Season 1 Discussion

[AnimeMania]

Pro-tip: When you murder someone, don't wear a wig the same color and style as your hair underneath.

The poisoner wasn't the same lady that poisoned Aiden Shaw, since she was really tall. I wish they could have gotten that lady back, I kind of liked her.

[Dowel Jones]

Interesting how an expat American can smuggle a shotgun into Cuba.

Uh, oh, Gwen is really pissed, now.  The way the camera looked at her made it seem like her face was changing, and she was going to grow some horns or something.

Silly mad doctor scientist.  Don't bad guys ever watch television?

[tennisgurl]

Come on Mad Scientist Guy, you have to have seen a movie before in between cackling maniacally right?

I liked Danny's backstory, although I do wonder where he grew up after his dad was arrested? Foster care? And how did he specifically get into ancient relics and stuff like that? Also can get why he has issues with being a thief and a life of crime and all that. 

Even if Team Lexi and Danny is back on track, Gwen is gonna be SUPER pissed.

[Fireball]

I'm not really sure why I'm still watching this show. It's not for the romance between Lexi and Danny because I don't care if they get together or not, it's not for the stellar lead actors because neither Sofia Pernas or Matt Barr are that great, it's not for the story because it's really not all that original or compelling.  I guess it's for the travel scenes and it's a mindless summer show that's good to watch after a stressful day at work. 

Just finished watching the Casablanca episode and:

1. Lexi being butt hurt that Danny didn't trust her after finding her burner phone was eye roll worthy. Of course he doesn't trust you now. dumb dumb.
2. For a master thief Lexi is pretty dumb.
   1. If you don't want someone to find your burner phone:
      1. Don't leave the ring tone on.
      2. Have your burner phone password protected.
      3. Have any incoming text messages hidden.
3.  I don't buy that Lexi and Danny are in love.. Like at all. 
   1. I guess we're supposed to think they have some complicated history, but it seems like they met, dated a bit, and then daddy died.
   2. When Lexi said something like "should I list our history" I was like Yes please do.
4. Lexi wearing a black bra with a white tank top bothered me.
   1. Also wearing a tank top in a Muslim country seems like a bad idea.
5. Lexi's silver sequin skirt and silk grey top outfit was awful imo.
   1. I mean it did the trick. The high waist emphasized her breasts and the tight skirt emphasized her butt every time she bent over which seemed like a lot.
6. The writers are really trying to show that Lexi is a good person underneath it all;
   1. She makes Shaw take the Dr. lady to her family. 
   2. She gives the refugee camp money. 
   3. However, I still don't care.
7.  I was glad that it was Gwen who took down Omar and not Lexi or Danny.
8. Danny was just kind of there this episode. I can't think of anything to say about him.  
   1. Other then he must have been hot in a polo shirt and a dress jacket.
9. I miss Charlie!
10. I'd totally love a show with Charlie having adventures all over the world!

Edited July 4, 2019 by Fireball

[Gel]

5 hours ago, Fireball said:

Lexi's silver sequin skirt and silk grey top outfit was awful imo.

OMG yes.

Also, her white tank top was very ... revealing for Morocco, no? It seemed an odd choice.

[greyhorse]

This was probably one of my least favorite ones so far.

Didn't really care for the backstory with his dad, it just didn't seem to further the storyline of Cleopatra.  So one of the paintings missing had something to do with Cleopatra.  Who has?  And why?  It seems like such a loose connection but of course we're supposed to believe it means something.

How is it that the ninja woman just knows where Danny and Lexi are all the time and just show up quietly out of nowhere?

The scientist at one point seemed to spray the chemical in the air while testing it.  How was that safe?  And why would he go into a room with the portable controller just sitting there for Farouk to handle? 

[Fireball]

On ‎7‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 9:59 PM, Gel said:

OMG yes.

Also, her white tank top was very ... revealing for Morocco, no? It seemed an odd choice.

A very odd choice! Wearing a tank top in a Muslim country seems like a bad idea.

[Irlandesa]

They killed Fabi/Antonio Cupo, the bastards.

And with that, I think I'm out.  I wanted to like this so much but oh it's so exhausting. Convoluted and not even fun.

[cameron]

13 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

They killed Fabi/Antonio Cupo, the bastards.

And with that, I think I'm out.  I wanted to like this so much but oh it's so exhausting. Convoluted and not even fun.

Also surprised that they took out Fabi.

[Netfoot]

5 hours ago, cameron said:

Also surprised that they took out Fabi.

Once he'd been outed to Gwen, I think his demise was only a matter of time.

[AnimeMania]

Since that guy put a tracker in one of the amulets, I wouldn't be surprised if everybody in the Brotherhood of Serapis wound up dead.

[blackwing]

I'm not surprised that Fabi died.  I was only surprised that it wasn't Gwen or someone on her team who killed him.

Was that Jacob Reese who was collecting the Nazi crosses in a box and then burned the box in the fire?  Why?

[Netfoot]

6 hours ago, blackwing said:

Was that Jacob Reese who was collecting the Nazi crosses in a box and then burned the box in the fire?  Why?

The box contained several examples of the Iron Cross, a military medal first seen in the early 1800's, over a hundred years before the Nazi party was formed.  Some of them (about half, it looks like) bore the Hakenkreuz (Swastika), added by the Nazi party in 1939.

I'm assuming he destroyed them as a personal acknowledgement / celebration of the fact that he had dealt with the original owners. (Killed?  Arrested?)  That he saved them up and destroyed them all at once, implies that his work is now complete.  Yet I didn't get the impression that he was done hunting them.

[UnknownK]

You can't hunt dead people. WW2 ended in 1945, it is now 2019 (74 years ago). So if you needed to be 16 or so to be a Hitler Youth in 1945 that would make you 90 years old now. The people making the command decisions were much older and all dead now.

I think burning the crosses showed he was done hunting the actual Nazis still alive, but not done with keeping the memory of what they did alive for all to know.

[UnknownK]

On 7/11/2019 at 1:11 AM, AnimeMania said:

Since that guy put a tracker in one of the amulets, I wouldn't be surprised if everybody in the Brotherhood of Serapis wound up dead.

Passive RFID need to be within a few meters of the scanner, Active RFID can be a tracked withing a mile or so in the open. So unless the battery works forever and you had a guy(s) following the amulet with a scanner when it left the building it would be easy to lose the signal. And even if you did track that amulet unless the owner happens to go to the annual secret Christmas office party with 100% mandatory attendance you would not know who the other members are anyway.

[AnimeMania]

47 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

And even if you did track that amulet unless the owner happens to go to the annual secret Christmas office party with 100% mandatory attendance you would not know who the other members are anyway.

The amulets are in the secret lair, so the tracker will lead you to the Brotherhood of Serapis headquarters. 

[UnknownK]

3 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

The amulets are in the secret lair, so the tracker will lead you to the Brotherhood of Serapis headquarters. 

Yes, but most of them are not there. They showed quite a few amulets in the wall but not many people chilling by the water cooler like it was a place of work.

[Christina]

Finding out this was renewed just made me more disappointed that Whiskey Cavalier was not. It was a better show than this one, to me, and I'm blaming the sagging ratings in the middle of the season one the network's decision to shuffle those few episodes. It caused some confusion and that's not helpful in a show like these two where you just want to shut of your brain and enjoy the ride, and pretty scenery. 

This show drives my son nuts because of the incorrect history. He thinks Lexi is attractive but the two of them together is dull because they have no chemistry. When they are not talking to each other the dialog flows better. I tell him to just enjoy it or not watch. The lack of chemistry probably bothers many more viewers than the incorrect history, but I wonder if it has effecting ratings any. I don't think they are trying to make a historically accurate show, just a fun one. 

I'm not much better as a view of cooking shows when they show people kneading with their rings on. GROSS! Have you ever cleaned a ring and saw how filthy it gets so quickly? and their hair hanging over food or sweat running off their faces. G-R-O-S-S.

[Fireball]

On 7/5/2019 at 11:50 AM, greyhorse said:

This was probably one of my least favorite ones so far.

Didn't really care for the backstory with his dad, it just didn't seem to further the storyline of Cleopatra.  So one of the paintings missing had something to do with Cleopatra.  Who has?  And why?  It seems like such a loose connection but of course we're supposed to believe it means something.

I really disliked the backstory of Danny's dad. So his dad was a thief is that supposed to explain why he's gaga over Lexi?  Danny turned in his own dad, why in the world would he decide to be in a relationship with a thief? yeah yeah I know Danny only turned in him dad so he wouldn't kill someone, but it still makes the Lexi + Danny pairing weird and seem widely out of character for Danny.

20 hours ago, Christina said:

He thinks Lexi is attractive but the two of them together is dull because they have no chemistry. When they are not talking to each other the dialog flows better. I tell him to just enjoy it or not watch. The lack of chemistry probably bothers many more viewers than the incorrect history, but I wonder if it has effecting ratings any. I don't think they are trying to make a historically accurate show, just a fun one. 

Lexi and Danny are soooooo boring. And imo the whole I hate you but actually love you trope is so over done and it just doesn't work with these two.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Fireball said:

And imo the whole I hate you but actually love you trope is so over done and it just doesn't work with these two.

 I can't remember the last time it worked for any TV/Movie couple.  But they do insist on pulling it out and blowing the dust off it for. Every. Single. Show.

How about the opposite?  They're crazy about each other but every time they try to get together, there is draaama!  A bomb goes off next door.  The phone rings with vital news. One of them falls asleep of exhaustion. A cluieless friend comes over and won't leave. Something.

[greyhorse]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 1:33 PM, blackwing said:

I'm not surprised that Fabi died.  I was only surprised that it wasn't Gwen or someone on her team who killed him.

Was that Jacob Reese who was collecting the Nazi crosses in a box and then burned the box in the fire?  Why?

I don't think that was Reece.  Wasn't that Moshe (?), the guy who helped them realize they should go to Quebec instead of Argentina?  I'm a little confused because I don't really know all the names.  I thought the cross belonged to the dad of the guy with the crazy eyes who was going to kill Danny.  Was that the last guy this Moshe guy was trying to find?  So burning the crosses was symbolic that his job and task were now completed.

Fabi dying was pretty obvious once he was exposed.  So the caribineri turned their backs on Fabi, he had to hit and choke one of them to escape, and then when he turns up dead, they all of a sudden are all loyal to him again and are pissed off at Gwen as if it was her fault he died? 

Also if Danny was in the CIA before, wouldn't he know to get rid of his phone and buy a new burner phone so he couldn't be easily tracked just by typing in "Danny cell phone" into the computer?

[sigmaforce86]

Very disappointed Fabi died, I think there was more they could have done with that character even if his cover was blown.  Too bad they didn't have him wounded and have the Brotherhood swoop in and take him away to heal, I really would have liked seeing him on the show longer.

Edited to add:  The show got a mention on TV Line's Q&A of the week asking if we were distracted by the amount of bugs crawling on Fabi during his death scene.  I never noticed, I was too busy being pissed they were killing him in the first place!  

https://tvline.com/2019/07/12/big-little-lies-season-2-jane-boyfriend-corey-tv-questions-answers/

To me (and maybe I sometimes don't pay attention like I should) the store is a little more convoluted than it needs to be especially for a summer show.  Just my opinion of course but I think they could do the same plot, same story with much less complication - not everything they encounter has to have a twist and ten different connections to all the characters.  Doesn't mean I'm not still enjoying it though - I definitely am enjoying it

Biggest complaint where I really do wish they'd pull back is Gwen.  I don't really go for that sort of character whether played by a male or female on any show.  When they're written as unyielding, unlistening, too by the book and no out of the box thinking they start to move away from being a foil and just become tedious and annoying.  She seems very myopic at times; I'd love to see the writers pull back on Gwen a bit and let her use her brains to see the big picture.  Somewhere way back on here I said how the characters in this could be matched with Leverage characters - Gwen is Sterling but even Sterling knew when to stand back sometimes and let the team have a run at a con because their goals were the same and they'd get the job done. 

Example of Gwen being too strict and a general PITA (upcoming) 

Spoiler

Next episode she arrests Father Chuck for aiding Danny & Lexi.   I won't project how it plays out, maybe she gets some info out of him and let's him go with no harm no foul but I doubt it based on how she's acted so far.  It seems like an example of her being written as far to strict and rules oriented and I'm questioning why she feels the need to do this in the first place.

Edited July 15, 2019 by sigmaforce86

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

Example of Gwen being too strict and a general PITA (upcoming) 

  Reveal spoiler

Next episode she arrests Father Chuck for aiding Danny & Lexi.   I won't project how it plays out, maybe she gets some info out of him and let's him go with no harm no foul but I doubt it based on how she's acted so far.  It seems like an example of her being written as far to strict and rules oriented and I'm questioning why she feels the need to do this in the first place.

Spoiler

All I read is more Father Chuck, that is never a bad thing. Maybe they will give him a huge scene. I missed him last episode.

[Christina]

The July 16 episode is the one that ends my ride on this show, I think. The only positive was Father Chuck and he was only on for a minute. There was no fun train to ride here. Lexi professes she better with Danny. Gwen gets shut out of the investigation and I guess I'm supposed to think she will now break bad, but the actress isn't very good and I don't like to watch her, either. Any of them up against a good actor, like Father Chuck, makes them come across even worse.

Goody! Lexi is a descendant of Cleopatra. Who didn't see that coming? I'm fine with there being no storyline but not one that drags so boringly. 

[Dowel Jones]

Gotta love those carabineri.  "Hmmm.  Suspicious woman going in house.  Hmmm.  Police tape broken and door unlocked.  Hmmm.  No one in room but the window is open.  Oh well, looks good to me.  Let's go have a coffee."

Well, the good news is that, being related to Cleopatra instead of Mary (in that other movie), it's not important that she be a virgin to carry on with her duties.

Danny has the brains of a mollusk.   Dead guy in airtight cell.  Strange powder on desk.   I know, I'll scrape up a bit and see what it is!

[cameron]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Gotta love those carabineri.  "Hmmm.  Suspicious woman going in house.  Hmmm.  Police tape broken and door unlocked.  Hmmm.  No one in room but the window is open.  Oh well, looks good to me.  Let's go have a coffee."

Well, the good news is that, being related to Cleopatra instead of Mary (in that other movie), it's not important that she be a virgin to carry on with her duties.

Danny has the brains of a mollusk.   Dead guy in airtight cell.  Strange powder on desk.   I know, I'll scrape up a bit and see what it is!

Just wondering if it was Ricin that he found on that desk.

[Dowel Jones]

There's no antidote to Ricin, I think.  He'd be a corpse right now.

[UnknownK]

32 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

There's no antidote to Ricin, I think.  He'd be a corpse right now.

It usually needs to be ingested or injected, and large amounts need to be inhaled to be toxic.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, cameron said:

Just wondering if it was Ricin that he found on that desk.

If it was me I would weaponize the "Curse of the Mummy's Tomb", maybe weaponize some Mold or Fungus specially designed to go in Cleopatra's Tomb. A highly lethal and contagious pandemic disease, a fitting end for you Tomb Robbers! 

[UnknownK]

The only thing I could think of is some extinct virus or bacteria found in the mummy that we are no longer immune to that would cause a wide spread breakout like the 1918 flu.

[Mars477]

On 7/16/2019 at 9:20 PM, Christina said:

The July 16 episode is the one that ends my ride on this show, I think. The only positive was Father Chuck and he was only on for a minute. There was no fun train to ride here. Lexi professes she better with Danny. Gwen gets shut out of the investigation and I guess I'm supposed to think she will now break bad, but the actress isn't very good and I don't like to watch her, either. Any of them up against a good actor, like Father Chuck, makes them come across even worse.

Goody! Lexi is a descendant of Cleopatra. Who didn't see that coming? I'm fine with there being no storyline but not one that drags so boringly. 

So the writers are too dumb to know that Cleopatra was Greek and not Egyptian.

[mertensia]

It is hard for me to root for the heroes after they kill Oded. Just sayin'.

I figure after 1900 years or so Cleopatra's descendants could easily be mostly Egyptian.

[sigmaforce86]

Well at least I get to take back any negative thoughts I had before the show aired when I knew Gwen was going to arrest Father Chuck.  Very glad it didn't go the route I thought it would with Gwen being all hardass and threatening or using Chuck as a bargain tool with Danny.  I laughed out loud at how fast Chuck flipped the script on Gwen and she let him, when she not only sat down but let him stand up and start walking around .. suddenly he was questioning her.  

Can't believe they killed Fabi in one episode and Farouk the very next.  I know we're supposed to be rooting for the good guys to win but for Fabi I feel like they could have done more with him and for Farouk I feel like it's a waste of Oded's talent when he wasn't in a couple episodes and they ditch him with three episodes left (or maybe I'm shallow and just like seeing both of them on my screen).

[cameron]

11 hours ago, UnknownK said:

It usually needs to be ingested or injected, and large amounts need to be inhaled to be toxic.

Very lethal just even touching it.  It was used some years back in letters that were mailed to people in biochemical warfare.

[AnimeMania]

6 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

Well at least I get to take back any negative thoughts I had before the show aired when I knew Gwen was going to arrest Father Chuck.  Very glad it didn't go the route I thought it would with Gwen being all hardass and threatening or using Chuck as a bargain tool with Danny.  I laughed out loud at how fast Chuck flipped the script on Gwen and she let him, when she not only sat down but let him stand up and start walking around .. suddenly he was questioning her. 

This is what I thought would happen, it just wasn't as funny or interesting as I thought it would be. I still hate his accent, but I thought Father Chuck would have bonded with Gwen more and Gwen would have loosened up a little bit around him (maybe even laughed) and maybe they would have become friends. Father Chuck is the master of getting confessions and they were in an interrogation room.

[UnknownK]

4 hours ago, cameron said:

Very lethal just even touching it.  It was used some years back in letters that were mailed to people in biochemical warfare.

The CDC says that the people who died from Ricin were injected with it.

https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/qa.asp

"Has anyone ever died after being exposed to ricin?

Yes, several deaths have resulted after a victim was injected with ricin. People have been poisoned with ricin after eating castor beans, but most cases of eating castor beans do not result in poisoning, because it is difficult to release the ricin from castor beans. Also, ricin is not as well absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract when compared to injection or inhalation."

Anyway there are plenty of powders that are not ricin that I would not want to be touching ever.

[cameron]

9 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

The CDC says that the people who died from Ricin were injected with it.

https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/qa.asp

"Has anyone ever died after being exposed to ricin?

Yes, several deaths have resulted after a victim was injected with ricin. People have been poisoned with ricin after eating castor beans, but most cases of eating castor beans do not result in poisoning, because it is difficult to release the ricin from castor beans. Also, ricin is not as well absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract when compared to injection or inhalation."

Anyway there are plenty of powders that are not ricin that I would not want to be touching ever.

There were ricin scare episodes at the pentagon with it being sent through the mail and to other politicians.

[Netfoot]

Castor grows wild locally.  It's an annoying weed.  People don't mess with the seeds due to their poisonous reputation.  When I was a boy, my mom told me a tale of a school friend of hers who chewed/ate the seeds and died as a result.

[UnknownK]

1 hour ago, cameron said:

There were ricin scare episodes at the pentagon with it being sent through the mail and to other politicians.

Yes, but I don't think anyone died from it.

[cameron]

3 minutes ago, UnknownK said:

Yes, but I don't think anyone died from it.

That's because since 9-11 security has been really stepped up at high risk places such as these.  And it doesn't take long to inhale and die from ricin as oppose to be injected with it.  That's why they are putting in unsuspecting letters.

[UnknownK]

It is VERY hard to weaponize ricin in a way to kill a lot of people at once. The powder must be something else,

If you look at the Japanese subway attack that used sarin nerve gas in an enclosed area full of packed people very few died and that gas is VERY deadly.

I think it is something contagious.

[cameron]

1 hour ago, UnknownK said:

It is VERY hard to weaponize ricin in a way to kill a lot of people at once. The powder must be something else,

If you look at the Japanese subway attack that used sarin nerve gas in an enclosed area full of packed people very few died and that gas is VERY deadly.

I think it is something contagious.

It won't kill at once but the time line if exposed to powder is relatively on the short side.  That's why they have evacuated buildings on Capital Hill when letters have been found with ricin.

[Bort]

Let's get back on topic, please.

[lammykins]

Oded was a big reason I kept watching this show (what little time he actually appeared), so yeah, losing his character and Fabi, who, as it's been pointed out, could have had an interesting continuing storyline, is dragging my interest away. Not exactly must-see tv, but still brainless summer fare that's mildly entertaining, so I'll probably hang around til the end of the season.

[AnimeMania]

I liked the Gwen fight scene tonight, they are always getting better. The earlier Lexi vs casino assassin fight scene was well choreographed, but the filming angles were bad.

Too bad Gwen didn't bother to take any photos of the mercenary exchange, she might of gotten the license plate number of the car that got away (similar to how she found the mercenary). Maybe attempt to cut off any escape routes the bad guys might use.

The robbers hiding in the large boxes of sand was really cool, but why were there large boxes of sand in the room?

Danny walking past John Larroquette to hug the lady archaeologist was kind of cold. I think the lady archaeologist is going to turn out to be the criminal mastermind behind Farouk's organization.

[sigmaforce86]

Still interesting week after week - I think Danny is right about the brotherhood being behind the taking of Anthony & Cleopatra, to me the biggest clue is that Lexi, Danny & Shaw were left alive on that island.  That would be a rookie move from Farouk's team, there's no way they wouldn't have known Danny & his team were still on the island and no way they wouldn't have at least checked the cave to see if Shaw's buddy had left them alive or not.  That makes the Brotherhood being the culprits more likely.   Also hoping Larroquette is a red herring since the show has already been renewed.........I'd prefer he not be the big bad because I'd like to see him again next season.

Also boys and girls what did we learn from the clues found in tonight's episode?  Buttons for the men!  No pretentious cuff links on your everyday suit shirts.  Save those for the tuxedo's....... buttons were invented for a reason

[tennisgurl]

My biggest complaint about this show is how often they keep killing off their supporting cast, it seems out of place on such a light and fun show, and I prefer shows like this having a supporting cast to show up sometimes. 

Other than that, I've really liked the last few episodes! Especially this week, we had lots of good shots and scenes, like the fight scene with Gwen in her apartment and the tactical team rising up from the boxes of...sand? Mud? Wet Cement? I suspect that the Brotherhood is involved in all of this, and while I dont think they are working with the terrorists, they are trying to get Anthony and Cleopatra, probably because they think they're theirs because they were founded by their children or something. 

I think that Larroquette is a red herring, and its the head scientist lady that is really the mole. 

I assume next season will have a new archaeology mystery? Maybe they have to find a lost city?

[greyhorse]

Well, at least we finally got to see Cleo.  Was wondering if this was going to be one those series where they're always chasing something but never find it.

How obviously stupid it was of Lexi and Danny to not realize that island guy was going to double cross them.  It's a deserted island, why do you need to bring a gun?

Shaw is there I know for the comedic aspect.  But he just seems clunky and not really necessary to the story.

Simon - the poor man's William Dafoe - really bugs.  What exactly is his purpose?

[xtwheeler]

2 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Simon - the poor man's William Dafoe - really bugs.  What exactly is his purpose?

Simon is played by James Callis, who is both extremely talented as well as very well-known for, among other things, starring in Battlestar Galactica (where he was absolutely astonishing) and a fantastic season of 12 Monkeys. He may be more of a genre actor, but he's not a poor man's anybody! He's a graduate of London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts. Check him out on BSG, especially. He's an extraordinary talent. 

[proserpina65]

On ‎07‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 1:57 AM, Mars477 said:

So the writers are too dumb to know that Cleopatra was Greek and not Egyptian.

To be fair, Cleopatra's descendants could easily have married Egyptians over the centuries.

I'm still really enjoying this show.  Yes, it's kinda dumb.  Yes, I find myself occasionally rolling my eyes.  Yes, it's just fluff.  But it's been breezy, entertaining fluff, with characters I don't hate, and this summer, that's good enough for me.

Plus, "They're digging in the wrong place." will never not be funny.