S03.E11: Duty Free

[ottoDbusdriver]

Episode Description:

Quote

The consequences of Ben’s actions tests his marriage and sends Grace reeling. Michaela makes a difficult decision regarding Saanvi’s secret. Cal, following his intuition, provides secret refuge to an outcast.

Air Date: Thursday June 3, 2021 at 8pm

[Arkay]

I really have an issue with whichever writer decided to insert the term “lifeboat.” Too many times, writer! 
 

This show. I try, but I find I’m not enjoying it. It’s just too ridiculous by now. 

[shapeshifter]

Well, that's one way to get rid of Grace's restaurant that was never going to appear on screen anyway. 

[jabRI]

And great idea Cal to let your Jesus Freak passenger know how to get into the house so she can kidnap your sister.  Sorry, this is not anti-religion, just a reflection to how the actress is directed to play her part.

Edited June 4, 2021 by jabRI

[CCTC]

All I ask is that Cal discovers he really misjudged Angelina and really messed things up and that he is not really a Moses like figure.  

46 minutes ago, jabRI said:

And great idea Cal to let your Jesus Freak passenger know how to get into the house so she can kidnap your sister.  Sorry, this is not anti-religion, just a reflection to how the actress is directed to play her part.

I got home late so only caught the last 15 to 20 minutes, but the little I saw of her it seemed like they were playing it that she really was a bit of an apple not that far off of her parents religious fanatics' tree.  I don't think that is anti-religious, just an example of characters misusing religion or simply seeing what they want to see and using religion as an excuse for their behavior.    We will see if I have a different analysis when I catch the rest of the episode on Hulu. 

Angelina is a bit odd in that she comes off more like she is Cal's age than a peer of Olive.   It would make sense that she is a bit stunted emotionally due to how her parents treated her, but that might be giving the writers too much credit.

Again, all I ask is that Cal not truly be Moses Jr.   Maybe he could be Jacob or one of the non-Joseph sons.  They made a lot of bad decisions.

[shapeshifter]

I guess there will be some reveal in the finale double episode as to why they dubbed Baby Eden calling Angelina “Mama” in this episode? Or was that not as obvious to those who don’t watch with captions on?

[jabRI]

No, I caught the 'mama' reference too.  Another 'justification' for homeless Angelina to kidnap her.

[tennisgurl]

Angela clearly needs professional help, the girl is not right in the head. Cal is just asking for his sister to get kidnapped and almost set on fire again. 

I would say that we should turn the overuse of the word "lifeboat" into a drinking game, but if we took a drink every time someone said lifeboat we might end up in comas. This show has always been pretty ridiculous, but now its just getting even more out there. 

I do feel for Ben, he is just trying so hard to appease these stupid Callings but is constantly getting shit from every direction. Not he has the government officially after him as well as the passengers apparently deciding to follow some asshole who is one half smug philosophy major and one half frothing at the mouth weirdo. Ben doesn't make the best choices, but I would still pick him over shaggy hair any day of the week. 

[chlban]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I guess there will be some reveal in the finale double episode as to why they dubbed Baby Eden calling Angelina “Mama” in this episode? Or was that not as obvious to those who don’t watch with captions on?

I didn't catch it.

[CCTC]

Was the "mama" clearly dubbed?  Otherwise, it could have simply been the baby having an unscripted moment.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, CCTC said:

Was the "mama" clearly dubbed?  Otherwise, it could have simply been the baby having an unscripted moment.

I just checked (on Hulu from about the 13 and a half minute mark for about a minute) and actually it is the baby actor vocalizing "Mama," but those shots are spliced into the shots with the Angelina actor holding the baby. The baby doesn't say "mama" with both of them in the shot. 
So, I was mistaken to say it was dubbed. I just assumed because I've seen a lot of that lately on another show with toddlers. 

So, to me those still seem like Chekovian Mamas. 

[SoMuchTV]

No matter how they accomplished it technically, I came away with the distinct impression that the baby was saying "mama" to Angelina (Angela? I've already forgotten the name :) )

 

[JayDub1987]

Quite possibly my least favorite episode of the season. I assume it was to set stuff up for next year, but that felt like a total snooze fest to me.

[willco]

I agree with everyone that the show is getting very ridiculous at this point. I keep telling myself that it's still not as bad as "Under the Dome" got ( boy, was 'that' bad ! I should have made better use of the time I spent watching that to end doing something useful, like drying the sidewalk with paper towels :). 

I do think that the 828 passengers are from a parallel world or something. I've always thought that the effect of the plane going thru the word "Manifest" at the start of the show was a clue that the passengers crashed thru to this dimension, maybe. Then again, that may be giving the writers too much credit !

 

[mythoughtis]

Ok, I get how Saanvi figured out the tail fin issue… but how did Cal and Angelina? They have no idea what was causing the earthquakes or that testing had begun on the tail fin.  Nothing in their calling gave them any clues. 

Exactly why is Angelina supposed to be there again?  To quote scripture to Cal?  To send him unto the lions den on his own?   Exactly how does that protect him as she said she was supposed to? 

This show needs to decide if it’s a paranormal show or if it’s a government conspiracy show or if it is a turf war between passengers show.   
 

 

[CCTC]

I finally watched the full episode.  The "mama" sure seemed like it was scripted, especially with Angelina's reaction to it.  

I do like Michaela and Jared's boss.

It seems odd that Olive has been completely missing from 2 episodes, but who knows what weird scheduling quirks they had with trying to work around COVID.  

I know the acting does not generally get praised her, but I think the actress playing Michela has improved since season 1.

I thought Eagan was genuinely creepy in his scene with Michaela.  

The only thing that really bugged me about the episode is how heavy handed the judge was.  Usually when a judge is giving someone a bad ruling for shady reasons, they don't explicitly say that in the hearing they justify their ruling by trying to fold it into some on the surface valid reasoning -- not say -- I am doing it because I am going after a specific group of people.  It would have been better if she seemed a little nervous and maybe even a little guilty when she gave the ruling and then a little defensive when challenged but not flat out said there was going to be a crackdown against the passengers.  Then they could have put two and two together that there was something bigger against the 828ers when the police captain filled in some of the blanks.

[KaveDweller]

48 minutes ago, CCTC said:

It seems odd that Olive has been completely missing from 2 episodes, but who knows what weird scheduling quirks they had with trying to work around COVID.  

I have noticed that often either Olive or Cal is in an episode, but not both of them. It is like they alternate them to lower costs or something. Plus, the plot drove it this week. She would have shut down Cal letting Angelina in the house. Angelina is getting crazier in every episode. I thought in the scene she was holding Eden, Eden was looking at her like she was not happy to be in those arms. But then they threw in the "mama," which probably says more about Grace not being around than Angelina.

I feel like Ben could appeal any decision that that judge makes. She admitted to being biased against 828ers. Ben was totally crazy in the last two episodes, but $500K for bail was a bit over the top. 

I think Michaela made the right call quitting. They were looking for a way to get rid of her and her boss was not going to be able to stop them. 

[alvajon]

On 6/3/2021 at 7:20 PM, Arkay said:

I really have an issue with whichever writer decided to insert the term “lifeboat.” Too many times, writer! 

I'm going to count all the “lifeboats” during the two-hour season finale...

[alvajon]

Was Cal the only one who had physical burns? Even so, you know it would be painful to even have a shirt or jacket on, much less no treatment.  

[Camera One]

I did not enjoy this episode.  Every character was annoying as hell.

Grace and Ben were very busy giving themselves whiplash with the flip-flopping... Ben promising to calm down, and then Ben going stir-crazy over the Callings again, and then Grace telling him coldly he needed to stop, and then Grace declaring he should "risk everything!!!".  

I guess that was needed, so no one would notice there was an extra psycho in the house.  How did Angelina use the washroom?  Meanwhile, Cal was idiotically listening to her "I'm Aaron and You're Moses!" nonsense.  Did he really need her to remind him he had a sketchpad of foreshadowing?

Then they had a formerly awesome character Vance once again mindlessly clinging to whatever the government was telling him to do.  Why was he so careless being seen?  

Meanwhile, Saanvi could have done more to stop the tail fin testing if she were still at Eureka and if she hadn't admitted destroying the driftwood to Vance.  It wasn't like Saanvi was trapped at Eureka.  She could have given Ben and Michaela secret info on the side.

And then Michaela stupidly "cut ties with all her resources" (her words) because she felt not "valued" by her boss, whose hands were totally tied and was genuinely trying to help her.  I wonder where Zeke was.  Did they cut a scintillating scene where he was cooking lunch for Beverly or something?

I seriously thought Cal was going to do something smart, given all that suspense.  But nope, his big "plan" was to stand at the gate and ask politely to see the tail fin.  I anticipate very bad things are going to happen to Dr. Gupta when she inevitably tries to run "tests" on Cal The Chosen One.

And oh yeah, and thanks, Calling, for not saving the passenger from being executed in Singapore.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Camera One

[shapeshifter]

Too bad they didn’t have Cal somehow become secretly as mature as—   
well, as mature as a really mature adult not seen on this show anymore. 
But that would require a different caliber of child actor.

 

 

3 hours ago, CCTC said:

The only thing that really bugged me about the episode is how heavy handed the judge was.  Usually when a judge is giving someone a bad ruling for shady reasons, they don't explicitly say that in the hearing they justify their ruling by trying to fold it into some on the surface valid reasoning -- not say -- I am doing it because I am going after a specific group of people.  It would have been better if she seemed a little nervous and maybe even a little guilty when she gave the ruling and then a little defensive when challenged but not flat out said there was going to be a crackdown against the passengers.  Then they could have put two and two together that there was something bigger against the 828ers when the police captain filled in some of the blanks

I assumed the writer of the judge’s lines was trying to make it look like the overall situation had become a version of Nazi Germany or the internment of Japanese Americans or some other state-sanctioned oppression of a group. 

 

 

 

[Camera One]

I don't get how a coordinated "global" clampdown would work.  It also happened completely overnight, the same night Ben got thrown in jail.  

3 hours ago, CCTC said:

The only thing that really bugged me about the episode is how heavy handed the judge was.  Usually when a judge is giving someone a bad ruling for shady reasons, they don't explicitly say that in the hearing they justify their ruling by trying to fold it into some on the surface valid reasoning -- not say -- I am doing it because I am going after a specific group of people.  It would have been better if she seemed a little nervous and maybe even a little guilty when she gave the ruling and then a little defensive when challenged but not flat out said there was going to be a crackdown against the passengers.  Then they could have put two and two together that there was something bigger against the 828ers when the police captain filled in some of the blanks.

Yes, it really sounded like that judge truly hated the 828-ters and had a personal grudge against them.  If she had simply been given directives from the higher-ups to "go hard" on the passengers, she wouldn't have acted like that.

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 6/4/2021 at 11:58 AM, tennisgurl said:

I would say that we should turn the overuse of the word "lifeboat" into a drinking game, but if we took a drink every time someone said lifeboat we might end up in comas. This show has always been pretty ridiculous, but now its just getting even more out there. 

Just waking up from my coma now -- it's actually worse if you not only include the word lifeboat but nautical related terms like sunk, etc.   This episode was even dumber than the previous episode -- which does not bode well for the 2 hour season finale next week.

The latest calling was really bad, cheaply made CGI -- let's shine a bright orange light up from under the shot accompanied by really bad acting, followed by some really shitty CGI flames, and then followed by Cal's sunburn.  Followed by Cal's determination that the sunburn means he has to touch the tailfin.  FFS !!

I'm just glad that Cal didn't draw a picture of 3 shadows lurking over the tailfin -- because that would have mean the 3 meth heads were going to be back, and we have had quite enough of those guys over 2 seasons.

Not only was Olive missing for another episode (I guess she was still staying with Levi, and probably means she hasn't told TJ that she has dumped him by now) but Zeke was missing as well.  And Jared's new girlfriend wasn't even mentioned.

Can Angelina just go away ?  She adds nothing to this show.  And no, she isn't Robin to Cal's Batman Aaron to Cal's Moses. But yeah, that mama reference is going to come back now that Angelina knows how to get into the Stone house (thanks Cal).  And for sure she's going to steal Eden at some point.

The actor playing Cal needs to learn how to pronounce words clearly, or loop them in post -- I didn't have the closed captioning on, but there were a couple of times where I had rewind to figure out what the hell he said.

Are they ever going to address the bright light outside the plane that Cal saw when 828 originally disappeared ? 
My money is leaning towards no.  As it has been completely forgotten by the writers.

So glad that the restaurant has been abandoned -- what ever happened to Grace's catering business ? 

What the hell is Ben doing for money now that he is on house arrest ?  What the hell will Michaela and Zeke do for money now that Michaela doesn't have a job and Zeke is taking care of Beverly ?  And who's going to hire an 828er now that they being rounded up ?  Michaela better start looking for a new gig and soon.  And cancel any travel plans to Singapore.

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by ottoDbusdriver

[jabRI]

48 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

What the hell is Ben doing for money now that he is on house arrest ?  What the hell will Michaela and Zeke do for money now that Michaela doesn't have a job and Zeke is taking care of Beverly ?  And who's going to hire an 828er now that they being rounded up ?  Michaela better start looking for a new gig and soon.  And cancel any travel plans to Singapore.

I've been saying this for ages.  How is Zeke not working, he's an able bodied person.. is he just Beverly's caretaker? kind of ridiculous if you ask me.  The writing was just horrible this episode, so much scripture spouting and otherwise nonsense shouting. was just really difficult to wathc.

[MattCW]

I can somewhat forgive this season for its quirks, it's definitely a weak season of the show. I have a feeling that a lot of the issues with dialog, characters being missing, etc. have to do with the corona protocols. For one, when this season was being filmed, I don't believe any vaccines were approved for people under 16, and many states were limiting the ages and groups available until more recently. Plus, with the primary filming being in New York, that state, and the city is particularly strict about corona protocols, in addition to Hollywood being particularly strict. It's quite possible that characters not appearing are due to them being exposed, or being asymptomatic but positive. I believe I read that shows are testing everyone at least once per day and a positive test is a positive test until the next time, and I think they still require multiple negative tests until the actor can film again after even just a single positive. So I can believe that some of the issues are from that, and quick rewrites because halfway through filming an episode, for example Luna Blaise tests positive, but she was with Matt Long yesterday so he's out too. Do other shows have the same issue? Sure, but the shows that I was watching like Blue Bloods and MacGyver, and even what little I've seen of NCIS and SVU, have all been together for longer than three years, some of them much longer.

If you pay attention, it also seems like they tend to keep groups together. While before, you could have multiple plot lines with crossover between them, now they do try to keep them fairly separate. I've noticed the same thing in the recent Blue Bloods season and in MacGyver (RIP). So Ben, Grace, and Cal will all be sharing scenes throughout an episode, but in the next episode, there's a Cal, Olive, Angelina group. If they do crossover, it's done in such a way that leads me to think they could be shooting them discontinuously. I'd have to rewatch, but the scene that really makes me think that is Saanvi and Vance. I don't recall any scenes where they were truly together. They can create the appearance of such by filming her, then him, then back to her, and let the audio bleed over to create the appearance of continuity. Not speaking to the other person in the room can easily lead to unrealistic reactions to dialog even when both are using the same script.

[Camera One]

The story sort of needed Olive to be MIA these last two episodes, so Angelina would get the opportunity to set the house on fire and lead Cal down the garden path.

And having Zeke beat his death date basically took any urgency out of his storyline.

I just hope this episode marks the end of Saanvi the walking zombie.  

[jabRI]

Why would this be the end of Saanvi? (agreeing with the zombie comment though) since she was not arrested, she's hanging with Ben and Michaela.  The observation about the safety pods may be correct, but for me the writing is so awful.  I like Vance, when he said something to the effect of 'of course we are going to be studying you'.  You don't come back after 5 years and expect 'nothing to see here folks' kind of welcome.  Why do they need to destroy the tail fin, I don't get that?  Was this how they interpret the burning calling?

[alvajon]

6 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Just waking up from my coma now -- it's actually worse if you not only include the word lifeboat but nautical related terms like sunk, etc.   This episode was even dumber than the previous episode -- which does not bode well for the 2 hour season finale next week.

The latest calling was really bad, cheaply made CGI -- let's shine a bright orange light up from under the shot accompanied by really bad acting, followed by some really shitty CGI flames, and then followed by Cal's sunburn.  Followed by Cal's determination that the sunburn means he has to touch the tailfin.  FFS !!

I'm just glad that Cal didn't draw a picture of 3 shadows lurking over the tailfin -- because that would have mean the 3 meth heads were going to be back, and we have had quite enough of those guys over 2 seasons.

Not only was Olive missing for another episode (I guess she was still staying with Levi, and probably means she hasn't told TJ that she has dumped him by now) but Zeke was missing as well.  And Jared's new girlfriend wasn't even mentioned.

Can Angelina just go away ?  She adds nothing to this show.  And no, she isn't Robin to Cal's Batman Aaron to Cal's Moses. But yeah, that mama reference is going to come back now that Angelina knows how to get into the Stone house (thanks Cal).  And for sure she's going to steal Eden at some point.

The actor playing Cal needs to learn how to pronounce words clearly, or loop them in post -- I didn't have the closed captioning on, but there were a couple of times where I had rewind to figure out what the hell he said.

Are they ever going to address the bright light outside the plane that Cal saw when 828 originally disappeared ? 
My money is leaning towards no.  As it has been completely forgotten by the writers.

So glad that the restaurant has been abandoned -- what ever happened to Grace's catering business ? 

What the hell is Ben doing for money now that he is on house arrest ?  What the hell will Michaela and Zeke do for money now that Michaela doesn't have a job and Zeke is taking care of Beverly ?  And who's going to hire an 828er now that they being rounded up ?  Michaela better start looking for a new gig and soon.  And cancel any travel plans to Singapore.

 

Well said OTTODBUSDRIVER (are you really a bus driver?)--All good points.  How many folks can get a half-million dollar refinance on their house in a matter of hours, and like, you say, with no income; how are they going to make those increased house payments?? (I think about stuff like that...)

And my other beef--so Ben and Grace are okay withs their teen daughter living with/staying with Levi? Not in my house.

[Camera One]

2 hours ago, jabRI said:

Why would this be the end of Saanvi? (agreeing with the zombie comment though) since she was not arrested, she's hanging with Ben and Michaela.  

I was being unclear.  I meant the end of Saanvi the Zombie, and the return of Saanvi the team player who's not constantly feeling guilty about killing the Major.

[shapeshifter]

Looking at the transcript for this episode online:

• Lifeboat used 15 times
• Calling used 30 times

[KaveDweller]

2 hours ago, jabRI said:

I like Vance, when he said something to the effect of 'of course we are going to be studying you'.  You don't come back after 5 years and expect 'nothing to see here folks' kind of welcome.  Why do they need to destroy the tail fin, I don't get that?  Was this how they interpret the burning calling?

If I came back after 5 years, I think I'd want myself studied. Probably not by the NSA, but I'd want someone looking into what happened to me and if I was okay.

12 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Looking at the transcript for this episode online:

• Lifeboat used 15 times
• Calling used 30 times

The shows about 40 minutes without commercials, right? That's almost one use of "Calling" every minute. WAY to many for any word.

[snarktini]

On 6/5/2021 at 5:16 AM, icemiser69 said:

Grace changed her tune after she had talked with Michaela.   I have no problem with Grace backing off, but in general, emotions don't quickly change like that.  After a few hours? Sure, but not immediately.

Right. And as Michaela was explaining "you just have to get through 3 more years" I thought...is this supposed to be a pep talk? That's 4-5 years total of this hellscape considering the time they're already into this. It's a lot to ask. (However, even if she bailed she's still got an 828 kid. She can't actually get away from it.)

On 6/4/2021 at 1:42 PM, JayDub1987 said:

Quite possibly my least favorite episode of the season. I assume it was to set stuff up for next year, but that felt like a total snooze fest to me.

It really was awful. Somehow both boring and manic. The show's been "bad TV" all along but I've been willing to see it through. This time I thought maybe I can't do this anymore. Knowing there's two more hours, I'll keep going but that's probably it.

[IndiaCat]

On 6/5/2021 at 6:41 PM, alvajon said:

Well said OTTODBUSDRIVER (are you really a bus driver?)--All good points.  How many folks can get a half-million dollar refinance on their house in a matter of hours, and like, you say, with no income; how are they going to make those increased house payments?? (I think about stuff like that...)

To be fair, in most states, $500K bail would only require $50K cash to a bail/bond company. That still doesn’t explain how the bills get paid when no one seems to have a job.

[jabRI]

Yeah, with Ben on house arrest I assume he won't be teaching? Not that we saw him do much of that.  I'm sorry, but all this time in his garage is making him look like a conspiracy theorist.  And I'm beyond tired of the Cal/Angelina show.  Move on, you wanted her a part of the family but she's a psycho.

[SoMuchTV]

9 hours ago, jabRI said:

Yeah, with Ben on house arrest I assume he won't be teaching?

Yeah, I guess the one thing that didn’t happen in Ben’s universe was a global pandemic that made it possible for anyone to do anything without leaving their home. Sucks for you, Ben. 

[Camera One]

4 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Yeah, I guess the one thing that didn’t happen in Ben’s universe was a global pandemic that made it possible for anyone to do anything without leaving their home. Sucks for you, Ben. 

Ben: "Sorry class, I got arrested so we'll be doing this lecture online.  Now if we think about the Pythagoras theorem as describing the dimensions of a triangular lifeboat then "a squared"must be the average number of peacock feathers in a male bird and if we don't figure out what "b squared" represents WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!  That's it for today.   Please see the Egyptian papyrus I've scanned to decipher your next assignment."

Edited June 8, 2021 by Camera One

[cameron]

Still think that the actor who plays Cal is creepy.

[Babalu]

On 6/3/2021 at 10:20 PM, Arkay said:

I really have an issue with whichever writer decided to insert the term “lifeboat.” Too many times, writer! 
 

This show. I try, but I find I’m not enjoying it. It’s just too ridiculous by now. 

I couldn’t agree more. Ever since Ben, then everyone else, started saying Lifeboat (*), each episode has been exponentially worse than the last. 
 

(*) Closed captioning always capitalizes “lifeboat.” Because it’s such an Important Concept, doncha know.