S01.E08: The Man Who Kept the Secrets

[Zaffy]

  On 3/15/2025 at 8:56 PM, chaifan said:

I'm not even sure anyone other than Cal and Sinatra knew about the EM pulses. 

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They must know because the EMP happened as they were trying to approach the bunker/Paradise city. I think this whole EMP thingy is a big plot hole anyway. Like since every electronic circuit got fried how X's wife managed to send messages?
The suspend disbelief pool is getting quite full and I am afraid about how worse it can go in season 2 where we will probably follow Xavier in a post apocalyptic world.

Edited March 16 by Zaffy

[chaifan]

  On 3/16/2025 at 5:08 AM, Zaffy said:

I think this whole EMP thingy is a big plot hole anyway. Like since every electronic circuit got fried how X's wife managed to send messages?

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I agree, the EM thing gave them an out for nuclear wasteland, but it created a lot more questions.  Maybe these will be answered in Season 2.  Do EM pulses completely fry existing electrical equipment, or just disable it?  If it's just disabled, then I could see things being rebuilt 3 years later, allowing Teri to be on radio messages.  But, if the EM pulse went off while AF1 was in the air, how was the check-in system working in the bunker?  I could see underground systems being protected, but the hangar/entry tunnel was ground level.  Or, was there just no EM pulse beacon (or whatever they would be) in that area so the bunker area wouldn't have been affected?

I'm willing to suspend belief when it's necessary - when real science can't back up what the show wants/needs for plot purposes.  And yes, there is a good amount of suspended belief to buy the whole premise of Paradise existing.  But if there's real science to the EM stuff (and there is, at least to some extent), then I think it's the show's responsibility to explain it.  I'm ok with no explanation in Season 1, if it gets explained in Season 2.

My theory is that they had to keep the Paradise population believing that up top was nuclear wasteland and/or the equivalent of a nuclear winter caused by the ash from the volcano.  They had to believe it was not just unsafe, but deadly, to leave the bunker.  Otherwise, some Paradise residents would have wanted to go up top, and that would have put all of Paradise at risk.

 

 

[Tachi Rocinante]

EMPs fry anything with chips and circuit boards.  Older HAM and crappy radios don't have them and would still work.

Wasn't there a throwaway line early on about "What the hell are you doing in Colorado" or something?

I'm guessing we'll see a retcon flashback of X doing pre-flight checks and whatnot.