S01.E03: The Funeral

[AnimeMania]

 

Scientists attempt to download a consciousness back into a clone body. Nathan attends his own funeral and Nora uncovers a mystery surrounding his death.

Airdate: May 1, 2020

[iMonrey]

OMG the scene with the guy's head exploding was horrific. But that's exactly why they would never show such a thing on live TV. This was the first time they ever tried that so there was no telling what would happen. 

So you mean to tell me that Ingrid can simply delete Nathan's consciousness? That doesn't seem right. It's basically committing murder. 

[paulvdb]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

OMG the scene with the guy's head exploding was horrific. But that's exactly why they would never show such a thing on live TV. This was the first time they ever tried that so there was no telling what would happen. 

And there was apparently a bidding war to become the first download. If I was uploaded I would want to wait to make sure that it actually works and let someone else be the guinea pig for this new procedure.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

OMG the scene with the guy's head exploding was horrific. But that's exactly why they would never show such a thing on live TV. This was the first time they ever tried that so there was no telling what would happen. 

I found that really strange. Sometimes it seems like the corporation is supposed to be secretly evil but the rest of the time they appear to be openly evil. 
In the first episode Nora mentioned that Nathan’s body was frozen so he might be able to go back into one day. I thought they were saying that the corporations were lying but now I’m not sure. I also doing understand why Nathan’s girlfriend and mother were allowed to watch his head explode during the upload. Why was there even a window in that door?  

[Avabelle]

So.... Ingrid is the worst....

I had a feeling the friend from the first episode would be dodgy.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Avabelle

[Caseysgirl]

Creed!

[Jediknight]

On 5/3/2020 at 11:27 AM, iMonrey said:

So you mean to tell me that Ingrid can simply delete Nathan's consciousness? That doesn't seem right. It's basically committing murder. 

At least his exes seem like good people.  They had no problem with each other, the fact that Nathan dated them all in a short time, didn't like Ingrid's treatment of Nathan, and were nice to Nora.

Robbie Amell is really good with comedy.  His response to Luke mentioning that he wore his dress blues, and "Uncle Larry, put your fucking hand down", were top notch.  His delivery is fantastic.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Jediknight

[Cotypubby]

Seeing a bunch of the people on the NYC subway & bus wearing face masks is so eerie! Did they add that in somehow or were the writers just very prescient!? 

[Danny Franks]

So the download scene just highlighted the disconnect of the premise of the show. Nathan wasn't dead. They gave him an option between surgery (to fix a collapsed lung) and being uploaded. Why would that even be an option when surgery could easily save him?

Again, I don't really get the character that the ex-girlfriends claim Nathan was. He seems way too bland and milquetoast to be "a barracuda in a toilet bowl."

I don't like the floppy haired guy who was a complete dick to his angel. And I really didn't like goatee guy who clearly is a dick.

Ingrid's family seem barely human, which may be a psychological side-effect of apparently being functionally immortal. I suppose that's one of the messages of the show - that the commodification of life and death means that it genuinely means nothing any more to some people. 

"I googled Nathan Brown. And I liked what I saw." That was a perfect line. Completely impersonal and casual, a bare step above him simply saying "F for respect" and changing his Facebook profile pic.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Wow, they weren’t kidding when they tried to warn Nathan about how sad those virtual funerals can be.

Even though Ingrid loved that green suit, I thought he looked like a leprechaun in it. 

I loved that the investigator from the previous episode turned out to be Nathan’s aunt who is a middle school gym teacher. But hey, there’s no reason that the middle school gym teacher can’t investigate!

We really started seeing some people’s true colors come out in this episode. I don’t know why the one guy is so desperate to be friends with Nathan. Ingrid showed that she now has all the power in their relationship and she isn’t afraid to abuse it. 

On a shallow note, all of the beauty treatments she was getting before the funeral cracked me up!

On 5/9/2020 at 11:33 PM, Cotypubby said:

Seeing a bunch of the people on the NYC subway & bus wearing face masks is so eerie! Did they add that in somehow or were the writers just very prescient!? 

There were some people on the subway wearing masks in the first episode too. I think it was less prescience than realistically predicting that air pollution isn’t going to get any better in the next 15 years. People in Asia regularly have been wearing masks like that on public transportation and on the street for several years. It’s totally normal to see that there. 

[blackwing]

I think it's hilarious how in the future, everything becomes more and more about corporate sponsorship.  We had Panera Bread becoming a huge conglomerate and buying other companies.  Oscar Mayer sponsored the download (I think) and L'oreal sponsored Nathan's funeral.

On 5/11/2020 at 10:46 AM, Danny Franks said:

So the download scene just highlighted the disconnect of the premise of the show. Nathan wasn't dead. They gave him an option between surgery (to fix a collapsed lung) and being uploaded. Why would that even be an option when surgery could easily save him?

They did give him the option but he was kind of delirious... it was very obvious even then that the girlfriend was evil.  She was the one that influenced the decision.  I think it's clear she was involved in his murder and probably has something to do with preventing him and his friend from rolling out the idea they were trying to pitch.  Her family has invested a lot in the elite upload heaven and they don't want everyone to get what they can get for free.

[Atlanta]

Jessica Tuck! Yay!

[bettername2come]

"I googled Nathan Brown." Heh. I'm glad we got to see the timeframe of the show. I hope this is not where we're at in 2033. 

I like Fran Booth, investigator. Aw, I like the reveal that she's just a cousin/middle school gym teacher who's excellent at puzzles. 

Shit, Ingrid threatening to delete him. Hmm, I hadn't been think she had an actual role in the murder, but now I kinda do. 

The corporate sponsorships of everything and "Oscar Meyer Intel" are really amusing me. 

So we have a vaporized head and an exploded head out of three episodes. Is this going to be a continuing theme?

[shrewd.buddha]

I am surprised that Nathan is not more interested and involved in looking into his own murder.  It is not as if he has a lot of other things to do. (Probably just an inconvenient time for the plot, I guess.) 

I know this is a dark comedy, but Nathan's girlfriend is the worst. Why would someone like her latch on to someone like Nathan, whose resume appeared to be part-time model and barista? 

[Paloma]

On 5/11/2020 at 11:46 AM, Danny Franks said:

Ingrid's family seem barely human, which may be a psychological side-effect of apparently being functionally immortal. I suppose that's one of the messages of the show - that the commodification of life and death means that it genuinely means nothing any more to some people. 

I saw the nastiness of Ingrid's family (and her own narcissism) as a comment on how wealth and power can make people selfish and lack compassion. (Not all wealthy and powerful people, but we see this enough in the real world.) But I agree that the commodification of life and death probably contributes to the unpleasant attributes of her family.

As a side note, did anyone notice that Ingrid's mother was the doctor from the original Stargate-SG1 series? It took me a minute to recognize her because of the hair color, but I was glad to see she is still working.

[PWHCHCH]

I love Nathans green suit! he pulls it off

[possibilities]

The investigator seemed so familiar to me, but I couldn't place the actress at first. Then I realized, she plays Liv, the police deputy on Resident Alien. I like her.

[rab01]

On 5/24/2020 at 7:46 AM, shrewd.buddha said:

I know this is a dark comedy, but Nathan's girlfriend is the worst. Why would someone like her latch on to someone like Nathan, whose resume appeared to be part-time model and barista? 

Isn't he more than that but those memories have been deleted?