S01.E18: Dead Men Tell Long Tales

[comsimplex]

Interesting theories...  The song is Matches by Letts.  The episode was wonderful, but I wished they'd cast Blair Underwood instead.  I could see him and Jo having sparks, and being competition for Henry.  I don't mind the cliche of Jo and Henry getting together, but would see it as a season 3 event.  If ABC would ignore the ratings and give us hope.  Come on cable, somebody pick this show up if ABC cancels.  Even CBS.

[Netfoot]

CGJr says the map was hand-written by "Ijito" or "Ajito" who was a scholar and a teacher, but just another slave on board the ship.  But IMDB calls the english-speaking slave with the filed teeth, "Obi".  And it would seem to be his body found in the coffin recovered from the wreck.  Make of all that, what you will.

 

CGJr then talks about how 200 years later a descendant lives "to tell our story" in a way that "our story" could be construed to mean "the story of the escaped slaves and their descendants, including myself", but if you lean your head to one side, "our story" could also mean "your story and mine, Henry."  He speaks to Henry of it being "all because someone dropped a key." in a sort of bantering way, that again, you could conclude was him teasing Henry about the part he (Henry) played in the affair.

 

I've examined the relevant footage with stop-frame, and there is no definite signs of CGJr on that ship.  There are several pairs of unidentified eyes that could be anybody, but none looked especially like him, and for sure, there was no obvious shot of his face to be found.  Of course, there is no reason he couldn't have been there and remain unseen, should the writers wish to go that route.

 

And I sort of wish they would.  it would be an interesting and significant plot-twist, and perhaps CGJr's continued involvement might lead to series renewal, which I'd be glad to see.  So long as Henry remain the primary focus of the show, since I am already invested in him, and the relationships he has with Abe, Jo, Lucas, Hanson, etc.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Netfoot

[shapeshifter]

...CGJr then talks about how 200 years later a descendant lives "to tell our story" in a way that "our story" could be construed to mean "the story of the escaped slaves and their descendants, including myself", but if you lean your head to one side, "our story" could also mean "your story and mine, Henry."  He speaks to Henry of it being "all because someone dropped a key." in a sort of bantering way, that again, you could conclude was him teasing Henry about the part he (Henry) played in the affair.

...And I sort of wish they would....

No offense to Burn Gorman, but now I really wish they had skipped the whole Adam drama and just gone for Isaac being another immortal from the ship. It seems like it would make for a tighter story. The Adam bit reminds me too much of the whole Man in Black vs. Jacob Lost story arc--which no amount of decent acting could redeem, IMO.

[cko]

The song is Matches by Letts.

 

 

Thank you, comsimplex!!!!

[Sakura12]

It would be interesting if Issac was an immortal too. If he is he must've spent his immortality becoming super rich, because come on, who wouldn't want to do that. However I don't think CGjr has much chemistry with Jo. Their date was humorous though with Henry and Hanson trying to figure out if the sounds coming from the apartment was sex or not. Also if he is immortal I really want him to ruin one of Henry's I know what this object is speeches by saying everything about the object before he does. 

 

I do love when Abe calls Henry, Dad or makes fun of him. I just love how you can really see who the parent is and who the child is in their relationship despite how they look. 

[henripootel]

It would be interesting if Issac was an immortal too.

Hadn't thought of that but I think it might rescue CGJr's appearance here.  I've never found him all that compelling as an actor and he's really ... not ... bringing it now.  He's okay with ADLG but only because she's incandescently hot, and it's good to see her being given something to do.  Maybe Issac was there and 'laid hands' on wounded Henry and infected him with immortality like John Coffey.  That'd be pretty cool, and it sounds like a better backstory than 'killed by an enchanted weapon' that Adam seems to favoring.

 

Not for nothing, but shit that's been on the bottom of the atlantic for 200 years won't be in anything like that good a shape.  Be miracle if you found any wood at all, and the gun probably wouldn't look like a gun anymore.  I like a good treasure story as much as the next guy but all the stuff was ridiculously well preserved.  

[kikaha]

It would be interesting if Issac was an immortal too. If he is he must've spent his immortality becoming super rich, because come on, who wouldn't want to do that.

The temptation to obtain riches would be overwhelming.  The big downside is that also raises his profile.  That seems to me the biggest problem any and all immortals would face, even more so in our modern world of instant telecommunications and DNA testing.  They have to either stay off the radar screen -- how do you do that today? -- or appear to die and then reappear under a different identity.  The more wealth they have, the more they appear in public, the dicier all that is. 

[theatremouse]

He certainly did seem to be a wealthy person who appears in public, but I would argue it's quite possible to be very wealthy and not have a super public profile. Especially if it's just investments and nothing flashey, not owning any major company, if you choose not to be a major philanthropist, etc. I mean, not that it isn't good to be a philanthropist, but one of the reasons the uber-rich so often have public profiles is either owning or founding huge companies, or being big donors to various things. One could have boatloads of money and just not use it in a way that garners too much attention. If Cuba were an immortal, he's either ballsy being so public, or maybe he has smartly had multiple profiles and it's just this one who is the show-off rich guy, but others weren't. Actually, some of what read to me as bad acting might (emphasis on the might) might have been intended to imply maybe he's (Isaac is) playing a character as well. Could be interesting if one not only changed identities every so often, but also intentionally tried to demonstrate totally different personalities.

It must be easier to be immortal if you're a sociopath...

Edited March 29, 2015 by theatremouse

[sonyab]

Oops put last night's episode here. Nothing to see here folks. :)

Edited April 1, 2015 by sonyab

[zannej]

Chronologically, Henry must have died on the ship after confronting his father and after his father died. He would still be the "owner's son" regardless of whether or not his father was alive. And it's possible Henry himself did not immediately become the new owner of the shipping business. Maybe the ownership was held in a trust or something and run by someone else.

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. It makes more sense that way. Maybe because the father had owed money or something, the estate couldn't quite go to Henry yet. I wonder how long it took to hand estates over to the heirs in those days. and I wonder if news of the father's death had even reached the captain's ears yet.

 

I never considered the idea that Isaac was on the ship and saw Henry there. Personally, I don't think he was. I think he would have given Henry a more knowing look. Plus, he's a bit too lightskinned to have been one of the original slaves on the ship. I don't think any of the ones on the ship were that light. He only would have gotten that light because of some Caucasian blood in the family line. I mean, unless he had been a descendant of one of the Moors that had lived free and married and bred with Europeans and somehow ended up enslaved. There was a period in UK history where people of any color could be slaves-- although black slaves were more valuable than white slaves. I'll have to find the article on that again. 

 

If Isaac was immortal and had been on that ship, I don't think he would be out giving public speeches and such. He would be trying to keep a low profile.