I’m liking this show more as it goes.
So far, less stupid science, which is good. I’m liking Joshua Jackson’s character more weekly as well.
Anna Torv(is that her name?) is doing better as well. I’m beginning to believe she can act.
OK.
This was a great episode. I now want this show to go on for at least a couple seasons.
I’m intrigued, despite its flaws.
Why?
If The Observer was just going to dump the jalapenos on the sandwich, why did he order them on the side?
Why did they keep saying cylinder when it was more of an ovoid?
Other than that, I loved it.
at least Massive Dynamics Co. was big in the story.
and Just when I think Mr. Noble’s Walter schtick is getting old, he brings out new shadings to the persona. He’s doing a great acting job.
I missed some parts, but did they ever actually tell us what that thing was? Alien stuff? And did they tell us who the bald guy who lies spicy stuff was?
Never told us what the doodad was or where it came from.
The bald guy is the Observer. He’s been photographed watching weird events all around the world. He once saved Walter and Peter from drowning. He appears to possess telepathic abilities. He carries a ray gun capable of inducing unconsciousness.
Presumably, they would have called him the Watcher, which sounds less made up. However, Marvel comics already owns a character called the Watcher who (I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.) looks like a bald caucasian male and shows up to observe and record important events.
I agree, much improvement. Anna Torv’s face showed some real emotion this week, and Joshua Jackson made me think “Pacey” only twice this episode. I have to say I’m intrigued by the Bald Guy and the Return of Ken Doll guy. I thought we weren’t going to have any overarching mythology? :dubious:
I guess JJ can’t help himself. 
Who said there wasn’t going to be? They made it clear in the pilot that there were going to be overarching secrets, plots, etc.
Who else thought of MST3K when they heard the black guy said “We call him the Observer”?
All the interviews I had read before the show came out talked about how people who didn’t watch Lost from the get-go felt like they couldn’t just jump in to the show after the first season because of all the subplots and soopersekretquirrel stuff.
I think it’s pretty obvious that despite the promises from Abrams and Co, there’s already an obvious multi-episode story arc happening here. The nice thing is that it’s just a small part of the story instead of the entire driving force for the show.
So basically, the casual viewers will get their “monster of the week” story that they can tune in and enjoy without worrying about what happened last week, and the JJ Abrams devotees can get their jollies trying to figure out what that episode’s snippet of strange goings-on reveal about Rimbaldi… errr… Dharma… errrr… I mean The Pattern.
Since my prior post is incomprehensible, I’m joining in again.
Ahem - I was glad Massive Dynamics was
not mentioned much tonight. I like the show except for the Massive Dynamics bits.
I like this show a lot more when they don’t try to scientifically explain things. Like the machine they stuck up Joshua Jackson’s nose: it was clear what it was supposed to be doing and we didn’t need a scientific explanation. Just accept the fact it’s a telepathic machine.
Bald guy was straaaange and slightly creepy. His last exchange with Joshua Jackson’s character (who I still can’t remember the name of) immediately reminded me a bit of the “Midnight” episode of Doctor Who. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him and the capsule again in the future, if the show isn’t cancelled.
I liked it. It will be nice when Peter stops questioning every-fucking-thing his dad says. Honestly, if I saw my old man connect a chick’s brain to a dead guy’s I’d never doubt anything he told me ever again.
Really? I found him very humorous, actually. I love the bit with the sandwich. How appropriate that he would be all about just piling a bunch of hot stuff on his sandwich “just to see”, and how fitting that Walter would be All. About. That.
I got the impression that he piled on the hot stuff not because he was curious, but because that’s what tastes good to him. When Walter offered him a sip of his root beer float, he said that he wouldn’t taste much anyway; maybe he’s an alien that has a limited sense of taste.
You know thinking back, it was Hilarious that Walter sent Peter out for TIN FOIL when he was trying to get rid of him while he was getting rid of the cylinder.
One thing we learned about the bald guy is that he marked the crazy doctor a long time ago. When Joshua Jackson was a kid, he and his dad crashed into an icy lake. The bald guy pulled them out, saving both their lives. He then telepathically hinted to the doctor that this favor would come due some day, which turned out to be this episode.
The device was explained as an earth missile. As in, a missile you fire through the earth instead of through the sky. This allows it to strike anywhere on earth, presumably without needing to worry about radar detection.
No, that was the project that Walter said was similar. Such a missile wouldn’t need to vibrate at 2 Mhz and wouldn’t mysteriously appear and disappear. The item made of iridium metal was called “The Beacon” by some of the mystery dudes and its true purpose has not been revealed.
Also, if I was telepathically interrogating someone, I wouldn’t command them to think of X. (Although that is a great way to do an audience reveal of what’s going on.) A crafty interrogator would ask questions normally because a hostile victim trying to resist will assume they can safely think about the topic as long as they don’t say anything.
I think The Beacon is a time capsule from the future, so to speak. It disappears after so many days or hours, then reappears at some other time in the future, and the Observer follows and protects it. Not sure if that means the Beacon is just randomly appearing from one point in time to another, or if it appearance coincides with something important. I think the Beacon mentioned from the past, is the very same Beacon in this present. Now it went somewhere in our future.
My theory: Rather than the Observer being an alien, I think he is a visitor from our future, and he’s maybe following the path of the Beacon, that will help him do something at every epoch to try and avert some future calamity. Small things he has to change, that will add up to a fix somehow. And then there’s the future baddies after it and him, to foil his plans. And they bring cool guns. Is the Beacon more than just a Beacon. Does it contain a package, and if so… what?
Then again, this is J.J. So, all bets are off.
Also, the futurians can’t touch it. Iiiiiiiinteresting.