan never did that.

Over at Stan’s house, Denise has just arrived with her new friend (and her bucket of blueberries). When Stan goes to the door to meet the goat, he annoyed to find that it’s actually Baphomet who’s standing there.

Stan goes into demon fighting survival mode.

But the demon uses his powers to get into the house and knock Stan out. Denise revives him a few short minutes later and as Stan assesses the situation they find that it’s dark outside, even though it’s only 4:00 PM.

In Stan’s typical ornery, old man logic he reasons that Baphomet has trapped them inside the house and that he’s going to have to fight the demon off like it’s the ending of Jaws.

He comes up with a clever way to make a bomb and goes outside to fight Baphomet. Just like in Jaws, Stan throws the bomb and tries to blow it up when it sticks, but the bomb doesn’t work.

As he desperately (comically) fights Baphomet off, Raymond Taft shows up with the pitchfork and spade. Barret is close behind.

While they fight over who’s going to get to be the main character from Jaws (like we did when we were re-enacting scenes from Star Wars when we were kids) Barret tries to blow the bomb up again. It still doesn’t work.

Just as it looks really bad for Stan, crazy/weird/high-pitched Denise comes out of nowhere and stabs Baphomet with the wooden pitchfork and spade. Finally, on the third attempt, we get the blood and guts explosion we’ve been waiting for since the first Jaws reference.

Later, as Stan is hanging the pitchfork and spade back in his kitchen, they realize they’ve forgotten about something or someone…

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Deven B likes TV, sci-fi, and eating. Finally, he’s found a job where he gets to combine all three. Follow him at @DevenBhagwandin.

People of Earth S1 Ep2 “Sponsored By”

The second episode of the series gives us some more insight into each character. I’ve also included a longer season preview for you, in case you’re still wondering what the show has to offer.

“Sponsored By”

In “Sponsored By” the mystery of just what exactly happened to Ozzie deepens and we get to learn a bit about Kelly (Alice Wetterlund) and Chelsea (Tracee Chimo). We’re also introduced to Father Doug (played by Oscar Nunez from The Office) and Yvonne (Da’vine Joy Randolph).

Ozzie’s boss, Johnathan Walsh, is trying to get him to go back to New York and go back to working for the magazine Glint. Although Ozzie is pretty bored with his new job he’s determined to stay in Beacon to find out what the hell happened to him.

While at the police station looking for news to write about, he has another flashback of hitting the deer.

Later he’s informed by Gina that he needs to pick a sponsor from the group by the end of the meeting that night. Gerry really wants to be the one. While at lunch, Ozzie sees the deer again.

That night at the meeting, everyone is kissing up to Ozzie in an effort to get him to choose them as his sponsor.

During the meeting, we learn about Kelly’s experience with the elf looking alien. She seems to be attracted to it/him. Ozzie notices Kelly’s and Chelsea’s experiences were similar.

Because of the similarities, Ozzie suggests investigating everyone’s experiences to look for connections. This throws the group into another argument. They all believe each of their alien encounters was different.

While they argue, Yvonne offers to help Ozzie get concrete proof of the aliens. She separates Chelsea and Kelly and tells them to describe their experience. While they’re doing this, a picture of what they describe their alien to look like will be drawn and compared.

While the group tries their experiment, Gina is having to deal with Father Doug. He’s the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, the church where the group meets. Father Doug is not happy about the material the group is talking about on church grounds. He tells Gina this will be the last night the group can meet there.

The drawings are finally compared to hilarious results but Ozzie’s not amused. He’s getting more and more frustrated with his situation. He’s not sure what really happened to him the night of the accident. He’s tired of living in a motel and he’s fed up that his life has come to this. He decides to go home early.

As he leaves the church, Gerry rushes out to find out why. In an attempt to impress Ozzie, Gerry volunteers to get Ozzie’s car back for him. While he waits, Ozzie gets another call from Johnathan Walsh. We finally get to see Walsh go full alien. He’s trying to get Ozzie to go back to Glint. Apparently, Walsh’s superiors want Ozzie at the magazine so that he’s not investigating the alien abductions.

Ozzie hangs up with Walsh and heads to his hotel. In his room realizes he forgot his notebook at the group meeting. Just as he’s about to go back he sees the talking deer again.

He rushes back to the church where the meeting is still going on. The group is still discussing Kelly’s and Chelsea’s experiences and their personal lives. Chelsea gets emotional and runs out of the room.

Gerry pulls up in Ozzie’s car just as Ozzie gets back to the church. Ozzie sees the damage from his accident for the first time. As he gets into the car, he immediately has a flashback to his experience with the aliens. He begins to remember the whole thing.

It turns out Gerry stole the car from the police impound lot so he’s arrested. Afterward, Ozzie goes inside to get his notebook and finds that Kelly has read it. She sees Ozzie has rated all of the group members by how crazy he thinks they are. But they have a good talk about why they’re both there, so Ozzie asks her to be his sponsor.

The episode ends with Walsh being lectured by his superiors about the Ozzie situation. They’re all starting to realize Ozzie could find out what’s going on. The Reptile Alien decides he’s going to go down to Beacon and take care of the Ozzie situation himself.

Earlier, when Chelsea left the group to deal with her emotions, Father Doug found her and talks with her. As Gina is driving home, Father Doug texts her and says they can talk about the group staying on. It seems his talk with Chelsea made him realize he may be able to help the group members, too.

As Gina is texting and driving, she doesn’t see the Reptile Alien has appeared in the road in human form. She smashes into him and kills him. He’s tossed out of site so she drives off, not seeing anything.

Later, we see the town’s policeman get there to clean up the body. He covers the whole thing up, saying there’s nothing to be seen. Seems he’s in on it, too.