Big Sky Nears the End of Season 3 with the Emotional ‘Are You Mad?’

The answer: Hell yes! Just about everyone is mad in this episode, especially Sheriff Beau Arlen. And with good reason!

(And it turns out, some people fit the alternate definition of that question too…)

Here’s a recap of the penultimate episode and all things Beau Arlen as we head into the season 3 finale! The episode is a tension-filled roller coaster from the very first moment. Sunny comes home to find bloody handprints on the wall, calling for Buck – but it’s Paige who responds, carrying a big knife. She accuses Sunny of siccing her psychotic husband on her.

Paige: I killed him, and I’m gonna do the same to you.

Sunny holds her off, then Jenny and Cassie show up and tell Paige to drop the knife, it’s over.

Meanwhile, our favorite sheriff is in his office, looking at a framed photo of Emily as a baby in a ‘Daddy’s Girl’ frame.

He calls to check on her and she answers as she comes back from the coffee shop, juggling coffees and banana bread.

Emily: Consider me checked. Talk later?

A typical father and teenage daughter interaction, but I love how nothing discourages Beau from being protective of his “little girl”.

Poppernak says they found out who the guy from the hotel was that Beau shot, and Beau expresses his anger at Avery for this whole mess, saying  “that smug sonofabitch saw an opportunity to steal $15 million” without thinking about the consequences. Officer Madge interrupts them, and Beau asks hopefully if it’s breakfast burrito time?

Madge: I stopped serving men in 1999.

Beau: Okay…

I love Madge. The quirky characters in this show are a big part of what makes it so good.

She tells them the news that Paige is alive, and Sunny is currently being held for questioning.

Jenny questions Paige in her hospital bed. She says Buck took her somewhere underground in the woods but she doesn’t’ know where. Paige insists Sunny was in on it, that’s why she went after her. When Jenny doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously enough, Paige gets upset.

Paige: That psycho tortured me! He had hearts in jars, human trophies!

That gets Jenny’s attention for sure. We knew it!!

Beau questions Sunny, saying she’d better start talking. She insists she doesn’t know anything about the bleeding heart killer no matter what Paige says, that she was trying to keep Paige safe from the people she took the money from. Beau advises her to get out in front of all this, that this is her one chance, but Sunny is more concerned about Walter – now that Paige was found alive, he should be released. Maybe, she says, he could help them find Buck.

Beau considers.

I love that Jensen gets to do scenes with Reba McEntire. And though Sunny has been complicit in some not okay things, I can’t help but feel bad for her and relate to her love for her kids (even if she totally screwed that up too…)

Also, I may be entirely enthralled with Ackles in that faux fur collared jacket, especially in screencaps like that one. He looks like he maybe belongs in Game of Thrones and I would be here for that too.

Anyway, it’s more than a little unexpected that I’ve ended up sympathizing with Walter (and even with Paige a little), but I was happy to see that Walter is indeed released from prison. Sunny arrives to pick him up and he reluctantly gets in the car with her. She says he was right about Buck and she should have listened to him, but Walter is angry and hurt that she didn’t and I don’t blame him. Of course that fire wasn’t okay, but the guy was abused and then lived in the woods his whole life so I’ve got a soft spot for him.

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The Winchesters Go To Jail in Supernatural Season 2’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’

We’re finally getting back to the Supernatural rewatch after a break for life being too damn busy – oh OG Supernatural, I have missed you! We pick up with Season 2’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, written by John Shiban and directed by Mike Rohl, which aired in April 2007. I had fallen madly in love with the show earlier in Season 2, so by the time this episode aired, I was glued to my TV screen, probably with a piece of pie and a whole lot of excitement as I sat down to watch, having shooed the kids out of the living room so I could squee to my heart’s content.

This is a great episode – it’s Sam and Dean for the entire episode, something that seems like an absolute feast after Jared and Jensen needed to share the burden of constant filming in later episodes (understandably). It’s directed and filmed beautifully, the prison scenes darkly lit, spooky and gritty just like the show itself in these early seasons. Rohl plays with perspective throughout, using it to evoke the claustrophobic feel of being incarcerated, unable to escape or even see clearly the dangers around you. And of course, the acting is incredible. Jared and Jensen were so young, and already so damn good.

The Road So Far reminds us that Agent Henriksen is onto the Winchesters, telling Dean on the phone that he knows about the desecrations and the thefts, that he knows about Sam too, and about their dad. Mention of his family is what gets to Dean, as always.

Dean: You don’t know crap about my Dad.

And then we see Sam and Dean at the end of the job that saw Henriksen almost catching them.

Dean: We are so screwed…

And… NOW

Workers in a dark eerie prison, using a blowtorch to open up an old cell block. We see their breath come out as visible steam, and uh oh. Something invisible blows by them, freaking them out. The lights flicker. All of us experienced Supernatural viewers know that’s trouble. A prisoner calls to the guards, the lights flickering, the clock on the wall stopping at 10 o’clock.

The guard tells him to cool it and go to sleep, but he keeps calling, the guard ignoring Randall’s insistence that he saw something. The lights go out and the guard goes to walk away when suddenly something slams the door on his arm and he’s attacked by something invisible, Randall watching from his cell as the guard screams.

The title card appears, and we jump to three months later as Sam and Dean break into a dark building at the Arkansas Museum of Anthropology at night. It’s a beautifully filmed typical Supernatural scene, lit by the brothers’ flashlights. The brothers are not in agreement.

Sam: I hate this plan, Dean.

Dean: I got that the first ten times I heard it.

They walk right past a motion sensor, open up a glass case and take out an artifact or two – a dagger, an axe – then put them down as they hear a noise and the command ‘Freeze! Down on your  knees now!’

As a viewer, it’s confusing because the Winchesters are never this careless, and they do make a half hearted attempt to evade capture, but then comply and get on their knees.

Sam is annoyed (which seems to make sense because who wouldn’t be annoyed while getting arrested)  but Dean actually gives him a little smile, which… huh?

Sam is cranky doing mug shots too, and again, who wouldn’t be? Though he can’t help but look handsome anyway because that’s just Sam.

gif antiquerss

Dean, however, is almost enjoying himself in a scene which is now iconic for the series.

Dean: I call this one the Blue Steel.

He purses his lips and cocks an eyebrow, and somehow because he’s Dean Winchester he still looks hot.

Dean: Who looks better, me or Nick Nolte?

A little pop culture reference of the time there.

Dean stays cocky when an agent comes in who we recognize as Henriksen, asking for a cheeseburger with extra onions. (Dean does not recognize him, having not seen his face yet).

Henriksen: You think you’re funny.

Dean: I think I’m adorable.

(He is)

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‘Big Sky’ Returns and Sheriff Beau Has All Our Hearts

Big Sky returned with a bang last week – and with lots going on, including with our favorite sheriff, Beau Arlen. Here’s my Beau-intensive recap (which is in part a great excuse to post lots and lots of caps and gifs of Jensen Ackles making Beau Arlen the latest in a long line of ridiculously hot and complex and heartbreaking characters that we all fall in love with). So enjoy!

But first, the story. The episode picks up just where it left off, Jenny finding her mother in her house bloody and roughed up and frantic, saying she messed up and needs her help, insisting the 30 grand she stole is gone and she grifted the wrong guy. Jenny is at the end of her rope, saying she can’t do this anymore, tying her mother’s hands and preparing to take her to jail, Gigi insisting they have to get out of there, it’s not safe. And sure enough, the bad guys break down the door, taking Jenny down in the process – and drag her mother out.

Poor Jenny.

And where’s our favorite sheriff? Curled up on his deck chair outside under a blanket while Carla and Emily sleep in his trailer. Keeping watch, a rifle at his side ala Dean Winchester with his knife under his pillow.

Emily joins him, saying she can’t sleep, and he gives her his blanket. I love Dad Beau.

He tells her that Avery isn’t a good guy, that he tried to steal $15 Million, that he put Carla and Emily in danger.

Beau: What does she see in him?

Then he thinks better of that.

Beau: Sorry, I shouldn’t say that to you.

I love that even in the brief glimpses we get of him, we see that Beau tries hard to be a good parent to his daughter. He’s not perfect, and he knows it, but he tries. His conflicted character, pulled by his anger to say things he shouldn’t and not keep the right boundaries with Emily, feels realistic, and we relate to his struggle to do the right thing even though what he really wants to do is badmouth Avery from one side of the world to the other.

Emily says maybe Avery’s afraid of losing Carla if he doesn’t have money.

Then she asks a serious question that has apparently driven a wedge between Beau and his family for quite some time – what happened in Houston with his partner?

Beau deflects, saying she knows what happened, but Emily calls him on it, saying he never talked about it.

Beau: Not much to talk about.

gifs becauseofthebowties

It’s painfully clear that’s not true, to us and to Emily, and Ackles lets us see every bit of the pain Beau is still in after the loss of his partner even as Beau tries to deflect. Sometimes when people are grieving, it cuts them off from the other loved ones in their lives, and it seems like that happened with Beau after he lost his partner, perhaps out of the guilt he feels about it. That’s pretty tragic, because then it’s loss on top of loss, and that’s hard to get through. Beau is still suffering from both those losses – his partner and his family. Damn it, I’m caring way too much about this character who is most likely a one season addition to the show, but I just can’t help it!

Emily: Mom never needed you to be perfect, she just wanted you to let her in more.

She leaves and goes back inside, leaving him looking so sad it broke my heart. Jensen Ackles can make you feel every bit of what his character is feeling, and it HURTS.

And damn it, he looks so good while he’s hurting and it’s all confusing as hell and please give me more of it.

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Supernatural and Radio Company Take Nashville 2022!

Welcome to Part 2 of our Nashcon coverage with lots of pretty pretty pictures courtesy of Prior Studios. I was so happy to have Kim, my partner in crime, back with me at a con. And we all benefit from the photos she was able to take. I had to have a cold drink beside me to post this article, and it’s winter on the East Coast of the US…

So here we go with Part 2, starting with Sunday, J2 day! The boys looked fine fine fine at the morning gold panel in gray (Jared) and ivory over plaid (Jensen) and those long long legs.

They wasted no time in getting to the banter that we all enjoy so much.

Jared said that he had been excited to wear a scarf yesterday.

Jensen: You live in a bad place to have a scarf fetish…

They love to reminisce about their time on Supernatural and I am unspeakably grateful that they want to keep talking about it as much as I want to keep hearing about it.

Jensen: We were full on kleptomaniacs on Supernatural.

Jared: We got little gift packages from Props…

I don’t think we STILL know everything that they ended up with when the show wrapped – and good for them! Look how joyously unrepentant they are.

Jared: I stole…uh, that is, two things went missing from Bobby’s house. I have the Samulet, and an army man from the car.

Jensen: Jared and I snuck in and went full Sam and Dean…

I love it. Can you just imagine the two of them being all sneaking, channeling their inner Sam and Dean? Good for you, boys! I am so glad that Jared has the Samulet, that warms my heart.

They also were remembering the early episode Wendigo, when the actor who was playing Roy was all gung ho to be set on fire and then was suddenly screaming “Put me out!”

Jared and Jensen at the time: What have we gotten ourselves into?

Fifteen years later… lol

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Supernatural Nashcon 2022 – Friday and Saturday with Misha Collins and SNS!

Nashville is one of my favorite Supernatural conventions. It’s usually around the holidays, and it’s usually at the Gaylord Opryland, which is a ridiculous Disneyland of a hotel with a river running through it and a boat you can take from one side to the other and so much walking that it makes my still-messed-up knee hurt just thinking about it. But I kinda love it too – also it’s a con that a lot of my good friends go to, and that alone makes it special.

This year the con was in a different hotel (sans inside river and boat) and Alana didn’t make it, but Kim and I had a lovely room and I was thrilled to have her beside me taking photos – I’ve missed her photos but I’ve missed her being my partner in crime at cons even more! She didn’t make it to many panels but the ones she did make, whew, there are some pretty pretty pictures from them! So this con gets two posts, this one for all the Friday people fun and Saturday with the Saturday Night Special concert, and stay tuned for the Sunday festivities and the Radio Company debut concert wrap up – it was a busy and awesome few days!

I caught a little of Osric Chau and Adam Rose’s panel – when I walked in they were reminiscing about how they initially bonded over Osric’s Goku cosplay. I remember that! I loved the early days of the cons when Os would show up in some incredible cosplay and Gil or Misha or Jared or Jensen would have no clue what to say in response. Priceless!

The two got along famously, and were soon busy planning a joint birthday party – which would inevitably be amazing.

Adam has become internet famous for being the blue cardigan guy on TikTok. He said it’s always funny when someone knows him as that and then suddenly is like, wait, you’re on Supernatural??

A fan asked how he convinced Jensen to do the cardigan TikTok.

Adam: I said, wanna do a TikTok? And he said…okay…

Of course Adam was planning a new TikTok with Jensen – maybe an evil red cardigan? Or maybe one with Jared?

Osric: Do they make them in Jared size??

They were asked what Supernatural’s tag line would be, and pondered.

Osric: Bitch…jerk?

Seems legit.

Osric was asked about doing the first Supernatural HIllywood Show video and said he loved doing it.

Osric: How many casts are so down for doing a parody of their own show??

They talked about writing, which Osric is doing a lot of recently. He also wrote an insightful chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood about his experience playing Kevin on Supernatural, which I love. He said that he was so sad about his character dying that he snuck out after filming that scene without even saying goodbye, he was so emotional.

Briana Buckmaster and Kim Rhodes also had a panel on Friday.

Kim got some questions about autism and had some great advice: if you want to know about autistic people, ask autistic people!

They both talked about how much they loved working on supernatural, with how collaborative and respectful an environment it was for an actor.

Briana: It’s wonderful to work on a show that makes you feel like an artist.

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Supernatural Phoenix 2022!

The Supernatural Phoenix con was special this year – a lot of my friends were there, which always makes it extra wonderful. A bunch of us talked one of our friends into coming to this con, and then surprised her with friends coming in from all over since this would be her last con – yes, she’s over 80, but honestly she’s 80 plus years young! It was so wonderful to see how surprised she (and half of our other group of friends) was to see the other half, and to make sure that the guest of honor enjoyed every second of what will probably be her last SPN con (not that she’s going anywhere, but this is the local one for her!) It got me thinking that someday I’ll have my own “last Supernatural convention” and that made me need tissues. But it was also so much of what cons and fandom are about, making friends from all over who support each other all year long.

In fact, there are only a few “Official Supernatural conventions” left, including this weekend’s Nashville one and the long-postponed San Francisco con in 2023. It feels weird that the rest of the 2023 cons are not called Supernatural conventions, even if we’ll have Jared, Jensen and Misha at all of them and many of the ‘regular’ guests that we know and love. Change is inevitable, I know, but I don’t have to like it – or at least I get to be ambivalent about it! I am excited to meet the casts of Walker and Windy and The Winchesters and The Boys and Big Sky of course, I just want everyone who I know and love to stick around too. Good thing I’m not in charge of conventions, they’d have about a million guests…

Friday was a short day for me because I spent most of it either flying or having lunch with my friends. The hotel had an outdoor patio with trees and water and cornhole and it was absolutely lovely, so we grabbed a big table out there and just caught up. I made it into the convention center in time to catch some of Adam Fergus’ panel and hear his story about being scared of everything as a kid, including the werewolf he was sure he saw at night that turned out to be a hat and coat on the bannister.

Adam talked about how on Supernatural, Jared was surprised to find out he was Irish. He also said that recently he had to do a Texas accent for a role and wanted it to be believable – so he called Jensen! (Actually that was a joke – he said he always has a voice coach when he has to do an American accent)

Someone asked about his favorite episodes and he said that one of the reasons that Supernatural was on for so long was the great writing and the way they took risks, like Baby and Scoobynatural. So agreed!

Speaking of writing, Adam wrote a chapter in There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done all about his time on Supernatural and his appreciation of fandom that’s really interesting, if you haven’t checked it out yet.

Jason Manns was busy as the Friday emcee, and it was nice to see his smiling face.

Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster also did a panel, which started out with Briana channeling her inner Stephen Norton… Shhhh, don’t tell him!

Kim and Briana always have something inspirational to say, and this panel was no exception.

Kim: I am fucking allowed to feel good about myself!

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‘The Winchesters’ Mid Season Finale Brings Back a Familiar Face

The mid season finale was aptly titled ‘Reflections’ and that’s what it asked some of its main characters to do. Supernatural (the Mothership for this prequel series) has always been about family relationships, so I was eager to watch this episode, which promised not one but TWO missing fathers returning. The episode was also directed by Supernatural’s Richard Speight, Jr. so that was an extra incentive to be excited. It also had me reflecting on my long history with this universe, since Speight has been so much a part of all things Supernatural and the return of Henry Winchester also meant the return of Supernatural’s Gil McKinney. That meant that this episode was, for me, the most emotional one so far.

We get Dean Winchester right away with his introductory monologue: Comes a time in every hunt when the fightin’ starts. And the difference between winning and losing isn’t whether you have the holy water, the wooden stake or the silver bullet. It’s whether you’ve got the grit to get the job done.

Certainly something that Sam and Dean had, no matter what got thrown at them, and not something that the John and Mary we know in the future were lacking. In this timeline, John and Mary stalk the radio station tower that’s calling all the monsters to the Akrida in a beautifully filmed scene in an overgrown field and then inside a dark abandoned radio tower.

Speight always gives us some shots that strike me as beautiful in their composition, and I enjoy looking for them in each episode he directs – this one didn’t disappoint.

Unexpectedly, Mary finds her father’s bag covered in blood (he apparently puts his initials on everything – someone must have sent him to camp a lot as a kid).

Mary freaks out, feeling guilty about the way they left things. She told him that she wanted to leave hunting and then Samuel went out on his own, and now she fears that maybe he’s not coming back. It’s such a common struggle for people who have lost someone and their last interaction was less than positive, and it can cause painful feelings of guilt and regret that are hard to get past. I felt for Mary there, as she confessed how much it was bothering her. I wondered if John too had felt some guilt – we don’t know what he had said to his father on the night Henry disappeared. Were there regrets there too?

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Big Sky – Mid Season Finale!

I think we all expected the mid season finale of Big Sky to be creepy, scary and shocking – and it was! It was also unexpectedly tender and touching if you’re a Beau Arlen fan (which I am. Obviously.) So let’s recap all things Beau Arlen for this latest episode, as we head into a winter hiatus for the show.

We pick up where we left off (I love that this show does that), with Paige and Sunny uneasily figuring out what each other are up to. Paige says that Walter helped her and that she knows he’s Sunny’s son, and asks for her help finding her bag and her journal.  Sunny says she knows Paige was after a big sum of money and she thinks she knows who took the journal before the cops could. Paige offers to help get Walter out of jail if Sunny helps her find that journal. Who thinks this will go well? Exactly no one.

Beau and Jenny ask Walter more questions, telling him they’ve figured out his secret from the newspaper clippings Cassie found – that he murdered his parents in a house fire.

Walter: They weren’t my parents.

They ask him if he also killed the other child who was in the house, who was never found. Walter insists he was protecting her, that they hurt her even worse than they did him.

Walter: I set her free.

Beau: Meaning you killed her? The same damn thing.

They don’t believe Walter was able to survive on his own, and ask who helped him, mentioning Sunny and Buck.

Walter: Leave Sunny out of this.

Hmmmm.

Beau and Jenny confer with Cassie, who wonder if maybe Buck was his accomplice – and if the other kid (Meredith) is maybe still alive, though they haven’t been able to find any information on her.

Jenny gets a call from Pop. He’s at a friend’s daughter’s wedding, where he meets a pretty lady and has some fancy food, and then immediately it gets turned into a crime scene when the groom-to-be is killed. Poor Pop.

Jenny: There was a murder at the wedding.

Beau: Oh, come on! Hey, does this mean you’re Pop’s plus one for the wedding?

Jenny: Jealous?

Beau: Yeah, I wanna be Pop’s plus one!

So cute.

Jenny goes off to help Pop, and Denise and Emily pitch in to help find Meredith in the system. Denise calls him Bobo.

Emily: Bobo???

Cassie: Yeah, it’s the cringiest of all time.

Beau: It’s a harmless term of endearment. What you got, Denise-ie-poo?

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Get Ready for Big Sky’s Mid Season Finale!

How is it already time for the midseason finale of Big Sky? Tonight is a brand new episode that looks like it will be even more gasp-inducing than most of them are. Meanwhile, the cast and crew are finishing up shooting the season finale this week. We know that Jensen Ackles signed on for one season of the creepy show, so there’s no guarantee we’ll see Sheriff Beau Arlen again after this season – but let’s enjoy him while we have him! Here’s my recap of all things Sheriff Beau from the last episode of Big Sky to catch us up for tonight.

As always, there were lots of twists and turns, both in the plot and, in this episode, emotionally too. Thanks for making me care about this character and showing us his vulnerable side as well as his badass side, Mr. Ackles. Now I’m going to miss him!

bts filming the finale with a Big Sky crew member

Picking up where we left off, Beau and Jenny get to do some more interrogating, this time of the captured Walter, who doesn’t tell them anything and isn’t in the system, so they literally don’t know who he is.  I forgot to mention we also get some Ackles comedic chops in this episode too.

Beau: Mind if I call you Toby?

Sheriff Beau isn’t very happy that the mystery man left them with “a damn murder cluster”. They show him the photos of the people they think he killed, and he doesn’t react to Luke or Mary. When the photo of Paige is put down, however, Walter gets emotional – and Beau definitely notices.

Walter confesses to killing Paige, determined to protect her. Sometimes I really do feel bad for Walter. But only sometimes.

Cassie questions Walter later, asking about the hiker and why he moved the body and left a figurine with him.

Walter: I didn’t kill him. People always think the worst of me.

He says the figurine was meant for protection, for when the person passes over. Cassie asks why there weren’t figurines on Mary or Luke, didn’t they need protection?

Walter: Not from me.

Sometimes Walter tells it like it is also.

Beau gets to spend that time with Emily he’s been craving, and we get to see the soft Dad side of the Sheriff, which awwww. I love his trailer set up, with the beautiful scenic vista behind it and the lights strung up all around. Nicely done, Sheriff Beau, you’ve got a real flair for decorating.

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‘The Winchesters’ Art of Dying

The last episode of The Winchesters was special in an unexpected way – the entire cast and EPs Jensen and Danneel Ackles took to Instagram to do a live reaction video every time there was a commercial break in the episode’s airing. It was frankly insane and chaotic and thoroughly enjoyable as I went back and forth between watching the show, watching the cast and grumpy “old man” Jensen commentate, and trying to tweet a little myself.

 

I wish the Supernatural cast had done more of that back in the day!

At one point an ad for Walker Independence (from EP Jared Padalecki) came on and the whole cast of The Winchesters started cheering and saying what a great show it is.

Jensen: All in the family!

Awww.

The cast also complained about Drake Rodger’s smelly farts, prompting Ackles to reminisce about Supernatural.

Jensen: It’s like Jared 2.0…

Okay, back to the episode – which had a great opener. A woman runs through the woods, falling, frightened, limping in the dark forest. She takes refuge in an old barn, starting to draw some protection sigils on the door, but the lights begin to flicker and then – in true horror movie fashion – she thinks the sound she heard was just a bird and shrugs, relieved.

Of course that is when she gets suddenly pulled up to the ceiling and turned into a bloody mess. That was a scary opening though – in the dark like it should be!

Cut to Lata, chanting ‘I am at peace’ as though she’s trying to convince herself of that, which is what happens to me sometimes when I try to meditate so I can relate.

Interrupted by Dean Winchester: Hunting has a way of changing a person. After a while right, wrong, good, evil, they all start to look the same. And then it makes you start to wonder, who’s really the monster here, them or me?

You’ve certainly personified that question from time to time, Dean Winchester.

Lata as her friends argue in the next room: I am at peace….I am deeply annoyed!

Me: lol

John wants to keep searching for the Akrida, Carlos doesn’t, accusing John of being obsessed.

Carlos: Mellow out, amor.

John: The fate of the world is literally at stake!

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