This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. Welcome to Red Panda Report.
Buckle up for two-fisted pulp action as I talk about the terrific two-spim of Toronto.
Red Panda Report, episode 26, or season 2, episode 26, something like that. Anyway, I'm
talking about A Wid Minters Murder, which was originally published or released from
decoderingtheatre.com October 26, 2007, and here is the copy written by Greg Taylor, who's
the writer, director, and voice of the Red Panda. A blinding snowstorm, a manor house cut off from
the outside world, a desperate violent act, a perfect recipe for danger? Perhaps. But those
strangers who just came in the door, are they really newlyweds John and Jane Morris, or has a
certain mass duo come calling? And will even the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel be enough to
prevent a midwinter's murder? So, that one was a little, like, I would rank that at like an 8 as
opposed to the usual 10. That might have had more to do with my reading of it than what the actual
quality of it was, but that was pretty solid. Pretty solid. And the episode was even better
than the copy. So, we get a lot of... Let me slow down real quick. So, the episode was very good.
I enjoyed it a lot. Probably the... Two of the most interesting things are that, one, we got to see a
lot of the emotional connection, the romance, potentially budding between Red Panda and Flying
Squirrel in this one, and I'll get into that a little bit later. And the other thing was that,
for most of the episode, they were in their civilian disguises, pretending to be other people,
John and Jane Morris. And... It's John and Jane. That's so funny. So, that was another exciting
element. And at the end of it, they did end up getting in their costumes and doing whatever they
had to do. But this is another episode with no super heroics. It's a very classic, very, you know,
you could say cliche type of thing where somebody comes in on a murder and they're detectives,
so then they have to solve it. So, of course, they are detectives of a different sort, and they go
ahead and they do solve it. So, very interesting, you know, setup and premise. And I'll go back into
the relationship stuff and the romance. So, it's clear. This episode makes it clear if you weren't
sure. And I don't know if they like throw one in every season. And that's how they kind of... How
Taylor kind of figured you do it. But it's clear that Kit has a romantic interest in her boss,
in the Red Panda. And she mentioned something about this ball that they were at, or this ski
event that they were at, and how the servants were talking. And she kind of hints that maybe
somebody had been romantically interested in her. And he kind of asks if she was caught by anybody,
because that's kind of the language they were using of somebody chasing and catching or whatever.
And it makes her uncomfortable. And then when they're pretending to be husband and wife,
it makes... Well, there's not too much blushing there or anything like that. They know they're
going into a routine, so they just do it. And it's really clever how Kit realizes,
oh, we can't say who we are. There might be something going on here. We should protect our
identities. So, she makes up on the fly that her husband is John Morris, and she's Jane Morris.
And if you listen to the episode, there's a romantic subplot going on there too. Somebody
is in a romantic relationship, and there's tension because of that. And things happen,
the plot happens because of that love, if that's there. And at the end of the episode,
the Red Panda remarks that he couldn't see it. And Kit says that she could because she has had
years of practice, or she's had lots of practice seeing this dynamic of a servant and a wealthy
person. And there being an attraction between them and an unrequited love or whatever, a love
that cannot be, let's say. And obviously, she's talking about herself and how she feels about
Red Panda. And he doesn't get it, or he pretends not to get it. We're not 100% sure at this point
what it is, but he's definitely oblivious to the overture. She's making the things that she's trying
to say and hint at. And that's really interesting. Interesting and fun. Other thing that was interesting
and fun, which I mentioned at the top, was the fact that they basically solved this murder
mystery on their own, in their civilian identities, of course, with their detective skills. She cracks
a safe and reads through files and things like that. And together, the information that they both
learn, they go off in different places and do different things, helps them to figure out who
was the murderer and who did this. And then they finally get in their costumes to stop it because
somebody runs off and they chase after them. And I really appreciate that we could have a mystery
like this solved by these characters without them having to be superheroes. Of course, they're using
their superhero skills, but without them having to use their superhero costumes. And even if the guy
who fled ran away or had gotten away, they still could have solved the murder without him there.
And I don't know, maybe that would have been even more interesting. I'm not sure. I'm not sure if
that would have been more interesting or not, but it's definitely something that could have possibly
happened. And I think that's pretty interesting. And yeah, it's just a fun thing. It was a fun
dynamic. It was a fun way to play the episode, to have them barely be in costume. And I like that
because these characters are compelling themselves, kind of no matter what context you put them in.
So it was interesting and fun. Now with that, I pretty much don't have anything else I want to say
because this was a short, simple, fun, good episode. And I think I've said everything I have to say,
so I don't want to go on for too much longer. I'm going to encourage you to go to my website,
mjwinters.com, subscribe over there so you can follow along and get all my releases. Very important,
very important for me. I wrote a Noir detective, well, a Noir superhero story with a female
superhero named Kuruv. She's an avenging angel. And I wrote a short story about her that I will
have linked in the show notes. And she's very much in the style of the red panda or the shadow or
Zoro or Batman, I guess you could say. And it's a very short story that I submitted for something.
There were like 100 entrants and I was not in the top three. So maybe I was number four, I don't
know. But I think it's a good, fun story. And it feels like very much the part of a, I definitely
want to tell ongoing stories and I have outlines for books for this character. But I haven't gone
beyond outlining the broad strokes and actually in writing this short story, it gave me a really
cool idea for something to do a gimmick that I can have for the character in the books specifically.
I don't know how it would work in other media like if I got it turned into a comic book or graphic
novel, that kind of thing. But I could actually I know exactly how I would do the gimmick and it
would be great. But anyway, it's called Midnight Angel. I'll have it linked here. I'd appreciate
if you'd read that, check it out, tell me what you think about it. Because I think it's a really
cool story. And I think it definitely fits in with these red panda stories and the shadow and
different things like that. So anyway, that's pretty much it. Thank you for your time and
attention. I hope you enjoyed that. Like, share and subscribe. I invite you to comment, ask
questions and share your thoughts with me. It's always more fun when you're part of the
conversation. Until next time, be well and hold high the lamp of justice. Visit MJMunoz.com for
more of my work and help me build up the fortress fiction.