S01.E04: Away

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

An agonizing dilemma gives OA a new perspective on the group's plight. Homer resolves to find out what Hap's experiments are really about.

 

[Arynm]

I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been for Homer. He must have gone through that ordeal so many times before he fooled the crazy Dr. into thinking he was out. How they are not all crazy is amazing for me.  So they all have to eat something to unlock a higher level in themselves or something? I wonder if they will all be able to do it?

Sounds like it has been at least 3 years since she was taken.

[numbnut]

I don't understand the gas plan. It's supposed to leave Homer awake but how does it also leave Prairie awake?

[jaigurudeva]

Both Prairie and Rachel siphon some of the gas from Homer's cell, and Homer holds his breath as long as he can, so they all get minimized effect. What I don't get about this plan is why, after years and years, Homer doesn't take just one shot at the doctor? He's stronger than Prairie, and with the element of surprise can make sure he incapacitates him.  Use the gas and order him to open the doors to the cells and the basement, then lock him in one of the cells for a taste of his own medicine. Then they can all get to freedom and their families. Instead, they're working on their astral forms so they can "escape" in spirit to a higher plane? Or, they can escape in their physical bodies!

Edited December 20, 2016 by jaigurudeva

[Sakura12]

I'm thinking that all that dying is making them think the spiritual plane is the place they'd rather be. We don't hear them talking much about their families anymore. They want to leave the form of living they are in now. 

[numbnut]

2 hours ago, jaigurudeva said:

What I don't get about this plan is why, after years and years, Homer doesn't take just one shot at the doctor? He's stronger than Prairie, and with the element of surprise can make sure he incapacitates him.  Use the gas and order him to open the doors to the cells and the basement, then lock him in one of the cells for a taste of his own medicine. Then they can all get to freedom and their families. Instead, they're working on their astral forms so they can "escape" in spirit to a higher plane? Or, they can escape in their physical bodies!

I don't think they know the codes to open the cell doors. But, yeah, Homer could knock him out and go for help.

[jaigurudeva]

7 hours ago, numbnut said:

I don't think they know the codes to open the cell doors. But, yeah, Homer could knock him out and go for help.

But Hap does, and since the gas makes anyone a compliant zombie, Homer would only have to order him to open the doors.

[PinkRibbons]

I think the part that got me the most (and actually I'll admit I didn't think about this until after I'd watched the entire show and digested it a bit) was the idea that everyone would actually starve if Hap died. With OA/Prairie/Nina and her blindness, I understand her hesitating to kill Hap because the odds were so against her and the others if she did. But with Homer, if he'd managed to kill Hap, he could have found a phone, internet, even walked until he found some help. The others could hold out for a few days even if the food pellets did run out. And I don't care how complex a code there was on that door, once the proper authorities saw what was going on, you can't tell me they wouldn't do anything -- including exploding the door -- to get the others out of their cells.

[Silly Angel]

Yeah, there is no excuse to bungle the mind-control thing in a post Jessica Jones world. It cuts both ways, which is what's interesting and dangerous about it. Those "movements" make me want to die with shame on the actors' behalfs (behalves?).

At first I was like, ugh, it's Sense8 on even more drugs, and then I was like hm, maybe we've been asking ourselves the wrong questions and the real question is, what is the definition of an angel? Why not someone who can't die but doesn't quite live, who is more soul than body? (Because there's no one like that that we know of, and it's fairly preposterous, yes, but for the purposes of this fictional show, why not?)

And now at the midpoint I'm like DANCE OFF! I'll keep watching just to see the pretty shapes this slow-burning tire fire makes as it smolders.

Ridiculous. Poor Phyllis from The Office, poor guy who was so great in the otherwise meh Brooklyn. Poor us.

Okay, back to Netflix...

[KaleyFirefly]

On 12/20/2016 at 9:40 AM, jaigurudeva said:

Both Prairie and Rachel siphon some of the gas from Homer's cell, and Homer holds his breath as long as he can, so they all get minimized effect. What I don't get about this plan is why, after years and years, Homer doesn't take just one shot at the doctor? He's stronger than Prairie, and with the element of surprise can make sure he incapacitates him.  Use the gas and order him to open the doors to the cells and the basement, then lock him in one of the cells for a taste of his own medicine. Then they can all get to freedom and their families. Instead, they're working on their astral forms so they can "escape" in spirit to a higher plane? Or, they can escape in their physical bodies!

I was wondering that too. He could probably knock out the doctor if he tried, he's stronger than him.

[Kiss my mutt]

He could refill the pellets too. I don't think those are on lock down if they run out. 

[hincandenza]

I'm actually enjoying this (finished ep 6 last night, commenting today before I finish).  At this point this show is like "Room" meets "Sense8" meets "Flatliners" meets "John From Cincinnati", among others.  It's also very meta to me; I keep seeing scenes and dialogue that seem more like an artist commenting on the artist/audience relationship than strictly being necessary in the scene.

I agree with Sakura12 that they've all gone a bit mad so we can forgive their sideways escape plans (3 years of dying on purpose?!), although I chuckled when the big reveal was that the experiments were to kill them and revive them, since that was bleedingly obvious by episode 2.   When Buck mentioned having figured that out and Steve was like "Bullshit!" I wonder if that was a sly nod to the audience, where some people are the type to just sort of watch a show, while others follow each episode by writing hundreds of words and reading thousands on some web forum to analyze... well, shit.  :)

 

As an aside, can we basically call this a horror TV show at this point?  When I first saw this show on Netflix and watched the trailer, I didn't know what to expect; I figured there'd be special powers, and government agents chasing her, etc.  But... no.  This episode (4) was the one that finally made me realize "Holy shit this show is really, really creepy".  If you spend even a moment imagining Hap as an actual person, it's just completely horrible to conceive of this kind of torture.  It's like some dark twisted Neil Gaiman fractured fairy tale, or snippet from Sandman, where these angels are held captive by the scientist, shackled from leaving the earthly plane.  Jason Isaacs is increasingly freaking me out with his portrayal of Hap; it's like watching the stories I've only (sparingly) read about the kind of hellish experiments Axis "scientists" would do in Germany and Japan during WW2.  I'm sure those monsters, like Hap, were just pursuing science in what was to them a rote, methodical job.  <shiver>

[Guest]

I liked how when we finally saw what Hap was doing to them, he's casually eating a sandwich while drowning someone.  

I did kind of balk at his method of death.  There are a lot of more humane ways to kill someone that wouldn't leave them with water-logged lungs that'd need emptied somehow for the return to life, and those wouldn't need a special mechanical contraption to accomplish.  Though the visuals of death by lethal injection, or the concept, wouldn't be nearly as horrifying.  Or him sedating them then placing them face down in a simple tub or bucket.  

And evil geniuses must have special contraptions or it's just too mundane and potentially 'realistic', I guess.  I have to admit the 'over the topness' of it did help make it more like a fantasy than a Criminal Minds episode, and those latter are usually a little too realistic for my enjoyment level.  

[krankydoodle]

On 1/4/2017 at 4:16 PM, hincandenza said:

As an aside, can we basically call this a horror TV show at this point? 

It reminds me of the horror film Martyrs in which a group of well-organized nuts tortures a series of young women in the hopes that they'll somehow catch a glimpse of the afterlife and then reveal its secrets. Thankfully, this show doesn't seem to be interested in the gore that Martyrs was drenched in.

Like others here have said, it bugs me that Homer hasn't tried to attack Hap, but I'm still invested in the story.

And, wow, I just realized that the actor who plays Homer was also Leo in the tv show Smash where he gave one of the worst performances I think I've ever seen. But he's doing a great job here.

Edited January 6, 2017 by krankydoodle

[hincandenza]

54 minutes ago, krankydoodle said:

It reminds me of the horror film Martyrs in which a group of well-organized nuts tortures a series of young women in the hopes that they'll somehow catch a glimpse of the afterlife and then reveal its secrets. Thankfully, this show doesn't seem to be interested in the gore that Martyrs was drenched in.

Yeah, from the wikipedia description I don't think I could watch that, but it sounds like a very similar vein as Hap.  That adds to the show's oddness: long stretches of the bleakness of their captive state, and then stretches of New Agey hopefulness and belief in an afterlife.

[Ms Blue Jay]

There were so many things I didn't understand about the gas breathing plan either.

When Prairie and Rachel suck in all the smoke that Homer is supposed to get, they pass out.

When Hap comes to get Homer, he will see Prairie and Rachel passed out.  So what came to mind was, wouldn't Hap get angry and suspicious at this?

But then, as they 'perfected' the plan, they did it with blankets, so that they'd pass out with blankets, which looked more like sleeping.  So I guess that was less weird. But the very first time they did it, I thought it looked so comically obvious.

16 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

And, wow, I just realized that the actor who plays Homer was also Leo in the tv show Smash where he gave one of the worst performances I think I've ever seen. But he's doing a great job here.

This particular aspect of the show is one of its most fascinating, LOL.

And Rachel is played by singer Sharon Van Etten.

[Guest]

What I didn't get about the gas breathing plan was that Hap could tell when his test subject wasn't fully gassed at first, then he'd knock them out in the chair.  After one or two times of that, a normal reaction would be for him to just always knock them out in the chair beforehand to avoid the problem.  But instead it seemed like they proceeded to fool Hap into letting them be drowned awake.  

Heck, why not just leave all the gassing to the chair?  They were compliant as sheep regardless, it looked like.  

Ah, I thought the blankets were to help stop them from cracking their heads open on the stone when they passed out, and to help funnel the gas into their lungs.  Makes sense to it was to make them look more like they just chose then to take a little nap.  Every time it was Homer's turn to go die.  ; )  How did they even know when it was his turn?  Did Hap rotate them evenly?  

Edited January 6, 2017 by Guest

[krankydoodle]

I think this is one of those shows that I have to finish watching before reading any more commentary because everyone's doing such a good job pointing out flaws that my interest is beginning to waver.

Anyway, I thought they were also using the blankets as makeshift tents that they could breathe the gas into to slow its spread.

[huahaha]

On 12/20/2016 at 9:40 AM, jaigurudeva said:

Both Prairie and Rachel siphon some of the gas from Homer's cell, and Homer holds his breath as long as he can, so they all get minimized effect. What I don't get about this plan is why, after years and years, Homer doesn't take just one shot at the doctor? He's stronger than Prairie, and with the element of surprise can make sure he incapacitates him.  Use the gas and order him to open the doors to the cells and the basement, then lock him in one of the cells for a taste of his own medicine. Then they can all get to freedom and their families. Instead, they're working on their astral forms so they can "escape" in spirit to a higher plane? Or, they can escape in their physical bodies!

Thank you!!! Just watched this episode, and I don't understand how Homer couldn't have used three years (or frankly, a lot less time) to do body weight exercises in his cell and then kick Hap's ass. I get that OA is persuasive, but really? Your options are (a) push-ups and a fight for the gas mask or (b) learn to join the spectral plane of understanding? You're kidnapped in a basement. Nobody's got time for new age crap!

ETA (skip to 1:05):

Edited January 18, 2017 by huahaha

[LeGrandElephant]

On 12/20/2016 at 9:40 AM, jaigurudeva said:

What I don't get about this plan is why, after years and years, Homer doesn't take just one shot at the doctor? He's stronger than Prairie, and with the element of surprise can make sure he incapacitates him.  Use the gas and order him to open the doors to the cells and the basement, then lock him in one of the cells for a taste of his own medicine. Then they can all get to freedom and their families. Instead, they're working on their astral forms so they can "escape" in spirit to a higher plane? Or, they can escape in their physical bodies!

Yeah, that's a huge plot hole. Homer still seems to be in pretty good shape, and with the element of surprise he could easily hit Hap over the head or similar. Since he's not blind, he could probably find a way to contact outside help in time to keep the others from starving to death, especially if he can keep feeding them pellets* for awhile. (I didn't notice how many numbers the combination is, but I'm assuming its enough that a few solid days of systematic trying still wouldn't be likely to work?)

Also, I understand why Prairie gave up on trying to kill him while she was blind, but now she isn't blind. Is he still letting her upstairs and treating her loosely because of her blindness? It wasn't clear - he did bring her upstairs without gas to interview her about her NDE, but it wasn't clear if that was the only time. Now that she isn't blind and he believes she is, she should also be able to attack him with the element of surprise, if she's still being allowed up there. But they didn't specify that, so the bigger plot hole is Homer - they don't show him in chains or anything, they show him able to run around while Hap is out of the room, why not hit Hap over the head by surprise? Massive plot hole, especially since this whole astral projection thing doesn't seem to be even close to working. 

Also, not believable that Hap would keep on being fooled by the whole siphoning gas thing. Does he not watch them on CCTV? Even if not, after one or two times of Homer seeming to start to wake up and Hap needing to add more gas in the chair, wouldn't he just increase the amount of gas that he initially puts in the cell?

*Also, regarding the pellets, was there ever any reason why Hap isn't giving them real food? The pellets seem needlessly mean. I guess its to go with the lab rat metaphor, but I don't think it really makes sense. He offered to get Prairie braille books, but the others don't seem to have any books either. That's pretty inconsistent. (If I were them I would be begging for books, especially if I heard him offer them to the new girl.)

I find this show compelling while I'm watching it, but the moment I stop to think about it, a lot of it seems to fall apart... 

 

ETA: And the fact that they seem to be leading up to a religious explanation means I have no confidence that the resolution will be remotely satisfying. But, I'm still watching it when I'm tired after work, and I guess that's one measure of success. But since Netflix doesn't have ads, presumably a higher measure of success is having everyone talking about how good your show is, not about how it makes no sense.

I hope the ending is good. Do we know if there is supposed to be another season, or is this one supposed to wrap things up?

Edited January 24, 2017 by LeGrandElephant

[Lady Calypso]

So, I just started watching this show. I finally decided to give it a chance because I wasn't sure what it was about or if I'd enjoy it. I find the show ok so far. Not fantastic and there a lot of holes that I'm seeing, but it's ok enough that I'm going to finish this season.

I agree with the question on why Hap doesn't up the gas levels in their chambers when he knocks them out. I mean, after three years of knowing that Homer needed to be additionally gassed, you'd think he would just increase the gas on the initial knockout. I assume he doesn't just knock them out in the chair initially because it's easier and faster to do it through a higher gas intake in their chambers, rather than the chair method (though I have no idea about that kind of stuff). But it must have taken Homer a lot of tries and terrifying experiences to finally trick the doctor into thinking that he was out. Hap falling for all of this and presumably not keeping a closer eye and having an idea of what they're doing is just...odd. Three years, and he seems to have no idea about Prairie's sight or them siphoning the gas to keep Homer awake. 

As for why Homer not escaping once he could, I figured that it has to do with Prairie telling all of them about her own experience that granted her her sight back and her being convinced that they couldn't escape physically, but I assume she thinks their only escape is spiritually. Plus, after 3+ years of being trapped, their mental state couldn't have been clear in thinking about this. It seems like Prairie was convinced that they needed to all find that "inner bird swallowing", so to speak, in order to escape. And, at the very least, Homer believed that too. In her voiceover as she's explaining it to the present day group, Homer wanted to find out about these experiments. So, for him, it was not about escaping but getting answers as to what Hap was doing to them when being gassed. That's probably why escaping wasn't in his mind. 

I think that's where they were going with it, but since I haven't watched the last four episodes and since there are still a lot of holes within the show, it's hard to really follow the message they're trying to send to the audience. 

On another note, without being spoiled, I'm hoping that Rachel and Scott survive past this first season, but I'm not convinced that they will. I'm sure Homer will be alive in some form, but Rachel and Scott seem like the most likely to be sacrifices. I'd be very surprised if they end up to be alive.