S02.E07: No Strings Attached

[metaphor]

Quote

The fallout of the lockdown casts suspicions around the OI. Howard and Emily Prime find clues about the history of Management. Clare questions her allegiances.

Airdate: January 27, 2019

[mxc90]

Not as strong as the previous episodes. Most of it was just characters catching up/rehashing what we've seen but the last act was good.

Naya was the MVP of the episode. I was cheering when she confronted Mr. Fancher about Peter's security status and not backing down. She seems to be on verge to having most of the right answers (which makes me concern she won't survive the season). 

With Peter or no Peter in the room and all the shootings in the building, management has to be stupid to agree to meet with other management face to face (even if they don't know about Mira). If they do, they have to know it's a trap. 

I was surprised Mr. Fancher was surprised Peter was an adulterer.

Clare's finally showing cracks by opening to Spencer and yelling at the man who "raised" her. I want to see her confront the person who really "raised" her. Come on show! Make it happen.

I wonder if Clare will foil Mira's/Spencer's plan as a way of revenge? Now that she heard Peter's phone call, did she change the way she feels about him? BTW, the guy can be heard on the phone call telling Peter to stick to the script. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the phone call?

I am sure the one girl that didn't bow down to Clare/Shadow will be the first to die. I wouldn't be surprised if she's Spencer's girlfriend.

Spencer isn't harboring any resentment for his situation/parents just giving him away?

Ian's/Wesley's back story wasn't required to be in this episode but did Wesley defect from the Alpha side or forced to go over? Was it the flu that made prime management need to buy alpha defectors to fill their ranks or something else? 

All Peter Prime needed are his 2 TVs and tapes and all is good!  So what if there are rotting dead bodies around ..no problem to him. I do understand how joyous he feels now he has 2 TVs/VCRs and doesn't need to constantly switch tapes. When will the thought enter his head for him to run away from ECHO?  Maybe when there is no one to cook or when the power is turned off.

I thought Emily Alpha still worked for the government?

I get the feeling Prime Management is chasing the wrong Emily. Next week's previews show otherwise but I wouldn't be surprised if Emily Alpha is working with Mira, had her team killed, and is part of Indigo when her memory is returned.

See ya Yorke! You almost served management well!

The two young guards not keeping up with Howard Prime was ridiculous.

Howard Alpha can't die.

Howard Prime couldn't find a pressed shirt to wear?

I was jealous of Spencer's quick forward parallel parking maneuver. It would have taken me a minute to carefully navigate and park.

Edited January 27, 2019 by mxc90

[Coxfires]

I agree, Naya is awesome. Astute, honest and not scared of telling it how it is, I just love this character. I really want to see where she goes next.

This episode felt like replacing the pawns on the chess board. 

I really like Clare storyline, getting out of endoctrinement and seeing it for what it is. Maybe being isolated kept her away from the mindset all shadows are in, add baby Spencer and Pope's tape to the mix and her faith in the cause severly wavered.

I feel like the theme of this episode was that every character had it with being toyed with and said what to do. Peter, Clare, Ian, P!Emily, Naya, they all said "Screw this" to the higher ups and went with their gut feeling 

Poor Alpha Howard! Seriously, for a guy who didn't want anything else than his quite boring life, he's been put through the ringer and it keeps getting worse for him

Prime Quayle is alive (and hilarious). Useless for now but with Counterpart that means we are not done with him.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Not as strong as the previous episodes.

I thought a lot happened and was revealed, which, for me, makes it "strong."

 

7 hours ago, mxc90 said:

BTW, the guy can be heard on the phone call telling Peter to stick to the script. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the phone call?

This gave me pause when we heard it in the earlier episode too, but, now that we hear it again and you mention it, I like to think it represents that none of us is really loyal to the boss, and that includes the guy who is telling Peter to "stick to the script."

7 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Ian's/Wesley's back story wasn't required to be in this episode

This too reveals another character with mixed loyalties. I suspect the end game is to demonstrate that family bonds can be stronger than those to any cause or party or company or religion--and also that we can choose our families. Or, at least, that's what I got from this episode. 

 

7 hours ago, mxc90 said:

The two young guards not keeping up with Howard Prime was ridiculous.

Maybe they thought they were following Meek/Alpha Howard? Or maybe they just weren't that into the job either.

 

4 hours ago, Coxfires said:

I agree, Naya is awesome. Astute, honest and not scared of telling it how it is, I just love this character. I really want to see where she goes next.

Me three. Clear headed. She owns her spirituality rather than the other way around. Fearless. "Speaks truth to power." Wonderfully written character, cast with the perfect actor for the role. My video kept freezing while I was watching, and whenever it froze on Naya's (Betty Gabriel) face, she had a Buddha-like serenity even thought her voice and words and delivery were so strong. A role model. Hopefully she doesn't get killed off, but even if she does, her character won't be murdered like so many others.

 

4 hours ago, Coxfires said:

Prime Quayle is alive (and hilarious). Useless for now but with Counterpart that means we are not done with him.

This makes me wonder if Prime Claire and Alpha Peter Quayle will kill Prime Peter and plant his body as Alpha Peter's corpse. Or maybe he will just get killed in crossfire and they will make use of his body in that way. Or, if there are enough episodes remaining, perhaps after a number of skirmishes, Prime Claire will wake up one morning to find herself living in some remote place with baby Spencer and her husband, Prime Peter. Talk about penance.

It's interesting that the Alpha and Prime Howards and Peters are the reverse WRT meekness and kindness.

I think we viewers are supposed to see the world(s) through the Peters' eyes and experiences.

[mxc90]

57 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I thought a lot happened and was revealed, which, for me, makes it "strong."

Yes. A lot happened this week and it was good. I just thought the other episodes were better than this one.

59 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Maybe they thought they were following Meek/Alpha Howard? Or maybe they just weren't that into the job either.

Maybe mentioning the boring errands to them and they think he's old and slow caught them off guard. Not a good episode for the people given security/bodyguard/provide muscle assignments.

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

This too reveals another character with mixed loyalties. I suspect the end game is to demonstrate that family bonds can be stronger than those to any cause or party or company or religion--and also that we can choose our families. Or, at least, that's what I got from this episode. 

He might think twice about Emily. She and Howard were long gone before his fight with Yorke was finished.

[scrb]

Mira's plot still makes no sense.

All these sleepers are going to avenge the millions killed by the bio weapon.  Quite unlikely, since terrorist attacks like the ones they've carried out aren't going to tally up millions.  And we're talking about what, maybe a dozen sleepers that we know of now?  Even if there were a couple of hundred sleepers, they're not going to cause the kind of carnage that they're talking about, if they want to even things up.

 

Then Mira is demanding that the crossing be shut down completely.  So what leverage does she have to make such a demand?  Last we saw, she's on the run.

But if she gets her way, then what was the point of the sleepers and the school?

 

Maybe by the end of this season, they will decide it was a nonsensical plot and reveal a new, other big bad.

Show started out with kind of a low intensity espionage, with doubles sneaking across to both worlds, with hints of the Cold War, since it's set in Berlin.  What Mira is pushing for are huge events, like the fall of the Berlin Wall but in reverse.  Or her other plan, to avenge millions of deaths from a WMD.  That would be huge but it would pretty much end the story and the series, so maybe they've decided to pull back from that.

[paulvdb]

37 minutes ago, scrb said:

All these sleepers are going to avenge the millions killed by the bio weapon.  Quite unlikely, since terrorist attacks like the ones they've carried out aren't going to tally up millions.  And we're talking about what, maybe a dozen sleepers that we know of now?  Even if there were a couple of hundred sleepers, they're not going to cause the kind of carnage that they're talking about, if they want to even things up.

It seemed fairly obvious to me that Mira intends to release Prime's bio weapon in the Alpha world. We know that both worlds had created a bio weapon that would cause a plague in the other world. And Alpha's bio weapon caused the plague in Prime world although we don't know if it was an accident or on purpose. I assume that those crates in Milla's storage unit contain the bio weapon and they plan to release it in the near future.

[shapeshifter]

16 hours ago, paulvdb said:

17 hours ago, scrb said:

Mira's plot still makes no sense.

All these sleepers are going to avenge the millions killed by the bio weapon.  Quite unlikely, since terrorist attacks like the ones they've carried out aren't going to tally up millions.  And we're talking about what, maybe a dozen sleepers that we know of now?  Even if there were a couple of hundred sleepers, they're not going to cause the kind of carnage that they're talking about, if they want to even things up.

It seemed fairly obvious to me that Mira intends to release Prime's bio weapon in the Alpha world. We know that both worlds had created a bio weapon that would cause a plague in the other world. And Alpha's bio weapon caused the plague in Prime world although we don't know if it was an accident or on purpose. I assume that those crates in Milla's storage unit contain the bio weapon and they plan to release it in the near future.

I'm now wondering if the bio weapon is something that could effect both worlds (e.g., Smallpox) and that an important part of the plan is to close the crossing until the Alpha world is devoid of life and the bio weapon is no longer a threat. 
This would explain why there are so few Prime soldiers in Alpha world--the Prime secret agents are going to die when the weapon is released.

[Coxfires]

I don't think Howard Alpha will die, but the poor guy really deserves a break. He looked a bit disappointed when Emily told him she didn't come for him.

Clare seemed pretty vexed that her old cell got to be together when she was on her own in her fake marriage. Oh and the irony when she rips into her dad and tells him he has no say about the man "she" chose. Too many layers in that scene.

Naya's speech about there being only one truth, I really loved it. I'm not a believer but I really like that the show introduced a character that is one and to have her point of view on this predicament is very intersting. And the character/the actress rock, what a fantastic addition to the cast.

Finally, a small short scene that I loved: Howard Prime and Peter short talk. The level of salt in Peter's words was approaching the Dead Sea's. Oh yes Howard, yesterday i asked for your help and you told me to go kill myself, sure, what can I do for you today?

[Quilt Fairy]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I'm now wondering if the bio weapon is something that could effect both worlds (e.g., Smallpox) and that an important part of the plan is to close the crossing until the Alpha world is devoid of life and the bio weapon is no longer a threat. 

If I understood the last episode correctly, both Juma's developed a bio-weapon tuned to the biological variations of the other world.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Coxfires said:

Clare seemed pretty vexed that her old cell got to be together when she was on her own in her fake marriage. Oh and the irony when she rips into her dad and tells him he has no say about the man "she" chose. Too many layers in that scene.

Yes, a many layered scene, but having watched every episode since season one, it was as satisfying as tiramisu.

 

2 hours ago, Coxfires said:

Finally, a small short scene that I loved: Howard Prime and Peter short talk. . . . Oh yes Howard, yesterday i asked for your help and you told me to go kill myself, sure, what can I do for you today?

Yes, equally rewarding and delicious relationship beat.

 

46 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I'm now wondering if the bio weapon is something that could effect both worlds (e.g., Smallpox) and that an important part of the plan is to close the crossing until the Alpha world is devoid of life and the bio weapon is no longer a threat. 

If I understood the last episode correctly, both Juma's developed a bio-weapon tuned to the biological variations of the other world.

Oh yes, for sure. I was just thinking it could have a twist of justice if the bio-weapon turns out to be lethal to both sides.

[tennisgurl]

That scene with Clare and her "dad" was amazing, there was so much going on. I mean, she is, very literally, not the little girl he remembers, but she has also changed so much since she was a child, or even just in the last few weeks. Clare has increasingly started to question her mission, and no one on "her" side seems to be reeling her back in. Even meeting her old friends (and finding out they all got to stay together while she was alone) isnt helping things. And the answer her friend gave about her killing Alpha Clare because her life was useless just seemed to make her more upset. I dont know where Clare will fall, but I do think she is committed to Peter and Spenser now, for better or for worse. 

Poor, poor Alpha Howard. He just wanted to live a quiet life with his wife, and now he has just had shit dumped on him nonstop. And now he got shot. Can the poor guy get a five second break, please? At least Prime Howard has just been chilling in Alpha Howard's life. 

I thought it was a really good episode, it had a really interesting theme of conflicting loyalty and people going off the grid or telling the high ups screw you to do what is right. Ian and his past with his wife on the other side, and his loyalty to Emily vs to his superiors, Prime Emily helping out Alpha Howard and them both running around doing their own thing, Alpha Emily and her own investigation, Clare and her questioning her loyalty, Alpha Peter quitting as he realized he was compromised, and seemingly running off with his family, and Naya telling her boss some cold hard truths that he didnt want to hear. 

Glad that poor messed up Prime Peter is still around, and found his favorite video! Really, its kind of ironic that Alpha Peter had been more faithful to his wife after he found out who she was, and is only now being found out for having an affair! 

Loved Nayas speech on God, and how people in both worlds are praying to God, and God hears them both. Its really cool to have a religious person around, to give some perspective as to the possible philosophical and theological implications of the two universes. Most people are mostly concerned with the scientific or political meaning (which is understandable) but I like looking at this from so many different angles. 

[Coxfires]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

4 hours ago, Coxfires said:

Clare seemed pretty vexed that her old cell got to be together when she was on her own in her fake marriage. Oh and the irony when she rips into her dad and tells him he has no say about the man "she" chose. Too many layers in that scene.

Yes, a many layered scene, but having watched every episode since season one, it was as satisfying as tiramisu

Tiramisu rocks,  perfect allegory 

[Haleth]

12 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

If I understood the last episode correctly, both Juma's developed a bio-weapon tuned to the biological variations of the other world.

I don't understand how this can happen.  They're not even a whole generation away from the split so the counterparts are still biologically identical.  I thought the irony would be that Primeworld's weapon accidentally killed their own people, but the world specific nature of the virus (?) would mean it couldn't be so.

Is Mira planning on killing both Managements when they meet?

[Bort]

35 minutes ago, Haleth said:

I don't understand how this can happen.  They're not even a whole generation away from the split so the counterparts are still biologically identical.  I thought the irony would be that Primeworld's weapon accidentally killed their own people, but the world specific nature of the virus (?) would mean it couldn't be so.

They said in the last episode that there were physiological differences between each world, even from Day One. And if Alpha's bio weapon killed all those Prime people but not Alphas, I don't think the reverse is probable. 

[shapeshifter]

1 minute ago, kariyaki said:

43 MINUTES AGO, HALETH SAID:

I don't understand how this can happen. They're not even a whole generation away from the split so the counterparts are still biologically identical. I thought the irony would be that Primeworld's weapon accidentally killed their own people, but the world specific nature of the virus (?) would mean it couldn't be so.

They said in the last episode that there were physiological differences between each world, even from Day One. And if Alpha's bio weapon killed all those Prime people but not Alphas, I don't think the reverse is probable. 

Yes, and many more outcomes are possible — especially when dealing with bio-weapons. 
For instance, have the biological differences between each side's population continued to evolve? And has the bio-weapon Mira possesses been reformulated or even recently tested for effectiveness?

So, yes, there's also a possibility of an ironic outcome of the bio-weapon backfiring. 
And for once I am sure that I am using a form of the word irony correctly.
And now I am imagining

Spoiler

Kind Meek Alpha Howard at the last possible minute tossing or taking the bio-weapon into the Prime side right before the crossing is sealed—thinking he is safely disposing of it—only to be horrified to see that it is now lethal to the Prime side and that he himself has unwittingly become the agent of destruction that Yanek predicted he would become.

Perhaps Prime Howard will live on in Alpha world and become kinder and gentler.

(In spoiler tags in case I'm right)

[kikaha]

Claire's father in Alpha knows his daughter had/has a clone on the other side.  He sees his 'daughter's' personality has changed.  Yet he doesn't seem to consider the possibility that Claire is not his Claire.  I think everyone who knows about the two universes would be on full alert for switches. 

Trying to wrap my head around what Mira wants to do.  Some lunatic, or maybe an accident, unleashed the virus in Prime-world, killing millions of innocent people.  Now her idea of justice is to kill millions of innocent people on the alpha side? 

Some posters are suggesting Mira wants to wipe out the alpha universe entirely.  Wow.  Kill many billions of people, out of revenge?  Maybe a case could be made if you knew the survival of your side was at stake.  i.e. us or them.  But no one knows that, or even has a hint of it. 

Mira made herself bait for the meeting between managements.  I'm pretty sure she doesn't intend to just docilely turn herself over to these people she hates through every cell in her body.  Assuming she holds up her end of the bargain and shows up, perhaps she is the trigger for the time bomb that will wreak devastation in the alpha universe, or at the very least close the gate permanently.  Why else did she need to break her 'father' from prison, other than knowledge of how to do that? 

[Bort]

7 hours ago, kikaha said:

Trying to wrap my head around what Mira wants to do.  Some lunatic, or maybe an accident, unleashed the virus in Prime-world, killing millions of innocent people.  Now her idea of justice is to kill millions of innocent people on the alpha side? 

They keep saying they don't know if the virus was released by accident or on purpose, but I don't see how it could be an accident. We saw how it's kept in a vault, there's no way the virus got all the way over to the Prime Universe on a big ooopsy. It was done on purpose but by whom? I'm throwing Mira Alpha out there as a likely candidate, especially seeing how ruthless the Prime version is. I know a lot of people's counterparts have been wallflowers, but that doesn't mean they all are.

[Haleth]

That would be an awesome reveal to Mira Prime-- that her other was responsible. 

[Ottis]

On 1/28/2019 at 12:29 PM, shapeshifter said:

This would explain why there are so few Prime soldiers in Alpha world--the Prime secret agents are going to die when the weapon is released.

I think this is what Clare began to realize in this episode, as she met the team and saw the bio crates (they have to be a biological weapon, because they glow green and that is TV shorthand for bio weapon!). And I suspect she won't be OK with that, now that she is a parent.

On 1/28/2019 at 7:28 PM, tennisgurl said:

I thought it was a really good episode, it had a really interesting theme of conflicting loyalty and people going off the grid or telling the high ups screw you to do what is right. Ian and his past with his wife on the other side, and his loyalty to Emily vs to his superiors, Prime Emily helping out Alpha Howard and them both running around doing their own thing, Alpha Emily and her own investigation, Clare and her questioning her loyalty, Alpha Peter quitting as he realized he was compromised, and seemingly running off with his family, and Naya telling her boss some cold hard truths that he didnt want to hear. 

I agree, and yet at the same time, this whole series and its various plots seem ... unnecessarily complicated, and at times, missing reasonable motivation, to me.

22 hours ago, kikaha said:

Trying to wrap my head around what Mira wants to do.  Some lunatic, or maybe an accident, unleashed the virus in Prime-world, killing millions of innocent people.  Now her idea of justice is to kill millions of innocent people on the alpha side? 

One of my biggest issues is the rationale behind this. I cannot believe that anyone aside from a psychopath would believe this response makes any sense. In fact, as we are seeing with Clare, I think most people would rebel against this kind of mass and senseless slaughter. I *would* believe a plan to kill all the people in one world and then use its resources for the surviving world. But we haven't seen anything about that, nor a reason for it (i.e. one world is overcrowded or running out of resources).  So this whole plot has fallen flat for me.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Ottis

[scrb]

The thing I find incredible is that a group of scientists had all this power to determine how the worlds would interact and then ultimately to make that decision to develop and use bio weapons.

Yanek seemed on the verge of defecting from East Berlin but then lead a group of the top scientists, all working without oversight by politicians, especially the communist party?

And then the scientists became the management for each world?

[Mr. R0b0t]

On 1/31/2019 at 12:15 AM, scrb said:

The thing I find incredible is that a group of scientists had all this power to determine how the worlds would interact and then ultimately to make that decision to develop and use bio weapons.

Yanek seemed on the verge of defecting from East Berlin but then lead a group of the top scientists, all working without oversight by politicians, especially the communist party?

And then the scientists became the management for each world?

My take on it is that they never fully revealed the bridge until after the fall of the wall.  Yes, the scientists are management.  

Richard Schiff might be the TV MVP of righteous indignation since the debut of West Wing; love him.