S04.E06: Door Number Three

[HotPhoenix]

When Lexi told her mom that she would always choose her family, what family did she mean, her human family or her Eshpheni family?  It would depend what part of her is stronger, but I would guess she might choose her Eshpheni family over the humans.

 

BTW, does Tom have anything to do with Lexi's parentage?  Is he a "partial" father, or is he out of the picture entirely?

[feverfew]

In other news, I am beyond ready for the Maggie character to leave the show.  The poor woman who plays her can't act her way out of a paper bag and it becomes more and more apparent with each scene she is in.  I like Lourdes better than her, I like Matt better than her, I like Lexi better than her. All her scenes make her scene partners look like acting geniuses in comparison.  And now Ben has a crush on her - whatever.  It's not like there's other women on the show for him to think about or talk to or anything.

Some of it may be left-over love from her character on Smallville, but I still love Maggie. And I don't think Sarah Carter is a bad actress - I like the way she infuses Maggie with this world-weary, cynical facade, from which hopefulness sort of peaks through. 

 

And speaking of hope, I think that was what TPTB were trying to convey with Maggie's "wishy-washiness" and the scene where Ben is trying to make her change her mind: These people have been "fighting the devil all their (post-apocalyptic) lives", and they need to believe in more than just the fight, if they are going to survive as a species. I'm still not onboard with Lexi and her unity-bullshit, I still don't like the rapidly growing baby-plot, but I applaud them for trying to put some of those questions about what sort of world they want to live in, beside the fighting, in the show. Or maybe I'm giving the writers too much credit, and this wasn't at all what they were going for. (I love post apocalyptic-stories for this exact reason: How do you keep your humanity, when everything else is going to crap? And I'm giving shows a lot of leeway if they at least try to grapple with that question).

 

 

Ben's probably kidding himself if he thinks there's a human girl in his future. Maggie is his best shot and it's not happening. 

 

I wish Maggie's change of heart had been more convincing. I think part of the problem was the script which seems to be uncertain whether it's because Maggie has a secret yen for Ben, or because she remembers how Ben was alienated but returned to the flock. Maggie's previous character was not coy, so it doesn't play well for me. 

 

I agree that it seemed a rather quick turn-around for Maggie, but I think it is rather consistent with her previous characterization. She has a tendency to go off half-cocked when something frightens her, and I think Ben was right: She was happy and it did turn out too good to be true. Or did you mean when she changed her mind in the end? I don't think we were supposed to think that it was because she's in love with Ben, but because he made her remember that he too is different.

 

Then again - I'm not really opposed to a triangle, if it's more about how the new world is going to look, versus a Vampire Diaries sort of brother-swapping. You know, a question of two differing world views. And I don't really mind the age gap - it's not one of my hot-buttons as long as the actors/characters are above a certain age. *shrugs* I also think the way Maggie interacted with Ben these past few episodes, made her seem younger in a way, which; kudos to the actress. (I might be slightly biased, since I find Hal to be the most boring character on the show, and Ben's my favourite...)

 

It was the way Tom did it. No discussion, no attempt to find out more, no measures in place in case whatever Lexi became was a threat ... just a blind, "How dare you threaten our daughter?" A daughter who, BTW, Tom has barely spent any time around, given his absence, her absence and her fast growth. He is supposed to be a leader. He really is a self-centered blowhard.

 

This show would be so much better if Tom died and Weaver led the group Weaver has lost a child who was experimented on, is trying to come back from it and actually thinks through what he does. It isn't all about him and what hem wants at the moment. The sad thing is, this would be so easy to fix. Have Tom make a sacrifice so that the choice he makes isn't based on his own needs. Choose for the group or humanity, not for the Masons.

This was actually the only part of the show I had problems with. We've seen that Lexi is dangerous already - I mean, choking her mom Darth Vader style, because Anne did the mom thing and said no, was a huge red flag for me. And it should have been for Anne as well. Instead we got drawn up battle lines, with no sense on either side. I understand the writers wanted that imagery of the Masons divided, but it just made them all seem ... dumb. 

 

But I still love the show; warts and all ;)

Edited August 1, 2014 by feverfew

[shapeshifter]

...BTW, does Tom have anything to do with Lexi's parentage?  Is he a "partial" father, or is he out of the picture entirely?

I was wondering this too, but then Lexi told Lourdes that she sensed her father was coming, and meant Tom. IDK. Maybe different writers write different portions of the script and have different ideas about her parentage?

So, did anyone else find it weird that one of the first foods they were offered at Chinatown was a bowl of individually wrapped Hershey Kisses??? Either they're really stale, or the Espheni have got the old factory in Pennsylvania back up and running, and are able to export to wherever the hell this Chinatown is.

[ganesh]

Maybe different writers write different portions of the script and have different ideas about her parentage?

 

It's too bad there wasn't a way that a particular writer, if they had a question like that, could consult something and verify. I just can't think for the life of me how they would be able to possibly do that.

[sjohnson]

Hershey Kisses have run commercials that seem like outtakes from Falling Skies but turn out to be an ad. The Kisses were a simple product placement. 

 

I'd badmouth the show but the last two movies I saw in the theater were preceded by five to ten minutes of TV commercials.

[shapeshifter]

I assume the episode title, "Door Number Three," is a reference to the Let's Make a Deal game show, but I can't make the connection to the events in the episode. Anyone care to explain? TIA.

[ganesh]

Kill Lexi, Don't Kill Lexi, Something Else. That's the only thing I could think of. 

[sjohnson]

Door Number Three...Try to turn Lexi.