S01.E12: A Message from Ground Control

[ottoDbusdriver]

Episode Description:

Quote

As George grows closer to finding what he is after, the Debris that Orbital has collected begins a mysterious process.

 

 

[Melina22]

I'm really trying but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it through this one. Has Finola always had such a breathy voice? Gah. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

So, we never really found out what triggered the event -- it just kind of happened.  Or why it happened.
Or why the lab techs just stood and stared at those positions in the boardroom -- why there and why did they line up that way.

I'm even more curious where the ball of light went -- New Vertiform City ?? #STTNG

Does Ash have debris embedded in his torso, and that's what allowed him to teleport away after a jump start from the defibrillators ?
Those guards were so easily taken down by Ash it was laughable.

Orbital is weaponizing debris like INFLUX -- who didn't see that coming ? #sarcasm

[alvajon]

I thought I had a semi-grip on all (well most) of the ongoing plots, but this episode through me for a loop.  I don’t really want to go back and try to find what NU’s are, missed that.  Also I don’t get all the business with the Laghari plot--probably just me.  I did like the ball of light, though, and it was nice to see Bryan smile--everyone always so serious.  

[Melina22]

I never did finish watching this one. All the lame effects - flashing lights, cases that "move by themselves", ominous music, people walking around like robots - plus the ridiculous dialogue - "You have to reverse the polarity or the earth will be knocked off its axis!" "Okay." -  made me throw in the towel halfway through. That was just so, so bad. It's disappointing. It's Manifest all over again. 

 

 

 

 

[Jenniferbug]

I'm very confused about what the debris was trying to accomplish and why Bryan was so sure it would help people. 

I'm also confused how Influx knew George had found the piece at the end. Is he still working with them? 

I liked the callbacks to previous cases we've seen with some of the debris this episode. 

This show has set up a lot of plot, and I doubt it can all be answered in one episode. 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Melina22 said:

"You have to reverse the polarity or the earth will be knocked off its axis!" "Okay." -  made me throw in the towel halfway through. That was just so, so bad. It's disappointing

Aww, I thought they actually made--
   "You have to reverse the polarity or the earth will be knocked off its axis!"
--sound like a real thing.

 

[sempervivum]

4 hours ago, Melina22 said:

It's Manifest all over again. 

Oh, come now. Nothing is as bad as Manifest.

I did really like Johnathan Tucker's acting after he touched the (can't recall her name) woman in the chair. His eyes conveyed almost childlike wonder/innocence, so different from his normal suspicious squinty-ness.

I really, really don't trust Dr. Jones; and come on, him sitting there encased in tinfoil like a giant baked potato🙄!

[Melina22]

4 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Oh, come now. Nothing is as bad as Manifest

Okay, I'll give you that. This episode did give me some bad flashbacks though. 

4 hours ago, sempervivum said:

I really, really don't trust Dr. Jones; and come on, him sitting there encased in tinfoil like a giant baked potato🙄!

I don't mind him that much, despite the foil, but I do wish he'd cut his hair. But that's small (foil-wrapped) potatoes in the big scheme of things that drive me crazy about the show. 

Honestly, kudos to most of the actors on throwing all their heart and talent into some really awful lines. On the episodes where the plot, writing and effects are really good, their dedication pays off in some great moments for us viewers. This week, I just thought that I can't wait for the blooper reel. They must collapse laughing after some of the stuff they have to say and do. 

[redpencil]

7 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

I'm very confused about what the debris was trying to accomplish and why Bryan was so sure it would help people. 

I don't think we know what the debris was trying to accomplish (other than completing something that then created/turned into that ball of light). I wasn't sure if Bryan meant that what it was building would itself help people, or more that not letting it finish would kill people (at least the scientists or whoever that were currently under its control). But also I think when he connected with the manifestation of that woman, he knew/felt that the debris was interested in knowing why he cared about people, and he was reassured that whatever it was doing understood and honored that desire somehow? I think whatever the debris was doing was completely separate from whatever potentially nefarious purposes Maddox/Influx, whoever else have for the debris.

Edited May 18, 2021 by redpencil

[shapeshifter]

Bryan’s spacey smile looked to me as if he was not himself. 

[saber5055]

I spent this episode staring at the "helmets" Bryan and Finola were wearing. They weren't attached to the body suit in any way, they were just put over the head, bottoms open. The one guy got all infected from a slit in his suit's seam, yet Bryan and Finola can walk around breathing air coming in through the bottoms of their un-attached head pieces and they are just fine. Alrighty then.

Yeah, Bryan at the end being all shiny and bright eyed and happy and grinning ... that wasn't the Bryan we know.

Not sure how tin foil protects someone when it's worn like a robe, all open in front. But then, I'm no scientist.

[mythoughtis]

10 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Oh, come now. Nothing is as bad as Manifest

The last two seasons of Lost.  Which I watched just like I’m watching this AND Manifest. 

 

13 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

 

I'm very confused about what the debris was trying to accomplish and why Bryan was so sure it would help people. 

 

I think it’s phoning home.  Mother ship will be arriving to search for Its missing child soon. 

Edited May 19, 2021 by mythoughtis

[alvajon]

17 hours ago, Melina22 said:

I never did finish watching this one. All the lame effects - flashing lights, cases that "move by themselves", ominous music, people walking around like robots - plus the ridiculous dialogue - "You have to reverse the polarity or the earth will be knocked off its axis!" "Okay." -  made me throw in the towel halfway through. That was just so, so bad. It's disappointing. It's Manifest all over again. 

 

 

 

 

Or Under the Dome--talk about lame...

[alvajon]

We are all gluttons for punishment--Debris, Manifest, Lost, Under the Dome, Fringe.  Debris is my favorite, though.

[Tachi Rocinante]

20 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Oh, come now. Nothing is as bad as Manifest.

Under the Dome season 2

20 hours ago, sempervivum said:

I did really like Johnathan Tucker's acting after he touched the (can't recall her name) woman in the chair. His eyes conveyed almost childlike wonder/innocence, so different from his normal suspicious squinty-ness.

Yes; that was rather noticeable and a good job by Mr. Tucker.

What happened to Garcia??

[Jenniferbug]

Does anyone else wonder where the aliens are? Was the spaceship completely unmanned, like some sort of drone? Maybe we've seen them already- the British agent guy we've only seen a couple of times seems like a likely candidate. Just seems odd that none of them seem at all concerned about any sort of alien lifeforms that may have abandoned ship and landed on earth. 

[Melina22]

8 hours ago, alvajon said:

Or Under the Dome--talk about lame

I had read the book, so was expecting something resembling an actual plot. That show made Lost look like Shakespeare. 

[MyArchangel]

On 5/18/2021 at 5:51 AM, Jenniferbug said:

I'm very confused about what the debris was trying to accomplish and why Bryan was so sure it would help people. 

I'm also confused how Influx knew George had found the piece at the end. Is he still working with them? 

I liked the callbacks to previous cases we've seen with some of the debris this episode. 

This show has set up a lot of plot, and I doubt it can all be answered in one episode. 

When Ash got into the car the driver stated that “Otto says George located the piece of debris”. Ash replied “the mans a genius”.  While George keeps wrapping himself in aluminum foil maybe that acts as a transmitter for his location instead of shielding him. I’m not convinced especially by Maddox’s statement to Finola about “men like your father are like pieces of debris themselves. When they are in the right hands they can do tremendous good, when they are in the wrong hands they are dangerous”, that George either is the head of INFLUX and therefore that was why Maddox wanted him dead OR while working for INFLUX after they “reanimated” him, he owes allegiance to them. 

At least that is the way I’m thinking it’s going.

 

[AnimeMania]

On 5/18/2021 at 8:51 AM, Jenniferbug said:

I'm also confused how Influx knew George had found the piece at the end. Is he still working with them? 

When they brought George back to life, they seem to have done something to his eye. Maybe they replaced it with a camera.

[jrzy]

On 5/18/2021 at 7:51 AM, Jenniferbug said:

I'm very confused about what the debris was trying to accomplish and why Bryan was so sure it would help people. 

I'm also confused how Influx knew George had found the piece at the end. Is he still working with them? 

I liked the callbacks to previous cases we've seen with some of the debris this episode. 

This show has set up a lot of plot, and I doubt it can all be answered in one episode. 

I am just completely confused by all of it!  The only reason I am still watching is the faint hope that some of it will be explained some day.  

[shapeshifter]

23 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

On 5/18/2021 at 8:51 AM, Jenniferbug said:

I'm very confused about what the debris was trying to accomplish and why Bryan was so sure it would help people. 

I think it’s phoning home.  Mother ship will be arriving to search for Its missing child soon. 

12 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

Does anyone else wonder where the aliens are?

I've been assuming the extraterrestrials all died in the disintegration of the ship that spawned the debris shower, and that now the Debris is sort of like Hal from 2001 Space Odyssey. Anyone else?

 

 

 

[mythoughtis]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I've been assuming the extraterrestrials all died in the disintegration of the ship that spawned the debris shower, and that now the Debris is sort of like Hal from 2001 Space Odyssey. Anyone else?

 

 

 

I agree.  However I still think l that ball of light is a communications device to tell the rest of the alien fleet where the ship landed.  Of course, it didn’t actually land and no alien is alive ....On the other hand, maybe the ships parts ( the debris) is like the evolution of the Borg collective and biological material is no longer needed? 
 

who or what actually assembled all the bits of debris into the ball of light? 

Edited May 20, 2021 by mythoughtis

[shapeshifter]

26 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

who or what actually assembled all the bits of debris into the ball of light? 

I assumed the ball was assembled by a failsafe-type program   
—again, in the model of 2001’s Hal.  
But this is just my speculation.  
And my preference because fictional extraterrestrials tend to be disappointingly either too humanoid or too cartoony.  
ET was probably the exception. 

[Jenniferbug]

I don't necessarily WANT aliens on the show, I just think it's a bit odd that we haven't seen a single conversation between characters referencing the possibility. But I guess they've had their hands full worrying about the debris. Maybe some other unit has been tasked with worrying about alien life 🤷‍♀️

[tennisgurl]

Whenever in a science fiction style situation, reversing the polarity is always a good call. Its like turning a steering wheel around, but with...polarity. I am also not quite sure what tinfoil jackets are supposed to do for you, but I've never reversed a single bit of polarity so what do I know. 

This episode was alright, the atmosphere was a bit creepy and I am interested in whatever is going on with Bryan, but I was pretty confused by what was actually going on. I guess that was the point? Hopefully we get some answers, because I am interested in what's going on, but I am concerned that we either wont get answers, or the answers we get will be really lame. 

Finola has gotten a lot better, but her whispery voice just drives me nuts. This isn't a library, your allowed to speak at a normal volume. 

[AnimeMania]

Maybe the ball of light was a distress beacon.

[tennisgurl]

4 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Maybe the ball of light was a distress beacon.

We've all been assuming that the aliens dropped the debris by accident or this was something to do with us, like they would judge humans reactions to the debris as a prelude to a first contact or an invasion, but what if this is about them? Is this a strange alien way to ask for help? They're aliens, they might communicate in a way that makes no sense to us, and this was all they could think to do, or they can only send us things from some dimension or something?

[saber5055]

4 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Maybe the ball of light was a distress beacon.

For viewers!

What was up with Ash's x-rays/MRIs. What's missing in there? So is he an alien?

Another thought ... the debris isn't from outer space, it's from another country to screw with the United States. It originated in some obscure Pacific Island that can't be located on a map.

Hey, that's no stranger/weirder than any other idea. I guess. Sort of. Maybe ...

[shapeshifter]

16 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

It originated in some obscure Pacific Island that can't be located on a map.

Near Penny's boat?

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Near Penny's boat?

LOL! How hilarious would it be if the debris was wreckage from Oceanic Flight 815.

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

LOL! How hilarious would it be if the debris was wreckage from Oceanic Flight 815.

Yeah, but just kidding. I think Flight 828 from Manifest is fictionally descended from Oceanic 815, but the Debris ship seems more like Hal or maybe the Stargate franchise replicators. 

[tvfanatic13]

On 5/19/2021 at 12:32 AM, alvajon said:

We are all gluttons for punishment--Debris, Manifest, Lost, Under the Dome, Fringe.  Debris is my favorite, though.

Now, now. Fringe was amazing. Lost was amazing the first few seasons. The others.....

[Enigma X]

For me in their worst episode/season both Lost and Fringe rises above both Manifest and Debris (and the rest).

[shapeshifter]

14 hours ago, Enigma X said:

For me in their worst episode/season both Lost and Fringe rises above both Manifest and Debris (and the rest).

This is mostly a rhetorical question, but: Did Fringe have a bad episode or season? 
OTOH, I can recall some of the Lost scenes and episodes that I hate-watched. 
But I had no trouble quitting Under The Dome.

I think I’m hate-watching Manifest, if I’m being honest with myself.

So, at this point, I’d say Debri’s best episodes are like Lost (and X-Files) when it was good, but that Debris has not been as bad as Under The Dome.

Anyway, back to this episode:   
I am always taken out of a scene when actors wear space or underwater headgear that has lights to show the actors’ faces. 
But this time I went a mental step further and wondered if they wrote the scene with the head and face coverings with COVID in mind —a way to allow extras. Then I found myself forgiving of the internally lit face shields and went back to a place of suspension of disbelief.

One more thing: I find George in his aluminum foil blanket to be adorable in a Fringe Walter (not Walternate) kind of way —a little like Santa Claus too.

Edited May 22, 2021 by shapeshifter

[Nialla]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I am always taken out of a scene when actors wear space or underwater headgear that has lights to show the actors’ faces. 

But this time I went a mental step further and wondered if they wrote the scene with the head and face coverings with COVID in mind —a way to allow extras. Then I found myself forgiving of the internally lit face shields and went back to a place of suspension of disbelief.

The gear lighting up their faces really throws me out of a scene if it's otherwise dark lighting. It would be like having a flashlight shining in their face, which means they wouldn't be able to see much, if anything.

I've been noticing stuff that was probably a COVID adaptation in several shows, even those who aren't acknowledging it in the show itself. If it's something to help keep the actors safer, I'm all for it, even if it might not quite work in the plot.

[Terrafamilia]

Per the End Credits thread the credits for this episode mention a "telesphere." Can we assume the ball of light is this telesphere?

So Ash had a bunch of Debris chips implanted in him? They must have been implanted without leaving lots of scars or you'd think someone would have investigated better when he was first being processed for incarceration. Maybe George has a Debris based tracking device/bug implanted in him and that's why they know what he's been up to. That is, unless he's been working with Influx willingly all along. If that is the case I do hope we find out next week that Garcia isn't dead and that's why he "loaned" George his phone and van.

[marinw]

I have been watching this show, this is my first comment. I usually LOVE X-Files/Fringe type shows but this is leaving me cold. George is like Walter Bishop, but boring.

[salaydouk]

On 5/21/2021 at 11:05 PM, shapeshifter said:

This is mostly a rhetorical question, but: Did Fringe have a bad episode or season? 

I know you said rhetorical... but I can't help it.. While I LOVED Fringe it did have a few stinkers... imo :)   In no particular order... Brown Betty( though I liked the bit of Ella pestering Walter), Unearthed, No Brainer, and the Animated Episode - could not stand that one but I think I might be in the minority there. 

Anyone notice that the "ball of light"  looked an awful a lot like the image( yellow ball of light) the Influx agent was looking at/working with a few episodes earlier("Spaceman")?   Wonder if the object that Ash is looking for is the "ball of light" and what they had George build was to track it once it was built?  Which makes you wonder how did Ash know the "ball of light" had been generated so he can perform his jail break?