Hawthorn

Hamburgo1001

Preliminary ratings are out. No improvements in the demo even though Castle and H50 are done for the season:

And the half hour numbers:

Hamburgo1001

Some quick notes about the episode from me:

- The Rachel/Monroe scenes were the highlight of the episode for me. Usually, I can barely bring myself to pay attention to anything that's going on in this show, but every time these 2 characters are in a scene together, I sit up and take note. Liz and David have incredible on-screen chemistry together. So much better than Liz and BB. No offense to BB, but I don't see much chemistry between him and any of the woman they have tried to pair him with. The romance stuff just isn't one of his strengths.

- I also liked the scenes where Neville was laying the groundwork to overthrow Monroe. Even though I would like to see the show introduce more female characters in important roles, I still think Neville makes for a more believable and better villain/leader than Monroe and anything that gives Neville a bigger part to play is a positive.

- It was nice to see Grace again.

- All the drawn out action and chase sequences are just yawn-inducing to me at this point. There is no suspense because the writers have shown that they don't have the guts to kill off anyone of importance. They only kill off redshirt after redshirt and that has gotten old quickly.

- Where did the dead Rachel look-a-like come from? Up until last week, we hadn't even seen any female militia members and now, we get one who has blond hair, a similar body type and wears the same clothes like Rachel. C'mon now.

- I couldn't help but notice all the Rachel/Miles anvils. We get it show. They are your OTP. No need to hit us over the head with it.

ETA:

No adjustments in the final ratings:

IloveJules!

I have the same opinion on Billy Burke.



Just watched the episode today.

Lots of Rachel and Bass. Together and locked in a room alone. As it is meant to be. That's reason enough to make it the best episode of the season. But they also had a heart to heart talk and Tom is planning a revolt. That's definitely my favorite episode of the season.

I'm sure Rachel was prepared to let loose the grenade (what I'm not sure is if I wrote it correctly). She was ready to release the grenade to blow them up, not throw it. That's what I mean. It doesn't matter that she had more effective ways of killing Bass. Of course one of the reasons she chose to enter the tent with the grenade was to show him that she was the one doing it. And of course it would have quite the effect on Bass as it was showed throughout the episode. Anyway, what I like about this moment is what it means for Rachel. And also the parallels between her and Bass that were highlighted in this episode too. That she wants to kill him because of what he did, but she also wants to kill herself because of what she did. That she hates herself as much as she hates him, so she thinks she deserves to die too.

I also liked that Bass wanted to get away from the militiaman protecting him, but he wanted to go to where Rachel is. Probably to take the grenade out of her to save himself, but I also think it was to save her because he doesn't want her to die. And the expression on their faces. Rachel accepting her fate, but very sad and looking deeply at him as if she wanted to scream that she hates him so much and closing her eyes just wishing it ends once and for all. Bass completely terrified about the possibility of dying. I think there's a tiny part of him that wouldn't mind dying even though he's afraid of it and then the first thing he does after the explosion is to look at Rachel. In my mind he wanted to know if she was okay and is relieved that she is fine. I think he was also surprised that she really wanted to blow herself up. Yes Bass, she has suicidal tendencies just like you.

The best parts of the episode were Rachel and Bass inside the bunker. That's the kind of moment I was waiting since they got separated without even give a mad look at each other. I felt very frustrated. I kept thinking there was unfinished business between them. So I have infinite love for these two moments when Bass reaches Rachel's heart by talking about his very own experience to her. Very honest and meaningful moments for Bass finally speaking about all the mistakes and bad things he has done. It's amazing that it happened with Rachel. I love that it was Rachel that made him talk about those things. And obviously I love how everything he said about suicide, guilty and especially the part about what his son is going to think about his behavior. He told Rachel about his son! She's the first one to know about it. I love it. Anyway, I love how all of this heavily relates to Rachel. She feels the same way. I hope Rachel will have a chance to have a moment like this too. Maybe with Charlie or even Miles or maybe having some sort of 'get it off my chest' moment or something. I mean, there will be a moment when everyone is going to disown Rachel for what she's done. I hope. It's very easy to blame Bass (and Tom). It already happens with Miles since the beginning of the story. It should happen with Rachel too.

By the way, I like that Rachel is thinking about Charlie. It's like she forgot she had a daughter when she wanted to blow herself up. And I like that the son is already making Bass reflect about what he's become. Bass is very connected to family and he thought he had no one, so I hope the son is going to change him completely and bring him to the good side again.

Well, now that Bass said he's sorry for Danny's death, I hope Rachel gives up on killing him for good and starts loving him. I think now she sees he still has a good side and that he's just like her. When Bass says he doesn't know how things got out of control and that he didn't mean for any of this to happen, it completely applies to Rachel too and she knows it. She understands him the same way he understands her. They understand each other like no one else. I love this so much.

And Bass promised he would save Charlie and he did it! That was so awesome. It's funny that he always calls her Charlotte. I also loved that Rachel just let him go and stopped Charlie from going after him.

This episode was so perfect for Rachel and Bass. Too bad they got separated one more time. But I hope this time we won't have to wait so long to see them together again.

Rachel often shows guilty about everything she's done, so it was good to see her feeling guilty in flashbacks too. But it would be better if she also recognizes she has too much blood on her hands to the people in the present time line. Especially the ones close to her, like Charlie, Miles, Aaron and maybe Bass too.

I have to talk about Ben. He has that sweet face that blinds me. But Ben was the one that brought Randall to their life without talking with Rachel about it. Ben doesn't want to tell Randall to stop the launch of the nanites. When Rachel is not sure about testing/putting the implant on Danny, Ben does not question it and says that it has to be done. Ben allows Rachel to abandon her family and become a prisoner of the militia. Well, Ben, I think, he seems to be the one taking Rachel to the dark side. Sort of the same way Miles did with Bass.

I love to see that Tom is planning a revolt. I feel like the show is coming full circle and bringing back some of the best parts of the first half of the season. Rachel and Bass. And the idea of Tom replacing Bass as the leader of the Monroe Republic. The scene where Tom talks about his plans is great. How he talks about Bass finding him and his family starving in the woods and helping them out. I have no idea what are his intentions, if Tom really wants to build a better world. He seems to think a dictatorial form of government is good to control the anarchy. But I think he genuinely believes Bass lost his mind and that he's doing the right thing by taking Bass out of his position. It's more than just survival. And I love that Jason is giving him full support. It was a very nice moment for both of them when Jason said his father cares about his men like no one else.

I wonder what's going to happen with Bass because I think Tom's plan will be successful considering Bass is stuck inside the Tower and the few men left alive are against him. Bass, you will have to run away for the first time!

The first flashback is so confusing because one week before the blackout Rachel is thinking everything can go wrong which means she is not sure about what's going to happen and wants to stop Randall. Ben thinks nothing is going to happen. But one week later both of them know for sure that the whole world is going to be without electricity. And what about Danny? Didn't they cause the blackout to save Danny? Does it mean they decided to do it to save Danny in one week? In flashbacks, the blackout is never related to Danny, just with Randall. That's so weird. There's something missing that should be explained. IMHO, the writers lost it when they related Danny's disease (and the woman's cancer) to the blackout. I feel it wasn't necessary. It didn't add much to the story besides making Rachel look worse than the rest of the main characters and the writers aren't doing much to redeem Rachel considering she's the one that needs to be redeemed the most. In my opinion, the implant to save Danny's life could still exist without being related to the blackout. Rachel selling her invention and accepting to build a weapon to Randall to save Danny's life was enough. It was a satisfactory explanation and it would mean the same thing to Rachel. She would still be responsible for all the blackout. But not everything would fall on her shoulders. It would be mostly Randall's fault (and those people inside the Tower). Oh well, I want Rachel to be redeemed just like Bass. Preferably with them together. Please and thank you!

At least they explained why the pendants were created in the first place. They were built by Grace as a precaution. So they weren't part of the D.o.D. weapon, I think. It looks like it was a last minute thing because Rachel was looking at it as if it was something new. Maybe Randall didn't know about them. But the pendants remind me of the dog tag that belonged to Randall's son. So maybe he knew about them.

With the push of a button the D.o.D. could spy anyone in the world, hear what they're saying and kill them. They could also turn the electricity off selectively. That's the weapon they created. So I think I understand now what Randall wanted to do in Afghanistan. Turn the electricity off and then kill the enemies from the Tower. So it wouldn't be necessary to have soldiers in the field? And they wouldn't have to die like his son. It also looks like they used Aaron's AI software to control the machines and nanites.

Rachel mentioned a launch. I think it means they launched some nanorobots before the blackout. I mean, one week before the blackout the nanites were already released and spread, but they weren't active. And then they wanted to execute (activate) the nanites in one specific area. That was the plan. That's why they needed a solid containment to control them. Then Randall ordered the man inside the Tower to push the button to activate the nanites in Afghanistan and they got out of control starting the blackout.

No surprise that the satellites still work. If there's lightning, it means the nanorobots can't go that far. So satellites should be working. The same thing with the radio signal when Bass was talking with Alec. Radio waves should be working just fine too.

The things that go through my mind are ridiculous. I thought these people inside the Tower would be creations of the men (children of men) using nanotechnology and artificial intelligence (Aaron's software). I thought they would be transhumans. Almost immortals. Really. It turns out they are just normal people protecting the level 12 of the Tower. Well, they aren't so normal. I mean, I understand why they don't want people to have access to a powerful weapon. But that's not reason enough to keep the lights off destroying the lives of millions. It's ironic that they say electricity will only make people kill themselves. And that's what they do. They kill people.

I wish the words from Aaron about helping people were told by Rachel because she obviously cares about people too and feels responsible for what happened.

Okay. I always thought that if Rachel has to short circuit the nanorobots to turn the power on, then it obviously would be very dangerous because there are chances of explosions and great fire. But I always thought it would be just inside and/or near the Tower. Didn't think she could set the world on fire. Really cool. It makes sense because the nanorobots are everywhere.

I wonder how many secrets Rachel has. I wish she had one that involves Bass. Unfortunately for me, it will involve Miles.