At Stake Magazine

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Beauty and the Beast 4.13 - Au Revoir

One last time: Beauty and the Beast 4.13 - Au Revoir #BatB @AustinBasis @NineLisandrello #Beasties

by Mieke Trudeau “They were heroes, that’s all there is to it.” This was probably the hardest review of Beauty and the Beast I have written to date.  How to put a period at the end of something that has been such a large part of my time here at At Stake? I’ve talked before about how I found this show and its delightful fandom and saying goodbye to both won’t be easy. I will start by saying that I…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.11/12 - Meet the New Beast/No Way Out

My thoughts on Beauty and the Beast 4.11/12 Meet the New Beast/No Way Out #BatB #Beasties

by Mieke Trudeau “It’s about more than law and order, It’s about right and wrong” After the game changing Means to an End and a short show and personal hiatus, I rewatched Meet the New Beast and No Way Out back to back and was really struck by how well these two episodes dove tail into one another and how perfectly they tee up the series finale, scheduled to air Thursday September 15. I was most…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.10 - Means to an End

Some musings on Beauty and the Beast 4.10 - Means to an End #BatB @AustinBasis @CWBATB #Beasties

by Mieke Trudeau “We’ve got to figure out what we are willing to do, how far we are willing to go, ’cause maybe that’s the test”  I must admit that I had been getting increasingly uncomfortable with the choices our heroes were making as the season progressed. I am all for Catherine and Vincent being wiling to burn down the world to save each other, but it seems that they were slowly losing…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.09 - The Getaway

My review of Beauty and the Beast 4.09 - The Getaway #BatB @NinaLisandrello @AustinBasis #Beasties

by Mieke Trudeau “Normal’s lost, Vincent” “No one ever said love was easy” Oh boy, that slippery slope our friends were on? Well, they’ve pretty much reached the bottom of that slide and have landed, hard. I get the feeling that some fans are a bit irritated with Tess (Nina Lisandrello) and her sudden reluctance to stick with the team. And I do understand the feeling. It seems sudden and out of…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.08 - Love is a Battlefield

My thoughts on Beauty and the Beast 4.08 - Love is a Battlefield @AustinBasis #BatB # Beasties @NineLisandrello

by Mieke Trudeau “I don’t do so well without you” The quote I chose for this week sums up Beauty and the Beast pretty well. Predictably our team, and especially Vincent and Cat, always do worse  when they don’t stick together. It’s been an overarching theme for the life of the show, but somehow our heroes never seem to learn it. This time, their separation is even essential to their success and…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.07 - Point of No Return

Some thoughts on Beauty and the Beast 4.07 - Point of no Return #BatB #Beasties @AustinBasis @CWBATB

by Mieke Trudeau “When does this ever end?” It has been THE question, when and how does it all end. For four seasons, Vincent has been in some form of hiding. Whether it was in an actual underground dungeon, or in plain view, working as a doctor in the ER; Vincent has been under constant threat of being found out. Whether there are people actively chasing him, to either kill or capture him for…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.06 - Beast of Times, Worst of Times

My review of Beauty and the Beast 4.06 - Beast of Times, Worst of Times #BatB #Beasties

by Mieke Trudeau “Catherine, if you can hear me, I need you.” So far this season, Beauty and the Beast has examined its past, looked ahead at possible futures and thrown us a few “what ifs”. In Beast of Times, Worst of Times, the show goes back to the core of the story, the bare bones beginning of it all; the undeniable fact that Vincent is a beast. So far love has saved the man, but will it…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.05 - It's a Wonderful Beast

My thoughts on Beauty and the Beast 4.05 - It's a Wonderful Beast @JayRyan @AustinBasis #BatB #Beasties

by Mieke Trudeau “Whatever is going on, all I know is that it begins with Catherine, and it sure as hell is gonna end with Catherine” When I wrote about last week’s episode, I mentioned that a lot of things about Cat and Vincent’s future are quite uncertain at the moment. Something’s Gotta Give gave us a glimpse into a possible future and this week, It’s a Wonderful Beast gave us a look into how…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.04 - Something's Gotta Give

Thoughts on Beauty and the Beast 4.04 - Something's Gotta Give #BatB #Beasties @AustinBasis @CWBatB

by Mieke Trudeau “Something’s gotta give. But not us. That’s all that matters.” So far, Beauty and the Beast has been pretty good at pointing us to the endgame of the series, but none quite as much as Something’s Gotta Give. This episode reminded me that often, if done well, a series’ finale simply closes the window to the world created. In our minds, the characters’ lives go on, the universe in…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.03 - Down for the Count

My review of Beauty and the Beast 4.03 - Down for the Count @NinaLisandrello @AustinBasis #BatB

by Mieke Trudeau “But I love you” This week’s episode was really more of a character study. Beauty and the Beast is usually very plot driven and sometimes it takes a long time to see the characters develop and learn; but not this time. On the last leg of the road to the end of the series, we are seeing some pretty big changes for our friends, and some insight into them in the process. The case of…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.02 - Beast Interrupted

My thoughts on Beauty and the Beast 4.02 - Beast Interrupted #BatB #Beasties @AustinBasis

by Mieke Trudeau “Lesson learned. We do this together.” Often, Beauty and the Beast examines the concept of true nature. For a long time the story was about the struggle between Vincent the beast and Vincent the man, with Cat serving as the catalyst to merge the two. Vincent can now (mostly) beast in and out at will, but that was not always the case, and if the truth about him were to come out…

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Beauty and the Beast 4.01 - Madame et Monsieur Bete

My thoughts on Beauty and the Beast 4.01- Madame et Monsieur Bete @AustinBasis @CWBATB #BatB #Beasties

by Mieke Trudeau “How do we get back to our normal lives if we’re constantly playing whack-a-beast?” – Tess I got a bit nostalgic, as I stood in a long line waiting to get into a panel at my local comic con (DC’s AwesomeCon) this past weekend. As I waited patiently to see John Barrowman with a few thousand of my fellow pop culture enthusiasts, I couldn’t help but think back a few years to the New…

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Homeowner Movie: Buyer Beware

Our interview with @ryan_curtis, director of @homeownermovie @STORYHIVE

By Stacey Gillard Mary is living the dream: a new job, a new dream home, a new start.  Everything is dropping into place and she couldn’t be happier. But sometimes dreams take a turn and Mary is soon to learn that her perfect house has an uninvited guest. Based on a story by Natalie Kruijen, who also developed the screenplay with director Ryan Curtis, Homeowner is gripping from start to finish.…

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Fall TV: Hits And Misses

Fall TV: Hits And Misses #FallSchedule #TVReviews @LimitlessCBS @TheGrinderFOX @supergirlcbs @NBCBlindSpot

By Stacey Gillard Well here we are again, thrown into the desolate waste-land that is the mid-season hiatus. In my Fall Preview I noted 4 new shows that were on my watch-list. Now that we’ve had a few months to get to know what each of these have to offer I have some thoughts on where we are at. Here are my reviews and grades, some kinder than others. MINORITY REPORT I couldn’t make it through…

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Supernatural 11.07/08 – Plush/Just My Imagination

Our thoughts on #Supernatural 11.07/08 - Plush/Just My Imagination @OfficialBrianaB @BrenTayOfficial @Dicksp8jr @jennydelherpes

by Mieke Trudeau  “One thing I’ve learned; heroes aren’t perfect”  After the myth-arc heavy Our Little World (11.06), expertly reviewed by Stacey Gillard, next up were two MOTW episodes in a row, both great examples of how well Supernatural still does TV like this after so many seasons. Few other shows can mix horror, humor and pathos quite as well as Supernatural can. Plush (11.07), written by…

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Supernatural 11.06 - Our Little World

Our thoughts on #Supernatural 11.06 - #OurLittleWorld @cw_spn @WinchesterBros @SuperWiki

By Stacey Gillard “Reality is the great literature of our era.” After a couple of episodes that had the fandom excited about the way season 11 has gone back to the good old days of early seasons I was excited to see what the latest installment from veteran writer Robert Berens brought us. If I’m completely honest, I was left feeling a little flat. The mythology of this intriguing season moved…

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Supernatural 11.05 – Thin Lizzie

My thoughts on #Supernatural 11.05 #ThinLizzie @CW_SPN @JaredGertner @tact94 -mt

by Mieke Trudeau “The Darkness is coming, it’s so peaceful.” I will start by saying right off the bat that I loved this episode from start to finish. Color me pleasantly surprised that it was an episode by a writer brand-new to Supernatural that delivered a story so firmly rooted in show and character history and without a hint of fanservice. Nancy Won clearly did her homework and wrote a richly…

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