S01.E03: Episode 3

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Lisa Sheffer preps Dominick for a hearing with Hatch's review board that could decide Thomas' fate; an encounter with an old classmate brings painful childhood memories to the surface; Dominick reflects on his and Thomas' time together at college.

Original air date: 5/24/20

[preeya]

I knew he couldn't be/wasn't the father. (I didn't read the book).

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by preeya

[Woopwoopkitty]

I started reading the book again a few days ago.  I’m just ahead in the story of where they are now and forcing myself to slog thru his grandfather’s memoir.

They have been very true to the book and Mark is doing a masterful job. But... after watching tonight’s episode i have figured out what it is that I don’t like. It’s the darkness of the cinematographic style. In know this is popular right now with directors but not with me.

yes it’s a depressing story.  But nearly every scene of this movie is dark, with faces in shadow, dark and dreary inside and out all the time.  The story is dark enough, I feel they have gone over the top with the low lighting.  I’m alsp having issues with the sound.  Many times all I hear is mumbling.

i know people have commented on missing Dr. Patel’s grandmotherly presence.  I don’t have a problem with Archie or her age.  But in the book Patel was native to a India and didn’t understand a lot of Dom’s cultural references and idioms which made their sessions interesting. And many times Wally called out the colorful saris she wore.  If they were going to make this do dark, those saris would have been a bright and welcome contrast. I can’t remember if they talked in episode 1 about Shiva or whether there was one in her office.  From the book I thought that was a memorable metaphor, that shiva represents both destruction and the rebuild that comes after, which is what Dom is going through.

nonetheless I’m all in because Ruffalo is nailing it.

 

[Arcey]

Please don't make refernces to the book here. Or put it behind a spoiler tag. Thank you!

[GreekGeek]

I’ve been watching with the captions on, to take care of the mumbling issue. I’m not put off by the dark cinematography so far, since fall/winter in Connecticut is often like that. I will be put off if it’s still that dark in summer scenes, though.

So they did include Dominick’s vasectomy, and he knows Joy is lying to him and cheating. What I miss is some insight into why they’re together in the first place. She obviously resents the amount of head space Thomas takes in Dominick, and he just seems to find her annoying. When they were eating, I wanted to shout, “Just tell her you like her damn chicken! Or at least tell her why you’re angry with her!”

And kudos to Philip Ettinger as college age Dominick and Thomas. Thomas asking Dominick about sex was so poignant.

Edited May 25, 2020 by GreekGeek

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Kudos to whoever cast the teenage/college version of Dominick/Thomas. He really resembled Mark Ruffalo.

16 minutes ago, GreekGeek said:

What I miss is some insight into why they’re together in the first place. She obviously resents the amount of head space Thomas takes in Dominick, and he just seems to find her annoying. When they were eating, I wanted to shout, “Just tell her you like her damn chicken! Or at least tell her why you’re angry with her!”

I agree. The little that we've seen of their relationship makes it seem like they're roommates who don't particularly like each other but have sex because it's convenient. I don't see why they appeal to each other at all.

[preeya]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Kudos to whoever cast the teenage/college version of Dominick/Thomas. He really resembled Mark Ruffalo.

I agree. The little that we've seen of their relationship makes it seem like they're roommates who don't particularly like each other but have sex because it's convenient. I don't see why they appeal to each other at all.

Also him being 22 years older (IRL) and the way they act towards each other just doesn't make sense as a relationship.

Also, what ever happened to the Juliette Lewis character and the translation of the grandfather's manifesto.

[GreekGeek]

1 hour ago, preeya said:

 

Also, what ever happened to the Juliette Lewis character and the translation of the grandfather's manifesto.

If they're following the book,

Spoiler

she'll be back. In the book, Dominick had an accident that put him in the hospital--separate from the crash we saw already--and by a bit too pat a coincidence, she's the girlfriend of his hospital roommate. She finally gives Dominick the finished translation.

 

[Empress1]

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I agree. The little that we've seen of their relationship makes it seem like they're roommates who don't particularly like each other but have sex because it's convenient. I don't see why they appeal to each other at all.

I agree. In the book 

Spoiler

she's younger but not THAT much younger, and while you can tell Dessa is still His Great Love, he does appear to like Joy and they have a much less acrimonious relationship than they appear to have here.

Like, if your live-in girlfriend's doctor called and said there were test results and you didn't know she'd seen a doctor or had any tests, wouldn't you be concerned? He just scrawls a note and doesn't appear to give it another thought. 

5 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I’ve been watching with the captions on, to take care of the mumbling issue.

Me too. I have a hard time understanding Ruffalo-as-Thomas. He kind of talks into his shoulder.

The scenes of them in college were really affecting. The one where Thomas has broken the typewriter case and said he panicked because he thought Dominic was living a life without him ... I could feel Thomas panicking.

I really like Rosie O'Donnell in this role. Something about her is very believable as a social worker. She's brusque when she needs to be (I liked when she told Dominic she didn't like his tone in the previous episode) but also very empathetic.

[preeya]

Even though Thomas is the center of the psychiatric/medical problems, Dominick's life is really fucked up.

How many tragic things can happen to one person?

[Liamsmom617]

On 5/25/2020 at 1:16 AM, Woopwoopkitty said:

I started reading the book again a few days ago.  I’m just ahead in the story of where they are now and forcing myself to slog thru his grandfather’s memoir.

They have been very true to the book and Mark is doing a masterful job. But... after watching tonight’s episode i have figured out what it is that I don’t like. It’s the darkness of the cinematographic style. In know this is popular right now with directors but not with me.

yes it’s a depressing story.  But nearly every scene of this movie is dark, with faces in shadow, dark and dreary inside and out all the time.  The story is dark enough, I feel they have gone over the top with the low lighting.  I’m alsp having issues with the sound.  Many times all I hear is mumbling.

i know people have commented on missing Dr. Patel’s grandmotherly presence.  I don’t have a problem with Archie or her age.  But in the book Patel was native to a India and didn’t understand a lot of Dom’s cultural references and idioms which made their sessions interesting. And many times Wally called out the colorful saris she wore.  If they were going to make this do dark, those saris would have been a bright and welcome contrast. I can’t remember if they talked in episode 1 about Shiva or whether there was one in her office.  From the book I thought that was a memorable metaphor, that shiva represents both destruction and the rebuild that comes after, which is what Dom is going through.

nonetheless I’m all in because Ruffalo is nailing it.

 

 All of this!! The cinematography is almost redundant, with the story itself already being so terribly depressing. 
 

 

[LydiaE]

Are we to believe that Thomas is being sexually assaulted by other inmates/patients or the facility workers/guards?  We were led to believe that Thomas lied about his stepfather sexually abusing him. Are/were these assaults real or delusions and manifestations?

Either way, this production is masterful in how it portrays the conventionally mentally ill twin as a weight around the throat of the other twin.  Dominick expressed compassion for his mother having to deal with tragedy in life, but his own life is fraught with such misery.

[DangerousMinds]

40 minutes ago, LydiaE said:

Are we to believe that Thomas is being sexually assaulted by other inmates/patients or the facility workers/guards?  We were led to believe that Thomas lied about his stepfather sexually abusing him. Are/were these assaults real or delusions and manifestations?

Either way, this production is masterful in how it portrays the conventionally mentally ill twin as a weight around the throat of the other twin.  Dominick expressed compassion for his mother having to deal with tragedy in life, but his own life is fraught with such misery.

I believe Thomas is just pew pie and delusional due to his disease. Those assaults aren’t really happening.

[bilgistic]

8 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

I believe Thomas is just pew pie and delusional due to his disease. Those assaults aren’t really happening.

What does the bolded term mean?

[DangerousMinds]

6 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

What does the bolded term mean?

Autocorrect error! Not even sure which word I was trying to write 🤣.