FAMILY LAW – Season 1 Episode 3 – SPOILERS

Marlee (Steph Song) with Viking posters
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The week’s new client is Marlee Liu-Hartford (Steph Song) whose husband Dwight (Haig Sutherland) wants temporary custody of their children because Marlee (he says) is addicted to gaming. She is in fact addicted to Second Life, which describes itself as “an inclusive haven of self-expression,” and is not a competitive virtual environment, but more a place for role-play. Cecil (Brett Kelly) uses his Second Life account to experiment with furniture arrangements, while Marlee’s simulation involves a virtual affair with Freyr (aka Herbert Dyckman, played by Laban Pitman-Johnson).

Marlee met her husband Dwight at ComicCon. “We met when he accidentally goosed me with his sword at ComicCon 2013 lineup,” she explains, “and then a week later, he said, ‘Ashau nashveh tu’ on the Jumbotron at the Star Trek convention. It means ‘I love you’, in Vulcan. (The English to Vulcan Translator. renders the phrase as Nash-veh ashaya du.)

The couple was getting along fine until Dwight got a job with a gaming company that took up all of his time. Left alone with their two kids, Marlee got involved with Second Life where she met Herbert in a virtual scenario based on a fictional comic series called Vikings of Valhalla. She named her avatar Gefion (after the Norse goddess of abundance). The object of her virtual affections named his avatar Freyr (son of Njörd, the Norse god of the sea). Continue reading →