Judgment Day

When I heard that this show was directed by the same guys who worked on Game Of Thrones and given the fact that I've never read the book, I decided to give it a try...

Half way though the show I decided to stop watching because it really bored me (characters not relatable, too many mysteries and a predictable plot) until the moment I finished this episode. I have never seen a sci-fi plot bring all the important pieces together with such precise timing and scientific accuracy like I've just witnessed just witnessed.

Now I'm not sure if I'll be able to take my eyes off a screen until I'm done watching how the whole story unfolds.

Oh, ... this is going in the wrong direction very quickly, wasting the good aspects (Benedict Wong and some great thought provoking concepts) with just plain silly carry on. I don't need to go on about the ludicrous dicing a ship to get a hard drive plot point. I mean, what are we supposed to do with that? Is this a comedy now?

Everyone of us is now thinking season 8 of Game of Thrones with dread and quickly loosing any level of trust in the writers, if we had any to start with.

Annoying Augie with her pouty catwalk looks may well have played out her plot point with her 'cutty string' so hopefully we've seen the back of her and her attempts to bring back smoking. Nano fibres..... what a oblique way to make her relevant to the story. Yes in ep 5 you're going to prove your worth by finishing off your science project so we can slice up children on a boat, yay!

The aliens, don't seem that smart for a race of creatures who can make a proton computer and send technology 4 light years away. How did the helmets get made and the hard drive etc? I guess that's the drawback of having a little knowledge and a little understanding possibly gained from watching youtube videos. It starts to fall apart with any level of scrutiny.

I think that's what is the most disappointing aspect of this show, it's almost a strong idea but ruined by halfbaked plot failures.

The aliens are worried that in 400 years humans will have surpassed their their technology? So what, the aliens are planning to stop progressing on their 400 year journey? Not going to read any books while you travel?, come up with some new ideas?, pack a couple of test tubes and a bunsen burner? It was an interesting thought till you thought about it.

I don't think 'own goal' of detailing your plot holes is good enough as when Wong notes they can do instantaneous communication but can't travel faster than sub lightspeed with a shoulder shrug, although I'll give you a point for saying "That's impossible,.... impossible, for us".

This show is frustratingly thought provoking and mind-numbing at the same time.

I'm worried the next episode will h ave something in it that will stop me wanting to finish the season, it's pretty close to it now, no, to be fair it has past that point, and I'm running on walking dead fumes, I know I should have stopped watching that show half way through, but it's hard to turn away from a train wreck.

Oh and Liam Cunningham's hard as MI5-6 tough guy act is wearing pastiche thin.

The movie has clarified some of the confusing elements of the book. The use of video and scientific names such as Newton and Copernicus and Lord was made clear in the film. The stunning first 14 minutes gave us two main issues of the book in such a way that only after did one realize what had happened. Truly a highly intelligent rendering of the book and in this case the movie is better understood and appreciated than reading the books, some 1500 plus pages. The books present blocks of the 400 year history in a somewhat "chopped" fashion. The film has a sequential continuity that is easier to comprehend. Spectacular imagery and visuals. Banned in China, but later encouraged.

We witness the eerie, terrifying force of Auggie's invention, and we think this futuristic invention is mind blowingly powerful. But then the aliens show us that the technologically superior race is capable of feats so far beyond our understanding, that it creates this fear of the unknown and brings forth sheer existential horror and dread.

This is exactly the kind of science fiction I'd like to see. Humans rarely ever think of themselves as animals because we can overwhelm the other animals with our minds and technological might. Many of us have forgotten the fear of what it was once like out there in the wild, fighting for our survival just like every other animal.

And so in this episode, we can now see possibilities that threaten our very existence; powers that are so far beyond our understanding that we now begin to feel what it's like from the perspective of a bug staring at a boot; knowing we are about to be squashed, and that there is nothing we can do about it.

So here we are. The scientists have a way of destroying things with Auggie's invention. It is used to wipe out a mother ship, filled with all manner of persons, including children. The point of this is that these people are a connection to the alien species that is going to invade the planet. But when push comes to shove, the leadership has no clue as to what they are dealing with. The aliens have built and rebuilt, as the woman on the destroyed landscape points out. They need the earth and in order to get it must neutralize it by getting rid of its science. The now unleash that power which is to frighten the earth's population into inactions. The enemy now becomes those who will go after their own people. Very interesting. I'm really surprised at the naysayers who have expressed disdain for a show that is pushing boundaries.