The Duck and the Bodies

Time traveling ducks with ties. (Not really.)

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The Bodies

How can three detectives find the same dead body in the same dark alley, over fifty years apart from each other? That's the question posed in the first episode of Netflix's Bodies, a limited series released on October 19th, 2023.

Bodies opens with three crime procedural stories told in parallel. We see the detectives start a typical day on the job, as they work their way to an isolated London alley and the body of a naked man shot through his left eye.

Only we know that they're finding the same crime scene in 1890, 1941, and 2023. How would the detectives realize that? Why would they even ask?

The show doesn't feel like science fiction until well into the second episode, if not later, and that was one thing I enjoyed most about it. As I'm fond of saying: science fiction is about real life. While this story eventually requires suspension of belief, it establishes a realistically portrayed world and remains firmly grounded in it.

I wrote about time travel back in June. It's easy to screw up, and even easier to use as a crutch. Bodies does neither. Its use of time travel, while not entirely unique, is skillful and a pleasure to watch as it unfurls on the screen.

Give it a shot. You won't regret it.

The Duck

The story of adulting, in two panels.¹

Touching Grass

Fall is here!

My son’s wedding was on October 22nd, and since this ceremony was outside it counts as a “touching grass” entry.

They were married in a beautiful setting about an hour west of New York City. You can see how beautiful the foliage was in the background.

Back home, this striking tree caught my eye while I was walking the dog.

Here’s Freya, by the way. She’s eyeing a gigantic raven.

I couldn’t get a shot that conveyed just how huge this bird was. Nevermore, indeed.

We had a couple of warm days this week, and these red leaves sitting under a beautiful blue sky made me stop my bicycle for a photo.

See you next week!

1. This comic appears to have originated here.