Dowel Jones

What was the unused machine that they appropriated for the counterweight on the safe door? I missed that and then erased the episode.

I'm not sure in what time of year the series is set, but in my part of the country, 6am in the winter is not full sunlight. Granted, the East got some late snowstorms, but still... Here's the unfortunate deal with overlarge conspiracies. Even if Odelle manages to get her story out, the likely result will be somewhere along the lines of "What? A large military contractor is running amok in the Middle East and killed several US soldiers, and it's running a shadow government in the US too? That's terrible! And how did Caitlyn Jenner get those big boobs, anyway?" The shaman is the only sane one in the bunch. "Now you are dead, and you can begin to live again". I don't think it was necessary to hold her under water until the boy got there, just to prove a point, though. She needs to pick up her family and move to some nice coastal area and run a B&B for the rest of her life.

I wonder if Joe's plan has something to do with SETI, as his girlfriend is involved with that. It almost certainly doesn't have anything to do with what he is actually being paid to do (by James Cromwell!). As much as Gordon screwed the pooch, I can't help feeling that it couldn't have happened to a more deserving bunch of people. I know they're following their dreams and all, but wake up, kiddies. There's a real world out there. Cameron's snarl at Donna for secretly keeping them in the house just about sealed the deal for me. Loved the mismatch in dinner attire. Oops.

It occurs to me that, if time travel/cryogenics is involved here, people who are executed could possibly be brought back again, sort of a reverse-Terminator process, where they go back further in time and pick up the intended for a return trip. That said, the explanations would be complex, but then again, the townspeople seem to be easily buffaloed. I myself would get just a little tired of repeated traffic accidents, though. Wayne's house had an original push button phone in one scene, one of those giant base phones that weighed about five pounds.

Apparently Pilcher and Co. decided to avoid importing any attornies into the future, based on that realty guy's behavior toward Ms. Burke. I also am confused about the lack of information to the adults in town. So they want to start a new generation to repopulate the world? Adults aren't capable of producing more kids? They have to pair up the young'uns? Although kid Burke is probably telling himself "I'm gonna get laid, I'm gonna get laid..." Minor editing problem with that scene, although it wasn't important. When Ethan holds the compass to the map, it is clearly pointing to due south, but the map is oriented, as almost all maps, with north at the top. Just my inner surveyor student speaking up. Ecologically speaking, the devolving of humans into apex predators over time would result, presumably, in a balanced population of relatively few Abbies (I'm so glad they didn't call them Others) to a larger population of local prey. They would have to retain some level of herd intelligence to be able to hunt high speed prey, unless they are primarily carrion feeders. Thus, if you have in your possession a helicopter and a marksman, you should be able to eliminate much of the threat around Wayward Pines over time. Speaking of the helicopter and automobiles, why, after 2000 years, would the world be relying on internal combustion engines and petroleum fuel?

So was the wife of the drug dealer the actual catalyst to his death? I don't understand why the delivery guy would take a fall instead of ratting her out too.

My thought was, Susan, what kind of madam were you that you had to be reminded of the possibility of sexual blackmail to achieve your ends? I would assume she had some sort of insurance on the deal, as men like those would not hesitate to eliminate any threat to their social status. I also noticed the advertisement of the word tenement for the housing project, mainly because of the extremely negative connotation it has today. So, I looked it up, and color me surprised. The wiki article says that it is still a common term in parts of England, without the negative publicity. A New York City law defines it as (abbreviated): "Any house or portion thereof, which is rented to be occupied as the home or residence of more than three families living independently of one another and doing their own cooking upon the premises, or by more than two families upon a floor, and having a common right in the halls, stairways, yards,...." That covers quite a range of current accomodations in today's urban landscape, but I don't think anyone would be overly eager to announce they live in a tenement. Nor would one have much luck getting a loan to start construction, sexual escapades notwithstanding. I found out years ago that my great grandfather lived in rural Missouri about this same time, and had 19 children by three wives, all of whom died in childbirth or shortly afterward. Farm families grew that way because of the labor need, and the parents needed someone to take care of them at life's end. I imagine it might have been similar in urban cities too.

Well, another round. At least Mr. Eko's luck finally ran out. Unless they just happen to have a medevac copter on standby, or maybe a trauma room in one those hovels nearby.

NEW TOWN RULE: Always tip the maitre 'd.

Which would take quite a bit of manipulation on some level. Somehow the imports from the real world have to be paid for (ice cream is expensive!), and unless the citizens revert to their ubiquitous "Don't ask questions, and just answer the phone when it rings" mantra, someone with a modicum of economic education would would have to wonder why this closed system is still functioning.

That's okay, Peter, don't feel bad. I might have stopped in that same hotel bar once or twice in my life too. So, when they're all in the Beer Garden (What a lively spot!) and Mrs. ShrinkMayor said "We don't make the rules", I was crying out to Ethan to say "Well, then, who does?" I think he should arbitrarily arrest Pam on some flimflam charge, such as moving his desk ornaments around, and submit her to a reckoning the next day. Just to see her, and the town's, reaction. The thing that is starting to tweak me a bit, as it did so outrageously in Lost, is that none of our protagonists ever, ever seems to follow up on some information they gain. Hidden files? Okay, let's go ask the receptionist where she lives. The rules? Why? What's on the other side of the fence? Liplock. Okay, that last one is legitimate. But it just seems that Ethan & family are starting to fit right in.

What I got from that scene was that Cardiff was threatening Joe that he would disclose information to the police about the arson, or some other illegal activity that Joe participated in. Maybe he had evidence, maybe it was a bluff, but the implication was "You might get the money but you won't see it until you get out of jail".

I'd like to know how Suzanne got so naive, or at least how her dad let her get that way. After the second visit to the bookstore I think I would have been far more direct with the spy lady. What's your name? Do you work here at the bookstore? Where do you work? Why are you here, anyway? This because (although we the audience have the advantage of seeing everyone) he should have some modicum of paranoia after everything has happened to him and his family. How did the general know that the ring was fake? I don't recall anyone mentioning it outside the family, except between SpyLady and Suzanne. Maybe I missed something. And Odelle. You're in a region that hates strong women, hates Europeans, and especially hates the American military. Would it behoove you to be just a bit more suspicious of those around you?

Now that's my kind of hospital. :) Sheriff Pope seemed to go off the deep end at the confrontation there, as though he was a bit overwhelmed with the Burke family instead of being his usual unctuous self. Maybe #1 stepped on him for some miscue? One thing caught my eye. They were leaving on the road, and are just out of town when he catches up with them. Can't be too far out of town because Ethan catches up right away also. Yet the Wall is right there, presumably visible from the road, but Ethan apparently missed it on his joy ride around town in daylight.

I had to laugh at Jackson's dismissal of English beer. Warm, flat pond water indeed. I was also surprised at the ability of the "brewery bums" ability to wreak havoc on the pub patrons. Men who patronized pubs back then would not be the sort to back down from a fight.

One other thing about the map. If memory serves, it showed a river on the edge. If I were escaping an enclosed location, I would certainly opt for the current in the river over walking though the forest. The river has to flow somewhere, unlike the road that goes in a circle, at least in a logical universe.

I'm actually kind of sad to see Juliet go. It might be sort of fun to see a hexenbeast as a veterinarian. And they are most definitely not amused.

No more free drinks for Ethan. I wonder how he can even enter the public arena of Wayward Pines, knowing what he knows now.

I No, he just has Max in his life now.

I keep wondering where Eliza managed to find such inept security personnel, and then, I realized, they're off duty FBI agents. Way to do a sweep, fellas. Perfectly timed sequences, always work alone, and never, ever talk to each other. And maybe you should have staged an ambo in the area, given the predilection of all the parties to shoot first, however inaccurately. Ryan's "Where am I? I'm on a road." Okay, that's a good start for the ambulance. You don't have GPS on that phone? Daisy sure had an iron skull, didn't she. Maybe she's related to Ryan. And Theo sure knew his way around the curiously well lit woods of the supersecret safe house. Gwen and Ryan: Worst juxtaposition of events ever. Ryan: Stoooopid! It's amazing how high voltage cables can be shorted out without causing a break in the circuit. Editing blunder: When Ryan starts climbing the ladder, you can clearly see a shadow from the camera crew move over on the left. What were you so scared of in the tunnel, Ryan? Was he going to hit you with that stick? Oh my. I'll give Theo credit. Even improvising and completely off his game, he's better than the FBI combined. Good roadblock; leave him an exit, of course. The ending? Shades of Professor Moriarty! Stooooopid! What's Ryan's secret? Theo works for him now.

You may have to narrow that list down somewhat... Preferably the same island that Olivia Pope ends up on.

Three years from now on Celebrity Jeopardy: Grant: "I'll take 'Self-Righteous Assholes' for $100, Alex" Trebek: "The answer is 'President Fitzgerald Grant'. Please make sure your answer is in the form of a question." Grant: "Wait, what?" Trebek: "I'm sorry, that's incorrect. Your turn, Cyrus." Olivia's move should have been: Visit Rowan in jail, and tell him: "You thought the we told just the police about the embezzelment? That was just a cover story. That was cartel money. Look around, dickhead. See any friends here? Bye" So, yeah, Fitz is overcome with anger at Mellie, but does he really think that kicking her out of the White House and firing Cyrus won't raise any questions? When the camera focused on his back on the South Portico, I fully expected to see a blood spat on his shirt and hear the report of a gunshot. Meanwhile, apparently the Secret Service just let Olivia into the White House and let her walk around unimpeded without even telling him, because he was sure surprised. Maybe she slipped each of them a crisp new $20 bill.

I thought that also, judging from the expression on Aliayah's face at the mosque after he whispered something to her. In the larger sense, perhaps that doesn't matter so much as the main theme of the show, that a murder casts a long shadow over both families and societies. Victims aren't always innocent, prosecution and defense attornies don't thunder with righteous indignation in court, bad guys get away with it sometimes, and the world moves on, tucking the story into the back pages of the newspaper. I wonder if Hector's girlfriend engineered the disappearance/murder of the prosecution witness, and thus is indebted to the cartel yet. Completely off topic, but in the scene where Barb meets Russ at Gwen's house, has anyone ever seen an exterior door (non-security) that opens outward? For some reason, that just surprised me so much that I had to rewind the scene to pay attention to the initial dialogue.

Wherever he is, Gabby will rescue him.

Or a large, dog grooming van... Is this virus attached to Lizzie forever more? Because if the Senator had more than one child out there somewhere, although the odds be miniscule, that would sure put a bad day on her. After they did all those Mustang adverts last season, no surprise that they put Tom in it again for a real chase scene this year. I was really hoping for a Bullitt sequence there, but it ended before it started. Rats. I may be in the minority, but I say give the Cabal a public chance at running the world. They can't do much worse than the current crop, and the penalties for failure will much more severe than just exposure.