S02.E11: The Outsider

[AnimeMania]

An anonymous source sends Ben and an experienced local Denver TV journalist on the trail of a dangerous conspiracy as they pursue the scoop of a lifetime in the early '80s. There's trouble at HQ when Ian's past decisions come back to haunt the team.

Premiere Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2023   NBC   10pm 

James Frain as Gideon Rydge
Nadine Ellis as Connie Davis
Charlie Bodin as Robbie Barlowe
Matthew Pohlkamp as Chet Barlowe
John Marshall Jones as Davidson Best
Bill Parks as Farmer Steve
Taissa Zveiter as Nancy
Daniel Kaemon as Ski Mask

Next Week (New Time): Two-Episode Season Finale: 
February 20, 2023   NBC   9pm  

[iMonrey]

Note to writers: the first thing I want to know about a leap is WHEN and WHERE. These last two episodes, they didn't even tell us what year it was supposed to be until around halfway through, and then only as a throwaway. And in this episode they never even told us where they were supposed to be, unless I missed it. (The episode description says Denver but I never heard them say it.)

The fact that the writers don't seem to think either of these things is very important just speaks to how little they understand what this show is supposed to be about, or what would make it more fun to watch. If it's 1982, I want to see 80s stuff. I want to hear 80s music and see 80s fashions and hairstyles, and what passes for 80s tech. The only remotely period appropriate thing I saw was the Mike Brady perm on the whistle blower guy, and I'm not even sure that was on purpose. 

At least they remembered to fill us in on what happened to Connie after Ben left. They've been leaving that info out of the episode story far too often as well. 

As for the tedious HQ story, I hope for his sake this isn't all James Frain signed up for. I hate to think he's this hard up for work.

Someone? Stick a fork in this show. It's done.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And in this episode they never even told us where they were supposed to be, unless I missed it. (The episode description says Denver but I never heard them say it.)

They mentioned it in the old-timey commercial for the weed killer.

[AV8n]

So all it took to get rid of Gideon was for someone that didn't steal his chip to leave? And how would he know, since it's supposedly a top secret program that he did not have access to? Or I guess he did, since he was able to waltz into their facility without being unalived by security. I'm still not sure what data he was interested in from Ben's leaps. It's not like it's future stuff that could be used to play the stock market or influence politics - it's stuff that happened in the past to mostly random people.

As soon as Addison started talking about Hannah's husband getting treated I saw the "... but a year later he died in a car accident" coming. 

As much as I want them to bring Ben home, I'd settle for bringing back Ian's eyebrows.

[possibilities]

I saw Magic falling on his sword a mile off, but it bothers me nonetheless. Between his departure and the bleaching of Ian, the show is getting whiter and white by the second.

I don't know why they thought they needed this storyline in the first place.

 

[edhopper]

In the old QL you had Sam and Al. They throw all these extra characters in this one and then realize they half to give them all storyline and arcs. Hence this cliche rich baddie thing.

Edited February 15 by edhopper

[Cthulhudrew]

"As we continue the Universal Studios Backlot Tour, on your left is the Bates Motel. If the camera were to show the house on the hill behind the motel, you might capture a glimpse of Norman's mother in the window..."

Didn't they say they had the solution to bringing Ben back a couple of episodes ago? Why have they apparently dropped that topic for all of these much less important storylines?

[Trini]

They made a big deal about this Gideon character coming in, but then they hardly tell us anything about him or his interest in the chip data, and we're about to end the season. They really need to re-prioritize their subplots.

And yeah, I'm also wondering why they introduced the idea that they can bring Ben back, but then they haven't followed up on that.

Thought the leap story was good; was nice to see Ben have to do the actual work of the person he leapt into.

So the 'Addison has a boyfriend' arc has been a waste of space. *Shocker.*

[bamlou]

13 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The fact that the writers don't seem to think either of these things is very important just speaks to how little they understand what this show is supposed to be about, or what would make it more fun to watch.

Agreed completely with this. I'll add to this too that for me it's also lacking a lot of those small quirky sci-fi/tech touches within the leap which were always part of the fun of this concept - finding neat ways to show the hologram effects, the buggy handlink, determining or disagreeing with Ziggy what wrong needs to be put right, trying to have a conversation with a hologram no one can see, a reflection or mirrorshot of who Ben's leapt into ...they don't consistently lean into these things and when they do they often feel like afterthoughts. Perhaps there's just no time for these smaller moments since they have to barrel through the leap story and also service the present day drama at HQ.

And again this episode, they didn't consult with Ziggy on what Ben's purpose was for this leap. Addison gave the run-down that Connie went from big New York journalist to small town reporter, and that was somehow enough for them to conclude that they had to help Connie get her back on top. Even though there was nothing to suggest at the time that she didn't live a good life this way. Ben didn't even question the mysterious phone call he got as possibily the reason why he was there. I'm not opposed to them going off of hunches, but it would make more sense (and make things more interesting) if they at least ran these hunches by Ziggy to find out the probability, and possibly get some pushback on these hunches - and that would have served this episode well too since the purpose of the leap ended up being bigger than just Connie. Ziggy is supposed to be this supercomputer and should be used for more than just internet research, and even there they somehow missed that Robbie gets "killed" in a car bombing (plus they never questioned if maybe *that* was who Ben was there to save?).

Nitpicking aside, I did like this leap story, enjoyed the guest performances, and I do want to like this reboot and can respect them wanting to forge a different path than the original. But a lot of their creative choices just aren't making as strong or as interesting of a show for me, and I was hoping that at this point in the show's run they'd have a better handle on what does and doesn't work.

[possibilities]

They also seem to have completely abandoned the story about how Ben leapt allegedly to save Addison-- and Addison was supposed to be the leaper.

[Trini]

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

They also seem to have completely abandoned the story about how Ben leapt allegedly to save Addison-- and Addison was supposed to be the leaper.

Didn't that pretty much get wrapped up in the Season 1 finale?

[iMonrey]

11 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

Didn't they say they had the solution to bringing Ben back a couple of episodes ago? Why have they apparently dropped that topic for all of these much less important storylines?

"We found a way to bring Ben back" was a cliff-hanger line that ended one of the episodes. But the follow-up was "it's embedded in some code that might take several years to break." That's the reason Magic "couldn't" fire Ian, because they need him to keep working on the code.

8 hours ago, bamlouie said:

Perhaps there's just no time for these smaller moments since they have to barrel through the leap story and also service the present day drama at HQ.

That's exactly so.  I suppose in theory the show could do two parallel storylines but these writers have proven to be incapable of doing it successfully. Neither storyline ever feels fully fleshed out.

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, Trini said:

Didn't that pretty much get wrapped up in the Season 1 finale?

I guess so, but I found the resolution unsatisfying and stupid.

[Starchild]

I don't even remember it

[KaveDweller]

9 hours ago, iMonrey said:

"We found a way to bring Ben back" was a cliff-hanger line that ended one of the episodes. But the follow-up was "it's embedded in some code that might take several years to break." That's the reason Magic "couldn't" fire Ian, because they need him to keep working on the code.

I think they just wanted a cliff-hanger for their mid season finale, which I think was also the last episode they filmed before the strike. Then they came back to write more episodes and were like, "oh, crap, if we bring Ben home the show ends. Better undo that!"

I wonder if they will ever touch on any themes from the original about a higher power being involved. I'm guessing not.

[DoctorAtomic]

I still like Ben on his own figuring out what's going on. I get than Ben is upset, but he still gave Hannah and her husband one more year. 

I'm disappointed in James Frain playing the character so mustache twirly. I also don't get why Jenn thinks she has the gall to snap at Magic. How did they think he would react? Similarly, asking if Tom has a 'conflict of interest' is a bit much. 

That commercial was brilliant! I liked the case. It's predictable, but still relevant. Would that memo hold up in court, since they essentially stole it?

Ian continues to just blow up. That whole no regrets monologue was fantastic.

This was a good balance with leap and HQ plots. They have to lean more into the leaps to keep the show going.  

I knew Magic would take the fall. I hope it's temporary. 

On 2/14/2024 at 2:07 PM, AV8n said:

I'm still not sure what data he was interested in from Ben's leaps. It's not like it's future stuff that could be used to play the stock market or influence politics - it's stuff that happened in the past to mostly random people.

You could take that data and make a machine learning algorithm that could take more recent events to predict the future; investments, etc. 

Tom had a folder that he showed Addison when he said he thought he knew how to bring Ben home. Then they had the whole breakup and this happened with James Frain. I figured not much time has passed and it's still sitting there on the table; Addison just hasn't focused in it since she's been in the chamber for most of the time. It's a fanwank, but not an overly weak one. It probably will factor into the finale. 

[meet trouble]

I'm definitely going to have to take notes on the finale; this episode just went in one ear and out the other for me.

That said, I agree with everyone above that there's no way Magic stays fired.

[possibilities]

Magic resigning does beg the question of who would run the place for however long he's off the job. Do they really need another character? Or will Addison's ex-fiance be appointed? Or will Magic be reinstated without losing a beat? Who knows? 

[chitowngirl]

On 2/14/2024 at 11:31 AM, iMonrey said:

At least they remembered to fill us in on what happened to Connie after Ben left. They've been leaving that info out of the episode story far too often as well. 

I wish we got an update on the farmer’s wife and unborn baby 

[DoctorAtomic]

I actually wouldn't have a problem if Tom was the head of QL. Say what you want about the necessity of the lurve drama, and I'm not really invested in it, but Tom has been eminently even keeled and hasn't committed any felonies. Tom played the scene off Ian quite well in that I thought he (Tom) was disappointed Ian didn't enlist his help with the chip.

Clearly, Magic will be returning, and I would be fine if Tom recommended that he be reinstated. Or even if James Frain "analyzed the data" and understood what QL was really about. I can't imagine the show would waste the actor on such short screen time, and he wasn't really a villain, per se. Or maybe DOD wants to shut down QL and James Frain takes over. I assume they meant him to be an Elon Musk level of wealth. 

 

Edited February 18 by DoctorAtomic

[Chyromaniac]

I’m sure Magic will be back- they’re not going to just dump Ernie Hudson, at least not like this.  But honestly, I’m not sure what he or Jenn really brings to the table- QL could lose them both, and it really wouldn’t make much difference to how they operate.  Addison works with Ben, and Ian is there to run the computer- that… pretty much covers everything.  I don’t know why they need a “security” expert (when people just seem to walk right in), or an on-site administrator.  In retrospect, I think it would have been better to have one of them be a historian or researcher - someone who could comment on the times and circumstances Ben finds himself in.  I don’t think we needed both of them- although I can generally do without the present day story altogether.

[DoctorAtomic]

In the larger context, Magic is the connection to the OG. He has an emotional and experiential investment in the project. That's what he brings to the table. No offense to the actor, but Jenn is expendable. 

I wouldn't rule out that Ben's end of season leap affects a young James Frain who then in 2023 realizes that QL needs to keep going. That happened on the OG when Sam was on the train while Al was testifying in front of the Senate committee. 

Well, kid, I was thinking of two tin cans with a string. 

[iMonrey]

10 hours ago, Chyromaniac said:

I’m sure Magic will be back- they’re not going to just dump Ernie Hudson, at least not like this.  But honestly, I’m not sure what he or Jenn really brings to the table- QL could lose them both, and it really wouldn’t make much difference to how they operate.  Addison works with Ben, and Ian is there to run the computer- that… pretty much covers everything.  I don’t know why they need a “security” expert (when people just seem to walk right in), or an on-site administrator.  In retrospect, I think it would have been better to have one of them be a historian or researcher - someone who could comment on the times and circumstances Ben finds himself in.  I don’t think we needed both of them- although I can generally do without the present day story altogether.

Agreed. That's part of the problem with trying to make "meanwhile back at HQ" a thing equal to the leaps themselves. We really don't know what, exactly, Magic does, or what Jenn does most of the time, or all those other people we see milling about in the background sometimes. I imagine that's why the original show just focused on the leaps and we almost never saw anything happening back at PQL, because it's kind of pointless to keep cutting back to people just sort of monitoring equipment and stuff. 

[Nerfect Drifty]

On 2/14/2024 at 10:31 AM, iMonrey said:

As for the tedious HQ story, I hope for his sake this isn't all James Frain signed up for. I hate to think he's this hard up for work.

Someone? Stick a fork in this show. It's done.

You think the hacks that write this show are going to take a good actor and give him good material?

[Nerfect Drifty]

So this corrupt corporate executive is releasing a pesticide that is gonna kill people and cost his company a crapload of money in lawsuits.  The only way he can be stopped is if his enemies get a copy of an incriminating memo of which there is only one copy.  Instead of feeding the memo into the nearest convenient paper shredder or open flame, this idiot decides to hold on to it?  I guess it's for sentimental reasons?  Like his dearly departed mother gave him the sheet of paper it's printed on?  Or maybe it's a religious thing?  I've heard there are some ultra-strict sects of Judaism where you cannot destroy anything that has God's name written on it.

[possibilities]

The brother who wanted to be a whistleblower held onto it. He was trying to find a way to get it to the reporter before he was exposed, thus putting his life in danger and necessitating Ben sneaking in with  bro's keycard to crack the safe and retrieve the memo.

[DoctorAtomic]

It's literally the only piece of evidence that incriminates the corporation. I thought the show did make that fairly clear. 

[possibilities]

The show said that, but it's patently untrue. Unless they killed all the people who designed and conducted the study and were aware of the results, there would be witnesses to corroborate the memo. But the show went out of the way to say the memo was preserved because the one brother wanted to expose it, to stop the company from doing what it was planning to do. And that is why the memo was in the safe, not destroyed. 

The writing on this show is not the greatest, but I thought they did at least come up with an in-show explanation.

Edited February 27 by possibilities
typo

[DoctorAtomic]

I meant it was the smoking gun of a sort. There's a fair reason why it was in the safe. Without the memo, the CEO can always hide behind plausible deniability, he didn't know, etc. I didn't quite get why there was any confusion about the memo being critical to the plot. 

All those other people, you have to get to testify, if you can even find out who they are. The memo you can publish in the paper or read it on air on the news.