Can’t Fight the Moonlight
ASTRID & LILLY SAVE THE WORLD – Season 1 – Episode 6 – SPOILERS
Candace and Lilly
Candace (Julia Doyle) has been told by her mother that unless she gets an A+ in Biology, she will have to drop out of the school play. Lilly (Samantha Aucoin) offers to help her study, but another monster arrives in town and Lilly needs to deal with that first, so she arranges for Candace to study with Eggs (Michael McCreary). Candace finds it easy to talk with Eggs, who listens very well, and having a sounding board enables her to come to a relationship decision. She tracks down Tate (Kolton Stewart) and immediately breaks up with him. (Eggs follows along to offer support if needed. Afterward, he reassures Tate that Candace came to that decision entirely without his help.) Lilly is pleasantly surprised about all this.
Astrid (Jana Morrison) and Sparrow (Spencer Macpherson) decide to go on a third date, which he probably hopes will not be interrupted by yet another monster.
Principal Varshidi after being possessed by the Kevaculous (click for .gif)
Principal Varshidi (Marvin Ishmael) inhales a wisp of yellow mist and finds his sense of self-importance instantly enhanced. We eventually learn that he has been possessed by a Kevaculous. This monster causes everyone it touches to develop a swelled head which eventually explodes. It is not certain if the Kevaculous actually intends harm. While under its influence, Varshidi feels euphoric and may just be looking for company in his exuberance. In its native dimension, the effects of the Kevaculous on others might be less pronounced, and could even function as a natural anti-depressant.
Candace has a productive chat with Eggs
Brutus (Olivier Renaud), stops reading Outcast (Sweet Valley High #41) by Francine Pascal long enough to describe the materials needed to exorcise the Kevaculous, which are: eye of alien newt, dust of norm-norm horn, ears (not sure of what) in brine, and a toenail clipping from the host, along with a miniature cast-iron cauldron for mixing purposes.
He says that “rule 41c” prohibits monsters from exorcising another monster, so he can’t physically assist in the process.
Brutus also points out that bullying weakens this monster’s influence and might save some people from having their heads explode so Astrid and Lilly try doing that for a while, but the practice lowers their own sense of self-worth so they stop. Instead, they persuade Tate to ramp up his natural bullying tendencies.
Mean girl Susan Barnes (Ashley Dingwell), is the first to receive โbullying therapyโ from Astrid and Lilly. She throws her smoothie at them.
Val (Christina Orjalo), had needed rescuing from every monster so far this year, but is immune to this one because being cast as Crocodile in the school play brought her self-esteem to an all-time low. (She wears black in mourning for her career, which she believes is over.) Astrid and Lilly manage to revive her good spirits by getting her to trick Varshidi into following her to an isolated area of the school where they can perform the exorcism. (They don’t let Val in on any of that.) During the exorcism, Vashidi tells them that they should be concerned with another monster in town who is far more dangerous than he, and who cannot be exorcised once he takes root. Astrid and Lilly are surprised to learn about The Guardian.
Rival Christian activist Tom (James Hawksley) manages to book the basement chapel for his bake sale, despite the fact that Christine (Jeri Hall) had booked it for the entire month. When he arrives, he hands Christine (who may have arranged for the booking error) a basket of baked goods, and goes to check out the chapel. Christine eats the muffins and The Guardian eats Tom.
Val reacts to being thanked for helping cure Varshidi
We get information about The Guardian‘s plans, not from the possessed Varshidi, but from the beast itself. It plans to open the Master Orb it is building during a blood moon eclipse, and the process of opening it requires the souls and intestines of 87 human bodies vibrating at 764,000 glogheurers. (All orbs are powered by body parts.) The Guardian tells its followers that the school dance is where they will find the souls and intestines necessary, so that function probably has been scheduled on or near the night of the eclipse. The next blood moon will happen on 15-16 May 2022. (Totality will occur at roughly midnight in Ohio, and at 0200 in Newfoundland.)
This episode was written by Veronika Paz (right) and directed by Audrey Cummings who also directed the 2019 horror feature SHE NEVER DIED.
Two times have been specified because a locker room poster advertising a Senior Class Meditation Retreat provides another possible clue to where the story is set. It reads: “Bond with new people and your friends on a day trip to our town’s beautiful cove. Meditate by the ocean, and practice the art of mindfulness.” In a previous episode we saw a car with Ohio plates and a Copper’s Cove license plate holder, but Ohio is quite far from the ocean, so perhaps that car belonged to a tourist. ASTRID & LILLY SAVE THE WORLD is filmed in St. John’s, N.L., and the name Copper’s Cove might be a blend of two nearby place names: Copper Cove (on the coast about 200 km to the south), and Cooper’s Cove (on an island 150 km to the west).