S02.E10: The Fall of the House of Beauchamp

[formerlyfreedom]

Joanna is devastated by Tarkoff's actions; Dash's secrets begin to be revealed; Wendy and Joanna reconnect with their father.

 

[Bort]

Geez, Dash, have you no self control at all? I hope Ingrid made him wear a full body condom because if not, she better hope being dead for a day killed any raging STDs he might have given her.

This is kind of gruesome but it was a nice touch that dead Freya and Ingrid had purple feet and fingers. Lividity, don'tcha know...

Edited September 22, 2014 by kariyaki

[grandemocha]

Nooo, Dash, noo. It's kind of incredibly cliched that he happens to screw the FBI agent looking into the murders in town. 

 

I wonder why Ingrid decided to stay.

[missbonnie]

Not only that, but she's probably the sister of the guy he killed. Yeah, the thing with Ingrid needed a lot more explanation. And I wish that Wendy would have taken her father up on his offer to fix her necklace.

Edited September 22, 2014 by missbonnie

[HunterHunted]

Geez, Dash, have you no self control at all? I hope Ingrid made him wear a full body condom because if not, she better hope being dead for a day killed any raging STDs he might have given her.

This is kind of gruesome but it was a nice touch that dead Freya and Ingrid had purple feet and fingers. Lividity, don'tcha know...

I'm sort of loving the inversion of the season 1 characterizations of Killian and Dash. Season 1 Killian was supposed to be the unreliable irresponsible one. It's clear that Dash has now moved into that role. However, how is he going to explain this to Ingrid? I decided to grieve by boning a stranger in a bar storeroom.

Ingrid's decision to stay with Odin was in no way earned.

[blugirlami21]

And that's why I can't stand Ingrid.  She does stupid things.  Grandpa obviously can't be trusted and if Frederick really still believes that he is on the up and up he and Ingrid should be the twins.  They are dumb and dumber at this point.  If he really wanted to start fresh why not rescind the curses?  He obviously needs the whole family intact for some reason.  I would guess for a spell.

 

I could have done without any of the Dash/FBI agent stuff.  She really grossed me out with her over the top sluttiness.  I wish that Dash had stuck with his guns and I don't know actually grieved the loss of someone he claimed to be in love with.  The show is making it very hard for me to see a light at the end of the tunnel for his character.

 

Now the stuff with Killian makes me question his smartness as well.  You just found out that your wife drugged and ensorcelled you for months but you go somewhere by yourself because she left you an address.  You wind up in a strange place with strange people and then you get stabbed in the hand and then they talk about you as if you could be useful to them in some way but you wait and see what's going to happen next?  Ok.  I don't think that's going to end well for you Killian.

 

It's weird I feel like the season is just finding it's footing and it's pretty much over.  I hope the pacing is better next season.

Edited September 22, 2014 by blugirlami21

[ottoDbusdriver]

Who knew that East End is so large it has it's own Latin district ?

 

How long before Killian decides to bang Eva's granddaughter, who looks identical to Eva ?

 

So, what happened to Freddie's girlfriend, Caroline, the one that he carved the king symbol into her stomach -- did she just not notice that ?

 

Geez, Dash, have you no self control at all? I hope Ingrid made him wear a full body condom because if not, she better hope being dead for a day killed any raging STDs he might have given her.

 

Agent Munro should be worried as well if they didn't use condoms -- who knows what Dash picked up from being banged by the Mandragora, or picked up from Ingrid who was also banged by the Mandragora ?

 

Don't forget, to paraphrase Chazz Reinhold from Wedding Crashers: "grief is nature's most powerful aphrodisiac .... its not even fair, its like fishing with dynamite".  So Dash didn't really have a chance against super-frisky Agent Munro.

 

ETA: I completely forgot about 'The Time Door'.  As soon as Joanna said that "they had already gone back to the past" and now she was just closing the loop. WTF ?  She is just mentioning this now -- who is she, Doc Brown ?  I'm surprised a Western Union guy didn't show up at the front door with a letter that had been setting in their office for 100 years.

Edited September 22, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[GaT]

They sure didn't stay dead long, did they? I didn't really expect them to. Is Spike gone now? I mean, the king threw him in the closet (or whatever that room was) so his part is done? He's been annoying me, so I'm happy if he's gone.

 

Why are we getting Eva 2.0?

[Bill C.]

I still think last week's episode was this season's high point, but Julia Ormond almost singlehandedly dragged this episode into the upper tier.  (Yes, yes, Madchen Amick helped.)  Joanna just plain giving up after centuries of being cursed was absolutely pitch-perfect, perhaps to the point where nearly everything else in the episode--save Wendy enlisting Freddie to finally bring Grandpa Unicron "out"--kind of suffered by comparison.  It didn't help that, after a fashion, both Dash and Ingrid ultimately did situationally reckless shit (and all I could think was "There's still hope, Dash/Ingrid fans!") on top of Eva's bizarre...parting gift?...that sent Killian to get stabbed in the hand in New York.

 

The mystery door turning out to be a temporal gateway...I am so hoping for some sort of crazy-ass paradox, buuuut...

 

As for Dash's new friend Raven conveniently being law enforcement and looking into the body of his blackmailer: karma recycling's a bitch, paint-by-numbers as it is.  Being this close to season's end, though, I do wonder what the endgame is--and if she's a witch (I doubt it, since we're effectively out of mortals, but still).

Edited September 22, 2014 by Bill C.

[AngelKitty]

As for Dash's new friend Raven conveniently being law enforcement and looking into the body of his blackmailer: karma recycling's a bitch, paint-by-numbers as it is.  Being this close to season's end, though, I do wonder what the endgame is--and if she's a witch (I doubt it, since we're effectively out of mortals, but still).

 

What ever she is, I was getting evil vibes as she was watching all of our characters very closely.  She knows something about something.

[jelaine]

I first thought she was a vampire when she mentioned biting.  As it is, there has to be some reason she wasn't taking no from Dash specifically, so bring on the new supernatural creature.

[Primetimer]

It's another pretty good week in East End. Well, for the viewers. For the characters, it mostly sucks.

Read the story

[iMonrey]

DASH: Go ahead: Just do it.

KILLIAN: You would, if you were in my position.

DASH: Then what are you waiting for?

KILLIAN: You want me to, don't you?

 

All the while, Killiian is holding a poker on Dash, ready to penetrate him. (Yes I had to go there - I'm 12 too.)

 

Is Ingrid stupid in every lifetime? I don't get why she'd just be all "I want to stay with Grandpa" as her mother and aunt are furiously running away. 

 

I also don't understand why Tarkoff is still alive because I thought the second sting of the scorpion was supposed to kill him and in the last episode he was in fact dead, seemingly. We never got a follow-up scene where they came back into the house and found his body missing or anything and yet Freddie knew he was still alive. I wonder if they cut something.

 

The time travel thing should be fun though.

 

 

[adam807]

 

The time travel thing should be fun though.

 

SHOULD IT???

[Mu Shu]

Oh yay. Eva is still alive in a sense. So not excited to see that wooden actress brought back.

Grandpa Unicorn sure looks like Uncle Fenster. You would think he could do a spell to improve his looks. That forehead wart need to go.

[GaT]

I first thought she was a vampire when she mentioned biting.  As it is, there has to be some reason she wasn't taking no from Dash specifically, so bring on the new supernatural creature.

Once we found out she's a cop, & she was looking for bodies with the carvings on their chest, I assumed she thinks Dash has something to do with the crimes & specifically went after him. It never occurred to me she was something supernatural, I think she's that old police show trope, the cop who will do anything to get the murderer, who gets way too involved & crosses a line. Yawn.

[txhorns79]

Who knew that East End is so large it has it's own Latin district ?

 

I think the establishing shot they showed for Barrio Blvd. was in New York City.  It wasn't East End. 

 

I do love Adam's reference to Lil Eva in the recap, and now would prefer an episode that ends with the cast performing The Locomotion.  It makes just as much sense as most of the stuff that happens on this show. 

 

And seriously Beauchamps, just ditch Ingrid.  She's literally deadweight at this point, and she's not even useful deadweight.  I'm not saying Joanna has always been honest with Ingrid, but when your mother tells you how dangerous her father is, and you saw all the murders that had to happen to bring him grandpa to East End, something tells me this isn't a situation for you to stick around and sing a chorus of "Getting to Know You."   

[Rahul]

Who knew that East End is so large it has it's own Latin district ?

 

It doesn't. East End is described as being a quaint, seaside town on the tip of Long Island (ie. by Montauk and the Hamptons). Killian ventured into New York City, in what I can only guess was supposed to be Spanish Harlem. Really laughable considering there is no street even close being called Barrio Blvd in Manhattan.

 

Is Ingrid stupid in every lifetime? I don't get why she'd just be all "I want to stay with Grandpa" as her mother and aunt are furiously running away. 

 

I also don't understand why Tarkoff is still alive because I thought the second sting of the scorpion was supposed to kill him and in the last episode he was in fact dead, seemingly. We never got a follow-up scene where they came back into the house and found his body missing or anything and yet Freddie knew he was still alive. I wonder if they cut something.

 

I'm guessing Ingrid gets dumber with every passing life. The character is stupid beyond belief. I wish she stayed dead.

 

I don't understand why Tarkoff is alive either. Joanna stated the second sting would be lethal. The endless contradictions annoy me to no end. If he managed to outwit the Beauchamps, it should have occurred on screen.

 

Funny you should mention it, but there was in fact a scene deleted from this episode which did not air: http://tvline.com/2014/09/22/witches-of-east-end-season-2-spoilers-joanna-nightmare-video/

 

I cannot believe we were subjected to Dash boinking a bimbo when that valuable screen time could have been used to include the above scene, which seemingly does have a purpose in advancing the plot. Lifetime needs to understand people do not tune in for the simulated sex. That's what softcore porn and premium cable are for.

 

This episode really pissed me off because it revealed the resurrection of the girls to be a copout. I want nothing more than to sit back and enjoy the ride but these writers are making nearly impossible. Grandpa Unicron (don't get the reference--can someone explain?) and his blinding forehead growth stated he could bring his granddaughters from the dead without consequence. Either he's lying, or he really does play by a different set of rules (which isn't fair).

 

Joanna should've just waited for her pregnancy to kick in. As a viewer I'd much rather see her give birth and raise them as girls even if it means shelving Jenna Dewan and Rachel Boston for a couple of seasons. The new personalities would be an added bonus.

 

Also, what kind of "immortal" is Joanna anyway? If she's always had the ability to commit suicide, why didn't she just liberate herself and her daughters from the curse centuries ago??

Edited September 23, 2014 by Rahul

[magicdog]

East End is described as being a quaint, seaside town on the tip of Long Island (ie. by Montauk and the Hamptons)

 

 

Which bugs me because so many episodes took place in the summertime (a Fourth of July picnic for a reference) and yet I notice how often the fireplace is roaring!  I grew up on LI and know how the summers roll - no one would have the fireplace going until October.

 

 

 

 

there was in fact a scene deleted from this episode which did not air

 

 

I saw the clip and I have to say the editors/producers blew it big time!!  That scene NEEDED to stay in the episode!  Now it has me wondering about

 yet another Beauchamp sister who apparently rules [Hell]. Plus, why would this sister want Ingrid's and Freya's souls? Wouldn't she have the souls from their previous incarnations? The comments section at the link suggested Shannen Doherty from "Charmed" as a casting choice for this missing sister. If they went with it, it would be all sorts of irony!

  I could have done without seeing Dash boinking the slutty Fed if this scene had been left in.  It was definitely more relevant.

 

I'm going to speculate that Grandpa Beauchamp is sick and needs the souls or powers of the rest of the family in order to regain his strength and continue his rule.  If he weren't ill, he wouldn't have needed to enter this world the way he did right?

 

 

 

.  

[Mabinogia]

If she's always had the ability to commit suicide, why didn't she just liberate herself and her daughters from the curse centuries ago??

 

That's what I was wondering. I mean, why this incarnation of the girls? After about the third time of watching them die before 30 and realizing this was how it was going to be from now on, I'd have offed myself after they died and ended the stupid cycle of making my daughters die young every freaking time! But she seriously seemed to think she could just slit her wrists and be done with it, so why wait? Stupid, stupid show.

 

I am at work and that clip is blocked but even without seeing it I would have prefered it to Dash and Plot Contrivance...I mean, that slutty Federal Agent hooking up in a storage closet just because she laid it on real thick with the "omg I'm so easy you won't even have to do a thing, I'm getting wet just sitting here talking that's how overly sexual I am, so do me, do me now" talk. Really, I'd almost rather have seen Ava...that is, until I saw Ava Jr and wished I'd watched it On Demand like I usually do so I could FF through anything having anything to do with Killian. Really, I could do without both the brothers apparently.

 

PS: this show is really long when I watch it in real time. It seems much shorter On Demand. lol

[Rahul]

I'm going to speculate that Grandpa Beauchamp is sick and needs the souls or powers of the rest of the family in order to regain his strength and continue his rule.  If he weren't ill, he wouldn't have needed to enter this world the way he did right?

 

I'm guessing he has some kind of ulterior motive as well, but I don't know that its to improve physical ailment. I was fully expecting him to be missing an arm or a hand at the very least, but apparently the king can regenerate limbs. Is that something all witches can do or is gramps just more reptilian than the rest

 

 I mean, why this incarnation of the girls? After about the third time of watching them die before 30 and realizing this was how it was going to be from now on, I'd have offed myself after they died and ended the stupid cycle of making my daughters die young every freaking time! But she seriously seemed to think she could just slit her wrists and be done with it, so why wait? Stupid, stupid show.

 

I want an explanation for why Joanna didn't try killing herself sooner. Maybe she did? Who knows with this show. I'm not a twitter user but I do have an account in order to ask the obscure artist a question or too. Perhaps I should tweet Maggie Friedman and ask. While I'm at it, I'd also like to know why reviving Freya and Ingrid was so simple for gramps. A simple incantation seemed to do the trick. They better have some serious side effects like necrotic organs or I'll be royally pissed. And how odd was it for Joanna to keep the likely rotting corpses of her daughters in her living room?? Or did she do some embalming and preservation of screen? Ugh, this show!

 

Speaking of Eva 2.0, I literally groaned aloud when she walked through the door. How many more weeks must we endure wooden Bianca Lawson and her over enunciation of the "S"? I thought we were Killian was finally free. 

[jelaine]

 

And how odd was it for Joanna to keep the likely rotting corpses of her daughters in her living room?? Or did she do some embalming and preservation of screen? Ugh, this show!

 

Visitations and wakes were often held in the home until the 20th century and depending the culture may still be done.  It had only been a day and there were lots of candles.

[txhorns79]

Visitations and wakes were often held in the home until the 20th century and depending the culture may still be done.  It had only been a day and there were lots of candles.

 

Yeah, I don't think she was planning on keeping their bodies (they've done a flashback showing her at the gravesite of previous a Ingrid/Freya), she was just doing some kind of private wake.  Though it would make the show more interesting if they showed Joanna keeping a basement full of dead Ingrid/Freyas.  

Edited September 23, 2014 by txhorns79

[Bill C.]

There's a thought that never occurred to me...are there indeed a few generations' worth of dead Ingrids and dead Freyas buried around East End?  If so, yikes.

 

And after watching that deleted scene...gyah.  They had to introduce Raven Moreau, and her...interacting with Dash before we found out she was looking into whatshisface's corpse washing ashore was kindasorta requisite for this show, so I'm not necessarily going to gig it on that.  But I really wish they had found a way to keep this scene in there--not even so much for establishing that Joanna and Wendy have a sister that apparently rules Hell (though how that works if they're all from Bizarro Asgard is lost on me, but hey magic!), but simply for extending Joanna's anguish over the whole ordeal.

 

This episode really pissed me off because it revealed the resurrection of the girls to be a copout. I want nothing more than to sit back and enjoy the ride but these writers are making nearly impossible. Grandpa Unicron (don't get the reference--can someone explain?) and his blinding forehead growth stated he could bring his granddaughters from the dead without consequence. Either he's lying, or he really does play by a different set of rules (which isn't fair).

 

To be fair, there was almost zero chance their resurrection wouldn't be a copout; killing Ingrid and Freya off four episodes before the end of the season was awesome for shock value, but the end result was just as awesomely obvious.  It was all about how they got there, and thus its entire purpose was to get Grandpa Unicron out into the world.

 

And this is where I show my age: Unicron, or at least the version that got me calling the King (supposedly his name is actually Nikolaus, but the show's yet to use it) that, was a nearly-omnipotent Transformer from back in the day.  He also happened to be able to control other beings from afar, and at one point even had his spirit stuck in somebody's body while trying to get a new one for himself.

[GaT]

I just watched the deleted scene and in the books 

Joanna does have a sister, but it's not Wendy, and she does live in hell or something like that. I can't remember exactly, & I don't have the books anymore to check. I also can't remember her name, but I do remember that we don't hear about her until the third book. Wendy is a complete invention for the show.

[blugirlami21]

I think Joanna just had a really trying time lately.  She lost her husband Victor, she found out her son was betraying her again and she lost her daughters kind of one after the other.  I think it's also worth noting that this is the longest that Freya and Ingrid have ever lived.  She has had more time to become attached to this particular set of daughters, so it makes sense that the loss was harder for her to bear.

 

I think in the past she took comfort in the fact that she would get the girls back almost immediately but going through childbirth and the death of your children over and over is a really cruel thing to wish upon someone.  Which I why I don't understand Ingrid's or Frederick's stance on Grandpa.

 

It makes sense that she misses each reincarnation differently.  Different choices and circumstances will make you a different version of yourself each time.  So it tracks that she would miss librarian Ingrid and bar tender Freya more than she would cult Ingrid or drug dealer Freya.

[Rahul]

Yeah, I don't think she was planning on keeping their bodies (they've done a flashback showing her at the gravesite of previous a Ingrid/Freya), she was just doing some kind of private wake.

 

Which is fine and all, had it not been an obvious set up to resurrect the girls all of 20 minutes later (in episode time).

 

To be fair, there was almost zero chance their resurrection wouldn't be a copout; killing Ingrid and Freya off four episodes before the end of the season was awesome for shock value, but the end result was just as awesomely obvious.  It was all about how they got there, and thus its entire purpose was to get Grandpa Unicron out into the world.

 

I'd respect the people behind this show so much more if they had the courage not to take the path of least resistance. It was hard to feel anything but complete ambivalence despite Joanna's desolation knowing Ingrid and Freya would be back (and ostensibly without any repercussions) by the end of the episode. It undermines any real threat of mortal danger since apparently all it takes to resurrect someone from the dead is the right person to mutter a few magic words.

[Rahul]

Visitations and wakes were often held in the home until the 20th century and depending the culture may still be done.  It had only been a day and there were lots of candles.

 

Good point about the cultural and temporal context, jelaine. Still you'd think that given the heat sensitive nature of her daughter's cadavers since they hadn't been embalmed, Joanna might opt for lighting options that didn't considerably raise the temperature of the room.

[Mu Shu]

I have to say the overhead shot of Joanna bleeding in the bath tub was a very nice shot.   I would have had more contrast in the lighting and saturated the colors a bit more, but it was nice.    There are nice sets and some decent camera work every now and again.

 

I hope Dash gets caught and sent to a supermax prison,  and Ingrid goes to see him, off camera, please.  The less those two are onscreen, the better.

 

I wish the show would find a way to add Sherilyn Fenn to the cast.

[Mabinogia]

I wish the show would find a way to add Sherilyn Fenn to the cast.

 

That deleted scene presented the perfect way to bring Sherilyn Fenn into the show. And it would be awesome!

 

That bathtub scene was beautifully shot, but I was so unmoved (I don't care about Joanna and knew that, being immortal (and a major star of the show) she wasn't anywhere close to dying) that I overanalyzed the shot and thought that the flow of blood was pretty unfortunate (all I could think was she clearly wasn't pregnant yet).

[txhorns79]

As opposed to Dash who just lost Ingrid? And who slept with another woman recently? Yeah, double standards eh?

 

I think you can hold fictional characters to whatever standard you want. 

 

 

That bathtub scene was beautifully shot, but I was so unmoved (I don't care about Joanna and knew that, being immortal (and a major star of the show)

 

I'm curious about Joanna's immortality.  Last season they suggested that Joanna could be killed if perhaps the other person was powerful enough. (Or at least that was what I thought was the purpose of Penelope stealing Freya's power, along with her kids' power.)  So maybe while another person couldn't kill Joanna, she would be powerful enough to cause her own death?  I mean, Wendy was reacting to Joanna as though she really expected Joanna could die.   

[NutMeg]

Aha, so King Unicorn (I know it's not the right spelling, but I can't help to read it such, and he gives off such warm vibes of rainbows and unicorns...) was Savonarola in one of his previous trips to Earth!  Makes sense :-)

 

When I grow up, I want a sister like Wendy.

 

Killian worked better in the first season, smirk is a better look on him than angst (his version of angst looks like bad tummy ache to me).

 

I hope it's more interesting than that, but I have a feeling that Ingrid stayed because of Dash. Wouldn't make any sense but I fear that's the reason the writers are going for.

 

Wasn't FBI lady initially looking interested in Frederick? To the point that I thought she was his paramour, waiting for some new great sex game ("you won't feel a thing" still has me cracking up) when he finally got to her after his weird preliminaries around the bar area.   

[Rahul]

The bathtub scene was viscerally FULL ON. Props to the actor. And director.

 

It was haunting--until I realized the "blood" was emenating from the base of the tub and not gushing from Joanna's wrists. That took me out of the episode.

 

Aha, so King Unicorn (I know it's not the right spelling, but I can't help to read it such, and he gives off such warm vibes of rainbows and unicorns...) was Savonarola in one of his previous trips to Earth!

 

I think I may start calling gramps King Unicorn myself since that growth on his forehead is so large it might as well be a horn stup and I don't have first-hand familiarity with the Transformer Unicron (thank you for the explaination though, Bill C)!

[Bill C.]

I think you can hold fictional characters to whatever standard you want. 

 

I'm curious about Joanna's immortality.  Last season they suggested that Joanna could be killed if perhaps the other person was powerful enough. (Or at least that was what I thought was the purpose of Penelope stealing Freya's power, along with her kids' power.)  So maybe while another person couldn't kill Joanna, she would be powerful enough to cause her own death?  I mean, Wendy was reacting to Joanna as though she really expected Joanna could die.   

 

This came up in the Beauchamp Grimoire subthread...Joanna isn't immortal in the classic sense, no.  She has an extremely long lifespan, possibly complicated by the curse, but she's not full-on immortal like Jonathan the lawyer back in S1 (she actually referred to him as immortal, which so far is the only time the word has ever been used on the show) and, possibly, Tarkoff.  She was poisoned by Penelope back in the first-season finale, after all, though I do wonder if that was the show playing a little fast and loose with its own rules.