numbnut

Larry doing porn is pretty funny. I wish they had a better wig for the actor. That curly fro looks too fake.

Ditto. I was less enthused about this season and took a break between episodes 2 and 3. The extensive timejump between seasons 1 and 2 was initially disconcerting but now I'm into the show, most of it anyway. That pause Candy took when she was asked for a blowjob was intense. I thought she might mutilate him. I guess she plans to make her film with $10K checks but she won't see a profit If all the guys want 10% off the back-end (or whatever that d-bag said).

I'm only one-third through the ep and I had to stop to ask: What the hell am I watching? It's like I missed the episode with the setup for this story. The long-winded explanation about the lemur doesn't explain why this isn't memory scenario. (And that massive exposition dump is lazy writing IMO.) I must have missed something. And I'll admit that I'm not paying closest attention because I'm not very intrigued by the show. OK, rant over.

I don't particularly like Annie but I was def. more invested in this ep. The actress playing Ellie (name?) is everywhere lately.

I'm only mildly intrigued, but I'm sure Charlie Kaufman fans are all over this show.

Slow first ep but I'm looking forward to seeing how the women take control of their lives, especially Darlene and Lori (Larry and CC won't make it easy, that's for sure). The twin storyline bores me to tears. I hope the stolen money leads to Vinnie getting whacked by the mob.

I'm with you on this. I think the flashes are annoying because they're being overused in each ep, possibly because the narrative was deemed too slow without them. I'm already losing interest because the murder mystery premise is too familiar. I also need to rewatch this ep because it put me to sleep (despite the "wake up!" flashes).

I'm sorry but June's constant need to take reflective pauses during urgent escapes makes me want to punch her right in the face. I'm constantly yelling "Just go! Just go!" Good grief, she is maddening. I figured the nutty professor worked for the resistance (the clues were endless), but the Martha network was a nice surprise. Emily's attack on Lydia gave me a gleeful flashback of when Elizabeth gave Claudia that savage beat-down on "The Americans."

Here are some pix from the Vulture blog:

Yeah, lots of familiar story elements. Hope the entire story isn't as predictable as the first ep. Reminds me of Sinner, which became so boring that I bailed after the penultimate ep. Clarkson's character and home situation is over the top, like a bad play. On the plus side, this is beautifully shot and has a great cast (with the exception of the guy playing the dead girl's brother). The funeral flashback was shot like Clarice's in Silence of the Lambs.

I think Elizabeth Moss's nose is trying to get an Emmy nod. That thing is getting way too many lingering close-ups. I was thinking the same thing. Hopefully he's a Resistance leader who can get this show out of its torture-porn rut.

Yes, yes and yes. More Emily, please. I wanted to fast-forward through June's flashbacks but didn't because I thought I might miss something important. And what did I get? Zip. Nada. Zilch.

I am only partly through the episode and I had to come here just to say "ARGH!!!!" Why the fuck is she going back and forth to and from the house like she has all the time in the world?!? What's with all the pensive pauses? Just grab some shit, throw it in the car and go! It's like the writers are stalling just to keep her there. And what numbskull invented a garage door that can't open manually? Good grief.

Fidelity. If that last word is a request for the audience, that's a lot to ask after this mess of a season.

**crickets** Am I the only one who watched this? It's a solid pilot with strong actors on board but I'm not that into it. It feels dated and soapy. I'm noticing that Sheridan recycles story/character elements from his own work, which is surprising b/c he hasn't been a writer long enough to run out of ideas.

Good Lord, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. Where the fuck is the Resistance?

C'mon, show. I should be shook when the MiB kills Emily and Teddy kills himself, but the writers keep milking the buildup of each moment to the point where you see the end result before it happens. Argh!

I kept waiting for Serena to pull out those cigarettes that he left behind once she got home. I'm sure there's a business card or phone number hidden inside.

Ugh. I can't wait for Charlotte to get killed off. Tessa Thompson's line readings are like nails on a chalkboard. Totally agree with the comments on the ridiculousness of Angela's seduction. Nice to have Hopkins back but, even with the exposition dump, I have no clue how the Matrix world works and why only unplugged Bernard can see Ford.

I don't think Henry's ever going to care about Renee. He's not getting new parents. He's already on his own. Stan is there to be a support and a protector of him as a young man. He was raised by Philip and Elizabeth and they made him who he is. Elizabeth was right when she said Henry was doing everything Philip wanted because what he wanted was for him to be himself. I was half-joking, but Henry isn't a mature adult just yet -- if he sees Stan as his only hands-on family from this point forward (with Stan and Renee providing a home when Henry's not in school), he would be shook if Renee turned out to be another spy, especially after the shock of being abandoned by his spy parents. He doesn't need to care about Renee for it to affect him. He would identify with Stan's pain because he cares for him and it hits close to home.

Poor Henry. If he's not already scarred for life, he will be when his new surrogate dad murders his new surrogate mom for being a spy. The finale had good moments but was ultimately a letdown b/c I was really expecting an arrest (and maybe the death of Philip). I don't know anything about the real-life spy couple. Did they both get away?

Well, presumably there was a virtual version of Ford somewhere during the time frame of season 1. I doubt he waited until he was dead to activate the virtual version in the Cradle -- he'd at least have to make sure it worked and test it for fidelity, right? But, yeah, unless there's some double-triple-secret twist still upcoming, it's most likely that the Ford we saw live and die was the original human version. I don't think that the rotting flesh definitely means that Dolores killed the original Ford -- that Ford could have been a half-human bot thingy with a Minority Report red ball brain (like Delos). I dunno. There seems to be some retconning going on in Season 2.

You guys are really helpful in deciphering this mess of a season but the show is literally giving me a headache. So the aspect ratio change essentially means that we're in the Matrix. Got it. But why does Delores need to freeze Bernard's motor functions in a VR world where anything's possible? And was it ever confirmed that Ford was a host for most of season 1? I don't recall an explanation for how he could control the hosts with his finger (like Angela at the demo party) and his mind.

Good Lord, yes. I'm confused. Delores is now aghast at cruelty against humans after she mindfucked Teddy? Emily is now an expert shot after fumbling with guns at the Raj? At this point, I'm just watching out of habit and hoping the storytelling gets better in season 3.

Yeah, suddenly Elizabeth is haunted by the ghost of a wounded citizen that she left to die. When she was calmly talking with her arms hidden behind the table, I was like "Hands! Hands, motherfucker!" This was a compelling ep despite the rush to tie up loose ends. I liked they way they didn't reveal Philip's FBI tails until he started running.