tvsoothesthespirit

I liked this episode. I'd love to know who Phyllis was talking to on the phone. I have to admit I was completely blindsided by the shooting, although I should have seen it coming! Now we've got some interesting loose threads. Where are the tapes? Where are the photos? Is Katie's son going to keep crossing outside the area? Hope we get a better look at Phyllis' conspiracy board. I can't decide if the nanny is a spy for Homeland Security or not. It would be interesting if she was a spy for a different resistance cell. She was definitely on to Katie. I wonder how complicated this show is going to be?

Yes, 98 seconds is pretty quick. But what about surveillance of the parks? The resistance could be decimated with some good park surveillance with video and audio. Maybe the occupiers are overwhelmed -- it sounds like their using some database that was put together prior to the occupation. Maybe the occupiers just don't care that much. In their eyes, everyone eventually becomes factory fodder or dies. Completely agree -- although maybe there's a family member issue? I don't remember that much about that girl. As far as the speculation that someone's alive in San Francisco or Kentucky, I'm not sure getting booze from there is that great an indicator; there's probably enough stock in the stores and warehouses to keep 1 bar in LA afloat for awhile. That's actually one of the mysteries I enjoy. I really like a lot about the story. I don't even need to know who the aliens or whatever they are, are (at least right now). It would just be nice to have some reliable parameters. I get taken out of the story when I have to try and make up a reason the resistance can meet in secret or the drones are not just monitoring everywhere. Every time they talk about Geronimo, I think, "you know what happened to him and his people, right?"

I liked this episode. I like the fact that the resistance is shown sacrificing themselves for their cause, because I agree that they left the injured man behind because he couldn't be saved and they shot him to save him from torture and themselves from capture. I really don't understand this world. Are the drones used on an "on call" basis only? Why wouldn't they be patrolling, keeping a net of surveillance? It seems there's no surveillance, people can meet in parks, convert buildings into use as firing ranges, etc. This bugs me. Are we to understand that there aren't any people left within a certain radius of LA? I think that's what the girl was talking about at the water pumping station, right? I like the tidbits about the outside world. They're coming at just the right pace for me.

I agree with the recap. The resistance seems to take only the most rudimentary of precautions. Maybe the FBI agent realizes his wife is the leak? That would be an interesting development! I agree that people in the factory are working on computer systems, maybe the drones, maybe the grand project that motivated the invasion? I really need some more character development -- I honestly don't even care what happens to people. I was excited that Carlos was being sent to the farm, so that maybe we could learn more about it. It would have been good to go a few episodes before Mr. FBI started collaborating; maybe I would have been more invested if I knew more about him/his family, what was happening.

I'm feeling kind of excited about this show and can't really figure out why. In any event, I'm in until the excitement dissipates. I enjoyed the pilot and am hoping for a better understanding of what the characters themselves understand. I guess I'm hoping for an intriguing mystery along with an interesting story. Maybe the mystery could move towards some sort of conclusion that both makes sense and can't be guessed from the pilot episode!

In regards to the Washington Post article, it looks like the guy who doesn't take responsibility for anything continues in the same vein. Even the responsibility for his own personality. I thought it was funny when he said he was portrayed as "cold," that's not the feeling I got. I thought he worked really well with everyone who didn't have to deny him anything. Honestly, if Project Greenlight manufactured the tension and issues between Mann and Effie; Mann owes them a huge thank you. If he couldn't blame everything on Effie's inability to get him exactly what he wanted, he might be forced to admit he made a bad movie. He wants money to make films but doesn't see it as a commercial endeavor. That's generally not the way things work in our country. People see that money that they give you as an investment. Usually, people who are not your mom and dad like to get paid back for their investments. I guess he could try to create some sort of non-profit and ask for tax deductible donations.

I think it's possible that the chauffeur scene might have happened prior to the rehearsal dinner or whatever that was. While I was watching I also questioned whether the actor originally playing the chauffeur would be recast or if he just lost out on the opportunity but now it seems he was recast. Effie and Jason's conversation about the car crash scene was really confusing. It didn't seem like Effie got to say half of what she needed to say before she got mad/frustrated and gave up. Jason just really wanted to hear only what he wanted to hear and ended up derailing the conversation so he didn't get the information he needed. The were both disingenuous at that production meeting. Jason was on the phone with Len (the HBO guy) right? Len said the stunt needed to be seriously reworked. I kind of laughed about Jason's saying these decisions were ginned up by the production company. You mean decisions like staying on budget or maybe choosing film over three extra days to shoot the movie (maybe enough time to get the stunt done safely?) or put off picking a location because you think you can get the shooting moved to the east coast? You mean those "ginned up" limitations? The deal is, you get money to make a movie and it's shown on HBO. In return, your process is shown in a reality series. Within that, there are real, every day elements of actual movie- making that need to be dealt with.

You know, my statement was based on just my first impression from hearing Jason's description. Although the May character could be the alcoholic brother in this instance. Yes, Radishcake! This show actually makes me harrumph and shake my finger!

It's too bad that Jason can't see that Effie is on his side. I think the show was cut to make Effie look unreasonable (wow talk about a trite concept -- the unreasonable black woman) and that Jason has decided that Effie is just saying no as a sort of reality-foil to his directing needs in order to create drama. He has a really adolescent inability to see his own part in things. On the other hand, if this were the real world, he might appreciate that Effie has such tight control over his budget -- making it possible for him to finish. He might also appreciate that she keeps him from filming after 9:00p.m. without permits which, if they were caught, might sink their chances of getting the signatures AND get them bounced. Jason whines that Effie isn't pulling for him to get what he wants, yet he is unable to think of options for himself. It's either night shooting or we won't be able to use the footage we just shot. I'm not in the film industry and it could be that there's nothing in between those two options but I haven't seen Jason give any thought to it. Also, this movie reminds me of the Walter Matthau movie from the '70s -- A New Leaf.

I liked it; it could be a fun summer show. The think I liked about the way they used the kids was that they attempted and were pretty successful at using lighting and camera angles to add some of the nuances that the kids couldn't achieve because they're just too young. So, is this going to be a good show with a mediocre pilot or a bad show with a mediocre pilot? We'll see.

The ages on this show are really hard to track but I think Fiona is about 23-24. I wish they would mark the passage of time more clearly. Hopefully Fiona's downward spiral ends with prison.

I mainly lurked around TWOP but I'm hoping I can be a bit more extroverted this time around. Glad to see that Shameless has a Forum.

I liked this episode mostly for Mickey's coming out. I believe the fear he experienced around his family would eventually have crushed him. He could have been killed but now his wife and other enemies can't use that secret against him anymore; I think this might be the most free Mickey has been in his life. Speaking of the fight, doesn't Illinois have hate crime laws because if I've ever seen anything qualify, it was that. Now, Ian in spite of or because of his current mania has pushed both of them into gay culture. They can have friends, they can have a support system. I hope they both grab and hold onto it for dear life, regardless of the class clash they're going to experience again and again. Fiona has 89 days to get her shit together. Alanon in prison? The texting bugged me. People in jail don't have access to cell phones. Were they e-mailing her? Do prisoners have ready access to e-mail? All I know of is access to phones for collect calls. Lip got the family $10,000. I wonder what the father will do when he finds out they're still seeing each other. Wasn't there some implication earlier this season that he was involved in something shady? What's going on with the insurance payout for Frank's broken leg? Is that off the table?