S01.E09: A Reckoning

[izabella]

I think Matt Dillon is underrated as an actor. He's in that weird space between character actor and movie star and so he's never considered either one, despite having a lot of talent and being all sexy and shit. That said, he's really phoning this character in. He probably only saw the first couple of scripts, if that much, before agreeing to play Ethan, and then worked through the stages of WTF and IDGAF by the time he got to episode 6.

 

I don't think he's phoning it in.  I think he has no idea how to play this WTF character and this badly written story.

[KDeFlane]

Also, I was confused about Harold mouthing "I love you" to Kate (I initially wrote "Sarah" because that's how much these people mean to me) right before he was executed. Just a couple of days earlier they were talking about escaping so he could get back to his fiancee. I'm sure that being in a fake marriage for however many years and having a common goal would make Harold and Kate care about each other, but the "I love you" just struck me as though whoever wrote this episode forgot that he's actually in love with someone else.

I do believe they grew to love each other over many years spent together in a stressful environment.  I don't know how many years someone can pine away for a distant love, without knowing if the other has already moved on.  It was Kate who mentions Harold's finance (in episode 6) and says *if* they find his fiance, they will deal with that together.  I think that hints at some very real feelings between them.  I don't remember Harold ever mentioning his fiance after that flashback to when they were first meeting in secret, when Kate still had her short haircut.  If they had Facebook, their status would be "complicated".

[jhlipton]

I was confused about Harold mouthing "I love you" to Kate (I initially wrote "Sarah" because that's how much these people mean to me) right before he was executed. Just a couple of days earlier they were talking about escaping so he could get back to his fiancee.

 

It's not like they've showed them being romantic in any way -- no glances, or anything.  I don't recall there being That Loving Feeling during Pam's Last Supper, either.

[KaveDweller]

Everyone wasn't in a car accident. The realtor guy that died woke up in WP after spending the night with Pam in a hotel. I think pretty much everyone else that has talked about how they got there was in some sort of "accident."

 

It does seem like most people were in car accidents though.  But what else are they going to tell people? If people wake up in a strange town they are going to wonder how they got there.  Saying it was an accident and they have amnesia is really the only way to go.

[janie jones]

[The helicopter] appeared to have a launch pad that was way up on the side of a cliff, and presumably the abbies aren't able to climb there (or there may be an electric fence near it as well).

I didn't remember this.  Then how do the humans get to and from the launchpad? 

 

Maybe she was just very literal, since a helicopter is not a plane. She'd be much more likely to hear a helicopter than a plane, they are noiser and fly lower - but would only mention that if someone asked her a direct question.

 

Or she was thawed and frozen too many times - leaving her with the brain freeze stupids.

I don't remember the context of Beverly saying she never saw planes overhead.  Was she asked, or did she volunteer this information?  If she was asked, I could see how she'd say no, if she'd only seen helicopters.  But you'd think someone would know what the other person was getting at by asking such a question.  Depending on where she's from, seeing helicopters frequently overhead would be worth mentioning if that's what you're seeing.  (I mean, when I moved to San Diego and saw at least one helicopter overhead every day, it's something I definitely noticed, because you hardly ever see them where I grew up.)  Not that I think the writers would know this or take it into consideration.  If she volunteered the information, then I think it's strange that she'd talk about there being no planes but leave out the helicopter flights, because what you're getting at is whether there's anything in the air, right?  

 

At any rate, when they showed Pilcher's helicopter flying over the town and that kid staring up at it, I got the impression that that was supposed to be an indication that this kid had never seen such a thing before.  So I'm going to go ahead and assume the helicopter doesn't regularly fly over the town.

Edited July 22, 2015 by janie jones

[Accidental Martyr]

 I don't remember the context of Beverly saying she never saw planes overhead.  Was she asked, or did she volunteer this information? 

In Episode 2 after they remove the chip from Ethan's leg Beverly and Ethan are walking around in town and Ethan says, "There's hardly any cars around here." Beverly says, "Yeah, cars. I haven't seen a single airplane the whole time I've been here."

[iMonrey]

I think it quite likely, as janie jones pointed out, that Beverly never saw the chopper either. It may well be nobody ever uses it and it was only pulled out of storage when Ethan climbed the wall and went rogue. So Beverly never having seen it isn't really problematic for me.

 

Where they're getting the fuel for the chopper? That's another story.

[starri]

Where they're getting the fuel for the chopper? That's another story.

 

They've got an oil derrick and a refinery in the mountain.  Clearly.

Edited July 22, 2015 by starri

[Accidental Martyr]

They've got an oil derrick and a refinery in the mountain.  Clearly.

Staffed by volunteers who are working in the oil refinery because they believe so strongly in Pilcher's genius plan to save humanity.

[SlackerInc]

I didn't remember this.  Then how do the humans get to and from the launchpad? 

 

There was a catwalk running from it to a door that led into the side of the mountain.  It was a nice little set, actually.  With all the stuff that's questionable in the show, that set was a good bit of world-building IMO.

[Black Knight]

Also, I was confused about Harold mouthing "I love you" to Kate (I initially wrote "Sarah" because that's how much these people mean to me) right before he was executed. Just a couple of days earlier they were talking about escaping so he could get back to his fiancee. I'm sure that being in a fake marriage for however many years and having a common goal would make Harold and Kate care about each other, but the "I love you" just struck me as though whoever wrote this episode forgot that he's actually in love with someone else.

 

It's not like they've showed them being romantic in any way -- no glances, or anything.  I don't recall there being That Loving Feeling during Pam's Last Supper, either.

Yes, I always thought their marriage was a fake one, meant partly to convince Wayward Pines that they were settling in like good little citizens and partly for convenience of plotting together (no need to meet secretly when you are living in the same house and running a business together) - particularly because, as Pam noted, no children had been produced. Plus the friend Harold was about to leave town with seemed surprised that Harold decided to go back for Kate, when that's simply the normal reaction a normal loving spouse would have. I think the idea was supposed to be that Harold was about to leave the town when he realized all of a sudden that he couldn't leave Kate, that he did love her, and the show just didn't flesh that out clearly enough in the few seconds they devoted to that bit (surprise). Kate's demeanor after Harold's death was telling too - she was upset, devastated even, but it wasn't of the devastated-wife variety.

 

Although it's not near what Megan deserved, Theresa slapping her into silence was so satisfying. But Theresa was also smart enough to wait until Megan had said enough to back up what Kate and Ethan were saying. I liked how Megan in her messianic zeal didn't realize that saying David Pilcher's name herself was such a serious misstep with the crowd. She was too focused on defending her hero Pilcher when she would've been better off doing a "Our Dr. Jenkins? A mastermind named Pilcher? Are you crazy?" routine. Plus I'm sure Theresa's not the only parent she's pissed off over the years, so maybe she should've just kept her mouth shut altogether.

 

As for next week's series finale, as long as Kate, Theresa, Pam and Arlene survive, I'm good. Everybody else can die. I wish there was a male character still alive who was worth anything. (I did like Harold, and Justin Kirk's character.) I have a feeling we'll get an ending where whoever survives vows to rebuild and says they'll have learned from all Pilcher's mistakes.

[GoMocs]

and...rumors have it that Fox is considering extending the show...which brings to mind the old drug program JUST SAY NO!

[Actionmage]

Kate's demeanor after Harold's death was telling too - she was upset, devastated even, but it wasn't of the devastated-wife variety.

 

I think if you live with someone, even in a sham marriage, for a dozen years, you're going to feel some love for them. Unless you both loathe each other. Harold and Kate were shown to be quite fond of each other, so Harold deciding to go back for Kate was initially sweet. They were in the shit and he wasn't going to just leave her. No telling what kind of service Kate had before she was partnered with Ethan, but she may have lost some good friends in her tenure. ( Obviously, a guess/fanwank.) To be looking into a good friend's face as it is blown off by some snot weasel? I wish I had Kate's focus; I'd be a little huddled ball.  Then again, maybe a dozen years of Reckonings will toughen you up? More?

[jhlipton]

 Harold and Kate were shown to be quite fond of each other, so Harold deciding to go back for Kate was initially sweet. 

 

There "fond" and then there's last-whispered-words.  We never saw that Harold cared for Kate as anything other than the leader of the rebels.  I just don't buy it.

[Milburn Stone]

and...rumors have it that Fox is considering extending the show...which brings to mind the old drug program JUST SAY NO!

 

You know, as much fun as we're having poking fun at the show...if it came back, I would watch it! :)

[queenanne]

I think if you live with someone, even in a sham marriage, for a dozen years, you're going to feel some love for them. Unless you both loathe each other. Harold and Kate were shown to be quite fond of each other, so Harold deciding to go back for Kate was initially sweet. They were in the shit and he wasn't going to just leave her. No telling what kind of service Kate had before she was partnered with Ethan, but she may have lost some good friends in her tenure. ( Obviously, a guess/fanwank.) To be looking into a good friend's face as it is blown off by some snot weasel? I wish I had Kate's focus; I'd be a little huddled ball.  Then again, maybe a dozen years of Reckonings will toughen you up? More?

 

Yeah, I don't have a problem with a last-minute realization of deeper feelings.  I in fact thought Gugino and Diamond did a good job of getting us to that point with their earlier "IF your fiancee is still alive we'll deal with that".  (a) If it's a fact that Kate and Harold don't in fact love each other, what would there be attached to this scenario to "deal with"?  Just say "See ya!" and he's off with his fiancee, not like they need a divorce or anything; (b), by this time, I could be wrong but i thought by this time, we're all pretty convinced that Kate, at least, knows and accepts the doomsday scenario, and that there is no living fiancee for him to find.

[SlackerInc]

I can't remember if she had bought into the 41st century scenario by that point or not, but I definitely think you make a great point about the "if your fiancee is alive" comment signifying they had gone beyond a platonic relationship.