# Ascension on the Scifi channel - open spoilers as it airs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330 "2014-12-15T23:24:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/1 "2014-12-15T23:24:19Z")
No, I won’t be calling it Syfy. Anyway, this is a miniseries that apparently has the potential to go to series. IGN saw the first nigh(tonight) and liked it quite a bit. I won’t be catching it until all of it aired, but thought I’d start the discussion thread because I’m going to want one. Anyone planning on watching? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/2 "2014-12-16T01:20:20Z")
I’ll be watching. I know almost nothing about it, so I’m not sure what to expect. I guess I’ll find out in about an hour. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/3 "2014-12-16T01:34:59Z")
Thanks for the reminder Mahaloth! I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I saw the previews months ago, but forgot it started tonight. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/4 "2014-12-16T03:19:51Z")
I’ve Tivo’d it, but haven’t watched it yet. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/5 "2014-12-16T03:37:40Z")
I sure didn’t see _that_ coming :eek:, but does explain a lot of little things that were bugging like non-rotational artificial gravity, not flipping the ship around to decelerate, Earth getting updates in real-time instead of a 2 year delay, and why they put everyone to sleep during a radiation alert. Enzmann’s a total monster. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/6 "2014-12-16T03:49:56Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I sure didn’t see _that_ coming :eek:, but does explain a lot of little things that were bugging like non-rotational artificial gravity, not flipping the ship around to decelerate, Earth getting updates in real-time instead of a 2 year delay, and why they put everyone to sleep during a radiation alert. So, the “twist” was exactly what I figured it was. Good news for M. Night Shyamalan: _The Village_ is no longer the go-to example for “surprises” telegraphed from here to Proxima. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/7 "2014-12-16T03:55:33Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > So, the “twist” was exactly what I figured it was. No kiddin’. I suspected that one was coming just from watching the endless adverts. It’ll be an interesting miniseries, but can’t see it holding interest as an ongoing series. They’ve already used up their “hook”. Something like _The Lost Room_ or that whacky _High Moon_ pilot would’ve stood better chances as series. ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/8 "2014-12-16T04:08:28Z")
Have to say I didn’t see that coming, if only because my expectation of quality was so low, the things that should have stuck out (I.e. Rotational gravity, or how did they lift all those high heels into orbit?) i honestly wrote off as poor writing. Will tune back in, if for no other reason but to see what they do with this now. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/9 "2014-12-16T04:56:30Z")
I was also ready to chalk up the scientific lapses to poor writing. The project overseers must’ve also carefully censored all the science textbooks and tech manuals to keep anyone from “on board” from figuring out that something is very wrong. This also makes the apparent total lack of anyone older than middle age even more unsettling. 😉 After all you can’t waste scarce resources on any one who can’t work, and you need to ensure that future generations come into breeding age in nice manageable cohorts. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/10 "2014-12-16T18:29:25Z")
The “launching pad” looked remarkably like the one in _Interstellar_, didn’t it? 😉 Four more hours now, for Stokes to realize where he is now, find a way to break back into the ship with some guns, lead the insurrection (“But you’re dead, Stokes!” “You wouldn’t believe it.”) and mass escape, the big pie fight scene and the closing credits. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/11 "2014-12-16T19:15:17Z")
I’ll keep watching, but I have very low expectations for anything SyFy. (I won’t call them SciFi because they haven’t been very much of that for a long time.) The first episode was a little better than I expected, actually… but that says a lot more about my expectations than the show. The upper/lower class divide seems ridiculous to me, especially the way the two actually interact in such a dysfunctional manner. We’re (supposedly) on a spaceship with limited resources here, people! There shouldn’t be room for unskilled labor in the first place, and fighting each other isn’t going to help anyone, is it? To me, it reads like the stories we wrote in school when we had to pick subjects out of a hat. You just shoe-horned it in because someone told you to. As for the twist/conspiracy: I have a pretty low tolerance for conspiracy theory plots nowadays. I guess we’ll see where it goes, but it seems like a tired and overused idea that they’ve exhausted before they even made the big reveal. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/12 "2014-12-17T01:43:39Z")
I saw the “twist” coming very early, so the reveal at the end had no impact. The premise is so outlandish it’s hard to swallow, but I’ll watch the rest of the miniseries. An ongoing series, though? Count me out. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/13 "2014-12-17T02:35:45Z")
I gave up about 45 minutes into the first ep and deleted it from the DVR. Can someone spoiler box the twist for me? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/14 "2014-12-17T02:43:28Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > I gave up about 45 minutes into the first ep and deleted it from the DVR. Can someone spoiler box the twist for me? I just saw it. I don’t have to spoiler box it I think, but here you go if you like. Ascension is not a ship soaring through space on a 100 year mission. It is a large structure on Earth that simulates space travel…and has been for 51 years. Why? We have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/15 "2014-12-17T04:28:33Z")
And now the little girl apparently has psychokinetic powers as a result of select breeding. :dubious: Good think this is just a mini-series and we’ll get some kind of conclusion tomorrow. [QUOTE=dracoi] …The upper/lower class divide seems ridiculous to me, especially the way the two actually interact in such a dysfunctional manner… [/QUOTE] What about the Stewardesses? I wonder if they’re always been prostitute-spies, or is that just something recent to Viondra’s reign. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/16 "2014-12-17T06:31:05Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Why? We have no idea. Supposedly, it’s somewhat of a “dress rehearsal,” before the real one takes off . . . a way of learning about what problems will occur in the real one. My question is: Why are all the adults about the same age, which is less than the 51 years in the ship? And they’ve been selected because of their positive characteristics, about 20 years before they’re born? And what happened to the original people, who would be old now? And there’s only one black guy? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/17 "2014-12-17T07:02:40Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > My question is: Why are all the adults about the same age, which is less than the 51 years in the ship? And they’ve been selected because of their positive characteristics, about 20 years before they’re born? And what happened to the original people, who would be old now? And there’s only one black guy? I had the same questions regarding the ages of the passengers not seeming to match the ship’s timeline. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/18 "2014-12-17T12:49:32Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I just saw it. I don’t have to spoiler box it I think, but here you go if you like. Thanks. That’s kind of what I figured, but after 45 minutes realized I was so tuned out, I just shrugged my shoulders and deleted it. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/19 "2014-12-17T14:32:05Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > My question is: Why are all the adults about the same age, which is less than the 51 years in the ship? And they’ve been selected because of their positive characteristics, about 20 years before they’re born? And what happened to the original people, who would be old now? And there’s only one black guy? Additional question on top of those: If everybody is “paired”, who is the black guys wife? Does he even have one? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330/20 "2014-12-17T16:08:37Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > And now the little girl apparently has psychokinetic powers as a result of select breeding. :dubious: We’ve never seen \*that \*in a TV movie/series before, have we? 😉 :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > What about the Stewardesses? I wonder if they’re always been prostitute-spies, or is that just something recent to Viondra’s reign. I thought it was a way for the men to take them all for test drives before rigging the “pairing” process. It’s still the Sixties on-board. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Why? We have no idea. Apparently it’s a science/technology incubator. The descendants of 70 or so scientists from 1963 are responsible for much of the engineering of today. Never mind that if they were so smart they’d have figured out the gravity thing by now. Although, to be fair, if the ship was based on the Orion concept of a series of a jillion A-bombs blasting the ship’s tail, they could get a relatively constant 1G acceleration, then flip it around and decelerate right down to orbital velocity at Proxima Centauri. That also means they’re a little behind schedule after 51 years, they’d have to be 2 light years away from Earth by now, and meaningful radio transmissions are impossible even without that radioactive cloud behind them - which makes the problem of radiation storms in deep space something else those geniuses could have figured out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ascension-on-the-scifi-channel-open-spoilers-as-it-airs/707330.md?page=2)