S01.E04: One Of Our Senior Realtors Has Chosen To Retire

[theatremouse]

I know this is silly but my first thought when they showed the girl was that she IS one of those creatures, and they shapeshift or something. Or the children are experimented on and turned into those. Or something.

The hypno teacher thing bothered me, not because of the concept but when Ben was first with her and only had been briefly, it didn't make sense to me he wasn't immediately spooked. She didn't seem to be doing the sort of...hand on shoulder, tell you a story, lull you into a state of whatever deal. She seemed to be doing some sort of ask you the same questions so many times you don't know what's really anymore spiel. Which works if you have a prisoner tied to a chair in a room with no windows and whatnot over some period of time. But a kid off the street being told it's basically an entrance exam at school, and the second she started her line of questioning...like...what the hell does that have to do with school. The first two were "getting to know each other"ish but then it never veered into anything remotely like a means of judging education or intelligence. Maybe Ben didn't react because he was told to play along, but it just seemed bizarre (before the real conditioning had time to set in) he wouldn't be all "don't you want me to do math or something?"

[SoothingDave]

First, I am new here, been reading for awhile, but never registered nor posted. Glad to be here.

 

My question is this gate we keep going back to on a dirt road......

 

Is there a real road with some kind of gate that the people have driving INTO Wayward Pines on? Why hasn't Ethan taken the sheriff's vehicle after he killed him and drove down every road trying to find another way out?

 

 

Ethan tried to drive out of town in the very first episode.  The road out of town doubles back and leads into town.  It's all an illusion.

 

The better question, posed above, is why Ethan doesn't use the sheriff's remote control to open the garage door in the wall.  

[walnutqueen]

First, I am new here, been reading for awhile, but never registered nor posted. Glad to be here.

 

My question is this gate we keep going back to on a dirt road......

 

Is there a real road with some kind of gate that the people have driving INTO Wayward Pines on? Why hasn't Ethan taken the sheriff's vehicle after he killed him and drove down every road trying to find another way out?

 

With respect to the "creature" on the top of the clift, my immediate thought was it was similar to the creatures in the movie Avatar.

 

 

Welcome to my nightmare, GoMocs (and I mean the show, not THIS place, which is excellent company).   :-)

[KDeFlane]

And the preview for next week looks completely bonkers -- so many different things briefly shown.  Will need to watch the preview again.

 

Do rewatch, but I'll ask politely that the previews not be discussed in this thread.  At my old school, err forum (where's that strike-thru tag?), we tried to keep the topic related to only the content revealed within the episode.  I haven't checked the rules yet for this new town.

 

Anyway, I do try to avoid viewing the previews for a few days myself.  I want the story to unfold in sequence, altho' I do peek at the visuals sometimes when I can't stand the wait.

 

Just had my first viewing this morning, might not get to my freeze-frame note-taking viewing until Monday.  Glad to see people already pointing out the numbers on the nifty aluminum folders.

 

As for the Reckoning, I don't know if we know they always slit the throat, but that also is a method for the slaughter of animals in certain religious laws, like it has something to do with kosher and halal meats (i think).  *shudder* at the thought.

[SlackerInc]

I prefer to avoid previews as well.  Fortunately, on Hulu (where I watch, as a cord cutter) they don't even have them, although they do have "previouslies".

 

Theresa and Ben are going along and pretending to fit in.  Although in Ben's case, it seems like he might already be buying the brainwash.  And the pretty girl sure helps.  Oh, Ben.  Being stuck in a town surrounded by an electric fence and possibly guarded by creatures, can't compare to getting a girlfriend!

 

I remember my teenage years--that's not far off!

 

I also wonder how one small town keeps an old-timey artisanal toy shop in business? But I guess that's pretty low on the mysteries-to-be-solved priority list. :-)

 

I don't think we've ever seen another customer other than Ethan or his wife, have we?

 

Also, there was a scene of Pope firing a rifle out by the mountain ridge. I now wonder if what he was shooting at were creatures similar to the one that carried his body off.

 

Ooh, good point!

 

The son kills a man then is like 'whatever' dad the next day. 

 

Well, technically he just wounded him, and his dad finished him off.

 

While I'm nitpicking, was anyone else bugged that Hope the Hypno-teacher promised they'd get a cozy booth in back of the Biergarten, but instead they ended up at a table in the middle of the room?

 

Anyway, other than that I really liked this episode and am looking forward to the big reveal next week.

[SlackerInc]

From the recap:

"First off, it's hilarious that the Wayward Pines drinking hole is a 'beer garden' and not just a regular bar/pub."

It's actually called Biergarten, proper name.

[JenE4]

While I'm nitpicking, was anyone else bugged that Hope the Hypno-teacher promised they'd get a cozy booth in back of the Biergarten, but instead they ended up at a table in the middle of the room?

Lol. That place WAS packed. Now we know why Beverly's bar was always empty. Everyone in town was at the Beirgarten. Kate and her husband got the cozy booth in the back first. Anyway, I thought Beirgarten was German and was expecting bratwurst and weiner schnitzel, not buffalo burgers, steak, and trout. But they really made a big deal about the menu, so I guess that's one of the town's mysteries: how people age, what are the monsters, who's running the show, what is the purpose of the town, and why does the German restaurant sell buffalo burgers--and why is the Buffalo burger better than the trout which is better than the steak based on Wayward Pines's version of Yelp reviews, which basically is everyone hearing everything anyone says?

Oh, we didn't mention the piano music that plays at night--even out in the woods. Subliminal message hypnosis, I presume.

ETA: Actually, I bet the cozy/quiet place thing was purposeful. The teacher lied and said it was going to be quiet when she knew it was the big hang out and wanted everyone to see them. Or, maybe everyone showed up because they knew the Burkes were coming. Kate seemed surprised to see them but everyone else was hanging on every word like they showed up just to see Pam give Ethan a big speech.

Edited June 5, 2015 by JenE4

[Dowel Jones]

a cozy booth in back of the Biergarten, but instead they ended up at a table in the middle of the room?

 

NEW TOWN RULE:  Always tip the maitre 'd.

[KaveDweller]

Ethan tried to drive out of town in the very first episode.  The road out of town doubles back and leads into town.  It's all an illusion.

 

The better question, posed above, is why Ethan doesn't use the sheriff's remote control to open the garage door in the wall.  

 

Well wouldn't the answer to that be that he doesn't want whatever took Pope's body to come inside?

 

I thought an important line was when Theresa was telling Kate that things hadn't changed for her, and Kate said that they had, she just didn't know it yet.  So are they all dead and the town is purgatory? But the Burkes just haven't figured it out yet?  I can't really think of another explanation for that line, except maybe turning into pod people or something.

[izabella]

In my city, beer garden really means the bar & grill's outdoor patio, lol.

 

With Andy committing suicide by electric fence, after trying to commit suicide by Reckoning via third-strike rules about vandalism and truth, it reminds me that Bill's wife told Ethan that her husband killed himself in front of her.  (Bill was the other agent, right?  Kate's partner whom Ethan found dead in the creepy house?)  Did she say how he killed himself?   Did Kate ever say why he was Reckoned?

[Chaos Theory]

This show reminds me slot of Pretty Little Lusrs where crazy ass and creepy is kinda the whole point and whatever the hell is going on is beside the point.

[meep.meep]

In my city, beer garden really means the bar & grill's outdoor patio, lol.

 

With Andy committing suicide by electric fence, after trying to commit suicide by Reckoning via third-strike rules about vandalism and truth, it reminds me that Bill's wife told Ethan that her husband killed himself in front of her.  (Bill was the other agent, right?  Kate's partner whom Ethan found dead in the creepy house?)  Did she say how he killed himself?   Did Kate ever say why he was Reckoned?

I think Bill's wife said he cut his throat in front of her.

Thank you eagle eyed posters for noticing all the mentions of types of meat which I missed.

The shot of the alien was really disturbing.

[Fable]

Two things that stood out to me that I haven't seen mentioned here.   Didn't Theresa say to Kate that she was training to be an agent but quit to have family....I don't think that has been brought up before.  Nurse Pam seems intimately acquainted with Ethan, calling him Darling and Honey.  I am really wondering if there is some connection there, especially after learning that she had a hand in the real estate guy's arrival to WP. 

[KDeFlane]

Didn't Theresa say to Kate that she was training to be an agent but quit to have family....I don't think that has been brought up before.

 

Obliquely, it was implied when Theresa was accessing Ethan's account at the Secret Service office in Boise.  She told Ben, "I'm putting my training to good use," or something to the effect that she's used this computer system before.

[Fable]

Obliquely, it was implied when Theresa was accessing Ethan's account at the Secret Service office in Boise.  She told Ben, "I'm putting my training to good use," or something to the effect that she's used this computer system before.

 

Oh good point.   I love that everyone picks up on different things

[jhlipton]

It struck me as odd that in one day Ben didn't know where he lived. That's some fast acting brainwashing!

I'm with Gregg247. He knew where he was, but was not sure whether he should say "living in Seattle" or "living in WP". I bet that he would still say that "home" was Seattle.

 

 

They clearly have seasons though because Peter was counting winters, and the hypno-teacher (ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNO-TEACHER!) says that every summer the school hosts a battle of the bands.

ETA: And for stuff like bi-annual/annual checkups they could just use the seasons "see me next winter/spring/summer/fall"

 

How hard is it to keep track of seasons? I think Peter knew how many years he had been in WP -- he just didn't want to say it.

I don't think making money is the priority, more so giving them something to do to pass the time.

 

So it's a town of socialists!

 

Also, why were those files so carefully hidden? What was in them that required hiding? Does it really matter that Pope's sexretary was born in NJ in 1960?

 

I thought it was interesting that their "file age" (I thought hers was 1980, making her 35, and the mayor was 55 or so) seemed to match their "WP age".

I think Bill's wife said he cut his throat in front of her.

I wonder then if he Reckoned himself???? I still think it's possible that she was speaking metaphorically -- he did something that he knew would get him killed, so in essence he was cutting his own throat.

(where's that strike-thru tag?),

[ s ] test to strike-through [ /s ] --> test to strike-through when you remove the spaces.

[SlackerInc]

Lol. That place WAS packed. Now we know why Beverly's bar was always empty. Everyone in town was at the Beirgarten.

 

I rewatched the pilot with my son, who's now hooked, and I think Beverly's place was the Biergarten as well--even though I agree that they looked different.

 

Well wouldn't the answer to that be that he doesn't want whatever took Pope's body to come inside?

 

I thought an important line was when Theresa was telling Kate that things hadn't changed for her, and Kate said that they had, she just didn't know it yet.  So are they all dead and the town is purgatory? But the Burkes just haven't figured it out yet?  I can't really think of another explanation for that line, except maybe turning into pod people or something.

 

I think that's a good call about not wanting the thing to come inside--they sure hightailed it out of there at the time.  OTOH he is now headed out there, but I guess he thinks his two guns will be good enough for protection.

 

On the purgatory supposition, I was listening to another interview with the showrunner, and he said when he was pitching the show executives would ask "are they all dead?" and he would laugh and assure them that was not it.

 

Two things that stood out to me that I haven't seen mentioned here.   Didn't Theresa say to Kate that she was training to be an agent but quit to have family....I don't think that has been brought up before.  Nurse Pam seems intimately acquainted with Ethan, calling him Darling and Honey.  I am really wondering if there is some connection there, especially after learning that she had a hand in the real estate guy's arrival to WP. 

 

Yeah, interesting questions.  With rewatching the pilot, I noticed a couple things along these lines.  There was Beverly's "I always believed you" (which I also remember someone bringing up in an earlier thread), which was said the first time (apparently) they met but seemed to imply some greater and longer-standing familiarity.  So maybe there are time loops or something?

 

And when Teresa was talking to Hassler (Ethan's boss) he said a couple things to her that sounded "agent-y", like not just "you're the wife of one of my agents" but "you used to be on my team".

[walnutqueen]

On the purgatory supposition, I was listening to another interview with the showrunner, and he said when he was pitching the show executives would ask "are they all dead?" and he would laugh and assure them that was not it.

 

 

I seem to remember the Lost showrunners saying the same thing.  :-)

[Centaur]

First post but love this show. Not sure if it's been commented on before, but my 10yr old pointed out a whole bunch of single frames in the opening credits. And there is an occasional extra frame now and then in each episode. In the opening credits there are single frames of what look like trees bursting into flames.

[SonofaBiscuit]

Darn, I can't watch this show live anymore, so it took me a while to see this week's episode.  My thoughts:

 

The townspeople sure don't waste any time.  Pope's not even dead for a day and Ethan gets a yummy cake with edible pinecones and a photoshoot for the the local paper.  And Theresa was offered Peter's realtor job before that poor guy was even dead.  

 

Numbers on Peter McCall's folder -- 1002-4001, 8104-7110
Arlene Moran's folder -- 3991-2280, 0204-4010

 

 

Thanks for the dates on Arlene's folder.  I tried to make them out, but could only read the 4010.  Peter was taken in 2001, so from that tidbit of info, it was pretty easy to figure out that these are dates written backwards.  I'm guessing that Peter was taken on 10-04-2001, and Arlene was taken on 08-22-1993.  So the last date on Peter's folder would be 01-17-4018, and the last date on Arlene's folder would be 01-04-4020.  So yeah, I'm guessing all of this WP shit is going down over 2000 years in the future.

 

Ethan told his family to play along, so I think that when the weirdo teacher was asking him "Ben, has your father never lied to you?  How can you trust him?", maybe he should have bought a clue, realized that these weren't normal, appropriate questions for her to be asking him, and LIED!  "I'm from Seattle, but WP is my home now."  That's all she wanted to hear, I think.  

 

You know how when people are hypnotized on TV, you always see the hypnotherapist touch their shoulder or whatever?  Maybe that's what the high-fives from the "teacher" are all about.  There's some sort of brainwashing going on here (the Mayor mentioned that the focus is on the child and shaping the mind of the child).  Maybe the high-fives are some sort of hypnotherapy related trigger?

 

When Peter and Ethan were talking at the fence, Peter said "Most people want to leave when they first get here, just like you.  I didn't.  It let me be someone new, ya know, forget my past.  Problem is, you can't forget forever.  It will catch up to you.  It's caught up to me.  There's only one way out (looks at cliff wall).  But this is the end for me."  If Peter was so happy to be someone new when he arrived in WP, I wonder when things changed for him.  At some point, he decided that it was so necessary to get out of this town, that he was will to risk death by climbing that rock wall to do it (he mentioned a rock climbing accident which forced the use of the cane).

[Yeldarbe]

I think you may be on to something, SonofaBiscuit.

[Centaur]

That's pretty cool with the numbers Sonafabiscuit. The fact that they can be made to fit as dates which could be consistent with different abductions is hard to ignore. But it would be a fairly lame attempt at encryption (if it is an attempt to disguise dates). They'd surely know a trained Secret Service agent would work it out quickly. But maybe that's why they'd do it that way. To let him slowly piece together the truth rather than overwhelming him. It also struck me how easily and blatantly the people he talked to about their life before just fell into the conversation despite the apparent severe rules against it.

[lasandi]

Why didn't Ben's pop and mom tell him the rules. No talking about missing anything, the gated wall, nada. I was waiting for him to disclose that he killed the sheriff! LOL. Geez, shut up kid!

[Free]

Why didn't Ben's pop and mom tell him the rules. No talking about missing anything, the gated wall, nada. I was waiting for him to disclose that he killed the sheriff! LOL. Geez, shut up kid!

 

Probably for the 'keeping in the dark' trope, personally I really don't care about his family.

[janie jones]

Regarding making appointments, I don't think people do make appointments.  I think they get a card in their mailbox telling them they need to be at the dentist's office the next day at whatever time. 

 

Some people have questioned why newcomers don't have the rules explained to them, but I think it makes perfect sense.  I don't think they want to put people in a position to ask "Why?" to someone they believe to know the answer to the question.

 

Yet, she aged TOO much for that. She went from a young woman presumably in her twenties to a woman in her seventies, or 60ish in 2001. But we know WP hasn't been around for 40 years, which seemed like a detail dropped in specifically to dispute such a nurse Pam age math mystery, lol. But also Kate disappeared 5 weeks ago in outside time and aged 12 years, so that also indicates rapid aging/time progression. However, this time doesn't affect everyone. And the kid, Ben, doesn't seem to be going through puberty overnight, for example. So I think the doctor performs different hybreeding experiments on them when they arrive in WP. That might be why they don't have calendars because it is a different year for everyone. Beverly's time was slowed way down and thought only a year had passed, rather than 16 years. Kate went through rapid time of 12 years in 5 weeks. The guy from this week somehow managed to mostly work against the time by counting winters. No one else noticed the seasons passing? Interesting.

... Interesting that the mayor also seems to be helping Ethan toward that end. He sure doesn't seem too pleased with his wife hypnotizing the children, so I guess they're forced to marry specific people too, like Kate and Bill who suddenly had spouses? (Oh and back to my first point Bill was also there 5 weeks and managed to have a baby so it's actual passage of time that's different, not just perception...unless the baby was rapid development too--another hybrid experiment?)

I don't think Pam is supposed to be in her sixties or seventies -- Melissa Leo is 55.  I think she was only supposed to have aged like twenty years.  And I thought Bill was supposed to have been in Wayward Pines over a year?  That's the impression I got when Beverly was talking about him.

 

Also, why were those files so carefully hidden? What was in them that required hiding? Does it really matter that Pope's sexretary was born in NJ in 1960?

I think they want to keep track of what people's lives were like in real life, at the very least to keep track of what people's skills or leanings might be.  And I think any information about people's past lives requires hiding, given that everyone is supposed to pretend their past lives never existed.  I liked that it said that her previous job was as a school bus driver.  The first time I ever saw that actress was when she played Forrest Gump's bus driver.  There can't possibly be a file in there on every adult in the town.  There were only two boxes in there, with about fifteen files in the one he opened.  In the Biergarten alone there were more people than that.  Is it just that the prop people didn't cram the boxes full enough, or are these only important people? 

[bunnywithanaxe]

I was wondering if I should start watching Wayward Pines, but now that I know Hope Davis is involved (sigh) y'know I am just gonna have to become a slobbering fangirl of Wayward Pines.

[KaveDweller]

I rewatched the pilot with my son, who's now hooked, and I think Beverly's place was the Biergarten as well--even though I agree that they looked different.

 

I think that's a good call about not wanting the thing to come inside--they sure hightailed it out of there at the time.  OTOH he is now headed out there, but I guess he thinks his two guns will be good enough for.

  

And if not, at least he's the only dead one. If the mister/wolf gets into town he could kill the wife and kid or other innocents.

The town being years and years in the future is interesting, because in the first episode I thought the show was stuck in the past. It doesn't seem particularly modern. But some kind of time warp is obviously going on.

I seem to remember the Lost showrunners saying the same thing.  :-)

The Lost show runners were telling the truth (about that anyway). They weren't all dead on that show and the island wasn't purgatory.

[LittleIggy]

Loving this show! Melissa Leo sure is rocking the creepy.

[Free]

I was wondering if I should start watching Wayward Pines, but now that I know Hope Davis is involved (sigh) y'know I am just gonna have to become a slobbering fangirl of Wayward Pines.

 

I think she was also recently on Allegiance, but that got cancelled.

[walnutqueen]

I think she was also recently on Allegiance, but that got cancelled.

 

Thank goodness.  Her on again/off again Russian accent was cringeworthy!

[Free]

Thank goodness.  Her on again/off again Russian accent was cringeworthy!

 

That's what I remember from her before this show.  XD.

[AnnieL]

Am I missing something here? It's clear that at least two people are able to leave WP. Sheriff Pope clearly had access to the outer hwy and Dr. Jenkins was able to meet up with Ethan's boss. If Ethan's the new sheriff, why isn't he allowed to come and go the way sheriff Pope was?

[Free]

Am I missing something here? It's clear that at least two people are able to leave WP. Sheriff Pope clearly had access to the outer hwy and Dr. Jenkins was able to meet up with Ethan's boss. If Ethan's the new sheriff, why isn't he allowed to come and go the way sheriff Pope was?

 

I guessing it's for the twist, that's why everything has to be dragged out and mysterious, thankfully it's supposed to be the next episode.

[jhlipton]

Am I missing something here? It's clear that at least two people are able to leave WP. Sheriff Pope clearly had access to the outer hwy and Dr. Jenkins was able to meet up with Ethan's boss. If Ethan's the new sheriff, why isn't he allowed to come and go the way sheriff Pope was?

 

We are speculating (over on the Theories thread) that Pope's and Jenkins' scenes occurred prior to the "first day" in WP.  The current year in WP is somewhere around 4028, so those scenes are way in the future.

 

At least, that's the current speculation (No spoilers are allowed on the Theories thread).

[SonofaBiscuit]

Am I missing something here? It's clear that at least two people are able to leave WP. Sheriff Pope clearly had access to the outer hwy and Dr. Jenkins was able to meet up with Ethan's boss. If Ethan's the new sheriff, why isn't he allowed to come and go the way sheriff Pope was?

 

Taking response to No Spoiler Theory Thread.

[JayCobb1045]

Hey all!  Glad to find this forum!  My wife watches the show with me, but she doesn't like analyzing and dissecting the show bit by bit as much as I do!

 

Am I the only one who thought it was frost covering Ben and Theresa's car instead of dust?  I have some more to add, but to stay thread-appropriate, I'll take those thoughts to the No Spoiler Theory Thread.

[iMonrey]

 

 

The better question, posed above, is why Ethan doesn't use the sheriff's remote control to open the garage door in the wall. 

Well wouldn't the answer to that be that he doesn't want whatever took Pope's body to come inside?

 

Yes but whatever they saw happened in the dead of night. Why wouldn't he go back to the door in broad daylight, with his gun, and try opening it again? If he's so terrified of whatever monster lurks beyond the fence isn't it reasonable to assume he's going to run into it climbing up the mountain too? And surely there's more than one door anyway. He's got the damn door opener, try that again before scaling a mountain.

[KDeFlane]

Am I the only one who thought it was frost covering Ben and Theresa's car instead of dust? .

 

Sorry, it looked fairly brown to me, definitely more like dust than frost on the bumper of the car and the windows.  However, I do recall seeing something about the windows of the delivery van that made me think that warehouse is very cold. Maybe we see Ethan's breath in the cold air?

[JenE4]

Speaking of frost, I was going to post something about there being snow on the ground when Sheriff Pope pulled over Theresa's car, but there was no sign of snow in WP. At first I thought it was a massive clue that it was indeed another time/place. But then I quickly realized it was like less than half an inch of snow and it could have been actual snow that likely WOULD have melted right away--and who knows what order the scenes were actually filmed in, so maybe it likely didn't mean anything. But, since we're talking about frost, just throwing that out there in case it IS a clue: snow just outside WP but no snow within it!

Edited June 9, 2015 by JenE4

[jhlipton]

So WP is taking place OUTSIDE of the snow-globe of an autistic boy!

 

(Someone had to say it...)

[JayCobb1045]

Sorry, it looked fairly brown to me, definitely more like dust than frost on the bumper of the car and the windows.  However, I do recall seeing something about the windows of the delivery van that made me think that warehouse is very cold. Maybe we see Ethan's breath in the cold air?

That's it!  I was not sure about the bumper of his family's car, but the windows on the back of the van seemed totally frosted/frozen over, which put me over the edge on the substance covering the bumper.  We may have also seen his breath, but I can't be sure about that.

[JenE4]

That's it!  I was not sure about the bumper of his family's car, but the windows on the back of the van seemed totally frosted/frozen over, which put me over the edge on the substance covering the bumper.  We may have also seen his breath, but I can't be sure about that.

 

The truck was a meat and milk delivery truck, so it had to have been a refrigerated truck...unless THAT's what's so special about those buffalo burgers--animals have been cross-bred that their meat doesn't need to be refrigerated! Da-da-DUM! ;-)

[theatremouse]

OK, I might be an idiot, but I'm just gonna say it: until I got here, I didn't think they meant buffalo burger as in meat from a buffalo. I thought all the talk about the buffalo burger was more like...a regular beef burger in the style of buffalo wings, ie with the sauce and maybe some blue cheese or something.

But now that it's been mentioned, yeah, money's on the "buffalo burger" being the creepy whatevers that took Pope's body and maybe the town's eating them. Or actually, money's on that either being a real plot point or an intentionally insinuated misdirect red herring. Since they did hammer the point about the burger way too hard.

Edited June 11, 2015 by theatremouse

[KDeFlane]

i'm trying very hard to avoid the speculations and theories thread now, because some people have already seen "The Truth" it seems.  All I can do is review my notes now (and stay off Twitter -- i'm avoiding you @WaywardPinesFOX and your mirror writing).

 

I tried to find the specific back issue of "Guns & Ammo" magazine seen in the sheriff's desk drawer, but the internet is not interested in archiving such things.  I might stop by my public library this afternoon as a distraction.  The cover looked almost photoshopped, so it could either be a fake prop or it was made back in the early days of magazine paste-up.  Besides the odd head of a bobcat (like Ben's school bumper sticker?) and what looked like a silhouette of a coyote against a full moon, there was a blurb for an article teased with "What are they? What can they do?"

 

And as for the half-empty box of file folders, I think that's only the most recent additions to the pile.  The box was marked "49372.527" and was stacked on top of another box marked "49372.526" -- perhaps 525 other boxes were moved to a storage room after they were filled, and the sheriff only needs immediate access to the current residents.  (I estimated a population of around 200 people, judging from the turnout at the Reckoning.)

 

Also wanted to mention Amy's taste in coats as well as her access to fashion.  She was sporting a leather or suade jacket during the school day, but at night had switched to a puffy silver material.  It's like the show doesn't even want to try hiding its inconsistent time clues.  I love it! 

[ottoDbusdriver]

The box was marked "49372.527" and was stacked on top of another box marked "49372.526" -- perhaps 525 other boxes were moved to a storage room after they were filled, and the sheriff only needs immediate access to the current residents.  (I estimated a population of around 200 people, judging from the turnout at the Reckoning.)

 

Maybe they are stardates and this is one big holodeck.  Captain's log: Stardate 49372.527 -- Woke up in a hospital today with no clue where I am.

[janie jones]

Also wanted to mention Amy's taste in coats as well as her access to fashion.  She was sporting a leather or suade jacket during the school day, but at night had switched to a puffy silver material.  It's like the show doesn't even want to try hiding its inconsistent time clues.  I love it!

I don't understand what you mean by this.  What's unusual about changing into a warmer jacket to go out in the woods at night?

[KDeFlane]

I don't understand what you mean by this.  What's unusual about changing into a warmer jacket to go out in the woods at night?

 

Sorry I wasn't expressing myself well.  In my head, everyone (up until this point) has seemed to be existing in some past decade.  The (fake) money isn't any newer than 1988? No electronic cash registers? The artifacts around the town tended to pre-date the 21st century, at least as far as technology and fashion went.  I might not have noticed it if her warmer jacket had been a puffy vest from the 1980s or a camoflage hunter's coat, but that silver material stood out as being far more modern -- even futuristic -- compared to what we had been led to believe was available to the citizens.  Maybe that was just me jumping to conclusions, but I was taking it as an early clue.

[izabella]

The washer/dryer in that house was definitely new, nothing like that was available in the 80's or 90's.  Granite countertops weren't a standard thing until the 2000's either - it was all about butcher block counters back then.

 

I don't think they're trying to stick to any year/decade as THE fixed point.

[Milburn Stone]

I wonder who else from Mildred Pierce (the HBO miniseries) will turn up. Maybe Guy Pierce or Evan Rachel Wood? It could be a reunion!

 

Also, the show features not one but two actresses who have played Joyce Brabner, the wife of Cleveland comic book writer Harvey Pekar. Siobhan Fallon in an off-Broadway play, and Hope Davis in the movie American Splendor. I wonder if they ever compare notes.