S01.E07: Chapter 7: Retreat

[jenrising]

Quote

The remaining guests gather and discover the killer among them.

Available 12/19

[Affogato]

Well, there. 

Okay, yes Zoomer killed Bill and we had the clues, the playing doctor stuff, from the beginning. His height. Why Bill will let him in. If he lived I suppose he will someday encounter Darby’s book. 
 

Not sure if this was worth the time it took to watch it. More of a short story really. How did Darby vhange? Accepted she loved Bill, but he’s dead. Now what?

Edited December 19, 2023 by Affogato

[jaigurudeva]

Whelp, this could've been a movie. Darby's "happy ending" is that she has a more successful book, and it's definitely not weird and gross for Darby to air her new BFF and son's dirty laundry to the world and risk their safety and security while they're in hiding.

And why did Lee have to risk her and her son's lives crossing the tundra to the little dingy (as if the police literally at the doorstep wouldn't notice two figures crossing the white landscape) and go into hiding for the rest of their lives anyway? If Lee divorces Andy and Andy sues for paternity, DNA would prove he's not the father anyway, plus Lee could make public his abusive nature and tarnish his reputation further. It really just felt like a hackneyed attempt to squeeze out some unnecessary drama for the climax (the same with burning down "Ray").

And all the other billionaires are at the reading clapping and smiling like they're also happy to have Darby publish about their personal lives, as if Andy and the rest surely wouldn't have buried her book under a thousand lawsuits for libel. Are we going to just hand-wave away the lady running authoritarian "smart cities"? Was the robot hive just like a little moment to make the setting more futuristic and say "the future is mole people!"

[tired and hungry]

Ehhh that was a mediocre ending IMO... The "AI that predicts a person will be a threat in the future and so tries to eliminate them before they can do any harm" plot has been done before. However, I didn't think Ray would manipulate Zoomer to acheive his goals so that was a bit of a curveball..

I wasn't fully convinced of the whole Lee needed to escape plot. Obviously Zoomer deserved a better life than to be a human experiment and he was just an innocent child that got caught up in Ray's plans but I didn't really empathize with Lee's story. Maybe there wasn't enough backstory for her or the actor wasn't able to potray it convincingly. 

Safe to say that the rest of the guests/staff were utterly useless and some were completely unnecessary to the plot. None of them even bothered to get up when Andy attacked Darby.

[tired and hungry]

10 minutes ago, jaigurudeva said:

And why did Lee have to risk her and her son's lives crossing the tundra to the little dingy

I just remembered, didn't Lee say she still doesn't know how Andy found her and Zoomer the previous time they tried to escape?? Why are they so sure that Andy cannot find them again? Just because the ship is totally off the grid and doesn't use electronics?? Were they planning to stay on the ship forever?? At some point it had to have docked right? They would have gotten off somewhere right?. Maybe they are relying on the fact that Andy now can't find them that easily without Ray's help. 

Idk about you but it felt like Lee's actor (who is also the producer, director, writer etc) wanted to have somekind of role where she was somewhat of a main character. It felt like she was trying to shift the focus of from Darby/Emma. The victim character who is finally liberated at the end and has a hopeful ending. There was just not enough depth in her character for me to care about her ending.

[Affogato]

28 minutes ago, jaigurudeva said:

Whelp, this could've been a movie. Darby's "happy ending" is that she has a more successful book, and it's definitely not weird and gross for Darby to air her new BFF and son's dirty laundry to the world and risk their safety and security while they're in hiding.

And why did Lee have to risk her and her son's lives crossing the tundra to the little dingy (as if the police literally at the doorstep wouldn't notice two figures crossing the white landscape) and go into hiding for the rest of their lives anyway? If Lee divorces Andy and Andy sues for paternity, DNA would prove he's not the father anyway, plus Lee could make public his abusive nature and tarnish his reputation further. It really just felt like a hackneyed attempt to squeeze out some unnecessary drama for the climax (the same with burning down "Ray").

And all the other billionaires are at the reading clapping and smiling like they're also happy to have Darby publish about their personal lives, as if Andy and the rest surely wouldn't have buried her book under a thousand lawsuits for libel. Are we going to just hand-wave away the lady running authoritarian "smart cities"? Was the robot hive just like a little moment to make the setting more futuristic and say "the future is mole people!"

I thought they needed to burn ‘Ray’ to get the door open. But yeah Lee should have stayed since things were going to be public. 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Affogato

[violet and green]

Deeply underwhelming.

It really needed a better script editor, and also someone on continuity for Darby's hair alone. Maybe a tech advisor; it seemed really naive in that area.

The "twist" in the last episode was not much of a twist as that was the most likely way the murders had panned out, especially given the bulk of the cast was so underdeveloped, forgettable, and rarely seen that it was unlikely to be any of them.

I am glad I watched it for the Bill scenes and the scenery. But the trailor promised so much.

[Pi237]

Very anti-climatic. Once Bill died, so did this show. Oh well. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

Well, the most popular theory about Ray being the killer has finally come true. Ray isn’t an evil AI robot trying to destroy human species etc. He did what he did to protect Ronson Industries - a company behind his technology. Andy’s paranoia and the mating of therapy bot/security tech have created a monster.

Throughout all episodes, Martin, Ziba and Oliver are some pointless characters. They aren’t even used as red herrings.

My favorite part of this show is the tragic love story between Darby and Bill. I truly enjoy all those flashbacks.

Even though the ending is rushed, predictable and anticlimactic, am glad  that Zal and Brit did give us conclusions to almost everything.

One thing that’s still bugging me - why did Eva bring an oxygen tank to Lee’s room before the welcome dinner? Really, why? 😣

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by Snazzy Daisy

[Anela]

Bill was the best character and actor on the show.  I’ll have to look up other roles of his.  
Zoomer (terrible name), was Lee and Bill’s son.  Andy knew that, and he has no legal right.  His mother should be given custody.  His killing her criminal record, and then holding it over her head, was just another abusive move.  But I can understand her fear that he would win, anyway, and that she had to get away.  

[Dex87]

Well I sure called that one. I was hoping it would be more interesting but it really was the zoomer/ray/vr situation. I’m never right about this stuff so I’ll just take the win. 

[KittyQ]

We binged the last episodes so the details of what happened in each episode are blurred for me.

Some observations:

• When Bill and Darby were digging up the serial killers first victim, they destroyed the steps to the basement. Did they have a plan for how to get out of the basement, even if the killer didn't arrive? Were they planning to "vandalize" a property that's for sale and not take any responsibility for it? Why not go out the basement windows that were right above the washer/dryer? Both actors seemed small enough to fit. There was a lot of hand-waving there.
• Since Lee and Zoomer fled, what did Darby and the rest of the guests tell the police when they finally arrived? I doubt that they would accept several deaths as "just one of those things". Since Ray was destroyed, so was all evidence that might have exonerated any of the other humans. More hand-waving.
• The snow outside the front door was so high?? Who builds a massive resort like that without adequate maintenance options? Maybe they still couldn't clear the snow from a crazy storm, but it seemed that there wasn't even any effort made. Plus, the snow outside the rooms didn't seem that deep (maybe the answer was snow drifts), that peeved me along with the characters' invulnerability to low temps.
• Ray was no HAL. That was a dangerous AI. 

[Affogato]

I red some things that hinted the showrunners might want to make Darby a millennial PI in recurring stories. I don’t see it. She hasn’t been developed as a person, really, and what we saw hinged on Bill, mostly, and he’s dead. Her thought process/detective method is not particularly subtle or interesting and she didn’t see anything we didn’t see, i didn’t mind watching the actress in the lead role but I’m not sure I care what happens to her. 

[Pi237]

Darby cannot carry a series. Without Bill, I wouldn’t have pushed through this one. Her investigating style was basically interrogating people who, more often than not, gave her all the answers. Told her secrets, then she’d go right to the person they’re keeping the secret from & blurt it all out. Then, she’d furrow her brow, look pained, and put herself in a situation where the person she just threw under the bus had to save her. And everyone would tell her how smart she was. Nope. Not at all impressive or convincing. 

[QQQQ]

On 12/28/2023 at 6:09 AM, Pi237 said:

Darby cannot carry a series. Without Bill, I wouldn’t have pushed through this one. Her investigating style was basically interrogating people who, more often than not, gave her all the answers. Told her secrets, then she’d go right to the person they’re keeping the secret from & blurt it all out. Then, she’d furrow her brow, look pained, and put herself in a situation where the person she just threw under the bus had to save her. And everyone would tell her how smart she was. Nope. Not at all impressive or convincing. 

Yup. She was like a glue-sniffing 2nd cousin of Veronica Mars.

[cardigirl]

I don't know what's up with Forums on Primetimer, but I cannot access them from my usual computer. UGH.

At any rate, I did enjoy this series for its atmosphere and for the combining of the two mysteries, what happened at the serial killer's house, and what happened at the retreat.

I usually don't comment on appearances of actors, but the thinness of Darby drove me nuts. She was skeletal and I kept wanting her to eat SOMETHING. 

I think Emma Corrin is a fine actor, and enjoyed her in The Crown, but her thinness was such a distraction to me in this show.   

[KittyQ]

On 1/2/2024 at 4:59 AM, QQQQ said:

Yup. She was like a glue-sniffing 2nd cousin of Veronica Mars.

Veronica Mars! That's who needed to be in this show instead of Darby. Veronica had vulnerabilities and secrets, yet still was able to do real detective work. Dang, I wish they had used that character. Much more of a challenge for Andy and Ray. 

[MisterGlass]

I thought this was fine.  The solution was deducible from the clues given, and I appreciate that.  I agree it could have been condensed significantly, or more time could have been spent developing other characters or their camaraderie.  The number of flashbacks was unnecessary, because that was a story we were not invited to solve, and we knew what we needed about the characters pretty quickly.  But, having watched The OA, I was prepared for some odd choices.  This was comparatively straightforward.

I buy that Andy was an overwhelmingly powerful figure in the context of this setting and world.  I'm sure he tied Lee to some restrictive pre-nuptial agreement.  I'm no expert, but he may also have legal parental rights despite not being the biological father of Zoomer.  Zoomer is a child of marriage, and no doubt he is the listed father on Zoomer's birth certificate.  He has acted as Zoomer's father.  A person can be a presumed parent or a de facto parent (source).  He might even claim that they deliberately conceived with Bill as a donor.

I can't decide if the Kubrick references to The Shining and 2001:A Space Odyssey helped or hurt the storytelling in the last few episodes.  It felt like they needed that shorthand to really get the points across, and that feels like a storytelling shortcoming.

Edited February 20 by MisterGlass

[CarpeFelis]

The ending made me think of the “monster from the id” in Forbidden Planet.