S01.E01: Wheel of Fire

[OtterMommy]

Air date: December 16, 2021

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After the renowned actor Arthur Leander collapses during a performance of “King Lear” amid news of a fast-acting, lethal flu’s spread, Jeevan Chaudhary meets young, stranded actress Kirsten Raymonde, and soon both face a life-changing decision.

 

[Haleth]

Great first episode. It’s tough watching a deadly pandemic ravage humanity, altho it’s not particularly graphic. Lots of set up.  Jeevan and Kirsten are appealing characters. 

[Mr. R0b0t]

All the Christmas music in the midst of a pandemic really hits home doesn't it?  I'm liking the characters so far and it's easy to find child actors who are too precocious, but luckily we don't seem to have that here.  I'm not a book reader so I don't know what to expect story-wise but in HBO and Hiro Murai we trust.  I love the little flash-forwards where we see glimpses of the same places in different times.

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, Mr. R0b0t said:

I love the little flash-forwards where we see glimpses of the same places in different times.

I like that effect as well.  The ending scene with everything quiet, all the cars in the road buried in snow, never moving, was just haunting.  I wondered how many of those cars became makeshift graves for their drivers and passengers.  It was also a sad to see the front desk person just died as his post.  It does give you a decent idea of how quickly that flu must incapacitate and kill someone.            

 

[HC87]

Kiersten (younger version) is played by a very good college friend's daughter Matilda Lawler....she is so good. Liking this show so far.

[aghst]

Interesting first episode.

So Arthur died of that flu.  Did the wild pigs infect him?  There was a King Lear playbill in that outdoor space where they were squealing and they seemed to be near some house.

But Siya tells Jeevan that the flu came from Europe.  Most of the episode is one night.  Yet by the time we see Siya, the hospital is inundated so tons of people are getting infected like instantly?  It has to have a crazy R0 but it also seems highly lethal.  If this virus kills hosts at a very high rate, it wouldn’t spread that far.

Also if this thing ends civilization, how did Jeevan and Kiki avoid infection?  They were in that crowded backstage.  Then on that long train full of people.

I suspect the writers of the novel and this show weren’t too interested in virology or epistemological details.  It’s mostly about the survivors of this extinction-level pandemic.

Other details which are puzzling, the airliner crashes right in front of them because the pilots died in the middle of a flight?  It certainly had the effect of convincing Frank, and probably Jeevan and Kirsten too, that the world was ending and they had to barricade themselves.

I doubt 4 full shopping carts came to over $9400 but looked like there was some bottles of liquor there?  That might explain the high checkout total but is a lot of pricey booze what you want for a pandemic lockdown?  

I didn’t see one roll of toilet paper.

But they were there for 80 days or 3 months.  Chicago winters are suppose to be bad but it was already snowing so they were in December.  That means they’d be leaving he apartment around the end of March.  There could still be snow storms then but it looked like it had been doing nothing but snowing and freezing for all that time.

Again, maybe it’s not about the plot but characters and relationships.

[Haleth]

5 hours ago, HC87 said:

Kiersten (younger version) is played by a very good college friend's daughter Matilda Lawler....she is so good. Liking this show so far.

Nice!  She is very good.  Her scene when she almost left Jeevan to go home alone was excellent.  You could see in her eyes she didn't believe his story about getting a text from her parents, but she was relieved that he called her back to him.  Well done, Matilda!

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I didn’t see one roll of toilet paper.

Ha!  Now we know better.

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But they were there for 80 days or 3 months.  Chicago winters are suppose to be bad but it was already snowing so they were in December.  That means they’d be leaving he apartment around the end of March.  There could still be snow storms then but it looked like it had been doing nothing but snowing and freezing for all that time.

Have you ever been to Chicago in March? 🤣

Edited December 17, 2021 by Haleth

[Cheyanne11]

7 hours ago, aghst said:

So Arthur died of that flu.  Did the wild pigs infect him?  There was a King Lear playbill in that outdoor space where they were squealing and they seemed to be near some house.

No, he died of a heart attack.  The wild pigs were in the theater where it happened in the future.  That was one of the bits in the first ep--going back and forth and showing how everything had 'stopped' after the flu and how things were now overgrown and abandoned.

[Anela]

I’m watching this, and wondering why he doesn’t take the little girl to the police, to reunite her with her family.  Are her parents away? 

18 hours ago, Mr. R0b0t said:

All the Christmas music in the midst of a pandemic really hits home doesn't it?  I'm liking the characters so far and it's easy to find child actors who are too precocious, but luckily we don't seem to have that here.  I'm not a book reader so I don't know what to expect story-wise but in HBO and Hiro Murai we trust.  I love the little flash-forwards where we see glimpses of the same places in different times.

It’s eerie, especially with Covid still going.  

[aghst]

21 minutes ago, Anela said:

I’m watching this, and wondering why he doesn’t take the little girl to the police, to reunite her with her family.  Are her parents away? 

It’s eerie, especially with Covid still going.  

I think she sensed that things were serious.  She watched Jeevan on the phone with his sister warning him that it was serious, don't trust the news, go and barricade with their brother.

Even though Jeevan wasn't completely honest with her, after they couldn't get inside her home, Jeevan said she had to come with him because he wasn't going to leave her alone.

Still it's a big leap of faith, to trust a stranger than to try to seek out her parents.

Perhaps in the book they draw out this process more, Jeevan realizing they don't have time, they have to go isolate immediately before some wave of infections catch up to him and Kirsten giving up on finding her parents after a longer process or other attempts to reach them.

It's just too convenient that she hasn't memorized their numbers and her phone is dead.  Well they could find a charger and outlet and plug in but maybe they try those things and still couldn't reach her parents.

[Anela]

1 minute ago, aghst said:

I think she sensed that things were serious.  She watched Jeevan on the phone with his sister warning him that it was serious, don't trust the news, go and barricade with their brother.

Even though Jeevan wasn't completely honest with her, after they couldn't get inside her home, Jeevan said she had to come with him because he wasn't going to leave her alone.

Still it's a big leap of faith, to trust a stranger than to try to seek out her parents.

Perhaps in the book they draw out this process more, Jeevan realizing they don't have time, they have to go isolate immediately before some wave of infections catch up to him and Kirsten giving up on finding her parents after a longer process or other attempts to reach them.

It's just too convenient that she hasn't memorized their numbers and her phone is dead.  Well they could find a charger and outlet and plug in but maybe they try those things and still couldn't reach her parents.

I was thinking the same thing. 

I only read part of the book, I had trouble getting into it. 

[aghst]

Perhaps the author didn't think of asymptomatic spread which is a key feature of covid.

The Asian countries shut down the SARS epidemic because people didn't become infectious until it showed symptoms.

And it was more lethal than covid, even though they're similar coronaviruses.  

So they aggressively quarantined people who showed symptoms and it prevented the kind of global spread of covid.

You'd like to think in a better-prepared world, as soon as people showed symptoms, even if it was a normal flu or a cold, they'd be quarantined, pending testing.

As soon as Siya started coughing, she was done for.  But the hospital was suppose to get a shipment of some antiviral which obviously didn't work.

Again, though it doesn't sound like this is about people reacting to a pandemic.  More like people surviving and then trying to put the pieces back together after the end of civilization.

In the previews, they showed the lights in the skyline shutting off, moving from skyscraper to skyscraper, as the lights went off.  It wouldn't quite go like that.  Power plants would run for awhile but run out of fuel eventually and then shut down because there wasn't refueling.  Or the grid would fail from uneven load.

But the end of electricity alone would kill a lot of people, as hospitals shut down and people freeze to death, as that guard in the lobby did.  Also people would run out of food and medicines, unless they hoarded a lot of dry goods and survivalist food items like canned goods, MREs, etc.

Still should make for interesting drama, as the characters adapt and probably witness extreme behavior -- with civilization gone, no need to observe civilized mores --  as we've witnessed in the last two years.

[Melina22]

On 12/17/2021 at 2:27 AM, HC87 said:

Kiersten (younger version) is played by a very good college friend's daughter Matilda Lawler....she is so good. Liking this show so far.

I thought Matilda was way beyond good. She was exceptional, and a big part of why I loved this episode. Nothing ruins a show faster than a bad child actor. Her facial expressions and body language were incredible and heartbreaking. 

[Inquisitionist]

Just watched it last night.  Thought it was oddly paced with some scenes of NOTHING that went on too long.  During the trek from the grocery store, it was like the pandemic had already hit -- there was no one else in the grocery store or on the streets, except for the guy whose car had hit a tree.  I loved the book so I'm sticking with it, but if I hadn't read it, this first episode would leave me only borderline interested.

[chocolatine]

I'm trying to evaluate this show on its own merit rather than compare it with the book. The first episode already has a major plot change, so it's hard to reconcile otherwise.

As a standalone show, this is pretty good, but like @Inquisitionist said, I don't know if I'd be as compelled to keep watching if I hadn't read (and enjoyed) the book.

[Hanahope]

I think Kirsten and Javeen are just naturally immune since it seems almost every one exposed get sick.

Sucky of Tanya to abandon Kirsten like that.

[txhorns79]

On 12/17/2021 at 7:38 PM, aghst said:

But the end of electricity alone would kill a lot of people, as hospitals shut down and people freeze to death, as that guard in the lobby did.

My presumption was the guard in the lobby died from the flu.  I mean, I can't imagine he would have stayed in his post once it became clear that things were really falling apart.  I think he would have tried to leave. 

[fountain]

On 12/17/2021 at 3:35 PM, aghst said:

It's just too convenient that she hasn't memorized their numbers and her phone is dead.  Well they could find a charger and outlet and plug in but maybe they try those things and still couldn't reach her parents.

That was the most realistic part to me. No one I know really knows numbers by heart these days. I know my mothers, my landline, my office and my own cel. I don't know my husband's cel. My kid's cel number is three numbers and her name so I could probably get it after a couple of tries. My 12 year old has never dialed a phone as everything is by text or pushing the call icon. If my mom every drops her landline then I am shit out of luck without my cel. However, we use find my phone so if Kirsten's parents phones were on they could have tried that to get a location of them.

[Affogato]

On 12/17/2021 at 1:47 AM, aghst said:

…..

Also if this thing ends civilization, how did Jeevan and Kiki avoid infection?  
 

…….

I doubt 4 full shopping carts came to over $9400 but looked like there was some bottles of liquor there?  That might explain the high checkout total but is a lot of pricey booze what you want for a pandemic lockdown?  

I didn’t see one roll of toilet paper.

But they were there for 80 days or 3 months. 
 

…:::

I think that. As with the Stand virus, there is some small immune group. Irl, say with covid, I haven’t heard anyone propose this. 
 

i think that one infected person gets on a long flight and people may mostly be mobile at the end even if the infected person dies enroute. 
 

of course you’d buy booze, particularly if you were going to someone elses house with a child they don’t know  

Not shopping for survival but for the end of the world. That’s what Jeevan was doing. 

[overtherainbow]

The acting is excellent but the plot so far is falling flat for me.

The whole 8-year-old going with a man she just met who jumped onstage to save her father-figure? from a heart attack despite having no medical background and being okay with following him to his brother’s penthouse and pretending to be his niece instead of calling the police to find her parents, thing is just not believable. Neither is Jeevan immediately realizing something's really wrong from a single phone call from his sister. Were they really able to survive weeks/months holed up in that apartment in the middle of winter? How did they not freeze to death?

The whole viral outbreak is also seems to suffer from the same thing that a lot of shows/movies that deal with similar epidemics suffer from, people coughing then suddenly dropping dead and the world coming to a grinding halt all at once, planes dropping from the sky. Call me cynical but it's eyeroll inducing. 

Anyway, it looks like the first episode is just setting the tone and most of it focuses on the after with adult Kirsten, so I'm going to keep watching it for that. I haven't read the book but the premise seems interesting.

[Brynnjk]

On 12/18/2021 at 2:46 AM, Melina22 said:

I thought Matilda was way beyond good. She was exceptional, and a big part of why I loved this episode. Nothing ruins a show faster than a bad child actor. Her facial expressions and body language were incredible and heartbreaking. 

I agree so much.  I work with alot of child actors and this casting was brilliant.  She has such a strong expressive face and captivated me from the first moment we saw her. 

[FozzyBear]

On 12/18/2021 at 6:24 PM, Hanahope said:

I think Kirsten and Javeen are just naturally immune since it seems almost every one exposed get sick.

Sucky of Tanya to abandon Kirsten like that.

My assumption here is linked to why Javeen didn’t try to find a police officer to take Kristin home. I think Tanya probably left a message for Kristin’s parents but they’re already dead. I think once Javeen saw the house and no one answering the door it clicked with him that they’re dead. I think even Kristin was starting to come to that assumption in way as well but needed the lie to help her go with Javeen and save herself.

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 12/28/2021 at 9:00 AM, Brynnjk said:

I agree so much.  I work with alot of child actors and this casting was brilliant.  She has such a strong expressive face and captivated me from the first moment we saw her. 

She was great, but . . . did they have children playing Lear's daughters? Two of whom are married and the youngest who has two suitors? I mean I have heard actors joke about how difficult it can be to carry Cordelia in the last act but I have never seen any director address the problem by casting literal children. 

Kristin asked Jeevan how he had known EMT stuff and he seemed evasive in a way that suggested he does have medical training, but we didn't actually see him do anything other than notice that Arthur was having a heart attack and run up on the stage. 

On 12/27/2021 at 12:58 PM, overtherainbow said:

Neither is Jeevan immediately realizing something's really wrong from a single phone call from his sister.

Siya was very explicit, so I didn't find it implausible that he took her seriously. I found it stranger that Siya took a moment to reminisce about strawberry Yoohoo. 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

On 2/20/2022 at 4:27 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

On 12/28/2021 at 9:00 AM, Brynnjk said:

She was great, but . . . did they have children playing Lear's daughters? Two of whom are married and the youngest who has two suitors? I mean I have heard actors joke about how difficult it can be to carry Cordelia in the last act but I have never seen any director address the problem by casting literal children. 

The staging of the particular production Arthur was supposed to be doing had him see apparitions of his daughters as children as he descends into madness. At least that’s how the book described it. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 hour ago, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

The staging of the particular production Arthur was supposed to be doing had him see apparitions of his daughters as children as he descends into madness. At least that’s how the book described it. 

Thanks. I read the book after I watched the series and it was made clear if not in the text in the acknowledgements, where Emily St John Mandel mentioned that it was based on a 2007 production by James Lapine (starring I believe Kevin Kline). I didn't recall seeing any adult daughters or hearing any explanation in the show which surprised me. It also disappoints me that the acting Kristin loved so much didn't give her a speaking part if it was just an apparition.