Feb 16, 2022·edited Feb 16, 2022Liked by Tim Goodman
Wonderful episode, just a real showcase for Danielle Deadwyler. That scene at the end where she does the pitch with Jim (Jonah from Veep in this role is perfect!), and she's just pouring her heart out about her regrets - ugh, totally gutting. Also an interesting choice to have Miranda ultimately regret splitting from Arthur - when she walked out on him and torched the pool house it felt so final and she seemed so sure!
I'm also noticing more than on my first watch how Hamlet really is a recurring theme for the whole season - we've now seen major references to it in every episode. Was that in the book? Interesting to ponder why the author or showrunners (if it wasn't in the book) decided to go with Hamlet as a leitmotif for the show. Most obviously: everyone dies. But I feel like that happens in all of Shakespeare's major tragedies!
About the spaceman (or woman): I don't feel like this is super deep or anything but they seem to be an avatar for Miranda herself, who likes to be alone more than with others, enclosed in her own figurative spacesuit. I think that's at the root of the failure of her and Arthur's marriage - that incompatibility in their personalities (he's an extrovert) and her inability to give him more of herself emotionally.
I really noticed that line in Miranda's book about how comfortable the spaceman feels when he leaves (I can't remember the exact wording but it seemed to so perfectly encapsulate her instincts). Also the "cut and run" symbol/anchor - isn't that the same symbol Kirsten has tattooed on her hand or forearm that she says stands for her "kills"?
Agree, Tim, brilliant episode: uncompromisingly intelligent, every scene freighted with meaning, not a line or image wasted. Can’t wait for Ep 4.
And the astronaut/spaceman? No real theories, just the sense that it must be in Miranda’s book and that maybe, just maybe it may turn out to be real, but who cares? Happy to see it become, in the narrative, whatever the author/scriptwriter want it to be. And a bit more: the times I’ve seen it (two? three?) I’ve felt a jolt of awe.
Maybe it's my own memory issues, but had we already met Miranda in Episodes 1 or 2? The spelling of her last name cannot be a coincidence, shows like this are intentional in everything they do. It's everyone's descent down some sort of "rabbit hole." The actress is fantastic, and I remember her great acting in one of my favourite shows of the past few years, P-Valley.
With all my other current tv show watching (I have to keep an iCloud Notes list of them all, tracking when I've watched them last so I don't forget to keep up with the viewing cadence), I won't have time for 2x2 1 hour shows a week. Hopefully there can be a shorter show along with an hour-long.
I was having very similar 'continuous sense of spatio-temporal displacement' issues (cited by Giada earlier). Seeing young Kirsten with Miranda and Arthur took me a few seconds too long to realize which year we were in. Also took me too long to pick up on their clothing as indicators (Miranda had that patterned sweater in 2005).
Every scene from the Malaysian hotel was way too real. Still kind of amazing this was filmed before our real crisis (right?).
And, really, his name is Arthur Leander?? Are we meant to believe it's a stage name?
Feb 14, 2022·edited Feb 14, 2022Liked by Tim Goodman
I thought this episode did a good job of starting to fill in some backstory and ratcheted up the suspense of the pandemic-as-it's-happening portion of the series, which I enjoyed (seeing characters realizing 'holy fuck, what is going on?' in real time). Since this is a rewatch for me (don't worry - no spoilers), I do find myself waiting for my very favorite episode of the series (which should be coming soon), and I can't decide if that's good, bad, or neither.
PS: LOVED seeing Jonah from Veep - his deadpan delivery anyways cracks me up. The part where he talks about going golfing and everything blowing over in four hours... loved it (and I also remember having that same blasé attitude about COVID in the early days before our world screeched to a halt, so mea culpa for both of us)
PPS: the line during the pitch about man looking up towards the stars and wondering about non-linear delivery options - classic deadpan. And the moment talking about going golfing because it was what he thought it's what a person would do and admitting he's so scared - loved how genuine that moment felt.
Well, we're three episodes in and no closer to answering the central mystery: how the heck did Gael Garcia Bernal get middle-aged? It seems like just last year I saw him as a teenager having a very private moment on a diving board in Y Tu Mama Tambien.
But overall this was a great episode and Miranda is a phenomenal character: mysterious, complex, and human. Definitely shades of Locke on Lost season one. And for some reason, the hotel handing out free room-sealing kits gave me my biggest PTSD yet; you never know what'll get to you.
As for the astronaut, my sense is that he/she is a central symbol for the show in some yet-to-be-determined way. Astronauts are isolated and constantly close to death -- but maybe that's too easy.
Oh, this is an episode 2 comment, but it just came back to me: 20 years into a pandemic, and why are so many of the men just perfectly freshly shaven? The Traveling Symphony must have a hell of a barber.
I liked this episode, and I appreciated the fact that it opened up the narrative and looked at the pandemic from a different perspective. Parts of it seemed (I assume intentionally so) dreamlike, which gave it a languid quality. Of course, I got so nervous about whether she would make the boat that I fast forwarded to the end just to see. Once I knew she did not, I was able to enjoy the rest of the story.
Some specifics —
1) my first two thoughts whenever I see the Thompson Center on screen are a) the DMV office I went to for years is in the basement, and b) that is the building from Running Scared. It’s a neat place and it made me miss Chicago.
2) I liked so many of Miranda”s lines, and agree that the pool house line is perfection, but my favorite of hers was “Maybe I acquired him”. Her delivery was spot on, and she has an almost twinkle in her eye when she says it.
3) I also really liked when she said in her job interview “I remember everything”. It seemed like such an important fact about her character. Like that’s how she sees herself — as someone who remembers it all. All the good, all the bad.
4) Regarding the scene when she comes out of the pool house and Arthur is speaking Spanish on the phone, I felt like she was lying to him about how well she spoke it. I would imagine for her job she knew and spoke it pretty much fluently. I suspected she had heard and understood much more than she let on. It would fit her narration about how being “not noticed” is always better.
5). Did anyone else half expect little Kirsten to NOT be sitting on the floor of Arthur’s dressing room in the flashback where Miranda gives him the book? Like somehow the story would reveal she wasn’t really there at all?
6) Finally, as soon as I saw the Spaceperson I thought that he represented her death. Miranda said earlier that the book “ruined my life”, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they used that image as the last thing she sees before dying.
My first impression of the spaceman was just her living in her imagination, as she clearly has spent a lot of her life alone doing just that.
While the pitch scene itself was excellent, I couldn't get out of my mind....why, exactly? So the Chinese couldn't escape Malaysia, and we're all going to die, so.....let's just go back to work? That didn't sit right. Unless I missed something -- eminently possible.
Really enjoyed this episode and episode 1. Episode 2 was lackluster for me, and my personal fear is we end up getting back to a lot more of that? (I shudder to admit this, but...) Are there actors that just kind of bug you for some inexplicable reason? I seem to just not have a good reaction to Mackenzie Davis, and so far not completely sure if it is the character or the actor. There's a bit of petulance that harkens back to Halt and Catch Fire, which I really enjoyed as a show, but less so her character. Perhaps it fits this character better, but will have to wait and see on that. Though when Enrico Colantoni popped in at the end, I thought maybe there will be something to look forward to after all!
Well, shit. What a ride this episode was. I must concur with everyone who wrote about Danielle Deadwyler and her two incredible scenes that stood out even from among so many wonderful ones. The speech in the hotel was so breathtakingly in the moment I gasped involuntarily. The toast was so agonizing I found myself mumbling no, oh no, and then yelling YES when she turned the glass over. A triumph of honesty and depth. The woman is just wildly good. Oh, and then the writing, camera work and editing hold her up so beautifully. Lots and lots of questions but now I don't care. It's like, you know, Art. (Get it?) So I've gotta just let it happen viscerally. But thank God for this forum where I can see what you geniuses are writing and know it'll shed some light. The spaceperson (thanks for that, Giada) seemed instantly, before I thought further about it, to be a savior. Or a symbol of a savior anyway. Could be an hallucination, yeah, but in any case it's because she's face to face with her creation, and her eyes say she's ready to go with—or be at one with, as it were—her masterwork. Phew. I don't have a clue but it all just blew my mind.
So many brilliant moments for me in this episode. Can’t say everything is clear, but I enjoy letting all the shifting time elements just wash over me - with the expectation that everything will eventually all come together. And I’m willing to continue on the ride because there’s so much depth and complexity in the characters. And because it’s so beautifully shot!
We learned that the “fish hook” symbol is “cut and run”. We’ll see how that maybe morphs in the future. A warning sign? Love that Miranda says what she drew was a feeling…
For whatever reason, when Miranda meets Arthur in the diner, I was struck by the subtle way she looked back down to her work after he says hi. Rang so true. Was also struck by the escalation of her “my love died and I went to work” speech. As others have said, the toast was great - with the dumping out the wine. And way she says “the pool house is on fire”. Danielle Deadwyler is so great!
As for the spaceman, maybe she’s in a fever dream and it’s really someone in a hazmat suit…
Oh, and when Miranda walks into the lobby of the building (James R Thompson Center) where she’ll have the job interview, there’s a moment where she looks up into that atrium. She sees vertical elements that reminded me of some the imagery in the scenes when we first saw the spaceman. Was that atrium part of her inspiration? It’s such a unique building there must be a reason that location was selected.
Feb 12, 2022·edited Feb 12, 2022Liked by Tim Goodman
This has been favorite episode so far. I loved how poetic, albeit cryptic, it was with reflections on love, death, emotions, life choices, and the meaning of what we do (it matters, it's not about survival). It was also very evocative. The symbol of Station Eleven is a "feeling," we are told (“cut and run”): interesting.
I agree the whole episode was strongly reminiscent of "Lost" - even the mentioning of fathers for example, a strong theme of that series. When referring to Malaysia Miranda said it wasn't an island, but a peninsula, I chuckled because I wondered if it was a covered reference, a way of saying "we're not Lost", but in this case it's probably just me reading too much into it. The constant space-time shifts however made me think of "Lost" for sure, but evoked "Watchmen" more to me, in the sense that I had indeed the obvious sense that we were going back and forth in time, but also simultaneously as if everything was happening at the same time, in an eternal repeating present. I had more of a continuous sense of spatio-temporal displacement than a memory of something past. Space-time was a leitmotif of the entire episode from the moment of the job interview with the explanations about logistics to the moment Arthur approached Miranda (assuming it was not a cheap way to hit on her) to the end when she finally says "I've found you nine times before, maybe ten, and I'll find you again". There's an underlying sense of repetition here that was also present for me in the moment when they referenced Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I re-watched that scene, and there's nothing really pointing to a time element, except in the implicit idea of repetition of the actors playing a part over and over again, but I still got that feeling.
One of the aspects where I found myself in a similar situation as in "Lost" was that I got fixated on names. From the beginning of the episode when they mention "Irene Services" (if it's spelled like that, "Irene" is “peace” in Greek and they mention 4 more Greek letters) and later “Robespierre”. When Miranda's colleague calls her by her last name, Carroll, after mentioning a certain Rabbit, I thought “are we in some kind of Alice in Wonderland”? When Arthur is called Art, sure it's a way of making it clear that he was having an affair, but it’s stil “art”, and when they mentioned the feeling of being like inside a painting I thought “are we in a mise en abyme”? I looked for traces of this throughout the vision because I had this idea before, thanks to the comic book. In that sense, watching the show was similar the experience of Lost because it elicited a sense of forensic fandom, as Jason Mittell calls it. I sense that there are clues to be interpreted but for now I'm just disoriented, as I’m sure I’m meant to be, and I can only collect these suggestions and let myself feel them.
I thought it was gutsy to set the series in 2020 with references to the actual pandemic.
As for the spaceman - or woman, shamefully I hadn't thought of that possibility - the only thing I really thought was that he has a vintage look. He looks like an astronaut from the 1960s, not a current or future one. And I can't help but think of Arthur's interpretation as them as someone lonely, not unhappy, adrift...and what’s up with the banana?
I mentioned earlier that I was lost during the first couple of episodes. This was the episode that clarified things for me. Which is odd, since in some ways it was almost a standalone ... ultimately, it fills in some details, but the main characters in the episode are largely new to the series. Yet when it was over, I could see things coming together in ways I couldn't before.
Feb 12, 2022·edited Feb 12, 2022Liked by Tim Goodman
When you announced there would be a "Station Eleven" Box Set I immediately thought about THIS episode and knew EXACTLY what I wanted to talk about...
But before I get to that:
- While watching this for a second time it it occurred to me that one of the reasons Episode 2 was my least favorite is that this one was so damn good!!!
- If I'm ever hiring someone to play a clueless weasel I'm casting Timothy (Jonah from "Veep") Simmons. And he is of course perfect for the role of Jim Felps the doomsday golf enthusiast...
- The complimentary pandemic survival kits were completely plausible and were a visceral reminder of how screwed the whole world was about to be...
- The first time I watched, I really thought Miranda surviving on the boat was going to be a thing...
And speaking of Miranda...
(ahem)
The performance that Danielle Deadwyler gives as Miranda Carroll is amazing, but THE SCENE AT THE END WHEN SHE GIVES THE PRESENTATION is one of the most nuanced, gripping, and engaging performances I can remember in long time...
I think in many ways this one scene anchors the entire series:
She's the author of the book that it is central to the entire series, and she is an essential/very special person to Arthur who is central to this series as well. Miranda is at once coming to terms with her mortality, the reality of what is about to happen to the whole world, her regrets regarding the man she STILL loves, and the futility and insignificance of the meeting that they're pretending to have. She's scared, she's in mourning, she's circumspect, and completely defiant. She completely owns the scene and the room, and it never once feels forced or inauthentic for one second.
(Jim Felps' attempt to piggy back and continue the presentation is pitch perfect as well)
I believe once we've bought into this moment we've bought into the entire series. It's kind of all been exposition up to this point, and its at this key point that the narrative reveals itself and we begin to understand what this series is REALLY going be about: all the ways these characters connect to and affect each other in ways that even these characters are never going to fully know or understand...
I'm glad we'll be upping this thing to two episodes at time!!!
A couple thoughts before I read everyone else's posts. I really felt the parallels between this episode and pre/post (or pre/during) COVID.
- Jim, honestly, is like all of us in Feb 2020. Let's golf because it'll be over before you know it.
- Enormous sense of dread twice. Once when Leon tells Miranda she'll be at sea for at least a year. Second when she dropped the keys.
- Danielle Deadwyler had one hell of a scene at the end with her logistics preso, or "nothing we're doing here is important".
- And throughout, I had this urge to fast forward but only because I knew there was impending doom and it kinda made me anxious? Anxious in a way most shows don't.
- Also, "I don't want to live the wrong life and then die." - my god is that not the heaviest 11 words ever spoken? (does 11 words mean anything?)
If I hadn't already been introduced to Arthur, this whole episode felt like part of a different story. And I would have opt'd in just on this one.
Also, as far as great lines and mic-drop moments go, "the pool house is on fire."
Wonderful episode, just a real showcase for Danielle Deadwyler. That scene at the end where she does the pitch with Jim (Jonah from Veep in this role is perfect!), and she's just pouring her heart out about her regrets - ugh, totally gutting. Also an interesting choice to have Miranda ultimately regret splitting from Arthur - when she walked out on him and torched the pool house it felt so final and she seemed so sure!
I'm also noticing more than on my first watch how Hamlet really is a recurring theme for the whole season - we've now seen major references to it in every episode. Was that in the book? Interesting to ponder why the author or showrunners (if it wasn't in the book) decided to go with Hamlet as a leitmotif for the show. Most obviously: everyone dies. But I feel like that happens in all of Shakespeare's major tragedies!
About the spaceman (or woman): I don't feel like this is super deep or anything but they seem to be an avatar for Miranda herself, who likes to be alone more than with others, enclosed in her own figurative spacesuit. I think that's at the root of the failure of her and Arthur's marriage - that incompatibility in their personalities (he's an extrovert) and her inability to give him more of herself emotionally.
I really noticed that line in Miranda's book about how comfortable the spaceman feels when he leaves (I can't remember the exact wording but it seemed to so perfectly encapsulate her instincts). Also the "cut and run" symbol/anchor - isn't that the same symbol Kirsten has tattooed on her hand or forearm that she says stands for her "kills"?
Agree, Tim, brilliant episode: uncompromisingly intelligent, every scene freighted with meaning, not a line or image wasted. Can’t wait for Ep 4.
And the astronaut/spaceman? No real theories, just the sense that it must be in Miranda’s book and that maybe, just maybe it may turn out to be real, but who cares? Happy to see it become, in the narrative, whatever the author/scriptwriter want it to be. And a bit more: the times I’ve seen it (two? three?) I’ve felt a jolt of awe.
Maybe it's my own memory issues, but had we already met Miranda in Episodes 1 or 2? The spelling of her last name cannot be a coincidence, shows like this are intentional in everything they do. It's everyone's descent down some sort of "rabbit hole." The actress is fantastic, and I remember her great acting in one of my favourite shows of the past few years, P-Valley.
With all my other current tv show watching (I have to keep an iCloud Notes list of them all, tracking when I've watched them last so I don't forget to keep up with the viewing cadence), I won't have time for 2x2 1 hour shows a week. Hopefully there can be a shorter show along with an hour-long.
my take on the astronaut* - seems to be the 'escape' from the 'damage'. I felt a sense of safety (not fear) when it showed up
*astronaut suit is so vintage it looks more like a scuba diver to me
I was having very similar 'continuous sense of spatio-temporal displacement' issues (cited by Giada earlier). Seeing young Kirsten with Miranda and Arthur took me a few seconds too long to realize which year we were in. Also took me too long to pick up on their clothing as indicators (Miranda had that patterned sweater in 2005).
Every scene from the Malaysian hotel was way too real. Still kind of amazing this was filmed before our real crisis (right?).
And, really, his name is Arthur Leander?? Are we meant to believe it's a stage name?
I thought this episode did a good job of starting to fill in some backstory and ratcheted up the suspense of the pandemic-as-it's-happening portion of the series, which I enjoyed (seeing characters realizing 'holy fuck, what is going on?' in real time). Since this is a rewatch for me (don't worry - no spoilers), I do find myself waiting for my very favorite episode of the series (which should be coming soon), and I can't decide if that's good, bad, or neither.
PS: LOVED seeing Jonah from Veep - his deadpan delivery anyways cracks me up. The part where he talks about going golfing and everything blowing over in four hours... loved it (and I also remember having that same blasé attitude about COVID in the early days before our world screeched to a halt, so mea culpa for both of us)
PPS: the line during the pitch about man looking up towards the stars and wondering about non-linear delivery options - classic deadpan. And the moment talking about going golfing because it was what he thought it's what a person would do and admitting he's so scared - loved how genuine that moment felt.
Well, we're three episodes in and no closer to answering the central mystery: how the heck did Gael Garcia Bernal get middle-aged? It seems like just last year I saw him as a teenager having a very private moment on a diving board in Y Tu Mama Tambien.
But overall this was a great episode and Miranda is a phenomenal character: mysterious, complex, and human. Definitely shades of Locke on Lost season one. And for some reason, the hotel handing out free room-sealing kits gave me my biggest PTSD yet; you never know what'll get to you.
As for the astronaut, my sense is that he/she is a central symbol for the show in some yet-to-be-determined way. Astronauts are isolated and constantly close to death -- but maybe that's too easy.
Oh, this is an episode 2 comment, but it just came back to me: 20 years into a pandemic, and why are so many of the men just perfectly freshly shaven? The Traveling Symphony must have a hell of a barber.
I liked this episode, and I appreciated the fact that it opened up the narrative and looked at the pandemic from a different perspective. Parts of it seemed (I assume intentionally so) dreamlike, which gave it a languid quality. Of course, I got so nervous about whether she would make the boat that I fast forwarded to the end just to see. Once I knew she did not, I was able to enjoy the rest of the story.
Some specifics —
1) my first two thoughts whenever I see the Thompson Center on screen are a) the DMV office I went to for years is in the basement, and b) that is the building from Running Scared. It’s a neat place and it made me miss Chicago.
2) I liked so many of Miranda”s lines, and agree that the pool house line is perfection, but my favorite of hers was “Maybe I acquired him”. Her delivery was spot on, and she has an almost twinkle in her eye when she says it.
3) I also really liked when she said in her job interview “I remember everything”. It seemed like such an important fact about her character. Like that’s how she sees herself — as someone who remembers it all. All the good, all the bad.
4) Regarding the scene when she comes out of the pool house and Arthur is speaking Spanish on the phone, I felt like she was lying to him about how well she spoke it. I would imagine for her job she knew and spoke it pretty much fluently. I suspected she had heard and understood much more than she let on. It would fit her narration about how being “not noticed” is always better.
5). Did anyone else half expect little Kirsten to NOT be sitting on the floor of Arthur’s dressing room in the flashback where Miranda gives him the book? Like somehow the story would reveal she wasn’t really there at all?
6) Finally, as soon as I saw the Spaceperson I thought that he represented her death. Miranda said earlier that the book “ruined my life”, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they used that image as the last thing she sees before dying.
My first impression of the spaceman was just her living in her imagination, as she clearly has spent a lot of her life alone doing just that.
While the pitch scene itself was excellent, I couldn't get out of my mind....why, exactly? So the Chinese couldn't escape Malaysia, and we're all going to die, so.....let's just go back to work? That didn't sit right. Unless I missed something -- eminently possible.
Really enjoyed this episode and episode 1. Episode 2 was lackluster for me, and my personal fear is we end up getting back to a lot more of that? (I shudder to admit this, but...) Are there actors that just kind of bug you for some inexplicable reason? I seem to just not have a good reaction to Mackenzie Davis, and so far not completely sure if it is the character or the actor. There's a bit of petulance that harkens back to Halt and Catch Fire, which I really enjoyed as a show, but less so her character. Perhaps it fits this character better, but will have to wait and see on that. Though when Enrico Colantoni popped in at the end, I thought maybe there will be something to look forward to after all!
Well, shit. What a ride this episode was. I must concur with everyone who wrote about Danielle Deadwyler and her two incredible scenes that stood out even from among so many wonderful ones. The speech in the hotel was so breathtakingly in the moment I gasped involuntarily. The toast was so agonizing I found myself mumbling no, oh no, and then yelling YES when she turned the glass over. A triumph of honesty and depth. The woman is just wildly good. Oh, and then the writing, camera work and editing hold her up so beautifully. Lots and lots of questions but now I don't care. It's like, you know, Art. (Get it?) So I've gotta just let it happen viscerally. But thank God for this forum where I can see what you geniuses are writing and know it'll shed some light. The spaceperson (thanks for that, Giada) seemed instantly, before I thought further about it, to be a savior. Or a symbol of a savior anyway. Could be an hallucination, yeah, but in any case it's because she's face to face with her creation, and her eyes say she's ready to go with—or be at one with, as it were—her masterwork. Phew. I don't have a clue but it all just blew my mind.
So many brilliant moments for me in this episode. Can’t say everything is clear, but I enjoy letting all the shifting time elements just wash over me - with the expectation that everything will eventually all come together. And I’m willing to continue on the ride because there’s so much depth and complexity in the characters. And because it’s so beautifully shot!
We learned that the “fish hook” symbol is “cut and run”. We’ll see how that maybe morphs in the future. A warning sign? Love that Miranda says what she drew was a feeling…
For whatever reason, when Miranda meets Arthur in the diner, I was struck by the subtle way she looked back down to her work after he says hi. Rang so true. Was also struck by the escalation of her “my love died and I went to work” speech. As others have said, the toast was great - with the dumping out the wine. And way she says “the pool house is on fire”. Danielle Deadwyler is so great!
As for the spaceman, maybe she’s in a fever dream and it’s really someone in a hazmat suit…
Oh, and when Miranda walks into the lobby of the building (James R Thompson Center) where she’ll have the job interview, there’s a moment where she looks up into that atrium. She sees vertical elements that reminded me of some the imagery in the scenes when we first saw the spaceman. Was that atrium part of her inspiration? It’s such a unique building there must be a reason that location was selected.
This has been favorite episode so far. I loved how poetic, albeit cryptic, it was with reflections on love, death, emotions, life choices, and the meaning of what we do (it matters, it's not about survival). It was also very evocative. The symbol of Station Eleven is a "feeling," we are told (“cut and run”): interesting.
I agree the whole episode was strongly reminiscent of "Lost" - even the mentioning of fathers for example, a strong theme of that series. When referring to Malaysia Miranda said it wasn't an island, but a peninsula, I chuckled because I wondered if it was a covered reference, a way of saying "we're not Lost", but in this case it's probably just me reading too much into it. The constant space-time shifts however made me think of "Lost" for sure, but evoked "Watchmen" more to me, in the sense that I had indeed the obvious sense that we were going back and forth in time, but also simultaneously as if everything was happening at the same time, in an eternal repeating present. I had more of a continuous sense of spatio-temporal displacement than a memory of something past. Space-time was a leitmotif of the entire episode from the moment of the job interview with the explanations about logistics to the moment Arthur approached Miranda (assuming it was not a cheap way to hit on her) to the end when she finally says "I've found you nine times before, maybe ten, and I'll find you again". There's an underlying sense of repetition here that was also present for me in the moment when they referenced Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I re-watched that scene, and there's nothing really pointing to a time element, except in the implicit idea of repetition of the actors playing a part over and over again, but I still got that feeling.
One of the aspects where I found myself in a similar situation as in "Lost" was that I got fixated on names. From the beginning of the episode when they mention "Irene Services" (if it's spelled like that, "Irene" is “peace” in Greek and they mention 4 more Greek letters) and later “Robespierre”. When Miranda's colleague calls her by her last name, Carroll, after mentioning a certain Rabbit, I thought “are we in some kind of Alice in Wonderland”? When Arthur is called Art, sure it's a way of making it clear that he was having an affair, but it’s stil “art”, and when they mentioned the feeling of being like inside a painting I thought “are we in a mise en abyme”? I looked for traces of this throughout the vision because I had this idea before, thanks to the comic book. In that sense, watching the show was similar the experience of Lost because it elicited a sense of forensic fandom, as Jason Mittell calls it. I sense that there are clues to be interpreted but for now I'm just disoriented, as I’m sure I’m meant to be, and I can only collect these suggestions and let myself feel them.
I thought it was gutsy to set the series in 2020 with references to the actual pandemic.
As for the spaceman - or woman, shamefully I hadn't thought of that possibility - the only thing I really thought was that he has a vintage look. He looks like an astronaut from the 1960s, not a current or future one. And I can't help but think of Arthur's interpretation as them as someone lonely, not unhappy, adrift...and what’s up with the banana?
I mentioned earlier that I was lost during the first couple of episodes. This was the episode that clarified things for me. Which is odd, since in some ways it was almost a standalone ... ultimately, it fills in some details, but the main characters in the episode are largely new to the series. Yet when it was over, I could see things coming together in ways I couldn't before.
And yes, Danielle Deadwyler was terrific.
When you announced there would be a "Station Eleven" Box Set I immediately thought about THIS episode and knew EXACTLY what I wanted to talk about...
But before I get to that:
- While watching this for a second time it it occurred to me that one of the reasons Episode 2 was my least favorite is that this one was so damn good!!!
- If I'm ever hiring someone to play a clueless weasel I'm casting Timothy (Jonah from "Veep") Simmons. And he is of course perfect for the role of Jim Felps the doomsday golf enthusiast...
- The complimentary pandemic survival kits were completely plausible and were a visceral reminder of how screwed the whole world was about to be...
- The first time I watched, I really thought Miranda surviving on the boat was going to be a thing...
And speaking of Miranda...
(ahem)
The performance that Danielle Deadwyler gives as Miranda Carroll is amazing, but THE SCENE AT THE END WHEN SHE GIVES THE PRESENTATION is one of the most nuanced, gripping, and engaging performances I can remember in long time...
I think in many ways this one scene anchors the entire series:
She's the author of the book that it is central to the entire series, and she is an essential/very special person to Arthur who is central to this series as well. Miranda is at once coming to terms with her mortality, the reality of what is about to happen to the whole world, her regrets regarding the man she STILL loves, and the futility and insignificance of the meeting that they're pretending to have. She's scared, she's in mourning, she's circumspect, and completely defiant. She completely owns the scene and the room, and it never once feels forced or inauthentic for one second.
(Jim Felps' attempt to piggy back and continue the presentation is pitch perfect as well)
I believe once we've bought into this moment we've bought into the entire series. It's kind of all been exposition up to this point, and its at this key point that the narrative reveals itself and we begin to understand what this series is REALLY going be about: all the ways these characters connect to and affect each other in ways that even these characters are never going to fully know or understand...
I'm glad we'll be upping this thing to two episodes at time!!!
A couple thoughts before I read everyone else's posts. I really felt the parallels between this episode and pre/post (or pre/during) COVID.
- Jim, honestly, is like all of us in Feb 2020. Let's golf because it'll be over before you know it.
- Enormous sense of dread twice. Once when Leon tells Miranda she'll be at sea for at least a year. Second when she dropped the keys.
- Danielle Deadwyler had one hell of a scene at the end with her logistics preso, or "nothing we're doing here is important".
- And throughout, I had this urge to fast forward but only because I knew there was impending doom and it kinda made me anxious? Anxious in a way most shows don't.
- Also, "I don't want to live the wrong life and then die." - my god is that not the heaviest 11 words ever spoken? (does 11 words mean anything?)
If I hadn't already been introduced to Arthur, this whole episode felt like part of a different story. And I would have opt'd in just on this one.
Also, as far as great lines and mic-drop moments go, "the pool house is on fire."