Panic - General Discussion

[paulvdb]

New series premiered today on Amazon.

  Quote

Panic is a new Amazon Prime Video one-hour drama series, written and created by Lauren Oliver (based on her bestselling novel). It takes place in a small Texas town, where every summer the graduating seniors compete in a series of challenges, winner takes all, which they believe is their one and only chance to escape their circumstances and make their lives better. But this year, the rules have changed - the pot of money is larger than ever and the game has become even more dangerous. The players will come face to face with their deepest, darkest fears and be forced to decide how much they are willing to risk in order to win.

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Trailer:

 

[LittleIggy]

I’ve watched the first four episodes, so I’m all in. I’m curious as to what others think about it.

[mjc570]

I've seen the first 3, like it so far.  More than I thought I would, actually.  

[LittleIggy]

One thing I don’t get is the voiceover in the first episode saying something like the challenges weren’t deadly as long as you didn’t panic. Um, going across an interstate at night blindfolded is definitely deadly! 😬

[calliope1975]

I'm starting episode 3. Who knew dramatic Fear Factor would be this entertaining? Not sure what it is but the actors, characters, and plot question marks are all working well so far. 

[LittleIggy]

I finished bingeing the series and enjoyed it. Nothing profound, just an entertaining if sometimes confusing mystery. I was reminded of Friday Night Lights because of the all the beer and booze those teens had ready access to. Sheriff Cortez wasn’t very concerned about underage drinking. 😆

[weightyghost]

Finished today. I thought it was fine - entertaining enough, happy where it all ended up.

There were a few questions I had throughout, like how does a small town that had a tradition of this game for however long not have a single cop on the police force young enough to know exactly what is going on? It's not like the game just popped up 3 years ago (maybe it did but it's also terribly convoluted for it to only be 3 years old) 

Also, spoiler/question for around ep 4/5 or so:

  Reveal spoiler

Bishop was a judge... but how did Heather find out about that? It was revealed to us and then shortly thereafter she knows. Did I miss a part where she was told? 

Also really, two judges just happen to be Heather's best friends? Convenient. 

and spoiler for the last two episodes

  Reveal spoiler

wooooooooof that CGI tiger 

 

[LittleIggy]

  Reveal spoiler

Why exactly did Jimmy, the Sheriff’s son, kill himself? Grief over his girlfriend’s death? Disgust at what his dad was doing? It was unclear to me.

 

^Question I had. 

Edited May 30, 2021 by LittleIggy

[bilgistic]

I just started this last night and I really can't deal with the preposterous casting of Ray aka the Dylan McKay of Panic. The actor is 29 and looks every bit of it. Did the character fail 11 years of school somewhere along the line? He's mad, bad and dangerous to know!

The female cop plays Kate's therapist in Cruel Summer, and yes, I'm in my 40s and watching two shows about "teenagers".

Edited May 30, 2021 by bilgistic

[Andromeda]

  On 5/30/2021 at 8:13 PM, bilgistic said:

I just started this last night and I really can't deal with the preposterous casting of Ray aka the Dylan McKay of Panic. The actor is 29 and looks every bit of it. Did the character fail 11 years of school somewhere along the line? He's mad, bad and dangerous to know!

The female cop plays Kate's therapist in Cruel Summer, and yes, I'm in my 40s and watching two shows about "teenagers".

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I know!! He has crinkles around his eyes.  I thought he was a town lowlife who hung with kids at first, not one of them.

Mindless entertainment with huge plotholes. Such as why the cops don't stake out the granary once the female cop figured out the location.

How cops can't see or hear huge, loud, well-lit parties in a small town with limited venues. 

And why teens equipped with smartphones don't use them to navigate out of a cornfield to a house. 

And why Main Girl didn't explore the underground shelter immediately instead of banging on the closed cover.

And why Main Girl didn't keep her money in a bank, when she says later she has $17 in her account, and she plans to become an accountant. Just a plot device so Mom can steal it. Or does she think the registrar's office accepts cash?

Why does no one seem to know who the New Guy is when he's been there for a year? As a classmate? In a small school? For a full year? And why does he look like he's 29? Oh, because he is.

Finally, the town looks too nice to be a dead-end crap/carp town. Even the mobile home park is neat and tidy. Main Girl's mom still does housework. There are pretty lights in town and busy open businesses, not a half‐boarded up Main Street. The motor lodge is clean, neat and modern, not a crappy Notell Motel. Where's the meth house? I just don't see rundown rural America here.

Edited May 30, 2021 by Andromeda
More thoughts

[bilgistic]

Because I'm me, I also take issue with the "fact" that Ray (always Ray, that old scamp) funds the prize for Panic (the game) by taking $1 a day from everyone every day of the school year. OK...there were maybe 50 graduates sitting in that gym in the first episode. At 180 school days in a year (what I always had), that's $9,000, not $50,000! Even in my 200-student graduating class in a medium-sized city suburb, that would only be $36,000. So where's the money coming from? And how do high school students in rural Bumfuck, Texas, have $20 a month to give away?

Why do I have apply logic to these ridiculously ill-conceived shows? Why can't I just suspend disbelief and watch this show for what it is?

[Andromeda]

I was hoping someone would do the math on that. I missed how often they paid and how large the graduating class was. Ridiculous, isn't it?

[weightyghost]

I also missed the fact that it was funded by the kids themselves. Ridiculous. 

I was expecting from the previews, and also honestly throughout the series, that it was supposed to be some sort of Hunger Games type deal where there was some random rich old guy who was funding it and taking pleasure in watching kids torture themselves for some money, especially with all the talk of the 'judges'. How is it fair that the judges are classmates with agendas? 

[Guest]

I don't think we should be taking this as the kids funding it just because it was said they did.  I'm assuming that it evolved over the years but the story stays the same and no one really questions it.  Or if they do, they don't talk about it.

It probably started with the kids funding the winnings by contributing every day of the school year.

But once people saw opportunities to make money off the game, I'm assuming that some financially motivated individual(s) contributed to the pot to keep the game going and raise the stakes/danger level.

  On 5/30/2021 at 8:13 PM, bilgistic said:

I just started this last night and I really can't deal with the preposterous casting of Ray aka the Dylan McKay of Panic. The actor is 29 and looks every bit of it. Did the character fail 11 years of school somewhere along the line? He's mad, bad and dangerous to know!.

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None of the cast passes for teenagers.  I don't think Ray is actually all that much worse in that respect than anyone else.  I think that the Nicholson genetics do make it harder to see him as younger than he is.  But I can understand why they wouldn't pass up casting him when he has a similar type of charisma as his dad has and also seems to be among the more capable actors in the cast.

At what point can we talk openly about the final episode because somewhere in that episode, this show shifted to Looney Tunes, Road Runner/Coyote, or Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd, territory.  That whole finale to the game was full on cartoon slapstick.

Otherwise, liked this show.

 

[LittleIggy]

I just turned off my brain and enjoyed the show as mindless entertainment. 
I didn’t know Ray Nicholson was Jack’s son! Now that I know, I can see that he has his dad’s wicked smile. 
The guy playing Dodge didn’t look like a teen either. 
I agree that the town looked nice, too. 

  On 5/30/2021 at 8:13 PM, bilgistic said:

I just started this last night and I really can't deal with the preposterous casting of Ray aka the Dylan McKay of Panic. The actor is 29 and looks every bit of it. Did the character fail 11 years of school somewhere along the line? He's mad, bad and dangerous to know!

The female cop plays Kate's therapist in Cruel Summer, and yes, I'm in my 40s and watching two shows about "teenagers".

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Hey, I’m older than you, watching Cruel Summer, too, and just started watching The Wilds! 😁

[PrincessPurrsALot]

I took it as mindless entertainment.  There were many plot holes and

  Reveal spoiler

Chekhov's tiger (which people were remarkably blase about in a small town.  I mean sure, there's a full grown non-domesticated tiger roaming around. Hey kids, come into the library and if not, let's be careful out there!  Meanwhile everyone goes on with business as usual and no one seems to be actively looking for the tiger). 

 Some of the challenges made sense in terms of what it would take to set them up - walk across this scary thing, jump off of a cliff.  The individual ones were rather OTT.

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Just how many rats were easy to collect to one area?  Was the pinball machine just waiting there or did someone haul that across town?  From where? 

Along with Chekhov's tiger, look for his rifle.  

 

At the same time, I enjoyed it.  The acting was hit or miss and some of the dialog was very clunky. And yes, some of the "teenagers" are 10 years past qualifying as such.  They lit Dodge better in the earlier episodes.  In the later ones, it was really obvious he was much older.  The character is supposed to be a few years older, not a decade.  But, eh, it was a decent mindless distraction that left plenty of room for another season. 

[RachelKM]

  On 5/30/2021 at 5:11 PM, weightyghost said:

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Bishop was a judge... but how did Heather find out about that? It was revealed to us and then shortly thereafter she knows. Did I miss a part where she was told? 

Also really, two judges just happen to be Heather's best friends? Convenient. 

 

 

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I also missed the reveal to Heather of that information and was dead confused when she referenced it.  I'm glad it wasn't just me. 

I have mostly just agreed to allow some of the stupid wash over and past.  But the idea that all of that stuff was set up by two teens, no matter how smart and organized, in a one horse town wherein most people were relatively broke is bonkers.  Both the logistics and the cost would be well beyond two regular 18 year olds.

  On 5/31/2021 at 8:58 PM, PrincessPurrsALot said:

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Along with Chekhov's tiger

 

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I literally referred to him as this from the moment he was introduced.  There was no way that wasn't somehow working its way into the nonsense.

  On 5/30/2021 at 5:38 PM, LittleIggy said:

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Why exactly did Jimmy, the Sheriff’s son, kill himself? Grief over his girlfriend’s death? Disgust at what his dad was doing? It was unclear to me.

 

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It was unclear to me as well.  I got the impression that

  Reveal spoiler

Jimmy blamed his dad for his girlfriend's death and was disgusted to learn about his dad's gambling on and manipulating teenagers.  It was unclear exactly how, but it seemed like the Cortez's attempts to get Abby out of the game either actually or Jimmy believed lead to Abby's accident.  At least that is what I took from the message on the back of the photo "You took everything from me. Now I've taken everything from you." Jimmy's suicide took the winnings, his son, and his marriage from Cortez. So, as revenge goes, pretty effective. 

 

  On 5/31/2021 at 4:25 AM, LittleIggy said:

The female cop plays Kate's therapist in Cruel Summer, and yes, I'm in my 40s and watching two shows about "teenagers".

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Same.  I was distracted by Bishop's dad until I finally realized that he was Mr. Wallis, Kate's dad, from Cruel Summer. 

Edited June 1, 2021 by RachelKM

[Andromeda]

I did not know about the Nicholson connection. See, watching this show increased my general knowledge of Hollywood! It was entertaining, just don't look too closely. I too was really puzzled by those individual challenges -- was Bishop funding it all out of his allowance? Where do you order up two dozen sewer rats?

Edited June 1, 2021 by Andromeda

[AngieBee1]

  On 5/31/2021 at 4:25 AM, LittleIggy said:

I didn’t know Ray Nicholson was Jack’s son! Now that I know, I can see that he has his dad’s wicked smile. 

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Watching the first episode I thought he was Duke Nicholson - Jack's grandson who is also an actor. They look somewhat alike.

[Guest]

  On 6/1/2021 at 4:07 PM, RachelKM said:

I literally referred to him as this from the moment he was introduced.  There was no way that wasn't somehow working its way into the nonsense.

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That would have been enough but (spoils the end in detail - don't read it unless you've seen it...this is a warning)

  Reveal spoiler

We seriously had a series of events where

A tiger stopped a collision

A car had a roll over

The car had a bomb that had been switched from another car

It blew up after bad guy was thrown from the car

The bad guy still managed to crawl away

The tiger was just about to eat him

Then his pissed off wife stepped in front of the tiger and shot him

This show took a swerve into snark worthy television for about 15 minutes that I haven't seen in a long time.

[bilgistic]

  On 6/1/2021 at 4:07 PM, RachelKM said:

Same.  I was distracted by Bishop's dad until I finally realized that he was Mr. Wallis, Kate's dad, from Cruel Summer. 

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I didn't realize this until I read your comment. I now imagine the two of them sitting around the set talking about how dumb the two shows are, but "It's a living!"

  On 5/31/2021 at 4:25 AM, LittleIggy said:

Hey, I’m older than you, watching Cruel Summer, too, and just started watching The Wilds! 

😁

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I watched that, too!

We finished Panic tonight. Good grief. Looney tunes is right. The tiger sauntering into the middle of the road during the race was just too much. Of all the plot contrivances in this show, the town having its own Carole Baskin was...something.

I really want Heather to get the hell out of Carp, but she's going to stay because of her sister. I can only see her pregnant and stuck with a violent and alcoholic Ray. What a load of garbage that last scene with them by the lake was. Get out, girl. Take the money and run.

This was unintentional comedy gold, though, I must say. We laughed and laughed over the "earnest" dialogue, the fresh-faced "teenagers", and whatever Diggins was supposed to be about. The real mystery at the center of this story is who would willingly submit to that haircut.

Edited June 3, 2021 by bilgistic

[gesundheit]

  On 5/30/2021 at 5:38 PM, LittleIggy said:

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Why exactly did Jimmy, the Sheriff’s son, kill himself? Grief over his girlfriend’s death? Disgust at what his dad was doing? It was unclear to me.

 

^Question I had. 

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Oh man. I was coming here to see if anyone said anything that clarified ...well, everything about the final 2 episodes. And now it turns out I was wrong about the one thing I thought I did know! I thought:

  Reveal spoiler

that Jimmy didn't kill himself at all and that Cortez just made it look like he did to cover his own ass. The one thing I thought I could follow, I didn't follow at all, I guess!

Also, why did Dodge

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put a bomb in Ray's truck? Were we meant to shrug that off?

This show!

I enjoyed most of the actors quite a bit and was happy to see Nancy McKeon playing Hot Vengeful Mom. Loved most of the 20-somethings playing fake teens. Except the young woman playing Natalie, who I kept trying to find ways to enjoy, thinking the flatness was a choice, an affectation for the character or something. Maybe it was, but I couldn't get into it if it was. On the other hand, she was basically playing a total cipher who was never written any even mild motivation for 99% of her behavior.

[Pallida]

Texas has a high rate of private tiger ownership, so I wasn't surprised by Tom's appearance.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/houston-tiger-population-texas-pets-16170908.php#:~:text=According to the World Wildlife,making them an endangered species.&text=The state requires owners to,tigers or other exotic animals.

I think my most tense moment in the show was worrying about his life though. 

[meatball77]

This was fun.  Not great, but fun.  I'm not sure it deserves a second season.  Lauren Oliver can try to do an adaptation of her dystopian series instead.

[Anela]

I’m enjoying this more than I thought I would.  Nancy Mckeon! I can’t remember the last time I saw her in something.  She was popular when I was little. I’ve just googled the cast, because she looked familiar.  

Edited June 9, 2021 by Anela

[Dobian]

Honestly, for $50K they should just try out for Wheel of Fortune.  You don't have to worry about Vanna stabbing you to death if you solve a puzzle wrong.

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Natalie is turning into a pretty crappy character in episode 3, double-dealing Heather.

Seriously, the cops bust a whole bunch of kids at the granary but can't pin down who the organizers are?  This isn't exactly a sophisticated crime network here.

Dumb show, entertaining enough to see it through.

[paulvdb]

Natalie played it smart, but not exactly ethical. As a judge she was not allowed to win, so she'd never have to worry about Dodge and Heather both claiming half of the prize money if she won. But if one of them would win she'd get half of their prize money. But then she played it stupid by confessing on camera and having Heather find out.

[Anela]

I'm watching episode nine. 

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They put her sister in a cage with the tiger?! I thought they would, as soon as it was introduced, but they are fucking sociopaths. That poor little girl. 

 

[Anela]

Was that a dummy, or a body?

[marcee]

The whole thing was appallingly stupid; still, I couldn't help but enjoy it. And sue me, but I totally shipped Heather & Ray from the jump.

Here are my takeaways...

Regarding Jimmy's death:

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Jimmy absolutely killed himself to get back at his father. His father blackmailed his girlfriend with information about her pregnancy and potential abortion. How disgusting that his father would do that. He found out his father was not only betting on the game, but also FIXING the game. He absolutely blamed his father for Abby's death. As @RachelKM said:

  On 6/1/2021 at 4:07 PM, RachelKM said:

At least that is what I took from the message on the back of the photo "You took everything from me. Now I've taken everything from you." Jimmy's suicide took the winnings, his son, and his marriage from Cortez. So, as revenge goes, pretty effective. 

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Regarding the questions I still have:

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Why was Natalie so mad that Heather was playing if Natalie was a judge and couldn't win anyway?
Natalie said she chose to be a judge because she was getting paid for it... by who? With what money?
How did anyone even know that the prize money was stolen?
So Luke Hall did actually kill a girl and stuffed her in the trunk, but we're just gonna let that one slide?
And we're never gonna find out who actually Hit-and-Runned Dayna or if that had anything to do with anything at all?
I still don't understand what Shawna's boyfriend, the shady drug addict had to with anything...
OR the druggie veteran who had photos of SOMETHING we never saw?

I also can't get over:

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That the sheriff actually sent an 8-year-old girl into a tiger's enclosure as a distraction. Was Heather really that much of a threat? Enough to potentially kill an innocent little girl (or two)? What in actual fuck?

 

[scarynikki12]

  On 6/10/2021 at 8:53 PM, marcee said:

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Why was Natalie so mad that Heather was playing if Natalie was a judge and couldn't win anyway?
Natalie said she chose to be a judge because she was getting paid for it... by who? With what money?
How did anyone even know that the prize money was stolen?
So Luke Hall did actually kill a girl and stuffed her in the trunk, but we're just gonna let that one slide?
And we're never gonna find out who actually Hit-and-Runned Dayna or if that had anything to do with anything at all?
I still don't understand what Shawna's boyfriend, the shady drug addict had to with anything...
OR the druggie veteran who had photos of SOMETHING we never saw?

 

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This show is the exact type of crap teen melodrama that I've been a junkie for since fourth grade when I first watched 90210.

To answer your questions:

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Natalie's anger really doesn't make sense when you factor in everything she did during the season but a theory of mine is that she always intended to approach Dodge to join forces and split the winnings since she was into him. I can buy her being thrown when Heather shows up but she took it so personally you'd think Heather was the Queen Bee of the town and this was the one chance Natalie had to shine. Except Heather's viewed as trash when people pay attention to her and overlooked the rest of the time so it doesn't really work.

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They said something about there being four judges in an early episode but I still can't decide if that includes the two MCs or not. Bishop was a judge and the bagman and Natalie was a judge acting as a plant but I wouldn't be surprised if there were two others we never/haven't met. It seems like a portion of the money gathered for Panic is put aside to pay the judges so that would be the appeal for Natalie who wants to go to LA. Since Bishop is rich maybe he turned down his fee which meant Natalie and the others got a bonus?

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I assume the judges have some anonymous way of communicating with each other since the MCs didn't know Bishop or Natalie were involved and probably have to check in/meet virtually regularly. Bishop frantically selling his car and gathering as much cash as he could supports this. If there was no way to track the pot then it could easily be stolen each year and the game would stop.

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Luke didn't kill anyone. He was going to steal a car and found a dead body in the trunk. The issue was that Cortez, instead of investigating, blackmailed Luke into doing whatever he wanted as he could frame Luke for her murder.

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There are some things that happened that can be further explored in additional seasons and that includes Dana's hit and run, how the dead body Luke found came to be in the trunk, and who started/funds/runs Panic? I don't know if any of these questions are answered in the book but I can see them being left unanswered in the event the show continues.

If it were up to me I'd have season 2 do two things:

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1) continue to follow Heather and her friends but let time progress beyond a few months and, 2) tell a season long flashback story focusing on the history of Panic.

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I want to see the former happen so the actors can play closer to their real ages. Whoever threw the scarecrow at Heather at the end of the season could easily take their time messing with her and allow everyone to enter their twenties.

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As for the latter there are a bunch of ways they could go. They could reveal that the original Panic was thought up by that year's Class Clown and originally was a handful of non-life threatening pranks designed to give everyone something to do after graduation like Heather's voiceover said. Then one of the judges years later turned it into the dangerous game it's become as well as increasing the winnings each year to get the kids to ignore the part of their brain that knows it's a bad idea. They turn it from a silly summer prank game into their own personal Hunger Games. Such a person could so easily pretend to be one of the graduates since only the identity of the MC(s) were known. There's a lot we don't know about Carp and the surrounding area so this person could be in the shadows without much effort. Even things that seemingly have no connection (Ray's father claiming his innocence while serving life for shooting a state trooper, Cortez gambling and corruption, the dead body Luke found when he went to steal the car, Dana's hit and run, Tyler's dealing and the many addicts around town, etc) could come together if this person was secretly running things. I wouldn't connect everything because then we get into mustache twirling in a bad way but take a few things and connect them through the person in charge.

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When the show started I was skeptical that only the kids knew about Panic. I can buy that they can keep a secret and most of the adults seemed checked out of their kids lives generally but not a single adult had heard about it? No way. It would make more sense for characters like Cortez, Heather's mom, Bishop's dad, and the minister to be in the know. Cortez could have started his gambling during the Panic after his graduation. Heather's mom got pregnant right out of high school so maybe she and Heather's dad hooked up during a challenge like Heather and Ray almost did. Bishop's dad and the minister could have turned to their respective professions in response to the challenges they faced/witnessed. Any number of scenarios are possible.

 

[AEJ79]

Okay, I just finished and have some questions. Did I just miss like half an episode or was any of this explained...

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1. Why was Cortez driving Dodge's car?

2. What were Ray and Dodge planning to do if neither of them showed up to Joust? Cortez wouldn't have anyone to go against?

3. Why did Heather take Ray's truck to drive it for the joust? Did she know she was going up against Cortez? Or did she think it was Dodge?

 

[RachelKM]

  On 6/14/2021 at 7:49 PM, AEJ79 said:

Okay, I just finished and have some questions. Did I just miss like half an episode or was any of this explained...

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1. Why was Cortez driving Dodge's car?

2. What were Ray and Dodge planning to do if neither of them showed up to Joust? Cortez wouldn't have anyone to go against?

3. Why did Heather take Ray's truck to drive it for the joust? Did she know she was going up against Cortez? Or did she think it was Dodge?

 

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I think the show has been out long enough that spoilering everything is likely unnecessary.

1) Doge had decided not to drive. Cortez had bet on him and took the car to make sure it appeared Dodge didn't forfeit.

As for the other two, I'm less certain, but I think the following (what, it's been two weeks?):

2) Dodge planed to forfeit.  He thought Ray planned show up.  As for Ray if I'm remembering correctly,  had found out Cortez was planning to show and he'd transferred the bomb Dodge put on his truck to Dodge's car. 

3) I'm pretty sure Heather knew.

[peachmangosteen]

This was like Outer Banks in that it was just absolutely terrible but a fun ride. It was nowhere near as enjoyable as Outer Banks but I’d still watch a season 2.

I thought Dodge looked way older than Ray and Ray looked plenty old lol. But I also thought the Dodge actor was leaps and bounds better than any of the other actors. Quite frankly, he seemed way too good for this show.

Whatever, I shipped the hell outta Heather/Ray.

[snarkysnarkerson]

This was terrible.

[chrisrose]

  On 6/17/2021 at 11:45 PM, peachmangosteen said:

I thought Dodge looked way older than Ray and Ray looked plenty old lol. But I also thought the Dodge actor was leaps and bounds better than any of the other actors. Quite frankly, he seemed way too good for this show.

Whatever, I shipped the hell outta Heather/Ray.

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Funny you should say that about the Dodge actor 'cause according to his Wikipedia he's been on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award. :)

I watched Panic out of curiosity to see Nancy McKeon (The Facts of Life) and Moira Kelly (The Cutting Edge) on screen together. Wish they had more scenes opposite each other, but at least their storyline -

  Reveal spoiler

became less cliched, with both The Wife and The Mistress realizing the man wasn't worth it, to put it mildly. :P

I agree some of the actors looked distractingly old for supposed high school seniors/recent graduates... but I did like the cast overall and actually enjoyed spending time with these characters more than the Outer Banks gang. And I definitely shipped Heather & Ray more than I cared about John B. & Sarah. I also tend to be more interested in female protagonists and found Heather more relatable and rootable than I did John B. If Outer Banks had focused on/developed Kiara more...

Both shows are pretty ridiculous, but I like getting more of a female POV in Panic, and I think it's cool that it was created by a woman who wrote every episode (plus it was based on her own book). I guess streaming services really do allow their showrunners more creative control... Now I just need Winnie Holzman (creator of my favorite show of all time, My So-Called Life) to get a deal to develop shows for Amazon or Netflix. :)

[peachmangosteen]

  On 6/18/2021 at 2:17 PM, chrisrose said:

And I definitely shipped Heather & Ray more than I cared about John B. & Sarah. I also tend to be more interested in female protagonists and found Heather more relatable and rootable than I did John B. If Outer Banks had focused on/developed Kiara more...

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Ditto on all of this. And I too liked that the show was written by a woman. 

Wow, the Dodge actor was in Dear Evan Hansen and is going to be in the West Side Story movie. I'm surprised they didn't have him sing in this show. It wouldn't have made any sense but clearly that doesn't matter to the writers lol.

[chrisrose]

  On 6/18/2021 at 2:21 PM, peachmangosteen said:

I'm surprised they didn't have him sing in this show.

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Ha, yes they could've done an homage to those old singing cowboy movies. Maybe Dodge's challenge could've had something to do with a fear of musicals? :P Or he could've been like that flashback guy who pretended to be scared of snakes but secretly loved them. ;)

Edited June 18, 2021 by chrisrose

[peachmangosteen]

  On 6/18/2021 at 2:50 PM, chrisrose said:

Maybe Dodge's challenge could've had something to do with a fear of musicals?

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I was just thinking the same thing lol.

I had a lot of questions but then I remembered the show just isn't very well written and likely isn't meant to be taken very seriously so it's probably futile to try to understand anything but there is one thing that bothers me. The judges had to have intended for Abby to die with the challenge they set for her, correct? And was James behind that as well? If so, that would make Jimmy's suicide a lot more sensical to me.

[chrisrose]

  On 6/18/2021 at 3:00 PM, peachmangosteen said:

The judges had to have intended for Abby to die with the challenge they set for her, correct? And was James behind that as well? If so, that would make Jimmy's suicide a lot more sensical to me.

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Not sure, but it seemed like Jimmy blamed him, and if he was capable of

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sending a little girl to face off with a tiger

- I'm guessing yes, he could arrange a more dangerous challenge to get rid of Abby when the threatening letters failed to get her to drop out of the games. The revelations at the end definitely could've been written more clearly though :P

I probably don't need to use spoiler tags at this point, but oh well. :) Regarding the Sheriff...

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I found him so slimy and repulsive from the start, I was hoping he was a corrupt cop, or else I was planning to be very annoyed at the miscasting, if the show presented him as sympathetic/heroic. So...I got my happy ending. ;) The over-the-top "poetic justice" of his death - not only shot by his wife but eaten by the tiger he basically set loose ...was hilarious.

 

[Book Junkie]

  On 5/30/2021 at 8:13 PM, bilgistic said:

I just started this last night and I really can't deal with the preposterous casting of Ray aka the Dylan McKay of Panic. The actor is 29 and looks every bit of it. Did the character fail 11 years of school somewhere along the line? He's mad, bad and dangerous to know!

The female cop plays Kate's therapist in Cruel Summer, and yes, I'm in my 40s and watching two shows about "teenagers".

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Raises hand.  Me too. 😄 I will always love YA lit and teen shows.  I can proclaim I'm watching for my job since I work with middle schoolers and I'm trying to relate to them, but no. I just like them. 🤷‍♀️

[paulvdb]

Cancelled

[bilgistic]

I explained the cancellation to my boyfriend like this: "Do you remember the show we watched that had the 35-year-old "teenagers"? It's been cancelled."