Ghost Wars - General Discussion

[AuntieL]

I hope they havent killed off Billy. It seems Maggie has "come back" a little wrong. She seems to want Roman to join her. 

[SoSueMe]

I'm not giving up on this show, cause the acting is pretty good and I like Kim Coates. This was a pretty disjointed episode though, and the continuity was fubar.

I wonder how many episodes are left.

[walnutqueen]

On 12/8/2017 at 7:22 AM, SoSueMe said:

I'm not giving up on this show, cause the acting is pretty good and I like Kim Coates. This was a pretty disjointed episode though, and the continuity was fubar.

I wonder how many episodes are left.

I'm hanging in there, too - but it's by a thin thread.  Show is getting silly/messy.

[AnimeMania]

A murder drinking with the deputy and wandering the town like he owns the place. Where is that guy's sister and family that wanted to kill him a few episodes ago? I don't understand what is happening and I don't think I am going to get a reasonable explanation by the end of the season.

[FormerMod-a1]

I don't know how I missed this show, but glad I found it now.  I just binged 6 episodes, but I had to stop here.  This one creeped me out too much and it's 9pm and I'm in for the night, alone, and want to be able to sleep.  TV usually doesn't bother me, but I need the break with this one.

[FormerMod-a1]

I know you need some of this for a show like this, but the whole town seems to have a major case of stupiditis here.  Some keep calling these things hallucinations, even though they can throw people around and kill them.  And they all know that they play mind games, and they know their dead ones are dead, but hear the supposed voice of a loved one and they all go running towards it.   Also, why are none of the characters wary of the twin girls?  Especially the one just standing there so calm, surrounded by the ghosts while they were wreaking havoc?

That said, I am intrigued by Roman's mom.  Do any of the people that ran her out, now retro-actively believe she was legit?  at least as a medium/psychic?  I want to know more about her, so that's good.

[FormerMod-a1]

So, sometimes the earthen root womb takes people in and sometimes it turns them to dust.  Hmmm...  ok, then.

[FormerMod-a1]

So, to the outside world the town looks like it's disappeared.  If you come here you can't leave.  Shades of Lost.  They opened up a portal to another "realm" and got stuck?  and have now literally blocked death's door.

And of course, it's from a meteor.  :-D  I'm still enjoying the show though, maybe it's because I just binged it.  

[FormerMod-a1]

And now I'm the only one watching. :-P  

I'm sorry to see Father Dan go.  And, of course, "Abigail" lives on.

[MrPissyPuppy]

I'm watching.   I'm not sure wtf is going on between ghosts and pod people and Lambda, but I'm still watching.   

The setting/atmosphere is giving me a bit of The Returned/Les Revenants vibe.   Although imo that series was superior.   

[Sigmagirl]

Is Father Dan a ghost now?

[Guest]

On 12/17/2017 at 1:12 PM, aquarian1 said:

I'm sorry to see Father Dan go.  And, of course, "Abigail" lives on.

The HELL. Not only does the child survive unscathed from a beatdown from a 200+-pound man, but she also survives being set on fire with nary a rug burn or scorch mark! 

And after 10 episodes, I am in no way closer to learning what it's about. Is it about ghosts? Is it about the goo pyramid? And why did Father Dan act all surprised to see a goo pyramid in the attic when he had one -- in the basement of his own church?! Why didn't he just, I don't know? Get UP to get away from the thing instead of kicking over a conveniently placed sewing basket with some conveniently placed scissors he used to free his hands from some tubing -- after which he could then stand up freely? When did that apocalypse happen in the streets? Why were ghosts throwing sofas into the street? 

As far as Lamda, why do they need a 10,000 sq campus when maybe 10 people have ever worked there? Why isn't everyone starving since there's no way to get food into their town (that apparently no longer exists)? How are they getting gas for their cars? Who's left to operate the power plant? 

I'm gonna stick out the rest of the season (watching only at this point to see brooding dreamy Roman do whatever it is brooding dreamy Roman does) and then this is getting zapped from the DVR. I can forgive the $17 dollar budget. I can forgive the cheesy dialogue. But I can't forgive the lack of plot or point of it all. 

[AnimeMania]

There doesn't seem to any such thing as main characters in this story, The story jumps from person to person with little closure.

[Guest]

I'm still trying to figure out what ghosts have to do with the pod people--who, it seems, have turned out to be cannibals. BECAUSE WHY NOT! I can't wait until next week when they become vampires who are also zombies but turn into mummies on Wednesday nights. 

And how come the doctor (can't be bothered to remember her name) needs a generator to operate her clinic but there are lights on in her own home -- even during the middle of the day? How come the residents have run out of food and booze while she and her wife seem to have plenty? 

The only thing that makes less sense than this show is why I continue to watch it. 

[SharkleberryFinn]

Quote

Landis and Jimmy try to make sense of the museum artifact; Karla is with ghost-child and it's growing fast; Abigail's physical condition deteriorates, prompting Marilyn to finally realize that whatever is inside her daughter isn't normal.

 

I must have blinked and missed both Landis.. Jimmy.. AND the museum artifact. 

Landis isn't in this episode, there isn't anyone called Jimmy (do they mean Billy who also isn't in this episode) and when did a museum, or it's artifacts come into this?

 

The deterioration of Abigail's physical condition

Spoiler

wasn't apparent to anyone and only showed up in test results so couldn't have been what prompted Marilyn to finally realise whatever is inside her daughter isn't normal. Maybe a letter from Dan about killing Pod People and a blatant demonstration of Rat-Osmosis might have had something to do with it, y'know?

 

I get that Ghost Wars is all about Ghosts creating hallucinations and messing with people's minds, but seriously?? Geez!

(WhiteOwl - I know you copy the blurb. I'm just wondering: whoever wrote it originally, do they actually watch the show?)

 

 - though I can't say I blame them if they don't... It seems that every episode is based on the flip of a coin as to which characters appear in the episode. If this show is going anywhere (and I seriously hope it is) it's wildly meandering path has gone beyond the scenic route and fallen off the cliff.

 

Finally.. Karla's pregnancy...

 

Spoiler

if Karla is pregnant with some Ghost-Pod-Person thang, and she/it is creating such convincing hallucinations to get Deputy Norm to collect, erm, "food", why would Ghost-Pod-Person thangs then create other hallucinations to try and kill him or scare him off whilst he's getting said "food"??

 

and (just a bit of basic biology here) if said Ghost-Pod-Person-Baby is in the womb, then in order for it to be "birthed" as shown, there would have to have been some serious internal damage. 

[SharkleberryFinn]

9 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

I'm still trying to figure out what ghosts have to do with the pod people--who, it seems, have turned out to be cannibals. BECAUSE WHY NOT! I can't wait until next week when they become vampires who are also zombies but turn into mummies on Wednesday nights. 

ha ha! But only on Wednesday nights ;)

 

Quote

And how come the doctor (can't be bothered to remember her name) needs a generator to operate her clinic but there are lights on in her own home -- even during the middle of the day? How come the residents have run out of food and booze while she and her wife seem to have plenty? 

 

The Doc (Marilyn) is one of those characters that was increasingly irritating (in so far as refusal to believe what's right in front of her) and to a ridiculous degree so I was wondering the same thing initially. However, it turned out that Marilyn didn't need a generator to operate the ultrasonic / equipment at her clinic...

Spoiler

The hallucination Doc shown to Deputy Norm conveyed that idea, but she was no more real than the working generator or the delicious banquet. Later in the episode there's a part where the doctor's partner Val (the mayor of Port Moore) says "Marilyn hasn't been to see Karla, she's been too busy with our own stuff" (or words to that effect).

 

Quote

The only thing that makes less sense than this show is why I continue to watch it. 

I'm beginning to think the same.

Edited December 24, 2017 by SharkleberryFinn
accidentally submitted before finishing.

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, SharkleberryFinn said:

The hallucination Doc shown to Deputy Norm conveyed that idea, but she was no more real than the working generator or the delicious banquet. Later in the episode there's a part where the doctor's partner Val (the mayor of Port Moore) says "Marilyn hasn't been to see Karla, she's been too busy with our own stuff" (or words to that effect).

Ah. OK. That makes sense now. (Inasmuch as anything can make sense on this show.) 

[FormerMod-a1]

Why doesn't cop guy carry around a taser to use when creepy stuff starts happening so he can tell and/or stop the hallucinations?  (I know, plot device).  Even Marilyn ? (doctor) now does that.

[raven]

Why is Deputy Dip so concerned with creepy pregnant lady?  We know she's possessed with evil pod creature but she's so blasé about her husband being dead because yay! I'm pregnant??  Doesn't Deputy Dip have anything better to do? I laughed when he was choked by disembodied hand.  Then he doesn't mention it to anyone and shrugs it off. Oh did I ever LOL when that thing came out of the not-really-a-freezer on his next trip.  OK he was hallucinating but there's also mind control I guess?

Do you have to be a cold, uncaring, semi-evil person to work at lambda lambda lambda? Or at least to be in charge of it?

Why is that awful kid still around and how did she escape when Dan and the other guy died?

I thought the show started out OK but these last episodes are kind of a mess.   Where are the ghosts, I thought this was Ghost Wars, not Cannibal Pod People Wars or Giant Gross Slug Wars.  Karla cooing over slug baby was hilarious as well until BLAM!

[raven]

OK, after three crappy episodes this one was pretty good.

Naturally a vigilante posse would form and ex-Deputy Dip would be in charge.   The opening scene of bad dancing/fighting in the bar reminded of the dance scene in the movie Airplane (hee).

We also had humor again (the mayor and lambda guy bonding over being held hostage) and Deputy Dip getting clocked in the head.

I knew there was some kind of body switching going on when DD was released.  Sad sack didn't want to go on without his love, well bye then.  At least no more creepy possessed Abigail, yay!  And back to ghost action.   Hopefully no more pod people.

Plus Roman got to do something!

I liked this one.

[AnimeMania]

15 hours ago, raven said:

Sad sack didn't want to go on without his love,

If he couldn't live without her, he shouldn't have shot her.

This show throws me for a loop. Wasn't almost everybody in town at the church when it was sieged by ghosts, then why are so many randos running around the town now. They killed a ton of Lamda guards and scientists, yet there are plenty more. How many people were on that helicopter? 

[FormerMod-a1]

I didn't understand Deputy Dip and his "love that all of a sudden"-ed with the bartender last week, but could chalk it up to ghostly influence.  But this week he decides to end his life w/o her?  He was all in love for what?  a week?  Ugh.  Good riddance.  

[MrPissyPuppy]

In defense of Deputy Dip, he did mention that he'd had a thing for her/been in love with her since they were in school in the feast episode and it was also sort of sprinkled in previous episodes, so it didn't seem out of character for him.   One of those unrequited love things that the pod alien (or wtf-ever it is) exploited to get him to feed the larva-thing. 

[Guest]

On 12/31/2017 at 1:43 PM, AnimeMania said:

Wasn't almost everybody in town at the church when it was sieged by ghosts, then why are so many randos running around the town now.

Yes, civil unrest with seven randos mad because they got kicked out of the local bar by a debilitated Meat Loaf. 

Seriously! What is this show about?! Did they decide to call it Ghost Wars then halfway through writing it abandoned the ghost idea completely?

I was laughing out loud at the end scene where Roman is telling everyone to get back in their bodies like it was a giant game of musical chairs. 

I also appreciate how the Lady Lamda comes dressed for work as if she were posing for a Free People catalog shoot. 

Oh, and another big laugh when Meat Loaf emerges from his jail cell and decks the guy with a punch that a fourth grader could have executed better. 

[Guest]

Here are the only things that I understood this episode:

Before dying, Billy reveals to Roman he's his father. (Because this information surely wouldn't have been interesting in any earlier episodes.)

Port Moore means "death's door" in a bunch of other languages -- a fact Lambda Man casually drops in the last two minutes of the show. 

Meat Loaf gets vindicated, "I told you he was no good!" when he realizes Roman has sailed off into the sunset with Lamda Lady and the broken Orange Himalayan Rock Salt Lamp.

Shocking twist! Lamda Lady's body has been taken over by Meat Loaf's dead daughter who appeared to pull some otherworldly swap-a-rooni trick in the pseudo afterlife in which they all ventured.

Final "twist"! Father Dan's electrified ghost corpse walks the Earth. 

The end.

Goodbye show. You sucked hard and I hope to never see you on my teevee again. 

[FormerMod-a1]

22 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

Final "twist"! Father Dan's electrified ghost corpse walks the Earth.

As the Whistling Man

[Guest]

1 hour ago, aquarian1 said:

As the Whistling Man

Good catch. Much like everything on this show, I had forgotten about the Whistling Man immediately after watching the episode.

[AnimeMania]

Can people leave the town now? Why would anybody let that murderer, Meatloaf, become the town sheriff. I kinda liked what happened in the last 5 min., the rest of the show was garbage.

[raven]

22 hours ago, aquarian1 said:

As the Whistling Man

I don't know who this is :(

I'm kind of intrigued by Roman taking off with Maggie to be rich.  What's the big deal?  Well, except for the Lambda lady losing her body, she has a right to be pissed, LOL.  And we wouldn't want Maggie to take anyone else's body.  Was Roman supposed to destroy the artifact?  It seems like the town is normal now.

22 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

Before dying, Billy reveals to Roman he's his father. (Because this information surely wouldn't have been interesting in any earlier episodes.)

Hee.  This was dropped so out of the blue, I'm thinking "WTF, maybe Billy is making this up, though why, I don't know".

Was that the last episode? 

That was OK I guess.  There were some good elements but a lot of messy stuff too.

[walnutqueen]

I can't stand the foolfuckery, not even for the scant scenery.

WTF?!?

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, raven said:

I'm kind of intrigued by Roman taking off with Maggie to be rich.  What's the big deal?  Well, except for the Lambda lady losing her body, she has a right to be pissed, LOL.  And we wouldn't want Maggie to take anyone else's body.  Was Roman supposed to destroy the artifact?  It seems like the town is normal now.

I don't even know what to think of Roman. Was Meat Loaf right and he was a big scam artist like his mother? Or, did Roman just want to get out of that shithole town and start a new life with his ghost girlfriend? And what was he gonna do with the Himalayan Rock Salt lamp somewhere else? Continue to open up the portal to the afterlife? For what monetary purpose?  Nothing about this story makes any sense to me.

37 minutes ago, raven said:

This was dropped so out of the blue, I'm thinking "WTF, maybe Billy is making this up, though why, I don't know".

I had the same thought. I thought it was a joke at first. 

Yes, it was the last episode of this season. I surely hope it was the last episode ever.  

[kryss]

Did they just wrap it up quickly to give it an 'ending'?

 

I didn't understand why they stole the artifact, but thinking on it again it *might* make sense. Lambda lady's body is dying. and if Roman and girlfriend truly don't GAF about anybody else (not the impression we were given?) they might plan to use it to body hop without care for the consequences. 

 

I don't remember much about Whistling Man, except nastiness about luring children presumably to their deaths. Do. Not. Like. Seems like a meaningless call back to the reference without any actual point to it that makes sense aside being a twisty twist. Plus I thought Whistling Man 1.0 had plans for morgue lady's son??

 

As for Billy not putting 2 and 2 together that he and Roman's mum spent special time ;) together 9 months before he was born, particularly without an alternate father on the scene? No. Just no. Billy was the least stupid among the stupid, that had to have been thrown in as an afterthought.

 

Meatloaf must have gotten dizzy:

'Roman is baaaaad'

'Oops, no he's not'; *modicum of respect*

'I KNEW it, I TOLD YOU ALL he is BAAAAAD!!!!!'.

Ugh. No, no, no.

 

Many times 'no' to this show. I do like the Billy and Roman actors, I hope they find much better work after this. Much, much better....

[SharkleberryFinn]

I have to say I am utterly delighted with this show.

 

It has proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that any low-level incompetent drivel I write myself can actually pass for, at the very least, a single series TV show, and still be infinitely more comprehensible!

 

Maggie had a complete personality change for no apparent reason. It would seem Roman did also. As did the (now ghost form) of Father Dan who is now luring children away???? 

Whaaaaat???

 

Maggie went from "Save my Dad at all costs" to "This town belongs to us" to "Meh? Let's steal a body and leave the town behind" in a matter of minutes.

Roman went from "saviour with weird blue-white power eyes thing" that scares ghosts away to "totally self-oriented, don't worry what Maggie looks like on the outside body-snatcher"

 

Next episode. Everyone wakes up and it was all a dream. But was it, because inter-dimensional aliens are visiting and have them all in a mind-warping dream-reality device that interlinks all their minds, only it's actually Maggie having just one dream because she's high on drugs given to her at a poker game, but actually it's a premonition of inter-dimensional aliens that are really cats from planet Meow and oops my random sentence generator just broke. 

 

I recommend:

 

Plot and Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot - No, seriously, it does actually need a plot. Really? YES REALLY.

Revision and Self-Editing: Techniques for Transforming Your First Draft into something almost worthy of the dustbin. Yes, Dustbin. Almost Worthy Of.

Showing AND Telling: Hell, either of these would be preferable. Please show. Or tell.. Please?

[SharkleberryFinn]

9 hours ago, kryss said:

Meatloaf must have gotten dizzy

ha ha! 

Indeed :D

[walnutqueen]

9 hours ago, kryss said:

I do like the Billy and Roman actors, I hope they find much better work after this. Much, much better....

Not much of a stretch there, I'm afraid.  They could do dubbed Japanese used pantie dispensing machine ads and move up the rung.

[SoSueMe]

The fact that I didn't hate it speaks volumes as to the scarcity of quality scripted tv on basic expanded cable.

Hope I can last til Better Call Saul and Preacher return. The Walking Dead will be back next month but I doubt that will be worth my while. 

[thewhiteowl]

Well, that really went off the rails. Too bad because it started pretty good but damn, took a turn into deeply stupid.

[Aliferously]

On 7-10-2017 at 1:24 AM, 2727 said:

I noticed Meat Loaf's name in the credits but honestly had a hard time figuring out at first which character was him and which was D'Onofrio. 

 

I did too. 

I didn't really know what to make of it, it was like every Syfy trope compounded into a 43 minute show.

Well, that was the lamest lynch mob to ever walk the planet. 

Love how the deputy (the dead womans son) went from "you killed my mother, I will never forgive you" to "I understand, I'd hug you if I wasn't driving a car" all of the sudden.

Will give some more episodes though.

[Guest]

SyFy cancels Ghost Wars.

The article doesn't say why it was canceled, but I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it was because it sucked.

[Capernicus]

I really wanted to like this show but it was so messy, so many plot holes, character flaws that didn't make sense...argh! I liked a few characters like Roman, Billy...a few others but where do I begin with a show that had so much potential but ultimately flunked :(. What was up with the little boy dying and getting the impression that he was needed for something greater? He just became one of those ghosts so what was so special about that. What the hell was going on with the two girls, Abigail was somehow able to exist in her sister's body as well but why and does the sister have special abilities like Roman since she seemed to know things and draw things. Also Roman said the ghosts weren't actually their friends so are they aliens from another dimension pretending to be their friends? What the hell was up with the whistling man thing which I didn't understand at all and was that really Father Dan at the end and if so WHY??? Didn't the ghosts leave? Also why did the story line change from ghosts to somehow possessions with weird egg things that people vomited and gave birth to? Reminded me of Stranger Things but didn't quite hit the mark. Where did that secret room with the meteorite come from? Why did the town want to get rid of Roman's mum but leave Roman? Wouldn't it have just been easy to tell Nadine to leave WITH Roman??? Its like the writers couldn't decide what genre or horror theme they wanted to go with so the amalgamated all their ideas into a visual vomit of scenes. 

The characters were also bugging me. It reminded me of the show Van Helsing in the sense that there's no black and white to any character, you kind of don't really know if someone's good or bad and I get that they want to make the character's complex but I don't see the point in making someone constantly go back and forth with their moral compass like that. I stopped watching Van Helsing when I realised I hated all the characters, no one was redeemable, no humanity left. The same producer worked on this...not that that means much but maybe he should get better writers. I don't understand why Billy didn't want to volunteer at first to go to the accelerator to fight the ghosts when later he changes his mind and says he is dying so he might as well go? Why does Maggie change character from being Roman's voice of reason and caring about her dad and the town to an evil ghost? She kept telling him they are different, so why did she side with them? I can only think that's it not her and if it's not then what good is Roman's powers if he can't see through that? Is it really her that came back? Why does Roman's character completely change at the end? After everything he's been through, he was so strong and caring and innocent, a real martyr, an angel with some kind of power (which was never explored or explained or even relevant when it was needed) to someone who wanted to run the world to the ground with 'Maggie'? Also what the hell with Maggie's dad saying they shouldn't have trusted Roman after everything Roman did for them - not complex characters, just crap ones.

I want to pull my hair out! If your going to make a series, do it right!! It could have been so good. I'm glad it didn't get renewed, although it really sucks because Roman's character had a lot of potential and that actor really made it bearable.  

Really sorry for the rant.