We sit in the shadows of our living rooms

We sit in the shadows of our darkened living rooms, able for the space of an hour to forget ourselves and immerse in the characters we see on the TV screen. But, this particular episode imposes a sudden confrontation with the real in an universe of monsters, vampires and horror. In previous episodes, we as viewers have witnessed the character's battle with cancer and her hopeful recovery, and yet, unexpectedly, we find ourselves sitting down and suddenly, almost painfully, reminded of our ownselves when the character dies.

The first thing that separates this episode from all others is its lack of music. We can also see an nonassimilable monster, a tumor, a cancer that the listening devices of the unconscious do not hear, for its strayed subject is huddled outside of the paths of desire. We do not hear a music score. Perhaps there is no music because the mother is dead. Music is associated to the mother, but the mother is dead, a thing no longer able to be desired. There is only silence. Since the music is absent, we, viewers, who are conditioned to feel a certain way during certain scenes based upon how the music stirs us, are left without that comfort.

It could be argued that this is quite possibly the story's most frightening episode. The final moments of the scene, with the body foregrounded. The dead body of the mother is looking upwards, but if looked at awry, she seems to be gazing directly at us. In the midst of this fantasy's show, the real is staring back at us, refusing to be turned away from, not allowing us the comfort of ignoring it. We can not watch the final scene of the episode without overlooking the body. Our eyes must alternate between the characters and the dead mother’s body. The real has intruded not only the character's world but also our own reality, threatening us at the most primal level of our consciousness.

We sit in the shadows of our living rooms, TV screen illuminates our faces as we project our fantasies onto the characters. These characters can clearly be seen as fetishes.