S01.E03: Time Has Come Today

[kwerkee]

I am giving this my usual three episode trial run.

As did I. There are still no answers by the third episode. Aliens, ghosts, reincarnation? If death really is a beginning, why was Marcus afraid of James Frain? Just die and move on to your next body.

I was sure I was giving up this show as the episode ends. Then next week's preview came up. Looks like they are finally answering questions (maybe). One more episode and that's it. I don't even have to have full details. At the very least, I just need to know which genre we are dealing with here.

I also can't stand how cryptic Mira Sorvino was. She had the whole night. Even if he was not going to believe you, just tell the whole story. Let him sleep on it.

Seconding/thirding the posters who said the kid needs acting lessons. I'm usually neutral on kid actors but it is hard to ignore her in this one. A leading and dual-character role (we saw how Marcus was like at old age). She couldn't pull off the emotional and dramatic scenes. Get reincarnated soon.

[dr pepper]

I believe it is reincarnation and not possession. And therefor the awakening process does not murder the current personality, it becomes part of the person, just a small part due the relative length of time for development. And it's experienced as a rush of memories. That's why the first episode scene set in the 70s led to the subject thrashing on her bed. It's not so much different from all those movies about ordinary people who suddenly remenber they were secret agents, they're coming to terms with things they don't want to acknowledge are themselves. As for the triggers, the 45 rpm adaper and the shell, i believe those are personal to the previous lifetime and deliberately chosen. That would imply that a reincarnator who didn't choose a trigger couldn't easily be awoken by someone else, but might have to wait until something clicked in their own experience, maybe even skipping a life.

Also, when Amy spoke russian while sleepwalking. Was jack having a flashback or a dream? If it was a dream, how did he have the information to form it? Is he a sleeper? Why did Amy have a pupil expansion in that post confrontation scene while hugging him? She's already awakened and doesn't need one-- unless she was trying to awaken him. But if that's so, and he not having a trigger, it's unlikely. Except that afterward he had that flashback of ambushing three would be killers-- what life was that in? Anyway if he is a sleeper who is not awakening but is perhaps stirring, that would give the writiers a lot of freedom to give him random memory flashes that would of course only deepen the mystery.

 

Damn-- how can i get a job developing half baked unresolvable paranormal shows? It seems like such easy money.

Edited September 7, 2014 by dr pepper

[kwerkee]

Also, when Amy spoke russian while sleepwalking. Was jack having a flashback or a dream?

If I recall correct, it was a flashback.

Except that afterward he had that flashback of ambushing three would be killers-- what life was that in?

That was his current life, few years back. They hinted at a life-changing event that made him quit his job. She was there to support him. I wonder if their dead baby had anything to do with the three men he killed?

All in all, as someone mentioned, I think he's supposed to be the audience's voice and not one of the Intruders.

[Endeavour]

Maybe I'm watching too many of these kinds of shows but I'm having a hard time connecting with this one. I guess I've reached a point where if I don't know the characters names and how they are connected to the plot by the second episode then why am I watching and that's happening with this show. It's the reason why I stopped watching The Strain and Turn.

 

I'm having the same issue at 3 eps in. I will stick with it til the end of the season to see where it goes.

 

I like John Simm's character and find that storyline interesting. What I don't like is the bulk of show being spent on Frain's character tracking down the little girl when no one's motivations are clear. Plus I find her "acting" distracting. Perhaps, if I were more engaged, this wouldn't be such an issue.

 

I don't mind a slowly unraveling mystery, but something is off in the presentation that I can't quite put my finger on. I'm not at all invested. Maybe there are just too many characters being thrown at us that have something off about them and we're being given no information. When you think about it, we have the guy who died that the people are talking about on the radio, Simm's ex-cop buddy who is looking into that for some reason, something shady about Simm's past, something is off with Simm's neighbors who he borrowed the car from, Frain's character, the "intruders," Simm's wife's boss and the weird office, the people watching Simm, the woman last week that saw the little girl who Frain shot. I can probably keep going, but I'll stop now.

[Cobb Salad]

We're about halfway in and I'm wondering if this is going to be all resolved by the end. I'd be satisfied if they just went with the John Sim storyline and tossed the adult in the 9 year old story. I expected her to drive off in the car after she murdered that woman at the rest stop but I guess her feet couldn't reach the pedals, lol. I guess the message here is don't stop at a deserted rest stop in the middle of the night with a strange kid in your car. The flashback scene with Marcus and Shepherd allude to some takeover of the 9s but why does that mean Marcus has to take over a 9 year old?

The scenes with Jack and Amy only led to more questions - is that someone else pretending to be Amy or is she sharing her body with the other soul? It only motivated Jack to drive back to Seattle to see his FBI friend who conviniently called at the right time. I also think Jack's neighbor (the one he borrowed the car from) is involved somehow.

Next week looks promising!

[Whimsy]

Jack returns home to find Amy sleeping soundly in bed. She has a logical explanation for her whereabouts in Seattle and professes her love to Jack only to ask for a separation the next day. Jack is terrified for Amy’s mental state. Meanwhile, Gary calls with alarming news. Things get dangerous as Madison hitches a ride to Seattle, determined to evade capture. A deal from Richard’s past continues to haunt him.

 

 

[seamusk]

 I don't mind a slowly unraveling mystery, but something is off in the presentation that I can't quite put my finger on. I'm not at all invested. Maybe there are just too many characters being thrown at us that have something off about them and we're being given no information. When you think about it, we have the guy who died that the people are talking about on the radio, Simm's ex-cop buddy who is looking into that for some reason, something shady about Simm's past, something is off with Simm's neighbors who he borrowed the car from, Frain's character, the "intruders," Simm's wife's boss and the weird office, the people watching Simm, the woman last week that saw the little girl who Frain shot. I can probably keep going, but I'll stop now.

There is something that is a bit off, yet I was so excited to watch this episode so i'm clearly in.  But then I had trouble getting through it.  Partially that's me being easily distracted, but also it was a bit of a frustrating episode. But I'm curious about the psychosis of reincarnated/possessed persons. Multiple personality disorder is hard enough in most cases, but literally having two personalities, each with their own disorders?, in a single mind is something I struggle to wrap my head around. 

 

Anyhow, i'm in for the season I think.  I'm worried it'll get cancelled right after.  I didn't expect this show to grab me, but it has.  And it hasn't.

[mjc570]

 

Damn-- how can i get a job developing half baked unresolvable paranormal shows? It seems like such easy money

 Ha ha, I totally agree.

 

I'm watching this, but I'm starting to wonder why.  I don't hate it, but I don't really like it either.  It just seems like one of those shows where everything is supposed to be potentially significant (like the big 9 on the wall of the MArcus/Fraim scene).  Frankly, I just don't want to put that much effort into figuring the show out,I just want to sit back and enjoy it. 

 

Best part of the episode for me:  Everybody head wagging to the Time Has Come Today song.

[lidarose9]

I think it's a secret society that has learned how to "come back" in a new body, lifetime after lifetime. They somehow jump into an existing person's body, and get carried around in there for nine years (?), until their time is up and they have to be removed and inserted in a new host. This is done by James Frain, like the Grim Reaper. Each of them has a "shepherd" -- the person who watches over them until their time is up. The traveling consciousness is completely absorbed into the host's mind, and a talisman of some kind is used to trigger the reawakening of 2 distinct personalities. Sand dollar, 45 adapter. Once awakened, the traveler arranges with their shepherd to jump into a new body, and begin the cycle all over again. 

 

James Frain is the shepherd for Marcus Fox, who bribed him to set up the arrangement we saw him describe in this episode. Marcus Fox jumped into Madison's body, I think when she was an infant cuz she's only 9 years old now. (I can't remember the details.) James Frain is reawakening all of the travelers only to kill them. Kill them dead, no more traveling. Was this part of the deal with Marcus Fox? Can't remember. Anyhow, James Frain is also trying to deal with the pesky paranormal investigator guy who has apparently uncovered the whole shebang, and is busy killing people via that storyline as well. 

 

I think the little girl's parents were her shepherds. They know what's going on and they somehow thought they could skate by the 9 year time limit cuz she was an infant when she became a host. I think James Frain actually says something like this to them when he arrives pretending to be FBI: Oh did you really think you'd get away with it? Something to that effect. 

 

I think when the traveling consciousness is awakened, they are intimately entangled in the host's identity. One or the other is in charge at all times, but they have no secrets from one another. Mira Sorvino is extremely torn cuz the host part of her really does love Jack but the Russian is determined to outsmart James Frain and stay alive in that body. She said it's myself I'm leaving. She knows her 9 years is up.

 

SPECULATION FOLLOWS, be warned. MS told Jack he is her shepherd. I think he is her shepherd but maybe he himself is also a traveler, not yet awakened.  

 

I am not emotionally connecting with any of them, and that is a problem. There needs to be more information connecting the dots at this point. But I will keep watching.  

 

[AngelKitty]

This show has me intrigued yet perplexed and I'm happy to see I'm not the only one.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I guess the message here is don't stop at a deserted rest stop in the middle of the night with a strange kid in your car.

 

 

I think that lesson should have already been learned in 'There's Something About Mary'.  </snark>

 

 

Jack returns home to find Amy sleeping soundly in bed. She has a logical explanation for her whereabouts in Seattle and professes her love to Jack only to ask for a separation the next day. Jack is terrified for Amy’s mental state.

 

 

I like how they completely glossed over the phone call between Jack and his neighbour at the end of the last episode -- when Jack was explaining to the neighbor that Amy was missing and that's why he had the car so long, only to have Amy come on the call.  WTF ?  How did he not ask her how that happened ?  Are they on a party line out in the woods ?

 

Why does everyone in this show listen to AM radio while driving ?  Was FM radio or satellite radio never invented in this show universe ?

 

What is with the number 9 and time ?  Sometimes when the clock ticks to 9 o'clock (like in the train station last episode), Marcus suddenly came to the forefront of Madison/Marcus consciousness.  Does the mysterious forces account for time zones, daylight savings, flying across the planet so that something gnarly always happens when the clock strikes 9 ?  What about 9 minutes after the house, isn't that somehow significant ?

 

 

James Frain is reawakening all of the travelers only to kill them. Kill them dead, no more traveling. Was this part of the deal with Marcus Fox? Can't remember. Anyhow, James Frain is also trying to deal with the pesky paranormal investigator guy who has apparently uncovered the whole shebang, and is busy killing people via that storyline as well.

 

 

Maybe these people Shepherd is killing are 'The 9' that the old version of Marcus referred to in the flashback, that he complained about why should 'The 9' get to make all the rules.

 

Whose car did Jack use to drive back to Seattle to meet Gary ?  Did he just borrow the neighbor's car again ?  By the way, where was the neighbor (Brun ?) -- we got to meet his gun-toting wife, but no sign of him ?

 

Millie Brown (who plays Madison) is getting worse as the episodes proceed -- she just can't pull off the Marcus portions of her scenes.

[buttercupia]

I'm enjoying the series but fair warning, I'm also reading the book after the episode airs.  It doesn't explain everything, but it helps.

Good book, too.  Very difficult to stop where the episode ended.

[Endeavour]

I think somebody linked to an article in the media thread that said the series is following the book, but a couple of upcoming episodes are going to veer away from it.

[editorgrrl]

I'm enjoying the series but fair warning, I'm also reading the book after the episode airs.  It doesn't explain everything, but it helps.

Good book, too.  Very difficult to stop where the episode ended.

 

I think somebody linked to an article in the media thread that said the series is following the book, but a couple of upcoming episodes are going to veer away from it.

 

According to executive producer & show runner Glen Morgan,

episodes 5–8 "veer from the book," but "the whole framework [of Season 1] is the book."

[shimarella]

I too am perplexed but game to follow along a little longer, mostly for John Simms who is adorably befuddled by the situation. I haven't read the book so I'm completely lost at the moment although some of the theories being posted here are helping. Since this is based on a  book...is the idea that this is a discrete 8 episode series? No second season? 

[editorgrrl]

Since this is based on a  book...is the idea that this is a discrete 8 episode series? No second season? 

 

I assume that—like HBO's The Leftovers—the first season will be the book. Should BBC America renew Intruders, subsequent storylines would be all-new material.

 

Edited to add that according to Variety, the premiere did well in the ratings—but it did follow the season premiere of Doctor Who. I couldn't find anything about the ratings for episodes 2 & 3.

Edited September 11, 2014 by editorgrrl

[lucindabelle]

I'll give this one more episode. For some reason the show works like ambien on me, I just cannot stay awake when it's on. I incorporate dialogue into my sleep too, even wondering now what bar is it I go to all the time, what does he mean?

What was the point of Madison killing that woman just when she was about to give in and drive her? The smirk suggested she knew the woman had agreed. I'm baffled.

[ganesh]

What I don't like is the bulk of show being spent on Frain's character tracking down the little girl when no one's motivations are clear.

 

Granted, this show is making the viewer work, and a little much, but I thought the flashback with Fain and the old guy in this episode established the motivation, no? 

 

James Frain is the shepherd for Marcus Fox, who bribed him to set up the arrangement we saw him describe in this episode.

 

Because of this. Now, it's fair to complain that they should have gotten to this earlier, but looking at the last three episodes, this does hold up from what I've seen on screen.

 

Mira Sorvino is extremely torn cuz the host part of her really does love Jack but the Russian is determined to outsmart James Frain and stay alive in that body.

 

I actually think she's doing quite a good job with this. The first two episodes were supposed to be a mystery and they bordered on convoluted, but she did lay it out in this episode.

 

MS told Jack he is her shepherd.

 

 

I caught that too. This had to have been a deliberate choice of words. 

 

Why does everyone in this show listen to AM radio while driving ?

 

Not to nit, but what's wrong with AM radio? I listen to the news on AM radio every day. On a long road trip, AM radio has the longest "reach" so you can listen to stations from all along the region. Not everyone yet has satellite radio radio or unlimited data on their phone.

 

I assume that—like HBO's The Leftovers—the first season will be the book.

 

Could we not talk about the Leftovers in the episode threads beyond this? I haven't read either of the books. Maybe for those who have, they could create a separate discussion thread, if needed. 

[millennium]

SPECULATION FOLLOWS, be warned. MS told Jack he is her shepherd. I think he is her shepherd but maybe he himself is also a traveler, not yet awakened.  

 

 

No way, man.   They're all Cylons.

[Jordan27]

People get live again, but they all seem to be mass murderers.   Not a lot of characters to root for.

[riley702]

I think it's a secret society that has learned how to "come back" in a new body, lifetime after lifetime. They somehow jump into an existing person's body, and get carried around in there for nine years (?), until their time is up and they have to be removed and inserted in a new host. This is done by James Frain, like the Grim Reaper. Each of them has a "shepherd" -- the person who watches over them until their time is up. The traveling consciousness is completely absorbed into the host's mind, and a talisman of some kind is used to trigger the reawakening of 2 distinct personalities. Sand dollar, 45 adapter. Once awakened, the traveler arranges with their shepherd to jump into a new body, and begin the cycle all over again.

But what the hell is the point of being immortal, if you only remember right before you forget again? That would be hella frustrating.

 

SPECULATION FOLLOWS, be warned. MS told Jack he is her shepherd. I think he is her shepherd but maybe he himself is also a traveler, not yet awakened. 

Ha! I just assumed that, for some reason. I think Shepherd is also immortal.