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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I think this book takes place on April 25th.

It was the perfect temperature, warm enough to go without a jacket, chilly enough to make her shiver now and again, to make her long for arms around her.

Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Chapter Two: The Scoobies + Pike go back to the library. Giles isn't there and Buffy says he's been acting weird lately. She and Pike go to his house to check on him. He's acting weird, yells at Buffy, and then, as they're leaving, his house is swarmed by vampires who enter without an invitation.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Truly a time-freeze for a mocha to be something exotic. In fact, this very thing is also in this week's Welcome to Halliwell Manor. It's Max's time-freeze.

A page from a book. Highlighted text reads "ridiculously expensive exotic coffees."

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Of course what we learn from Pike is that once your eyes are opened to the horrors of the world you can never completely escape them.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Such a good character beat to have Buffy be angry at Pike here. He gets to go off and be a surf dude. The events of BtVS the Movie can be just an exciting note in his past while Buffy never gets to stop fighting.

But Buffy couldn't ignore Pike's words. They infu-riated her. With all he'd seen, all he could have done to help if he'd set his mind to it-he was easily as capable as any of her friends, and even more so when it came to fighting vampires-she couldn't help feeling a little bitter toward him.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I like the reference to a relatively obscure character being used here to situate us in time. This book happens after Slayerfest.

Pike shrugged. "There've been a couple of times," he admitted. "Maybe two years ago a little gang of blood-suckers killed a bud of mine in the Gaslamp District in San Diego. That got personal. About four months ago, dude named Gorch and his girlfriend came through town, made a mess of a place I like to hang called Coasters."

"Lyle Gorch?" Willow asked, glancing at Buffy in surprise.

"We ran into him not that long ago," Xander added. "It wasn't the first time either. He's a member of Buffy's fan club, I think. Not to mention the first guy shot in every Clint Eastwood movie."

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I like the immediate acknowledgement that at some point off camera Buffy filled the Scoobies in on the events of the movie.

"PIKE?"

IKE?" XANDER ASKED. "LIKE IN 'L.A.' PIKE?" Willow turned to Xander with a mischievous grin or her face. "Like in hot-with-the-smoochies Pike."

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Chapter One: Pike tells Buffy he is in Sunnydale to get her help. His friend was killed by a stone demon and now it's hunting him.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Xander, stop being weird about your friend's mom.

let's face it, Joyce is a young, unattached woman, and not half a hottie for a woman of her age"

"Xander!" Buffy snapped, eyes wide.

"I'm just saying. I may only be eighteen, but I'm male, after all. Despite the complete disregard with which I've been treated by the female portion of the human race, I am capable of noticing that an older woman is a babe."

"A babe? My mother is not a babe!"

"So you think your mom's not attractive?" Xander demanded, as if Buffy were on the witness stand.

"That's not what I meant," she replied, her head be-ginning to ache. "Of course I think she's-"

"My point," Xander concluded. "My work here is done."

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Prologue: Buffy does not like the new man her mom is dating. She goes out to patrol. At one point she is overpowered by a vamp who is dusted by...Pike!

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Y'all, we're going to find out what happened to Pike!

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Our new episode of Welcome to the Sunset Strip is up: www.welcometotelevision.net/sunset-strip...

welcometotelevision.net

8: Nevada Day Part Two — Welcome to Television

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Epilogue: Where Blanche has a party to reveal the exhibit set up by Misia to honor Declan. Everyone has personal growth and lives happily ever after. Except the dead guy and the guy who killed him.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The murderer starts talking about how hard he had it in the art world since he came from a rural town. He is satisfyingly shut down by the other party guests.

"Do you think no one else had to work hard and reinvent themselves to be taken seriously in this business?" Akiko said. "Look around you!"

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Chapter Thirty: The killer is apprehended and everything is wrapped up.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-nine: We're reaching endgame here as Sophia returns with police. Apparently she went to the shore, flagged down a boat, got the police from the mainland, and returned. The murderer is on the move, but everyone is chasing him now.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-eight: Everyone splits up to look for Sophia. The murderer takes Rose hostage but Blanche overpowers him and frees her.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

To quote another iconic sitcom blonde: I'm not as dumb as I am.

Rose smiled smugly. "I told you, I'm not as dumb as you all think I am. Sometimes I'm so busy listening that I don't always make sense when I'm talking."

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Oh hey, it's that procedural thing I was talking about where a murderer confesses to everything once he's confronted.

Finally, Herman spoke in a small voice with barely a trace of his European accent. "You don't understand... I was helping El Toro. As you know, I was dismayed by the threats against him, and I took it upon myself to capture the person or per-sons targeting him. I thought they'd come for him through the external entrance to his studio, since some of the final notes mentioned watching him while he worked. On Friday night I booby-trapped the lanai, so I could catch them in the act. But I certainly wasn't trying to kill anyone!" He broke off into loud, hiccupping sobs. "It was a horrible accident."

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-seven: The murderer is revealed and several loose ends are tied up. But now Sophia is missing

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-six: The Girls sneak the diary out of the library and start reading. They discover a secret about Misia that is not revealed to the reader, but I'm calling it here that Misia was Declan's long lost daughter.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-five: The Girls look for Declan's will. They find a bunch of paperwork, but the file folder for his will is empty. They find his diary, but before they can read it, they are discovered by the rest of the party.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I like the use of the old fashioned term "friend of Dorothy" here. While the actual phrase refers to Dorothy Gale, I'm sure that more than a handful of people have gotten confused and thought it was about this Dorothy. And now Rose is officially one of those people.

"What do you think they're saying?" Dorothy whispered.

"Maybe they're having an affair," Blanche said. "They could be in on the crime together."

"I'm pretty sure he's a friend of Dorothy's," Sophia said.

"But Dorothy never met him before this weekend," Rose said, confused.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-four: The Girls explore the passage

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-three: The Girls discover a secret passage in their room

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This writer brings up a lot of Golden Girls canon in the book, including who the real queen of the bedroom is in that house.

"I can do that!" Rose said, her shoulders sagging with relief. "Besides, I don't have the number of handkerchiefs or the pancakes I'd really need for hanky-panky."

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I can't believe I never thought about the similarities between Sofia and Granny Weatherwax until now.

"Eh, I sleep like the dead-meaning I look dead when I'm asleep, meaning the murderer will think they got a freebie."

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-Two: Back in their room, the Girls review the clues and make a murder board on the vanity mirror with lipstick

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Another procedural trope: the murderer confessing as soon as they are accused. This trope is there so that we can get closure without the boring bureaucracy of actually making the state make its case.

She also wondered why Dorothy was going so easy on Misia. Blanche couldn't exactly ask her in front of everyone.

Did she suspect someone else? Or did she feel for the poor girl? And even after being confronted by all the evidence against her, Misia hadn't admitted anything, which made Blanche even more confused. At the end of most of the murder mysteries on TV, the killer usually confessed, the pieces all fell into place, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

They go into Misia's room anyway and it's decorated like a teenager's. I like the way the writer does not let us ignore her youth and vulnerability while she's being accused of murder.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Yes, Dorothy! I appreciate her calling out the worst thing about procedurals: they spread the idea that asserting your rights is a sign of guilt

"Key," he demanded.

"I'd rather not," Ralph said.

"This is an unlawful search," Misia said. "You don't have a warrant."

Herman adjusted his tweed suit jacket. "Spoken like some-one with something to hide!" He sneered.

"Just because she knows her rights doesn't mean she's guilty," Dorothy interjected.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Chapter Twenty-one: The stained shoes are found in the room of Declan's assistant Misia along with some of Declan's paintings

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Chapter Twenty: A footprint is found and everyone starts searching for the matching shoe

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Chapter Nineteen: Details of the death threats are revealed

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Well now I definitely think he did it

Herman chuckled as he tapped Dorothy on the shoulder. "And why would I interrogate myself? It would be as silly as

accusing the police of committing a crime, or a firefighter of arson!"

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Chapter Eighteen: The art insurance guy has decided that he's the star of this detective story and keeps interrogating people - much to Dorothy's annoyance. Finally he reveals that Declan was getting death threats.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The maid is briefly accused of being the murderer. The accusor claims she has a temper because he saw her yell at a peacock. That's something you say when you have never dealt with peacocks.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Young Blanche was probably the MPDG for a few men. I kind of want a non-mystery story where Blanche gets to go back and revisit that dynamic.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The woman who stole the brooch was Declan's artistic partner. She's angry at how obsessed he was with Blanche when from her pov, Blanche was just some manic pixie dream girl that he knew for less than a year.

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

"I was partying with the Beatles while you hung out with the Monkees" feels like a very specific insult that I am going to try to work into my life.

And she couldn't believe Declan had partied with one of the Beatles! Blanche had only hung out with the Monkees

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Knowing that Vee partied with George Harrison makes me trust her innocence more actually. If you partied with George or Ringo you get a +2 to persuasion checks with me. (Paul or John gives you a -1.)

"I don't appreciate your insinuations, Vee," Akiko said. "And you know what? I think it was you who took that brooch!"

Vee whirled to face Akiko, nearly spilling her wine. "Excuse me?"

"You were on that trip to London when Declan got the brooch, back in '66," Akiko said, calmly pouring herself a fresh drink. "I recall you two being pretty cozy, shacked up at the Savoy, partying with George Harrison-"

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Welcome to Television @welcometotv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Chapter Seventeen: The brooch thief is found but she denies being the murderer

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