S01.E11: Applied Sciences

[ohjoy]

Quote

Jo and Brooks assemble an unlikely team as they attempt to communicate with Piper. Meanwhile, Piper is intent on saving Benny from Helen's mysterious mission, and Alex receives a life-changing offer.

 

[shapeshifter]

Seemed a little rushed/crammed with exposition. I don't know how the story arc was developed, but it seems that they should have cut some elements to fit the number of episodes, or picked an earlier stopping point. Or something.

Benny Brooks obviously putting on his vest means he's not dead. 

Emily warning hot fibbie he's in trouble for taking her on a field trip shortly before he sends her to run off into the woods is obviously going to lead to him getting "fired" and then (as he predicted) a job at the local PD with Jo. 

Alex can afford to turn down a salary with "a lot of zeroes" that allows him to have 2 homes and see his daughter weekends? 
*sigh* I wish I was a fictional character like that.

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by shapeshifter

[HunterHunted]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Benny obviously putting on his vest means he's not dead. 

Do you mean Ryan Brooks? Brooks was escorting Emily back to prison when they were ambushed by AIs. Benny was ambushed by Jo and Chris so they could rescue Piper.

[Paloma]

Interesting way to start the episode with someone we've never seen before (I think) saying goodbye to his family and then being killed (or deactivated?) by Helen after she questioned his loyalty. I assume that the purpose of this scene was to build on last episode's revelation about the gas station guy (and about Benny) that the AIs have been living among us for 15 years leading normal lives but secretly plotting to do something nefarious. But this scene raised a couple of questions: (1) How many AIs are  involved in the plot that Helen can afford to kill one who has just affirmed his loyalty (though I assume she didn't believe him)? (2) Why was she not concerned about killing him in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood and (apparently) leaving his body in front of his house? 

The first question I listed above came up again in the scene where they entered the defense facility and Piper used her powers to gain access to a presumably top-secret area (looked like it might contain suitcase bombs). The AI security guard was obviously in on the plot, so why did Helen kill him? 

I don't trust Emily, but it seemed like she was telling the truth when they were in the morgue about realizing that Piper is better off with Jo, and she did seem to help them find the location where Benny and Piper were waiting for Helen. But the scene with the FBI guy's car stopping on the road made me wonder if she was helping Helen. I don't see how Emily could have done something to the car to make it stop, unless she somehow sent a message to the car's computer while she was in the morgue. But I do suspect that Emily did not fix the car computer when the FBI guy freed her--instead, she may have sent a message to Helen. 

It was sad seeing Alex obviously still in love with Jo while she was keeping him in the friend zone. If the FBI guy survives, I hope they don't go the romance route with him and Jo.

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Do you mean Ryan Brooks? Brooks was escorting Emily back to prison when they were ambushed by AIs. Benny was ambushed by Jo and Chris so they could rescue Piper.

Oops! Thank you. Fixed it. 
And I even looked up the fibbie character’s name, but then typed the wrong “B” name!

-

54 minutes ago, Paloma said:

Interesting way to start the episode with someone we've never seen before (I think) saying goodbye to his family and then being killed (or deactivated?) by Helen after she questioned his loyalty. I assume that the purpose of this scene was to build on last episode's revelation about the gas station guy (and about Benny) that the AIs have been living among us for 15 years leading normal lives but secretly plotting to do something nefarious. But this scene raised a couple of questions: (1) How many AIs are  involved in the plot that Helen can afford to kill one who has just affirmed his loyalty (though I assume she didn't believe him)? (2) Why was she not concerned about killing him in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood and (apparently) leaving his body in front of his house? 

The first question I listed above came up again in the scene where they entered the defense facility and Piper used her powers to gain access to a presumably top-secret area (looked like it might contain suitcase bombs). The AI security guard was obviously in on the plot, so why did Helen kill him? 

Good questions/points. An imminent plot to take over the world might be afoot!

But:

56 minutes ago, Paloma said:

I don't trust Emily, but it seemed like she was telling the truth when they were in the morgue about realizing that Piper is better off with Jo, and she did seem to help them find the location where Benny and Piper were waiting for Helen. But the scene with the FBI guy's car stopping on the road made me wonder if she was helping Helen. I don't see how Emily could have done something to the car to make it stop, unless she somehow sent a message to the car's computer while she was in the morgue. But I do suspect that Emily did not fix the car computer when the FBI guy freed her--instead, she may have sent a message to Helen. 

I too considered Emily causing the car to stop, but did not think we are supposed to think that because she seemed to be genuinely trying to hot wire it. 
But I suppose she could have been summoning the AIs after stopping the car. 
Heck, maybe she put a chip in her own brain. 🧠 

But I assumed Emily telling Brooks he could be in trouble for taking her on an unsanctioned field trip was blackmail, which she wouldn’t have done if she was working with the AIs, right? 
But I suppose she could have been summoning the AIs so she could escape. 
Maybe we are supposed to be open to all of these possibilities because the writers might want story arc flexibility for a second season. 
“Tune in next week!” for the season finale, I guess to find out how many cliffhangers there will be, including whether or not Alex takes the D.C. job. 

[Paloma]

17 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Heck, maybe she put a chip in her own brain. 🧠 

Never thought of that, but it makes sense that, if the tech was available, she would have put a chip in her own brain when she was creating Piper, so she could communicate with her (in VR or otherwise). In the morgue, didn't she first suggest putting something in Jo's brain to communicate with Piper, before she saw the VR headpiece and said that would work also?

[shapeshifter]

42 minutes ago, Paloma said:

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Heck, maybe she put a chip in her own brain. 🧠 

Never thought of that, but it makes sense that, if the tech was available, she would have put a chip in her own brain when she was creating Piper, so she could communicate with her (in VR or otherwise). In the morgue, didn't she first suggest putting something in Jo's brain to communicate with Piper, before she saw the VR headpiece and said that would work also?

Yeah, that's what made me think of it. I wondered if the writers were leading us to think that  Emily would have a chip in her own brain.

[sempervivum]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Alex can afford to turn down a salary with "a lot of zeroes" that allows him to have 2 homes and see his daughter weekends?

Didn't we find out earlier that he had sold a company or something and was independently wealthy? At any rate, it was sad to see him yearning after Jo; I guess now we know who wanted the divorce, eh?

The scene at the beginning with the 'family man' AI who gets killed by Helen-for no particular reason-made me wonder if his wife and kids are AI, or are these critters able to get real women pregnant? If so, what does that make the resulting offspring- AI or human?

Color symbology: I'll have to go back and rewatch some other episodes, but I don't remember the red table runner in Jo's kitchen. I thought it was strange that in the VR goggles scene (where Jo was supposed to burn the gold book), Piper showed up wearing a brown plaid pinafore- have we ever seen her in anything like a dress or skirt?

Amazing the way Helen can get out of a tangle of big chains, metal shelving, etc, with her hair, makeup and clothing entirely untouched.

 

[djsurrey]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Maybe we are supposed to be open to all of these possibilities because the writers might want story arc flexibility for a second season. 

Still expect a second season?

[blixie]

Quote

Amazing the way Helen can get out of a tangle of big chains, metal shelving, etc, with her hair, makeup and clothing entirely untouched.

Well she is robot/alien. I am still sticking with alien because they mentioned going "home" and the fact that they are seemingly organic/humanoid AND sytnthetic/AI, ti makes more sense they were humanoids who added computer aspects to themselves than they were AI who figured out how to implant themselves in human tissue. 

[AnimeMania]

They just added another layer of impossible on top of all the other layers of impossible they have been feeding us. It is impossible to build a complex machine and then 15 years later have another person build the exact same machine with improvements without any knowledge of the first machine. 

[saber5055]

For all the Alex/Jo shippers, I got the impression from their convo the next morning that they did have sex, or at least got frisky, in Jo's bed.

I didn't see the problem with Alex taking that DC job since he could fly home Friday night for full Saturdays and Sundays with Mia. And Jo. Until Piper happened, I was thinking that was their arrangement anyway, except it was every other weekend. There'd be no reason Mia couldn't fly to DC to stay with dad during summer vacas too. So not a big story plot line for me.

I haven't seen anywhere if this show is canceled or renewed.

I was starting to think FBI Brooks is an eye-candy hottie, so of course he'll be dead.

When Jo was looking for a computer guru to translate the binary speak, I thought of the Goth daughter of the woman who was killed in Benny's car.

It's good the hospital had no autopsies scheduled and that doctor woman had no patients scheduled so they could all hang out in the morgue for a night and day.

I don't know who is doing the fridge drawings, but I couldn't see the big crab any more. Instead there was a drawing of an orca or porpoise, I couldn't tell which. Orca, I think.

Do these AIs have super strength so the head woman could just walk out of the big twisted metal mess Piper trapped her in?

Benny's in the hospital. Will the AIs goo him to death? Tune in next week to find out!

[Paloma]

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

The scene at the beginning with the 'family man' AI who gets killed by Helen-for no particular reason-made me wonder if his wife and kids are AI, or are these critters able to get real women pregnant? If so, what does that make the resulting offspring- AI or human?

Just from the way Helen spoke to him and his responses, I don't think the man's family was AI. I think he did get his wife pregnant--remember that after doing the autopsy the doctor said she could not find any difference from a human body, which suggests that the AIs are augmented humans who are capable of any normal human function and then some. But this does leave unanswered what the children of AIs and humans are. If the only thing that makes AIs different is the chip that Helen removed when she killed the family man and the security guard (and that Jo removed from the gas station guy), then maybe their children are just plain human unless and until they are augmented with a chip.

 

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

When Jo was looking for a computer guru to translate the binary speak, I thought of the Goth daughter of the woman who was killed in Benny's car.

Hadn't Benny told the daughter to go stay with a relative who lived in another city (I'm vaguely recalling Boston but not sure)? Even if the daughter was still in NYC, Jo and the FBI guy may have figured it would take too much time to get there. I suppose they could have emailed or texted a photo or video of the code to her if they had her contact info, but Benny may have been the only one who had her contact info, and he certainly wouldn't offer that now.

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

It's good the hospital had no autopsies scheduled and that doctor woman had no patients scheduled so they could all hang out in the morgue for a night and day.

LOL, that's what I was thinking. And I assume the doctor is not a member of the morgue staff, so where was whoever was supposed to be on duty (even if no autopsies were scheduled)?

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Do these AIs have super strength so the head woman could just walk out of the big twisted metal mess Piper trapped her in?

Well, Piper has powers that are equivalent to super strength, and Helen made it clear that she wanted those powers. Maybe Helen somehow got those powers in the defense facility confrontation, but I'd be annoyed if the writers wanted us to believe that without any explanation. The other explanations for her escaping are that the stuff that trapped her was not that heavy and she could eventually get out of it herself or (maybe more likely) she had another AI in the defense facility that she was able to send an SOS message to.

 

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, Paloma said:

If the only thing that makes AIs different is the chip that Helen removed when she killed the family man and the security guard (and that Jo removed from the gas station guy), then maybe their children are just plain human unless and until they are augmented with a chip.

It is definitely not that chip, since Piper removed hers ages ago and she is still 10x the "Humabot" of the rest of those posers.

[shapeshifter]

14 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

1 hour ago, Paloma said:

If the only thing that makes AIs different is the chip that Helen removed when she killed the family man and the security guard (and that Jo removed from the gas station guy), then maybe their children are just plain human unless and until they are augmented with a chip.

It is definitely not that chip, since Piper removed hers ages ago and she is still 10x the "Humabot" of the rest of those posers

And Emily was able to wire up the dead AI guy to use him like a computer. 

[tennisgurl]

Helen is one hardcore robot. She doesent even fear stabbing a guy to death in broad daylight on a suburban street! Maybe killing of her minions isnt the best long term goal though? Look how well things worked out for The Empire huh? They kept randomly killing underlings, and they were defeated by teddy bears!

The drama keeps on coming! Brooks gets shot, but considering they showed him wearing a bulletproof vest, he will probably be alright. Hopefully anyway, I like Brooks, even if I am not very into him and Jo becoming a thing. I am still kind of holding out for Joe and Alex, and apparently Alex is as well! 

Poor Alex is still holding a candle for Joe, I still really want to know what the story is with their divorce. They are still so close and get along so well, its hard to see a reason, other than maybe them falling out of love, or Jo sending more time on work than with them. But there dont seem to be hard feelings, so who knows? 

I wonder if more than a few robots arent so into the idea of whatever this evil plan is? Benny is sure not into it, and the suburban dad (maybe his kids were adopted? He could have just told his wife he couldn't have kids, thats not exactly a robot red flag) didnt seem super thrilled about the plan, hence Helen killing him. Will Piper lead a robot revolution from Helen's robot revolution? 

I am very curious as to what Emily building Piper has to do with this whole other group of adult robots who seem to have their own agenda. I dont trust Emily, but I did believe her when she said that she did think Piper was better off with Jo, and thats she doesent know whats going on with the other robots. 

At first I was annoyed that Jo confronted Benny alone, but turns out she had Chris as back up! Way to go Jo!

[MisterGlass]

This did feel like a lot.  At the same time, I was interested and engaged.  I am also leaning much more to these AI as alien constructs.  If Benny really did defy his programming and start to become something like Piper, we may get answers through him.

Abby's "That guy's real dead," and the debate about whether Jo would get an electrode implant made me laugh.

It was sweet that Piper's mental library was Jo's house.  I think Jo's attempt to erase the last month of Piper's memories is going to come up again.

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

6 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

7 hours ago, Paloma said:

If the only thing that makes AIs different is the chip that Helen removed when she killed the family man and the security guard (and that Jo removed from the gas station guy), then maybe their children are just plain human unless and until they are augmented with a chip.

It is definitely not that chip, since Piper removed hers ages ago and she is still 10x the "Humabot" of the rest of those posers

And Emily was able to wire up the dead AI guy to use him like a computer. 

When Abby scanned the dead guy's head with another resolution he had another chip at the front of his brain.  That's the chip that Helen is taking.  The chip behind the ear has some kind of tracking/homing function.  I'm guessing the brain chip has more central functions.  There may be other chips located throughout the body with different functions, such as in th eyes.  It looked like Emily tied into the body using the data port location in the arm, and another possible location in the neck.  The processing may have been done by other implants.

I think "the mission" requires the brain chips of the AIs, but not the bodies.  Helen probably doesn't trust even the most loyal to sacrifice themselves when the moment comes.  She seems especially leery of the ones who've been in contact with Piper.  The chips are easy to transport, and pre-extraction reduces mission risk.

[Mondrianyone]

12 hours ago, djsurrey said:

Still expect a second season?

Well, they did say to tune in for the "season" finale, not the series finale, so there's still a shred of hope.

Allison Tolman has been acting with her hair a lot.  That's the domain of much lesser talents than she is.  Don't just brush back your hair when you don't know what else to do.  Jeez, Allison, that drives me nuts.

Last week during the boat scene, I realized that there were more people of color in this show than there ever were when I was growing up on Long Island.  The North Fork has suddenly gotten very diverse!  And I love the cute deputy.  I'm so glad the predictions he was going to betray Jo have turned out not to be true.  Yet anyway.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Poor Alex is still holding a candle for Joe, I still really want to know what the story is with their divorce. They are still so close and get along so well, its hard to see a reason, other than maybe them falling out of love, or Jo sending more time on work than with them. But there dont seem to be hard feelings, so who knows

It’s got to be cheating, right? 
Ooo! How about if it was an AI who seduced him against his conscious will as part of a futile plot to throw Police Chief Jo off her game?

-

49 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

Allison Tolman has been acting with her hair a lot.  That's the domain of much lesser talents than she is.  Don't just brush back your hair when you don't know what else to do.  Jeez, Allison, that drives me nuts.

That’s got to be the director. Ugh. Stupid Sexy Hair Flip trope. 

[djsurrey]

11 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

They just added another layer of impossible on top of all the other layers of impossible they have been feeding us. It is impossible to build a complex machine and then 15 years later have another person build the exact same machine with improvements without any knowledge of the first machine. 

So Emily lied or is somewhat delusional. That much is not impossible.

[Paloma]

8 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

When Abby scanned the dead guy's head with another resolution he had another chip at the front of his brain.  That's the chip that Helen is taking.  The chip behind the ear has some kind of tracking/homing function.  I'm guessing the brain chip has more central functions.  There may be other chips located throughout the body with different functions, such as in th eyes. 

Thanks--I missed that there was another chip at the front of the gas station guy's brain. I had been assuming that all the chips were the same because they seemed to be the same color (glowy orange) when they were removed--when Piper removed it herself, when Jo removed one from the gas station guy, and when Helen killed the family guy and the security guard.

So now I'm trying to figure out what kind of weapon Helen used to kill the family guy and security guard. It looked like she was stabbing them in the neck, but was she actually sticking the weapon under their chin and going up through the head to get the chip? I'm also thinking back to when she killed Wilkis in the motel room--did she kill him the same way, and if so does that mean he was possibly an AI? I can't remember now what weapon she used and if there was blood with Wilkis.   

[Johnny Dollar]

What a convenient coincidence that the little neck thingy that Emily used to control and communicate with Piper is the same as the bad guys did with their AI’s 15+ years ago, even down to the specific shade of orange. 

I wonder if we’ll ever find out why the plane crashed in episode 1 and which nefarious group was responsible for getting rid of the evidence? 

[blixie]

Quote

It is impossible to build a complex machine and then 15 years later have another person build the exact same machine with improvements without any knowledge of the first machine. 

They did have knowledge of the first machine, when Helen murdered Wilkis she said he had "stolen" something that didn't belong to him, that was obviously the code for building Piper, I suspect between Wilkis code and Emily's that is the "difference" between Helen/Benny et al and her. 

[blixie]

Quote

 wonder if more than a few robots arent so into the idea of whatever this evil plan is? Benny is sure not into it

I think it might be that Helen and the whole lot of them have different agendas. The larger mission might be like Blade Runner and incept dates, like they'll all die off unless they evolve with resources they had on the boat and Piper's unique code. While Helen doesn't GAF about her kind and just wants the raw power Piper has. 

[shapeshifter]

13 hours ago, djsurrey said:

On 1/15/2020 at 12:20 PM, AnimeMania said:

They just added another layer of impossible on top of all the other layers of impossible they have been feeding us. It is impossible to build a complex machine and then 15 years later have another person build the exact same machine with improvements without any knowledge of the first machine. 

So Emily lied or is somewhat delusional. That much is not impossible.

I agree, but as an old hand at fanwanking (double entendre not intended), let me try:

6 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

What a convenient coincidence that the little neck thingy that Emily used to control and communicate with Piper is the same as the bad guys did with their AI’s 15+ years ago, even down to the specific shade of orange. 

How about if Emily pulled a glowy bead out of a dead AI's neck and reverse engineered it?

 

[saber5055]

On 1/15/2020 at 11:05 PM, Mondrianyone said:

Allison Tolman has been acting with her hair a lot.  That's the domain of much lesser talents than she is.  Don't just brush back your hair when you don't know what else to do.  Jeez, Allison, that drives me nuts.

She might be thinking of applying to be on The Bachelor since that's what every b-ette does every few seconds during any conversation. Confused? Can't think of what to say? Feeling sexy? Time to pet your hair. I noticed it too, and wanted to tell her to knock it off, she's better than that.

Edited January 17, 2020 by saber5055

[Tyro49]

They're Cylons!! Remember on Battlestar Galactica when they said they couldn't find any difference between humans and Cylons, right down to the DNA? (I always wondered how Cylons could do all those "extra" freaking things if there really was no difference!)

'

[djsurrey]

5 hours ago, Tyro49 said:

They're Cylons!! Remember on Battlestar Galactica when they said they couldn't find any difference between humans and Cylons, right down to the DNA? (I always wondered how Cylons could do all those "extra" freaking things if there really was no difference!)

'

Never watched a complete episode of the newer Battlestar Galactica. Did anyone try to use a dead cylon as a supercomputer?

Edited January 18, 2020 by djsurrey

[shapeshifter]

19 minutes ago, djsurrey said:

Never watched a complete episode of the newer Battlestar Galactica. Did anyone try to use a dead cylon as a supercomputer?

Not exactly, but IIRC, they were hooked up in milky bathtubs running spaceships. Did I get that right?

[Tachi Rocinante]

Thought for sure Emily was lying and was just going to take off.