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Post by fenris on Sept 21, 2009 9:29:28 GMT
Episode #1
Right, let's get one thing out the way first: the sex. There's quite a fair amount of sex in this opening episode, and personally I don't particularly have a problem with it. Sex brings in the viewers - just ask the producers of Skins - Trinity is a post-watershed show, and I'm no prude. While there's no denying that it's partly been injected for shock value (within the first five minutes we see cousins Dorian and Rosalind rutting away like mad), the sexual content here doesn't feel as forced and out-of-place as it did in the first season of Torchwood for instance, and God bless the scriptwriters for trying to ensure that it's isn't 100% gratuitous: each sex scene so far has at least contained a sliver of character development or been used to explore the relationship(s) between those involved. For example, Dorian is later left bewildered and frustrated when Rosalind (in an example of control and oneupmanship) informs him that she has no intention of repeating their tryst, and only did it to defuse all the sexual tension that's built up between them over the years. I also suspect that all this sex have been included up front in order to attract an audience, and that once viewers are (hopefully) increasingly drawn in by the characters and the story, the amount and frequency of the sex will decrease as the series progresses.
The various sub-plots were introduced efficiently: the mystery surrounding Charlotte's father (seen convulsing and dying when confronted by a Man in Black in the pre-title sequence) and his departure from Trinity years before is nicely intriguing. Clearly it involved a betrayal of some kind (Dr. Maltravers the College Dean remarks "I never thought my ethics would be questioned by a daughter of Richard Arc", and another tutor declares that he "can't cry" for Arc). There's also appears to be some king of experiment going on, apparently using the Dandelion Club as unwittingly guinea pigs, and I liked the Arthurian codenames being used: Trinity is Camelot, their mysterious masters are Avalon, and the test subject(s) referred to as Galahad. An additional genre element was Charlotte glimpsing what seems to be her father's ghost.
Of the characters, Charlotte (Antonia Bernath) has swiftly been established as a likeable central heroine, overshadowing the underdeveloped Theo MacKenzie (Reggie Yates). Dopeheads Angus (Mark Wood) and Raj (Arnab Chand) are surplus to requirements - clearly intended to be comic relief, they're just irritating, annoying and unnecessary. A case of two characters too many. However, I liked clumsy and accident-prone Welsh lass Maddy (Elen Rhys), if only because we've all been her at some point in our lives. Following his underpowered performance as Luke Rutherford in Demons, Christian Cooke seems on safer ground as Dorian Gaudin, clearly enjoying himself playing a headstrong, arrogant prig who's got it all and knows it. His defining moment so far was when - having gotten a vulnerable Charlotte into his bed - she tells him it's her first time. Rather than pause or urge caution, or ask her if she's sure this is what she wants, his response is merely to exclaim "Brilliant!" and immediately deflower her. However, although Dorian has yet to stray from being a stereotype, there are already hints that his feelings towards Charlotte may soften: in her afterglow, she asks if it's "always this good" and his reply is a puzzled and semi-startled "No." And when she comes to her senses and runs out, instead of getting angry and frustrated, he sits dejectedly and mutters a deflated "Ouch."
But by far the most interesting character is Rosalind Gaudin (played by real life blueblood and friend of royalty Isabelle Calthorpe). At first glance she's just posh totty and eye candy, but she talks Theo out of leaving Trinity by telling him that generations ago her family were peasants, until an ancestor became rich due to an invention. In other words, her view is that the gentry and monied classes aren't better than everybody else, just lucky, and she points out to Theo that while she's at the college by birthright, he achieved his place purely on merit. That, plus her asking Theo if he was quitting Trinity because it's "full of people like me", indicates that while Rosalind enjoys the privileges that she's been born into, she considers the braying, chinless types who make up her social circle to be utterly worthless, and she knows it's the likes of Theo who will the true movers and shakers of tomorrow. Perhaps that's why she goes out of her way to persuade him not to leave - she personally doesn't seem to have anything to gain from him either staying or departing.
The scene when Charlotte invited Theo to tea & biscuits with a group of Christians didn't work, and was clearly left over from when Trinity was originally conceived as a comedy. Charlotte losing her virginity to Dorian, and Theo bedding Rosalind, were surprising in that both events happened so soon. I would have expected them to have occurred later in the series. And while Rosalind clearly left with Theo to make her cousin jealous, it's be interesting to see what (if anything) subsequently happens between her and Theo.
So, a solid start. The most intriguing sight in the montage of future scenes that ran before the end credits was an apparently naked Charlotte quaking with fear while staring in terror at something off-screen.
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Post by orokiah on Sept 21, 2009 18:18:20 GMT
I thought it was hugely entertaining, and really funny in parts (loved Maddy combing her hair with a fork and Dorian asking the 'fools' to sign their names in blood, then reluctantly amending it to red ink). Christian Cooke - channelling Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass - was a revelation. Dorian, vile and stereotypical as he was, felt real in a way Demons' Luke never did. I was surprised by how good Reggie Yates was, too. And the brilliant Charles Dance lends the whole thing, however enjoyable, a gravitas it probably doesn't deserve.
It's definitely a mishmash of several other things: Gossip Girl, The Skulls and Cruel Intentions to name but a few. And it turns out it bears more similarities with the Midsomer Murders episode 'Murder on St Malley's Day' than just the plot, since it and Trinity were filmed at the same place.
My main gripes: the Christians-at-tea part was just too broad, the scene with Charlotte's mother felt very clunky, and while it's been made clear in publicity material that Charlotte is there to investigate her father's death, and that's no doubt going to be expanded on in future episodes, at the moment it just seems odd that she'd choose to attend the university that destroyed her father, however good it is.
But there were surprising subtleties too even among all the comedy, stereotypes, and lights zinging on and off at appropriate moments: in particular Rosalind's comments to Theo, the awkward and well-played reunion between Gabriel and Angela, and the later scene in which they discussed Richard Arc. And I loved Maltravers' smoothly cunning outwitting of Angela over the Dandelion Club's party, even if it meant more screentime for the stoners clever enough to get into Trinity but too thick to realise when they're being used and abused.
I doubt if I'm going to end up liking Trinity as much as Hex or Demons. But it's a lot of fun so far, the mystery is intriguing and well set out, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
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Post by fenris on Sept 24, 2009 19:34:32 GMT
Happened to watch the repeat of Trinity's first episode on ITV2 last night (23/09/09) at 21:00, an hour earlier than it's Sunday screening. Although it was still being broadcast post-watershed, the opening sex session between Dorian and Rosalind was - predictably - edited down considerably, though the scene towards the end of the episode when Dorian took Charlotte's virginity was shown in it's entirety.
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Post by fenris on Sept 28, 2009 19:43:30 GMT
Episode #2
A strong but surprising instalment, that put aside many of the key developments in the first episode and instead concentrated on showing the various methods that the Dandelion Club use to deal with any opponents (from Maltravers's deftful maneuvering to Dorian's clumsy & unimaginative vandalism), while also sowing the seeds for several subplots, such as Rosalind and Charlotte competing for the student seat on the college council. We also learn that Maltravers's mysterious masters have enemies, as he explained that the reason such elaborate measures were needed to smuggle in 'the hourglass' (whatever that is) is because "They can't look everywhere." And seeing them hanging out in each other's rooms has confirmed that Maddy, Theo and Charlotte have formed a fast friendship, bonding together as outsiders.
Angus and Raj continue to be the weakest aspect of the show. They're simply not funny, and their only useful purpose is to illustrate how the Dandelions treat non-members with disdain - but that's already being adequately displayed elsewhere. I'd thought that Rosalind was just using Theo to make a point to her cousin, but interestingly the two of them actually appear to be an item - though it's early days yet. Her attitude regarding Theo standing up to the Dandelions again marked Rosalind out as the show's most complex character: she admired him for doing it, and his staring-down of Maltravers at the tribunal clearly pleased her, but she believed throughout that the Club's power and influence within the university made any such attempted opposition pointless and doomed to failure, and so it proved.
Also bubbling away subtly is the interaction between Charlotte and Dorian. She can't stand him and he doesn't care whether she likes him or not, as long as he gets to bed her again, but both of them can't deny - and continue to be surprised by - how physically compatible they are. Note Dorian's expression after he'd tricked her into a kiss (speaking of which, the scriptwriters dropped the ball with that set-up: Charlotte's far too smart to believe without question Dorian's claim of having filmed them together).
There was also some nice chemistry between Antonia Bernath (Charlotte) and the actor playing Ross Bonham, so much so that it was a shame to see Ross killed off just before the end credits. I would've liked to have see more scenes with the two of them.
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Post by orokiah on Sept 29, 2009 15:26:51 GMT
I'm still really enjoying Trinity. Episode two was every bit as entertaining as episode one, and perhaps even better now that the world and the characters have been established. Charles Dance's performance made this episode for me, though. He's never less than believable, whether he's trampling on Gabriel's affection for Angela, following through on his threat to humiliate her, beating Dorian with his cane, or doing a silly dance when he hurts his hand while hunting for the hourglass. Maltravers may be cast very firmly in the role of bad guy, but his silky machinations are compelling. Of the rest of the cast, Christian Cooke looks like he's having a ball playing Dorian, and Reggie Yates continues to impress. Theo radiates decency and moral uprightness without being boring, a difficult job next to the very wrong but very entertaining antics of the Dandelions. Hopefully Maddy's possession of the hourglass will bring her into the action some more in future episodes, and stop her being fashioned as dozy comic relief. The other comic relief, the fools, are still largely a waste of space, although I did enjoy the scene where Dorian informed them they were going to be 'drugged to promote intertia'...only for them to realise he'd already done it. There was also some nice chemistry between Antonia Bernath (Charlotte) and the actor playing Ross Bonham, so much so that it was a shame to see Ross killed off just before the end credits. I would've liked to have see more scenes with the two of them. The very pointed conversation between Charlotte and Ross about the dead makes me wonder if we might get to see Ross again; perhaps in a similar fashion to Richard Arc in episode one.
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Post by fenris on Oct 5, 2009 15:09:23 GMT
Episode #3
Another solid instalment that went in an unexpected direction, focusing almost exclusively on the fall out from Ross's 'suicide', with Maltravers having to fight several fires, not all of them successfully. Noticeably more humour this week, most of which didn't work: Ross's money-grabbing brother, and the increasingly annoying and still desperately unfunny Raj and Angus. That said, I liked the assets-frozen Dandelions having to make do with a feast of Happy Meals and cheap supermarket plonk (though the Club members not turning on Dorian when Maltravers made them a better offer seemed highly unlikely), and Charlotte being discovered spread-eagled on Ross's corpse. Rosalind admitting that she and Theo can be described as being girlfriend and boyfriend struck a false note - I really can't see her (at least at this stage) regarding him as anything other than a plaything she happens to like.
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Post by orokiah on Oct 6, 2009 12:29:09 GMT
Trinity continues to veer entertainingly between the sublime and the ridiculous. I loved everything about the feast, from the Dandelions dining on fast food and spitting out the wine to Dorian's OTT Churchillian speech as he tries to rouse them into a show of solidarity, culminating in the line: 'this wine may only cost £6.99...but it has the taste of freedom!'. Find it hard to believe the Dandelions aren't wealthy enough to pay for their own roast boar and lobster, even if Dorian is trying to prove a point, but it was still brilliantly done.
The mysterious goings-on continue to intrigue. The really interesting bits: Dorian revealing Rosalind's mother committed suicide in the same episode that deals with Ross apparently having done the same, Jonty cutting out the implant beneath Ross' tattoo, and Linus talking to a broken doll as if it was Ross, before revealing his closet of similarly creepy-looking dolls. What can it all mean?..
Still can't stand the fools, and it's a shame we're not seeing more of Maddy, beyond the obligatory tease where she toys with the hourglass pendant she's now wearing, handily concealed beneath her clothes. But Charles Dance once again made up for many of the episode's shortcomings. From wiping away his tears after the funeral (for Ross or himself, if he can't get hold of the hourglass?) to the furious argument with Angela, he's bringing depth in spades to ostensible bad guy Maltravers. Whatever terrible things he's doing, his orderly world is starting to crumble around him, and he's struggling to deal with it. Can't wait to see what he does next.
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Post by orokiah on Oct 13, 2009 10:38:31 GMT
Episode Four
The two main plotlines this week were the student rep election and the arrival of Dorian's father, providing space for some decent character development for the regulars: Dorian dealing with his loathsome daddy and being called on his soft spot for Charlotte, but pulling through to help rig the election against her; Theo being torn between his loyalties to Rosalind and Charlotte; Linus sobbing brokenly as he burns his puppets on Maltravers' orders; Angela sneaking around and attempting to manipulate Linus, proving she's not as far above Maltravers as she seems to think. I wasn't wholly convinced that Charlotte has loosened up enough to knock out Rosalind and not have a crisis of conscience about it, but it was a funny moment in an enjoyably twisty-turvy story.
Sadly there was more of the fools and less of Maltravers this week, but Charles Dance still got some good moments. It made a neat change to have him lay responsibility for fixing the election on Dorian's shoulders rather than stepping in himself. And Maltravers suddenly knowing about Angela's super-secret plan to get rid of the Dandelion Club, and then telling Angela that he sees everything, made me wonder whether Gabriel really is as benign and cuddly as he seems.
More things that make you go hmm: Maltravers orders Linus to burn his puppets, which he hints are his way of dealing with the Project (representatives of the test subjects?); we discover Richard Arc had a symbol (imaginatively enough of...an ark), which Angela finds on some papers stuffed under Linus' cupboard door; Dorian's father has plans for Rosalind, which she seems to know all about; Jonty ingests some of the substance he found in Ross' back, which promptly knocks him out, and is later interrupted by a mysterious masked figure (Linus, taking revenge on Maltravers? Dorian's father? A notdeadafterall!Richard Arc? Or, as the 'crystal' was stolen, not an ally but someone working against the Project?) as he attempts to trash Maltravers' office.
The series is shaping up brilliantly, and next week's episode looks like another belter: finally some action for Maddy, as her fiancé shows up, and the hourglass finds its way from her neck into Dorian's hands.
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Post by fenris on Oct 15, 2009 11:47:50 GMT
Another entertaining instalment. The election storyline that dominated this episode proceeded and concluded pretty much as expected, but it was the subtle developments elsewhere that made the episode worthwhile. In particular, Dorian’s growing respect (and perhaps even fondness?) for Charlotte, illustrated by his not informing Rosalind about their night together, plus - even more tellingly - the fact that he’s mentioned her to his mother. Unfortunately, Raj and Angus are still unfunny and getting more irritating (if that were possible) as the series progresses. There were also some clumsily heavy-handed elements: the maid’s reaction to Cooper’s puppets was painfully clichéd (“I’m a non-descript, non-white foreigner and therefore I must believe in voodoo”), and Dorian’s father is monstrous enough already, without having him broker biological weapon deals (not just normal, everyday destructive weapons, but biological weapons, ‘cause everyone knows they’re extra evil).
Considering we’re now halfway thorough the series, we don’t seem any closer to any of the various mysteries or subplots being solved. Either the last few episodes are going to be incident-packed and full of info-dumps, or the producers are going to leave lots of story-threads dangling in the hope of getting a further season.
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Post by orokiah on Oct 19, 2009 21:40:51 GMT
Episode Five
Maltravers has always been one of the most compelling characters in Trinity, even with his dastardly plotting and questionable ethics, and this episode offered another opportunity for him to dazzle. Bad guy or not, I was rooting for him to outwit Angela this week, and he did it in style. His glee when he blackmailed Crispin out of investing in Trinity and later his scene with the very tiresome fools (giving voice to anyone, like me, wondering how on earth they managed to get into such a supposedly prestigious university) were priceless.
Angela is getting more and more interesting too, now she's no longer the upright moral crusader we were presented with at the start. Trinity is turning her shrill, suspicious - Gabriel suggests paranoid - and the revelation about her affair with Richard Arc, while hardly a surprise, didn't cast her in quite as virtuous a light as her opposition to Maltravers might have suggested at the start of the series. And then there's Dorian: softening by the episode, and in a neat reversal of the first episode, not taking advantage of Charlotte despite his growing feelings for her. So many shades of grey, and all immensely satisfying.
I was glad to see Maddy get a bit of depth and a story of her own at last, even if it wasn't quite the one I was expecting: the way the hourglass found its way back to the Project seemed almost anti-climactic. But her emotional journey in the episode made up for it. Even if her boorish boyfriend was a bit of a stereotype, and about as funny as the fools, her dawning realisation of her crush on Theo and the reinforcement of her friendship with Charlotte were well played, and Gethin's misery when she eventually dumped him surprisingly touching.
The intriguing stuff: Rosalind gets sent a wedding dress by Dorian's father, Richard Arc was once president of the Dandelion Club, Jonty is nowhere to be seen, Maltravers and Linus still don't know who stole the crystal link, and for some reason are consequently out of contact with the Americans. And I got a kick out of the fact Theo's father is played by the same actor who played Leo Jones' father in Doctor Who - Reggie Yates playing both sons.
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Post by fenris on Oct 21, 2009 18:52:30 GMT
A very silly episode, but one which took significant leaps forward regarding the subplots about certain characters. The scene in which Rosalind solemnly took delivery of the wedding dress (the mystery item from Dorian’s father that she mentioned in the previous episode) was surprisingly effective, as was the kinship displayed between her and Dorian. The two of them have put aside the petty point-scoring of earlier episodes and stand jointly revealed as the resigned pawns of their wretched family’s complex manipulations. Rosalind’s subsequent meeting with Theo’s parents, which she used to sabotage her relationship with him and force a contrived break-up, was another highlight, mostly because the horror stories she told about her own parents were clearly true and not embellished.
Dorian continues to grow, as evidenced not only by his quiet but earnest concern for Rosalind, but his choosing not to take advantage of a drunken Charlotte when she threw herself at him. The scene in which he tucked her up in bed and she tipsily confessed to liking him, was a nice moment in an episode full of such unstated gems. And the subplot about Maddy’s boyfriend was especially well handled: when first seen, he’s an overbearing and uncouth embarrassment, but by the episode’s end there’s no doubt that despite his shortcomings he truly loves her, and the poor sod gets his heart completely broken.
On the down side, why the repeated insistence that Christian Hunter is ‘The Richest Man in the World’? Surely just describing him as ‘One of the Richest’ etc, or as a multi-millionaire, billionaire, or just ‘a business tycoon’ would have been equally effective. Plus the notion that ‘The Richest Man in the World’ or someone of that stature would travel around with just a very tall PA defied belief. In real life, he’d have an entourage of almost a dozen people permanently hovering around, not to mention several bodyguards and probably even a police detail. And in these days of privately-owned media empires, Photoshop, court injunctions regarding privacy, leaked sex tapes and kiss-and-tell exposes, I doubt that a handful of mobile phone snaps – no matter how scandalous – would (1.) ever see the light of day, and (2.) even if they did, they wouldn’t truly damage anyone’s reputation.
I also thought it unlikely that for someone so steeped in the Dandelion’s history (even to the extent that he can recite previous decades’ Fools and their achievements from memory), Dorian would be unaware that Richard Arc had been the Club’s president until he glimpsed it on the board listing those who have held the post. And Maddy’s sudden feelings for Theo are perhaps a romantic complication too many.
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Post by orokiah on Oct 27, 2009 22:04:55 GMT
Episode Six
Another solid episode, packed full of satisfying character moments and yet more intriguing developments (and thankfully less screentime for the fools). Dorian showing more vulnerability as he bares his soul to Charlotte, and Rosalind trying and failing to seduce Gabriel - and her despair afterwards listening to Theo's drunken declaration of love - were all well played. Also liked Jonty being anguished about Ross but still clear-headed enough to tape poor troubled Linus' confession, in which he tells him that Ross was 'the perfect human being'. Which, presumably, with all the heavy-handed dialogue about Maltravers playing God, is what the Project is trying to create.
Highlight, as always, was Maltravers, double bluffing Angela with consummate ease and the aid of the obviously-not-legit policeman guest star of the week. And telling Jonty, in all apparent seriousness, that he's trying to 'save the world'. Oh really?..
All good stuff. Shame there's only two episodes to go: I'm really going to miss this show when it finishes.
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Post by fenris on Oct 27, 2009 22:17:06 GMT
A cracking episode. For most of the characters, everything’s falling apart: Rosalind is so riddled with self-loathing that she’s trying to behave as wretchedly as she feels, resulting in her unsuccessful seduction of Gabriel and instant realisation of how low she’s fallen, in trying to corrupt such a thoroughly decent man. Elsewhere, Theo and Maddy are drinking themselves to oblivion, and a self-destructing Jonty’s plan to entrap Maltravers and Cooper backfires spectacularly. And while this enables Maltravers gets the Project back on track, the Dean learns that the Americans are keeping him out of the loop and finally begins to grasp that he’s just a tiny cog in their machine. Meanwhile, everybody’s least favourite stoners Raj and Angus have fled to the woods and hopefully won’t be back, so it’s not all bad news.
Other highlights this week included the continuation of the Charlotte/Dorian storyline, which is developing exactly as expected but still contains some mild surprises and is actually rather sweet. I loved Charlotte pointing out to Dorian that once you get past all his verbal flannel, he’s actually quite boring, which lead to the touching scene in which listed the things that he actually likes (including Spider-Man comics!). Also smiled at Amanda’s observation about Raj and Angus: “Do they really think we don’t know?” And Maltravers offering a captive Jonty the choice between either becoming a guinea pig in the Project or being disposed of, and the student choosing the latter (“Kiss my arse!”), only for the Dean to brainwash and condition him into being a test subject anyway, was quite chilling.
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Post by orokiah on Nov 2, 2009 21:24:13 GMT
Episode Seven
This was my favourite episode so far (as usual, the less said about the fools the better). The interplay between different characters is one of the things that has made Trinity so compelling, and there were plenty of developments on that front here: stolen kisses for Maddy and Theo and Angela and Gabriel, and the Dandelion Club and their very different approaches to it coming between the otherwise loved-up Dorian and Charlotte. Antonia Bernath really sold the conflict between Charlotte's principles and her desire to experience everything her upbringing has kept her from.
Maltravers has been the highlight of most episodes, and this week was no exception. In an episode that focused on Charlotte's struggle with her principles, we seemed to get an insight into Maltravers' too. There's deeply-held conviction behind his torturing, killing and experimenting, which, along with Charles Dance's nuanced performance, is what makes Maltravers such a fascinating character. His repeated professions of concern for Charlotte and loyalty to Richard and Linus, his growing awareness that his American taskmasters might not share his - seemingly genuine - high ideals, and decision to seize back control from the creepy envoy were all great moments. And I loved him dismissing Angela with the line: 'God, you're a boring woman'.
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Post by fenris on Nov 5, 2009 0:48:49 GMT
For the first time, I think I can understand Dorian's point of view. It may be a loathsome institution, but the Dandelion Club has existed for 600 years, and while on a personal level he doesn't want to be remembered as the president who buggered it up, I think he genuinely believes that all those centuries of history and tradition have got to count for something, and therefore the Club is worth saving if only for it's own sake.
As for Maltravers' rebellion, in my opinion his current actions aren't due to any actual concern for Charlotte's wellbeing. If, for example, she stepped in front of a bus, or fell down some stairs and broke her neck, he wouldn't care a jot. It's reneging on the promise made to her father that's the line he's not prepared to cross.
While still annoying, Raj and Angus weren't quite as awful as they've been previously. I confess that I had to smile at eternal virgin Angus finding himself in the kind of situation that only exists in Penthouse magazine's letters page.
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