Discuss the Current Episode

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Originally posted by Pygmalion quote: Originally posted by Tony quote: Originally posted by Dork That was. . . bizaare. What was Cartoon Network's crazy ass logo doing on tonight's episode? It was probably a mistake but who makes a mistake like that? freaky deaky indeed. I'll see if I can get a screencap later. muchlove -dork Are we sure that their new logo? Or, has Roger sold out and became Cartoon Network's spokes person. Poor Roger, CN patch on his jackets. That's a bummer. No, I really can't see Roger as a CN lapdog. Pygmalion

Yup thats right, he's Zola's lapdog, and Pygmalion's, and Babyghia's and Lady Tesser's and....

Er anyway, You know, it took me long enough, but i actually am growing quite fond of "Bring Back My Ghost" before i really didnt care much for it like other epidsodes, but i guess if you watch something enough times, you'll like it

My god, does watching Big O ever get old?

I dont think so

Alright, schedule wise, Witch Hunter Robin is in the same boat as Big O, except they've only been back on air for about 4 weeks. On July 3rd (the sunday after next) Sealab and Futurama are listed on the saturday's (supposedly) action block, these two are bumping everything back. Inuyasha's at 12 and Wolf's Rain's at 12:30 (dammit!), Bebop and Trigun are at 1 and 1:30 repectively, while WHR and TBO have been completely removed. Assuming that this is not some sort of freaky scheduling error then I guess it's possible WHR and TBO could be returning to weekdays ::crosses fingers::, of course we'll have to wait until monday until we know for sure.

Then again Action may not be getting as good as ratings as Comedy, in that case we're up crap creek without a paddle

Which, you know, would suck and stuff.


muchlove
-dork

I used to put Act 5 pretty low on my list.

Even though the ghost idea was a little lame, I've warmed up to the episode.

The whole Dome vs. Poor aspect was really interesting and they never really expanded to much on that. It would have been interesting.

Also this episode was chock full of excellent visuals.

Like dorothy on the foggy balcony, or the kickass shots of Big O battling in the water.

So what do you think, a extreme event of emontion awakened memmories? Then where did the memmories come from? Was he a domi, or where the memmories implanted by Rosewater SR? This ep. again shows that Mega's must have some sort of inteligence, this one reaches out and grabs uh... whats his name. I thought this was a good ep. The idea of a fake ghost reminds me of scooby doo... nevermind.
Remember keep your friends close, but your enemies closer!

Found this over on the Adult Swim message boards

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On July 3, Futurama and Sealab 2021 will make their Saturday debuts at 11 and 11:30 p.m, respectively. The premieres of InuYasha will be pushed to 12 a.m. and Wolf’s Rain to 12:30 a.m., temporarily removing Witch Hunter Robin and Big O from the schedule. Witch Hunter Robin is slated to return for a full weekday run beginning in November. On July 5, InuYasha returns to its 12:30 a.m. time on weekdays, pushing Case Closed to 1 a.m. Lupin the Third makes its triumphant return to the weekday schedule at 1:30 p.m., replacing Trigun. Three Creator's Weeks: Seth MacFarlane will be picking his favorite Family Guy episodes during the week of July 26. Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro choose their top Aqua Teen Hunger Force picks the week of August 30. Matt Groening selects his favorite Futurama episodes during the week of September 27. Venture Brothers premieres on Saturday, August 7, at 11:30 p.m. with a full season to follow. Ghost in the Shell will premiere on November 13 at 12:30 a.m., followed by the premiere of Fullmetal Alchemist at 1 a.m. (All times are Eastern.)

WHR doesn't return until November, Big O isn't even on the horizon. dang. . .

Well, we can pretend, and have an episode-of-the-week without Cartoon Network. At least, those of us with the DVDs or off-air recordings can.

I'll continue to update the subject line of this thread to a new episode each week, just to give us something to focus each week's discussions.

(I still haven't gone back and watched Act 5 again. A leaky pipe forced me to miss last night's episode.)

Yea, we'll have to do our own reruns. It's better than nothing, at least we can keep this discussion thread going.

For what it's worth, TBO was the third highest-rated show last Saturday night according to tonight's AS cards -- only about 20,000 viewers behind a new episode of Wolf's Rain in second place. I guess people are finally realizing it's back on the schedule (and just in time for it to drop back off, too!).

As to Act 5, I've always thought it was the filler episode that wasn't. It doesn't seem to advance any of the big arcs except in hindsight, but it drops a vital clue about how the megadeii choose their domini, and the rather startling parallels between Bonnie Fraser and Roger himself give plenty of food for thought in light of the resets we learn about later.

I like to say that the best guest characters leave you wanting to know more about one of the leads, and Bonnie is no exception. The parallels I mentioned -- guy from a privileged background devotes himself to public service only to become disillusioned by the Paradigm Corporation's pervasive corrupting influence -- don't rely upon any knowledge of what comes after to be interesting.

Bummer, but weap not! For ACT has begin his 4th season and Act 40 is already up. Big O shall live on!

Guess that means the stock in fan fictions going to sky rocket. Young writers invest you time now... lol.

'Bring Back my Ghost' has some the best gothic images of the entire series; the one armed doll floating in the river, the domes glowing purple at night, Bonny Fraizier falling head first into the Hudson, and the Megadeus enclosing him in his hand.

Next to 'Winter Night Phamtom' it's the most film noir episode of the show. I love the atmoshere, the moodiness, the mystery of Melissa's sight. It's a great episode. It's also my least favorite. Sadly enough it's prolly my least favorite for lack of memorable main cast (Dorothy, Roger, Angel, Dastun) moments, which is really a shame because it is such a beautiful episode.


next up: 'A Legacy of Amadeus'


muchlove
-dork

Belated comments on BRING BACK MY GHOST --

There's a lot of careful work in this episode. The bigoted lines of the first military police officer we see about those living outside the domes, the lingering shots showing the transition from honest night to artificial day under the dome, including a shot of the artificial sun, emphasize the isolation of the dome-dwellers from the real world and their contempt for it.

Some interesting things that I noticed:

-- I believe that this is the last episode when Dorothy whirs. She never did it all the time. I suspect the whirring is actually a mistake, this time.

-- Big O manages to destroy a Megadeus with the chromebuster, a weapon that generally isn't very effective against such targets. Bonnie's Megadeus must be lacking most of its armor.

-- Bonnie's Megadeus seems to be operating itself. There's no hint of remote control.

-- The juxtaposition of Big Ear's line that the sun will never rise over Paradigm, and Roger saying that it's nice to see a young man (Bonnie) who believes that it will, is interesting. Roger's not buying this gloom and doom stuff.

-- Though Bonnie has assassinated four men, they are men who were considered to be "Paradigm lapdogs" -- at least according to Big Ear -- and presumably Dastun and the other real MP leaders consider them to be outsiders, traitors, criminals. So the idea that Bonnie might get a "fair trial" might not be too far-fetched.

-- There is a gradually increasing emphasis on the Paradigm/dome-dwellers vs. ordinary folks conflict, which started in Act 3 and will continue until the end of Season 2. It's not mentioned in every episode, but we never go long without being reminded of it.

-- How does Big O get into the river without flooding his own subway tunnels?

-- Is Bonnie's thirst for revenge his own? Does it come from his Megadeus? Does his thirst for revenge gain the Megadeus' attention in the first place?

-- Does Bonnie's normalcy after the Megadeus is destroyed happen because he's been released from the Megadeus' spell? Is it the result of his having achieved his mission? Or what?

Wow, ACT, you brought up some fantastic points. Some I hadn't thought to comment on myself, most I hadn't even noticed. Much of season one's film noir atmosphere can probably be traced back to this episode. Maybe that's the reason this episode doesn't get much attention in the way of examination; it's mostly atmosphere, just this nice little moment in Paradigm time.

In a series like this you can't bring up (or even touch on) all the social issues and attitudes in the story in every episode. I need to go back and watch this one again



muchlove
-dork

This is a beautiful episode, one of my favorites.

Some observations...

Roger loves music. We didn't know this before.

Roger introduces Dorothy to Instro as "a friend," and as "Dorothy Wayneright," not "R. Dorothy Wayneright." Interesting...

Roger knows which of Dastun's file drawers will have the information on Giesang.

Dorothy is distressed at Instro's disappearance, and this is shown early, when she breaks down the door. Does she suspect that he's been kidnapped for the use of a Megadeus, much as she was done in Act 2 and nearly was again in THE UNDERGROUND TERROR?

In the car she recovers and participates in Roger's banter, which he enjoys, as always.

The scene with the machine guns was childish and unbelievable. Way to sneak up on people, Roger!

In Act 26, Dorothy is wired into Big O through her forehead. Instro is wired into Constanze through his hands.

Instro has removed the clothing, perhaps denying his identity as a pianist or even a person.

Constanze's cockpit looks vaguely like a set of organ keyboards.

Instro says and does things when Consanze is intact that he does not say or do before or after. I believe that Constanze affects his mind. I don't think Instro doubts that he is a pianist under ordinary circumstances, or is willing to destroy Paradigm, either. Giesang must have forced him into the cockpit of Constanze. Once connected, his mind was influenced by Constanze.

Instro seems unable to change his plans outright -- he can't REFUSE to destroy Paradigm -- but he can procrastinate; first to talk to Roger, then to stop and listen to Dorothy's music.

Big O was going to be destroyed by the phonosonic device.

Did Dorothy know what she was doing when she distracted Instro with her piano playing? If so, either her insight is phenomenal, or there is some kind of link between them.

Instro remembers being a human child. Is his personality based on Amadeus' human son? Does this imply that Dorothy also has a human mind projected somehow into a mechanical brain?

Dorothy was smiling as Instro played in the last scene.

The practical joke at then end, with Insto calling her wake-up music "superb!" and her saying to Roger, "See?" is wonderful.

The bond which Dorothy and Instro have has always been fascinating to me, and not just the fact that both of their respective fathers loved to hear their music.
Instro's flashbacks show him as a human youth.
Kinda makes you wonder what's going on in Dorothy's head doesn't it?

I really enjoyed the display of android "emotions" in this episode.

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Originally posted by A Clockwork Tomato Instro has removed the clothing, perhaps denying his identity as a pianist or even a person.

I think this is key to understanding how Instro's mindset changes under Giesang's (and Constanze's?) coercions. Notice that Dorothy restores him twice -- once by playing the Raindrop Prelude, and the second time by presenting him with his bow tie, a visible symbol of Instro being his own man (or "man" if you prefer).

One note: Constanze is a feminine name. Is Constanze the megadeus a feminized machine? Is it deliberate that in the android/megadeus pairings or wouldbe pairings we've seen, one party is plainly male or female and the other seems to be of the opposite gender?

Once again ACT, you've brought up the best points of this act. One thing that I wonder is how is Instro able to see Roger in the cockpit of Big O? Does Constanze have some sort of special ability to do so?

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Originally posted by R.Smith Once again ACT, you've brought up the best points of this act. One thing that I wonder is how is Instro able to see Roger in the cockpit of Big O? Does Constanze have some sort of special ability to do so?

I think there must be a Big-Big communication link. We saw Roger and Alex trading lines in Act 26. We saw Bonaparte talking to Roger in Act 21.

Pygmalion

Also, the pilot of a Megadeus can hear outside sounds perfectly clearly, even when operating a sonic weapon. Cool technology!

Speaking of which, am I the only person here who noticed that right before Roger got knocked back by the laser blast, that Instro had his head down and was going through convulsions like he was crying?