S01.E09: Critical Mass / S01.E10: Leviathan Wakes

[Haleth]

Hang in there, ribbon.  Some cool stuff is coming.

[Nukester]

Show went from intriguing to gore.  I agree with the poster above. After about episode six it went bleh

[lidarose9]

Just finished binging on season 1, now moving on to season 2. Some thoughts: 

- For those confused about Miller's fixation with Julie Mao. There was a moment when I expected someone to turn to Miller and say, "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." 

- Dialect/accent-wise, I heard a lot of Asian cadences, especially in Dawes Anderson's speaking. Particularly Chinese. It seems fitting to me that ethnicity as well as language have blurred over the years. 

- The show has some unusual pacing which throws you off, but in a way I kind of like that. It makes things less predictable. But I agree it took FOREVER to establish who's who and how they relate. 

I will def watch season 2. 

[marys1000]

I hear a lot of other accents too.  The kid who was spaced by his uncle, suddenly in the assault team cans he sounded over the top Jamaican.  The subway's voice was translated from Hindi. 

Very Firefly.

 

I have to say I was tiredly disappointed by the bad guys not only being nazi like Germans, again, but also Japanese.  Its all still WWII folks. Stalin is apparently still  good guy.

 

Love Amos.  

Edited February 19, 2018 by marys1000

[Captanne]

Tedious newbie here -- am just on episode 10 and will get to it tonight.  I like this show a lot -- very much my genre and very smart.  Nothing is taken for granted.

There are two small throw away lines that I'm wondering will get tied up?  The lover on Cant right before she's blown up says to Holden, "There is something you have to know."  And.....kablooey.

Then, Mao, as she's dying in the shower says, "Dawes, I waited.  Why didn't you come for me?"

Are either of those two lines addressed?  Because, if not, they are dumb.  If so -- it's still kind of beneath this show to have "damsels in distress" cry out to men with needy bullshit.  Not once, but twice with two separate characters in two separate situations.  I would like to know that these lines weren't bullshit.

[tardistravler]

Mao: I think that the line means to signify that she is expendable to Dawes and wasn't as important as he let on. Which is funny because Miller mentioned the same thing while he was being interrogated by Dawes and co. 

I am not sure about blonde lady. I wonder if that is going to be plot point in the next season. I was thinking that she could have probably been OPA or may have known something about the ship that Mao was on. 

[Danny Franks]

I think the unfinished line from Holden's hook up was just that: Unfinished. Something that Holden would never know, and would always wonder about. A ragged end to a life that wasn't supposed to be done yet.

Regarding Julie, I don't think she was crying out to a man, but that she was asking why the man she had been working for had abandoned her. That betrayal was one of the last things she felt, and it just makes her situation that much more bleak.

[Captanne]

Thanks!  I'm now almost through S2 and there's been no reference to the "there's something you should know" -- I'm thinking she might have known about what was taking out the Cant.  But, unfortunately, I'm old and cynical -- I have a feeling it was a throw away (for fuck's sake, she was probably pregnant or some ghastly trope like that) and it's long gone.

About Mao -- as I'm getting to know Anderson Dawes better, I think I understand.  The point is that Anderson uses people.  He acts like he cares and I love that "you're always welcome" line he gave to Miller -- but I think he's just a charismatic leader high on his "cause" and he forgets what promises he throws around.

Next question -- because I'm binging the series, I'm not clear that Miller died.  Did he die, as in Final Gonzo, the Big Sniff, with Mao?  Or does he come back in some altered form?  'Cause I liked him.

[raven]

On 6/11/2018 at 10:56 AM, Captanne said:

Did he die, as in Final Gonzo, the Big Sniff, with Mao?  Or does he come back in some altered form?  'Cause I liked him.

To reveal that answer here would be spoilery :)

[Captanne]

LOL!  I'm just glad to see Anderson Dawes back.  I guess Harris had to run off and starve on King William's Island for a while.  (IOW, he was probably filming The Terror?)

[Holmbo]

I finally got one of my friends to watch this show :D
We watched season one together. It was fun to get his perspective which is pretty different from mine on first watch. For example, he really likes Chad Coleman portrayal, while I didn't really take much note of him at all. He's very invested in if he has good intentions or not.
I don't think he got all of the mystery reveal, I didn't want to pick his brain to much about it. At the end of the season his theory is that the UN is the mastermind behind it all, because the people there "seem sketchy". I assume he means Errinwright :P

My reflections upon rewatch is that I find the mystery a bit to mysterious. A few more pieces in the end would have made it more comprehensible. We get nearly all of it in the Julie backstory and it's a bit too much to put together all at the same time IMO.
And, as with my previous rewatch, I'm really struck all over again by how fascinating Dawes is this season. @Captanne we should make a fanclub ;) Even on re watch I'm kinda considering if he has good intentions, only to be totally disillusioned with him by the reveal that he just left Julie when she stopped being useful.

[wanderingstar]

Miller & Holden are awesome together. I LOVED the lines flying between them.

Miller: The whole system thinks you're some kinda outlaw hero, but you're really kinda clueless, aren't you.

Holden: Why is everything so half-cocked with you.

The scene where Miller and Holden see all the people being overtaken by the protomolecule is chilling. It definitely captures what was in the book.

RIP, Sematimba. Ditto Kenzo.

Naomi is the best!