reviewing Black Doves; Dark Matter; Dept. Q; Detective Hole; Dexter: Resurrection; Fauda; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; Memory of a Killer; MobLand; Outlander; Paradise; Presumed Innocent; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Smoke; Star City; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Tehran;The: Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Night Agent; Your Friends & Neighbors +books, films, music, podcasts, politics
George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.
Chuck Todd interviews me about alternate histories
Ok, as of the beginning of Emergence 1.4, we know what/who Piper is, if not the full story of how she came to be. As Emily says, Piper is a totally artificial creation - body as well as mind. This would make her, in science fiction parlance, an android. Akin in television land to the beings in Westworld and Humans. Maybe even more so, as there don't seem to be any trace of wires or digital circuitry in Piper.
And, as Benny helpfully explains, a child is a perfect vehicle for getting androids into human society. After all, an android child can be made to look cute and in need of protection and sheltering. Exactly what made Piper so irresistible to Jo.
So what now? Kindred (aka John Locke from Lost, i.e., Terry O'Quinn is determined to get back his property, which apparently Piper is. We still know little to nothing of his master plan. But we know he has no trouble meting out death to anyone or thing who get his way. And we know that Piper has no trouble doing that, either, though she may be troubled by her actions afterwards.
At this point, it's still hard to say what Piper is really up to. When she screams and gets Jo to stop the car, and Pipe jumps out ... It turns out that Piper is doing that to save a turtle, to keep it from getting run over. Is that just more of Piper wanting to seem so sweet, to disable Jo's suspicions, or did Piper really care about saving that turtle? In any case, it certainly had the effect of once again disarming Jo - psychologically.
So welcome Emergence to realm of full-fledged, undeniable science fiction. Androids are one of my favorite sub-genres of the field, as both a fan and a writer.
There were four good plot developments in Falling Skies 3.4 this week -
Hal's evil, alien side takes over - which all but confirms, at least to me, that he's the mole, the killer of the Terry O'Quinn character, and who knows what else.
Ben and his likely girlfriend don't want their spikes thoroughly removed - he's grown to enjoy the power they give him. This should make for some interesting developments down the road.
Anne's on the run with her and Tom's baby girl. This happens after the not-so-mad doc played by Robert Sean Leonard tells Anne and us what was clear already last week in the baby's smile: she has alien DNA. The doc wonders how that could be. But we already know - it must have come from Tom, who must have been embedded with some alien DNA when he was aboard the ship. At this point, however, Anne doesn't seem to be thinking much about how that happened - she's more concerned with making sure her super-baby is beyond the reach of the other humans in the compound. But where will she go?
All three of the above developments become even more intense because Tom decides to go off to the see the real President of the United States. Tom and the good alien who has come to the meeting just about manage to convince the President that cooperating with the good aliens is the only way we can win - when the bad aliens attack. Who tipped them off, Hal?
These interlocking developments are making for a good story line this year - in fact, better, I think, than in the previous two years. Hal under alien control can dominate the compound and get it to do his bidding if he plays his cards right. With Tom and Anne not there, for different reasons, who can successfully oppose him? Even Pope is with Tom, away from the compound. That leaves Margaret, who's no dummy, but she doesn't have Hal's alien strength. So ... we may be down to Ben ... and an all-out Ben vs. Hall confrontation for control of the compound would be something worth watching.
Another superb Lost - 6.8 - tonight, as the story just gets better and better. This one centers around Sawyer and his deceptions of others, in both realities.
First, in better LA: Sawyer is a cop, not a con-man, looking a little like Don Johnson in Miami Vice. He's kept his James Ford name. He chose the cop over criminal life, because, after all, this is better LA. His partner is Miles (first intersecting character), who helps set Sawyer up with a gorgeous red-head: Charlotte (second intersecting character), who looks better than ever! She and Sawyer sleep together - still a much better LA. But she's on some kind of mission, some kind of spy - working for who, Widmore, but why, in this reality? Sawyer gets furious when he finds her going through his files, with photographs of parents and him as a kid, behind his back. He throws her out. Ok, this is a better reality, not a perfect one. But a few beats later, he and Miles apprehend another beauty: Kate (third intersecting character) on the run in LA. (And in the just for good measure inexplicable intersection of characters, Sawyer the cop encounters Charlie's brother, looking to bail Charlie out of jail.)
Back in island reality, I've just to mention that Terry O'Quinn is giving a fabulous performance as faux-Locke/smoke monster. He's 99% just like real Locke, and puts an enormous amount into the 1-percent difference. Josh Holloway as Sawyer was better than ever tonight, too.
Anyway, back on the island, faux-Locke sends Sawyer on a mission: scout out that island across the water. Sawyer eventually meets face-to-face with Widmore on the sub, and offers to work for him, to get Locke, in return for Widmore helping Sawyer and his friends, whoever they may be, off the island (I'd say, at very least, Kate, Hurley, Sun & Jin, and maybe Jack, if he wants to leave). Sawyer's very convincing.
But back with Locke, Sawyer says he's just setting Widmore up for Locke to kill him. Locke apparently believes him, as did Widmore on the sub. But then, alone with Kate, Sawyer says his real plan is to have Locke and Widmore fight it out, while he and Kate (and presumably Hurley etc) escape on the sub.
So, what does that leave us? Last week, we had but two teams, Locke's vs. Jack's, with the status of Sawyer and Kate not yet determined. Tonight, we have a third team with Widmore, and maybe a fourth team with Sawyer et al escaping, though could really be just part of the second team (or the first team, depending how you're counting) of Jack, Hurley, etc.
And regarding Sawyer's convincing deceptions, who really believes him? Widmore's a pretty smart guy, is he really taken in? Locke/smoke monster is way beyond smart - hard to believe that he'll fall too long for Sawyer's set-up? And what about Kate - is Sawyer deceiving her, too?
I've always liked Kate and Sawyer better than Kate and Jack as a couple, so I'm most believing what Sawyer said to Kate on the island. But what a tangled web Sawyer's weaving ...
And he and Kate may be just getting started in better LA.
