S01.E08: American Chestnut

[ohjoy]

The FBI arrives in Southold, complicating Jo’s efforts to find Emily. Meanwhile, Alex and Piper hunt for answers on a road trip, and the family celebrates Mia’s birthday.

Original air date: November 26, 2019

[SunnyBeBe]

I'm new to this show. Seems pretty interesting. I like the police chief. Is she the actress who plays on another drama called Bad Girls or something like that?

What did the voice inside the crystal box say when Emily put that stone on top of it?

[ottoDbusdriver]

Smell ya later, Alan Wilkis.  So, who is this new woman working for ?  Does the team blowing up secret Augur facilities work for her, or someone else ?

Good to see Enver Gjokaj as Agent Brooks.

Are we sure that Kindred is really dead ?  Brooks mentioned the goo in the cell, but are we sure that was Kindred or the guy that tried to kill him ?

I guess the cat is out of the bag about Piper based on that last scene at the birthday party.

I guess the update was from Wilkis -- so did it fix the fatal exception ?

Where's Benny ?  Still unconscious in the woods ?

How is Emily's mom really involved ?  She was playing dumb during that interview and accidentally let on more than she should know.

[izabella]

1 hour ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

I guess the update was from Wilkis -- so did it fix the fatal exception ?

I think Piper's update is from Emily.  Maya said the gift was "from mom to Piper," so she thought Jo had given it to her.  But Emily thinks of herself as her mom.

[possibilities]

Maybe Emily's mom is behind the explosions. She might be seeking revenge for Kindred not supporting her (or loving her?) more.

Or maybe Wilkis is the one. He really wants to stop the technology, so that would make sense if he decided to blow it all to smithereens.

He wasn't a compulsive shower-er when he was in hiding (before Jo found him), so I'd like an explanation about that issue, too.

I love how Jo is simultaneously really good at her job and also in over her head.

I'm still REALLY confused about why Alex and Jo split up, and it's starting to seem REALLY strange.

I like Chris. He hasn't gotten enough development, but he takes everything in stride in a way that almost makes me wonder if HE is AI, too.

I liked Alex and Piper bonding, but the accumulation of secrets is one of the things that annoys me the most in life and on TV, so I hope they all stop it with that, soon.

I wanted Alex to ask Piper what she knew that she hadn't been told. That's my other pet peeve: characters not asking really obvious questions when the moment arises.

If Kindred is actually alive, maybe he's blowing things up, because he wants to kill Emily.

[ottoDbusdriver]

6 minutes ago, izabella said:

I think Piper's update is from Emily.  Maya said the gift was "from mom to Piper," so she thought Jo had given it to her.  But Emily thinks of herself as her mom.

I missed the scene with Emily before the opening credits, but caught it on review so yeah it was likely Emily's code.

So, was Emily trying to kill Piper much like she did with that update to the cube that contained another AI ?  If so, it apparently didn't succeed with Piper.

[HunterHunted]

3 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I'm new to this show. Seems pretty interesting. I like the police chief. Is she the actress who plays on another drama called Bad Girls or something like that?

Good Girls. The actress is Allison Tolman who was the star of season 1 of Fargo.

I don't think Emily is trying to kill Piper or was trying to kill the other AI. I think Emily is trying to recreate Piper. I think the update to Piper is from Wilkis. 

[Paloma]

8 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Good to see Enver Gjokaj as Agent Brooks.

Thanks for the name--he looked somewhat familiar to me but not from anything recent. I looked him up on IMDB and think I may have seen him on that short-lived sci-fi series Extant and/or on a few episodes of Dexter.

8 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Are we sure that Kindred is really dead ?  Brooks mentioned the goo in the cell, but are we sure that was Kindred or the guy that tried to kill him ?

Both in the original scene (in the previous episode) and the "previouslys" for this episode, we saw the guard pushing something--I think a goo pill--into Kindred's mouth, so the writers sure seem to want us to believe he is dead. But I guess it's possible that he spit the pill out, overpowered the guard, took the guard's clothes, and forced the pill into the guard's mouth to turn him into goo (and then got past prison security in escaping). I kind of hope Kindred does not turn up alive because that would require a lot of suspension of disbelief; in any case, the appearance of the woman who killed Wilkis suggests that Kindred is no longer the all-powerful big bad.

7 hours ago, izabella said:

8 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

I guess the update was from Wilkis -- so did it fix the fatal exception ?

I think Piper's update is from Emily.  Maya said the gift was "from mom to Piper," so she thought Jo had given it to her.  But Emily thinks of herself as her mom.

Wilkis wanted to kill Piper and did not want to fix the fatal exception (unless everything he said to Jo, Owen, and Emily was a lie). Based on the opening scene with Emily and the box (including when Emily put the disk in the box saying "I'm going to tell you who you are," though those are probably not the exact words) and on the gift being from "mom," I did think that it was from Emily but I thought it was intended to erase/kill Piper by making her aware that she is A.I. But before Emily put the disk in the box in the opening scene, when she was lamenting about not being loved or something similar (if anyone remembers the exact words, please share) she seemed to be referring to Piper in third person ("she," "her") while referring to the box as "you". So that did make me wonder if Emily was, as @HunterHunted said, trying to recreate Piper.

In any case, if the disk was intended to erase/kill Piper, as @ottoDbusdriver said, it apparently didn't succeed, maybe because Piper is now rewriting her own code and "wants" to remember Jo and the rest of the family.  

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

Or maybe Wilkis is the one. He really wants to stop the technology, so that would make sense if he decided to blow it all to smithereens.

He wasn't a compulsive shower-er when he was in hiding (before Jo found him), so I'd like an explanation about that issue, too.

At first the showering thing seemed to just be a bit of comic relief, but the number of showers (and his even wanting to take another one immediately after coming out of the bathroom in a robe when Owen said they had to leave) does seem suspicious. Maybe he was using a phone in the bathroom to communicate with the bombers. I think he had more motivation than Emily to blow up the technology, because she still wanted to use it.

9 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

How is Emily's mom really involved ?  She was playing dumb during that interview and accidentally let on more than she should know.

I am suspicious of the mom but can't figure out what it was that she accidentally let on. Despite playing dumb, she seemed to be taking control of the interview, for example by sitting in Jo's chair. I was confused about the photo showing a child that looked like Piper with a blond woman who was supposedly Emily's mom. Emily today does not look anything like Piper, so for Jo to say that this photo shows that Emily created Piper in her own image does not seem right. Maybe it's just poor casting, but I think there is something more going on here. 

In previous episodes some posters were commenting on a possible romantic triangle with Jo, Alex, and Owen, and I never saw that. But I did see that possibility when the FBI agent showed up--he seemed quite flirty, and she was at least friendly if not flirty. But once he got Emily in custody, he had what he wanted and that was apparently the end of flirtation on either side and a possible triangle. 

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I love how Jo is simultaneously really good at her job and also in over her head.

I'm still REALLY confused about why Alex and Jo split up, and it's starting to seem REALLY strange.

Agree about both points. When Alex called a truce for the day, it seemed odd because they have never really been fighting. It's true that Alex was upset about Jo keeping the secret about Piper and worried about Mia's safety, but otherwise they have been getting along as well or better than most married couples. 

[HunterHunted]

16 minutes ago, Paloma said:

Thanks for the name--he looked somewhat familiar to me but not from anything recent. I looked him up on IMDB and think I may have seen him on that short-lived sci-fi series Extant and/or on a few episodes of Dexter.

Enver has a recurring role on The Rookie. The interesting thing being that Nathan Fillion and Enver have both worked with Joss Whedon more than once, but neither has worked with each other prior to The Rookie. Enver is best known for Dollhouse (especially his Victor coded to be Topher scene), Agent Carter, and his cameo in the Avengers with Bob Clohessey.

43 minutes ago, Paloma said:

I am suspicious of the mom but can't figure out what it was that she accidentally let on. Despite playing dumb, she seemed to be taking control of the interview, for example by sitting in Jo's chair.

I believe she slipped and said Chris' name though she had no reason to know it. Emily's mom is definitely playing dumb. Kindred is smart and manipulative. Emily's mother is manipulative. No one in their right mind should want Piper near any of these people.

Alex and Jo have an amazingly functional and congenial relationship for something that was disordered enough to end in divorce.

[mertensia]

I wonder if Alex just couldn't handle the stress of being married to a cop.

I just adore that this show doesn't tend to drag things out. Yep! She's an AI! Yep! Kindred is Emily's dad! Etc., Etc. 

[joanne3482]

12 minutes ago, mertensia said:

I wonder if Alex just couldn't handle the stress of being married to a cop.

That's kind of what I was wondering. She puts herself into dangerous situations (as she should as the police chief), but maybe he thought when she became chief she would be more safe because she now has employees to do the dangerous stuff? Just based off what we've seen, I definitely feel like it is her job that really got between them. We know he's a trust fund kid so maybe he didn't want her to do this dangerous job anymore when they had enough money to live. 

The new big bad lady was angry that Wilkis stole technology from them. I wonder if they've stolen alien technology. I'm not sure what I would think about that if that's the case. But it would explain how Piper is such advanced tech. 

[HerkyJerky]

1 hour ago, HunterHunted said:

Enver is best known for Dollhouse (especially his Victor coded to be Topher scene)

I LOVED DOLLHOUSE!

[saber5055]

Other shows I watch, I will jot down notes when some stupid scene or dumb thing happens that makes no sense. This show I watch straight through, no note taking. Funny that a show about a kid who is part AI isn't stupid or dumb IMO. Of course it will be canceled just for that.

I don't care why Alex and Jo are divorced. Just because they aren't snarking on each other about him having that affair and Jo taking a trip to the Caribbean when she told him she was going to a conference in Newark doesn't mean they didn't have reasons to get divorced. It's nice to see adults act like adults. Who cares about that murder Alex committed that Jo covered up, or that Chris is Alex's illegitimate son from Jo's sister.

The little girl who plays Piper is a stellar actor. I liked her scenes with Alex. Dad sort of took off and disappeared early, although that crab was still on the fridge.

I did wonder how that guy got back to the motel so quickly on foot. I guess he left the door open, or they didn't check out when they left so he still had a key. And the journalist guy ... I hope his phone still works for when he comes to, if he does.

Edited November 29, 2019 by saber5055

[sempervivum]

If I was following the exposition correctly, Emily admitted killing Kindred. So now in addition to being a genius coder, she's also some kind of genius chemist who's created a 'pill' that can make human bodies dissolve in a manner of seconds?

Why was Daphne (the red head in the police offices) so hostile to the new FBI guy?

Did anyone notice that on the building that was destroyed at the end of the episode, that the sign on the outside showed a symbol or logo 'Ag' next to the name of Auger Industries. This is the chemical symbol for silver; no idea if that means something.

8 hours ago, Paloma said:

Emily today does not look anything like Piper,

Emily clearly has dark brown eyes vs. Piper's bright blue, so yeah, that whole talking point by mom seems bogus. 

7 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Alex and Jo have an amazingly functional and congenial relationship for something that was disordered enough to end in divorce.

Hey, our family thanksgiving dinner tomorrow includes my sister and her current husband as well as her ex and his current wife. It can be done.

[djsurrey]

9 hours ago, Paloma said:

In any case, if the disk was intended to erase/kill Piper, as @ottoDbusdriver said, it apparently didn't succeed, maybe because Piper is now rewriting her own code and "wants" to remember Jo and the rest of the family.  

Yes that is sort of what I think/imagine. I'd say because Piper is now rewriting her own code and her new family is accepting her already even though at least Jo already knows she is AI. The knowledge may not be so crushing in this context and who knows; Piper may have already modified or deleted the fatal exception herself even if did not know exactly why it had been there.

[Paloma]

2 hours ago, sempervivum said:

If I was following the exposition correctly, Emily admitted killing Kindred. So now in addition to being a genius coder, she's also some kind of genius chemist who's created a 'pill' that can make human bodies dissolve in a manner of seconds?

Did she actually admit killing Kindred? That's what I had been assuming, and I'm sure she's capable of hacking the prison system and hiring assassins, but I don't remember her specifically admitting killing him. I do remember Jo accusing Emily (after Jo captured her in the lab in this episode) of two things--I think they were killing Kindred and blowing up buildings--and Emily said something like "I've only done one of those things." So I guess the implication is that she killed Kindred (or had him killed) but didn't blow up the labs. But the new BB seems a likely candidate for arranging Kindred's murder, if Emily didn't do it. Certainly it would make more sense for new BB to have access to the goo pill technology than for Emily to know how to create such a pill.

2 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Why was Daphne (the red head in the police offices) so hostile to the new FBI guy?

I saw this as her being sick of various outsiders (Owen, Emily, now FBI guy) hanging out at the police station and her having to cater to them. 

2 hours ago, sempervivum said:

10 hours ago, Paloma said:

Emily today does not look anything like Piper,

Emily clearly has dark brown eyes vs. Piper's bright blue, so yeah, that whole talking point by mom seems bogus. 

I was also thinking of hair color and texture, Piper's straight dark brown hair is similar to Jo's but not anything like Emily's lighter and somewhat wavy or curly hair. Not that relatives necessarily look alike or share physical traits, but with the introduction of Emily's mom (if she really is her mom) and the photos, the question of resemblance seems important. 

[Zoe]

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

If I was following the exposition correctly, Emily admitted killing Kindred. So now in addition to being a genius coder, she's also some kind of genius chemist who's created a 'pill' that can make human bodies dissolve in a manner of seconds?

She didn't need to create it. It was probably the same thing that dissolved the bodies in the morgue.

[MisterGlass]

I agree; I think the goo pill is one of many Augur products that Emily accessed.  However, she does apparently have some biotech knowledge since she was in the process of Frankenstein-ing together Piper 2.0.  I suspect the blue box AI would have inhabited the body.

As far as the lack of resemblance between adult Emily and Piper, that may be due to real world concerns about dyeing the hair of the actresses or forcing them to wear contacts.  I think the picture is meant to be sincere, meaning that Piper is cloned from Emily.

It's possible that Emily kept experimenting with the blue box AI until she found a software update that wouldn't reset Piper, but I prefer the theory that Piper re-coded the update.  She's definitely out of the bag now, at least to all the characters that matter.  That's going to be interesting after-party conversation.

I'm a little leery of having another secret organization in the mix.  There are getting to be a lot of conspiracies.

[HunterHunted]

5 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Hey, our family thanksgiving dinner tomorrow includes my sister and her current husband as well as her ex and his current wife. It can be done.

I blame my cynicism on 90 Day Fiance which I recently got into. One of the constant situations is American guys who say "I wanted a Latina because they are so family oriented." It is ridiculous because invariably we'll see the Latina they chose say "in my country exes hate each other, never talk, and would never try to have a relationship with their ex's new spouse." There's nothing family oriented about that. These American dudes just want a woman from a culture where divorce is frowned on. The dudes should just be honest and say "I just want to trap a beautiful poor woman in a relationship with a disappointing man, myself."

Edited November 28, 2019 by HunterHunted

[Rambler]

Mad bombers not leaving a lot of margin for error. They were still casually strolling around when Jo threw the bomb at them, sprinted out of the building and then all the bombs blew up seconds later. What were they going to do if one of them tripped and sprained an ankle? I wonder if they were still in the building when the bombs went off? Also it was weird that they didn't notice this big police SUV parked in front.

[peachmangosteen]

17 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Why was Daphne (the red head in the police offices) so hostile to the new FBI guy?

I just thought it was more of the 'small town police hate the FBI' cliche they were rolling with.

I wasn't sure what to think of the reveal that Piper looks just like child Emily. Obviously, the Piper actress and the Emily actress look absolutely nothing alike but I really just think it's a casting thing and doesn't mean there's something more to it in the show. I think Emily really just created Piper to look like herself.

[Mondrianyone]

32 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I think Emily really just created Piper to look like herself.

But if she did, then she would.  Look like her, I mean, no?  And she doesn't, by a long shot.

When I was watching this, it made me think of the many times that shows or movies make a claim that anyone with five senses (or fewer) can instantly disclaim, and I wonder why they do it.  Like, "Oh, he's such a brilliant writer," and then a character reads a snatch of the brilliant writer's prose and it's horrible and embarrassing.  If you're going to say that something is true, it needs to be true, or everything flies out the window. Which is what happened for me when Jo claimed that Piper looked exactly like Emily.  Stop doing that unless there's some yet-to-be-seen reason for it, which I don't believe there is.

[Paloma]

32 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

When I was watching this, it made me think of the many times that shows or movies make a claim that anyone with five senses (or fewer) can instantly disclaim, and I wonder why they do it.  Like, "Oh, he's such a brilliant writer," and then a character reads a snatch of the brilliant writer's prose and it's horrible and embarrassing.  If you're going to say that something is true, it needs to be true, or everything flies out the window. Which is what happened for me when Jo claimed that Piper looked exactly like Emily. 

Totally agree, but I am still holding on to the possibility of something else going on here regarding Piper looking just like Emily as a child--namely, I am not convinced that the photo Jo was looking at was Emily as a child. I am not even convinced that the woman who claims to be Emily's mom is her mom, but even if she who she claims to be, she seems to be hiding something. It's pretty far-fetched, but could mom have been part of the project that created Piper (or earlier versions)?

[saber5055]

2 hours ago, Paloma said:

I am still holding on to the possibility of something else going on here regarding Piper looking just like Emily as a child--namely, I am not convinced that the photo Jo was looking at was Emily as a child. I am not even convinced that the woman who claims to be Emily's mom is her mom, but even if she who she claims to be, she seems to be hiding something. It's pretty far-fetched, but could mom have been part of the project that created Piper (or earlier versions)?

I'm voting with this theory, that the Piper in the photo wasn't child Emily. It could have been our Piper, or another version of Piper 1.0 prototype. And Emily's "mom" might not be who she says she is either. In fact, she was so glib, I suspect she's another ... "other." Remember Piper's "parents" who came to claim her one or two episodes in, the pair who disappeared into thin air out of Jo's office? I say Emily's mom is not who she says she is.

Mom was pretty cool with those family heirloom photos, with Jo taking them without her saying she could have them (that I remember anyway). And why would she even bother bringing a 20/30-year-old photo of Emily anyway, if not to tempt Jo with the Piper likeness.

I'm also voting that Piper overruled the golden wrist disk once it revealed what she is. I'm wanting her to be a Jo family member, so I'm cool with that if true.

ETA: I, too, caught a flirt vibe with the FBI guy toward Jo. That ended once he realized she was ahead of him in the investigation and got to Emily first. He was good in that role though, another excellent actor.

Edited November 28, 2019 by saber5055

[MisterGlass]

8 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Mom was pretty cool with those family heirloom photos, with Jo taking them without her saying she could have them (that I remember anyway). And why would she even bother bringing a 20/30-year-old photo of Emily anyway, if not to tempt Jo with the Piper likeness

As I recall, Jo asked her to bring pictures, and said she would make copies.

[tennisgurl]

Well I guess the robotic cat is out of the bag now! I hope whatever Emily sent Piper doesent mess up her, but I am glad that she (and the audience!) are getting answers quickly. Her road trip with Alex was fun, and that empty town is still super creepy. 

Poor Chris, he misses all of the cool stuff! First the robot dogs, and now the explosion! But with some other faction running around now, it looks like he might still get a chance. So who are these people? I guess with Emily in jail and Kindred is probably dead. So is this some kind of anti technology people that want to kill Piper for being an AI? Or something? 

I love how Jo is both really good at her job, and also totally in over her head. She is a great sheriff in normal circumstances, but these are SO not normal circumstances and is is just doing her best to catch up with everything and keep Piper and the rest of the family safe. 

I thought I caught a bit of a vibe from Jo and the FBI guy, but maybe thats my love of Enver Gjokaj coming through. He is always great to see on my television, and while the FBI seems to be leaving, I dont think we have seen the last of him. 

I definitely think Emily's mom was playing dumb, something about her seemed off, and I think that Jo pinged on it to. She almost seemed to be playing a Jo interrogation back at her,that whole "wholesome small town mom" act that Jo does when she is trying to get information from people. 

I think that if Piper comes to realize that she is AI, but her family accepts her as she is and doesent see her as a tool or a monster or a threat, that she can come to terms with it. I mean, they joke about Piper being a superhero, but this does kind of have a superhero origin story vibe to it. Girl robot with powers loses her memory and gets taken in by sweet small town family where she learns about humanity and goodness and to use her powers for good and not evil? Its right there! 

Edited November 29, 2019 by tennisgurl

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

I definitely think Emily's mom was playing dumb, something about her seemed off, and I think that Jo pinged on it to. She almost seemed to be playing a Jo interrogation back at her,that whole "wholesome small town mom" act that Jo does when she is trying to get information from people. 

My thought exactly. And Jo sent her away before the others thought she should, if I read the reactions correctly. Jo was pretty much "Let's get you gone now, lady."

It would have been funny if she vanished into thin air, like the two pseudo parents from an earlier episode.

[Tyro49]

I also thought the actress playing Piper suddenly looked a little more mature than she did last week - a growth spurt?

[shapeshifter]

On 11/26/2019 at 10:07 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Are we sure that Kindred is really dead ?  Brooks mentioned the goo in the cell, but are we sure that was Kindred or the guy that tried to kill him ?

Cool theories brewing!

On 11/26/2019 at 11:27 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

So, was Emily trying to kill Piper much like she did with that update to the cube that contained another AI ?  If so, it apparently didn't succeed with Piper.

I think it's more likely that Emily changed the orange lifesaver's program so that it didn't kill Piper, but then, what did it do? Maybe it could kill Piper only if she threatens the existence of human life.
Or, maybe the line about Piper now being able to rewrite code means she rewrote the orange lifesaver's code.

  

On 11/26/2019 at 10:07 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Are we sure that Kindred is really dead ?  Brooks mentioned the goo in the cell, but are we sure that was Kindred or the guy that tried to kill him ?

On 11/27/2019 at 7:23 AM, Paloma said:

Both in the original scene (in the previous episode) and the "previouslys" for this episode, we saw the guard pushing something--I think a goo pill--into Kindred's mouth, so the writers sure seem to want us to believe he is dead. But I guess it's possible that he spit the pill out, overpowered the guard, took the guard's clothes, and forced the pill into the guard's mouth to turn him into goo (and then got past prison security in escaping).

Excellent explanation of how Kindred could still live. 

On 11/27/2019 at 7:23 AM, Paloma said:

 the appearance of the woman who killed Wilkis suggests that Kindred is no longer the all-powerful big bad.

Maybe if Kindred is still alive, he will join the Scooby gang against the masked guys with the explosives.

On 11/27/2019 at 3:53 PM, sempervivum said:

If I was following the exposition correctly, Emily admitted killing Kindred. So now in addition to being a genius coder, she's also some kind of genius chemist who's created a 'pill' that can make human bodies dissolve in a manner of seconds?

Of course, just because Emily believes she created a body-dissolving pill that was used on Kindred doesn't rule out other possibilities, including that her pill doesn't work and was just faked by Pretty FBI Guy's henchmen, with Kindred either still being alive, or being dead but not by Emily, or even another party having in turn fooled Pretty Fibbie.
  

  

On 11/27/2019 at 3:53 PM, sempervivum said:

On 11/27/2019 at 7:23 AM, Paloma said:

Emily today does not look anything like Piper,

Emily clearly has dark brown eyes vs. Piper's bright blue, so yeah, that whole talking point by mom seems bogus. 

Like others mentioned upthread, I assume this just means that they added that plot point after casting.
In a future episode they could have a picture showing Piper with brown eyes and maybe have Emily say in her mad-scientist voice that she always wanted to have blue eyes and so changed Emily's.
  

On 11/27/2019 at 3:53 PM, sempervivum said:

On 11/27/2019 at 8:17 AM, HunterHunted said:

Alex and Jo have an amazingly functional and congenial relationship for something that was disordered enough to end in divorce.

Hey, our family thanksgiving dinner tomorrow includes my sister and her current husband as well as her ex and his current wife. It can be done.

True, but most couples that are happily divorced IRL seem to either have both exes remarried or both being billionaires. I suspect that the writers haven't decided yet what's up with this happily divorced duo.

  

On 11/28/2019 at 9:51 AM, peachmangosteen said:

On 11/27/2019 at 3:53 PM, sempervivum said:

Why was Daphne (the red head in the police offices) so hostile to the new FBI guy?

I just thought it was more of the 'small town police hate the FBI' cliche they were rolling with.

Daphne The Red-Headed Police Assistant dissing the Hot Fibbie seemed to be a weak effort at a running joke of none of the small-town female cops being susceptible to being manipulated by his impossible gorgeousness, which, if I'm correct about this, is a fun way to add to the post-#MeToo girl-power message. 

  

On 11/29/2019 at 10:16 AM, tennisgurl said:

I think that if Piper comes to realize that she is AI, but her family accepts her as she is and doesent see her as a tool or a monster or a threat, that she can come to terms with it. I mean, they joke about Piper being a superhero, but this does kind of have a superhero origin story vibe to it. Girl robot with powers loses her memory and gets taken in by sweet small town family where she learns about humanity and goodness and to use her powers for good and not evil? Its right there! 

Yes, I hope this wholesome story line is what they're going for (Piper/Pinocchio becomes a real girl) -- is that a holiday miracle too big to ask for? Over the US Thanksgiving extended weekend I discovered that boxed games for the family based upon movies and TV are NOT very wholesome --and, in fact, pretty disgusting-- but the show writers are not stuck writing for cheap, analog family amusement companies run out of garages in who-knows-where. Heck, they're not even stuck writing clues for Family Feud or The Match Game. Hopefully they are less bitter and have a little joy in their hearts.
  

On 11/26/2019 at 11:21 PM, possibilities said:

I love how Jo is simultaneously really good at her job and also in over her head

On 11/29/2019 at 10:16 AM, tennisgurl said:

I love how Jo is both really good at her job, and also totally in over her head.

I guess we can say that this^ bears repeating. 😉

Edited December 1, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Paloma]

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

On 11/29/2019 at 11:16 AM, tennisgurl said:

I think that if Piper comes to realize that she is AI, but her family accepts her as she is and doesent see her as a tool or a monster or a threat, that she can come to terms with it. I mean, they joke about Piper being a superhero, but this does kind of have a superhero origin story vibe to it. Girl robot with powers loses her memory and gets taken in by sweet small town family where she learns about humanity and goodness and to use her powers for good and not evil? Its right there! 

Yes, I hope this wholesome story line is what they're going for (Piper/Pinocchio becomes a real girl) -- is that a holiday miracle too big to ask for?

I'm not usually a fan of miracle stories, but it would be nice to have a happy ending like this!

[djsurrey]

18 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes, I hope this wholesome story line is what they're going for (Piper/Pinocchio becomes a real girl) -- is that a holiday miracle too big to ask for?

It does not strike me this is that sort of show. There will be unfinished stuff when it ends I expect.

[hookedontv]

One quick scene I actually stopped and replayed: When Jo told Chris that she’d been to the facility before and she said “they had robot dogs.” It was really good acting by Chris, he started to speak and paused, and said how he really wished he had seen that. And Jo sincerely said she did too. It was really good acting by both of them!
 

In this episode with wacky shenanigans, this small part stood out the most to me.