I think this is the only one without Micki, and she's hardly missed. We get Ryan creeping on another female, but at least it's mostly a platonic relationship despite hubby Aldwin's jealousy.
Ryan and Jack have some amusing banter before they get down to the business of the cursed item of the weak. And it has an interesting backstory, with Madame Toussaint and Louis XVI and a cursed handkerchief and beheadings. There have been movies with less interesting plots, and "Wax Magic" is the first episode that I felt could be done as a movie. One of those cheap made-for-TV SyFy movies, but a movie nonetheless.
Part of that is because of the relatively low budget. There are really only three guest stars: the four victims are briefly seen and quickly disposed of. Ditto for the cop that briefly hassles Ryan at a murder scene.
Susanna Hoffman is better than she was in "The Baron's Bride" as Abraham's wife. She still doesn't have a whole lot to do, but anything would be an improvement over the nothing she did there.
Angelo Rizacos is good in his second of three appearances on the show. This is probably his best appearance, as he portrays his puzzlement over Marie's behavior and independence, as something from the heart. As opposed to "The Electocutioner", when the writer didn't know if Rizacos' character was an innocent man wrongly accused of murder, or a murderer.
I get the impression the episode is supposed to be some kind of commentary on wife-beating and abusive relationships. It never really goes there, though, which means that it just seems to milk the scenes of Aldwin abusing Marie verbally and in one scene, slapping her to the floor. All while whining that she owes him and she doesn't love him as he "created" her to do.
One wonders what happens to Aldwin at the end. Okay, he was probably arrested for all the killings. Ryan hints at the end that all of the wax figures were Lizzie's former victims. And I suppose the bodies being in the wax museum would be enough to get Aldwin arrested. But it's still a loose end: the production staff still isn't good at ending episodes. Chris Wiggins is there as is often the case to seal the deal with a final speech.
There's also Lizzie's attack on Ryan and Jack at Curious Goods. Which comes out of nowhere and is startling, both because of the attack and because we think of the shop as a place of sanctuary for our heroes. Yeah, Carl attacked them there in "The Voodoo Mambo", but this attack is much longer and Jack is almost killed, while Carl just grabbed the girl and left, leaving everyone else alive to oppose him. And Hoffman gives "good scream" when she sees her melted wax hand.
And the twist: it almost all makes sense in retrospect, with Marie's visions of the killings and all. But Marie's true nature is hinted at but never made clear until the end. The show should be this subtle all the time. Maybe the production staff was able to pull off the subtlety because they didn't have to give Robey something to do.
Although the ending doesn't make any sense. The implication is that Marie has been going out as "Lizzie" killing her victims. But we've seen times when Marie and Lizzie were separate entities: how could Marie be Lizzie if they're in two different places at the same time?
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Ryan and Jack have some amusing banter before they get down to the business of the cursed item of the weak. And it has an interesting backstory, with Madame Toussaint and Louis XVI and a cursed handkerchief and beheadings. There have been movies with less interesting plots, and "Wax Magic" is the first episode that I felt could be done as a movie. One of those cheap made-for-TV SyFy movies, but a movie nonetheless.
Part of that is because of the relatively low budget. There are really only three guest stars: the four victims are briefly seen and quickly disposed of. Ditto for the cop that briefly hassles Ryan at a murder scene.
Susanna Hoffman is better than she was in "The Baron's Bride" as Abraham's wife. She still doesn't have a whole lot to do, but anything would be an improvement over the nothing she did there.
Angelo Rizacos is good in his second of three appearances on the show. This is probably his best appearance, as he portrays his puzzlement over Marie's behavior and independence, as something from the heart. As opposed to "The Electocutioner", when the writer didn't know if Rizacos' character was an innocent man wrongly accused of murder, or a murderer.
I get the impression the episode is supposed to be some kind of commentary on wife-beating and abusive relationships. It never really goes there, though, which means that it just seems to milk the scenes of Aldwin abusing Marie verbally and in one scene, slapping her to the floor. All while whining that she owes him and she doesn't love him as he "created" her to do.
One wonders what happens to Aldwin at the end. Okay, he was probably arrested for all the killings. Ryan hints at the end that all of the wax figures were Lizzie's former victims. And I suppose the bodies being in the wax museum would be enough to get Aldwin arrested. But it's still a loose end: the production staff still isn't good at ending episodes. Chris Wiggins is there as is often the case to seal the deal with a final speech.
There's also Lizzie's attack on Ryan and Jack at Curious Goods. Which comes out of nowhere and is startling, both because of the attack and because we think of the shop as a place of sanctuary for our heroes. Yeah, Carl attacked them there in "The Voodoo Mambo", but this attack is much longer and Jack is almost killed, while Carl just grabbed the girl and left, leaving everyone else alive to oppose him. And Hoffman gives "good scream" when she sees her melted wax hand.
And the twist: it almost all makes sense in retrospect, with Marie's visions of the killings and all. But Marie's true nature is hinted at but never made clear until the end. The show should be this subtle all the time. Maybe the production staff was able to pull off the subtlety because they didn't have to give Robey something to do.
Although the ending doesn't make any sense. The implication is that Marie has been going out as "Lizzie" killing her victims. But we've seen times when Marie and Lizzie were separate entities: how could Marie be Lizzie if they're in two different places at the same time?
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
