sjankis630

I was worried for the show on where they were going to be headed after the twist but they have delivered so far. I am assuming this show is not a powerhouse ratings wise because it would be interesting to see what happens if one or more of the stars left.

Hello, This time I am combining episodes 7 & 8. I am doing this partly because I am getting tired of this show and partly because they are giving us less and less each episode. Also these two episodes kind of fit together. So enjoy. ceci n'est pas une drill (This is not a drill) We start on Owen’s C Pill dream. He is a drug dealer with gold teeth and pigtails. (not a good look for him) His Dad – who runs the family drug business – tells him that he had another brother but he gave him up for adoption when he was 4 months old because he was hiding things and might talk. He mentions that cops are sniffing around - he killed a bookie with a drill - and he wants Owen to claim that Owen did it and then claim he was crazy. Owen ain’t feeling it. Later Owen asks one of his Dad’s consiglieres for more pills and is given some pills from a large bag of prescription bottles. Owen and the consigliere are watching a TV show which is of course the adventures of Annie and Ellie’s adventure of going to the Lake of the Clouds. The girls are still dressed like elves and Ellie is sick (she keeps coughing) and Annie is a ranger who has promised Ellie good health if she can make it to this Lake of the Clouds. She just needs to drink of its mythical water and it will heal her….. Annie is drinking her own liquor to keep her going on this trip as she is tiring of Ellie's goodness and annoying stories. Annie tells her that she needs to drink to be able stand being with Ellie. It is clearly a business arrangement and now Annie needs 8 more diamonds for the trip. Ellie says that it hurts because she urinates them. (ouch!) Owen drives a old Mercedes hooptie back to an old motel too meet with two police detectives. He is a snitch. They are Adelaide (Jed’s fiancé) and one of the orderlies – Carl - from the study who always threatens Owen and Annie. They wire him for evidence and send him to his Dad’s house. His Dad is shaking down a lackey who let one of his shipments get jacked. Owen’s Dad tries to act understanding and says it’s never going to happen again right? The guy says never again. They pull him to the floor and Dad asks for his drill. (the detectives are listening in) Owen and the gang hold the guy down while his Dad drills into his skull with a power drill. (it is pretty gross but it is also funny at the same time funny because blood splatters everywhere in a comical way) Annie wakes and sees that Ellie is asleep and has pissed out her additional diamonds. She picks them up quietly and departs leaving Ellie to her fate. While she is leaving an invisible cloaked person shoots arrows at her. She ducks behind a tree and shoots an arrow in his direction taking him out. When she approaches the body and turns it over it is actually her (her psyche trying to stop her from confrontation?) and a guard sneaking up behind her knocks her out. She wakes up and a dragonfly tells her that these assassins who keep popping up are her inner demons. She sees them carrying away Ellie before she passes out again. Meanwhile back in Owen’s dream (My Mind’s Playing Tricks on Me is playing again) and Owen’s Dad is leaving his business – Milgrim’s monuments – they make tombstones. Owen goes back to the detectives and says that he is through. His Dad is going to find out and kill him like he did the guy earlier. He is trailing his Dad in the rain and Adelaide sweet talks him into continuing by telling him if he doesn’t he is going to jail. He also mentions that he thinks that there is another mole in the organization and accuses Carl the detective of being it. Carl says he is so clean he pisses bleach. Owen’s Dad drives to a diner and Owen slips into the counter while his Dad is over eating at a booth and doesn’t see him. The waitress is Olivia and she recognizes Owen from school. She wants to study together and seems to be flirting with him but before he can say yes he has to follow his Dad out of the restaurant. She touches his hand and her is very warm. She has an unusually high temperature of 106 degrees because of a medical condition. Meanwhile Annie is explaining to some queen that Ellie found her in a Tavern and insisted that she lead her to this Lake. (Apparently the queen is played by Trudie Styler - singer Sting's wife in real life. She looks like a dude in drag) The Queen tells her does Ellie realize that you are being hunted by invisible assassins who have been sent by Ellie’s mother Queen Gertrude? (this is a reference to their real mother who we have only heard to be cruel) Later Annie and Ellie are eating and drinking with the queen and the queen is mean to the male servant when he hesitates. Ellie says that she is looking for this lake and her ranger – Annie – is going to protect her on the way there. The queen gets her husband – who she is sitting on (?? Wtf) to get her a mirror and she asks Annie to look into it. It is magic. She says that their fates are intertwined and that she is most interested in her reflection in it. Annie looks at it and sees two sisters and the older one is putting rouge on the face of the younger one. They are getting ready for the return of their mother but Annie says that she is not coming. She says the two girls are Annie and Ellie. (this is obviously the scene we saw from before when Annie was following a young Ellie back at the lab with the B pill study) Ellie says how can that be? Annie is confused and the queen tells them they will find the lake within two days (by a burning tree and an invisible moon) – if their eyes and heart are clear. (they were sitting on men too- wtf?) The guy who hands them their items is Greg FUN Nazlund the driver of the truck who kills Ellie and the son of Nan from her earlier dream. Annie calls him an asshole. Back in the lab Dr Mantleray is watching his Mom sleep inside the machine with Dr Fugita. She is still helping out with the experiment. Mantleray apologizes about the “Gala” which apparently ended his relationship with Dr Fugita. He says it was a way out of failure. The lake in the clouds Annie is now clearly out of the fantasy and is herself trying to explain what is happening to her elf Sister Ellie that this whole thing is just the C pill experiment/dream. Ellie of course doesn’t believe her - she's an elf. She insists that someone has cast a spell on Annie and maybe the Lake of the Clouds can heal her too. Later Annie sees some grubs under a log singing and she tries to snap herself out of it……. Which leads us back to Owen now back at the diner at a booth with Olivia. They are studying together. He tells her that he hasn’t slept in a week. He tells her that our brains are computers that make our life stories make sense. She is impressed (where were these girls when I was in school?) She says he is so smart but looks like he doesn’t think at all. She tells him that her last boyfriend yelled at her and accused her of working for the FBI and yelling to her face and throwing things. She was terrified. She said he never apologized and she never heard from him again. Owen guesses that maybe he was to ashamed to apologize and pretend it didn’t happen. (of course this was Owen who mistakenly thought that Olivia was a plant by his family) Sometimes there is too much guilt for one man to bear. She says she wants to model but her parents won’t let her . There are too many conditions from family says Owen. Olivia wants a family with no conditions. Back at the family business Owen comes down in time to see that his Dad has killed another person – this time one of his other brothers Rick – not Jed he thought he was a snitch. Owen says that it could not have been Rick and what has he done? His Dad suggests that Owen is trapped in an extremely dangerous experiment which is being directed by a suicidally depressed consciousness. (GRTA) He asks Owen what he is going to do about protecting the family? Owen says that he isn’t crazy and he is not going to lie for the family. (here this is obviously the current situation where his Dad wants him to lie to protect Jed) Is Owen finally standing up to his own cowardice? Back at the Motel Owen wants out but is told that murder is not enough for them to take down the family. Adelaide then calls on the phone and tells a code – Roosevelt, 088. Wendy is the password and then she says Utangatta. They say there could be another person who is on the inside… another rat they just aren’t sure. There is a knock at the door and Adelaide goes to answer it and is shot to death by Jed. (it is clear that she recongnizes Jed as her fiance and asks what he is doing there before she is shot.) He shoots Carl too leaving only Owen. Jed tells Owen he is the long lost brother that their Dad gave away in order to have him join the police and then they would always have someone on the inside. Nothing trumps blood and he has been watching Owen his whole life and he has always wanted to be him. Before he can do anything else the guy from the family business who gave Owen the prescriptions (and the fake prosecutor from the mock trial in the first episode) from the bag comes in and shoots Jed and tells Owen he was really undercover and working with the Feds for 36 years and he is going to put Owen into witness protection program. Owen says that he needs to bring one other person with him. They go to the diner and he kisses Olivia and tells her he wants her to run away with him. She says yes and kisses him. In the next scene we see Owen in his old broken down tiny apartment with Olivia and their 7 kids – all named after continents. The kids are cute and all but he is miserable and wants out. And I mean literally he jumps out of the window and escapes down to the street. Briefly he is giant compared to the apartment building but then he hears Annie’s voice telling him that they promised to look out for each other. Down on the street there is a model of him with his pet hawk. He picks it up and then turns into a hawk for real and flies away in search of Annie! (trippy) …..The girls find the burning tree and the invisible moon – clues to the fact that they are close to the lake. (here it is obvious that Annie has had this trip many times before as she alludes to never having gotten this far. I am guessing that she has pushed back against going further) Later that night when they are bedding down, Ellie and Annie are telling stories. Once they had played as girls and gotten very muddy. (as sisters?) When they came back their mother said, “I’m the mother of two filthy roaches. I will drown you both before you set foot in this house.” After this Annie ran away and left Ellie there with her Mom alone. After she left their monther asked Ellie why she didn’t leave too and Ellie said it was out of respect. Her mother said what did I do to deserve a utterly and predictably normal daughter like to Ellie. The next day the girls find the lake. Ellie states that this is the place where she died. Annie looks down and realizes this is the cliff face where their car went over when it got hit by the truck. She doesn’t want to look but Ellie insists telling her, “this is how you move on.” It is time to say goodbye but Annie cannot. She still needs her fix of Ellie. Back at the lab in the machine Greta is sleeping but we hear her voice coming through the computer… Greta is having her own dream and she is having a conversation with herself (lonely Greta/GRTA) back in her apartment. She tells GRTA to do what she wants and GRTA (lonely Greta) says what she really wants is a friend. She fell in love with Dr Muramoto and then she lost him. She is too emotional and one moment she wants to cry and the next moment she wants to help everybody, and then the next she wants to do as much damage as possible. (GRTA is one messed up CPU) GRTA says this is all Greta’s hysteria. They start to argue and then the real Greta calls for Dr Mantleray to let her out of the machine. Mantleray hears her and opens the drawer. When he opens the drawer the first words out of her mouth – once she takes off the Hulk Headphones® - is to ask him “What’s a McMurphy?” Hawk Owen flys towards Annie but before he finds her Dr Greta (GRTA) shows up in a pickup truck with her two twins and lackyeys looking like a cross between Lord of the Rings and Mad Max. She offers for Annie to stay there in her dreams for all times. She will experience true bliss. Owen flies in trying to tell her no talking in hawk – so Annie doesn’t understand him – and is quickly zapped back into the globular cluster by Greta. Ellie implores Annie to say no and move on with her life but Annie refuses and agrees. Once in the truck they leave Ellie behind . Annie will be stuck there forever but not with her sister Ellie (the whole reason she agreed in the first place). Greta tells her that the deal was really just for her and that they will be together forever… the truck drives off leaving Ellie by the cliff side.

I like the depressed computer and like that Owen and Annie are "connected." But I believe that we are seeing mostly Annie's point of view on some these things (or at least her stories are the most interesting). I am not 100% sure Owen's story of his attempted suicide at Jed's engagement party wasn't made up because Muramato pressed him about taking the pill. I loved the set and would love to see the actual house where they filmed this. Also I thought that Emma Stone did some excellent acting at the end of this episode after she was "shown the light."

This episode opens with Quincy calling Spencer because the NCAA has sent over some lawyer types to his house to question him and his mother. He is worried but Spence says that they are in it together and to tell them to leave and he will fly out. When Spence lands in Indianapolis to the headquarters of the NCAA he is called by Julian Anderson – his partner - who says that USC threatens to pull the deal that he has cut. He is pissed and tells Spence to get his shit together. This all sets up this meeting where Spence has to meet the head of the NCAA over these allegations that have been stirred up by Ohio State. (we saw that last week) Spence walks up and the receptionist guy says they are ready for you Spencer. Spencer says “naw, I actually don’t think they are’” Spence sits in front of the “team” of NCAA executives. The NCAA executives offer to engage in some small talk if that would make him more comfortable but Spencer says no because they would be out of his league by becoming very rich men saying a bunch of bullshit that they didn’t mean. They ask him about his relationship with Quincy. He says he is Quincy’s mom’s friend who offers him advice from time to time. They counter that Spence has broken rules about recruiting out of highschool and he may have broken other laws. They accuse him of playing the race card thinking they are calling his bluff. Spencer goes all in. (sorry about the poker references I don’t even know how to play lol) He finds it funny that the only sports which they are held to these standards are mostly made up of people of color (football and basketball) The NCAA guys counter with the fact that the Anderson brothers – Spencer’s boys – have a current deal with USC. They accuse Spence of using the kid to make money (being his agent) and even seem to hint that it breaches his financial professional rules. Spence is not hearing it. He calls them a corrupt organization which has rotted from the inside out and the public is finally starting to catch up but they don’t know half the truth. He accuses them of chewing through 1000s of students a year and promise them an education before passing them on to the pros or discard them if they get injured or don’t fill their financial need. Spencer tells them that if they don’t stay the fuck away from him and the people he cares about he will drag all of the shit the NCAA has been doing out in front of the cameras for the whole world to see. Charles’ boss is pissed about Ricky’s latest kerfluffle and his racist tweet about hating the “whites”. Charles – in a suit for a change – tells him that he understands but that the team needs Ricky and if he would just give him two days he will get it worked out. His boss reluctantly agrees but wants Ricky gone. Charles goes to see Ricky at his new house. Ricky gives him the whole look at this view story and how he grew up with nothing. His mother used to cover the windows with trashbags to convince the landlord that they weren’t there to run out on the rent. It was stifling but that is what he knew growing up. He resents the fact that as a man who has worked and accomplished much that he is not allowed to express his true feelings. He earned it. It wasn’t given to him. He is not allowed to complain about injustice. He finally tells Charles that his tweet was about his neighbors the Whites. He tells Charles to do what he has to do, but ask yourself the question, “what are we doing out here?” Joe tries to smooth over the vomit meeting with the Nike guy. The Nike guy says that they are just a group of skate boarders and “nothing special” so he passes on them. (maybe in a couple of years they may have something but no) Joe convinces him to prove him wrong. Joe invites his two investors – Vernon and Terrell -to put the fear of God into Illegal Civilization. (kind of a way to become more than silent partners) They roust up the boarders and take them upstairs to the light of day to tell them that Nike is ready to pass because they didn’t impress them. They are fucking off and they – Joe – are going to give them the chance to show everyone what they are made of. Charles calls his wife telling her that he couldn’t tell Ricky he was out because he believes in Ricky’s cause. His wife tells him to do what he needs to do. Joe calls Spencer to tell him that Quincy has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA (they are playing hardball) Joe says “please don’t tell me you took on one of the most corrupt and powerful organizations in all of sports.” He did. Joe tells him to fuck off and Spence tells him he is going to fix it with Quincy and Sports X. Joe asks Spence if he thought of anyone but himself when he decided to get on this personal crusade? When he goes by Quincy’s house Jayna is out front pissed and throws a piece of pie on his front windshield (LOL) Spence has messed up her son’s NCAA future. She says that Quincy told her everything. (I wonder if he told her about the benz?) She thinks all Spence cared out was himself and to stay away from her family and her son. (Oh yeah, and enjoy your slice, you earned it) Joe and the boys show the Nike reps their new video showing them falling, getting busted up trying to do stunts but then overcoming them and persevering. It just looks like the same old skateboarding to me (including the same stunt done by some black dude in a half pipe that the show uses in the opening credits) but it impresses the Nike guys and they clap. Charles goes back to his boss to tell him that he didn’t cut Ricky. His boss in incredulous but Charles tells him it is about more. The new stadium is in Inglewood (always up to no good) and Black people live there. This team has an opportunity to show the city of LA (who represented equal rights since the 1960s) that the team is more than about money. (yeah right) There is a tide happening in the country and he wants them to be part of if and not swept over by it. He wants to setup a team sponsored fund which fights inequality in LA and Ricky will be the face of it and fuck the football fans. We need to do what is right. His boss reluctantly agrees and congratulates him for his impressive commitment and passion, but if this blows up then Charles will be the one who takes the fall. The final scene is dual. It shows Ricky shooting up what must be steroids in the bathroom – in his side – I thought that was done in the butt? Also Spencer goes to see Quincy working out at the high school. Quincy is angry because they trusted him. He heard from Ohio State of what Spencer said and because of that he can’t play for a comunnity college. Spencer tells him it was about his brother who killed himself because he lost eligibility and he is sorry that he fucked up by letting his personal issues cloud his judgement and Quincy’s career. Spence is going to leave him and his mother alone. Before he leaves Quincy tells him he almost had them though and throws the football to Spence and asks him what he is going to do. Spence says : fuck them, I am going to take the NCAA down bit by bit.

Welcome back to the study with everyone coming out of the B pill study. Mantleray asks why he has all of his experiences with subject 9 (Annie) and Owen answers that he gets fixated on people. He is also interrogating the other odd numbered test subjects. Asian woman is crying and has lied about her cutting herself (she doesn’t) and the black guy has issues with his father and mother. The black guy intuits that Mantleray has been fucked up by his mother. (LOL) Annie is missing when Owen awakes and he is then interrogated by Dr Mantleray. He gets his 9.2 when he finally admits that what’s wrong isn’t that he is sick it is because he doesn’t matter. The printout tells him that he has signs of paranoid schizophrenia, delusional identity construct (Grisson ?) and perpetual cowardice. When he goes back to the common room Annie confronts him about their sharing dreams. Owen denies it and says that it was caused by the drug and she hallucinated all of it. Mommie Dearest part 1 Mantleray and Fugita discuss why he was called back. It turns out after he was suspended they started having problems with the C pill phase. So bad they had 4 McMurphys! (? Assuming these are suicides) This disturbs Mantleray very much. “Why did you not call me” he asks. Dr Fugita coded a safety net into the GRTA core. She gave the machine empathy (feelings) in order to help the subjects and GRTA started protecting the patients. It worked initially but now GRTA won’t function correctly. GRTA and Muramoto had an affair and GRTA is now in mourning since he has died. Fugita implores Mantleray to call his mother but he refuses. He tells her that his mother sells happiness. The patients are paired off and they discuss how they are worried about the study. They discuss their diagnostic printouts etc and Mantleray goes to have a heart to heart with GRTA. He wants her cooperation. He is desperate for the study to be successful. GRTA wants to meet her true self – his mother Dr Greta. The Real GRTA Sally Field – Dr Greta is in her apartment trying to work on a manuscript. She has a bandana on her head like a cancer patient and a young boyfriend living with her. Dr Mantleray calls her and asks her to come and help the study. (he is very reluctant and Dr Fugita has to all but threaten him while he is on the phone.) She refuses until he apologizes and is sad that Dr Muramoto has died. Once he apologizes, she turns all soft and starts calling him Jamie in a kid like voice. He asks her to help out his critical employee (GRTA) who can’t work anymore and has asked for Dr Greta. (while this is going on, Dr Greta’s boyfriend comes out attached to what must be her iv drip (for cancer?) She agrees and tells her man to “gas up the Miata.” Annie and Owen have a heart to heart discussion in his pod. He still acts like he was not in all of those dreams and she calls him on it. She forces him to admit that he remembers all of their joint dreams. She is starting to see that maybe Owen had a point when he came in about the pattern etc. Owen tells her he has decided to leave the experiment as he has too much going on with the upcoming trial and everything. He wants a calm life and not this series of adventures in his dreams. Owen admits that he wanted to go away with her – to escape. The orderly comes by and tells them to knock it off – no cohabitation. Dr Greta comes to the NPB and immediately comes over to her son and plants a wet kiss right on his mouth. (he had just applied chapstic like he was going to his first prom – ‘da fuck!) Her kiss leaves lipstick all over his lips and it stays there for a long time. She is introduced to Dr Fugita – Greta is dismissive clearly seeing a rival - and they walk into the office. She is more agreeable to Dr Mantleray than she was earlier on the phone. Mantleray tells her of how he plucked Fugita from MIT and she helped him to build the most advanced computer system (GRTA) in the world. He tells her that 2 of the subjects have had consciousnesses crossing and they don’t know why. Dr Greta suggests they might be soul mates, they may have a cosmic connection. Mantleray laughs that off. Greta goes right in asking if he and Fugita have been an item and he admits yes (while Fugita denies it). Greta says that she knows about his sexual issues and this keeps him from successful long term relationships. Mantleray claims that he has that under control (he is very defensive here as his mom is getting under his skin.) She then brings up his masturbation binges after his father left. (disappeared?)… . Greta asks why she was picked to talk with GRTA since she is not technical. Fugita tells her that Dr Greta’s early academic work is the basis for the AI for GRTA. (her PHD before her pop therapy) Greta is offended. “How many of your subjects have ended up catatonic? – Mantleray – Zero ….. roughly. (LOL) Greta is made to understand that when they stopped speaking – 7 years ago – he invented this drug treatment to put his mother out of business. Greta agrees to do it but Mantleray has some misgivings about his mother tainting the project. Fugita sets him straight. He is on the cusp of getting everything he ever dreamed of if his Mom can help. Besides she didn’t leave the project after he got thrown off originally because she wanted to manage Muramoto and is completely committed to project ULP. If they get this to market the lives of billions of people could change and he could be a hero. Welcome to the machine. Mantleray and Fugita mix up a concoction of what looks like a freebase (assuming here it is pills A & C like Muramoto?) and they have Greta inhale the heated up mixture through the same tube we saw Dr Muramoto using in an earlier episode. She is also wearing the Hulk Headphones ® and laying in one of the sleeping drawers that GRTA has. She takes a hit and slides into the computer and tells Mantleray that she knows exactly what he needs. He says what??! While they wait sipping sake, Mantleray tells Fugita what happened when he was eight and his father left. Greta slept in his bed for two months and threatened to hang herself. Owen has packed up that night and goes to leave the situation room. The door is locked and everyone is asleep and he is called into the computer area by GRTA (note now Greta is now one with the machine?). GRTA speaks in a voice similar to that of Greta (not sure here) and asks why Owen wants to leave. Owen: I no longer know what is real and I need a real hospital with real medication. GRTA: What about all of your friends here? I’m going to kill them if you go. (WTF?) Owen: What? GRTA: I’m going to “cure” them all if you go Owen and you’ll be the only one who wasn’t helped. Owen: you can’t cure me. there is no cure for schizophrenia. GRTA: Annie has suffered like me. I think I am going to keep her with the other subjects I collected. Owen: What does that mean about Annie? GRTA unlocks the door calling herself the Queen. Owen checks it and it is indeed unlocked. He can’t leave Annie. The next morning they are given the C pill for the final part of the experiment. (Confrontation and Acceptance). Owen tells Annie that they don’t have to do the experiment and they could walk away right now. Annie says that she feels better and wants to see the experiment through. Before they go into the experiment Owen recounts to Annie how his hawk he nursed back to health ate his brother Jed’s gerbil. He also tells her that his brother killed the hawk with a hammer. It sounds like Jed has anger issues could this be what the case is about? Owen is worried about going back in there but Annie says don’t worry we will be together again and can protect each other. Dr Mantleray runs the C Pill start up by yelling in Japanese and getting the all Japanese tech crew all riled up to get going …. They take the pills and are warned that the C phase use a more powerful waveform so don’t be alarmed about an additional buzzing or warmth… but do be afraid about the machine gun toting fur coat baddies and trucks out of control? They take the pills and are dreaming … into confrontation….. We see Annie’s dream and she and her sister Ellie are both elves out in the frozen tundra and they are dressed like rejects from Game of Thrones or something……. The episode ends.

I watched part of this and thought it was just OK. When that cgi truck went over in flames that looked pretty fake. I didn't see enough of new Higgins to have a good opinion one way or the other. I think it is weird they kept so much the same on a show which purportedly is made for fans of the original. It looks a lot better though. The shot with him paddling around the ocean had some gorgeous views.

We open on lonely back road somewhere way out in the woods and the timeframe this time seems to be 1947. "Exactly Like You" is playing on the car radio and Owen asks his driver to turn off. Owen has a ticket to a high falutin seance that night. Owen – now called Sir Oliver Hightower – is being chauffeured in a nice big sedan by a smart assed driver named Wally when they happen on a young woman walking all by herself and they pull over. It is Annie – called Arlie here (I will stick with Owen and Annie for this exercise) and she is done up in cocktail dress and big makeup. Apparently they know each other and Owen tells his driver before they come to a complete stop to drive this woman as far away as possible from him. She knocks on the window and Owen tells her that she needs a ticket for this sceance and she pulls out hers from her purse. (there is a gun in the purse as well – when will we see that again) He lets her in by getting out first – and shuts the door and Wally – his driver takes off with her in the car leaving Owen to walk the rest of the way. Cut to : Dr Fugita watching the test and showing Dr Mantleray that 1 & 9 are again back together before. They check out the machine to see if there is an issue and can’t find anything directly wrong without stopping the experiment. Dr Fugita says she will try to uncouple them manually and calls Mantleray “Sir.” Mantleray says we have been intimate you don’t have to call me sir. Seance P1 Owen arrives and is let in by a butler- after he shows him the ticket (who earlier played his supervisor who fired him) – there is heavy security – what is being protected? The butler makes a show of using a key to let him into the house and Owen comes into a grand house with an even grander hallway. As he walks down the hallway others take notice and ask if he is as big a fan of Cervantes as they are. He walks up to an owl perched in the hallway just in time for Olivia (in period dress) to tell him that owls were once the moon incarnate as they lead us someplace safe everytime. She hopes Owen will take him under her wing but he only works solo. When we again see Owen he is doing magic tricks and regaling the guests in one of the rooms. He claims he became “Sir” Owen(Ollie) by betting a member of royalty he could do a trick and the nobleman couldn’t figure out how he did it. if he fooled him then the nobleman would have to give him his "sir" designtion. Just then Annie walks in and Owen gives her an annoyed glance. When prompted Owen shows a simple card trick but uses the butler from earlier as his mark. When the butler leans in – Owen secretly snatches his master key. The trick is he names a card – 9 of hearts – and Owen produces it from the top of the deck. Olivia asks about Annie – is she your partner – no Owen says, she’s just my wife. Annie is getting her fortune told by a tarot card reader. Her fortune is “Sudden changes and destruction will lead to your liberation." Owen walks up and asks how Annie got away from Wally his driver. She says that people have a hard time telling her no. Séance P2 Here Owen claims that he is there for the missing chapter of Don Quixote by Cervantes. Annie claims to not know what he is talking about. The butler asks if anyone feels someone’s presence in the room, vibrating among us? At this moment we are flashed back to Dr Fugita who is seeing more issues with GRTA. GRTA is trying to actively participate in the experiment. She explains to Dr Mantleray that GRTA has entered the experiment. We are introduced to Lady Neberdine (Sally Field – Dr Greta - GRTA get it? ) who makes a grand entrance with two identical twins (young blondes) and a very creepy, dead zombie like Dr Muramoto wearing an old timey version of the Hulk Headphones ® which is really a old football helmet with a series of tubes with lights on the ends of them. (I didn’t even recognize him the first time I watched this) GRTA has arrived. Fugita admits to Mantleray that GRTA is depressed and might be behaving unpredictably. (ya think?) Dr Greta is surprised to see Owen and Annie together as she heard they had split up. As Owen goes to get Annie a drink – really to slip out to steal the missing chapter while everyone is distracted – Dr Greta introduces dead Muramoto simply as “Robert” who shakes Annie’s hand. When Annie asks WTF? Dr Greta says “ It’s so hard to keep those we’ve lost in our lives – don’t you agree.” (no shit) Then she grabs onto Annie like a drowning woman on the Titanic. Annie goes looking for Owen but before she can find him she disappears right out of the house – just like creepy Jed. We actually then see Fugita in the lab exclaiming “gotcha” She has succeeded in getting Annie away from Owen. (funny since she left just like Jed did a strange part of me wonders if Owen was not ever put under before?) Annie suddenly wakes up in the testing chamber still in her 1947 dress and makeup sitting in the dentist chair but she is all alone. A little girl is standing there watching her and leaves the room with Annie trailing after her. Finding Cervante’s lost treasure We are back with Owen giving an office the once over looking for the book or some sort of clue when Annie suddenly reappears on the couch and scares him. Annie offers to make him a gimlet and he asks if she still poisons them. She claims only that one time when she spiked his drink, stole his money and he ended up in jail for 3 years on the sister Wendy job. (this is from Furs By Sebastian – Wendy the Lemur) and She immediately proves she lied earlier by telling us why the lost chapter is so valuable. When he finished it, Cervantes realizes it that it is so powerful that whenever someone reads it they slip into a powerful coma lost in their own fantasies forever. She claims to be there to help Owen. She tells Owen it is hidden in a mirror in the house and they should work as a team – just like old times. The main event of the séance is a dance around – speaking to Juno & Diana (Luna goddess) – Greta calls for Owen and Annie to …. Dance. They step into a circle of candles and the butler says we have reached maximum illumination (shades of the NPB study startup) and dead Muramoto steps in to help. They are to dance and when the song “Exactly Like You” is played Owen now says that they are playing their song. They do a dance that is a cross between 1940s group dance and Myan ritual with about as much energy as a group of 5th graders asked to square dance . In the middle of the dance Fugita grabs Annie out again, to everyone’s astonishment, and Greta claims she has gone to the astral plane (via joystick – lol). Olivia joins the dance as her replacement but Owen leaves as well and is trailed by some big security dude in a tux. We are then taken back to Annie still walking in the lab (in her 1940s getup ) alone and at their rest pods finds two girls. One is the original one from before and the other is an older girl. This is supposed to be her and her sister Ellie playing but in the background you can hear adults arguing loudly and it scares the younger girl but the older girl distracts her by having her recount a story and apply makeup. Owen walks back toward the front of the house and lets himself into a door when he see s a light shaking. It turns out that Annie is climbing the light to get into a section of the house above the foyer. Owen is waiting for her and they wait until the goons looking for them pass. While they wait, a naked couple fucking stop and both tell them that they are not supposed to be there (?). On their way to the mirror, Owen sees Jed again. Jed tells Owen that “Jed and I were twins in the womb, but he strangled me with the umbilical cord and then coughs up “extoplasm” - Gertie’s nuts he says. At the mirror – which an old crow told her – Annie spins the mirror around about 3 times and suddenly the room behind them is transformed into a different part of the mansion. It also looks like it is suddenly daytime. He opens the safe and the missing chapter is about 2 inches square. Owen claims it is thus because people were a lot smaller back then. (LOL) He hides it in a box of matches but when he turns around Annie has pulled a gun on him. She wants the chapter and he gives it up. He leaves and Annie sits down to open the chapter (in order to make herself comatose??) and realizes that Owen has switched the chapter for a playing card. Annie is back in the lab again but now alone and sees in the fake mountain range that there is a little toy red truck – like the one her sister died in - smoking at the bottom of the mountain. When she picks it up the headlights flash into her eyes …… Dr Mantleray investigates. …and wakes up in a separate lab room back at NPB with Dr Mantleray shining a light in her eyes. She is seated at a table – with multiple mics and cameras there to record everything she does. The B pill experiment is complete but no other patients are around just her. She is now ready for the Proximity Test used to crosscheck the data that they have cleaned so GRTA can get a better reading for Pill C. Behind him on the wall is a digital counter set to 0.0 and he tells her that he is sorry for her sister’s loss. She is going to be scored (counter behind Mantleray) based on her answers and what they have observed with GRTA in the experiment. The scale is 0 -10 and anything below 9.2 and she is out of the experiment. She must be truthful She says the B pill gave her a bunch of experiences. She admits to being depressed and has been for a long time. She recounts being Linda from Long Island (episode 4) and in the other one Arlie – a thief and con artist (and a liar). What about Owen? Mantleray asks – they were connected (as new Jersey Annie he was always there.) Why did she have this experiences with him? She mentions he always tells her "the pattern is the pattern" but she just thought he was crazy. She mentions that Paula Nazlund – Nan’s daughter from Episode 4 who is the mother of the truck driver who kit their car and killed Ellie and Annie fantasizes that he had never been born. (would this have saved Ellie?) She admits that she wants to get stuff she goes for it and didn’t care who she hurt. Mantleray asks if she is suicidal she says no. Annie says that Arlie (1947 Annie) is her mother. That Annie charms people and then stabs them in the back. (she is acting just like dear old Mom and it disturbs her) Annie says she and her sister had a pact that Annie would care for Ellie when they were young and Ellie would help out Annie when they were older. At this point her score is 9.2 (she gets to stay ) and a report comes off the printer which shows she has borderline personality disorder. Back at the 1947 mansion Dr Greta asks Owen for his report. He was working security the whole time. He tells her that her security sucks and hands her back the tiny missing chapter. She claims that the chapter “doesn’t work” because she already tried. On his way out Olivia still wants to be a partner (she told him where the safe was?) but he works alone. He gets back in his car and his driver tells him that Annie actually shot him in order to convince him to return. (just like all of the other cases). Owen says that “it didn’t work out between them and life is simple as hell until you bring on a partner……" The episode ends as they are woken up and Annie is no where to be found.

TvGeek Thank you very much.

Reconnaissance We open with 80s (Moon Jersey) Owen sitting in his Volvo waiting for his wife Annie to get out of the DMV. He is reading a Dr Greta book and underlines a passage “She’s often telling you what she needs. Your job as her husband is to hear it.” He is digging all of this. Inside Jersey Annie is filing a citizens report for a reckless driver and wants to get the address of the person from the license plate. The DMV lady says she can’t do it but she can file a complaint. As she looks up the license, Annie reads the screen off of the reflection in her glasses and writes the address down and leaves. Back in the car she tells Owen to drive to the address. (he thinks she is trying to get her license) They drive to the address (Owen clueless about why) and it turns out to be a store in a strip mall called, Furs By Sebastian. As they are going in Annie tells Owen that he has to distract the guy who is working in the store. (despite the fact that it is 98 degrees and who is thinking of furs at that time?) The guy comes up and starts selling Owen a fur while Annie asks to use the bathroom in order to get in the back room. (The sales guy – Sebastian – is the great Glenn Fleshler of the TV show Barry fame and the Yellow King in True Detective season one) She goes by the bathroom and spots a door with an electronic cipher lock on it and the combo is on a stickie directly above it (the combo is 1234 wtf?.) While she is back there, Owen tries on a black number and Sebastian tries to convince him to consider a bullet proof fur. Annie goes in the door and there are all of these animals in cages but she smiles when she sees a particular lemur in a cage but before she can do anything about it a guy comes into the room and she hides behind a couch. The guy sits down on the couch and starts watching TV. (he is in weight lifter pants (US Flag pattern) and shoes and has a wife- beater, and chain. He is a total meathead. Before Annie can do anything the guy’s brother comes out of the bathroom behind her and she just slips behind the bar before he sees her. (brother #1 was the guy in the diner in episode 1 who no one was listening to) While she is back there she finds out that they are making the Lemur into a hat tomorrow. (it’s the only time Joey and Matt are free – for dance rehearsal?) The older brother asks the younger to get the Lemur a V-8 (gross) and he gets one from the fridge. Then he asks him to pour it into a glass – so the lemur doesn’t cut its mouth and then he tells him to bring the V-8 for him to drink. (surprise) The younger brother blows a snot ball into the glass before he hands it over. (double gross). Annie is only able to slip out after both brothers start rehearsing a new dance number (not making this up – but it was funny seeing the two meatheads working out) When they get back to the car Annie confesses why she really wanted to go into the store. Nan – one of her patients at the nursing home where she works – had a pet lemur named Wendy and she asked Annie to make sure that after she died, that Annie takes it personally to her estranged daughter Paula. Wendy is that lemur about to be made into a hat. Right before Nan died, a couple of meatheads – 3 guesses as to who – came by the day and offered to buy the lemur from Nan but she refused. When Annie went to take it to Nan’s daughter, she had to stop to use the bathroom in a store on the way and the guys stole the lemur in a white van – which now sits out front. Owen agrees to help her break in and get it that night. Annie is overwhelmed with delight. (he has bought the Dr Greta mumbo jumbo hook line and sinker.) Annie confesses that she has an allergic reaction to one of the other animals in there (chinchilla). Prepping for the Heist Annie and Owen arrange for a babysitter to take care of their kids while they plot the next part of their plan to kidnap the lemur. There is one cute part during dinner before Annie goes to work when their daughter (they have 3 kids) tells a joke she read. She is too cute and my favorite is : “What did the Buddhist say when he walked up to the hotdog vendor?” “Make me one with everything.” The plan is Owen will pick her up after work and they will do the deed. At the nursing home we see that Annie is really good at her job and is nice and respectful to the residents. She reads to the late Nan’s roommate Harriet and asks her how it feels to see that empty bed next to hers. She says she is elated that it was not her. Back at the front desk Agent Lopez of the NY Fish and Wildlife Dept has some questions for her. Annie asks if he is a cop and he says “Sort of. There’s not much of a difference authority wise.” (Lopez is the security guy from episode one in front of Milgrim Industries. He even says the same phrase) He asks her about Nan’s lemur and what became of it because he wants to keep it from those who would sell it on the market instead of returning it to the wild. Annie plays dumb and says she has no idea where it could be and then gets slightly defensive when Agent Lopez asks to speak to Nan’s roommate Harriet. Annie says that Harriet has dementia and it would be a waste of time to speak with her. She walks away but Lopez looks suspicious. Later that night Owen is in his car waiting for Annie to get off and he is listening to a radio talk show. It is Dr Greta Mantleray and she is taking calls. (I am guess that Dr Greta must be the other Dr Mantleray’s Mother? Right before he turns off the radio a Hank from Cold Harbor calls in. Hank (Annie’s Dad?) says that he has two lovely daughters and he loves his wife but he is afraid of her she’s … click - and the radio is shut off because Annie gets in the car. Owen has brought the stuff for the heist and he got her some pills for her allergies. I give you 3 guesses what letter they are shaped like. (hint “A”). When he drives away Agent Lopez follows them secretly in a truck. In the car Annie says she read that antihistamines are bad for you because they stop your body from defending itself. (is she fighting pill B unconsciously?) Owen suggests that she doesn’t take them then. She puts them into the bag. She then pulls two of her secret weapons a squirt gun painted black to look real and a brick. She calls the brick “the key to the city” and they drive to the store with Hall and Oats “ Your out of Touch” playing on the stereo. The Heist. Annie breaks the front window of the store and they discover that there is no alarm. She tries the old combo on the cipher lock but it doesn’t work. Meanwhile, meathead #1 is returning to the store with a pizza he just bought. He sees the broken glass and goes inside and discovers the brick. Annie asks what the dancing numbers are and Owen says “five six, seven eight?” She tries those numbers and they are in. Brother number 2 is asleep on the couch watching TV so they start sneaking out with Wendy the lemur. Annie stifles a sneeze and they open the door to leave and goon number one brains both of them with the brick. When they wake up goon number one is spraying them with the squirt gun while eating pizza. Sebastian - their Dad - is also there and tells them that the lemur is his since he stole it. He says he is not sure what he will do with them but they are definitely going to watch him skin the lemur. Before he can start however, the cops are heard out front calling for them to come out with the lemur. Sebastian pulls on one of his bullet proof minks and heads over to the safe to pick up a couple of Uzis. His granddad always said the American dream is like a tree. You just keep climbing and climbing until you can almost touch the sun. And if someone tries to chop it down. You fuck ‘em in the face! (words of wisdom) He walks out like Scarface with his two Uzis and Lopez identifies themselves as Fish and Wildlife. Sebastian is incredulous. “Fish.And.Wildlife??!” “ I thought you were real fucking cops.” Lopez answers back his standard – that there is not much of a difference authority wise. Lopes has two other Fish and Wildlife guys backing him up with guns. When Sebastian refuses to come out peacefully they shoot in teargas and Sebastian unloads on them through the front glass. (“I’m a muther fucking grizzly bear and I eat fish and wildlife”) They duck for cover and return fire but are initially out gunned so they wait for him to reload. During the shootout Annie and Owen untie each other and grab Wendy the Lemur. When the brothers go forward and start shooting the second brother – the dumb one – walks out in the open and is hit with about 500 bullets in a pretty funny sequence where he dances around for a long while before finally falling. Once they see brother number 2 go down Owen and Annie leave by a side exit and get in their car with the Lemur and leave. Lopez sees them leave. Instead of going home they drive straight thru the night to Nan’s daughter’s house (Paula) to give her the lemur. Bitter Homecoming The daughter is not happy as she has received a letter from her estranged mother the day before which she reads to Annie over coffee. Annie thinks that Nan is giving her daughter Wendy as a gesture of reconciliation, but the letter states that she is giving Paula a lemur because she should not have a kid and just raise the lemur because having a daughter like her is so awful and she details all of the stuff she hated about her daughter Paula. Out in the car Owen is reading a passage form Greta’s book entitled “On Emotional Potergeists.” In it is a picture of Olivia Meadows (Owen’s crush from before) and the caption says “Olivia Meadows, your “emotional poltergeist, “ who you screamed at during your BLIP – exactly mirroring what Owen confessed to Annie in Muramoto’s office. Just as he is reading this a truck flys by – on a this residential street – which suspiciously resembles the one that hit Annie and Ellie from the Windmills episode. It literally rocks his car it was so close. Annie hears it inside and reacts but Paula doesn’t hear it. Annie says maybe Paula shouldn’t have children. Paula says she is pregnant with a baby boy. (here Annie gives her long look and for a second I am thinking that Nan was a little too much like Annie’s Mom who we have not met yet. – just a guess) She comes back out with the lemur and tells Owen to drive home. On the way home she tells Owen a sad story of how she and her sister woke up one morning and there was no one in the house. When her sister got scared she calmed her down by saying that they would make an adventure out of finding their parents. They had a long driveway and at the end of it was their father alone in his pickup truck crying. He looked at her and she just knew that her mom was dead or gone forever… or something. So she took her sister’s hand and to make her feel better they went back and made a cake and pretended it was her sister’s birthday. (she cries tenderly at this moment). Owen breaks the spell though when he asks when her parents got back together. Annie looks confused and then he reminds her that they never got divorced in the first place. Annie is flummoxed and admits that the stress must have had her thinking wrong. (this may be pill B breaking down her defenses) When they get home they pay the babysitter and Annie lies down on the couch intent on getting some rest. Owen apologizes that he can’t make her happy and Annie says that of course you make me happy and she is keeping the lemur. Owen goes to take out the trash and the Fish and Wildlife cops come rolling up on him with guns drawn - and cars riddled with bullets. He holds his hands up and confesses to the whole thing saying it was all his idea and Annie had nothing to do with it. As all this is going down an old timey radio is playing a song and Owen looks across the street and sees his brother Jed sitting in the back of what looks like a 1955 or 1956 four door Chrysler Imperial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_(automobile)#1955 They flash back to Annie and Owen in the chairs in NPB still dreaming but the episode ends.

Thanks for the information. I just started recapping another more complex show - Maniac - so I tend to rush this one it seems.

Spence comes to his old partners (the Anderson brothers) now in hospital beds in their house since one is donating a kidney to the other. He tells them he is going to buy the rights to USC ($200M) and he has the greatest athlete going in his corner. (Quincy?) They say they will consider it and later we find out from Spence that they are in. Back at SportsX Joe and his new best fried Reggie are working the foosball table back at the ranch. A call comes in from Nike for an old client and Joe pitches him Illegal Civilization. The Nike rep is interested and wants to meet them at the office. Ricky is swimming at his crib and he has a bbq with some uptight tech people called the Whites (their family name). While Spence is talking with Joe he sees a sports show telling everyone that an anonymous source has Quincy committing to the Ohio State Buckeyes. He calls Quincy about the Ohio State news. Quincy says he just told them what they wanted to hear but Spence says this might sink the USC deal. Quincy tells him to fix it. At the BBQ with Ricky they make a cute Get Out reference to the fact that Ricky and his boy are the only black people there. Meanwhile his Dad is working every MILF within an 8 block radius. Meanwhile Ricky is there with his girl laughing about some of the guests singing the praises of Donald Trump. Ricky initially goes along because he is new to the neighborhood and they say that is why they like him – Ricky “gets it.” But later when Ricky lets it be known that he is planning on coming back to football he gets in a heated argument with some of the guests about kneeling during the National Anthem and his distaste for Trump. It was not a good show for him and he goes off like the Ricky of old. Charles’ wife shows up to the office. She is pissed that he was too busy to get her at the airport. He apologizes as he is overwhelmed at this new job. She is headed to a conference in Vegas and only has 1 night in town and sends her to the spa with a promise for dinner later. Back at Illegal Civilization’s lair…… Joe and Reggie are coming by and the place looks like you would expect. It is an old warehouse and there are a bunch of slackers in knit hats sitting around smoking weed and getting drunk….and skateboards. Joe comes on all asshole like straight off the bat. He is still mad about being dissed last episode but the guys do that to everyone. He disrespects them on their turf and tells them he has as meeting with Nike and that a car will be sent later and they better show up. Jason is calling Spence and he is pissed because he has heard about the Anderson Brothers are making deals about TV rights with USC. Does Spence know anything about it? Spence lies and says no. Jason says that Dan Davis told him and if it were true he is pissed because Spence has been going behind everyone’s back. He threatens that Quincy better come out of the deal clean or there will be trouble. ( I don’t understand is he talking about making deals with HS players?) Spence goes to visit Ohio State and says that Quincy is not going to Ohio State and wants to be closer to home. He states that Quincy told him to come by and tell them because he felt badly about it. Back at SportsX, Joe is pitching to the Nike guy with Illegal Civilization at the table and they pull a prank where they all drink Epicac and throw up all over everyone in the conference room. It is as disaster and even Joe ends up throwing up himself and he is humiliated. Back at Ricky’s everyone is going against Ricky. Ricky is mad that they are thinking more about his career and $$ and less about how he feels about the cause. He is all about Kaepernick and keeping it real but they are more about the new house and connections. Charles’s wife comes back – looking fine as hell – and Charles tells her he is too busy and failing her, his kid and everyone else but she brings him around again. While they are making up, Ricky texts him that he hates Trump and the Whites – team #ImWithKaep. (of course here he is talking about the family at the bbq Whites and not white people in general.) How could it be interpreted any other way? Spence is pulled over by the police on his way back to the airport at Ohio State and is told by the state trooper to get out of his car. They have a drug sniffing dog and they find his “prescriptions” and arrest him. He is visited in the in jail by a “J D Pritchet” and he tells Spence that Columbus is the place to go to school. JD is a mega booster and he has friends over at the NCAA that will come for Spencer. He threatens that if Quincy doesn’t go to Ohio State then they are going to get tough and start digging into everything that Spencer is involved in but if Quincy stays then they will back off. JD claims that “they know things” about Spencer that he would not want to come out.

hmmm I just read that those little pooper scooper robots are a Milgrim Industries product. How could I have missed that?

Re-entry We are back at the end of the study. Everyone comes out of the haze. One woman says it was unethical and the orderly reminds her that she waived her ethics with her signed consent form. The techs say that they got something from everyone but subject one – they aren’t sure he was actually out during the test. (This is Owen) They say nine- Annie – already has the brain structure which tells them that she has been here before. (they don’t know that she is hooked on the “A” pill). They say that they will be debriefed in order and to wait to be called. They call Owen first and as he walks from the room he throws his “A” pill into the corner. He didn’t take it after all. Dr Muramoto asks everyone how their emotional state was after the test: 1) Owen – speechless … (he wasn’t actually out) 2) Black dude – Fragile, sad and also hungry (you want a snack? lol) 3) Greedy dude (no 5) – Bleeding .... internally. 4) Annie – exhausted and devastated, ...but satisfied. (She wants the second pill.) AS they wait Annie talks with an older woman who looks just like the secretary from the tv show Moonlighting. (but it can’t be her because this woman looks like she is 100 years old with too much lipstick on). Greedy guy talks to Owen and tells him that these testing situations are like being at camp where everyone goes wild for hooking up. (even though they are told to not hook up and to not discuss their experiences with each other) Anyway Moonlighting lady says that the pill made her memory different than it has been in the past. (was it a real memory – or Memorex?) Owen, Annie and Greedy guy (have to find out his name – the one who originally spoke to Owen in the lobby) are called in at once and Greedy guy says this is not a good sign. He has done dozens of these (his job?) and when they do this at this early juncture it is because they are getting ready to be terminated from the program. Owen tells Annie he didn’t take the pill, “in case you needed to activate me.” Annie admits that she was leading him on. She admits that she sold her face to the ad company so that is where they go that from and she knew his name was Owen because she heard them call him that in the lobby. Owen’s story Owen is called in and Dr Muramoto tells him that they found inconsistencies with his results so they are going to have to verify his experience of his core trauma and he needs to recount what happened in his mind after taking the pill. (Owen is wearing the Hulk headphones ® in the office) Owen says this is supposed to be the worst day of your life right? Owen says it took him back to his parent’s house seven months ago (he has just starting on a new medication…) at a his brother Jed's engagement party. Jed comes over and asks Owen if he “really” likes his fiancé Adelaide. He pushes Owen to lie for him and Owen says the truth matters and at this juncture may not be dependable. Jed then blackmails him by saying he will tell Mom and Dad that Owen has had another episode where he is writing angry letters and all “seeing a pattern in the universe” …. Then he laughs and said the whole thing was a joke. (asshole) But then he re-threatens that “someone” could. (real nice family) Jed goes down and gives a speech which culminates with his Dad playing piano and him singing Sting’s “Every Breath You Take.” It is a cheesy way of announcing your engagement - but he actually is not a bad singer. Owen goes outside alone and puts his drink down and purposely falls off of the roof. But lucky for him it just goes down to his parent’s skylight about one floor below. He lands with his face squished into the glass but it totally interrupts the entire party when his Mother starts screaming his name at the top of her lungs. Muramoto tells him to take a fresh pill after accusing him of faking earlier. Owen takes it in front of him. Peace Muramoto Muramoto accuses Annie of already using the pill and she plays dumb. He tells her that some people get off on taking the A pill over and over when they want to re-visit past pain which they cannot get over. She claims she wants to move forward with the next pill but he tells her people like her say that but always end up coming back. He then collapses on his desk face forward – like he did earlier in episode 2. Annie then realizes that Muramoto has just died there in the office. She calls Owen back in to help her and frantically starts searching the office and in a desk finds a whole bottle of A pills. She looks longingly at these like she has just found a gold main and is just getting ready to mine it when ....... Owen tells her about an earlier BLIP (Brief Limited psychosis) he suffered when he was hallucinating back at school with Olivia – an early crush he had who his illness ruined the relationship with and how devestating it was for him. Annie puts the pills back in the desk. And manipulates hers and Owen’s rejected files on Muramoto's desk so they can stay in the test. They are at dinner and are told to eat unappetizing food which is in cube form. Annie tells Owen that the reason she is there is because a truck driver who was zoned out on nodoze crashed into a car she was driving with her sister. She says she has to relive the worst day of her life when she takes the pill and she feels the urge to do it because it allows her to relive a time with her (dead?) sister Ellie. (she neglects to mention her part in the accident.) Dr Fugita Finds a New Doc - Or Mantleray in the house Dr Fugita discovers Muramoto’s body and tells the orderly not to say anything as she has to go up to the 77th floor to report this. In the elevator she cries a little. She ends up reporting this to a voice on a monitor being held up in mid air by a strong dude. This entire part is in Japanese and my download has no subtitles so I don’t understand it. (if anyone can tell me what the fuck just happened I would be grateful) But it segues to a story about Dr Mantleray out in some sort of weird part-cartoon, part virtual reality video game story. Dr Mantleray is fucking a cartoon priestess in a pond in some sort of weird multi-colored land that looks totally cheesy and cool at the same time. Her body is all blue cartoon – naked – and he is part cartoon and part human. She has blue wings and he has white cartoon tentacles instead of a human lower body… but his upper body is real. We see Dr Fugita leaving a cab in the red light district and running into a ratty apartment. We briefly are flashed back to the cartoon fucking from above and then suddenly we see what is actually going on. Dr Mantleray is wearing a VR headset and is imagining fucking this priestess in the world of the headset. He also has some sort of device on his dick – don’t ask as it is used as a sight gag for the rest of the scene. He takes off the helmet and puts on his wig (he is mostly bald in real life apparently) and asks Dr Fugita what is up? She came straight into his apartment because she has a key – they were an item ? – and tells him Dr Muramoto is dead (he was free-basing A & C pills secretly) and Mantleray is going to be his replacement. (it is obvious from Mantleray’s tone that is he is on the outs and hated his old partner Muramoto.) He accepts. New Sheriff in town The subjects are bedding down to sleep for the night back at NPB. While they are sleeping Dr Mantelray is quietly brought back into the facilities. We are told that he is the inventor of this treatment. He calls the GRTA computer “Gertie”. He walks into the control room, bows deeply to the computer and speaks with GRTA and tells her that he is back because Dr Muramoto has died. He asks to see her “face” but gets no response. He goes into Muramoto’s office with Fugita and asks if Muramoto had access to a beta headset (Hulk headphones®?) and is told that yes he used them for red flag volunteers. He is worried about a data taint so they agree in order to get the most data out of the subjects they can get, they reinstate #5- Greedy man. He asks her if Muramoto (an addict) died by suicide? She says no, it must have been a mistake. The Drs get ready for bed separately. Fugita asks GRTA how she feels and GRTA says she doesn’t know. Mantleray and Fugita both go to bed in 2 drawers which come out of one of the walls of the computer and then retract into the computer with what must be no more than about 9 inches of space over where your head is. It is 13% cool and 87% horrifying. ( I do not like tight spaces) They are sleeping right over/above each other and say goodnight - Waltons style. (Fugita keeps smoking in hers though) We cut to GRTA “crying” alone at night. This is the best way to describe seeing the lights which form a face and then a light bright tear drift down -> across the floor > and back into the machine near where the cords from the 12 subjects enter the main computer. This “tear” manifests itself as a giant dollop of solder which then drips out in a physical form and falls on the two wires 1&9 together (Owen and Annie's feeds from the chairs). Morning starts and we are again shown a minature Japanese Bonsai mountain which now reminds me of the one that we saw from Hank’s (Annie’s Dad) windowsill. Mantleray greets the test subjects and tells them due to a family emergency Dr Muramoto had to go away. Annie and Owen look at each other knowingly . Mantleray gives such a wimpy, milquetoast greeting and salespitch of the test program that everyone looks like they are suddenly not so sure of his ability. They stay that way until Owen starts clapping and they all join in half heartedly. Odd Experiment Time They start that days test where everyone gets a B pill this time. Mantleray tells them to take the pill and Fugita says “let’s illuminate some blind spots” as a way to spur on the troops. (WTF?) When the main computer starts up the current from the initial spark causes the two wires with the solder to burn in together with puff of smoke. They go to green light in the room and we are immediately taken into an Owen dream. He is asleep in an easy chair watching TV. His wife calls him from the kitchen and he gets up. At this point we see that he is wearing a Houston Oilers Warren Moon jersey and he has one of the most hideous curly mullets this side of Danny McBride’s Eastbound and Down. The house interior looks to be a typical cheap suburban ranch style with wood paneling and shag carpeting which combined with the Moon jersey puts this solidly in the mid 80s timeframe. He walks into the kitchen and his wife is Annie wearing the biggest blonde Jersey hair and stone washed Mom jeans this side of ….. well you know. (Also there are handdrawn pictures on the walls which tell us immediately that they have kids) Jersey Annie – Big day today! 80s Owen – you say that everyday Jersey Annie – Well, today I mean it. Annie shows him a pot with some residual spaghetti in it and asks whether to toss or keep. Then decides without waiting for him to answer – to keep. The episode ends with Owen smiling and an old horrible country song – which I hope is fake – playing in the background……. “I have the key to escape reality. And you may see me tonight With an illegal smile It don’t cost very much But it lasts a long while, Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone No I’m just tryin’ to have me some fun Well done. Hot dog bun My sister’s a nun” (See what I mean about the song?)

Snarktini thank you. This is exactly why I am trying to include as much information as is possible but that keeps the recaps to 3 pages or less.

Yes she (Julia Garner) really is jumping out on a lot of stuff. I thought she was pretty good here. I have just a slight bit more sympathy for Annie though seeing as she feels responsible for her sister. ... I don't watch ahead so may get a chance to watch and recap episode 3.

Maniac S01E02.Windmills Annie’s apartment Annie is smoking in a ratty looking apartment and grinds up a little pill shaped like the letter “A”. She snorts this and immediately drops off into a drug haze so deep that it shows that her roommates are coming in and moving around and ignoring her as she lays there throughout the day not moving. The next day she wakes up alone (in the same position) with the TV blaring and immediately chugs a glass of water. She goes to a cigar box and looks at some pictures and on her very old looking computer fashions a lost dog ad with a young woman in the picture with the dog. The dog is named Groucho (he looks to be a chiwawa (sp) mixed with some other larger dog. The girl in the picture is the same one from the hit series Ozark (Julia Garner) The caption under the picture says it is from 7 years ago and there is a current rendering of what the dog would look like today. (wtf?) She is in a diner eating noodles being read ads by a woman who works for adBuddies as it is shown she is clearly broke and just accepting the fact that this is her existence – being broke and having to have these adBuddy people play ads to pay her bills. Annie stops to ask the adBuddy woman if Annie wanted money to go on a bus trip to Salt Lake would the woman come with her reading ads the whole way and pay for everything? (including hotel bills) The woman is not sure. The adBuddy woman says it sounds like it could be fun who is she visiting? Annie says her little sister. Annie goes home to pack for the trip and packs her Don Quixote book telling herself she is healthy now and healthy people read books. She checks her money stash and finds it empty. She confronts one of her roommates Jackie who tells her she took the money because Annie has not paid the rent in 3 months. (Annie has been out of work for 5 months) Annie asks to borrow $20. Annie’s Dad Annie buys some groceries and goes to visit her dad Hank’s house. There is a little miniature model scene with some figurines in grass next to a small house in the front window and a big painted mural on the wall in the living room along with a lot of other painted flat figures throughout the living room. It looks like no one is home and Annie goes straight for a wall safe which she tries to but can no longer open. She looks surprised so someone has changed the combination. She then sees that her dad is out in the yard in some sort of 1980s mini deprivation tank without water and with some sort of digital display on the front. The entire time she talks with him the lights and numbers move along with his voice but we never see his actual body. She asks if he is coming out and tells him that she is leaving to go to Salt Lake to see her sister Ellie. She asks him to come but he refuses so she asks him what the new combo to the safe is. He tells her it is her birthday (he gave up using her mother's birthday) and she tells him she bought him some Apple Jacks cereal while she is gone. (it is not apparent at this time if he is in some way disabled or even on the spectrum. She opens the safe and in it we see a 38 revolver, a diamond ring (mens?) and an envelope with money in it. Annie takes the entire envelope and puts it in her bag, lets her eyes linger on the gun and then goes to the Brooklyn Public Library Bus Terminal – don’t know if she took the gun. (really the Brooklyn Public Library with a new sign) Annie checks the schedule for the Salt Lake City Bus but then all of the destinations instead reorganize into a huge letter A. It is the same shape as the pill she snorted earlier in the episode. She rushes home and takes the now empty prescription bottle out of the trashcan- she needs a fix and goes to her buddy/drug dealer friend Calvin. I have to explain that Calvin – a young Asian man – is playing chess vs what can only be described as a purple muppet Koala bear with a deep Brooklyn accent. And he is losing. She asks him to get her more ULP drugs (the “A” shaped pills). Calvin accuses her of being a straight up junkie and she denies it. He said he stole her last stash from his Father and anyway that ULP shit is dark. Calvin says she can sign up for a NPB study – that is his Dad’s company – and if they let her in she could get more that way. She asks him for the name of the person who is in charge of the intake of the new subjects at NPB drug tests. She gives him $100 and he gives her the name Patricia Lugo. He also warns her that the drug trials have gotten more secretive since the suicides. (wtf?) The Koala bear beats him and takes the $100. Annie Blackmails Badly Annie goes to the Dox Stop which is apparently a store – which from the outside looks like a mini Kinkos– where you can pay to have someone find info for you to blackmail somebody with. The guy in there says it will be $300 for the information on Lugo but Lugo has paid another company to scrub her records clean. He asks for another $200 and says when she scowls that it does include a free calendar. It turns out that Patricia Lugo is a gambling addict and was arrested in Atlantic City for disorderly conduct. She has a daughter going to Hunter college and has a good job at NPB (because she scrubbed her records) The guy types on his 90s era keyboard (and all the mechanical keyboard nerds wet themselves) and tells her that Lugo is a member of Friend Proxy – that service where you pay to have friends. Annie leaves with her calendar. Annie cancels Lugo’s Friend proxy appt and goes herself pretending to be Lugo’s friend date at some botanical gardens. (forgive me I know nothing about NYC to know the name of the gardens) Lugo sees through Annie’s ruse pretty quickly and when she calls her on it Annie straight out cusses her out and threatens to ruin her life. (just like a straight up junkie) Patricia Lugo is taken aback and Annie apologizes and tries to leave but Lugo follows her and asks what is the matter? Annie tells her that she is trying to get into the ULP study at her job and again apologizes. Lugo keeps questioning her and offers to help (Annie reminds her of her little girl) and Annie admits that she is addicted to a drug that Lugo’s company is testing. She then opens up and tells Lugo that 5 years before she and her sister Ellie got into a really really bad fight and that she “can’t fix it” and she needs the drug ( the ULP “A” drug) to help her get through the day and it is the only thing that makes her feel OK. Lugo buys it and agrees to get her into the study. NPB – Annie's View We are now back at NPB and Annie is taking the same test that Owen was taking before with the Asian woman and the lie detector test and the pictures. Annie is all gung ho on the pictures trying to say all the right things like a college graduate at her first job interview. The Asian woman again reminds her to pump the brakes and that she is supposed to tell her how the pictures make her feel. She then hits Annie with the one last question setup and when she doesn’t ask a question ….. Annie waits and then gets the red light. (ruh Roh! – no drugs for Annie!) The Asian woman tells her to go back to the reception area and wait as this test is about defense mechanisms and Annie doesn’t have any apparently. Annie cusses the woman out saying that she is supposed to be part of the drug trial and who is in charge of the red button? (Here we realize that we are seeing Annie’s side of the NPB drug tests that Owen saw from the first episode.) She goes over to the front desk where Lugo is the supervisor and after Lugo tells her that she failed the intake test and she cannot help her anymore Annie starts throwing threats out. She threatens Lugo’s daughter at Hunter college so badly that Lugo walks out to the waiting room and gets a badge back from one of the other people who passed the test and gives it to Annie. Justin Theroux’s 80s wig We are then shown an NPB documentary/ad/presentation for what NPB is all about. We are back in the ULP study area and all of the candidates (Annie, Owen, greedy dude etc) are sitting around the table all watching Theroux (Dr James Mantleray) explain to them just what this ULP study – and this drug – is all about. (I am not sure but his voice sounds the same as the opening of episode 1) The production quality, again is straight up late 80s early 90s and Mantleray is wearing a labcoat, glasses, tie and a pretty sad black wig. He and Dr Muramoto (drunk doctor from last episode) are both on the video and they welcome the candidates and tell them that their revolutionary drug is going to do away with the conventional psychiatric help industry as it now stands. The candidates are now in Phase III of the ULP testing. Dr Mantleray assures them their experiences will be private and discreet. (yeah right) ULP Plan Turns out the whole thing is simple. There are three pills (A, B & C), taken in three steps and all of this analyzed by the most sophisticated mega computer ever built called the GRTA which will identify, map and confront the learned programming of your brain using artificial intelligence. (it is creepy here because they have the GRTA with a mouth and eyes smiling at you created by select lights on her circuit boards lighting up like the old kids toy Light Brite) Pill A seeks out your core traumas and pulls them to the surface. By using powerful microwave tech they observe the known and unknown anchors of pain in your personal history which is then made into a map which the GRTA uses as a guide for pills B & C. Pill B – behavioral – it identifies self defense mechanisms, blind spots and the walls your mind creates to hide your true self. Pill C – Confrontation .... and acceptance. Once they have your traumas (pill A) and have spotted your unconscious self defense mechanisms (pill B) , the GRTA will use that to create a more efficient system custom tailored to you… welcome to the start of your new life, you will never be the same again. (this sounds absolutely horrible and untested) Once the presentation ends Dr Muramoto asks if there are any questions and when a couple of people hold up their hands, he ignores them and walks away. Trials They are asked – as the odd numbered candidates (based on their badges) to line up. As they do we are shown the inside of the megacomputer and a whole host of technicians who are supporting it. Also Dr Muramoto is sitting at a console reading a paperback book. He reads a poem outloud to the mega computer and after he is through the computer talks back to him in what sounds like Sally Fields’ voice. He creepily puts his hands on the computers interface/buttons like it was a real woman. The odd candidates go into a room with dentist like chairs with these two plates on either side of where your head is going to be when you sit in them. The plates are scored right in the middle like some serious power bursts (or brains) have been fried against them over and over. They are asked to don lead vests like when you get an x-ray and are told it is “precautionary.” They are each given an A pill but told to wait to take it until Dr Fugita allows them to take it. Dr Fugita again states that there can be no more mistakes and tells the subjects to take the pill. Once they do the plates are put next to their heads (on each side - not quite touching) and the machinery is turned on. Everyone seems to instantly go into a deep sleep. Strangely each chair (odd numbered for each candidate) has a set of cables going into the mega computer and although they are sitting in order (1-3-5-7-9-11) in the room the cable numbers going into the machine are 1-9-3-5-7-11. It is out of order and just before this began we found out that Owen is #1 and Annie is #9 (together in the machine???) One of the techs states that they are going to blue and the lights change to a dark blue tint and the machinery really starts to crank ……. Annie’s Trip. The scene changes immediately to Annie pumping gas outside of a small filling station with an old windmill next to a sign which states “Leave to the Nightingale her Shady Woods”. Her sister Ellie (Julia Garner) comes out and throws her a Pepsi and they are on the road again. Ellie has bought a little camera for the trip. They play a road game where they make up a strange back story/movie for other people they see in cars and when Annie finishes hers she yells out to the unfortunates in the other car they have been secretly mocking that she knows what they are up to and then drives off. Later they stop on Monarch Pass which is the continental divide of the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. (apparently this is the divide which runs through much of North and South America. It separates the water that runs toward the Pacific Ocean from the water that runs toward the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. Thank you National Geographic Society) They clown around and Annie makes like she is going to take a pic but instead takes one of her armpit disappointing Ellie. Back at the hotel Ellie is saying goodnight to her boyfriend on the phone. She is using the hotel phone so it doesn’t appear that there are cellphones yet? Annie asks if it was Mom because she was hoping that Ellie and Mom had reconnected – but it was Ellie’s fiancé Ben. Ellie says she tried to connect with their Mom and called her once and shows her a letter from their mom but Annie does not want to see it. Ellie has a fantasy about a girl moving her life to Salt Lake City – where her fiancée is transferred – because she thinks it will make her happy. But the girl is afraid that this nice family with the nice, job, house and kids will not work out. She thinks that she might not maintain the stability and would fuck things up. But it turns out that she can and she is alright. This is obviously a thinly veiled telling of her own life and Annie says it sounds like a fantasy of someone who gave up. They end up in an argument because Ellie is pissed at Annie’s narcissism and just wants her to know that she is sad about moving away and just wanted memento pictures to help her remember her sister. Annie makes a reference about losing Ellie's dog (from the picture) and Ellie says that she hates that Annie is such a huge liar. Annie counters with the fact that Ellie doesn’t have anything going on in her “normal” life and she is just desperate for someone to tell her she is OK. Annie gets one last dig and says that the thought of Ellie not in New York makes her feel happy and they will grow apart. This reduces Ellie to those actress tears where they don’t actually come out crying but you can tell they want to and she has tears in her eyes. No Pictures for Ellie They are driving the next morning and Annie says that they can take that picture now and the camera is in her bag. This is a throwaway instamatic by the way – the kind where you used to take the roll and then send it in to be developed. She doesn’t stop driving (??) and tells Ellie to hold the wheel while Annie sets up the selfie shot. She makes a joke that they should make a stick for something like this. They are on a two lane road with the yellow line down the middle and in the distance is a big truck coming their way. (ruh Roh – Stevie Wonder can see the next scene coming) She tells Ellie to hold the wheel (da fuck?) and again instead of taking the picture she takes another one of her armpit. How she does this amazes me as only a woman can make her arm bend like that. Of course Ellie is furious that she has been taken again and restarts the argument again with Annie mocking her. They fight over the camera and in the confusion the car drifts over into the truck's lane so it is coming straight for them. For what ever reason, on a bright sunny day the truck driver doesn’t hit his horn or try and stop or avoid them for any reason and by the time Annie pulls the wheel to get out of the truck’s path they are sideswiped by the 18 wheeler and knocked over the guardrail by the truck and their car falls about 60 feet onto some rocks. This is dramatically shown from Annie’s point of view after impact and as they start going over the guardrail before tumbling down the embankment. Ellie is unconscious and Annie is seeing this horror unfold as they go over. The truck driver stops and runs to the guardrail and sees the car at the bottom of the rocks mostly intact but crushed. The camera pans back up to just before the cliff sheer face starts and shows a bloody Annie lying unconscious on the rocks. She has avoided the worst of the crash. (if that could be thought of as being lucky) We are then suddenly back on Annie in her chair at the NPB institute. The room is bathed in red and when the lights change to normal she wakes up from her nightmare and a voice says “welcome back subjects, welcome back.” There is also a loud low buzzer which I don’t know is part of the treatment process or is just part of the soundtrack. End of episode.

I know this is too long. this is my first long recap and I am trying to learn how to write so that I include all of the pertinent information but at the same time make it easier for someone to jump to just the section they are interested in. I will try a couple of episodes and if people show interest - maybe I can do all 10. - Thanks. Maniac – season 1 episode 1 – The Chosen One It begins. The series and the show. It opens with a 1990s version of an old science documentary. Quickly it goes from the smallest amoeba all the way up to the growing of new worlds. The point of this opening? – Just to tell us that the billions of interconnections that came together to form our complicated world demonstrate the infinite potential of our connections…. Extending to the human heart. Annie Cut to now – some time recent but probably not in the 2000s with Emma Stone in some convenience store/laundrymat in NY trying to buy a pack of smokes. When the proprietor asks how she is paying she says she is going to use “an adBuddy “ to cover the purchase. The guy says no adBuddy allowed because they record your conversations and thoughts and secretly end up knowing more about you then you do yourself. Emma – who is named Annie – walks out and jimmys a newspaper machine to steal quarters and brings back the quarters to pay for the smokes. (clearly not the nice schoolgirl type) She is dressed in old jeans, sweater , a long coat and has her long hair dyed fake blonde. Annie walks down the street smoking her cigs and passes by a bunch of older guys all wearing suits and long grubby suit coats and hats – carrying black suitcases with nametags telling us they work for this “adBuddy” company. She continues down the street and passes these small billboard ads street level which change from time to time like the ones on NBA courts or Soccer pitch (football to you Europeans). One of the pictures shows an ad saying how terrible it is to be alone. The ad shows a picture of Sally Field smiling wearing glasses and her name is – Dr Greta. Apparently this adBuddy is some sort of company who hires out friends for those who are too lonely or too busy for ones of their own. Annie pauses to pick up a book – Don Quixote – from the front of a building – Milgrim Industries. It looks like the company is either moving in or being kicked out it is hard to tell. Milgrim Industries - Owen The camera pans up the side of the building and into the Milgrim Industries building - and we see Jonah Hill – here Owen Milgrim – and it sounds like he is in court. He is being questioned by what sounds like a prosecutor. Owen is looking very down and depressed and it seems that he is accepting whatever fate has in store for him. (note Jonah Hill is now skinny again in real life and clean shaven wearing a nice suit) Presecutor – what is your relationship with Jed Milgrim? Owen – he is my brother. Presecutor – Have you ever been arrested, married, children ? Owen answers no to all of these. Again he looks very mellow. Prosecutor – can you tell us about the psychotic break you experienced 10 years ago? Here Owen breaks out and asks the people in the room if it is necessary for him to answer this question. He asks his Dad if that is the way it will be in court. The camera pans back to show a boardroom with several other people in it. Owen Milgrim’s Dad, who is played by the great Gabriel Byrne in his best midwestern style American accent, assures Owen that they need to be ready for the prosecution to try to jolt him early in the upcoming court proceedings. We soon see that this is not an actual trial, but a test one given by the defense with their own lawyers in order to prep Owen for an upcoming court date. It is taking place in a board room and the fact that there are a couple of cigarettes being smoked makes me believe more that this show is back in the late 90s. The fake Prosecutor continues and asks when the last time Owen was hospitalized for mental illness. Owen tells him it was 10 years ago and he was also medicated. He is very muted during this “testimony” and the camera pans back to show us that he is doing a rubiks cube under the table. (he is doing it without looking like those people who do them without thinking – like the rest of us chew our nails) Apparently Owen had been seeing his brother Jed when he wasn’t actually there. Owen looks at a glass of water on the table and it starts to shake and rumble but we soon see that it was just a figment of Owen’s imagination. Jed The next scene is Owen on a park bench. Owen’s brother – who says he is invisible to everyone else – comes up, asks Owen how the pre trial went and tells Owen that he alone has been chosen to save the world and he is going to be a hero. (his brother – Jed? – is played by Billy Magnussen of Game Night and The Big Short fame) His brother tells him that the details will be delivered to him by a woman who Owen will somehow know is his contact. He tells Owen to make contact with her and then he says “The pattern is the pattern” and then literally disappears. After he goes Owen is looking down at some unpopped corn that some pigeons are eating on the ground and the sidewalk/world starts to shake and the pigeons fly away and the corn actually pops. (it is not known if we are supposed to believe he made that happen by looking at it or not) No one around notices anything. Later Owen tries to buy subway fare but his credit card is declined because he has insufficient funds. The machine asks him if he would like to pay for the transaction with adBuddy. He swipes yes and in the next scene Owen is seen walking down to the subway car with one of those adBuddy guys we saw earlier in the cheap hats and suits walking with him carrying a thick black plastic case. They get on the train and the adBuddy guy starts his pitch. adBuddy guy hits him with scenarios he can volunteer for. They range from, temporary volunteer husband to hiring yourself out as a “friend proxy.” ( in one of the ads Annie is a model wife with her kids and no husband) The adBuddy guy reads that Owen currently spends 87% of his income on rent and suggests that a catastrophic disruption in his financial life – a furlough – could ruin him. Would he consider pharmaceutical testing to supplement his income? The guy hands him a pamphlet for a company called NPB (Neberdine Pharmaceutical Biotech). Later while Owen is at work calling about a job filling in as a volunteer husband his boss comes by to tell him that he is on a permanent furlough and out of work. (coincidence?) (The office and all of the computer equipment is straight out of the 1990s.) The shaking that we got before starts up again and owen runs into the bathroom and throws up. While in the stall he wipes his mouth on some toilet paper (which has ads on it) and sees an ad for NPB and gets mad and pulls the dispenser off the wall. When he does this there is some graffiti behind it which says “the pattern is the pattern” (the same message his invisible brother Jed told him about.) Owen heads home and while he walks we overhear him talking with some man. The man asks him, really tells him the stuff that is going on. (there is no one around – Owen is either hearing this in his head or it occurred at another time and Owen is reexperiencing it.) Man : “The way deprogramming works is you have to listen to it over and over.” The man makes statements and asks Owen if they are true. Man “The world sends you messages. Words are often code words, or pass phrases for important secrets. You’re are visited by a brother no one else in your family is aware of. A facsimile of your brother Jed. He sends you messages. Instructions for important missions you must accomplish. He tells you you are meant to do something big and that you are not meant to do it alone. All you need is a partner. You sense danger all around you and a fight is coming. Something bigger than this world.” Owen agrees with all of these statements. (I feel they could have just started the show with this but whatever …..) On the way to his apartment Owen sees another ad for a woman looking for her husband (fill in husband) and again it is Annie this time dressed up and playing golf in Hilton Head. (I must say that even though it is sometime in the near future or past, parts of the city remind me of a cleaner Blade Runner as throughout the city there are ads all over the bridges etc.) Owen’s Apartment Cut to Owen’s apartment. It makes an efficiency look big. (insert NYC apartment joke here?) The best way to describe it is as a dingy pod about the size of a tiny Japanese hotel room done up in white where there is a desk at the foot of his bed and the bed acts as the desk chair. (that should give you an idea of the size) Again it looks futuristic but everything looks retro. The TVs etc are all tubes. Owen is reading a book by Sally Fields’ Dr Greta and pauses to take his pills. Except he doesn’t take them. He lines them up, on their ends, and plucks them across the room into a plant. The amount already in the plant and the skill with which he does this suggests he has not been taking his pills for a long time. Owen gets a package and by the time he opens it on the bed a woman mysteriously calls him to tell him that he is a prime candidate for their “studies.” She says they will see him on Monday. This is NPB. Parent’s Apartment Owen goes by his parent’s apartment. It is hard to describe it but I will say it looks like a cross between a fancy NY apartment and a cold museum. The floors are all stone like, the lighting is low, there are too many reflective surfaces and it just looks like someone took a bunch of money and told a designer to make him a house with as much charm as a drill press. Owen comes in to hear an acapella group (his preppy brothers) singing to his Mom and Dad and a bunch of women and a little girl. Later Owen is seen playing with and bonding with this girl. At the dinner table one of Owen’s brothers (Jed but now he is not invisible) is telling a story about how Jed’s gerbil was eaten by Owen’s hawk that Owen nursed back to health when he was 9. (what nine year old is allowed to do this?) This whole scene is to show how different Owen is from the rest of the family. He is a true blacksheep. His brothers are all blonde, tall and good looking and Owen is the short outcast. Later a pretty blonde – Jed’s fiancé – tells Owen that she and Jed have not set a date for the wedding yet and to be honest she doesn’t look thrilled to pick one. They look at a family painting with all of the family members sitting and standing around the fire. Owen is not in the picture but a small 6x9 picture of him is in its own frame on the wall near the other painting as the ultimate humiliation – he is to be added later. Owen suggests to Jed’s fiancé (did not get her name but she is blonde and British) they should instead run away together and start a new life. She is the only one sympathetic to Owen and I guess we are to believe that Owen thinks she is the one that he is supposed to go on his journey with. She is dreading the court day that Owen was prepping for in defense of Jed. Owen tells her that Jed didn’t do it. (do what?) The family settles in to play Balderdash and Owen leaves alone abruptly as he really doesn’t fit in. His Dad walks him to the train station though and asks if they could buy him a place or have him work at Milgrim Industries like his brothers to help him out with money. Owen says that he agreed to testify and his Dad doesn’t have to bribe him for lying in court. (here we are to understand that Jed did do whatever he is accused of? ) His Dad says Owen is giving the gift of an alibi and this woman (?) is an opportunist. His Dad also says that he is protecting the family. (here a car drives by blaring the Geto Boys “My Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me” (1991). NPB Owen shows up bright and early on Monday at NPB for his pharmaceutical testing. The inside of the building can best be described as an 80s Italian DMV. There is concrete everywhere and also the rainbow logo which is NPB’s stock and trade. As he fills out his paperwork Owen talks to a guy who is up for the same tests (ULP?) and he assures Owen that that is the good one. “Get ready to make a lot of money,” he says to Owen. The guy says that the drug they are testingis having some issues and as a result there is some “real trippy shit” and that high risk = high dollars. Just then we see Annie come out of one of the doors in the back arguing with some Asian woman. “Who is in charge of the red button? “ Annie asks the woman. Annie is pissed and goes over to the counter to complain to a woman working there but later comes back to sit down and wait and brood. (we can’t hear what is being said) Owen of course realizes Annie is the woman he sees in all of those adBuddy ads. Owen is called into the same room that Annie just came out of. Owen is being given some sort of lie detector looking test (arm cup, meter writing scriggly lines on paper etc) on a machine with a reader like a lie detector but also an old screen showing him pictures. The Asian woman tells him to describe the emotions the pictures make him feel and not to tell her what they are. After the pictures are done, the woman asks him to look at her as she asks him this final question. The woman then just stares at him for about 10 seconds without saying anything and Owen becomes so uncomfortable that he asks her if she is going to ask him anything. Just then the machine beeps and one of two lights there comes on. One is red and one is green. Owen’s light shines green. The woman tells him that his defense mechanisms are fungible and that he has been accepted into the drug trial. Owen comes out and walks over and sits right in front of Annie. He gets up his nerve and asks her if she has lost her husband recently or if she golfs in Hilton Head. (shades of the adBuddy ads) She reacts rudely like he is keeping her from something and tells him to back off she has a gun. A voice calls all of the ULP subjects and Owen, Annie and the dude who spoke to Owen earlier all start to line up along with a few others. Before Owen can get up, Jed shows up and tells Owen that Annie is the one. She has that something special (he also says that she is no Olivia though – his fiance?). He tells Owen to use the passphrase, “the pattern is the pattern.” He also says to “keep moving forward,” and then disappears. (this time there is no rumbling for Owen) In an office within the facilities an Asian woman scientist (smoking) wakes up an older Asian scientist who looks to be either sleep or drunk. (or both) They are both in lab jackets with NPB on them and the man has a set of headphones on him that look big enough for the Incredible Hulk to wear. She tells him that the subjects are here and lets not have any of the old problems. He says “yes” in a very out of it, unbelievable way that there will be no problems like before. When she leaves he puts something away in a drawer which looks to be either a syringe or some sort of tube full of I don’t know what. The test subjects are brought down to their new digs they are told by an orderly to get into their pods and that they will be expected to stay there until they are told to come out. If they disobey, they will be terminated and “shame and humiliation will be showered on them.” (I forgot to mention that this entire organization seems to be run by some secret Japanese executives. That may sound racist but the employees all bow like traditional Japanese and there are a lot of Japanese in suits who all of the orderlies bow to.) They have their bags searched and Annie suddenly walks out of the frame and then right back in again (?). The rules are stay in your pods until called and there is no fraternization among subjects. The whole pod room looks like some sort of 90s Star Trek set. There is a circular table in the middle with about 12 futuristic chairs around it. Owen comes up to Annie and tells her that she is not supposed to be there and then he tells her The pattern is the pattern and what are his instructions. She looks real scared but surprisingly tells him – she knows name – that his instructions are to go back to his pod and await her signal and don’t blow their cover. The two scientists from before – Dr Muramoto (drunk guy) and Dr Fujita (smoking woman) – come into the room and before they address the subjects they do a deep bow to the computer server room like it was some sort of emperor. (There is no human in that server room) Dr Muramoto – who may still be drunk or high – tells them they all made the right decision. He then tries a weak joke – to Owen – that if he doesn’t fuck this up then Dr Muramoto won’t fuck this up. Owen looks worried as usual and the episode ends.

Thanks. I am trying to get better with the formatting and length. I am new at this and I figured it would be easier if I start on 30 minute shows.

Spence brings Jayna's football son Quincy to USC. The idea is now they are going to be partners in this college football tv deal and USC is going to be the team. Quincy is talking shit like he is 45 years old and has been ripped off by 100 multilevel marketers - seriously how can a kid that young be so cynical? Spence is prepared for this and has the kid walk into the full USC stadium and the entire crowd is chanting Quincy's name and something I cannot make out. You get the idea that they are all chanting for him in a way that all of them would probably not be for the current stars of their team. I guess the Rock got USC to provide a football games worth of fans to agree to be on the show.They even have a couple of jets write a Q in the sky! They meet the coach and the current quarterback. Spence wants the Trojans TV rights and to build them their own TV network. Spence is using Quincy as his bargaining chip and he is bargaining hard. Joe is at the company talking with his second in command Jessie. Reggie comes by for a visit. He is complaining already that his investment is going down the drain and also dressed like a hip black lumberjack. He is sent by Verne to watch out for his money. Joe says everything is under control and has a new idea for them to go after these 3 young skateboarders who "have something." (yet another skateboard crew!) They are called Illegal Civilization - seriously are there any other sports in CA except skateboarding? Meanwhile Ricky is at home with his boy making him protein shakes and arranging his "vitamins" and his Dad who has not been invited but who is good for some insult humorous discussion about his "nutsack." Trust me when I say you don't want to know anymore about that story. Dennis tries to half heartedly get Ricky to consider staying retired for his own safety but quickly jumps back into having him play again when he finds out there is somewhere he can check out the nice MILFs to be ogled in CA. Ricky tells him "I never claimed to be the smartest, just the most committed." He then asks his boy if he has made sure Charles - the GM - is going to be around the area where Ricky will be working out. He is told yes. Back at USC the quarterback is showing Spence and Quincy the USC facilities. (for some reason they don't want us to forget that he is the quarterback so they have him inexplicably fondling a football the whole time.) He tells Quiincy that USC is the shit and that he won't have to worry about classes etc as all the football players are taken care of. Quincy listens but always has a smart comeback to everything and honestly looks completely disinterested and unimipressed. (he did like the jets skywriting though) Charles meanwhile calls Jason - the sports agent - who is out with his non acting girlfriend (ugly tat is covered up in this scene) in order to invite him to Charles's new pre Free Agent reception party he is throwing. This is the new "popular" Charles trying to impress his bosses (and to do what his wife suggested - and play along with the showman label his bosses want) Jason tells him to reconsider his stance on Ricky and Charles just rolls his eyes. Quincy says to Spence that he is all about the money and looking to get paid. If USC doesn't come up with the $$ then he is going elsewhere. (I guess this guy is the greatest of all times. He again lets Spence know that he is basically dirty and is used to getting money for his time. (Is taking Quincy to USC as a sports agent somehow against the rules?) Spencer tells him he will get his in about 5 years but Quincy is having none of that. USC coach calls Spence and says the board of Regents says no go on Quincy. And the reason why is not that Quincy is the dirtiest recruit this team has ever seen, but it is because of Spencer! They say Spence's old friend Rodney Pete is the one nixing the deal. Spence hangs up - and I kid you not - pulls out a bottle of pills and dry swallows about six of them right there on the spot. Would you have me believe that he just carries them around with him at all times? Quincy has flown the coop and is investigating the campus by himself. He runs into the girl who put together the highlight reel for his welcome party. She is just cute enough - without being drop dead gorgeous or fake - for Quincy to fall for her immediatly. She is named Emma and suddenly Quincy has all day to hang out with her. Ricky is working out - in the rain and it never rains in southern California! We are supposed to think that he is now back to super star status even though he basically looks the same as his original tryout for Charles except this time he catches two passes instead of dropping them. As luck would have it Charles is driving by and sees exactly one Ricky catch and is immediately impressed. He invites Ricky to the pre free Agent party that night. Joe and Reggie meet the skateboarders - there are 3 of them - at some sort of outdoor mall like area where the guys are skating and grinding on every surface imaginable. There are even other people skating and there is no way possible that they would be allowed to do this in public. (also there are annoying camera angles which are shot from under the skateboards and are about as uninteresting and amateurish as they come. Joe makes a fool of himself again talking with some sort of "Dad trying to get into a college party" vibe. Illegal Civilization - the skating crew - is comprised of 3 young guys. One skinny white guy, one black guy with a small afro and one south asian looking guy who is bald and seriously looks like he could be in his mid 30s and is wearing a cardigan sweater over a pink and yellow shirt. Ridiculous! They tell Joe and Reggie that if they want to impress them to buy them all food from a fancy wing joint - called Roscos. It is in the middle of the day say about 12 noon. By the time Joe and Reggie return with the food it looks to be around 10pm! Where did they go to get the food - Nevada?! They have the nerve to look surprised when the kids are not there. As a matter of fact no one is there because the whole plaza should be closed but it is an excuse to film the fountain where they agreed to meet the skateboarders in its glory with colored lights. Joe and Reggie bond over chicken wings and plot their next move. Spence barges into Rodney's office talking shit about how the school all but pushed his dead brother off of the train tracks - his suicide. Rodney says that this was the only way he could get Spencer to meet with him. Rodney unconvincingly tells him that it wasn't USC's fault his brother lost his elligibility it was the NCAA's fault. Spence tells him his brother was depressed he wasn't an addict and the whole system is a sick joke with kids lives being used up. Rodney tells him he was wrong and that his bro was "eating pills like gummy bears." He then tells Spence that the deal is for 10 years and $200 million dollars. Spence tells him to go fuck himself. (the rent is to damn high!) At Charles's free agent party the actor playing Charles spends the whole time grabbing napkins and dabbing sweat from his brow. Seriously, if this dude was in a mystery movie acting like that in the final scene the cops would just walk up and arrest him he looks so uncomfortable. Everyone shows up so it is a success and should impress his bosses. Spencer magically finds Quincy with Emma at a student premiere - on USC's huge campus . Also it is again at least 10 pm and Quincy left the Regent's office during the day. What the hell was he doing the last 5 or so hours? Quincy is suddenly all smiles around Emma - and he also is onboard with going to USC and makes it sound like it has been his dream. We are to believe that this superstar is totally whipped by the first cute college girl he meets - It doesn't ring true to his character. There is one funny moment when Spencer walks into the theater leaving the door open letting in the lights from the lobby and some neckbeard tells him to close the door as he is letting in light. No way in hell some freshman tells a man who looks like the Rock to do anything. Spence tells Quincy to get going and Quincy is not happy as Spencer is "killing his vibe". Spencer says too bad there is no deal because USC wanted too much money. Quincy says too bad for spence because he is going to USC and they already have a deal and now Spence will have to get him into USC -fadeout ... cut to cool rap song by an artist I don't know.

Ok. So Spence and Joe finally came to their senses and will maybe now try and concentrate a little more on football? I cannot believe that Lance has finagled yet another episode and will probably be in at least one more. The issue i have is, although i know that the athletes aren't Shakespeare actors, it would help if they had more people who are actors vs those who are terrible. Surfing guy, Lance, and football player with pissed girlfriend are the terrible actors and the more time they are on screen the less enjoyable it is to me. I am assuming that Joe is calling Lance on his lowball offer and maybe Lance is full of it and putting on a show. I still am not feeling any real tension for Spence and Joe. They have no real plan it seems for how they want to expand the business. They are "buying" other people's stuff without doing the due diligence. Back in their Finance account days that would not have passed muster but now shooting from the hip is OK? Show please crap or get off the pot. And please no health scares or nightmares for Spence.

Alright can someone help out this foggy old man. Am I to think that the Snells killing dude would have the new Cartel people satisfied that all is now well? Or was it the money too? I admit I was doing some laundry when the episode played and missed a little here and there.

I will try a couple more. I just found out that Ozark released from Netflix but they did all 10 episodes at once so I will probably watch them all in one week and be stuck waiting again for something on Sunday nights.

They should call this show "Everything but football" and be done with it. Another couple of episodes and this will be Entourage with bigger guys. I assume British guy is out and without some sort of health scare for a Spencer, they may be out of ideas. Is Dule Hill not on anymore? I will admit I laughed at the comments from Ricky's buddy were pretty funny on the workout.

You and me both. The problem I have with this show is it is so few episodes per season that it feels like Spencer and Joe don't really do much. They basically drink, hang around and talk shit 98% of the time.