The Many Faces of Juliet
ASTRID & LILLY SAVE THE WORLD – Season 1 Episode 9 – SPOILERS
The new monster in town is a Castorlux (Castor + Pollux). It appears initially in a “blank body” that looks like a grey mannequin, and mimics the physical bodies of the first three people it touches. Lilly (Samantha Aucoin) is the first to be duplicated, and Brutus (Olivier Renaud) tells her the intent of the Castorlux is to absorb the body of the original into itself (after first learning to appear natural in that form). The duplicates are almost perfect, but Eggs (Michael McCreary) notices that, while people (on average) blink once every four seconds, “Lilly” was blinking at twelve second intervals.
The monster hunters are not as observant as Eggs, and must demonstrate to one another that they are the genuine article. To that end, Astrid (Jana Morrison) tells Lilly: “Your parents were going to name you Libby but then, at the last minute, they remembered that they both had an ex-girlfriend named Libby who ended up being the same person.” And Lilly confirms her identity by telling Astrid: “You used to plan on saving yourself until you could invent time travel to bang an early 2000s James Marsters, but all that changed when you met Sparrow.”

Candace and Eggs at rehearsal, with the real Val on one side and the kangaroo (painted by Lilly) on the other
At rehearsal, Eggs (who was named after Egon Spengler PhD) comes into conflict with the director. “No no no, no,” Michelle (Megan Hutchings) tells him, “The koala is the ring bearer, the kangaroo is the officiant. Obviously. What is so hard to understand here?” Eggs responds: “Everything. Literally everything. Kangaroos cannot officiate weddings. Romeo can’t survive drinking pure funnel spider venom. And Black Swans are only indigenous to the most specific regions of Australia.”
Still angry at Candace, Lilly decides not to go to the play, but has a change of heart after an impromptu lecture on being supportive from Tate (Kolton Stewart), who never was, though he dated Candace for two and a half years. She decides to leave a note for Candace, who notices her doing that and interrupts the performance to direct an aside at Lilly: “And yet I wish but for the thing I have,” she says, quoting Juliet. “My bounty boundless as the sea, my love as deep. The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.” Lilly doesn’t stay for the rest of the play, but leaves the note which says: “If you show up for me, I promise to always show up for you.”

Christina Orjalo as alt-Val, preparing to do the wedding scene with Eggs.
Candace abandons the play to find Lilly, and Eggs does the wedding scene (an alternate ending created by Michelle) opposite Val’s doppleganger. The real Valerie is still in her crocodile costume and watching the proceedings from the wings, enraged that someone else has stolen both her scene and her kiss.
Inserting Australian accents and idioms into Romeo and Juliet seems like a terrible idea, but the excerpts we see are actually pretty good, and kind of make one want to watch the rest of it.
Candace (Julia Doyle) finds Lilly and apologizes, saying all the right things. This makes Lilly suspect that Candace is the as-yet-unlocated third part of the Castorlux, until she sees one version of Val (Christina Orjalo) chase the other down the hall. All’s well that ends well. Lilly agrees to go to the dance with Candace; Astrid decides to give Candace another chance; and Lilly’s parents (who seem quite pleased about it) offer Lilly’s new girlfriend a ride home.
Christine (Geri Hall), who has not yet heard about any of this, calls someone named Helen for the purpose of “finally” telling her what really happened to her husband. We don’t hear her do that, but Candace tells Lilly that Christine is not a widow, but is divorced, and her ex-husband (Candace’s father) is alive and living in Scranton.
Miscellaneous Info

Jordan Canning (left) and the poster for her award-winning 2017 film SUCK IT UP
Jordan Canning, who directed this episode, also directs four episodes of THE LAKE, the first scripted Canadian Amazon Prime series.
Alix Markman, who wrote this episode, discusses “subterranean breeches, social construction, and the world’s most dedicated amusement park employee” in Episode 36 of Trevor Campbell’s podcast YOU MADE ME QUEER.