[Hijack] In episode 2 when he goes to the morgue, the morgue attendant (doctor?) tires to tell him three jokes. He starts each joke and our hero fills in the punch line before the joke is finished. Presumably because at 400 years old he has heard them all before. OK, fine. I knew the first and third jokes, but I do not know the 2nd joke.
I think the set up was:
A priest a doctor, and a vet walk into a bar.
The punch line was:
Sue the duck.
Can anybody supply the missing parts of the joke?[/hijack]
BTW did anyone notice that during the 40’s flash back the dog was named 29? I thought that was cool.
Count us as two more people who like this show.
Very seldom do I like any sort of flashbacks in shows, but this is the exception. The flashbacks are as interesting at the “current” show plot of each episode.
I had high hopes for this series when they first started advertising it, I’m a sucker for immortal stories. The first episode left me kind of -meh-. There were interesting ways they could have gone, and I hope they do. But I can easily see it getting a lot worse from here (haven’t watched the second ep yet).
The actual crime plotline from the first ep was LAME. I hope they write a good cop show and layer the other stuff on top rather than the other way around. If they go the way of the first ep, what’s the use in making him a cop in the first place?
I like the concept, I just have the feeling that the writing is going to let me down.
Then the second EP will probably disappoint you. The flashbacks were the backbone and the present day crime was more of a springboard for the flashbacks.
Maybe this is the effect of trying to fill in backstory and the present day crimes will take center stage as the series developes. I hope not. I like the backstory and there is 400 years of it to explore.
The backstory is the best part of the show. The writers and actor have actually done a great job of taking a handsome young man and making him look world-weary and lonesome. I love the fact that he confides in his children and uses them to help him maintain a fake persona and disappear when he needs to.
The most interesting thing about immortal stories, in my opinion, are the explorations of what relationships would be liike - having children, watching them grow up, grow old, and die, and having more children. How would you relate to them? How would you come to grips with the mortality of everyone around you? How would you deal with the ever-increasing sea of ancestors that surround you? So far, the show has been willing to explore those themes, and is doing a pretty good job of it.
I expect to see an episode which re-tells the Heinlein story from Time Enough For Love (The Tale of the Adopted Daughter), where Lazarus marries a young woman (against his better judgement), raises a family with her, watches her grow old and die, and then moves on with his life. It’s a very sad story, but it would be perfect for an episode of this show.
I think the crime drama aspect is just a hook to grab viewers. I wouldn’t mind at all if that became increasingly boilerplate and got less screen time.
I actually wouldn’t mind if they dropped the present-day crime dramas entirely and did whole shows devoted to his past. Maybe tying them in to something that happens to Amsterdam in the present.
In fact, I’d like to see a story about Johan van der Zee realizing that he has to change his identity because people are wondering why he’s not aging.
My wife and I also enjoy the back story.
I got a kick out of the middle aged secretary turning out to be his daughter, and Miss Brown being his lover/ wife/mother of Omar.
That segment was my favorite part of the whole book. I don’t really cry at books, but I got something in my eye when I read “Her breathing stopped. Lazarus waited a long time before he called in Ginny and Elf.”
Damn. My copy of Time Enough for Love is still buried in a box somewhere, and now I want to read that part again.
Never mind that I’ve got three bookcases of paperbacks and two bookcases of hardcovers I haven’t read yet. I still like re-reading old favorites now and then.
I like it pretty well so far. I missed the part when they revealed his secretary was his daughter.
I loved this scene:
*“Watch your step Omar.”
“Or what, you gonna ground me? Take me to the wood shed? I’m a 65 year old man.”
“You’re also my son.”
*
Now Omar is 65? So, is Omar his latest child, or could there be another family out there somewhere?
It’s got to be rough, falling in love but knowing this person is not the love of your life.
Also for the person he’s fallen in love with. If I had been told that my husband would start aging normally once he met his ‘true love,’ then it would have broken my heart to see that he remained immortal after we got together. This quite apart from the fun of seeing myself grow older while he stayed the same… Part of what makes aging tolerable is that my husband is aging along with me.
