S01E04: Unclaimed Baggage

[stealinghome]

2 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Yeah, I was also wondering if we're going to hear more about that.

Yeah, especially as I suspect the boiler room may become a base of operations and the stowaway guy is living there now, AND Michaela promised to look for the guy who disappeared, it seems like we may well hear more about the missing guy in the future.

[CJBinATX]

I can't be the only one watching this thinking, "Don't blink."

Tell me I'm not the only one. 

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, CJBinATX said:

I can't be the only one watching this thinking, "Don't blink."

Tell me I'm not the only one. 

I've never even watched Doctor Who and I was thinking it.

[Fiddler1]

1 hour ago, CJBinATX said:

I can't be the only one watching this thinking, "Don't blink."

Tell me I'm not the only one. 

That's all I could think about!  Straight up copy of those Dr Who angels who STILL give me nightmares!

[Arnella]

Am I the only one who thinks Ben had more chemistry with Saanvi in their short scenes than with Grace these 4 whole episodes?  I don't want anymore soap opera angsty trianges (quadrangles?) - I'm just sayin'...

[AriAu]

Quote

And why the hell doesn't Ben just get a damn job? If colleges and universities aren't hiring, do private tutoring or look for something in a different sector. Bag groceries at Publix if you have to.

Cuz its only been like 2 weeks since they got back...yet they have solved 2 major crimes, helped cure cancer and saved a stowaway who loved Angels in America. The whole time line thing is just getting more and more ridiculous. The only thing that made sense was grandpa taking Cal away for some fishing....that is something that would actually happen in the first 2 weeks after someone re-appeared.

I hate starting every sentence with "It makes no sense..." but it makes no sense that Ben, Michaela, Flight Attendant and Saanvi (or the other 24) would put themselves in danger with the government (I cant say NSA, since as pointed out above, it would not be NSA....FBI maybe, CIA certainly). at this point, other than the ominous music whenever the agent comes on screen, the government has done nothing to lead our 3 (or 28) heroes to conclude that the government is the enemy/out to get them/the bad guys.

Has Grace gone to work yet? By the way, other than NOT explaining to her husband that things are complicated and telling him more about Olive, I don't think she did anything wrong-the other guy was part of their lives after the husband died.

By the way, there is NO WAY I would pay back the life insurance. Yes, some actuary directed them to send the letter, but I would put the company in PR hell if they tried to get the money back. I am sure they could argue a "mutual mistake of fact" or find something in the 100 pages of small print in the contract, but I would make them pay loooooong before I would write any check to an INSURANCE COMPANY!!!!!

[Enero]

16 hours ago, GaT said:

And that's a big problem IMO. It's already starting to get boring, we need some answers, not a "rescue" every week.

Starting? It’s already mind numbingly boring. I’ve tried with this show but I just can’t anymore. Can’t even hate watch, which is something I rarely do, because there is absolutely nothing interesting about this show. 

The characters are dull as dishwater. I don’t give a rat’s ass about any of them, and the plot seems to be all over the place. I was going to give this one more episode, but after watching last night’s episode, I’ve decided this show has nothing I wish to follow or see...well I take that back. It did in Josh Dallas, but even he can’t  keep me interested in this dull mess. 

[tennisgurl]

Oh snap, the Weeping Angels are trying to take Manhattan again! 

This show isnt amazing or anything, but I am enjoying it more and more. I think the actors are settling more into their roles, and focusing more on Ben is a really good idea, as Josh Dallas is a ridiculously likable actor, who can make these good guy type roles and really make them feel human. And we finally got what he does for a living! So if anyone needs math powers, he is the one to call! 

The stuff with the stowaway was quite good, I felt really bad for him and his lost boyfriend. I hope we see more of him and the flight attendant, I want to know if he became sick just naturally, or if it was because of the flight. I still have no idea where the mystery is going, which I think is a good thing. I also liked the mystery, and how the angel from Angels in America got involved. 

I assume the stuff with the life insurance policy is sketchy as hell and nonsense, but it got Josh Dallas to wear glasses and do math stuff, which I find to be weirdly attractive, so I dont mind the details. What, I can be shallow every once in awhile!

I continue to wonder if they are going to have Ben and Saanvi end up together, and Grace with her boyfriend. I like Saanvi better anyway, she is actually being proactive about all this, and they have a bit of chemistry. I get that Grace is in a bad situation, but while she seems to be trying to re-commit to Ben, she has obviously not fully called it off either, leaving them all in some kind of weird love triangle no mans land. 

[Camera One]

Although I'm liking the characters and the show is mildly engaging, the plot is quite implausible on many fronts.  There is no way the other flight attendants wouldn't notice/ask about the stowaway.  As mentioned above, there's no way he would have gotten out of the secure area. 

Meanwhile, Saanvi and the flight attendant would have been captured on the video surveillance at the hospital, so there's no way they would be able to keep the stowaway hidden.  

I liked the math equation scene, but I agree it's laughable the takeaway from all those calculations is to take out another loan that they will pay back whenever.  Shouldn't there be be precision with how long it would take to pay back?  

You'd think Michaela would have learned the lesson from freeing the dogs that the voices are imprecise about who to save.  Yet she went in there guns blazing.  Was there no other way to check up on their operative?

The brain expert compared Saanvi's brain scan to the stowaway, who he diagnosed with having schizophrenia.  But he didn't have schizophrenia.  All that confirms is two passengers from the flight have similar brain abnormalities.  

Since there are 191 passengers, I guess Season 1 is helping the first 20 people, and by Season 8, we'll get to the 191st?  

I wish we had seen Ben build his database of passengers but somehow, we skipped over that.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Camera One

[kili]

Quote

Has Grace gone to work yet? 

Last week she was at a commercial kitchen talking to Andrew about Danny and squeezing lemons on something she took out of the oven.

[albinerhawk]

I have to admit that I watched the first few episodes out of a feeling of obligation and hope that it would get better. This episode I actually found gripping. 

I think I really felt for the Ben and Olive dynamic for the first time. So far she has been written as a generic, angsty teenager, who Ben was having trouble adjusting to parenting to. This episode I really felt like there was more to Olive. When comparing her situation to Grace's, I would say she had it far worse. At the age of ten, she lost a beloved daddy and a very close twin. I feel like most of Grace's woes have been tied to her having to keep the family together while Olive's entire world as she knew it was shattered. That being said, every person's motivation in this storyline rang true to me: Ben bonding with Olive by agreeing not to tell, Danny coming through to help out his surrogate daughter and later telling Grace, Grace feeling upset that Ben was keeping things from her, and Olive acting out but later finding a way to communicate with her dad. 

That being said, I also liked the other storyline of the night with Thomas. It was well written and compelling, but it also left me hungry for more that I hope will not leave me hanging. I love shows with mysteries like this. In the pilot, Michaela promised that over the next few weeks that the group of passengers would become very close. However, the mystery of the week motif makes me feel like we'll focus on a different passenger and then drop them. This is not them coming together. I love that flight attendant and Thomas, and I hope they stay in the circle. I'm intrigued by a comment in the second episode made by the pilot that indicated he too was having visions or hearing voices. My concern is that we've already lost the father and son characters from the second episode. Wasn't the father hearing things too?

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 10/16/2018 at 1:52 PM, GaT said:

That would be too much like the numbers on Lost, 4 8 15 16 23 42 

 

But we've already had examples where 828 has just showed up at random -- the digital clock in the mall last episode, and the street address where the 2 kidnapped girls were located.

Edited October 19, 2018 by ottoDbusdriver

[green]

9 hours ago, AV8n said:

The angel statue was totally a Doctor Who ripoff.

Actually it was a (accidental) shout-out to The Amazing Race as the Bethesda Fountain was THE starting line for THE first ever Amazing Race filmed back in March of 2001 and shown the following fall.  That was the only thing really positive I could take from this episode. 

When I saw the Bethesda Fountain at the end I briefly forgot about the whole mess I watched the previous hour and went down memory lane happily thinking again about Kevin & Drew, Nancy & Emily, The Guidos etc as well as Phil taking off on what he termed "a race like none other in history" to find "the smoke that thunders" on Leg 1 again.  Maybe next week I'll pull out my Season 1 TAR DVDs and watch those on Monday night instead.

Edited October 17, 2018 by green

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, AriAu said:

By the way, there is NO WAY I would pay back the life insurance. Yes, some actuary directed them to send the letter, but I would put the company in PR hell if they tried to get the money back. I am sure they could argue a "mutual mistake of fact" or find something in the 100 pages of small print in the contract, but I would make them pay loooooong before I would write any check to an INSURANCE COMPANY!!

You and me, both, @AriAu!
??high 5?? 
You throw the legalities at Megabucks Life Insurance Corps while I give them sob stories that will make them beg us to keep the money.

 

 

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Oh snap, the Weeping Angels are trying to take Manhattan again! 

Heh.

 

 

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

Although I'm liking the characters and the show is mildly engaging, the plot is quite implausible on many fronts.  There is no way the other flight attendants wouldn't notice/ask about the stowaway.  As mentioned above, there's no way he would have gotten out of the secure area.

My dear @Camera One, your list of implausibilities is probably just beginning and totally correct, but, hey, this is a show in which an Airbus went through a wormhole, so, ya know, Improbable Is Us is kind of the writers' motto.
Still, I'd have to agree that the story of the plane traveling through a time warp would probably have been more effective if there weren't quite so many other random impossibilities happening. 
But then again, it's kind of like a slightly warped mirror of this moment in world history.

[Camera One]

16 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

hey, this is a show in which an Airbus went through a wormhole, so, ya know, Improbable Is Us is kind of the writers' motto.
Still, I'd have to agree that the story of the plane traveling through a time warp would probably have been more effective if there weren't quite so many other random impossibilities happening. 
But then again, it's kind of like a slightly warped mirror of this moment in world history.

LOL, that is true.  Though my expectation with sci-fi/fantasy shows is that I will swallow the crazy premise willingly (in this case, I will give them the 5-year wormhole and the weird voices), but beyond that, the rules of everyday life and the everyday world needs to be believable.

[Moose135]

30 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

this is a show in which an Airbus went through a wormhole

Actually, it was a Boeing...well, unless it shapeshifted along the way. ;-)

[Hannah Lee]

On 10/16/2018 at 9:18 AM, LilaFowler said:

I'm puzzled about where the show is trying to go with this. The maid confessed to killing Kelly Taylor, so there was no actual shadow killer in that episode. However, Cal drew one in his picture of the family. Unless a shadow killer isn't a specific entity following survivors around, it's just someone or something in their life that is an imminent threat.

 

Is the "shadow killer" supposed to be the same person Cal was drawing in the family picture last episode?  I just thought that was Danny...that Cal was somehow sensing there's another person in their lives.  (The outlined figure was next to Grace, in between her and Ben)

[Moose135]

15 minutes ago, Hannah Lee said:

I just thought that was Danny...that Cal was somehow sensing there's another person in their lives.  (The outlined figure was next to Grace, in between her and Ben)

That's how I take it as well.

[luvapickle]

On ‎10‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 11:26 AM, sempervivum said:

Yeah, really, show? You couldn't find a non-Hispanic, non-bearded actor to play one of those parts? Stupid (unless their similarity ends up being a plot point)

I eye-rolled at Ben scribbling complex formulas feverishly for hours (on a whiteboard no less) and coming up with 'get a loan'. I thought that the fact that Grace had paid off their mortgage would open them to having the house taken away to repay the insurance money. How likely is it that they can even get a loan with shaky incomes and a huge debt hanging over them? Will a bank lend money for the express purpose of replaying a debt? Ben specifically said a 'small business loan', so I would think they'd have to prove to the lender that the loan was directly going toward the business.

"Yeah, really, show? You couldn't find a non-Hispanic, non-bearded actor to play one of those parts? Stupid (unless their similarity ends up being a plot point)"

Lol, they're not that similar. 

[Moose135]

25 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

When he goes for an interview, what is going to be his answer when he is asked, "What have you been doing for the last five and a half years?".

The past 5 1/2 years of his life, he's been a college professor.  It's big enough news in the world that all the explanation he needs is to tell them he was on Flight 828.

[Haleth]

Man, that was really crappy of Michaela to let her ex take the heat for her impetuous actions. What if it had cost him his job?  Her feeble attempt to do the right thing, which was shot down by her brother, wasn't a good look. Nice to know she'll have a loved one's back. 

Note to Ben and Grace:  Keeping secrets is not good for a healthy marriage. 

[staphdude]

20 hours ago, Arnella said:

Am I the only one who thinks Ben had more chemistry with Saanvi in their short scenes than with Grace these 4 whole episodes?  I don't want anymore soap opera angsty trianges (quadrangles?) - I'm just sayin'...

I have said all along he should dump weepy “conflicted” Grace and get with the GORGEOUS Doctor. Glad he is starting to call out Grace for continuing with the replacement behind his back.

4 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Man, that was really crappy of Michaela to let her ex take the heat for her impetuous actions. What if it had cost him his job?  Her feeble attempt to do the right thing, which was shot down by her brother, wasn't a good look. Nice to know she'll have a loved one's back. 

Note to Ben and Grace:  Keeping secrets is not good for a healthy marriage. 

Michaela is too impetuous when it comes to following the visions and no matter what anyone says you don’t put someone in that position without giving them some of your trust and a truthful explanation.

[SoapDoc]

4 hours ago, luvapickle said:

Yeah, really, show? You couldn't find a non-Hispanic, non-bearded actor to play one of those parts?

They do favor a bit on this show -- except in height. Perhaps the showrunners didn't care much-- best actors for the role and all. 

However, only one of two actors is Hispanic. Daniel Sunjata is African American, Irish, and German. Maybe he will shave the beard to help us out here.

My son (who was just walking by) actually mentioned how different Daniel looks on this show. We both had watched Graceland. Daniel seems to be heavier now I think. But not unattractive by any stretch.... 

Oh, Graceland - the first year was lit!

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, staphdude said:

Michaela is too impetuous when it comes to following the visions and no matter what anyone says you don’t put someone in that position without giving them some of your trust and a truthful explanation.

You'd think she'd realize the "instruction" isn't necessarily referring to whatever is the obvious thing in her line of sight after the first one when she thought she was supposed to set the dogs free and it turned out to be the kidnapped girls she was supposed to rescue.

[mojito]

Quote

I wish we could see the 828ers talk about what they are experiencing more.

They'd have a tough time doing this and staying under the government's radar. But, I do wish that the show would shift main characters and not focus on this brother-sister duo. 

As for Saanvi being the only one who is doing anything....she's the only one who's a doctor involved in research, Michaela's got a full-time job as a cop, and Ben is looking for work. Really, what could anyone do other than scientifically study the 828 people? Launch an investigation into statues? Set up a dragnet for shadow figures? 

There would be no point in Michaela stepping up for Jared. That would make matters worse if he's her superior (or at least, the lead detective) and she says, "I made him do it." Wouldn't look good for him. Better to admit to your own bad decision than admit to going along with someone else's bad decision.

I hope this show doesn't go all religious on us and tells us that the shadowy figure is SIN/EVIL. Ugh. 

I don't want this show to bog down in personal entanglements. Just address (quickly) the already existing issues and move on with the story. I don't like soap operas.

[Camera One]

It's about time they all started an online chat group.  "I'm getting hallucinations of a stone statue telling me to save "him".   Anyone else?"  "I'm getting the statue and wet footprints."  "Is anyone here our charity case of the week?  Let us know.  Thanks.  Sincerely, Ben and/or Michaela and/or maybe Saanvi."

Edited October 18, 2018 by Camera One

[KaveDweller]

On 10/16/2018 at 3:55 AM, biakbiak said:

I mean Olive was an idiot for thinking that Danny wouldn’t tell her mom but I thought Ben did the right thing, especially when the only thing she tells him about Olive is “well that’s Olive,” so she definitely isn’t sharing all about her with him. This episode reinforced that I really don’t like Grace so maybe she and Danny can run off together.

To give Olive some credit, Danny apparently helped her keep Cal's stuff in a storage locker for years without telling Grace. So they must have some kind of bond

On 10/16/2018 at 9:28 AM, Angeleyes said:

Olive misses her allowance once then becomes a kleptomaniac. I wonder how much Blue Mercury paid for the product placement?

I want to know how much her allowance is. She would have been able to afford $120 in make up if she had gotten it, so that seems like it must be pretty steep. And it would have been a weekly allowance since she got it on Mondays. No wonder Grace used up all the insurance money if she just hands out money like that.

[ottoDbusdriver]

4 hours ago, SoapDoc said:

My son (who was just walking by) actually mentioned how different Daniel looks on this show. We both had watched Graceland. Daniel seems to be heavier now I think. But not unattractive by any stretch.... 

I was surprised that Daniel looked puffier as well, I remember watching him on Rescue Me playing a firefighter.

[GeoBda]

On 10/16/2018 at 9:18 AM, LilaFowler said:

I'm puzzled about where the show is trying to go with this. The maid confessed to killing Kelly Taylor, so there was no actual shadow killer in that episode. However, Cal drew one in his picture of the family. Unless a shadow killer isn't a specific entity following survivors around, it's just someone or something in their life that is an imminent threat.

I thought Cal's shadow figure referred to "the other man" that he felt his presence over the family.

I hate the whole Stone family situation as a man Danny should have broken it off to give a FATHER a chance to connect again with his DAUGHTER, MOTHER with SON and HUSBAND with WIFE.  To do anything else is less than honorable for him and on Grace's part.  I am confused by Olive being so standoffish with her father it doesn't completely jive with the "I'm a screw up" angle when her problems were related to her Father's disappearance.  I would think she would be more drawn to her Father and the happier times he represents.

I think the writing is letting down the show a bit.

[Anela]

2 hours ago, GeoBda said:

I thought Cal's shadow figure referred to "the other man" that he felt his presence over the family.

I hate the whole Stone family situation as a man Danny should have broken it off to give a FATHER a chance to connect again with his DAUGHTER, MOTHER with SON and HUSBAND with WIFE.  To do anything else is less than honorable for him and on Grace's part.  I am confused by Olive being so standoffish with her father it doesn't completely jive with the "I'm a screw up" angle when her problems were related to her Father's disappearance.  I would think she would be more drawn to her Father and the happier times he represents.

I think the writing is letting down the show a bit.

Right. Since Grace is saying things like, "Same old Olive" there was no reason for Danny to tell her about what happened. Her *father* was with her, leave it alone. I also thought that her dad keeping her secret, helped to build some much-needed trust there. Losing trust in your dad is awful - either parent, actually. Knowing that her dad has her back, could stop her from acting out so much.

[mertensia]

On 10/16/2018 at 4:58 PM, AriAu said:

 

I hate starting every sentence with "It makes no sense..." but it makes no sense that Ben, Michaela, Flight Attendant and Saanvi (or the other 24) would put themselves in danger with the government (I cant say NSA, since as pointed out above, it would not be NSA....FBI maybe, CIA certainly). 

The CIA is actually extremely limited as to what it can do in the US. TV shows a!most always ignore this fact. That said, I have no idea who would get this case. Homeland Security? The Winchesters? 

Also, yeah no. I would not be paying back the insurance money. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

10 hours ago, SoapDoc said:

They do favor a bit on this show -- except in height. Perhaps the showrunners didn't care much-- best actors for the role and all. 

However, only one of two actors is Hispanic. Daniel Sunjata is African American, Irish, and German. Maybe he will shave the beard to help us out here.

My son (who was just walking by) actually mentioned how different Daniel looks on this show. We both had watched Graceland. Daniel seems to be heavier now I think. But not unattractive by any stretch.... 

Oh, Graceland - the first year was lit!

I recently saw Aaron Tveit in concert so I was reminiscing about the Graceland days too!

I'm totally fine with not having a show populated with all white males. We already have that on plenty of other shows. Please keep casting actors as hot as Daniel Sunjata!

On 10/16/2018 at 10:10 AM, BitterApple said:

And why the hell doesn't Ben just get a damn job? If colleges and universities aren't hiring, do private tutoring or look for something in a different sector. Bag groceries at Publix if you have to.

 

12 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

When he goes for an interview, what is going to be his answer when he is asked, "What have you been doing for the last five and a half years?".

 

12 hours ago, Moose135 said:

The past 5 1/2 years of his life, he's been a college professor.  It's big enough news in the world that all the explanation he needs is to tell them he was on Flight 828.

I think part of the problem is that in the academic world, there are certain times of year that colleges and universities hire. I can always tell when it's that time of year because we start getting lots of guest talks - keep in mind that these are NOT paid talks though and it is NOT the same as being a guest lecturer.* These guest talks are open to the department (it's usually just faculty and grad students who attend) so that people can hear what their research is about. Getting hired a professor is not like working at, say, Old Navy, where they hire people continuously throughout the year. Most colleges have a set time period when they review potential new hires for the upcoming year and schedule interviews so there's very little chance of him getting hired as a professor in the next few months.

* I also rolled my eyes when he said he was going to look or some guest lecturer jobs too because a guest lecturer is someone who teaches a class for an entire semester and is hired well in advance of the semester beginning. A guest lecturer is a position similar to professor but much lower down on the totem pole because there is no job security. He made it sound like he was going to try to find some random places where he could give lectures and get paid which (1) is not what a guest lecturer is in academia and (2) is not really the kind of gig that math people get hired for.

But I do agree that if he can get his foot in the door for an interview, all he has to do is tell them that he was on Flight 828 because it's famous enough that people will know what it is. On top of that, a lot of times if you can just get the interviewer engaged and interested, that can be enough for them to like you and get you to the next round. My sister spent a few months working as a blackjack dealer at a casino right after she graduated from college. She said that is the thing that people ALWAYS ask her about when she goes for interviews because they think it's interesting and they want to talk about it. She's gotten every job she's applied for so while I know it's not entirely because of that one job she had years ago (because she has also been very qualified for the jobs she applied for), it doesn't hurt that there's something interesting for her to chat about at her interviews.

[mertensia]

And realistically a lot of retail jobs wouldn't hire him because they figure he'll get a higher-paying job in no time and leave.

I wonder how many new laws and regulations Michaela had to learn.

[ottoDbusdriver]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I think part of the problem is that in the academic world, there are certain times of year that colleges and universities hire. I can always tell when it's that time of year because we start getting lots of guest talks - keep in mind that these are NOT paid talks though and it is NOT the same as being a guest lecturer.* These guest talks are open to the department (it's usually just faculty and grad students who attend) so that people can hear what their research is about. Getting hired a professor is not like working at, say, Old Navy, where they hire people continuously throughout the year. Most colleges have a set time period when they review potential new hires for the upcoming year and schedule interviews so there's very little chance of him getting hired as a professor in the next few months.

* I also rolled my eyes when he said he was going to look or some guest lecturer jobs too because a guest lecturer is someone who teaches a class for an entire semester and is hired well in advance of the semester beginning. A guest lecturer is a position similar to professor but much lower down on the totem pole because there is no job security. He made it sound like he was going to try to find some random places where he could give lectures and get paid which (1) is not what a guest lecturer is in academia and (2) is not really the kind of gig that math people get hired for.

But I do agree that if he can get his foot in the door for an interview, all he has to do is tell them that he was on Flight 828 because it's famous enough that people will know what it is. On top of that, a lot of times if you can just get the interviewer engaged and interested, that can be enough for them to like you and get you to the next round. My sister spent a few months working as a blackjack dealer at a casino right after she graduated from college. She said that is the thing that people ALWAYS ask her about when she goes for interviews because they think it's interesting and they want to talk about it. She's gotten every job she's applied for so while I know it's not entirely because of that one job she had years ago (because she has also been very qualified for the jobs she applied for), it doesn't hurt that there's something interesting for her to chat about at her interviews.

Agreed @ElectricBoogaloo, they keep showing that it is late Autumn (snow in Episode 1), so it is already well into the Fall semester so colleges/universities may be hiring but probably not until the next semester, so even if he gets a job it won't start until after the start of the New Year.  Maybe Grace needs some help with her catering business for the Xmas busy season.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, mertensia said:

And realistically a lot of retail jobs wouldn't hire him because they figure he'll get a higher-paying job in no time and leave.

Exactly. It takes time to train a new employee and it's really not worth the time investment if you know this person is just here for a few months until he can get a better paying job. He might be able to swing getting a retail job for the holidays since that's the one time of year that they know they need extra help, but he should expect to only have that job through NYE.

1 hour ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Agreed @ElectricBoogaloo, they keep showing that it is late Autumn (snow in Episode 1), so it is already well into the Fall semester so colleges/universities may be hiring but probably not until the next semester, so even if he gets a job it won't start until after the start of the New Year.  Maybe Grace needs some help with her catering business for the Xmas busy season.

Yup! Even if he managed to get hired to teach for spring semester/winter quarter, that's not until after Christmas. He needs to find a job that he can start now if they're as strapped for cash as Grace said. Some money is always better than no money! Some people made fun of Geoffrey Owens when a photo of him working at Trader Joe's was published last month, but I was like hey, he's got a job and there's no shame in that.

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Some people made fun of Geoffrey Owens when a photo of him working at Trader Joe's was published last month, but I was like hey, he's got a job and there's no shame in that.

Years ago, when one of my institution's untenured professors did not have his contract renewed, he also got hired at Trader Joe's. Maybe someone should tell Ben that TJ's is where unemployed academics earn bread until the next gig.

[peachmangosteen]

On 10/16/2018 at 10:09 PM, albinerhawk said:

My concern is that we've already lost the father and son characters from the second episode. Wasn't the father hearing things too?

I can't remember if he was or not. It would be weird if it's only select people that are though imo. But since Ben didn't hear/see the angel thing, then presumably they're all hearing/seeing different stuff. I'd kinda like to know more about the other passengers and what exactly they are experiencing since coming back. But the show is already pretty full, so I guess it'd be a mess if they did that. 

16 hours ago, staphdude said:

I have said all along he should dump weepy “conflicted” Grace and get with the GORGEOUS Doctor. Glad he is starting to call out Grace for continuing with the replacement behind his back.

Do we have evidence that she has been seeing and/or talking to Danny other than this ep where Danny understandably called her about Olive?

Edited October 18, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[luvapickle]

16 hours ago, SoapDoc said:

They do favor a bit on this show -- except in height. Perhaps the showrunners didn't care much-- best actors for the role and all. 

However, only one of two actors is Hispanic. Daniel Sunjata is African American, Irish, and German. Maybe he will shave the beard to help us out here.

My son (who was just walking by) actually mentioned how different Daniel looks on this show. We both had watched Graceland. Daniel seems to be heavier now I think. But not unattractive by any stretch.... 

Oh, Graceland - the first year was lit!

He is heavier-we noticed that in his face.

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I recently saw Aaron Tveit in concert so I was reminiscing about the Graceland days too!

I'm totally fine with not having a show populated with all white males. We already have that on plenty of other shows. Please keep casting actors as hot as Daniel Sunjata!

 

 

I think part of the problem is that in the academic world, there are certain times of year that colleges and universities hire. I can always tell when it's that time of year because we start getting lots of guest talks - keep in mind that these are NOT paid talks though and it is NOT the same as being a guest lecturer.* These guest talks are open to the department (it's usually just faculty and grad students who attend) so that people can hear what their research is about. Getting hired a professor is not like working at, say, Old Navy, where they hire people continuously throughout the year. Most colleges have a set time period when they review potential new hires for the upcoming year and schedule interviews so there's very little chance of him getting hired as a professor in the next few months.

* I also rolled my eyes when he said he was going to look or some guest lecturer jobs too because a guest lecturer is someone who teaches a class for an entire semester and is hired well in advance of the semester beginning. A guest lecturer is a position similar to professor but much lower down on the totem pole because there is no job security. He made it sound like he was going to try to find some random places where he could give lectures and get paid which (1) is not what a guest lecturer is in academia and (2) is not really the kind of gig that math people get hired for.

But I do agree that if he can get his foot in the door for an interview, all he has to do is tell them that he was on Flight 828 because it's famous enough that people will know what it is. On top of that, a lot of times if you can just get the interviewer engaged and interested, that can be enough for them to like you and get you to the next round. My sister spent a few months working as a blackjack dealer at a casino right after she graduated from college. She said that is the thing that people ALWAYS ask her about when she goes for interviews because they think it's interesting and they want to talk about it. She's gotten every job she's applied for so while I know it's not entirely because of that one job she had years ago (because she has also been very qualified for the jobs she applied for), it doesn't hurt that there's something interesting for her to chat about at her interviews.

I was wondering when he said guest lecturer if he meant as a professor or to talk about his ordeal.

[JocelynCavanaugh]

For full-time academic positions, they start opening the jobs in fall to begin interviewing for the next August. It’s definitely not a quick turnaround! He could possibly get an adjunct gig that would start in January — $1500 to $5000 per class, per semester (NOT per month!), no benefits, no guarantee of continuing past May.

Like someone else mentioned, it can be hard for an academic or someone with higher degrees to get hired for mainstream retail/service jobs because of those misconceptions. You could leave it off your resume, but much like being on flight 828, you’d have to account for that time somehow!

”Fortunately,” it’s TV so there was never a chance they’d get academia (or medicine, religion, law, etc.) right in the first place. They’ll make up whatever unrealistic titles or job situations for the narrative. 

[LilaFowler]

What was he doing before the plane disappeared? Does his former place of employment not have any kind of position for him, even just part-time?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 minute ago, LilaFowler said:

What was he doing before the plane disappeared? Does his former place of employment not have any kind of position for him, even just part-time?

If he was a professor, it’s highly unlikely that they would have any jobs available for someone who was gone for five years and then showed up out of the blue in the middle of the semester. Most colleges have very set budgets for each department’s faculty salaries (and more often than not, they project their annual budgets a few years in advance).

Part of being a professor is teaching so they need to have someone to teach each class offered by the department and again class schedules/assignments are often done more than a year in advance. It’s not like they would have a specific math class on the schedule without someone already assigned to teach it. 

His best bet might be tutoring. Rich parents are willing to pay a lot for good math tutors!

According to this, it’s probably not likely he can become a substitute teacher in the immediate future. 

[Dowel Jones]

On 10/16/2018 at 4:58 PM, AriAu said:

By the way, there is NO WAY I would pay back the life insurance. Yes, some actuary directed them to send the letter, but I would put the company in PR hell if they tried to get the money back.

I think I would, in a way.  I would alert the media and schedule a press conference in front of the company headquarters, and very publicly "present" one of those giant cardboard checks for $500,000 to the company (in absentia, likely).  It would be even better if you could line up some other payee's, too.

[albinerhawk]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

If he was a professor, it’s highly unlikely that they would have any jobs available for someone who was gone for five years and then showed up out of the blue in the middle of the semester. Most colleges have very set budgets for each department’s faculty salaries (and more often than not, they project their annual budgets a few years in advance).

Part of being a professor is teaching so they need to have someone to teach each class offered by the department and again class schedules/assignments are often done more than a year in advance. It’s not like they would have a specific math class on the schedule without someone already assigned to teach it. 

His best bet might be tutoring. Rich parents are willing to pay a lot for good math tutors!

According to this, it’s probably not likely he can become a substitute teacher in the immediate future. 

In the meantime, he could probably help out in Grace's business. Perhaps working from a marketing standpoint or at least accounting?

[topanga]

1 hour ago, albinerhawk said:

In the meantime, he could probably help out in Grace's business. Perhaps working from a marketing standpoint or at least accounting?

And do some of that fancy math of his.

[stealinghome]

Seriously, if Ben can solve their huge debt problem in like 3 hours, he needs to go become a financial planner/investor ASAP. He'll make the family millions in like...9 hours.

[seacliffsal]

On 10/16/2018 at 9:15 AM, BooBear said:

 

I know that the NSA is the big bad here but I don't see the reason for that. Given that they are interested it seems obviously it wasn't them that caused it and maybe are trying to help. 

They need to establish that other people on the plane are having episodes. 

I really agree with this.  The NSA is not the big bad, and, quite frankly, if something like this really did happen I would imagine that everybody in the world who regularly flies would want answers in order to ensure that it would not happen to them.  It's not a 'five years later the missing teen emerged from the woods' story.  It's a 'whole plane of people disappeared for five years and did not age one day' story which is bonkers.  As a citizen I would want some answers because who knows what else may happen.  I know that the writers need an "enemy" so that the main characters seem heroic, but I think they have chosen the wrong "enemy."  Why not a secret organization (but not the government)?

Anyway, during the whole episode I was just "I would want the government to try to find out what happened!"

[stealinghome]

28 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

There is enough mystery around that flight that I would think would cause most employers to take a pass on hiring him.  At a minimum he is going to be a distraction.

I agree. Given Michaela and Saanvi's experiences I doubt we'll see it with Ben, but it would be pretty realistic for at least a few potential employers to shy away from (re)hiring an 828er because they'd be such a distraction. Also, people would just be plain creeped out by the 828ers. I know we've already seen a few random people who see them as messianic figures and actually touched by God, but surely an equal number of people would be lined up ready to throw things at them and call them freaks and so forth. And a good deal more would have the classic "I guess it's fine that they're back in the US and walking around...but I don't want them anywhere near me personally" reaction (akin to the parents who are all "I'm fine with gay people...as long as my kid isn't one and I don't have to see any gay people on a regular basis"). We've only seen the positive side to their reentry into the country but surely IRL there would be a huge negative and nasty/ugly response as well.

Quote

I really agree with this.  The NSA is not the big bad, and, quite frankly, if something like this really did happen I would imagine that everybody in the world who regularly flies would want answers in order to ensure that it would not happen to them.  It's not a 'five years later the missing teen emerged from the woods' story.  It's a 'whole plane of people disappeared for five years and did not age one day' story which is bonkers.  As a citizen I would want some answers because who knows what else may happen.  I know that the writers need an "enemy" so that the main characters seem heroic, but I think they have chosen the wrong "enemy."  Why not a secret organization (but not the government)?

It would help if the writers had shown the governmental representatives as more overtly a threat to the 828ers, I agree. It was the pilot, I think, that had someone from the government bring up the idea of basically permanently imprisoning the 828ers, but it got shot down quickly and no one has brought it up since. Even just a few more discussions or veiled threats would go a long way toward establishing the NSA as a credible antagonist. Though can't lie, I'm kind of waiting for the "secret organization WITHIN the government" reveal.

If the characters (by which I mean writers) were smarter, they'd have one of the 828ers appear to go collaborate with the government but really be a double agent. You could develop a great cat-and-mouse game there.

It's interesting to me that they seem to have changed Ben's backstory after the pilot was picked up. All the original promotional material, and even NBC's current website, indicate(d) that Ben was an intelligence analyst before the plane disappeared. The show has clearly changed that to some sort of mathematics professor, so I wonder if the original show conception had more governmental intrigue and NBC requested that that be changed.

Edited October 18, 2018 by stealinghome

[mjforty]

Olive, ugh.  What a little punk-ass bitch.  This might just be my low tolerance for teenage angst but her character bugs the hell out of me.  It’s mostly the writers fault because I just don’t understand why she acts like her dad is the enemy.  She is making no effort whatsoever to reconnect with her father.  If your father had disappeared for five years and suddenly reappeared, why wouldn’t you be overjoyed?  As someone who has lost a parent, if my mom suddenly showed up on my doorstep, after recovering from the massive heart attack the shock gave me, I would attach myself to her like a barnacle to a ship.  Yet, there’s Olive, acting like her dad’s just been profiled in Vanity Fair by Rowan Farrow.  And without any real explanation as to why.  And the writers attempt to portray her as a troubled teen is laughable.  She sneaks out at night.  She shoplifted once.  Ooooohhhhh, she’s as troublesome as just about every teenager out there.  And perhaps this  would all work better if the portrayal was more nuanced but the actress who plays Olive is not talented enough to do anything more than give a one-note performance.  Again, I say, Olive, ugh.

[magpye29]

On 10/16/2018 at 1:39 PM, AV8n said:

My guess is that the mastermind of the disappearance will turn out to be an alien named Doctor Whom that travels around in his her TURDIS.

Porta-Potty, phone booth, what's the difference?

[Simba122504]

On 10/16/2018 at 1:08 AM, green said:

Man I detest the Ben and wife/wife's lover/daughter/son storyline of infinite and incredibly boring angst.  I don't give a crap about any of them and never will.  Sister cop woman and former love of her life are one step behind in the not caring department.  Can we just have aliens abduct this whole loser family?  They add nothing to the show and bring it down every time any of them are in a scene which is like 95% of the time.  The weird stone angels were more interesting than any of them and better actors as well.

The doctor and the fight attendant should be the leads with poor shattered Thomas along as the lost and lonely sidekick.  But they never will have two female leads one of ethnic Indian heritage and the other an Afro-American.  That's not allowed on American TV, sigh.  No, we are stuck with white, middle class characters of endless boredom instead.

Also while fixing the show will you please get the NSA out of the picture.  They have giant, mega, state-of-the-art computers and zillions of data they collect to sift through back in Maryland and don't run around in the streets with "agents."  They are analysts, not gun toting idiots.  I hate it when we have government conspiracy stuff and they can't use an agency that might remotely be involved.  It takes me out of the storyline totally.

Her acting like she did something wrong and just breaking up with Danny is annoying to me.  Keeping secrets.  Yes,  your "dead" husband coming back would cause a lot of confusion but life still happened doing those five years.  Like you said the whole thing is unnecessary melodrama.