Character Appreciation Post: Amantha Holden (“Rectify”) [Guest Poster: Nora]

In this era of “Prestige TV,” it’s understandable why a little show like Rectify falls under the radar; there are no big name stars, no award show glory, and certainly no dragons. It’s about a man, Daniel Holden, who has been released from death row after nineteen years on a DNA technicality. Rectify shows his relationship with his family and the town where the murder and rape of Daniel’s girlfriend, Hannah, took place.

Rectify is one of those shows you watch once and then find yourself thinking about days later. It stays with you because everything about it is quiet and beautiful, but there is genuine emotion and most importantly, fleshed out characters. No one is an afterthought. There are no superheroes, and even the antagonists on the show are very real — someone you could run into on the street. All of the characters on Rectify are terrific for different reasons, but Amantha Holden is really the heart and soul of the show.

Amantha, Daniel’s sister, is played brilliantly by Abigail Spencer. She is a no-nonsense woman with a penchant for wearing cowboy boots with everything and forever smoking cigarettes on her mother’s front lawn. She has a dry sense of humor and will call out anyone and everyone on their BS. Amantha has a strong sense of what is right and gets angry and vocal when justice is not served. She is also Daniel’s main advocate.

Daniel goes to jail when Amantha is just twelve and she has spent years trying to free him. She will do anything for her brother, but in a way, she barely knows him. Daniel is imprisoned when he is nineteen and only just beginning to find his identity. Amantha fights tirelessly for him, but the brother she remembers from her childhood is gone.

That is why it hurts Amantha so much when Daniel doesn’t want a second trial. He is released from prison, but not exonerated. He would rather state that he is guilty and be banished from Georgia rather than risk going back to prison. It’s especially difficult for Amantha because she has spent years saying that Daniel is innocent, just to have him say that he isn’t. Daniel is finally back in her life but now leaving her again. He won’t fight for himself the way she fights for him. It’s as if everything Amantha has done in her adult life is for naught.

Just as Daniel is a fish-out-of-water and trying to adjust to life outside prison, Amantha is really in the same boat. The life she knew is now gone. Daniel is out of prison — so what now? As much as Rectify is about Daniel’s journey, it’s also about Amantha’s. Who is she if she’s not the woman trying to get her brother off death row?

Things between Amantha and Daniel get awkward when he comes home. She tries to make sure that he has everything he needs but Daniel is so unaccustomed to having someone fret over him, that he doesn’t know how to react. Amantha acts more motherly towards Daniel than their own mother. You can see it on Amantha’s face, how happy she is to have Daniel back in her life, but how devastated she is when he doesn’t respond the way she thinks he will. Their conversations don’t flow easily and Amantha seems to tip-toe around him. She didn’t know how much prison impacted Daniel and changed him in ways she couldn’t imagine.

The moments when Daniel and Amantha slip back into the kids they used to be — just a little sister looking up to her big brother — are wonderful. I can see why Amantha has fought so hard for her brother. There is love, honesty, and an understanding between them that no one else shares. Daniel and Amantha have not yet spoken in season four and it’s destroying me. They had better reach a truce by the time Rectify ends.

Amantha’s whole life has revolved around Daniel, and that includes her love life. Her only real relationship is with Jon Stern, Daniel’s lawyer. Jon is a good guy and like Amantha, he fights for Daniel. But their romance is a little tricky. Is he fighting so hard for Daniel because he believes in him? Or is he fighting for him because Amantha believes in Daniel? In season three, Amantha breaks up with Jon and hooks up with a stranger at a hotel bar. As much as I root for Amantha and Jon, I can really understand why Amantha just wants to be with someone who doesn’t know her history.

In season four, we’re introduced to Billy, a guy Amantha knows (and dated?) from high school. If Amantha decides to date Billy, I’d be in support of it even though it seems like she is settling a little. Amantha hates her hometown and most of the people in it. However, Billy doesn’t seem to be as small-minded as some of the other people in Paulie and plus, he knows her baggage. He won’t dwell on it. Dating Billy could be freeing because their relationship would not be based on their mutual interest (saving Daniel) nor would she be burdened with telling him her whole story of what she’s been up to for the past nineteen years.

Amantha temporarily moves back to Paulie, Georgia — the town she grew up in — when Daniel is released. At first, she is there to help Daniel settle in but then contemplates moving back to Atlanta. To give her more motivation to stay in Paulie, Amantha gets a job as a cashier at Thrifty Town, a local shop. Amantha’s choice to work in Paulie says a lot about her character.

Amantha is intelligent and she could go back to school and become very successful in a high-powered job. So it’s sad that she chooses to take a job where she won’t be challenged. Staying and working in Paulie also shows that Amantha is not ready to move on from her past. Paulie is the safe choice. Working at the store also provides some comedic relief because Amantha is definitely not a people person. Her words can be acidic and her vibe surly. It’s quite fun to watch her interact with customers and her colleagues. Amantha could have chosen to leave the store but instead, she chooses to go down the Thrifty Town management path. Maybe she’s still holding onto the past, but maybe she’s just trying to figure out what she wants next.

In addition, her relationships with the other characters in the show are always a pleasure to watch. Her relationship with her mother, Janet, is strained. Perhaps Amantha is angry with her because she feels like Janet didn’t do enough for Daniel and actually moved on with her life. While Daniel is in prison, Janet remarries, becomes close enough to her step-son to have him call her “mom,” and has another child. Amantha teeters between apathy and tenderness when it comes to Janet. Sure, Amantha is always going to roll her eyes at the things Janet says and does, but she also knows that Janet is going through the same thing in regards to Daniel. This bonds them. Well, that and wine.

The relationship between Amantha and Teddy, her step-brother, is more acrimonious but dynamic. At times, they have playful banter as any siblings would, but then Teddy will say something Amantha doesn’t like and the quips become nasty. He knows which buttons to press to make her angry. Amantha has actually spent more of her life with Teddy than Daniel, but she treats him as an outsider. Teddy likes to act like the prized son, but Amantha is always willing to knock him down a peg. Because they do know each other so well, there is a familiarity between them that Amantha does not share with Daniel.

I don’t know what’s in store for Amantha for the remaining episodes of Rectify but I hope she finds happiness or at least a path towards it. I want to know that Amantha is going to be okay even after I stop watching. A character as great as hers deserves that.

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A Lovely Mess of Contradictions: A Carmilla Karnstein Appreciation Post [Contributor: Melanie]

Vampires are a huge trend in media and pop culture in recent years. And, unfortunately, this is not very often a compliment.

Back in the mid-90s, Buffy the Vampire Slayer helped to reignite a lot of the interest in vampires by painting them with their own in-world mythology, and creating sympathetic, human-envying creatures of the night. Fast-forward to 2007, and Twilight’s off-brand version of angsty teenaged vampires begin to dominate the field, quickly followed by The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. Needless to say, vampires were everywhere. Fast-forward again to August 2014 when another addition to the canon of vampire media enters the field, this time with a very different take on what it means to hold the mantle of the undead.

Carmilla, by literature's standards, is the mother of all vampires (well most of them). While John William Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819) was the first work to fuse vampire plot elements with literary writing, Carmilla (1872) was the first vampire novel (technically a novella) to truly set the bar for many vampire motifs — things that would eventually be attributed to the copycat novel Dracula published over 20 years later. So what does this mean? Carmilla, traditionally, stands out among her vampire brethren in fiction as one of the few females of the species and became a feminist and lesbian icon in the late 20th century, enjoying a few adaptations of her story here and there. But the 2014 webseries adaptation (and something of a sequel) to the novella portrays a lens on a vampire who is worth of some attention.

Carmilla is a lazy, bump-on-a-log, peanut gallery-ing, philosophy digesting, snarky, quiet observer who sits in the corner for many of her scenes throughout the two seasons of the webseries, Carmilla. She’s not some ethereal, dark temptress gliding through the night. She’s apathetic, sarcastic, and usually has one hand occupied by a cup of blood and the other by a book. She sleeps until 5 PM, doesn’t clean up after herself, casually commits theft when takeout and unattended wallets are concerned. And while it’s all funny and great characterization with more than enough opportunity for physical comedy (nailed by actress Natasha Negovanlis), there’s an interesting flip side to these facets of her personality. Because Carmilla does get off her butt to protect Laura, she cares what Laura thinks of her, and stomachs a lot of annoyances on her behalf. And while it’s the exact type of thing Tumblr fans will squeal over for their ship, it also makes for some interesting character study.

The way in which Carmilla lives is very believable, because after over 300 years enduring the world withering away around you, why wouldn’t you become disaffected and disinterested by people and things? But then the series enters a tenacious 19-year-old journalism student who tells Carmilla “even you deserve better.” At face value, it’s kind of an adorable line, but on deeper analysis it reveals a lot about Carmilla’s view of her own self worth. And having a self-conscious, self-loathing main character is something a lot of young adults out there can relate to and don’t often get the opportunity to see portrayed media — especially when the main character is a woman.

This little exchange sets of a string of events involving Carmilla awkwardly admitting to liking Laura, Carmilla awkwardly volunteering to risk her life for Laura, and Carmilla, finally losing the awkward, making good on her promises and returning to win fair lady’s heart. Season one is a supernatural rom-com both as far as the tone is concerned and the way Laura and Carmilla’s story plays out.

Then season two comes to ruin everyone’s life. A lot of the more unfortunate parts of Carmilla’s character come out to play after she and Laura break up. And it’s awesome. Where else do you get to see: a woman deal poorly with a break-up that she initiated, look like a mess, act like a complete jerk from the audience's perspective, and make jokes out of using the communal tampons (thanks, U by Kotex)? The writers — much like with Laura this season — were not afraid to make Carmilla look awful (both internally and externally because that looked like quite the hangover).

And furthermore, they had her reject, time and time again, the idea of heroism for heroism’s sake. In doing so, they created an interesting dialogue about why we do the right things, who decides what the right things are, and if microcosmic efforts to protect just one person are enough to be considered a hero. And the icing on all of it? She goes on a rampage, she threatens Laura, she starts biting students at random and even, in some cases, mauling some down as her panther other half. She ain’t pretty or nice and loses a lot of sympathy in the middle of her heartbreak. But at the end of it all, she comes running when Laura calls for help, despite her betrayal. And the question is posed: is that enough?

What does it all add up to? Carmilla’s got a soft underbelly beneath some very ugly facets she presents to the world. She’s not torturing herself for a human soul or desperately wishing she was never made. She prides herself in her vampirism, watches vampire media, she makes jokes about her own “de-fanging” thanks to Laura’s influence. She waxes philosophic and looks at the stars and has almost no filter. She lets people get hurt and bargains others’ lives for her own gain. And at the end of the day, Carmilla puts herself through some serious physical and emotional suffering for the sake of a teenager she admits is “sacred” to her. It’s a lovely mess of contradictions that all make perfect sense and elevate what means to be a vampire. Because Smokebomb’s portrayal goes beyond a simple trope or genre and paints an extremely human character out of an extremely inhuman condition.

Also, leather pants.

You can watch the first two seasons of Carmilla on the VerveGirl TV YouTube Channel and Season 0 on the U by Kotex YouTube Channel!

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From Cinnamon Roll to Problematic Fav: A Laura Hollis Appreciation Post [Contributor: Melanie]

The second season of Carmilla has really been full of standout moments for Laura Hollis, and not necessarily in the most flattering way. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t good, amazing to watch scenes. And hey — she’s a growing girl and that ain’t always easy, especially when your first year at school is plagued with kidnappings, virgin sacrifices, and Lovecraftian monsters. That's not even including the amoral girlfriend, the confusing lines of loyalty, and a heck of a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing. So here’s some real talk: the saga of how Laura Hollis went from cinnamon roll to problematic "fav" and it how crazy entertaining it was to watch that character evolution.

Back in season one, Laura was an adorable, gay-as-the-day-is-long, cookie addict with a lot of chutzpah and uncontrolled flaying. In the second season, she still is all those things, just with a little more sadface. She’s an awesome break from the typical leads you would encounter in supernatural romance — you know, the ones who end up being some kind of Bella Swan reject pretending that they’re Buffy. Laura is a modern day everywoman: she’s a frantic college student, she reads fanfiction, she eats exorbitant amounts of junk food, her pop culture vocabulary stretches from Veronica Mars to Dragonball Z. She’s quite possibly the most realistic depiction of a young adult there’s been in modern media in quite a while.

And while Laura spent most of season one on a bit of linear track with no real flaws or non-environmental issues (Carmilla was doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it came to character development), this season has widened Laura’s range. That, in turn, has lead to some fun consequences (definitions of "fun" may vary). Laura’s made all the wrong decisions this year. This character act has been one entertaining trainwreck filled with emotional breakdowns, shouting matches, and tears. And while she’s gotten her fair share of hate on Twitter and Tumblr, all of Laura's decisions have served to give depth to her character. Because, as many fans pointed out multiple times, we don’t know a thing about Laura.

The season finale was probably the greatest showcase of what a complicated character Laura really is underneath all that sugar and webcam mugging. After an eleventh hour decision to save Carmilla leads to some shock, catatonia, and epic levels of guilt, Laura shuffles through her conflicting emotions. And while not much is solved, all of the plot builds a pretty intense portrait of what is contained within Laura’s head. She knows now, too, all of the ways in which she massively messed up. Yet, as Carmilla pointed out, it’ll be okay. One thing I think that we can all definitely appreciate is that the writers of Carmilla delivered some real, tangible consequences and some solid character growth in Laura. Actress Elise Bauman played this character with some amazing honesty, calling Laura’s arc this season “a gift” and noting in a Periscope interview:

“My favorite thing about Laura is that she’s got a lot going on underneath what she presents to people... I kept in mind all the time that Laura feels responsible. She feels like it was her fault and that she needs to make amends for everything that’s going wrong with the school and that, to me, justified everything that she was doing... and that’s where she goes astray a little bit.”

So if you loved Laura Hollis for her quirks and cringed at her choices, that’s okay. She’s a real, breathing character now with a lot of stuff to work out, not just in the department of failed relationships, but within herself. Like all good coming-of-age stories, she’s asking questions that may change how she fundamentally sees herself. But that is necessary. Ultimately, Laura’s relatable, because even in the most supernatural of situations, her choices are intensely human. Few things in life are more awesome than seeing a female lead being treated by the writers and actors as a character study and not just some eye candy. So I applaud you Laura Hollis (and her creators Jordan Hall and Ellen Simpson) for being real, gritty, and still entirely sympathetic.

Check out the first two seasons of Carmilla on the VerveGirl TV YouTube channel and Season 0 on the U By Kotex YouTube Channel! 

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Character Appreciation Post: Raven Reyes ("The 100") [Guest Poster: Isabella]

For me, Raven Reyes is the definition of a strong female character. And no, I don't mean Hulk-like, scary-thick-muscles-strong. I mean a female character that has had to face so much and despite all of it (which I will get to in a little bit) she emerges stronger emotionally.

I was scared with how the audience would perceive Raven when she was first introduced to the Ground. On the Ark in Season 1, she was simply a mechanic doing her work, helping Abby try to reach Clarke on the Ground. It wasn't until she touched the small origami necklace Finn had made her that a little trepidation seeped in. Ah, yes. The dreaded love triangle. Let me preface and say that not all love triangles are bad; I like my fair share of them if they're treated correctly. But because this is a CW show and The CW has failed me before as a young'un, I didn't know what to expect (curse you, Gossip Girl for ruining me emotionally). Love triangle aside, Raven herself ends up fixing a small dropship that she intends to get to the Ground in. (Don't even get me started on how intelligent she is; this is just the beginning.)

So when Raven came down and kissed Finn in front of Clarke, my heart froze. I was truly terrified that people were going to hate Raven because she was getting in the way of the Flarke ship (which, for the record, is incredibly messed up to hate the character that has no idea that her boyfriend was even cheating on her in the first place.) Luckily for me, there seemed to be a consensus among the audience to dislike FINN and to actually appreciate Raven as a character for the good she could do around camp, all the while hoping that she and Clarke would develop a friendship. (Granted, there are a few people that still hate Raven for getting in the way of their ship, which I will never understand.)

The Clarke/Raven relationship has been a slightly rocky, complicated one that's been growing and developing for a solid two seasons now. Although this show subverts that typical "rival relationship between two girls who are going after the same guy," trope, it sort of begins that way. 

And you know... I don't think that's a bad thing at all. In fact, wouldn't you be sort of pissed off that your boyfriend was sleeping around with someone else after only a few days of being without you? And what I like so much about Raven is that she automatically figures out that there's something amiss when Clarke begins to avoid her. Raven actively goes out of her way to try to make friends with Clarke just because she wants to be. So when Clarke seems to be off-put by the idea of a friendship, Raven makes it her mission to find out what's wrong. And find out she does.

When Raven confronts Clarke about sleeping with her boyfriend, that's when her vulnerabilities are on full display. Because despite being a character who brings the sass and fierceness when she needs to (like when Bellamy drops their only form of communication into the river), Raven is still emotional. And what I love most of all is that there is absolutely no shame in her in showing her emotions. She doesn't feel the need to put up a "mean" guard in front of Clarke when she's asking about Finn, but rather, she asks her straightforward, with tears in her eyes, if Clarke loves him. Now, this is what I mean about strong female characters. 

Jenn brought it up very beautifully in her character appreciation post on Felicity: "A strong woman simply means a layered and flawed woman." This is where we're finally starting to see the cracks in Raven's exterior. If The 100 had continued to show her as only the sassy intelligent girl who fixes things when they need fixing, there wouldn't be much substance to that. We need more.

And so, in a very understandable way, Raven tries her best to get Finn to love her back again, like he used to. This is where her stubbornness kicks in because all she's known her entire life has been to be #1 at practically anything. Raven said, "I used to be picked first for everything. Earth skills. Zero-G mech course. First... every time." So when she isn't picked first by Finn, she still tries her hardest to be picked by him. It's a very frustrating situation for her to not be able to succeed, but she perseveres. And even then, she knows when to give up and care for herself. Raven never once retaliates at Clarke because she understands that the situation they're in is not Clarke's fault. She knows that even after Clarke and Finn have separated and aren't a couple anymore, Clarke can't control what Finn feels for her. 

This is what threw me for a loop and made me so grateful for a show like The 100. You expect the girls to "catfight" it out over a man, because that's how the trope ordinarily resolves. But instead of that, a true friendship blossomed. Although Finn didn't pick Raven first, Clarke would.

#LadiesSupportingLadies

As for season 2, the appreciation and care Raven and Clarke have for each other is tested when Clarke has to make the difficult decision to kill Finn. Even though Finn did cheat on Raven, that in no way lessens her now-familial feelings for him. In a flashback depicting Raven as the true spacewalker, we get a glimpse into how Finn sacrificed himself so that Raven could enjoy some spacewalking. The flashback also depicted their lives before the Ground and how Finn truly is Raven's only family.

So when Clarke kills Finn even after telling Raven nothing would happen to him, it's a huge blow for Raven. Her reaction and her screams when she sees that Finn is dead actually made me --  definitely not a Finn enthusiast -- pity the fact that he was dead for the entirety of that scene. This broke Raven. We thought we'd seen her break down when she confronted Clarke about Finn in season one, but that was minuscule compared to this. 

I also really have to give credit to Lindsey Morgan, who I haven't even mentioned for her performance until now. Forgive me. Her acting was just absolutely incredible in this scene and just further emphasized how much she makes me love Raven. Through everything Raven is, she still feels so much for so many people. Her first solitary "No" scream completely cut through me. It gave me chills. It's still very haunting to listen to and think about.

Back to Raven's relationship with Clarke, though: due to her shock and sadness, she couldn't see that what Clarke did for Finn was better than him having to endure a slow and more painful death at the hands of the Grounders. She spends a few episodes quite angry over what Clarke's done, but eventually realizes that Clarke made it easier for Finn because she cared about him. One of the characteristics I love most about Raven is the fact that she has such a warm and caring heart for everyone, especially Clarke -- especially the girl that Finn chose over her. Her ability to not let that fact affect her feelings for Clarke is so telling. Raven understands that Clarke's doing her best as a person and a leader, just like everyone else is. I mean, Raven stayed up all night outside of the med tent as soon as she heard Clarke had made it back to Camp Jaha. If that isn't love and devotion and friendship, then I don't know what is.

Once again, #LadiesSupportingLadies

Now let's talk about how smart and inventive Raven is because... let's be real, without Raven, most of the people who survived probably would not have. Here is a list of the few things Raven helped out with:

• She gives Abby hope in going down to the Ground by telling her that the 100 aren't dying off, but they're taking their wristbands off.
• She re-built the little ship, out of spare scraps I might add, that she took to the Ground.
• She fixed the radio for Clarke to get in contact with Abby, thus saving Finn's life.
• She sent a message to the Ark using crazy rockets that essentially said that the Ark didn't have to kill people to preserve oxygen, but instead, could just send everyone else on the Ground to party with the remaining teenage delinquents.
• She blew up the bridge so that the Grounders wouldn't attack (while the rest of the 100 are throwing up blood).
• She got the dropship to open and saved Bellamy from Murphy, while getting injured herself.
• She's the one who devised the explosion in the season 1 finale that burned all the Grounders during the attack.
• She came up with the idea and helped create the floating balloon at the start of season two, so Clarke could use it as a way to get back to Camp Jaha.
• She once again used her radio communication skills to get in contact with Bellamy while he was inside of Mount Weather.
• She, with the help of Wick, was able to both turn off the acid fog and get the door open to Mount Weather even with her injury (which I'll also touch on in a little bit).

I mean, can you imagine if Raven hadn't made it down to the Ground? So many more people would be dead if it weren't for her. There's also this gem of a quote:

She makes my heart go boom.

Apart from kicking ass and making explosions go off, Raven has a new issue she has to deal with in season 2: a disability. Following the gunshot wound Murphy inflicted as she was trying to help Bellamy escape, Raven found out that the bullet was lodged in her spine and the only way to get it out was through surgery... without the use of anesthesia. Raven doesn't even hesitate when she gives the "okay" that they can proceed with the surgery. Even after the doctors and Abby tell her that she'll be in a lot of pain, she continues to agree. She wants to have the surgery, no matter what. When it comes time to actually perform the surgery, with Finn there at her side, Raven lets her insecurities show. Once again, this show is unapologetic when it comes to feelings. The writers are realistic about them (who wouldn't cry before facing this kind of surgery?). They even encourage feelings (i.e. the entire Lexa and Clarke storyline about how "love is weakness" is false and it's okay to display emotion because it makes you human). Once again, Lindsey does such a phenomenal job as Raven that as soon as she started to cry, I did too.

Despite the pain, Raven gets through the surgery. Granted, she's terrified and she lets Finn know this, but she's resilient. She's brave. Because if she can get through it, then she can get through anything.

Now what Raven has to deal with in the aftermath of the surgery is her disability (one of her legs is completely paralyzed). She can slowly but surely walk by using a brace, but she's still understandably frustrated. Raven is angry that her body's betrayed her, even after the surgery which was meant to heal her. I feel like I can't speak on behalf of someone with a disability because I don't have one, but I did go to the San Diego Comic-Con 2015 panel in which a fan with a disability went up to the microphone and thanked Lindsey Morgan for doing such a great job at portraying someone who is crippled. I knew that Lindsey had done her fair share of research for this particular part of the role because she wanted to get it right; and in my opinion, she did. I'm particularly happy that the show was able to display both the progression of her anger regarding her body, and the commitment she has to not giving up, as shown in these two GIFs:

 

Although Raven Reyes continues to experience pain and brokenness, she remains resilient. She nearly gives up on herself until Wick tries to get her to believe again. She has hope. Despite everything, she still has hope. That's what's so beautiful about Raven. She takes something that she thought would be a huge hindrance to her life, something that could halt it entirely, and turns it into something that she just has to learn with. She doesn't let it consume her. She doesn't let it define who she is. She grows from her pain. When Finn is in a difficult position later in the series, she tells him, "We all have battle scars, Finn. Suck it up and build a brace for yours," which is exactly what she did and will continue to do.

Sometimes I look at Raven and think, "I have never loved a character more." She's just so incredible to me. When I mentioned strong female characters earlier, I think there are some people with the perception that opposing characteristics don't belong in one character. For example, the idea that a strong character can't be a vulnerable one. I completely disagree. It's through her emotions and intellect that Raven displays her true strength. What she does -- executing all those explosions and fixing all those radios -- isn't simply done because she can, but because she wants to: she wants to help her friends. She acts out of love for her them. Whether it's retrieving Jasper's goggles from the dropship or understanding Clarke can only do so much as their leader, Raven shows she cares. 

Raven Reyes is so many things. She is intelligent, emotional, strong, vulnerable, compassionate, and stubborn, all packaged in a girl who just wants to help.

... And, okay, maybe make things go "boom" every once in a while.

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Character Appreciation Post: Vanessa Ives ("Penny Dreadful") [Contributor: Rae Nudson]

Vanessa Ives has superpowers. She can’t fly (yet) or read minds (that I know of), but the super-beautiful and super-witchy protagonist on Victorian thriller Penny Dreadful can master spells and fight evil better than any of the other members in her Scooby gang. What makes her so powerful, though, isn’t her incantations; it’s her compassion.

Vanessa and her companions have spent the last two seasons fighting evil in various forms, but none of them — except Vanessa — has conquered the evil in their own hearts. Vanessa’s father-figure, Sir Malcolm, spent his life as an explorer chasing after adventure and riches, and chasing away his wife and children. Their friend Dr. Frankenstein has challenged death by creating creatures from beyond the grave and sending himself ever closer to it with his addiction to morphine. Sharpshooter Ethan Chandler has crossed the Atlantic Ocean to escape his past, but being a werewolf is a condition that cannot be outrun. And Sembene, poor Sembene, was serving his friend to help atone for a life of slave trading.

Sir Malcom’s and Dr. Frankenstein’s demons almost overtook them in the season two finale, when the witches left them alone with ghosts of their families. Malcom’s family consisted of his dead wife, daughter, and son, all of whom he had a hand in killing, one way or another. Frankenstein’s ghosts were the creatures he created from corpses, who weren’t completely alive but weren’t completely dead, either. The ghosts urged them to take their lives and join them in death, and they almost succeeded. Neither Malcom or Frankenstein are at peace with themselves, and they can’t face their pasts without giving in to overwhelming guilt and uncertainty.

This is where Vanessa differs from the rest of her companions. She has faced literal demons, and she is at peace with who she is and the experiences that made her that way. That, in turn, makes her compassionate to others who struggle with themselves. Vanessa has been entangled with evil all her life, starting with the attraction to sex and secrets when she was younger (like almost every teenager, at some point). She was possessed by an evil spirit and obsessed with the evil humans could do to each other, and she knew she had something in her soul that allowed her the connection to this wickedness. So she fought to get the devil out of her body, and then she traveled to see the Cut Wife to help get the devil out of her mind.

The Cut Wife accepted Vanessa for who she was in spite of — maybe because of — the darkness inside her. With the support she found in the Cut Wife, the first person to see her for all that she was, Vanessa learned about herself and expanded her powers. She also learned more about tragedy and cruelty, as she watched the townspeople burn her friend at the stake for being who she was: a real-life witch.

Learning about her strengths and weaknesses, and the depths of cruelty and kindness people can possess, sent Vanessa on the road to becoming the strong, compassionate woman she is with her friends years later. She is both fierce to her enemies and unfailingly kind to even the most lost souls. (Every scene with her and John Clare is heartbreaking.) Her friends are drawn to her because of her strength, but they love her because of her empathy.

Each member of her group is there because Vanessa chose them, and they all would lay down their lives to help her. They are all a little bit in love with her in different ways — Malcolm in a fatherly way, Frankenstein in a brotherly way, and Ethan in an over-the-moon in love way. Vanessa is the center of the show — even the camera angles often place her in the middle of the frame. Her clothes are often buttoned up, as if she is trying to contain her power and her emotions.

And she expresses every emotion, from sadness to fear to love to silliness. She does not fall into a trap of being a woman who is only a caretaker, or only kind, or only afraid, or only anything. Vanessa has been shaped by many things, and she feels many things without apologizing for it. When the Cut-Wife is killed, she is revengeful. When Ethan says he can’t accompany her to a ball, she is crushed. When she goes shopping with Frankenstein, she is joyful. And being emotional doesn’t make her seem crazy. It makes her extraordinarily human.

Vanessa accepts all of who she is. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t struggle with guilt or that she doesn’t overstep boundaries on occasion. She is neither pure good nor pure evil, and accepting the dark and light parts of herself allows her to use both to fight for her humanity and the humanity of others.

She fights for Ethan, even if he won’t fight for himself. Vanessa knows Ethan’s heart, and she doesn’t give up on him even when she finds out he’s a werewolf. But Ethan has not accepted himself or his past, and when Vanessa offered to run away with him to create a life together, he couldn’t accept. Instead of letting Vanessa love him, Ethan chose to punish himself and turn himself in to the police. Now he’s getting further and further from Vanessa, and he’s trapped on a boat with his captors — and I hope they aren’t still on this ship when the full moon hits. She, of course, has already forgiven him. He didn't even need to ask.

It is Vanessa’s ability to accept the bad and good in people that gives her the power to defeat the devil. He tries to tempt her with a normal life full of love with Ethan and two adorable children. But Vanessa knows that she is not normal. What would she do with a normal life now that she has faced true evil? She knows who she is, and she knows she won’t be led astray from her life and her goals. Her soul is her own, she accepts herself, and she is strong enough to beat the devil himself.

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Character Appreciation Post: Cisco Ramon ("The Flash")

On every series that touts itself as a drama, you have a character who is the comedic relief. I don't like really dark and heavy dramas. I know it probably makes me a horrible person that shows such as Homeland and Mad Men prove of little to no interest to me, but it's true. I like my dramas with a bit of levity. I enjoy characters like Raymond Reddington on The Blacklist who can monologue and make me snicker. I love Felicity's Freudian slips on Arrow and her rambling. And when things get a bit too heavy on Sleepy Hollow, I'm glad that Ichabod can make a joke about modern society or inventions in order to get me to crack a smile. I tweeted this recently, but I love Arrow. I really do. I love how complex it is and I love how deep the characterization is. I love how twisted the stories can get, even when they get twisted so absurdly that I want an out. But sometimes... sometimes Arrow is just too (literally and metaphorically) dark. Sometimes I just want to watch a drama that's fun, lighter, and just as deep.

That's when I watch The Flash.

The new CW hit series is such a refreshing change of pace from its predecessor, Arrow. It's literally lighter and brighter, with vibrant and fun characters who make jokes almost at super speed. That's not to say that The Flash is fluff. Quite the opposite, actually, this superhero series is chock full of real questions -- of heroism and morality and purpose and love and loss and what it means to sacrifice. Barry Allen is a different kind of hero than Oliver Queen is and that's wonderful. We don't need (or I don't, at least) two series on television with brooding, moping heroes who constantly have the weight of the world on their shoulders. And when I tried to think about what makes The Flash different from Arrow, at its core, my thought process was this: The Flash is a show that is always focused on the good in humanity that is warped into evil; Arrow is all about the evil in humanity that needs to be stopped by the good. The Flash is an optimist's show; Arrow a pessimist's.

Again: that's not to say that Arrow is completely and totally dark or that The Flash is seeped in comedy and nothing else. The truth is undeniable, though: The Flash is just a FUN series, even in its most dramatic moments. And part of the reason the show is so fun is because it has genuinely good, engaging, layered characters who also happen to provide comic relief. Character, as you might have assumed already, like Cisco Ramon.

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Character Appreciation Post: Mona Vanderwaal ("Pretty Little Liars")

I like my villains the same way I like my Starbucks order – complex.

And I like heroes, too. In fact, I like both heroes and villains. I like antiheroes. I like characters who are diabolical, who are too intelligent for their own good. I like characters who are redeemable, who grow and change and develop over the course of their journey. I like characters who are humanized, who are fallible, who make mistakes and atone for them, who urge us to feel something be it compassion or anger or admiration. I like characters who constantly surprise me, too.

I like characters like Mona Vanderwaal. No, I love characters like Mona Vanderwaal. From the moment that she arrived on screen, I was instantly drawn to her. She's a dynamic presence, an unassuming character in the first and second seasons, and utterly brilliant. She is probably the most complex character to ever exist on Pretty Little Liars and in "Taking This One to the Grave," we saw the fatal end of Mona. It was sad (I knew that someone would die and had the distinct feeling that it would be between her and Melissa) to see this character depart from PLL but to be honest, she went out with a bang and in the best way she possibly could have.

So, in celebration of Mona's life on the series and her characterization, I thought I would take some time throughout this post to discuss the many facets of her and her characterization over the course of the last five years. And it's as much of a celebration of "crazy Mona" as it is a celebration of Janel Parrish who did some utterly fantastic work with portraying this character and her journey from "loser Mona" to queen bee to "A" to "crazy Mona" to redeemable genius.

If you're ready, let's take a deeper look into some of Mona's best and most interesting character traits.

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Character Appreciation Post: Felicity Smoak ("Arrow")

At LeakyCon, I had a discussion with the cast of Emma Approved about the term “strong female character.” It’s a word that was thrown around in a panel earlier that afternoon, but it’s also a term that not many people understand. As we discussed the characters in the series, Joanna Sotomura and Dayeanne Hutton talked about Harriet Smith as a character. When I noted that so many people dismiss Harriet because she’s quiet and shy, they both astutely said: “She’s meek. But meek doesn’t mean weak.” I think too many people associate the term “strong female character” with Black Widow or Wonder Woman or Black Canary or Lara Croft. And that’s totally understandable: those women ARE strong women. But being a strong woman in literature or television or a movie doesn’t mean that you have to wield a gun. It doesn’t mean that you are a woman who takes over the jobs of a man. A strong woman simply means a layered and flawed woman. You can be a strong woman without ever taking a kickboxing class or knocking someone out. You can be a strong woman without having to wear spandex or jumping out of a plane or enlisting in the military. You can be a strong woman and be blonde and work with computers. The fact of the matter is that Felicity Meghan Smoak is a strong woman. Truthfully, not many people SEE that because of characters like Nyssa or Sara or Shado. And I applaud Arrow for portraying such a vast array of kick-butt female characters and giving equal weight to them all (Laurel and Thea and Mama Queen included). Beautifully, this is a show that celebrates the complexity and diversity of women and doesn’t fall into the same stereotypes and tropes that other shows do (more on that later on) in regards to women and women in romance, especially.

I knew that I would really like Felicity as a character based on the tweets and Tumblr posts that I had seen regarding her and her relationship with Oliver. I wasn’t entirely prepared, however, for how MUCH I would love her. Felicity is the perfect television example of a well-rounded and well-written “strong female character.” She’s vulnerable but determined; she cries and gets scared but also is fearless in moments of need. She’s – in a lot of ways – smarter than Diggle or Oliver. She’s from a broken family and still harbors pain but doesn’t let it cloud her optimism and bubbly attitude. She’s amazing and that is why I have decided to dedicate a post to my appreciation of her (and for Emily Bett Rickards who is absolutely and positively astounding, nuanced, and all of the other lovely adjectives).

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Character Appreciation Post: Ben Wyatt ("Parks and Recreation")

There are a few television shows that I’ve been convinced to watch solely because of the influence that my Twitter followers have had on me. One of these shows is Suits; the other is Parks and Recreation. As many of you who follow me know, I’m currently four and a half seasons deep into my marathon of the series, and loving every single moment of it.

“But Jenn,” you gasp, “I can’t believe you’ve never watched Parks and Rec before!”

I, in fact, HAVE watched many Parks and Rec episodes… just not consistently. When 8 PM rolls around on Thursday nights, my attention is focused solely on one thing – Community. And by the time 8:30 draws near, I’m busied with finding a download of the episode so that I can start on my notes for the following morning’s blog-review. I found myself half-watching episodes of Parks and Rec, while scouring for links on the Internet for Community. I knew enough about the series when I started my marathon – I knew Ben and Leslie would eventually be together; I knew who each of the characters were; I knew about Jerry’s tendency to ruin… well, everything. 

But I didn’t truly know each of these characters until I watched the series from the beginning. And then I fell in love with each of these characters, including one we will discuss and praise today: Ben Wyatt.

Jaime (@elspunko) is my faithful best friend and also my companion in compiling these Character Appreciation Posts. As I said our introductory post a while ago, these entries aren’t necessarily meant to highlight characters that are disregarded by viewers. Rather, they are meant to celebrate characters for their individual quirks, hang-ups, and arcs. Our Character Appreciation Posts strive to fill you up with feels, but also illuminate the qualities that make each of these characters worthy of our time. 

And Ben Wyatt is definitely worthy of our time.

In an ensemble series like Parks and Rec, it’s easy for certain characters to get overlooked or forgotten. But one thing I truly admire about this series (and one thing that is on my wish-list for season five of Community) is its constant shuffling of pairings – one episode may see a Chris/Ann, Ben/Leslie, and Ron/Donna/Tom storyline; the next episode may feature a Leslie/Ron/, Chris/Jerry, and Ben/April/Andy plot. And what’s beautiful and wonderful about this series – something that I have mentioned to Jaime as I’ve been marathoning – is that each of these pairings WORKS. Everyone on the show has chemistry with everyone else, which makes it genuinely difficult to choose a favorite friendship or favorite platonic pairing. It’s something really rare and magical to see on a series… especially considering the fact that Ben and Chris weren’t introduced until the very end of the second season, and yet both characters melded seamlessly into the fabric of the show.

But back to Ben Wyatt – I was warned that Adam Scott would ruin my life and yet, here I sit, still completely ruined by his perfect portrayal of a lovable, nerdy, sweet accountant. And I think that I’ve settled on the reason why I love Ben Wyatt (and why I love Nick Miller and why I love Jim Halpert): he’s real. Each character on the series is written with flaws, because flaws make us human. Each character on Parks and Rec and on New Girl and on Community and The Office and nearly every other show on television is written so that we love them, but also sometimes disagree with them. What makes Ben so swoon-worthy is the fact that he’s realistic – he’s imperfect, but he cares. He’s flawed, but he loves. He’s weird and dorky but he’s also compassionate and fun. That’s what makes a good romantic lead, in my opinion – not this intricate construction of sappy lines and lingering looks, but the realistic portrayal of someone who is flawed but who loves deeply. And without a doubt, Ben truly loves Leslie and it shows in the way that he cares for and supports her throughout the series.

So now, Jaime and I will talk about Ben Wyatt’s wonderful stories and qualities. Her insights will be italicized throughout the post! So are you ready? Swing by the Low Cal Calzone Zone and join as we celebrate Ben Wyatt!

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Character Appreciation Post: Winston Bishop ("New Girl")

In every show, there are some characters that are more underappreciated than others. New Girl is usually not one of those shows, mainly because of how cohesive the ensemble is and how often different sets of characters have the opportunity to share screen time with one another. But the truth is that amidst the Nick/Jess and Schmidt/CeCe and all the other crazy shenanigans, sometimes we forget about Winston Bishop. It’s not that we love him any less than we love the rest of the group – at least, that’s not how I feel. New Girl, quite frankly, is the one show where I have equal love for each character in the loft (and CeCe) and can honestly say that I don’t have a least favorite character. 

But today’s post is celebrating the wonderful, weird, amazing Winston Bishop. I was a bit disheartened, after viewing the pilot, that Damon Wayans Jr. would not be staying on the series due to his commitment to Happy Endings. But when Lamorne Morris (@LamorneMorris) joined as Winston, Nick’s old friend who had been in Latvia playing basketball for the past few years… well, I fell in love with him instantly. And truly, at the end of “Kryptonite,” I KNEW he was a special character because of how he put on a woman’s hat and stepped up to defend Jess, a woman he barely knew. And Winston just got better from that point.

My collaboration buddy, partner-in-crime, and basically soul mate Jaime and I decided that we wanted to do something together and I suggested character appreciation posts! There are so many wonderful characters on television that we don’t get a chance to celebrate as often as we should (nor do we get a chance to really celebrate the actors and actresses who portray them), so we thought this would be a great way to put our heads together and come up with some of our favorite moments that showcase some of the best characters on television. These aren’t necessarily all characters who are underappreciated, though. I think the whole point of the character appreciation series is just going to be to APPRECIATE various characters on shows who deserve our appreciation. Sounds like a plan, no?

Then let’s look at the vast array of Winston Bishop moments that both Jaime and I love, shall we?

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