Discuss the Current Episode

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Originally posted by Iridium Can anyone tell me the name of the song that played at the end of Act 21 during the final scene when the camera pans to reveal spoiler (highlight to read): The destruction caused by Big Fau I know it played during last night's episode, but I don't remember the exact scene. While I'm at it, what is the song that plays in the background of http://www.paradigmcity.com called? Thanks.

I think it is...

Respect - Upper West Side

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Originally posted by C.R Foxhound i've always wondered about Angel's quote "Who appeciates Wayaneright legacy more than anyone?" (i think thats exact) at first, i thought she was talking about Roger, but imo, she was talk about Rosewater and why not? it seems that of all the Memories present in paradigm, Waynerights would be considered the most (or at least among) valuable, considering what he could do

I though she was meant roger, and that waynerights legacy was dorothy.

So she was saying. "Oooo at least I'm not an android lover!"

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Originally posted by YZEtc That excitemint and tension I feel at the climax of R-D unfortunately doesn't carry-over to Roger The Wanderer , and following the story line of all the tomatoes, Roger asking, "Who am I?!", and everyone just acting a bit weird in general doesn't do it for me. Hell, it seems that only good ol' reliable Dorothy is the only one keeping her pretty little head as all of this goes on, looking over at Roger while he starts hallucinating and babbling during the fight as if she's saying, "Roger - what the heck are you mumbling about? You've got to finish kicking ass on these foreign Megadeuses, not start swimming in a heap of tomatoes."

I actually liked act 14. And all of that act 13 tension exploded in that kick ass opening.

I actualy liked the wierdness in this episode as opposed to the wierdness in act 26 for a few reasons.

It could possibly be dismissed entirely as a dream or hallucination, but act 26 was the "real" world if you ask me...... and they erased it and/or rewinded it.

its the first ep of season 2, they've got 12 more episodes to explain it.

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Originally posted by Penny Century You gotta keep wondering what Tim Wayneright got up to before he died, and why it drove him to build a room-size copper cage in his own home. "Afraid of something"? How about the fact that all but one of his creations turned out homicidal?

Why did he build a copper room?

Though they hinted also that the union may have been a client of wayneright. R-D perhaps? But why would Rosewater need to use the union as a middle man to send out a killer android. The only thing the union had that alex wanted was the fau parts.... Wait I forgot, he also hired them to kill senators.... becuase obviously the CEO of paradigm is too busy to do it himself.

Whats wanyerights obsession with female deii and androids. Both glinda and dorothy 1 seemed vaguely "big"-like in style. As if wayneright may have been involved in the design and/or construction of the original male style bigs.

Glina was one of the few megadeii that I found scary looking. somthing about it, maybe it was the claws, or the way a gigantic heavy megadeus could jump like that.

Anyway who built glina? Wayneright had to enter into that ruinous fiasco with beck and soldano in order to build dorothy 1.

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Originally posted by C.R Foxhound i've always wondered about Angel's quote "Who appeciates Wayaneright legacy more than anyone?" (i think thats exact) at first, i thought she was talking about Roger, but imo, she was talk about Rosewater and why not? it seems that of all the Memories present in paradigm, Waynerights would be considered the most (or at least among) valuable, considering what he could do

No, Angel's snapping at Dorothy. She thinks Dorothy put the blame on her, and she's throwing it back on Dorothy, by pointing out that Dorothy has more to gain (or perhaps more at stake) from Wayneright's work than anyone else.

She doesn't actually believe this, but she's not going to let any verbal challenge go unanswered.

May I ask if we can reasonably infer from Act 14 that Beck was a banker? This may explain his drive for money.

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Originally posted by ZeaLitY May I ask if we can reasonably infer from Act 14 that Beck was a banker? This may explain his drive for money.

Well we have no other real evidence that it is true, but it is a logical assumption and would explain to some degree, the behavior of one Jason Beck.

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Originally posted by Zopwx2 Glina was one of the few megadeii that I found scary looking. somthing about it, maybe it was the claws, or the way a gigantic heavy megadeus could jump like that.

I didn't like it. It reminded me too much of a Power Rangers bot.

Call me shallow, but...

Alan's first line, baby. Rowr.

My take on Act 15:

* As usual, the theme of tragic mystery continues.

It might be true that the Senator's wife is a human but how do we know that? Wouldn't it make more sense that she'd be an android to since if he was so decrepit, the only way she'd be that old and not falling apart is if she is an android, too.

Regardless of that, Dorothy sees here for the first time that, yes, androids are capable of romantic love. At this point, Dorothy is still struggling with being an android who feels emotions. She tells Roger that she's incapable of feeling nostaglia, but "Missing Cat" proved that to be false. Dorothy also seems not fully comfortable with her feelings for Roger. Perhaps she feels conflicted with whether it is the memories of her predecessor who are motivating her.

Dorothy puts those feelings behind her upon seeing the tears of Mrs. Bartlett for Roscoe. She is also starting to feel very jealous of Angel's superior looks. And Angel is starting to realize that Dorothy may be a real impediment in her attempts to seduce Roger.

* Alan Gabriel was at his finest in this Act. Very cool, diabolical and mysterious. We see also that

spoiler (highlight to read):

Alex Rosewater's suspicion of Angel come to fruition. He wasn't sure she was loyal to him as early as Act 10. So he hired Alan Gabriel to do his dirty work since Angel seems to be more loyal to Roger. Little does Alex know that Alan serves two masters as well.

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Originally posted by ZeaLitY May I ask if we can reasonably infer from Act 14 that Beck was a banker? This may explain his drive for money.

You can infer whatever you like from Roger's hallucinations and dream sequences. In ROGER THE WANDERER, the human Dorothy was still alive, which presumably sets the time as forty years ago. Wayneright seemed much younger, so that sorta makes sense. Yet Dorothy recognized Roger Smith and her reflection was that of R. Dorothy Wayneright. I invite everyone who wants to take the dream sequence literally to explain THAT one!

Anyway, it's obviously a dream sequence, because time is mixed up and we go from scene to scene without transition. We see Roger himself in two places at once several times. The wound on his arm disappears, he grows whiskers, and his clothes become disheveled in an eyeblink, and all this reverses when he wakes up.

Et cetera.

Now, maybe Beck WAS a banker forty years ago, and is now in his mid-sixties. He's pretty well preserved. So's Angel, for that matter. Why did Wayneright age?

Of course, if it's all a dream, the parts that don't make sense are normal dream-stuff, and we don't have to hurt our brains inventing mechanisms for them -- such as, what happened to the heaps of tomatoes we see filling Big O's cockpit from time to time?

Ah; well, Beck the tomato might have inner drives resulting from his past, true form. Considering it was a dream, perhaps Roger's departure from the M.P. was weighing on his mind? This may be apparent in his status as a 'major' over something. Please clarify if I'm wrong.

I'm really interested in freeze-framing some of the newspapers drifting about. I caught a glance of one of them; it was an article written by Seebach on the archetype seen in Roger's venture to the underground.

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It might be true that the Senator's wife is a human but how do we know that? Wouldn't it make more sense that she'd be an android to since if he was so decrepit, the only way she'd be that old and not falling apart is if she is an android, too.

Simple storytelling. The writers were setting up a parallel between the Fitzgeralds and Roger & Dorothy, just as they had done with Laura & Oliver only a few episodes (and a couple of years out of show) earlier. To make Kelly Fitzgerald an android would outright destroy what they were trying to do: show that humans and androids could not only fall in love with one another, but could make it work as well. A forty-year marriage is rare enough, let alone one between a human and an android (even if no one but Kelly and a few choice others knew Roscoe wasn't human) is something really special. To show that is to show Dorothy & Roger that they can love each other without worry.

Also, Roscoe was so "decrepit" because he was in serious disrepair. So few people knew he was an android that they couldn't afford to keep him maintained. So he just wore out like any other machine that lacks the right maintainence. There are many other androids just as old as him, most likely, who are in better shape, but people know that they're androids so they can be repaired. Big Ear is a notable exception, but he's only officially 48 years old, and keeps a very low profile. He could easily keep himself tuned up without attracting attention, because not attracting attention is what he does best. Roscoe was a Senator, a person with a very public life. He'd have to just let himself break down as time wore on because that's what people would expect (passing as a human would require aging). HE could probably have kept his gears & servos working, but android specialists are rare in Paradigm, and for Roscoe Fitzgerald to visit one would surely attract unwanted attention. Besides, he probably didn't want to live on forever without his beloved Kelly, who as a human would grow old and die herself one day.

In light of the fact that there seem to be multiple loops happening at once in "Big O," I'm wondering if that little girl has some connection to Dorothy. She looks an awful like the original Dorothy. Same hair, same eyes, unafraid of saying what she thinks.

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From C.R Foxhound: i've always wondered about Angel's quote "Who appeciates Wayaneright legacy more than anyone?" (i think thats exact) at first, i thought she was talking about Roger, but imo, she was talk about Rosewater and why not?

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From Zopwx2: I though she was meant roger, and that waynerights legacy was dorothy. So she was saying. "Oooo at least I'm not an android lover!"

Me, too.
I take it as Angel feeling like she's being tag-teamed by both Dorothy and Roger, and after Roger basically told her to shut her mouth unless she can prove Dorothy wrong, she decides to stick it to Roger by putting him on the spot with bringing-up his budding attraction to Dorothy.
Angel felt that would be equal payback and make him shut up...which it did pretty quickly.
That's why I like that scene so much:
It made me chuckle.
How many times have we been in similiar uncomfortable situations throughout our lives?

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From Zopwx2: Glina was one of the few megadeii that I found scary looking. somthing about it, maybe it was the claws, or the way a gigantic heavy megadeus could jump like that.

I liked it, too.
Very unique in the way she looked and moved.
Curvaciousness, grace, and elegance in Megadeus proportions.
The way she draws her sword from the hip just knocks me out.

Day of the Advent...

I know a lot of people didn't care much for this episode, but I loved it because it did a lot of character development.

This for me was the ep where Roger's role as Hero was firmly established. Was it a bit improbable? Of course. But there he was, putting himself in harm's way to protect the residents outside the domes.

You also saw his fundamental code of conduct, such as when he was arguing with the little girl's grandfather and she got worried. He stopped right away to reassure her that it was only noise and not to worry about it.

We saw a new side to Dorothy and Angel as well. We see Dorothy also acting kindly to the little girl, and we saw Angel getting very uncomfortable with Alex's lack of morality.

This is always going to be one of my favorite episodes due to the character development, even if it didn't advance the plot all that much.

Can I do a post to say "What Zola said"? ...No?

I really love the character development in this episode. I'd also like to draw attention to a random moment of excellence: the scene where the main cast and about half of Paradigm City are standing in the streets, waiting for the satellite to crash, with Roger and Big O poised for mutual destruction if necessary to keep the impact from killing the bystanders. The editing is just superlative. For some reason it totally knocked me out last night.

Even though there is virtually no possible way for it to be so in the Paradigm City universe, the objuct that fell onto Paradigm City looked like a habitat module off of Mir. I kid you not. It looked like a module off a space station. The only other possibility is that is part of the present-day ISS. However considering the fate of Mir, it wouldn't sruprise me if the animators slipped that little detail in there as a real-world reference crossing over into a fictional world. Even if it was just as a gag reference.

DAY OF THE ADVENT sure pulls out the stops for all the Angel fans. Talk about fan service! The same jumpsuit that looked so stupid in ELECTRIC CITY looks magnificent on her in DAY OF THE ADVENT. And I love the way she and Roger bicker! Yowsa!

This is the second episode in a row where she shows up with obvious purpose in mind. Alex has fired her and presumably Alan is keeping the Union up to date, so what the heck is she nosing around for? Tsk, tsk, following Roger again. What a fangirl!

As in every episode where religious themes are portrayed, they are portrayed as being off the mark, so far as Paradigm's current plight is concerned. Theorists take note!

Dorothy was very cute in this episode. I love her interaction with little Tammy McGowan. One can believe that Dorothy the Android is not used to children or that the human Dorothy (an only child) is not used to children; I prefer the latter interpretation. Either way, Dorothy needs to get out more and meet more people. Roger is something of a recluse.

From what Alex says, people in Paradigm are so messed up that they have difficulty distinguishing between memories of the past and predictions of the future. Schwarzwald will soon assert that the two are identical. If there really are cycles in which at least some people live at least somewhat similar lives over and over again, you can see how people would get confused between prediction and memory. That doesn't make their confusion the same thing as wisdom, though.

Day of Advent, A Pause for Character Development (mainly)

This episode harkens back to the Season 1 acts which were more episodic in nature. But there's still a lot to be learned from here:

• Angel has basically become useless to Alex Rosewater. This is hinted at in Act 14 with the hiring of Alan Gabriel. It's now crystal-clear that her obsession with Roger has made her unable to continue being Alex's hatchetman.
  
• Another hint of a parallel loop. Echoing "Winter Night Phantom," we see a young girl who looks and acts remarkably similar to R. Dorothy Waynewright. Tammy McGowan is identified as a "granddaughter." Who's her father? Timothy Waynewright?
  
• Time is irrelevant in the world of Paradigm. Everyone was dissappointed that Alan stole the memories from Roger in Act 15. We find out in "Advent," that they are actually memories of a future time (now during the present).

  spoiler (highlight to read):

  This is very much echoed in Act 26 in Gordon's speech about "what point in time?"

  
  
• As much as she is always needling Roger for his predictability, Dorothy is actually not very accustomed to spontaneous behavior. We see this in her cautious interactions with Tammy who, as a child, is very unpredictable.
  
• Apparently there is some other reason that those foreign megadei came to Paradigm City. Why else would the frog-suit men be congregating around them? At the end, it's implied that they have been working for Alex, helping him assemble another megadeus. This was hinted at before in the underwater episode when Alex seemed to know what they were up to.
  
• Alan Gabriel continues being his usual freaky, cool self
  
• I have got to get me one of those awesome briefcases!
  

There were a couple of things that bothered me. If Tammy can't play outside during the day presumably because of poor air quality, why would she be able to do so with debris from a space satellite polluting the air? Didn't her grandfather also say something about not going in out in the sun? Well, there is no sun in Paradigm!

How does Roger keep all of that cord wound within his wristwatch? It must have a really thick band!

spoiler (highlight to read):

Another thing. Many people here believe that Roger's world is encased in a giant dome/stage. How could one launch a satellite in such an environment? This is another thing, along with the fact that the lights dissappear as a result of Venus' resetting, that leads me to disbelieve the "mega dome" theory.

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Originally posted by Pythagoras In light of the fact that there seem to be multiple loops happening at once in "Big O," I'm wondering if that little girl has some connection to Dorothy. She looks an awful like the original Dorothy. Same hair, same eyes, unafraid of saying what she thinks.

No, the reason is based purely on the mechanics of scene staging. Rather than stage a time-consuming first enounter such as was done with Roger, Tammy decides that Dorothy is her new friend based solely on appearances, having seen her in the crowd.

You can't do this unless their appearances are similar.

This allowed the action to go directly from a shot of Dorothy at the back of the crowd (which would have been done in any event) into conversation, without transition.

In any event, there is no foreshadowing, no follow-up, and no consequences, so it's not important. I mean, compare this to the Dastun/Sybil plot thread, which is touched upon about a zillion times in a bunch of different episodes.

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There were a couple of things that bothered me. If Tammy can't play outside during the day presumably because of poor air quality, why would she be able to do so with debris from a space satellite polluting the air? Didn't her grandfather also say something about not going in out in the sun? Well, there is no sun in Paradigm!

Tammy has a sunlight allergy, or more specifically, a UV radation allergy. Even persistant cloudcover like that of Paradigm doesn't stop UV radiation during the day, so she can't go outside then (Hence the pale skin) And she's too young to really go outside at night often. So she's spent her young life almost entirely indoors. Really sad, when you think about it. Combine that with the apparent loss of both parents...poor girl. Its' good that she found a friend in R. Dorothy Wayneright. I think she really needed one.