3% - General Discussion

[roctavia]

I was really looking forward to this new season... and while I enjoyed it, I feel like it didn't really go anywhere... 

I mean more drama from the offshore vs the shell and I suppose Michele is now on board with taking down the offshore in the next season, but I was hoping for more, I guess? Last season made it look like they had a whole sinkhole area to turn into a large living space, so having just a building wasn't what I was expecting. 

I did like the tests again, that was always an interesting part of the previous seasons, so I suppose it worked as way to come up with a new selection... 

I guess this show has never done what I expected though, which may be why I keep watching, cause it's very much a what the heck is going on sort of thing. I was glad last season gave us much more backstory on how the offshore came to be and what happened with the inland. 

I did hate what they did with the children born in the offshore before they came up with the plan to sterilize everyone... but it does make sense for how the Cause was formed. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Spoiler

Quote

It stood out that the Shell was not prepared for sandstorms when it was built in a desert.  Also that they had only one collector.  It felt like they we re reaching a bit to justify the set-up for a Selection.

Yep. First, you'd think the Shell would've had some kind of technological early warning system for storms. Second, they should've had a backup Collector already built and on hand. And third, they should've done storm drills so the people wouldn't go into mass panic and hurt each other while trying to get to the safe area. What they had a accomplished was a nice utopia of sorts but they didn't plan for real, non-utopian dangers.

So far it seems like everyone who gets enough power ends up creating their own version of the Process. Resources just aren't unlimited, even under the best of circumstances, and eventually some people develop feelings of greed and entitlement. The trick is to convince the rubes to support a selecting out system that's isn't entirely based on fairness.

It was so sad to see the founders

Spoiler

of the Offshore deciding to send their own children back to the Inland. At least they realized they shouldn't be having any more kids.

Fingers crossed for season 4!

[jvt]

On 5/2/2018 at 8:53 PM, Hope said:

 3 episodes in - is it just me or does anyone else sense a romantic spark between Ezequiel and Michele? 

Also interesting to see the role religion plays, acting as a source of "truth"/propaganda, influencing people  to compete in the Process

ezequiel and michele definitely had the biggest sexual tension in practically every scene they had together in the whole show tbfh, and i still sob over the potential they had to be a couple :(

[MisterGlass]

Season 4 debuts on August 14th on U.S. Netflix!

[marinw]

I'm on episode 2. I am loving the customes this season. Particularly those elaborate sexy macrame tops and the colorful comfy offshore outfits.

[MisterGlass]

I finished it today.  Intense season!  I thought it finished out the series well.
 

Spoiler

 

I like that they saved so much time for the after effects of the pulse and trying to integrate these two societies.  Of course it came down to another test, but Joana said it - they believe in tests.  Even Marcella accepted it (very) grudgingly.  I'm glad Joana is left as the nominal leader.

It was a great that they managed to have so many little moments with actors from past seasons through the flashbacks.  I often feel like flashbacks are intrusive, but I think they were handled well here and gave context.

 

This is a bit random, but it struck me that the actor playing Tiago/Rafael looks like Elijah Wood. 

[marinw]

Spoiler

Nitpick: how could the submarines work post-pulse? Where they shielded somehow?

 

[marinw]

Are we allowed to comment without spoiler tags yet?

Like @MisterGlass I liked the ending. It kind of reminded me of Mad Max: Fury Road. To create the world you want, you need to work within the world you have. That said, I doubt that it is going to to be smooth sailing. I wouldn't mind another season that explores how this all turns out.

Edited August 17, 2020 by marinw

[marinw]

That final test was fiendishly difficult! I would have lost for sure.

Edited August 17, 2020 by marinw

[MisterGlass]

I guess technically we don't need spoiler tags.  With single-thread shows I sometimes start with them.  Spoilers ahead!

 

On 8/16/2020 at 6:44 PM, marinw said:

Nitpick: how could the submarines work post-pulse? Where they shielded somehow?

There were three submarines at the Inland at the Process Building that were out of range of the pulse.  Gloria convinced Ariel to send them to the Offshore without Andre's permission.

Gloria 🙄  And Marco.

[Paloma]

I'm not spoiler tagging, but be warned that there are many spoilers for season 4 ahead.

Although I was intrigued by the concept and impressed with the visuals in all 4 seasons, ultimately I was disappointed. I may have been expecting too much detail in the world building, but there were important questions that were not addressed. In an earlier comment I mentioned one of them: who was doing all the necessary menial jobs such as cleaning the facilities? In the Process building, everything looked brand-new and perfectly clean (except for the basement where the prisoners were kept). Similarly, everyone in the Offshore seemed to be doing nothing but enjoying leisure time, except for those who had executive and professional responsibilities. Which leads to another important question:

How did the Offshore residents get the education or skills needed for the executive and professional responsibilities? It seemed clear that the Inland had no formal schooling, not even intact books (Natalia was excited to see complete books in the Offshore house), and no computer technology for online schooling. So where did the Offshore get, for example, doctors and engineers? Maybe the first generation (with the Founders) had the necessary education and skills because they came from the elite class Inland, but there was no indication that in subsequent generations those who passed the Process and came to the Offshore were given the education and training they would need to do these professional jobs. Maybe we were supposed to assume that happened, but at least in the case of Elisa she seemed to become a doctor on the Offshore with only her informal experience helping an old woman treat people Inland. If there was extensive training provided on the Offshore, it would have been nice if they gave us a glimpse of it or even referred to it.

On 7/1/2019 at 8:24 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Resources just aren't unlimited, even under the best of circumstances, and eventually some people develop feelings of greed and entitlement. The trick is to convince the rubes to support a selecting out system that's isn't entirely based on fairness.

This is why I was so disappointed in the ending. Not only was it hard to believe that all the factions who were ready to kill each other the night before would not attack during the night and would wake up the next morning all Kumbaya and walking happily together to the Process building, but it was even harder to believe that when they got there they would agree to a fair division of resources, especially considering that there were now fewer resources than ever and more people in one place than ever.  There will be no more clean water or fresh food coming from the Offshore, so where will these essentials come from? (Not to mention clothing and other essentials that the pandemic has reminded us about, like toilet tissue.) And assuming they can obtain these essentials, who will decide how they are allocated? It's easy to say, as Joana did, that we will all decide together, but with hundreds or thousands of people that is not practical. Someone, or a small group of people, has to at least initially figure out the options and lead the meeting(s) to decide what to do. For example, they could pick a couple of people from each faction (the Offshore, the Cause, and Inland regular people against the Cause) to serve as the initial planners and leaders, with teams of people working with them. Once the essential decisions are made, they could set up a democratic society where everyone gets a vote and the leaders have set terms.  

Another thing about the ending that disappointed me is that there were no consequences for Gloria, who switched loyalties so often that I had whiplash but should not have been so easily forgiven for burning down the Shell. There were also no consequences for Pedro and his fellow Process group members, who willingly (in Pedro's case, eagerly) committed murder in the final test and who would happily have killed Joana and more people during the Inland confrontation in order for Andre to win. When forming a new and better society, I don't think you can give a pass to those who are obvious dangers to the society and can't be trusted to change. The same is probably true for other Inland people such as the violent gangs that Joana and Marco encountered in previous seasons, who seemed to take pleasure in stealing and killing. There is a difference between those who reluctantly commit crimes out of necessity and those who do it because they enjoy the power or take pleasure in hurting people, and there should be consequences, such as prison or exile, for the latter. I put Gloria in the latter category because she did not need to destroy the Shell in order to survive--it's just that her desire to live in the Offshore outweighed her loyalty to the Shell group. She and her baby could have had a decent life in the Shell, but it would not have been as idyllic as the Offshore.

[BellaR]

It’s one of a few shows in this genre that ends on a note of hope. I know that it is hard to believe that all of the factions would suddenly work together, but I think that the message is that the final test showed that the people from the off-shore aren’t better than the people from the inland. The people from the inland had to buy into the idea of their inferiority for the system to work, just like Andre needed to believe that he was the chosen one

[Joimiaroxeu]

In the end, money didn't win, science didn't win, engineering didn't win, physical strength didn't win, and weapons didn't win. It was plain old brain power and the desire to work together for a societal system that doesn't rely on a select few keeping themselves propped up while keeping everyone else down.

Bye, 3%. It was a great ride.

[Mercolleen]

On 5/3/2018 at 11:30 PM, Gillian Rosh said:

Also can't believe they resurrected Marco. I thought he was dead for sure.

I really could have lived without this twist.

ETA: Marcela is his mom! OMG!

Edited September 10, 2020 by Mercolleen