Only one episode so far, but I really, really enjoyed it. Very intriguing premise (spoilers for the first episode):
A lowly bureaucrat finds out that the agency he works for is guarding a portal to a very similar, but still slightly different, parallel universe, and finds out that his counterpart is a high-ranking badass with knowledge of a secret plot that affects both sides…
And very well done. They were incredibly lucky to get an actor of the caliber of JK Simmons for a complicated role like this. Anyone else watch it?
I’ll suggest that spoilers are game beyond the 1st post so that we can talk more easily.
I did, and you’re right about JK Simmons. I just watched the second episode last night, and it’s amazing how he can make The Two Howards such different people, even when, as was pointed out, they’re wearing the same shirt.
And the hints at the backstory for this universe are intriguing. That they were once a single timeline, that was somehow split at some point, with a character on one side darkly alluding to “What they did to us…” near the end of the episode.
What was the piece of classical music they were playing in the concert hall?
Anyone notice the inconsistencies in the technology? In the first episode they had a super advanced transparent cell phones, but big beige computer monitors. I don’t think that’s a mistake.
Excellent show! I was ready for a good binge watch, but I see it is released a week at a time. I am very interested in finding out the differences between the two worlds.
I need help. I am thoroughly confused with the letter Emily was reading at the end. Does that mean Coma Emily is the Emily from the other side, and Mild Howard’s Emily is the bad ass? And Bad Ass Howard knows that?
I still see the inconsistency in the technology, with big computer monitors and dot matrix printers and sleek new phones.
A theory on my part.
I’m also thinking the “other side” is OUR side IRL. Toby Ziegler was talking about how “we” wouldn’t have mapped the human genome if it weren’t for “them.” We completed that project in 2003.
I’m not sure I’m parsing that sentence correctly, but the way I see it, both Emilies are involved in this crossover agency, Badass Howard knows this, and Mild Howard had no idea. It also seems that Badass Howard knew Coma Emily, and was somehow involved with her on a professional basis. Non-Coma Emily had no idea that Badass Howard knew Coma Emily, though, which is why Badass Howard sent her to the church to find the letters. He needed to bring her up to speed on exactly how convoluted the situation actually is.
I was also wondering which one was “our” world, but it has to be the Ziegler-verse, since it was clear that the Other-verse had suffered a major epidemic that we have never had. So, yeah, a lot of “our” discoveries are secretly just us copying their work. Of course, the reverse is also true, as seen when the ambassador gets a peak at the smartphone.
Well, it seemed like NonComa Emily was reading a letter addressed to “Emily” from “Emily.” Somehow I got the notion that Coma Emily is from the other side and that Mild Howard is unaware of the switch. Or maybe she came over at the switch and THEN met Mild Howard.
Maybe to keep things straight we need to identify Mild Howard and Toby’s side as “our (IRL)” side for the time being. But the major epidemic could be AIDS, for all we know.
I don’t think so. I think one of the characters on “Mild Howard’s” side mentioned that they got HIV treatment from the other side, and someone on the other side indicated that the pandemic was devastating to the population of their cities.
