S01.E01: In The Belly Of The Whale

[formerlyfreedom]

In the summer of 1977, Jonah Heidelbaum's grandmother (a holocaust survivor) is murdered in her own living room. In an attempt to find her killer, Jonah is approached by Meyer Offerman, an old friend of his grandmother's, who reveals to Jonah that America has been infiltrated at all levels by renegade Nazis and it was they who were responsible for her death. Once the truth is revealed to him (as well as some surprising facts about his grandmother's life), Jonah is recruited into a secret organization determined to root out the Nazi infiltrators wherever they are.

Dropping on Amazon on Friday, February 21, 2020.

[Raja]

The binge watch model of storytelling. I wanted to see us kill Nazis, which would have happend some in an episodic show, not watch the Nazis kill us for almost the entire first 90 minutes.

[Constantinople]

About 2/3 of the way through this episode.

Tedious

[formerlyfreedom]

I’m strangely fascinated by Travis - the bowling alley scene was intense. And I was sure the entire opening scene was a dream until he showed up at Biff’s as a cleaner.

The production design and costumes are a lot of fun. I’m really interested in where the show is going right now.

[AimingforYoko]

23 hours ago, Raja said:

not watch the Nazis kill us for almost the entire first 90 minutes.

Abraham and Sons Plumbing got the job done.

[lucindabelle]

Waaaaaay too much set up and grieving. 

[shrewd.buddha]

Al Pacino Impaling a Nazi Is the Best Thing About Amazon’s Hunters

I found myself agreeing with this article. ^^

The pilot episode was entertaining - to a point - but I found myself conflicted about the concept of a revenge fantasy in which old people are being killed off.  I felt  it would be more satisfying if the old Nazis were exposed and brought to justice instead anonymously killed. Or at least if they were killed by their actual victims and not by people who were only told about their crimes. 
  It probably also doesn't help matters by the fact that I am exhausted by real life racial tensions and I am not looking to be entertained by over-the-top fictionalized racial hatred. 

We will try a few more episodes though..

Edited February 22, 2020 by shrewd.buddha

[reggiejax]

Am I the only one who noticed a bit of a discrepancy with Jonah and his grandmothe?. By which I mean it appears unlikely that she is old enough to be his grandmother. Or more to the point, she could not have had a child old enough to be Jonah's mother. 

When sitting shiva, Jonah explains (rather snottily) to a friend of his grandmother's that he is the only family his grandmother had left. Her husband died in Korea, and her daughter (his mother) died giving birth to him. But we see his grandmother during the war, in the concentration camp as a young woman, with no family of her own. Her parents and sister are killed by the Nazis, and there is no mention of a husband or children. 

Considering the backstory we've been given about her postwar life, this means she at earliest had a child in 1946. Jonah, we are told is 19. Since it is 1977, that makes him born in 1958. 

Was Jonah's mother only 12? Who is she, Gillian Darmody?

Considering both the 1940's and the show's present day of 1977 are being portrayed, something tells me this isn't some simple continuity error, and we may be in for some twist about Jonah's parentage. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I wanted to give this show a try because Logan Lerman, Lena Olin, Josh Radnor and Jordan Peele, buuuuut I couldn't even finish the first episode. Maybe I'll give it a try later, but I feel like current real life is depressing enough that I can't really invest in watching this right now. Maybe in a year, or a few years or a decade. Whenever real life stops being stranger than fiction.

[Aliferously]

It was compelling enough for me to continue.

Could have done with Jonah being such a snot for the first half of the episode though.

When did the grandmother go about all this Nazi hunting and killing in her old age? How did Jonah never notice blood stained clothes or her coming in late from a killing spree? Inquiring minds will need to check out more episodes to find out.

I also must have a high treshold for torture porn because I just found it over the top but not traumatising type violence.

 

 

Edited February 25, 2020 by Aliferously

[EarlGreyTea]

I THINK I'm in, but all the violence is a bit much for me. I realize it's a revenge fantasy, but torture porn has never been my thing. Having said that, I know this episode was all exposition, and the concept is interesting enough for me to continue.

Also, I am loving the diversity of the show.

Travis the cleaner - before I understood what he was, and even after, I found him compelling as hell. A clear case of the camera loving an actor. He also reminds me a LOT of Bill Skarsgard. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was some relative of that family, they breed actors like rabbits (he isn't).

Edited February 25, 2020 by EarlGreyTea

[Natalie25]

On 2/24/2020 at 5:28 AM, Aliferously said:

It was compelling enough for me to continue.

Could have done with Jonah being such a snot for the first half of the episode though.

When did the grandmother go about all this Nazi hunting and killing in her old age? How did Jonah never notice blood stained clothes or her coming in late from a killing spree? Inquiring minds will need to check out more episodes to find out.

I also must have a high treshold for torture porn because I just found it over the top but not traumatising type violence.

 

 

Maybe she didn't do the actual killing? Meyer said Jonah had a brilliant mind like her, and that she wouldn't let them kill anyone without her verification. She could have helped with searching them out.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I was intrigued when I saw the trailers for this. But it was a total bait and switch and like others, I'm NOT interested in watching Nazis kill survivors of the Holocaust. Not even my love for Pacino will make me overlook this. I'm out.

[lucindabelle]

I have no problem with old Nazis being killed. Zero. Zippo. They weren’t even that old in 1977.

its one of the things THE AMERICANS got wrong when they killed a WWII widow and made her 80 when she’d have been mid 50s at most.

 

that said this show isn’t fun. Two episodes is enough. 

[Carolina Girl]

On 2/26/2020 at 5:37 PM, lucindabelle said:

that said this show isn’t fun. Two episodes is enough

I didn't even make it through Episode 2.  It was not what I thought it would be.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Maybe I've seen too many HBO/Showtime/Starz series but this wasn't even close to torture porn for me. A bunch of people got shot at a party in about five seconds, an old lady died in the shower, and a toy store owner got stabbed. I've seen far more violence and gore on network tv than that.

As for the Auschwitz scenes, that wasn't torture porn. That was showing some of the truly atrocious things that the Nazis did to their emaciated prisoners. It was a good reminder of exactly why Jonah's grandmother, Offerman, and the others are so intent on finding the remaining Nazis.

I like Jonah's ability to see patterns like when he figured out that the rapist was taking the bus to his victim's houses. I'm guessing that this will be how he helps the group find more of the people on their list now that his grandmother is gone.

[TV Diva Queen]

the driveway/courtyard they're using for Al Pacino's house has been in Law and Order before.  In case anyone is wondering.  I don't remember which recipe of Law and Order though, I want to say original, but I'm wrong alot. 🙂 

[AriAu]

My mother used to keep us from watching Hogan's Heroes since there was nothing funny about Nazis so maybe that is why I am having trouble with the "lighter" tone of the episode. It seems like the cruelty is almost secondary. Using the prisoners as chess pieces and forcing them to kill each other is sickeningly cruel, yet, somehow it came off almost as a joke....a sick joke, but a joke.

Are all the episodes this long?

Edited March 3, 2020 by AriAu

[EarlGreyTea]

4 hours ago, AriAu said:

My mother used to keep us from watching Hogan's Heroes since there was nothing funny about Nazis so maybe that is why I am having trouble with the "lighter" tone of the episode. It seems like the cruelty is almost secondary. Using the prisoners as chess pieces and forcing them to kill each other is sickeningly cruel, yet, somehow it came off almost as a joke....a sick joke, but a joke.

Are all the episodes this long?

This is what I was trying to get at. I'm not disputing that the Nazis were cruel and committed unspeakable crimes, but the chess game, unless it was based on a real life story, seemed over the top and just for the shock value. There are enough examples of the cruelty of the Nazis from real life without having to resort to making shit up. Like I said, I don't need to see atrocities onscreen to root against the Nazis. It's kind of implied.

Yes, all episodes run almost an hour.

Edited March 3, 2020 by EarlGreyTea

[Moose135]

1 hour ago, EarlGreyTea said:

I'm not disputing that the Nazis were cruel and committed unspeakable crimes, but the chess game, unless it was based on a real life story, seemed over the top and just for the shock value.

It wasn't based on a real life story:

 

 

[EarlGreyTea]

7 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

It wasn't based on a real life story:

 

 

Thank you. My disgust was justified. I had high hopes for this show, but every episode is a slog to get through. And making up stuff like this for dramatic value when the real atrocities were dramatic enough? Cheap.

[lash530]

I hope that the Hellen shot at the pool in episode one's beginning a different Hellen than the one who escaped?

[TWOPrefugee]

Could not get through the first episode. Biggest issue for me was Jonah. Damn, he should have had his butt beaten on a daily basis just for being such a shit. Drug dealing puss who couldn't back up all his bravado foul mouthed talk and spent half of his screen time crying for help. What a punk.

And the chess match? In reality, I believe any Jewish chess player would have sacrificed himself rather than more innocents. 

[dubbel zout]

On 2/22/2020 at 9:08 PM, reggiejax said:

When sitting shiva, Jonah explains (rather snottily) to a friend of his grandmother's that he is the only family his grandmother had left.

I thought the woman was out of line to tell Jonah that only close family should be sitting shiva. Is this really such a big deal? (Note: Über shiksa here.) 

On 3/3/2020 at 6:33 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I like Jonah's ability to see patterns like when he figured out that the rapist was taking the bus to his victim's houses.

That seems like a pretty basic connection to make. I know the detectives didn't make it, but they were presented as lazy more than incompetent, IMO. The show is set in 1977, when rape wasn't given any sort of priority. (Hell, more than 40 years later, it it still isn't.)

Pacino has dialed back the scenery-chewing, but he still overdoes it.