WEBVTT 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:31.230 you Hello fellow humans and welcome to e pluribus 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:34.850 unum where we do a deep dive into the hive mind 00:00:34.850 --> 00:00:39.509 I am Eric and I'm Josh and welcome to episode 00:00:39.509 --> 00:00:45.310 3 where we cover pluribus grenade an Ominous 00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:47.789 title for this episode. What do you think? Yeah, 00:00:47.789 --> 00:00:51.289 I think it's a little ominous and it ties very 00:00:51.289 --> 00:00:54.530 well into the ending and I think it means more 00:00:54.530 --> 00:00:56.890 than it shows on the surface I think as well 00:00:57.130 --> 00:01:00.030 So you don't think it's too on the nose, so to 00:01:00.030 --> 00:01:03.770 speak? I don't think so, no. All right, all right. 00:01:04.150 --> 00:01:07.370 Well, just as an overview, I appreciated this 00:01:07.370 --> 00:01:12.670 episode, I think maybe more than 50 other percent 00:01:12.670 --> 00:01:16.409 of the audience out there. I feel like what I 00:01:16.409 --> 00:01:19.689 read sounded as though this episode might've 00:01:19.689 --> 00:01:21.469 been a little divisive. What do you think about 00:01:21.469 --> 00:01:26.359 that? I could see why when I was... Initially 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:28.780 thinking about this episode, I felt that it was 00:01:28.780 --> 00:01:32.079 definitely more about exploring the themes as 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:35.939 opposed to moving the plot forward. So I could 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:39.959 see why folks who are really intrigued by the 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:43.219 mystery and really want answers weren't as happy 00:01:43.219 --> 00:01:46.620 with this episode, but I quite liked it at the 00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:50.040 end of the day. But before we sort of jump in, 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.659 I think we need to have a bit of an important. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:57.560 correction from episode one and two for us. Okay. 00:01:58.019 --> 00:02:02.159 We have been pronouncing the lead actress as 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:05.200 Rhea. And it turns out that her name is actually 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:10.039 pronounced Ray. Ray Sehorn is the name of Carol 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:12.879 in real life. So you're saying it's Ray Sehorn. 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:17.259 Ray Sehorn, yeah. Right. I guess that makes sense, 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.310 R -H. Okay. I can invest in that and I feel like 00:02:21.310 --> 00:02:23.210 a complete idiot. So, you know, there's also 00:02:23.210 --> 00:02:27.409 that. I feel like we're an old school newspaper 00:02:27.409 --> 00:02:30.569 and we have to print an apology or something 00:02:30.569 --> 00:02:33.469 saying that we misquoted in a previous issue. 00:02:33.710 --> 00:02:36.610 So maybe that's it. It also just proves that 00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:38.770 guess what, we're human and we're not part of 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:41.490 the hive mind. And maybe that is a way we can 00:02:41.490 --> 00:02:44.009 test ourselves to ensure that we're not part 00:02:44.009 --> 00:02:46.990 of that hive mind. The hive mind would have known 00:02:46.990 --> 00:02:49.340 how to pronounce that correctly. Yeah, but they 00:02:49.340 --> 00:02:51.379 probably wouldn't have known about some pretty 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:53.639 obvious other things, you know, and I think that 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:56.139 those ideas and thoughts are explored in this 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:58.240 episode, as you mentioned before. You know, I'll 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:01.539 say this, you mentioned episodes one and two 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:06.060 being a character study. I think the quote unquote 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:10.259 slowdown of this episode is that it is a character 00:03:10.259 --> 00:03:14.699 study. It is literally us learning more about 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:20.259 Carol and almost nothing else. I thought it fit 00:03:20.259 --> 00:03:23.460 well enough in the structure of the show and 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:26.280 it didn't do what maybe somebody might have expected, 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:29.039 which is to continue to ramp up the action, so 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.900 to speak, in the show or the mystery or anything 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:36.099 like that. But I think it's smart to do it. I 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:40.319 think it also shows us that it's still not the 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.520 show that we might have expected it to be. I 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.020 agree, yeah. And I think if you're familiar with 00:03:47.150 --> 00:03:49.370 Vince Gilligan's work, you know that there are 00:03:49.370 --> 00:03:53.349 going to be episodes like this where he'll not 00:03:53.349 --> 00:03:55.569 necessarily hit the pause button, but he'll take 00:03:55.569 --> 00:03:57.750 his time and allow a character to have a little 00:03:57.750 --> 00:04:01.270 bit of breathing room and explore their background 00:04:01.270 --> 00:04:03.770 and explore exactly how they're feeling within 00:04:03.770 --> 00:04:06.409 this moment. Because the characters themselves 00:04:06.409 --> 00:04:11.009 are explorations of the theme of not only the 00:04:11.009 --> 00:04:13.659 episode, but the series as well. We've been talking 00:04:13.659 --> 00:04:16.220 about how much we love his cold opens and he 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:19.540 literally gives us a cold open. Yeah, I like 00:04:19.540 --> 00:04:24.079 that quite a bit and He does a good job in this 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:28.199 opening scene showing that Carol is very much 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:31.620 the same character post -joining as she was pre 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:36.439 -joining Her wife brings her to this ice palace 00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:39.879 hotel. That seems very cool. Honestly, it'd be 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:43.759 an amazing trip And it seems like the reason 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:47.100 that they're at this sort of getaway is because 00:04:47.100 --> 00:04:49.860 Carol's book numbers are coming in and they want 00:04:49.860 --> 00:04:53.060 to sort of get away. Yeah, the fray. Exactly. 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:56.079 Exactly. She's as anxious about how successful 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:00.959 she can be with her writing as she is angry at 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.759 the world. One side of it is this anxiety of, 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:06.000 is this good enough? Do enough people like it? 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.519 Is it high enough on the list? That sort of thing. 00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:10.759 And then on the other side, it's like, why am 00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:15.779 I in this? with a bed literally made of ice and 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:20.560 the view through the window of the Aurora Borealis 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:25.899 looks like a screen saver. And you know, a lot 00:05:25.899 --> 00:05:29.740 of what she's saying here is repeated later in 00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:32.500 the episode, post -June. Absolutely. She doesn't 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:35.519 seem like she wants change or anything new. She 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.459 wants what she is comfortable with. She's very 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:40.420 much likes what she likes and she wants what 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:43.879 she wants. And quite honestly, she can be a little 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:45.980 annoying when she doesn't get exactly what she 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:48.279 wants and have things exactly how she likes, 00:05:49.019 --> 00:05:51.300 which I think speaks to the relationship with 00:05:51.300 --> 00:05:54.899 her wife slash manager because her, her wife 00:05:54.899 --> 00:05:57.480 is essentially rankling her throughout so much 00:05:57.480 --> 00:05:59.819 of their relationship that we've seen. It's in 00:05:59.819 --> 00:06:02.699 their own personal lives even. Exactly. Yeah. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:06.709 Yeah. She's, uh, wrangling the talent even when 00:06:06.709 --> 00:06:10.189 they're off the clock. Well, I think the key 00:06:10.189 --> 00:06:13.029 takeaways from this opening sequence where we 00:06:13.029 --> 00:06:16.350 see Carol and Helen having a vacation in Norway 00:06:16.350 --> 00:06:22.129 is to show us that Carol was a curmudgeon before 00:06:22.129 --> 00:06:25.610 and is now still a curmudgeon as we know her 00:06:25.610 --> 00:06:29.129 in the context of the joining. The second thing 00:06:29.129 --> 00:06:32.699 I thought was It's put up as a sort of a throwaway 00:06:32.699 --> 00:06:37.579 line is to say I froze my eggs including the 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:42.019 yolks so she mentions having had her eggs frozen 00:06:42.019 --> 00:06:45.019 and This is colder than that or something along 00:06:45.019 --> 00:06:47.879 those lines But she has the thought to have her 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:50.579 eggs frozen and that she has the thought that 00:06:50.579 --> 00:06:52.920 she might want a child Apparently is the thought 00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:55.300 that I have in this and I find that really interesting 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:58.699 because I don't think her character exudes that 00:06:59.729 --> 00:07:03.269 and I'm wondering if that's going to play into 00:07:03.269 --> 00:07:07.730 this later in some strange way. I can only assume 00:07:07.730 --> 00:07:09.990 it for me in my perspective of this thing in 00:07:09.990 --> 00:07:14.189 a maybe terrifying or not great way. That leads 00:07:14.189 --> 00:07:16.920 us to the next scene where. She's sitting in 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:19.740 the back of the plane again. And instead of having 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:22.959 the TGI Fridays lady flying the plane, we have 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:26.579 two very professional, very seasoned pilots in 00:07:26.579 --> 00:07:29.800 the front seat. And she and Zosia are apparently 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:33.500 headed back to Albuquerque. And she finds out 00:07:33.500 --> 00:07:36.740 that there is another immune, as you've been 00:07:36.740 --> 00:07:40.279 calling them, doesn't speak English and has been 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.180 avoiding the joined as they try to reach out 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:45.500 to him. And Carol says, well, let me give him 00:07:45.500 --> 00:07:48.199 a call. Even though he only speaks Spanish, let 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:52.540 me give it a try. And this scene is, again, funny 00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:58.300 and unnerving at the same time. And I think this 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:00.579 highlights a big theme in this episode, which 00:08:00.579 --> 00:08:03.800 is loneliness, especially for Carol. Even at 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:07.019 this point, she seems to have alienated the first 00:08:07.019 --> 00:08:11.019 five immune that she's met. And it's almost as 00:08:11.019 --> 00:08:15.000 if she sees a kindred spirit in this 13th immune. 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:17.579 that wants nothing to do with the joint. It's 00:08:17.579 --> 00:08:20.180 the only other one that she's found that seems 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:24.160 to think like she does. And these multiple calls 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:26.060 out to them while they're on the plane here. 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:28.839 And it's multiple calls because he keeps hanging 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:30.879 up on her. And so she'll hand the phone back 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.120 over to Zosia and dial him again. And it happens 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:35.740 more than half a dozen times, but it's like this 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:38.659 bit almost that's happening as she's slowly peeling 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:43.360 away the layers of this Paraguay onion. Exactly. 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:46.519 Well, the scene ends with her not really even 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:49.299 getting in touch with him. He curses at her in 00:08:49.299 --> 00:08:52.320 the next last call. She makes his OSHA call him 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:55.399 again. And when she returns the call, she just 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:57.700 curses at him in Spanish and hangs up the phone. 00:08:58.700 --> 00:09:01.759 Like, I got the last word on this situation. 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:04.620 So I found that to be really funny. And it wouldn't 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:07.200 surprise me if that doesn't endear him to her. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.840 And he's more like, oh, you're obviously not 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:14.139 a joined. Now I want to talk to you. more like 00:09:14.139 --> 00:09:17.580 I am. And I thought that was again funny and 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:20.019 quite brilliant. At this point she gets back 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:22.840 home and she sees that she's received a package 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:26.840 and the package is from Helen and it is a massage 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:30.019 gun that Carol had tried at the airport and Helen 00:09:30.019 --> 00:09:31.700 just bought it for her because she wanted to 00:09:31.700 --> 00:09:34.799 give her a surprise gift when they returned back 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:37.720 from the book tour. And of course this just ends 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:41.899 up sparking Carol's grief again. Once again she 00:09:42.669 --> 00:09:45.830 goes after Zosia and says, I told you to stop 00:09:45.830 --> 00:09:48.929 using Helen. You can't use Helen. Zosia has to 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:51.490 explain this isn't us using Helen. This is Helen. 00:09:51.850 --> 00:09:55.850 This is the last thing she sent to you. And they 00:09:55.850 --> 00:09:59.870 constantly have to re -describe the fact that 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:03.149 they aren't using Helen's memories against her 00:10:03.149 --> 00:10:06.350 that. any information they have they're using 00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:09.529 from other sources. You talked about nodes in 00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:11.950 the last episode. It's another node. It's the 00:10:11.950 --> 00:10:14.190 maid who cleans the refrigerator. She knew how 00:10:14.190 --> 00:10:15.950 much you had in the fridge and all that kind 00:10:15.950 --> 00:10:19.750 of stuff. Yeah, and we even have a scene here 00:10:19.750 --> 00:10:22.429 that is a little heart -wrenching, I think. She 00:10:22.429 --> 00:10:26.110 calls Zosia, and as she's looking out the window, 00:10:26.129 --> 00:10:28.629 she's looking at Helen's grave in the backyard, 00:10:28.830 --> 00:10:31.110 and she says, forget everything you know about 00:10:31.110 --> 00:10:34.309 Helen. And essentially hangs up on Zosia because 00:10:34.309 --> 00:10:38.190 really all that Carol has now is her memory of 00:10:38.190 --> 00:10:41.250 Helen and feels like it's been stolen by the 00:10:41.250 --> 00:10:44.250 hive mind because they have her consciousness, 00:10:44.250 --> 00:10:47.929 if you want to call it that. So she is almost 00:10:47.929 --> 00:10:51.129 desperate to carve that back from the hive mind. 00:10:51.210 --> 00:10:53.870 And I think that's sort of impossible. I don't 00:10:53.870 --> 00:10:56.850 think the hive mind has the ability to forget 00:10:56.850 --> 00:10:58.990 everything they know about Helen. All she does 00:10:58.990 --> 00:11:02.000 have left is that memory and even that. she feels 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.720 has been taken away by the hive mind. And we 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.220 see her over the next day or so rotting away 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:11.600 on the couch watching Golden Girls, which for 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:14.480 a scene that is someone's laying down on a couch 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:18.019 and watching a television show, it's immaculately 00:11:18.019 --> 00:11:21.840 shot. Some of the scenes where. We're looking 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:25.779 at Carol and the television is reflecting in 00:11:25.779 --> 00:11:28.440 a disc that's laying down on the table and we 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:31.039 get to see Betty White's face as she's delivering 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:34.179 her lines in Golden Girls. One of the episodes 00:11:34.179 --> 00:11:36.899 of the Golden Girls is called Dorothy's New Friend. 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:39.659 And this is the one where she's telling the story 00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:42.860 about the woman who couldn't smile and had to 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:45.600 stand on her head in order for it to look like 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.440 she was smiling. The only smile we've seen on 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:53.679 her face ever is a sarcastic smile. At this point 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:56.799 in the story, Carol can do anything. She can 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:00.460 go anywhere. She can meet anyone that she wants. 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:04.139 She can have any meal that she would like. And 00:12:04.139 --> 00:12:07.220 she chooses at that point to stay home and dive 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:10.740 into her golden girls. And as we see in a moment 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:16.460 here, she chooses not to eat this wonderful breakfast 00:12:16.460 --> 00:12:19.659 that the joint has delivered to her. She wants 00:12:19.659 --> 00:12:22.559 to go to her own grocery store and she wants 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:25.440 to live as much as she can in that old world. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.960 She even says on the call with his OSHA. I'm 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:32.720 a very independent person. She does end up going 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:38.080 to the sprouts grocery store to pick up her own 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:40.519 meal so she can cook for herself because she, 00:12:40.899 --> 00:12:42.919 she truly believes that she's this independent 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:49.320 person. It goes to show you how. much of an illusion 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:53.039 independence really is and in modern life and 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:56.460 and how Carol isn't as independent as she really 00:12:56.460 --> 00:12:58.940 wished that she could be because there's nothing 00:12:58.940 --> 00:13:01.620 in this grocery store. She doesn't grow her own 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:04.940 meals and she doesn't slaughter her own animals 00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:07.539 for for her bacon in the morning. That independence 00:13:07.539 --> 00:13:10.299 is kind of shoved in her face has a bit of an 00:13:10.299 --> 00:13:14.019 illusion where you always needed the help of 00:13:14.019 --> 00:13:18.559 others. You always needed a stocked grocery store 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:22.000 and you always needed Helen to prop you up because 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:24.759 you were constantly sort of floundering a little 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:27.720 bit. And without that rudder that was Helen and 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:30.720 without that ecosystem of things like a grocery 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.759 store, are you really as independent as you really 00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:38.659 wanted to believe? Yeah, I think you bring up 00:13:38.659 --> 00:13:41.179 a great point. I would say it's one I didn't 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:43.639 necessarily catch and I agree wholeheartedly 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:47.850 with you. So essentially she's at home and they 00:13:47.850 --> 00:13:50.289 know how much food she does or doesn't have and 00:13:50.289 --> 00:13:53.210 they deliver this classic Looney Tunes cartoon 00:13:53.210 --> 00:13:55.610 of the silver platter with the silver dome over 00:13:55.610 --> 00:13:59.269 the top. Again played to a great fair with seeing 00:13:59.269 --> 00:14:01.809 her reflection in the dome as she goes to lift 00:14:01.809 --> 00:14:05.350 and you see this gorgeous plate of food and she's 00:14:05.350 --> 00:14:07.090 like, I don't want your food. I just want to 00:14:07.090 --> 00:14:09.330 be able to go to my own grocery store and go 00:14:09.330 --> 00:14:11.509 get my own groceries. And they're like, yeah, 00:14:11.529 --> 00:14:14.769 go ahead. without saying anything more really. 00:14:15.350 --> 00:14:17.990 She hauls her butt into town and she's ready 00:14:17.990 --> 00:14:21.289 to go into Sprouts, which is a real store. And 00:14:21.289 --> 00:14:23.289 when you see this overhead shot of the store, 00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:27.049 the entire store is empty. All of the produce, 00:14:27.389 --> 00:14:30.110 all of the groceries are all completely gone. 00:14:30.929 --> 00:14:32.970 It looks like a brand new store. And she walks 00:14:32.970 --> 00:14:37.529 in just in shock. And what does she do? She goes 00:14:37.529 --> 00:14:39.679 to the nearest phone. picks it up and presses 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:42.620 zero and hops on there and goes, hi Carol, how 00:14:42.620 --> 00:14:46.840 can we help you? And she says, I want my store 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:50.639 back. And she says over the phone, we're on our 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:56.419 way. And this is where I have a question. Either 00:14:56.419 --> 00:14:59.860 they knew she was coming to the grocery store 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:02.960 specifically and they had these trucks. close 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:05.860 by, fully stocked with the entire store, waiting 00:15:05.860 --> 00:15:08.120 for her to make this decision so that they can 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:11.519 come and show her, I would say, their power or 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.600 their efficiency, let's say, be more direct with 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:18.139 what the themes are in the show. And we get this 00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:22.100 beautiful sequence, once again, of a ballet of 00:15:22.100 --> 00:15:24.840 vehicles, this ballet of trucks rolls in in this 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:27.240 very eloquent way. These people bounce out of 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:31.100 these trucks. in a very timed and accurate way, 00:15:31.139 --> 00:15:35.299 and they go to refill the entire store within 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:37.379 a matter of moments. As a matter of fact, I was 00:15:37.379 --> 00:15:40.340 hoping, because there's a time stamp at the beginning 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:42.440 and a time stamp at the end, I was praying it 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:45.600 was 78 minutes, because the original signal from 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:48.860 episode one was 78 seconds apart. And so since 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:50.919 that was 78 seconds apart, I was hoping this 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:54.159 was going to be 78 minutes later, and that there 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:55.860 would be this neat little efficiency there. But 00:15:55.860 --> 00:15:58.460 it wasn't. It was 68 minutes. You know, take 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:01.559 that for what it is. But 68 minutes later, she 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:05.600 has her sprouts back. To reflect on my question 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.840 too, and it's more a production question than 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.139 it is an inside the television show question. 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:12.879 Did the hive mind predict that she was going 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:14.580 to be at that sprouts and knew that they had 00:16:14.580 --> 00:16:17.559 to show up in order to restock the store in 68 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:21.860 minutes or? Are we to believe that the world 00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:25.419 is so efficient that if she were to think this 00:16:25.419 --> 00:16:28.320 without them knowing it that within 68 minutes, 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.019 they could have everything back on the shelves. 00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:33.179 The only way this works is if you knew she was 00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:36.200 going to do it. There's no other way. So it just, 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:39.779 it made me question the structure of how these 00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:42.379 things happen. I think it plays into a question 00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:46.000 that we had back in episode two, which is can 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:50.129 the hive mind be deceptive and. To what extent 00:16:50.129 --> 00:16:52.889 can they be deceptive? Because social responds 00:16:52.889 --> 00:16:55.190 to her on the phone at the grocery store that, 00:16:55.669 --> 00:16:58.049 oh, we've, we've taken all of the supplies so 00:16:58.049 --> 00:17:00.570 that we can have them in a central distribution 00:17:00.570 --> 00:17:03.889 center and we can use them to peak efficiency. 00:17:04.470 --> 00:17:07.170 But if that was the case, could they stock an 00:17:07.170 --> 00:17:11.589 entire grocery store in 68 minutes? It seems 00:17:11.589 --> 00:17:14.869 almost impossible. So I think - It is impossible 00:17:14.869 --> 00:17:17.190 because she literally says, when do you think 00:17:17.190 --> 00:17:18.910 you're going to be here? Or when should I come 00:17:18.910 --> 00:17:20.789 back here in the next few days? And she says, 00:17:20.930 --> 00:17:22.670 we're already mobilized. And it's as though she 00:17:22.670 --> 00:17:24.690 turns around and looks out the door and there's 00:17:24.690 --> 00:17:27.849 the first truck. And so it makes me think of 00:17:27.849 --> 00:17:30.890 magic. And in magic, you know a handful of card 00:17:30.890 --> 00:17:34.250 tricks. It's called a push. As a magician, you 00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:37.269 already know what they're going to choose. making 00:17:37.269 --> 00:17:41.930 that choice for them. So I'm wondering if they 00:17:41.930 --> 00:17:44.750 are so efficient that they already know, and 00:17:44.750 --> 00:17:46.710 this goes back to the free will question again, 00:17:47.210 --> 00:17:49.930 they already know the decisions she's going to 00:17:49.930 --> 00:17:54.799 be making from this point into. a certain point 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.579 into the future, they're that efficient that 00:17:57.579 --> 00:17:59.539 they already know that she's gonna wake up hungry, 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:01.400 that she's probably not gonna take this meal 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:03.240 that we just served her, that she's probably 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:05.740 gonna want her comfort of going back to the grocery 00:18:05.740 --> 00:18:07.519 store just as much as she wants the comfort of 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:11.500 the Golden Girls. And so we're ready. But I wanted 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:13.680 to bring that up because as a person that looks 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.299 at the details, they were there immediately. 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.230 And that seems impossible to me. One thing I 00:18:20.230 --> 00:18:23.490 want to mention at this point as well is to talk 00:18:23.490 --> 00:18:28.170 a little bit about the visual language of not 00:18:28.170 --> 00:18:30.849 only this episode, but the series as a whole. 00:18:31.269 --> 00:18:35.309 So often when we see Carol, something is obscuring 00:18:35.309 --> 00:18:38.740 our vision of Carol. When she opens the refrigerator, 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:42.220 we have all of the ingredients and food that's 00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:44.720 in the refrigerator obscuring our vision of Carol. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:47.380 And she's almost confined to a small box in the 00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:50.759 middle, maybe just 25 % of the frame. Or when 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:52.640 she's laying on the couch, all of the things 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:55.700 that are on the coffee table are obscuring her 00:18:55.700 --> 00:18:58.339 body as she's in goblin mode on the couch and 00:18:58.339 --> 00:19:02.019 watching her show. And even in the grocery store 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:05.039 itself, when she initially walks in, it's a very 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:08.049 zoomed out. shot and we see the entire grocery 00:19:08.049 --> 00:19:09.869 store and we just see a little bit of Carol over 00:19:09.869 --> 00:19:11.829 here on the side really showing how expansive 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:15.289 and empty this grocery store is. So I think he's 00:19:15.289 --> 00:19:20.309 trying to say things with the blocking and the 00:19:20.309 --> 00:19:24.029 cinematography of how lonely Carol is and how 00:19:24.029 --> 00:19:27.609 confined she is. So it plays into the loneliness 00:19:27.609 --> 00:19:31.509 and plays into the almost prisoner like aspect 00:19:31.509 --> 00:19:34.440 of how Carol's feeling at the moment. It reminds 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:37.000 me of the observations we saw in episode one 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.880 and two where the greater action is happening 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:41.900 in the background. Even though it's a little 00:19:41.900 --> 00:19:44.599 blurred out, I'm paying attention to the family 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:46.420 that's standing in the background, not Carol 00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:49.400 talking to the other four that aren't assimilated 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:53.000 into the joint. I think he's showing us a few 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:56.440 things here. It brings a lot of clever intent 00:19:56.440 --> 00:20:00.539 to each of these shots. make her way through 00:20:00.539 --> 00:20:04.140 sprouts, and she does her shopping, and she makes 00:20:04.140 --> 00:20:06.900 her way out. I found it fascinating that rather 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:10.619 than go home and cook herself a well -deserved 00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:13.579 meal, what does she eat? She eats a microwave 00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:16.740 meal. And what's more lonely, especially in television 00:20:16.740 --> 00:20:19.859 or film, than eating a microwaved meal? It was 00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:22.559 almost the antithesis of what she had gone out 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:24.880 there for in the first place, other than to flex. 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:28.140 To flex what she believed was her independence 00:20:28.140 --> 00:20:30.940 in her individuality and her life as her own. 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:34.400 I thought it was funny and probably honestly, 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.019 not much different than what I would have done. 00:20:36.140 --> 00:20:37.900 I would have fully gone grocery shopping and 00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:40.619 I would have grabbed my Tuesday night microwave 00:20:40.619 --> 00:20:43.420 meal and eaten that rather than made chicken 00:20:43.420 --> 00:20:46.279 gumbo or something like that. I thought that 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:49.180 played well into us learning even more about 00:20:49.180 --> 00:20:52.380 her. Once she's had her dinner and she lies down 00:20:52.380 --> 00:20:55.119 on the couch, her house completely loses power. 00:20:55.299 --> 00:20:57.960 And she's like, oh my God, what's next or what's 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:01.019 going on? Very quickly she regains power, but 00:21:01.019 --> 00:21:02.579 she looks out the window and sees that the rest 00:21:02.579 --> 00:21:04.799 of the city is losing power. And she jumps on 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:08.500 the horn and she says, what is going on? And 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:10.740 what we discover is it's just another efficiency 00:21:10.740 --> 00:21:13.619 measure. And she says, there's no crime. There's 00:21:13.619 --> 00:21:15.380 no reason to have lights on at night. We're not 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:17.079 out there working except for the essentials. 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:20.460 It is very efficient for us to turn all of the 00:21:20.460 --> 00:21:23.579 electricity off. So she's put off by this. I 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:26.140 get the efficiency, but this is also still terrifying. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:28.839 It's that subtle terror. They have that much 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:30.559 power that they can just shut an entire city 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.279 down within seconds. She says, Carol, if you'd 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:34.819 like, we could turn the city back on for you. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.359 Like they would forego the efficiency in order 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:40.859 to keep Carol happy if she felt like she needed 00:21:40.859 --> 00:21:44.119 a city full of lights. And this starts the... 00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:47.460 next kind of tense conversation that she has 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:51.000 with Zosia. So this is literally Carol's worst 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:55.180 week ever, right? And Zosia and the joint are 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:57.960 just wanting to please her. And they said, is 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:01.240 there anything that we can do to make you happy? 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:03.960 She says, there's nothing wrong with me that 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:07.039 a fucking hand grenade wouldn't fix. And that 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:10.960 is a line. It's also, again, any worthy delivery 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.579 here. I think this goes back to your thoughts 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:16.680 on the first and second episode, because they 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:20.240 are joined, they are a hive mind, do we lose 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:25.000 certain things about humanity? And this is illustrative 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:28.900 of, do we potentially lose our sarcasm when we 00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:31.900 become joined? They clearly don't understand 00:22:31.900 --> 00:22:36.299 the sarcasm. So yeah, something is still lost 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:38.819 becoming one of the joined. And one of the things 00:22:38.819 --> 00:22:42.720 is, sarcasm and being able to understand the 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:47.160 very human aspect of what sarcasm really is, 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:51.940 saying exactly what you don't mean to exemplify 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:54.500 what you actually mean here. They say they're 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:58.039 not alien. They say that they are still human. 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:01.440 It's just, we have this rewrite. But if you rewrite 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:05.359 that, doesn't that rewrite humanity and define 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:08.299 humanity in a different way? Because if you lose 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:14.259 things like sarcasm or critical thinking. It 00:23:14.259 --> 00:23:18.200 takes away your individuality. It seems to take 00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:20.519 away what you believe is a freedom of choice. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.579 But here we have her saying, nothing a hand grenade 00:23:24.579 --> 00:23:28.839 wouldn't fix. And within moments, Zosia shows 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:31.900 up on the front step with a live hand grenade. 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:35.039 And she said, we thought you were probably being 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:38.019 sarcastic, but we didn't want to take the chance. 00:23:39.809 --> 00:23:43.250 They're saying that they would rather hand you 00:23:43.250 --> 00:23:49.349 a live hand grenade than to upset you. Now, it's 00:23:49.349 --> 00:23:51.750 terrifying in a different way. If everybody has 00:23:51.750 --> 00:23:53.549 all the same skill set, you could turn everybody 00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:56.970 into a military expert and we can go after these 00:23:56.970 --> 00:24:00.230 13 people and it's over. In this instance, it's 00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:03.289 flipped on its head. Now that we have this assimilation 00:24:03.289 --> 00:24:06.910 and the assimilation has homogenized humanity, 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:11.480 in a way that washes away sarcasm and critical 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:14.359 thinking. Now they're really freaking dangerous. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:18.119 So now we have a different terror factor that's 00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:21.960 added to it. And I find that the real twist and 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:24.440 that is where the real divide comes from me in 00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:26.380 this episode. It's not that it's a character 00:24:26.380 --> 00:24:29.000 study and it's sort of tonally different than 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:31.279 the first two episodes. Now they're just dangerous 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.559 because it's almost like they're children and 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:36.940 they even know the consequences. So that becomes 00:24:36.940 --> 00:24:38.920 almost even more terrifying. I can't imagine 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:41.799 that we could really last all of that long under 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:45.720 those circumstances, in my opinion. This leads 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:48.220 us into the next scene, which was my favorite 00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:50.700 scene of the episode. These next couple scenes 00:24:50.700 --> 00:24:53.799 are really spectacular in my mind, but we see 00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:57.940 Carol try to reach out of her loneliness and 00:24:57.940 --> 00:25:01.319 she invites Zosia in for a drink after Zosia 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:04.089 has delivered this hand grenade to her. And I 00:25:04.089 --> 00:25:07.009 believe Carol even brings it up, you know, if 00:25:07.009 --> 00:25:09.490 Zosia has a drink, does the hive mind get drunk? 00:25:09.789 --> 00:25:13.109 Zosia replies, that's not how it works. And this 00:25:13.109 --> 00:25:16.150 brings me back to what I was talking about in 00:25:16.150 --> 00:25:18.750 episode one and two, and that's language. As 00:25:18.750 --> 00:25:21.710 they're having this conversation, we see that 00:25:21.710 --> 00:25:24.829 Zosia really doesn't even have the ability to 00:25:24.829 --> 00:25:27.809 have a normal human conversation with the hive 00:25:27.809 --> 00:25:30.400 mind. They're so used to. not even speaking, 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:33.599 they communicate throughout this psychic glue 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.720 or what have you. And conversation is foreign 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.359 to them essentially. I like where you're going 00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:41.859 with this. Exactly, and Zosia, really all she 00:25:41.859 --> 00:25:45.859 can do is spout information to Carol. Almost 00:25:45.859 --> 00:25:49.740 like you're talking to chat GBT, going back to 00:25:49.740 --> 00:25:52.140 what you had mentioned last episode of it being 00:25:52.140 --> 00:25:55.000 almost computer -like, the hive mind, because 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:58.529 - It's 110 % that, you're absolutely right. All 00:25:58.529 --> 00:26:02.049 she can really say is, well, the, this alcohol 00:26:02.049 --> 00:26:05.069 tastes this way because it's derived from these 00:26:05.069 --> 00:26:08.049 two separate ingredients and it has nothing to 00:26:08.049 --> 00:26:10.150 do with what Carol's trying to talk about. It's 00:26:10.150 --> 00:26:13.690 just, that is all that Zosia can supply in this 00:26:13.690 --> 00:26:18.430 moment. And you can even see how that might have 00:26:18.430 --> 00:26:21.710 the opposite effect of alleviating some of Carol's 00:26:21.710 --> 00:26:24.539 loneliness. It is more unnerving. I agree with 00:26:24.539 --> 00:26:27.319 you, yeah. And it goes back to the other Immunes 00:26:27.319 --> 00:26:30.599 as well where they are very much with conversating 00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:33.539 with their loved ones as if they were a chat 00:26:33.539 --> 00:26:37.019 GPT or what have you and even highlighting some 00:26:37.019 --> 00:26:38.660 of the things that are happening in the real 00:26:38.660 --> 00:26:41.539 world now where people are so lonely that they 00:26:41.539 --> 00:26:45.440 reach out to a chat GPT and enter into a relationship 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:49.000 with an AI large language model. That's very 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:52.650 much how The hive mind speaks very similar to 00:26:52.650 --> 00:26:56.269 a large language model when we cut back to Carol 00:26:56.269 --> 00:27:01.069 What we see obstructing Carol in our view is 00:27:01.069 --> 00:27:03.230 the hand grenade sitting on the table That's 00:27:03.230 --> 00:27:05.450 in the foreground and Carol is in the background 00:27:05.450 --> 00:27:08.470 sipping her drink You bring up a great point 00:27:08.470 --> 00:27:12.210 to and this is off show, but the marketing of 00:27:12.210 --> 00:27:16.269 the show includes conversations with Vince about 00:27:16.269 --> 00:27:20.890 his opinions on AI And he's like a lot of directors 00:27:20.890 --> 00:27:24.130 and creators. He's adamantly against AI in all 00:27:24.130 --> 00:27:27.990 forms. And people have asked, is part of this 00:27:27.990 --> 00:27:32.509 story your thoughts and analysis on AI? And in 00:27:32.509 --> 00:27:34.269 the way that you're describing it, you could 00:27:34.269 --> 00:27:37.190 very easily say yes. I'm waiting for the moment 00:27:37.190 --> 00:27:42.009 when Carol asks anyone that is joined how they 00:27:42.009 --> 00:27:46.369 feel about something, how they think about something, 00:27:46.450 --> 00:27:50.150 what they believe. about something, because as 00:27:50.150 --> 00:27:52.609 you pointed out, they're all about the facts. 00:27:53.029 --> 00:27:57.089 But we hear nothing of this new version of humanity 00:27:57.089 --> 00:28:00.789 that has anything to talk about feelings, emotions, 00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:05.109 thoughts. And it is exemplified in this conversation 00:28:05.109 --> 00:28:09.069 she has with Zosia in the living room where Zosia 00:28:09.069 --> 00:28:14.109 only adds these frankly trivial and boring facts. 00:28:14.349 --> 00:28:17.509 to the conversations. But inside of this, Carol 00:28:17.509 --> 00:28:20.849 does ask the questions we would ask as viewers. 00:28:21.170 --> 00:28:23.930 You know, you say you're working on this formula 00:28:23.930 --> 00:28:27.109 to bring me into the fold here. How much longer? 00:28:27.529 --> 00:28:31.150 Days? Weeks? Months? And Zosia can't answer that 00:28:31.150 --> 00:28:34.509 question. And then she asks, when it comes time 00:28:34.509 --> 00:28:38.210 that you think that you can bring me into the 00:28:38.210 --> 00:28:41.230 fold or the other unjoined, do we have a choice? 00:28:42.450 --> 00:28:46.849 And once again, Zosia brings up the old biological 00:28:46.849 --> 00:28:50.009 imperative. And she says, if you were to see 00:28:50.009 --> 00:28:53.430 someone drowning, wouldn't you throw them a life 00:28:53.430 --> 00:28:56.170 preserver? You wouldn't even think about it. 00:28:56.170 --> 00:28:59.670 You would just do it as though that's the reasoning 00:28:59.670 --> 00:29:02.970 or thought behind the hive mind trying to quote 00:29:02.970 --> 00:29:05.910 unquote save Carol and the other 12. I think 00:29:05.910 --> 00:29:07.450 we almost have to have a moment in every episode 00:29:07.450 --> 00:29:09.710 where she gets upset, right? And then it brings 00:29:09.710 --> 00:29:13.779 the tension up quite a bit. And what does she 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:17.140 do? She grabs this grenade. And I don't know 00:29:17.140 --> 00:29:19.380 if you were thinking the same thing I was. Were 00:29:19.380 --> 00:29:21.799 they just trying to show up to appease her sort 00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:25.180 of as Zosia had said when she arrived or are 00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:28.940 they frankly foolish enough to actually give 00:29:28.940 --> 00:29:32.160 Carol a live grenade? Carol's holding the grenade 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:34.539 and she pulls the pin and then she lets the clip 00:29:34.539 --> 00:29:39.579 go. And Zosia goes, if you don't mind. And then 00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:42.450 grabs the grenade, tackles her. throws the grenade 00:29:42.450 --> 00:29:45.349 out the window, but turns her back to the grenade 00:29:45.349 --> 00:29:49.549 to protect Carol. And a great small detail that 00:29:49.549 --> 00:29:52.670 I found in this particular scene as she's finally 00:29:52.670 --> 00:29:56.549 connecting with Zosia and worried about her safety 00:29:56.549 --> 00:30:01.450 is you hear sirens in the background and you 00:30:01.450 --> 00:30:04.990 realize that there's no need for the hive mind 00:30:04.990 --> 00:30:09.390 to have sirens. The sirens are there purely to 00:30:09.390 --> 00:30:12.299 let Carol know that the hive mind is on the way 00:30:12.299 --> 00:30:15.140 and that they're coming to help the sirens are 00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:18.839 there specifically to Calm Carol and to communicate 00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:21.380 with Carol and let her know that that they're 00:30:21.380 --> 00:30:24.299 on their way and that they're coming to Hopefully 00:30:24.299 --> 00:30:27.859 save Zosia Now I think that that's absolutely 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:30.619 brilliant. I did not catch that so that that 00:30:30.619 --> 00:30:35.279 would be performative For her is is absolutely 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:37.599 amazing and had a lot of forethought Zosia's 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:40.509 back is what's damaged by the grenade and And 00:30:40.509 --> 00:30:42.609 she's calling to the air again, like, anybody 00:30:42.609 --> 00:30:45.410 here? Can anybody hear me? And Zosia just has 00:30:45.410 --> 00:30:47.950 this creepy smile and says, oh, don't worry, 00:30:47.950 --> 00:30:50.630 Carol, they're on their way. As she's bleeding 00:30:50.630 --> 00:30:53.210 out a little bit here, instead of having a TGI 00:30:53.210 --> 00:30:57.470 Fridays pilot, we now have a DHL representative, 00:30:57.750 --> 00:31:00.809 a package delivery guy giving her the breakdown 00:31:00.809 --> 00:31:03.849 of what Zosia's physical condition is after the 00:31:03.849 --> 00:31:07.240 grenade. It's almost as if he's delivering the 00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:11.160 good news that Zosia is alive and well. At this 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:14.019 point, she's talking to the DHL guy and they're 00:31:14.019 --> 00:31:16.640 very chummy, all these creatures I'll call them. 00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:20.140 More chummy than anybody I've ever known that 00:31:20.140 --> 00:31:24.420 was even happy in their lives. So it's cartoonish 00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:27.160 in an odd way. And she's having an in -depth 00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:29.140 conversation with the DHL guy. And she says, 00:31:29.180 --> 00:31:31.799 let's get back to the fact that you guys gave 00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:35.660 me a live grenade. Can we talk about that? And 00:31:35.660 --> 00:31:39.579 he simply says, we would move the heavens and 00:31:39.579 --> 00:31:44.279 the earth to make you happy, Carol. If I wanted 00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:47.319 a bazooka, he says, yes. If I wanted a tank, 00:31:47.579 --> 00:31:49.680 he says, yes. It becomes more and more reluctant 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:52.079 as he answers. And when she gets to the end and 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:56.019 she says, if I wanted an atom bomb, he says, 00:31:56.220 --> 00:31:59.740 well, we would think very deeply about why you 00:31:59.740 --> 00:32:02.680 might want an atom bomb. And she goes, but if 00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:05.000 I asked for one, would you give it to me? And 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.440 he goes, yes. And now for me, the terror has 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:13.140 shifted more from them being manipulative to 00:32:13.140 --> 00:32:17.380 actually not only have we lost our sarcasm, we've 00:32:17.380 --> 00:32:20.960 also lost our critical thinking and that as a 00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:24.019 hive mind, we can't go, obviously we shouldn't 00:32:24.019 --> 00:32:27.910 give a carol. a live hand grenade or a nuclear 00:32:27.910 --> 00:32:30.150 weapon, but they do it anyway. And then you have 00:32:30.150 --> 00:32:32.750 this look on Carol's face as they close out the 00:32:32.750 --> 00:32:36.869 shot. She goes from sort of disbelief and wonder 00:32:36.869 --> 00:32:40.809 to calculation and realizing, how can I exploit 00:32:40.809 --> 00:32:43.809 this? How can I get this to work to my favor? 00:32:44.390 --> 00:32:47.309 And then I would take it a step further to ask, 00:32:47.890 --> 00:32:51.289 can she compel the joined to actually pursue 00:32:51.289 --> 00:32:55.599 the opposite and ask them to reverse this? I 00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:58.259 think that that facial expression at the end 00:32:58.259 --> 00:33:01.920 says a lot. It makes you wonder what is the realization 00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:06.640 that that Carol came to? Can Carol force them 00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:10.880 in some way to begin to make decisions for themselves 00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:14.079 or can she force them in some way? If what she 00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:17.279 wants is for the joining not to happen, can she 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:21.460 force them to revert the joining? You also bring 00:33:21.460 --> 00:33:24.000 up sort of the consent without understanding, 00:33:24.200 --> 00:33:27.119 right? They can't comprehend why she wants something. 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:30.819 They literally lack the emotional context. They 00:33:30.819 --> 00:33:33.099 don't go, oh, she's being sarcastic because she's 00:33:33.099 --> 00:33:36.839 extremely angry. And that's important to this 00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:39.019 show. It's gonna play out in a very interesting 00:33:39.019 --> 00:33:41.640 way, I'm sure. Do you have any final thoughts 00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:45.339 on the episode before we talk about episode four? 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:50.980 All I can say is I believe that I am as excited 00:33:50.980 --> 00:33:54.599 as I was by the end of episode one at this point. 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:57.079 So you weren't put off by the third episode being 00:33:57.079 --> 00:34:01.119 a character study and not necessarily moving 00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:05.420 the story forward. I wasn't, no. I was satisfied 00:34:05.420 --> 00:34:10.519 in steeping myself in the themes of the story. 00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:14.119 Well, I think this will play out wonderfully. 00:34:14.539 --> 00:34:16.440 We want to thank everybody for listening to E 00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:19.260 Pluribus Uno, your favorite podcast on the show. 00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:22.519 pluribus. We will definitely be taking a hard 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:25.159 look at episode four, seeing how this thing lines 00:34:25.159 --> 00:34:28.039 up with the previous episodes and trying to come 00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:30.719 up with theories on exactly which direction everybody's 00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:33.980 going. Once again, I'm Eric and I'm Josh and 00:34:33.980 --> 00:34:35.440 thanks again for listening and we'll catch you 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:36.039 guys next week.