I didn’t see a thread for this. I watched it last night. What are y’all’s impressions? Or am I the only one who stuck through it for the hour? I’m curious because there are some things that I’m not sure I understood correctly. For example, was there a “twist ending”, or did I just assume things wrong?
It seemed that for the whole show it was implied that Jack was going to become president, and then at the end it was revealed that it was actually Bobby
Also, who does the school president’s daughter (can’t remember her name) marry in the future? Was it both of them?
If you watched it, please comment and help me sort this out.
I think you’re right. I was flipping between that and the Sunday night football game, so I’m not entirely sure. The broadcast was also cut off at the very end for the voice-over.
But it seems that Courtney did in fact marry both Jack and Bobby. And as for the “twist”, I saw that coming (too much playing around with the pronoun game). Still a good reveal, though. Not having seen the first 15 minutes, I want to know if they covered the assassination. If Jack wasn’t president, why was he assassinated? Was he at least in politics?
I guess I’ll put the whole thing in a spoiler box.
[spoiler]I’m not really sure it was a twist ending as I figured it out in advance. The only twist was that apparently Jack dies sometime in the future before Bobby is president which made me sad as he was my favorite character. It doesn’t matter that he is alive for the duration of the show, I know that he dies young. Courtney Benedict (daughter of the president played by Jessica Pare) dates Jack in high school and only loves him as a first love type thing but marries Bobby after he calls and asks her to help her with the campaign. From the beginning of the show, Courtney seemed impressed with Bobby and I thought from the beginning that is who she would end up with.
It is my theory that either the two of them are divorced in 2049 or that Bobby has died as well because old courtney refers to bobby in the past tense.
I think the key to figuring out that Bobby was the president was realising that they referred to Bobby as different and one of a kind very often. This character is going to become a visionary and of course they are going to make him one of a kind and stick out.[/spoiler]
I thought it was a good episode, I’m just curious to see how they treat the rest of the series.
Maybe I didn’t catch the dates correctly, but it seemed to me that when they were talking to the President’s former staffers, the dates were 2041-46.
That implies to me that Bobby is elected to a second term, but for some reason did not complete it. Did I read that wrong? And if so, wouldn’t the VP have served the remainder of the term?
Also, what is up with the mother? I’m not sure I understand her motivations. She must have been with her husband/lover for at least eight years, since there’s that big of an age difference between Jack and Bobby. Do you think she’s trying to overcompensate for her husband’s “bad” genes, since she was ashamed of his occupation?
I was wondering about that, too. The way they refer to him as “just some Mexican bus boy” makes it sound like it was this fling or something, but if he’s both the kid’s father, then she must have been with him for a while, and Jack probably had some interaction with him. Did they say whether he’s dead or not? Maybe he’ll show up sometime.
As for the “twist” ending - on one hand, I saw it coming; on the other, I thought they might make it a long running question throughout the series - always keep you guessing which one of them becomes President.
I liked it well enough (and the guy who plays Jack is hot), but the constant commentary by the people in the “future” annoyed me. I probably won’t watch again.
8 years? Aren’t they both in high school? Or even if Bobby’s in middle school (grade 7) and Jack a senior, there’d be a 6 year difference (7 if you min/max it). I can’t imagine they’d set the first season of a show with one of the title characters set to go off to college the next season.
I turned it off after 20 minutes, although it was already obvious that Bobby would be the president.
I really don’t understand why all the critics were raving about the show. The premise is different, even though I can’t understand how they plan to make a series out of it. But the characters are unpleasant and uninteresting. I don’t care in the least about high school angst. Is every word out of the mother’s mouth meant to be a moral lesson?
Prediction: Won’t last till Christmas. And all the critics will bitch and moan about how the public won’t support good shows.
P.S. I thought Bobby was said to be 13. Jack is a senior, so is probably 17. Just my impression.
I take it this is your first foray into the world of the WB - every single show on the channel is about teen angst. Huge market for it - it’ll last 5 seasons.
I thought the whole point of the show was that we weren’t supposed to know which brother became President - I was really surprised when older Courtney mentioned it at the end, along with the other guy (the one from ER) talking about the photo of him just taking a breath because of his asthma.
I assumed that we’d never find out, except maybe on a series finale. I was leaning towards guessing it was Bobby, but figured each episode would make you switch and think, “Oh, okay, it’s that brother who becomes President.”
I got the impression from something the older Courtney said that maybe Jack dies young, like maybe she and Bobby drifted apart after his death, and then when he ran for Congress was when they got back together. Maybe that was just me, though. I don’t think she marries both of them.
The whole bit with the mom and the college president was way too easy to call. :rolleyes: Why would you walk off with a guy you don’t even know, not introduce yourself, and proceed to rip apart your new boss like that? I also didn’t like the bit with her in the principal’s office with the pot, threatening to call her lawyer. I hate that shit with parents who defend their kids like they’re angels without even listening to what happened.
I think I’ll give this one a pass. Is it Thursday yet? Survivor starts on Thursday!
I watched the first two episodes last night with my husband. I was disappointed in the things they revealed in the pilot because it really changes how things play out now. But then, I don’t like reading prequels or any type of story where I know the outcome, so this may not be the best show for me from the get-go.
They said in the second episode that Bobby is in 8th grade, which means there’s 5 years or less between them. Five only if Jack is a senior, and given there was no wailing about how he was off the team for senior year, I don’t think he’s that old.