S01.E06: Private Matters

[thewhiteowl]

 

Turing asks Carolyn to investigate the case of a programmer who died while using a cutting-edge technology that might have recorded images of his death. Zed makes a difficult decision about his future.

 

[Netfoot]

This is getting yawnful.

 

Cutting edge research, obviously predisposed to show that there is, indeed, life after death.  A tired triangle of sorts between the doc, her ex, and Ivan 'Alan' Turing himself.  The Kenyan doctor who (gee whillikers, what a surprise) doesn't want to go back to Kenya.  And the pole-necked gazoo of an assistant/liaison who brings nothing to the table.

 

Well, i think six episodes is more than a fair chance I've given this show to become interesting, appealing, entertaining... something that would make it worth my while to keep watching, but it isn't happening.  

 

So, I'm out.  And judging by the huge number of previous posts here, I'm guessing I may not be the first.

[kira28]

Looks like most people are done with this show. I loved the idea of it but it is going downhill FAST.  Privacy was never a big concern to the doc before and know she has an attack of conciense? not buying it. Yes those were the programmer's private memories but no one in that room would really understand the pieces of what he was remembering so who cares. He was a scientist and he loved working for Ivan (Ian?) so I'm pretty sure he would want to help him in any way he could. Don't like the forced love triangle. So dumb.

[Clanstarling]

I still like the show, though the pearl clutching in this episode about privacy was a bit much. The guy was wearing that device for weeks - they implied it was 24x7. Which his wife would have known and presumably agreed to. To dismiss this discovery - a brain dump that took place AFTER he died, seems a betrayal of his life's work. It's not that I can't understand her position - I just think it wasn't particularly well argued.

 

But if you are going to delete his last thoughts, why not at least let the widow have some highlights?

[CMH1981]

After about 15 min of this episode I bowed out too. This show just isn't interesting enough to get me to tune in weekly. Sorry show.

[sinkwriter]

 

Privacy was never a big concern to the doc before and know she has an attack of conciense? not buying it.

 

I actually found it a little believable because her initial response was not to be bothered by the privacy issue. She was more interested in what the scans could tell them. It wasn't until after she started cleaning her son's room and thinking about what her own son might have wanted to keep private that she starts to question and become uncomfortable with the idea. I think it shows that in this regard she is not able to be impartial the way she'd like to be. It's getting harder and harder for her to do, given her personal reasons for joining the project.

 

 

But if you are going to delete his last thoughts, why not at least let the widow have some highlights?

 

Frankly, I was surprised that he ended up deleting the file. I thought he'd keep it, secretly, because he just couldn't let go of wanting to know what might be on the recording. But without the widow's help in deciphering, I guess it didn't matter anymore. They wouldn't be able to tell what was memory and what might be what he was "seeing" in the moments of death.

 

Still, I think he didn't give anything to the widow because she seemed to make it quite clear that she herself didn't want to see anymore. She didn't want to invade her husband's privacy and see things that maybe she shouldn't know. Though I do wonder if perhaps she was a bit hasty in that decision, in her extreme grief, and perhaps she should have waited to make a full decision until after some time had passed. There might come a time where she'd wonder and decide she wants to see the information. Especially because, as clanstarling points out, it was part of her husband's life's work. It was important to HIM, enough that he was okay with wearing the contraption and letting it capture his brain images.

 

So... I don't know. I thought the episode was fine, and that it brought up some interesting questions about the ethics of such a thing versus the scientific positives of gathering the information.

 

One question I thought: couldn't they strap that headset onto someone who's dying, someone who doesn't have much time left and who is interested in donating that information "for science"? But then I suppose their top secret research would have to be made public and no one involved seems to want that kind of media or professional scrutiny.

Edited July 27, 2015 by sinkwriter