S01.E06: Past as Prologue: Notes Toward a Post-Reagan Theory of Party Alliance, Tribalist, and Loyalty

[formerlyfreedom]

When Laurel is infected by the bugs, Gustav and Rochelle work quickly to figure out if there is any way to save her. When the Centers for Disease Control has its funding temporarily cut, Luke attempts to reach a compromise to have the money reinstated, but Red’s political machinations undermine him at every turn.

[Guest]

OK.  The Cars somehow tapped into the music of the universe in the mid-80s.

I don't know what to make of that.

[Luckylyn]

I love this show so much.    The whole "I think I love You" scene was so weird and hilarious.  This show manages to be suspenseful and funny simultaneously.   Laurel's friend was scary in that scene at the club.  You can save someone from the aliants but only if you intervene before part of your brain's removed.  If the wrong part of the brain is stimulated that a person's head explodes.  They seem to have switched from trying to infect Laurel to threats.  I'm worried something bad will happen to Laurel, Rochelle, or Gustav.  If they can't infect them since they now know how to fight it, would they be targeted for an "accident" to get them out of the way?  Then there's Anthony in the FBI who could frame them for something.  I'm glad Laurel came clean with Gareth at the end about the bugs but will he believe it?   How do you kill something that still alive after dismemberment?

[shapeshifter]

When it gets below 70°F, only one cicada makes noise outside my window. I thought it was doing a random rhythm last night, but now I recognize it: "I think I love you" chirp chirp.

I thought the gerrymandering map looked more like a model of a molecule than constellations or crop circles.

Tony Shaloub seems to be doing a Bill Clinton impersonation for Red Wheatus' voice. Anyone else notice that?

A lesser show would use Laurel's confesssion to Gareth about the bugs eating brains as a reason to keep them apart to build up sexual tension between them. I am hoping this show takes a more original direction.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I thought the gerrymandering map looked more like a model of a molecule than constellations or crop circles.

I saw an axe in the middle of that circuit board obstacle from American Ninja Warrior that was on the other night. 

[lucindabelle]

Giggled myself silly during "I think inlove you" . Few weeks ago I was lying in bed with a migraine and watching partridge family reruns... So soothing (though david Cassidy has not aged well... His flower like beauty has become a bit scary...hard living does that to you)

please don't let Gareth be infected. Relieved to see him drinking at the end!

[wayne67]

That was the weirdest funniest sex party ever. 

It's weird how much I love this show. It's basically the only live action show I'm enjoying at the moment. 

Poor CDC guy, just when he's on the path to discovering and dissecting alien life, he's science blocked by his boss. 

[sjohnson]

It's broadcast TV. Are we supposed to read the big "sex" scene literally, or are we supposed to assume Gustav and Rochelle stayed to supervise?

[kirinan]

8 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Tony Shaloub seems to be doing a Bill Clinton impersonation for Red Wheatus' voice. Anyone else notice that?

I feel like he's taking a stab at a Baltimore accent. I've noticed over the last couple of weeks that his accent sounds very much like the one John Travolta did as Edna Turnblad in the Hairspray movie musical. Hairspray happened to be on last week, and I had a BrainDead ep on the DVR. I listened to Tony, then listened to Travolta. The accent seemed almost identical to me. I know a lot of people trashed Travolta's attempt at the accent, so maybe I'm just imagining the similarity, since I've never heard a Baltimore accent (in fact, I never knew there was such a thing). I can't remember, though--is Red supposed to be from Maryland?

[SomeTameGazelle]

31 minutes ago, kirinan said:

I feel like he's taking a stab at a Baltimore accent. I've noticed over the last couple of weeks that his accent sounds very much like the one John Travolta did as Edna Turnblad in the Hairspray movie musical. Hairspray happened to be on last week, and I had a BrainDead ep on the DVR. I listened to Tony, then listened to Travolta. The accent seemed almost identical to me. I know a lot of people trashed Travolta's attempt at the accent, so maybe I'm just imagining the similarity, since I've never heard a Baltimore accent (in fact, I never knew there was such a thing). I can't remember, though--is Red supposed to be from Maryland?

Didn't the gerrymandering subplot mention that Red and Laurel's brother are both Senators for Maryland?

[dargosmydaddy]

How are more people not watching this? It's the best thing on network TV. That first scene is the most bizarrely funny thing I've ever seen...

[Perfect Xero]

I wonder if there's some reason that the bugs aren't infecting certain key people like Luke or the republican senator that he keeps working with. I'd guess that there's something about their lifestyle that's keeping them safe, but if drunk Red could be infected then I don't know what it could be.

Are the infected on both sides really at odds with each other or is that for show and they're really working together to keep things locked down?

[Luckylyn]

26 minutes ago, Perfect Xero said:

I wonder if there's some reason that the bugs aren't infecting certain key people like Luke or the republican senator that he keeps working with. I'd guess that there's something about their lifestyle that's keeping them safe, but if drunk Red could be infected then I don't know what it could be.

Are the infected on both sides really at odds with each other or is that for show and they're really working together to keep things locked down?

They tried to infect Luke using his mistress but she was acting so weird that he left mistakenly assuming Laurel had made his girlfriend feel guilty about the affair.  Then they switched to trying to infect Laurel probably thinking to use her to get to Luke.  Now that she knows how to fight them if they get in her head that means the aliants will probably use some other method to get to Luke.   I wonder if they would go after Luke's wife or would her pregnancy somehow protect her?  I'm surprised they didn't try a flower delivery to his house.  Maybe Laurel's dad is the next target.   Laurel, Rochelle, and Gustav have to come up with a way to tell more people and get them to believe so that they can defend themselves if the aliants come after them.  If people are warned than they'd be able to fight the bugs like Laurel did before they can take over the brain completely.  Telling Gareth is good because he may be targeted.  

[Heatsja]

Ack!  DVR only got first half of the show to due overrun of Madam Secretary.  Where can I watch the whole thing now?

[Zahdii]

2 hours ago, Heatsja said:

Ack!  DVR only got first half of the show to due overrun of Madam Secretary.  Where can I watch the whole thing now?

Try this.

[Perfect Xero]

2 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

They tried to infect Luke using his mistress but she was acting so weird that he left mistakenly assuming Laurel had made his girlfriend feel guilty about the affair.  Then they switched to trying to infect Laurel probably thinking to use her to get to Luke.  Now that she knows how to fight them if they get in her head that means the aliants will probably use some other method to get to Luke.   I wonder if they would go after Luke's wife or would her pregnancy somehow protect her?  I'm surprised they didn't try a flower delivery to his house.  Maybe Laurel's dad is the next target.   Laurel, Rochelle, and Gustav have to come up with a way to tell more people and get them to believe so that they can defend themselves if the aliants come after them.  If people are warned than they'd be able to fight the bugs like Laurel did before they can take over the brain completely.  Telling Gareth is good because he may be targeted.  

That's true, it just seems like it's easy enough for them to infect people while they're sleeping that it doesn't make sense that they didn't just get him again later at home.

1 hour ago, Heatsja said:

Ack!  DVR only got first half of the show to due overrun of Madam Secretary.  Where can I watch the whole thing now?

I have it on Xfinity on Demand, but only on TV not online. If you want to watch online it's on CBS.com right now.

[Luckylyn]

1 minute ago, Perfect Xero said:

That's true, it just seems like it's easy enough for them to infect people while they're sleeping that it doesn't make sense that they didn't just get him again later at home.

 

Infecting people while asleep probably works better.  If they're awake there's more of a risk of a head explosion or someone resisting the take over.  I don't know why they aren't sending flower deliveries to everyone and infecting them while they sleep.  I wonder if there aren't enough bugs yet to take people over on a large scale.  They seem to use a lot of bugs just to take over one person.  I wonder if Luke is hardly ever at home because he's either working or hooking up with someone behind his wife's back and so it's difficult for the aliant's to get him at home.  Getting him at the office would be tricky because Laurel could interfere.  Still they seem to keep trying to get him or people close to him and so he's in danger.  Laurel won't be able to protect him now that he's resistant to listening to the bug theory.  He won't listen to her warnings.  I am curious if Gareth will listen.  He was a witness the "I think I love you" salami sex weirdness.   I think Laurel, Rochelle, and Gustav will get Gareth on board with them because the team has to expand to protect people.   Plus it would be depressing if every guy Laurel was interested in became infected.  Gareth is connected and may know of ways to get more people on their side to work behind the scenes to fight the aliants.

[Free]

12 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

How are more people not watching this? It's the best thing on network TV. That first scene is the most bizarrely funny thing I've ever seen...

It's probably too different from CBS' other shows, it's probably what screwed over other shows like Limitless and POI's final season.

[Texasmom1970]

23 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

OK.  The Cars somehow tapped into the music of the universe in the mid-80s.

I don't know what to make of that.

We'll I always did think Rick Ocasek looked a bit like an alien. 

My love for Gustav continues to grow. The actor is portraying him perfectly. While they were sitting awkwardly during the sex scene live his ice breaker line about horror movies. And then him lying on the floor holding the bug under the cup when Gareth walked in, pure gold!

[futurechemist]

I didn't understand the whole gerrymandering plot.   Wouldn't the Maryland state legislature draw up boundaries for Maryland house districts?  Which wouldn't involve Red Wheatus at all.  Maps in Red's office were of Maryland.  And then Laurel Googled and was drawing on a map of Washington, D.C.!  Plus, I don't see how gerrymandering could work in D.C. considering how overwhelmingly Democratic it is.

I will give the show credit for how brazenly it moved the Laurel/Gareth ship forward.

[thuganomics85]

So, they found a way to at least get the bugs out before they completely eat out your brain.  Since they only do the left side, you to emphasize the right side of the brain, which means crank up the music, bust out some moves, and bring on the sex!  Best awkward sex scene ever.  Can't believe the first time Laurel and Gareth get it on is because she needs to get the bugs out of her head.  Oh, show!

I'm glad Laurel has already told Gareth about the bugs as well, although I hope it doesn't lead to the obvious plot where Gareth suddenly thinks she is crazy, and wants nothing to do with it.  I don't expect him to automatically believe her, but I hope they approach this in a way that won't come off too cliched.  Plus, I want Gareth into the fold and interacting with the rest of the cast soon.  Have a feeling Gareth/Gustav could be comedic gold.

Looks like Bugged Red is gerrymandering districts, and it's in the forms of crop circles?  Preparing for an invasion?  I got no idea, but I'm sure a lot of wackiness will ensue.

Anything to do with the Senate hearings continue to crack me up and somehow make me sad, because as ridiculous as they are, I still feel like it isn't that far off from reality.  I wonder how many Senators in real life are crazy like Red and Pollack, and how many are just like Luke, all "Oh, come one!  We seriously debating this?!"

Bummed that this show is not doing well, since it at least is fun and unpredictable.  And I really am digging the characters and cast.  The actor playing Gustav is stealing scenes, Aaron Tveit is awesome, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead really has become one of the more likable leads on television at the moment.  She was spot-on in the entire opening act, but she's pretty great at everything here.  Sad that not many people are watching.

[sjohnson]

Cool people do not watch CBS shows because old people watch a lot of CBS shows, and old people aren't cool. Or to put it another way, CBS is the network that broadcast The Beverly Hillbillies and Gilligan's Island. 

[alias1]

I'm old and I love this show.  I laughed myself silly at the ten minutes of getting the bugs out!  How can they expect to keep an audience when they change the night the show is on and then have it not start when it's supposed to. I had to tape three shows to get to see it all. 

[meep.meep]

On 8/1/2016 at 6:46 AM, SomeTameGazelle said:

Didn't the gerrymandering subplot mention that Red and Laurel's brother are both Senators for Maryland?

It did.  I've been wondering about Red's accent the whole time.  It must be Baltimore.  And Red is gerrymandering the districts for The District.

I still have high hopes for Laurel's Polynesian music.  Don't let me down show!

I'm old too, and the only other CBS shows I watch are Survivor and Amazing Race.  But I'm a Fed so this really hits home.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, SierraMist said:

I'm old and I love this show.  I laughed myself silly at the ten minutes of getting the bugs out!  How can they expect to keep an audience when they change the night the show is on and then have it not start when it's supposed to. I had to tape three shows to get to see it all. 

This show comes from the keyboards of the same duo who brought The Good Wife to CBS, and, as one of the oldsters who watched most of that show, I'm used to that problem. 

[atomationage]

I had a good laugh at Luke's "Oh God, not more emails" (I'm paraphrasing).

This show is great on all levels, but I thought this episode was very confusing.  I must be one of those CBS old folks.  The salami was also a big laugh. 

[Perfect Xero]

5 hours ago, SierraMist said:

I'm old and I love this show.  I laughed myself silly at the ten minutes of getting the bugs out!  How can they expect to keep an audience when they change the night the show is on and then have it not start when it's supposed to. I had to tape three shows to get to see it all. 

I assume that was because Golf or some other afternoon live sporting event went long and pushed their entire schedule back, which, they have live golf scheduled the next two Sundays, so you might want to go ahead and add time/record the next couple of shows then to if you want to make sure you catch this.

[Sayla Vee]

5 hours ago, Perfect Xero said:

I assume that was because Golf or some other afternoon live sporting event went long and pushed their entire schedule back, which, they have live golf scheduled the next two Sundays, so you might want to go ahead and add time/record the next couple of shows then to if you want to make sure you catch this.

Golf shouldn't be a problem for the next 2 weeks as these are ordinary tournaments.  They usually end by 6, and if they run long they switch them over to the Golf Channel or TNT for the finish.  The only reason this last week's interfered with the schedule is that it was the PGA Championship - a big deal in the world of golfers. 

There really shouldn't be a problem with golf again until the Ryder Cup and I don't know which network has that.

[ACW]

On 8/2/2016 at 0:11 AM, futurechemist said:

I didn't understand the whole gerrymandering plot.   Wouldn't the Maryland state legislature draw up boundaries for Maryland house districts?  Which wouldn't involve Red Wheatus at all.  Maps in Red's office were of Maryland.  And then Laurel Googled and was drawing on a map of Washington, D.C.!  Plus, I don't see how gerrymandering could work in D.C. considering how overwhelmingly Democratic it is.

And doesn't DC have only one (non-voting) rep anyway, which would imply one district?  Maybe in this reality,  DC is still part of Maryland?

More likely, it was supposed to be Maryland districts, but someone decided after filming had started that they wanted to draw on the DC map instead. 

On 8/1/2016 at 2:38 PM, Zahdii said:

Try this.

Also available for free on Amazon Video if you have Prime, though ep 6 isn't there yet.

[holly4755]

On 8/2/2016 at 8:37 AM, sjohnson said:

Cool people do not watch CBS shows because old people watch a lot of CBS shows, and old people aren't cool. Or to put it another way, CBS is the network that broadcast The Beverly Hillbillies and Gilligan's Island. 

 

 

I am one of the oldies who just loves this show, but I mostly catch it on demand the next day. Probably not counted. If it helps I lie about my age to companies. It is really none of their business.

[clarkbar]

I'm loving Rochelle and Gustav.  Kind of an X-Files vibe, but cooler and funnier.

I guess I'm an oldie, too, but this show is in my wheelhouse.  I really find all the actors in the main roles so smart and appealing.

[Sayla Vee]

Another oldie loving this show.  I almost didn't watch it because it was written by the Kings, and I was mad at them.  Still haven't gotten over how much I loved The Good Wife, and then after Season 3, they just let it sink lower and lower until that craptastic ending.  But this show and its delightful cast have redeemed them in my eyes.

I wonder how the myth that oldsters only watch CBS came about.  When shows like Beverly Hillbillies and Gilligan's Island were on, we were all youngsters doing all the hip d'jour stuff.  I never watched those shows, however, so I guess I wasn't one of the Kool Kids then either.

[Rapunzel]

Quote

Another oldie loving this show.  I almost didn't watch it because it was written by the Kings, and I was mad at them.  Still haven't gotten over how much I loved The Good Wife, and then after Season 3, they just let it sink lower and lower until that craptastic ending.  But this show and its delightful cast have redeemed them in my eyes.

I was hesitant about this show as well once I knew the Kings were behind it. Maybe when they started working on creating this show is when The Good Wife started to get so awful - they were putting all their energy into this.

This is so not like The Good Wife and also fairly different from anything else on TV at the moment and I am really enjoying it. I've always thought Danny Pino was good looking (this show maybe explains his abrupt exit from Scandal - good choice for him to make the switch if he had anything to do with it), but never really thought he was a strong actor. He's still a bit weak here compared to the rest of the cast, but I think the quirky genre suits him better.

Love how they found out how to kill the aliants (sex, food, music! All of them at once!) and also love all the relationships. both good and bad, infected and non-infected, between the characters on the show. My favorite is also Gustav and I like the female doctor quite a bit as well. A relationship with them, or even just some wacky, salami and chocolate eating sex if one of them happens to get an ant (or just for the hell of it), could be pretty entertaining.

I really hope this show gets a second season.  I think I read somewhere that the Kings originally wrote it to be just a one season mini-series, but, if I recall correctly, they left room for another season should it be picked up. I have no idea why the ratings are low other than I don't think it's been promoted too well. I also wonder how/if the Olympics will affect ratings as well. Are they taking a hiatus for the little over 2 weeks that the Olympics will be on or will they keep airing it? I know the Olympics isn't nearly as huge as the Super Bowl, but the Summer Games do only happen once every 4 years, this is their first time in Rio I think, and I know that I am always glued to the coverage (primetime especially as that's where they show all the really popular stuff), but I honestly don't care if it's just rowing or something that is on - I always watch just because they don't happen every year. I was a swimmer as well as a rower in high school and college, so for all of you rowing fans out there, don't think I'm downgrading the sport or anything - it is quite difficult but apparently not thought to be as exciting to watch on TV as some other things (or so I've been told).  

[Sayla Vee]

The Olympics will be on NBC, not CBS.  But I don't think that many competitions are held on Sunday anyway, so this show ought to be all right.  At least I hope so.

[Rapunzel]

Yes, I know they will be on NBC and that this show is on CBS. However, regardless of the network, often times other networks play reruns during a major event like this as they know a lot of people will be watching the Olympics in prime time.

[shapeshifter]

This Sunday (Aug. 7) and the following Sunday (Aug. 14) zap2it.com shows a PGA Golf Tour Championship from 2-4pm CDT, so that could run long and push BrainDead up an hour.

Edited August 5, 2016 by shapeshifter

[Sayla Vee]

That's just a rerun of the PGA Championship then because that was held last weekend.  The Travelers is being held this weekend and that's not a big deal tournament so it's rare that they cut too far into prime time.  Usually if they run past 6:30, they switch the golf to another channel.

But, of course, you're right, Rapunzel, about the reruns.  I often watch Olympic events just because of that.  I was hoping/thinking that Sunday night would be safer. 

Now, for me, I do watch the rowing, etc., because I hate the events that have been taken over by the professionals.  Why would I want to see golf pros, for example, play against each other, when I can see that every Thursday thru Sunday of the year.  Half the members of the PGA come from other countries anyway, so it's almost  like the Olympics every week.  Since most of the events are taken over by the pros, it doesn't leave me much to watch. 

[Rapunzel]

So I just checked the CBS Website, and it looks like at least this Sunday, it will be new episode that airs based on the description I read. Of course, we all know things like this can change fairly suddenly, but I do hope this is correct as I can't wait to see what happens next on the show. :-)

Sayla Vee, I agree with you about the pros, which is part of the reason I watch all the sports in the Olympics, and, as I mentioned, I do have a vested interest in things like rowing. :-)  I don't want to know who is already going home with the gold, and this is just purely as an example, see Serena Williams wipe the floor with everyone (nothing at all against her - she is a tremendous athlete, and if the rules allow her to compete, she should give it her all). Though I admit that I was awfully excited when the first "Dream Team" for Men's Basketball was put together. However, I was just 8 at the time and a huge basketball fan and they had nearly all my favorite players in it.

Olympics aside, the blurb on CBS says that the new episode has Gustav and the Doctor possibly finding a way to communicate with the aliants - or something along those lines. I'm very curious to see what they come up with to accomplish that - maybe the aliants spell things out with their bodies? Maybe they can actually talk? Maybe they walk on a computer keyboard to type things? Maybe if you feed them Salami and/or Bacon they will talk and maybe even agree to leave you alone (who can resist bacon, after all? It does seems to be Gustav's preferred choice to lure them out and we know he reads a lot, so he must know :-)  )?

Topping this most recent episode will be tough. I mean, sex with salami and chocolate? While two people are right outside the door? Gareth was clearly a bit weirded out, but not enough to prevent him from getting some. It will be interesting to see if he and Laurel continue with this physical relationship and progress it into something more (minus the salami and chocolate and two witnesses while sharing an intimate moment, though maybe that weirdness was half the fun for them). Though I guess the weird food sex could happen again if  Gareth gets an aliant in his head.

With this show, clearly pretty much anything is possible and that's one of the things I love most about it. It is so quirky and has done such a great job with casting. I hadn't heard of some of the cast prior to this, but they all appear to be doing a great job with their roles (just wish Margo Martindale's character had stayed around longer, though maybe she'll be back even though she's been "invaded"). Tony Shaloub's accent does bother me a bit though, especially when he says certain words. I thought originally he was supposed to be somewhere from the South (for some reason, I had it in my head that he was the Senator from Texas or maybe Alabama, but I could most definitely be wrong), but people here have been mentioning that he may be from Maryland and that's where his accent is coming from. Not having been around many native Marylanders, I have no idea what their accent sounds like, so I'll leave it to the experts here as far as where is actually from and how accurate his accent is.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Rapunzel

[shapeshifter]

11 minutes ago, Rapunzel said:

...the blurb on CBS says that the new episode has Gustav and the Doctor possibly finding a way to communicate with the aliants - or something along those lines. I'm very curious to see what they come up with to accomplish that - maybe the aliants spell things out with their bodies? Maybe they can actually talk? Maybe they walk on a computer keyboard to type things? Maybe if you feed them Salami and/or Bacon they will talk and maybe even agree to leave you alone (who can resist bacon)? With this show, pretty much anything is possible and that's one of the things I love most about it....

In this episode the aliants did talk to Laurel through her friend Stacie when Laurel tried to take her dancing and drinking to chase out the bugs. Unfortunately, the bugs told Laurel that if they left, that half of Stacie's brain would be empty; it was too late.

[Rapunzel]

29 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

In this episode the aliants did talk to Laurel through her friend Stacie when Laurel tried to take her dancing and drinking to chase out the bugs. Unfortunately, the bugs told Laurel that if they left, that half of Stacie's brain would be empty; it was too late.

That's  right - I had forgotten about that. I wonder if they can talk without being inside a human host though?

[Sayla Vee]

3 hours ago, Rapunzel said:

 

Topping this most recent episode will be tough. I mean, sex with salami and chocolate? 

It sure will be tough.  I've liked every bit of the show so far, but this one was special.

I think the music or the beat of the music is the key to their communication.

[wilnil]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 1:49 PM, ACW said:

And doesn't DC have only one (non-voting) rep anyway, which would imply one district?  Maybe in this reality,  DC is still part of Maryland?

More likely, it was supposed to be Maryland districts, but someone decided after filming had started that they wanted to draw on the DC map instead. 

What it looks like is that the screenwriters conflated congressional districts with local voting districts (or precincts) -- some of the dialogue referred to the House being affected, but the whole thing started with the constituent complaining about having to go way across town to vote, and yeah, the only way D.C. would be subdivided politically into that many areas would be by voting precinct.

I think they mixed up the two kinds of districts on purpose to give a plausible reason why Red's office would be involved. Granted, congressional districts are drawn by states (and usually, I believe, voting precincts are drawn at the county or municipal level), but it's not impossible that even a senator might weigh in on redistricting.

TL;DR version: They deliberately got the facts wrong to have some fun with the "crop circle" thing. And I'm OK with that; shows a lot more serious than this one have done that to make an idea work.