S01.E02: Day Two

[EllaWycliffe]

23 minutes ago, Lugal said:

Or they go where he dug it up and see what geologic strata it was in. 

I mean he dug down maybe three feet and found it in topsoil so unfortunately this is a complete science fail. 

[kevvoi]

One of friends did luminescence dating and I remember it being a pretty complicated process. Luminescence data requires that the sample is kept in the dark - before being analyzed.  So he would have screwed up the date by rebleaching it in sunlight.  A ring would be really tough to date - and any organic residues on it might be fairly recent material from the soil it was in.

[Melina22]

1 hour ago, kevvoi said:

One of friends did luminescence dating and I remember it being a pretty complicated process.

I just jumped in to catch up on the latest posts, and I swear I thought this was a new kind of dating at first. Like speed dating only maybe with strange lighting?? 

I was trying to understand how it worked until I reached the part about someone screwing up the date by rebleaching which did not sound like a fun dating activity, and I realized what the topic actually was. I need to read posts more carefully. 😁

[HelloooKitty]

It’s not like I expected this to be GOOD, but man is it worse than I thought it would be. Generally my rule is you get 3 episodes to sway me. I made it 10 minutes into episode two before deciding there were about a 1000 other things in my streaming queues I’d rather spend an hour on. 
The moment the saber tooth pounced and the CGI got all shiny and weird for a second, I think that’s when it lost me for good. 
 

like, the CGI on Legends of Tomorrow isn’t always great, but they don’t take themselves seriously. This show takes itself WAY too seriously. And at least half the actors seem to have graduates from the Joey Tribbiani school of acting. 

[shapeshifter]

21 hours ago, CainF said:

The show continues to throw everything but the kitchen sink with its characters...seems every possible typical character has fallen through that sinkhole, from the heroin-smuggling tough guy to the gay couple to the two girls with some big secret the youngest is bound to reveal with maximum consequences.  It's overkill, to be sure.

Let's hope the flashbacks to these peoples' lives doesn't continue.  It's a tired and weak plot device to have flashbacks tell the story.

A better kind of situational plot IMO would have been if food truck drivers found themselves to be respected and appreciated as much as doctors here--based on these posts that just popped up in the Pilot thread:

9 hours ago, rubyred said:

But yes! There should be food, not from McDonald's but from the long string of artisanal food trucks that line Museum Row during weekdays!

9 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Not only do you have food, you have the means to cook it and experienced people to cook it. Are the food trucks there early in the morning, because the kids were on their way to school when this happened.

The food truck owners could have fun with advertising, like: “Eat Paleo Cave-man Style Diet” (today’s NYTimes mini crossword). Of course there’d be saber tooth burgers. 
I can imagine Anthropologist Stoner Dude with the munchies deciding to become a food truck employee —it would fit with the anthropological principle of food sharing being the most basic form of human interaction.

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by shapeshifter

[AnimeMania]

8 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

A better kind of situational plot IMO would have been if food truck drivers found themselves to be respected and appreciated as much as doctors here--based on these posts that just popped up in the Pilot thread:

 

Imagine being able to get your hands on all the Galapagos tortoises that you could want, maybe start a breeding farm. I hear they are delicious.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Imagine being able to get your hands on all the Galapagos tortoises that you could want, maybe start a breeding farm. I hear they are delicious.

This seems a little alarming to me, but that might be a good thing, because they could do their requisite religious conflict in terms of turtle worshippers vs new-fallers.

Edited October 7, 2021 by shapeshifter
Typo

[AnimeMania]

13 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

This seems a little alarming to me, but that might be a good thing, because they could do their requisite religious conflict in terms of a turtle worshippers vs new-fallers.

If they take a couple and farm them, that would be conservation. Along with the Dodos and the Giant Moas and other animals that are now extinct. When the rescue plane arrives they can take back either some of the smaller animals or a few DNA samples from some of the larger animals.

[shapeshifter]

On 10/7/2021 at 12:30 PM, AnimeMania said:

If they take a couple and farm them, that would be conservation. Along with the Dodos and the Giant Moas and other animals that are now extinct. When the rescue plane arrives they can take back either some of the smaller animals or a few DNA samples from some of the larger animals.

Yes, and it would be a nice plot development if Anthro Dude did the farming.
I was just having guilt flashbacks to a pet turtle that died when I was a kid not old enough or responsible enough. 🐢😢

Edited October 9, 2021 by shapeshifter
another typo, of course

[proserpina65]

On 10/5/2021 at 10:34 PM, KaveDweller said:

I know people think this is bad, but I think it is fun. 

I don't think it's good, but I agree that it's fun.  One does not necessarily require the other.

I have to admit, I'm curious about the deal with the religious nutjob older sister & the "mute" younger one.  Maybe they were in a cult or maybe their dad stole them from their custodial mother?

On 10/5/2021 at 10:36 PM, Paloma said:

I didn't notice that the stoner guy was Australian until it was mentioned in this episode.

I noticed the accent but pegged it as British, not Australian, despite currently watching episodes of an Australian tv show pretty much every night at bedtime.  I'm usually better than that.  <hangs head in shame>

On 10/5/2021 at 10:55 PM, Lady Calypso said:

And I actually love Stoner Guy, so I wish I remembered his name.

Me, too.  So far he's the most likeable character.

On 10/6/2021 at 9:55 AM, shapeshifter said:

And "Radiocarbon dating is ...limited to objects that are younger than 50,000 to 60,000 years or so" (arizonaruins.com/articles/radiocarbon.html) and saber-toothed cats/tigers were pretty much extinct by then (britannica.com/animal/saber-toothed-cat).

Actually, the article you referenced says up to 11,700 years ago.  "In North and South America, however, where mastodons persisted throughout the Pleistocene, sabre-toothed cats continued successfully to the end of the epoch."

 

[Paloma]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

On 10/5/2021 at 10:36 PM, Paloma said:

I didn't notice that the stoner guy was Australian until it was mentioned in this episode.

I noticed the accent but pegged it as British, not Australian, despite currently watching episodes of an Australian tv show pretty much every night at bedtime.  I'm usually better than that.  <hangs head in shame>

Now that you mention it, I think I did hear "British" accent in the first episode. And I watch a lot of Australian TV shows so also should know better. Either that, or his accent is not real and not well done.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

I don't think it's good, but I agree that it's fun.  One does not necessarily require the other.

Unintentionally funny dialogue is sometimes the most cathartic when watching TV for escape. 

 

[Lady Calypso]

4 hours ago, Paloma said:

Now that you mention it, I think I did hear "British" accent in the first episode. And I watch a lot of Australian TV shows so also should know better. Either that, or his accent is not real and not well done.

I looked up the actor and he IS Australian.

[Scout Finch]

On 10/6/2021 at 3:19 PM, Lugal said:

I like Stoner Scott, but if he's studying at the tar pits, I would think he would have been better off as a paleontology student, rather than anthropology.  But it's cool he figured out where/when they are.  I doubt that saving those eight camels would change history much.

Tell that to the dedicated paleontologist or the student spending his/her summer on the dig. Discovering those bones might have been the greatest and most exciting find of someone's career, or even the only thing they ever find but it's enough to renew their interest and passion in the work. Instead, they're deprived of that achievement thanks to a random stoner dude in 10,000 BC. ⛏️ 🦴🐪😲

Edited October 8, 2021 by Scout Finch

[shapeshifter]

22 minutes ago, Scout Finch said:

Tell that to the dedicated paleontologist or the student spending his/her summer on the dig. Discovering those bones might have been the greatest and most exciting find of someone's career, or even the only thing they ever find but it's enough to renew their interest and passion in the work. Instead, they're deprived of that achievement thanks to a random stoner dude in 10,000 BC.

—and because they didn’t experience that life-changing discovery (of prehistoric camel bones) they spent the bulk of their days aimlessly smoking weed, until one day they got sucked into a wormhole—

Anyway, perhaps because I smoked too much pot when I was younger, or perhaps because I haven’t slept more than 3 consecutive hours in a month, I thought this disambiguation of the terms Paleontology vs. Archaeology vs. Anthropology might be interesting 🤨 🧐 🤔 but I am not up to paraphrasing it: https://www.paesta.psu.edu/book/earth-systems-science-introduction/definitions/paleontology-vs-archaeology-vs-anthropology

[TV Anonymous]

Gavin was in the U.S. Air Force when he had his accident in 2018, was he not? The 2018 Air Force did not have grooming standards?

[TV Anonymous]

On 10/6/2021 at 9:29 AM, Tom Holmberg said:

Can you carbon date a diamond that's already tens of thousands (or more) of years old?

The answer is a resounding no. Carbon dating can only be used for organic (carbon-based) material. Sure, diamond is carbon in its purest form. However the carbon in diamond has formed crystal that makes it mineral, not organic material anymore. As for the band, it is metal so it is obviously not organic.

[mertensia]

On 10/6/2021 at 8:38 AM, AnimeMania said:

Technically, you can only carbon date things that are alive. But, the grass in the dirt around the ring is alive so you can still kinda do it.

Untrue. They carbon date ancient charcoal from hearths all the time. Carbon-14 dating was actually tested on (of all things) methane from the Baltimore sewage works.

[EllaWycliffe]

30 minutes ago, mertensia said:

Untrue. They carbon date ancient charcoal from hearths all the time. Carbon-14 dating was actually tested on (of all things) methane from the Baltimore sewage works.

I'm not up on carbon dating but charcoal is usually once living trees burnt to coals. So it is something that was alive. 

[mertensia]

4 hours ago, EllaWycliffe said:

I'm not up on carbon dating but charcoal is usually once living trees burnt to coals. So it is something that was alive. 

The OP said "things that are alive". Charcoal is not alive.

[EllaWycliffe]

4 hours ago, mertensia said:

The OP said "things that are alive". Charcoal is not alive.

Not to be pedantic but charcoal is the burnt remains of something alive, while metal and diamonds were never alive. The OP's mistake is mostly grammar - "are alive" vs "were alive" - nothing currently alive really needs to be carbon dated.

[Dowel Jones]

2 hours ago, EllaWycliffe said:

nothing currently alive really needs to be carbon dated.

Except maybe Keith Richards.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, Dowel Jones said:

4 hours ago, EllaWycliffe said:

nothing currently alive really needs to be carbon dated.

Except maybe Keith Richards.

They can also cut him open and count the rings.

[Whodunnit]

When will they find the souvenir shop that undoubtedly exists (with all the tourists that go to visit the tar pits)?

[Dowel Jones]

What if some of the megatons of metal and cars (especially a classic or two) fell into the tar pits, only to be discovered in the present day?  Scientists would be gobsmacked.

[Andyourlittledog2]

Where is LACMA? The museum is right next to the tar pits and much closer than the Petersen Car Museum. There should be all kinds of ancient statues, great paintings, and period costumes laying all over the place. 

I worked for over a decade in the Wilshire Courtyard, a very large six story complex of offices on the corner there, catty-corner from the tar pits. My window looked right over the street to them. I noticed that in an aerial view of the sink hole that the Wilshire Courtyard was still there and the sinkhole seems to have rather than expanded outward in a circle simply ran west like someone had pulled open a giant zipper in the ground. That's very weird. Not that the whole premise isn't weird, but still.

I was looking forward to this show but it just isn't for me. I think I was okay even though I eye-rolled at the dad racing from the Air Force offices in El Segundo to Mid-Wilshire in time to meet his daughter still being tended in the ambulance.  What killed it for me was the same dad having 'visions' of the other side. I mean seriously. I realize it is no more weird than the entire premise of the thing but it was just a step way way way too far for me to take any pleasure in this show. Too many convenient coincidences and plot twists. I need a little realism in my alternative worlds.

[ottoDbusdriver]

2 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

What if some of the megatons of metal and cars (especially a classic or two) fell into the tar pits, only to be discovered in the present day?  Scientists would be gobsmacked.

They did say that the hole was over 20,000 feet deep, so where did all the dirt and rock go ? 

A hole that's approx. 4 miles deep and a mile in diameter would give you over 3 cubic miles of dirt/rock instead of what's just on the surface at the time of the event going through the glowing strip at the bottom. 

Plus, if everyone and everything on the surface fell 20,000+ feet before going through the light strip, why isn't everyone dead and everything basically destroyed ?   Sure, that would be a terrible plot for a show, but it does raise questions that I don't think that the writers really thought out thoroughly beforehand.

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

worked for over a decade in the Wilshire Courtyard, a very large six story complex of offices on the corner there, catty-corner from the tar pits. My window looked right over the street to them. I noticed that in an aerial view of the sink hole that the Wilshire Courtyard was still there and the sinkhole seems to have rather than expanded outward in a circle simply ran west like someone had pulled open a giant zipper in the ground.

Your description of the sinkhole is more descriptive than any dialogue written for the show, @Andyourlittledog2: “the sinkhole seems to have rather than expanded outward in a circle simply run west like someone had pulled open a giant zipper in the ground.“ It fits with the Doctor Whovian crack of light they’ve been showing.

Regarding

6 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

What killed it for me was the same dad having 'visions' of the other side.…it was just a step way way way too far for me…. I need a little realism in my alternative worlds.

—the dad’s seemingly magical visions of The Land Before Time, I’m holding out for their being an in-show scientific explanation for what the dad sees, rather than the dad being chosen by The Great One or even descended from Scots persons with The Second Sight. 

[AnimeMania]

7 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

They did say that the hole was over 20,000 feet deep, so where did all the dirt and rock go ? 

A hole that's approx. 4 miles deep and a mile in diameter would give you over 3 cubic miles of dirt/rock instead of what's just on the surface at the time of the event going through the glowing strip at the bottom. 

OK, hear me out, what if all that rock fell out of the sky, flipped over and then landed onto the ground, embedding itself into the earth, it might look something like the "Hollywood Hills". These guys are geniuses, they have thought of everything!

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

11 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

They did say that the hole was over 20,000 feet deep, so where did all the dirt and rock go ? 

A hole that's approx. 4 miles deep and a mile in diameter would give you over 3 cubic miles of dirt/rock instead of what's just on the surface at the time of the event going through the glowing strip at the bottom. 

Expand  

OK, hear me out, what if all that rock fell out of the sky, flipped over and then landed onto the ground, embedding itself into the earth, it might look something like the "Hollywood Hills". These guys are geniuses, they have thought of everything!

I really do appreciate your creative answer, @AnimeMania, but more likely the contents of the hole (dirt, rock, etc.) is now in another dimension [cue X-Files theme music].

[Badsamaritan]

Stoner Guy is my favorite character, followed by the gay couple. I hope we get more of them. 

I think the two 'sisters' are not actually sisters at all. I think the older one was kidnapped first, when she was probably around the younger girl's age. So she's pretty much hard core Stockholm'ed. She may or may not have helped with the younger girl's kidnapping but it's probably her job to 'train' her. The younger girl I'm thinking is still kinda new to being a kidnap victim, I'm going with less than a year. I hope the gay couple rescues her. 

Really? Now the military general doctor has a broken back? How's he gonna fix that on his own? And I didn't see any wheelchairs but there really should be a shit ton of supplies, where the fuck did everything go? 

Good looking out for your fellow travelers who were out there tryna help find medicine for your dumbass son, Eve. You didn't say shit about them til the daughter asked, and then you're all 'Oh sorry, your dad was totally dragging down my chance to prove to my son that being a helicopter parent was totally warranted so I ditched that brokeback slow poke with the Sad British Black Guy, they'll totally be fine, I'm sure' 《blinks in Righteous Blond Mom》.

That tall alphabet guy working with the other government scientist lady is really part of some nefarious off the books cabal, right? He might as well have 'I'm a super seekrit double agent' flashing across his forehead. And why are they giving Ione Skye a scene or two with like 10 words in these eps? Does she believe her brother now? Did he tell her what he's about to do? Do I even care? 

[AnimeMania]

6 minutes ago, Badsamaritan said:

And why are they giving Ione Skye a scene or two with like 10 words in these eps? Does she believe her brother now? Did he tell her what he's about to do? Do I even care? 

Someone has to take care of the girl with one leg since everybody else is heading down the hole.

[Dowel Jones]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:37 AM, shapeshifter said:

but more likely the contents of the hole (dirt, rock, etc.) is now in another dimension [cue X-Files theme music].

That huge crack in the sky acts as a filter, removing everything not necessary for the plot from falling down into the past.

[KaveDweller]

21 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

That huge crack in the sky acts as a filter, removing everything not necessary for the plot from falling down into the past.

Maybe it is a thing where things that existed in the past can't travel back to the past, since it already existed there. All the dirt already was on earth thousands of years ago, so it can't go back again, it just disappears. But people and cars that were created in the 21st century didn't exist before, so they go through the portal.

That would explain why the 2021 tar pits don't seem to have landed anywhere either.

Edited October 12, 2021 by KaveDweller

[EllaWycliffe]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

That would explain why the 2021 tar pits don't seem to have landed anywhere either.

I was kinda wondering why stuff wasnt tar splattered as well. 

[mythoughtis]

On 10/6/2021 at 2:34 AM, Dowel Jones said:

I thought that the 'sisters' had more than a familial motive for burying their father, the way they acted after she came back.  It's as if they might have some connection to the sinkhole. 

I’m going with polygamy and the younger one is the newest child bride. Older one is the original one, not the dead guys daughter 

I’d really like to know if the adult female at Lily’s home is Eve’s sister or Gavins. 

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by mythoughtis

[Paloma]

44 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

I’d really like to know if the adult female at Lily’s home is Eve’s sister or Gavins. 

Pretty sure it's Gavin's sister, though I can't remember the specific line(s) of dialogue that made me think that.

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

I’d really like to know if the adult female at Lily’s home is Eve’s sister or Gavins. 

Jessica Harris is Gavin’s older sister and lawyer.

[raven]

On 10/10/2021 at 1:25 AM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Plus, if everyone and everything on the surface fell 20,000+ feet before going through the light strip, why isn't everyone dead and everything basically destroyed ?   Sure, that would be a terrible plot for a show, but it does raise questions that I don't think that the writers really thought out thoroughly beforehand.

It doesn't invalidate your point, but the characters do at least mention this, so the show is aware.  Whether or not we get an explanation that makes sense (hahahahaha) is another question.

The digging up the ring from the past scene was done much better in Journeyman.  Harrumph.

This show is derivative of so many things but I will watch until its inevitable cancellation.

[ottoDbusdriver]

13 hours ago, raven said:

It doesn't invalidate your point, but the characters do at least mention this, so the show is aware.  Whether or not we get an explanation that makes sense (hahahahaha) is another question.

The digging up the ring from the past scene was done much better in Journeyman.  Harrumph.

This show is derivative of so many things but I will watch until its inevitable cancellation.

Nice Journeyman callback !!  Haven't thought about that show in ages.  But yeah, that show did it better.

[chaifan]

Saw a commercial for this, so thought I'd give it a go off of Hulu.  Watched the first 2 episodes back to back.  While it's not "must see TV" for me, it's entertaining enough to add to my "things to watch during the next 5 months of sucky weather" watchlist. 

I will agree with every post calling out the bad acting.  Eve is bearable, Stoner Dude (does he have a name???) is decent.  Everyone else sucks.  And I know Gavin has been on a lot of shows, so is he just cast for his looks, or can he actually act in other things but strangely sucks in this show?  eh, he's got limited screen time, so it's not that bad I guess.

As for how people, cars, etc. survived the "fall" intact, I'm going with what someone said in the Ep 1 thread, that they "went through" the rift vs. "fell through".  I can buy that.  I will also go with the "no giant mound of dirt" theory of only "new" things fell through.  But that doesn't explain the lack of building material and road, sidewalk, etc.  But, OK, I'll handwaive that.  What really bothers me is there are a) so few people, and b) only a dozen or so cars out of a square mile or whatever of LA in rush hour traffic.  And no trucks.  Food trucks (as mentioned above), delivery trucks, mail trucks, semi-trailers, etc.  And not a single bike messenger???  A bike would sure come in handy.  If they wanted to build a world with only a handful of people, cars, etc., they could have made the sinkhole a lot smaller - limited to the tar pits and 20 feet or so surrounding.  But that would have eliminated the giant destruction scene in Ep 1. 

OK, so much for being the armchair critic.  Good things:  Stoner Guy.  He's funny, and I like that he's turning out to be actually smart and useful.  A somewhat original concept vs. one more cop/hospital/FBI show.  Nice scenery.  Diverse cast.  No screeching, screaming, hysterical women (even though the situation would excuse all that), or 8 1/2 month pregnant women.  No uber-Karens.  Almost no children. 

Wait, one more thing... if there's an ambulance, where are the paramedics???

 

[Lugal]

13 hours ago, chaifan said:

Wait, one more thing... if there's an ambulance, where are the paramedics???

Wandering around LA wondering where they parked it?

[EllaWycliffe]

Its a pity 911 is a different network because the firefighters and paramedics separated by time rift sinkhole is about t he only disaster they haven't faced yet.

[Camera One]

This episode was weaker than the first episode for me.  It got a little repetitive and tedious with the long walk back to camp.  Eve's son was on death's door, so why was she insisting on staying with that doctor dad guy, even after the sabre tooth tiger conveniently left (did the therapist run out of bullets?).  Taking the 10 mile run back to deliver antibiotics to the son, and then sending people to help would have been the logical course of action, as others have said.   The doctor guy declared he fell on his back, so I thought he was paralyzed, but I guess not?  Riley's outburst at Eve for leaving her father was a tad annoying.

These characters aren't horrible, but they aren't really distinctive or intriguing enough for the "Lost" approach of focusing on character mysteries.  I couldn't care less about that annoying ex-cop and her son, nor about crazy religious older sister.  

Surprisingly, the stoner guy actually stood out most to me, and I liked the scene where he recognized the tar pit and the camels.  

The L.A. parts dragged.  I'm glad it moved forward with the government lady believing the pilot dad, since I expected that to last for many more episodes.   Maybe they should start by airdropping some medical supplies into the sinkhole?

They should have spent this episode establishing the geography and the overall situation a bit, because it was hard to immerse in the story when the scenario itself was so unclear.  How was everyone able to find their way back after wandering off (Eve, the doctor/therapist, and the Stoner guy/crazy sister after burying the father)?  The number of people around seemed to be really low, considering how many people would have fallen through the crack, but there only seemed to be this tiny area with debris and the same 8-10 characters interacting with one another.  There was no conflict about who would get to sit in which car, people stealing from the pile of supplies, etc.?