S01.E02: Hide & Seek

[formerlyfreedom]

As John pursues his mission, Claire looks into his identity. Drill keeps playing a dangerous game.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Drill keeps playing a dangerous game.

 

What was so dangerous about 'the game' Drill was playing ?  No one really got hurt or killed.

 

Kids are dumb but printing out a file off a flash drive is not really winning anything, so I was surprised Minx's friend fell for that.  Also, that was some pretty shitty 'magic' her friend was impressed by.

 

Is Drill omnipotent, because he seems to be everywhere all the times, and can be called on command.  Every time I see the wind blowing when Drill is "supposed" to be nearby, it reminds me of M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Happening' -- which is not a good thing because that movie was pretty crappy.

 

A secret weapons test -- what was it supposed to do ?  And Sean somehow disabled the transponder on his F-22 carrying said secret weapon ?  No, that's not suspicious.  Was Sean affected by this ... weapon ?  Is Drill a by-product of the secret weapon test ? Heck I'm still trying to figure out how Claire recognized her husband from that sketch with the long hair, beard and mustache -- I thought it looked like Christian Bale.

 

And some giant blob walked away from the impact site in Africa -- I seriously doubt that any military satellite was taking super hi-res photos every 40 seconds over a part of Africa where absolutely nothing was happening.

 

Oh noooes -- mommy and daddy are fighting, and that's all it takes for Minx to admit she tampered with daddy's laptop.  But they don't really believe her. Can't they just swab Wes' laptop for fingerprints and compare them to Minx's fingerprints ?

 

I'm confused -- how did Claire know to go to the Doctor's home ?  And how did Wes know to go there as well ?  Did I nod off ?  Better yet, why did the doctor have someone looking under the hood of her car if she lost her keys (well, Sean stole them) ?

 

Are all of Sean's tattoos supposed to be information reminders -- like the movie 'Memento'?  Why else would he have a tattoo of a treehouse, and now the logo of the military contractor ?  He has a self-serve storage unit for whatever puzzle he is trying to solve, why would he need to tattoo all that nonsense on himself ?  Does he not have access to a pen and paper ?

 

Have to love the ABC promo monkeys -- 'The Whispers' is the drama that everyone is talking about, and is the #1 new drama.  That's pretty faint praise for a summer show.

Edited June 9, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Dot Com]

I assumed the transponder stopped working because of Drill, or Whatever created drill. Not because Sean disabled it. Also, Sean draws a Picture of something on the floor and the next We see the symbol it's on his arm. Does he carry around a tattoo machine and tattoo himself? Or does drawing it someplace cause it to appear on his arm?

Otto, Wes knew to go to the Doctor's home because there were agents following Claire and they told Wes they saw her going into the Doctor's house with her gun drawn. Then we see her go into the house. Slightly out of order there Mr. Editor.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Dot Com

[ottoDbusdriver]

Otto, Wes knew to go to the Doctor's home because there were agents following Claire and they told Wes they saw her going into the Doctor's house with her gun drawn. Then we see her go into the house. Slightly out of order there Mr. Editor.

 

Thanks @Dot Com, I remember that one guy mentioned that they should follow Claire, but I definitely missed that scene of them actually following her.

 

I assumed the transponder stopped working because of Drill, or Whatever created drill.

 

What if Drill is the secret weapon -- or maybe some AI associated with the weapon that has somehow transferred itself into the Earth's magnetic fields so it can be anywhere ?

 

ETA:  By the way, the display on the microwave when Drill was making it freak out in front of Henry was 111215 -- the same number that was tattooed on Sean Bennigan's left arm.

 

ETA2: I was confused when Claire's mother was asking Henry about hearing another voice upstairs -- Henry is supposed to be deaf, not mute.  Claire keeps saying that he lost his hearing 2 years ago.

Edited June 9, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Free]

 

Have to love the ABC promo monkeys -- 'The Whispers' is the drama that everyone is talking about, and is the #1 new drama.  That's pretty faint praise for a summer show.

 

Ridiculous PR spin at work.

[Bringonthedrama]

What was so dangerous about 'the game' Drill was playing ?  No one really got hurt or killed.

 

A secret weapons test -- what was it supposed to do ?  And Sean somehow disabled the transponder on his F-22 carrying said secret weapon ?  No, that's not suspicious.  Was Sean affected by this ... weapon ?  Is Drill a by-product of the secret weapon test ? Heck I'm still trying to figure out how Claire recognized her husband from that sketch with the long hair, beard and mustache -- I thought it looked like Christian Bale.

 

And some giant blob walked away from the impact site in Africa -- I seriously doubt that any military satellite was taking super hi-res photos every 40 seconds over a part of Africa where absolutely nothing was happening.

 

Oh noooes -- mommy and daddy are fighting, and that's all it takes for Minx to admit she tampered with daddy's laptop.  But they don't really believe her. 

 

I'm confused -- how did Claire know to go to the Doctor's home ?  And how did Wes know to go there as well ?  Did I nod off ?  Better yet, why did the doctor have someone looking under the hood of her car if she lost her keys (well, Sean stole them) ?

 

 

 

The first "game" is what caused that woman to fall and get injured, I believe. This "game" of accessing an off-limits site is dangerous because Wes got in trouble, and printing that contractor document/map I assume is leading up to something dangerous.

 

I'm thinking Drill possibly told Sean to disable the transponder, and that moving blob from the crash site was Drill or the main Drill entity attached to Sean, which is messing with his brain. I was starting to think that after the little girl ran into Sean's room in the hospital and said "you know where my friend is, don't you," and I'm even more convinced after he collapsed in the shower ... like something in his brain was screaming. I also recognized actor MV in that sketch, so I'm not surprised Claire was like OMG, Sean!

 

Minx knows her father did something, that her mom is angry and hurt, and the relationship between her parents has been strained. She's crying because she feels guilty that this time, they're fighting about something she's done (without knowing it was her). So she confesses because she wants their anger/pain toward each other to stop.  

 

Claire knows that Sean has been around that doctor, that he disappeared, and then the doctor tells Claire her wallet and keys are missing. It's really not a stretch to assume that he took them because he wants to get into her house. Wes was driving and got a call that the tail followed Claire to the doc's house, and entered with a gun. 

 

I assumed Sean disabled the doctor's car after he took her house keys, to give him more time to shower and whatever else in her home. That's why he was in hiding as the repair guy left the parking lot. He knew where her car was, and got into her back seat with a gun while she was distracted with her cell phone. 

[Dot Com]

Thanks @Dot Com, I remember that one guy mentioned that they should follow Claire, but I definitely missed that scene of them actually following her.

What if Drill is the secret weapon -- or maybe some AI associated with the weapon that has somehow transferred itself into the Earth's magnetic fields so it can be anywhere ?

ETA: By the way, the display on the microwave when Drill was making it freak out in front of Henry was 111215 -- the same number that was tattooed on Sean Bennigan's left arm.

ETA2: I was confused when Claire's mother was asking Henry about hearing another voice upstairs -- Henry is supposed to be deaf, not mute. Claire keeps saying that he lost his hearing 2 years ago.

Yeah I noticed The microwave had the same number as Sean's tattoo. The whole Henry not speaking thing drives me nuts too. He shouldn't be mute, he only lost his hearing two years ago.

Otto, as far as Claire noticing the sketch as her husband. At the end of the first episode she saw the sketch on the computer. She then looked over at some photos with her husband in them. One he was clean cut wearing a military flight outfit standing next to an airplane. The other photo was a family photo. His hair was longer, but not as long as it is now, and he had a beard. I remember thinking to myself "why would the military let him have his hair that long and have a beard?" So while his hair and beard are longer he still looks similar then what he did in the photo.

PS - your welcome Otto.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Dot Com

[ottoDbusdriver]

I was surprised that they let Harper anywhere near her comatose mother -- after all, Harper tried to kill her mother.

[johntfs]

Yeah I noticed The microwave had the same number as Sean's tattoo. The whole Henry not speaking thing drives me nuts too. He shouldn't be mute, he only lost his hearing two years ago.

Otto, as far as Claire noticing the sketch as her husband. At the end of the first episode she saw the sketch on the computer. She then looked over at some photos with her husband in them. One he was clean cut wearing a military flight outfit standing next to an airplane. The other photo was a family photo. His hair was longer, but not as long as it is now, and he had a beard. I remember thinking to myself "why would the military let him have his hair that long and have a beard?" So while his hair and beard are longer he still looks similar then what he did in the photo.

PS - your welcome Otto.

 

I think that's just real life/sensitive to minorities as far as the kid goes.  When deaf people speak aloud, they cannot hear themselves and thus adjust the frequency of their voices.  Think about how Marlee Matlin speaks.  Now, try to imagine an eight year old boy poorly imitating Marlee Matlin.  It would sound bad on the show and needlessly anger the deaf community.  It's simple and more politic to just have the kid communicate in something like sign language.  Now that he's "cured" he'll presumably start to speak verbally.

[Dot Com]

Marlee Matlin has been deaf since a young age. She therefore speaks with a deaf "accent" of sorts. That flat tone that those who learned to speak after they became deaf have (with the help of years and years of speech therapy). Henry learned to speak long before he went deaf. Therefore he shouldn't have that flat tone. He should speak perfectly normal. He would have only had to learn how to regulate his volume in the beginning. That would have just taken a few days of being told he was talking to loud.

My theory is that the numbers tattooed on Sean's arm and on the microwave are a date. 111215. November 12, 2015. Maybe an invasion date? Using that wormhole or whatever that appears next to the White House in the photo that one girl drew.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Dot Com

[shrewd.buddha]

I don't know ... we watched mainly because there was not much else to choose from, but it felt mostly like treading water in the same areas that were covered last week. 

 

Harper is annoying with her "I'm not supposed to tell"  stuff. But   I am often annoyed by adults who act as if their children are in control and displeasing them is the worst thing imaginable. 

 

And the 'game' the kid are playing is just lame : "We are going to download files to thumb drives. And print some documents."

 

If the story is only going to inch forward like this each week, I'll probably just skip everything until the last episode. I feel as if there are going to be a lot more scenes of Harper being cloying , cheating-husband alternating between heated discussions with his wife and ex-mistress, and ex-mistress having discussions with kids as her FBI partner stands around giving her the stink-eye... 

Edited June 9, 2015 by shrewd.buddha

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm still trying to figure out what kind of monster/being/whatever Drill is supposed to be:

• it talks to children through the lights, and controls them by playing games -- what is Drill promising to do for these kids that they will do evil shit like blowing up buildings and killing their parents ?  I'll get you an ice cream cone and a new Xbox One if you kill your mother -- is that how it works ? Wouldn't any child think there's something wrong with that plan (or does Harper just hate her mother and is ok with it) ?
• it can only be seen by children (which is a little too convenient, but I suppose it saves on CGI costs)
• it can make the wind blow, so it appears ominous when outside (so why doesn't the wind blow around when it is inside a building ?)
• it can be everywhere simultaneously, to the point that children can address it at any time and get a response
• it is omniscient, knowing absolutely everything about anything
• it can control electrical machines like the game Minx was playing or the microwave or the TV Henry was watching, but somehow can't access a military grade laptop (which makes no sense).
• it can cure physical ailments of people -- Henry's hearing and Harper's mom's coma -- which means it can interact with physical matter, so why does it need children to do its bidding.
• it can take control of a fighter jet and transport it thousands of miles from where it's supposed to be (which means it can control matter).  I'm still trying to figure out how Sean survived that crash -- it wasn't just a hard landing, it was a high-speed meteoric-style descent until it got to the ground and then it turned into a fancy fulgarite mobile of plane parts
• it has a hard-on to take down the US President for some reason.  Is it just the person in the position that he is after or did Chip Winters do something to piss off Drill in the past ?  Did Chip Winters haze Drill during college, or maybe deny him access to a members-only golf club years ago and now Drill is exacting revenge ?  

 

Looking at all of that, Drill looks like an all-knowing, unstoppable being -- why doesn't it just sashay straight into the White House and kill the President instead of using children to setup a series of contrived Rube Goldberg sequences to get to his/hers/its goal ?  It's an invisible powerful monster -- why is it taking its time to complete its goals ?  Is it going to kill just the US President or will it start knocking off other world leaders too once its done in America ? And once all the world leaders are dead, what's the plan then -- Drill opens up a Starbucks in a quiet little town in the Rockies ?

 

I still can't get past the fact that the President is named Chip Winters -- that sounds like a smarmy country-club douchebag. Was Milo Rockefeller or Greg Marmalard already taken ?  Was Worthington Vanderbilt too many syllables for this show ?

[jdport]

Reading these posts, I'm wondering why people watch TV at all... I mean I can't imagine a single tv show you'd actually like :-)

 

I thought this episode was certainly a lot weaker than the pilot, but I'm enjoying the show so far.. all 2 episodes of it.   There isn't a whole lot to write about until we find out more.  We don't know the nature of the weapon Sean was carrying... it seems fairly likely that Drill disabled the transponder and worked whatever magic was necessary to get Sean from the arctic circle to Africa and then from the planes crash site back to the US.     The Tatoos are an interesting mystery.. seems that every time Drill does something, a tattoo corresponding to that action appears on Sean's body...   I'm interested in the symbol that Sean drew on the doctor's floor, or rather the reaction it will get from authorities... since the symbol also appeared on the map that Minx printed out,  the DoD must know what it means and for it to appear there on the floor is certain to draw attention.   I'm also interested to see what the number on Sean's arm and the microwave display is all about.   I hope it's not another  4,8,15,16,23,42 useless mystery that never turns out to be anything.

 

Looking forward to next week.

[jdport]

My theory is that the numbers tattooed on Sean's arm and on the microwave are a date. 111215. November 12, 2015. Maybe an invasion date? 

 

This is my guess... 111215 is probably the "zero hour"  (from the story this series is inspired by).   In the short story the zero hour was 5:00 that same afternoon.   In this series, I'm guessing it to be November 12, 2015.   At 5:00?  

[ottoDbusdriver]

This is my guess... 111215 is probably the "zero hour"  (from the story this series is inspired by).   In the short story the zero hour was 5:00 that same afternoon.   In this series, I'm guessing it to be November 12, 2015.   At 5:00?

 

The only problem with that info is that they haven't really stated what day it is in the show -- at one point in this episode a placard came up stating 'Today', or the scene in the desert to open the episode that stated "Three months earlier'.  Neither of those is really helpful if they aren't indicating what the actual timeframe that 'Today' is in showtime relative to Nov. 12, 2015 -- hours away, days away, weeks away, years away ?

 

I'm still curious about what looked like an envelope of cash that Sean picked up at that bakery.  Was Sean being paid off by somebody for a job he has completed -- or a job he has yet to complete ? And why is he also headed for the White House ?  Is Sean being paid to go after the President ?  Or is Sean inhabited by a version of Drill ?

Edited June 9, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Free]

 

Looking at all of that, Drill looks like an all-knowing, unstoppable being -- why doesn't it just sashay straight into the White House and kill the President instead of using children to setup a series of contrived Rube Goldberg sequences to get to his/hers/its goal ?  It's an invisible powerful monster -- why is it taking its time to complete its goals ?  Is it going to kill just the US President or will it start knocking off other world leaders too once its done in America ? And once all the world leaders are dead, what's the plan then -- Drill opens up a Starbucks in a quiet little town in the Rockies ?

 

It seems to be that way, the pilot seemed to have potential and this episode seemed to put a damper on that.  So they're using children to do their work even though Drill can manipulate electricity and could've done his/her own work.  I'm also disappointed in the side drama with Claire/Wes and whatever the whole nonsense was with their cheating and Claire almost crashing into him on purpose, that was just dumb.

[ottoDbusdriver]

It seems to be that way, the pilot seemed to have potential and this episode seemed to put a damper on that.  So they're using children to do their work even though Drill can manipulate electricity and could've done his/her own work.

 

Those plans that Minx had were for a reactor of some type (probably nuclear).  And apparently Minx has turned into a free-range child.

 

I'm also disappointed in the side drama with Claire/Wes and whatever the whole nonsense was with their cheating

 

The FBI is searching your home about a national security breach, and Nina decides to pick that time to discuss Wes cheating on her with Claire.  We still don't know the details of the affair. When did it happen, how long did it occur, was it before or after Sean disappeared ?  Because Wes telling Alan Ruck's character that "you had no idea what she and I had" that was conveniently overheard by Nina upstairs makes me think it was more than just a one-night fling.  To make it worse he was Claire's superior at the time (so that makes me think it was quite some time ago -- maybe Claire's son Henry is Wes' son just to make things even more complex), plus there has to be a workplace harassment complaint in there somewhere that made it stop. So why are Wes and Nina still married let alone living together -- for the sake of Minx ?

 

ETA: How many homes have printers that support 11"x17" format that those electrical diagrams were printed out on ?  Let alone would even have the that paper size handy to do it. Do the writers not think this stuff through beforehand ?

Edited June 9, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Writing Wrongs]

Did the couples switch kids or something? You've got dark haired guy and blond girl with a red haired kid and dark haired guy and red haired girl with a blond haired kid. Couldn't they match up the actors better? :)

 

I really like this show so far. Though the kid actors may start to grate.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Reading these posts, I'm wondering why people watch TV at all... I mean I can't imagine a single tv show you'd actually like :-)

 

Well, it's the summer and there's not much else new on.  But I'm hoping that one of these days Spielberg will executive produce a TV show that is pretty good because I am a fan of his work but most of that occurred 15-20 years ago, and he hasn't had the best of track records with TV recently.   You get a new show that starts out with great promise, and probably sounded like a good idea in a pitch to the studio, that ends up getting canceled because the writers never really thought past the first episode and it quickly turns to shit (Terra Nova, for example).  Or they never expected a series to get picked up for Season 2 and they wrote themselves into a corner (Under the Dome, Extant) so Season 2 is just a bunch of WTFery.  Though I have stuck with Falling Skies and its just ok.  I expect better from something with Spielberg's name attached to it.

Edited June 9, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Dot Com]

Hi Otto,

Farther up the page when you wrote "I was surprised that they let Harper anywhere near her comatose mother -- after all, Harper tried to kill her mother."

I had posted something at the same time that was partly in reply to something you asked. Mine was posted directly before yours at the same time. Because of that I wasn't sure if you had seem my Reply or not.

Jdport: I lIke the show just fine. I actually like it quite a bit. Sean is the character I'm most interested in. I Find him intriguing.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Farther up the page when you wrote "I was surprised that they let Harper anywhere near her comatose mother -- after all, Harper tried to kill her mother."

I had posted something at the same time that was partly in reply to something you asked. Mine was posted directly before yours at the same time. Because of that I wasn't sure if you had seem my Reply or not.

 

Yep, saw that, @Dot Com and it makes sense, but I only recalled the photos of clean-cut Sean -- the photo on Claire's fridge for example, and then that photo that Wes' team had of him in his Air Force uniform on that big display.  Took a look back to episode 1, and you're right, near the end of episode 1 there was that one photo of Sean with a full beard and mustache standing between Claire and Henry (but there was also a shot of clean-cut Sean in his flight gear to the left of it that camera drifted towards).

[Driad]

 

How many episodes is this show supposed to have?  Hoping it is just a one-summer series of 12-13 episodes.  If it is, a sensible date for "the big event" might be in August rather than November.

[alias1]

I don't know ... we watched mainly because there was not much else to choose from, but it felt mostly like treading water in the same areas that were covered last week. 

 

Harper is annoying with her "I'm not supposed to tell"  stuff. But   I am often annoyed by adults who act as if their children are in control and displeasing them is the worst thing imaginable. 

 

And the 'game' the kid are playing is just lame : "We are going to download files to thumb drives. And print some documents."

 

If the story is only going to inch forward like this each week, I'll probably just skip everything until the last episode. I feel as if there are going to be a lot more scenes of Harper being cloying , cheating-husband alternating between heated discussions with his wife and ex-mistress, and ex-mistress having discussions with kids as her FBI partner stands around giving her the stink-eye... 

This is exactly how I feel about this show.  In the first episode it was the kids that annoyed me.  Now the adults annoy me too, especially Claire.  "Oh, I didn't really get a good look at him."  Another show where most of the drama comes from people lying to each other.  And for what it's worth, Claire and Wes have zero chemistry so I can't even believe in their cheating. 

 

There are a lot of shows I like.  They're on hiatus right now.  And as soon as the network calls their new show, The #1 Drama to watch, you know it needs help.  Isn't that what they kept saying about the Katherine Heigl show?  Yeah, right up until it was canceled.

[Free]

 

The FBI is searching your home about a national security breach, and Nina decides to pick that time to discuss Wes cheating on her with Claire.  We still don't know the details of the affair. When did it happen, how long did it occur, was it before or after Sean disappeared ?  Because Wes telling Alan Ruck's character that "you had no idea what she and I had" that was conveniently overheard by Nina upstairs makes me think it was more than just a one-night fling.  To make it worse he was Claire's superior at the time (so that makes me think it was quite some time ago -- maybe Claire's son Henry is Wes' son just to make things even more complex), plus there has to be a workplace harassment complaint in there somewhere that made it stop. So why are Wes and Nina still married let alone living together -- for the sake of Minx ?

 

Exactly, it just felt so awkwardly put together, there's clearly something up with their daughter and yet suddenly it's all about the cheating, not to mention the scene of Claire almost crashing into Wes on purpose.  His daughter accessed classified info, surely that should've been their top priority instead of their side drama.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Free

[ari333]

That Harper girl creeps me out.

[johntfs]

Marlee Matlin has been deaf since a young age. She therefore speaks with a deaf "accent" of sorts. That flat tone that those who learned to speak after they became deaf have (with the help of years and years of speech therapy). Henry learned to speak long before he went deaf. Therefore he shouldn't have that flat tone. He should speak perfectly normal. He would have only had to learn how to regulate his volume in the beginning. That would have just taken a few days of being told he was talking to loud.

My theory is that the numbers tattooed on Sean's arm and on the microwave are a date. 111215. November 12, 2015. Maybe an invasion date? Using that wormhole or whatever that appears next to the White House in the photo that one girl drew.

 

Agreed on the date, especially since this a summer series.

 

Speech and hearing are inextricably linked, much like smell and taste.  As we speak we constantly modulate and shift our vocal tones because we hear what we say.  Because they can't hear those tones, deaf people can't really modulate.  Having the kid do sign language is easier than trying to get him to imitate a "deaf accent." 

[ABay]

Is Drill omnipotent, because he seems to be everywhere all the times, and can be called on command.

I'm getting the feeling Drill is Samaritan from Person of Interest but instead of seeing through cameras, Drill sees through electric devices. But POI holds my interest and this doesn't, so I think this is the last episode I'll watch.

[90PercentGravity]

I'm a sci-fi fan, but I'm sick of all these alien invasion shows that take themselves so seriously. Writers of these kinds of shows should be required to watch a few seasons of X-files to see how you can balance the seriousness with some humor and skepticism to create a believable world for these stories to live in.

[Aloeonatable]

 

How many episodes is this show supposed to have?  Hoping it is just a one-summer series of 12-13 episodes.  If it is, a sensible date for "the big event" might be in August rather than November.

 

They filmed 13 episodes. Probably a summer burn-off, unless the number of viewers increases or at least does't fall too far. 

[KaveDweller]

I'm still trying to figure out what kind of monster/being/whatever Drill is supposed to be:

• it talks to children through the lights, and controls them by playing games -- what is Drill promising to do for these kids that they will do evil shit like blowing up buildings and killing their parents ?  I'll get you an ice cream cone and a new Xbox One if you kill your mother -- is that how it works ? Wouldn't any child think there's something wrong with that plan (or does Harper just hate her mother and is ok with it) ?

 

I wasn't sure that Harper knew she was trying to kill her mother.  She seemed upset when she was visiting her in the hospital, and she's young enough to not realize falling out of the tree house like that could cause serious damage.

 

I'm enjoying this so far.  I don't know if the mystery of Drill will make sense after all this build up, but it's still entertaining.

 

I'm not sure why last week they were treating Harper like a suspect and just totally forgot about that this week.  Did they not even try a shrink?

[Dot Com]

About 1 minute after this episode started the ceiling fan light across the room went off suddenly by itself. I was like 'Ahhhh, Drill?' Turns out my brother had turned on his air conditioner and blew the fuse that light was on. It made me wonder for a moment there (LOL).

[Texasmom1970]

This episode lost me, I don't mean as in confused I was just bored. The storyline didn't seem to move forward enough. Also not really liking any of the characters. And csn we talk for

a minute about naming your child Minx, seriously!

[Free]

This episode lost me, I don't mean as in confused I was just bored. The storyline didn't seem to move forward enough. Also not really liking any of the characters.

 

It honestly reminded me of Extant.

[iMonrey]

The premise is interesting but this second episode felt unnecessarily plodding and pedestrian. With a premise like this, I don't want to spend most of the hour watching Wes bicker with his wife about an extra marital affair, or have a clandestine meeting with Claire where they get all moony-eyed with each other. And I most assuredly am not interested in pointless chase scenes where the pursuant just gets away anyway and the pursuer lies and pretends she didn't get a good look at him because she's covering for him.

 

These sorts of contrivances are horribly unoriginal and should not be necessary on a show that isn't supposed to be a soap opera or an ordinary police procedural. I think it speaks to the lack of content in this story if they really have to pad it with this kind of pablum. 

 

But I think what I will find even more increasingly annoying is the way the adults are glad-handling these kids like they're some delicate flowers and can't be pressed too hard to get valuable information out of them. I know this isn't politically correct so flame away if you must but I want someone to put one of those little brats over their knee and give them a good walloping until they tell everything they know and then get sent to bed without supper.

[Free]

 

These sorts of contrivances are horribly unoriginal and should not be necessary on a show that isn't supposed to be a soap opera or an ordinary police procedural. I think it speaks to the lack of content in this story if they really have to pad it with this kind of pablum.

 

It's really annoying, unnecessary side drama that only drags the show down and detracts from the premise itself.

[Guest]

I'm horrible.  The FBI agent's kid startled his Mom when she answered the door when no one was there and my reaction is to google the difference between gingers and daywalkers on South Park.

Edited June 11, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[jdport]

These sorts of contrivances are horribly unoriginal and should not be necessary on a show that isn't supposed to be a soap opera or an ordinary police procedural. I think it speaks to the lack of content in this story if they really have to pad it with this kind of pablum. 

 

While I understand what you're saying.... I think you really don't even want to watch a TV series.  You want a movie.   Because if you just attack the premise and push that story right through to the conclusion, that's what you're going to have ... 2 hours and done.    Thus you need the side stories,   you need character development,  and you need multiple threads.      If you want this to last a whole season ,  let alone mulitple seasons you're just going to have to deal with chase scenes,  lovers quarrels,  and no it's not going to be politically accepted to just beat down the kids.   The way the kids are handled isn't *that* unrealistic, other than the way the little girl who just tried to kill her mom is allowed free range to roam around the hospital... that was a bit of a stretch.      Some episodes are going to move things along.. some aren't... we've only seen two episodes so far.    I like to see things move too but I'm hoping this show is going to be around for a while and if it is, they can't just jump to the end.

[Free]

While I understand what you're saying.... I think you really don't even want to watch a TV series.  You want a movie.   Because if you just attack the premise and push that story right through to the conclusion, that's what you're going to have ... 2 hours and done.    Thus you need the side stories,   you need character development,  and you need multiple threads.      If you want this to last a whole season ,  let alone mulitple seasons you're just going to have to deal with chase scenes,  lovers quarrels,  and no it's not going to be politically accepted to just beat down the kids.   The way the kids are handled isn't *that* unrealistic, other than the way the little girl who just tried to kill her mom is allowed free range to roam around the hospital... that was a bit of a stretch.      Some episodes are going to move things along.. some aren't... we've only seen two episodes so far.    I like to see things move too but I'm hoping this show is going to be around for a while and if it is, they can't just jump to the end.

 

Except that's not entirely true, plenty of good shows have good character development.  Pointless side stories are not character development, that excuse is why some shows pad things out with filler, which again tv shows can do without since some shows are able to move at a good pace without being dragged out of this unnecessary drama.

 

I do find it unrealistic given the circumstances, clearly something is up with these kids.  Accessing classified info isn't something minor that's normal, it should've been treated as a big deal.

 

I don't expect a jump to the end, it's a tv show.

[iMonrey]

 

While I understand what you're saying.... I think you really don't even want to watch a TV series.  You want a movie.   Because if you just attack the premise and push that story right through to the conclusion, that's what you're going to have ... 2 hours and done.    Thus you need the side stories,   you need character development,  and you need multiple threads.

 

Extra marital affairs and cheesy chase sequences should not be de rigueur for a sci-fi slash mystery show with a premise like this. They could have other subplots going on that aren't nearly so pedestrian and unoriginal. 

[Free]

Extra marital affairs and cheesy chase sequences should not be de rigueur for a sci-fi slash mystery show with a premise like this. They could have other subplots going on that aren't nearly so pedestrian and unoriginal. 

 

Exactly, thank you for describing the main problem with these subplots.

[joelene]

Wow, how quickly they lost me with this show. Terrible second episode.

[mansonlamps]

Agreed, I am so disappointed since I enjoyed the first episode so much and had actually recommended it to a few people.

[Lady Calypso]

Yeah, I agree with others when they say the pilot was so much better than this second episode. I'm not even sure why; maybe because it was filled with less contrived drama, if that's even possible. I liked the Sean scenes, and I liked the scenes with Minx, and that's about it. I guess on Sean's end, it's intriguing to see why he's going all Memento while everyone else is on The Young and the Restless. 

[SonofaBiscuit]

I had to laugh at Sean walking down the sidewalk in his scrubs with people looking at him like Who the eff is this creepster?  And he just had a bag of clothes hanging out in the forest there?  Weird.  

 

Claire suspected that her "dead" husband was a patient at the hospital, so why didn't she show the doctor an actual picture of Sean instead of the sketch?  Then she would have had 100% confirmation that yes, he's still alive.

 

None of these little kids are behaving normally.  The little girl that asked Minx "How'd you do that?" and got the response "I told you...magic.  Want to play or what?" should have run away screaming, threatening to tell her mother.  I'm not sure why these children are so easily manipulated.  

 

I wonder if Barry Sloane is coming off a bit stiff because he's so focused on getting that American accent down.  He was so much sexier on Revenge, and I think that it would have definitely helped the chemistry between him and Lily Rabe's character if he had been allowed to keep his normal accent.  

Edited June 14, 2015 by SonofaBiscuit

[Icyluna000]

I like the premise of this show so much more than the actual show. I'll continue to watch because it's ok for a summer fling.

I've decided to suspend my belief about the kids ages. I think the concept works better if the children are around 5. 5 year olds do not have a grasp on the concept of death. If Harper were 5, it would make sense that she wouldn't understand that her mother might die from falling. It would also make sense that they wouldn't be freaked out by a voice communicating through a night light. Instead these kids seem like sociopaths. Unfortunately children under six are very difficult to cast, direct and read lines. So, the writers went with what look like 8 year olds and I've decided to go with it.

Right now I am most disappointed in the mopey adults who don't seem smart enough to be as important and accomplished as they are meant to be.

[Bunty]

Did the couples switch kids or something? You've got dark haired guy and blond girl with a red haired kid and dark haired guy and red haired girl with a blond haired kid. Couldn't they match up the actors better? :)

 

You can get red hair from many combinations including a dark hair/blonde hair combo.  Genetics are fascinating.

 

Question asked on a website

I have a 4 1/2 month old that has bright red hair. My husband has a dark complexion and black hair, but is freckled. I am a sandy blonde and a fair complexion and freckled. Our first son is blonde. But, our second is as white as cotton and red headed. Is this common when you mix a blonde and black haired? We have no red heads on either side of our family.

I'm tired of getting questioned.

 

Explanation here:

http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask44

Edited July 6, 2015 by Bunty

[AudienceofOne]

I can only assume that Drill is doing more than "whispering" to the kids. There has to be some kind of mind-control involved. Otherwise these are the dumbest kids in history.

 

And the 'game' the kid are playing is just lame : "We are going to download files to thumb drives. And print some documents."

 

 

Not to mention - I happen to be a mid-level public servant in the federal government of my particular country. Nobody important. No real access to anything earth-shattering. You should see what I have to do to log into my work server from home. The idea this DOD employee with high-level access had direct server access from his home computer with a password that was 6 numbers and known by his child - I nearly broke the coffee table with my head. So dumb.

 

way the kids are handled isn't *that* unrealistic, other than the way the little girl who just tried to kill her mom is allowed free range to roam around the hospital

 

 

And is left in the room with her alone. Even if Dad thought it was some terrible accident, there's no way he'd blithely leave the room with her in it. Denial may not just be a river in Egypt but this was going too far.

 

I also have no idea why any kid would think "print out what's on this USB and this robot will talk to you" was a game. Admittedly, like most people, the specifics of my child self are a little hazy but I'm pretty sure I was never that dumb.