The Webisodes

[fems]

Numero 7.

It's nice to see there are automatic walls that'll come down in case of breaking glass of the enclosures! I liked Helen's line after shooting the Morrigan.

Not sure I like the Henry character in the webisodes. I don't know how to interpret his talk about humans and especially men being second class citizens in the Sanctuary; was it supposed to be funny, like a joke, or is that really how he feels (and freely voices it in front of his employer)?

I was really taken aback by Will's claim of them originally going to the crypt to find something to help with Helen's longevity. Did I miss something or did that come completely out of the blue for everyone else as well? Considering what Helen said in the beginning to Will about there being rewards to being on the forefront of science for so long this seemed really strange. Now she's talking about it being a curse, which is understandable but I really doubt she'd share something so personal with him on (one of their?) first mission(s) after barely knowing him. I guess it makes a bit of sense if 8 webisodes was all they had planned because then they might want to cover something like that but I much prefer how it was handled in the show.

I like the darker side we see of Ashley and it fits with John's madness and his and Helen's concern for their daughter.

Will is back to annoying me with his naivety and refusal to believe who the Morrigan are. Guess it didn't take long for him to turn back into the character I disliked.

Again, I really like the story about Morgan and revisionist history. However, it doesn't make much sense for Helen to have this epiphany when she's busy grabbing books. It would have been better to have her say it while sitting at the table, hunched over a book. Don't care much for the talk about feminine energy over the years, though.

I wonder what Will was going to say before Merlin's Army/Keepers of the Dead came jumped through the window. It sounded like he was going to say that Merlin didn't do a good job considering they managed to get to the Morrigan when there were just 3 of them against the Keepers of the Dead, but that's a pretty stupid statement considering the Morrigan had been kept there for what, 1200 years? Like Merlin could have predicted the guns he, Helen and Ashley had at their disposal!

[fems]

I do agree that the relationship is strained and odd between ash and helen. she has an allowence? oh and yeah, helen lets her break the rules and go monster hunting cause she's in a bad mood....contradiction.

and honestly, I did get the feeling that ash was just there for her ruthless fighting ability. she seems to hate the 'ghouls', which contradicts with Helen's 'life's work' of caring for and covering for abnormals. You'd think ash would have more respect for the creatures.

it's almost like they can't figure out what she is and who she is.

I too liked her being effected by finding out that daddy is a serial killing abnormal. but i think that's all I liked.

and if will went morrigan hunting because biggie was laid up, they should have established that. when he yammers, helen mutters 'should have waited for bigfoot to come' or something like that

it wasn't bad, but it was rough and scattered and almost li ke they were making it up and weren't thinking about the future at all. (which they probably were)

Wasn't that the reason TPTB gave for getting rid of her in the show? That they had a mini Magnus they couldn't really work with because they couldn't figure out where to go with her?

Are you suggesting Helen should have muttered that about Biggie or saying she actually said it in the webbie? Because if it's the latter I totally missed it.

[fems]

Last webisode (8).

I'm really happy they cut out the bad Vampire situation in the beginning. It's very Buffy/Angel and I much prefer Nikola Tesla (sort of) being the last of his kind. Plus his Vampire face was better and more original. It was very convenient of him to leave when he had the upperhand and Ashley was needed at the Sanctuary.

I like Helen's line about not liking uninvited guests in her house but Will's response just makes me roll my eyes. Not just because he always has to question her but also because the house is being run down by bad abnormals and Henry is in pain (perhaps even dying for all they know) and yet he thinks that is the right moment to question her orders.

I must say though that it's very disappointing that the security at the Sanctuary sucks this much. They need Ashley? So basically Ashley should never leave the house in case of attack? Very strange, especially when you have so many dangerous abnormals around.

Will's response to Henry about him being qualified to talk about [the Morrigans playing him] irks me. He's been there what, two weeks at the most and feels he can question Henry, whose family has been working for Helen Magnus for generations?

I'm impressed with the dark ending of the episode. It's realistic considering the lack of security and for once it's nice that Helen (and Biggie) don't magically get the upperhand after getting locked in a room/dead end and that Ashley really was too late...

[Skydiver]

Wasn't that the reason TPTB gave for getting rid of her in the show? That they had a mini Magnus they couldn't really work with because they couldn't figure out where to go with her?

Are you suggesting Helen should have muttered that about Biggie or saying she actually said it in the webbie? Because if it's the latter I totally missed it.

she doesn't talk about biggie in the webbie, not until the ending. when he's kidna 'i should have been there' and she's 'you were still recuperating'

If she was annoyed at him, which I kinda got the idea she was, she could have said 'perhaps i should have waited for bigfoot to heal instead of bringing you on your first capture to this' or something.

[ClassicCouples]

I like that in this webisode we get to learn a little bit more about Ashley, and see her interact with her mother. I know Ashley was really only in one season of the show, but I think they could have done a better job developing her relationship with Helen. As much as I love “Eulogy”, I don’t feel like we had the chance to get to know Ashley enough to mourn her death (but that is for a different episode review). Along with a lack of mother/daughter relationship, there was also a lack of Ashley reacting to the news about her father. At least in the webisodes, we see that Ashley is upset about the news and doesn’t know quite how to handle the distraction. Her argument with Helen had me mad at first. She should be old enough to be a little bit more mature about the situation. However, I was about her age when I found out my parents were getting a divorce, and I know I certainly did not act mature about it. Later, when she is talking with Will, she gets really creepy (I don't know whether to think she is being serious or trying to be twisted just to get at Will):

“You ever look at a ghoul? A really nasty one, right in the eye before you send it packing? You see one of two things. You see fear, it knows it's dead meat and that's kind of sad but others, the really bad ones, they never stop wanting to take you down right up until the moment you pull the trigger, and those kills, they're the sweetest. Sometimes when I nail something that mean and terrible, when I watch it die, I feel... well, it's hard to explain but trust me it's a thousand times more cathartic than lying on a couch crying about how your life sucks, Doctor!” (Webisode 7)

When Magnus runs into the crypt, she yells “Doctor!” - calling to Will. It was so weird to hear her call him that. I know she addresses him a few times as Dr. Zimmerman (“Requiem” comes to mind), but for some reason this made me laugh. What also reminds me of “Requiem” is Will’s concern for how Ashley is handling the news of her father. I think it was a little weird that he went to Ashley, because they don’t really seem to interact at all - though since it is his job and he may certainly be more comfortable talking to a stranger about their feelings.

Steve - what an interesting abnormal. I think it is cool to see the abnormals working with the team - rather than just staying at the Sanctuary. Seeing them participate in things gives them more depth. We know some of them are there for the safety of humanity, but many are there for their own safety, so it would make sense that they would be doing more than sitting around. Take Big Guy for example - he is not just living there, he is an active member of the Sanctuary. Which brings up an interesting thought that came to me while watching this again. Helen’s line “That’s why I’ll need a ride later tonight” kind of stuck out to me. It is really only in the webisodes and “Sanctuary For All” that we see Helen being chauffeured around by Biggie.

How wonderful it is to have Henry back! I am guessing that he wasn’t an abnormal in the webisodes: “I am a normal, boring homo sapien just like yourself. My great, great grandfather was Magnus' original weaponsmith back in London.” But even in the episodes he didn’t tell Will he was a HAP. And he truly does have the best lines ever!

The story of the Cabalis Nocturum and the Morrigan was very interesting to me. I just recently finished rewatching Stargate SG-1. The last couple seasons had a few episodes about Merlin and Morgan le Fay. It was neat to hear Terrance (Paul McGillion - another Stargate person!) tell Helen the whole history leading up to the witches being put in the crypt. That is one of the many reasons I love this show! It makes history/myths/legends cool.

Helen: “Longevity is not a gift. It’s a curse. It means loneliness. Isolation. It means being less human.” From other episodes (specifically “Pavor Nocturnus”), we know that Helen does not see her longevity as a cool super-power. She has talked about the loneliness and the loss. From the stories she tells, and the names she drops, it doesn’t seem like she lived a life of isolation. But I guess even in a crowded room you can be alone. It is interesting though, because I have never seen her as an abnormal - as “less human.” Abnormals obviously are important to her, and by saying that being “less human” is a curse, isn’t that the same as saying being an abnormal is a curse? I think “Pavor Nocturnus” taught her many things about accepting who/what she was. But imagine living 150 years thinking it was a curse.

I forgot that Webisode 8 ended with a cliffhanger. It was great to see Helen knocked out and bleeding. There are so few episodes where someone gets the upper hand in a fight.

*WAY longer than I intended - sorry guys

[fems]

I think her comment about longevity making her less human (I don't think that line ever made a comeback in the show) could be because unlike other abnormals she started out as human and did this to herself. Like she says about some created abnormals; it's an unnatural evolution (the ones in Trail of Blood she even called an abomination IIRC). Also, they seem to view abnormals more as creatures ("monsters") in the websodes than they do in the show.

[ClassicCouples]

I think her comment about longevity making her less human (I don't think that line ever made a comeback in the show) could be because unlike other abnormals she started out as human and did this to herself. Like she says about some created abnormals; it's an unnatural evolution (the ones in Trail of Blood she even called an abomination IIRC). Also, they seem to view abnormals more as creatures ("monsters") in the websodes than they do in the show.

I hadn't thought about that, but it is very true, she did do it to herself, so she isn't a real abnormal. Thanks!! This totally makes sense.

[Skydiver]

i do think also that helen's unhappiness with her longevity is a plot thread that kinda faded over time. It could be said that she made her peace with it after pavor, or it could be an angst point that they dropped.

[fems]

i do think also that helen's unhappiness with her longevity is a plot thread that kinda faded over time. It could be said that she made her peace with it after pavor, or it could be an angst point that they dropped.

Considering season 4 she might actually think it's more of a blessing than a curse.

[RealmOfX]

I think her comment about longevity making her less human (I don't think that line ever made a comeback in the show) could be because unlike other abnormals she started out as human and did this to herself.

I don't think so, for two reasons. One, is that in the webbies we don't know where her longevity comes from and the other is that not living like other humans and enduring the repeated loss of loved ones and friends could definitely make you feel cut off from humanity, like you have lost part of your humanity. Less human.

Also, they seem to view abnormals more as creatures ("monsters") in the websodes than they do in the show.

I never got that impression, especially after Helen's vehement "I work with sentient beings" speech to Will. Maybe some people see the habitat enclosures as prison and that colours their view of the Sanctuary.

[ClassicCouples]

I don't think so, for two reasons. One, is that in the webbies we don't know where her longevity comes from and the other is that not living like other humans and enduring the repeated loss of loved ones and friends could definitely make you feel cut off from humanity, like you have lost part of your humanity. Less human.

I think that this is a good point as well. There were many back stories that were changed when they did the show, so it could be that the Source Blood didn't exist. John was not still alive in the 21st century, because of her blood, but because he could travel through time. It would have been very interesting to see how the storyline of the webisodes would have turned out. Helen certainly hasn't ever had a normal life. Even as a child, because of who her father was, I don't think that life was normal for her. Then once she got involved with the abnormals, it changed the rest of her life.

[fems]

I don't think so, for two reasons. One, is that in the webbies we don't know where her longevity comes from and the other is that not living like other humans and enduring the repeated loss of loved ones and friends could definitely make you feel cut off from humanity, like you have lost part of your humanity. Less human.

She clearly says in the webisodes that the rewards of treating beings with extraordinary power are unexpected when Will asks her how all this [John being her first patient, Ashley being frozen for over a century as an embryo and Helen having lived in the past and here without being able of traveling through time] is possible, implying she is not a born abnormal and her longevity is one of these 'rewards'.

[meredithchandler73]

I think when Helen speaks about being less than human, I think she is speaking specifically talking about longevity and outliving everyone you know and love. I would hazard a guess that most abnormals have more "normal" lifespans than Magnus does - so I think she even feels set apart from abnormals in that way.

[RealmOfX]

She clearly says in the webisodes that the rewards of treating beings with extraordinary power are unexpected when Will asks her how all this [John being her first patient, Ashley being frozen for over a century as an embryo and Helen having lived in the past and here without being able of traveling through time] is possible, implying she is not a born abnormal and her longevity is one of these 'rewards'.

I wasn't disputing that. You said "and did this to herself" when there is no evidence that it is so. She is long lived, yes, but we never find out how; unlike in the series where it is very definite that The Five experimented on themselves.

[Skydiver]

I kinda got the 'prison' vibe from helen. Yes, she did see the abbies as sentient creatures, but I felt they were portrayed as sentient creatures that had to be locked up for their and 'our' protection.

I got a zoo vibe from the habitat tour, and kinda of that Victorian 'us english (humans) are so much more advanced than you primitives' attitude. Kind of like the attitude that the british and others (even americans) had against various native peoples. 'educate and protect and show those poor primitives how they should be living'