S01.E05: Control

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

In an effort to keep his family safe, a man makes an unusual choice.

 

[LittleIggy]

This was a course correction after “Echo Sphere.” The repercussions of Danny’s selfish act continue to hurt his family. BTW, I liked how, when the dad smoked, the Scrapper “smoked” too.

[Ranger Bob]

I suspect that many won't like this episode, but I did.  

A look into the psyche of a man overcome with guilt over his son's condition and a (false) sense of responsibility for the safety of his family and his deaf daughter. (Not that he doesn't have a responsibility for the safety of his family, just that's it's not anywhere to the degree that he feels.). 

As a man, and the father of a daughter, I can at least understand this while never having experienced anything close to what he has.

Perhaps the thing I liked most about this episode was the fact that it ended on a hopeful note.  He realized what was most important in his life and acted accordingly.  That doesn't always happen.

So far, I'm impressed with the writing, especially their ability to incorporate technology with the human experience.

[shrewd.buddha]

As usual, this episode felt like it lingered on and on.. it almost makes you feel hypnotized by the slowness, wondering where things will end up. But it is a safe bet that the end will be bittersweet ( leaning mostly towards depressing). 

All the old, yet advanced, technology feels like a bait-and-switch trick. There are compactor robots controlled by wireless harnesses - - but no cell phones and no camera surveillance systems. And clearly the guy would have done better by getting a dog - at least he could have slept at night.

I was more struck by how this guy's kids are ruining his life, emotionally and financially, by blatantly lying to him and skulking around his house at night. The medical expenses of keeping his son's body alive could easily be shifted over to The Loop Inc. if all the facts were known. 

Edited April 13, 2020 by shrewd.buddha

[iMonrey]

Increasingly in genre shows they use a sort of timeless gimmick as a backdrop where technology seems to have stopped around 1977. Even if they have ultra sophisticated sci-fi tech along with it. I think it's mostly because writers have found cell phones and other modern wireless technology hard to write around. They get in the way of the plot because it's so easy to text someone or take a picture or movie on your phone these days. It must ruin a lot of potential stories. So writers choose to pretend those things don't exist in order to tell the story they want.

[Concerned]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Increasingly in genre shows they use a sort of timeless gimmick as a backdrop where technology seems to have stopped around 1977. Even if they have ultra sophisticated sci-fi tech along with it. I think it's mostly because writers have found cell phones and other modern wireless technology hard to write around. They get in the way of the plot because it's so easy to text someone or take a picture or movie on your phone these days. It must ruin a lot of potential stories. So writers choose to pretend those things don't exist in order to tell the story they want.

Kind of like Steampunk where technology from different time periods exists together. This one was kind of a morality tale where the man realized that protecting his family ties was more important than protecting his family and a device (like a gun) that can protect a family can also destroy it. Also enjoyed when Scrapper imitated the man smoking, two thumbs up for whoever conceived that gag. And why is it that in all media known to man is the man who is bald on top but not the sides always portrayed as a loser? Although lots of men look like that, they are always portrayed as Jeffrey Tambor or Mel Cooley in the Dick Van Dyke show.

[tennisgurl]

I really liked this one, I thought it was an interesting follow up to the body swap episode, and I am glad that we got, not exactly a happy ending, but at least a hopeful one. 

I also wonder if there was an allegory here for someone who buys a gun to protect their home, only to drive the family they wanted to protect away due to their obsession with this thing they got, to the point where they almost used it to hurt the very people they wanted to protect. The scene where the dad almost used the Scrapper against his own daughter could have pretty easily been someone almost shooting a loved one in the dark thinking it was an intruder. I found Eds desperation to protect his family to be really sympathetic, even when he took it too far. He felt like he failed to protect his son, and his coma (well, what he thinks is a coma) is something totally out of his control, so he is obsessing about protecting the rest of his family and trying to find a way to get control again, even when he has no control over his sons condition.