S03.E05: The Power Of Power

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

The search for a new home isn't easy for the group, especially when someone may be deliberately trying to stop them. Meanwhile, the love triangle between Todd, Gail and Melissa starts losing steam.

[Galileo908]

This building was too good to be true, and I was sad to be right. I screamed in pain just like everyone else. But man, Carol was the one that ruined it? Her and Tandy really are meant for each other. At least they brought back the stocks.

The Citizen Kane-esque dinner between Tandy and Carol was great, though.

[ottoDbusdriver]

They have no working vehicles, so where did Tandy find the go-kart let alone get it to the building ?  Or into the building and up to the 2nd floor with the power out ?

Ummm, that's not how sprinkler systems work.  Not at all.

Carol sabotaged this perfectly good fully functional building with water and power -- all because it didn't meet her dream of where she would raise her children.  For starters, it's just stupid, and secondly, it's not funny.

Does Carol not realize that they would need a place with working power -- just like this -- for when they actually have children ?

Who has been tending the grounds at this office complex for the last 2-3 years ?  Because it looks in pretty good shape for having been neglected for so long.

Did they build all new stocks for Carol ?

Where did they get all the candles for the extended dining table ? Or the candelabras ? Or the megaphones ?  Because they didn't bring any of this stuff with them because they abandoned their vehicles last episode.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

The building was cool; maybe based on a writer's idea of Google headquarters? But the story was not great. The soap sharing bit was some interesting physical comedy. There's only one toilet, and there's still enough water to flush?

I'm not so sure about locking a pregnant woman in the stocks.  And did Carol climb to the ceiling to clip the wires on the sculpture that fell? What if it had crushed someone else? I'm also not clear as to how long generators could run that huge building and what they used for fuel. 

Edited November 7, 2016 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ottoDbusdriver]

6 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

The building was cool; maybe based on a writer's idea of Google headquarters? But the story was not great. The soap sharing bit was some interesting physical comedy. There's only one toilet, and there's still enough water to flush?

I'm not so sure about locking a pregnant woman in the stocks. And did Carol climb to the ceiling to clip the wires on the sculpture that fell? What if it had crushed someone else? I'm also not clear as to how long generators could run that huge building and what they used for fuel. 

I'm surprised that there was only 1 working toilet in that entire building.  Sure it was incomplete as it appeared to be under construction, but still.

I'm assuming that the building was self-contained (Lewis mentioned that the toilets probably ran off collected rain water) and ran on solar power and batteries, but where were the solar panels ?  They weren't on the roof.  And there was no windmill to be seen.

[cpcathy]

There was a huge suspension of disbelief on this episode (uh, like always on this show) but I really enjoyed this one. I think Tandy and Carol may be one of the happiest couples on TV.

I laughed out loud at the dining table and the bullhorns.

[Gulftastic]

11 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

. And did Carol climb to the ceiling to clip the wires on the sculpture that fell? What if it had crushed someone else? I'm also not clear as to how long generators could run that huge building and what they used for fuel. 

I don't think it was that high. We didn't hear the crash, only Carol's cry for help. My theory is that she'd stood on that sofa to cut the wire.

[Big Mother]

I know it's all fiction but- do these people not talk to each other? What else do they do all day? Why is no one having a heart to heart with Melissa about how unhinged she has become? (she is scary). Why is no one talking to Lewis about his past life? Find out more about Pat? etc?

 

For what it's worth, are we to assume that Mike the brother is dead now? or will he show up unexpectedly at the end of the season after son of zorn is canceled?

[Traveller519]

Something big seems to be brewing with Lewis, but I can't tell what, and I love it. Maybe something that requires Gail's "medical expertise" again.

Only moderately annoying Tandy continues to be the best Tandy. 

[peeayebee]

14 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

They have no working vehicles, so where did Tandy find the go-kart let alone get it to the building ?  Or into the building and up to the 2nd floor with the power out ?

I assumed the go-kart was already there. 

I liked the ep. The bit with Tandy, Todd, and the soap was funny and gross. Whether or not it was realistic, I liked how Todd (or whoever) figured out how to rig a shower. I also loved when Tandy ran out of the shower, he came back to put his eyebrows on. Aww. He's always thinking of Carol.

Before Tandy said it was Louis sabotaging things, I thought it was Louis, but once Tandy said so, I didn't think it was Louis. I do wonder what's up with Louis. He's a cipher.

The Citizen Kane-esque dinner scene was great. Carol chewing thru the megaphone was gross (but funny), and I'm glad Tandy asked her not to do it.

"Frozen pizza! Frozen frozen pizza!"

[cpcathy]

Now that I think of it, wouldn't a big building like that have a gym and therefore showers? I've worked at several buildings with gyms (though we are not allowed to use the one we have in our building now, it's only for another company in our building.)

[Big Mother]

Five years post apocalypse, even this self-sustaining building would be covered in inches of dust.

Then again, this whole show needs to be taken with a grain of salt. NOTHING is like a real post-apocalyptic world would be like.

I wonder if they will find more live people as the season progresses.

[applecrisp]

Am I the only one.  I would have never got on the elevator.

[peeayebee]

I loved how we see them all take in everything in silence, entering the building in awe, moving as one, going into the elevator, gawking together. Then when they get to the room with the couches and so forth, everyone splits up to check things out. The sequence was just really well done.

[piequinn35]

The shower scene of Tandy and Todd was funny.

and

Where did they get the bed?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, piequinn35 said:

Where did they get the bed?

Or the little house?

[iMonrey]

Quote

Now that I think of it, wouldn't a big building like that have a gym and therefore showers? I've worked at several buildings with gyms (though we are not allowed to use the one we have in our building now, it's only for another company in our building.)

I still don't get what kind of building this is supposed to be. An office building? I get that it was supposed to be some kind of self-sustaining structure but what purpose was it meant to serve? Was it meant to house people during the virus epidemic or is it just a happy accident? I wondered the same thing about showers - if there are no showers in the building then it probably wasn't meant to be lived in. Then again, they were saying it didn't seem like it was finished.

Quote

Am I the only one.  I would have never got on the elevator.

No you're not the only one. That's the last thing I'd get into.

Even if they have power and water they're still going to run out of food (and booze) eventually and be right back at square one.

Edited November 9, 2016 by iMonrey

[MarkHB]

Speaking of booze, I thought it was great to see the margarita pool again!  Brain Freeze!

[iMonrey]

Yeah but why would there be a kiddie pool anywhere in that building? Even assuming there was some sort of daycare center, that's not something you'd find in an office building.

Edited November 10, 2016 by iMonrey

[butterbody]

We were thinking it was Google, or some other kind of hip, fun office. There would probably be a shower in one of those, but then we couldn't have gotten that m.a.s.h type cubical shower joke.

[MarkHB]

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Yeah but why would there be a kiddie pool anywhere in that building? Even assuming there was some sort of daycare center, that's not something you'd find in an office building.

I'm assuming there's a bunch of big-box stores nearby; Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc.

[SlackerInc]

On 11/6/2016 at 11:33 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

The building was cool; maybe based on a writer's idea of Google headquarters? But the story was not great. The soap sharing bit was some interesting physical comedy. There's only one toilet, and there's still enough water to flush?

I'm not so sure about locking a pregnant woman in the stocks.  And did Carol climb to the ceiling to clip the wires on the sculpture that fell? What if it had crushed someone else? I'm also not clear as to how long generators could run that huge building and what they used for fuel. 

It was "self sustaining", so probably solar powered.  @ottoDbusdriver said he didn't see solar panels on the roof--if so, that was probably just an oversight as I don't remember getting a really clear view of the roof.  I too thought the sculpture had to be too high to make that scenario work.  And I agree about putting a pregnant women in the stocks.

I don't really understand why everyone is so sure there's just one toilet...?  They did explain the water, though: it is automatically collected in a cistern on the roof.

I loved the physical comedy of the soap thing.  I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that before, and I laughed pretty hard.  I saw someone comment on another site that they thought they saw Todd sort of looking askance, but I thought just the opposite: he was bizarrely unfazed and willing to take the soap and immediately rub it all over his face!  LOL

 

On 11/7/2016 at 7:47 PM, applecrisp said:

Am I the only one.  I would have never got on the elevator.

That makes at least three of us.  I forgive a lot of the questionable postapocalyptic stuff (I assume they went and found themselves some vehicles, there are big box stores nearby, etc.).  But going into an elevator, with no chance of any emergency or maintenance people coming to help if things go wrong, was a bridge too far.  You've got to just use the stairs unless you scout it out and determine it's not too difficult to get out if need be.  You could still use the elevator to move heavy stuff from floor to floor--just don't ride along with it (jump out quickly after pushing the floor button, or just go up the stairs and call the elevator from there).

Edited November 19, 2016 by SlackerInc
Added detail

[MarkHB]

3 hours ago, SlackerInc said:

You could still use the elevator to move heavy stuff from floor to floor--just don't ride along with it (jump out quickly after pushing the floor button, or just go up the stairs and call the elevator from there).

It occurs to me that, with this crew, they'd do just that... With the cow.

[possibilities]

On 11/9/2016 at 8:56 PM, MarkHB said:

Speaking of booze, I thought it was great to see the margarita pool again!  Brain Freeze!

It made me wonder why Gail and Tandy had never bonded over drinking before, since it's one of their shared interests.

9 hours ago, SlackerInc said:

I don't really understand why everyone is so sure there's just one toilet...?  They did explain the water, though: it is automatically collected in a cistern on the roof.

I missed the "only one toilet" issue, too. Why would there only be one? When did they say that?

The shower is hilarious, even if it's totally unrealistic. Even if it's "not how those things work" it's still funny as hell, and no more unrealistic than most of the show, so I'll take it. I do think they should put something underneath to collect and divert the water instead of having it flow all over the floor (kiddie pool with a hose that goes to a greywater cistern out the window or somehow into the toilet flushing mechanism? I dunno what exactly, but I imagine the way they're doing it now, the place will develop killer mold, the floor will rot out from under them and water will be leaking into the floor below, if we want to be all realistic). I know it's hard not to think "These people are terrible at DIY and ought to have learned better by now" but sometimes the gags are funnier than others, and this time I laughed more than I criticized. They could also get solar-heated, gravity-feed showers from a camping supply store, and not have to take freezing cold showers from the doesn't-work-like-that sprinkler system, but again-- not as funny.

The soap... I was shuddering in horror and laughing at the same time. Todd is a great character.

[legaleagle53]

38 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I missed the "only one toilet" issue, too. Why would there only be one? When did they say that?

There wouldn't have been.  Since the building was a five-story office complex, it would have had at least two restrooms on each floor -- one for the men and one for the women.

I'm just curious as to what businesses would have existed in a complex that was that sophisticated.

[SlackerInc]

On 11/19/2016 at 3:49 PM, legaleagle53 said:

There wouldn't have been.  Since the building was a five-story office complex, it would have had at least two restrooms on each floor -- one for the men and one for the women.

I agree, but so many people have been saying there's just one toilet that there must be some reason to think so.  I mean, it's theoretically possible given that the building is unfinished; but I just assumed when I watched that there were several toilets.