Monday, March 26, 2012

Alcatraz: Season 1 Episode 12 - Garrett Stillman & Episode 13 - Tommy Madsen


Whew!  That was an intense 2 hours to close up hopefully only the FIRST season of Alcatraz.  All the little clues that were planted throughout the season seemed to pay off and culminate in this first exciting chapter of the show.  And the potential unveiled for season 2 seems, now, like a logical next step to take things with a couple of personal twists along the way.  Fussy baby in the house tonight, so I'm short for time.  If I miss any key things, please call me out on it in the comments and we'll discuss.  Let's dive in!

Garrett Stillman

The whole story of Alcatraz seems to be one sprawling chess match.  So, it is probably not a coincidence that Garret's backstory had literal references to the game as well as metaphorical.  And his involvement in getting famed contraband salesman Harlan Simmons his parole ended up being the biggest chess move of all.  Warden James had a plan for Simmons off of the island.  But, as we would soon learn, Simmons became a bit of a power player himself and decided to become the other side of the warring 63s.  But we'll get to that.  

Garrett was a very smart thief usually targeting armored trucks.  He put on elaborate heists to get to his ultimate goal.  He had a surprise handler helping him along the way in Tommy Madsen.  And his goal was Key #3 to the mystical door that has been hyped for most of the season.  

We must give props to Diego "Hurley" Soto for finally getting out of Season 1 "CHUCK" mode and taking an active role in solving these final 2 episode chases.  Soto got one move ahead of the genius Stillman and got a GPS tracker on his truck.   Though it was too late for Stillman as GHOST, a 63 under the employ of Simmons, shot him dead and took the key.  But Stillman's role in setting up this sprawling play will never be forgotten.  

Tommy Madsen

Was it any surprise that Tommy would be the centerpiece of our final hour?  I wouldn't think so.  He has been a primary player since the first episode and Rebecca's grandfather.  Tommy, we learned was the "man on the front lines"....the TEST SUBJECT of Project Alcatraz.  We were introduced to "The Blood Man" (Science Guy??) who reinserted Tommy's modified blood into him.  Could it get any creepier than when Tommy asked what he did to his blood and the guy said, "LOTS." ??  Nice.  

Tommy awoke in San Francisco 1960.  The Warden paraded him all around the city taking him to a fine meal, even to see his son Ben.  In seeing his son's fear for him, he realized he belongs at the ROCK and sends his brother Ray home to adopt Ben, admitting to killing his wife.  


In the present day he is after that 3rd key and Team Alcatraz is after him.  He tracks down a woman who works for the mental institution that Ghost checked into.   (Ghost, we learn, tried to escape alcatraz but the rip tide brought him back in.  Warden officially declared him dead, making him a theoretical "GHOST" in the prison)  The family gave Tommy some trouble as the husband shot him, and the daughter fled to the cops where Team Alcatraz tightened their grip.  

It all came to a head at the institution where Madsen, Soto, Emerson and Lucy arrive.  Ghost already jumped out of window fearing Warden James.  But Soto's experience led them to find the key sewed into his pants cuff (where the inmates would hide things back in the day).  Madsen is on the hunt for her grandfather and we got a pretty darn impressive car chase for television brought to us by Chrysler and Ford (loved the driver of the Mustang complaining that he just bought his car).   The scene was supposedly inspired by the movie Bullitt.  There's nothing cooler than watching a car chase on the hills of San Fran.  Ironically, we even got one of these in the movie THE ROCK too.  


Rebecca gets the upper hand on Tommy causing his car to flip, but she saves him from the explosion for answers.  We'll discuss the discussion below, but Tommy does get away but not before dealing Rebecca a lethal wound with a knife.  Hurley, key in pocket, went after Rebecca and got her to the hospital.  And we'll discuss the rest below. 



Mythology Talk  
  • Lucy was a proponent of bringing Madsen and Soto into the fold once she awoke from her long slumber.  She profusely apologized to them for lying to them but they were taking precautions.  
  • She talks to Rebecca at one point about her relationship with Hauser and how he lost her that night of the 63s disappearance.  He's been looking for her for 50 years and is not the same man that she once knew.
  • There is lots of potential for the Soto/Lucy team with all their computer nerd searching.  She was impressed with his modifications to her search tools.  It was actually nice to have Lucy back in the mix.  We only had her in that 1st episode before she was shot in the 2nd hour of the pilot.  But learning so much more about her past helped evolve her character for when it returned.  Good stuff. 
  • Did anyone else catch Soto calling himself "Dr. Traz" when he figured out Stillman's getaway plan?  I think we can officially call Team Alcatraz, TEAM TRAZ now. I support it! 
  • So, Warden wanted to get Harlan Simmons all set up on the outside for when the 63s returned.  But, for some reason, Simmons has become somewhat untouchable and unreachable.  It was mentioned that even the President of the United States can touch him.  Interesting.  What was Warden's plan for Simmons?  Why is Simmons not going along with Warden's plan?  Big questions that need to be answered I'm sure.  But from what we've seen of Simmons during this season of Alcatraz, he's not much of a team player in the long run.  He's out for himself.  If there is a season 2, something tells me we'll be hearing a lot more about Broadway Mutual, Simmon's company.  Might even be the DHARMA Initiative of Alcatraz! 

  • Ernest Cobb, Lucy's shooter, finally got interrogated by Lucy.  He said that she was the only target and will always be a target as long as she's alive.  This sets Emerson into motion to protect her.  She's not interested in being put into safe quarters.  
  • Emerson met with a high ranking military official that only reports to the President.  When Emerson debriefed him on what was going on, he asked if this meant Warden James has resurfaced.  I guess that would confirm 2 things.  Warden IS one of the 63s and the government is well aware of what REALLY happened with the Alcatraz inmates.  

  • Emerson made reference to something that happened to him in Paraguay and not being welcomed back.  I'm sure this was a clue for a future plot point. 
  • Soto met Warren, Emerson's techno dork "behind the bat cave".  They have discussion about THE JUMP.  They think it involved a geo thermal event.  But sometimes he refers to Quantum Tunneling or Cryogenics among other things.  In other words, still no answer in what caused the jump. 
  • We learned that the silver in Lucy's blood, as well as all other 63s is there for good.  It attaches itself to the platelets.  Side effects are still unknown.  But the simple fact that it was brought up as "bad news" is alarming. 
  • I guess we should also say that it looks to be a sure thing that Warden is the "head honcho" behind the 63s, along with his scientist "blood man" guy.  I had thought it might be too obvious, but I guess the fact that there are so many other moving pieces still makes it very interesting to watch unfold.  Plus, we still don't know what his end game is. 
  • So Tommy's talk with Rebecca.  He told Rebecca that her partner was paid by Simmons to keep tabs on her.  That's why Tommy killed him.  He also mentioned that there is a mystery behind how Rebecca's parents REALLY died.  Another mystery likely to be addressed in a future episode.  Because then Rebecca was stabbed. 
  • While Ray and Soto opted to stay with Rebecca at the hospital, Emerson and Lucy went to check out the magical doorway.  What they found was pretty interesting to say the least.  The colloidal blood in the inmates served in part as a tracker to track their whereabouts across the country/globe.  That's right, as we have discussed/speculated before, it looks like this hunt is going global or at least national!  Sending Tommy out into the world in 1960 with Warden was a test of the technology.  GPS in 1960?? WHAAAT!?   The Blood Man told Tommy that he had his eye on him since 1952.  Tommy's involvement in the Korean War was mentioned.  Perhaps Blood Man got to him then and it somehow led to him killing his wife and putting him behind bars in Alcatraz in the first place?   I know I'm reaching, but that seems like a type of story that would get weaved together over a few seasons! 




  • So, in the present day, Hauser and Lucy stumble upon this same Blood man who seems to just have surfaced in the room.  (I read in an article with the producers today confirming that all of these 63s are showing up at different points in time as we speculated)   He asked what year it is.  Emerson responds 2012, and he just lets out the most awesome maniacal laugh.  More of a laugh of success. He would seem to be the brains behind THE JUMP.  But there's still much to learn!! 


  • And of course the final moment of the episode shows Rebecca Madsen without a pulse and just about to be declared dead.  We hear the nurse/doctor say, "Call it." and the credits roll. 



WHAAAAT!?!?!?!  Rebecca is dead?   Okay, my initial reaction is that they intentionally didn't call "time of death".  Or did they?  Man, I already forget.  But, would they really kill off the lead?  I guess they could replace her with another cop but she seems to be directly related to the whole Alcatraz drama with her Grandfather, Uncle and parents being somehow involved.  So, I'm guessing she either opens her eyes the next second, or it's another metallic blood transfusion to the rescue!   We can only hope that we get the chance to find out! 

But, these final 2 hours instilled hope in me for where this show is headed.  I think they set up a lot of interesting threads for a 2nd season and I hope we get to see that play out.  It would seem similar to Fringe's season 2, where they are going to adjust from a "wait and react" approach to a more proactive approach to catching these criminals.  Now that they have the map and the Mad Scientist (who may or may not be helpful), it could be easier to hunt them down.  If we do get a 2nd season, I'm sure I'll be there to deliver my thoughts once again.  If not, I'm sure we'll figure out something else to talk about!   Hope you enjoyed my ramblings, and please continue to enjoy them for the remainder of the season of Fringe!  Otherwise, I'll see you around!

End Credits
  • This season I am recapping FringeTerra NovaThe Walking Dead and Alcatraz
  • Other shows that are being discussed in comments recently:  Sons of Anarchy, How I Met Your Mother, Once Upon a Time, American Horror Story, Dexter, Chuck, Shameless, Mad Men (March 25th!), Game of Thrones (April 1st!), among others.  Feel free to join in!
  • See trailers for the Mid-Season shows I'm looking forward to: Awake and Touch.  
  • As always, there are other shows that I watch as well and would be happy to discuss with all of you in the comments of any of these blog posts.

37 comments:

AUStarwars said...

Ive already talked to Mike about most of this but..

t im just confused why the Warden has not been seen "in our time"..i still dont get a sense that he is "the bad guy" cause I dont have a sense of anything really, what are his motives? is he bad or good? like most shows that are not REALLY for popcorn crowds, but have to tiptoe the subject, its obvious at some key "episode ending" moment the Warden is going to arrive...and are we supposed to be surprised? like who wouldnt see this coming from LIGHT YEARS away...i just dont get it...its missing something...some element of "wtf is going on"..i mean throw SOME bones

am i wrong?

To say that some alcatraz inmate has enough $$ and power at this point to be completely outside the law is also a major stretch, unless we of course are dealing with JJ Abrahms favorite topic (Time Travel) and knowledge of future events..

Mike V. said...

AUSW - We talked about the first part with WARDEN. I don't necesarrily thing he's the "BAD GUY" but he definitely seems like the man in charge of one of the warring factions. Simmons being the other guy, who seems more like the subtle villain type. I think this episode just confirmed our suspicions that WARDEN is one of the 63s. So, yeah, he will appear at some point and that will correspond with something significant. So his appearance may not be the "SURPRISE".

But for the other part...Are you referring to Simmons having enough money and power "at this point" to be completely outside the law? We saw what he did within months on Alcatraz during the first season. He started running a contraband business and was pretty much indispensible (according to Tiller). Warden wanted him OFF the island because he needed him to establish himself in the real world for "WHEN THE TIME COMES"....the time that has come is 50 years later.

You're not expecting Simmons to still be that late teenage/early 20s kid that we saw in Alcatraz do you? He's 50 years older and I think from what we saw him do within months on Alcatraz, applied on a scale of 50 years in the real world...it would be pretty feasible for him to be a big wig. Warden gave him a CONTACT too to get him all established. I think it's VERY feasible in this fictional world. STOP DISSING JJ ABRAMS! lol I bet he barely even had anything to do with this show in the first place. It's just coming out of his BAD ROBOT production company at this point. Save your Abrams complaints for the 2nd (12th/13th?? lol) Star Trek Film. That's where all his focus is right now. And I'm very much looking forward to it!

AUStarwars said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AUStarwars said...

I think in the end the Warden will be "a good guy"


im sure his time travelling tentanticles have a long reach over his empire

i guess i just see it as there is no one that could really ammass that much power, regardless, except for reasons we havent seen yet, and im worried about taking that leap...or not defining it well (like how Charles Widmore was "powerful"...was he? im still confused as to how or why lol)

Kelly said...

Not sure how many talking points I'll remember to address.. I'm still recovering from the weekend I had! Man, I can't party like I used to, lol!
What I want to know is what is sooooo important in the warden's secret vault that these guys are killing for the keys? I mean, we saw the map and the old computers. But there must be something else in there. And how, pretell, was Dr. Mysterioso supposed to get out of that vault if Hauser and Lucy weren't there? Unless that's why the keys were being sought after by Tommy Madsen and Co.
Oh, and yeah- best maniacal laugh I've heard since The Muppets! lol
OMGWTF Rebecca! I'm sure they're planning on reviving her in some way, but it would be a ballsy move to kill her off.
Loved the car chase, and I, too, loved the "I just bought that car" statement. I've never seen Bullit (though I've heard a lot about it), but I like the homage.
It would've been really nice if Lucy gave a little more insight into the jump. They asked her about it, and she went into how it changed her life or whatever, not giving any answers as to what happened. I suppose they are waiting for season 2 for that one.
I highly doubt we'll be getting any answers though, because the ratings were terrible:
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/03/27/alcatraz-finale/
Shoot. I was definitely hoping for this show..

Mike V. said...

AUSW - Looks like we're duplicating our conversation in email and on here so I'll just copy/paste lol

"yeah yeah yeah lol

Well we never really got Widmore's entire story, since the LOST story really wasn't about his origins...how he ended up on the island in the first place and his whole story. But apparently, the leader of the Others inherits a wealth of funds and resources based on what we saw of Widmore and eventually ben.

With Alcatraz, it would seem that Simmons' rise to power might be a pretty important part of the story. So, I'd think we'd get more on that. But, of course...we may not get a season 2 so it may not matter. lol "

@Kelly - That's the problem with getting older! :-) (the recovery time increases lol)

I think the fact that the MAP and THE MAN were in that room gives a distinct advantage to whoever gets access to that. They know where all of the 63s are (that have surfaced) and they have the man that made all of this happen. I'd say that's pretty valuable!

I figured you'd get my "reuse" of the maniacal laugh comment. lol

It would be ballsy to kill off Rebecca...but I doubt they have any intention to. It's just a cliffhanger...but not many people saw said cliffhanger (as you acknowledged yourself) so it might not matter. lol

Never seen Bullit either, but I've definitely heard of the iconic car chase.

Yeah, I think that's why they put Lucy in a coma for the whole season. Her having knowledge of this stuff makes it very awkward for her to avoid talking about it all season. lol

Well, you never know with FOX if they'll decide to give something another chance. We'll have to see how Touch continues to do on Thursdays too. And if they decide to renew Fringe. Terra Nova is already out of the picture (and if you didn't see, NETFLIX ain't taking it either so it's most likely done). So, we'll see what happens. I think TOUCH is the one with the best chance of survival since it has Kiefer and it's the MOST procedural of all 3. I still think WB will do what it needs to do to keep Fringe alive long enough to get their syndication rights. So Alcatraz might be the odd man out. We'll see!

MJ said...

I enjoyed the finale. Agree with Kelly that I still do not see what was so important in that room ! I guess to be able to track them ?

Funny though - I DO think the warden is a bad person. We've certainly seen him do bad things to the inmates in his care in the 60's. So I would not call him a good man.

And if these returnees are getting the keys for the warden, why isn't he here then ?

I'm sure Rebecca will be fine. Hope they don't give her the silver too - that would be lame

Heard the finale had really low ratings. Not good.

Also read that Terra Nova is pretty much dead, but Smash got renewed for season 2

Still having issues with TV Line so I can't look up that renewed score card any more - think it's a websense issue here at the office.

MJ said...

LOL - apparently we were typing at the same time Mike and said some of the same things. !

Kelly said...

Yeah, I guess they can track the remaining inmates... and that may also mean they can see where the captured inmates are (NuAlcatraz)... but thos lights don't move on the map, so I'm not quite sure the semantics of it all. I guess I'll just let it go, it's not the most important question lol.
Sucks that we finally seemed to zero in on a name for our heroes (Team Traz) and it doesn't look like we'll need it anymore! hahaha! But yeah, I LOL'd when Soto called himself Dr. Traz :)

MJ said...

Interview quote:
Executive producer Bryan Wynbrandt tells us that the "Alcatraz" writing team has some new tricks up their sleeves now that Season 1 is behind them.

"You obviously learn storytelling things that are working and that are not working, and we'll obviously move forward with what we learn," he says, noting that they don't plan to make any drastic changes to the format of the series. "People comment about 'Fringe' Season 1 and 'Fringe' Season 2; I don't think it's anything dramatic in that fashion, but obviously you learn things in any line of work... and you go in the direction the show's taking you."

Co-creator Steven Lilien says that in a second season, they do plan to delve deeper into the personal lives of the task force. "I think overall we want to get to know our characters better, keep exploring our leads and get to know them better," he adds. Whether or not that includes Rebecca, he doesn't say.


Awake - here's a question. If he's with his wife and son on alternate days where to the people in his life (partners at work) think he is when he does't show up to work every day ?

Mike V. said...

Don't have much time to comment right now but for awake I thought he woke up in other place immediately when he goes to sleep.

Kelly said...

Yeah, he doesn't skip days, he pretty much picks up where he left off

MJ said...

So then he never sleeps ?? He has to be sleeping. He works all day monday with Fez and then works all day monday with his other partner ? Then works 2 tuesdays too ?

Kelly said...

I remember one of the therapists saying that while his brain is supposed to be getting rest, it's actually using that energy to hold up this alternate world. And that will apparently take its toll on him. i don't know, I'm confused about it too

Leslie said...

I enjoyed the finale. I don’t think the Warden appearing is being set up as a surprise to us or them. When Hauser is talking to that soldier, he asks if the Warden is back, and Hauser says that is his first question for Tommy, so they are expecting him to come back. And, he could already BE back. We just don’t know about it yet and neither does TEAM TRAZ.

I like that Lucy called out Emerson several times like telling him that he used to be more like Rebecca making everything personal, but Emerson sees that as a flaw in Rebecca now. Also, when Emerson was leaving and Lucy said, “Try not to shoot anyone if you can help it.” lol

Funny when Lucy was telling Rebecca about how Emerson used to be and Rebecca couldn’t believe the Emerson she knows could stay up all night talking.

Loved the conversation with Lucy and Dr. B when he says Lucy was the warden’s prize poodle, and he says he meant that in the most complimentary sense of the word. lol But, in that conversation, Lucy mentions again that not all the inmates have the silver in their blood, yet when they open the secret door, something is said about that being the way to track them because the silver emits a frequency. So, are they telling us they can’t track all the inmates, or did I miss something? As far as the map in the secret room, I think Lucy said those were the projected return locations.

I like Soto taking a more active role especially when he found the key and wouldn’t give it to Hauser even when he pulls his gun on him. We still didn’t get to see him on his date with Nikki . . .season 2 maybe?

No, they didn’t actually say a time of death, so surely Rebecca isn’t really dead…unless we don’t get a second season!

Mike V. said...

Okay, I'm back. FIRST

AWAKE - Well the show IS called "AWAKE" you know!! lol :-) I guess you can look at it as the one version of himself is RESTING while the other version is awake. :-) It really depends on what you personally think is happening. If one world is the "DREAM" world, then he's definitely getting his sleep. If both worlds are real...then he's just awake the whole time in different realities. That's how I process it in my head anyways. lol (for both scenarios...i haven't decided what is quite happening to him yet)

@MJ

ALCATRAZ - Yep, We did overlap some comments! lol And sorry about your luck with TVLINE. Do you have a smart phone? You could always look on that!

Thanks for the interview quotes! Interesting stuff.

@Kelly
I don't think we've confirmed if the lights don't move or not. Considering the report printed out in 1960 showed where Tommy was at every time of the day...I think they're able to track them.
And yeah...the Dr. Traz thing was equal parts Eyeroll and equal parts hysterical! lol And until there's official word, we can hold out hope for a season 2. It sucks that every show we've tried to latch onto for the blog has not gotten renewed. The only one that has lasted multiple seasons is Fringe and that already had 2 seasons under its belt! Oh and Walking Dead. durrr. lol

Mike V. said...

And of course Leslie comments when I'm typing up my response! lol

@Leslie -
Agreed on warden comments.
Lucy calling out Emerson was a good time. Her reminding him who he used to be is a nice touch that was missing while we were learning about her past (when she was in a coma). Just her presence on the team in general is a nice change of pace.

Clearly Emerson has had a pretty rough 50 years since Lucy disappeared. And it can't be much better seeing her arrive unchanged while his life went on without her. But yeah, I can understand him keeping things to himself and not getting too attached to people after going through that.

You didn't miss anything, that's a good point! Not all the inmates will be on that board. Of course, I don't think all of the inmates were planned to be JUMPING with the Warden either. They probably only injected the silver into the ones that are working for them. Maybe...it has those healing properties too...so who knows?? Maybe they've all been in contact with ANOTHER island. :-)

I did miss if Lucy said those were projected return locations...but that would make sense. So, they have an idea where to start but then they still have to go on the chase from there. But there definitely was a printout reporting on Tommy's every move off of Alcatraz...so them may have that too. That mad scientist guy is super smart for that time period!

If we do get to delve into these character backgrounds, then maybe we would see Hurley having a date with Nikki eventually. lol (pending a season 2!)

Exactly on Rebecca!

Mike V. said...

Good interview about the potential stories in season 2 and more fan speculation on what happened at end to Rebecca

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Alcatraz-Season2-Spoilers-1045375.aspx

MJ said...

Good point on the title being 'Awake'. LOL I think I posted an interview with the lead actor and he actually said that one version is not real - so I guess he really is sleeping and dreaming during one. Of course - the police capt stated that the whole family was supposed to be dead - or something similar.

We have AMH coming back don't forget ! Maybe we should start a campaign now to get everyone to watch Breaking Bad then you can recap that one !!! Same goes for SOA. Both such awesome shows.

Leslie you make an excellent point that if not all 63ers have the silver then not all of them can be tracked. Unless they are using something else for the tracking as well ?

Mike V. said...

I did read the interview with Isaacs but I don't remember him confirming that. But I guess he could have or it was his speculation. lol Police Captain did mention something about "taking out the whole family"... There's a chance both worlds could be a dream too...but I don't think they'd go there. lol

AMH??? Why am I drawing a blank on what that abbreviation is? lol Or do you mean AHS? (American Horror Story) Yeah, I guess I could consider doing some quick Breaking Bad recaps in the summer. I usually like to take summers off though! lol But we certainly can post "discussion threads" in any case for the show. It deserves it. And people should most certainly be catching up on the show! Seasons 1-3 are on Netflix and they'll just need to catch season 4 before it returns in July! (look for AMC to start reairing them when it gets closer or just set your DVRs now for repeats. lol)

MJ said...

Sorry for the typo - I did mean AHS.

I don't even remember where I saw the interview so I can't look it up again but he said it conversationally not like a spoiler. That's my recollection anyway.

I heard your Cougartown got pulled - sorry for all you that watch it. Buy what are they talking about when they say the show bought half the country a beer ?

I caught up to 2 weeks of New Girl. Six smiley faces was hysterical.

Mike V. said...

WHAAAT?? Cougartown got pulled? I didn't hear that. No idea on the beer comment since they're primarily wine drinkers. lol

Hmm....Was the Six Smiley faces thing 2 weeks ago? I don't really remember it. (but I was a little preoccupied with a certain tablet that I had just gotten. lol) That show is a good time though.

Finally watched the 2 hour pilot of The River. Good stuff! I should be through it by the end of next week.

Leslie said...

Mike, It's Leonard Nimoy on BBT tonight. Should be good times! :)

I didn't hear about Cougar Town either. :(

Mike V. said...

BBT was a good time as always! The dream sequences with Nimoy were fantastic. Putting the action figure in different poses in every shot...classic. lol

COMMUNITY was hysterical as always too. Troy vs. Abed and the Blanket fort vs. Pillow fort! Gotta love it.

Anyone see AWAKE? Surely, those last 10 minutes are worth talking about!

And of course...HAPPY FRINGE DAY and GAME OF THRONES WEEKEND!

Kelly said...

AWAKE: I also read Isaacs saying that one of the realities is real. I'm gonna put my thoughts in now for that- I think his wife is the one that's dead. Not really sure why yet, but I have a feeling. Of course, that doesn't mean anything hahaha! But yeah, what's with that serial killer calling him up and saying all that stuff to him at the end? Does that mean that it's happening to him too? Man, I hope this gets a second season.
MJ, did you watch Ringer? Sheesh, there is so much scheming and double crossing going on, I don't know how to keep track of it all! I won't say anything more about it til I know you've seen it.
Glad you liked The River, Mike! I'm not holding out hope for a second season, but I really odn't think it needs another season anyway. It works well as a miniseries.

Mike V. said...

AWAKE - Yeah if only one is real...I dunno which one I'd go with. Like this dude that is talking to him at the end. That could be his inner monologue and he is dreaming that this guy is going through it too. Or did he run into him in the other world too? That world is also darker in visual tone, which could insinuate a dream world or just a way of distinguishing it from the bright and colorful "RED" world where the wife is alive. Of course, bright and colorful could most certainly refer to a dream world too! lol And did we catch the serial killer catching a flight to oregon in the green world? Isn't that where they're moving in the RED world?

The killer also said "I hope you don't wake up"....so what did THAT mean? lol Maybe just wake up out of the whole "which world is real" fixation. Not implying that the Green world is the dream world. But if we take things at surface level and he's not making the killer up in his head....that would be a cool twist if there are more than one person stuck between these 2 worlds and they coexist. Like he may be dreaming, but other people's dreams lead them to the same collective place. That's very much like INCEPTION and I dig it!

Everything I just said may have made no sense to anyone at all except myself! (and even that's a stretch lol)

Mike V. said...

THE RIVER: Don't tell me if I'm right or wrong...but I think because I know some people were disappointed in the ending that there probably is some kind of twist. So I'm trying to figure it out as I go.

Here's my theory right now. All of the ghostly stuff going on is all being done FOR SHOW. It's all to create this grand documentatry. And if that's the case, Emmett might be behind it all. Even the wife and the producer guy (who I know now that she was cheating on Emmett with him or something like that. 3 eps in now).

I know it's a crazy theory but, the facts that I've seen so far seem to fit it. lol I guess if I watch 1 a day next week, I'll be done by friday!

Leslie said...

Loved Big Bang Theory! You're right, so funny with the Spock action figure in the different poses! lol And, poor Raj...I want him to find someone.

I'm behind on Awake. Have only seen the first episode, but have them recorded.

I'll be interested to see what you think about The River. I enjoyed it, but wished the finale had given us a little more information.

Kelly said...

hmm, I didn't notice where the killer was going.. but that's pretty creepy! And shoot, I shouldn't have deleted the episode from my DVR because there's something that I was waiting for but forgot about after it was over. Remember in the beginning when Michael was running? And that bearded guy went up to him with a cardboard box o' stuff? I wonder if that guy showed up at all again in the episode. Or if any of the box's contents did. I dunno, I'm reaching here, lol.. it just seemed weird that it was put in there.. maybe it was just setting the tone or something.
I will keep my mouth shut about your River theories until you've watched it all :)

Mike V. said...

I'll keep everyone posted on my RIVER watching. And whoever is watching THE KILLING keep me posted if it gets better!

@Kelly - I think the announcement was over the PA system about "now boarding for Oregon"... I do remember the bearded guy...and I meant to also check if he popped up again. I wasn't sure if it might have been the serial killer or not. I don't think you're reaching...the scene was very random if it didn't/doesn't pay off later. But we'll see!

MJ said...

River: LOL on your theorizing - we won't ruin it for you ! I agreed with Leslie that I had hoped we'd get a bit more infor - but I was not disappointed by the ending. I man - they can't tell you everything if they have a hope of having season 2 - which they won't.

Awake - that was a fab ep. I was highly intrigued by all the discussion and his attitude about how he can keep the worlds together if he moves to Oregon.

Not only did the actor say that only one is real (though he coul dhave been misleading us on purpose) then his boss had that conversation on the bench where she said (paraphrasing) that his whole family was dead, or they killed them all. I'm sure it was supposed to make us wonder is both wife and child are dead and both are dream worlds. OR he's dead and hasn't moved on !

Ringer : OMG ! I wish I had taped all these and watched them back to back - so twisty !

I knew immediately in the beginning when they showed one of them lying there apparently dead that we'd get the '48 hours ago' treatment. LOL I totally fell for Sib confronting Bridget for a hot minute - it was so awesome! Too bad it was in real Sib's mind.

How on earth could Henry's father-in-law put together that Henry killed Tyler ? That doesn't even make sense to me.

And this guy who Machado sot ! I barely remember him . I read taht he was after fake Sib when she had the dead man's cell phone of some such thing - but I don't remember it. LOL

But Catherine being the one who has the hit out on Sib - and Juliette and daddy playing Cathering for 10 million was priceless!

Cougartown - it was a blurb I read and I didn't understand it since I don't watch. It was basically aht ABC must really hate the show since they pulled it, even after the show bought the beers for half the country that helped the ABC marketing dept - or close to it.

Mike V. said...

RIVER: I'll let you all know what I think!

AWAKE: I think I read this same interview that you did. lol And yeah...I had pondered all that stuff after the "bench meeting"....but I'll tell you one reason why they won't go the "he's already dead route".....LOST fallout. lol Not that the whole series was about it but even as a solution to the final season...not everyone loved it. I guess there's a chance that they're both dead...but that meeting with the boss happened IN one of the supposed "dream worlds" didn't it? I guess there's no way to tell outside of the lighting and stuff. And have we seen the boss in both worlds yet? I can't keep track of all of that stuff. lol I just assumed that she meant that they ATTEMPTED to kill the entire family, and didn't succeed. But I think I might be in a minority there. I'm sure there are people taking a "LOST-ian" approach to this show and rewatching it time and time again. I'm going with the once and done approach, so I'm sure I'm missing key details. lol

Cougartown - Still don't understand the beer thing either even with the context! lol But I think there would have been more publicity around it if it was pulled. It might get "pulled" from the lineup for next season...but I'm sure they'll air the rest of the episodes this year. Surely! lol

Kelly said...

RINGER: I'm confused about Henry's dad-in-law too.. but whatever, that's the nature of the show I guess haha.. As for the guy who shot Machado, I did recognize him.. but thinking back that far made me realize how much has happened since then! This show is definitely all over the place, lol!
Yeah, Catherine being the one that took the hit out on Shiv wasn't SHOCKING, but I certainly didn't expect it either! And I was excited that Andrew and Juliet finally got the money back from that crazy wench.
Henry's being slightly better now that he is trying to get Shiv to give up her revenge scheme. Finally, some signs of a brain!!

Mike V. said...

FYI - If THIS doesn't convince people to join twitter, I don't know what will. First Damon Lindelof pleaded with people to NOT play the numbers in the Mega Millions tonight because A.) They're cursed and B.) he doesn't want to share his winnings. Then, he went one step further to prove he bought that ticket and took a photo of it on top of what appears to be the DHARMA Washer and Dryer from the Hatch. lol

http://twitter.com/#!/DamonLindelof/status/185806051357097984/photo/1

Doesn't get any better than that!

Mike V. said...

my bad...that's the HATCH Computer!! Even better. :)

Leslie said...

That's too funny! lol Still won't get me on Twitter though. :)

Anonymous said...

And...we never know what happens next.