| “ | Hyperion City’s the kind of town where you can walk for years and still end up back where you started. Same old job; same old wants; same old hurts. You don’t keep anything you make in Hyperion City... besides enemies. And boy, had I made one of those. | ” |
—Juno Steel
Juno Steel and the Prince of Mars (Part 2) is the fifth episode of the first season of The Penumbra Podcast. It was released May 10, 2016.
Overview[]
After an explosive murder case gone wrong, Detective Juno Steel is in the market for some slower work. His next client promises something quiet: a routine find-the-cheating-husband job. Well… it should be routine.
Trigger Warnings[]
- Alcohol
- Death and violence
- Gore
- Deception and gaslighting
- Sudden loud noises
- Claustrophobic spaces
- Drug use
Episode Summary[]
Juno and Rita visit Julian DiMaggio at Hoosegow about the appearance and death of his husband Anthony DiMaggio. Julian tells them that, along with a flash of light and a strange sound, Anthony appeared in their bedroom with a lethal wound and died. He also confesses to them that he and his company’s products are not actually from Mars. However, the DiMaggios acquired a true Martian artifact: a pill that enables the user to read other people’s minds. This leads Juno to Dr. Strauss who researched the artifact for Julian and Anthony.
In front of Hoosegow, Alessandra Strong confronts Juno about the case. She is planning to find out who killed DiMaggio despite no longer being hired.
Juno and Alessandra go investigating at Dr. Strauss' home where they confront an intruder posing as Strauss' valet. They manage to trick and stun him, but are unable to save the constrained Dr. Strauss who is shot by a sniper across the street. While Alessandra and Juno escape, Alessandra reveals that she has a military background, while Juno admits that he has a fear of heights. Rita comes to their rescue and helps them out by recognizing a phone number and address from the documents Alessandra took from Strauss' appartment, which she knew due to her impressive memory and obsession with streams.
This leads Juno and Alessandra to an address where the two begin observation and briefly discuss their past cases. Alessandra tells him about her first case which involved a paranoid newscaster who eventually got replaced by an animatronic puppet. Juno tells her about his first case - a friend asked him to prove that her husband was cheating on her and he did, but he does not want to talk about it further. They argue about the implications of the Martian mind reading pill. While Alessandra believes that its possibilities could improve mankind, Juno is as pessimistic as usual. Alessandra kisses Juno to prove to him that sharing one's thoughts and feelings will not lead the end of the world. They enjoy this a bit but are interrupted by a strange sound and wind, similar to what Julian described happened before Anthony died. They enter the building where they stun a guard and eventually have to split up. Juno recognizes the scent of Peter Nureyev‘s cologne and follows it. Instead of finding Peter, Juno walks into Miasma and her guards. In order to prevent them from getting the Martian pill, Juno first tries to crush it. When this fails he swallows it and passes out as the cumulative thoughts and emotions of everyone in the building hit him. He hears a mysterious female voice that threatens him for taking the pill. The voice explains that Juno will never know who she is even when she kills him.
After being out for one week at the hospital, Juno and Rita summarize the case. Rita reveals to Juno that the police found actual teleporters built by Martians.
Alessandra comes to visit Juno and Rita leaves them so they can have a talk. She asks him about the pill, but he does not tell her about the threat, claiming that the pill did not work. Alessandra is very affectionate towards Juno. They kiss but Juno admits to her that, although he wishes otherwise, it won't work out between them because he is still thinking of somebody else. Alessandra is upset but tells Juno to call her if he finds himself in trouble again before she leaves.
Cast and Crew[]
Cast[]
Starring
- Joshua Ilon as Juno Steel
- Kate Jones as Rita and the mysterious voice (uncredited)
- Kat Buckingham as Alessandra Strong
- Jason Mellin as The Saffron Prince
- Additional voice work by Dan Squizzero, Scott Galica, and Harley Takagi Kaner
Crew[]
- Kevin Vibert, Co-creator, Lead writer, Sound-effects designer
- Harley Takagi Kaner, Co-creator, Director, Lead editor, Sound designer
- Ryan Meier, Recording engineer
- Ryan Vibert, Composer and performer of original music
Quotes[]
RITA:: Well, I was thinkin. It was on one of my shows, you know, Furthest from the Son? Have you ever seen that one, Alessandra? JUNO:: Don’t-- STRONG:: I haven’t. RITA:: Well! It all takes place on Pluto, on a research base, you know, and it’s about this woman, and her son, and she’s been away for years on this base, and then her son comes to live with her, and they’re trying to get to know each other, but they’re so distant, and it’s so sad, and then in season three her son falls in love with a Plutonian Mindeater and it’s a whole thing— JUNO:: Skip to the guy who doesn’t exist. RITA:: -- anyway the Plutonian Mindeaters Order has this meeting, and Pauline goes to the meeting in disguise, like wearing one of their hoods, you know the kind they wear. Anyway, she’s checking the records, because she has this whole issue with Mindeaters, and I don’t know why, I mean if you ask me you can eat whoever’s mind you want so long as you close the blinds first, I mean I’m not a prude or anything-- JUNO:: Rita! RITA:: Anyway, religious differences aside. She checks the register... and Samantha’s not on there! STRONG:: ...Who? RITA:: Samantha!! The Mindeater that her son’s in love with!!! STRONG:: I don’t get it. JUNO:: And you never will. RITA:: And Pauline goes and checks the Plutonian Census, too...but Samantha’s not there either!! And then she never comes over again!!! Because she never existed at all!!!!