Discuss the Current Episode

When Roger meets Dorothy on the steps of Nightengale, she's with Wayneright, and is acting timid and girlish. Ditto when she's at his table and up on the stage singing. But when she runs into Roger backstage (presumably out of sight of Wayneright, she's as cool and closed as she was at his house. No sign of timidity.

Dorothy is strangely slow when she moves in on Beck's goon. We know she's very fast -- we saw this in Act 1. But she moves like molasses in this scene. I wonder if the idea that androids are inhibited from hurting people is no joke.

Another interesting thing about Act 2 is what a punk Beck is. We see him making a big show about laughing and running his comb through his hair once Dorothy, Wanegiht, and Roger are out of the picture. Who, exactly, is he trying to impress? His goons? They were plenty impressed already.

You know, I'll bet Roger wishes he hadn't koshed the bouncer. His contribution might have made a difference.

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Dorothy is strangely slow when she moves in on Beck's goon. We know she's very fast -- we saw this in Act 1. But she moves like molasses in this scene. I wonder if the idea that androids are inhibited from hurting people is no joke.

She didn't know that the guy had a gun on him until it was too late, then she slipped into "I'm going to pound you into mincemeat mode" and tried to get to the guy. At this point she was moving faster but then got zapped.

She kinda stalking the guy like a lioness at first. When the goon shot Wyneright it caught her off guard just long enough her Beck to catch up with her. She didn't even have time to built up speed. When we saw her run in act 1 it took her a moment to built up her momentum.

No, I don't think Dorothy's subject to the laws of robotics. The only thing that restrains her is her human conscious and her own predispositions.

In Hydra she was able to lie consciously for the first time. But she's lied before. In act 18 she lies about 'lightening the mood' and in act 2 when she says she doesn't want to stay with Roger and Norman.


-dork

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Originally posted by A Clockwork Tomato Dorothy is strangely slow when she moves in on Beck's goon. We know she's very fast -- we saw this in Act 1. But she moves like molasses in this scene. I wonder if the idea that androids are inhibited from hurting people is no joke.

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Originally posted by Dork She kinda stalking the guy like a lioness at first. When the goon shot Wyneright it caught her off guard just long enough her Beck to catch up with her. She didn't even have time to built up speed. When we saw her run in act 1 it took her a moment to built up her momentum.

It may have been more than just the time needed to for her to pick up speed. Dorothy probably had alot on her mind at the moment - how she was going to get to the goon, what she was going to do when she got to him, etc. - combined with possibly overriding some low level Asimov's laws she had built in, but was able to overcome them (free will) - combined with the emotions she was probably feeling (fear, anger, etc. - maybe for the first time?) - I think she had plenty of reason to not be responding as quickly as she might otherwise.

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Originally posted by Dork No, I don't think Dorothy's subject to the laws of robotics. The only thing that restrains her is her human conscious and her own predispositions.

I agree Dork - that is, after all, the nature of free will. Although Dorothy may have to put some work into it at times - maybe she does have some laws, but is able to overcome them with effort.

One random note - a possible reason occured to me why Dastun referred to Big O simply as 'Megadeus':

Maybe Big O had not been seen much before Acts 1 & 2. Maybe whatever fights Big O had gotten in previously were against big monsters, or something other than large megadei - or maybe he was just seen around. Hence Dastun only knew of one big robot 'megadeus' and not knowing any others, referred to it as 'Megadeus' and 'the Megadeus'.

Later, after having seen more than one megadei in operation, he took to calling Big O 'the Black Megadeus'

Finally, at some point he found out the truth

Last note - Big O is very intellightly written - I loved the scene at the end where Roger was standing on the balcony, musing about why Wayneright and Soldano had both reffered to Dorothy as their daughter. Big O isn't perfect, but it sure pays alot of attention to detail, even in the early episodes.

For me, the most interesting part of this episode is what happens under the neon lights of that popular, members-only Paradigm hot spot:
The Nightingale.

The fun starts when, after returning home Dorothyless, Roger just can't get the image of his new client saying, "I would like you to protect me." out of his head.
Probably figuring that he's not doing too good of a job protecting her if he's actually wondering where she is at that moment, he leaves the comfort of his Bank sofa, hops in the still warm Griffon, and goes to get the scoop on where she might be found.

After leaving Big Ear enough booze money to enable him to drink himself comatose, he drives over to the club named after the mythical bird and stealthily tries to gain entry, only to run headlong into a steroid-popping (though surprisingly well-spoken) bouncer that would make Refrigerator Perry look small.
Turned away and walking back down the front stairs while pondering his next move, Roger lets out a pronounced and very visible gasp into the chilly night air after bumping elbows with a couple of passers-by, whipping 'round for a double-take - that was her!

Rejuvenated at the sight of his client in red, Roger braves the sea of orange coats and confronts her point-blank, scolding her for straining his nerves by not letting him know where she'd been for the last half-day.
Roger is then dealt a wake-up call, because instead of running for the Griffon - or even as much as giving him an answer - she ducks behind the familiar-looking old beatnik that she'd come in with and peeks around his shoulder, intentionally placing the old fellow between her and Roger.
Stunned as she turns and walks away with the old man, Roger is left there with an empty feeling in his gut and a wall of orange in front of him.
Worse, he can only stand there and watch as she rubs it in by putting her arm around the old man.

This was not the plan.

Taking-out his jealous frustrations on the head of one of those bouncers, Roger is relegated to bystander status as his pretty client chats it up with ol' Tim, pleasing the old man with her company.
It's 180 degrees away from the touch-and-go relationship that he'd been able to foster with her so far, and as Dorothy took the stage to actually sing for the old man, perhaps Roger had come to regret having treated her so coldly a half-day earlier.

Tim Wayneright beams from his seat with stars in his eyes so big and bright, they shine right through those dark shades of his while he proudly hands the piano player a wad upon completion.
Dorothy exits stage left and heads straight into Roger, who after seeing all this transpire is in for more frustration - in one fell swoop, his client has clammed-up tighter than a drum.
He lets out a sigh, which says, "Why are you dissin' me like this? I thought you wanted me to protect you?"
The thing is, Roger probably really knows just why that was the case, and if it hadn't been for Beck's henchman jabbing a gun in our ravenous Negotiator's back, I can only wonder what might have been said next.

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Originally posted by A Clockwork Tomato quote: Originally posted by Big Money Thanks for clearing that up... Where in R-D is the picture? Me and BigKill watched it today, and couldn't find it... Probably not paying enough attention, which is a common problem. Most of your answers make sense... Some of these things seem to happen in the ONE episode I haven't seen... oh well. (I also couldn't tell by your answer... I meant the control room sequence act 26...) Thanks again for your assistance. I must have my farm visits confused. The picture may have been in, what? Act 21 or 22; whenever Roger visits Gordon again. As for the control room scene, no, I'm quite certain that the sequence was that Roger was standing in Big O talking to Angel, then he and Dorothy appeared in the control room, then Big O and Big Venus merged, and then the new world appeared. That Roger and Dorothy were wearing new clothes when they appeared in the control room is neither here nor there, I think. There were a whole lot of changes goin' on.

Gaaah! Somebody help! I watched those episodes today and I still can't find where he gets the picture! I think I'm going to have a stroke...

Gee... While I'm asking dumb plot questions for the umpteenth time, is that shot of Big Venus shooting teeth lasers (un-inverted) only in act 26? Is it in act 26? If no or no, where is it?

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Originally posted by Big Money Gee... While I'm asking dumb plot questions for the umpteenth time, is that shot of Big Venus shooting teeth lasers (un-inverted) only in act 26? Is it in act 26? If no or no, where is it?

It's in the Roger's-drowning-visions sequence, right next to the picture of the enormous Megadeus with the big epaulettes (the one that is claimed to be Big Venus with wings). I saw it today.

I couldn't tell you if it's really Big Venus or another Megadeus from the same production run; the same sequence shows a whole lot of Big Duos and Big Os

Getting back to Act 2, the episode also introduced us to the show's habit of not wrapping up loose ends. The movers and shakers of the first two episodes -- Wayneright, Soldano, and Beck -- are dead or in prison. Dorothy doesn't answer questions. Roger has relatively little knowledge about what happened before Beck kidnapped R. Dorothy and Dorothy 1, and since he's the viewpoint character, we don't know, either. But life goes on, and the next episode we'll have a new crisis, new mysteries, and a little insight into old ones -- though not much.

Cool... I couldn't remember if someone had said it was in Twisted Memories or not... Searching did nothing...

But the picture! *brain anurism*

Dorothy really knows how to annoy Roger, doesn't she? She can pass for human when she feels like it, and she can whir away like a blender if she wants to annoy hime.

This episode is our last time to see Roger in all his louse-like glory. He has his moments later in the series, but his performance with Angel in Smith Manor is the peak of his louseness.

His voiceover on the way to ELECTRIC CITY is priceless. He's wondering, or pretending to wonder, why he took the job. He took the job because he's attracted to Angel, pure and simple. When she says, as she gets into her car, that she's aware of his reputation, she's NOT talking about his reputation as a negotiator.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Angel in a pink jumpsuit! Yummy!

I had missed, on previous viewings, that Roger knew early on that Paradigm had kept samples of the creature, with an eye towards possibly making some more.

I don't think that anyone who's seen this episode can miss that Dorothy is jealous of Angel. She's in love with Roger already, and, I think, knows it perfectly well.

Poor, Rog, living with a snarky, cold android wouldn't be so bad, but he had to go and be attracted to her. Poor baby. But must he take it out on Dorothy? . . . Apparently so. tsk tsk!

I love this episode. It's fun seeing Louse-Roger. He real cool, he skip school, he drink gin, he sing sin, he die soon. @_@ Sorry, I love that poem.

There's nothing much I can say about this episode. I agree with everything ACT said (and wonderfully said at that!) I'm a real fan of your concise, uh, -ness? -ity? . . . -ousity?

I may not have that 'conjugating words in new and interesting ways' thing down but one thing I do know, and that is that Roger Smith was HOT in that apron. Good lord! Wear that from now on. On any other guy it would prolly look geeky, but Roger Smith can pull off anything. Or maybe it's that anyone with David Lucas' voice can pull off anything. . .

I loved the ending of this episode. Dorothy really throws Roger for a loop when she says she felt like playing the blues, he tries to shrug it off but you know it affected him. The more human traits she shows the more Roger can't resist her. It's odd but I get the feeling that she could lie to his face and he'd just love her more for it.



muchlove
-dork

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Originally posted by Dork I may not have that 'conjugating words in new and interesting ways' thing down but one thing I do know, and that is that Roger Smith was HOT in that apron. Good lord! Wear that from now on. On any other guy it would prolly look geeky, but Roger Smith can pull off anything. Or maybe it's that anyone with David Lucas' voice can pull off anything. . .

Amen to that! I was watching this with my brother and on impulse said pretty much what you just said. He just gave me a weird look. I figure, hey, my brothers check out every other anime chick on the screen, so let me enjoy my fangirlish gushing over Roger.

Sorry, rambling. Anyway, my point was: Roger+apron=YAY!


What ACT said is pretty much all that needs to be said. Roger was definitely checking Angel out. There's a reason that panoramic shot of her by the hourglasses starts at the bottom and works its way up.


One thing that kind of caught my attention was when Roger said, "I'm no atheist, but they expect me to believe there's a god here?" Or something to that effect. Roger's belief system doesn't come up much, and that just kind of stuck out. I have to wonder if he adheres to any particular dogma or if he's agnostic, or what. I'm sure there was already a thread on Roger's religion that I didn't pay much attention to.. time to go searcing!

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Originally posted by Dork I loved the ending of this episode. Dorothy really throws Roger for a loop when she says she felt like playing the blues, he tries to shrug it off but you know it affected him. The more human traits she shows the more Roger can't resist her. It's odd but I get the feeling that she could lie to his face and he'd just love her more for it.

He does. She tells him she lied to Norman, and he looks startled and then smiles and tells her it's okay, everyone lies sometimes.

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Originally posted by Zola quote: Originally posted by Dork I loved the ending of this episode. Dorothy really throws Roger for a loop when she says she felt like playing the blues, he tries to shrug it off but you know it affected him. The more human traits she shows the more Roger can't resist her. It's odd but I get the feeling that she could lie to his face and he'd just love her more for it. He does. She tells him she lied to Norman, and he looks startled and then smiles and tells her it's okay, everyone lies sometimes.

I know, that's what I'm basing this on. I love that scene

He goes on and on about how it disturbs him that Angel's hiding things from him and he knows she's lying and then Dorothy lies and it's all good.

Although the truth is that Dorothy's probably hiding more stuff from Roger than Angel could even dream about. So far Roger's (or his attention has) always been elsewhere when Dorothy reveals something she shouldn't possibly know about. And it's really up in the air weather or not Roger knows this about her. As of act 26 he has no excuse not to know, so I wonder if this is going to bother him in the third season. So far, during a crisis, Roger has typically ignored Dorothy in favor of looking for imformation on what's bothering him elsewhere.

Anywho, I don't know what I'm getting at. It's late ::yawn::


guhnight,
-dork

After rewatching season 1 so many times, it really makes me miss the cel animation even more, and hate the digital.

Plus, 'noir' feeling of Big O is gone in season 2, which was really part of it's charm.

Also, Roger cooked eggs...

Do you know what that means?

....

THERE'S CHICKENS IN PARADIGM!!!!

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Originally posted by R-Umino Also, Roger cooked eggs... Do you know what that means? .... THERE'S CHICKENS IN PARADIGM!!!!

They could be duck or turkey eggs, but I think you are probably right.

Another thing -- there were people in Electric City. They didn't live in Paradigm; they were hours away, judging by the time it took Roger to get there. What do they do up there? Farm? Live off the land? Scavange? There's scope for some story there.

Pygmalion

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Originally posted by Pygmalion quote: Originally posted by R-Umino Also, Roger cooked eggs... Do you know what that means? .... THERE'S CHICKENS IN PARADIGM!!!! They could be duck or turkey eggs, but I think you are probably right. Another thing -- there were people in Electric City. They didn't live in Paradigm; they were hours away, judging by the time it took Roger to get there. What do they do up there? Farm? Live off the land? Scavange? There's scope for some story there. Pygmalion

They live entirely off electrocuted fish.

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Originally posted by A Clockwork Tomato They live entirely off electrocuted fish.

Yummy. It's Electric!~

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Originally posted by R-Umino quote: Originally posted by A Clockwork Tomato They live entirely off electrocuted fish. Yummy. It's Electric!~

Not electric fish, electrocuted fish.

It's fried. Yum ^_^

All my favorite Roger moments come after he arrives in Electric City. Trudging up that hill for however long it takes him to get to Mauritzky's cabin, the first thing he does once the yard is in sight is to pull out his comb and adjust the hair. A negotiator has to inspire absolute confidence in his professionalism -- professionalism being a point expounded upon explicitly later in the ep -- and those first impressions are all-important.

His interactions with the old scientist are quietly wonderful. We see the Roger who can hold a conversation with anyone, who can find a way into even Sven's better graces just by listening and observing. Whose respect for his elders isn't just talk.

It's especially interesting to see this side of Roger after the double shot of Louse!Roger in the opening scenes (hectoring Dorothy, sleazing up to Angel). Pretty complicated guy, that Mr. Smith.

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Originally posted by R-Umino After rewatching season 1 so many times, it really makes me miss the cel animation even more, and hate the digital. Plus, 'noir' feeling of Big O is gone in season 2, which was really part of it's charm.

Season 2 is interesting and suspensful, but you can just watch season one over and over just for the atmosphere of the whole show. Especially in the begining and ending acts of the season.

(1,2,4,10,11,12,13)