S01.E04: The Human Strain/S01.E05 Keeping The Faith

[Princess Lucky]

3 hours ago, vendredi3 said:

"High treason? I'm not the one who's high here."

That quote almost makes me want to watch these episodes.

Almost.

(who said that, by the way?)

[Llywela]

1 hour ago, Princess Lucky said:

That quote almost makes me want to watch these episodes.

Almost.

(who said that, by the way?)

Darius said it. Episodes four and five were a big step up from one-three, imo, if that helps. A lot of tension and drama, and we're actually beginning to peel back layers on some of the characters at last - we got to see a crack or two in Harris's hard man persona, and got a good hard look behind Darius's public face.

[Princess Lucky]

1 hour ago, Llywela said:

Darius said it. Episodes four and five were a big step up from one-three, imo, if that helps. A lot of tension and drama, and we're actually beginning to peel back layers on some of the characters at last - we got to see a crack or two in Harris's hard man persona, and got a good hard look behind Darius's public face.

Hah, that's what I assumed (though I secretly hoped Harris had said it, finally displaying a sense of humor).

I might binge the episodes when the season is over. I like the actors enough.

[Llywela]

18 minutes ago, Princess Lucky said:

Hah, that's what I assumed (though I secretly hoped Harris had said it, finally displaying a sense of humor).

I might binge the episodes when the season is over. I like the actors enough.

Yeah, Harris is the character I'm struggling with the most so far out of the core four, to be honest. Maybe that'll change. I mean, Darius was also kept very ambiguous for the first few episodes - that's how the show rolls, it's a political thriller, so it doesn't want you to get too cosy with the characters, it wants you to suspect them each in turn. But Darius has a lot more charm and humour than Harris has so far been allowed to display, and while episodes one to three only allowed us to see Darius's public face, that has started to break down now, we've got to see and understand a little more of the man behind the mask, so to speak. I'm presuming that will continue now, that we'll get to know him better and better as Grace and Liam get to know him better, now that they trust him more. Harris, though, remains a tough nut to crack - but we did see a few cracks in his facade here, so there is hope!

I think the show as a whole might benefit from re-watch once the whole season is over - as clunky as it can sometimes be, it's clear that there's a lot of thought gone into some of the nuance and characterisation that'll probably be easier to appreciate once we have a complete picture.

Edited August 8, 2017 by Llywela

[statsgirl]

I think we're supposed to be wondering if Harris is a good guy or a bad one in the end.  Who will Grace end up with?  There must be someone out there who wants to know.

On 2017-08-04 at 1:17 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Meanwhile, Jillian finds herself clashing with all of the brainiacs and whatnot in her focus group, because they only care about saving the scientists, doctors, etc., while she argues that artists and creatives people deserve spots to.  I'm sure they could find some who are both.  After-all, Ken Jeong use to be a doctor and Dolph Lundgren has a degree in chemical engineering!

Brian May of Queen is not only polled as the 7th greatest guitarist of all time, he has a PhD in astrophysics, in interest in botany, administrative experience as Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University and is an animal rights activist.  That's who they should be looking at, not that stupid navel-gazing the group is oing.

On 2017-08-07 at 11:27 AM, DoubleUTeeEff said:

If it were privately funded, I would think the spaces would go to the top 160 bidders. Darius wouldn't have enough money to fund it and one rich woman wouldn't be enough, either. But sell tickets for it and you've got yourself a ship!

Going to the top bidder would be a bad thing to do if you wanted to make sure the human race survived in its best capacity. You'd get Kim Jong-il, who would kill the other people who threatened him, and maybe some old rich guys like the Koch brothers, with limited skill sets and decaying sperm.

On 2017-08-08 at 9:34 AM, orza said:

Croft wiped all files pertaining to the EM drive so there is nothing for Liam to work with. Starting over from scratch could take a long time. In the mean time the Russians have the technology and can develop it further to maintain their advantage.

Back-up, back-up, back-up.  It's inexcusable that Darius didn't have some copies hidden away from the lab.

[Sonja]

18 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Brian May of Queen is not only polled as the 7th greatest guitarist of all time, he has a PhD in astrophysics, in interest in botany, administrative experience as Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University and is an animal rights activist.  That's who they should be looking at, not that stupid navel-gazing the group is oing.

They could also take Harrison Ford as a carpenter. They'd just have to keep him away from the controls if he wanted to have a go at flying Salvation.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

20 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Going to the top bidder would be a bad thing to do if you wanted to make sure the human race survived in its best capacity. You'd get Kim Jong-il, who would kill the other people who threatened him, and maybe some old rich guys like the Koch brothers, with limited skill sets and decaying sperm.

I totally agree! I just think that's just how it would go if it were privately funded. Sad for the human race when a few powerful rich people are allowed to compete amongst themselves for status and position while the planet is in peril. Wait a minute...

[Haleth]

This show is so dumb and full of cliches. Did anyone not guess Croft was the sell out?  The concept was handled much better in the book Seven Eves.  I wish the mini series had been based on that instead of this silliness.  

Why do the writers hate women?  The reporter, the girlfriend, the President's advisor... all extremely annoying. At least Grace has been better written in the recent episodes.  Again, Seven Eves, with women who are smart, capable, not harpies, and not defined by what man they are sleeping with.

[wilnil]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

The concept was handled much better in the book Seven Eves.  I wish the mini series had been based on that instead of this silliness

That would have been cool. Actually, Seveneves is slated to be a movie, though it doesn't appear to be in production yet. I'd rather it had gone the miniseries route, because I figure a movie will have to give short shrift to -- or skip entirely -- either part I or part II of the novel.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, wilnil said:

…Seveneves is slated to be a movie, though it doesn't appear to be in production yet. I'd rather it had gone the miniseries route…

Hey, with Ron Howard as director, it can't go too wrong, can it? This show, OTOH, hasn't quite gone off the rails yet, but it always seems one plot contrivance away from that tipping point.

[wayne67]

Sci Fi writer sermonizing about the value of artists and hope seemed stupid and silly. Wouldn't they simply pick the people that ticked the most boxes possible, strong psychological, physical and genetic health with high IQs with a lower weighting for artistic talents such as drawing, writing and sculpting. It seemed like an excuse for her to jump on a soap box to wax lyrical about the value of her own artistic career path, rather than adding anything of value. 

Darius shouldn't have needed to vet Croft, isn't that why he had a security chief to begin with. Seriously the more the show goes on, the less highly I think of everyone involved, Darius relies heavily on two techies, both of whom he 'hired' within the last week, his security was killed super easily and Croft somehow knew exactly where they were going in order to set up an ambush. The governmental hemming and hawing seems like an excuse for the billionaire to take center stage. Seriously, doesn't the government have anyone else working on this, other than Darius, MIT guy and traitor old pants ?

Anyone else shout "ALWAYS double tap, you stupid kid" after MIT guy shot traitor? It's not like he was in a hurry, he just loitered around afterwards. Him shooting the plane was kind of amusing, I have no idea what he was trying to accomplish, blow up the plane with the one of a kind EM drive on it ? while it was above him. So stupid. 

Still not as bad as Zoo or Under the Dome but this is the bland kind of stupid, rather than the outrageously (sometimes amusing) stupid of those shows. I'm not really feeling this but at least it's less confusing that Counterpart.