S01.E03: Solar Winds

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, roctavia said:

Okay, the music, especially in the scene when they find the floating lady in the field, sounds so much like something I've heard before in another show/movie.... I can't figure out what.... anybody know what I'm talking about?

When tonight’s episode (3) began, I was struck by how much the Debris theme music was evocative of the Fringe theme music ––both shows have the same showrunner. 

[ohjoy]

When Bryan and Finola investigate a mysterious, otherworldly square that has appeared in a field, they come to understand new revelations about our planet. Maddox meets with an old contact.

Originally aired 3/15/2021

[AnimeMania]

How long ago did Finola's father die? I know they found him washed up in the water, but he was in pretty rough shape when they exhumed the body.

I don't like that they keep finding large hunks of debris that continue to function without any power source. All the debris looks the same, a bunch of flat metal plates that somehow maintain their original shape even when there is nothing holding them in that shape.

If the spaceship is built out of one shape and size piece, that interlocks, that piece they show seems to be too large to be functional (in my opinion). There doesn't seem to be a lot of variation/differentiation in the debris they find in terms of look.

It is a shame that all the people they released seemed to be from modern times, no animals were trapped, maybe a dinosaur or two. The field should have been filled with new scientific discoveries.

[Paloma]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

It is a shame that all the people they released seemed to be from modern times, no animals were trapped, maybe a dinosaur or two.

Maybe we're supposed to believe that the "access points" only opened in the last few decades?

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

...I don't like that they keep finding large hunks of debris that continue to function without any power source. All the debris looks the same, a bunch of flat metal plates that somehow maintain their original shape even when there is nothing holding them in that shape.
If the spaceship is built out of one shape and size piece, that interlocks, that piece they show seems to be too large to be functional (in my opinion). There doesn't seem to be a lot of variation/differentiation in the debris they find in terms of look....

Oooo. Good points. Now I'm thinking of the Stargate franchise Replicators --which the Debris always did seem to resemble.

 

 

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

It is a shame that all the people they released seemed to be from modern times, no animals were trapped, maybe a dinosaur or two. The field should have been filled with new scientific discoveries.

More good points. 
When they revealed that the people were from up to decades ago (whereas the show opener text states that the spaceship was first seen months ago) it made me wonder if spaceships have been doing Earth drive-bys for decades, or if they are able to scoop up people from different times. 
As a life-long fan of time travel, I'd like to see the latter play out, especially if we could meet someone from the future.

[Melina22]

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

When tonight’s episode (3) began, I was struck by how much the Debris theme music was evocative of the Fringe theme music ––both shows have the same showrunner. 

Wow, I didn't know that! 

I love how people in this thread keep referencing my favourite shows - Fringe, BSG, Close Encounters. I guess every time a new series starts - Manifest, The Dome, Debris - I start watching with the hope I'll feel the same mystery, excitement and total engagement these shows provoked in me, then I'm sort of angry and definitely disappointed when they don't. 

Oh well, at least I got to meet people called Norbert Butz and Scroobius Pip. That's worth something! 

[Paloma]

24 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

When they revealed that the people were from up to decades ago (whereas the show opener text states that the spaceship was first seen months ago) it made me wonder if spaceships have been doing Earth drive-bys for decades, or if they are able to scoop up people from different times. 

That scene reminded me so much of The 4400, and I loved that concept. It would be nice if Debris would explore this aspect of the "square" more, but I doubt that these people from different decades will be mentioned again. (I put "square" in quotes because it looked more like a rectangle to me.)

[Paloma]

2 minutes ago, Melina22 said:

I guess every time a new series starts - Manifest, The Dome, Debris - I start watching with the hope I'll feel the same mystery, excitement and total engagement these shows provoked in me, then I'm sort of angry and definitely disappointed when they don't. 

Oh well, at least I got to meet people called Norbert Butz and Scroobius Pip. That's worth something! 

Same feelings here about new genre series. 

I've heard the name Norbert Leo Butz before but didn't know what he looked like or what he's been in. So I was surprised to find out from Wikipedia that he is actually well-known for his Broadway work and has won a couple of Tonys for Best Actor in a Musical. He made his Broadway debut as an understudy in Rent and ultimately replaced the original "Roger."

[Melina22]

Same situation with Scroobius Pip. He has a much more interesting resume than his performance here would indicate. 

I often find this to be true of characters in these kinds of shows. For example, watching CSI Something (or whatever show it was) with Tracy Thoms playing a policewoman, you'd never guess how fabulous she was in Rent. It's sort of a shame that in order to be cast in these shows even in secondary parts, people have to be incredibly good. Then they're stuck with dull characters, saying bland, stilted dialogue. 

[gibasi]

35 minutes ago, Paloma said:

That scene reminded me so much of The 4400, and I loved that concept. It would be nice if Debris would explore this aspect of the "square" more, but I doubt that these people from different decades will be mentioned again. (I put "square" in quotes because it looked more like a rectangle to me.)

That bothered me so much. It is a rectangle! I am disappointed in the show and don’t know how much longer I will keep with it. I have been disappointed in most of the science fiction shows of the past few years. They are all so forgettable once I stop watching that I barely remember them. in fact it is a good thing I have it dvr’ed and that they show promos on Resident Alien or I would forget Debris too. 
 

[themadman]

Right, I gave this show three episodes, but now I have to bail. 

Too many disjointed pieces, not enough coherent progression to keep me interested in the story, and the leads are rather wooden. 

[shapeshifter]

This show still feels to me like the real goal was to bring back the X-Files, but that they knew calling it that or admitting that would swamp them with comparisons. Plus, remember the angry "fans" who called BSG "BSGINO"?

 

2 hours ago, Melina22 said:

Oh well, at least I got to meet people called Norbert Butz and Scroobius Pip. That's worth something! 

Thanks for typing out this name that keeps catching my attention during the opening credits. From Wikipedia: 

Quote

David Meads (born 3 August 1981), known professionally as (Dave) Scroobius Pip...
...adopted his stage name from Edward Lear's poem "The Scroobious Pip". He later explained: "I loved the story. It's about a creature that doesn't know what it is ...By the end [of the poem] he realises that he is simply The Scroobious Pip. He doesn't fit into any one category and can just be his own creature."

 

[sempervivum]

1 hour ago, Paloma said:

That scene reminded me so much of The 4400,

And I am old, so it reminded me of the final scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, where 'lost' folks from many decades are released from the alien spaceship. There really isn't anything new under the sun, at least if you're a TV screenwriter.😒

I still don't understand what Bryan and Finola are there for. According to the wiki, they're CIA /MI6 agents; they aren't even military.  I could see them handling security, ie, keeping all this stuff quiet and civilians away from the activity, but why are they, with no hazmat suits, rushing forward on the 'square' or other debris with guns drawn while the grunts and scientists follow? And why is Bryan able to construct some kind of communication device involving multiple dimensions? Why is Finola barking orders at the main scientist? Why is she so intuitively smart that she knew to take the 'dead' piece of debris and shove it into the square? And why has it been fatal to get near, much less touch, the debris, but here it's fine to scoop it up in front end-loaders and throw it around?

And how did Finola's dad know exactly where these access portals were (to the extent that he created a nice simple map), yet he never mentioned this to her or anyone else, apparently? Wouldn't he at least have warned Finola to stay away from Nutbush, Iowa (or whatever)?? And exactly what kind of security is the CIA/MI6 providing, that nobody noticed 24 minutes of video missing?

If the power is draining out of some of the debris, doesn't that indicate that eventually, they'll all be harmless?

Not even going to rant about the overly emotional behavior of these supposedly hardened professionals.

On a more shallow note, does Finola ever get tired of wearing all black? This whole show is oddly dreary looking.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I love the show.  I probably don't understand 50% of it, but I love it.

Just like when I watched Christopher Nolan's "Tenet".  

(I was so happy it got nominated for some Oscars.). 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Paloma]

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

6 hours ago, Paloma said:

That scene reminded me so much of The 4400,

And I am old, so it reminded me of the final scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, where 'lost' folks from many decades are released from the alien spaceship.

I am also that old, but The 4400 came to mind first because I recently read that it will be "rebooted" on the CW (and we know what that means in terms of cast and target audience, so I probably will not watch).

 

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

why are they, with no hazmat suits, rushing forward on the 'square' or other debris with guns drawn while the grunts and scientists follow?

I've given up yelling at the TV about the random wearing of hazmat suits, but it is still aggravating. 

[bref]

The dialogue on this show is execrable, and I agree with @sempervivum's list of other complaints. I don't think I will be watching again.

On the topic of The 4400, I thought those introductory credits were so striking, the music and the images. And Mahershalalhashbaz Ali's full name before he shortened it! 

[possibilities]

No one wants to comment on how Bryan's guy at the CIA is making secret deals working with the Russians? And he's being caught on video doing it, and all Bryan has to say about it is "why does that guy keep showing up"? And CIA guy's wife calls and says school keeps calling and he needs to pick up his daughter at school, and then as he's on the way out the door to do that and he gets a message not to bother because his daughter is home already? WTF? 

I was also yelling about the rectangle. I thought it was me. I always think it's me. Maybe it is.

I want to like this. It has key elements that suck me in. But it's soooooooo disappointing.

I remember hating Sense8 for the first few episodes. People said it gets REALLY GOOD so keep watching. And just when I was about to give up, it got REALLY GOOD. So I find myself plodding along with this show, in case it might surprise me in the same way... but I'm getting close to my limit.

[KaveDweller]

6 hours ago, sempervivum said:

I still don't understand what Bryan and Finola are there for. According to the wiki, they're CIA /MI6 agents; they aren't even military.  I could see them handling security, ie, keeping all this stuff quiet and civilians away from the activity, but why are they, with no hazmat suits, rushing forward on the 'square' or other debris with guns drawn while the grunts and scientists follow?

I can buy that the US/British governments would want some oversight over alien spaceship debris, but I was also totally confused about why the people without hazmat suits were walking in front of everyone else. I know they are the stars, but still. We know the debris is dangerous so why not just put them in some kind of gear for those scenes.

But I thought the guy was FBI/Military......I thought the CIA was only authorized to operate overseas and couldn't actually do stuff on US soil?

[sempervivum]

16 minutes ago, possibilities said:

No one wants to comment on how Bryan's guy at the CIA is making secret deals working with the Russians?

Oh, I could have gone on about that, too, but I got tired of typing!

[Ms Blue Jay]

Here's something cute.  Anytime you hashtag #Debris on Twitter, Johnathan Tucker will like your post 😁

[possibilities]

When they were going on about how they couldn't figure out how the "square" could be there without any debris, I kept thinking it was a hologram, projected from afar. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

David Meads (born 3 August 1981), known professionally as (Dave) Scroobius Pip.

I envy people with such mundane, ordinary names they actually desire to be called something odd.

[dargosmydaddy]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

And CIA guy's wife calls and says school keeps calling and he needs to pick up his daughter at school, and then as he's on the way out the door to do that and he gets a message not to bother because his daughter is home already? WTF? 

Granted I was half asleep while watching, but I thought the caller was a... housekeeper? Or someone in his employ? And was calling to tell him that he needed to go to the school (or just come home to watch the kid?) because she couldn't get ahold of the wife. Then the text at the end of the scene was that the wife had come home, so not to bother. But I have trouble following pretty much every plot on this show, so I could be wrong.

I came for Jonathan Tucker, and I enjoy the female lead, too, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be holding on here. And since we're all making comparisons to other shows, this one reminds me of the one with the weird dreaming? I can't remember the title, but I think it was also on NBC, and Sarah Shahi was the main character. Both of them had potentially compelling premises that aren't really compelling once you're actually watching.

[Melina22]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I was also yelling about the rectangle. I thought it was me. I always think it's me. Maybe it is.

😁😁😁😁

 

1 hour ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Both of them had potentially compelling premises that aren't really compelling once you're actually watching.

Why does this keep happening? It's like a constant disappointment. 

 

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I dremember hating Sense8 for the first few episodes.

I quit after one. Maybe I should give it another try. 

[mythoughtis]

13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Oooo. Good points. Now I'm thinking of the Stargate franchise Replicators --which the Debris always did seem to resemble.

 

 

More good points. 
When they revealed that the people were from up to decades ago (whereas the show opener text states that the spaceship was first seen months ago) it made me wonder if spaceships have been doing Earth drive-bys for decades, or if they are able to scoop up people from different times. 
As a life-long fan of time travel, I'd like to see the latter play out, especially if we could meet someone from the future.

The portal existed independently of the spaceship. The spaceship debris just made the portal visible.

The theory about  the portal itself is that there are pockets ( think of them as wormholes) that people can just randomly walk into under certain conditions and then can’t get back out of. 

 

 

 

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

The portal existed independently of the spaceship. The spaceship debris just made the portal visible.

The theory about  the portal itself is that there are pockets ( think of them as wormholes) that people can just randomly walk into under certain conditions and then can’t get back out of. 

so a lot like Fringe?

[mythoughtis]

4 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

so a lot like Fringe?

I don’t know. I never watched Fringe. 

[Emiloo212]

A little while after Nicole was freed, someone on the team asked her what year she thought it was, and she said 1976. The person asking her said it was 1989. Did  I hear that right? I thought the show was set in the present day. 
 

[mythoughtis]

1 minute ago, Emiloo212 said:

A little while after Nicole was freed, someone on the team asked her what year she thought it was, and she said 1976. The person asking her said it was 1989. Did  I hear that right? I thought the show was set in the present day. 
 

Nicole went missing in 2019. . .  A second person had gone missing in 1976 and a third in 1989.  Nicole thought she had been trapped a few hours. The point was that time moved much more slowly in the portal dimension.

[UnknownK]

3 minutes ago, Emiloo212 said:

A little while after Nicole was freed, someone on the team asked her what year she thought it was, and she said 1976. The person asking her said it was 1989. Did  I hear that right? I thought the show was set in the present day. 
 

Time pretty much stands still for those people, which is the only way they could still exist with no food or water.

[shapeshifter]

31 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

Time pretty much stands still for those people, which is the only way they could still exist with no food or water.

Good point about no food or water. I hadn't thought about that. 
Or toilets? Heh. Sorry. 
Anyway, Nicole's response to the question of time seemed very Covid-19-inspired to me: 

• You said you felt your time in there was short.
• [Nicole] But... it felt like I was moving very slowly through that time.

Do we know when this was written and shot?

[tennisgurl]

18 hours ago, bref said:

On the topic of The 4400, I thought those introductory credits were so striking, the music and the images. And Mahershalalhashbaz Ali's full name before he shortened it! 

The 4400 credits are some of my favorite credits ever, so haunting and evocative. Honestly they make me a bit sad as they were even better than the show was, especially as it went on. I mentioned The 4400 during the pilot, so it was really funny to me that they kind of did the same thing here with the people from different decades all appearing suddenly, not having aged. The teenager is lucky she only missed a few years, sucks for the lady from the 70s, that is certainly going to take some adjustments. 

There is so much I like about this show and that I think has potential, but it just isn't there yet. I still enjoy its contemplative atmosphere, the debris itself is interesting and creates some haunting images, and I like the ideas it is throwing around about how this tech affects people and how its allowing humanity to learn more. Unfortunately, it has really figured out how to be both moody and interesting. The main characters are so lifeless, even if I think the actors are doing a good job with what they have, and the whole story just feels like a retread of other science fiction stories, hence everyone here always bringing up other shows and franchises. I am going to keep giving it time, as lots of shows in this genre, like Fringe, were not great at first and it took awhile to get going and develop its own personality, but so far this show just isn't grabbing me as much as I want it to. 

I do like that they are tying these anomalies to actually issues people have, but its running the risk of being too sappy or on the nose with its metaphors. I am mostly focusing on the cases and characters right now, as those are the parts that have the most potential for me, although there is a lot of other things going on. Like Bryan's boss might be committing a bit of treason just in a subplot. 

So with the brief ethical questions brought up this week about using the tech to save the people stuck inside the rectangle even if it means losing the chance to study it, I wonder if aliens deliberately dropped their tech on Earth as a test to see what people would do with it. If they use it well they can show up for first contact? 

[Diapason Untuned]

Recently started this. I like it, but it feels like it could be better, as if it's missing something. I do hope it doesn't die after one season though.

 

On 3/16/2021 at 10:18 AM, sempervivum said:

I still don't understand what Bryan and Finola are there for. According to the wiki, they're CIA /MI6 agents; they aren't even military.  I could see them handling security, ie, keeping all this stuff quiet and civilians away from the activity, but why are they, with no hazmat suits, rushing forward on the 'square' or other debris with guns drawn while the grunts and scientists follow? 

Bryan and Finola seem to be there to liase with their governments and handle investigations.

 

Quote

And why is Bryan able to construct some kind of communication device involving multiple dimensions?

They already had a receiver, they just had to rework it into a transmitter.

 

Quote

And why has it been fatal to get near, much less touch, the debris, but here it's fine to scoop it up in front end-loaders and throw it around?

This one works differently than the others they've encountered thus far.

 

Quote

And how did Finola's dad know exactly where these access portals were (to the extent that he created a nice simple map), yet he never mentioned this to her or anyone else, apparently? Wouldn't he at least have warned Finola to stay away from Nutbush, Iowa (or whatever)??

I mean, it seemed like that was a lecture he was giving so it's not like he was keeping it secret.

 

Quote

And exactly what kind of security is the CIA/MI6 providing, that nobody noticed 24 minutes of video missing?

That was a normal morgue.

 

Quote

Not even going to rant about the overly emotional behavior of these supposedly hardened professionals.

One thing I like about this show is that solving the cases often require a more emotional touch, since the debris seems almost focused on picking up and amplifying human trauma.

Edited March 17, 2021 by Diapason Untuned

[UnknownK]

3 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

So with the brief ethical questions brought up this week about using the tech to save the people stuck inside the rectangle even if it means losing the chance to study it, I wonder if aliens deliberately dropped their tech on Earth as a test to see what people would do with it. If they use it well they can show up for first contact? 

I never could see a reason for aliens with the tech to jump through light years of space to come here other then to take over out planet and kill us all.

Some of those alien parts must have ended up in deep ocean (it does cover most of the earth), massive deserts, hit the moon, or just kept going through the solar system.

[Melina22]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I am going to keep giving it time, as lots of shows in this genre, like Fringe, were not great at first and it took awhile to get going and develop its own personality, but so far this show just isn't grabbing me as much as I want it to. 

A great example of shows that started terribly and got really good is Babylon 5. I watched a couple of episodes of season 1 and wondered how people could possibly recommend it. Eventually I started again with Season 2 and loved it. 

Then again, thinking like this is what made me stick with shows like The Dome and Manifest way longer than I should have. Now, like lots here, I'm only willing to give a show like Debris a limited number of episodes before I bail. Just recently I erased Departure from my PVR after only 2.5 episodes. I figure if against all odds it becomes great, I'll read about it online and go back to it. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I liked Departure!  I think it was only 6 episodes.  I don't know if I could call it "great" though.  I don't know, I think I'm easy to please 😄

20 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

I came for Jonathan Tucker, and I enjoy the female lead, too, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be holding on here. And since we're all making comparisons to other shows, this one reminds me of the one with the weird dreaming? I can't remember the title, but I think it was also on NBC, and Sarah Shahi was the main character. Both of them had potentially compelling premises that aren't really compelling once you're actually watching.

I looked this up and it's called "Reverie".

[UnknownK]

37 minutes ago, Melina22 said:

A great example of shows that started terribly and got really good is Babylon 5. I watched a couple of episodes of season 1 and wondered how people could possibly recommend it. Eventually I started again with Season 2 and loved it. 

Then again, thinking like this is what made me stick with shows like The Dome and Manifest way longer than I should have. Now, like lots here, I'm only willing to give a show like Debris a limited number of episodes before I bail. Just recently I erased Departure from my PVR after only 2.5 episodes. I figure if against all odds it becomes great, I'll read about it online and go back to it. 

Most shows take half a season to get their act together so I stick with something for a whole season and then decide if I want to continue or watch something better.

Manifest kind of lost me after season 1 and I hate watched the first season of Avenue 5 for some reason ( I liked the main actor in House so I gave it a try).

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, UnknownK said:

I never could see a reason for aliens with the tech to jump through light years of space to come here other then to take over out planet and kill us all.

LOL! And I thought I was jaded from watching and reading too much scifi!

[UnknownK]

10 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

LOL! And I thought I was jaded from watching and reading too much scifi!

A society with that kind of tech has probably mined out every planet they can get to for resources and finding our planet still full of resources inhabited by low tech cave dwellers would be tempting for plunder. An alien would look at us like a whale if we are lucky (enough of a brain to be intelligent so don't eat them all) or a chicken if we weren't (grow them in cages and invent some tasty sauce to go with them).

I never found shows like Star Trek where everybody has all their needs met with no money needed and they just hop into a starship and explore for the fun of it realistic. We will never get rid of money and inequality because that is what success in our culture values. Everything in our society is geared toward upgrading whatever you have and being called basic is a huge insult.

[possibilities]

10 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

sucks for the lady from the 70s, that is certainly going to take some adjustments. 

Eh, she dodged a bullet if you ask me. She skipped the loathesome 1980s! 

 

10 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I wonder if aliens deliberately dropped their tech on Earth as a test to see what people would do with it. If they use it well they can show up for first contact? 

That would be fun, but we're unlikely to pass the test, given our track record with the tech we already have. Maybe they can show us the alien point of view on what fuck ups we are.

10 hours ago, UnknownK said:

Some of those alien parts must have ended up in deep ocean (it does cover most of the earth), massive deserts, hit the moon, or just kept going through the solar system.

It also begs the question of what happened to the aliens who were supposedly on the ship. Maybe the ship wasn't actually a crash. Maybe they were just disposing of it, by blowing it up into space. 

10 hours ago, UnknownK said:

I never could see a reason for aliens with the tech to jump through light years of space to come here other then to take over out planet and kill us all.

Sightseeing? Curiosity? Adventure? Intergalactic equivalent of anthropology? Missionaries? 

I take it you don't like to travel.

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

LOL! And I thought I was jaded from watching and reading too much scifi!

I mean... all y'all never heard of Star Trek?

5 hours ago, UnknownK said:

We will never get rid of money and inequality because that is what success in our culture values. Everything in our society is geared toward upgrading whatever you have and being called basic is a huge insult.

I think you might need new friends?
 

[mythoughtis]

18 hours ago, UnknownK said:

I never found shows like Star Trek where everybody has all their needs met with no money needed and they just hop into a starship and explore for the fun of it realistic. We will never get rid of money and inequality because that is what success in our culture values.

The later versions of Star Trek never once offered details  how they got rid of poverty, homelessness, addiction, developmental delays, dementia, war, criminals, etc.   

The realities  are that we aren’t ever going to reach the Star Trek Earth as a utopia because we aren’t born perfect mentally, physically, or emotionally. There will always be people that need extra help given beyond what they can provide in skills in return ( that statement does NOT mean their lives aren’t valuable or shouldn’t be honored).   There will always be people that can’t or won’t want to be part of a cog in what is basically socialism at its most finest.  We are too independent as a human species for that to actually happen planet wide. 
 

Debris is at least trying to show us as we are.  

Edited March 18, 2021 by mythoughtis

[Syme]

On 3/16/2021 at 5:48 PM, possibilities said:

No one wants to comment on how Bryan's guy at the CIA is making secret deals working with the Russians? And he's being caught on video doing it, and all Bryan has to say about it is "why does that guy keep showing up"?

A senior Agency official talking on his cell phone inside the SCIF??

Merely having a cellphone inside would grounds for his immediate dismissal & being escorted out of the building for the last time.

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, Syme said:

A senior Agency official talking on his cell phone inside the SCIF??

Merely having a cellphone inside would grounds for his immediate dismissal & being escorted out of the building for the last time.

Par for the Handwavium Course on TV.
On The Closer, Captain Raydor was able to whip out her cell phone in the County Jail lockup to notify Brenda that their snitch had been shanked. 
During the years one of my daughters worked in a jail, she had to leave her phone with the Properties Clerk in the morning and didn't see it again until evening because they weren't allowed to leave for lunch. So that scene with Raydor bugs me a lot.

[possibilities]

How did TV writers manageto concoct a narrative before cell phones? 

I was alive then, and I don't remember it being a problem, but I guess nowadays if someone doesn't have a cell phone to rely on, viewers would wonder why they didn't.

[tvfanatic13]

On 3/17/2021 at 3:42 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I liked Departure!  I think it was only 6 episodes.  I don't know if I could call it "great" though.  I don't know, I think I'm easy to please 😄

I looked this up and it's called "Reverie".

Aw, I really liked Reverie. Better than this show. 

[For Cereals]

On 3/17/2021 at 1:44 PM, UnknownK said:

 

I never found shows like Star Trek where everybody has all their needs met with no money needed and they just hop into a starship and explore for the fun of it realistic. We will never get rid of money and inequality because that is what success in our culture values. Everything in our society is geared toward upgrading whatever you have and being called basic is a huge insult.

But this is where the demonic/satanic aliens come in from Childhood’s End to move the Earth into the next phase...everyone is fed, there are no more wars, man is free to pursue everything except space.  The show was meh, I liked the book better.

[possibilities]

I read the book decades ago, so my impressions might be different now, but based on my recollections of it, I loved it, too. I didn't even know it was made into a show.