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June 1, 2020

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Plan B is like no other time travel show you've ever seen

The show's creators say adapting the hit quebec show for english audiences gave them their own 'second chance'.

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The hit Québecois TV series Plan B is not your typical time-travel story. For one thing, it almost aggressively does not care about the mechanics of time travel. There are no DeLoreans here. No Tardises. No wormholes. A set of tall, blonde twins in matching dark suits throw you in the back of a van, and you wake up in your desired destination in the past. That's it. 

• Watch This! On TV in February: The long-awaited return of Party Down and a crime-solving Natasha Lyonne

Instead, Plan B — the English adaptation of which debuts on CBC on Feb. 27 — is focused on the "why" of time travel, not the how. And in this case, the "why" is regret. 

"That's a core thing that does transfer across all cultures," says screenwriter Lynne Kamm, who helped the show's original creators, Jean-François Asselin and Jacques Drolet, adapt the series for the Anglophone market. 

The show's protagonist Philip ( Suits star Patrick J. Adams) is a 30-something lawyer who uses the services of a shadowy company called Plan B to save his failing relationship and struggling practice. Plan B allows you to revisit your own past and fix your mistakes. But as is always the case in time travel, making new choices in the past can often create a new, different set of problems going forward.

People who use Plan B's services also don't come back to their original timeline — they just keep on living in the new one. The show's approach to time travel is so unusual that it initially made it tough for the series to get made.

"It took about eight years to complete the first season," says Drolet. "We hadn't seen, on television at that time, people who go back to the past and don't come back to the present."

In the pre-streaming era, he says, TV executives were worried about whether audiences would be able to follow the plot from week to week over 10 episodes. Asselin adds that the rise of streaming and the popularity of six-episode seasons in Québec helped the show get made.

When it came time to make an English-language version of the show — France and Belgium already have their own versions of Plan B , while Germany's is currently in production — Kamm was a natural choice to help adapt the script. She has developed a bit of a niche in Canadian television as "the French-English whisperer," as she puts it, helping adapt Québec shows to English Canadian markets. She previously helped create the English version of cop drama 19-2 . She says that working on that show really helped her understand when to stick to the original script and when to start making changes. 

Patrick J. Adams on playing the liar in CBC psychodrama Plan B

"The first season and a half [of 19-2 ], we very strictly followed the original," she says. "But then you realize that you have different casts and you have different buyers. Your cast changes everything. Louis Morrissette and Patrick J. Adams are two very human beings. Karine Vanasse [who plays Philip's girlfriend Evelyne], she's a powerhouse. Different actors are going to take and embody the characters differently, so you really need to write to the strengths of your cast."

• Suits actor Patrick J. Adams time travels in CBC adaptation of Quebecois psychodrama Plan B

Asselin says that, in some ways, making the show again in English was kind of his own "Plan B" experience. 

"We were shooting in the same locations, but instead of shooting [Québecois Plan B star] Louis Morissette, I was shooting Patrick J. Adams," he says. "We were having the same problems; the actors were asking me the same questions in English that the actors had asked me in French."

He and Drolet say that re-making the show gave them a chance to fix things they didn't like about the original. They wanted to make the audience more invested in Philip and Evelyne's relationship this time around. 

"You start with a couple falling apart; it's tough to root for them," he says. "The actors brought a lot of depth to it … I told them, in the way you look at each other, we need to know, 'Why are they together?'"

Part of getting audiences more invested also involved re-imagining Evelyne a little bit, giving her more agency and making her less a subject of her partner's choices.

"We were able to actualize [the character]," explains Drolet, "because we [created the character] maybe 15 years ago, and the character is different because society has really progressed quickly in that time."

"It was fun to revoice her," adds Kamm. "She was a fun character and it was just about infusing her and making her a more active participant."

Plan B , the English version, will be making its series debut just a few days after the debut of Season 4 of Plan B , the Québec version. In Québec, the series is an anthology, and that's the same thing that Drolet, Asselin and Kamm have planned for the English show — meaning next season, there will be a new cast trying to fix a new set of regrets (although presumably the twins and the van will remain).

• Stuff the British Stole host Marc Fennell wants to shake up our 'cultural amnesia'

"Each year there's a new character," says Asselin. "The tone changes; the story changes."

Hopefully, though, the twins and the van will remain a constant.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Dart is a writer, editor, jiu-jitsu enthusiast, transit nerd, comic book lover, and some other stuff from Scarborough, Ont. In addition to CBC, he's had bylines in The Globe and Mail, Vice, The AV Club, the National Post, Atlas Obscura, Toronto Life, Canadian Grocer, and more.

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Travel | How to create a COVID-19 Plan B when you travel…

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Travel | it’s official: a’s to leave oakland, play in sacramento next season, travel | how to create a covid-19 plan b when you travel abroad.

Now more than ever, you need a COVID Plan B when you travel abroad. Otherwise, you could find yourself stuck in quarantine, which may feel like prison.

Susan Bilhorn had a COVID-19 Plan B, which included buying travel insurance, packing extra medications — and booking her trip with the right tour company. Good thing she did. While visiting Croatia recently, her tour guide discreetly notified her she’d tested positive for COVID.

Minutes later, an ambulance picked her up and delivered her to a quarantine hotel in Dubrovnik, where she spent the next 10 days.

“The accommodations were comfortable and the staff was very gracious,” remembers Bilhorn,  an executive consultant from Laguna Niguel, Calif. “I had more than enough food — good quality and a nice variety.”

So how did her Plan B work out? Her tour operator, smarTours, coordinated with local authorities for her quarantine. Local medical authorities managed her quarantine arrangements. And her travel insurance company, TripMate, reimbursed virtually all of her quarantine bills.

“Any effective Plan B starts with visualizing how you’d handle every single worst-case scenario you can imagine,” says John Gobbels, chief operating officer of Medjet. “The best way to approach that is to sit down and list out each of your biggest fears and create a tangible solution for each one before you go.”

But how do you develop one? It takes some research on the country’s rules and what might happen to you if you’re infected. You’ll also need insurance and extra money to survive your quarantine.

“Unfortunately, part of the new normal of travel involves planning ahead,” says Rajeev Shrivastava, CEO of VisitorsCoverage.com, a travel insurance marketplace.

What are the COVID rules in the country you’re visiting?

“Your first step is understanding the COVID regulations in your destination country,” says Narendra Khatri, principal of Insubuy, a travel insurance company. “Do they have quarantine rules if you get infected, and if so, for how long?”

This is also a good time to check your travel insurance to ensure it covers accommodation expenses for your required quarantine duration.

“This way, at least your Plan B won’t inflate your existing trip’s costs more than it has to,” he says.

What will they do to you if you have COVID?

You’ve probably seen the horror stories of people being sent to COVID prisons when they’re infected. Cruise lines are some of the worst offenders. My USA TODAY colleague Dawn Gilbertson recently reported on Brittany and Steven Loiler, who got infected on Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas. The cruise line forced them to spend the rest of the voyage in a small cabin in the ship’s “red zone,” where crewmembers in hazmat suits dropped off meals.

“If you are traveling overseas, research how your destination country will handle tourists with COVID,” says Joe Cronin, president of International Citizens Insurance. “Plan accordingly.”

Some countries may mandate that you stay at a hotel, which you have to pay for. Others may put you in government quarantine with inedible food and nothing to pass the time, and bill you for the privilege, he says. And cruise ships could throw you into quarantine cabins, where you have to survive on a diet of cold bagels and prunes.

“Make sure to budget for either situation,” advises Cronin. “You may want to pack entertainment and some shelf-stable food like granola bars in case you are quarantined.”

Do you have the right insurance and financial resources to quarantine?

Most travel insurance will cover a trip interruption caused by a COVID-19 infection. But the question is, how much will it cover? Check the fine print in your policy to see what the limits are. Ask yourself: How far will $2,000 go in a quarantine hotel? (In some countries, not very far.)

Katelynn Sortino, a digital nomad who lives in Morocco, knew that if she caught COVID, she couldn’t rely on her local healthcare system. So she set up a savings account to cover the possible expense of quarantining.

“Thankfully, my case was really mild, and I didn’t end up needing it,” she says. “But I think it’s important, particularly for those from industrialized countries who are visiting or moving to developing countries. You don’t want to put an extra strain on the local healthcare system that needs to focus on taking care of its own people.”

Your travel insurance company may offer resources to help you even if you don’t have a Plan B.  For example, Allianz Travel Insurance gives its policyholders 24/7 travel assistance and a support team to troubleshoot travel-related problems, such as trip delays and cancellations. You can also access its services through its app. And Generali Global Assistance’s travel insurance plans offer a concierge service that can help.

If you know the rules of the country you’re visiting, understand what happens to you when you get infected, and have the right insurance, you’re well on your way to having a good Plan B when you’re traveling abroad, say experts.

“When it comes to COVID and travel, you have to plan for the best but prepare for the worst,” says Carrie Pasquarello, co-founder of Global Secure Resources, a travel safety company. “It’s better to have a plan and not use it than to need a plan and not have one.”

Expert tips on developing a Plan B

Get access to reliable COVID tests. Don’t just wing it when you get to your destination. You could end up waiting in a long line at a public hospital and then missing your flight because the results didn’t arrive on time. Tour operators can arrange for the entire group to get tested in their hotel. “But this service might not be available to individuals,” notes Christine Petersen, CEO of smarTours.

Upgrade your insurance. Time and again, I hear from travelers who are unhappy that their travel insurance won’t cover fear of travel. Actually, that’s not correct, according to Jeremy Murchland, president of Seven Corners. You can upgrade your policy to a “cancel for any reason” policy, which covers a percentage of your nonrefundable trip costs when you cancel. “This means that even if you aren’t sick but are concerned about infection rates at your destination, you can still cancel your trip due to a fear of travel,” he says.

Bring your laptop.  If you have a job that you can do remotely, take your laptop with you — even if it’s a vacation. That’s the advice of Charles Neville, a marketing director at JayWay Travel, a European tour company. “I know, you’re supposed to unwind,” he says. “But if you do end up in quarantine, if you have a job that can be done remotely, you’ll still be productive.”

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Carnival Cruise Line forced to make beverage package change

B oth Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean have been forced to make major operational changes after the tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore. After Key Bridge was hit by a freight ship that led to its destruction, the port that both cruise lines use has been closed for the foreseeable future. 

It was a terrible tragedy, but neither cruise line could simply stop operating because they had ships at sea scheduled to return to that port. Both Carnival ( CCL ) and Royal Caribbean acted very quickly and shifted their Baltimore sailings to Norfolk, VA.

Related: Carnival follows Royal Caribbean in fixing worst part of cruising

That's a massive operational feat to pull off which both companies achieved in just a few days. Carnival shared how it was handling a sailing that left from Baltimore before the bridge collapse

"Carnival Legend is scheduled to return from its current voyage on Sunday, March 31. It will now return to Norfolk on Sunday, and guests will be provided complimentary bus service back to Baltimore. Carnival Legend’s next seven-day itinerary on March 31 will then operate from and return to Norfolk," the cruise line shared.

The port switch, however, will have a negative impact on future cruises that many passengers will be angry about.

Carnival may get boos for Cheers

Sailing from different ports means that the local laws and taxes may be different. When Royal Caribbean sails from Galveston, for example, people who buy its Unlimited Beverage Package can only order from a limited menu until the ship hits international waters.

Cheers offers unlimited water, soda, juice, and specialty coffee along with 15 alcoholic beverages for $59.95 per day on sailings of six days or more when purchased in advance. Shorter sailings cost $69.95 per day and all packages are charged an 18%b gratuity.

People buying onboard pay an extra $5 per day and you can only buy the package for the duration of the cruise. In addition, all adults sailing in the same room have to buy the drink package (although exceptions may be made if passengers call the cruise line).

Carnival, for its sailings from Norfolk has shared that it has to make a major change to its Cheers Beverage Package on those sailings. The cruise line has adopted the rules it uses on sailings from New York and Texas for its Norfolk cruise.

Carnival changes Cheers for Norfolk sailings

While Royal Caribbean offers a limited drink menu out of Galveston (the cruise line does not sail from New York), it does still offer unlimited drinks to people who buy its beverage package. Carnival takes a different tact and does not offer Cheers! on night one on sailings from New York and Texas. 

That's the policy its taking in Norfolk and any passengers who paid for Cheers on upcoming sailings will get a refund for the first day of their cruise.  

“Our temporary shift in operations from Baltimore to Norfolk for Carnival Legend necessitates a slight modification in how we implement the Cheers! program. We cannot offer Cheers! benefits while in waters under the Commonwealth of Virginia’s jurisdiction. Therefore, we will not offer Cheers! benefits on the first day of your cruise,” according to an email from Guest Services Vice President Colleen Oliverio.

Can't seems to be more of a question of choice as Royal Caribbean has not made the same change.

"For Royal, you can absolutely use your drink package immediately however TABC law limits cruise ships to only sell alcohol made in the great state of Texas while in port. once the ship has moved into international waters, full bars open up. Carnival on the other hand just chooses to hold off altogether with their drink package making their Cheers begin on day 2 (You don't pay for day 1). you can still purchase drink by drink, but they too have to follow the same TABC laws mentioned," Todd W. poste don the Royal Caribbean blog .

Royal Caribbean has not said it plans to have any drink package limitations on Norfolk sailings.

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Touring the Top 10 Moscow Metro Stations

By Claudia Looi 2 Comments

Komsomolskaya metro station looks like a museum. It has vaulted ceilings and baroque decor.

Hidden underground, in the heart of Moscow, are historical and architectural treasures of Russia. These are Soviet-era creations – the metro stations of Moscow.

Our guide Maria introduced these elaborate metro stations as “the palaces for the people.” Built between 1937 and 1955, each station holds its own history and stories. Stalin had the idea of building beautiful underground spaces that the masses could enjoy. They would look like museums, art centers, concert halls, palaces and churches. Each would have a different theme. None would be alike.

The two-hour private tour was with a former Intourist tour guide named Maria. Maria lived in Moscow all her life and through the communist era of 60s to 90s. She has been a tour guide for more than 30 years. Being in her 60s, she moved rather quickly for her age. We traveled and crammed with Maria and other Muscovites on the metro to visit 10 different metro stations.

Arrow showing the direction of metro line 1 and 2

Moscow subways are very clean

To Maria, every street, metro and building told a story. I couldn’t keep up with her stories. I don’t remember most of what she said because I was just thrilled being in Moscow.   Added to that, she spilled out so many Russian words and names, which to one who can’t read Cyrillic, sounded so foreign and could be easily forgotten.

The metro tour was the first part of our all day tour of Moscow with Maria. Here are the stations we visited:

1. Komsomolskaya Metro Station  is the most beautiful of them all. Painted yellow and decorated with chandeliers, gold leaves and semi precious stones, the station looks like a stately museum. And possibly decorated like a palace. I saw Komsomolskaya first, before the rest of the stations upon arrival in Moscow by train from St. Petersburg.

2. Revolution Square Metro Station (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) has marble arches and 72 bronze sculptures designed by Alexey Dushkin. The marble arches are flanked by the bronze sculptures. If you look closely you will see passersby touching the bronze dog's nose. Legend has it that good luck comes to those who touch the dog's nose.

Touch the dog's nose for good luck. At the Revolution Square station

Revolution Square Metro Station

3. Arbatskaya Metro Station served as a shelter during the Soviet-era. It is one of the largest and the deepest metro stations in Moscow.

Arbatskaya Metro Station

4. Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station was built in 1935 and named after the Russian State Library. It is located near the library and has a big mosaic portrait of Lenin and yellow ceramic tiles on the track walls.

Lenin's portrait at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station

5. Kievskaya Metro Station was one of the first to be completed in Moscow. Named after the capital city of Ukraine by Kiev-born, Nikita Khruschev, Stalin's successor.

Kievskaya Metro Station

6. Novoslobodskaya Metro Station  was built in 1952. It has 32 stained glass murals with brass borders.

Novoslobodskaya metro station

7. Kurskaya Metro Station was one of the first few to be built in Moscow in 1938. It has ceiling panels and artwork showing Soviet leadership, Soviet lifestyle and political power. It has a dome with patriotic slogans decorated with red stars representing the Soviet's World War II Hall of Fame. Kurskaya Metro Station is a must-visit station in Moscow.

Ceiling panel and artworks at Kurskaya Metro Station

8. Mayakovskaya Metro Station built in 1938. It was named after Russian poet Vladmir Mayakovsky. This is one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world with 34 mosaics painted by Alexander Deyneka.

Mayakovskaya station

One of the over 30 ceiling mosaics in Mayakovskaya metro station

9. Belorusskaya Metro Station is named after the people of Belarus. In the picture below, there are statues of 3 members of the Partisan Resistance in Belarus during World War II. The statues were sculpted by Sergei Orlov, S. Rabinovich and I. Slonim.

10. Teatralnaya Metro Station (Theatre Metro Station) is located near the Bolshoi Theatre.

Teatralnaya Metro Station decorated with porcelain figures .

Taking the metro's escalator at the end of the tour with Maria the tour guide.

Have you visited the Moscow Metro? Leave your comment below.

January 15, 2017 at 8:17 am

An excellent read! Thanks for much for sharing the Russian metro system with us. We're heading to Moscow in April and exploring the metro stations were on our list and after reading your post, I'm even more excited to go visit them. Thanks again 🙂

December 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm

Hi, do you remember which tour company you contacted for this tour?

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What does the mifepristone case mean for Plan B? The difference between the two explained.

Emergency contraception is not the same thing as the abortion pill, but these medications are often confused. While both involve reproductive health, emergency contraception ‒ often called Plan B ‒ is meant to stop a pregnancy from happening , and the abortion pill mifepristone ends an existing pregnancy, medical experts say .

Delineating the two medications is more important than ever as the Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on a case that could sharply limit access to mifepristone and diminish the independence of the Food and Drug Administration.

An anti-abortion organization is challenging mifepristone's FDA approval, claiming the agency bypassed standard protocols to bring the medication to market.

Abortion advocates say the pill should not lose its FDA approval, citing decades of safety and efficacy in patients across the nation .

Mifepristone remains FDA-approved at the moment and available to many Americans from reproductive health clinics or telemedicine services, although full access to the pill is restricted in 15 states . The "Plan B" pill is legal in all 50 states without age restrictions.

The court's decision in the mifepristone case, expected this summer, could have a long-term impact on the FDA’s ability to make decisions about the safety of all drugs. This means that while neither pill's approval changes today, there could be ramifications for all medications and the future of reproductive health systems nationally.

"Regardless of the result, it will not have an immediate impact on emergency contraception," Dana Singiser, co-founder of the Contraceptive Access Initiative, said of Tuesday's case.

How we got here

Last April,  U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas  effectively  invalidated the FDA's 23-year-old approval for mifepristone .

The Biden administration appealed, but the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Kacsmaryk's ruling that the FDA was wrong for approving changes in 2016 and 2021 that let women take the drug three weeks longer into a pregnancy and allowed the drugs to be dispensed through the mail without in-person visits with a doctor.

“In loosening mifepristone’s safety restrictions, FDA failed to address several important concerns about whether the drug would be safe for the women who use it," the court wrote. “It failed to gather evidence that affirmatively showed that mifepristone could be used safely without being prescribed and dispensed in person."

The case marks the first time a court has restricted access to an FDA-approved drug by second-guessing the agency’s expert judgement, according to the Biden administration.

A decision against the FDA could open the "barn doors" for future similar claims against a slew of medications if the court sides with the plaintiff, particularly emergency contraception, Singiser and others argued.

Ongoing coverage: Supreme Court hears abortion pill Mifepristone case, nation watches anxiously: Live updates

"If the Supreme Court undermines FDA's authority that could threaten any drug that's ever been approved by the FDA," Singiser said. "That threat is is particularly posed to reproductive health products because there is such an organized advocacy movement against abortion, contraception and IVF."

What is mifepristone?

Mifepristone is one of two pills commonly used in medication abortion , accounting for more than half of all U.S. abortions. according to the Guttmacher Institute, which researches reproductive health policy. Patients take mifepristone with another medication called misoprostol to end a pregnancy that is less than 70 days developed. The pills are taken about two days apart.  

The abortion drug has been used in the United States since 2000. The drug accounted for 63% of all U.S. abortions in 2023, an increase from 53% in 2020.

Some insurers and Medicaid plans cover abortion pills, according to Plan C , which hosts a guide to accesses abortion pills per state with financial information. Cost of the pill can range from $150 from online clinics that mail pills, to $500 or more at in-person clinics. Several online providers, such as Hey Jane , offer financial assistance, if needed.

Many medical organizations have rushed to defend mifepristone as "the most studied medication" and "overwhelmingly" safe, with a better track record than commonly used drugs such as Tylenol and Viagra, according to legal briefs filed in support of the FDA by the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Family Physicians and several other organizations.

What about Plan B?

Emergency contraception is a type of birth control that should be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex or birth control failure . The single pill is sold for about $50 at drug stores such as CVS and Walgreens.

It works by delaying ovulation with a hormone called levonorgestrel, according to Planned Parenthood . It's recommended to take Plan B as soon as possible after unprotected sex, but it can be taken up to five days later.

Emergency contraception is not abortion . The morning-after pill can be  up to 95% effective in preventing pregnancy , but does not terminate an existing pregnancy. Plan B is designed to prevent ovulation , holding back an egg so that it won't be fertilized by sperm and an embryo formed.

Many Americans confuse Plan B with the abortion pill. Some Americans began hoarding Plan B after Roe v. Wade fell in 2022 , causing confusion and panic that emergency contraception was the next best thing, or would be next to be restricted. Even Olivia Rodrigo's current "Guts" Tour had to clarify that it was handing out emergency contraception, not abortion pills , at the pop star's concerts.

This conflation between the two medications is by "design," said Singiser, who said the anti-abortion movement has intentionally framed contraception as an "abortifacient" and worked to codify laws that state life begins at immediate conception, paving the way for legal battles on contraception and IVF , such as the recent attack on IVF in Alabama after the state's high court determined frozen embryos could be considered children.

This has all lead to fears that mifepristone's federal approval changing would cause a ripple effect for Plan B. And this confusion is even worse for people in states where abortion care is already restricted, the independent Kaiser Family Foundation found in a 2023 study . But Americans' access to emergency contraception remains unchanged for now.

Contributed: Maureen Groppe