S02.E05: Company Man

[thewhiteowl]

Quote

Will returns to an unfamiliar workplace; Katie is on her best behavior; Broussard and his cell make a discovery about the Wall.

[oakville]

It was another exciting episode. Will found out about Jennifer. It's so strange that her friend who liked Friends pretended to not even know her. I liked Snyder & Brahm working together. Charlie doesn't like Oranges. I loved seeing Broussard & his friends disable the alien drone & put a tracking device on it. I am very impressed with how much is happening in each episode. I hope it gets picked up for Season 3.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Yep, I like how this show stays pressing forward with the plot development. There's rarely a wasted moment.

Ugh, wasn't glad to see whacko Lindsay back. And is Katie's sister totally brainwashed now or is she just putting on a show in order to maintain her and her son's safety and higher standard of living?

[SimoneS]

Welcome back, Broussard, you have been missed! I did want him to punch the snarky guy. I like that the Resistance is stepping up its game, capturing the drone and putting a camera on it.

So the Red Hand is something different. Who? A plant by the aliens? I wasn’t sure, but I thought Will’s new boss/partner smirked at the red hand on the wall. Could he be involved? It is hard for me to believe that the aliens culled all the loyal humans out of the security and military apparatus.

Damn Katie, stop defending yourself for doing the right thing! At least, Gracie now seems unenthusiastic about Lindsey. Katie and Charlie are making a difference although Charlie should probably stop stealing. I really hope the preview for the next episode is misleading. I will be through with Katie if she betrays Broussard and the Resistance.

Oh Bram, I am torn. I don’t want you to collaborate, but I want you to survive. Hang in there! Snyder, eh. Just help Bram get out of there. I would love to know what is in the shipment.

I think that Maddie has been zapped or brain washed or something. The same thing was done to annoying Lindsey.

William Russ! He will always be Roger from Wiseguy to me. Great seeing him. I also recognized the actress from One Tree Hill as one of the Resistance members. 

Edited February 10, 2017 by SimoneS

[Raja]

10 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Welcome back, Broussard, you have been missed! I did want him to punch the snarky guy. I like that the Resistance is stepping up its game, capturing the drone and putting a camera on it.

So the Red Hand is something different. Who? A plant by the aliens? I wasn’t sure, but I thought Will’s new boss/partner smirked at the red hand on the wall. Could he be involved? It is hard for me to believe that the aliens culled all the loyal humans out of the security and military apparatus.

Damn Katie, stop defending yourself for doing the right thing! At least, Gracie now seems unenthusiastic about Lindsey. Katie and Charlie are making a difference although Charlie should probably stop stealing. I really hope the preview for the next episode is misleading. I will be through with Katie if she betrays Broussard and the Resistance.

Oh Bram, I am torn. I don’t want you to collaborate, but I want you to survive. Hang in there! Snyder, eh. Just help Bram get out of there. I would love to know what is in the shipment.

I think that Maddie has been zapped or brain washed or something. The same thing was done to annoying Lindsey.

William Russ! He will always be Roger from Wiseguy to me. Great seeing him. I also recognized the actress from One Tree Hill as one of the Resistance members. 

I also thought of Roger LoCocco still being in the game. Of course he would have enough sense to stay out of the VFW death trap.

 

I am thinking that the Red Hand almost have to be the aliens. After all most of the Angelenos able to pull off the tactics seen by them were supposed to have been killed in the first wave. Humanity is just a zoo of lab rats  that they are experimenting on

[GreyBunny]

15 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

is Katie's sister totally brainwashed now or is she just putting on a show in order to maintain her and her son's safety and higher standard of living?

I think she's honestly brainwashed.  She had that hallucination or whatever it was when she picked up that alien cube thing and she's guzzled the kool-aid.

Gracie: But all religions say that.

Lindsay: But ours has walls and spaceships so ours must be true!

Barf.  Lindsay has no idea how stupid she sounds, does she?  I hope Katie doesn't apologize to that turd.  I would have shoved her out of the house and thrown the books right at her head.  

[AngelKitty]

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Lindsay: But ours has walls and spaceships so ours must be true!

Well, she does have a point.

This show kind of annoys me. I know they want to show how people react in an occupied situation but really I need to know more about the aliens. I want to see the humans in charge interacting with them. How do they get their orders? And what do the aliens want?

[SimoneS]

5 hours ago, Raja said:

I am thinking that the Red Hand almost have to be the aliens. After all most of the Angelenos able to pull off the tactics seen by them were supposed to have been killed in the first wave. Humanity is just a zoo of lab rats  that they are experimenting on

I can buy that the aliens are the Red Hand experimenting on humans. It could also be a trap for Broussard. Will's new partner/boss was determined to blame the attacks on Broussard with the goal of turning the people against him. 

Roger LoCocco rules!

Edited February 11, 2017 by SimoneS

[Haleth]

Is it bad that I'd rather watch Broussard than the Bowman family?  Maybe it's just little kids that annoy me too much.  And teenagers.

So the explosion was staged?  I was only half paying attention.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

I think she's honestly brainwashed.  She had that hallucination or whatever it was when she picked up that alien cube thing and she's guzzled the kool-aid.

But she had the presence of mind or whatever to let Katie know that she was leaving her alone in the room just long enough to grab that Red Hat info off the computer. (Which I'm surprised she had access to anyway. Even if she is in the inner circle she is still a civilian. That info seemed like something they wouldn't want to risk getting into the wrong hands inadvertently.)

[Clanstarling]

In regards to the Red Hand, we were introduced to a new guy in the Resistance (the one who met with Broussard at the theater), who's clearly more...management material than the guy Will killed was. I'm thinking he might be the Red Hand mastermind, or at least a step up in the cog. And possibly works at Homeland Security, or has other minions who do. If I recall correctly, Broussard was a Red Hat at some point.

I thought the whiny tech guy chose an odd time to get hopeless - seems to me if you can crack the communication code, then even if there are thousands of drones, you can take them out (or send them to take out targets of your own). Being a little tech myself (I call my job IT adjacent), it seemed weird that it was Broussard who saw the value of that and not him.

As for the tutor and Katie's sister, my theory is that they are not as much brainwashed as are now sharing minds with an alien. I think that's what the Greatest Day is - when the aliens will take over all earthlings, not just the chosen few. I think that's what's also going on with Will's new partner. Though I'm not sure how to take the leaving Katie in the office scene. Maybe there's just enough disconnect for the alien not to realize what Maddie (?) was doing.

I had to laugh when Will's new partner made the statement about Jennifer. It was just vague enough that I could come up with at least three different Jennifer outcomes - she's dead, she's at the factory, she's in prison. Well played, show.

[Dowel Jones]

1 hour ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

But she had the presence of mind or whatever to let Katie know that she was leaving her alone in the room just long enough to grab that Red Hat info off the computer.

On a side note, I'm glad that for once tv showed the files being copied at normal speed, instead of that ridiculous 30%-40%-50% screen that we always see.

[riverheightsnancy]

I think the show is getting better and better. I am starting to forget that I am watching "Sawyer" and "Lori". Although, when Katie ran out of the house yelling "Charlie", I had flashbacks to yelling for "Carl" when she would run around looking for him. That fact that they both start with a "C", made me chuckle. 

[Triskan]

This second season is shaping up pretty good ! 

Really entertaining, clever and nervous ! Looking forward to see all that unravel ! 

And damn, I cheered when Katie threw Lindsey out ! And her reaction to Maddie being so deep in it : "You really believe this shit ?" was gold !

Edited February 11, 2017 by Triskan

[ottoDbusdriver]

Was that a giant Rap mecha that Snyder spotted with binoculars in the distance before the bomb blast ?

That camera the Will noticed on the bus was numbered LA2695148 -- that would imply that the Transition Authority have at least 2.7 million security cameras just in LA.  Certainly explains why Surveillance Annex was so big.  The camera outside the Surveillance Annex was LA100529.

Broussard's girlfriend was hot -- the actress that plays her, Jessalyn Wanlim, also played Evie Cho on 'Orphan Black'.
 

[whiporee]

My problem with this is they are positioning the show as one of rebellion, but they make it as though no rebellion were possible. 

Also, there are too many people in too deep with the Raptors too soon. Last season I liked that the cops knew they were working with the devil, but it was all they could do. Between the Red Hats, the HcCF guy,  the other guy I've seen on a million shows but have no idea of his name, and Lindsey, it seems like a lot of people have bought in completely very quickly. It makes the villainy too obvious and straightforward for the show's premise. I liked last season when everything had a lot more nuance than we're being shown this season.  And we're a little too deep into the show's run to not have any idea of a) who the raps are b) what they want and c) what the actual consequences to our heroes are. I enjoy the show, but if they are going to present the rebellion as a narrative, they needs to spend more time showing us that it's not just a matter of banging your head into a wall, even if there's a literal wall. 

[KaleyFirefly]

Yet another episode where nothing much happens. We didn't find out what happened to Will's old partner; we didn't find out more about the aliens; the only thing good was that Katie threw out the brain-washing tutor. 

[Shades of Scarlet]

Great episode.  The directing on this show, when it's humming, very much reminds me of "Mad Men" in one respect - they have a large cast of characters and they intercut scenes from character (or group of characters) to character so quickly that they almost always want me leaving more of the scene that we just left.  Part directing, part writing, and very engaging.

Loved William Russ as "Hennessey," Broussard's movie theater contact.  Did anyone recognize the film that was playing in the theater?  I ran some of its dialogue through search engines but found nothing.  Given the general state of matters under the Transitional Authority, I was surprised to see a movie theater operating, and assume that whatever was showing must have been some sort of propaganda.

I'm not sure it makes any sense that the Authority left pay phones operating. 

Whoever designed the Redhats' outfits deserves several awards.  Red and black are my two favorite colors and I still get chills from those uniforms in nearly every scene.  

I thought Tory Kittles looked like he had lost a lot of weight since last season and the first episode of this season (which was ironic given his GF's line about how he used to be so skinny in high school).  I wonder if he had a health issue, which also caused his character to disappear for three episodes.  I hope not.  He's terrific; he has a powerful presence and voice that very much remind me of Denzel.  Every scene with him was great.  

I've maintained since the first or second episode of S1 that there are no aliens (or at most, one or two aliens who are dying and struck a bargain with humans to keep them alive).  I think some power-mad people came across some abandoned alien technology in the 60s and played the long game, developing the technology in secret until they could take over the world under the guise of extraterrestrials.  Every episode that passes without any aliens shown just reinforces my suspicion.  Plus, Carlton Cuse cut his teeth on Lost, so there has to be some sort of a twist. 

I didn't get how Maddie would, in one short meeting, both rebuke her older sister for the "brainwashing" comment and deliberately leave her alone in a room with an unsecured computer.  But it advanced the plot.  I assumed that was Nolan's office, hence the access to files on Bram and Maddie's comment that she didn't know what the other columns on the chart meant.  

No body for Jennifer!  Yay!  Love her character, fantastic actress.  I hope she's alive and someone (the red hand folks?) rescued her before she OD'd.  There was no sign of distress or forced entry at her house, which had to be significant.  Either she changed her mind and cleared out or someone cleaned things up.  

Seems like almost every message board out there (not sure about this one) had been calling the Christian Clemenson character "the new proxy" when he was clearly a law enforcement official in Phyllis' old office and not the proxy (if there is a new Los Angeles bloc proxy, we haven't seen him or her).  So I was delighted when he came in the interrogation room and quite naturally and logically introduced himself to Will, whom he had never met, as "Dan Bennett, Chief of the Special Police."  I also appreciated that the producers didn't blatantly spell out his role or even his name for the audience until the fifth episode of the season.  I get so tired of hamfisted expositional introductions to new characters on TV like "I'm the goddamn assistant deputy undersecretary of health and human services, Mike!  You bet I showed up to deal with XYZ situation!"              

It seems as though USA has a high degree of patience with its shows, so I hope this one keeps going.  One of the best dramas on cable right now for my money.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Shades of Scarlet

[Netfoot]

12 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

That camera the Will noticed on the bus was numbered LA2695148 -- that would imply that the Transition Authority have at least 2.7 million security cameras just in LA.

Not necessarily.  Cameras may not be numbered sequentially.

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Not necessarily.  Cameras may not be numbered sequentially.

In my experience, long numbers tend to have information built in to them. For example, in a social security number, the first three digits represent the area, the second two a group, and then there's a serial number. Given that the number begins with LA, I think there is a information within this number as well - probably indicating the bus (and perhaps the area of the route).

[SimoneS]

11 hours ago, Shades of Scarlet said:

I've maintained since the first or second episode of S1 that there are no aliens (or at most, one or two aliens who are dying and struck a bargain with humans to keep them alive).  I think some power-mad people came across some abandoned alien technology in the 60s and played the long game, developing the technology in secret until they could take over the world under the guise of extraterrestrials.  Every episode that passes without any aliens shown just reinforces my suspicion.  Plus, Carlton Cuse cut his teeth on Lost, so there has to be some sort of a twist. 

Ugh, I didn't realize that this show had a Lost connection. I wouldn't have bother watching. You might be right, but it will be hard to sell that a couple of aliens along with power hungry humans could come up with the strategy and technology to wall off all these cities and to control the whole world. Power hungry humans are usually greedy and I don't see any profit in the world that they created. It is the illusion of freedom that makes the working class vote against their own interests and give up their rights not outright oppression.

Edited February 13, 2017 by SimoneS

[oakville]

I would be upset if it turned out that humans from the 1960's took over alien technology & used it to control Earth. I do wonder about what the aliens motives are. The political significance of "walls" & "red hats" i.e the Trump campaign hats is hard to ignore.

 

The aliens not monitoring pay phones makes no sense to me. They go out of their way to monitor everything else. Why allow a loophole like payphones? I would just disable them if I was part of Homeland Security.

[Shades of Scarlet]

2 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Ugh, I didn't realize that this show had a Lost connection. I wouldn't have bother watching. You might be right, but it will be hard to sell that a couple of aliens along with power hungry humans could come up with the strategy and technology to wall off all these cities and to control the whole world. Power hungry humans are usually greedy and I don't see any profit in the world that they created. It is the illusion of freedom that makes the working class vote against their own interests and give up their rights not outright oppression.

One hopes that unlike Lost - which had much more airtime to fill as a 20/22-ep show - they don't meander and have a firm direction in mind instead of making it up as they go along.  

If humans stole or co-opted alien technology, they could theoretically do anything, particularly over decades.  And while I certainly do not disagree with your characterization of some working class voters (your description sounds like a lot of voters for one political party in a certain country in particular), if you effect a complete takeover, you'd have everything money could buy (we are shown this to some degree in Maddie's life in the Green Zone), so there's your profit, I think.

I could of course be all wet and I'm good with whatever expIanation we get as long as it's logical.  But the metaphor of a power-mad cabal using smoke and mirrors to distract a population while living in splendor and riches is pretty timely and powerful.  I suspect anyone pitching such a show where the smoke and mirrors are fake aliens would draw more interest than would a more "run of the mill" alien invasion premise.  Just a theory.

[Hanahope]

Snyder really needs to do something about that guard, if he can.  As long as that guard is in place, Bram isn't going to want to give even false information.

On 2/12/2017 at 7:49 AM, Shades of Scarlet said:

I didn't get how Maddie would, in one short meeting, both rebuke her older sister for the "brainwashing" comment and deliberately leave her alone in a room with an unsecured computer.  But it advanced the plot.  I assumed that was Nolan's office, hence the access to files on Bram and Maddie's comment that she didn't know what the other columns on the chart meant.  

Yeah, it was unclear if it was a tiny bit of the real Maddie coming through, or if the new Maddie is 'brainwashed' enough that she has no idea Katie would be concerned with that info.  I'm pretty sure that Maddie never knew about Katie's work with the resistance, so maybe she just didn't "think" about it when she left the office with the computer still on.  How convenient that Maddie found a thumb drive in the desk.

Lindsay is a little bitch, but Katie better be careful.  Lindsay already knows that Katie is trying to undo her lessons with the daughter.  Katie better start teaching her to keep her mouth shut and her eyes blank around Lindsay.

So what did happen to Jennifer?  Her house hasn't been cleaned out or taken over, but it sure didn't sound like she was coming back.

I think those lapel pins on the suits are trackers and maybe cameras as well.  Will won't be able to go wherever he wants without being watched again.

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, Hanahope said:

I think those lapel pins on the suits are trackers and maybe cameras as well.  Will won't be able to go wherever he wants without being watched again.

I think you're right - either that or listening devices.

[Anthony]

I found it interesting when Bowman asked Burke "what his story was", Burke simply replied "Honor and Duty".  I can't help but feel that the resistance is much deeper than previously thought.  People like Bob Burke and Bennett could quite possible be silent resistance ringleaders, they never really came out and said what their occupations were before the host takeover, but I would assume based on their mannerisms and such, they were CIA or FBI employees, which means deep down they have an obligation to protect the human race.  It will be very interesting to see how this show plays out.  

Who is the Lindsey character anyway?  Who does she answer too?  Does anyone have any theories?