S02.E10: O Is for Ovaphobia

[formerlyfreedom]

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Ben, David, and Kristen investigate the RSM Fertility clinic - since so many of their past cases have led back to the ominous clinic.

Dropping Sunday, September 19, 2021.

(For those following along - it looks like they pushed the 'T is for Temporoparietal Lobes' episode again!)

[ferjy]

32 minutes ago, saoirse said:

(For those following along - it looks like they pushed the 'T is for Temporoparietal Lobes' episode again!)

I suppose the title may still show up, but I have a sneaking suspicion that episode 8 was supposed to bear that name and they ended up changing it to B Is for Brain. It’s so close in meaning. 

 

[formerlyfreedom]

3 minutes ago, ferjy said:

I suppose the title may still show up, but I have a sneaking suspicion that episode 8 was supposed to bear that name and they ended up changing it to B Is for Brain. It’s so close in meaning. 

 

Oh, it still exists - it's actually showing as the NEXT episode, according to theTVDB.com. But at this point, it may be season 4 before it shows up!

[jenn31]

11 minutes ago, saoirse said:

Oh, it still exists - it's actually showing as the NEXT episode, according to theTVDB.com. But at this point, it may be season 4 before it shows up!

There are at least three websites that keep pushing that episode. They must be getting the information from each other. 😜

[phalange]

A lot to unpack with this one, wow.

In addition to her demon vampire teeth, Lexis has a tail now. I guess that's what all the baggy clothing is about. It must have just happened, though, or someone would've noticed. There's no way she can keep this a secret very long, even if she wanted to. Poor kid. I really hope they follow up on this storyline. Kristen is in denial about Lexis' teeth being an issue, but it would be a lot harder to continue that denial if she saw an actual tail.

The whole thing with the fertility clinic is even more messed up than they all thought. That doctor who was paying for the storage of Kristen's eggs is working with Leland, no surprise there, but what are they doing with that missing egg? Now they've tampered with two, Lexis and this missing one. 

Everything that happened in Leland's apartment is just bizarre. I assume Leland and the influencer were using Sheryl to somehow de-age the influencer. He looked younger when he and Sheryl were leaving the apartment. But Sheryl seemed genuinely terrified when he injected her with something, and then the next day she's all upbeat and smiling. And WTF is up with the fertility doctor laying in that bag? Is she getting the same "treatment" the influencer dude did? Or something else? 

Whatever happened during that seance apparently caused Vanessa's sister to come to life and now she's causing problems between Ben and Vanessa, probably in retaliation for Vanessa trying to get rid of her. 

[LADreamr]

10 minutes ago, phalange said:

In addition to her demon vampire teeth, Lexis has a tail now. I guess that's what all the baggy clothing is about.

I was confused about that storyline.  Her needing baggy clothes because of the tail makes sense.  Even her having a tail makes sense, because... this show.  But then what was her issue with everything else, appearance-wise?  Once they revealed the tail to us, there was no more reason to make it seem like she was buying larger clothes because of any body dysmorphia, and the Saran Wrap on her thighs wasn't necessary, either (although, I'm pretty sure the plastic wrap is supposed to be directly on your thighs, not around your jeans).  That felt clunky.  

[RedInk]

44 minutes ago, phalange said:

Everything that happened in Leland's apartment is just bizarre. I assume Leland and the influencer were using Sheryl to somehow de-age the influencer. He looked younger when he and Sheryl were leaving the apartment. But Sheryl seemed genuinely terrified when he injected her with something, and then the next day she's all upbeat and smiling. 

Really weird. There was a filter on both actors that made them look noticeably younger, and I assume the tennis was a nod to them feeling younger too. I can’t tell if anything was “taken” from Sheryl in this process because they seemed to have benefited equally. That being said, they’ve made it clear she’s diabolical, so if they weren’t intending to harm her, why not just fill her in? I’m sure she’d be into it. 
 

it’s dumb to nitpick this kind of thing, but did they explain how Kristin is just now realizing she hadn’t made a payment on her egg storage in 11 years? I thought money was tight, and that’s hundreds of dollars a month. 

[LADreamr]

26 minutes ago, RedInk said:

I can’t tell if anything was “taken” from Sheryl in this process because they seemed to have benefited equally. That being said, they’ve made it clear she’s diabolical, so if they weren’t intending to harm her, why not just fill her in? I’m sure she’d be into it. 

I wonder if this is a grooming kind of thing?  Like, they put her through one thing that's really appealing to her, and then she will be open to other things later?  Although I can see the influencer wanting the youthful thing just for his own "career."

[Chaos Theory]

The term “influencer” may be literal in this case.   The guy might be trying to influence Sheryl to get her to be more pliable to Leland’s needs especially now that he knows her moral compass is flexible.   

I am glad there is some forward momentum on the fertility clinic.  Yeah the place is shady but taking someones’s egg is scary.  Kristen could have that son her daughters were joking about.  And it would be a great story to find out there was a child out there with her DNA especially since we know how morally flexible Sheryl is and how prone to violence Kristen is.  What if those attributes were the ones Leland and his crew brought out.  

And Lexis with her body image issues presented like another teen girl story until the tail was shown.   

Not sure what to make of Ben and his girl friend and her sister.  On paper it’s a fun story but I am not really feeling it.

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[Snazzy Daisy]

Things get weirder & weirder! 😱

- Is Miss Marie for real or just being theatrical? But Vanessa's full-on personality change was obvious. And it only costs $350 dollars.

- Maggie has taken over Vanessa’s body. Ben has never seen the sisters together, physically. Is Ben going to pretend that this never happened so this can easily be written off without explanation by the show?

- Since when Lexis grows a tail? Will she embrace it in public?

- Have no idea that Mathilda is also one of the RSM Fertility babies. Was this mentioned in “F Is For Fire”?

- Strange remarks from the RSM Fertility receptionist; “The world is in its last days; we have to be kind to each other”.

- What happened to Kristen’s 12th egg?

- Dr. Autry was wrapped in a cocoon in Leland’s closet. Was she involved in some kind of egg-incubating experiment? Probably using Kristen’s egg?

- Sheryl is way too mature to be shoplifting and carrying around her own clothing security-tag detacher, in her granddaughters’ presence!

- Sheryl in a red dress at the “White Party” with her flotation device on prominent display, what a distraction! 

- Edward and Sheryl having their “fountain of youth” journey in the Nutcracker Suite at Leland’s. I believe this is the Evil version of Adrenochrome.

- Rejuvenated Sheryl dressed in bright and light colors. It’s a rare occasion.

[Snazzy Daisy]

From the episode…

[tomsmom]

This show just pisses me off some times! All those nosy ass daughters crammed into one room and NO one notices a tail??? (eyeroll)

Not to mention the story lines left hanging: biting off the Dentist’s finger, Kristen’s stomach burns, the sex goo…can you just please give us one answer an episode??!!

[skotnikov]

1 hour ago, tomsmom said:

This show just pisses me off some times! All those nosy ass daughters crammed into one room and NO one notices a tail??? (eyeroll)

Not to mention the story lines left hanging: biting off the Dentist’s finger, Kristen’s stomach burns, the sex goo…can you just please give us one answer an episode??!!

As I understand one can see the tail only in a mirror. 

[Annber03]

7 hours ago, phalange said:

A lot to unpack with this one, wow.

That's putting it mildly :p. Lexis has a tail? Leland and this influencer guy and Sheryl was just a continuous stream of "WTF?". And Ben and Vanessa, holy shit. I actually had my hand over my mouth at that reveal. Uhhhhhhhhhh. Yeah. At this point, Ben, I'm thinking it's well past time to cut ties with this woman. There's no coming back from that. 

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I assume Leland and the influencer were using Sheryl to somehow de-age the influencer. He looked younger when he and Sheryl were leaving the apartment. But Sheryl seemed genuinely terrified when he injected her with something, and then the next day she's all upbeat and smiling. And WTF is up with the fertility doctor laying in that bag? Is she getting the same "treatment" the influencer dude did? Or something else? 

Yeah, the way they were dancing around when they left the apartment seemed to indicate they got some kind of youth serum or something. I could see Sheryl being terrified at first because she didn't know what the hell they were injecting her with*, but maybe once she realized what it was she was on board? Course, I'd still be wary of someone who was going to inject me with some random thing I didn't know about, and which they refused to tell me about, until after I got it, but this is Sheryl we're talking about, so...

*On that note, I kept yelling at her to not take that drink that the guy offered her at the bar. Yeah, she read his "poison" comment as a joke, but, uh...clearly in this case, he wasn't entirely joking. Sheryl's been around the block enough times now to where one would think she'd at the very least be more careful about what kinds of drinks she accepts. But I guess once you've gotten hooked up with Leland, it's easier to just totally throw caution to the wind about anything. Same with the shoplifting. 

I did like that red dress she had on, though. If I were to wear it, I'd probably prefer to remove the strap across the chest, myself, but yeah, it was gorgeous and she did look great in it. 

I'm going to take a wild guess that if this is a "youth serum" sort of thing that they're being injected with, perhaps that explains their connection to the fertility clinic and the eggs. Using those to help make older people feel young again, or something. Maybe that's where one of Kristen's eggs went, and they changed the number on the site to make it seem like it was always eleven eggs. But that still doesn't explain why the children who've come from there are exhibiting so many weird behaviors and acting evil. I liked the callback to the case with Eric, with the mom and her baby coming by to talk, though her comment about the legal issues her family's dealing with did raise an eyebrow. 

4 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

- Have no idea that Mathilda is also one of the RSM Fertility babies. Was this mentioned in “F Is For Fire”?

It was alluded to, when it was mentioned that Lexis and Mathilda are about the same age. 

(On the note of Mathilda, by the way, so, uh, way to just casually throw in there that she apparently burned down her foster family's home?!?! I'm guessing everyone's alive, otherwise they would've mentioned deaths, but, still, uh...wow.)

Lexis' thing with the tail is just...beyond bizarre. I'm presuming she's imagining it, of course - maybe there's something about the fact she was conceived in that clinic that's now causing her to have these hallucinations. But if that's what's happening here, then how, and why, would that be the case? I did like them bringing back Malindaz, and showing how she's trying to mess with her young viewers once again. Kristen showing her the truth about influencers like her was good, and hopefully Lexis got the right message from that. Tail aside, of course :p.

Ben and Vanessa (and Maggie). Just. Wow. I can totally see Vanessa messing with him - that whole situation with her living room being destroyed certainly seems to support that theory. I can see her messing her place up and trying to blame it on her "sister". But it doesn't fully explain how that ending played out, unless she found a way to make a recording of her voice and that's what Ben heard when he got the call. She seems pretty tech-savvy herself, so I wouldn't put it past her. 

4 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

- Is Miss Marie for real or just being theatrical? But Vanessa's full-on personality change was obvious. And it only costs $350 dollars.

I actually laughed at how casually the way Miss Marie said that about the cost after all that chaos :D. I'm thinking she's a mix of both - I can see her having some unusual gifts, so to speak, but I can also definitely see her playing things up for the show and the fun of it all. That was a truly wild séance.

Also, I actually jumped a bit during the book opening at the start, when the baby came flying at the screen. 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Annber03

[Madding crowd]

A lot happened in this episode. I’m thinking no one else can see Lexie’s tail; you couldn’t hide something that big. The story was a bit confusing because it seemed like she was more worried about a thigh gap. I found Sheryl and the influencer guy really scary. Was that Tim Mathison? 
I really felt for Kristen with the fertility clinic refusing to give her information and than taking one of her eggs. On top of that we have Ben and Vanessa. This show gives me the creeps and I love it!

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, Madding crowd said:

I found Sheryl and the influencer guy really scary. Was that Tim Mathison? 

It was :)!

And yeah, that scene in the apartment when the influencer guy was asking her if she could stand up or scream was legitimately terrifying. I was genuinely frightened for Sheryl there. 

[bobbyjoe]

If only Alexis can see her tail— and only in the mirror— it makes more sense in the show’s always walking that line between real/unreal.  Because I guess it could be possible to chalk it up to some kind of delusion (though in this case the show’s getting awfully close to just going ahead and admitting things are fully supernatural).

[Snazzy Daisy]

2 hours ago, Annber03 said:

It was alluded to, when it was mentioned that Lexis and Mathilda are about the same age. 

(On the note of Mathilda, by the way, so, uh, way to just casually throw in there that she apparently burned down her foster family's home?!?! I'm guessing everyone's alive, otherwise they would've mentioned deaths, but, still, uh...wow.)

Lexis' thing with the tail is just...beyond bizarre. I'm presuming she's imagining it, of course - maybe there's something about the fact she was conceived in that clinic that's now causing her to have these hallucinations. But if that's what's happening here, then how, and why, would that be the case? I did like them bringing back Malindaz, and showing how she's trying to mess with her young viewers once again. Kristen showing her the truth about influencers like her was good, and hopefully Lexis got the right message from that. Tail aside, of course :p.

Ben and Vanessa (and Maggie). Just. Wow. I can totally see Vanessa messing with him - that whole situation with her living room being destroyed certainly seems to support that theory. I can see her messing her place up and trying to blame it on her "sister". But it doesn't fully explain how that ending played out, unless she found a way to make a recording of her voice and that's what Ben heard when he got the call. She seems pretty tech-savvy herself, so I wouldn't put it past her. 

I actually laughed at how casually the way Miss Marie said that about the cost after all that chaos :D. I'm thinking she's a mix of both - I can see her having some unusual gifts, so to speak, but I can also definitely see her playing things up for the show and the fun of it all. That was a truly wild séance.

Also, I actually jumped a bit during the book opening at the start, when the baby came flying at the screen. 

If am not mistaken, there has been 3 fires since Mathilda moved in with the foster family. Her biological mother is an arsonist herself. So it’s probably genetic.

Re Lexis’ tail, my best guess is that her own insecurities are manifested in the form of imaginary tail. She’s now embracing her own flaws.

Kristen showing the real Malindaz to Lexis is the same approach that she used before when explaining to the girls not to be afraid of George’s character from a horror tv show.

Malindaz reminds me of the haunting Xmas song from that episode! 😥

Does Vanessa suffer from a split personality and that session with Miss Marie has triggered the emergence of Maggie?

Me too, I laughed when she blurted out the $350 cost. One cool lady, hope to see her again. It would be epic if Miss Marie can perform an “exorcism” on Leland! 😂

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

If am not mistaken, there has been 3 fires since Mathilda moved in with the foster family. Her biological mother is an arsonist herself. So it’s probably genetic.

Good point. Which is pretty freaky, then, if that's the case. 

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Re Lexis’ tail, my best guess is that her own insecurities are manifested in the form of imaginary tail. She’s now embracing her own flaws.

That's what someone else suggested in a discussion over at the show's subreddit, too. That makes a lot of sense, I like that idea :). 

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Does Vanessa suffer from a split personality and that session with Miss Marie has triggered the emergence of Maggie?

I can definitely see that being a possibility, yeah. Someone in the other discussion mentioned above also wondered if maybe Abby had manifested herself as Maggie, to further mess with Ben. Which I could totally see her doing. 

[ferjy]

Ok, what’s the name of that app Lexi was using? I want my skin to look smoother. And does it have a full body shot? 

 

[jmnf19]

3 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

Was that Tim Mathison? 

I used to have a huge crush on Tim Matheson. I haven’t seen him in ages. Now all I could see was Botox and dentures. Oh what age does to us. 🙁 

[ferjy]

1 hour ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Me too, I laughed when she blurted out the $350 cost. One cool lady, hope to see her again. It would be epic if Miss Marie can perform an “exorcism” on Leland! 😂

This show has a few great recurring characters. Maybe Miss Marie and Sister Andrea can collaborate on that exorcism. 😄

 

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, ferjy said:

This show has a few great recurring characters. Maybe Miss Marie and Sister Andrea can collaborate on that exorcism. 😄

Oh, man, this needs to happen now :D. That would be truly wild. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Annber03

[ferjy]

3 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Oh, man, this needs to happen now :D. That would be truly wild. 

Sister Andrea blessing Leland with ammonia and Miss Marie demanding $1000 at the end for cleansing him. 😄

 

[Scout Finch]

It's interesting that somehow Leland must have known she was wearing that dress/color. He had a red tie and pocket square to match, and was the only person at the party who had touches of color in his outfit.

To me, it seemed like Vanessa and Maggie are in separate bodies now because near the end he was talking to Vanessa on the phone and she was, I think, on the train. He becomes confused and gets freaked out a bit when Maggie comes back in the room while he's still on the call. It sounded like Vanessa was pissed off about Maggie being there, and Maggie asked if that was her sister on the phone and took a verbal jab at her. However, there's obviously not two corporeal people living there at the same time. I think I'm just as confused as Ben!

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

11 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I can definitely see that being a possibility, yeah. Someone in the other discussion mentioned above also wondered if maybe Abby had manifested herself as Maggie, to further mess with Ben. Which I could totally see her doing. 

OMG! I totally forgot about that demoness with the retainer and swaying tail! 😱 

10 hours ago, ferjy said:

This show has a few great recurring characters. Maybe Miss Marie and Sister Andrea can collaborate on that exorcism. 😄

 

Hahaha, that will be epic too!

Re other recurring characters, am hoping we get to see Flaming Jinn and prophet Grace again.

[kwnyc]

This episode really got to me...they are moving past the point of no return with some of these characters, and it's going to end up with at least someone, or more than one, dead or with their life completely ruined. I have no idea where all this is going, and that's the way it should be. Whatever the payoff is, it won't satisfy everyone, but if it draws most of what's happened together, I'll be satisfied (and exhausted.)

At this point I'm glad the show is not on broadcast TV anymore, because they could not fuck with us the way they do if it were still on CBS.

I'm beginning to think Sheryl might be the point where all the moving parts join together (then explode). 

Tim Matheson...wow, he's changed since he was Otter in Animal House! And a VIce-President! ;-)

And Kristen did some really good parenting with Lexis, even though she didn't realize she was telling her daughter it's okay to have a tail. (I'm still on the fence as to whether this is real...because you can't share a room with 3 sisters and have them NOT notice something like that.) Kristen's interaction with the other three, teasing them about "daughter energy" was also a good change-up. 

I think there's enough of a solid/moral person left in Kristen to truly access the love and care she has for her daughters. (When she wept after being confronted about damaging Lily, with the tiger mask, the killing maps, etc.) it felt real and cleansing.

Who thinks that Kristen's missing egg has been used? (I do, I do!)

[bobbyjoe]

What’s Sheryl’s doll gonna think about Leland giving her some kind of weird blood swap with a creepy, devilish influencer in the same apartment where he has an egg-stealing doctor wrapped up in a leather cocoon?

You have to love a show that has you asking questions like that

[Cotypubby]

I’m not sure what the timeline is exactly, but anyone else think some of the other evil children we have seen were all created from Kristen’s eggs by RSM? Her already having so many kids seems like such a big plot point that I would not be surprised if she also ended up being the real mother to several others as well. (Sure they say there are 11 left but maybe that’s a lie and they’ve been using her eggs for all the evil kids.)

And even though I don’t know what was really going on with Cheryl and Leland and that weird procedure, I am very glad that scene did not go where I thought it was headed, with some kind of forced insemination  thing.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Cotypubby

[Anela]

On 9/19/2021 at 11:58 AM, LADreamr said:

I was confused about that storyline.  Her needing baggy clothes because of the tail makes sense.  Even her having a tail makes sense, because... this show.  But then what was her issue with everything else, appearance-wise?  Once they revealed the tail to us, there was no more reason to make it seem like she was buying larger clothes because of any body dysmorphia, and the Saran Wrap on her thighs wasn't necessary, either (although, I'm pretty sure the plastic wrap is supposed to be directly on your thighs, not around your jeans).  That felt clunky.  

It started with her teeth.  She seems to have the usual insecurities, plus the tail. 
I guess Sheryl has officially joined a cult.  

[millennium]

Which is worse?  The tail idea or the bad CGI? I guess this show has swerved entirely into farce, jumping a shark or two along the way.  It might help if there were a single likeable character.   Ben is as close as it gets for me, but his time on screen feels less than the other two.   I also liked the goat therapist (I kid you not).   

The way things are going, I half expected/hoped the influencer might introduce himself, "Eric Stratton, damn glad to meet you."

It's Kristen's daughters who need an exorcism.   The afflicted girls in Salem Village made less of a racket than those four.

[ferjy]

On 9/22/2021 at 1:19 PM, millennium said:

It's Kristen's daughters who need an exorcism.   The afflicted girls in Salem Village made less of a racket than those four.

lol I think you need to have some kids. 😉 You won’t bat an eye at Kristen’s girls then. I totally get Kristen’s (usual) calm reactions to them. You end up tuning your kids out. Survival tactic. 😁 Though they eventually catch on. As my daughter got older, she once commented (as I smiled and nodded while she went on about something) “You’re not listening anymore, are you?” Busted!

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by ferjy

[Linderhill]

On 9/22/2021 at 1:19 PM, millennium said:

The way things are going, I half expected/hoped the influencer might introduce himself, "Eric Stratton, damn glad to meet you."

that would have been so epic!  what a great easter egg it could have been.  

I'm curious as to how this is all going to work out.

[snoopypez]

I am so confused by the entire Leland and Sheryl thing. and also by the entire Ben and Vanessa/Maggie thing.

But with the entire Lexis thing, I just kinda assumed she wasn't ONLY insecure about the tail, but also about the usual preteen/teen girl body issues. She was clearly not thrilled with her teeth either, and she asked her mom if she thinks she's fat. Other than the tail, the whole subplot was so sad for how realistic it was. I'm so glad Kristen finally really caught on and talked to her about it. 

Plus she was really adorable giggling over the tail. :D 

[kwnyc]

On 9/22/2021 at 1:19 PM, millennium said:

"Eric Stratton, damn glad to meet you."

KUDOS for the Animal House reference!

[KittyQ]

On 9/19/2021 at 3:29 PM, Annber03 said:

I kept yelling at her to not take that drink that the guy offered her at the bar. Yeah, she read his "poison" comment as a joke, but, uh...clearly in this case, he wasn't entirely joking.

That was my thought as well - don't just drink something that you didn't see made in front of you! Especially since he didn't sip it as well. Sheryl just met him, and through Leland, so no surprise that he's shady.