[Theme song]
Barbie> Welcome, Vagrants, to our first Dispatch from Xija Station! I'm Barbie.
Christine> And I'm Christine.
Barbie> And we are talking episode one called “A Royal Ass-kicking.” It first aired March 27, 2020, and was directed by Jem Garrard and written also by Jem Garrard. And of course, this is based on the comic book by Magdalene Visaggio and Jason Smith.
Christine> And the basic synopsis of the episode: former Queen Elida is cornered by her nemesis. So an old friend comes to her aid bringing big news. So here we are, the start of the very first episode of Vagrant Queen, and there we see “Another galaxy ... not yours” flashed up on the screen for the first time. Within 15 seconds or so, there we go. We're pretty much tossed into the action right away. We as viewers barely have a clue of who Elida is at this point, but damn if she isn't having a badass moment.
Barbie> Yes, instant competition, obviously. So whatever she's got, somebody wants it, and she doesn't want to give it up.
Christine> And I think what you really see in the scene is that you kind of see the tone being set for the show right from the get go, that kind of mix of badassery and comedy, so of course these other scavengers come of trying to get her treasure from her and, and they have the exchange, “you look familiar ... karaoke bar on Crovax, right??” and she's just like, “Do I look like I karaoke?” And at this point I'm watching, and I'm just like, oh, we'll see about that.
Barbie> Yeah, for sure does not… clearly does not want to be known as a karaoke singer. Parallel to Wynonna Earp, which I'm also a fan of, I really got a kick out of the “Shut up, Carl,” because it goes right back into the “stupid Carl” that Waverly says in, I believe it's the first episode of Wynonna Earp.
Christine> Right. So I think what we really see in this first scene is... so you've got Elida, and then you've got these two scavengers who are sort of really foils to Elida, they're really not taking this too terribly seriously. And that may be their downfall. Because one moment it looks like they have Elida cornered then in the next she's cutting off their limbs and pointing guns at their faces. And you can just tell at this point, that she’s got a no-bullshit, a no-holds-barred approach.
Barbie> Yeah, she definitely had the confidence. She knew that she had it under control. They did not realize that she had it under control. But yeah, definitely get some immediate ass kicking with the limbs, which I thought was funny because he was trying to pick up the gun with the one, you know, his offhand or whatever. And it kind of led to a little bit of comedy and a little bit of time taken away so that she could deal with the other guy.
Christine> Oh, absolutely. So then Elida manages to make it out of this first mess and, then we see the credits roll for the very first time.
Barbie> And here we go. We're off to a start.
Christine> Right into the thick of it.
Barbie> Yep. So we start with after the credits, there's a flashback. So we get to see a little inside Elida’s past.
Christine> Right. I mean at this point, we, we still don't know much about Elida. I mean the show at this point... the show's been going for all of three minutes, but you just see these flashbacks and you start to get an idea of what's going on, you can just tell she's been through a lot and she only barely manages to pull past and make it out of bed.
Barbie> Yeah.
Christine> And I think from all this you really start to get a better idea of who Elida is at this point. She's a lonely traveler really just doing what she has to in order to survive, and it can be kind of a hard-knock life. We see her heading towards Xija Station… hey, doesn't that sound familiar? [Barbie laughs] And so we see her trying to sell off what she got on the one planet. And Vado is cutting back the price and he's like, take the offer or nothing at all.
Barbie> Yeah, and you can tell this isn't the first time that he's jerked her around by her attitude and, and what she says. And I'm also going to mention, I'm going to interject here with a parallel from the comic book, because you see this kind of same, quote unquote scene with Vado, but instead of her just kind of taking the money, she really puts up a fight and, and goes after one of his bodyguards, which I thought was kind of fun.
Christine> Oh, absolutely. And I think that really goes to show how sometimes these things have to evolve between the original work and the adaptation. I mean, they're really some constraints you have to work with when it comes to television. Like, even this first episode, which is a little bit longer than, than all the rest. There's, there's only so much you can fit into 50 minutes or so.
Barbie> Yeah, well, and especially, you know, introducing all the characters, kind of getting a feel for the show. What we're looking at, as far as plot lines, go you know, I mean, it's a lot to cram into an episode that's, I always say you can't just judge a series by the pilot because there's too much going on. This is the exposition.
Christine> Absolutely. This is telling us okay, where are we? Who are these people? Why do they matter? And I would say in that regard, Vagrant Queen does a pretty good job of establishing that premise in its first episode.
Barbie> Oh, yeah, for sure. Like you see, the first scene with Amae, we get a feel for her character right away. We know that she's gay from the very first scene because we see, you know, a lady alien walking out and that's six minutes into the first episode.
Christine> Yeah and I mean, it's not necessarily inherent at this point, but you just look and right away, it's just like, Oh, yeah, okay. Okay. And then of course, you have the music here, which I think really makes a difference in setting the tone for these scenes. I think in general, the music in this show, in this episode in particular, is something to be admired.
Barbie> Oh my gosh, I love the 80s synth music. It's amazing and really... [laughs] it really generates a light-hearted attitude to the whole episode.
Christine> And then we... let's cut back to the first scene with Amae and we hear the Amida music for the first time and of course it's a, it's a couple more episodes yet before we start to realize “okay, so yeah, that's their music,” but it sort of sets that tone right away of “maybe there's something more between these two.”
Barbie> Yep.
Christine> And I think at, at this point, we start to get even more of an idea of just how, in the moment, kind of screwed Elida is.
Barbie> Yeah, with the repairs that are needed on the Winnipeg, I love that Amae just kind of laughs like she was joking, maybe. And then she realized that Elida was serious, that the duct tape is not going to just work anymore.
Christine> Yeah, that's the thing... duct tape can only get you so far, you know.
Barbie> I mean, here on Earth, we use it for everything. But obviously, we're not dealing with spaceships.
Christine> Spaceships are rather more complicated beasts to deal with, and duct tape alone is not going to be enough to fix those problems.
Barbie> Yeah, for sure. I think it's really cute that she kind of gives her a discount. She's definitely... To me, she's definitely flirting with Elida, like, oh,yeah, I could, I could get it in for this.
Christine> And so the flirting begins. It's the first time we see this, but it sure as heck ain't the last, let's be real.
Barbie> And we love it.
Christine> We do, no doubt about that.
Barbie> Yeah, so I'm just gonna go back to the next scene that we have, I just want to make a comment with the Xija security officers when they're, you know, kind of playing poker or something. Looks like strip poker. How many times have you answered a Zoom call in this quarantine in your boxers or undergarments?
Christine> I think a lot of us have done that a lot more than we might like to admit.
Barbie> For sure.
Christine> Like, just the timing, that seems like, Oh, okay. By the time this episode came out, a lot of us had been in quarantine for something along the lines of two or three weeks and we just see this and we're just like, mood!
Barbie> Yeah, exactly. It's... sometimes I feel like Jem was a prognosticator because you know, obviously they filmed this, I believe, in the summer or fall.
Christine> Yes, they filmed it somewhere around summer of last year.
Barbie> Yep. So 2019 is last year for us if you're listening later.
Christine> So... but yeah, and setting aside the comedy of all this the, the utter hopelessness, I suppose you could say of Xija security, this is where we, where we, in a way, start to meet our enemy, we start to find out about the Republic, and we also start to get an idea of just how serious this situation is.
Barbie> Oh, yeah. Well, and then, you know, Lazaro, when he enters it, really, it's a callback to Star Wars, which I love. So it cracks me up. You know, he gets off the ship and he just kind of has this, he lifts his head and turns his body like, notice me.
Christine> Absolutely.
Barbie> Yep, gets off the ship and then we kind of see the interactions with him with his Admiralty soldiers. And then meeting the Xija station security officers...
Christine> Right, I mean, it's just a gigantic contrast. I mean, you have Lazaro who is taking himself perhaps even a bit too seriously, he even comes across a bit bombastic and then you have Xija security… “Oh, I am way too high for this.”
Barbie> Yeah, definitely. Right off the bat. He's a serious guy. He is ready to do what it takes to, to get what he wants.
Christine> Because at this point, he, we have to remember that he's been at this for years. If you spent seven years trying to track down someone or something. I mean, I personally, I can't say I wouldn't be feeling the same way by this point.
Barbie> Oh, yeah. He, I mean, we see the flashback and you know, they're just constantly on the run, because Lazaro is out to get them. But speaking of the flashback, I do want to shout out to the cinematography. I love the spinning camera shot. It just really takes you into, you know, kind of she's dancing, she's bopping around and I love it.
Christine> Right? It's got that sort of spacey feel to it, if that makes sense.
Barbie> Oh, yeah. And then this, speaking of space, the transition from the flashback back into the current time, you know, it goes from the transport pod through, you know, the space outside Xija and I just, it’s seamless. I loved it.
Christine> Absolutely. The cinematography, especially in this first episode, is something to admire, more on that a little bit later.
Barbie> So that brings us back on Xija and the Admiralty are there, they've made their presence known for sure. They, you know, they've got the, the announcement and they're looking for Elida and she is... she hides I think in kind of plain sight, like she just kind of ducks behind the bar and is watching them. That doesn't [Christine> Right!] That doesn't make sense to me.
Christine> It's just kind of, it's really kind of a miracle that she managed to not get sighted, and that when she finally did get seen by one of the officers, that she was able to duck down the garbage chute so quickly, which I suppose is one way to solve your problems.
Barbie> Well, and we've seen it before. Again, shout out to Star Wars, the trash compactor. I think it's probably a good thing there wasn't a swamp monster. It's kind of the juxtaposition, you know, that he turns off the gravity. And so she's floating. You know, she's not worrying about what's below her, but rather, what's going to happen with the no gravity.
Christine> Right? No gravity and, to say the least, if that door opens, having no gravity is going to be the least of her worries.
Barbie> Yeah, yeah. No spacesuit.
Christine> Thank goodness for Isaac, then.
Barbie> Yeah, what a dramatic entrance.
Christine> Right here the security officer is going on about how he just doesn't care anymore about Malcolm now, he just wants to get away from, from Malcolm and get his own ship and that sort of thing, and l’m just here watching like, guy, Malcolm is going to be the least of your worries, I can assure you.
Barbie> Yeah, I think there's a couple of more pressing issues here.
Christine> And so then we finally see Isaac and Elida interacting with one another. And at this point, you can just tell right away that they're not exactly on good terms. And of course, we learn more about that eventually, but at this point, you're just left wondering like, wait, why what's going on here?
Barbie> Yeah, we so we go more into detail and we learned that he shot her and then never apologised.
Christine> “Fine. I am sorry that you made me shoot you.”
Barbie> Right? Exactly.
Christine> And they just get right back into that argument. And you can tell that even having had a couple of months to let things simmer down, they're still not exactly getting things back together yet.
Barbie> Yeah. And you, it doesn't really give us a sense of how long they've been fighting or when, how long ago this happened. We will find that out later. But for now, we're just kind of left you know, could be last week, could be two years ago, who knows?
Christine> So it's at this point when we really start to learn more about Isaac's motivations. We hear him talking about getting back to Earth, being with his kid and his wife.
Barbie> Yeah, I mean, it's nice to get a sense of his character and, you know, he's, he portrays himself as a family man, even though he's kind of started off as this shady, hooded figure that kind of, who knows what happened? Who knows the history of what happened between him and Elida?
Christine> Right, of course, we'll get more on that eventually. But at this point, we're just like, huh...
Barbie> Yeah, and there's definitely some hard feelings for sure. We see later that when Isaac and Elida are talking in the seedy underbelly of Xija, we definitely see some, maybe some X-rated buildings that perhaps are located all in the same area. But yeah, Elida and Isaac, they're kind of getting into it. And Elida just goes for the gut punch to Isaac and leaves. I mean, she just kind of throws it on the table and lets go and, and just leaves.
Christine> Right, she says “I'm not as stupid as you look, asshole.”
Barbie> [Laughs] Yeah.
Christine> And you can just tell she's through with this. Also, can we just go back and talk about Lazaro in the bar scene?
Barbie> Oh, yeah, I'd love to.
Christine> I think we can safely say even though we're only like 20 minutes or so into episode one that Lazaro, you need therapy.
Barbie> Oh my gosh, does he ever. He clearly had a rough childhood growing up with his dad. I don't think they saw eye to eye on anything.
Christine> The more I watched this episode, the more I think about how he’s sort of using the story as a means to an end, he's... so here he is telling this story about the time he tried to get away with something and it didn't pan out and so he got punished for it and and so then he is talking to Chaz and he's like, if you don't tell me where where Elida is or what's going on with her, yeah, you're gonna feel some punishment too.
Barbie> Yeah, I also, when Chaz is listening… how dry can you get that cup? Because he's just working. He's just cranking on that towel the whole scene, the entire scene. I just, I don't know. I guess I've never been a bartender, so I don't know.
Christine> Right. Well, what do we know? We just trust the show as best we can.
Barbie> Yeah, I mean, I obviously it's kind of belaying his, his nervousness of what's going on Because obviously he knows Elida and he wants to protect her.
Christine> Right? I mean, that's a sticky situation to be in, especially when it's someone like Elida, who's got so much other stuff going on.
Barbie> Yeah. And you'd think that he'd realized that there was a camera in the bar. I mean, unless he was a brand new employee, which we do not get a sense of that.
Christine> Right, but I suppose in the moment, you might be inclined to forget that sort of thing. Yeah, I think we really in general just have to give the benefit of the doubt here, because let's face it, all these characters are under a lot of pressure.
Barbie> Yeah. And speaking of characters, we meet the loyalists, so they have this underground loyalist community or colony or whatever you want to call it, and we see how they are just totally… Elida is their queen, but more than a queen, it seems like she's treated as a god.
Christine> Right? You can tell that even after all these years of the royalty being out of power, they are still doing their damnedest to revere her and she's just here like “no, no, please don’t. Dear God, I am begging you, please don't. I don't even want the name I used to have, just let me get on with my life, please.”
Barbie> Yeah, you really get a sense of how she feels. She does not keep her thoughts to herself.
Christine> Right, and it's only begrudgingly that she even accepts the help of the loyalists here.
Barbie> Yeah, and I think that was just pure need. She just needed to latch on to something to get out of there. Which, honestly, I don't really understand how she expected to blast her way through when she was being searched for. Like, why would you want to go in the front, you know, kind of cut through the line to potentially be caught.
Christine> I mean, as the old saying goes, desperate times, desperate measures.
Barbie> Yeah, for real. I mean, if the loyalists didn't show up, I don't know what you would have done.
Christine> Right. That was just sort of pure luck there.
Barbie> Yeah.
Christine> So we start to meet more of the loyalists and probably the one that sticks out most to us is, of course, Nim.
Barbie> Yeah he is a cutie for sure.
Christine> This is officially a Nim appreciation podcast.
Barbie> Hashtag justice for Nim right.
Christine> Hashtag justice for Nim. So we start to meet Nim and then from there we go to a loyalist space station years back. And you can tell Elida, who is Eldaya at the time, was just going through this for so long and years of this, you have to imagine, are going to take their toll.
Barbie> Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like, I feel it's kind of relatable to the, quote, military brat kind of situation where you're moving constantly and you just you don't stay in one place long enough to make friends and it's really hard, especially as a developing small human into teenager and obviously eventually an adult, so I think it really sets the stage as to how she kind of feels like a loner and is used to being alone.
Christine> And on her mother's part, you can argue that's kind of intentional. She mentions in the scene: “With friendship comes trust, and that is something you can never afford to give.” And you just get an idea of okay, that all this moving around is very much intentional because getting too attached to anybody can be deadly, especially when you're a queen on the run.
Barbie> Yeah, I mean, falling into the wrong hands or trusting the wrong person. You don't know what's gonna happen. I mean, one false move and you're toast.
Christine> But yeah, we so we cut back to the station and we really start to get a better idea of who Nim is and Nim’s loyalty to the crown. I think it gets more and more difficult here not to like him.
Barbie> Yeah, he's very lovable. I mean, he kind of knocks out Dengar, and you know, makes a comment like I, I'm loyal to the queen, whatever that may be, you know, whatever it means. And if she doesn't want to be queen, then he’ll support her, which I think is really cool. And it's a really nice message.
Christine> Absolutely. Like, of course, it's important not to get to the point of blind loyalty. Meanwhile, we cut back to Amae’s shop and some of the soldiers walk in, and she should be concerned about this, and they're just rummaging around and she's just like, “No, those are alphabetized” and we're just here screaming at the TV “priorities!”
Barbie> Exactly. I mean, you know, they come in, they shut off her power. Otherwise, I don't think she'd even notice they were there because she was just kind of, you know, in depth fixing whatever she was fixing. And yeah, to your point, it's kind of funny that that's what they were doing instead of, you know, like, threatening or manhandling her, they just kind of flip over a couple instruments. And, and it, and it works.
Christine> Right, and it gets the point across well enough and you could argue that she probably would have ended up in a very bad situation, were it not for the lucky timing of one Isaac.
Barbie> Yeah, we've run into a couple of great timing issues in this episode -- kind of luck, which, you know, hopefully we don't need luck. We just need skill, but we'll take all the luck we can get.
Christine> Exactly. Goodness knows how without even a tiny bit of that, like, how very differently these things could have played out. But our focus here is not on how things could have played out, our focus here is on how things did play out. And as it is, I think they worked out quite nicely for the team.
Barbie> Oh, yeah, definitely. Isaac and Amae team up right away. Although, I don't know why Isaac is just spilling the beans on Elida’s identity, you know, like, “oh yeah, she's the queen that everybody's looking for,” and Amae just kind of goes with it.
Christine> Right? I mean, we hear the Amida music creep in again for the second time this episode, and you just wonder about the sense of wonder that Amae seems to be going through here.
Barbie> Yeah, I love that, that they play the theme, because you kind of get like, she's really thinking about Elida. So that's really nice.
Christine> And then of course, meanwhile, you have Elida coping with the fact that her bartender’s been kidnapped.
Barbie> Yeah. Like, why kidnap the bartender? That's my brother. What a random person to you know, assume that she would care about but of course being Elida she does.
Christine> Right. And her priorities change like that, and so of course, she was already hesitant enough to go with the loyalists, and then this happens and she's just like, no, I’ve got to save my bartender and they ended up knocking her out to keep her from going out of control, so to speak, but I guess you’ve got to do anything to keep the monarchy going, eh?
Barbie> Yeah, yeah.
Christine> So then a few minutes later Elida wakes back up and there's Ihred and there's that talk of “you hit a queen. Oh, you make it sound so terrible when you put it that way.” And I mean, let's not kid ourselves. It is a bit terrible. If anything, it's a bit creepy. Even Elida even points out “do you not hear the crazy?”
Barbie> Yeah. I mean, this was in response to, well, you have to produce an heir and it's just, it really is kind of cultish. Like, really? Umm, that's kind of crazy.
Christine> Thank goodness, then, that Elida knows what she has to do to get out of that situation, and then, and then Nim knows what he has to do to get out of the way and get on with things.
Barbie> Yeah, so that's when we that's when we see Nim, you know, knock the loyalist out and kind of pledge his loyalty to her. And then they team up and go after the Admiralty soldiers to kind of get around that. And I love when he says, “I'm good for sneaking,” that's hilarious,
Christine> Right? He just knows what has to be -- what he has to say to get the guards to pay attention to him. And then, and then, of course he and Elida end up kicking the ass of these guards and sure, Elida is a little bit miffed that maybe things didn't go according to plan, but I mean, hey, Nim is, as he says, “a black belt in improv.” Can we really complain here?
Barbie> We cannot. I mean he is, he is badass in his own little way. Emphasis on little.
Christine> Yep, ain't that the truth. And so a bit more time passes by and Isaac and Amae have taken on the ingenious idea of sneaking into to get a hold of Chaz because of course they knocked out the security guards and now they have the, the guard wear and Amae is just delightful getting into character here and this is the first time many times of course that we see her really trying to get into her role, because that’s something she has to do a lot is take in these characters just to keep surviving and keep making their way through these sticky situations.
Barbie> Yeah, she's very methodical when she, and is very serious about when she has to kind of take on these roles. So she kind of gets into it like okay, well you've, you're an officer, you got top marks in officing school.
Christine> Yeah, and we're just here like you know what, you go Amae, you got this!
Barbie> Yeah. And then of course they, what do they do? They go and they get her brother without too much trouble, which is nice for once.
Christine> Right. Thankfully Lazaro is out of the way but of course he's wreaking havoc elsewhere, literally breaking legs.
Barbie> Yeah. I mean, and that's of course due to Nim and Elida’s handiwork. So kind of works out, it's almost like they're a team before they're a team.
Christine> Hmm... perhaps we may be getting somewhere here. So then of course the team, without even really meaning to, wind up meeting back up and so you have the hilarity involving them trying and failing utterly to stay in their roles.
Barbie> Yeah, and I were I'm just gonna play that audio clip because it is too funny not to share
[Clip of the show]
Elida> Hey! Uh. Where are you taking that prisoner?
Isaac> Our commands are on a need-to-know basis. Uh, where you going with that one?
Elida> Uh, same ... need-to-know basis … thingy. [robotic voice] Go Republic.
Isaac and Amae> [robotic voices] Go Republic.
Elida> Okay, playtime’s over. The prisoner, now.
Isaac> What's this about? Hey, that’s not even a real prisoner!
Elida> No shit, asshat.
Isaac> Elida?
Elida> What the hell? Isaac? What are you doing here?
Isaac> Trying to save you!
Elida> I know you're a mechanic and all, but there's really no fixing this piece of crap.
Amae> Yeah, he's a total nincompoop. But he helped me out with some Admiralty goons that came knocking for you.
Nim> Nim is confused.
Isaac> [Laughing] We all had the same idea. I mean, they really gotta reconsider these uniforms, this is just way too easy.
[End clip]
Christine> Well, nice job keeping up the disguises everybody. Well played, 10 out of 10. But hey, at least everything gets sorted out, and the group ends up back together in the end anyway.
Barbie> Yep, and Elida kind of making a jab at Isaac and right away bringing up the you know, the shooting part, and Amae kind of agrees, but at the same time, he helped her save her brother so she's not complaining a lot.
Christine> Right? I mean, you take the good with the bad here.
Barbie> Yep. And I like that. You can tell Elida is, she has such an open heart even though she's guarded, because she's trying to protect Amae already and saying that it's too dangerous, but Isaac when he brings up the locket or the brooch of her mother's, you know, she definitely has a lot of feelings and they show her crying, you know, some tears come down. And it's great to see that, you know, obviously we've established that she kicks ass. She's smart. She can kind of do that whole thing. But it's also, she can be vulnerable, and even tough girls cry.
Christine> Right? I mean, nobody is perfect, as they say, and, and we really see here just how much she cares for her family in particular. Sure, she'd been through a lot with them. And sure, she didn't feel too fondly toward her mother because of all the moving around over the years, but what she wouldn't do to get her mother back.
Barbie> Yeah, definitely a sense of family. And, you know, she thought that her mother was dead for how many years, you know, and to kind of get that hope starting to kindle and it's an exciting prospect for her, you know, it's kind of poignant. You know, already having to deal with your grief and then coming back to well, maybe maybe she is alive and maybe I can come back from this.
Christine> Right, and it gives her motivation to work toward these next few episodes.
Barbie> Yeah, I mean, like we said, it's exposition, so we kind of have the setting this is where we're kind of going from here is alright, well, we've gotta rescue mom, and we've got a mission. So the course is set.
Christine> Yes indeed. But first, of course, they have to navigate the matter of getting the heck out of there, and so we get to the most badass scene of the episode by far.
Barbie> Oh yeah. So they have your you know, you’ve got the slow-mo hero walk you've got--so I watch shows with captions. The captions on here if you don't watch with captions, they're hilarious because it really gives you a sense. So this one, it's “dreamy 80s synth music” was the caption when they're doing their hero walk in.
Christine> Right? And whoever does the little music descriptions for the captions, this is an appreciation moment for whoever that person is. Bless. Thank you for finding all these different words to describe all this different music and just making sure that we the viewers are kept on our toes.
Barbie> Yeah, this is not going to be the last time that I bring up the captions. I'm just gonna predict that right now. So then we go right into what Jem has called the mannequin challenges so we get our first taste of this freeze shot kind of battle scene, which is really I've never seen it done before in television. It’s really creative.
Christine> Right? This is where the show really sets itself apart. They do such a good job with these things. And I have to appreciate just the dedication that goes into these things because I've heard it talked about just the process that went into making the mannequin challenges, And it's not easy. Certainly not something I could pull off.
Barbie> Yeah, the cast has, in previous interviews, they have said that they have to stay still the camera is the one moving, and so they can't move until the camera goes past them, you know, kind of weaves in and out, which is crazy. I mean, you know, how long do you think they hold those poses for and if they move, they've got to just do it again.
Christine> Right, it can't be easy, but that's why we appreciate this team so much. They went and they got it done.
Barbie> Oh my gosh, yes. All the props to everyone, honestly. I mean, it's Jem’s creation, but the actors that have to, you know, kind of stay still, the camera operators that have to weave in and out and do their job, and the editors to make sure that all the effects, obviously there's, you know, the CGI that comes in after. I mean it's all so beautifully put, I think, which, going back, the whole episode, I mean the whole series so far is colorful, it's bright. It's fun to watch.
Christine> Absolutely, and I mean, we I think we can always appreciate television like that. Television that knows when to take itself seriously, but also knows when to ease off a little bit and let the viewer really have fun and let everybody on the team have fun. Really.
Barbie> Yeah, and I mean the mannequin challenges are a throwback to the comic books. Jem really wanted to get that sense and that feel of reading a comic, which, you know, the different panels if you read. Now I don't know if you're a comic book fan, but yeah, it's like I said, it's just really unique and I love it every episode.
Christine> Absolutely. So eventually the team does manage to escape which, of course, we're glad for. But it comes at a cost
Barbie> Yes, ahhh.
Christine> Rest in peace, Nim.
Barbie> have a moment of silence for Nim. Hashtag justice for Nim.
Christine> Hashtag justice for Nim. Damn you Lazaro.
Barbie> well, I mean, technically it was Nim himself that pulled the trigger on the little bomb or grenade-type thing.
Christine> But still, had they even just been a few seconds sooner but again we do not deal in theoreticals here, we deal in actuality. We're right there with Elida when she's screaming “Nooooo!”
Barbie> Yeah, I mean, we just met this, the species name is Tuk, we just met this Tuk named Nim who was part of the loyalists, but he really stood out because he was supportive of her as a person and not her as a former queen.
Christine> Right, and he acknowledges the bigger role that she does play in all this, like, “there are still those who believe in you.”
Barbie> Yeah. And I think that kind of made her pause a little.
Christine> Absolutely. There's just a lot to process here. But the episode has to move on, and so we as viewers have to move on too.
Barbie> Yep. Speaking of moving on, we move on to the ship for our last couple of scenes, and we see some more Amida moments.
Christine> Yay.
Barbie> So yeah, they have a moment of staring at each other, you know, thank you for all your help. And then they just kind of have this, this moment where they're looking at each other. And of course, Elida being awkward, she changes the subject and gets up. But then Amae kind of brings it back, and she's like, sooo I heard a couple of names. What is your name?
Christine> Right, and they also talk about how it's really not fair that Elida doesn't really get to know anybody. And we have to admit she might be onto something.
Barbie> Yeah, for sure. We've definitely seen and talked about in the podcast, that she's, that Elida is kind of a loner, so I think Amae wants to crack into that a little bit, ‘cause she's so open.
Christine> But of course there ends up not being that much time to talk about that, because as the episode comes to a close we have the ship going on the fritz, and there’s just the question of well, what happens now? Talk about being sidetracked.
Barbie> Right? What will happen with this poorly put-together, held together with duct tape, kind of thing. At least they have a mechanic though, thank goodness!
Christine> Yeah, thank goodness for Amae, ain’t that the truth?
Barbie> Definitely, so that’s going to wrap up our episode discussion.
Christine> If you want to hear about what happens next you’re going to have to tune in to our next dispatch.
Barbie> Yes, talking about episode 2 next time.
Christine> Of course we are not just a show podcast, we are a fandom podcast, and so we want to focus on some other things with regards to the fandom too. So we’re going to start off with some fandom news, just keeping you as listeners in the loop on what’s going on. The first thing we want to do is, as we’re going through these episodes we want to talk about ratings, because that’s a big thing for the continued survival of this show, and we’ll be bringing up the hashtag #RenewVagrantQueen / #SaveVagrantQueen effort a lot here as we go on, ‘cause as we record this, the show’s fate is really up in the air. We’re just trying our best to make sure it survives, because it deserves to have a nice long run.
Barbie> Yeah, it definitely... ten episodes is not a very long season. That’s probably the least amount of episodes for a season that I know. You get the 12-13, and then you get the 18, you know, depending on the show. Of course we’ve moved away from the long seasons, the old 22-23 episodes.
Christine> Right.
Barbie> Yeah, so I mean 10 episodes is nothing. And like we mentioned that this is the pilot so it’s just all, mostly exposition and kind of getting a feel for it, so we’re really, we’ve gotta hit the ground running, and unfortunately the way to measure that is ratings. Which, in my mind, is getting to be an old-fashioned system. I mean you get a lot of online views, people watching the next day on on-demand, some people buy the season and just watch it as they have time.
Christine> Right and I think it goes to show how there’s more than one way to support a show nowadays. It’s not just watch the show, maybe write letters if you really want to support the show. Now you can buy episodes of the show or you can buy an entire season and watch online, you can encourage other people to watch.
Barbie> Yeah, definitely, and social media is so huge. I was in the - I still am - in the Timeless fandom and that show was canceled after one season, and then resurrected three days after the cancelation news. And then, canceled after the second season, and then resurrected for a final 2 hour special edition to wrap up the two seasons. So I mean, fans make a difference, which is really interesting in this time, this day and age.
Christine> Right, but yes, we still do have to talk about the ratings, even in spite of all of this. So this first episode aired on a Friday night. It started out at 99th place of all new episodes airing on Friday night, and that may seem like a low number, but that’s also including cable news and that sort of thing, so it’s actually a pretty decent result all told. The show started out with 375,000 viewers and a .10 rating among the key demographic in TV which, for those of you not in the loop, is adults aged 18-49. So, we certainly could wish for a better start, but nothing to complain about here, especially for a fairly new property like this.
Barbie> Yeah, and I mean, the only reason that I heard about the show is from Tim, who plays Isaac because I follow him on social media and he was hyping up the show and said that he was on a new project because of the Wynonna Earp hiatus - the extended hiatus and the Fight for Wynonna, but that’s a whole nother thing. But yeah, not that I watch a lot of cable and live TV, but I had never heard of it, I would have never heard of it if it was not for Tim.
Christine> Right, the crossover appeal between shows can’t be denied here, but we do have other news to delve into, and delve into it we shall. For context, we are recording this, it is a Monday afternoon. Just this morning as we were getting ready to record, Dana Piccoli, she runs now Queer Media Matters, and she put out an article on the show just this morning and it really is a great article about the show, we’ll include the link to it in our show notes. There’s one key sentence in the article worth mentioning, especially in the context of how to help this show. “So what I’m trying to say is if you love Vagrant Queen, you need to be very loud about it on social and SOON.” The time is NOW to fight. We don’t want to take the reactive approach and wait until after SyFy has decided the show’s fate to speak up, we need to be vocal now. And in that regard, that moves us to our other bit of news: the hashtag #RenewVagrantQueen power hour.
Barbie> Yeah, we’ve been having these for a couple weeks now, which is fun. I know I have a group of Vagrant Earpers - shout out - we try to get a Zoom call and rewatch one of the episodes, whether it be the previous week’s or kind of going back, but we throw on an episode during these power hours and spend the entire time tweeting with the hashtag #RenewVagrantQueen, we tag SyFy and Chris McCumber, he’s kind of the head of SyFy and is a key factor if shows are renewed or not. But yeah, just making noise on social media, getting seen, getting the visibility out there, hopefully getting the hashtag to trend, or at the very least getting people to see it.
Christine> So there’s been one of these power hours happening every week as of late, so follow us on Twitter and we’ll keep you updated as to when the next one is happening. Certainly we’ll keep talking about them here on the program. And that takes us through to listener comments and questions, this is where we’d normally have them anyway, but we didn’t have any this week. So what we’d like to do at this time is take a little bit of time out of our episode to appreciate people within the fandom who create content and really keep the fandom going.
Barbie> Yep, so we put a call out on our social to nominate somebody that you feel should be in the spotlight and we had actually two nominations, both of them are artists. First is none other than Katy, who designed our lovely podcast logo. You can find her on twitter at @leanansidhe220, and I’m just going to mention you can buy her artwork on Redbubble if you search for KJ SB.
The second nomination we received is Nic, who has done absolutely gorgeous and colorful portraits of Elida, Isaac, and Amae. You can follow her on Twitter at @artsymagician, and you can also find her on Redbubble at ArtsyMagician to buy her art. Both of these artists coincidentally recommended each other, so that’s kind of a fun “support the fandom” I think, which is great.
Christine> Absolutely. And if you as listeners want to support these artists, we will be including the links to their work in our show notes, so take a look at those and help support the fandom. Now, we would, of course, love to hear from you, so in keeping with our #RenewVagrantQueen talk lately, we want to ask: how have you been trying to get people to watch Vagrant Queen? Send us a text or audio message at VagrantQueenPod@gmail.com -- more on how you can get in touch with us in a moment.
Barbie> And that’ll wrap things up for this episode -- next week, we’re talking episode 2 of this first season, called Yippee Ki Yay. We’re looking forward to it, and we hope you will too!
Christine> Keep listening to hear about all the different ways you can support our dispatches. For now, though, until the next dispatch from Xija Station, this has been a podcast from another galaxy … [Barbie and Christine] not yours.
[End theme]
Barbie> We are a fan-driven podcast, which means you help us do what we do, so we appreciate any way you can show your support for our work.
You can find us on Twitter at @XijaDispatchPod -- there, you can find current news about Vagrant Queen, our podcast, and many other things happening in the fandom.
You can also support us on a long term or short term basis through Patreon! Your subscription there helps us cover expenses for the podcast, whether it's hosting costs or giveaways or anything else that makes us the best fan space it can be. To find us on patreon and to get more information, just go to patreon.com and search Xija.
And of course, as a fan podcast, we want to hear from you the fans! Our email is vagrantqueenpod@gmail.com - you can send us text or a voice recording, whether it's about what's happening on the episode, your thoughts on the show as a whole, or what we're doing here on the podcast. This is an inclusive space, so send us some comments or feedback and make yourself heard!
Finally, Podbean hosts new episodes of our podcasts - that's where you can go to find the latest episodes of our programs and keep up to date on what's happening in our galaxy. We also have transcripts available if you need them - that's at xijastation.podbean.com.
Til next time, Xija Station, over and out.