#but also knowing that Nureyev says the thing later in the season??

[escapingarchives]

Relistening to The Vanishing Act and getting crushed by the last ten minutes once again

[werewolfest]

Okay more nuanced penumbra thoughts now.

I think one of my overall gripes with the last season in terms of overarching plot is that when you break it down and compare it to other seasons, very little actually happened? Maybe that’s the nature of a season about chasing someone who doesn’t want to be caught, but the moments where Juno does actually catch Nureyev for a moment before he escapes felt very repetitious. Even in that first confrontation in the theatre (which overall is a better set of episodes than some of the later ones) their conversation goes round in circles. And not in a way that the characters seem to acknowledge, so the whole time I’m listening I’m just thinking wow we’re using this much air time for this??? This is not to say that the culmination of the season felt unearned (there was so much in other seasons that led up to this) but I think with the amount of episodes there were they could have gotten a lot more done/stayed closer to the overarching plot line of the season.

Also just finished listening to the q and a and I’m so fascinated by Kevin saying the first eps are the ones he felt like he could’ve done a lot more with (the theatre episodes and the bird ones). I actually really liked both of those and felt like they had solid settings, especially the first. The acting in the bird one was great, plus the way info was revealed felt surprising the whole time. I also really enjoyed that Juno decided not to give the truth to the scientist guy in the end. I think a younger Juno might have done differently.

With that said I think there was an obvious worst episode and it was the grandpappys recipe one. Hated that whole family, setting felt extremely underdeveloped and the acting (from the one off characters) was rough. It felt like they didn’t have enough actors and were just trying to make it work and it didn’t unfortunately. The nureyev encounter felt like the exact same thing from the first episode and didn’t give us any new developments in Juno and peters relationship imo. I did love that Peter framed Juno and got him in jail though. That was honestly funny and could’ve been an interesting call back to season one in a way. Juno chasing Nureyev as he commits his crimes, always one step behind. I have an entire separate version of those episodes in my head I’m gonna write out for fun at some point.

As far as best episodes are concerned the confrontation at the corporate offices and the trash asteroid were both pretty solid. Lovvvvvved the world building in the trash asteroid. The set up and pay off of the zero gravity room was wonderful. More critiques of capitalism throughout obviously. Melee was a wonderful character with a fantastic actress. The horrifying zombification of these peoples loved ones was incredibly hard hitting emotionally and I think the choices each character was forced to make was really interesting. I also appreciated that Juno wasn’t fully right about them fucking letter over the whole time (I think it would have felt kind of off for Juno to just know what was going on the whole time and have the correct opinion he just had to convince Peter of the whole time) in the sense that they really did offer Peter the chance to bring slip back, it just wasn’t how he thought or hoped it would be. And he had to make a terrible choice and he did!

The ruby 7 coming back together because Juno and Peter were holding each other so close…..really beautiful stuff. The ruby splitting apart and that working as a mechanism through which Juno could see and sense what was happening to Peter? Soooooooo good worked perfectly made so much sense. The sound design in those episodes was also incredible, really full and lively and the music was heeeeaaaartbreaking.

And of course the final two episodes were exactly what I was hoping for when the season started. I was worried that Juno was going to be singlemindedly chasing this thing he wanted (to be with Peter) and that he would be squishing this situation into a box that it didn’t quite fit into. For the same reasons Juno couldn’t run away with Peter in season 1 he couldn’t jump into a relationship with him after everything that happened to both of them. Peter definitely definitely needed time to mourn Slip and figure out who he was without slip being the driving force in his life. And I just felt. So incredibly proud of Juno in those last two episodes. It took so much pain and so much work but he really did figure it out. The tranquility of those last two episodes, the return to normalcy, the difficulty he has adjusting….it’s just all so real. Like okay now we’re back in real life and how do you adjust to suddenly having your future wide open?

The ending hurt a bit I have to admit I was kind of hoping to hear Noah Simes one last time buttttt I respect the way they chose to end it. I think we all know what happened. I was also kind of hoping that Peter would break in to his apt or office again lol. But. They’ve both changed a lot and that’s a good thing!

I just still can’t get over how long I’ve been listening to this show and how much has happened in my own life since then. It’s been a very fun ride.

[keplercryptonomica]

sorry, i’m having more penumbra thoughts

this is the most brilliant, fucked up thing kabert could have done, honestly! since season one, we’ve been making “haha… gay <3” jokes ab nureyev giving juno his name the first time they met, wanting to run away with him while genuinely not knowing him all that well—when REALLY, it simply boils down to: peter spent endless hallucinogenic years without hearing the person he loves say his name. when he finally woke up, he must have felt so incredibly desperate to hear it. so desperate that YEARS later, he met a pretty detective and it came spilling uncontrollably out of him.

not only does peter’s past on saraswati cast murderous mask in a different light, but final resting place??? juno steel locks himself behind that door with miasma, and peter CRUMBLES. juno is the only other person besides slip to know his name And his history with brahma—now he’s going to die, and peter can’t do anything about it (another thing juno has in common with slip).

no wonder he begs juno to run away with him immediately afterwards! yes, love is part of it, but also? it’s a trauma response, babey! nureyev physically abhors the idea of being responsible for ANOTHER person’s demise. he is so incredibly frenzied about stealing juno away to a small corner of the galaxy + keeping him safe and happy.

dear god, every single thing this man has ever done has been a calculated move (or prepping for a calculated move, or dealing with the fallout of said calculated move). he hasn’t had a moment to rest since he was SIXTEEN. he doesn’t think he deserves one.

[waters-and-the-wilde]

aright we are once again shaking out the braincells like the laundry and the key theme is 'no matter how i felt about him later' these range from fairly benign to ouch with varying levels of plausibility but tldr he can't manipulate manwhore manslaughter his way out of this one it's going to be the power of trust or nothing

- slightly chain yank interpretation: juno gets a minute to process 'oh shit he was there and he didn't come back with us' and just sorta hits a wall bc the sasha-related trauma just got compounded tenfold and the whole fam is having a hard time in their own ways and juno is missing the nureyev-shaped piece of his support system and he backslides into being extremely pissy about it

- realistic interpretation: I mean obv this whole line is on purpose. it's vague enough to make the audience want to brace for something bad but I don't think it's a chain yank so much as a reminder that whatever’s in the journal/in his past is something Juno’s going to have to struggle to reconcile. that’s pretty much been set up since day one, that's the thing they've both been scared of most is the idea that Juno's going to find out something he can't deal with. this whole time it's been 'plot twist it's not as bad as it looks,' 'expect a slaughterhouse, end up with a skincare routine', etc. but maybe this time it is. actually pretty bad.

and/or. it's not bad bad but it's something in the vein of 'it's a relief but also a disappointment'. also now with the context around Diamond there's a certain amount of like. that situation was completely irreconcilable with who Juno is as a person and he was right to walk away. but there's also the bit where he says he likes any story where he ends up the hero. so maybe this time around he's able to look at some similar kind of disappointment but with the eyes of 'okay he's not who I thought he was but this happened bc he's a person who fucked up, not out of weakness or hypocrisy'

- I mean the other part of the long run arc has also been Juno trying to unfuck his moral rigidity so I think ultimately the crux and the interesting part of this puzzle is how the context of Nureyev's past ends up being compatible with Juno's shift in perspective

- okay couple of plot angles: previously speculated whether nureyev's creditors/vague yet menacing tech company are same people who helped ramses disappear. maybe even nureyev's payments funded the theia souls. under duress sure but still that's pretty legitimate grounds for being absolutely pissed in the 'not breaking up with you but the anger's worse because i want to blame you for it but i can't and i don't want to blame you for it but i sort of do' kind of way that doesn't really go anywhere nicely.

- previously speculated that nureyev's powerful friends were in cahoots with dark matters but it probably makes more sense that they're rivals in the same niche, esp given dark matters' trying to corner the market on tech advancements, and why they'd let nureyev off-leash a bit here and there if it's convenient for having a go at dark matters

- also if this last stunt with clean break does a number on sasha's image as director, they might smell blood in the water and try to emerge as the season's Bigger Bad

- somewhat unlikely but while we're covering our bases: how bout nureyev tries to kill sasha. and juno's like 'hey what the fuck did you actually think that was going to help???' death as punishment is definitely not the speed for the narrative but an attempt that backfires could be an interesting/potentially fucked-up angle, esp if nureyev has like. backslid himself, has given up hope on juno taking him back for other i.e. journal-related reasons but is still determined to stop sasha from hunting his family down

- you know how jet was like 'if dark matters wants a monster they're getting one' bc i have Been Thinking about Nureyev going 'i'm not the monster dark matters tried to make but i'm certainly the one they're getting' but i also think that would be extremely cool and sexy of him so that's not real speculation im just gay.

- got a little sidetracked here anyway uhhhh could still be something to the whole 'nureyev's comms was the vehicle for the distress signal that called Dark Matters in WLB so he didn't do it but it was his fault' but i'm not sure how much stock i'm putting into that one, also there might also be a new angle to that with the whole 'Rita's Relaxing Beeps Channel' thing

- Theia'd!Nureyev has some interesting potential but tbh i'm hoping it goes elsewhere bc S2 was like. so well done and I loved that they did that for Juno and Rita, so i think it's better suited for fan exploration rather than having canon re-hash it. i don't think he'd undergo whatever tf they're doing except under duress, but maybe they do anyway just to neutralize the threat he poses and there's got to be some long term deprogramming

- HEY SO what if there's potential for a parallel to Angel of Brahma if something happens where Nureyev's like. forced to choose between a massive toll of other lives and keeping his family alive. i jus.t SHGAGHDAFDSJAFJ. okay because there's also that whole thing with Sasha playing the numbers game and justifying shooting the CMP and Juno. so this time around Nureyev makes the opposite call and is willing to put those other lives on the line and Juno's initially kinda horrified bc it reminds him of diamond/is 180 out from the brahma decision and it puts a dent in that trust that Nureyev's ultimately going to choose to do the right thing

i think the important thing both with Brahma and whatever happened in his past and whatever's happening with this is that ultimately Nureyev's at his best when he's following his heart and probably the skeletons in his closet are from the times when he didn't, but the person he's trying to be is still more than that and that's why this is going to work out in the end. idk this is why i keep yelling about the whole con bono thing bc i love the idea of a nureyev with nothing left to lose and nothing left to hide going 'i know exactly where i keep my heart and now i intend to make it our enemies' problem.' i don't know how it would fit bc it's more of a vibe than anything bc of how the show is very much like. our flaws are our strengths and our strengths are our flaws and being good is a trap and doing the right thing is going to look different every time and sometimes selfishness is the answer when people are trying to yank you around and don't let the person you were this morning dictate the person you are today. and again I think the interesting part of this story isn't 'what did he do' but 'how do they make this work'

okay that's enough thoughts but the last one is that i'm hoping they go for a man in glass parallel where like. they've both spent this season backsliding into their trauma defense mechanisms but their success hinges on being the versions of themselves that they allow each other to be when they're together and bringing those people back out when they find each other again

thank you for coming to watch me sit on the kitchen counter and eat nutella out of the jar at 3am if you've read all this way through i love you

[mars-writes-1999]

Penumbra Podcast fan Theory

I have a theory about how this season is going to end and where the Junoverse is headed. None of this is certain, it’s all just theory. This isn’t about Nureyev’s debts though, I have genuinely no idea what’s going on with that boi but he worries me lots. I love him, and can’t figure him out. This is about the other class X radical. 

SPOILERS FOR JUNO STEEL AND WHAT LIES BEYOND PART 2

tl;dr  Jet saw Nureyev/Ransom fly away with the Ruby 7. The Ruby 7 sent the distress signal. The Ruby 7 is a sentient ai. The Ruby 7 is the other class X radical.

1. Jet saw Nureyev/Ransom fly away with the Ruby 7.

There was a line from Jet that stuck out to me right away in What Lies Beyond part 2. At the very beginning of his interrogation jet says "I do not think. I know. There is nothing on this ship that they want." He also later says "There is nothing on this ship that they want. That is final". I do put more stock in the first than the second quote because by the second one he is playing along with Juno's plan and intentionally being angry. I have looked through the scripts and I don't think we're ever told where Jet is being held (lmk if I'm wrong) but for my theory to work he is somewhere with a window and/or he saw things before being put in a "cell" at all.

Jet is a straightforward guy and went into that interrogation with a plan. He had time to think about what he wanted to say to Juno and what he said was "I do not think. I know." I take this to mean she really does know. He knows that Ransom, who dark matters is looking for, is not on the ship. He knows that the Ruby 7, who he believes dark matters is looking for (I'll get to this later), is not on the ship. 

While my Ruby 7 theory is a bit more of a long shot, I REALLY think Jet saw Ransom escape. He says in no uncertain terms that he KNOWS that there isn’t anything that Dark Matters is looking for. Even if we make an assumption that Jet thinks they’re only looking for one 

2. The Ruby 7 sent the distress signal

So I’ve thought this might be true since my second listen through the episode. It was a bit of a wild guess at first, but the more I think about it the more I buckle down on it. It lines up in a lot of ways where nothing else I can think of does. This whole argument does assume that Sasha and Dark Matters didn’t just fabricate the distress signal, but given her distaste for agent G (god rest her soul), I think the signal was real. 

When trying to decide who could have sent the signal we can immediately rule out literally every person in the carte blanche family. Buddy and Juno do a good job of explaining to us why each one of them couldn’t be it. 

Buddy was dying (plus we have the added bonus of her monologue and knowing what she was doing)

Juno, Vespa, and Ransom were in sight of each other and in the way of EMP waves

Rita’s comms were knocked out by the EMP waves

Jet was fixing the Ruby 7 and was right next to the EMP waves. He was also pretty busy trying to keep buddy from allowing herself to be killed

All of these things considered, we can also just assume that no one on this ship would rat them out. The only possible defection is Ransom, but despite not knowing what his motives are, I don’t think he ratted them out to Dark Matters. 

The only thing with the sentience to call out would be the Ruby (I’ll provide evidence for its sentience in a moment). I don’t know why it would reach out to Dark Matters specifically, but maybe it was just reaching out to anyone with a distress call. I don’t know how space distress calls work, but Sasha did need to specify that the call didn’t come from the Carte Blanche which means vehicles may have the power to send out a distress call. 

We know from Sasha and Juno’s conversation that the distress call was sent out 4 times in 2 hours. In the episode we see 3 major EMP blasts: The one between episodes, the one when Vespa and Ransom start arguing and Buddy can’t communicate, and the one Buddy barely avoids by getting into the safe room. It isn’t unreasonable to presume there was a 4th EMP wave that occurred after Buddy was safe and sound but before the entire team made it back safely. 4 distress signals for 4 emp waves. If the Ruby 7 is the one sending these, then this math makes sense.

In The Heart of it all Part 2 Jet says to Buddy “Even an EMP so direct couldn’t deactivate its computer mind for a moment - though it is still bitter about its engines.” This means the Ruby may have been scared about its engines dying and therefore it sent out a distress signal. 

None of this is provable at this point, but I also haven’t found any evidence to the contrary. If nothing following this is true, I still think this may be true. 

3. The Ruby 7 is a sentient AI

It is at this point that I would like to acknowledge that I am using it/its as pronouns for the Ruby 7. This is how the car has been referred to in the show up until this point and so it is how I will be referring to it from here on out. If any of this pans out and the Ruby 7 uses different pronouns or signifiers in future episodes I will refer to it differently. 

Before I give the reasons I think the Ruby 7 itself is sentient, I want to talk about why I think it’s plausible that Kevin and Sophie would take the story in this direction. The reason is pretty simple, they’ve told us they’d be willing to. Here is a clip of Kevin and Sophie in the Season 1 Q&A. 

 [audio file]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cOXj3ybVkszLdt8U8BiRrVW3Cy7O_oGl/view?usp=sharing

[google doc transcript of audio file]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16EP7CP6Wxic3q7-QhPce1dinan5A0ACNDdxZ4DfaEtA/edit?usp=sharing 

So not only does this clip make it clear that Kevin has wanted robots in some form from the start, it shows that Sophie is open to the idea. We also hear them talk about how big of a deal it would be to introduce elements like this into the story. I would consider all of this setup as treating the concept of AI with the respect and time it deserves. We also know how much Kevin loves the Ruby 7 so making the car a main character would absolutely be within the realm of possibilities. The Ruby 7 is arguably the 7th member of their crew with or without sentience. 

Now to discuss the proof of the sentience of the Ruby 7. There’s a lot of evidence for this. The car has always been sassy and had a personality, but there are several moments that point to more than this. 

In the very beginning of part 1 of Tools of Rust, we see Jet directly mull over the sentience of the Ruby 7. 

The Ruby 7’s many background calculations make it more like a horse. It can be controlled, but only insofar as it wants to be controlled. (HE SHAKES HIS HEAD AND SNORTS, DISMISSING HIMSELF) “Wants to.” This car can make you believe in ghosts, too — a spirit in the machine. But the Ruby 7, whatever the force of its calculations, cannot want and cannot think; it can only behave like it does. ~from Tools of Rust Script released to 10$ Patreon supporters

This gives some of the base backgrounds into how Jet thinks about the car he is closest to. In this episode he refers to the ruby as “a wild horse, I must break it in.” The catalyst for this episode occurs while Jet is breaking down the tractor shield generator because when driving the Ruby 7 “Manuevers have not responded as they should.” There are of course reasons for these things that are not sentience. Jet himself does not think the car is sentient at the beginning of this episode. We also know that his view of the car is changing throughout his arc of this season. In its most recent appearance, we see the Ruby at its most sentient. Two distinct moments come to mind in regards to this. 

First, in part one as they are discussing their plan after Rita deploys the Book: 

JET:  We will be on our own — even the Ruby 7 will temporarily shut down. RUBY 7: (PETTY/ANNOYED BEEPS) BUDDY: … Come again? JET: The Ruby insists that it will not shut down. It is incorrect. RUBY 7: (REALLY ANNOYED BEEPS) JET: The Ruby says that I should not tell it what it can and cannot do. VESPA: Really built some sass into that thing, huh? NUREYEV: Is it just me, or… have responses like this become more common from our mysterious vehicle? VESPA: I swear its voice changed, too. BUDDY: Then we’ll allow the car its moody teenage years, I think; after all this is over I’ll buy it an industrial supply of eyeliner and posters of sad young men. ~ From The Heart of it All part 1 script released to 10$ Patreon supporters

Here several characters are remarking upon the increasing sentience of the Ruby 7. In part 2 of this episode, we see further evidence that the crew, especially Jet, has noticed changes in the Ruby which make it seem more and more sentient. 

BUDDY: Singing and theoretical mathematics? Is there anything that car can't do? JET: Increasingly I worry that there is not. Even an EMP so direct couldn’t deactivate its computer mind for a moment — though it is still bitter about its engines. (HE ACTUALLY IS WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THE HELL THE RUBY 7 IS, BUT NOW ISN’T THE TIME FOR THAT) But in this moment I am far more worried by.... ~ From Heart of it All part 2 script for 10$ Patreon Supporters

Here it is clear that not only does Jet sound concerned about the Ruby 7, but Kevin’s direction shows that Jet is genuinely unsure of the Ruby. Not just that he doesn’t know what the Ruby 7 is doing, but that he doesn’t know what the Ruby 7 is. 

Now that I’ve shown all of the evidence I have I’m going to extrapolate some of this to draw a line from this evidence to my theory in part 1. 

Jet knows something is up with the Ruby 7. He has seen Nureyev leave the carte blanche in the Ruby 7 and therefore knows the car is not on the ship. As the delivery notes say “now isn’t the time for that”. What does Jet have while in his “cell” but time? He spends part of his imprisonment sitting and thinking about the Ruby 7. He knows that Dark Matters could have easily found the cure mother prime so he assumes there is something else they are looking for. He realizes that his car is sentient. He realizes that they are looking for 2 main things, Ransom and the Ruby 7. He saw both of these leave. He says "I do not think. I know. There is nothing on this ship that they want."

For this to work, the Ruby 7 needs to be classified as a Class X radical, this is a tall order, but I think the Ruby 7 meets the criteria. 

 4. The Ruby 7 is the other class X radical

1st of all, look at that green car? That car is SO rad. 

Jokes aside, there are 2 main criteria I’m using to determine that the Ruby 7 could be the class X radical Dark Matters is looking for. First, is it literally possible that this is what Dark Matters is looking for? Does it fit any descriptors Director Wire gives us during her interview with Juno? Second, does it fit the definition of a class X radical? 

In answer to the first question, we consider what Dark Matters is searching for. We know that they know it’s class X, but not much else. In fact, Sasha suggests that Juno may know more than her about the radical because he’s been living with it. This gives the impression that they might not really know what they’re looking for. My theory here is they know that they are looking for a sentient robot, but they don’t know it’s a car. This explains why they know what they need to about its threats but not much else. It may also explain why some of the agents were looking in drawers. If they were not looking for Nureyev (cause like Buddy said, they should know he’s not inches tall) then perhaps they were looking for a sentient robot. Unless I’m misremembering something, I think this is all we really get in terms of information on what the second radical is. Sasha doesn’t give Juno much information despite giving him everything she can about the cure mother prime.

In answer to the second question, we look toward the definition Sasha gives Juno for a radical: “any person or object with the potential to cause significant change to civilized human life as we know it”. AI with sentience fits this definition. Even if you don’t think it does, the piece from the season 1 Q&A shows that Sophie thinks it does. They talk about the care that would need to be in place in order to introduce robots, ai, or aliens. Care is needed because any one of these three things would drastically change the galaxy as they know it. 

 I don’t really have any clever way to end this other than saying all of this could be wrong. I could be completely off and there are probably other explanations for everything I’ve described, but I actually feel pretty confident on this. It started off as a random thought and the more I’ve sat on it the more evidence I’ve collected. Whether this comes to fruition or not I hope you enjoyed reading my theory! 

CC: 

@thepenumbrapodcast 

[onlyinthepasttense]

ok ok ok so the Thoughts the Feelings the Thoughts and Feelings coming out of this episode that ive now listened to twice bc i cant keep shouting down the hall to my roommates 

sasha definitely shot juno on purpose STOP reblogging that post ok i was a FOOL and A CLOWN and ive changed 

BUT SHE DEFINITELY REGRETTED IT IMMEDIATELY there’s no way she didn’t did you see the way she immediately started trying to break the garage door down even though she had everything she wanted (smashed into a million pieces because she would rather have a curemother prime in a dumpster)

but im getting ahead of myself

the prank call only led to bad things but it warmed my heart to hear rita and buddy laughing like that , i really would do anything for them 

the fact that after man in glass petey and juno immediately started acting like they’d never stopped being together in the first place is so funny and not satisfying to the angst center of my brain at all, but SO satisfying to the true love center of my brain so i can’t even be mad

the conversation about the getaway means the world to me. the way it means nureyev didn’t really want to leave --like i know his room was all packed up and everything, which meant that he was still going to leave, but it means one of two things: 1. that he was going to leave LATER, after at least explaining himself to juno, because why would he make that whole stupid book to NOT tell him, and 2. that he was planning to tell everyone what he had planned to steal and ditch them with and he expected them to ASK HIM TO LEAVE so he packed up preemptively . nabbed everything cause if he was gonna lose his family he was at least going to get something out of it. 

“you all better not make me make that choice” GOD, IF YOU’RE LISTENING,

vespa saying ‘haha , wife’ 💗💗💗

further cementing the juno/curemother connection -- it screams at him when it’s in danger, and doesn’t seem to scream at anyone else , even when he isn’t even in the same room. it can be said that it screamed at him when sasha shot him bc it didn’t want to be hit, itself, but i like to think it didn’t want him to be hit either <3 . the fact that juno might have curemother In his fucking shoulder and blood now lol, that could be fun

the RETURN OF ‘YOU’RE FIRED’ AS CODE FOR ‘IM IN OVER MY HEAD AND AFRAID BUT I CAN’T SAY THAT OUT LOUD; I NEED YOU’ im literally never going to recover from this

learning that the only thing that separates dark matters from other criminals is political power.......... yeah that checks out. sasha’s gotten in too deep with people she can’t change but she doesn’t want to admit she’s wrong because she’s sunk decades of her life into trying. learning that sasha’s subordinates could only gain from her death and then she still goes back to them.... honey, are you ok? do you need anything? therapy? a smack to the head? a wake up call?

making the joke abt juno choosing mommy dearest..... sash, 

once again: sasha shot juno to maintain control because she recognized him as a weakness of hers instead of a friend who could be an ally, but she was shaking and tried to break down the garage door afterwards in a way she hadn’t tried while juno and jet had the curemother--which she wanted. 

the fact that peter either did not escape in the ruby OR that he did and then sent the ruby back to the carte blanche/the ruby left on its own for the family .. where did he go? where the fuck did he go?? 

the fact that the ruby is a shapeshifter... like-- i knew that, but it feels good to have that confirmed, i feel vindicated even if they didn’t give me the nureyev debt and extortion information i deserved that would’ve vindicated me even more 

THE FACT THAT JET BELIEVES IN NUREYEV NOW, AND THINKS HE’LL DEFINITELY COME BACK FOR THEM-- HE’S JUST WORRIED THAT HE’LL TRY TO DO IT ALONE AND FAIL... EVERYTHING TO ME 

i can’t imagine a world where jet and the ruby are more than twenty feet from each-other and i hate that by the way

but i am going to make so so many inspector gadget jokes going into season 4

in fact 

the fact that juno spent this season growing to love the crew of the carte blanche and now he’s all on his own again is literally tearing me in half like a paper doll and i’ll never recover 

IF JUNO IS GOING TO VISIT SOMEONE HE KNOWS ON IO and he knows A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE OFF MARS -- NONE OF WHICH ARE KHANS --im THINKING it’s falco but i could be wrong. but if it IS falco it means we’re gonna get the JUNO HCPD BACKSTORY and frankly i am so so scared lol . also terrified we’re going to meet diamond and i don’t even know why bc we literally dont know anything about her i’m just nervous

[detective-werewife]

I took a 16 personalities test with a more comprehensive breakdown than the MBTI test most people take, and I got kin assigned Juno Steel again. So I wanna expand a little on my MBTI headcanon and say that he is an INFP with introverted feeling (Fi) as lead process and extraverted intuiting (Ne) as support process.

Here's my evidence for it.

Lead (Dominant) Process: Introverted Feeling (Fi): Staying true to who you really are. Paying close attention to your personal identity, values and beliefs. Checking with your conscience. Choosing behavior congruent with what is important to you.

We all know that Juno has a strong sense of what is right and he follows his moral compass most of the time. He stays true to himself and his ideals, for example choosing to keep Sasha alive and opposing to her being tortured.

Support (Auxilliary) Process: Extraverted Intuiting (Ne): Exploring the emerging patterns. Wondering about patterns of interaction across various situations. Checking what hypotheses and meanings fit best. Trusting what emerges as you shift a situation’s dynamics.

He still has the PI instinct (as shown by the fact that in WLB1 Nureyev offers him a mystery, knowing that it'll help him feel better), which makes him observant of patterns, which are necessary for investigations. Same thing with hypotheses, if you're on a case you have to go through various interpretations and possible scenarios, changing them with every clue you get.

His temperament is probably Catalyst, here's the definition:

The core needs are for the meaning and significance that come from having a sense of purpose and working toward some greater good. They need to have a sense of unique identity. They value unity, self-actualization, and authenticity. People of this temperament prefer cooperative interactions with a focus on ethics and morality. They tend to trust their intuition and impressions first and then seek to find the logic and the data to support them. Given their need for empathic relationships, they learn more easily when they can relate to the instructor and the group.

Juno has always been motivated by his desire to Do Good, and while this has lead to a toxic self sacrificing mindset in the first two seasons, he's now learnt to also value his life, while still maintaining his core moral. He often relies on hunches, searching later for evidence to back them up. I'm not 100% sold on the cooperative interactions, but I think it's the most accurate one out of the four

(source: http://keys2cognition.com/explore listen idk if this is legit pls dont roast me)

[jorts-lad]

My Thoughts During

The Penumbra Podcast

Season 1:

1.01:

- cool a hotel

- oooooo i like how this starts out

- oh fun Juno’s name in blood on a wall

- I love Rita already

- A person named Sasha, cool

- OOO I like this person’s voice, but I can’t remember their name that was said a few seconds ago

- Rex, okay

- “There are no ghost” *a spooky voice starts talking*

- the little startled noise was great

- “And a brace for your broken ribs” “What broke- OOO”

- Love how chill Rex is

- “And what’s the second thing you wanted me to know” “Run!”

- Oh no

- Oh fun

- Hm, I like it so far

1.02

- “Dammit Cecil you’re not gonna get away wi- Nope you know what, that color looks pretty good on me”

- oooo he had a brother

- “shhh, i wanna hear the twist!”

- at this point in the episode i posted on tumblr asking if Rex would reappear later so i know if it’s okay or not to get attached. The replies to that post were very vague and scare me for the future... oh no...

- i both love and hate Cecil

- “That may be the blood loss Juno”

- “Anyone tell you, you got a nice smell” Juno what?

- I love Rita so much

- I love Rex so much

- I love Juno so much

- I love all of them

- wut

- no

- I really do miss the rusty quill fabric rustles

- HUH

- OH

- oh

- well i have seen that name before

- oh

1.03

- oh cool a stand-alone episode, and there will be more like this cool

- i like it it was cool

1.04

- okay the Prince of Mars?

- what, really

- JUNO NO!

- YES RITA

- I love Rita so much

- Juno oh no

- no

- Juno no

- oh

1.05

- I love Rita so much, I’ve said that a lot and I feel like I’m going to say that a lot

- I’m scared Juno is gonna eat the rock

- “It’s a nice car” “It’s a piece of junk Steel”

- fun he’s scared of highs

- “What’s burning” “The door”

- “He never goes quietly, but he will go”

- “I don’t get it” “And you never will”

- no

- Nureyev?

- don’t eat it Juno

- JUNO! what did i just say

1.06

- Cute i’m glad it ended that way

- these episodes are good i just don’t have much to say about them

1.07

- Friendship yay

- friendship?

- oh Juno

- “oooo, what job is it?” “Classified” *whispering* ”Juno what job is it?”

- “Coming mom” love that

1.08

- ah yes alligators 🐊

- Juno handling this perfectly is great

- oh no...

- “That thing that looked like Sasha” wow haven’t heard something similar to that before

- That’s really shitty jeez...

- Juno no

- Juno stop

1.09 - 1.10

- Getting a bit of Trexel, David 7, and Hartro vibes from all of them

- Nice

1.11

- Oh no

- Tuxedo?

- Party?

- oh no

1.12

- Love them just eating there

- “Steel” “Yay Dad?”

- I wanna here Rita talk about dogs

- NUREYEV?

1.13

- this one got to me a bit, but like i’m fine

BONUS: The Rita Minute

- I love Rita so much

- “Vain Juice”

- I love this

1.14

- YES THEY’RE GONNA WORK TOGETHER!!!

- I love Nureyev some much

- Oh no Juno

- Are they cheating

- “Juno, turn away please I’m gonna stab Mr. Engstrom to death now” i love this line

1.15

- Ruby 7 I’ve heard of this, and also heard that I think it’s green

- gas room oh no

- cool

- oh no

- even more oh no

- he trusts him

BONUS: The Revenge of the Janus Beast

- fun

- ah yes plans

- this was nice

- aw the dog’s name is Gawain

1.16

- oh no :(

- oh no weird eye

- Nureyev’s past :(

- :’(

1.17

- :’(

- Peter no, don’t leave

- Peter No

- Peter NO

- PETER NO

- :’(

1.18

- no

- Schrödinger’s Juno

- No

- YES

- NO

- i don’t like the meat noises

- “Wow Miasma ate a lot of soup”

- Juno?

- JUNO

- JUNO NO

- okay

- their gonna leave Mars

- oh no Rita

- or not??????

BONUS: The Rita Minute 2

- Rita oh no

- Beautiful I love it

BONUS: Merry Christmas, Mary Anne

- yay i’m glad to hear from them again

- awwww

BONUS: The Thief Among Us

- yes this is great

- Miasma :/

- HA

[seratlantisite]

junoverse s3 finale speculations

because we have 3 days left and i’m super excited. or i guess 1 day now bc i forgot lmao. these will be wild let’s GO

the tiDIEST answer would be that the signal Dark Matters picked up came from Nureyev, who did it to distract the family to get him time to make the payoff without them following him. Thus the final ep will just be the payoff going badly and the family chasing after his trail, to an uncertain degree of success.

But there definitely has to be another piece because. buddy, juno, and even goddamn VESPA all said peter would not maliciously sell them out to DM and takabert doesn't just Lie to us. So even while i keep insisting ‘it was just as a distraction, he could trust they would escape’, that’s kind of a cheap excuse for a huge gamble for people you care about.

And nureyev does care about them. I will defend this hill until the end of time.

So what other threads do we have left to tie into this?

Let’s start with the distress signal

The Ruby 7 could have sent that signal. Probably. I don’t know Ruby could morph into Optimus Prime and I’d nod and say ‘it makes sense’ cos we know jack shit about her. If she has a master plan, it will lead directly into next season because there is no way we will have enough time to satisfyingly explore what the heck that would mean, even if it’s a three hour episode. She is the best escape artist in the galaxy, so maybe she was doing the math on something this whole time (like say coming up with a plan to get peter a window to pay off his debts no i will not let this idea go lmao)

@northisnotup suggested that The Book could have sent the distress signal. I struggle with this one because Rita said it was just very curious and not quite true AI (the distinction is important to me i’m a cognitive psych nerd) so why would it decide to do anything on it’s own. But, while takabert never lie to us, they do decide to re-explore things later, so maybe there is a whole lot more to this book than just a compulsive safe cracker. It would have to be something hidden within it’s code, since Ruby already has the ‘evolving tech’ story line. It would be very interesting to learn where and how about the book���s past.

there’s also the possibility that Buddy set off something by accident when she walked into nureyev’s disaster of a room. Maybe something his creditors’ snuck him that she set off accidentally. Either as a failsafe distress beacon, or she like foot-dialed the creditors up and they shrugged and sicc’ed DM on the family because they over heard her like agent G heard Rita talk about the cure mother. Or maybe the creditors just knew the heist was up, so they pinged DM anyway. Since the creditors have got to be present somehow next episode, this would be a really fun option. a real “we have the fate of your family in our hands” option. Only they didn’t count on the power of family...

M’Tendere’s key or one of their somethings could have activated a distress signal too but that feels like a real narc move and doesn’t really seem like a thing they’d do? mostly since they did not like DM? The most obvious solution to this problem should have been that one of the pharma-corps built a distress beacon into their trap, but its so obvious that Juno or Sasha should have suggested it, and since they didn’t I’m really writing this whole option off.

Next, what about the Radical?

Now. See. IDK y’all you really would think it’s the ruby 7. The intelligent sapient car that can create anything at a moment’s notice. only DM literally used to have the ruby 7 they sent it to M’tendere to study, so you think they would know not to look for the radical in sock drawers. So what is it?

Theia? she’d be deliciously invaluable to DM, in general and specifically against a, ugh, a cognitive virus. (vibert, please. sci-fi is supposed to be based on actual science what does that even mEAN).

I don’t know! I’m excited

[foxy--stoat]

music

for the last few days I’ve been listening to a lot of music while I write, and I came across some songs I think describe some Penumbra characters pretty well, or at least some situations they’re in or would be in at some point. also some of them are going to be super obvious but I’m going to write them anyway. here they are:

Moonage Daydream, by David Bowie (Peter Nureyev) 

I'm an alligator I'm a mama-papa comin' for you I'm the space invader I'll be a rock 'n' rollin' bitch for you

(Nureyev is good at using different disguises and he’s a different person before and after and before and with Juno)

Keep your mouth shut You're squawking like a pink monkey bird And I'm bustin' up my brains for the words

(In his episodes of season 3, he gets annoyed with Juno not being discreet, flirting, making a show of himself, and saying anything at all to Nova Zolatovna (apologies for any misspellings))

Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe Put your ray gun to my head Press your space face close to mine, love Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!

(well Juno literally has an electric eye, always carries a ray gun, and I imagine they ‘put their faces close together’ quite often.)

and the whole song also has kind of a Peter Nureyev vibe. I imagine he would listen to a lot of David Bowie/stuff like that but be embarrassed to tell anyone that he even listens to music at all

Be Calm, by Fun. (Vespa Ilkay)

But I always knew you'd be the one to understand me I guess that's why it took so long To get things right

(they obviously understand each other to an extent, and also they didn’t see each other for years and years, and the first time they actually met Buddy stole from Vespa and they fought)

Oh, why haven't you been there for me? Can't you see? I'm losing my mind this time This time, I think it's for real, I can see

(she is literally losing her mind, and in her episodes of season 3, Buddy is gone)

I'm scared that everyone is out to get me.

(exactly what it sounds like. especially Juno)

But with every single buck I've made I'm saddled with bad luck that came

(also exactly what it sounds like)

Or when I found out one day I'm gonna die If only I could find my people or my place in life

(idk, it just sounds like something Vespa would think)

Oh be calm. Be calm. I know you feel like you are breaking down. I know that it gets so hard sometimes, Be calm. Take it from me, I've been there a thousand times. You hate your pulse because it thinks you're still alive And everything's wrong It just gets so hard sometimes Be calm.

(I just imagine she would feel this way sometimes)

I don't remember much that night, Just walking, thinking fondly of you Thinking how the worst is yet to come From that street corner came a song And I can't remember the man, The panhandler or his melody. The words exchanged had far exceeded any change I'd given thee.

(this reminds me of her first interaction with Buddy)

Don’t Ask Me, by Ok Go (First half Peter Nureyev to Juno, second half Juno Steel to Nureyev)

Peter Nureyev:

Quit acting so friendly. Don't nod don't laugh all nicely.

(when Juno flirts with Nova at the heist where they steal the map)

And don't flash that stupid smile.

(he stares at Juno’s smile for like 2 minutes and describes it for what seems like longer)

Don't show up so on-time And don't act like you're so kind Don't ask me how I've been.

(Juno changed a lot since the 1st and 3rd seasons, and he’s been I think more polite to Nureyev, and I think no matter what he does Nureyev will be annoyed, but this annoys him especially for some reason)

Juno Steel: 

Don't sit there and play just So frank, so straight, so candid, So thoughtful, so gracious, So sound, so even-handed.

(all of these words could describe Nureyev, cold and pretending to be an ideal thief, an ideal family member, always listening, but really just tucking things in his “save for later” file)

Don't be so damn benign And don't waste my fucking time.

(he’s also benign)

Also I have a couple of BTVS inspired songs bc why not? one isn’t really a song, just a singer who the voice sounds like someone else, but whatever.

Heavy Cross, by Gossip (Buffy Summers)

It's a cruel, cruel world to face on your own A heavy cross to carry along The lights are on but everyone's gone And it's cruel

(the slayer is a very isolating job. It’s a burden, and she literally has to carry a cross with her. Also vampires don’t come out when the ‘lights are on’, and of course it’s cruel. her job is fighting demons.)

It's a funny way to make ends meet When the lights are out on every street It feels alright but never complete Without joy

(it is a very unique way to ‘make ends meet’, or at least a weird job to have. the vampires come out when ‘the lights are out on every street’ and it feels alright but she can’t be fully happy knowing that she’ll probably die young and will never have the ability to choose her future)

I checked you, if it's already been done Undo it It takes two, it's up to me and you To prove it

(this makes me think of her and angel, of her checking that he’s good, then undoing his spell, and it took two people to do it, if you know what I mean.)

On the rainy nights even the coldest days You're moments ago but seconds away The principle of nature, it's true but It's a cruel world

(demons don’t stop being evil when it’s rainy and cold! Sometimes when she’s fighting she punches/kicks where they were moments ago, but she punches too early and they are just seconds away. the principle of nature is that the slayer kills demons)

We can play it safe or play it cool Follow the leader or make up all the rules Whatever you want, the choice is yours So choose (this is her deciding to go on her own, no council, no official watcher, just her and Giles and the “scooby gang”)

I checked you if it's already been done Undo it It takes two and it's up to me and you To prove it

(I’m repeating this line because Spike also got himself a soul. They thought that Angel was the only one, but Spike always had to do everything angel did (even if it wasn’t for that reason)

so that’s it! whoo, that was a lot. 

[farawaysoph-ie]

Season finales are painful b*tches around here, so I might as well live blog about this one: Juno Steel and the Soul of the People, here I come.

Why is he talking like Ramses?!

Oh not the Soul again

"Luckly I'm more than just one brain" o.O

Listen to Rita!

Being controlled by AI is among my top10 worst nightmares

It's making him hunt Rita, how dare you!

Emotional Danger Avoidance Protocol what b*tch

LET HIM SAY NUREYEV YOU EVIL ROBOT!

Juno let’s be a drama queen later sweetie

Why would you think I’m crying... (I am)

I want what they have

“Because I believe in you Rita”

Juno Steel is a never ending source of words that explain how I’ve felt in my life at least once

He always comes after my heart

But also Theia!Juno scares the hell out of me, it’s not him, he has zero control, he must be screaming behind the monologue we hear

Part2 coming

"Y’know, I’ve spent most of my life feeling like I’m supposed to be somewhere else? I don’t think I’m the only one, either. Finding your way forward in this galaxy is like taking driving directions from a busload of screaming kids: the right stuff gets drowned out, and no matter what you do, everyone — including you -- just ends up miserable and lost. But sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you find one voice that cuts through the rest -- one voice that speaks the truth nobody else will say. "

"The hell happened to waiting for my permission?"

THEY ARE GOING TO GIVE US THEIR ORIGIN STORY?! **

She was with him since the police days?? My heart won't make it to the end

The static reminded me of people screaming

"You've fired me about eight times this week, Detective Steel, but then you call me back like two minutes later soundin' all angry-sad-'n-guilty to give me my job back, so can I just stay inside and watch the movie while you change your mind?"

Seriously Juno 😂

Give up control

OMG Rita bought the office for the two of them...

Welcome home, Mista Steel

"You’re right about one thing, you little nightmare: I will protect my home. And that’s why I’m running you the hell out of here. Bye-bye, bug. This brain’s only big enough for one Juno Steel -- and I’m just getting started. "

What's your gut say?

Juno, you earned the right to be salty and unhappy about how it all turned out, man

And f*ck Ramsack O’Takannity, that's his name now

"We may look backwards only to ensure we have not come this way before. "

"But I like who we are, Mista Steel. "

"Me too. And that's why I can't do this without you. So. think about it. Take a few days, weeks, months, and then I'll call him. But all I know is that if you want to stay here. I'll stay here, too. I just-- "

"Then we are going."

I repeat, I want what they have, the care, the certainty, the loyalty, the love T.T

The whole scene that ended in I am Jet, I'm a big fan of hers, she'll be paid more than you was GOLD

JUNO STEEL THE SIDEKICK, OMG

Is there something Rita hasn't hacked into?

They are leaving, one season ago you couldn't Juno I'm watching you (well thinking back running away without Rita would have been A CRIME)

It's THAT car

Omg it's him

"Hello, Juno. It's been a while. "

THE SOUND I'VE MADE WAS NOT HUMAN

⬆ basically me, but hey I'm always happy when Peter shows up

This season was amazing, Juno's journey as a person that doesn't destroy himself at any chance or leaves behind people for this idea of hero that keeps him going. He started apologizing and relying on people, I'm so proud of him.

He gives me so much hope, sometimes I see my life in his mistakes, but you know he's making it, every day.

And that makes me a little stronger, every time.

[captain-aurinko]

Peter and Juno’s Communication

Look, I love Train From Nowhere. I love Peter. But I didn’t love how Juno spent that whole time being dragged from place to place with no idea what was going on. We want Juno to trust peter. We know that narratively, Peter is going to turn out to be a good person. But realistically, it’s easy to see why Juno doesn’t trust him.

The thing is, despite how much Peter is lauded for his honesty in giving Juno his name and revealing his backstory, Peters biggest issue is communication. He never lets Juno in on the plan, and relies to much on thrilling Juno and improvising when he needs to be building trust.

There are 2 reasons for this

Peter has been on his own for a very, very long time. He trusts no one. Of course he would forget that he has to verbalize what he’s going to do for the plan to succeed. (For example, Peter assumes Juno will discover the cheating in the card game without being told, and forgets that Juno doesn’t know he used a tv remote instead of the real button to stop the train)

If you go back and listen to Angel of Brahma, Mag keeps peter in the dark in the exact same way Peter keeps Juno in the dark decades later. Whether or not Peter realizes he’s doing this is a post for another day. What matters is that Peter is directly emulating his father figures behavior. (For example, think of Mag not telling Peter that he had arranged the guards on patrol to be the same size as him)

Now, Peter clearly thinks he’s given more than enough signs of good faith for Juno to trust him, whereas Juno doesn’t understand the significance of the signs he’s been given. So Juno gets mistrustful and Peter gets frustrated. And even though they work together and trust each other and fall in love, their poor communication is never addressed.

Once Miasma catches them and Juno hits his Trama Shutdown Point, that script is flipped and all of a sudden it’s Juno who isn’t communicating. It’s subtle in Angel of Brahma, where he’s angry and suspicious but won’t tell Peter why, and much more obvious in Final Resting Place. Obviously I’m talking about Juno licking himself in with the bomb without warning, and leaving Peter in the middle of the night without a word. Still, it’s hard to know how much to chalk that up to trauma.

Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem in a relationship because only after weeks of torture did Juno fully shut down. By now I’m sure it’s pretty well established that Juno’s trama response is hitting the eject button on his situation, whether that be physically (him leaving), mentally(him shutting down, especially prominent at the end of Promised Land), and suicidally.

So what does this mean for season 3? It’s safe to say that Juno is unlikely to get to that point again any time soon, so as long as he can prove to Nureyev that he WON’T hit that point again, he’s golden.

However, Peter’s not so lucky. See, as they work jobs together again, I’m almost certain the Peter’s communication issues are gonna come back to bite him.

Take their reunion for example. It’s entirely plausible that Peter might refuse to talk to Juno, or pretend to only know him slightly. If that’s the case, then Peter won’t blatantly tell Juno he’s doing this, he’ll leave the detective to figure it out on his own. And it’s also unlikely that he’s going to tell Juno directly how to get back in his good graces.

I think it’s likely that this could also come into play later in the season where Peter not telling the crew part of his plan could lead to them mistrusting him, even if Juno knows him well enough to realize that Peter would never betray him.

Either way, Sophie and Kevin have set up a fantastic element to play around with and complicate Juno and Peters developing relationship.

TL;DR: Just because Juno is the main character, doesn’t mean he’s the only one who’s going to be working on his issues next season.

[nureyevv]

One of my favorite things is how near the end of the season Juno starts apologizing, even though he’s said it before and nothing has changed, he does it anyway because, especially after Moster’s Reflection, he realizes he really needs to start being better and start allowing himself to have relationships.

Most notably, there’s the scene with Rita down in the sewers. She calls him out for worrying her like that and I think that’s where it really hits him that putting himself on the line is easy, but it’s cruel to keep doing that to those he loves. And so he comes clean and is perhaps more honest with Rita than he’s been with anyone, even saying that, for the first time in his life, he really wants to see what his future looks like, and he wants her to be in it. He doesn’t backtrack on it either. He promises he’s going to start leaning on her more and yea he struggles to give up control sometimes but no matter what, he doesn’t leave Rita in the dark like that anymore. It’s progress.

Then there’s Mick, who Juno obviously still struggles to properly appreciate (and thankfully Rita is there to tell the boss he’s shifted into asshole mode) but he’s also the one who leaves Juno most shaken about New Town. In the past, he’s never really listened to Mick. He writes him off and is outright mean to him on occasion, but when Juno sees he might actually be better? He’s willing to try and do right by his friend. Maybe he was a bit mixed up, after all he’s still new to the whole “if the outcome ends with me ok it’s the wrong option” game, but he tries to understand his friend in a way he hasn’t always done before. After the soul is removed Juno apologizes to him as well and says he wants to stop trying to control Mick’s life. Obviously Mick was fine with Juno doing so when he was brainwashed but the setiment shows growth (and hopefully in later seasons we can see the results of that improvement).

The one apology that doesn’t end up getting said, though, is Nureyev’s. In the dream sequence Juno actually allows himself to explain and be open with Peter, expanding on his fears and his reasoning for leaving. In the past any mention of his struggles have been brief and most likely in an attempt to get Nureyev off the subject. This isn’t enough to make up for leaving him so suddenly, but it’s a start, because Juno is finally showing that he can be vulnerable, not just supplying empty promises. This obviously doesn’t reach Nureyev, but from the time of the dream to the reunion Juno has grown so much. This pattern of mending old relationships and trying to be better now that Juno is trying to heal feels like it’s been leading up for a similar moment where Juno and Peter talk things over. Juno has one big fuck up to explain, but he’s been practicing and he might just be ready to put his emotions into words.

Juno isn’t perfect, and saying he wants to treat people better doesn’t just suddenly fix things, but he’s finally taking the first steps. For two seasons Juno hasn’t allowed himself any comfort or enjoyment in his life. He’s been obsessed with being the hero. But as the last season ended there was a shift where, though he was obviously still struggling, he decided he deserved to be happy. He’s starting with letting people in and allowing them to act as a pillar when needed. Going into season three we couldn’t be in a better place for the jupeter reunion. Juno’s trust is something Peter has wanted since episode one, but there was no way they were gonna get there while Juno was still punishing himself for every bit of good in his life (and arguably, Juno is never feels more safe or happy than when he knows Nureyev is by his side). Things never could have worked if Juno hadn’t had this arc, because Peter is too smart not to see he’s only going to get hurt again and Juno was still in too dark of a place to be able to reach out to Nureyev the way he wants to. They’re healing, and the natural time to mend old wounds is upon them.

TLDR: Juno Steel and Peter Nureyev are in the perfect position for what will undoubtedly be an angsty conversation to have a happy ending.

[this-is-a-podcast-fanblog]

PENUMBRA LIVE

I just got home from seeing Juno Steel and the Train From Nowhere Live, and I have SO MANY EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS AND THINGS I WANT TO TELL YOU GUYS 

so full reaction under the cut. Obviously, massive spoilers for the live show, so don’t read if you plan on buying the recording and want to experience it for the first time that way. 

Something you guys should know: AS I WROTE THIS, Alice Chuang (whom I met at the show) DM’ed me on Twitter and we have been chatting back and forth for a while now, I am LITERALLY TEXTING ALICE CHUANG AS I WRITE THIS. 

Okay. Holy cow. First of all, the obvious: the show was amazing, the actors were all crazy talented, the energy of the crowd was great, I had a fantastic time and am so happy I went. The music, sound, and lights were really cool, minimalist, but conveyed the show tone beautifully. 

And THE COSTUMES!! Not sure who picked them, but they were perfect. Joshua had the same trench coat/white shirt/jeans combo from the last liveshow, but for Dahlia Rose he wore a lacy white blazer that also had pink flowers on it. It looked very good on him and his face when Juno says “You bought me clothes?!” was hysterical. Engstrom and Valencia were elegant and totally creepy. M Sutherland had a red and grey suit and waistcoat; he also had eye makeup but it was a little more subtle. Valencia was in a gorgeous shiny red dress and lounge singer black gloves up to her elbows. Those were all cool, but nothing is EVER gonna top Noah’s Nureyev outfit, which was a pair of black pants, white shirt, black tie, and a black and white striped corset with the tie tucked into it. You may be thinking, “oh, HG, that just sounds like a waistcoat” nope!!!! It was like actually a corset! He also had killer eyeliner. For most of the show he wore a black blazer, but as Duke Rose he wore this crazy glittery golden blazer covered in sequins. It was gaudy and he rocked it, it suited Duke so perfectly! 

Those four made up the main cast, but there were two other actors - first of all, Kate Jones, obviously, as Miasma. She had ghostly white makeup and covered her face and head with a white shawl. That, plus the fact that the lights turned red whenever she stepped on stage, made the perfect creepy vibe. She had a lot more lines in this than the original - Juno would refer to her voice in his head a lot, and every time, she came out and said something creepy. She was on a little raised stage behind the rest of the cast so she was glaring down at him and it was just asdggkfj;fldj a it was so cool. 

Then there was another cast member I totally did not anticipate - Melissa DeJesus (Quanyii) played the Ruby7! She also worked props, so when Juno was talking about Nureyev’s coat, she held it up, when the bell rang during the card game she rang it, and she also played Miasma’s assistant pointing the gun at Nureyev (it was a cardboard rifle, they also used it when Juno had to shoot out of the car). For the Ruby7 she held a steering wheel and stood in front of Joshua and Noah making the car noises into a microphone or with a whistle. Also she had a necklace shaped like a license place that said “Ruby7″. It was such a cute way to show the car, which some of you may remember was something I was speculating wildly about when I first bought the ticket. Every time Nureyev mentioned how great the Ruby7 was she would vamp and at one point she blew him a kiss and he blew one back it was so adorable.

i’ve been typing for a half hour and I haven’t even gotten into the actual show yet

Before the show even started, there was amazing energy. I bought two posters from Kat Buckingham, who was working the merch stand, found a great seat, chatted with the people sitting near me, and just felt the excitement. There were so many amazing costumes, and like a third of people were wearing ear cuffs with chains in honor of Peter (I was among this number). Kevin Vibert made some announcements about emergency exits and whatnot, and then the lights dimmed. There were two curtains on opposite sides of the performance area, Joshua and Noah FLIPPED OPEN the curtains on different sides and just did this power walk to the mics in the middle while all of us audience members screamed and cheered for a solid minute, it was glorious. 

Almost immediately I noticed a change to the script - they added a subplot about an additional Martian artifact Miasma had stolen, called the Key of something I don’t know how to spell, which apparently locks away any concept, like locking away sound around a person (this was revisited during the assassin bit). When Nureyev mentioned the key Juno said something like, “Wait, I don’t think that’s how this is supposed to happen” which was a cute way to acknowledge the changes they were making. Then he started mentioning some Season 2 stuff (”I dreamed I only had one -” “We all  only have one life, detective!”) and Nureyev cut him off and then launched into a recap of the events of 2Murderous2Mask. He brought up audience members to reenact it, and it was really funny and I loved it a lot. 

One of my favorite changes was that a couple of times when Juno was internally monologuing, Nureyev would be there too. At one point Juno acknowledged it like, “I do this thing where I just talk, and usually it’s just me.” Nureyev was really energetic, Noah got super into those parts and would take the mic down from the stand and be gesturing and hopping around while Juno watched. They also went into a lot more detail about the Throne of Arkuthusis (I probably spelled that wrong) and Samantha Carthwright (now called Sammy), who was played by an audience member. Juno explained that anyone who sat in the chair could have infinite knowledge and people would ask them questions. Nureyev then asked the audience member a bunch of questions in different accents which A.) was really funny B.) was crazy because apparently Noah can do an insane range of accents C.) cute because Juno just let him do it for a while before cutting him off. It had a very “petulant married life” vibe when Nureyev shared Juno’s monologues, and I’m not sure if it was supposed to be some significant commentary that Nureyev was “in Juno’s head” or just fun staging. Either way, I loved it. 

For the card game, there were a few changes. Engstrom asked Juno if he knew how to play Rangian Street Poker and Nureyev-as-Duke said “Don’t say no!” through his teeth right as Juno said “nope.” and then an explanation followed. After a while Juno lost track and got annoyed and before Engstrom could get mad back or explain the whole thing again Nureyev-as-Duke covered Juno’s mouth with his hand and then when he pulled his hand away he fucking caressed Juno’s cheek with his knuckles while Juno glared at him and the audience went feral. 

Hey by the way Noah Simes? Is just fucking incredible like his mannerisms as Duke were so over-the-top but amazing, when he reverted back to Nureyev there was an IMMEDIATE shift just in the way he talked and the way he stood, like with Duke everything was all exaggerated and he drew out all the “you’s” (So in the phone call he basically went “See youuu SooooOOOOnN!!! :D”) but then for Nureyev he was a lot more reserved, and he had this smug little half smirk for most of it. Just like, what does it feel like to be that talented, wish I could relate. 

They didn’t actually play cards, but Noah did rip a piece of paper to be the dueling wargoats card. Even so, the tension was strong and you could feel the suspense even if (like me) you knew exactly what was coming next. Also, I forgot to mention, there were a lot of sound effects! When Juno heard someone’s thoughts (he heard Valencia’s and Nureyev’s a few times) that would be a voiceover, the train noises were all played, gunshots, etc. The assassin wasn’t actually shown, but you could hear the voiceover for that as well. 

You’re all probably wondering: THE DOODLES. They were actual crumpled balls of paper that Juno pulled out of Nureyev’s coat; later when they were back in the hotel room, Nureyev took off his jacket and said he was going to bed (Noah just kinda stood there with his eyes closed) and Juno threw one of the notes at his head and literally went “Nyeh” as he threw it. We all laughed for quite a while. 

Jupeter jumping through garbage chutes was great, Noah sort of pushed Joshua and then they pantomimed jumping down - but apparently I’m supposed to believe that Peter backflipped into the garbage chute, from the way Noah gestured, and I’m HERE FOR THAT, he’s just that much of an extra bitch. (Nureyev was very much an extra bitch throughout this entire show, as you know if you have ever listened to The Penumbra Podcast).

The whole getaway chase was awesome. Not sure if I mentioned this yet, but they had one mic that could be taken away from the stand and walked around, which is how they did the phone calls, the person on the other end of the line would stand off to the side with the wireless mic and perform like that. Once Juno, Nureyev, Valencia, and Engstrom got on the train they did all of those lines, but a nice new addition to the script was Valencia threatened Juno with a gun and Nureyev pushed Juno slightly behind him with a hand on his chest (actually I can’t remember if this scene happened here or in the casino, suffice it to say it happened and it was gay and wonderful) and said basically “if you even so much as warm his skin” and followed that up with a threat, I forget exactly what. Then when Nureyev pumped the brakes of the train he grabbed Juno and pulled him to one side, and Valencia and Engstrom’s actors left. 

For the tight room they ducked into to hide, Noah and Joshua sort of pressed together back to back and tilted the mic stands so they were still able to talk into the mic. There was a great line where Juno said something like, “Is there a reason why you keep shoving us into tight spaces together?” and then they got out and Noah took the wireless mic and went up to one of the curtains on the side of the stage, then he sort of fell through with a shout and Juno was locked in the room with Valencia. She took the other wireless mic and circled him, which was soooo creepy and really cool, especially with the moody lighting they had over the whole scene. When Juno pretended to faint Joshua just like,,,, threw up his arms and dropped to the floor in the most dramatic swoon possible it was great, and when Valencia died she fell through the curtain on the side of the stage and someone caught her. 

The showdown with Engstrom was tense and great. M Sutherland has a great presence and because he’s really fucking tall he seemed very menacing next to Jupeter (especially earlier when they were in their crazy suits and he was just all polished). With his suit and beard and eyeliner he sort of looked like a younger president Snow ala The Hunger Games, perfect villain vibes. Nureyev did the whole pin-him-by-the-arms thing as Juno described it in his monologue and oh god Noah did the most PERFECT fox smile throughout the whole thing, but what’s weird is I can’t actually remember how Engstrom’s death went?? I assume he fell through the curtain but I just,,, genuinely can’t remember?

Right after that they seemed to have a technical issue with the train sound effects so Joshua and Noah adlibbed it for a few seconds, then it started working again and they grabbed each other’s arms and did the whole jump-off-the-train thing. When Juno asked where the Ruby7 was, Melissa DeJesus came out with her arms tied in ropes, I guess to show the car had been captured and then BOOM KATE JONES AS MIASMA. She’s so scary and intimidating, and her voice sounds even cooler live than on the show. 

Then!!! The gun is pointed at Nureyev!!! and oh god Noah’s face in this scene first he looked a little panicked, but then resigned, and the lights went BACK AND FORTH BACK AND FORTH from regular to Juno’s monologue, and this super scary layered clip of Miasma saying “I will have what I want” played and oh god it was just so totally incredible and I loved it and by that point I was aware the show was about to end but I never wanted it to, I wanted to sit there and watch this forever, and I knew I couldn’t which made me a little sad. 

and oh wow wow wow...

then we got to the part where they got in the car, and Juno had his monologue, and Nureyev was watching him for the whole thing with the sweetest loving smile on his face, and then he told Juno not to give up on him yet and then Noah and Joshua reached into the space between the microphones and took each other’s hands, so they were holding hands and the crowd went WILD. Obviously this episode didn’t have a kiss, but the ROMANCE of that moment was just PEAK it was so freaking phenomenal, and when Miasma said the whole “There it is, your final resting place,” they didn’t even look at it, for a while they were just looking at each other for a few long seconds, and then they both turned to look at the tomb and they just stood there holding hands looking ahead all resigned and determined, and then the lights went down and it was over. 

(the cutest thing about the whole hand holding though was Noah kept glancing over like either he was trying to show Peter’s intense desire to hold Juno’s hand or else he wasn’t sure when he was supposed to grab Joshua’s hand and he was trying to make sure they did it at the same time. Either way it was sweet and looked really good.) 

They did the curtain call, I screamed so loudly for each actor, and then anyone who wanted to meet the cast went and lined up in the hallway outside the theater. The staircase by this hallway was also the staircase into the bar, so all the bar and restaurant, so all the restaurant patrons were very baffled to see the Penumbra-goers in our cosplays, (and me wearing the pride flag around my shoulders.) While I waited to meet with the cast I got to chat with Kat Buckingham! I also talked to her when I bought merch, and I told her I thought she was talented - she said “I bet YOU’RE really talented!” and I almost cried, then she told me I was free to DM her, also encouraged me when I told her about my podcast, and was all around just the sweetest. 

The cast were at a table, sort of like a convention, and we just went down the line and got our stuff signed. I got to talk to all of the actors and they were SO! VERY! SWEET! I hadn’t thought at all about what I was gonna say, so I just kind of mentioned whatever. I told Noah that I write Jupeter fanfiction and said, “So that means I have your voice in my head a lot”, and he said like “That’s... somewhat unusual to hear, as I’m sure you can imagine.” I told him he was really talented and he signed my poster and was very friendly, thanked me for coming even though literally I was thanking him because HOLY FUCK HE WAS SO AMAZING. Also, Kate Jones asked me what my shirt said (it said “I am too emotionally attached to fictional characters” and thought that was cool. 

I told Joshua, Sophie, and Kevin that this podcast inspired me to start my own podcast, and they were so incredibly encouraging and supportive about that! Joshua asked if I had fun (as if I could have not had fun!) and thanked me for coming - like both of these amazingly talented stars of this hit show are thanking me for coming to see them, that’s so humble and kind and ugh I just stan this cast so much. @rudzik-art made some amazing artwork, which I turned into prints to give to Sophie and Kevin, and they really loved it! Sophie even signed both my poster and the one I got for Robin, even though their rule said only one item per person. Then they both thanked me for coming, and I headed out to catch my train home.

Overall, this show was phenomenal. There was only one thing in the whole production that I disliked: they took out the “It’s not polite to tell someone his gift means nothing to you” line, and I’m not really sure why, because that line forms a lot about the characters? But artists’ choice, of course. Personally, I would have loved to see it, but the pacing was just as good without it. 

I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, and now that’s it’s over I’m experiencing some pretty strong post-show depression, not gonna lie. I just want to come back and see it again every night for the rest of my life, even though that would not be good for the cast. I want to go out and make art and share my work and maybe someday inspire someone anywhere near as much as this inspired me. 

TL;DR THE LIVE SHOW WAS FUCKING INCREDIBLE. 

If you weren’t able to make it to either live show and you have some questions about it, feel free to send them to my inbox!

[papermoonloveslucy]

VAN DYKE & COMPANY

December 9, 1976 (S1;E9) 

Directed by John Moffitt

Written by George Burditt, Garry Ferrier, Ken Finkelman, Mitch Markovitz, Don Novello, Pat Proft, Leonard Ripps, Mickey Rose, Aubrey Tadman, Paul Wayne, Dick Van Dyke

Dick Van Dyke (Himself, Host / Various Characters) was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, in 1925. Although he'd had small roles beforehand, Van Dyke was launched to stardom in the 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, for which he won a Tony Award. He reprised his role in the 1963 film. He has starred in a number of other films throughout the years including Mary Poppins (1964) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). From 1961 to 1966 he played TV writer Rob Petrie in “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”  He also starred in “The New Dick Van Dyke Show” (1971-74), “Van Dyke & Company” (1976), and “Diagnosis Murder” (1993-2001).    

Lucille Ball (Herself, Various Characters) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

The Lockers was a male lock dance troupe first known as the Campbell Lockers formed by Toni Basil and Don Campbell in 1971. They were pioneers of street dance. They appeared on “The Tonight Show,” “Saturday Night Live,” and “What's Happening!!”  This is their final TV appearance.

Andy Kaufman (Andy) was a performance artist and comedian. He is best known for playing Latka Gravas on the TV sitcom “Taxi.”  Andy appeared in movies, on Broadway, did a one man show at Carnegie Hall, enjoyed a brief professional wrestling career, and performed in concerts nationwide. He died in 1984 of lung cancer.

Kaufman is not credited in the opening title sequence nor in the closing voice over credits. This was likely to lend veracity to his continual habit of ‘crashing’ the show and interrupting Van Dyke's guests.

L.A. Mime Company

John Wheeler (Mr. Haley, Network Executive) was in the New York stage productions of Wonderful Town (also on TV in 1958) and Sweet Charity (also the film 1969). He was seen opposite Lucille Ball as Judge Breghoff in the movie Mame. He appeared on one episode of “Here's Lucy” (S6;E16) in 1974. Coincidentally, he played Fred Mertz in the TV film “Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter” in 1991.

Barry Van Dyke (Honey #2 / Helen's Paramour) was Dick Van Dyke's son born in July 1951, just two weeks after Lucie Arnaz. Like Lucie, he made his screen debut on his parent's TV show in 1962 and went on to larger roles in subsequent series'. Probably his most famous of those roles was as Steve Sloan in “Diagnosis Murder” (1993-2001).

It is a bit odd that Van Dyke's real son is playing (who is inferred to be) his male lover in the “Honey, I'm Home” sketch.

Judy Von Wormer had played one of the singers in “Lucy, The Co-Ed” (HL S3;E6) in 1970.  

Brian Bruno and Barney, The Paul Family

Stu Nahan (Announcer)

“Van Dyke & Company” was a short-lived variety show that aired on NBC from September 20, 1976 to December 30, 1976. A pilot episode was shot in October 1975, but the series did not debut for another 11 months.

In a 1965 appearance on “Art Linkletter's House Party” Lucille Ball said that “The Dick Van Dyke Show” was her favorite television program. The series was shot at Desilu Studios. It took 11 years for Van Dyke and Ball to collaborate. This is the first time Ball and Van Dyke have acted opposite each other, although the two had appeared as guests on “Salute to Stan Laurel” in 1965.  

A week before her appearance on “Van Dyke & Company,” Dick Van Dyke appeared on “CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years” paying tribute to Lucy's skill at pantomime (something both were adept at and demonstrate here) from the set of his show. In 2001, Van Dyke co-hosted “I Love Lucy's 50th Anniversary Special.”   

Genealogists claim that Lucy and Van Dyke are distant relatives. They are 10th cousins, once removed.

This episode of “Van Dyke & Company” was aired by MeTV on August 6, 2017 (Lucy's birthday). The entire series is available on DVD from MPI Video. Bonus features include audio from Van Dyke as a guest on “Let's Talk to Lucy,” Ball's 1964-65 radio show. For this episode, only Andy Kaufman's Elvis impersonation has been omitted, likely due to royalty restrictions.

On December 15, 1976, less than a week after this episode of “Van Dyke & Company” aired, Lucille Ball was on the dais for “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast” of Danny Thomas.  

A cold open (pre-credits) has Dick paying a visit to the grand opening of “The New You Shop” staffed by Lucy, in a wordless physical comedy sketch. The premise has Lucy selling new 'body parts' (invisible and pantomimed with the help of sound effects) such as legs, chests, hands, faces, and feet.   

Trying on the parts inside 'The New You Machine', something goes horribly wrong. Dick emerges with arms that scrape the ground and a hand on the end of his foot!  

In Dick's monologue he demonstrates the differences in the family hour format as opposed to later time slots using a fictional show called “Honey, I'm Home.” The Family Viewing Hour was a policy established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1975. Under the policy, each television network had the responsibility to air "family-friendly" programming during the first hour of the prime time lineup (8 to 9 pm Eastern Time). “Van Dyke & Company” occupied the ‘Family Hour’ time slot.

“Honey, I'm Home” 8pm to 9pm ('Family Hour') – Dick comes home to find his wife waiting patiently on the sofa.

“Honey, I'm Home” 9pm to 10pm – Dick comes home to find his wife kissing another man.

“Honey, I'm Home” 10pm to 11pm – Dick comes home to find the same couple looking at a road map, but the 'honey' he's come home to is the man, not the woman!  

He attempts to show the audience “Honey, I'm Home” after midnight, but quickly opens and shuts the door, horrified at what he's seen (and we don't).  

A network executive (John Wheeler) appoints Richard (Dick) to Vice President of Programming in order to get him to tell fading star Marion Lane (Lucy) that her show has been canceled. Lucy receives a big ovation from the studio audience, which indicates this may be the first segment shot, with the cold open pre-taped without a studio audience.

Marion seems to know what he's come for and quickly takes a liberal amount of tablets.

Richard: “Marion, what's that you're taking?” Marion: “Sleeping pills.” Richard: “Wouldn't you call that a kind of a heavy dose?” Marion: “I'd call it an overdose.”

Turns out they were just breath mints. Still fearing the worst, Marion momentarily straddles an open window. When he finally delivers the bad news, she slaps him hard across the face, sending him careening over the divan. The sketch has a surprise twist ending with Richard being Marion's husband!  

Dick is discovered chiseling a sculpture and telling the audience that he's always wanted Rudolf Nureyev as a guest. He finally got a call from the dancer to tell him that he will be appearing – on “The Gong Show.”  “The Gong Show” was a low-budget amateur talent show that had only premiered on TV a few months earlier. This set-up is by way of introducing what Dick calls “the most fabulous dancers around” - The Lockers. After they perform their main act, Dick joins in, even wearing one of their costumes.

Dick and Lucy play Helen and Edgar, a couple celebrating their 40th anniversary. Edgar is 115 years old, and Helen is 75. She only married him thinking she would soon be a rich widow. Van Dyke's characterization of Edgar is reminiscent of when he played the elderly banker Mr. Dawes Sr. in Mary Poppins (1964). Helen tries everything she can think of to hasten her inheritance.

She cracks a champagne bottle on his head. Nothing.   

She tries to guillotine him while blowing out the candles on their anniversary cake. It misses.  

She gives him a big anniversary kiss with an electrified wire. He is energized by it.  

She offers him some fresh air out on the balcony (which they don't have) and pushes his wheelchair headlong out the terrace doors. Helen thinks she's finally succeeded in offing him, but he comes rolling through the opposite door a few moments later, his wheelchair now a mash-up of a trash can and mobility device.

Helen finally slips Edgar a mickey that does the trick – but first he calls up the newspaper to place his own obituary. The sketch has a twist ending with the entrance of Helen's paramour (Barry Van Dyke), who may be trying to do the same thing to her!  

Dick and Lucy are having some banter as themselves when Andy Kaufman arrives with his tape player wanting to be on the show. Although Dick says that Andy should just go away, Lucy says that she's seen Andy on the show before, and that he always interrupts guests, and they've all been very good sports about it. Lucy says that she just doesn't happen to be one and swiftly exits. Dick says Andy has previously insulted Carl Reiner (S1;E4), Hal Linden (S1;E5), John Denver (S1;E3), and now Lucy. Dick exits to find a security guard.  

Alone with the audience, Kaufman starts with an imitation of “Sanford and Son” saying (in his inimitable way, with clipped diction and seemingly incapable of imitating Redd Fox) 

“Elizabeth. I am coming to join you.”

He then tackles 'the Fonzie' from “Happy Days”: 

“Eh. Eh. Sit on it you stupid nerd.” 

Again without a trace of intonation or nuance. Finally he does a sped up Elvis Presley imitation. [This song has been omitted from the DVD release, probably due to song royalty fees. It is apparent that it has been edited out because the sketch on video quickly fades out and Kaufman had not yet used the tape recorder he brought onstage at the start.]

In another silent pantomimed sketch (the second of the show), Lucy and Dick play tourists taking photographs in a Tropical Forest. 

To get the perfect photo, Lucy and Dick virtually destroy the forest, breaking off twigs, pulling up flowers, and cutting down trees. Luckily, their picnic hamper comes equipped with a hacksaw and dynamite! 

In a final act of desecration, Lucy bulldozes the entire area clear, turning the lush setting... 

...into a parking lot!

Dick plays a long-haired Maestro (in sneakers) but instead of an orchestra, he conducts dancers. When the dancers go from classical to modern, the Maestro nearly gives up trying to control them, but when the music turns to a Broadway sound, even he joins in.

In the closing, Dick sings “You Make It So Easy” to Lucy. The two do some simple, yet funny, dance steps as well.

This Date in Lucy History – December 9

"Lucy and the Military Academy" (TLS S2;E10) – December 9, 1963

"Guess Who Owes Lucy $23.50" (HL S1;E11) – December 9, 1968

“An All-Star Party for Lucille Ball” - December 9, 1984

[podcake]

Audio Drama December: The Penumbra Podcast Review

I have to be completely honest with you guys: I’ve never given much thought about the noir genre until I got into talking about audio drama as hobby. Not that I didn’t see any artistic merit in noir, just that it didn’t really appeal to me personally in a film format and it’s only now that I can appreciate it as an up and coming genre that makes candid appearances in a nice handful of fiction podcasts.

My most recently Podcasts& was a surprise overnight success and I already promised myself I’d actually do reviews for December so the whole noir thing was more random selection that just so happened to give me enough material for the remainder of winter.

Among the select amount of noir audio drama I’ve come across, The Penumbra Podcast was one that sat in my subscriptions list for some time throughout 2016 before I properly worked up the motivation to give it a listen. With it’s rich but tastefully minimalist purple cover art portraying what appeared to be a hotel elevator symbol, it left a lot to the imagination as I had little understanding of the show’s all around premise or if it even was noir when I decided to give it the time of day. 

And when I dived in, I found myself quickly engrossed and binge listening to the entire stretch of available episodes into the wee hours of the night. I went to bed listening to The Penumbra, woke up listening to The Penumbra, had Thanksgiving dinner thinking about The Penumbra, and hibernated in my room refreshing my feed in hopes that a new episode would crawl its way to the top of my phone screen like some early Christmas miracle. 

Not to spoil my impression of the series so early into the review, but do know this is coming from someone who unashamedly enjoys The Penumbra Podcast and sees what all the hype is about, as it were. 

Here I’ll only really be talking about the adventures of Juno Steel as I consider it the main crux of the series. Though The Second Citadel is certainly worth discussing, I feel it’s only appropriate to keep the noir train going and give Neon Nights a proper comparison by the time I drag it’s document file into a Tumblr window.

For those who don’t know, a significant portion of The Penumbra Podcast is primarily a sci-fi noir show detailing the adventures of Juno Steel, a private eye who offers his services to those in need, if he wants to or not. This all takes place in Hyperion City, a large metropolis on Mars where the worst of the worst linger, giving Juno plenty of cases to crack and bottles to open at the end of a long day.

The premise itself is fairly open ended with a lot of opportunities to explore and the show really does take advantage of the variety of options they get to sample without losing a distinct identity for itself. The city we’re placed in is a combination of luxurious and sardonic, like a freshly made cocktail made with water from the bathroom sink. 

Though a number of shows rely on the grim nature of their worlds to be a boiling pot of spiraling conflict, The Penumbra is fairly outright about it with Juno quick to state how much of a shit show Hyperion is and has quite the touching monologue at the end of season one as he debates leaving it all behind but still feeling bound to his own personal responsibilities and fear of his intimate desires. It’s brief but a nice and somber note to leave on before the rather humorous debut of season two a few months after. 

With that said, The Penumbra’s real strength truly does lie in its writing. The world displayed before us is incredibly immersive and nicely blends into the narrative, providing a variety of locations that vary from wide and luxurious to tense and claustrophobic. This is especially helped by the imagery that truly gets you enamored by a certain set piece before the dialogue starts rolling in. 

The Penumbra succeeds in getting you invested in the time, place, and stakes all in a couple of minutes and watching as a case gets cracked truly felt satisfying and like you were strapped into the ride the whole time.

This also goes for the leads with the protagonist Juno Steel being a refreshingly grim but equally fun character to follow. Though often melancholic, Juno is a man you quickly grow to like for their near suicidal bravery and intellect being balanced out by some very human faults and suppressed trauma. 

So no matter how intriguing a case or the supporting cast may be, Juno never risks the chance of being smothered by the excitement and is an active player that the show seriously couldn’t do without.

Even with the suave, mysterious nature of master thief Peter Nureyev and the lovably dorky antics of assistant and secretary Rita truly dominating their scenes, you still feel like this is Juno’s story and like there’s much more to cover about him than there is Hyperion City. Penumbra does what it needs to do to give you people you can’t help but be enamored with and the strong world building and dialogue has almost everything to do with it.

Much in their favor, they have an exceptionally talented cast of actors to work with. Joshua Ilon takes over as our main character and his distinct voice is spot on for an updated take on the hard boiled detective archetype. Though often cool and controlled, he’s shown to have quite the range of emotion in his performance and it’s only when he reverts back to the same tone that you start to see the cracks in his facade.

The same could be said for Peter’s voice actor, Noah Simes whose silky vocals and effortless charm really make you question why there aren’t anymore homme fatale characters around. 

And with some great sound editing and music selection at work, it only ever complements whatever scenario our beloved detective and his sort-of-kind-of boyfriend can get wrapped up in. It’s honestly when they’re in the heat of a tense scene that the audio makes use of some effective sound cues and only the occasional use of music to ramp up the tension. “Juno Steel and the Train From Nowhere” is one of my favorite episodes for not only having these elements but I feel the episode embodies all the charm and mystique that’s made it such a crowd favorite in recent memory.

Though I do admit that The Penumbra is strong as far as their character and presation go, this only applies to the heroes. For a noir series, it’s surprisingly lacking in an interesting rouges gallery. Though the schemes are worth writing home about, each mastermind behind it can be easily summarized as a quirky but intelligent woman in her later forties to sixties and not much else-bonus points if they’re some sort of artist or at least artistically motivated. 

None of which are exactly boring to listen to, though the roster can get a bit samey when you already know what template is in place. It can really drag a case down when it’s revealed who Juno is up against and though I was still intrigued in how things would turn out, in the end of the day, another scary lady is just another scary lady. I always looked forward to an episode when the antagonist was perhaps more shrouded in mystery...or perhaps just not another old lady. 

The hotel for a framing device is fairly innovative on its own merits but it’s what the writers do with all the extra rooms that make you want to stay. The move to a horse drawn trolley for the second season was a cool change of pace and likely some sort of symbolism for the events to come, though I think the metaphor of a giant, luxurious building bustling with stories behind locked doors is a kind of imagery that really captures the show’s essence. The trolley visual just didn’t stick with me as much even if the honey voiced narrator coaxing me place to place was always welcomed. 

As a whole, I always left episodes of The Penumbra feeling compelled to keep going. It has a way of truly enrapturing you in each and every case that still leaves a lot to the imagination. It ticks all the right boxes not just for noir but for just a generally well thought out and imaginative piece of fiction that can be funny, adventurous, haunting, and alluring all at the same time with seamless transitions between these different moods.

The Penumbra feels like the kind of show made from people who honestly care about the magic of innovative storytelling. It utilizes the most common of tropes to their advantage while still maintaining an air of authenticity and, dare I say, glamour. The Penumbra Podcast is engaging and interesting our of sheer effort and a kind of listening experience that lingers with you. No matter what you might be looking for in a story, The Penumbra is sure to deliver, case closed.