DoctorAtomic

I agree with everyone that is has to be Sam. However, I would think that the 'new code' is predicting where they think he is, so they could miss the target. Since the computer is still Ziggy, they must have all the data on leaps until the last one. And, since Beth is actually on the show, she could have said something at least to Al that she 'met' Sam in the past when she saw him. So they'd know to start there.

Is Amazon Freevee just IMBDtv renamed? So if you have Prime, it's on there?

Disagreement in the direction of the project? Maybe Magic wanted to open the project to do the good he experienced, but she was determined to just find Sam. Clearly, she was around enough to cultivate a relationship with Ben that he came to her to work on the new code. In this episode, we saw that Magic was running a tight ship and not really soliciting consensus. The phone call with Janis was contentious at best, so you could see that maybe they were at odds and he dismissed her. We should have a speculation without spoilers thread!

Philthy-delphia! I was surprised that Roger *wasn't* a chaperone. They pulled the reveal on Reese early too. The strip club was Pepperoni Tony's! And Dr. Buttblast's Atomic Hot Sauce at the restaurant! Seriously, no one screams like Scott Grimes. When's the last time Tuttle was on? I liked how Steve was talking to Stan and Franny with both talking on land lines in bed. Foxy Ali had better be recurring, even if only mentioned like Tenuda.

Whether he did remember or had some nagging memory that he finally chased down, I'd say he's in a good position to lead the project being directly affected and can argue its merits. He seemed to know Janis on a personal basis from their conversation too.

Is Amadeus 80s? You wouldn't be able to pull off the Two Princes joke. I wonder if one of the writers bet another he couldn't write an episode where the song comes up legitimately in each act.

Does Magic know what happened to him though?

That slipped my mind. When was it? I'm not saying that the show *has* to do this or that. I'm pointing out what happened before to see if the show might change or modify it.

It's not necessarily the political clapter, of which I agree is perfectly cromulent, but the production of the entire show. Something like Oliver's interviews with Monica Lewinski or Anita Hill were just well done segments. Or even landing Snowden. Other general segments on talk shows that are challenging are when they interact with the public.

I just realized that maybe with this new code that maybe the 'within the lifetime' constraint might go away. I'm not sure. He definitely leaped as himself to Beth at the end, but that could have been so Beth would know Sam when they 'met' again. The other leaper in the finale was also himself. It could be that Sam can choose based on what's needed. Unconsciously, I suppose. What would be really interesting is if he does realize this, and chooses to leap home to let Addison become the leaper.

"My wig just caught on fire!" Mom can have that one.

I don't know if saying the ship's captain can marry people is specific to Trek though. I like Trek just fine, but I didn't really see this as any spoof. Seth certainly has been clear that he was influenced by Trek, and what scifi space show isn't? But it was it's own show for me. It's like the South Park episode about the Simpsons did it first. I think Clyde says, 'they've been on tv for 400 years, they've done everything already'. That was like 15 years ago.

I'm not being sarcastic, but wow 10 minutes is totally a lot of show. That's at least two good scenes.

I'm all for the 70s. I'm certainly not complaining. I'm just wondering if they'll get into any of the leap mechanics. Sam had originally said something about 'string theory' as the basis for leaping. I mean, foundationally, it's not really a scifi show, and I don't need it to be. Given how tightly coupled it is to the original show, it's on my mind. I do not want to know if there's a Sam cameo at all. I want to jump up and scream in glee if we catch just one second of him leaping in the season finale or something. I'm of the mind though that Sam didn't want to return. Because he can if he wants. Look at just this episode. Sam's *first leap* put Stratton in the position to save the crew. Again, I don't know how tight they want to be, but *only* Al could be the hologram. Him and Sam had brain surgery and implants installed. Actually, it does if they come into physical contact. Doesn't mean they have to actually come into that contact though. It would be cool for Ben to see the 'leap'!

That's basically what I was getting at. I think what might not be entirely clear is that we're watching essentially an 80s movie set in 2022, or whatever year the show-present is. I mean, they did the huge Top Gun fantasy. Even though it doesn't look like a period show because they have cell phones and the internet. I'm not reading this as you justifying, but illustrating context.

Of course not. We all want to go to the Ham Legs show. I was laughing too hard at the entire scene to even remember that they got 'queef' by the censors. Not as good as see you next Tuesday, but still.

Also the entirety of the 80s, which is more of the foundational premise of the show. Not an excuse, but it's a show about unrepentant bullies.

Nice catch. I wouldn't remember that level of detail. That is important though. I'll have to pay closer attention. I obviously knew who Beth was, and was really surprised. I liked Ben's monologue to the captain to convince him to go with Stratton's plan. It was really well done. It was also some dry humor there, when the plan involved Ben going on another walk and Addison just kind of looked at him and shrugged. Then she cracked, 'two spacewalks, one day; just saying'. Ian's line about being mortified and bouncing back gracefully was a good crack too. Funny aside, Ben agreeing about the team thinking he had bad intentions was a good moment too. Though I disagree about keeping him too much in the dark. He can't control the leaps; he has to do what he leaps to do to leap again. So even in remembering his plan, there's not much he can do. I also liked how what Ziggy thought they had to do made everything worse. What I wonder now is that when Addison said, the thermal shielding is too damaged; the same thing happened in 2003. Originally that didn't happen, but now, because it did, would the 2003 mission recognize the problem and they also didn't burn up? I really hope so, and having Stratton here seems to be implying to me. It's Al's daughter. A giant time map. *Of course* it involves Sam. Given how tightly the show has been in 2 episodes to the original, as well as who Magic is. A reason to leap early would also imply that Sam was going to do something catastrophic and possibly unravel everything, as was said. There's still no mention of 'time travel within one's lifetime' so I don't know if that applies anymore. If so, there's probably only a small window where Sam and Ben could interact.

What? The Aiel were *hilarious*. Maidens' Kiss? Come on. Makes me wonder if the same author wrote them though sometimes in contrast to laundry and spankings.

I'm still not clear on why Dryden needed to be present in the courtroom for the trial to continue. I thought 'in absentia' was actually a thing. Decourcey could put together a compelling argument that Dryden was smug as all get out until he saw his daughter on the witness list, so this was an effective admission of guilt and a way to avoid jail. I thought the pace was brisk, but once they finally found someone to testify, it was a done deal.

Fishoeder also thought Gene went to the Ham Legs show too.

I am very invested in the success of the restaurant. I didn't realize how close it was to the wharf until the movie. It should be busier than it is. They do have beer too. Everytime something happens where they get to a larger audience; the booth at the wharf for xmas, the tv show; people all love the food.

Surprise! The Aiel are probably one of the more truly original peoples in the entire genre. I like how they say, "I see you" instead of "Hello". I think it's funny that they could probably take over the entire continent in about 2 weeks.

The whole vibe of the expansion was way too hipster for Bob anyway. The best I've ever seen the restaurant was when they did the late night Valentine's Day. It was packed; everyone was genuinely enjoying themselves. I think more of that would be their style. Think of a mother's day brunch. They got the griddle; Bob could make special omelettes with sliders or something. It would kill.

What I got from the bartender was that Sam was in control the whole time. Because when Sam says 'he knows what he has to do' he leaps directly to Beth as himself. Sam and Al thought there might have been higher powers at work, and there is obviously the halloween episode, but I don't think they were controlling anything. I don't think you can take much from the evil leapers.