Drogo November 1, 2017 Share November 1, 2017 The Leftovers' Justin Theroux Joins Emma Stone, Jonah Hill's Netflix Series Maniac. 1 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 22, 2018 Share September 22, 2018 I know this is too long. this is my first long recap and I am trying to learn how to write so that I include all of the pertinent information but at the same time make it easier for someone to jump to just the section they are interested in. I will try a couple of episodes and if people show interest - maybe I can do all 10. - Thanks. Maniac – season 1 episode 1 – The Chosen One It begins. The series and the show. It opens with a 1990s version of an old science documentary. Quickly it goes from the smallest amoeba all the way up to the growing of new worlds. The point of this opening? – Just to tell us that the billions of interconnections that came together to form our complicated world demonstrate the infinite potential of our connections…. Extending to the human heart. Annie Cut to now – some time recent but probably not in the 2000s with Emma Stone in some convenience store/laundrymat in NY trying to buy a pack of smokes. When the proprietor asks how she is paying she says she is going to use “an adBuddy “ to cover the purchase. The guy says no adBuddy allowed because they record your conversations and thoughts and secretly end up knowing more about you then you do yourself. Emma – who is named Annie – walks out and jimmys a newspaper machine to steal quarters and brings back the quarters to pay for the smokes. (clearly not the nice schoolgirl type) She is dressed in old jeans, sweater , a long coat and has her long hair dyed fake blonde. Annie walks down the street smoking her cigs and passes by a bunch of older guys all wearing suits and long grubby suit coats and hats – carrying black suitcases with nametags telling us they work for this “adBuddy” company. She continues down the street and passes these small billboard ads street level which change from time to time like the ones on NBA courts or Soccer pitch (football to you Europeans). One of the pictures shows an ad saying how terrible it is to be alone. The ad shows a picture of Sally Field smiling wearing glasses and her name is – Dr Greta. Apparently this adBuddy is some sort of company who hires out friends for those who are too lonely or too busy for ones of their own. Annie pauses to pick up a book – Don Quixote – from the front of a building – Milgrim Industries. It looks like the company is either moving in or being kicked out it is hard to tell. Milgrim Industries - Owen The camera pans up the side of the building and into the Milgrim Industries building - and we see Jonah Hill – here Owen Milgrim – and it sounds like he is in court. He is being questioned by what sounds like a prosecutor. Owen is looking very down and depressed and it seems that he is accepting whatever fate has in store for him. (note Jonah Hill is now skinny again in real life and clean shaven wearing a nice suit) Presecutor – what is your relationship with Jed Milgrim? Owen – he is my brother. Presecutor – Have you ever been arrested, married, children ? Owen answers no to all of these. Again he looks very mellow. Prosecutor – can you tell us about the psychotic break you experienced 10 years ago? Here Owen breaks out and asks the people in the room if it is necessary for him to answer this question. He asks his Dad if that is the way it will be in court. The camera pans back to show a boardroom with several other people in it. Owen Milgrim’s Dad, who is played by the great Gabriel Byrne in his best midwestern style American accent, assures Owen that they need to be ready for the prosecution to try to jolt him early in the upcoming court proceedings. We soon see that this is not an actual trial, but a test one given by the defense with their own lawyers in order to prep Owen for an upcoming court date. It is taking place in a board room and the fact that there are a couple of cigarettes being smoked makes me believe more that this show is back in the late 90s. The fake Prosecutor continues and asks when the last time Owen was hospitalized for mental illness. Owen tells him it was 10 years ago and he was also medicated. He is very muted during this “testimony” and the camera pans back to show us that he is doing a rubiks cube under the table. (he is doing it without looking like those people who do them without thinking – like the rest of us chew our nails) Apparently Owen had been seeing his brother Jed when he wasn’t actually there. Owen looks at a glass of water on the table and it starts to shake and rumble but we soon see that it was just a figment of Owen’s imagination. Jed The next scene is Owen on a park bench. Owen’s brother – who says he is invisible to everyone else – comes up, asks Owen how the pre trial went and tells Owen that he alone has been chosen to save the world and he is going to be a hero. (his brother – Jed? – is played by Billy Magnussen of Game Night and The Big Short fame) His brother tells him that the details will be delivered to him by a woman who Owen will somehow know is his contact. He tells Owen to make contact with her and then he says “The pattern is the pattern” and then literally disappears. After he goes Owen is looking down at some unpopped corn that some pigeons are eating on the ground and the sidewalk/world starts to shake and the pigeons fly away and the corn actually pops. (it is not known if we are supposed to believe he made that happen by looking at it or not) No one around notices anything. Later Owen tries to buy subway fare but his credit card is declined because he has insufficient funds. The machine asks him if he would like to pay for the transaction with adBuddy. He swipes yes and in the next scene Owen is seen walking down to the subway car with one of those adBuddy guys we saw earlier in the cheap hats and suits walking with him carrying a thick black plastic case. They get on the train and the adBuddy guy starts his pitch. adBuddy guy hits him with scenarios he can volunteer for. They range from, temporary volunteer husband to hiring yourself out as a “friend proxy.” ( in one of the ads Annie is a model wife with her kids and no husband) The adBuddy guy reads that Owen currently spends 87% of his income on rent and suggests that a catastrophic disruption in his financial life – a furlough – could ruin him. Would he consider pharmaceutical testing to supplement his income? The guy hands him a pamphlet for a company called NPB (Neberdine Pharmaceutical Biotech). Later while Owen is at work calling about a job filling in as a volunteer husband his boss comes by to tell him that he is on a permanent furlough and out of work. (coincidence?) (The office and all of the computer equipment is straight out of the 1990s.) The shaking that we got before starts up again and owen runs into the bathroom and throws up. While in the stall he wipes his mouth on some toilet paper (which has ads on it) and sees an ad for NPB and gets mad and pulls the dispenser off the wall. When he does this there is some graffiti behind it which says “the pattern is the pattern” (the same message his invisible brother Jed told him about.) Owen heads home and while he walks we overhear him talking with some man. The man asks him, really tells him the stuff that is going on. (there is no one around – Owen is either hearing this in his head or it occurred at another time and Owen is reexperiencing it.) Man : “The way deprogramming works is you have to listen to it over and over.” The man makes statements and asks Owen if they are true. Man “The world sends you messages. Words are often code words, or pass phrases for important secrets. You’re are visited by a brother no one else in your family is aware of. A facsimile of your brother Jed. He sends you messages. Instructions for important missions you must accomplish. He tells you you are meant to do something big and that you are not meant to do it alone. All you need is a partner. You sense danger all around you and a fight is coming. Something bigger than this world.” Owen agrees with all of these statements. (I feel they could have just started the show with this but whatever …..) On the way to his apartment Owen sees another ad for a woman looking for her husband (fill in husband) and again it is Annie this time dressed up and playing golf in Hilton Head. (I must say that even though it is sometime in the near future or past, parts of the city remind me of a cleaner Blade Runner as throughout the city there are ads all over the bridges etc.) Owen’s Apartment Cut to Owen’s apartment. It makes an efficiency look big. (insert NYC apartment joke here?) The best way to describe it is as a dingy pod about the size of a tiny Japanese hotel room done up in white where there is a desk at the foot of his bed and the bed acts as the desk chair. (that should give you an idea of the size) Again it looks futuristic but everything looks retro. The TVs etc are all tubes. Owen is reading a book by Sally Fields’ Dr Greta and pauses to take his pills. Except he doesn’t take them. He lines them up, on their ends, and plucks them across the room into a plant. The amount already in the plant and the skill with which he does this suggests he has not been taking his pills for a long time. Owen gets a package and by the time he opens it on the bed a woman mysteriously calls him to tell him that he is a prime candidate for their “studies.” She says they will see him on Monday. This is NPB. Parent’s Apartment Owen goes by his parent’s apartment. It is hard to describe it but I will say it looks like a cross between a fancy NY apartment and a cold museum. The floors are all stone like, the lighting is low, there are too many reflective surfaces and it just looks like someone took a bunch of money and told a designer to make him a house with as much charm as a drill press. Owen comes in to hear an acapella group (his preppy brothers) singing to his Mom and Dad and a bunch of women and a little girl. Later Owen is seen playing with and bonding with this girl. At the dinner table one of Owen’s brothers (Jed but now he is not invisible) is telling a story about how Jed’s gerbil was eaten by Owen’s hawk that Owen nursed back to health when he was 9. (what nine year old is allowed to do this?) This whole scene is to show how different Owen is from the rest of the family. He is a true blacksheep. His brothers are all blonde, tall and good looking and Owen is the short outcast. Later a pretty blonde – Jed’s fiancé – tells Owen that she and Jed have not set a date for the wedding yet and to be honest she doesn’t look thrilled to pick one. They look at a family painting with all of the family members sitting and standing around the fire. Owen is not in the picture but a small 6x9 picture of him is in its own frame on the wall near the other painting as the ultimate humiliation – he is to be added later. Owen suggests to Jed’s fiancé (did not get her name but she is blonde and British) they should instead run away together and start a new life. She is the only one sympathetic to Owen and I guess we are to believe that Owen thinks she is the one that he is supposed to go on his journey with. She is dreading the court day that Owen was prepping for in defense of Jed. Owen tells her that Jed didn’t do it. (do what?) The family settles in to play Balderdash and Owen leaves alone abruptly as he really doesn’t fit in. His Dad walks him to the train station though and asks if they could buy him a place or have him work at Milgrim Industries like his brothers to help him out with money. Owen says that he agreed to testify and his Dad doesn’t have to bribe him for lying in court. (here we are to understand that Jed did do whatever he is accused of? ) His Dad says Owen is giving the gift of an alibi and this woman (?) is an opportunist. His Dad also says that he is protecting the family. (here a car drives by blaring the Geto Boys “My Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me” (1991). NPB Owen shows up bright and early on Monday at NPB for his pharmaceutical testing. The inside of the building can best be described as an 80s Italian DMV. There is concrete everywhere and also the rainbow logo which is NPB’s stock and trade. As he fills out his paperwork Owen talks to a guy who is up for the same tests (ULP?) and he assures Owen that that is the good one. “Get ready to make a lot of money,” he says to Owen. The guy says that the drug they are testingis having some issues and as a result there is some “real trippy shit” and that high risk = high dollars. Just then we see Annie come out of one of the doors in the back arguing with some Asian woman. “Who is in charge of the red button? “ Annie asks the woman. Annie is pissed and goes over to the counter to complain to a woman working there but later comes back to sit down and wait and brood. (we can’t hear what is being said) Owen of course realizes Annie is the woman he sees in all of those adBuddy ads. Owen is called into the same room that Annie just came out of. Owen is being given some sort of lie detector looking test (arm cup, meter writing scriggly lines on paper etc) on a machine with a reader like a lie detector but also an old screen showing him pictures. The Asian woman tells him to describe the emotions the pictures make him feel and not to tell her what they are. After the pictures are done, the woman asks him to look at her as she asks him this final question. The woman then just stares at him for about 10 seconds without saying anything and Owen becomes so uncomfortable that he asks her if she is going to ask him anything. Just then the machine beeps and one of two lights there comes on. One is red and one is green. Owen’s light shines green. The woman tells him that his defense mechanisms are fungible and that he has been accepted into the drug trial. Owen comes out and walks over and sits right in front of Annie. He gets up his nerve and asks her if she has lost her husband recently or if she golfs in Hilton Head. (shades of the adBuddy ads) She reacts rudely like he is keeping her from something and tells him to back off she has a gun. A voice calls all of the ULP subjects and Owen, Annie and the dude who spoke to Owen earlier all start to line up along with a few others. Before Owen can get up, Jed shows up and tells Owen that Annie is the one. She has that something special (he also says that she is no Olivia though – his fiance?). He tells Owen to use the passphrase, “the pattern is the pattern.” He also says to “keep moving forward,” and then disappears. (this time there is no rumbling for Owen) In an office within the facilities an Asian woman scientist (smoking) wakes up an older Asian scientist who looks to be either sleep or drunk. (or both) They are both in lab jackets with NPB on them and the man has a set of headphones on him that look big enough for the Incredible Hulk to wear. She tells him that the subjects are here and lets not have any of the old problems. He says “yes” in a very out of it, unbelievable way that there will be no problems like before. When she leaves he puts something away in a drawer which looks to be either a syringe or some sort of tube full of I don’t know what. The test subjects are brought down to their new digs they are told by an orderly to get into their pods and that they will be expected to stay there until they are told to come out. If they disobey, they will be terminated and “shame and humiliation will be showered on them.” (I forgot to mention that this entire organization seems to be run by some secret Japanese executives. That may sound racist but the employees all bow like traditional Japanese and there are a lot of Japanese in suits who all of the orderlies bow to.) They have their bags searched and Annie suddenly walks out of the frame and then right back in again (?). The rules are stay in your pods until called and there is no fraternization among subjects. The whole pod room looks like some sort of 90s Star Trek set. There is a circular table in the middle with about 12 futuristic chairs around it. Owen comes up to Annie and tells her that she is not supposed to be there and then he tells her The pattern is the pattern and what are his instructions. She looks real scared but surprisingly tells him – she knows name – that his instructions are to go back to his pod and await her signal and don’t blow their cover. The two scientists from before – Dr Muramoto (drunk guy) and Dr Fujita (smoking woman) – come into the room and before they address the subjects they do a deep bow to the computer server room like it was some sort of emperor. (There is no human in that server room) Dr Muramoto – who may still be drunk or high – tells them they all made the right decision. He then tries a weak joke – to Owen – that if he doesn’t fuck this up then Dr Muramoto won’t fuck this up. Owen looks worried as usual and the episode ends. 2 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 23, 2018 Share September 23, 2018 (edited) Maniac S01E02.Windmills Annie’s apartment Annie is smoking in a ratty looking apartment and grinds up a little pill shaped like the letter “A”. She snorts this and immediately drops off into a drug haze so deep that it shows that her roommates are coming in and moving around and ignoring her as she lays there throughout the day not moving. The next day she wakes up alone (in the same position) with the TV blaring and immediately chugs a glass of water. She goes to a cigar box and looks at some pictures and on her very old looking computer fashions a lost dog ad with a young woman in the picture with the dog. The dog is named Groucho (he looks to be a chiwawa (sp) mixed with some other larger dog. The girl in the picture is the same one from the hit series Ozark (Julia Garner) The caption under the picture says it is from 7 years ago and there is a current rendering of what the dog would look like today. (wtf?) She is in a diner eating noodles being read ads by a woman who works for adBuddies as it is shown she is clearly broke and just accepting the fact that this is her existence – being broke and having to have these adBuddy people play ads to pay her bills. Annie stops to ask the adBuddy woman if Annie wanted money to go on a bus trip to Salt Lake would the woman come with her reading ads the whole way and pay for everything? (including hotel bills) The woman is not sure. The adBuddy woman says it sounds like it could be fun who is she visiting? Annie says her little sister. Annie goes home to pack for the trip and packs her Don Quixote book telling herself she is healthy now and healthy people read books. She checks her money stash and finds it empty. She confronts one of her roommates Jackie who tells her she took the money because Annie has not paid the rent in 3 months. (Annie has been out of work for 5 months) Annie asks to borrow $20. Annie’s Dad Annie buys some groceries and goes to visit her dad Hank’s house. There is a little miniature model scene with some figurines in grass next to a small house in the front window and a big painted mural on the wall in the living room along with a lot of other painted flat figures throughout the living room. It looks like no one is home and Annie goes straight for a wall safe which she tries to but can no longer open. She looks surprised so someone has changed the combination. She then sees that her dad is out in the yard in some sort of 1980s mini deprivation tank without water and with some sort of digital display on the front. The entire time she talks with him the lights and numbers move along with his voice but we never see his actual body. She asks if he is coming out and tells him that she is leaving to go to Salt Lake to see her sister Ellie. She asks him to come but he refuses so she asks him what the new combo to the safe is. He tells her it is her birthday (he gave up using her mother's birthday) and she tells him she bought him some Apple Jacks cereal while she is gone. (it is not apparent at this time if he is in some way disabled or even on the spectrum. She opens the safe and in it we see a 38 revolver, a diamond ring (mens?) and an envelope with money in it. Annie takes the entire envelope and puts it in her bag, lets her eyes linger on the gun and then goes to the Brooklyn Public Library Bus Terminal – don’t know if she took the gun. (really the Brooklyn Public Library with a new sign) Annie checks the schedule for the Salt Lake City Bus but then all of the destinations instead reorganize into a huge letter A. It is the same shape as the pill she snorted earlier in the episode. She rushes home and takes the now empty prescription bottle out of the trashcan- she needs a fix and goes to her buddy/drug dealer friend Calvin. I have to explain that Calvin – a young Asian man – is playing chess vs what can only be described as a purple muppet Koala bear with a deep Brooklyn accent. And he is losing. She asks him to get her more ULP drugs (the “A” shaped pills). Calvin accuses her of being a straight up junkie and she denies it. He said he stole her last stash from his Father and anyway that ULP shit is dark. Calvin says she can sign up for a NPB study – that is his Dad’s company – and if they let her in she could get more that way. She asks him for the name of the person who is in charge of the intake of the new subjects at NPB drug tests. She gives him $100 and he gives her the name Patricia Lugo. He also warns her that the drug trials have gotten more secretive since the suicides. (wtf?) The Koala bear beats him and takes the $100. Annie Blackmails Badly Annie goes to the Dox Stop which is apparently a store – which from the outside looks like a mini Kinkos– where you can pay to have someone find info for you to blackmail somebody with. The guy in there says it will be $300 for the information on Lugo but Lugo has paid another company to scrub her records clean. He asks for another $200 and says when she scowls that it does include a free calendar. It turns out that Patricia Lugo is a gambling addict and was arrested in Atlantic City for disorderly conduct. She has a daughter going to Hunter college and has a good job at NPB (because she scrubbed her records) The guy types on his 90s era keyboard (and all the mechanical keyboard nerds wet themselves) and tells her that Lugo is a member of Friend Proxy – that service where you pay to have friends. Annie leaves with her calendar. Annie cancels Lugo’s Friend proxy appt and goes herself pretending to be Lugo’s friend date at some botanical gardens. (forgive me I know nothing about NYC to know the name of the gardens) Lugo sees through Annie’s ruse pretty quickly and when she calls her on it Annie straight out cusses her out and threatens to ruin her life. (just like a straight up junkie) Patricia Lugo is taken aback and Annie apologizes and tries to leave but Lugo follows her and asks what is the matter? Annie tells her that she is trying to get into the ULP study at her job and again apologizes. Lugo keeps questioning her and offers to help (Annie reminds her of her little girl) and Annie admits that she is addicted to a drug that Lugo’s company is testing. She then opens up and tells Lugo that 5 years before she and her sister Ellie got into a really really bad fight and that she “can’t fix it” and she needs the drug ( the ULP “A” drug) to help her get through the day and it is the only thing that makes her feel OK. Lugo buys it and agrees to get her into the study. NPB – Annie's View We are now back at NPB and Annie is taking the same test that Owen was taking before with the Asian woman and the lie detector test and the pictures. Annie is all gung ho on the pictures trying to say all the right things like a college graduate at her first job interview. The Asian woman again reminds her to pump the brakes and that she is supposed to tell her how the pictures make her feel. She then hits Annie with the one last question setup and when she doesn’t ask a question ….. Annie waits and then gets the red light. (ruh Roh! – no drugs for Annie!) The Asian woman tells her to go back to the reception area and wait as this test is about defense mechanisms and Annie doesn’t have any apparently. Annie cusses the woman out saying that she is supposed to be part of the drug trial and who is in charge of the red button? (Here we realize that we are seeing Annie’s side of the NPB drug tests that Owen saw from the first episode.) She goes over to the front desk where Lugo is the supervisor and after Lugo tells her that she failed the intake test and she cannot help her anymore Annie starts throwing threats out. She threatens Lugo’s daughter at Hunter college so badly that Lugo walks out to the waiting room and gets a badge back from one of the other people who passed the test and gives it to Annie. Justin Theroux’s 80s wig We are then shown an NPB documentary/ad/presentation for what NPB is all about. We are back in the ULP study area and all of the candidates (Annie, Owen, greedy dude etc) are sitting around the table all watching Theroux (Dr James Mantleray) explain to them just what this ULP study – and this drug – is all about. (I am not sure but his voice sounds the same as the opening of episode 1) The production quality, again is straight up late 80s early 90s and Mantleray is wearing a labcoat, glasses, tie and a pretty sad black wig. He and Dr Muramoto (drunk doctor from last episode) are both on the video and they welcome the candidates and tell them that their revolutionary drug is going to do away with the conventional psychiatric help industry as it now stands. The candidates are now in Phase III of the ULP testing. Dr Mantleray assures them their experiences will be private and discreet. (yeah right) ULP Plan Turns out the whole thing is simple. There are three pills (A, B & C), taken in three steps and all of this analyzed by the most sophisticated mega computer ever built called the GRTA which will identify, map and confront the learned programming of your brain using artificial intelligence. (it is creepy here because they have the GRTA with a mouth and eyes smiling at you created by select lights on her circuit boards lighting up like the old kids toy Light Brite) Pill A seeks out your core traumas and pulls them to the surface. By using powerful microwave tech they observe the known and unknown anchors of pain in your personal history which is then made into a map which the GRTA uses as a guide for pills B & C. Pill B – behavioral – it identifies self defense mechanisms, blind spots and the walls your mind creates to hide your true self. Pill C – Confrontation .... and acceptance. Once they have your traumas (pill A) and have spotted your unconscious self defense mechanisms (pill B) , the GRTA will use that to create a more efficient system custom tailored to you… welcome to the start of your new life, you will never be the same again. (this sounds absolutely horrible and untested) Once the presentation ends Dr Muramoto asks if there are any questions and when a couple of people hold up their hands, he ignores them and walks away. Trials They are asked – as the odd numbered candidates (based on their badges) to line up. As they do we are shown the inside of the megacomputer and a whole host of technicians who are supporting it. Also Dr Muramoto is sitting at a console reading a paperback book. He reads a poem outloud to the mega computer and after he is through the computer talks back to him in what sounds like Sally Fields’ voice. He creepily puts his hands on the computers interface/buttons like it was a real woman. The odd candidates go into a room with dentist like chairs with these two plates on either side of where your head is going to be when you sit in them. The plates are scored right in the middle like some serious power bursts (or brains) have been fried against them over and over. They are asked to don lead vests like when you get an x-ray and are told it is “precautionary.” They are each given an A pill but told to wait to take it until Dr Fugita allows them to take it. Dr Fugita again states that there can be no more mistakes and tells the subjects to take the pill. Once they do the plates are put next to their heads (on each side - not quite touching) and the machinery is turned on. Everyone seems to instantly go into a deep sleep. Strangely each chair (odd numbered for each candidate) has a set of cables going into the mega computer and although they are sitting in order (1-3-5-7-9-11) in the room the cable numbers going into the machine are 1-9-3-5-7-11. It is out of order and just before this began we found out that Owen is #1 and Annie is #9 (together in the machine???) One of the techs states that they are going to blue and the lights change to a dark blue tint and the machinery really starts to crank ……. Annie’s Trip. The scene changes immediately to Annie pumping gas outside of a small filling station with an old windmill next to a sign which states “Leave to the Nightingale her Shady Woods”. Her sister Ellie (Julia Garner) comes out and throws her a Pepsi and they are on the road again. Ellie has bought a little camera for the trip. They play a road game where they make up a strange back story/movie for other people they see in cars and when Annie finishes hers she yells out to the unfortunates in the other car they have been secretly mocking that she knows what they are up to and then drives off. Later they stop on Monarch Pass which is the continental divide of the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. (apparently this is the divide which runs through much of North and South America. It separates the water that runs toward the Pacific Ocean from the water that runs toward the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. Thank you National Geographic Society) They clown around and Annie makes like she is going to take a pic but instead takes one of her armpit disappointing Ellie. Back at the hotel Ellie is saying goodnight to her boyfriend on the phone. She is using the hotel phone so it doesn’t appear that there are cellphones yet? Annie asks if it was Mom because she was hoping that Ellie and Mom had reconnected – but it was Ellie’s fiancé Ben. Ellie says she tried to connect with their Mom and called her once and shows her a letter from their mom but Annie does not want to see it. Ellie has a fantasy about a girl moving her life to Salt Lake City – where her fiancée is transferred – because she thinks it will make her happy. But the girl is afraid that this nice family with the nice, job, house and kids will not work out. She thinks that she might not maintain the stability and would fuck things up. But it turns out that she can and she is alright. This is obviously a thinly veiled telling of her own life and Annie says it sounds like a fantasy of someone who gave up. They end up in an argument because Ellie is pissed at Annie’s narcissism and just wants her to know that she is sad about moving away and just wanted memento pictures to help her remember her sister. Annie makes a reference about losing Ellie's dog (from the picture) and Ellie says that she hates that Annie is such a huge liar. Annie counters with the fact that Ellie doesn’t have anything going on in her “normal” life and she is just desperate for someone to tell her she is OK. Annie gets one last dig and says that the thought of Ellie not in New York makes her feel happy and they will grow apart. This reduces Ellie to those actress tears where they don’t actually come out crying but you can tell they want to and she has tears in her eyes. No Pictures for Ellie They are driving the next morning and Annie says that they can take that picture now and the camera is in her bag. This is a throwaway instamatic by the way – the kind where you used to take the roll and then send it in to be developed. She doesn’t stop driving (??) and tells Ellie to hold the wheel while Annie sets up the selfie shot. She makes a joke that they should make a stick for something like this. They are on a two lane road with the yellow line down the middle and in the distance is a big truck coming their way. (ruh Roh – Stevie Wonder can see the next scene coming) She tells Ellie to hold the wheel (da fuck?) and again instead of taking the picture she takes another one of her armpit. How she does this amazes me as only a woman can make her arm bend like that. Of course Ellie is furious that she has been taken again and restarts the argument again with Annie mocking her. They fight over the camera and in the confusion the car drifts over into the truck's lane so it is coming straight for them. For what ever reason, on a bright sunny day the truck driver doesn’t hit his horn or try and stop or avoid them for any reason and by the time Annie pulls the wheel to get out of the truck’s path they are sideswiped by the 18 wheeler and knocked over the guardrail by the truck and their car falls about 60 feet onto some rocks. This is dramatically shown from Annie’s point of view after impact and as they start going over the guardrail before tumbling down the embankment. Ellie is unconscious and Annie is seeing this horror unfold as they go over. The truck driver stops and runs to the guardrail and sees the car at the bottom of the rocks mostly intact but crushed. The camera pans back up to just before the cliff sheer face starts and shows a bloody Annie lying unconscious on the rocks. She has avoided the worst of the crash. (if that could be thought of as being lucky) We are then suddenly back on Annie in her chair at the NPB institute. The room is bathed in red and when the lights change to normal she wakes up from her nightmare and a voice says “welcome back subjects, welcome back.” There is also a loud low buzzer which I don’t know is part of the treatment process or is just part of the soundtrack. End of episode. Edited September 23, 2018 by sjankis630 5 Link to comment
numbnut September 23, 2018 Share September 23, 2018 (edited) I'm only mildly intrigued, but I'm sure Charlie Kaufman fans are all over this show. Edited September 23, 2018 by numbnut Link to comment
numbnut September 23, 2018 Share September 23, 2018 I don't particularly like Annie but I was def. more invested in this ep. The actress playing Ellie (name?) is everywhere lately. 3 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 23, 2018 Share September 23, 2018 (edited) Yes she (Julia Garner) really is jumping out on a lot of stuff. I thought she was pretty good here. I have just a slight bit more sympathy for Annie though seeing as she feels responsible for her sister. ... I don't watch ahead so may get a chance to watch and recap episode 3. Edited September 23, 2018 by sjankis630 2 Link to comment
atlantaloves September 23, 2018 Share September 23, 2018 The gal who plays the little sister is playing Ruth in Ozark and is knocking it out of the park. I think I kinda like this new series. Whoa. 2 Link to comment
snarktini September 23, 2018 Share September 23, 2018 21 hours ago, sjankis630 said: Friend Proxy – that adBuddy service where you pay to have friends My impression is these are very different companies/services. With FriendProxy, you pay them to rent a friend. With AdBuddy, they pay you to listen to their ads. (Or, based on the cigarette store exchange, it may be more accurately an alternate currency -- in return for them paying for things, you have to sit through someone reading ads at you. Ugh.) No, Annie, taking armpit pics isn't funny. 3 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 23, 2018 Share September 23, 2018 Snarktini thank you. This is exactly why I am trying to include as much information as is possible but that keeps the recaps to 3 pages or less. 2 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 23, 2018 Share September 23, 2018 (edited) Re-entry We are back at the end of the study. Everyone comes out of the haze. One woman says it was unethical and the orderly reminds her that she waived her ethics with her signed consent form. The techs say that they got something from everyone but subject one – they aren’t sure he was actually out during the test. (This is Owen) They say nine- Annie – already has the brain structure which tells them that she has been here before. (they don’t know that she is hooked on the “A” pill). They say that they will be debriefed in order and to wait to be called. They call Owen first and as he walks from the room he throws his “A” pill into the corner. He didn’t take it after all. Dr Muramoto asks everyone how their emotional state was after the test: 1) Owen – speechless … (he wasn’t actually out) 2) Black dude – Fragile, sad and also hungry (you want a snack? lol) 3) Greedy dude (no 5) – Bleeding .... internally. 4) Annie – exhausted and devastated, ...but satisfied. (She wants the second pill.) AS they wait Annie talks with an older woman who looks just like the secretary from the tv show Moonlighting. (but it can’t be her because this woman looks like she is 100 years old with too much lipstick on). Greedy guy talks to Owen and tells him that these testing situations are like being at camp where everyone goes wild for hooking up. (even though they are told to not hook up and to not discuss their experiences with each other) Anyway Moonlighting lady says that the pill made her memory different than it has been in the past. (was it a real memory – or Memorex?) Owen, Annie and Greedy guy (have to find out his name – the one who originally spoke to Owen in the lobby) are called in at once and Greedy guy says this is not a good sign. He has done dozens of these (his job?) and when they do this at this early juncture it is because they are getting ready to be terminated from the program. Owen tells Annie he didn’t take the pill, “in case you needed to activate me.” Annie admits that she was leading him on. She admits that she sold her face to the ad company so that is where they go that from and she knew his name was Owen because she heard them call him that in the lobby. Owen’s story Owen is called in and Dr Muramoto tells him that they found inconsistencies with his results so they are going to have to verify his experience of his core trauma and he needs to recount what happened in his mind after taking the pill. (Owen is wearing the Hulk headphones ® in the office) Owen says this is supposed to be the worst day of your life right? Owen says it took him back to his parent’s house seven months ago (he has just starting on a new medication…) at a his brother Jed's engagement party. Jed comes over and asks Owen if he “really” likes his fiancé Adelaide. He pushes Owen to lie for him and Owen says the truth matters and at this juncture may not be dependable. Jed then blackmails him by saying he will tell Mom and Dad that Owen has had another episode where he is writing angry letters and all “seeing a pattern in the universe” …. Then he laughs and said the whole thing was a joke. (asshole) But then he re-threatens that “someone” could. (real nice family) Jed goes down and gives a speech which culminates with his Dad playing piano and him singing Sting’s “Every Breath You Take.” It is a cheesy way of announcing your engagement - but he actually is not a bad singer. Owen goes outside alone and puts his drink down and purposely falls off of the roof. But lucky for him it just goes down to his parent’s skylight about one floor below. He lands with his face squished into the glass but it totally interrupts the entire party when his Mother starts screaming his name at the top of her lungs. Muramoto tells him to take a fresh pill after accusing him of faking earlier. Owen takes it in front of him. Peace Muramoto Muramoto accuses Annie of already using the pill and she plays dumb. He tells her that some people get off on taking the A pill over and over when they want to re-visit past pain which they cannot get over. She claims she wants to move forward with the next pill but he tells her people like her say that but always end up coming back. He then collapses on his desk face forward – like he did earlier in episode 2. Annie then realizes that Muramoto has just died there in the office. She calls Owen back in to help her and frantically starts searching the office and in a desk finds a whole bottle of A pills. She looks longingly at these like she has just found a gold main and is just getting ready to mine it when ....... Owen tells her about an earlier BLIP (Brief Limited psychosis) he suffered when he was hallucinating back at school with Olivia – an early crush he had who his illness ruined the relationship with and how devestating it was for him. Annie puts the pills back in the desk. And manipulates hers and Owen’s rejected files on Muramoto's desk so they can stay in the test. They are at dinner and are told to eat unappetizing food which is in cube form. Annie tells Owen that the reason she is there is because a truck driver who was zoned out on nodoze crashed into a car she was driving with her sister. She says she has to relive the worst day of her life when she takes the pill and she feels the urge to do it because it allows her to relive a time with her (dead?) sister Ellie. (she neglects to mention her part in the accident.) Dr Fugita Finds a New Doc - Or Mantleray in the house Dr Fugita discovers Muramoto’s body and tells the orderly not to say anything as she has to go up to the 77th floor to report this. In the elevator she cries a little. She ends up reporting this to a voice on a monitor being held up in mid air by a strong dude. This entire part is in Japanese and my download has no subtitles so I don’t understand it. (if anyone can tell me what the fuck just happened I would be grateful) But it segues to a story about Dr Mantleray out in some sort of weird part-cartoon, part virtual reality video game story. Dr Mantleray is fucking a cartoon priestess in a pond in some sort of weird multi-colored land that looks totally cheesy and cool at the same time. Her body is all blue cartoon – naked – and he is part cartoon and part human. She has blue wings and he has white cartoon tentacles instead of a human lower body… but his upper body is real. We see Dr Fugita leaving a cab in the red light district and running into a ratty apartment. We briefly are flashed back to the cartoon fucking from above and then suddenly we see what is actually going on. Dr Mantleray is wearing a VR headset and is imagining fucking this priestess in the world of the headset. He also has some sort of device on his dick – don’t ask as it is used as a sight gag for the rest of the scene. He takes off the helmet and puts on his wig (he is mostly bald in real life apparently) and asks Dr Fugita what is up? She came straight into his apartment because she has a key – they were an item ? – and tells him Dr Muramoto is dead (he was free-basing A & C pills secretly) and Mantleray is going to be his replacement. (it is obvious from Mantleray’s tone that is he is on the outs and hated his old partner Muramoto.) He accepts. New Sheriff in town The subjects are bedding down to sleep for the night back at NPB. While they are sleeping Dr Mantelray is quietly brought back into the facilities. We are told that he is the inventor of this treatment. He calls the GRTA computer “Gertie”. He walks into the control room, bows deeply to the computer and speaks with GRTA and tells her that he is back because Dr Muramoto has died. He asks to see her “face” but gets no response. He goes into Muramoto’s office with Fugita and asks if Muramoto had access to a beta headset (Hulk headphones®?) and is told that yes he used them for red flag volunteers. He is worried about a data taint so they agree in order to get the most data out of the subjects they can get, they reinstate #5- Greedy man. He asks her if Muramoto (an addict) died by suicide? She says no, it must have been a mistake. The Drs get ready for bed separately. Fugita asks GRTA how she feels and GRTA says she doesn’t know. Mantleray and Fugita both go to bed in 2 drawers which come out of one of the walls of the computer and then retract into the computer with what must be no more than about 9 inches of space over where your head is. It is 13% cool and 87% horrifying. ( I do not like tight spaces) They are sleeping right over/above each other and say goodnight - Waltons style. (Fugita keeps smoking in hers though) We cut to GRTA “crying” alone at night. This is the best way to describe seeing the lights which form a face and then a light bright tear drift down -> across the floor > and back into the machine near where the cords from the 12 subjects enter the main computer. This “tear” manifests itself as a giant dollop of solder which then drips out in a physical form and falls on the two wires 1&9 together (Owen and Annie's feeds from the chairs). Morning starts and we are again shown a minature Japanese Bonsai mountain which now reminds me of the one that we saw from Hank’s (Annie’s Dad) windowsill. Mantleray greets the test subjects and tells them due to a family emergency Dr Muramoto had to go away. Annie and Owen look at each other knowingly . Mantleray gives such a wimpy, milquetoast greeting and salespitch of the test program that everyone looks like they are suddenly not so sure of his ability. They stay that way until Owen starts clapping and they all join in half heartedly. Odd Experiment Time They start that days test where everyone gets a B pill this time. Mantleray tells them to take the pill and Fugita says “let’s illuminate some blind spots” as a way to spur on the troops. (WTF?) When the main computer starts up the current from the initial spark causes the two wires with the solder to burn in together with puff of smoke. They go to green light in the room and we are immediately taken into an Owen dream. He is asleep in an easy chair watching TV. His wife calls him from the kitchen and he gets up. At this point we see that he is wearing a Houston Oilers Warren Moon jersey and he has one of the most hideous curly mullets this side of Danny McBride’s Eastbound and Down. The house interior looks to be a typical cheap suburban ranch style with wood paneling and shag carpeting which combined with the Moon jersey puts this solidly in the mid 80s timeframe. He walks into the kitchen and his wife is Annie wearing the biggest blonde Jersey hair and stone washed Mom jeans this side of ….. well you know. (Also there are handdrawn pictures on the walls which tell us immediately that they have kids) Jersey Annie – Big day today! 80s Owen – you say that everyday Jersey Annie – Well, today I mean it. Annie shows him a pot with some residual spaghetti in it and asks whether to toss or keep. Then decides without waiting for him to answer – to keep. The episode ends with Owen smiling and an old horrible country song – which I hope is fake – playing in the background……. “I have the key to escape reality. And you may see me tonight With an illegal smile It don’t cost very much But it lasts a long while, Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone No I’m just tryin’ to have me some fun Well done. Hot dog bun My sister’s a nun” (See what I mean about the song?) Edited September 24, 2018 by sjankis630 2 Link to comment
veronicalodge44 September 24, 2018 Share September 24, 2018 i liked how this premiere put us firmly in a very fleshed out world, its unique qualities evident, but not explained to us via a lot of exposition. and some of the elements, like the "ad buddy," seem like a frighteningly logical extension of the world in which we currently live. 4 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 24, 2018 Share September 24, 2018 hmmm I just read that those little pooper scooper robots are a Milgrim Industries product. How could I have missed that? 2 Link to comment
tennisgurl September 24, 2018 Share September 24, 2018 Seems interesting. The acting is all really good, and I like the way the world is being shown. Its clearly similiar to ours, but when you look a little closer, you can spot the changes (ad buddy, the new statue of liberty) and I will be interested to see where it goes from here. I have no idea what this show is even about, and I find that fascinating. 7 Link to comment
atlantaloves September 24, 2018 Share September 24, 2018 Wow, good to know, I love those little robot pooper guys......no wonder that family is so rich. We could use them in Atlanta let me tell ya! I am still loving this crazy series, especially them as a married couple in the 80's! 2 Link to comment
tennisgurl September 25, 2018 Share September 25, 2018 Its Gloria from OITNB! Weird seeing her in not prison clothes! Annie isnt a super likable person, but I did feel bad seeing what happened with her sister. I wonder if her sister is still alive. Brain damaged? Coma? Just really upset? I am already quite engaged, especially now that we have some character backstories now. This trail sounds sketchy. I also like seeing more stuff about the Alternate Universe. It seems like its a lot like our modern world, but older technology (except when it comes to virtual reality and brain stuff) and some historical/geographical differences. 3 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 25, 2018 Share September 25, 2018 (edited) Reconnaissance We open with 80s (Moon Jersey) Owen sitting in his Volvo waiting for his wife Annie to get out of the DMV. He is reading a Dr Greta book and underlines a passage “She’s often telling you what she needs. Your job as her husband is to hear it.” He is digging all of this. Inside Jersey Annie is filing a citizens report for a reckless driver and wants to get the address of the person from the license plate. The DMV lady says she can’t do it but she can file a complaint. As she looks up the license, Annie reads the screen off of the reflection in her glasses and writes the address down and leaves. Back in the car she tells Owen to drive to the address. (he thinks she is trying to get her license) They drive to the address (Owen clueless about why) and it turns out to be a store in a strip mall called, Furs By Sebastian. As they are going in Annie tells Owen that he has to distract the guy who is working in the store. (despite the fact that it is 98 degrees and who is thinking of furs at that time?) The guy comes up and starts selling Owen a fur while Annie asks to use the bathroom in order to get in the back room. (The sales guy – Sebastian – is the great Glenn Fleshler of the TV show Barry fame and the Yellow King in True Detective season one) She goes by the bathroom and spots a door with an electronic cipher lock on it and the combo is on a stickie directly above it (the combo is 1234 wtf?.) While she is back there, Owen tries on a black number and Sebastian tries to convince him to consider a bullet proof fur. Annie goes in the door and there are all of these animals in cages but she smiles when she sees a particular lemur in a cage but before she can do anything about it a guy comes into the room and she hides behind a couch. The guy sits down on the couch and starts watching TV. (he is in weight lifter pants (US Flag pattern) and shoes and has a wife- beater, and chain. He is a total meathead. Before Annie can do anything the guy’s brother comes out of the bathroom behind her and she just slips behind the bar before he sees her. (brother #1 was the guy in the diner in episode 1 who no one was listening to) While she is back there she finds out that they are making the Lemur into a hat tomorrow. (it’s the only time Joey and Matt are free – for dance rehearsal?) The older brother asks the younger to get the Lemur a V-8 (gross) and he gets one from the fridge. Then he asks him to pour it into a glass – so the lemur doesn’t cut its mouth and then he tells him to bring the V-8 for him to drink. (surprise) The younger brother blows a snot ball into the glass before he hands it over. (double gross). Annie is only able to slip out after both brothers start rehearsing a new dance number (not making this up – but it was funny seeing the two meatheads working out) When they get back to the car Annie confesses why she really wanted to go into the store. Nan – one of her patients at the nursing home where she works – had a pet lemur named Wendy and she asked Annie to make sure that after she died, that Annie takes it personally to her estranged daughter Paula. Wendy is that lemur about to be made into a hat. Right before Nan died, a couple of meatheads – 3 guesses as to who – came by the day and offered to buy the lemur from Nan but she refused. When Annie went to take it to Nan’s daughter, she had to stop to use the bathroom in a store on the way and the guys stole the lemur in a white van – which now sits out front. Owen agrees to help her break in and get it that night. Annie is overwhelmed with delight. (he has bought the Dr Greta mumbo jumbo hook line and sinker.) Annie confesses that she has an allergic reaction to one of the other animals in there (chinchilla). Prepping for the Heist Annie and Owen arrange for a babysitter to take care of their kids while they plot the next part of their plan to kidnap the lemur. There is one cute part during dinner before Annie goes to work when their daughter (they have 3 kids) tells a joke she read. She is too cute and my favorite is : “What did the Buddhist say when he walked up to the hotdog vendor?” “Make me one with everything.” The plan is Owen will pick her up after work and they will do the deed. At the nursing home we see that Annie is really good at her job and is nice and respectful to the residents. She reads to the late Nan’s roommate Harriet and asks her how it feels to see that empty bed next to hers. She says she is elated that it was not her. Back at the front desk Agent Lopez of the NY Fish and Wildlife Dept has some questions for her. Annie asks if he is a cop and he says “Sort of. There’s not much of a difference authority wise.” (Lopez is the security guy from episode one in front of Milgrim Industries. He even says the same phrase) He asks her about Nan’s lemur and what became of it because he wants to keep it from those who would sell it on the market instead of returning it to the wild. Annie plays dumb and says she has no idea where it could be and then gets slightly defensive when Agent Lopez asks to speak to Nan’s roommate Harriet. Annie says that Harriet has dementia and it would be a waste of time to speak with her. She walks away but Lopez looks suspicious. Later that night Owen is in his car waiting for Annie to get off and he is listening to a radio talk show. It is Dr Greta Mantleray and she is taking calls. (I am guess that Dr Greta must be the other Dr Mantleray’s Mother? Right before he turns off the radio a Hank from Cold Harbor calls in. Hank (Annie’s Dad?) says that he has two lovely daughters and he loves his wife but he is afraid of her she’s … click - and the radio is shut off because Annie gets in the car. Owen has brought the stuff for the heist and he got her some pills for her allergies. I give you 3 guesses what letter they are shaped like. (hint “A”). When he drives away Agent Lopez follows them secretly in a truck. In the car Annie says she read that antihistamines are bad for you because they stop your body from defending itself. (is she fighting pill B unconsciously?) Owen suggests that she doesn’t take them then. She puts them into the bag. She then pulls two of her secret weapons a squirt gun painted black to look real and a brick. She calls the brick “the key to the city” and they drive to the store with Hall and Oats “ Your out of Touch” playing on the stereo. The Heist. Annie breaks the front window of the store and they discover that there is no alarm. She tries the old combo on the cipher lock but it doesn’t work. Meanwhile, meathead #1 is returning to the store with a pizza he just bought. He sees the broken glass and goes inside and discovers the brick. Annie asks what the dancing numbers are and Owen says “five six, seven eight?” She tries those numbers and they are in. Brother number 2 is asleep on the couch watching TV so they start sneaking out with Wendy the lemur. Annie stifles a sneeze and they open the door to leave and goon number one brains both of them with the brick. When they wake up goon number one is spraying them with the squirt gun while eating pizza. Sebastian - their Dad - is also there and tells them that the lemur is his since he stole it. He says he is not sure what he will do with them but they are definitely going to watch him skin the lemur. Before he can start however, the cops are heard out front calling for them to come out with the lemur. Sebastian pulls on one of his bullet proof minks and heads over to the safe to pick up a couple of Uzis. His granddad always said the American dream is like a tree. You just keep climbing and climbing until you can almost touch the sun. And if someone tries to chop it down. You fuck ‘em in the face! (words of wisdom) He walks out like Scarface with his two Uzis and Lopez identifies themselves as Fish and Wildlife. Sebastian is incredulous. “Fish.And.Wildlife??!” “ I thought you were real fucking cops.” Lopez answers back his standard – that there is not much of a difference authority wise. Lopes has two other Fish and Wildlife guys backing him up with guns. When Sebastian refuses to come out peacefully they shoot in teargas and Sebastian unloads on them through the front glass. (“I’m a muther fucking grizzly bear and I eat fish and wildlife”) They duck for cover and return fire but are initially out gunned so they wait for him to reload. During the shootout Annie and Owen untie each other and grab Wendy the Lemur. When the brothers go forward and start shooting the second brother – the dumb one – walks out in the open and is hit with about 500 bullets in a pretty funny sequence where he dances around for a long while before finally falling. Once they see brother number 2 go down Owen and Annie leave by a side exit and get in their car with the Lemur and leave. Lopez sees them leave. Instead of going home they drive straight thru the night to Nan’s daughter’s house (Paula) to give her the lemur. Bitter Homecoming The daughter is not happy as she has received a letter from her estranged mother the day before which she reads to Annie over coffee. Annie thinks that Nan is giving her daughter Wendy as a gesture of reconciliation, but the letter states that she is giving Paula a lemur because she should not have a kid and just raise the lemur because having a daughter like her is so awful and she details all of the stuff she hated about her daughter Paula. Out in the car Owen is reading a passage form Greta’s book entitled “On Emotional Potergeists.” In it is a picture of Olivia Meadows (Owen’s crush from before) and the caption says “Olivia Meadows, your “emotional poltergeist, “ who you screamed at during your BLIP – exactly mirroring what Owen confessed to Annie in Muramoto’s office. Just as he is reading this a truck flys by – on a this residential street – which suspiciously resembles the one that hit Annie and Ellie from the Windmills episode. It literally rocks his car it was so close. Annie hears it inside and reacts but Paula doesn’t hear it. Annie says maybe Paula shouldn’t have children. Paula says she is pregnant with a baby boy. (here Annie gives her long look and for a second I am thinking that Nan was a little too much like Annie’s Mom who we have not met yet. – just a guess) She comes back out with the lemur and tells Owen to drive home. On the way home she tells Owen a sad story of how she and her sister woke up one morning and there was no one in the house. When her sister got scared she calmed her down by saying that they would make an adventure out of finding their parents. They had a long driveway and at the end of it was their father alone in his pickup truck crying. He looked at her and she just knew that her mom was dead or gone forever… or something. So she took her sister’s hand and to make her feel better they went back and made a cake and pretended it was her sister’s birthday. (she cries tenderly at this moment). Owen breaks the spell though when he asks when her parents got back together. Annie looks confused and then he reminds her that they never got divorced in the first place. Annie is flummoxed and admits that the stress must have had her thinking wrong. (this may be pill B breaking down her defenses) When they get home they pay the babysitter and Annie lies down on the couch intent on getting some rest. Owen apologizes that he can’t make her happy and Annie says that of course you make me happy and she is keeping the lemur. Owen goes to take out the trash and the Fish and Wildlife cops come rolling up on him with guns drawn - and cars riddled with bullets. He holds his hands up and confesses to the whole thing saying it was all his idea and Annie had nothing to do with it. As all this is going down an old timey radio is playing a song and Owen looks across the street and sees his brother Jed sitting in the back of what looks like a 1955 or 1956 four door Chrysler Imperial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_(automobile)#1955 They flash back to Annie and Owen in the chairs in NPB still dreaming but the episode ends. Edited September 25, 2018 by sjankis630 3 Link to comment
TvGeek September 25, 2018 Share September 25, 2018 (edited) This series is messed up but I like messed up. It's better than ordinary. I'm watching it on Netflix so I went back, paused and wrote down the subtitled convo for you: VOM (Voice on Monitor): How did he die? DR.F: I don't know yet but there were signs he was using the drug recreationally VOM: How long have you been aware of this? DR.F: I've noticed some unusual behaviors for the last month or so. Considering the many...problems we had earlier in the trial-- VOM: I thought those were handled? Dr.F: --They have been! The safety net I coded into the G.R.T.A was a success. But...considering those earlier problems, and this current impasse I have a recommendation for how we might continue. What we need, sir, is a closer, a finisher, a visionary. VOM: Inviting him here at such a critical juncture would be emabarking on a path of grave danger. DR.F: Do you want this drug to get to market sir? Don't you want to be the man responsible for healing billions of people? VOM: Last I heard, he'd left the country. Dr.F: That's not true. I know exactly where he is. Edited September 25, 2018 by TvGeek Grammar 4 Link to comment
numbnut September 25, 2018 Share September 25, 2018 (edited) I'm only one-third through the ep and I had to stop to ask: What the hell am I watching? It's like I missed the episode with the setup for this story. The long-winded explanation about the lemur doesn't explain why this isn't memory scenario. (And that massive exposition dump is lazy writing IMO.) I must have missed something. And I'll admit that I'm not paying closest attention because I'm not very intrigued by the show. OK, rant over. Edited September 25, 2018 by numbnut 5 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 21 hours ago, sjankis630 said: Numbnut - I am trying to figure it out as well. I believe the Pill B has more to do with this episode than anything else. B is supposed to expose those defense mechanisms which we use to mask the pain/etc. Assuming this is Annie's dream - and Owen is in it because GRTA's solder tear linked them together - think about that as you watch. There are some clues in the Dr Gerta radio show (listen before Owen picks her up ) and near the end there are more references to Annie's past which I think have some reference to her own mother. I am really not sure but I peeped part of the next episode - I have not started the recap - but that one looks totally different - because someone else "works their way" into Annie & Owen's dreams. Crazy. Link to comment
EdnasEdibles September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 I'm enjoying this show. It does have a very strong Eternal Sunshine feel to it but I liked that movie so I'm going with it. I will say that I worry I'm going deaf because I had to watch Sharp Objects with closed captioning on and now I am watching this show with the captions on. I feel like anytime anyone is making Good Important Dramas, they require all of the characters to mumble or whisper. I don't have to do this when I'm watching Great British Baking Show or Golden Girls reruns. 4 Link to comment
Jax7917 September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 this show reminds me a lot of Black Mirror. I'm trying to figure out if this is supposed to take place in the future or the past (because of those 1980's computers). 2 Link to comment
VCRTracking September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 (edited) I recognized one of the other "Odds" as Agnes DiPesto from Moonlighting! "When is this fucking horse gonna die?" LOL! Owen's brother really is the perfect punchable preppie douchebag. This part gutted me: Annie: Every time I take that pill, I have to live through the worst day of my life, just like you did. I have to say the worst, ugliest things I've said to anyone and it ends with the worst thing that's ever happened. I fucking love it." Owen: Why? Annie: Because I get to be with her. Damn. Edited September 28, 2018 by VCRTracking 10 Link to comment
VCRTracking September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 I love the Wes Anderson-type of feel to the production design. 3 Link to comment
VCRTracking September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 On 9/24/2018 at 8:25 PM, tennisgurl said: Annie isnt a super likable person, but I did feel bad seeing what happened with her sister. I wonder if her sister is still alive. Brain damaged? Coma? Just really upset? I am already quite engaged, especially now that we have some character backstories now. This trail sounds sketchy. I assume she's dead and when Annie talked about visiting her, it was her grave in Utah. 1 4 Link to comment
tennisgurl September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 1 hour ago, Jaclyn88 said: I'm trying to figure out if this is supposed to take place in the future or the past (because of those 1980's computers). It takes place in an Alternate Universe present, so its like 2018 in many ways, but there are some clear changes to history and culture, like the lack of cell phones, the non Statue of Liberty, the blackmail shops, and how the tech seems to be 80s in some ways, and futuristic in others. 4 Link to comment
VCRTracking September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 I enjoyed this one. I like the 80s and seeing Jonah Hill and Emma Stone still have that "Superbad" chemistry. I think the story "Linda" was telling "Bruce" about her and her little sister finding her dad in the truck was Annie's real memory. I noticed their cute daughter telling jokes is played by the same girl who played Owen's niece in the first episode. 2 Link to comment
VCRTracking September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 Emma Stone described it on Colbert as being set in a "retro-future world New York City". I like figuring it out these first few episodes what this setting is. I think that's the advantage of a Netflix limited series. Their gradually showing you pieces of this world like the robot chess playing koala. 2 Link to comment
snarktini September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 If this is how the next few episodes are going to go, it may lose me. I'm interested in the external story, what happens to Annie and Owen in the real world. Not sure I'm interested enough to watch their dreams. I'll need to see quickly how this advances their story rather than just being a writer's excuse to indulge in fantasy. 8 Link to comment
atlantaloves September 26, 2018 Share September 26, 2018 It is very like that wonderful 80's film Brazil....and this was made before personal computers. I have to give it a rest for a couple of days, it's getting too messed up even for me, but I will finish this thing. I just started the last episode and just said to myself.... NOOOOOOO.... I THINK I like it....I have to, because I AM totally GROOVY. Puff Puff. 3 Link to comment
sjankis630 September 27, 2018 Share September 27, 2018 (edited) We open on lonely back road somewhere way out in the woods and the timeframe this time seems to be 1947. "Exactly Like You" is playing on the car radio and Owen asks his driver to turn off. Owen has a ticket to a high falutin seance that night. Owen – now called Sir Oliver Hightower – is being chauffeured in a nice big sedan by a smart assed driver named Wally when they happen on a young woman walking all by herself and they pull over. It is Annie – called Arlie here (I will stick with Owen and Annie for this exercise) and she is done up in cocktail dress and big makeup. Apparently they know each other and Owen tells his driver before they come to a complete stop to drive this woman as far away as possible from him. She knocks on the window and Owen tells her that she needs a ticket for this sceance and she pulls out hers from her purse. (there is a gun in the purse as well – when will we see that again) He lets her in by getting out first – and shuts the door and Wally – his driver takes off with her in the car leaving Owen to walk the rest of the way. Cut to : Dr Fugita watching the test and showing Dr Mantleray that 1 & 9 are again back together before. They check out the machine to see if there is an issue and can’t find anything directly wrong without stopping the experiment. Dr Fugita says she will try to uncouple them manually and calls Mantleray “Sir.” Mantleray says we have been intimate you don’t have to call me sir. Seance P1 Owen arrives and is let in by a butler- after he shows him the ticket (who earlier played his supervisor who fired him) – there is heavy security – what is being protected? The butler makes a show of using a key to let him into the house and Owen comes into a grand house with an even grander hallway. As he walks down the hallway others take notice and ask if he is as big a fan of Cervantes as they are. He walks up to an owl perched in the hallway just in time for Olivia (in period dress) to tell him that owls were once the moon incarnate as they lead us someplace safe everytime. She hopes Owen will take him under her wing but he only works solo. When we again see Owen he is doing magic tricks and regaling the guests in one of the rooms. He claims he became “Sir” Owen(Ollie) by betting a member of royalty he could do a trick and the nobleman couldn’t figure out how he did it. if he fooled him then the nobleman would have to give him his "sir" designtion. Just then Annie walks in and Owen gives her an annoyed glance. When prompted Owen shows a simple card trick but uses the butler from earlier as his mark. When the butler leans in – Owen secretly snatches his master key. The trick is he names a card – 9 of hearts – and Owen produces it from the top of the deck. Olivia asks about Annie – is she your partner – no Owen says, she’s just my wife. Annie is getting her fortune told by a tarot card reader. Her fortune is “Sudden changes and destruction will lead to your liberation." Owen walks up and asks how Annie got away from Wally his driver. She says that people have a hard time telling her no. Séance P2 Here Owen claims that he is there for the missing chapter of Don Quixote by Cervantes. Annie claims to not know what he is talking about. The butler asks if anyone feels someone’s presence in the room, vibrating among us? At this moment we are flashed back to Dr Fugita who is seeing more issues with GRTA. GRTA is trying to actively participate in the experiment. She explains to Dr Mantleray that GRTA has entered the experiment. We are introduced to Lady Neberdine (Sally Field – Dr Greta - GRTA get it? ) who makes a grand entrance with two identical twins (young blondes) and a very creepy, dead zombie like Dr Muramoto wearing an old timey version of the Hulk Headphones ® which is really a old football helmet with a series of tubes with lights on the ends of them. (I didn’t even recognize him the first time I watched this) GRTA has arrived. Fugita admits to Mantleray that GRTA is depressed and might be behaving unpredictably. (ya think?) Dr Greta is surprised to see Owen and Annie together as she heard they had split up. As Owen goes to get Annie a drink – really to slip out to steal the missing chapter while everyone is distracted – Dr Greta introduces dead Muramoto simply as “Robert” who shakes Annie’s hand. When Annie asks WTF? Dr Greta says “ It’s so hard to keep those we’ve lost in our lives – don’t you agree.” (no shit) Then she grabs onto Annie like a drowning woman on the Titanic. Annie goes looking for Owen but before she can find him she disappears right out of the house – just like creepy Jed. We actually then see Fugita in the lab exclaiming “gotcha” She has succeeded in getting Annie away from Owen. (funny since she left just like Jed did a strange part of me wonders if Owen was not ever put under before?) Annie suddenly wakes up in the testing chamber still in her 1947 dress and makeup sitting in the dentist chair but she is all alone. A little girl is standing there watching her and leaves the room with Annie trailing after her. Finding Cervante’s lost treasure We are back with Owen giving an office the once over looking for the book or some sort of clue when Annie suddenly reappears on the couch and scares him. Annie offers to make him a gimlet and he asks if she still poisons them. She claims only that one time when she spiked his drink, stole his money and he ended up in jail for 3 years on the sister Wendy job. (this is from Furs By Sebastian – Wendy the Lemur) and She immediately proves she lied earlier by telling us why the lost chapter is so valuable. When he finished it, Cervantes realizes it that it is so powerful that whenever someone reads it they slip into a powerful coma lost in their own fantasies forever. She claims to be there to help Owen. She tells Owen it is hidden in a mirror in the house and they should work as a team – just like old times. The main event of the séance is a dance around – speaking to Juno & Diana (Luna goddess) – Greta calls for Owen and Annie to …. Dance. They step into a circle of candles and the butler says we have reached maximum illumination (shades of the NPB study startup) and dead Muramoto steps in to help. They are to dance and when the song “Exactly Like You” is played Owen now says that they are playing their song. They do a dance that is a cross between 1940s group dance and Myan ritual with about as much energy as a group of 5th graders asked to square dance . In the middle of the dance Fugita grabs Annie out again, to everyone’s astonishment, and Greta claims she has gone to the astral plane (via joystick – lol). Olivia joins the dance as her replacement but Owen leaves as well and is trailed by some big security dude in a tux. We are then taken back to Annie still walking in the lab (in her 1940s getup ) alone and at their rest pods finds two girls. One is the original one from before and the other is an older girl. This is supposed to be her and her sister Ellie playing but in the background you can hear adults arguing loudly and it scares the younger girl but the older girl distracts her by having her recount a story and apply makeup. Owen walks back toward the front of the house and lets himself into a door when he see s a light shaking. It turns out that Annie is climbing the light to get into a section of the house above the foyer. Owen is waiting for her and they wait until the goons looking for them pass. While they wait, a naked couple fucking stop and both tell them that they are not supposed to be there (?). On their way to the mirror, Owen sees Jed again. Jed tells Owen that “Jed and I were twins in the womb, but he strangled me with the umbilical cord and then coughs up “extoplasm” - Gertie’s nuts he says. At the mirror – which an old crow told her – Annie spins the mirror around about 3 times and suddenly the room behind them is transformed into a different part of the mansion. It also looks like it is suddenly daytime. He opens the safe and the missing chapter is about 2 inches square. Owen claims it is thus because people were a lot smaller back then. (LOL) He hides it in a box of matches but when he turns around Annie has pulled a gun on him. She wants the chapter and he gives it up. He leaves and Annie sits down to open the chapter (in order to make herself comatose??) and realizes that Owen has switched the chapter for a playing card. Annie is back in the lab again but now alone and sees in the fake mountain range that there is a little toy red truck – like the one her sister died in - smoking at the bottom of the mountain. When she picks it up the headlights flash into her eyes …… Dr Mantleray investigates. …and wakes up in a separate lab room back at NPB with Dr Mantleray shining a light in her eyes. She is seated at a table – with multiple mics and cameras there to record everything she does. The B pill experiment is complete but no other patients are around just her. She is now ready for the Proximity Test used to crosscheck the data that they have cleaned so GRTA can get a better reading for Pill C. Behind him on the wall is a digital counter set to 0.0 and he tells her that he is sorry for her sister’s loss. She is going to be scored (counter behind Mantleray) based on her answers and what they have observed with GRTA in the experiment. The scale is 0 -10 and anything below 9.2 and she is out of the experiment. She must be truthful She says the B pill gave her a bunch of experiences. She admits to being depressed and has been for a long time. She recounts being Linda from Long Island (episode 4) and in the other one Arlie – a thief and con artist (and a liar). What about Owen? Mantleray asks – they were connected (as new Jersey Annie he was always there.) Why did she have this experiences with him? She mentions he always tells her "the pattern is the pattern" but she just thought he was crazy. She mentions that Paula Nazlund – Nan’s daughter from Episode 4 who is the mother of the truck driver who kit their car and killed Ellie and Annie fantasizes that he had never been born. (would this have saved Ellie?) She admits that she wants to get stuff she goes for it and didn’t care who she hurt. Mantleray asks if she is suicidal she says no. Annie says that Arlie (1947 Annie) is her mother. That Annie charms people and then stabs them in the back. (she is acting just like dear old Mom and it disturbs her) Annie says she and her sister had a pact that Annie would care for Ellie when they were young and Ellie would help out Annie when they were older. At this point her score is 9.2 (she gets to stay ) and a report comes off the printer which shows she has borderline personality disorder. Back at the 1947 mansion Dr Greta asks Owen for his report. He was working security the whole time. He tells her that her security sucks and hands her back the tiny missing chapter. She claims that the chapter “doesn’t work” because she already tried. On his way out Olivia still wants to be a partner (she told him where the safe was?) but he works alone. He gets back in his car and his driver tells him that Annie actually shot him in order to convince him to return. (just like all of the other cases). Owen says that “it didn’t work out between them and life is simple as hell until you bring on a partner……" The episode ends as they are woken up and Annie is no where to be found. Edited September 28, 2018 by sjankis630 3 Link to comment
VCRTracking September 27, 2018 Share September 27, 2018 What I start to like about the show is that it is explaining some stuff that's going on so it makes sense and isn't just ambiguous. Like the daughter who didn't want the lemur in the previous episode's dream is the mother of the truck driver who killed Annie's sister. There's still plenty of mystery but we're not completely in the dark. 3 Link to comment
tennisgurl September 28, 2018 Share September 28, 2018 Owens brother really is just the perfect awful rich asshole. Totally the guy who thinks Every Breath You Take is super romantic and something he should sing to his future wife. So now the new scientist arrives, and he is...sure a lot of something. I still am unclear about what is really going on here, as I am pretty sure its not just about some clinical trails for a new drug, but I am here to find out. GRTA the computer is apparently going through something, and actually cried into the lab. Lets see where that is going! 3 Link to comment
tennisgurl September 28, 2018 Share September 28, 2018 So, is this what the show is going to do next? Put Annie and Owen in different costumes and time periods, have them act out scenarios to deal with their issues? I mean, thats interesting, but, I dont know if I want to watch several episodes of it. Loved the wildlife service guy getting super excited about actually being in a gunfight. Well, the dream guy in a dream gunfight. Do you see why this is difficult? 7 Link to comment
atlantaloves September 28, 2018 Share September 28, 2018 I'm trying to get through this show, almost through....Good God From Zion it is crazy, but I have to say I truly enjoyed the Lemer caper. Link to comment
sjankis630 September 30, 2018 Share September 30, 2018 (edited) Welcome back to the study with everyone coming out of the B pill study. Mantleray asks why he has all of his experiences with subject 9 (Annie) and Owen answers that he gets fixated on people. He is also interrogating the other odd numbered test subjects. Asian woman is crying and has lied about her cutting herself (she doesn’t) and the black guy has issues with his father and mother. The black guy intuits that Mantleray has been fucked up by his mother. (LOL) Annie is missing when Owen awakes and he is then interrogated by Dr Mantleray. He gets his 9.2 when he finally admits that what’s wrong isn’t that he is sick it is because he doesn’t matter. The printout tells him that he has signs of paranoid schizophrenia, delusional identity construct (Grisson ?) and perpetual cowardice. When he goes back to the common room Annie confronts him about their sharing dreams. Owen denies it and says that it was caused by the drug and she hallucinated all of it. Mommie Dearest part 1 Mantleray and Fugita discuss why he was called back. It turns out after he was suspended they started having problems with the C pill phase. So bad they had 4 McMurphys! (? Assuming these are suicides) This disturbs Mantleray very much. “Why did you not call me” he asks. Dr Fugita coded a safety net into the GRTA core. She gave the machine empathy (feelings) in order to help the subjects and GRTA started protecting the patients. It worked initially but now GRTA won’t function correctly. GRTA and Muramoto had an affair and GRTA is now in mourning since he has died. Fugita implores Mantleray to call his mother but he refuses. He tells her that his mother sells happiness. The patients are paired off and they discuss how they are worried about the study. They discuss their diagnostic printouts etc and Mantleray goes to have a heart to heart with GRTA. He wants her cooperation. He is desperate for the study to be successful. GRTA wants to meet her true self – his mother Dr Greta. The Real GRTA Sally Field – Dr Greta is in her apartment trying to work on a manuscript. She has a bandana on her head like a cancer patient and a young boyfriend living with her. Dr Mantleray calls her and asks her to come and help the study. (he is very reluctant and Dr Fugita has to all but threaten him while he is on the phone.) She refuses until he apologizes and is sad that Dr Muramoto has died. Once he apologizes, she turns all soft and starts calling him Jamie in a kid like voice. He asks her to help out his critical employee (GRTA) who can’t work anymore and has asked for Dr Greta. (while this is going on, Dr Greta’s boyfriend comes out attached to what must be her iv drip (for cancer?) She agrees and tells her man to “gas up the Miata.” Annie and Owen have a heart to heart discussion in his pod. He still acts like he was not in all of those dreams and she calls him on it. She forces him to admit that he remembers all of their joint dreams. She is starting to see that maybe Owen had a point when he came in about the pattern etc. Owen tells her he has decided to leave the experiment as he has too much going on with the upcoming trial and everything. He wants a calm life and not this series of adventures in his dreams. Owen admits that he wanted to go away with her – to escape. The orderly comes by and tells them to knock it off – no cohabitation. Dr Greta comes to the NPB and immediately comes over to her son and plants a wet kiss right on his mouth. (he had just applied chapstic like he was going to his first prom – ‘da fuck!) Her kiss leaves lipstick all over his lips and it stays there for a long time. She is introduced to Dr Fugita – Greta is dismissive clearly seeing a rival - and they walk into the office. She is more agreeable to Dr Mantleray than she was earlier on the phone. Mantleray tells her of how he plucked Fugita from MIT and she helped him to build the most advanced computer system (GRTA) in the world. He tells her that 2 of the subjects have had consciousnesses crossing and they don’t know why. Dr Greta suggests they might be soul mates, they may have a cosmic connection. Mantleray laughs that off. Greta goes right in asking if he and Fugita have been an item and he admits yes (while Fugita denies it). Greta says that she knows about his sexual issues and this keeps him from successful long term relationships. Mantleray claims that he has that under control (he is very defensive here as his mom is getting under his skin.) She then brings up his masturbation binges after his father left. (disappeared?)… . Greta asks why she was picked to talk with GRTA since she is not technical. Fugita tells her that Dr Greta’s early academic work is the basis for the AI for GRTA. (her PHD before her pop therapy) Greta is offended. “How many of your subjects have ended up catatonic? – Mantleray – Zero ….. roughly. (LOL) Greta is made to understand that when they stopped speaking – 7 years ago – he invented this drug treatment to put his mother out of business. Greta agrees to do it but Mantleray has some misgivings about his mother tainting the project. Fugita sets him straight. He is on the cusp of getting everything he ever dreamed of if his Mom can help. Besides she didn’t leave the project after he got thrown off originally because she wanted to manage Muramoto and is completely committed to project ULP. If they get this to market the lives of billions of people could change and he could be a hero. Welcome to the machine. Mantleray and Fugita mix up a concoction of what looks like a freebase (assuming here it is pills A & C like Muramoto?) and they have Greta inhale the heated up mixture through the same tube we saw Dr Muramoto using in an earlier episode. She is also wearing the Hulk Headphones ® and laying in one of the sleeping drawers that GRTA has. She takes a hit and slides into the computer and tells Mantleray that she knows exactly what he needs. He says what??! While they wait sipping sake, Mantleray tells Fugita what happened when he was eight and his father left. Greta slept in his bed for two months and threatened to hang herself. Owen has packed up that night and goes to leave the situation room. The door is locked and everyone is asleep and he is called into the computer area by GRTA (note now Greta is now one with the machine?). GRTA speaks in a voice similar to that of Greta (not sure here) and asks why Owen wants to leave. Owen: I no longer know what is real and I need a real hospital with real medication. GRTA: What about all of your friends here? I’m going to kill them if you go. (WTF?) Owen: What? GRTA: I’m going to “cure” them all if you go Owen and you’ll be the only one who wasn’t helped. Owen: you can’t cure me. there is no cure for schizophrenia. GRTA: Annie has suffered like me. I think I am going to keep her with the other subjects I collected. Owen: What does that mean about Annie? GRTA unlocks the door calling herself the Queen. Owen checks it and it is indeed unlocked. He can’t leave Annie. The next morning they are given the C pill for the final part of the experiment. (Confrontation and Acceptance). Owen tells Annie that they don’t have to do the experiment and they could walk away right now. Annie says that she feels better and wants to see the experiment through. Before they go into the experiment Owen recounts to Annie how his hawk he nursed back to health ate his brother Jed’s gerbil. He also tells her that his brother killed the hawk with a hammer. It sounds like Jed has anger issues could this be what the case is about? Owen is worried about going back in there but Annie says don’t worry we will be together again and can protect each other. Dr Mantleray runs the C Pill start up by yelling in Japanese and getting the all Japanese tech crew all riled up to get going …. They take the pills and are warned that the C phase use a more powerful waveform so don’t be alarmed about an additional buzzing or warmth… but do be afraid about the machine gun toting fur coat baddies and trucks out of control? They take the pills and are dreaming … into confrontation….. We see Annie’s dream and she and her sister Ellie are both elves out in the frozen tundra and they are dressed like rejects from Game of Thrones or something……. The episode ends. Edited September 30, 2018 by sjankis630 Link to comment
VCRTracking October 1, 2018 Share October 1, 2018 If the part of the real Greta wasn't written specifically for Sally Field in mind I don't who was. Nobody else could have played her! 2 Link to comment
iMonrey October 1, 2018 Share October 1, 2018 Spoilers abound . . . I thought I would create a topic where the season as a whole could be discussed. Feel free to merge this into the 10th episode topic once it's created if you feel that's appropriate. Overall, I thought the series was just too strange. The whole drug experiment was enough of an acid trip to give the story its batshit crazy bonafides. But they topped that off by setting this thing in a weird, semi-dystopian alternate reality and that prevented me from really connecting with the story or any of the characters. When you're thrust into a strange, alternate reality that in so many ways mirrors your own but then again doesn't it's unsettling. I'm sure that's the desired effect, but when you're not sure what the rules are, you're not sure whether you're invested. At any given moment, police might show up and arrest someone for something you don't even understand. In many ways this series was pure character study, and that was fine and I liked how it ended. But I think it may have been a tad over-ambitious, and a lot of the fantasy sequences definitely felt self-indulgent and went on for too long. At the end of the day, I'd say it was a hit and a miss. 7 Link to comment
TheNewJanBrady October 1, 2018 Share October 1, 2018 I have no idea what to expect and am going to just go along for the ride! 1 Link to comment
tennisgurl October 2, 2018 Share October 2, 2018 I think I am started to figure some of this out. The are basically working their stuff out through these imaginary scenarios, maybe with both of them seeing these characters as variations of their family? Or parts of their lives that they like or dont like? I thought the 1940s era was fun, and Emma and Jonah both do good work with period pieces. I am kind of enjoying just seeing the various stories they get thrust into, but it does leave me with a bit of disconnect. I get that a lot of what we see is metaphorical, but its hard to tell how much is actually saying something, and how much is just random. I am weirdly invested in the depressed computer. At least we always know where the computer stands. 2 Link to comment
sjankis630 October 2, 2018 Share October 2, 2018 I like the depressed computer and like that Owen and Annie are "connected." But I believe that we are seeing mostly Annie's point of view on some these things (or at least her stories are the most interesting). I am not 100% sure Owen's story of his attempted suicide at Jed's engagement party wasn't made up because Muramato pressed him about taking the pill. I loved the set and would love to see the actual house where they filmed this. Also I thought that Emma Stone did some excellent acting at the end of this episode after she was "shown the light." 1 Link to comment
VCRTracking October 2, 2018 Share October 2, 2018 13 hours ago, iMonrey said: Spoilers abound . . . I thought I would create a topic where the season as a whole could be discussed. Feel free to merge this into the 10th episode topic once it's created if you feel that's appropriate. Overall, I thought the series was just too strange. The whole drug experiment was enough of an acid trip to give the story its batshit crazy bonafides. But they topped that off by setting this thing in a weird, semi-dystopian alternate reality and that prevented me from really connecting with the story or any of the characters. When you're thrust into a strange, alternate reality that in so many ways mirrors your own but then again doesn't it's unsettling. I'm sure that's the desired effect, but when you're not sure what the rules are, you're not sure whether you're invested. At any given moment, police might show up and arrest someone for something you don't even understand. In many ways this series was pure character study, and that was fine and I liked how it ended. But I think it may have been a tad over-ambitious, and a lot of the fantasy sequences definitely felt self-indulgent and went on for too long. At the end of the day, I'd say it was a hit and a miss. I liked a lot of it but I agree. It's not on the same level as season 1 of Cary Joji Fukonawa's previous work, season 1 of True Detective or Westworld or the Twin Peaks revival but I think it works as kind of an interesting little story with good performances and set design. Also, while the overall world is quirky, and odd with the retro futuristic tech and things the I didn't find it so outrageously weird that it was off putting. I don't think it's even "dystopian"(it looks fun compared to the world we live in now), just heightened. 1 Link to comment
EdnasEdibles October 4, 2018 Share October 4, 2018 I finished it last night. I really enjoyed the Jonah Hill/Emma Stone parts but I did not enjoy the computer or Justin Theroux parts. To me, at times it seemed like a bad rip-off of Wes Anderson and Charlie Kaufman - and to take the Charlie Kaufman angle - when you look at something like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which is a good comparison movie for this series---it's weird and scifi and makes up it's own rules about science, but Eternal Sunshine had an overall message about grief and love and relationships and how even painful experiences can teach us good lessons. I'm not sure what the overall message about mental health was with this. I mean, I think there was a little bit of a message of "You can't just push people away because you've got mental health issues." But that could have been stronger. I've also seen some discussion that there is belief out there that they never woke up and that the world they experience at the end is still fantasy world. I don't know how I feel about that. I think the series works better if we assume they did wake up. If they didn't, there's no point to any of this. I didn't hate it but if it had a second season, I wouldn't watch the second season. 4 Link to comment
tennisgurl October 5, 2018 Share October 5, 2018 Sally Field really was made to play Greta! I love the extra layer she adds to all of this. Kind of interesting ruminating on what the stories mean, or what they dont mean. Really, I want to know more about the computer and Roberts apparently torrid affair, and the computer becoming depressed after he died. 1 Link to comment
atlantaloves October 6, 2018 Share October 6, 2018 Yeah I finished it only because I felt I had to, it was pretty bad, a waste of talent. It was either really clever, or just insane, and I mean totally insane. Nope, I am sure this is the end of this little netflix ditty. Link to comment
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