S01.E09: The Seoul Asylum

[ohjoy]

Tara gets answers. Soyun has a plan. Doug prepares for a mission. Bentley becomes a prisoner again.

Originally aired: 12/10/2019.

[blackwing]

I am relieved that next week is the season finale.  I must be incredibly dense because I’m still foggy on much of what is supposed to be happening in this show.  If it comes back for a second season, I really hope there is a new showrunner.   Too many characters, too many confusing plots.  I’d keep Soyun and Bentley.  Tara is ok, but only now are we supposed to believe she is a cicada?

Above all, please get rid of Doug and his wife.  I couldn’t care less about either of them.  Brian J Smith has a very funny shaped head.0

[mxc90]

How was the Dan listening to Matt's phone call? Through the new burner he just took out of the box or did they have the guy in Amsterdam phone tapped (knowing Matt will call him)?

Matt was allowed to interrupt prayer, scoot down the aisle, annoy the people in the row to make room for him but the CIA men are quickly asked to leave when they walked in.

Very nice for Sam to give Doug the medication now. Waited long enough! I think those are the meds he was taking when he was working out at sea.

The customs agent took a look at Doug's face and thought it matches Vincent's passport picture? All bald people look alike?! I guess none of those people knew Vincent well enough to recognize him. 

Sam was stalking Doug for a year? What if he had found someone during that time? Was she going to kill her? 

Sam has to waste coins to get the newspaper out to put a message in it. Then put more coins in to put the paper back in the 3rd slot. Not knowing if some civilian will buy a paper and ruin the order. After all that time she was away, how did she know someone will walk by that bench that day to get the message?

The 3 slaps/sound effects young Petra gave John were terrible.

John was so stupid to start talking "escape" with Matheson before he can know for sure if they had turned him?! And it took a loud bang to make Matheson remember. 

They couldn't give a gun (ready to shoot) for John and Matheson. Nope! Let's have one put it together, put the clip in, fight, and then shoot. Why not also put in a rubix cube to solve too?

Once John was talking to Petra about going away together, I had the feeling he was being setup to be the fool. First, he had to see Yuri all over Petra and then find out the Spaniard had some kind of relationship with her.

Ellen was ready to resign, thought Treadstone was shut down at first, but with a little pleading from Dan to help "put the genie back in the bottle", she is now running point in the control room and knows Tara is an asset/Cicada (ready to be activated to kill Yuri)!??!!!

In the first episode, Ellen had no idea about Tara. Only to find out she was a journalist and now cab driver. Incredible Bullshit from the writers!

Didn't Petra lose a finger? Older Petra has a bandage over it. It should be gone.

Soyun really thinks her family would be handed over to the U.S. easily? Dan tells her he can't extract a family and a few seconds later  says asylum would be no problem if she eliminates Shin. You're being played young lady!

In 1973, Meisner was the original Emperor Palpatine. Strike me down John and complete your training to the Dark Side!

[tktech]

Matt was allowed to interrupt prayer, scoot down the aisle, annoy the people in the row to make room for him but the CIA men are quickly asked to leave when they walked in. i think so

[nuraman00]

20 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Matt was allowed to interrupt prayer, scoot down the aisle, annoy the people in the row to make room for him but the CIA men are quickly asked to leave when they walked in.

This was the most unbelievable part to me.

I think the Doug and Sam storyline could have been done on its own in a 2nd season.  That way, there would be less storylines for the 1st season, and make the show easier to follow.

[Eulipian 5k]

Why would a Soviet military officer, in uniform , be ALL OVER Petra in the middle of a de-briefing, and in front of a prisoner? Was Yuri that hard up and indiscreet? C'mon guy, GET A ROOM.

[misstwpherecool]

What happened to Michelle Forbes righteous indignation going all in all of the sudden and dirty herself unless she's going to go whistle blower.

Still wondering about the aging on some these characters unless the drugs they give people in the program slows aging.

Basically had what 4 movies showing what should've been the end of Treadstone, Black Briar etc and it's still up and running like it never ended.

Also one of those CIA agents from the 1970s will wind up being somebody in the present unless that's next season.

Also Doug is being played. Don't buy his nurse's wife act and unsure of the pills he's taking.

[Ottis]

I’m not having any issues following the show. I like the Bourne-Esque action and spy craft. I don’t need so much fighting though. 

The show set up a nice extension of the mythology from the movies, and fleshed it out a bit. They need to give us reasons to root for someone. The Treadstone subjects were sympathetic, but most of them volunteered and they end up needing to use their skills to survive. I’m not sure who we should like in this show.

For now, the world building is enough for me. But I’ll need some kind of “good guy” soon. 

[John Potts]

God, is everyone in this show a secret assassin? This is worse than John Wick! I actually liked having a character on the outside looking into it who wasn’t involved. It's probably going to turn out that Ellen was actually a Sleeper Agent all along next episode!

Are TPTB seriously saying that shaving your head and wearing sunglasses is enough to assume somebody’s identity? TBF, I have trouble telling all the interchangeable white guys apart, but I’m not looking directly at their photo ID!

On 12/11/2019 at 6:07 AM, mxc90 said:

How was the Dan listening to Matt's phone call? Through the new burner he just took out of the box or did they have the guy in Amsterdam phone tapped (knowing Matt will call him)?

I'm guessing the latter.

On 12/11/2019 at 6:07 AM, mxc90 said:

Sam has to waste coins to get the newspaper out to put a message in it. Then put more coins in to put the paper back in the 3rd slot. Not knowing if some civilian will buy a paper and ruin the order. After all that time she was away, how did she know someone will walk by that bench that day to get the message?

I thought that too! At least make it the bottom paper, which is going to stay on the bottom (and much less likely to be taken by random members of the public)

On 12/11/2019 at 6:07 AM, mxc90 said:

Ellen was ready to resign, thought Treadstone was shut down at first, but with a little pleading from Dan to help "put the genie back in the bottle", she is now running point in the control room and knows Tara is an asset/Cicada (ready to be activated to kill Yuri)!?

I'll allow TPTB a little credit there. She's been shown as ambitious and was being blackmailed. She seems to think the best way of getting out of the situation was to make Treadstone work "for the good guys" (or at least, the CIA!).

On 12/12/2019 at 4:51 PM, Eulipian 5k said:

Why would a Soviet military officer, in uniform , be ALL OVER Petra in the middle of a de-briefing, and in front of a prisoner?

I assume it was a test to see how John reacted. Though I loved Petra calmly going “Yes” when asked if she’d slept with him.