S01.E09: Soma Red

[nodorothyparker]

Streaming 2020.07.15

Quote

Bernard copes with an unexpected tragedy, while Lenina draws ire at the Hatchery. John’s exile pushes New London to the brink.

 

[Chaos Theory]

In the end I really liked this but the can see how book purists (which I am not) will hate this.  It veered heavily away from the book.   As a matter of fact the epsilon revolution and Lenina coming of age are purely tv ideas.   Plus the series turned Bernard into a villain which he wasn’t in the book but more a deeply unhappy man unsure of his place in the system.  
 

I think my favorite story was Lenina and her trying to find herself and where she fit after returning from the Savage Lands. I also really like John and Bernard’s friendship and watching it evolve and then devolve.  
 

If this gets a second season I might pay the five bucks to stream it.  

[Chicago Redshirt]

While I overall enjoyed the season, I think there were two things that were a drag.

I don't like the notion of Indra. I think the notion of an AI interfering takes a lot away from the notions of what humans would do to themselves in setting up societal goals.

I also think that the notion of the main character's interest in monogamy is doesn't make that much sense. It made sense for Book John to be a big believer in monogamy both because of when BNW was written but also because he was influenced by reading Shakespeare and developed a sense of romanticism that way. Nothing about TV show John's life indicates why he would have issues with polygamy, really, except the plot says he has to. 

[Chaos Theory]

 

13 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

While I overall enjoyed the season, I think there were two things that were a drag.

I don't like the notion of Indra. I think the notion of an AI interfering takes a lot away from the notions of what humans would do to themselves in setting up societal goals.

 

Now that I am over thinking this I think my major gripe about the series is that it killed off New London far too fast.   

I read the book and New London is actually incredibly fascinating and the show barely explained it at all.    What made the society work.  Instead they went for the boring and trite in your face sex orgies which they can do on the online platform.     The series could have spent seasons building up resentment among the class system before the ultimate breakdown and still ended exactly where it ended  

Edited July 20, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[Chicago Redshirt]

It's possible that I missed it because I watched all 9 episodes in one shot. But did the season show

a. Any name Alpha females besides Mond

b. Any name Beta males (I think some were part of the sex hunt, and there was a guy at Lenina's lab late in the season)

c. Any named Delta characters or explanation of what that designation means

[Quickbeam]

I loved Gary! Will miss this show, really enjoyed it.

[Primal Slayer]

Henrys dead 😞 I liked the actor and wanted more from him. 

[CarobCake]

On 7/20/2020 at 8:57 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

It's possible that I missed it because I watched all 9 episodes in one shot. But did the season show

a. Any name Alpha females besides Mond

b. Any name Beta males (I think some were part of the sex hunt, and there was a guy at Lenina's lab late in the season)

c. Any named Delta characters or explanation of what that designation means

a. I think Helm was an alpha female, no? The one who makes the feelies...

b. Nope. Also, if they were so flexi on gender preference, where was the guy on guy sex?

c. No, and in the last episode, when CJack is talking to Bernie he almost tells us! "You made Betas for your pleasures, gammas to serve you, and Deltas to..." and then doesn't finish his sentence! So maybe in season 2 we'll find out...


Bernard was right that John doesn't take responsibility for anything... But a lot of what happened has me scratching my head. Why was Frannie being reconditioned? And why is she the one with the rod in the end? Why did the Epislons stop attacking when Indra was turned off from the network? Was it controlling them during their revolution? I'm also a little baffled by John's reasoning besides the usual "I'm pissed so I'll just stir up some shit" that seems to be his default since getting to New London. 

Also, did anyone catch this moment:


I think the Goya's 3rd of may painting had appeared earlier in the show (maybe in Mustafa's mini-art museum?). After reading more about it, it seems to be interpreted as showing the horrors of war, no matter the cause. But I'm still a bit confused about what the show is really trying to say... what is the message?
 
 

[Catfi9ht]

On 7/20/2020 at 1:27 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Now that I am over thinking this I think my major gripe about the series is that it killed off New London far too fast.   

I read the book and New London is actually incredibly fascinating and the show barely explained it at all.    What made the society work.  Instead they went for the boring and trite in your face sex orgies which they can do on the online platform.     The series could have spent seasons building up resentment among the class system before the ultimate breakdown and still ended exactly where it ended  

I agree. I'm not a book purist, but I thought this show was too action driven and I would have preferred a slow burn. In general, I prefer more world-building and character-driven plots. I was one of those folks who loved early Game of Thrones when the Internet was complaining the pacing was too slow.

I loved the music, wardrobe, and sets. The cast was especially excellent. I think this show suffered because Peacock forced a cliff hanger after the second episode to get people to subscribe. I would have preferred the first half of the season show New London as it was then have the uprising in episode 5. What a shame; greed ruins everything.

[arachne]

I get Peacock free with my cable service, so subscription wasn't an issue for me.

Overall, I found the series interesting and disappointing all at once. The story line had more in common with Westworld that with Huxley's novel. The ending confused me more than a little, and left too many unanswered questions: What is in that box Bernard holds, and what does it have to do with the savages? How much time passes after the rioting in New London, and where exactly do John and Lenina end up -- is that a farm, or an abandoned building?

Makes me wonder if another season is planned that might explain this, but so far I've heard nothing. 

[AnimeMania]

I wonder how much of their world was real and how much was just computer enhanced. It seemed the computer could make them see whatever it wanted, like not noticing the burns/scars on Mustafa Mond. Was the city as big as it seemed? Were there a lot of people? Nobody ever left there small portion of the city, did the rest even exist?

[Ottis]

On 8/14/2020 at 8:52 AM, Catfi9ht said:

I agree. I'm not a book purist, but I thought this show was too action driven and I would have preferred a slow burn. In general, I prefer more world-building and character-driven plots.

Agree. I'm a sucker for antiseptic worlds of the future that are supposed to be better than ours but aren't. And I really liked learning about their society, though I could have done with fewer orgies. I liked the power structure and the way some of the jostling among alphas resembled today's corporate world. 

I do think John's interest in monogamy reflected the values of "old Earth." However, I thought he should have been more understanding of the world Lenina comes from. He can't expect her to throw that yoke off all at once. 

And I admit I have no idea what the founders are about. An intelligent AI was created by them and took over? Maybe? Could have done without them, TBH.

But I will say I liked the ending. So much tragedy. This show ended the season more West World than West World. 

[dwmarch]

Well, I guess tonight's orgy is cancelled. Seriously, that got dark at the end. I haven't read the book so I don't know if that comes from the source material but I was not expecting things to get as violent as they did.

I'm not a hundred percent sure what was going on. The ten people who were hooked up were the power behind INDRA? There was a whiteboard a couple-few episodes back that spelled out what INDRA stood for but didn't really explain it beyond that. So once you unplug or choke the people the trains stop running, planes crash, etc. However, the violence seems to de-escalate at the same time. But the forcefield holding the Savages in shut right off and they seem just as pissed off as ever. And John is out there with a virtual copy of Lenina, which should work better for him because she won't sleep around and she's always happy when he comes home with a fish and doesn't share any with her. Bernard is out in the Savage lands getting his Savage on which is weird because aside from being proud of himself for figuring out how to drive I did not see a lot of him hankering to go back there. However, he is in desperate need of a level up in badass and that would be the best place to get it. Lenina seems to have had enough bullshit from men for now and is back at work.

INDRA was supposed to be a genius-level planner but forgot that there was an Epsilon out there who had the same DNA as one of the founder dudes. But they're strapped to beds so why would you even need a door that they can open from the outside? They aren't going outside!

I enjoyed this show so this is meant as much more than the backhanded compliment it may come across as: this show is the story Inhumans should have had. There was class struggle in that show too and it was courtesy of a ruling class that took their servant class for granted but they basically had the good guys crush the rebellion and kill the leader. In this case, by the time the Epsilons switched out of murder mode it didn't matter because they had already pretty much run out of people to kill.