S04.E20: Therefore She Is

[adora721]

I was watching the Afterbuzz review of the episode, and the commentators made some good points. Based on their comments, I really think that DeVoe is an idiot. He wants to make people dumber to rule them. If people, all seven billion of us, are all turned into idiots, we will still hurt each other and ourselves.

Think of a toddler who puts her/his hands on a stove burner or who tries to stick her tongue into a light socket. DeVoe would have to remove all humanity from existing technology because, like a child, humans will try to use whatever they have in their environment. Imagine seeing a car, but not knowing how to use it. Can you imagine how many car accidents there would be?

Or what about guns? Can you imagine a police precinct with dumb officers playing with these "toys" once the Enlightenment hits? Or a someone in the kitchen preparing dinner using a knife goes dumb and doesn't know what to do with it? Or a pilot flying a 747 airliner, who now doesn't know how to fly or land it with passengers on board? There'd be chaos and mass accidents everywhere. 

DeVoe would have to remove all potentially harmful technology from humanity before the Enlightenment hits or we'd basically still kill or harm each other. And even with all his powers, I'm not sure he can make that happen.

[UNOSEZ]

55 minutes ago, ruby24 said:

I kind of think Cecile should leave Joe for Harry. They're actually really cute together. I don't know if anyone else thinks this.

No thanks.. Not that they aren't cool enough together but for one it would be super messy and tear up the family dynamic.. And two this season already has two blk ladies constantly propping up their white male counterparts.. A third would be overkill

[mrspidey]

Someone explain this to me please. How is making people dumber gonna change anything? Most people are dumb already. 

[SevenStars]

20 minutes ago, mrspidey said:

Someone explain this to me please. How is making people dumber gonna change anything? Most people are dumb already. 

You are right, it won't. It just makes Devoe sound really stupid for thinking it will. So if Devoe succeed, it will just be the dumb leading the dumbers. Which is really not unlike RL.

[Trini]

Not sure if this counts as a spoiler or not, but Jessica Camacho (Cynthia) posted a set pic from when she filmed this episode, I presume... :

Spoiler

from the 'Central City Collection Agency' set:

She has her own office, but we didn't get to see it!

 

[Trini]

BTW, Clifford's "favorite dress" that Marlize wore in the last episode is the same one she wore on their first(?) date flashback in this episode.

For a guy who thinks technology is a cancer to humanity, DeVoe seems to use a lot of it. And even before he got powers and started putting his plan into place, he married an engineering genius! So clearly, he wants to be the only one smart enough to use it.

Okay, but taking away everyone's intelligence? That would cause more problems than it would solve, I think. And what's he going to do with a global population of people with below-average brains??

I wish they had revealed some of this sooner.

[phoenics]

It's a completely cartoonish, stupid plan.  They built this guy up to be so smart and then he just comes up with the most ridiculous idea ever.  

[Lady Calypso]

7 hours ago, Trini said:

Okay, but taking away everyone's intelligence? That would cause more problems than it would solve, I think. And what's he going to do with a global population of people with below-average brains??

I wish they had revealed some of this sooner.

Yeah, wouldn't Clifford get super annoyed with not having anyone of intelligence to be able to talk to after a while? For someone as smart as him, he really doesn't see things very clearly. He'd be pissed off after the second day! Plus, the world would fall apart. 

[Terrafamilia]

Science Fail: solar panels or whatnot that are 400% efficient. That means they pump out 4 times as much power as goes in. You've now got the makings of a perpetual motion machine. Forget the dark matter accelerator, this is the most fantastic technical development ever - and will undoubtedly be promptly forgotten.

[Maverick]

20 hours ago, Trini said:

BTW, Clifford's "favorite dress" that Marlize wore in the last episode is the same one she wore on their first(?) date flashback in this episode.

For a guy who thinks technology is a cancer to humanity, DeVoe seems to use a lot of it. And even before he got powers and started putting his plan into place, he married an engineering genius! So clearly, he wants to be the only one smart enough to use it.

Okay, but taking away everyone's intelligence? That would cause more problems than it would solve, I think. And what's he going to do with a global population of people with below-average brains??

I wish they had revealed some of this sooner.

  I didn't have a problem with him being anti-technology and falling in love with an engineer.  You don't pick who you fall in love with and that's what the flashbacks were depicting:  the conflict vs. their love.   I do have a problem with his anti-tech bent coming out of no where.

 Yes, Devoe uses a lot of technology but that's his hubris coming into play.   His problem isn't with technology itself--it's with the way human beings use it.  And he thinks he's the only one smart enough and evolved enough to use it properly.

 As for dumbing everyone down, I think this is just the first part of the plan.  Once everyone's intelligence is rolled back, he'll be able to 'enlighten' everyone--as in re-mold them in his image.  It's typical Bond villain stuff.

[Cthulhudrew]

I think I figured out why we keep having repeats of the same story threads episode after episode. Everytime Iris tries to illustrate an important life lesson, Barry* is only half-listening and gets the entire wrong message.

Iris: "Sometimes you just have to support your friends, whether they're together or whether they're separate."

Barry: "That's it! The pieces don't go together- DeVoe is making separate machines! Geegolliwhillikers, thanks, babe! Don't know what I'd do without you." [Kisses Iris on the cheek and zooms away.]

Iris: "No... wait. That's not what... I... was saying?!?!"

 

*Insert character who needs to learn something important that week.
 

[Cthulhudrew]

On 5/1/2018 at 7:58 PM, phoenics said:

Remember Mystery Girl also had Purple and Yellow lightning.  That points to Iris (who had Purple Lightning) and Barry (who has Yellow Lightning).

I still don't quite get the whole "Iris/Purple Lightning" thing. Didn't they explain back in season 2 that blue lightning was a bad thing (or at least associated with the fatal, body-altering Velocity drug)? So shouldn't purple lightning also be bad?

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 5/3/2018 at 10:44 PM, Maverick said:

 As for dumbing everyone down, I think this is just the first part of the plan.  Once everyone's intelligence is rolled back, he'll be able to 'enlighten' everyone--as in re-mold them in his image.  It's typical Bond villain stuff.

They 'accidentally' did something similar to this on, of all shows, Todd and the Book of Pure Evil (TatBoPE)-- and of course it didn't work out exactly as planned (then again, TatBoPE was a comedy, and did it all in one episode instead of dragging it out all season long.)

[ramble]

All of this tedious villainy is to make humanity dumb? That’s the big reveal? DeVoe and Wile E. Coyete should team up since they’re both super geniuses with plans that are obviously going to succeed.

[phoenics]

On 5/3/2018 at 11:44 PM, Cthulhudrew said:

I still don't quite get the whole "Iris/Purple Lightning" thing. Didn't they explain back in season 2 that blue lightning was a bad thing (or at least associated with the fatal, body-altering Velocity drug)? So shouldn't purple lightning also be bad?

Blue lightning was supposed to refer to Velocity 6 or something.  They haven't tied any other colors to anything really.  So I don't think we're supposed to take anything bad from purple lightning - afterall, Iris had it and she's pure goodness.

[sarthaz]

On 5/1/2018 at 10:50 PM, BeautifulFlower said:

So DeVoe was basically a jerk when he met Marlize. What did she see in him? 

Forehead?