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Quibi’s THE STRANGER Reap: Part 9

Oooooh, friends we finally get some ANSWERS in Part 9 of The Stranger. Check it out on Quibi (which is offering a 90-day free trial until April 30th). When we left in Part 8, Carl E. joined the dance party at the back-alley nightclub late and ready to murder Clare. Let’s see where things go in Part 9.

I’m also out of promo images for each episode and Quibi won’t allow you to take screenshots, so here we are with an irrelevant still from Part 4.

Part 9: 3AM

Carl E. could use a shower. He approaches Clare in the nightclub but a bunch of ladies think he’s still sexy, bloodstained hoodie and all. They fondle him up and he tries to evade their advances.

Then Gas Station dude finds Clare and pries her out through ANOTHER SECRET CLUB DOOR that leads out through a nail salon.

WTF aside, they catch a taxi.

“I swiped his phone,” Gas Station dude says, FINALLY putting his hardcore tech skillz to good use. He books them a room at The Rosslyn and the cab heads out.

We get one quick scenery shot of a billboard for a company called Collateral Protection Services which features in image of a hooded man with the lame slogan “Protect your Identity”. This may or may not prove important but I thought the shot too obvious to ignore.

The Rosslyn looks like the kind of place Dan Bell should check out for Another Dirty Room. I like the set but it looks more of an apartment than a hotel room. There’s also a screaming baby somewhere in the lobby that really aggravates my maternal instincts. Like gaaaaaaaah!

The hotel has no wi-fi or cable, but Gas Station dude pulls off the TV antenna JUST IN CASE. Then a knock sounds on the door but it’s totally okay because it’s a care package from “4Chan meets TaskRabbit”, which I’ll accept is tech-dude speak for HELP.

WHY WASN’T THIS VERSION OF GAS STATION DUDE AVAILABLE IN PART 6?!?!?!

The care package includes some burner phones and a new disguise for Clare: a pink wig and some rainbow glitter sneakers and a bedazzled dog leash for Pebbles. And I’m like, why not go for a brunette wig and some brown shoes. Why draw MORE attention? Does 4Chan not have better disguise stylists? Also worth mentioning is the lack of clean clothes. And neither character takes a shower.

Fortunately, the care package ALSO includes a first aid kit, which Clare uses to deal with a wound on her foot. We don’t know what kind of wound. She doesn’t even clean her nasty feet off first, just goes to town with the alcohol and seethes a bit. Gas Station dude asks if she needs help and she shrugs him off, but YES, we inevitably get treated to the “sexy helping with a wound” scene.

We have to at this point. It’s a dumb cliche but when there’s a wound the “sexy helping with a wound” scene MUST HAPPEN. It’s important. Sadly, it’s no match for the post wolf-attack scene from Beauty and the Beast.

Gas Station dude sets up an appointment with a Saul Goodman-esque firm online. An attorney agrees to meet with them. All she needs is their full names. Clare hesitates, but but then gives it.

Clare Johnson. Which is the same name she gave to the Orbit operator in Part 3 to complain bout Carl E. It’s NOT, however, the name that Carl E. referred to her as in Part 2.

FUN FACT: It was Clare Scheherazade. A quick Google search leads us to an interesting little detail about that chosen surname.

After Gas Station dude magically heals Clare’s foot wound, Clare lays down.

“Why wouldn’t you give me your full name earlier?” Gas Station dude asks, just minute after that earlier moment happened.

Clare doesn’t answer, so Gas Station Dude, whose name is Jay Irfani, but everyone calls him JJ. (FINALLY!) gives her a burner phone with a tracker in it.

“Why?” Clare asks.

“Just in case I… I lose you,” formerly Gas Station dude JJ says. “I can always find you.”

The sappy music starts. Thankfully, we don’t have to cringe through one of those “tHeRe’S oNlY oNe Bed!?!” scenes because they both lay down back to back in their nasty clothes. They didn’t even wash their hands, yo. (I’m really sensitive to this stuff right now, but if you want a sexy hand washing scene or two, I have a story for you.)

Clare reaches behind her and I shit you not it totally looks like she’s trying to grab his ass. But she doesn’t, because JJ moves his hand up and they hold hands and it’s kind of cute but this is a Quibi show and WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS FILLER.

The rest of this episode falters because of this narrow time span.

The lawyer calls and JJ answers. The lawyer speaks while Clare sits up.

“Wait, I don’t understand.”

The lawyer won’t take the case. Turns out, Clare’s done this before. She accused her high school teacher of stalking her and she was lying. Clare doesn’t confess but she insists that Carl E. is real.

She claims that JJ saw him on the train. He heard the gunshots! (But did JJ see him in the video text? There’s no way Clare watched it IN THE CAR without JJ seeing it.) JJ ALSO CLAIMED TO HAVE SWIPED CARL E’s PHONE IN THE CLUB THIS EPISODE, so he clearly fucking saw him. I even checked the captions and JJ explicity said, “I swiped his phone.”

Major plot hole aside, JJ claims that he didn’t see anyone on the train.

“You didn’t shoot that cop’s tires you, did you? You fucking killed him, didn’t you?” he prods, spelling out the already obvious assumption.

Clare insist she isn’t crazy but JJ turns and leaves.

The Stranger: Part 9 Thoughts

Quibi’s short time span is reallllly becoming a burden. I can’t see this platform lasting, quite honestly, when writers are so limited with with they can do. Now, I’m a writer and I love minimalism. You can do so much with so little in prose but there’s too much that the film format needs to convey.

This movie isn’t breaking any format or genre here. This is a standard horror thriller, only diced up into tiny chapters. But these chapters are all flash fiction as opposed to real meaty chapters where we get to digest character. Not to mention, better deal with the effin’ huge plot hole of JJ’s perspective in this whole mess.

This episode gave us a nice reveal, wherein the viewers make the obvious shift from perceiving Clare as a valid narrator to an obviously unreliable one. And yes, it’s more well-done than Daenerys’ reversal in that season of Game of Thrones that shall be forgotten in the depths of Wikipedia, BUT STILL.

We deserve more time in this scene because it’s pivotal. Instead we get a bit of yelling and Clare saying “I’m not crazy!” over and over.

This isn’t the episode I expected. I don’t like it but it COULD have been redeemed if her had more time to believe in Clare and JJ’s connection in this “safe room” scene. Maybe then I’d care about JJ leaving. In this case, I’m glad he’s gone because this means we can finally see Carl E. again.

Is he real or not? Only three more episodes to find out!

The post Quibi’s THE STRANGER Reap: Part 9 appeared first on REBECCAJONESHOWE.COM.

Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 8

After a weekend break, I return with Part 8 of my recap series of Quibi’s horror thriller, The Stranger. Tension suffered when Clare and Gas Station dude banded together, but Part 7 reacquainted us with the menacing Carl E. In Part 8, we pick things up after Clare and Gas Station dude jump off the back of the train.

Part 8: 2 AM

Clare says she can’t see. Gas Station dude takes Clare’s hand and they wander do the dark tunnels, searching for a way out. (I had to enter another room to watch this scene because it suffers from a lot of Game of Thrones season 8 contrast issues.)

Also, where the hell is Carl E.? He was only a train car behind when they jumped out of the train and yet Clare and Gas Station dude have time to hold hands and woefully look at some some sad homeless people in the subway tunnels before finding a platform to escape out of.

Gas Station dude gives Clare a boost but she gets deterred by the sound of coyotes. The coyotes approach and growl menacingly like Twilight werewolves. Honestly, coyotes aren’t known for attacking people (there is currently only one recorded coyote attack of an adult that led to death), so I don’t exactly know if subway coyotes are more aggressive than regular coyotes. My ex-bother-in-law was out smoking once and bunch of coyotes ran up to the fence in my backyard, wanting to attack him, so let’s just say this coyote interlude was pretty tense for me.

But why, though? Why waste time on this? We’re supposed to be scared of Carl E. here, not reliving that subway scene in Cloverfield all over again.

Clare says not to run from the growing coyotes, but then a train approaches. Gas Station dude manages to scale the platform off-screen. He reaches for Clare and narrowly lifts her to safety. (Her dumb shoes from Part 5 don’t help, FYI.)

“Every other city in the world has rats for vermin. We have coyotes,” Gas Station dude says, delivering more exposition, even though he’s wrong.

They gasp sexily on the nasty platform for a while. Pebbles also meanders off, so when Clare and Gas Station dude finally get back to their escape plan, Clare has to find the dumb stupid dog first.

SO MANY DIVERSIONS. I HATE IT.

They locate Pebbles in an old ticket station(?) behind some secret wall full of power cables. Carl E. is coming, though! We know this because we hear gunshots and the sounds of coyotes dying.

With no other choice but to head down the tunnel, Gas Station dude and Clare follow it down to a heavy metal door. Gas Station dude shoves it open, busting into a POPPIN night club, the interior design of which is totally my jam. Classy wallpaper and old-times sconces and stuff. I’d party there.

The music doesn’t bother Pebbles, who is now clasped tightly in Clare’s arms. Stupidly, though, neither Clare or Gas Station dude close the secret metal door behind them. The two lose sight of each other rave of nightclub dancers. Then Carl E. enters through the WIDE OPEN SECRET DOOR THAT NOBODY ELSE NOTICES.

The camera slows, capturing the full barrage of people and nightclub lights. Clare looks for Gas Station dude but only finds Carl E.

Fade to black.

Thoughts on THE STRANGER: Part 8

I hate what it took to get us here, honestly.

Episodes 5-8 disappointed me. The tension faded. We got some stupid meet-cute stuff, which was kind of fun but not warranted. We also got the ridiculous “woke” fiasco that was Part 6.

I predict that Gas Station dude will remain lost next episode. Hopefully this will lead for better episode that focuses primarily on Clare and Carl E. again, WHICH I WOULD VERY MUCH APPRECIATE. I hope we get a few answers on Clare’sbackground and some answers as to who Carl E. really is.

And if Dane DeHaan could do a little more than just glare menacingly, that would be great.

This episode existed primarily as yet another transition. It gave us some non-essential coyote-based thrills. Fun, yes, but also a waste of precious screen time. Like, we only get 8-10 minutes of storytelling here, and they’re really gonna waste it on coyotes?

The Stranger, Part 8 takes us back to L.A. The threat rebuilds itself yet again. We get to see Carl E. in the flesh again. Hopefully these last four episodes keep Carl E. and Clare face to face.

The post Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 8 appeared first on REBECCAJONESHOWE.COM.

Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 7

Okay we are rolling along. Last episode might have been a letdown and I won’t lie, this one is a bit too. Anyway, let’s just dive into this Part 7 recap of Quibi’s THE STRANGER, mkay?

Part 7: 1AM

We head not to the police station, but to an alley dumpster, where Clare gets out of the car and tosses the gun in. She insists that she still needs to turn herself in but she needs to get rid of the gun. And I must ask, WHY CLARE?

The gun is essential. It obviously wouldn’t have any prints other than hers on it (because Carl E. is either a genius or NOT REAL) but maybe it’s got a serial number? The cops would have some way of finding its origins, right? Like I’m in by no way an expert in guns but I doubt the police would simply tie Clare to the gun if she can spill out her story convincingly enough. Evidence is kind of essential right now.

But who knows. Part 2 and Part 4 kind of prove how stupid the police in this show are, so all bets are off really.

Speaking of bets, Gas Station dude is CONVINCED that he and Clare have no chance of convincing the police that their story is real. He’s not white, and we all remember how the cop treated him. Some race dynamics come into play, which Clare understands.

Then the buddy comedy breaks. A news report blasts over the radio about a BRUTAL STABBING (it was like one stab, guys, chill out) and a cop being shot twice.

Okay, to start, I’m sure more violent crime occurs in L.A. on a daily basis. Also, it turns out that I was right to wonder why the POV shifted to Gas Station dude when Clare apparently “shot out the tires” of the cop’s motorcycle.

We get no opportunity to see Clare’s reaction to this revelation because Gas Station dude says he’s done. Gas Station dude knows he’s lost more than his job at this point. He’s fucked, and the “all is lost” music starts. And it’s like, come on, man. I liked you and you won’t even go down without a fight. Instead of getting back into his car and driving away, he walks through a beautifully lit set of fairground-like lights and closed storefronts. Clare follows, attempting to convince him that the shooting was Carl E. and NOT her.

She’s not a murderer! But she does have some ULTRA greasy hair now. Geez. Even looking at it triggers my greasy hair paranoia. But she barely takes the time to argue her point because they end up at the bus station, looking at the marquee of places they can go.

“El Paso, so we can cross over the Mexican border,” Gas Station dude says in true exposition.

Clare mentions the video text where Carl E. referred to Clare by her old online name “Boo Boo”. Clare speculates how Carl E. knows SO MUCH ABOUT HER while following Gas Station dude with the dog in the Trader Joe bag. She’s truly Dorothy now, and Gas Station dude makes another Wizard of Oz reference about her not being able to just click her red shoes to get out of this. This is the dumbest part of the plot thus far.

And you know, I love references. I use them in my own stories from time to time, but you gotta keep that shit pretty light. I don’t wanna be bitch-slapped with references unless I give consent first, Quibi.

But you know what, we’re on the train now. Gas Station dude takes a seat and makes Clare find her own.

I’ll ignore the dumb stuff and enjoy where we are. Why? Because I know from the trailer that this is where things are gonna get FUN again. And yes, the train stops as soon as it starts. The licks flicker. Then Clare looks up at the train’s security camera.

YESSSSSSSSSSS!

Now, I don’t know about you, but I take public transit a lot and I tend to look around the bus a lot and I guess I find comfort in the on-board camera? Like, I’m just a girl and I like to think that that camera’s gonna have my back if I get sexually harassed.

In this case, however, it’s the sign for the high tension score to pick up again.

Clare glances down at the exit and the lower seating portion of the train. She spots a set of now ICONIC shoes in the aisle, belonging to none other than Carl E. who leans out of his seat and blows her the best most menacing kiss ever.

HELLO KEY TRAILER MOMENT! I WAITED LIKE TWO MONTHS TO SEE YOU!

Clare gets up and grabs Gas Station dude. She pushes him in front of her and tells him to GO. This is odd to me, because I feel like I’d be using him as a meat shield, but I digress.

Carl E. gives them both a head start before giving chase. He’s not gonna murder them yet. He’s just having fun. Clare and Gas Station dude move into the next train car, building distance between them and Carl E. He shoots the window between the two train cars. Glass shatters. Clare screams, but pushes Gas Station dude pushes onward. They move through another empty car. (Surely there’d be one or two other sleepy passengers on this train, but no?)

They get to the end of the train and open the exit door onto what the robo-train lady announces is the “live track”. She says they shouldn’t leave the train, but with Carl E. approaching, they have no other choice.

Clare and Gas Station dude share a glance before the screan turns black.

Thoughts on Part 7

Blessed Be! Dane DeHaan is back!

I’m over Gas Station dude. He was fun at the gas station and I thought his tech knowledge would matter by this point but he is just as clueless as Clare. I also think he’s gonna get murdered. I really do.

Also worth mentioning is Clare’s now obvious unreliability factor. DID she shoot the cop? What happened “last time” in the unknown prior event Clare’s mom mentioned in Part 4? That all speculated, it does validate Gas Station dude’s existence in this world. I just wish he wasn’t such a defeatist. Like don’t let a greasy-haired white girl make you give your you life to move to Mexico, man. You’re better than this.

Quibi’s offering a 90-day free trial until April 30th, so you still have time to either see the light at the end of the tunnel or a train wreck.

The post Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 7 appeared first on REBECCAJONESHOWE.COM.

Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 6

Part 6 of The Stranger takes us halfway into this adventure, stripping away some of the intimacy that kicked this thing off and got us really pumped up. Yesterday’s episode teamed up Clare with Gas Station dude WHO STILL DOESN’T HAVE A NAME, FFS!

Part 6: 12PM

Clare leaves the gas station to peace the fuck out but Gas Station dude reminds her that the police likely have a record of her car. Clare takes Pebbles out and starts to walk. Then Gas Station dude pulls up beside her in his ridiculous 80’s car with his ridiculous rap music playing.

Guess he’s totally cool with losing his job on the off-chance that all this murder might turn Clare on. And well, that’s pretty much where he tries to take things. He asks Clare if there’s anyone else she knows in L.A. and then gets pretty smug about the fact that, YES, he is the only person Clare trusts right now.

From here on, things get really out of character.

For one, Gas Station dude’s supposed to be a programmer and yet he’s thinking about getting laid in a time when somebody’s hacked his phone, a “state of the art” security system and also managed to utilize Google Maps to virtually know Clare on an intimate personal level.

Two, Pebbles hates the fuck out of Gas Station dude and barks up a FIT. And okay, sure, dogs usually get snippy around new people, and I should have mentioned this in Part 3, but why wasn’t Pebbles losing it in the same manner when Carl E. was in Clare’s apartment? (I guess because Carl E. fed her, she got used to him, but what eventually set her off again?)

Anyway, Gas Station dude gives Clare a reusable Trader Joe’s bag to put the dog into, which magically works and shuts the tiny dog yapping sound effects for a while. Gas Station dude also turns off the obnoxiously loud rap music, WHICH MIGHT HAVE HELPED WITH THE DOG SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Driving like a maniac to show off, Gas Station dude dulls down his technology speak to get Clare to understand how Carl E. was able to find her even while her phone was off. He then gives her his phone and tells her to take the SIM card out, but not before the creepy music box ringtone goes off.

“WaIt, hE cHaNgEd mY tExT tOnE?” Gas Station dude asks.

Clare plays the video message from Carl E., which is the only tidbit we get from Dane DeHaan this episode:

“Hey Boo Boo and BF. Left a gift,” he says, leaning into the screen. “It’s in the glove compartment.” He smiles smugly, leaving Clare and Gas Station dude to linger over this new reveal.

But not for long, because a police siren goes off. Gas Station dude pulls over and the officer walks up to the passenger side, asking Clare for ID. Gas Station dude asks if he should be showing his ID because he’s the driver, and then the officer gets real, like legit real-life real, asking Gas Station dude to get out of the car.

He’s Indian. He’s got dark skin, so of course the officer goes way overboard, shoving Gas Station dude against the fence before choking him him over the hood of the car, screaming at him to STOP RESISTING!

Clare pulls out the “gift” from the glove compartment and points a gun at the officer. This is the third character shift, which I honestly don’t feel is entirely believable.

First, a Millennial white chick totally SHUT THIS OFFICER DOWN. She is direct in in fucking charge. The office puts his hands up and surrenders to her every order. He’s legit afraid. Second, Clare develops some magical authoritative balls, directing the officer to handcuff himself to his bike and to give him her walkie. He tells her that the gun is a real weapon and not a toy.

“My daddy was a hunter,” Clare says, changing her tone. “I’ve hunted since age 9 until I was a vegan (because yes, that matters, right?!?!?!!?). So fuck off and put your arms up.”

She then messages the police department and announces that she’s turning herself in. And honestly, it’s smart, but it’s not Clare. Maybe this is a part of her unreliable narrator self that popped up in Part 4? I don’t know.

The police give her directions to the nearest station but she doesn’t understand them (on a count of being from Kansas and all). The officer doesn’t help matters by giving her better directions, which Clare also doesn’t understand. The station gives her even better directions for a Saturday night.

Clare snaps and says she’ll figure it out, then gets back into the car. The camera switches to Gas Station dude in teh passenger seat (the first time we’re not following Clare) and we hear two shots. A popular 70’s song scores the mood shift (it plays at my work but I don’t know the title). Clare says she shot out the motorcycle tires and we all totally believe that, right?

“I think I just peed my pants a little,” she says.

“I think I did too” Gas Station dude says.

Then Clare tears off like The Stig on the Top Gear track toward the police station.

Part 6 Thoughts

I’ll straight up say it. This was the worst episode yet. We already got our comic relief in Part 5. I suppose this scene is supposed to shift Clare’s character from victim to Final Girl, but I don’t buy it. We still don’t have enough information about her backstory to really believe that this side of her persona exists.

I Inconsistencies aside, I have questions.

Did Carl E. plant the knife at the gas station? The video made it seem as though he was outside the station, but how did he know that Clare would utilize it? Does his know the hunting part of her background? Did he expect her to make this bizarre character shift and turn herself in? She was scared of the cops before. Why the change?

I also don’t love this “buddy comedy” dynamic Clare and Gas Station dude. Gas Station dude is waaaaay too comfortable in this new role. He should be questioning things more, as he’s the one with all the tech knowledge and even he’s outsmarted here.

I also find Gag Station dude allowing Clare just just drive his car a bit unrealistic. the car is obviously an important possession to him. He would not just let a strange Final Girl drive it. The dog is also at his feet, so why isn’t it barking up a storm? Pebbles at this point is a major plot nightmare. So utterly useless and inconsistent. She doesn’t appear in of the trailer scenes we still have yet to see, so uh… we should probably still be worried about little Pebbles, methinks.

Anyway, that’s my recap of The Stranger, Part 6. Hopefully the next one will bring the real tension back into the fold because I’m getting restless for some horror again.

You can get Quibi for a free 90-day free trial until April 30th, 2020, so make sure you try it out. See you in episode 7!

The post Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 6 appeared first on REBECCAJONESHOWE.COM.

Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 5

After yesterday’s episode of The Stranger, I eagerly stayed up until midnight for the next installment. The Stranger: Part 5 has both thrills and laughs (but sadly no Dane DeHaan!) so let’s not dilly dally. Let’s get to it!

Part 5: 11PM

Clare powers down her phone (which has some horrrrrrrrrrible interface graphics, I must say) and has herself a good steering wheel freakout before driving to the gas station. She dumps the bloody corn knife in the trash and washes her hands in the windshield wiping water for like 2 seconds. Pandemic me is FREAKING THE FUCK OUT, because that blood is still on those hands, Clare. You gotta sing Happy Birthday twice to get the full effect.

She returns to the car and finds some ugly sneaker/sandal hybrid shoes in the back seat of the car. Not exactly the “about to get murdered, but make it fashion!” moment that I was hoping for. Nerve-wracked, she enters the gas station and pretends to look for snacks.

Gas station dude pulls his headphones out all excited, believing that he’s getting a second chance to make a less-desperate impression on Clare. He fails pretty hard, mentioning that he’s in the middle of competing for the 2024 Olympic games. Not the real Olympics. The video game Olympics. Because they do video games now.

Clare cringes.

Awkwardness ensues when Gas Station dude brings up that this is their second meeting in one night.

“It’s like the plot line of a romantic comedy!” he says.

“You should write it!” he says, which finally gets Clare to turn around. She asks him how he knows she’s a writer. Gas Station dude says that everyone who comes to L.A. is a writer. “Or an actress,” he says, but he know she’s not.

Because she’s not into makeup. Or grooming.

Clare visibly responds to the unintentional insult, but in a real human way, because she’s STILL ABOUT TO GET MURDERED and this dude is making things all normal. I gotta give a major shout-out to Avan Jorgia for playing the hell out of this character. I just love him so much. He botches the whole “You don’t need makeup” spiel in all the right ways.

Clare walks up to the counter and asks about his programming skillz. She wants to find Carl E., or rather “the sex doll passenger”, who Gas Station dude refers to him as.

Clare explains that the sex doll passenger is trying to kill her but then two cops bust into the store. They’re not the cops from before but they’re cops that Gas Station due is familiar with. They ask him how it’s going. Some rather expositional dialogue is exchanged about the new “state of the art” security system, which Gas Station dude says was recently installed “about last week-ish”.

Gas Station dude tells the cops to get themselves some free coffees and then whispers to Clare that she should talk to the cops about Carl E.

Clare mentions her link to the pupusa vendor stabbing, which the cops also tease on their way out the door. Now, I’m sure cops don’t willy nilly discuss current crimes IRL, but this is the key info that Gas Station dude needs to understand why Clare is a complete and utter mess right now.

Well, first he realistically thinks this is some kind of group Youtube prank but THEN the “state of the art” security camera footage switches to camera footage of Gas Station dude’s house.

Gas Station dude checks his phone to check home securite network but he’s locked out. The CCTV footage then switches again to a shot of Clare and Gas Station dude staring into the camera focused on them.

“It’s him,” Clare says. “He’s here.”

Part 5 Thoughts

Spanning only 6 minutes, Part 4 was the shortest episode yet. I can’t say that I was let down but it passed so quickly that I was salivating for more.

I love Gas Station Dude. The trailer made this show seem like a Hush-like predator vs prey situation. It was clear in Part 2, however, that Gas Station dude’s programming knowledge would become important later on.

That time of importance is now. Part 4 of The Stranger gives us a bit of a breather from the horror. We get to know gas Station dude better, though I hope we find his name in the next episode BECAUSE HE’S NOT WEARING A NAME TAG for some reason.

Sadly missing is Dane DeHaan as Carl E., though his presence lingers in Clare’s paranoia, as well as in the technology hacking, which is still freaky AF.

The post Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 5 appeared first on REBECCAJONESHOWE.COM.

Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 4

Hopefully you enjoyed my first recap installment of Quibi’s The Stranger. Part 4 dropped yesterday and seems the Internet loves this show. Don’t have Quibi? They’re offering a 90-day free trial so go and catch up now! So let’s pick up where we left off and recap The Stranger!

Part 4: 10PM

Turns out the elevator never moved. Carl E. tries to choke Clare through the crack in the elevator doors. Somehow she reaches for the DOOR CLOSE button to fend him off, but this is clearly not how modern elevator doors work. Those safety features would have had Clare murdered in short order.

Luckily, this glitchy elevator gives Clare the chance to wrestle out of Carl E.’s chokehold. The doors close and she takes the elevator down to the parking garage.

I love that the passenger door of Clare’s car won’t open. Again, this show exposes some hardcore broke Millennial reality. She puts Pebbles in the backseat and drives down a block before a massive truck in a Latinx neighbourhood blocks her patch to escape.

The camera pans to a pupusa vendor watching Clare from the other side of the road. Clare gets out of the car and dials 911 but is put on hold. Again, another reality that we don’t often see on screen. (I had to call 911 back when I was having premature contractions while pregnant with my son last year and I was on hold for like 4 minutes, like WHAT IF I WAS GETTING AX MURDERED?!) Well, thanks to The Stranger, I know that finding refuge in a downtown church bathroom will buy me some time.

Clare leaves her dog in the car in the street. (GREAT, now I have to worry about the dog, Clare! I don’t even like dogs and I am now terrified.) It’s not entirely clear why she hides out in the bathroom, but her mom gives her a call and enthusiastically asks how she’s doing in L.A.

Clare starts to cry and confesses that there’s a man trying to kill her. Momma Dearest goes silent and Clare asks if she’s listening. Momma says that it probably wasn’t a good time for her to leave Kansas. Clare INSISTS that this isn’t like last time but her mom ain’t having it. She says that she’ll take some vacation time and come to help Clare settle in.

Gotta note that this whole conversation happens while a guy’s playing a Christian guitar solo in the background. The atmosphere in this show is so effin’ great.

Clare hangs up.

A door creaks open.

The tension music builds again, but it’s more foreboding.

The camera pans down to Carl E’s red sneakers at the bottom of the stall door.

It’s the BEST MOMENT YET, quite honestly. We get a nice close-up of Maika Monroe’s horror face as the silence builds. The tension is fantastic. I’m shaking. I’m losing it. This is always my favourite part of every horror movie. Then, BANG, Carl hits the stall door.

Clare gasps. She covers her mouth, tries not to cry like a lady.

The footsteps recede. The bathroom door creaks open.

Then the camera pans to the stall door, where the blade of a knife has been hammered through.

OH HECK YES. And yes, she opens the door and YES we know exactly what knife this is.

THE CORN KNIFE.

And there’s blood on the handle, dripping down the door. (Hopefully not dog blood. Please don’t let it be dog blood!)

The door creaks open and a trio of women come in. Clare quickly pries the knife out of the door (getting some of the blood on her face in the process) and leaves through the church while they’re all singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” in Spanish.

Back on the sidewalk, the night’s alive with some, ahem, ladies of the night, and their conversation provides some wonderful comic relief:

“That thing looks like Neema’s chocha on threading day.”

“Oh, Bambi, you’re so old.”

“You know what they call that line of hair between your titties? A vagina. Thank you.”

Then one of the ladies notices Clare.

“Neema, what’s up with that bitch? She’s got a knife!”

People start freaking out, Grand Theft Auto NPC-style. Clare runs back to her car while a commotion starts around the pupusa stand, where the vender’s now collapsed with a massive stab wound.

“It’s that white girl! She’s got a knife! Somebody stop her!”

But it’s okay, because the giant truck is gone now and Clare gets her chance to make a getaway.

Moments later, the creepy ringtone goes off. This time it’s a call from a private number, which Clare has no choice but to answer on speakerphone. Safe driving, right?

Carl E. torments her from an unknown location, which obviously can’t be that far away, but it looks like he’s on some mountaintop viewpoint even though he JUST murdered somebody on a side-street.

“Unlike the others, you grew a pair under extreme duress, and that was not predicted in my calculations,” he says, doing his best Pete Buttigieg impression.

“Others?” Clare asks, but then Carl E. mentions that she’s got blood on her face.

Clare asks him how the fuck he knows everything she’s doing and what she looks like, but then she glances at the phone she’s currently hoping up at the perfect angle. IT’S THE PHONE, she realizes.

And yeah, a dumbass dated “Smile, you’re on candid camera!” line is delivered, which is the first negative thing I have to say about this show so far. It’s just too cheesy, even for Carl E. He should have left it as “Here’s looking at you, Clare!”, which was nicely menacing on its own.

Another thing is that when Carl E. first mentions the blood, he’s holding the phone to his face, but then in the last shot, he’s got the phone on speaker and he’s watching Clare on video. The continuity is off and it irks me so.

The Stranger: Part 4 Theories

Totally called it on this fiasco potentially not being real.

Carl E. could still be real because he murdered somebody and outsiders noticed. The phone call that caps his episodes gives us got some new understanding. He’s hacked into her phone. He’s the predator and she’s the prey and this is a game that Clare must win.

She’s either got to shut her phone off or go back to Gas Station guy to figure out how to fix it. I just hope she saves the ringtone. Because again, I want it and need it. Somebody make this happen for me. Make my dreams come true.

The Stranger: Part 4 Thoughts

I cannot wait until midnight tonight. I’m stoked for Part 5. While this story would likely make a better long-form movie, I do love how it’s written into Quibi’s format in chapters formatted over hours of the night. I like having to digest what I’ve seen. I like having the time to speculate.

So what do you think? Are you enjoying The Stranger so far? Are you liking this format? Do you think Carl E. is real or is Clare an unreliable narrator?

The post Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Part 4 appeared first on REBECCAJONESHOWE.COM.

Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Parts 1-3

Now I don’t know about you but I downloaded new streaming platform Quibi solely so I could watch The Stranger. Quibi is yet another streaming network that you pay monthly for, featuring all original content that you watch on your phone. Each series or movie is presented in bite-size 10 minute chapters.

The Stranger was the only show on the platform that really intrigued me. When the platform released on April 5th, I download it and watched When The Streetlights Go On (it’s pretty bad) until the first three episodes of The Stranger debuted on April 13th.

And peeps, Quibi’s The Stranger IS EVERYTHING TO ME RIGHT NOW.

So I’m just gonna enjoy life and recap this thrill ride of a show for you all.

Part 1: 7 PM

We meet Clare, an unkempt Millennial with greasy blonde hair. She’s a ride-sharing driver for a company called Orbit. Heading to pick up her next passenger, a dude named Carl E., Clare mows down on a burger and gets a bunch of mustard on her lip. She notices it in the mirror before Carl E. comes out of his fancy modern mansion, but DOESN’T WIPE IT ALL OFF.

Carl E. texts her: cleaning up b down in a second

Clare asks him how he got his ringtone play on her phone. The ringtone is this creepy music box jingle THAT I WANT AND NEED FOR MY PHONE, so please somebody record the sound and tell me about it. Clare’s question is never answered though, and this is only the first of many weird technology things to happen, so just you wait.

Carl E. comes out with a bag of luggage, which he puts in the back seat so he can sit in the front with Clare. He’s going to LAX and Clare types it into whatever fictionalized variant of Google Maps exists in The Stranger’s universe.

She’s like, “It takes 52 minutes to get there?!” and he’s like, “You’re not from here, are you?”

Clare’s a brand new Los Angeles resident, who drove in from Kansas just 6 days before so she could fulfill her dream of becoming a writer. A “We’re not in Kansas anymore” reference is made, but Clare corrects Carl E’s misquote.

“AcKsUaLlY, it’s ‘I don’t believe we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto.'”

You see, Clare grew up where the Wizard of Oz museum is and she went there a bunch when she was a kid and that’s why she wants to be a writer.

Their conversation is all very meet-cute and I like it. Clare’s shy and delightfully and awkwardly candid. Carl E. is charming and oddly comforting, BUT THEN he notices the mustard on her face and gets all Joe Biden close to wipe it off her lip. He wants to take her out to get a burger. Clare does the vegan thing, mentioning that she’s vegan even though the point isn’t all that relevant to the conversation. Like, I get it, Clare, but you can get vegan burgers in L.A. You were just eating a vegan burger in L.A., were you not?

Carl E. insists that they were supposed to meet. Their names sound the same! They’re anagrams! He insists he’s not trying to be stalker-y and lets her ask him some questions. And then we get to the trailer moment where Carl E. shows his true colours.

His voice changes to take on that weirdly alluring serial killer tone, you know, for effect. Clare grips at the wheel, breathing damsel-y.

The Massacre Backstory

Another Orbit driver dropped him off at the fancy rich house. He walked up to the door and shot the woman who answered it in the face. Then he went inside and shot her husband in the back of the head. And THEN he “went looking for the children”. They’re his words, made to amp up the creepy-factor when he leans in all close to threaten Clare with the knife. He continues, explaining that he found the two little girls crying and blubbering with snot dripping down their noses. He can’t stand the sound of girls crying and he didn’t want to waste his ammo so he used his hunting knife to slit their throats. (But why? A knife gets you closer to the crying and the snot. Why not save your ammo for the screaming crying girls, Carl E.?!)

Then he does the standard psycho-dude “Eeny Meeny Miney Mo” thing to intimidate her more before asking her to guess which of the girls he’s got in the bag in the back seat.

But you know what he really wants? A good old-fashioned story! All she has to do is tell him one and he’ll let her live. SHE’S A WRITER. THIS CAN’T GO WRONG!

Part 2: 8PM

It’s an hour later and Clare still hasn’t told her story. She starts blubbering and Carl E. tells her to pull over so they can “get this throat cutting part over with”, which is hilarious, because for a killer, he’s pretty practical about the whole thing. Clare protests, which only exacerbates the situation. Carl E. explains that he’s a sociopath with no empathy and asks how her crying “fits in with her survival plan”. Like, I can’t. It’s so great.

Then he goes on a tirade about how women can’t have it both ways when they about to get murdered. No crying. No whining and no laboured heavy breathing. Like they just gotta grow a pair and enjoy the ride.

“IT’S 2020, NANCY PELOSI!” he shouts, to my utter delight.

Clare crashes her car into a highway sign, which temporarily knocks Carl E. out. Clare runs out of the car and screams for help, but then Carl E. comes to. He’d had it up to here with her “fucking female noise”. And it’s like, come on dude, if you hate it so much, why’d you use your sociopath skillz for murder? Just go and become a business manager like all the normal sociopaths.

Luckily, he passes out again and collapses all bloody-faced on the side of the road. Clare runs back to the car and calls 911. She’s told to drive to the nearby gas station, where she relays her story to the cops. They go to investigate the bag with the body in it, but SURPRISE, it’s not a body but an inflatable sex doll.

She tries to show the police Carl E.’s messages, but the messages have suddenly vanished from her phone. His profile’s missing too. The cops also checked out the fancy rich-person house. There were only two totally alive old people living there.

The police peace out and the guy working in the gas station asks Clare what’s going on. She pulls the suitcase and the sex doll out of her car and throws them into the dumpster. Gas station dude’s like, “My mob manager named Vlad is gonna be really pissed if he finds this in the garbage!”. He’s desperate and scared of losing his job and Clare finally gives in, because she’s just a broke Millennial with a shitty job too. Solidarity and all.

She apologizes and explains the situation, and then Gas Station dude tells her to forget Carl and that she can encrypt her Orbit profile. He knows how to do that because he’s a programmer. For future reference.

He also tells her, “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!” It’s not because he’s in on it, no. She’s got a Kansas license plate!

Still, one’s gotta wonder the way that Clare watches him walk back into the gas station. She thumbs over her mother’s contact card on her phone, but instead puts on a remix of Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and drives home.

Then the creepy music box ringtone goes off again:

SHOULDA RUN ME OVER WHEN U HAD THE CHANCE NANCY PELOSI! #DumbShitScaryMovieBitchesDo

Then:

BUT GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!

He even uses a flamenco dancer emoji. Like, I LIKE this guy. He’s fun. This is fun. For me, though. Not for Clare. She rolls up her window and spots a car following her.

Part 3: 9PM

The car follows Clare for another hour. She takes a detor to escape it and heads back to the apartment. The parking garage gate doesn’t close all the way behind her, but this is dramatic irony, so she heads back to her RIDICULOUSLY MASSIVE APARTMENT to feed her tiny pink sequin-sweatered dog, Pebbles.

Pebbles, however, isn’t hungry. (For some reason…) We do, however, get a nice look at Clare’s EXPANSIVE KITCHEN with its table that could seat 12 people EASILY and its magnetic knife holder full of cool knives with handles that look like corn. Because Kansas, right?

Clare changes into sweatpants and calls Orbit to complain about Carl E. BUT WAIT, it turns out Carl E. already made a complaint about Clare, saying that she was the one who threatened to kill him and “bury him in her field of sunflowers”.

The camera pans out, revealing Clare’s bed full of cool sunflower pillows. (More Kansas, right?) The dog starts barking and the bathroom light flickers. Clare takes Pebbles, but not before the camera pans to reveal that one of the cool corn-handled knives is gone.

It’s the biggest knife too, because of course. But Carl E. already has a cool hunting knife. Why ruin the corn knife with murder too?

Clare leaves the apartment without shoes, and there’s a fun realistic moment where she notices this and is just like, FUCK!, but she heads for the elevator and notices Carl E. approaching down the hallway.

“I want my story, Clare!” he says.

Cool tension music builds.

Carl E. walks a little faster, but maintains a Jason-style approach so the music can reach peak levels when the elevator doors finally open.

“No fair!” Carl E. screams, and then breaks into a run.

The doors close just in time and Clare puts Pebbles down on the floor to gather herself. But then the doors open again and a hand grabs her neck and pulls her forward.

Theories

Now, did the elevator move and somebody’s grabbing her from the bottom floor, or did the doors just open again? It’s not clear, but what I’d like to be clear about is that I don’t think Carl E. is human and maybe this is all a Secret Window-style tale about another writer who can’t tell a story right.

Because why else are their names so similar? The reason why I keep calling him “Carl E.” is because he’s referred to this way in the show and in the credits. He even referred to himself as “Carl E.” in Part 1, which sounded a lot like “Carly” in the trailer. But yeah. I think it means something.

Also, when Carl E. appears in the hallway, his face is clean and there appears to be no evidence of the head wound his sustained in the crash in Part 2.

And the technology stuff is odd, too, which will probably lead us to more interaction with the fun Gas Station dude later down the line.

So yeah, I’m having a ton of fun with this show.

It’s some fun intimate suspense that also provides a few good laughs. The writing’s pretty sharp and the characters are fun and realistic.

Are you watching anything on Quibi?

The mom in me actually appreciates the small episode format. I can guilelessly watch a portion while pretending to take a dump with the door locked. Episodes of The Stranger fit the chapter format, but the other show I tried, When The Streetlights Go Out, really struggled to keep its plot contained within ten minute chapters. So it’s pretty hit or miss. Netflix already has a couple of short-format shows in their catalogue. (Check out Bonding, if you’re interested in a great feminist LGBTQ+ BDSM heartfelt buddy comedy.)

Anyway, I only subscribed to Quibi to watch The Stranger, so once I’m done with that I’ll be done with Quibi. At $6.99 a month WITH ADS ($10.99 without ads) that’s a lot of money to throw away for such minimal content.

What do you think so far? Have you checked out The Stranger yet?

The post Quibi’s THE STRANGER Recap: Parts 1-3 appeared first on REBECCAJONESHOWE.COM.

FREE STORY: “Coping Mechanisms”

I promised you a hot free pandemic story last week and “Coping Mechanisms” is now available! For free! For everyone!

Here’s the synopsis for “Coping Mechanisms”:

During the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, Costco employee Jamie endures a violent workplace incident, which tangles her into the calming control of her new coworker, Brendan.

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Read “COPING MECHANISMS” NOW




Pandemic Fiction Time

This current pandemic is really hitting hard. I think we’re all doing our best here, though I hope you’re staying inside and staying safe. Plenty of writers are sharing free fiction and “Coping Mechanisms” is my contribution.

It might feel silly and non-important, but I think that pandemic fiction will eventually become standard in this new reality. This will become history. This is primary resource time. And honestly, while the reality of this pandemic iskind of ridiculous at times, it’s work putting it all down in fiction.

Writing in a time of Pandemic

I’m having a bit of a rough go of things. This Easter weekend beat me up but I think I’m okay. That said, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to write non-pandemic fiction for a bit.

Last night I recorded a little VLOG in preparation for the “Coping Mechanisms” story release. In it, I talk about writer’s block and how us writers can cope. I also mention my recent read, The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters, which helped during my sleepless nights this weekend.

How are you Coping?

I hope you’re doing well and I hope you enjoy the story. Let me know what you think and please share share share! You can also support me by subscribing to my Patreon for more dark and sexy stories or doing a one-time donation on Ko-fi.

Keep well, everyone!

The post FREE STORY: “Coping Mechanisms” appeared first on REBECCAJONESHOWE.COM.

MOODBOARD: “Coping Mechanisms”

Well, friends, I promised you this story. It’s called “Coping Mechanisms” and it’s my so-called “pandemic erotica”. (It’s not realllly erotica, though.) This MOODBOARD post explains all, but first I gotta tell you just how weird it is looking for coronavirus-theme stock photos. Like, I know that news sites use these things but I needed them to look more personal and it was nearly impossible. Hopefully this MOODBOARD looks inciting enough for you to want to keep reading.

Let’s talk “Coping Mechanisms”, because this story was my coping mechanism once things started to really get crazy after I posted my UPDATE: Coronavirus! blog. In it, I mentioned my proposed return to work on April 1st. Since then, my workplace has been closed and uh, I get to continue holing myself inside my house day in and day out.

Essential Work

I’ve got essential worker friends in every field. Nurses and bus drivers and janitors and the like. My husband and my sister and brother-in-law also work in the alcohol industry, which is one of the only industries to actually see an increase in sales right now, so I understand how hard it must be continuing to work like normal (or overwork yourself) in the middle of a damn global pandemic.

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But I gotta say, I realllllllly feel for all my fellow retail workers who are considered “essential”. I work in a store that sells specialty coffee and fancy maple syrup and imported candies and pesto and crap, but that stuff ain’t essential. And thankfully, unlike stupid Michael’s, my company shut their doors.

People are paranoid and worried. I can only imagine what it must feel like to head into work like every other day when it so clearly isn’t “every other day”. It’s a new normal, where you might catch a deadly illness at work. Great. And sure, much of the panic buying has eased after stores set limits on specific products, but it’s still weird. Now they only let a certain number of people int the store at a time. Now they have IKEA-like arrows guiding your pathway through the store.

I haven’t been inside a store since this whole thing really got crazy, but I can imagine.

Coping in Crisis

We’re all in varied boats in the same ocean right now (well, us in the real world anyway, and NOT those celebrities singing “Imagine”). Some of us are quarantining. Some of us are working. And yes, some of us are fucking idiots who are not adhering to any of the social distancing guidelines. If you fall into that last camp, you should probably think things through. This isn’t NORMAL and you need to stop pretending it is normal. Get your favourite bandanna out and make a fucking mask so we can all pretend like it’s the wild west, but you know, in a grocery store.

I miss the grocery store, so I put myself there in fiction form. It felt cathartic and proved effective at easing the news-related anxiety at the end of the day. Originally I wanted to get really sexy with things, like write a LEGIT erotica, but then I started churning out grocery store hand washing scenes. I inserted a bunch of references two current events.

And you know, if you can write a legit pandemic erotica, go right ahead. I have a hard time writing stories just for fun. I can’t help but get all self-righteous. Every story is a chance to say something, which is where the “literary” aspect of my work comes in. I’m too much of a jerk and too much of a hipster. I’m sorry.

“Coping Mechanisms” takes place in a Costco right when the whole toilet paper thing started getting out of hand. It follows Jamie, a begrudging essential employee who trains her new Type-A coworker, Brendan on the same day that a toilet paper riot breaks out in store.

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Love in the Time of Coronavirus

I honestly don’t know how to categorize this story. It’s not erotica but it’s also not a romance. I myself quite enjoy “weird relationship fiction”, wherein two characters engage in a weird attraction without really understanding it.

I’m also a real sucker for two characters who get it on in the middle of uncertain times. Like you know that stupid trope, where two people survive a plane crash or something and end up boning in the woods because of their bond in a shared experience?

Yeah, that. I’m always down with that.

That’s essentially what “Coping Mechanisms” is.

And yes, there’s some physical stuff, (because I wasn’t going to not make my characters do stuff), but I hope I was at least responsible about it in terms of social distancing. I like character tension that focuses on power dynamics and personality traits.

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Real Life Inspiration

Usually I have fun things to share in these MOODBOARD posts but I really have nothing for you this time around. We’re all here dealing with this shit. There’s some personal stuff I put in there, including my worries about my parents and the fact that all this hand-washing is drying the hell out of my hands.

It also being March-April, we’re in the middle of a seasonal change, which is WREAKING ABSOLUTE HAVOC on my hair. It’s always static and now it gets ridiculous stringy and greasy by early evening. I hate it but at least I get to look like trash at home.

I also included some references to TOUCHING YOUR FACE and Tiger King and Nine Inch Nails and comrade Britney Spears and those idiot college kids who went to Spring Break despite the warnings.

SPOILERS!: Over 40 of them tested positive for COVID-19.

Which leads us to the one major lesson we should all learn…

We can still enjoy things!

Within reason, anyway.

It’s tough right now for everyone. Most of my time communicating with others is spent online now, though I did have a nice Zoom call with my Bible Study group last Thursday. It was nice to catch up and see people’s faces and joke around like we did in person over two weeks ago.

Little things count right now and I sincerely hope you’re all finding something positive in every day. I keep thinking about how fortunate we are to have technology. This would all be a different experience without it.

So let’s keep strong, stay inside, lift those who are struggling and read sexy fiction.

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Want to Read “Coping Mechanisms”?

I need to do one last proofread but I will be posting “Coping Mechanisms” to the website for EVERYONE VERY SOON.

I will also be making an ebook version that will be a mailing list exclusive, so please sign up for my mailing list. You’ll get the free BEDSIDE STORIES ebook that contains a choice selection my back-catalogue. I’ll send you “Coping Mechanisms” as soon as it drops.

I’ll also love you. My mailing list could use more subscribers.

Stay sexy and stay indoors, everyone!

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EXCERPT: “White Rabbit”

It’s April 1st and I’ve got a brand new story for those of you who are Patreon supporters. This one is my feminist Easter-themed horror story, “White Rabbit”.

This month, I’ve decided to provide my non-subscribers with an excerpt. If you enjoy the excerpt, you can read the rest of “White Rabbit”, along with my other exclusive stories by joining my Patreon at the $5 tier. Subscribers also get access to ebook copies of my work, along with exclusive blogs.

Here’s the synopsis:

On Easter break of 2017, college student Ashlynn revisits the flood-ravaged suburb of her childhood, confronting not her nostalgia, but the mistake she made as a misguided teen.

WHITE RABBIT: An Excerpt

My childhood home stands before me. Its fake Victorian facade managed to hold through the High River flood of 2013, but just like every other house on the block, it simply waits, its windows black and its grass yellow and sepia-stained with memory.

It’s nighttime now. An April breeze sweeps over the cul-de-sac, scattering debris. The dead oak tree in the front lawn twists and writhes, the branches like fingers calling me home.

I don’t dare step onto the driveway.

Nobody lives here now.

Beachwood Estates was built over floodplain that should have never been developed. After the flood, the neighbourhood was condemned and all the families were forced out, the houses put up for auction under the stipulation that buyers would have to relocate the homes.

Behind me, Darren and Alex light fireworks on the abandoned street. The crackling fuses sounds like angry crickets in my ears. Red explosions flicker across the house’s blue vinyl siding as their laughter roars up into the empty night.

We’re all too old for this, really. I didn’t want to come but Lilly begged me, saying that she’d drive, that I could drink and smoke as much as I wanted to dull the memory.

“Hey, Ash,” Darren calls. “You should check out your old bedroom.”

Alex laughs. “Oh shit, yeah!” He slurps his beer and sets it down to light another roman candle.

“Don’t laugh,” Lilly says, slapping Alex’s arm as the fuse flickers.

I drop my dead joint on the cement in front of the house, staring up at darkened window that used to be mine. Another explosion sparks red across the house, casting glare over shattered glass. The hole reveals the black inside. It’s a void that I stare into, an emptiness that tenses all my limbs.

A streak of light moves beyond the glass. It looks like glare, but then it shifts, human-like against the wall inside.

A small firework explodes right against my bare ankle.

“Fuck!” I cry, scrambling out of the way, dropping my beer in the process. The liquid spills from the can and drips down toward the storm drain.

The boys laugh. Lilly laughs.

“Fuck you guys,” I snap, tucking my hair behind my ear. I glance at the window again.

The white’s still there. It’s taken form.

A bunny. A costume.

A fucking mascot.

It moves into window. Its giant plastic eyes stare down from the place where everything went wrong. It smiles. Grimaces. Accuses. It raises a hand, extends its reach through the shattered glass.

I try to swallow but its thick furry pointing finger extends, curls, luring me in from the night. I cry out. I try to turn. A pressure forms right where my silver heart necklace used to hang.

My scream erupts with the next explosion of red behind me.

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