Carentan (318)

[MyMilo]

I missing the abnormals...I was hoping to see the fire elemental but that quickly disipated....guess that part of the story lost it's energy.



I totally know how you feel! I am beginning to miss the abnormal chasing, and while focusing on the main character stories and building stuff up there is nice, I wish they would have one episode that just........focused on the trill of the chase I guess. Like they used to! I wanna see some more of Kate and Henry and Will and Helen out and catching abnormals! If they'd just give a little bit of a break to the Hollow Earth references. I'm not saying that I don't LOVE the episodes they are coming out with, but I think I'm gonna go watch season two on DVD again.

[Dutchess]

I missing the abnormals...I was hoping to see the fire elemental but that quickly disipated....guess that part of the story lost it's energy.



I totally know how you feel! I am beginning to miss the abnormal chasing, and while focusing on the main character stories and building stuff up there is nice, I wish they would have one episode that just........focused on the trill of the chase I guess. Like they used to! I wanna see some more of Kate and Henry and Will and Helen out and catching abnormals! If they'd just give a little bit of a break to the Hollow Earth references. I'm not saying that I don't LOVE the episodes they are coming out with, but I think I'm gonna go watch season two on DVD again.

This is so true!!! I have thought about this a lot. I mean, Sanctuary was based on saving abnormals. It seems to me that the theme of this show IS shifting more toward the lives of the characters. However, I really don't see it as a bad thing; I love revelations of Helen's life- especially when the five are involved. This direction makes the show less upbeat, and in a sense, more believable. I know it is science fiction but it is absolutely intriguing (to me) when a director can turn such fiction into a masterpiece that I can relate to.
One thing I am grateful for is that Will seemed to "calm down." After Kali, he seemed a little immature, but in this episode, I definitely saw a complete turn around in his behaviour. Also, I would love to see more of Declan; he is a great addition to the show
Well, we are down to the last few episodes I hope there is another season underway...

[JanSam]

Thinking about the scene where Will confronts Magnus about the fact that she is essentially immortal and the problem might not be solved in his lifetime. I thought it fit right into the story. And a discussion about Helen's longevity was bound to come up sooner or later - if not from Will, but from someone else. But on further reflection I find this a little annoying. There seems to be an implication that Helen isn't working as hard as she possibly can to get them out of there. And you can tell Helen is spending every waking moment - and hardly sleeping - to solve the problem. I think I'm reading too much into it and it was simply Will expressing his fears. Just as Helen had a mini-explosion at Will over her frustration of not having a computer or proper writing utensils or even a slide rule. But part of me wanted to shake Will and say, "I doubt Helen wants RAVI to die before a solution is found! She's working as hard as she can!"

snip
Back to the idea of Helen forming any sort of friendship with the people in Carenten. I understand her not doing that. But I was thinking in the larger scheme of the series - how much does Helen interact with people outside of the Sanctuary network or who don't know anything about the Sanctuary network? It would be risky for her to deal with the chief of police somewhere who doesn't know anything about the Sanctuary...and have him see Helen 30 years later and she hasn't aged a day. Does Helen have to keep a fairly low profile to hide her longevity? Magnus has name-dropped here and there - do we think all of the people she has mentioned knew her secret? What about Alfredo (owner of the Helen's favorite restaurant)? I mean, how long has he been in business?

Helen told Will in Requiem, "When you've been alive for as long as I have...you learn not to get too close to people.
I've buried a lot of friends, colleagues, lovers; more than you can imagine. You asked me earlier how I could relate to people? Well...dinner parties are hell."

So besides keeping a low profile she might do it for her own sanity. She doesn't get close to too many people to spare herself the pain when she loses them. I'm sure with the time sped up in the dome that she would see even more urgency to solve it.

[Julian]

I'm in the minority here who didn't like this episode. TBH I think (with the exception of Awakening) since Pax Romana, Sanctuary just hasn't had that oomph for me.
I felt like the story fell flat. There were so many things that made me just go... eh?

Like:
- How Helen just jumps on this exclusion zone in France
- Because no one contacts her about it they have to go over there and just stick their noses in
- She has to get in to find out what's going on?
- They have no sattelite access at the start, but then Biggie can read the symbol for cerillium (sp?)
- In Normandy she says "you can't destroy a fire elemental" (or something), and then in Carentan to Will she says "I destroyed a fire elemental..."

And then just the acting and script in general, like the interactions with the US Commander dude seemed so OTT and forced, as well as the whole teaser before the opening credits, just so fake an unnatural IMO.

What is it with Will and the increasing amount of potential love interests? It’s become annoying.

I completely agree...

Edit: I also didn't like how she got so angry and frustrated after a month there (when she cracks the ****s at Will and then apologises). I don't think she'd do that. I know personality doesn't change over time, but after 159 years you think she'd be able to have some more unconditional positive regard for what's happening and just accept (certain) things instead of let little things piss her off.

[Skydiver]

I did catch the 'you can't kill an elemental, that's why they're called elementals'.....then her 'i destroyed one'...no, didn't destroy it, you and watson banished it.

[majorsal]

while i'm not a huge fan of this episode, i found helen to be the saving grace for me. or amanda. but the scenes that come through the most for me, the ones that stay with me, are the ones with helen.

that scene with her and ravi... absolutely gorgeous and powerful. the writing, the acting, the music... just a perfect scene of sanctuary perfection.

yes, i'm totally fangirling amanda right now ... but for me, she IS sanctuary.

[jckfan55]

a moment of fangirling...

the last scene in the ep, with helen and will lying on the beds: pay close attention to how amanda plays it when she first wakes up. AGAIN, attention to details from amanda the actress! you can see her suddenly realizing she's hooked up to an iv, then she glances to it... i know, not a big deal, but i love the little things amanda does. it's just a very normal reaction, and amanda acts ALL parts of being human.

[/fangirling]

I noticed that too. I figured as a doctor, she was checking out what they were giving her. Nice simple moment when Will says "I told them to let you sleep" and she says "thank you."

Of course, it's hard not to draw comparisons to Unending.

Not for me, as I've blocked it from my mind.


I enjoyed the ep. I was leery when the previews showed something to do with time, time travel, time bubble etc. (I managed not to get *too* spoiled) but they did a pretty good job.

Good Magnus moments, good work by Kate & Declan on not giving up. I liked that Magnus' reply to Will when he was all "I'm going to die here, you're not—have you thought about that?" was a simple look and then a hand on his shoulder. Yes, she knows. Nicely, subtly done.

My disappointment was that they chose to pair Magnus & Will. I would have thought Kate would have been the more practical choice to bring & it would have given us some opportunities to see Magnus & Kate one on one. 

I was sorry they killed off Ravi. I can see why they picked him—they wanted someone we knew so we'd care, but still—poor Ravi.

[KayLyne]

Edit: I also didn't like how she got so angry and frustrated after a month there (when she cracks the ****s at Will and then apologises). I don't think she'd do that. I know personality doesn't change over time, but after 159 years you think she'd be able to have some more unconditional positive regard for what's happening and just accept (certain) things instead of let little things piss her off.

I believe it was more of her being frustrated because:
1) she couldn't figure it out quickly - and time was of the essence
2) since she couldn't fix it quickly, she felt like she wasn't in control of the situation - and we know how much Helen likes to be in control, or at least know what's going on and be one step ahead of things in the thinking process.
3) she didn't have any idea if what she was doing was going to work, and Will hovering around her & whining about it is something she's not used to in a crisis. This is why, during the episode, I was wishing she was with Declan or Biggie, or one of The Five - at least someone who'd been around her long enough to be able to support her (or give her a kick in the butt) instead of annoy her like Will did.

[Dinoman]

Helen told Will in Requiem, "When you've been alive for as long as I have...you learn not to get too close to people.
I've buried a lot of friends, colleagues, lovers; more than you can imagine. You asked me earlier how I could relate to people? Well...dinner parties are hell."

So besides keeping a low profile she might do it for her own sanity. She doesn't get close to too many people to spare herself the pain when she loses them. I'm sure with the time sped up in the dome that she would see even more urgency to solve it.

You can avoid getting close to people but you cannot keep people from getting close or curious about you. With such a large house located by the river front in the Old City, I don't think it would be easy for Helen to keep a profile as low as she expects, especially when Big Guy is the one to answer the door for supermarket deliveries!

[MyMilo]

This is so true!!! I have thought about this a lot. I mean, Sanctuary was based on saving abnormals. It seems to me that the theme of this show IS shifting more toward the lives of the characters. However, I really don't see it as a bad thing; I love revelations of Helen's life- especially when the five are involved. This direction makes the show less upbeat, and in a sense, more believable. I know it is science fiction but it is absolutely intriguing (to me) when a director can turn such fiction into a masterpiece that I can relate to.
One thing I am grateful for is that Will seemed to "calm down." After Kali, he seemed a little immature, but in this episode, I definitely saw a complete turn around in his behaviour. Also, I would love to see more of Declan; he is a great addition to the show

i am in absolute agreement! it is not a bad thing that they are focusing more on the character, it's just not what it used to be. but everything evolves eventually!

[Skydiver]

ah, my nit.....12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark...in october?

[KayLyne]

This is so true!!! I have thought about this a lot. I mean, Sanctuary was based on saving abnormals. It seems to me that the theme of this show IS shifting more toward the lives of the characters. However, I really don't see it as a bad thing; I love revelations of Helen's life- especially when the five are involved. This direction makes the show less upbeat, and in a sense, more believable. I know it is science fiction but it is absolutely intriguing (to me) when a director can turn such fiction into a masterpiece that I can relate to.

The way I see it is that the Sanctuary itself may be about giving refuge to abnormals or protecting the rest of the world from them. However, to me, Sanctuary (the show) has always been about whatever doesn't fit "in the box" according to 'normal' humans - whether it be some kind of abnormal being or unknown entity, some strange technology or even some strange place that doesn't fit the parameters of being 'normal'. I essentially see the show as The Life & Times of Helen Magnus - which includes a broad spectrum since she's lived two lifetimes already - and the weird & wacky that always seems to follow her through the outward fringes of science.

[NumberSix]

Overall I thought this was a good episode. Not my favorite, but still a good one and I'm guessing part of the build-up to the final two episodes of the season. (?)

I don't mind the Helen/Will pairing as long as they don't have too many of them and give the other characters time too. I did like how Helen and Will worked together in this ep, and the mutual hands on the shoulders was a nice touch in showing their support and friendship for each other.

Like someone else mentioned I don't want to see Will kissing a different girl in every episode, but in this situation where he thought he might not live long enough to get back to their own time, I can understand that he'd think of the possibility of being with someone else. I like that he said it was complicated though, because of Abby, and still had issues with it. And I liked Josie up until the end when she fired her gun. I couldn't help thinking "you were all set to have a baby with this guy but now you're going to shoot him?"

Nice use of Biggie, and I liked the little part where Kate is talking about a recipe where they substituted ingredients and she says it tasted just as good and Biggie goes "did not." However, I kept thinking Henry should have been there doing the computer stuff.

I thought the sunset scene with Helen and Ravi was very well done. Probably my favorite moment of the episode. Beautifully shot, beautiful music and excellent performances. When I watched it the 2nd time and Ravi says the sun has almost set, it sounds prophetic in light of what happened to him.

[Chelle DB]

ah, my nit.....12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark...in october?

Yes...but it's France Sky!!
I think what I would have liked to have seen in this ep is what exactly happened to the time dilation bubble when Helen set the charge off.

Personally, I'd just like to see Helen paired with someone else for a few eps...preferably Kate or Tesla or maybe even with Declan.
I wish Helen wasn't such a recluse either...I wish she would go out and have some fun...let loose for a bit. I don't think it's that much to ask...it's not like she doesn't have an adventurous bone in her body.

[Morigane50]

This episode was very intense with a lot of sensitivity and even poetry in my opinion. I loved the interactions between the characters . I was happy to see again Ravi because I had liked him in he episode Kali and the old Ravi was very moving . English is not my first language so I am not sure to have well understood the why and how of all the story of the time dilation but it doesn't matter , i will rewatch the episode and hope to read a transcript to help me.
In this episode I liked a lot the relationship between Will and Helen , it reminds me the Mulder/Scully friendship between a man and a woman in X-Files , and this is what I had found interesting when I discovered and begun to watch Sanctuary a few months ago.
I loved too Declan and Kate , they were great .
The last scene at the hospital was beautiful with the guilt on Helen and Will , that was sad too.
They didn’t really explain the relation with the fire elemental which escape in 1944 and the situation nowadays , I hope they will do with the next episodes.
So to finish , I found it was a beautiful episode well played with nice dialogues .