"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Monday, April 4, 2011

The Event 1.16: High-Placed Sleeper

The Event keeps tightening the vice, with another thread in tonight's episode 1.16 that is a little too close to today's real politics, at least for my tastes.

Simon, who has been outed as an alien sleeper, makes good his escape from the White House compound.  Someone on the inside, with a voice distorted to protect his or her identity (mostly from us), gives Simon precise navigational cues.  He uses these to elude Blake's best efforts and cameras.   The President orders that everyone having anything to do with the White House undergo a DNA-test to confirm their humanity.  One person refuses - the President's wife.

Uh oh - is the First Lady a sleeper?   The possibility is uncomfortably close to the suggestion that Obama may be Muslim.  It's become more than what we heard from that weak-witted woman at the McCain townhald in the 2008 campaign - remember that, and McCain's attempt to give a principled answer?  ("He's an Arab," the woman said to McCain about then-candidate Obama.  "No ma'am.  He's a good person.  He's family man."  Poor McCain - he defended Obama by insulting Arabs and Muslims by implication.)  And nowadays, even the likes of Donald Trump are joining McCain's questioner in expressing doubts about Obama's religion.

Anyway, back to the television show that is deliberately written as fiction, The Event has also come close to disposing of two more characters - Vicky and Simon, who are both on the verge of being murdered.   But I'm guessing/hoping that both survive - because I like them.

And remember in my review of last week's episode 1.15 when I said that I thought Dempsey may hold the key to the aliens' survival?  Well, I was almost right.  Tonight he tells Vicki that he holds the key to our survival!  

More in two weeks.


5-min podcast review of The Event

See also The Event Debuts on NBC ... The Event 1.2: Aliens! ... The Event 1.4: 24 Back in Action! ... The Event 1.6: Not Only Aliens, Immortals! ... The Event 1.7: The Portal and its Implications  ... The Event 1.8: The "Republican" VP and the Anti-24 ... The Event 1.9: "Native Populations, Indigenous People" ... The Event 1.10: Satellite ... The Event 1.11-12: Hardball in Fiction ... The Event 1.13: A Little to Close to the Reality ... The Event 1.14: Upping the Ante ... The Event 1.15: Bluffs and Stakes





                 Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, eHarmony, eMusic, Mozy, Zazzle





The Plot to Save Socrates



"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

2 comments:

David Perry said...

Sean's use of torture was also a queezy reminder of our nation's recent past, though, sadly, it was probably more out of character for Sean than for the US.

The writers have been moving Sean in a more violent direction over the past few episodes, but his transformation from naivete (in his early scene with Vicky) to knowing interrogator within a single episode seemed unrealistic.

M.P. Andonee said...

I told you about Dempsey, didn't I? He's trying to save the human race, OR IS HE?

Is he one of them, left behind from years ago, or is he an enemy from long ago? Does he really hold the key to our survival?

And I am starting to suspect Shawn (who is after Dempsey). Could he be a sleeper?

InfiniteRegress.tv