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Thank you for taking the time to read!

I'm glad you're liking the development of their magical abilities. Originally I was finding it really hard to get a balance between showing that these characters have to work on their magic skills and not bogging the series down with a whole lot of nothing while they get to the point in their training where they could theoretically hold their own when going up against another magic user. I feel the webisode format has helped with that, it really forced me to stop and ask myself what were the most important scenes, what did readers need to see in order to understand everything while sticking to a 10-15 page script?

Unfortunately this does mean some things- like Asher being able to produce a flame for the first time- get cut out in favour of scenes that have more emotional/plot weight to them. For example, the first time Asher was able to produce a magical flame would have been on his own and the flame itself would have only lasted a few seconds before he got too excited and lost concentration. While that would have been a great scene to include, I felt the scene where he finally shows Miles what he has accomplished has more weight both for character development and plot as he is receiving the approval from Miles and it ties back in to the original conversation Miles and Asher had at the beginning of that episode.

As for Asher and Meredith, I really enjoy writing their interactions because they're a really supportive couple and isn't it nice to just see a relationship that's working out instead of falling apart? Haha! In all honesty they'll have their ups and downs because keeping magic a secret is actually something that's weighing on Asher (something mentioned in the new episode) but they're a couple of good eggs and you can be sure their relationship and what Asher's new magical life is going to mean for them will continue to be explored.

Once again thanks for taking the time to read and leave your thoughts, it's very much appreciated.

Thank you so much for your comments! Glad to hear you'll be checking out the future episodes too.

5.07 "Raven of LA" review

Look at me, getting two reviews done within a week. This is what happens when I have time off work! Anyway, on to my opinions of Audition's seventh episode of sequence five, "Raven of LA".

Alisha & Angela

I always love good character development and Angela's character development has been huge. Considering Angela started off as what appeared to be a very two-dimensional antagonist, it's been incredibly interesting to see her get to the point where she could very well become a good friend of Alisha's. That said, did you realise early on that Angela and Alisha would be sharing so many scenes? Because reading their names one after the other when they are so similar did make me have to stop sometimes and really check who was actually speaking, haha! Not really a criticism, because if this was filmed they sound different enough, they just look similar on paper. Might be something to consider when you're bringing in new characters though.

Regarding their shared scenes though, again I'm loving how the show is avoiding petty drama. It would have been really easy for Alisha to not want anything to do with Angela or hold and grudge, and it would have been really easy to not have Angela address her past behaviour. Instead, Alisha shows an understanding of the situation Angela was in at the time, and Angela owns up to the fact she was a pretty terrible person and not just because of outside reasons. If these two characters were going to have a chance of a believable future friendship then these things needed to be addressed properly and I think you did that really well, following on from the last time Alisha and Angela saw each other.

In another throw back to the last time Angela and Alisha were together, we have Angela being the support that Alisha seems to be needing at the moment. It was a nice full circle having Angela repeat Alisha's words to her, and the fact that Angela expended on it too shows how she has obviously been reflecting and rebuilding herself as a person since we last saw her. It was a really nice scene they shared together before their karaoke song, but unfortunately the karaoke part itself really took me out of this scene. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a bit tongue-in-cheek or a bit of a shoutout to a role Elizabeth Gillies has had before, but the fact that this scene mirrored a scene from 'Victorious' didn't sit the best with me (and in all honesty, I wouldn't have know that the scene existed in Victorious except that I had seen that clip before on Facebook or Tumblr and remembered the song). I feel the scene would have been fine for me if it had been any other song, but as it stands it was really scene breaking. If it was meant to be a shout-out then that makes a lot more sense and makes it seem a bit more fun, but I feel it would have worked a lot better if it was something more subtle.

That said, Angela and Alisha's scenes in this episode were some of my favourites and I really hope Angela will be sticking around for a while!

The Band

It was nice to catch up with the band again in this episode and see what they're up to, and it seems to be arguments and misunderstandings all around unfortunately. I feel sorry for Rose here because she's working to try and make sure everyone is happy but it seems like Robbie and Stella will be butting heads for a while yet. It's annoying (in a good way) that they keep arguing about Trey and other things, because I feel like Stella might have a really good reason for acting the way she does but unless she actually opens up and tells everyone that reason the band is probably going to be having a lot more arguments. I'm also trying to work out if there is history with Stella and Trey, or if Trey maybe just reminds Stella of someone which is why she's being really protective of him.

Either way, I am more intrigued by Stella than annoyed by her at this point. I'm curious to see more of her (and the whole band) just so some of these questions will be answered and I'm not left making up wild theories in my head.

Alex and David

I think Jack might have mentioned it in his review from what I remember, but the scene with Alex and David felt a little bit off in a way I can't just put my finger on. In all honesty it could just be how out of character Alex is acting that makes his interactions at the moment seem odd, which is actually a good thing because it's not just the characters noticing something is up, but us as readers too. We also got a little bit of insight into what David could be heading into in the future, that being comics. I don't think anyone would be surprised by this but it will be interesting to see what aspect of the comic world he'll end up in- is it going to be as simple as owning a comic book store or is he going to get into writing or drawing?

And finally we have Alex doing a really dumb thing and accepting drugs. I was so mad at this but at the same time, I know people who have done the exact same thing- in fact, that was probably why I was so mad. Audition has always proclaimed to be a drama/comedy and I feel like, while it has become more balanced between these two genres as time goes on, this sequence is definitely focused on the drama so far, particularly with Alex's fairly heavy storyline so far. All I can say is I really hope Alex doesn't end up too deep in this hole, because it's going to be a heck of a struggle to dig himself even with the help of friends.

Overall

A very long episode (20 pages I think?) of Audition that was mostly all hits except for that one scene I mentioned earlier in the review. At the moment I feel like we're mostly cruising, and while there are things happening it also feels like more of a slow build for a number of storylines that will probably come to a head around the mid-season if I had to guess. So on the whole a good episode and I'm looking forward to catching up and seeing what's happening in the newest episodes.

Thank you so much for the kind and encouraging words! I look forward to hearing what you thought in your review to come

5.06 "Marks the Spot" Review

With new episodes for the sequence starting up I figured what better time to jump back into reviewing Audition episodes.

Kelsey and Family

I really liked Kelsey's interactions with her family at the start of this episode. It felt very real and natural the way they all interacted with each other, especially Kelsey with her mother. I do get the impression though that we may be seeing them a lot more despite later in the episode where it looks like Alisha and Kelsey won't be seeing each other again for some time, if ever. I feel like this because it seemed like a lot of effort was put into introducing those two new characters when the scene could have easily just been Kelsey and her mother, so I hope we do see them again later down the track because I feel like I'm going to be disappointed if we don't.

Alex and Rose

It was nice to see Alex opening up a bit more to Rose in this episode because I feel like Alex is going to end up in a really, really bad place if he doesn't get back on the right track soon. I also really liked the way Rose deals with Alex's mood drop and the problems she senses he's got at the moment. It's nice to see a character doing all the right things in a situation like that, encouraging him to get help, telling him it's okay to feels sad rather then telling him to get over it, things like that, which made Rose really stand out in the episode for me. Especially as someone who has had to help friends and family with mental illness before, it's nice to see a positive representation of trying to help someone rather than taking the 'nobody notices' or 'people respond in ways that make things worse' route a lot of shows take.

Michael and Paula

I can't say I've been a huge fan of the older characters on this show (sorry!), which is not to say I don't like them, I just prefer the younger character's stories. So when there's scenes that focus exclusively on characters like Michael and Paula I find I'm not always as invested in what's happening with them. That said, it has been interesting to see the development of Paula's character in particular. I know from reading some other reviews people have been on the Paula/Michael bandwagon from the get go, but I've never really been able to see them in a serious relationship until recently in the show, and I think that's because of Paula's development. She started off as a character who seem exclusively there for comedic effect but in recent episodes being able to see a more introspective side of her, a more 'mature' side of her, has really added to her character and made it easier to connect with her. So yes, while not my favourite parts of the storyline I think it will interesting to see how things develop in the future for these two characters.

Alisha and Kelsey

It would have been so easy to take a super dramatic approach to what happened with the meet up between Kelsey and Alisha but I was really surprised and glad that the scene was an emotional one, but not dramatic for drama's sake. It was nice to see the two girls open up to each other here and be completely honest with each other in this scene. I was also nice that things didn't go down a jealous route, or Alisha trying to break up Kelsey and Tina, instead both characters acted like really mature young women in the scene. I'm sure that there will still be feelings and emotional consequences from what happened, but it's enjoyable and fresh to see them not done in a really trope-y way.

Ending

I actually wanted to give this it's own section because I completely thought the episode was going to close on a sad Alisha but the re-introduction of Angela right at the end had me really sitting up in my seat. Even though I knew it was coming in a way I was still surprised by it and it definitely has me intrigued to see why Angela is back and what she will be doing in future epsiodes.

Overall

Again a solid episode of Audition, though I would rank it a little higher than your regular episode just for the twist at the end. A few spelling issues- more missing words come to think of it- that made some lines of action a little weird, but nothing overly scene breaking. All in all another enjoyable read.