And of course, it did.

Her dad got lost before their flight even lifted off in New York. Ruth ended up flying without him and having to wait around an extra day just for him to finally arrive. And then when he did get to Warsaw, he wouldn’t board the train—tickets she’d already purchased. Then he started harping on her about her divorce, her empty life, her eating habits. Argh!

What she really wanted was something simple: to go back to where her parents were both raised. She wanted to see their hometown; get a sense of what their world might have looked like. She wanted to understand what it must have been like to be a Jew during World War II and to be shipped off to Auschwitz like her father and his family had been.  

Most of all, she wanted to see how she fit into all that twisted history, that misery. How is she connected? Her father, ever large and jovial, never talks about it. Yes, he’ll give her a squeeze and call her Pumpkin, but he never seems to ever tell her how he actually feels about anything.

So here they are wasting the train tickets she already purchased, taking silly side trips to places she didn’t want to go, and arguing about her failed marriage.

Oh, and the cherry on top of it all: She can’t speak Polish. So her father has to talk for them wherever they go!

What a trip.

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When Death comes to take her, Tuesday attempts to cover her fear with a joke about penguins. To her surprise, Death enjoys the joke.

So much of Death’s life is filled with … well, death. He hears the thoughts of every person who wants to die. He feels their pain.

He knows exactly how excruciating Tuesday’s life has been, unable to walk or even breathe properly on her own. So it’s a refreshing change of pace for Death when Tuesday offers up humor instead of the usual pleading and complaining. And for a brief moment, Death is able to shut out all the other voices summoning him. The steady flow of agony turns off.

Death is so impressed by Tuesday—by her positive attitude in the literal face of death—that when she asks him one last quick favor, he grants it to her.

He lets her call her mom to say goodbye. And when Tuesday’s mom doesn’t answer, he agrees to wait until the woman gets home so the mother and daughter can bid farewell.

Unfortunately, it’s not all that simple.

Although Tuesday has embraced the fact that it’s her time to pass on, her mom, Zora, hasn’t. And Zora will do just about anything—even killing Death—to keep Tuesday around.

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Aza Holmes has to reject that thought on a daily basis.

She’s terrified of bacteria. More specifically, she’s mortified that she’ll wake up with C. diff. colitis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the colon caused by bacteria. That’s why she makes sure to remove her Band-Aids, wash and clean her wounds and apply more Band-Aids day-by-day.

The truth is that Aza struggles with anxiety and obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD). More specifically, it causes her to suffer from intrusive thoughts about how everything she touches might be the thing hosting the bacterium that’ll infect her with C. diff. She knows the prospect is unlikely. She even argues with the intrusive thoughts as she walks to change her Band-Aid. But her “thought spirals” often overwhelm her and force her to act anyway.

And, as it often goes, more things in Aza’s life are primed to spiral out of control, too. She and her best friend, Daisy, see a news story about Russell Pickett. He’s a billionaire who has gone missing—likely because someone tipped him off about his upcoming arrest for fraud and bribery. And the FBI’s offering a $100,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.

Well, neither Aza nor Daisy have a clue where the man could’ve gone. But Aza was once pseudo-friends with his son, Davis, and she and Daisy figure they might be able to use the connection to figure out some information to nab that reward.

But when Aza and Davis reunite, well, the two hit it off quickly. They start dating. And Davis convinces Aza to forget the reward so that the two can focus on their relationship.

But then Aza begins to spiral again. Because relationships mean kissing and touching. And kissing and touching means bacteria. And bacteria means C. diff.

And that means Aza can never have a normal relationship.

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First, Ryan and Maya garner strange looks after they pronounce that they’re celebrating their fifth dating anniversary. “Why haven’t you put a ring on it?” a waitress asks Ryan.

Then Ryan accuses the mechanic of tampering with their car while they were eating to scam them out of money. And, of course, he refuses to share a drink with some locals who invite him to join them. Not to mention he orders a “meat-free” burger for vegetarian Maya—something the ultra-small town of Venus just doesn’t cater to.

Unfortunately, with the car out of commission, the couple is stuck there overnight in an Airbnb.

And even more unfortunately, they’ve drawn enough attention to themselves to attract the interest of some masked and malevolent strangers…

The post The Strangers: Chapter 1 appeared first on Plugged In.

“It’s a total pop-culture fantasy. But because hitmen have been a staple of books, movies and TV for the last 50 years, good luck getting anyone to believe their existence is all a myth.”

In truth, Gary’s part-time work for the New Orleans Police Department as an undercover hitman in murder-for-hire cases couldn’t be further from the truth of who he is. You see, the real Gary is a college psych and philosophy professor. He likes birding and electronics. He lives alone with two cats.

But when he enters the field, he plays an entirely different role. For one meeting, Gary adopts a Russian accent and wig. For another, he takes on the role of a skeet-shooting redneck. Each character he plays is a disguise donned to cater to the fantasy of what those looking for hitmen believe such a man looks like. And when the target confesses to wanting someone murdered and hands over the cash for payment, that’s when the police swoop in with enough evidence to put the person in jail.

At least, that’s how it usually works.

But that was before Gary (or, this time, the suave Rob) sat down with Madison. She’d contacted him in the hope that he might eliminate her abusive and controlling husband. And “Rob” senses that she’s not a killer at heart. So instead, he tells her to take her money and use it to start a new life—and if she needs someone to talk to, she can text him.

Well, Madison does walk away. And she does text him. Madison and “Rob” hit it off. And soon, Gary finds himself pretending to be Rob the hitman more often than he’s Gary.

And soon, all that faking just may come back to bite him.

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Mina could use a change.

Oh sure, Mina actually changes plenty. Every night the woman goes out to the bar, the 28-year-old shows up as someone else. She might be a brunette ballerina. Or a red-headed singer. The blond just dons a wig, slaps on a new personality and voila! No more Mina.

Just as well, she figures. Who’d like Mina anyway? Mina doesn’t even like Mina that much.

But still, a change of scenery would be nice. So when her pet-store-owning boss asks her if she’d be willing to transport a pricey golden conure (think large parakeet) across Ireland, she’s happy to do so. A little road trip might do her good.

But when that road takes her deep into the dwindling Irish forests, something goes mysteriously awry. First, her car conks out. Then, when she gets out of the car to search for help, it vanishes altogether.

And let’s not forget the strange flocks of birds overhead. Or the rumbling ground. Or the creepy sign that says, “Point of No Return 12.”

Mina—still toting her own bird around in its nifty little cage—is getting seriously creeped out when she spies a concrete bunker, with an elderly woman standing in the doorway.

“If you care to live, you’re going to have to run,” the woman tells her.

Run where? Well, to the bunker, presumably. So run Mina does, golden conure swinging by her side. She rumbles into the bunker, takes a breath and eyes her new surroundings.

It’s a simple place: a table. A couch or two. A tube TV and an old-timey phonograph. Oh, and three people. The old woman introduces herself as Madelyn. Danny’s a young man—not much more than a boy, really. And then there’s Ciara, a young woman around Mina’s age. She’s still hopeful that her husband might come back after leaving the bunker—a place they call the “Coop”—six days ago. 

Then there’s that wall of glass. Mina’s barely had time to take a second breath before Madelyn asks everyone to line up and face that glass, so that they can get a good look at the Coop’s newest resident.

They? The Watchers, of course. Those outside the Coop, those who rule the forest, those who hide in in the day and run wild and ravenous in the dark.

Those who kill anyone they catch.

The forest stretches too far in every direction to leave before nightfall. Ciara’s been in the Coop for five months. Madelyn? She might’ve been there for years.

Yeah, Mina needed a change.

But this? Not the change she had in mind.

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“We’ve come to it at last, the great battle of our time.” – Gandalf

The Return of the King, the climactic chapter in J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, draws to a close the events of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Gollum continues leading Frodo and Sam toward Mordor. But he has no intention of letting the hobbits destroy his “precious” by casting the ring into the fires of Mount Doom. The emaciated, desperate and devious creature plants seeds of doubt in Frodo’s mind about Sam’s loyalty (which remains unwavering). That allows Gollum to lure Frodo, alone, into the lair of a giant spider named Shelob. With Sam alienated and Frodo dead, the ring would be Gollum’s for the taking.

Concurrently, the armies of men begin marshaling their forces to defend Gondor’s seven-level city of kings, Minas Tirith. Soaring more than 700 feet above its main gate, and fortified with numerous walls and battlements, Minas Tirith would seem impregnable. However, the dark forces massing against it are formidable. Orcs. Haradrim. Easterlings. Nazgul. Huge trolls that tote battering rams and wield massive maces. Rampaging, elephant-like giants called Mumakil.

There’s no king to defend Gondor from within. Denethor (father of Boromir and Faramir) is the city’s steward, but pride, grief and an unsound mind have rendered him ineffective at protecting his people. Only Gandalf and Aragorn (the one, true king) can lead the ragtag armies of Middle-earth in what could be their last stand against Sauron. Among the human armies that ride to Gondor’s aid is Rohan, led by King Theoden. Hidden among their ranks, the lady Eowyn and an impassioned hobbit seize the chance to fight for all they love and believe in. The troops are vastly outnumbered. To even the score, Aragorn hopes to collect on a centuries-old debt and enlist a legion of cursed undead to fight on their side. Little does Aragorn know that his true love, the elf princess Arwen, has foregone immortal bliss in the Gray Havens in favor of a mortal life with him. But she grows weak. Only the defeat of Sauron will restore her health and secure their royal future. That, of course, is up to Sam and Frodo. Can they survive Gollum’s nefarious schemes? And if so, can the armies of man buy them the time they need to fulfill their calling and drive a stake into the heart of evil?

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The confrontation of good vs. evil in mythical Middle-earth continues. Let’s jump right in—as the film does—to the second act in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy [for information about act one, see our review for The Fellowship of the Ring]. With the fellowship broken, warriors Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli embark on a rescue mission, tracking the detachment of battle-bred Orcs that made off with Merry and Pippin. In the process, they encounter horsemen of Rohan and visit a kingdom facing extermination at the hands of Saruman’s Uruk-hai army. The Rohan monarch, King Theoden, has had his mind poisoned by a traitorous advisor named Grima Wormtongue, leaving Theoden incapable of ruling his people. But intervention by Gandalf (we learn that he conquered the fiery Balrog and emerged as Gandalf the White) restores Theoden to full health. Wormtongue is exiled, and returns to his true master, Saruman, who plans to wipe out Rohan at the hands of 10,000 Uruk-hai soldiers in a climactic battle at Helm’s Deep.

Merry and Pippin escape the Orcs on their own and wander into Fangorn Forest where they meet Treebeard, part of a race of tree-like creatures called Ents. The Hobbits appeal to the Ents to join the fight against Saruman, but the complacent Ents are reluctant to do so until they realize their future may be threatened as well.

Meanwhile, ringbearer Frodo and his trusty companion, Sam, must proceed alone toward Mount Doom to fulfill their mission of destroying the seductive gold band coveted by the dark lord Sauron. The pair realizes they’ve been followed when a pathetically emaciated, psychologically tormented creature named Gollum is caught stalking their camp. Gollum’s history with—and addiction to—the ring make him both a valuable asset and a potential liability to their quest. Gollum can guide them to Mount Doom. But are his intentions honorable? Is he simply biding his time in order to kill the Hobbits and steal the ring? It’s a risk Frodo—who is beginning to show wear and tear from his immense burden—believes they should take.

The post The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers appeared first on Plugged In.

It’s helpful to think of the three-hour epic The Fellowship of the Ring as the first act of a three-act play which includes the films The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Middle-earth, with its diverse population of men, elves, hobbits, dwarfs and wizards, stands at a crossroads. For generations, these races and tribes have battled to keep the dark lord Sauron at bay. Insulated from this ongoing conflict are the hobbits, a carefree, simple-hearted colony of little people too busy farming the land, enjoying food and raising families to care much about the ominous occurrences outside of the Shire. But their pastoral existence, indeed the future of all Middle-earth, is threatened when Sauron, obsessed with recovering an evil ring that would give him supreme power, learns that his prize is somewhere in the Shire.

Of course, one might assume that a righteous hero could use the potent ring of gold to thwart Sauron’s mounting forces. Not so. Many have tried . . . and failed. Created for evil, the ring can only be used for evil and corrupts whomever wears it. It can yield no good. That’s why fate has chosen a virtuous hobbit named Frodo Baggins to guard the ring until it can be thrown into the fiery bowels of Mount Doom where it was forged.

After learning about his destiny and the dangerous ring’s history from a wise wizard named Gandalf, Frodo embarks on his journey alone. He’s barely out of the Shire when he gets company. His hobbit pals Sam, Merry and Pippin join him, though they have no clue what they’re getting themselves into. A series of scary scrapes and narrow escapes lead the youths to a pub where they connect with a mysterious wanderer named Aragorn. Pursued by black-clad Ringwraiths (mounted, sword-wielding spectres) and a growing army of orcs (hideous, screeching goblins), the young heroes head for Rivendell, where representatives of Middle-earth’s inhabitants form a fellowship to escort Frodo on his perilous mission to Mount Doom. The fellowship is made up of Frodo, Gandalf, Sam, Pippin, Merry, Aragorn (revealed to be heir to the throne of Gondor), Boromir (a warrior of Gondor), Gimli (a burly dwarf) and Legolas (an archer elf). After three hours of thrills, chills and impressive visual effects, the fellowship is broken, and these characters chart separate courses in the protection of all that is good.

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Those states of being aren’t, frankly, things that we often dwell on.

I mean, sure, everyone is aware of the fact that we’ll all die someday. But it’s the someday part of the equation that helps us focus on other things. And that’s particularly true for Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett.

These two cops have been partners and putting their lives on the line for decades now. And focusing on the fact that they may get hit with a stray bullet or a speeding vehicle at any moment will only make them hesitate, potentially at the wrong time.

But both of these guys are still thinking pretty hard about life and death these days.

Mike just got married, for instance. And having a loved one he could lose or leave behind if he makes the wrong choice has left him unsure of himself. He’s even had stressful moments lately that amount to a panic attack in the heat of gunfire.

Marcus, on the other hand, is thinking about life and death from a totally different perspective. While celebrating at Mike’s wedding, Marcus had a heart attack and died. He was literally dead and gone for a while there.

And in that space of time—while the paramedics were shocking him with a defibrillator and hustling his body to the hospital—Marcus saw visions. He saw his life (and past lives) flash before his eyes, and he met with Capt. Howard, a beloved officer who was recently murdered. 

Marcus came back from that experience with a new zeal for life. Not only did the good captain encourage Marcus to relish the family and loved ones he has, but he assured him that he couldn’t be killed. It wasn’t yet his “time.”

So while Mike is becoming overly cautious, Marcus is ready to charge into gunfire with no fear at all. As you might expect, that isn’t a good balance for cops facing danger. And the fact is, Marcus and Mike need all the balance they can get right now.

You see, someone is setting up the deceased Capt. Howard as a corrupt cop. There’s incriminating evidence spilling out and Mexican drug cartel money in the mix. The bad boy cops are the captain’s only defenders. And before you can sing, “Whatcha gonna do?” Mike and Marcus are being stitched into the frame up, too.

The FBI is after them. Their own police force has them on its radar. And there’s a gangland bounty on their heads. Who’s behind all this? And why is it happening now? 

Mike and Marcus haven’t got a clue, but they’ve got to lay low, dig in and find out what they can.

After all, this has now become a matter of life and death.

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