Sunday Snippet: Seeing Red

So, we finally have snow in Ohio. Not a lot but enough to remind people it's actually winter. This isn't a bad thing. I'm hoping that means we won't have blizzards in April or May. Just saying.

After a very slow January workwise, February is going like gangbusters. I'd rather be busy than not so no complaints here. I did have a slow week of television though.

I started with an episode of Murdoch Mysteries and enjoyed it. Fun to see a familiar face with Ruth's brother showing up. Should be interesting to see what happens with Henry now that Ruth has access to loads of money again. Also interesting happenings with William and Julia's neighbors. I'm still not quite sure what to expect with them.

Caught the Frankie Drake Mysteries finale for season three. Always fun when a character returns to stir up trouble for Frankie and the girls. I'm hoping season four continues to have a big focus on the friendships.

Arrow's second episode ended up being better than I anticipated. Interested to see what happens with Lyla. I truly love the mix of present and future in these episodes.

Caught another episode of Midsomer Murders and quite enjoyed it. It's fun when the case doesn't quite go where I think it will.

Also watched another series one episode of Peak Practice. I gotta say Will's wife is quite the piece of work. I have no idea how long she lasts but I'm thinking it's not through the end of the series. That's not a bad thing.

I saved the best for last. I finally watched the season four premiere for Riverdale. I'd be lying if I said there was no ugly sobbing involved. Because there was. A lot of it. I honestly didn't expect less, I mean I'd been warned by at least three people to have a box of tissues. Needless to say, I did and used an undetermined amount of said box.

I can honestly say I can't imagine a better tribute to Fred Andrews. I loved how pretty much everyone put aside their grievances—Reggie and Cheryl in particular—and paid homage to a stalwart member of the community. Reggie's gesture with providing a hearse moved him up a notch on my like-the-guy meter. And Cheryl's conversation with Mary and her about face regarding the parade had a nice symmetry. I have no clue what the hell her deal is with CorpseJason but I don't need to know for this episode to work so well. Relenting on having a parade to celebrate Fred's life and put the focus on someone not a Blossom is big badass energy and I'm here for it.

FP taking on a role of filling big shoes also worked well for me. Figuring out where Archie was and what he planned to do when he found out who ended up being responsible for Fred's death and his subsequent response of calling in Archie's friends showed a good bit of foresight for the former Serpent leader. I also loved the way he handled asking Archie if he'd mind an escort home. I knew what was coming. I figured out what Cheryl wanted to do. And, man, I literally grabbed the box of tissues and pretty much sobbed through the whole thing. Throw in Jughead's obituary and the reaction shots of people reading—the focus being on the grown-ups, friends and enemies—and, yep, the tears flowed again.

Shannen Doherty's guest appearance was a nice touch. For those of us who are a certain age, the poignancy of having her involved in memorializing Fred and, in turn, Luke Perry packs a punch and creates a nice thread that goes from beginning to end.

The other part I found poignant is Betty at the cemetery by her dad's grave. Season three ended with Hal being murdered by Penelope and it's easy to forget that happened and have it eclipsed by Fred's demise. The trashing of his plot, while sad for Betty, serves as a solid visual reminder of where things left off.

Finally… the last scene of Archie in the garage sifting through memories of his dad, the only scenes that actually showed Fred in action, was extremely well done. Kudos to KJ, the writing team, and the film crew for what, I'm sure, had to be a difficult time.

All in all, a terrific sendoff for Fred and Luke. Next week, I'll dive back into the normal batshit crazy world of Riverdale and enjoy the hell out of it.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Seeing Red, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Vesta Crock can't stand tension and a major meta-human uprising puts everyone on edge. Jones Blaylock becomes her target for a series of supposedly fun pranks, but when a fellow member of their team gets injured, Jones sees red and that's not a good thing for the firestarter.

And a preview snippet…

Jones didn't blame Vesta for being antsy. She'd asked everything he wanted answers to also. Tyrian had something of a god complex when he got to lead briefings. Sometimes pushing through made him a good leader… other times, it made him an ass.

Being an ass ruled the day today.

Tyrian stepped back from the podium. "That's it. Any questions?" He purposefully didn't look toward Jones's team.

Jones stood up. "What's the estimated timeframe for this confinement?" The caution because someone had taken out the communications array might be important, but keeping people with super human power in lockdown begged for trouble. "What's the thinking on the watch situation? Regular schedule or intermittent change-ups?" He shot a quick glance toward Vesta, hoping she understood he actually did have her back and to give her unvoiced credit for asking smart questions.

She lifted her chin in a quick acknowledgment.

Jones finished up. "And do you have an official date for the completion of the array?" Which should give a clue as to when the lockdown would end.

Tyrian's lips thinned. "I haven't been received any timeframe about the comm array yet. We'll handle the watch schedules by mixing those with the team training and downtime. Team leaders will meet after the briefing to get something put together." He shot a look at Vesta then back to Jones. "Any other questions from the gallery?"

Jones sat down and gave Vesta a warning look. She tucked her cards back inside her vest pocket. He pinned Tyrian with a hard gaze but said nothing.

Tyrian smirked. "In that case, we're dismissed." He swept out of the room via the back entrance.

Vesta snorted. "Asshole." She got up and stalked toward the opposite exit but paused and turned to face Jones. "Thanks… for what you did. The entire room wanted answers, which we didn't get, but at least the questions got asked." She angled back around.

He sometimes forgot about her latent ability to read people. Part of her talent of pushing suggestions on others involved being able to burrow inside one individual but it also let her absorb the general feeling and mood of everyone around her. No wonder frustration got the better of her during the briefing.

Jones called out. "They were smart questions, but you already know that." Her keen intelligence often got her in trouble.

No… zero patience got her into numerous scrapes. The smarts made her mistakes more spectacular.

Vesta paused and shot a glance over her shoulder. "I do. And so does Tyrian. He wants to appear a lot more knowledgeable than he is and that's why it pisses him off when anyone pushes back. I don't give a hang if he gets pissy with me." Because she could take his snippy snipes where others sometimes couldn't.

Jones completely understood why Vesta pushed the big red button that screamed do not touch. But he walked a fine line. Not crushing her spirit worked to his advantage but he constantly had to weigh how much to let her get away with when it affected the other team members too.

Vesta shrugged. "I'm sorry he's going to be a dick when you're figuring out the watch schedule." She started for the door again.

Jones didn't want to let her brood alone. "Hey, let's get the team together in an hour and we'll strategize game plans to work on during the lockdown." He'd send a notification to the others.

Vesta groaned and rolled her eyes.

Jones quirked a brow. "Do you have something better to do?" She couldn't exactly go anywhere.

Vesta replied with her usual razor wit. "Not really, but smokin' hot sex sounds like way more fun." Her lips twisted in a wry smirk.

Jones usually didn't encourage the innuendo but today he shot back. "Hmm. Can't accommodate you today. We'll see what tomorrow looks like."

Her mouth dropped open and Jones had the singular pleasure of getting the last word in with her.

I like where this one is going. Vesta doesn't do well with confinement and I like the challenge of writing how she deals with her dilemma.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye