S01.E05: Plutonium is Forever

[thewhiteowl]

 

Walter and the team ask a troubled former associate for help when a nuclear reactor in Los Angeles is on the verge of a cataclysmic meltdown.

 

 

 

[Italian Ice]

I actually LOVED this episode. Walter and Happy are probably the two biggest emotional nuts to crack, and you could visibly see them making human connections. The writers are still a wee bit heavy handed with the Walter/Paige shipping, but I still liked it. Agent Gallo damn near killed me when he kissed the photo of his little girl, and I liked that they showed that Collins is what Walter COULD have ended up like, but didn't. Overall GREAT episode. 

[CoyoteBlue]

Nice ink, Agent Gallo! 

 

Walter is oddly the most messed up of them; he's just got tighter control so he fakes functional better. I'm enjoying this as long as I remember it's a cheeseathon and let the rest roll off.

[Jlina]

The ink under the white shirt was too fun! He looked pretty good for a low rent James Bond from the sea scene, lol.

 

Walter walks a fine line between crazy and functional, hmmmm.  I think I like it, but I like better the idea that his team is what saves him.  The scene with Happy was so moving - I'm loving Happy.  Walter's apology did not show in his eyes. 

 

I think in a way that's what makes his character interesting - or scary; nothing much shows in his eyes.  Sometimes they sparkle, sometimes he smiles but his eyes are always kind of dead even when he's looking at Paige (who weirdly just accepts he'll never turn on her after all this; I get it was a mind game but it was a good one).  He's a good looking guy but the eye thing has bugged me since the premier. He sometimes shows emotion with the kid, but not even really with Gallo.  It's like all one emotion, all the time, unless he throws a cup - a physical cue. 

 

Loved when they showed Toby looking at Happy and her back -  he looked muscled up in his arms.  Too cute. 

 

Sylvester grows on me every week - adorkable. No, he was ALWAYS this smart.  :)

Edited October 21, 2014 by Jlina

[paigow]

Why were there only 2 girls on the beach? They could have CGI'd a crowd. Granted, a beach in the shadow of an inactive nuclear plant is not prime waterfront property, but there is obviously a significant civilian population 5 minutes away. 

[shapeshifter]

The ink under the white shirt was too fun! He looked pretty good for a low rent James Bond from the sea scene, lol....

Was that a cover of an actual Bond scene? If so, which one? It was a great moment in an otherwise silly and not too clever episode.

[Beach Party]

I think we've seen that photo of Agent Gallo and his daughter before.  Anyone remember if Gallo shared how his daughter died? 

[Jlina]

Don't know if it was intentional, but probably.  Daniel Craig comes out of the ocean very similarly but in a speedo in Casino Royale.  :)  A suit would work, too as we saw.

[Vella]

Toby and Sylvester's horrified reactions to Walter's casual "Okay" when Gallo was trying to be sincere with him was hilarious, as was Gallo's great delivery on "Fantastic" when Walter finally admitted what happened with Collins 3 years earlier.  Paige is fitting it a lot better.  I really liked that when Happy confronted Walter, she didn't cry. She was emotional and upset but she didn't turn on the waterworks, which was a breath of fresh air to me.

Edited October 21, 2014 by Vella

[Italian Ice]

Paige is definitely fitting in a lot better this episode than she ever has. I kind of GOT her now. Sylvester is adorable. More of him please.

 

Beach Party - We saw that pic of his little girl in the 2nd episode where the Governor's daughter was dying b/c of a biological weapon.

[FineWashables]

I enjoyed the case itself and found it an intriguing setup.  The writers do a good job on that, I think.  But the dialogue is so clunky it's distracting.  Weird dichotomy: they're writing good plots but bad dialogue. Whenever Jaydn Wong delivers a line she sounds exactly like Khandi in the episosde of 2-1/2 Men, when Khandi was rehearsing to audition for a CSI-type TV show called Stiffs.  Khandi's delivery was hilarious, as intended.  Jaydn Wong sounds hilarious too, but clearly that's not intentional.  It's like the director told her, ok, you have to sound childish but tough every time you speak, regardless of what you're saying.  Other than this one actress, though, I don't think the problem lies with the cast, it's the lines themselves.  Hope they work on that because this show has a lot of promise.

[jbrecken]

Was that a cover of an actual Bond scene? If so, which one? It was a great moment in an otherwise silly and not too clever episode.

Bond comes out of the ocean in Goldfinger in a wetsuit that he takes off to reveal a perfectly dry outfit.

[thuganomics85]

Liked seeing Mykelti Williamson as the head of the nuclear department or whatever he was.  He's great in pretty much everything (Justified, Boomtown, etc.), but part of me will always remember him as Bubba from Forrest Gump.

 

The stuff with Collins was somewhat interesting, in seeing that could become of Walt, if he's not careful, and seeing how easily Walt can be under his spell.  I knew it would work out in the end, but it was good when Walt realized he was getting played, and that he is vulnerable.  Definitely think this isn't the last of Collins.  I can see him being a recurring antagonist for the group.

 

Liked getting more history on Walt/Happy's relationship.  While I'm usually iffy on flashbacks, I'd actually like to see one where the group first formed, and them interacting with each other for the first time.

 

Gallo is awesome.  Him emerging from the ocean in his suit was hilarious.  As was his sarcastic "Fantastic", when Walt admitted he sent Collins to a mental institution.  And, that brief scene with the picture: Robert Patrick can make the most of his screen time.

 

Preposterous stuff as always, but I can totally buy that the equipment at that facility would be dated, and I enjoyed the team's frustrations to all of it.  Especially Toby freaking out at the old, slow printer. 

 

Paige played a big part this time, by figuring out the code was when Walt sent Collins away, but, honestly, I figured that out as soon as they asked what the pass-code was.  I'm quicker then the geniuses!

[Zahdii]

I'm sorry, I like the show so far, but I hate Happy. I don't like her voice, the way she talks like she just got out of the dentist's office and her tongue is still numb, her lack of expression, or the way she seems to be an expert at things she wasn't originally billed as being. Really, she fixes electrical wires, cracks safes, runs diagnostics on nuclear power plants. I'm losing track on what her job really is.

As for this week's bad guy, I hope he stays locked up for the rest of his life on a remote island with no internet access and attendants who don't speak English. He was willing to blow up a nuclear power plant to prove that he was smarter than anyone else and that he could get into their heads. He claimed in the end that he was trying to get back into the group, but I didn't believe it for a second. Who in their right mind sets up a scenario where millions of people will die if they don't get their preferred job offer?

[SonofaBiscuit]

I'm still enjoying this show.  It's entertaining and the hour passes by quickly. 

 

I had to laugh at Walter and Agent Gallo leisurely jogging to reach the containment door that was closing slower than the others.  This is your only way out and you're not booking it to make it through the door?! 

 

Something is definitely going to happen between Toby and Happy.  These two were the weakest links for me, but the last two episodes have done a lot to endear them to me.  I really didn't like Toby very much at first, but I find him to be quite funny now. 

 

I'm actually OK with the prospect of a Walter/Paige romantic relationship.  I find myself curious about how Walter would act if he were in love with another person.  Is he even capable of love in the romantic sense? 

Edited October 21, 2014 by SonofaBiscuit

[Beach Party]

As for James Bond references: there is also the title of this episode: "Plutonium is Forever."

"Diamonds Are Forever"

[possibilities]

Preposterous stuff as always, but I can totally buy that the equipment at that facility would be dated, and I enjoyed the team's frustrations to all of it.  Especially Toby freaking out at the old, slow printer.

The dot matrix printer made me laugh-- I remember the bad old days of dot matrix! Not only were they slow, but they were NOISY AS HELL. Even if it wasn't a nuclear emergency, dot matrix printers are a valid reason to freak out in frustration.

 

"Made you look" was awesome, too.

 

I like Toby when he's playful, but I find the gambling stuff boring.

[Actionmage]

Not only were they [dot matrix printers] slow, but they were NOISY AS HELL.

 

Loved that scene!  And Sylvester's recap for Walter. I would like to hug Sylvester, but he's a germaphobe, so bumping elbows is cool too.

 

Mykelti Williamson is always cool to have on my tv, so I cheered seeing him. I got what I thought I might: he and Gallo snarking on the geniuses. I liked that he wasn't antagonistic just because.

 

I hope that the ink we saw under the white shirt is actually Mr. Patrick's. I like it! 

 

I'm glad that Paige spoke up about her doubts, as opposed to letting it eat at her, as other shows might have done.

 

I would not be opposed to a slow-burn Happy/Toby relationship. Or even thinking that they'd rather stay friends, but end up as a couple down the road. just take it slow and let Toby get over his obsessive, stalkery  stuff. Happy can learn to trust a little deeper in the meantime. I like that she is taking a mentor role with Ralph in mechanical things. It's a nice step.

 

Collins is a spooky s.o.b.. He's gonna break out and he's going to gun for Ralph, because Ralph is a kid. A kid the group likes, Walter is interested in and Paige's kid, so it hurts everyone.  If they do that story, I just hope that Ralph finds a way to save/help save himself.  Walter telling Collins that Paige was the last piece the team needed isn't something Collins needed to hear.  Good job by Joshua Leonard for making me nervous with every move and word! *g*

 

I'm feeling mixed about the next episode, but Linda Hunt is always welcome on my tv and I like Hetty. We shall see!

[arrowhead]

I found this episode really, really boring. Not sure if I even got the plot because it didn't keep my attention. And the weird girl has to go, she is too annoying. "you went down the rabbit hole"... blah, blah.. "I'm not doing that again" blah, blah - so much over-acted drama. I'll have to change channels each time she speaks. I hope this show is brave enough to kill-off some of the main cast and that she is soon gone.

[mjlaris]

I kind of like this series because of the dynamic between the various characters but this episode is a prime example of what's wrong with this series.  The science and technology is terrible.  It's not even close to correct.  This episode for example states that a government nuclear reactor uses "ancient" technology.  This is a true statement but it then says from the 1980s, which is completely wrong.  I'm a nuclear engineer with over 30 years experience and am one of the top experts in reactor engineering in the country.  Government reactors are all what's called Production Reactors.  That is, they were designed to produce Plutonium for nuclear bombs.  They were designed and built in the late 1940s and 1950s.  Ancient does not even begin to describe these reactors.  The most modern commercial reactors in the country are based on 1960s technology.  Only in the last 5 or 6 years have some computer based control systems started to be installed.  However, these computer based control systems do not have an automatic mode.  In other words, they only provide a modern computer interface for the operator to control the systems.  Even this is decades ahead of the production reactors, which I believe have all been shutdown.  Next, no operator was ever designed to be operated by a computer or even remotely.  As long as there is fuel in a reactor, there are operators in the control room.  A reactor in long term cooling would have all of the fuel off loaded into the spent fuel pool.  However, even with all of the fuel in the spent fuel pool, there would still be operators at the plant.  There are lots of things that could go wrong with these old production reactors because, unlike more modern commercial reactors, they did not have the diverse and redundant safety systems of the newer reactors.  Had the shows writers done even a cursory google search, they could have found this out.  I have no problem with a couple of the episodes because while they stretch the current technology, they are possible.  However, most episodes use bad science.  The producers have no respect for the intelligence of the viewer.