'Heartless' SH -- 2x08

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Oh, the clusterfuck that was this episode.

I thought that we had gotten past the whole love triangle/let's have Abbie and Katrina bitchfight over Ichabod thing that the writers seemed to be gearing up to do, but it would appear that it may be back (at least somewhat). That whole scene with the two of them fighting over him, and trying to prove who was more important to him (his fellow witness, or his wife), was insulting and infuriating. It wasn't just horrible writing (in a very 1950s, let's have the women fight over the man, since that's the only thing that they would have running through their pretty, little heads anyway sort of way), and as someone who is female bodied (even if I don't necessarily identify female (I ID agendered, if you're curious)), I couldn't help wanting to shake the fuck out of whoever wrote this episode (and specifically that scene). They both have such potential to be really awesomely strong female characters (which we could use a lot more of, especially in genre television), and to have them revert to such cliché trops for how cisgendered females are supposed to act was beyond lazy when it comes to storytelling. My fury about their characterizations may be more focused to that one, particular scene, but that doesn't mean that the entire episode wasn't lacking when it comes to how they were written.

Katrina is not at all living up to the promise that we were given of her when the series first started. We were promised that she was some kind of awesome witch that had almost no equal (and the writers keep telling us how she is still totes awesome), but all we are given is a bit of witchy power and a whole lot of clichés. At this point, the only thing that she really provides is something for Captain Skinnyjeans to focus in on ... a goal to work toward if he starts to doubt his abilities or the need to keep fighting, and to be real, that doesn't give her much of a reason to keep living on the show. She would work just as well as a ghost of love lost if all she is, is motivation for him; his grief-rage would surely keep him going to at least continue the fight against Morloch.

And her going back to Henry and Abraham ... how incredibly tired. At this point, it doesn't seem at all like she is working as a spy, or that her abilities as one are all that great (much like her abilities as a witch, it's another of those things that we hear secondhand about how amazing she is, but we don't have any firsthand proof). What with the way that the necklace was glowing when she was looking down at the baby, it came across much more like she was there cuz she was being mindfucked into being there (and doesn't have any will of her own). Before, I might have been willing to look over the fact that she kept fighting for them to forgive Henry, since a mother's love will forgive a lot of things, but now ... everything that comes from her is going to be suspect in my eyes, no matter what it is.

In a way, I'm kind of hoping that with Abbie finishing the spell that Katrina had started, it might mean that Abbie will turn out to have some witchy powers, and the writers will get rid of Katrina once and for all. It might mean introducing a new minor character that will be able to give Abbie a bit of instruction, and who she will be able to ask questions of, but that is ok (provided that the character is somewhat competent, and not a complete waste of space ... I'm thinking something along the lines of Darius to Duncan in "Highlander: The Series"). But the writers may not go that way. They may, instead, continue to have a completely useless Katrina, and have the women of the show continue to fight like a couple of teenagers.