A much improved episode.
Not so sure the villain is one and done. Dragged off zipped tied. Yes he was great.
No not a bacterial infection. First stupid from the medical POV, but in universe it was data, code.
Haven’t read the books, so a bit of a spoiler there, but I already assumed that’s what it was. But how do you encode data in a biological way? And wouldn’t that encoded data look a lot like bacteria to a doctor who didn’t know?
Oh I haven’t read the books either. It’s just clear from the show. They can quantum tunnel information not germs.
Her clinical presentation is very inconsistent with bacterial meningitis. And if such was suspected then antibiotics IV quickly is imperative to saving the patient’s life and preventing major future disability. Viruses could be part of a better story and basically are just information that hijack host cells. Bacteria having a party is really dumb.
I’m a fan of the author and liked the book, but can’t really recall the storyline. Instead I just remember parts of it. I’ll be interested in watching the show.
…I’ve liked the show so far, but I really enjoyed that last episode because a bunch of characters who had been on the peripheral (get it?) of the story had their characters fleshed out this episode and suddenly became really interesting, including a person who in present-future time is now dead.
Fantastic episode. The 2099 “flashback” fleshed out some characters wonderfully, the new assassin was perfectly bad ass, and Flynne is finally starting to take control.
The show isn’t really following the book. The 2032 events are at least adjacent to the book storyline, but the 2100 story is completely new. So for non-book readers, don’t worry too much about spoilers.
Jack Reynor, who plays Burton, is one of my favorite actors. From Ireland and was in Midsommar and Sing Street.
The scene in the last epi, where Flynne’s peripheral takes down Cherise’s peripheral, was great.
This little town seems to be absolutely filled with badass rednecks.
That’s actually one of the most believable (to me) parts of the world-building.
Military Tech Guy: This new technology will make super-soldiers out of a squad, but it they will need to have a deep connection with each other for it to work.
Military Head Guy: No problem! We’ll just recruit groups of guys who grew up together and keep them as a unit with a solid NCO.
Burton & Co: This town kinda sucks and we’ve got no future here. Sign us up!
So, Mary Pickett is dead, Bob is dead, Reece is dead ( 
), the Sheriff is dead, and Pickett is (probably not) dead. The Metro lady (Ainsley Lowbeer) is scared of the RI lady (Cherise Nuland) as is the Klept guy (Lev Zubov - who is also scared of the Metro lady), which means their little tripod of power is SERIOUSLY unbalanced at this point.
In other news, Momma Fisher is blind again, Tommy has found his balls, Leon is the rock on which the squad rests, we now have confirmation that the “infection” is the stolen data (with the interesting side-point that they were thinking that Burton’s haptics would be holding the data until he talked Flynne into running the “sim” for him), and Ossian & Ash are nowhere near as clever as they think they are.
Hell of a penultimate episode! Really looking forward to the finale and Season 2.
I don’t get Ossian and Ash. “Burn it all down.” Burn what down? London looks to have a human population in the thousands, if that. I get a kick out of Ash’s accent, though; I’d completely forgotten Leung was Scottish. 
Probably burn down the hierarchy and technological abominations that have taken over since Jackpot. They’re not happy being slaves and worrying when the RI will begin using their behavioral modification stuff on the larger populace.
Agreed, it pushed the story along well, threw in some unexpected things, and maintained great tension throughout.
I’m not so sure the power tripod is too unbalanced. Lowbeer was thrown off a bit by Cherise, but I don’t think she was scared of her. Cherise wouldn’t come to Lowbeer for help if Cherise didn’t know that the Met held the power.
Not sure if I’m misunderstanding you, but Katie Leung was born and grew up in Scotland.
I read it as less Cherise coming to Lowbeer for help and more as Cherise coming to Lowbeer because she knew she could force Lowbeer into acting on Cherise’s behalf by threatening Lowbeer’s “daughter”. Cherise is the ‘big bad’ who knows all and can pull all the strings.
It wasn’t really a threat - her “daughter” is AI and can be reloaded into a new peripheral. Cherise’s purpose was to let Lowbeer know that she knows something deeply personal about Lowbeer, that she misses her daughter and did something most parents aren’t willing to do. It was a way to get under Lowbeer’s skin.
But I still think Cherise is whistling past the graveyard and inside is scared of Lowbeer. I wonder how much will be resolved in the finale, and how much is setting up season 2.
On a related note, I’m loving the casting of those two, as well as Zubov. Each is perfect for their role.
The casting has been tremendous. The weakest main character has been Burton, but his “this is what I’m good at, let me do it” speech was really good. You could see the “I’m the fix-it guy and I can’t FIX this, but I can deal with what’s happening now” in his face and delivery.
AKA “threatening her”. ‘Hey Lowbeer. I know something that is at LEAST embarrassing to you and might just possibly be illegal in a minor way. Fix my shit, would you, dear? Otherwise this might go public and we wouldn’t want that, would we?.’
Plus, she’s actually right! A crime was committed. RI employees were killed, RI information was stolen. Ultimately, Flynne is actually a criminal - however unwitting.
Okay, I’m finally caught up, so I can read the thread without spoilers!
I’m enjoying the series - especially Cloë Grace Moretz’ Flynne - but the story has almost nothing in common with the book, including some characters (Aelita is a very minor character in the book; Flynne’s witnessing of her murder kicks off the whole story). Cherise, the Research Institute, Lowbeer’s daughter, and Bob are all original to the series.
But I’m liking it. Especially Bob - nice bit of casting there. Ned Dennehy was in Good Omens, and as soon as he came on screen, my wife and I said “hey, that’s Hastur, Duke of Hell!”.
Will probably finish up the season tonight. Looking forward to where it goes, 'cause I gots no idea. (Although I have a suspicion about Lowbeer, based on her character in the Gibson novel, and the fact the showrunners cast a transwoman to play her…)
Slight tangent: it was announced this week that Apple TV will produce a series based on Gibson’s novel Neuromancer. It’s set to begin production next summer. This has been promised multiple times over the last 30 years and has died every time. I’m sure The Peripheral getting made finally pushed this over the line.
I have long thought this could be an awesome movie. I’m a little unsure how they make it into a longer running series without changing the story significantly. Unlike with The Peripheral, I’d be a little disappointed with major changes. Neuromancer is great compact story.
If there’s interest in talking more about Neuromancer, let’s start a new thread so we don’t hijack this one.
I found the finale sort of frustrating. It seemed more interested in setting up a possible second season, rather than focusing on wrapping up this one. And I was kinda sick of Tommy constantly showing up to ask to see everyone else’s cards without showing any of his own, then looking hurt that the people he doesn’t trust don’t trust him.
Anyone able to talk me through the way her do over works?
Yeah. Disappointed.