WEBVTT

00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:33.320
Hello Carol. Welcome to E Pluribus Unum, the

00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:36.000
podcast where we dive deeper into the hive mind.

00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:39.520
I'm Josh. And I'm Eric. And today we're talking

00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:44.299
about episode six entitled HDP. Before we jump

00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:47.520
into the episode though, a couple things of housekeeping

00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.759
to knock off our list real quick. Absolutely.

00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:56.009
I cannot thank you all enough. for getting us

00:00:56.009 --> 00:01:00.070
to 800 listeners in less than three weeks. It's

00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:02.289
just phenomenal and we just want to thank everybody

00:01:02.289 --> 00:01:05.530
for taking the time to listen to our little podcast

00:01:05.530 --> 00:01:08.250
here. Thanks so much for joining our little hive

00:01:08.250 --> 00:01:10.310
mind that we've made with E Pluribus Unum. It

00:01:10.310 --> 00:01:12.629
means a lot to us. If you like what we're doing

00:01:12.629 --> 00:01:15.409
here on E Pluribus Unum, please feel free to

00:01:15.409 --> 00:01:19.049
join us over on our other podcast entitled, Dad,

00:01:19.150 --> 00:01:22.670
You're Wrong, where a Gen X dad and a millennial

00:01:22.670 --> 00:01:25.329
son talk about horror, sci -fi, and fantasy,

00:01:25.370 --> 00:01:28.030
and everything in between. And apparently I'm

00:01:28.030 --> 00:01:31.469
wrong, so there's that. He is quite wrong, and

00:01:31.469 --> 00:01:33.930
we'll see this in this episode again. No, I'm

00:01:33.930 --> 00:01:36.959
kidding. Another fun little announcement around

00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:39.819
that though next week on both e pluribus unum

00:01:39.819 --> 00:01:43.000
and the dad you're wrong podcast We will be recording

00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:46.200
for the first time ever live and in person. So

00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:48.700
that's gonna be a ton of fun Never done that

00:01:48.700 --> 00:01:51.260
before and we may even have a special guest or

00:01:51.260 --> 00:01:54.540
two add in their own theories and opinions on

00:01:54.540 --> 00:01:58.000
pluribus So that'll be a great time Interesting

00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:00.959
stuff. I like it and be sure to stick around

00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:03.569
with us at the end of this episode We're going

00:02:03.569 --> 00:02:06.109
to be supplying a couple of our extra theories.

00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:08.569
Definitely worth sticking around and hearing

00:02:08.569 --> 00:02:10.569
a couple things that we've been talking about

00:02:10.569 --> 00:02:13.050
throughout the first five episodes of E Pluribus

00:02:13.050 --> 00:02:15.969
Unum. This will be a bit of an extra long episode,

00:02:15.969 --> 00:02:19.430
but I think now is a perfect time to go ahead

00:02:19.430 --> 00:02:22.990
and jump into episode six of Pluribus entitled

00:02:22.990 --> 00:02:28.189
HDP. So what were your initial overall thoughts

00:02:28.189 --> 00:02:35.229
on this episode? Man. Soylent green. Those are

00:02:35.229 --> 00:02:38.509
my two words or my overall thoughts. For anybody

00:02:38.509 --> 00:02:41.289
that listened to the last episode, I said if

00:02:41.289 --> 00:02:44.310
this becomes a Soylent Green situation, then

00:02:44.310 --> 00:02:49.110
I'm out. It hurt my heart to open up this episode

00:02:49.110 --> 00:02:55.610
to the Soylent Green theory, but it made me think

00:02:55.610 --> 00:02:59.150
harder about the episode as well. I'm just gonna

00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:03.469
answer that question with Soylent green. And

00:03:03.469 --> 00:03:10.330
then I'm gonna give you a Carol scoff. Well,

00:03:10.330 --> 00:03:12.870
I gotta say, you know, being the one that was

00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:15.930
proven right after my theory last episode, I

00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:18.930
enjoyed this one quite a bit. But I did like

00:03:18.930 --> 00:03:22.169
this episode overall. It hit a lot of things

00:03:22.169 --> 00:03:25.669
I really wanted to see and added a few more questions

00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:27.689
and a few more mysteries that I'm really excited

00:03:27.689 --> 00:03:31.750
to. ponder on over the next week. So yeah, let's

00:03:31.750 --> 00:03:34.229
go ahead and jump into this first scene here,

00:03:34.430 --> 00:03:38.469
where we catch up with Carol as she exits Agrajet.

00:03:38.949 --> 00:03:42.710
Yeah. I thought the opening scene where we see

00:03:42.710 --> 00:03:46.590
the outside of the building and you have the

00:03:46.590 --> 00:03:49.389
reverse audio as she makes her way to the door

00:03:49.389 --> 00:03:52.370
and you see the flashlight bouncing around beyond

00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:55.050
the door and she pops out real quick. I thought

00:03:55.050 --> 00:03:58.080
that was very cool. I thought it was also very

00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:02.039
alien, the way they made it look and feel almost

00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:05.180
purposely. But she comes careening down the stairs

00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:10.319
and drops her flashlight and is obviously dismayed

00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.180
at what she had just seen. And everyone had theories

00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:15.979
about what this could be or should be. And I

00:04:15.979 --> 00:04:18.980
think I'm gonna still fight a little bit of this.

00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.360
But she grabs her camera and decides to run in

00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:25.060
and. And we get a sequence here where, I'm sure

00:04:25.060 --> 00:04:26.980
you're probably pretty appreciative of it, we

00:04:26.980 --> 00:04:30.079
bounce back into a handheld camera situation,

00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.519
but rather than chasing Carol out the door, we

00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:36.920
are in Carol's hands, and she's walking us through,

00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:40.680
and she's very adamant about what she has to

00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:45.680
show us and how she breaks it down for us. I

00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:48.800
do love a good fan footage movie, so that's always

00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.319
great to see. And of course, we see Carol as

00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:55.079
she Makes her next video throughout the aggregate

00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:58.420
facility and she's opening these plastic tarps

00:04:58.420 --> 00:05:01.420
and pulling out What we've come to find out our

00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:06.300
human body parts the first one being pretty Horrifyingly

00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:08.839
a severed head. I thought it was interesting

00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:12.500
that we're seeing sort of their food production

00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:16.759
But they've also decided to leave all of this

00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:20.810
food in Albuquerque, even though it is in a frozen

00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:24.750
state. We know that the hive mind has left Albuquerque,

00:05:24.829 --> 00:05:27.410
but they didn't take what seemingly and later

00:05:27.410 --> 00:05:30.449
on in the episode is highlighted as something

00:05:30.449 --> 00:05:32.629
that's very important. They seemingly have left

00:05:32.629 --> 00:05:35.290
all this food there. So I assume that they're

00:05:35.290 --> 00:05:37.250
going to come back for it or maybe the hive mind

00:05:37.250 --> 00:05:40.689
is still. hiding away in Albuquerque in some

00:05:40.689 --> 00:05:42.569
way, and maybe that's a clue that they're still

00:05:42.569 --> 00:05:45.069
present in Albuquerque, and it's not as empty

00:05:45.069 --> 00:05:47.569
as we have been led to believe. Yeah, it was

00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:52.550
really aggravating. Look, here's my deal with

00:05:52.550 --> 00:05:55.009
the whole Soylent Green thing. The human body

00:05:55.009 --> 00:05:59.189
doesn't provide great sustenance, and this has

00:05:59.189 --> 00:06:03.769
been scientifically proven. both the joined,

00:06:04.029 --> 00:06:06.730
having scientists and doctors and so forth in

00:06:06.730 --> 00:06:12.689
them, as well as Vince Gilligan would know that

00:06:12.689 --> 00:06:16.189
eating human body parts is not healthy for you.

00:06:16.290 --> 00:06:18.329
And there are some body parts that can actually

00:06:18.329 --> 00:06:21.129
kill you. You get really horrible diseases from

00:06:21.129 --> 00:06:24.910
them. The caloric intake you get from a human

00:06:24.910 --> 00:06:27.629
being is not even a third of what you would get

00:06:27.629 --> 00:06:33.139
from a horse, let's say, okay? Let's just make

00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:36.199
the assumption here that being a cannibal is

00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:39.439
wholly unhealthy for the human body, right? But

00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:42.480
there are calories there to be had in desperate

00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:47.040
situations, as we've learned. That being said,

00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:51.660
isn't the human body also, in this instance,

00:06:51.939 --> 00:06:55.100
the most processed food you could possibly ever

00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:59.519
have? We already all eat garbage. Then you're

00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:02.740
gonna process that creature into some sort of

00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:08.120
caloric intake. It's absurd on its face now That's

00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:10.240
the part that I don't like about the whole Soylent

00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:14.800
Green Thing or it's a cookbook Twilight Zone

00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:18.500
episode thing is on its face. That's what this

00:07:18.500 --> 00:07:21.480
looks like Let's look at what she showed us in

00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:24.220
the scene. She grabs a human head wrapped in

00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:30.639
saran wrap. What is the nutritional value of

00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:35.560
the human head and all the time it takes to cut

00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:39.060
these bodies up and then process them as food.

00:07:39.459 --> 00:07:43.180
It seems utterly pointless. Number one, you're

00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:46.160
not gonna process a human head for food. Number

00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:49.180
two, even if you did, the human brain, by the

00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:51.379
way, is the thing that can give you a disease

00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:55.779
that'll kill you. Number three, there's got to

00:07:55.779 --> 00:07:59.129
be a better way. And I think I found a way to

00:07:59.129 --> 00:08:02.009
answer it later, which is why I'm still here

00:08:02.009 --> 00:08:05.269
and I haven't left. Yeah, that makes a lot of

00:08:05.269 --> 00:08:07.790
sense. And I think some of that, at the very

00:08:07.790 --> 00:08:10.970
least, is marginally answered later on in this

00:08:10.970 --> 00:08:15.230
episode. But even for me, who subscribes to that

00:08:15.230 --> 00:08:19.050
theory, there are some still unanswered questions

00:08:19.050 --> 00:08:22.629
that I'm curious about. For sure. Well, and from

00:08:22.629 --> 00:08:25.879
here, we essentially get her shot video, she

00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:28.879
gets very aggravated and she goes, what's this

00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:31.139
door and what's beyond this door? And we find

00:08:31.139 --> 00:08:35.059
out it's another further processing of human

00:08:35.059 --> 00:08:38.259
corpses. And then we get a snapshot into Carol's

00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:41.259
home and what I would call the Vegas decision.

00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:45.240
Yeah, so at this point, Carol has her next video

00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:47.759
that she wants to send out to the survivors.

00:08:48.419 --> 00:08:52.159
And you can see again, Ray's great performance.

00:08:52.220 --> 00:08:54.259
She doesn't have to say a word. you can see that

00:08:54.259 --> 00:08:58.080
she's processing. She doesn't want to trust the

00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:00.779
hive mind with this particular video. And of

00:09:00.779 --> 00:09:04.539
course, the closest survivor to Carol at this

00:09:04.539 --> 00:09:07.360
point is Kumba, who I mentioned he was going

00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:10.480
to be in Vegas at our particular hotel. So she

00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:12.960
decides to pack up her things and drive from

00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:16.820
Albuquerque to Vegas. But as she leaves, she

00:09:16.820 --> 00:09:20.169
instantly comes back in and vacuums up her carpet,

00:09:20.389 --> 00:09:23.129
which has the remains of the white substance

00:09:23.129 --> 00:09:27.470
or what we find out to be HDP, and she's vacuuming

00:09:27.470 --> 00:09:31.690
that up with a mask on her face. Well, it's the

00:09:31.690 --> 00:09:34.090
shot, right? You see her exit the door, the door

00:09:34.090 --> 00:09:36.950
closes, and then we just see a shot of the door

00:09:36.950 --> 00:09:39.549
for almost 30 seconds, and then you see her pop

00:09:39.549 --> 00:09:42.350
back in to do this. Another great way for them

00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:45.639
to inject some humor in there. But now she jumps

00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:48.519
into her favorite car, which is the state police

00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:52.320
car, and she starts to drive off to Vegas. And

00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:55.639
when she arrives, everything is so quiet. The

00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:58.039
only thing you hear is the buzz of the lights.

00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:02.840
And you get this really great 28 days later scenario

00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:05.000
where there's no one in the street, there's no

00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:07.379
cars, there's no animals, there's nothing. It's

00:10:07.379 --> 00:10:11.059
just the city and it's on. And not only the clicking

00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:13.940
on and off of lights, but that distinct. sound

00:10:13.940 --> 00:10:17.860
of neon lights. The sound design on top of the

00:10:17.860 --> 00:10:19.860
visual language is what really sets the show

00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:22.299
apart. Yeah, you know, when we get to Vegas,

00:10:22.620 --> 00:10:26.080
it's a typical Vegas sort of scenario where you

00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:29.179
have people in fancy dress and drinks and all

00:10:29.179 --> 00:10:31.879
these lovely things. They actually open the scene

00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:35.620
here with Sammy Davis Jr. song. And then they

00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:38.000
sort of back away from a picture of Elvis Presley,

00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:41.840
another classic Vegas character. And it is a

00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:44.960
full -on Vegas party, as you would ever imagine

00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:48.019
in any film. And of course, as we dig deeper

00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:51.700
into this scene, we find out it is actually influenced

00:10:51.700 --> 00:10:54.940
by a film. Indeed, it is. Yeah, I even have it

00:10:54.940 --> 00:10:58.679
in my notes as Kumba's Casino Royale. At least

00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:01.639
I hope that's the film that you are referencing

00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:05.850
there. It's definitely a James Bond film. And

00:11:05.850 --> 00:11:10.470
I know upon Kumba's introduction, you were not

00:11:10.470 --> 00:11:13.990
the biggest Kumba fan. I didn't mind him so much

00:11:13.990 --> 00:11:15.970
in those first couple early episodes that he

00:11:15.970 --> 00:11:19.970
was in. It was with this scene that my dislike

00:11:19.970 --> 00:11:22.809
of Kumba finally came out. There are a couple

00:11:22.809 --> 00:11:24.929
things I do want to point out in this scene,

00:11:25.049 --> 00:11:27.190
though, that I did think were interesting. All

00:11:27.190 --> 00:11:30.840
right. in particular, it's Kumba's conversation

00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:33.580
and the villain says your luck is about to run

00:11:33.580 --> 00:11:37.960
out and Kumba responds maybe someday but not

00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:40.740
today and I thought that might be a little bit

00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:43.899
telling about Kumba's journey. I don't think

00:11:43.899 --> 00:11:48.559
that Kumba is gonna have as happy an ending as

00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.240
he truly believes. I think that there may be

00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:55.559
some more repercussions for some of his actions

00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:58.600
than he realizes. He does have a distinct lack

00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.799
of fear unlike the other two sort of main characters

00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:04.879
in this episode. He has sort of a king -like

00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.539
behavior and he really is most importantly taking

00:12:08.539 --> 00:12:12.159
advantage of the hive mind and their generosity.

00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:15.120
So I do feel that that line has some pertinence

00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:18.740
and that Kumba's luck is going to run out and

00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:21.340
it's going to run out honestly sooner than later.

00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:24.259
Another cool thing I want to point out in this

00:12:24.259 --> 00:12:27.179
particular scene, the chips on the table that

00:12:27.179 --> 00:12:29.700
they're betting with are a distinct color of

00:12:29.700 --> 00:12:33.080
yellow and a distinct color of blue and purple

00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:35.519
that we see quite a bit associated with the hive

00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:39.730
mind. And if you notice in particular, The villain

00:12:39.730 --> 00:12:42.690
has both yellow chips as well as blue chips,

00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:46.370
whereas Kumba is betting exclusively with the

00:12:46.370 --> 00:12:49.450
yellow chips. But I want to hear your thoughts

00:12:49.450 --> 00:12:53.330
on this Kumba scene, since Kumba is your favorite

00:12:53.330 --> 00:12:57.929
character of this entire show. All this episode

00:12:57.929 --> 00:13:02.809
did for his character, it colors him in a worse

00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:07.029
light, but there's a reason for it. And I'd like

00:13:07.029 --> 00:13:09.190
to flesh it out a little bit. There's sort of

00:13:09.190 --> 00:13:14.110
a back and forth between Kumba and the dealer

00:13:14.110 --> 00:13:18.289
that's cheeky. And it's cheeky in a way of are

00:13:18.289 --> 00:13:20.710
they playing together in order for him to win?

00:13:21.230 --> 00:13:23.669
And then, you know, it plays out in the same

00:13:23.669 --> 00:13:26.490
way that anyone would expect. He wins not just

00:13:26.490 --> 00:13:29.629
with a flush, it's gotta be a royal flush, right?

00:13:29.629 --> 00:13:32.690
And that's what makes everything so audacious.

00:13:33.250 --> 00:13:38.120
But also think about him and the types of fantasies

00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:42.779
he has. He has fantasies about beautiful women,

00:13:43.059 --> 00:13:45.960
several beautiful women, having a harem of women.

00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:50.039
He fantasizes of having his own suite and Vegas

00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:52.779
and everyone adoring him and laughing at all

00:13:52.779 --> 00:13:56.220
his jokes, even though they're all rote, pretending,

00:13:56.600 --> 00:14:00.899
right? But it's almost like a child. It's a kid

00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:05.850
who never had anything. now has everything. And

00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:09.750
we know so little about him that my first thought

00:14:09.750 --> 00:14:15.389
of him was he comes off as this sort of aristocrat,

00:14:15.429 --> 00:14:19.009
but it's so fake that I'm like, you know what?

00:14:19.070 --> 00:14:22.090
He was probably a dishwasher at a restaurant

00:14:22.090 --> 00:14:26.629
or something. And now he has everything. And

00:14:26.629 --> 00:14:29.090
so he doesn't want to let go of any of that stuff

00:14:29.090 --> 00:14:33.840
because of the nature of his life. And when you

00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:36.559
do a little bit of research, kumbha means that

00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.720
you were born from the death of your mother.

00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:41.940
Your mother died in childbirth, and so we're

00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:45.320
going to name you this. I think that tells a

00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:48.080
lot about this particular character and why he

00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:52.620
might be the way that he is. Now, again, we don't

00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:56.639
like him for his misogyny and his fantastical

00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:00.379
nature, but when you see it as a child who had

00:15:00.379 --> 00:15:02.600
nothing now has everything and I'm going to do

00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:05.679
everything I can to hold on to this. They're

00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:09.120
Lakshmi in another way and they don't want the

00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:11.600
significant change even though it's staring them

00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:14.340
bloody well in the face. And I honestly think

00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:16.740
that's why they don't like having Carol around

00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:19.980
is because she's a reminder that this isn't right.

00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:23.759
She's a reminder that this may seem okay and

00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:27.519
we may be willing to make compromises and their

00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:31.600
decisions in order to make it okay. They're diluted

00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.679
again. So he's another diluted character and

00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:38.820
Carol is the reminder that, no, this isn't okay.

00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:43.519
But think about this. He wins. He walks away

00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:46.620
with the pithy comment. The women embrace him.

00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:49.399
He goes, anyone else like to come along? And

00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:52.519
the dealer is like, I would. And she goes off

00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:54.789
with him. The funny part about this is these

00:15:54.789 --> 00:15:57.669
two guys standing behind the villain, his thugs

00:15:57.669 --> 00:15:59.909
or whatever, raise their hand, and he goes, maybe

00:15:59.909 --> 00:16:04.590
next time, fellas. So darkly comic, darkly cheeky,

00:16:04.669 --> 00:16:07.269
because again, you have to think, well, you know,

00:16:07.350 --> 00:16:09.909
whether those two guys go with you or not, they're

00:16:09.909 --> 00:16:13.330
going with you. So he exits. But think about

00:16:13.330 --> 00:16:17.250
this. The second he's out of the room, the mask

00:16:17.250 --> 00:16:20.769
is off. Everyone concludes being their individual

00:16:20.769 --> 00:16:23.860
character. And by the way, this also means that

00:16:23.860 --> 00:16:28.019
every single joined person can behave as an individual.

00:16:28.419 --> 00:16:33.779
And that's terrifying. You know, they're that

00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:37.639
duplicitous. And how come nobody's thought about

00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:42.919
that? That it's not, hi, Carol, we'd like to

00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:45.779
help you. It's this duplicitous nature of, to

00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:48.600
your face will be really cool, but behind your

00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:53.320
back, it's time to eat some humans. Yeah, it's

00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:55.159
much different and you get a little sense of

00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:58.159
how the sausage is made, right? but we pick up

00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:01.779
the the very next scene with Kumba as he is in

00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:05.180
a Hot tub with his I guess we could call it a

00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:07.559
harem or is it a harem if they're all just one

00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.200
hive mind I don't know but he's in the the jacuzzi

00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:15.680
with his girls and he even invites the the housemaid

00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:20.089
and to join them but His revelries are soon dismissed

00:17:20.089 --> 00:17:23.089
by the hive mind as there is indeed a guest on

00:17:23.089 --> 00:17:25.549
the way And this guest is somebody that they

00:17:25.549 --> 00:17:28.849
don't want to be around anymore Also his reaction

00:17:28.849 --> 00:17:31.289
and them leaving and he's whoa. Whoa, what's

00:17:31.289 --> 00:17:33.690
going on? Well, you have a visitor and here's

00:17:33.690 --> 00:17:35.849
the thing is he can't even take that as an answer

00:17:35.849 --> 00:17:38.009
as they're walking away is like yeah, but don't

00:17:38.009 --> 00:17:40.890
we have time for a little bit of and They're

00:17:40.890 --> 00:17:45.329
like no and he slumps back in disappointment

00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:50.680
And I'm like, this guy. And of course he's disappointed

00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:52.799
because he's got to break away from, and I'm

00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:54.380
going to say it in this way and I think this

00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:58.839
is a good place to drop it. The hive mind are

00:17:58.839 --> 00:18:03.279
his drug and they give him anything and everything

00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:07.240
that he wants. And now when Carol shows up, mom's

00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:09.740
home, got to stash the drugs even though I don't

00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:13.519
want to. It says a lot about his character and

00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.500
his behavior. The hive mind is a drug for him.

00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:20.900
The hive mind is essentially a dopamine producer

00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:25.759
for Kumba. And whether that is the constant hit

00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:29.160
of dopamine that you get from posting on social

00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:33.000
media and receiving a like or sitting down and

00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:35.759
scrolling through different funny videos. That's

00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:37.920
all just providing you with these quick hits

00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:41.480
of dopamine. And we see that once the hive mind

00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.339
has to retreat away from Carol, he's no longer

00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:47.339
getting those constant dopamine hits that he

00:18:47.339 --> 00:18:50.119
would normally get. So I thought that exemplified

00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:52.880
not only a drug addiction, but the same addiction

00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:55.779
that we have to things like technology and social

00:18:55.779 --> 00:18:59.480
media. And when that's taken away, there's a

00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:01.319
little bit of petulance that comes along with

00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:04.950
that. This leads us to the hotel suite sequence

00:19:04.950 --> 00:19:07.029
where he's trying to be charming and pouring

00:19:07.029 --> 00:19:11.009
champagne. As we make our way through the hotel

00:19:11.009 --> 00:19:15.289
and the suite and all that with Carol, she sees

00:19:15.289 --> 00:19:17.650
images of him everywhere. When she pulls into

00:19:17.650 --> 00:19:21.500
town, there are these huge. banners of him when

00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:24.039
you get into the hotel and particularly into

00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:27.180
his suite. There are photographs of him posed

00:19:27.180 --> 00:19:31.180
in all kinds of suits and up close. But when

00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:34.500
she gets to the suite, we get to have a conversation

00:19:34.500 --> 00:19:40.529
between she and Goomba. And it's an interesting

00:19:40.529 --> 00:19:43.650
conversation. At this point, we find out while

00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:46.990
Carol is here to deliver this video and provide

00:19:46.990 --> 00:19:52.369
proof to Kumba that the hive mind is using dead

00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:55.710
bodies as their sustenance. We find out that

00:19:55.710 --> 00:19:59.430
indeed Kumba already knows at this point. And

00:19:59.430 --> 00:20:03.869
he says, is this about them eating people? And

00:20:03.869 --> 00:20:08.029
she says, uh, what? And he says, it's troubling.

00:20:08.410 --> 00:20:10.930
And that's all, that's all we really get as far

00:20:10.930 --> 00:20:16.109
as his feelings on the hive mind consuming human

00:20:16.109 --> 00:20:21.369
corpses. This is when we get our guest star of

00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:26.009
the episode. As Kumba puts on a video, we have

00:20:26.009 --> 00:20:29.670
John Cena pop up in a little vignette explaining

00:20:29.670 --> 00:20:36.670
exactly what HDP really means. Absolutely. And

00:20:36.670 --> 00:20:39.170
you have this silly soundtrack in the background.

00:20:39.329 --> 00:20:41.789
The colors and the typefaces are all wonky and

00:20:41.789 --> 00:20:45.009
weird. And even his delivery is rather stilted.

00:20:45.509 --> 00:20:49.529
But the goal of this, very simply, is to explain

00:20:49.529 --> 00:20:54.970
HDP or explain how and why they're using humans

00:20:54.970 --> 00:20:58.690
for sustenance. Now, as we step into this with

00:20:58.690 --> 00:21:01.670
the opening line, John doesn't introduce himself

00:21:01.670 --> 00:21:06.509
as this individual is. He says... We are John

00:21:06.509 --> 00:21:10.150
Cena. And I think that that's important because

00:21:10.150 --> 00:21:15.009
before they were willing, I'll say, to point

00:21:15.009 --> 00:21:18.369
out the fact that they are individuals still

00:21:18.369 --> 00:21:22.690
to you. This individual is X, right? Now they've

00:21:22.690 --> 00:21:25.470
just simply removed that. And I think as we move

00:21:25.470 --> 00:21:28.230
along, we're gonna see more of the removal of

00:21:28.230 --> 00:21:32.410
the Midwest kindness in these characters, and

00:21:32.410 --> 00:21:35.460
they're going to become less and less. we care

00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:39.059
about you and be more, we care about the hive

00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:41.500
mind. So yeah, him introducing himself as we

00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:44.900
are John Cena versus this individual is John

00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:47.960
Cena, I think is important. And we've even seen

00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:51.380
that with the hive mind's breakup with Carol,

00:21:51.619 --> 00:21:53.519
but we find out that they're consuming human

00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:57.539
derived protein, which From what your theory

00:21:57.539 --> 00:22:00.940
is isn't quite enough protein for a human or

00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:04.339
quite enough sustenance for a human to Really

00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:07.920
live off of but he gives a fairly in -depth almost

00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:13.140
middle school description of the process of Consuming

00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:17.319
these dead bodies even up to the particular calorie

00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:22.119
intake This is where the deep dive comes in right?

00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:25.230
He goes through their no -kill philosophy And

00:22:25.230 --> 00:22:28.750
again, I want to remind us of the conversation

00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:32.829
we had about the hive mind's philosophy. And

00:22:32.829 --> 00:22:35.809
I find it difficult to believe that just because

00:22:35.809 --> 00:22:39.450
we've rewritten our RNA and that supposedly we're

00:22:39.450 --> 00:22:42.529
all on the same page, that that page universally

00:22:42.529 --> 00:22:46.950
becomes this. Number one, they cannot harvest

00:22:46.950 --> 00:22:50.759
wheat, corn or rice. So they say they can't harvest

00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:54.039
anything then they say we cannot pluck an apple

00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:58.000
from a tree This is important for a couple of

00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.440
reasons number one. What is an apple in so many?

00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:07.000
philosophies religions thoughts it is knowledge

00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:13.819
and Nope, we can't do that they can harvest windfall

00:23:13.819 --> 00:23:17.680
items Meaning if the wind blows the apple falls

00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:23.059
they can eat it They can milk animals that require

00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:27.619
milking. That seems logical to me. Look, we have

00:23:27.619 --> 00:23:29.859
the apple in the tree and knowledge kind of thing,

00:23:30.019 --> 00:23:32.779
but look at all these things that they say they

00:23:32.779 --> 00:23:37.079
cannot do. Who is telling them they cannot do

00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:41.420
it? I liken this to a religion later on, but

00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:44.079
there are so many things about what they can't

00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:49.039
do, and it's to their detriment. It's to their

00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:51.920
detriment not to harvest wheat. It's to their

00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:54.460
detriment not to pluck the apple from the tree.

00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:58.119
It's to their detriment, in some ways, really

00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:02.359
not to raise cattle and have meat. So why are

00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:06.220
you defending life, but they'll place themselves

00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:09.660
in a scenario that they will starve themselves?

00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:15.779
And their answer is to process human corpses

00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:19.359
for the minimal amount of caloric intake that

00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:22.980
they can get from that. And they even say there

00:24:22.980 --> 00:24:25.880
are millions of tons of pre -existing food, but

00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:28.579
even the existing food and the windfall will

00:24:28.579 --> 00:24:31.500
only get us so far. There's a caloric deficit.

00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:35.079
And so because of the caloric deficit, we've

00:24:35.079 --> 00:24:41.099
created HDP. Then on top of that, they sell it

00:24:41.099 --> 00:24:43.660
with these phrases. Again, words are extremely

00:24:43.660 --> 00:24:47.299
important on this show. We had to take certain

00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:51.160
measures Anybody that ever says that in a movie

00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:54.539
or television or a book that is a villain line

00:24:54.539 --> 00:25:00.039
We had to take certain measures Okay Otherwise,

00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:02.640
it would go to waste. Okay. Hold on a second.

00:25:03.019 --> 00:25:06.579
That's a human corpse that's not something that

00:25:06.579 --> 00:25:10.859
goes to waste and He even mentions we know that

00:25:10.859 --> 00:25:12.779
through human history that it's been frowned

00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:18.160
upon Yeah Here's some more important phrases

00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:21.279
in there. For those that we are consuming, we

00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:25.140
do cherish their memory. I don't think this is

00:25:25.140 --> 00:25:27.200
about who they were. I'm thinking this is about

00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:29.880
the data that they pulled from their bodies,

00:25:30.339 --> 00:25:32.599
which by the way, let's bring this all the way

00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:35.279
back around. The reason that you would keep a

00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:38.180
human head is that you could pull the data from

00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:41.880
it. And another one, appreciate their sacrifice,

00:25:42.019 --> 00:25:46.539
he says. Now they're sacrifices, and they just

00:25:46.539 --> 00:25:49.640
told us that they are sacrifices, because he

00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:52.460
brings something up later in the conversation.

00:25:52.579 --> 00:25:55.680
So remember the sacrifice part. We were left

00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:00.420
with little choice, he says, and on a daily basis,

00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:04.359
up to 100 ,000 people die of natural causes and

00:26:04.359 --> 00:26:08.759
accidents. Hold on a second. Y 'all came in here

00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:13.960
and killed 800 million people. to do this and

00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:17.640
what happens to those people that do die of natural

00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:21.059
causes and or have already been dealing with

00:26:21.059 --> 00:26:25.259
disease or anything else. And if you are this

00:26:25.259 --> 00:26:28.759
hive mind that is so perfectly in sync, how in

00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:33.279
the F are you having any accidents? How do accidents

00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:38.400
happen in a perfect hive mind? And now what is

00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.220
the Soylent Green actually being used for? Why

00:26:41.220 --> 00:26:44.539
are they putting 8 to 12 percent of it into this

00:26:44.539 --> 00:26:47.000
mana drink that they're creating for themselves?

00:26:48.380 --> 00:26:50.900
Here's what I think, and if you're not ready

00:26:50.900 --> 00:26:54.960
for a major theory, then close your ears for

00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:59.579
a second. The reason that the joined make stupid

00:26:59.579 --> 00:27:03.619
decisions, like processing human body parts for

00:27:03.619 --> 00:27:08.269
food, or giving Carol a grenade is because they're

00:27:08.269 --> 00:27:13.069
programmed and that they are programmed to become

00:27:13.069 --> 00:27:17.609
extinct. And that is why a majority of the human

00:27:17.609 --> 00:27:21.490
beings have joined or been joined and that their

00:27:21.490 --> 00:27:25.849
goal isn't to survive. Their goal is to burn

00:27:25.849 --> 00:27:30.170
off in less than 10 years is what he says. And

00:27:30.170 --> 00:27:33.920
anybody can come in and take over. I like that

00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:36.339
theory quite a bit. Yeah. I think it coincides

00:27:36.339 --> 00:27:38.000
with a lot of things that we've heard in the

00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:40.579
past, but particularly when we hear the hive

00:27:40.579 --> 00:27:44.240
mind talk about things like a biological imperative,

00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:47.279
it makes sense that they're biological imperative

00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:53.240
to join everyone and have these very strict rules

00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:57.839
of what they're able to utilize for sustenance

00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:02.809
in order to Make the human species go extinct

00:28:02.809 --> 00:28:07.630
considering that this RNA sequence was sent from

00:28:07.630 --> 00:28:11.450
somewhere in outer space possibly by potential

00:28:11.450 --> 00:28:15.950
invaders looking to Eclipse the the highest race

00:28:15.950 --> 00:28:18.890
on the planet. So it makes a lot of sense I don't

00:28:18.890 --> 00:28:22.170
know if I agree technically with everything that

00:28:22.170 --> 00:28:25.710
you put down, but I think the vast majority of

00:28:25.710 --> 00:28:29.160
it I can sympathize with and back you up on like

00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:32.099
there are a lot of cultures that believe that

00:28:32.099 --> 00:28:36.660
if you defeat a foe and consume them, you gain

00:28:36.660 --> 00:28:39.140
their powers. So it makes sense why they would

00:28:39.140 --> 00:28:42.680
have a human head there if they want to assimilate

00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:45.460
whatever knowledge that they had. And it would

00:28:45.460 --> 00:28:48.200
make sense that their biological imperative includes

00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:51.880
not only not harming anything living, including

00:28:51.880 --> 00:28:55.779
vegetation, but potential invaders. Absolutely,

00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:58.799
but here's what I'm thinking again, and it goes

00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:04.059
back to the efficiency of resources. Would it

00:29:04.059 --> 00:29:09.140
be easier, faster, whatever, to destroy 8 billion

00:29:09.140 --> 00:29:13.759
people, or would it be easier, faster, to allow

00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:17.660
themselves to destroy themselves? It's one theory,

00:29:17.900 --> 00:29:22.599
but... Here's the reason I bring the whole thing

00:29:22.599 --> 00:29:25.779
up. It was my way of dealing with the Soylent

00:29:25.779 --> 00:29:28.920
Green issue because that part of it just bothered

00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:32.759
me. It can't just be that only, here's the answer

00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:35.480
and that's it. I think they're putting it in

00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:37.839
our face because that's what they want us to

00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:39.660
do and go, yep, it's Soylent Green, that's how

00:29:39.660 --> 00:29:43.940
we go. No, it's not Soylent Green. That is another

00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:48.019
one of the stupid ways that the hive mind will

00:29:48.019 --> 00:29:51.849
kill itself. and now it's willing to starve itself.

00:29:52.450 --> 00:29:55.190
In 10 years, most of the human population will

00:29:55.190 --> 00:29:59.869
die out from starvation. Not all, most. But those

00:29:59.869 --> 00:30:02.289
are just my thoughts, just on that video alone.

00:30:02.430 --> 00:30:04.970
I mean, they're giving us a lot. This episode

00:30:04.970 --> 00:30:08.109
is a huge information dump. It's not innocuous,

00:30:08.150 --> 00:30:10.710
it's vital. And this brought up a thought for

00:30:10.710 --> 00:30:13.269
me, and this came up while I was watching the

00:30:13.269 --> 00:30:16.890
episode as far as extinction goes. There's no

00:30:16.890 --> 00:30:22.230
mention of breeding at all to continue the life

00:30:22.230 --> 00:30:26.430
of the hive mind. So even if everyone is joined

00:30:26.430 --> 00:30:32.190
and even if they did have the sustenance, if

00:30:32.190 --> 00:30:36.109
they're not breeding, then within a hundred years,

00:30:36.609 --> 00:30:39.210
the hive mind is going to die out anyway. And

00:30:39.210 --> 00:30:41.690
so they watched the video and there's a confirmation

00:30:41.690 --> 00:30:45.089
at the end from John Cena and he says, you are

00:30:45.089 --> 00:30:48.809
not. obligated to consume HDP. We will never

00:30:48.809 --> 00:30:52.730
serve HDP to you. We already assume that you

00:30:52.730 --> 00:30:55.829
don't want anything to do with it. Regrets on

00:30:55.829 --> 00:30:58.670
not being able to speak in person, but for this

00:30:58.670 --> 00:31:03.130
time being, we still need our space. And now

00:31:03.130 --> 00:31:06.710
this is where Kumba has his confession. He admits

00:31:06.710 --> 00:31:09.750
that he learned about HDP about a week ago. Carol

00:31:09.750 --> 00:31:13.289
once again asks him, Jesus Christ, why are you

00:31:13.289 --> 00:31:17.259
so... And she just lets that hang in the air

00:31:17.259 --> 00:31:19.240
to give us a really great incomplete question.

00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.579
At this point, twice, he mentions that it's only

00:31:23.579 --> 00:31:26.779
troubling to him. He brings that up twice. It's

00:31:26.779 --> 00:31:30.599
troubling that they consume humans, but it doesn't

00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:36.619
seem to negate that he loves the hive mind. He

00:31:36.619 --> 00:31:38.740
does leave it up in the air though as to what

00:31:38.740 --> 00:31:42.099
his motivations are and why he's so okay with

00:31:42.099 --> 00:31:45.000
everything. Why is he so compliant, naive, willful,

00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:48.259
whatever. But he does remind her that they didn't

00:31:48.259 --> 00:31:50.220
say that they were vegetarians, they said that

00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:53.160
they would prefer not to consume animal products.

00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:56.579
And that is a very interesting distinction that

00:31:56.579 --> 00:31:59.380
we also made watching the episode. And she says,

00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:04.390
at least all the fucking lawyers survived. And

00:32:04.390 --> 00:32:06.509
then, of course, Kumba says, he goes, I'm in

00:32:06.509 --> 00:32:09.910
no way pleased. The moral gymnastics are pretty

00:32:09.910 --> 00:32:12.910
impressive with that one there. We also discovered

00:32:12.910 --> 00:32:14.829
that the other survivors knew about the food

00:32:14.829 --> 00:32:17.950
situation as well. The other 13 survivors are

00:32:17.950 --> 00:32:21.190
already hip to it. Not only that, but they meet

00:32:21.190 --> 00:32:23.910
on Tuesdays and Fridays. And Carol, obviously,

00:32:23.990 --> 00:32:27.609
feels left out. And he just says, we took a vote

00:32:27.609 --> 00:32:29.490
and we just thought it would be better because

00:32:29.490 --> 00:32:33.470
we wanted to avoid drama. And I'll say this about

00:32:33.470 --> 00:32:36.750
the show moving forward, too. If you ever see

00:32:36.750 --> 00:32:41.210
Vince reiterate something, specifically exactly

00:32:41.210 --> 00:32:43.730
the same thing again, which he does twice in

00:32:43.730 --> 00:32:46.890
this episode, he's really saying you need to

00:32:46.890 --> 00:32:48.829
pay particular attention to that. And I think

00:32:48.829 --> 00:32:51.329
this is important. He reiterates the 10 -year

00:32:51.329 --> 00:32:53.670
timeline. And then he also brings up the thing

00:32:53.670 --> 00:32:55.930
about the robotic farming, which I thought would

00:32:55.930 --> 00:32:58.789
be a great way to solve this whole... situation

00:32:58.789 --> 00:33:01.029
here, right? And they're like, no, we would have

00:33:01.029 --> 00:33:04.309
to build the machines. That sounds like a refusal

00:33:04.309 --> 00:33:07.930
to me. And it's also another extremely dumb way

00:33:07.930 --> 00:33:11.049
not to prevent everyone from starving to death.

00:33:11.450 --> 00:33:13.710
And this is where I was struggling with the whole

00:33:13.710 --> 00:33:17.730
Soylent Green issue. Is this like Idiocracy Part

00:33:17.730 --> 00:33:22.609
2 here? And these people really are this stupid?

00:33:23.589 --> 00:33:28.420
Or is it, are they programmed? I took that particular

00:33:28.420 --> 00:33:32.019
point, especially around the robotics, as very

00:33:32.019 --> 00:33:39.359
similar to the idea of gun control, right? Some

00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:42.920
people's opinion on guns is that it's not the

00:33:42.920 --> 00:33:45.039
guns that the problem, it's the people that are

00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:47.619
the problem. So we shouldn't put any control

00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:50.960
on guns. And it's the same thing in this case

00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:53.829
where... If they were to make these robots, it's

00:33:53.829 --> 00:33:58.069
the same thing as making guns and utilizing that

00:33:58.069 --> 00:34:01.750
to kill things, in this case plants. And instead

00:34:01.750 --> 00:34:05.190
you could just not make guns and you wouldn't

00:34:05.190 --> 00:34:08.269
have a problem of killing quote unquote plants.

00:34:08.329 --> 00:34:11.570
So I don't think it's anything about an idiocracy

00:34:11.570 --> 00:34:14.849
or going into extinction or anything like that.

00:34:14.869 --> 00:34:17.250
When it comes to the robotic problem in particular,

00:34:17.269 --> 00:34:19.570
I think they don't want to create tools that

00:34:19.570 --> 00:34:22.789
create death. That's what I got out of that particular

00:34:22.789 --> 00:34:25.650
point. I mean, yeah, I don't disagree with you

00:34:25.650 --> 00:34:30.829
on their excuse. So he also says something here.

00:34:31.289 --> 00:34:33.889
Ultimately, this is not about you, Carol, meaning

00:34:33.889 --> 00:34:37.869
it's about someone or something else and not

00:34:37.869 --> 00:34:41.829
the other 13 and maybe even not the joint because

00:34:41.829 --> 00:34:45.010
his second sentence is, or any of us for that

00:34:45.010 --> 00:34:49.090
matter. And I think it's a bigger statement than

00:34:49.369 --> 00:34:52.070
what it comes off as for as simply as it's written.

00:34:52.670 --> 00:34:54.670
But she gets really upset when he says that.

00:34:54.929 --> 00:34:57.050
And she's like, where's your nearest bathroom?

00:34:57.070 --> 00:34:59.929
And she goes into the bathroom. And when she

00:34:59.929 --> 00:35:01.769
does, she shuts the door. And of course, we see

00:35:01.769 --> 00:35:06.110
this garish picture of Kumba. My favorite picture.

00:35:06.590 --> 00:35:09.789
She scoffs at Kumba's photo on the wall. This

00:35:09.789 --> 00:35:13.869
is Ray again. She sits down on the edge of the

00:35:13.869 --> 00:35:19.239
bathtub and she expresses upset, scared. mad,

00:35:20.579 --> 00:35:24.960
get your shit together, resolved and calculating

00:35:24.960 --> 00:35:29.500
in the matter of about 30 seconds. It's really

00:35:29.500 --> 00:35:32.539
incredible. I could watch that scene a hundred

00:35:32.539 --> 00:35:38.059
times. It's ridiculous. She's far too good. She

00:35:38.059 --> 00:35:41.059
just needs to stop. But I'll say this about her

00:35:41.059 --> 00:35:44.690
most certainly. She will fight those emotions,

00:35:45.530 --> 00:35:48.110
and fighting them and tamping them down isn't

00:35:48.110 --> 00:35:51.289
the healthiest behavior. And I think throughout

00:35:51.289 --> 00:35:54.110
the series, we are seeing her open that valve

00:35:54.110 --> 00:35:56.489
up a little bit more, and it also allows her

00:35:56.489 --> 00:35:59.329
to regulate herself in a way to think clearly,

00:35:59.730 --> 00:36:02.250
as you mentioned in the previous episode. She

00:36:02.250 --> 00:36:04.750
shot the video, she viewed it, she realized that

00:36:04.750 --> 00:36:07.599
she needed to do a retake. That's a very thoughtful

00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:10.599
process there. And I think we're moving from

00:36:10.599 --> 00:36:14.039
her being a reactive person to being a more responsive

00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:16.519
and thoughtful person. I don't know about you

00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:18.820
guys out there, but a single glass of champagne,

00:36:18.920 --> 00:36:21.619
it instantly knocks me out. Same thing with wine.

00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:24.900
I'm out like a light, but she does accept the

00:36:24.900 --> 00:36:27.659
champagne and she does fall asleep. And we get

00:36:27.659 --> 00:36:30.360
the most human scene of Kumba so far in the entire

00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:32.639
series, where he pulls the glass of champagne

00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:35.639
away from her and lays a blanket down on her.

00:36:35.769 --> 00:36:39.050
And it extends into his phone conversation that

00:36:39.050 --> 00:36:42.550
happens next. He calls the hive mind and he says,

00:36:42.690 --> 00:36:46.469
she's lonely and you can't hear what they're

00:36:46.469 --> 00:36:49.989
saying. And he goes, yes, I understand. And he's

00:36:49.989 --> 00:36:53.929
just trying to express to them, him feeling her

00:36:53.929 --> 00:36:57.650
loneliness. I also believe that he's also feeling

00:36:57.650 --> 00:37:01.090
his own loneliness. Not because everybody's gone,

00:37:01.489 --> 00:37:04.760
but. When you step away from your drug or you

00:37:04.760 --> 00:37:09.179
step away from your social media for an extended

00:37:09.179 --> 00:37:12.219
period of time, you feel it and you start to

00:37:12.219 --> 00:37:15.840
go, oh, you know what? Maybe that isn't the right

00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:18.860
thing. And again, I think it's a helpful turning

00:37:18.860 --> 00:37:22.420
point here. And I would say most importantly

00:37:22.420 --> 00:37:25.820
in this particular scene, because one, he's trying

00:37:25.820 --> 00:37:30.769
to compel them to come back. and provide her

00:37:30.769 --> 00:37:33.210
with this comfort that she needs so desperately

00:37:33.210 --> 00:37:36.809
as people around her, even if it's the joined.

00:37:37.670 --> 00:37:40.969
And he, of course, overdoses on it every single

00:37:40.969 --> 00:37:44.150
day, surrounding himself with Casino Royale.

00:37:44.630 --> 00:37:48.630
And in this moment of quiet, he's on the phone,

00:37:48.809 --> 00:37:52.570
and I think he sees himself in her, and then

00:37:52.570 --> 00:37:55.469
he hangs up with them, and it's a very, very

00:37:55.469 --> 00:37:59.139
clear scene. He walks over to the window that

00:37:59.139 --> 00:38:03.360
faces out over Vegas, and you see almost as clearly

00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:06.940
as he's standing there, his reflection in the

00:38:06.940 --> 00:38:11.639
glass. And you can see in his face, he is reflecting

00:38:11.639 --> 00:38:17.440
on his situation here and realizing that, unfortunate

00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:20.980
for Carol as it is, she is the antidote to this

00:38:20.980 --> 00:38:25.059
thing. And whenever... anyone that is not joined

00:38:25.059 --> 00:38:29.639
interacts with her, they get a dose of reality.

00:38:29.719 --> 00:38:34.480
They get pulled away from their dream or their

00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:38.300
fantasy or the delusion, frankly. Now, in that

00:38:38.300 --> 00:38:40.920
same shot, in the background, they're staying

00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:45.400
at a place that's called West Gate. And the only

00:38:45.400 --> 00:38:48.579
thing you see in the window is the gate part.

00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:52.119
And I think this is important because I believe

00:38:52.119 --> 00:38:57.199
in some ways he is the gate or he is the gatekeeper

00:38:57.199 --> 00:39:01.500
for conversation and knowledge between he and

00:39:01.500 --> 00:39:05.699
the joined and he and the other survivors. What

00:39:05.699 --> 00:39:09.420
I like to think is that he's also ultimately

00:39:09.420 --> 00:39:13.699
the gatekeeper to the answer to Carol's problem

00:39:13.699 --> 00:39:17.739
and that he has the answer or may have the answer

00:39:17.739 --> 00:39:22.139
later. as to how we can reverse this. And I think

00:39:22.139 --> 00:39:25.099
that's why he's gonna end up being a very important

00:39:25.099 --> 00:39:27.380
character in the future. This brings us to the

00:39:27.380 --> 00:39:30.000
next scene. And this is where Carol wakes up

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.840
the next morning and Kumba has made her breakfast.

00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:38.260
We've got some toast, avocado, eggs and bacon,

00:39:38.300 --> 00:39:41.079
a very nice breakfast by all means. But something

00:39:41.079 --> 00:39:43.099
interesting happens while they're eating. And

00:39:43.099 --> 00:39:45.579
I wanna get your thoughts on this because as

00:39:45.579 --> 00:39:49.309
he's eating, he's taking his meal, ingredient

00:39:49.309 --> 00:39:52.510
by ingredient, right? And then Carol smashes

00:39:52.510 --> 00:39:56.289
the avocado into the toast and throws some eggs

00:39:56.289 --> 00:39:59.710
on top of it, slaps a couple slices of bacon

00:39:59.710 --> 00:40:03.769
on there and proceeds to nosh away. But as she's

00:40:03.769 --> 00:40:08.969
doing that, Kumba begins mimicking her. Potentially,

00:40:09.989 --> 00:40:15.320
he grew up poor and he didn't grow up with everything

00:40:15.320 --> 00:40:18.880
that a lot of people have the privilege to grow

00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:23.219
up with. And so he didn't even know about smashing

00:40:23.219 --> 00:40:25.460
avocados into a piece of toast and covering it

00:40:25.460 --> 00:40:29.059
with eggs and bacon. Also, it's a cultural connection.

00:40:29.309 --> 00:40:31.809
Right? Mimicking his cultural connection. So

00:40:31.809 --> 00:40:34.750
he's unconsciously even almost sinking with her

00:40:34.750 --> 00:40:37.329
to seek that human connection that he's really

00:40:37.329 --> 00:40:39.889
denied himself. He hasn't surrounded himself

00:40:39.889 --> 00:40:42.309
with real human beings. He's surrounded himself

00:40:42.309 --> 00:40:45.949
with robots, essentially. And so having a real

00:40:45.949 --> 00:40:48.349
human being in front of you doing real human

00:40:48.349 --> 00:40:51.849
things on their own in their own individual way,

00:40:52.829 --> 00:40:54.230
that's the most unique thing that's probably

00:40:54.230 --> 00:40:56.519
happened to him in the last week. even though

00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:59.400
he was James Bond a minute ago. I want to throw

00:40:59.400 --> 00:41:00.860
out a stupid theory. Can I just throw out a stupid

00:41:00.860 --> 00:41:05.440
theory? Please do. He's a plant. And so, as a

00:41:05.440 --> 00:41:07.800
joint, you can still behave as an individual,

00:41:07.860 --> 00:41:09.679
as we learned at the beginning of this episode.

00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:13.300
And perhaps, as you mentioned in a previous episode,

00:41:13.699 --> 00:41:17.480
one or more of our immune may not actually be

00:41:17.480 --> 00:41:20.139
immune. We don't know because we still haven't,

00:41:20.139 --> 00:41:22.909
in my opinion. undeniably answer the fact of

00:41:22.909 --> 00:41:25.929
whether they can lie to us or not or be deceptive.

00:41:25.929 --> 00:41:28.409
And I'm going to say that they can, especially

00:41:28.409 --> 00:41:32.829
with them going from James Bond to as soon as

00:41:32.829 --> 00:41:34.849
he leaves the room, completely shutting off and

00:41:34.849 --> 00:41:37.510
then getting rid of everything. It just, that's

00:41:37.510 --> 00:41:41.469
duplicity in its greatest sense. I think it very

00:41:41.469 --> 00:41:46.449
much could be a small hint of Kumba coming around

00:41:46.449 --> 00:41:49.070
to the carol way of thinking. I think that that

00:41:49.070 --> 00:41:51.639
could be in place there. I like that. I want

00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:53.460
to push back on a couple of things that you had

00:41:53.460 --> 00:41:58.019
mentioned there, though. I dare you. I think

00:41:58.019 --> 00:42:01.199
particularly in this episode, I want to push

00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:03.500
back on the fact that there seems to be some

00:42:03.500 --> 00:42:06.760
individuality within the hive mind. I think it's

00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:10.800
more of they're able to masquerade as individuals

00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:14.360
as opposed to there being still some individuality

00:42:14.360 --> 00:42:16.980
within the hive mind. I don't disagree with you

00:42:16.980 --> 00:42:18.820
on that. That is exactly what I was trying to

00:42:18.820 --> 00:42:21.679
say. Oh, okay. Perfect. The other thing, and

00:42:21.679 --> 00:42:24.719
this is a disagreement I think we had in the

00:42:24.719 --> 00:42:27.199
previous episode, going back to where Carol was

00:42:27.199 --> 00:42:30.400
writing on the whiteboard about her finding out

00:42:30.400 --> 00:42:34.500
that they cannot be deceitful. I think Vince

00:42:34.500 --> 00:42:39.440
Gilligan as a writer and a storyteller is intentionally

00:42:39.440 --> 00:42:43.420
very much spelling out that this is a hard and

00:42:43.420 --> 00:42:45.940
fast rule for this world, that they cannot be

00:42:45.940 --> 00:42:49.110
deceitful, they cannot lie. erasing the question

00:42:49.110 --> 00:42:52.789
mark and underlining cannot lie, I very much

00:42:52.789 --> 00:42:55.050
think that's a part of his visual language where

00:42:55.050 --> 00:42:58.309
he wants to say to us, this is indeed a rule.

00:42:58.570 --> 00:43:01.210
And I think we both have different trains of

00:43:01.210 --> 00:43:05.110
thought on that, but I... I'm a suspicious person

00:43:05.110 --> 00:43:07.409
at heart, so there's that, but I'll say this

00:43:07.409 --> 00:43:10.130
to back your line of thinking, as I said earlier

00:43:10.130 --> 00:43:14.159
in the episode, if you ever see him... reiterate

00:43:14.159 --> 00:43:16.219
something, especially if you see him reiterate

00:43:16.219 --> 00:43:18.840
something very specific, as he does twice in

00:43:18.840 --> 00:43:21.159
this episode, he's obviously done it in that

00:43:21.159 --> 00:43:24.039
situation too. So I can hold onto that. That's

00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:25.880
what I love about this, man, because there's

00:43:25.880 --> 00:43:28.000
a lot of other stuff out there where you don't

00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:31.900
get this level of de -arising and satisfaction

00:43:31.900 --> 00:43:34.960
out of the conversation around it. Absolutely.

00:43:35.139 --> 00:43:37.619
I couldn't agree more. Well, I tell you what

00:43:37.619 --> 00:43:40.460
she says You know what? I'll just I'll pick out

00:43:40.460 --> 00:43:43.619
one of my own sweets here and I'll clean up and

00:43:43.619 --> 00:43:46.619
you could very clearly see on Kumba's face his

00:43:46.619 --> 00:43:49.340
dismay and that's very much of the dismay of

00:43:49.340 --> 00:43:52.059
The 13 year old you're keeping me away from my

00:43:52.059 --> 00:43:54.900
video games. You need to leave now it keeps him

00:43:54.900 --> 00:43:57.460
from his drugs and so he gets the look and she

00:43:57.460 --> 00:44:01.289
reads it very quickly and in a progressive version

00:44:01.289 --> 00:44:03.949
of Carol, she goes, oh, I'm just fooling with

00:44:03.949 --> 00:44:06.489
you. And he's like, you know, thank God. She

00:44:06.489 --> 00:44:09.389
goes, why would I stay here anyway? This is like

00:44:09.389 --> 00:44:14.269
a trillion dollar lit up ashtray. To Coomba's

00:44:14.269 --> 00:44:17.630
response, he says, I'm sure it's no Albuquerque.

00:44:18.969 --> 00:44:22.519
That's a great line. But we do get to this sort

00:44:22.519 --> 00:44:27.219
of apple conversation in the foyer of his suite

00:44:27.219 --> 00:44:30.539
as he's walking her out. And he says, and again,

00:44:30.559 --> 00:44:32.920
this is where it becomes sort of religion -y,

00:44:33.059 --> 00:44:35.480
if that's a word. He's walking her out and he

00:44:35.480 --> 00:44:38.480
goes, well, you know, if there's any way that

00:44:38.480 --> 00:44:40.880
you could maybe even try to help us figure out

00:44:40.880 --> 00:44:44.579
a way to help these people not starve. And she

00:44:44.579 --> 00:44:46.840
says, I don't know, tell them to pick a fucking

00:44:46.840 --> 00:44:52.710
apple. And then she tries to take a few steps

00:44:52.710 --> 00:44:55.989
back, but she can't. She says, no, actually,

00:44:56.389 --> 00:44:59.409
no. But he says, just like an evangel would,

00:44:59.489 --> 00:45:05.510
he says, they do not see it that way. Is it tolerance?

00:45:06.389 --> 00:45:11.530
Is it capitulation? It's so weird. And it was

00:45:11.530 --> 00:45:15.900
just a strange way to... have an answer to anything

00:45:15.900 --> 00:45:20.300
like, I don't know, cannibalism or any of the

00:45:20.300 --> 00:45:21.980
other weird things that they've been doing since

00:45:21.980 --> 00:45:24.679
we've met them. But I think it was very important

00:45:24.679 --> 00:45:27.239
because she points out something that's so blatantly

00:45:27.239 --> 00:45:30.320
obvious that the biological imperative of a human

00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:34.639
being would be to pluck the apple. So this point

00:45:34.639 --> 00:45:39.420
in the conversation with Kumba, we find out that

00:45:39.420 --> 00:45:43.940
the hive mind has seemingly solved their problem

00:45:43.940 --> 00:45:47.980
of making the remaining survivors join into the

00:45:47.980 --> 00:45:50.639
hive mind, but they can't do it without their

00:45:50.639 --> 00:45:54.679
consent. Since it seems to take stem cells from

00:45:54.679 --> 00:45:58.699
the separate survivors that need to be specifically

00:45:58.699 --> 00:46:01.480
tailored to that person. And those stem cells

00:46:01.480 --> 00:46:05.099
need to be retrieved by a long needle via the

00:46:05.099 --> 00:46:09.480
hip bone. And that is a very painful process.

00:46:09.480 --> 00:46:12.579
And of course, knowing the hive mind and knowing

00:46:12.579 --> 00:46:17.099
their thoughts on not only consent, but harming

00:46:17.099 --> 00:46:19.900
another individual. We realize at this point

00:46:19.900 --> 00:46:24.059
that the hive mind needs consent from each of

00:46:24.059 --> 00:46:27.239
the survivors to harvest their stem cells and

00:46:27.239 --> 00:46:29.980
create this, I guess we can call it an antidote

00:46:29.980 --> 00:46:34.139
to become one of the joined. And much as I theorize

00:46:34.139 --> 00:46:39.269
prior, Kumba has decided that he does not want

00:46:39.269 --> 00:46:42.510
to be a part of the joined much like Carol. He's

00:46:42.510 --> 00:46:45.409
very much an individual and he very much relishes

00:46:45.409 --> 00:46:49.889
being this individual amongst the rabble. He

00:46:49.889 --> 00:46:51.869
does not want to be a part of the hive mind.

00:46:52.150 --> 00:46:55.510
And at this point we get Carol's first interaction

00:46:55.510 --> 00:46:59.809
with the hive mind as she denies the consent

00:46:59.809 --> 00:47:03.630
to harvest herself. And I would add another factor

00:47:03.630 --> 00:47:06.610
on to Kumba's line of thinking here. He doesn't

00:47:06.610 --> 00:47:09.650
want to go back to his old life, whatever that

00:47:09.650 --> 00:47:13.289
may be. If he was a con man, a petty thief, a

00:47:13.289 --> 00:47:15.289
dishwasher at a restaurant, he doesn't want to

00:47:15.289 --> 00:47:18.010
go back to that. And who would after becoming

00:47:18.010 --> 00:47:20.929
almost king of the world here? But yeah, she

00:47:20.929 --> 00:47:24.230
wants to verify, so she has to call and listen

00:47:24.230 --> 00:47:27.110
to that message, which is more and more painful

00:47:27.110 --> 00:47:29.869
every time you have to listen to it, but also...

00:47:29.900 --> 00:47:33.719
painfully comic, but they do verify that her

00:47:33.719 --> 00:47:37.860
wishes will be respected, that it's too invasive

00:47:37.860 --> 00:47:41.039
and painful for them to do it without direct

00:47:41.039 --> 00:47:44.739
permission. I want to posit another theory here,

00:47:44.739 --> 00:47:47.079
and this is a big theory, so again, if you don't

00:47:47.079 --> 00:47:50.460
want to hear this theory, cover your ears, but

00:47:50.460 --> 00:47:55.340
this theory is Carol is the cure. I think if

00:47:55.340 --> 00:47:58.940
you are one of the immune, and in this case,

00:47:59.050 --> 00:48:03.110
Carol, and there obviously is something that

00:48:03.110 --> 00:48:07.670
makes her and them different, wouldn't it be

00:48:07.670 --> 00:48:12.070
logical that you could derive an antidote from

00:48:12.070 --> 00:48:18.110
Carol's blood and see that injected into a joint

00:48:18.110 --> 00:48:23.610
and see if they don't return as themselves? Yeah,

00:48:23.829 --> 00:48:26.429
I haven't thought of that personally, but I like

00:48:26.429 --> 00:48:30.429
where your head's at and it's very much the last

00:48:30.429 --> 00:48:33.650
of us. Zombie apocalypse kind of feel where there

00:48:33.650 --> 00:48:38.289
are immune folks and they are indeed the possible

00:48:38.289 --> 00:48:43.110
cure to this virus. Yeah, I also say this too.

00:48:44.449 --> 00:48:48.309
We kind of have to get somebody turned from the

00:48:48.309 --> 00:48:51.090
joined back to normal before the end of this

00:48:51.090 --> 00:48:54.139
season. Can we get that? I'm just asking, I won't

00:48:54.139 --> 00:48:57.500
put that out there. We may indeed see it, yeah.

00:48:57.659 --> 00:49:00.079
We may indeed see that. It would be interesting,

00:49:00.500 --> 00:49:03.219
and who would you want it to be? I would foresee

00:49:03.219 --> 00:49:06.500
it being probably Zosia, possibly? No, when I

00:49:06.500 --> 00:49:08.679
first thought of it, I wanted it to be the most

00:49:08.679 --> 00:49:11.099
unconventional person. Just make it the most

00:49:11.099 --> 00:49:13.059
unconventional person that you possibly could.

00:49:13.239 --> 00:49:15.480
Make it Larry. Make it Larry, yeah, that's what

00:49:15.480 --> 00:49:17.340
I was gonna say too. Make it Larry. I'm gonna

00:49:17.340 --> 00:49:19.849
make t -shirts now that say, make it Larry. on

00:49:19.849 --> 00:49:22.429
my chest and by episode nine, we better have

00:49:22.429 --> 00:49:25.869
Larry back to his original sunburned bike riding

00:49:25.869 --> 00:49:29.429
self. So let me add another double caveat to

00:49:29.429 --> 00:49:33.010
that. Not only is she the cure, but in order

00:49:33.010 --> 00:49:35.670
for her to become the cure for all of humanity,

00:49:36.110 --> 00:49:39.769
she'll have to sacrifice herself. I can see it,

00:49:39.869 --> 00:49:41.989
certainly. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

00:49:42.489 --> 00:49:45.929
So she leaves and as she's leaving, we see that

00:49:45.929 --> 00:49:48.889
Kumba has a Lamborghini. for every day, and they're

00:49:48.889 --> 00:49:51.750
even dated with Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday.

00:49:52.610 --> 00:49:55.929
And he leans into the car window to say something,

00:49:56.610 --> 00:49:59.829
for what it's worth, the world is doing the best

00:49:59.829 --> 00:50:05.570
it can. It misses you. Zosia misses you. They

00:50:05.570 --> 00:50:08.769
want you to come back, Carol. They want you to

00:50:08.769 --> 00:50:12.449
have a change of heart. And I want to break this

00:50:12.449 --> 00:50:15.420
down for just a split second. When you first

00:50:15.420 --> 00:50:17.260
say, for what it's worth, the world is doing

00:50:17.260 --> 00:50:19.840
the best it can, I immediately just think of

00:50:19.840 --> 00:50:23.260
Earth and the world. And then he says, it misses

00:50:23.260 --> 00:50:31.159
you. Not we miss you or they miss you, it misses

00:50:31.159 --> 00:50:33.570
you. And I think that that's important. Then

00:50:33.570 --> 00:50:35.889
he starts to give a breakdown. Zosia misses you.

00:50:35.929 --> 00:50:38.010
They want you to come. Well, now it's just the

00:50:38.010 --> 00:50:39.969
hive mind is what you're saying. And now you're

00:50:39.969 --> 00:50:42.190
saying that the hive mind is doing the best it

00:50:42.190 --> 00:50:47.070
can. And what's Carol's response? Fuck them.

00:50:48.349 --> 00:50:52.650
Watch your toes. And she peels out of the parking

00:50:52.650 --> 00:50:58.260
lot. Again, anything that. Vince Gilligan says

00:50:58.260 --> 00:51:00.920
in one of his shows, even if it's just a small

00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:04.099
one line, there's meaning behind everything that

00:51:04.099 --> 00:51:08.300
he does. And I agree with you that when he specifically

00:51:08.300 --> 00:51:11.199
says, it misses you, there's something there.

00:51:12.579 --> 00:51:16.460
And arriving late, later than most episodes would,

00:51:16.739 --> 00:51:20.880
we finally get our timestamp. And our timestamp

00:51:20.880 --> 00:51:23.980
is also. quite a bit different than previous

00:51:23.980 --> 00:51:26.860
timestamps. And if you guys stick around, I will

00:51:26.860 --> 00:51:29.000
go through our timestamp theories at the very

00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:32.400
end just for those folks that are as nerdy as

00:51:32.400 --> 00:51:35.780
I am. The first timestamp that we see on the

00:51:35.780 --> 00:51:39.139
screen in this episode is 12 days, 12 hours,

00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:43.880
42 minutes, and 58 seconds. And it ticks up to

00:51:43.880 --> 00:51:48.420
43 minutes and zero seconds until it reverses

00:51:48.420 --> 00:51:53.019
and goes all the way back to nine days, 18 hours,

00:51:53.300 --> 00:51:56.780
16 minutes, and 58 seconds. And then we see it

00:51:56.780 --> 00:52:00.420
tick up to the 17 minute and zero second mark.

00:52:01.019 --> 00:52:05.239
Now, we've never seen the time go up and then

00:52:05.239 --> 00:52:09.179
go in reverse and then go back up again. And

00:52:09.179 --> 00:52:12.639
during this small sequence here, we also hear

00:52:12.639 --> 00:52:16.880
a ticking clock in the background. But what do

00:52:16.880 --> 00:52:20.099
we reveal? It's actually our friend's egg timer.

00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:24.579
in Paraguay, who has now become my favorite character,

00:52:24.860 --> 00:52:28.880
Manousos, as he is continuing his search across

00:52:28.880 --> 00:52:33.519
the different radio signals. And we see now that

00:52:33.519 --> 00:52:37.420
he's coming to the very end of the frequencies

00:52:37.420 --> 00:52:40.820
that he's searching out. He gets to, I think

00:52:40.820 --> 00:52:47.360
it's 9 .999 .0. And we find out that there's

00:52:47.360 --> 00:52:49.780
nothing on that frequency. But interestingly

00:52:49.780 --> 00:52:53.880
enough, he turned back a few pages and goes back

00:52:53.880 --> 00:53:00.280
to another frequency, which is 8 .613 .0. And

00:53:00.280 --> 00:53:02.800
he has a question mark with this frequency within

00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:06.159
his notebook. And as he readjusts back to that

00:53:06.159 --> 00:53:09.139
frequency, we hear that some sort of mechanical

00:53:09.139 --> 00:53:13.699
sound to my mind, it brought the idea of a garden

00:53:13.699 --> 00:53:17.110
sprinkler. That's what I got out of it, but I'm

00:53:17.110 --> 00:53:19.530
sure it's something else. I'm surprised it didn't

00:53:19.530 --> 00:53:23.269
remind you of an EDM song. Because that was my

00:53:23.269 --> 00:53:25.190
first thought. I was like, now somebody's working

00:53:25.190 --> 00:53:27.769
on a beat there. It could be. Yeah, they're working

00:53:27.769 --> 00:53:31.829
on some grind cores or whatever. Whatever is

00:53:31.829 --> 00:53:35.030
popular now with Gen Z. But the first thing I

00:53:35.030 --> 00:53:38.969
thought of is this is the frequency the hive

00:53:38.969 --> 00:53:41.900
mind communicates on. The only frequency that's

00:53:41.900 --> 00:53:45.059
being used because this psychic glue that holds

00:53:45.059 --> 00:53:48.320
the hive mind together, it's not magic. There

00:53:48.320 --> 00:53:51.800
is a scientific explanation for how they communicate.

00:53:53.239 --> 00:53:56.739
And I'm no expert, I'm no scientist, but it would

00:53:56.739 --> 00:54:00.420
make sense if they... communicated via radio

00:54:00.420 --> 00:54:03.780
waves because they do carry incredibly far. In

00:54:03.780 --> 00:54:06.179
fact, they carry outside of our atmosphere and

00:54:06.179 --> 00:54:09.619
into space. So it would make sense that there

00:54:09.619 --> 00:54:13.659
is a frequency on which they do communicate.

00:54:14.199 --> 00:54:17.179
No, I like it as well. It reminds me of our scientists

00:54:17.179 --> 00:54:20.539
in the very first episode chasing down this signal

00:54:20.539 --> 00:54:23.829
that kicks off every 78 seconds. Yeah, when he

00:54:23.829 --> 00:54:28.670
rolls back to 8 .613 .0, he does receive some

00:54:28.670 --> 00:54:32.170
sort of a signal, and I listen to it probably

00:54:32.170 --> 00:54:35.190
about four times, and it sounds like there is

00:54:35.190 --> 00:54:38.469
some math in there as well. It would be like

00:54:38.469 --> 00:54:42.789
two instances, three, four, three, five. It's

00:54:42.789 --> 00:54:44.929
almost like a number station kind of a thing.

00:54:45.449 --> 00:54:50.969
The frequency, 8 .613 .0, is actually not a frequency

00:54:50.969 --> 00:54:54.519
that anyone uses. It's considered to be in between

00:54:54.519 --> 00:54:57.860
frequencies. And I thought if he specifically

00:54:57.860 --> 00:55:01.420
chose this, he's not looking for anyone that's

00:55:01.420 --> 00:55:04.440
on the frequency, like the joined. He's looking

00:55:04.440 --> 00:55:06.900
for someone that's off the frequency, that's

00:55:06.900 --> 00:55:11.440
in between, that is not a part of. And it rings

00:55:11.440 --> 00:55:14.219
true for the themes that I think are in the show.

00:55:14.780 --> 00:55:16.840
What happens next is really interesting though,

00:55:16.860 --> 00:55:19.940
too, because He goes back out, as he did in the

00:55:19.940 --> 00:55:22.380
previous episode, to investigate the food that

00:55:22.380 --> 00:55:25.719
they dropped off. And we find out why he's having

00:55:25.719 --> 00:55:28.320
such a hard time fighting not eating this food.

00:55:28.500 --> 00:55:32.480
It's literally his mother's cooking. And that's

00:55:32.480 --> 00:55:34.880
got to be extremely difficult to pass up, especially

00:55:34.880 --> 00:55:36.679
with the food that they displayed before. I'm

00:55:36.679 --> 00:55:40.579
sure it was marvelous. But he receives an envelope

00:55:40.579 --> 00:55:45.039
in the mail. And it is not a data card. It's

00:55:45.039 --> 00:55:51.380
not a CD. It is a VHS tape. Which if you have

00:55:51.380 --> 00:55:54.639
listened to any of our Dad, You're Wrong episodes,

00:55:54.679 --> 00:55:58.880
you know that we are indeed very big fans of

00:55:58.880 --> 00:56:02.980
VHS tapes. But this particular VHS tape is the

00:56:02.980 --> 00:56:07.019
first message from Carol as she is explaining

00:56:07.019 --> 00:56:10.039
her initial findings that she sent out. This

00:56:10.039 --> 00:56:13.920
seems to prove to Manny, as I call him now in

00:56:13.920 --> 00:56:18.190
my own personal take, that Carol is indeed survivor

00:56:18.190 --> 00:56:23.469
like him and not only that that she Has the same

00:56:23.469 --> 00:56:26.210
thought process of the hive mind as you know,

00:56:26.309 --> 00:56:28.150
they're of like a mind without a doubt Yeah,

00:56:28.150 --> 00:56:31.969
but this video inspires him to finally break

00:56:31.969 --> 00:56:35.269
out of this prison and At this point when he

00:56:35.269 --> 00:56:39.630
finally leaves the self storage facility We even

00:56:39.630 --> 00:56:42.710
have a shot of him opening the gate and as he's

00:56:42.710 --> 00:56:45.070
exiting the camera switches to behind the gate

00:56:45.179 --> 00:56:49.920
And we see him leaving that confined prison that

00:56:49.920 --> 00:56:52.840
he made for himself. Any future shots we see

00:56:52.840 --> 00:56:55.219
of him are very much like the shots we've seen

00:56:55.219 --> 00:56:58.219
of Carol throughout this episode, where she's

00:56:58.219 --> 00:57:00.980
very much framed in the center of the frame now,

00:57:01.079 --> 00:57:04.059
as opposed to being in a small portion of the

00:57:04.059 --> 00:57:06.800
frame and seeing a lot of the surroundings, often

00:57:06.800 --> 00:57:10.360
empty surroundings. Now we see Menousos very

00:57:10.360 --> 00:57:13.139
much in the center of the frame and he's no longer

00:57:13.139 --> 00:57:17.280
obstructed. And this is exemplified in the shot

00:57:17.280 --> 00:57:19.860
as he's walking down the streets of his city.

00:57:19.920 --> 00:57:22.000
And as he's walking down the streets, you see

00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:25.619
the streetlights coming on around him. So he

00:57:25.619 --> 00:57:29.000
very much sees that they're aware of him exiting

00:57:29.000 --> 00:57:31.780
this prison. And as he re -enters the world,

00:57:31.940 --> 00:57:34.099
it lights up around him. And he's going back

00:57:34.099 --> 00:57:38.960
to his house where he finds some food and he's

00:57:38.960 --> 00:57:41.599
gathering supplies. And it very much seems as

00:57:41.599 --> 00:57:45.519
if he is finally determined to make the trip

00:57:45.519 --> 00:57:48.119
that we've been waiting for and finally go to

00:57:48.119 --> 00:57:51.760
meet Carol. And this is the scene again I alluded

00:57:51.760 --> 00:57:54.699
to earlier where he's doing the reiteration.

00:57:55.159 --> 00:57:58.559
All of her narrative is from the video that she

00:57:58.559 --> 00:58:00.900
shot that we already know, we've already heard

00:58:00.900 --> 00:58:04.219
it. Now he's hearing it for the first time and

00:58:04.219 --> 00:58:07.340
what they do marvelously with this moment is

00:58:07.340 --> 00:58:11.940
it's her. voiceover as he's going through his

00:58:11.940 --> 00:58:15.480
last actions here at the storage facility. The

00:58:15.480 --> 00:58:19.380
video ends, and she reiterates again about how

00:58:19.380 --> 00:58:23.340
it's so important that you enjoy your individuality

00:58:23.340 --> 00:58:25.619
while you have it, before the virus is forced

00:58:25.619 --> 00:58:29.059
upon you. And in that last moment, make sure

00:58:29.059 --> 00:58:32.340
you treasure your individuality. And that's when

00:58:32.340 --> 00:58:34.739
he exits the gate and you see him walking out.

00:58:34.780 --> 00:58:38.199
So it's marvelously mirrored in her voiceover,

00:58:38.400 --> 00:58:41.800
his action as he makes his way through this scene.

00:58:42.260 --> 00:58:44.639
If you just watch this last 12 minutes of the

00:58:44.639 --> 00:58:48.480
episode, it is a horror film. It's a guy who

00:58:48.480 --> 00:58:52.360
is having to stay in a creepy place. He gets

00:58:52.360 --> 00:58:55.760
a mysterious video. There's a creepy woman standing

00:58:55.760 --> 00:58:58.260
outside of his house. Everything's starkly lit.

00:58:58.440 --> 00:59:01.420
When he goes down through town to get back to

00:59:01.420 --> 00:59:03.480
his apartment, everything's dark and then all

00:59:03.480 --> 00:59:05.340
of a sudden all the lights are on. That's very

00:59:05.340 --> 00:59:10.139
much a horror film scenario there. Quite honestly,

00:59:10.500 --> 00:59:13.960
this ending sequence with Manousos was far and

00:59:13.960 --> 00:59:15.800
away my favorite portion of the episode. Very

00:59:15.800 --> 00:59:18.519
cool. I really, really love this portion. When

00:59:18.519 --> 00:59:21.079
he returns home, as soon as he gets in, he's

00:59:21.079 --> 00:59:22.880
yelling out, if anybody's in here, you better

00:59:22.880 --> 00:59:26.230
come out now. Of course, nobody's in there. But

00:59:26.230 --> 00:59:29.010
he's going back essentially to gather supplies

00:59:29.010 --> 00:59:31.949
to make this trip up to Carol. He's gathering

00:59:31.949 --> 00:59:34.670
all the supplies that you would want in a zombie

00:59:34.670 --> 00:59:37.570
apocalypse. Even going back to previous episodes,

00:59:37.590 --> 00:59:42.349
he treats this as if it were a virus pandemic.

00:59:42.969 --> 00:59:45.750
Yeah. Once he does get into his apartment though,

00:59:46.190 --> 00:59:50.190
he stands there in the doorway and to his right,

00:59:50.369 --> 00:59:53.349
you very clearly see a photograph of what seems

00:59:53.349 --> 00:59:56.110
to be a father and a son. And they really made

00:59:56.110 --> 01:00:00.010
it sit there for a minute. And I think it's important

01:00:00.010 --> 01:00:03.650
in my play into Manny's character. And within

01:00:03.650 --> 01:00:05.929
this apartment, we get a particular shot that

01:00:05.929 --> 01:00:08.630
I like that's mirrored in the final shot of the

01:00:08.630 --> 01:00:11.670
episode. From the camera's perspective, we have

01:00:11.670 --> 01:00:15.110
two distinct paths. We have one path that is

01:00:15.110 --> 01:00:19.030
an empty hallway that leads to a crucifix, which

01:00:19.030 --> 01:00:22.869
almost seems to mean that this is the path of...

01:00:23.650 --> 01:00:26.949
the solitariness of religion and that could be

01:00:26.949 --> 01:00:31.610
a path of how Menousos goes about approaching

01:00:31.610 --> 01:00:33.809
the hive mind which has been in the past making

01:00:33.809 --> 01:00:36.309
a prisoner of himself. And then of course on

01:00:36.309 --> 01:00:39.329
the right side of this path we have him as he

01:00:39.329 --> 01:00:44.289
is now gathering his go -bag, his go -bag, the

01:00:44.289 --> 01:00:46.690
necessary things he needs to make this trip to

01:00:46.690 --> 01:00:49.630
find Carol because he's found a kindred spirit.

01:00:50.150 --> 01:00:52.730
And that's reflected in the final scene as well.

01:00:53.099 --> 01:00:56.860
As he's exiting and he hops in his car, which

01:00:56.860 --> 01:00:59.719
is a very distinct yellow, he hears somebody

01:00:59.719 --> 01:01:02.880
speaking to him off to the side, and we see that

01:01:02.880 --> 01:01:05.619
there is a woman silhouetted in the darkness

01:01:05.619 --> 01:01:10.280
here. And again, in a very horror movie fashion.

01:01:11.039 --> 01:01:13.619
Absolutely. The yellow MG midget who wouldn't

01:01:13.619 --> 01:01:17.159
want a little MG midget to tool around in. It'll

01:01:17.159 --> 01:01:19.420
be interesting to see him making it through.

01:01:19.719 --> 01:01:22.760
the entirety almost of South America and Mexico

01:01:22.760 --> 01:01:26.380
to get up to Carol. When we get outside, he fires

01:01:26.380 --> 01:01:28.280
up the midget and he starts to drive it out of

01:01:28.280 --> 01:01:30.579
the garage and it stalls on him right there.

01:01:31.260 --> 01:01:34.519
And what I love about this scene is I can imagine

01:01:34.519 --> 01:01:37.219
most people watching this scene are completely

01:01:37.219 --> 01:01:39.019
confused on what's going to happen next with

01:01:39.019 --> 01:01:42.500
this car. But there is a woman standing starkly

01:01:42.500 --> 01:01:45.199
there in the shadow and it's very much like a

01:01:45.199 --> 01:01:48.000
horror film, but we discover that this is his

01:01:48.000 --> 01:01:52.579
mother. And she says, you know, we can help you,

01:01:52.679 --> 01:01:55.059
let us help you. Do you have questions? We have

01:01:55.059 --> 01:01:59.460
answers. And he goes, but you can't be my mother

01:01:59.460 --> 01:02:04.000
because my mother was a bitch. Such a carol line,

01:02:04.179 --> 01:02:07.360
right? Ain't it though. But he's also being honest,

01:02:07.360 --> 01:02:10.780
right? He's also saying. your character is different

01:02:10.780 --> 01:02:13.960
than my mother. There's no way you are my mother.

01:02:14.579 --> 01:02:17.320
And this is the reaction I feel like all the

01:02:17.320 --> 01:02:21.460
other 13 or 12 should have had. You are obviously

01:02:21.460 --> 01:02:25.820
not my son. You are obviously not John Cena anymore

01:02:25.820 --> 01:02:29.659
or whatever. But these two people of all the

01:02:29.659 --> 01:02:32.860
world are like, nope. I'm like, gosh, I'm definitely

01:02:32.860 --> 01:02:36.409
on this team. But you could see how the joint

01:02:36.409 --> 01:02:39.030
were trying to manipulate him in the same way

01:02:39.030 --> 01:02:41.090
that they were trying to manipulate Carol by

01:02:41.090 --> 01:02:44.610
using his own mother. Again, how tasteless and

01:02:44.610 --> 01:02:48.230
wrong and stupid to do that. And not only that,

01:02:48.250 --> 01:02:50.849
but her lovely cooking is like, how can you damn

01:02:50.849 --> 01:02:53.309
this woman's cooking by doing this? It's terrible.

01:02:53.869 --> 01:02:55.789
But he's not buying it. He's not buying any of

01:02:55.789 --> 01:02:58.409
it. And so what does he do? He push starts the

01:02:58.409 --> 01:03:00.650
MG, which is what you can do with a vehicle like

01:03:00.650 --> 01:03:03.599
this if the battery happens to be low. and he

01:03:03.599 --> 01:03:05.719
kicks up some smoke and rolls on down the road.

01:03:06.420 --> 01:03:10.739
And in this shot, again, it's another shot of

01:03:10.739 --> 01:03:14.179
two separate paths that Menousos can take. He

01:03:14.179 --> 01:03:16.940
can take the top left path, which seems to be

01:03:16.940 --> 01:03:20.539
the more brightly lit path, which is where his

01:03:20.539 --> 01:03:23.760
quote unquote mother. had come from, and which

01:03:23.760 --> 01:03:27.000
is why we see her in such stark relief. But he

01:03:27.000 --> 01:03:29.599
instead takes the other path, which leads down,

01:03:29.599 --> 01:03:32.119
down into the darkness. And I think they're saying

01:03:32.119 --> 01:03:36.840
a lot of things about Minuso's choice in both

01:03:36.840 --> 01:03:39.980
of these scenes, where there is possibly an easier

01:03:39.980 --> 01:03:43.699
path. And he has now finally made the decision

01:03:43.699 --> 01:03:47.320
to go down into the depths and join Carol where

01:03:47.320 --> 01:03:50.969
she is. I think finally getting Carol out of

01:03:50.969 --> 01:03:54.769
her loneliness and adding an ally to the cause

01:03:54.769 --> 01:03:58.289
is going to change the dynamic of the show in

01:03:58.289 --> 01:04:01.510
a pretty stark way, and I'm very much looking

01:04:01.510 --> 01:04:06.269
forward to that. Yeah, me too. So again, another

01:04:06.269 --> 01:04:09.769
phenomenal episode, to be honest. I was very

01:04:09.769 --> 01:04:13.449
pleased to be able to find my own way around

01:04:13.449 --> 01:04:16.800
the Soylent Green issue. Do you have any final

01:04:16.800 --> 01:04:18.739
thoughts on this episode before we move into

01:04:18.739 --> 01:04:22.320
the bonus material? There's a lot to contemplate

01:04:22.320 --> 01:04:26.159
and a lot that has changed my previous theories.

01:04:26.480 --> 01:04:28.440
And quite honestly, there's a lot that you had

01:04:28.440 --> 01:04:31.119
caught that I hadn't, that I am very much looking

01:04:31.119 --> 01:04:35.360
forward to pondering as I wait for the next episode.

01:04:35.860 --> 01:04:38.360
So another great episode of Pluribus. I loved

01:04:38.360 --> 01:04:41.369
it. All right. Well, we appreciate you sticking

01:04:41.369 --> 01:04:44.949
around for an extra long episode. We had a lot

01:04:44.949 --> 01:04:47.590
that we wanted to go over, and maybe some of

01:04:47.590 --> 01:04:49.650
it's relevant, maybe it's not, but I feel like

01:04:49.650 --> 01:04:51.989
we're talking about a lot of things that other

01:04:51.989 --> 01:04:54.409
folks aren't talking about. Would you like to

01:04:54.409 --> 01:04:56.610
bounce into some color theory? We can talk about

01:04:56.610 --> 01:04:59.469
the colors. Perfect. Yeah, this is something

01:04:59.469 --> 01:05:04.769
that I had mentioned about not only Vince Gilligan's

01:05:04.960 --> 01:05:08.679
visual language, but how he utilizes color within

01:05:08.679 --> 01:05:12.460
his TV shows. And this is very much exemplified

01:05:12.460 --> 01:05:16.119
within Breaking Bad in particular, but he uses

01:05:16.119 --> 01:05:20.360
that to great effect within Pluribus as well.

01:05:20.380 --> 01:05:23.860
And this goes back all the way to episode one.

01:05:23.860 --> 01:05:27.380
And even the very first time we see Carol, she

01:05:27.380 --> 01:05:31.719
is wearing this very vibrant yellow jacket. I

01:05:31.719 --> 01:05:35.099
think we can both take that figuratively as well

01:05:35.099 --> 01:05:39.760
as literally she is sort of this yellow jacket

01:05:39.760 --> 01:05:42.900
or this wasp in the hive, if you will. And she

01:05:42.900 --> 01:05:47.880
is this natural predator to the bees. And it

01:05:47.880 --> 01:05:52.579
really shows Carol as the threat that she is

01:05:52.579 --> 01:05:55.199
to the collective, the threat that she has to

01:05:55.199 --> 01:05:59.869
these bees and the hive to the point where When

01:05:59.869 --> 01:06:03.389
Carol causes distress to these hive members that

01:06:03.389 --> 01:06:06.730
they convulse, they end up seizing very similar

01:06:06.730 --> 01:06:09.829
to what bees do defensively. When they find a

01:06:09.829 --> 01:06:12.110
wasp that's invading their nest, they, they tend

01:06:12.110 --> 01:06:16.929
to vibrate. And this is also by the way, how

01:06:16.929 --> 01:06:19.309
bees tend to communicate. They communicate with

01:06:19.309 --> 01:06:22.570
vibration. So that could very much be the psychic

01:06:22.570 --> 01:06:26.230
glue that the hive mind communicates with and

01:06:26.230 --> 01:06:31.039
Carol being the largest threat. To the beehive

01:06:31.039 --> 01:06:33.860
that they have encountered and we see that throughout

01:06:33.860 --> 01:06:36.780
the the series this stark yellow color the big

01:06:36.780 --> 01:06:39.559
one that pops into my mind when Carol opens the

01:06:39.559 --> 01:06:42.579
Recycling bin and it has a very stark yellow

01:06:42.579 --> 01:06:44.900
lid on it. And of course, what does she find

01:06:44.900 --> 01:06:49.280
in there? but the empty milk cartons so it's

01:06:49.280 --> 01:06:52.380
almost guiding her to the answer of what could

01:06:52.380 --> 01:06:56.059
potentially be the weakness of the hive mind

01:06:56.059 --> 01:06:58.980
in the stark yellow lid on this recycling bin.

01:06:59.579 --> 01:07:02.519
Another way this popped up is with the poker

01:07:02.519 --> 01:07:07.059
chips. So when Kumba is doing his little casino

01:07:07.059 --> 01:07:11.219
Royale routine, the bad guy who's got his cheesy

01:07:11.219 --> 01:07:13.659
little eye patch on and all of that, he's betting

01:07:13.659 --> 01:07:16.039
with yellow chips, but he's also backing those

01:07:16.039 --> 01:07:19.099
yellow chips with a large stack of blue chips

01:07:19.099 --> 01:07:23.190
as well. And what do we see? Kumba betting with

01:07:23.190 --> 01:07:27.710
exclusively yellow chips. So again, Kumba being

01:07:27.710 --> 01:07:30.170
very much an individual who does not want to

01:07:30.170 --> 01:07:34.809
join the hive mind is also exuding the same yellow

01:07:34.809 --> 01:07:38.969
color of what really means individuality. And

01:07:38.969 --> 01:07:43.760
there's many frames within this show. that have

01:07:43.760 --> 01:07:46.780
the contrast of both the yellow and the calmer

01:07:46.780 --> 01:07:49.820
blues. And I think that's exemplified a lot in

01:07:49.820 --> 01:07:52.539
this final scene with Menousos where he's choosing

01:07:52.539 --> 01:07:56.659
these separate paths and either choosing to go

01:07:56.659 --> 01:07:59.659
into the light or go into the darkness. So Colors

01:07:59.659 --> 01:08:02.820
has a lot to do with Vince Gilligan's visual

01:08:02.820 --> 01:08:06.809
language and when... We see those, we can recognize

01:08:06.809 --> 01:08:09.929
some of the themes that he's trying to push out

01:08:09.929 --> 01:08:12.869
to us as this thing is going on here. But I know

01:08:12.869 --> 01:08:18.670
you have been talking about the timing and the

01:08:18.670 --> 01:08:20.630
clock that we've been seeing throughout the entire

01:08:20.630 --> 01:08:23.470
series. I'm very excited to hear your theory

01:08:23.470 --> 01:08:26.310
on this because I think we might have differing

01:08:26.310 --> 01:08:30.100
opinions. Well, to bounce on what you had just

01:08:30.100 --> 01:08:31.960
mentioned. I also noticed when he was putting

01:08:31.960 --> 01:08:34.819
his go -bag together that his backpack was also

01:08:34.819 --> 01:08:37.560
yellow. And I think you're absolutely right.

01:08:37.659 --> 01:08:41.300
I think it very distinctly points to individuality.

01:08:42.199 --> 01:08:48.380
My thoughts on time stamps here. Pluribus doesn't

01:08:48.380 --> 01:08:51.279
have time stamps that are standard. Here's 14

01:08:51.279 --> 01:08:53.560
days later or anything like that. Everything

01:08:53.560 --> 01:08:57.159
is very precise. 12 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes,

01:08:57.220 --> 01:09:00.079
58 seconds. That's all very tightly wound into

01:09:00.079 --> 01:09:03.600
that. And I think that how specific Vince's being

01:09:03.600 --> 01:09:06.380
with this isn't accidental. Where did I start?

01:09:06.819 --> 01:09:09.159
We started pulling the timestamps from every

01:09:09.159 --> 01:09:11.779
single episode. And honestly, for me, I went

01:09:11.779 --> 01:09:14.579
straight for prime numbers. So when we start

01:09:14.579 --> 01:09:17.020
to analyze these prime numbers versus non -prime

01:09:17.020 --> 01:09:19.119
numbers, we find something that's very interesting.

01:09:19.779 --> 01:09:24.590
Episodes one through five all had prime numbers

01:09:24.590 --> 01:09:28.970
built into their number sequence. Episode 5,

01:09:29.050 --> 01:09:33.350
where we get a dark reveal, had no prime numbers

01:09:33.350 --> 01:09:37.329
in it. And this episode here with the multiple

01:09:37.329 --> 01:09:43.029
timing had both. prime number examples and non

01:09:43.029 --> 01:09:45.029
-prime number examples, because I think this

01:09:45.029 --> 01:09:48.350
is a transition episode, transitioning us into

01:09:48.350 --> 01:09:52.090
deeper truths, but then also doing the standard

01:09:52.090 --> 01:09:54.630
things, which is tell us the story, build on

01:09:54.630 --> 01:09:57.529
our characters, things like that. And whenever

01:09:57.529 --> 01:10:01.069
we see these sequences with Carol or Manusos,

01:10:01.270 --> 01:10:05.140
those are prime numbers. they are not part of

01:10:05.140 --> 01:10:08.859
the collective, that storyline is a prime storyline.

01:10:09.300 --> 01:10:11.739
The other ones are the composite storylines when

01:10:11.739 --> 01:10:14.880
we see more about the dark reveals or things

01:10:14.880 --> 01:10:19.680
like that. So the core thesis is Vince Gilligan

01:10:19.680 --> 01:10:23.119
is using prime numbers as narrative markers within

01:10:23.119 --> 01:10:27.380
the countdown time stamps. Primes represent immunity,

01:10:28.079 --> 01:10:30.819
individuality, and resistance. and composites

01:10:30.819 --> 01:10:34.479
represent corruption, the hive mind, and divisibility.

01:10:35.319 --> 01:10:37.939
The mathematics hinge between that horror and

01:10:37.939 --> 01:10:39.979
hope kind of thing, and I think that that's what

01:10:39.979 --> 01:10:42.800
he's dancing around. That is probably the biggest

01:10:42.800 --> 01:10:45.420
version of the timestamp thing that I can think

01:10:45.420 --> 01:10:48.500
of, that he's actually pointing out to us, these

01:10:48.500 --> 01:10:51.680
prime numbers go to these folks, these composite

01:10:51.680 --> 01:10:53.920
numbers go over here, and that's all that it

01:10:53.920 --> 01:10:57.420
is. My second theory on the numbers is even simpler

01:10:57.420 --> 01:11:01.199
and better, in my opinion. When I first saw these

01:11:01.199 --> 01:11:03.859
time stamps in the very first episode, I thought,

01:11:04.260 --> 01:11:06.880
he's just putting these in here. And then that's

01:11:06.880 --> 01:11:10.300
it. There is no Easter egg, there is no secret,

01:11:10.479 --> 01:11:14.020
there is nothing. I kind of like that, to be

01:11:14.020 --> 01:11:15.960
frank, especially with all the math that I did

01:11:15.960 --> 01:11:19.329
to get here. And I did all the tricks. I tried

01:11:19.329 --> 01:11:21.130
to turn the numbers into letters to see if they

01:11:21.130 --> 01:11:23.609
spelled something. I tried binary, you know,

01:11:23.750 --> 01:11:28.170
10011. Nothing else really matched up. The only

01:11:28.170 --> 01:11:30.369
thing that really matched up was that we had.

01:11:30.600 --> 01:11:33.079
certain episodes that had those prime numbers

01:11:33.079 --> 01:11:35.500
and other episodes that did not have those prime

01:11:35.500 --> 01:11:39.159
numbers and that they did make a tonal and theme

01:11:39.159 --> 01:11:41.760
difference in each one of the episodes. Those

01:11:41.760 --> 01:11:43.819
are the two theories that I have for the timestamps.

01:11:43.920 --> 01:11:45.920
I'm not really hearing anybody else out in the

01:11:45.920 --> 01:11:48.279
world really breaking down the timestamps and

01:11:48.279 --> 01:11:51.399
what they mean. My only other thing I'd like

01:11:51.399 --> 01:11:54.579
to add to the end of the timestamp, if it is

01:11:54.579 --> 01:11:58.640
arbitrary or if it is even part of the prime

01:11:58.640 --> 01:12:02.380
number theory that I have here. We start off

01:12:02.380 --> 01:12:06.439
with 439 days before the joining. It would be

01:12:06.439 --> 01:12:09.819
pretty cool and not unlike Vince to bookend his

01:12:09.819 --> 01:12:14.819
series with it ending with 439 days after the

01:12:14.819 --> 01:12:17.920
joining and this is when our timeframe is. We

01:12:17.920 --> 01:12:21.020
have these 14 months with which to play this

01:12:21.020 --> 01:12:23.569
story. And in the way that it's playing out,

01:12:23.670 --> 01:12:26.109
almost literally day by day here in front of

01:12:26.109 --> 01:12:28.890
us, we do have a lot of space here with 14 months

01:12:28.890 --> 01:12:32.210
to have the purported four seasons that Vince

01:12:32.210 --> 01:12:34.130
would like to have with this particular show.

01:12:34.529 --> 01:12:38.770
And he has said that he has a very, very good

01:12:38.770 --> 01:12:42.229
idea of how it will end, but, quote, if a better

01:12:42.229 --> 01:12:45.529
idea comes across my desk, I'll use it. Again,

01:12:45.569 --> 01:12:47.689
I think I would like to throw my theory in that

01:12:47.689 --> 01:12:51.619
Carol is the antidote and she may have to sacrifice

01:12:51.619 --> 01:12:54.500
herself at the end of the series in order to

01:12:54.500 --> 01:12:56.939
save all of humanity. But beyond that, my friends,

01:12:56.979 --> 01:13:00.439
that is as convoluted as you can get with the

01:13:00.439 --> 01:13:04.340
timestamp theory. I got to say that when we talked

01:13:04.340 --> 01:13:07.779
prior to the episode, you mentioned that you

01:13:07.779 --> 01:13:11.039
were going to dive deep into your number theory

01:13:11.039 --> 01:13:15.699
as far as the clock goes. I was very much prepared.

01:13:15.920 --> 01:13:19.039
If we were on another podcast, I would say dad,

01:13:19.739 --> 01:13:23.300
you're wrong. But upon hearing your explanation

01:13:23.300 --> 01:13:27.819
of the prime number theory, I think that is brilliant.

01:13:27.979 --> 01:13:32.479
I think that is so good. And honestly, at this

01:13:32.479 --> 01:13:35.960
point, if, if the theory were to break and it

01:13:35.960 --> 01:13:38.720
is just a clock, I might be a little bit disappointed

01:13:38.720 --> 01:13:42.859
because that is such a great theory. I really

01:13:42.859 --> 01:13:47.060
love the prime numbers not being divisible and

01:13:47.060 --> 01:13:49.800
the non -prime numbers or the composite numbers

01:13:49.800 --> 01:13:52.180
being divisible and that separating the different

01:13:52.180 --> 01:13:54.699
scenes and the different episodes. I think that

01:13:54.699 --> 01:13:58.380
is wonderful. I really, really enjoy that. I

01:13:58.380 --> 01:14:01.819
came into it thinking it is just a tool, right?

01:14:01.920 --> 01:14:03.920
I thought it was just a tool to - Yeah, we're

01:14:03.920 --> 01:14:06.380
watching 24. We're just watching 24, that's all.

01:14:06.619 --> 01:14:10.359
I thought it was just a Jack Bauer tool to show

01:14:10.359 --> 01:14:13.350
you how long. the sequence of events have been.

01:14:13.670 --> 01:14:16.729
So I really, really like that theory. I hope

01:14:16.729 --> 01:14:19.729
that it is indeed something. And I certainly

01:14:19.729 --> 01:14:21.909
have not seen that out in the ether as people

01:14:21.909 --> 01:14:24.229
have been talking about the episode. So somebody

01:14:24.229 --> 01:14:27.149
call Vince Gilligan and tell him to listen to

01:14:27.149 --> 01:14:29.869
the podcast, because I think he would be surprised

01:14:29.869 --> 01:14:31.970
by what you have found here, because that is

01:14:31.970 --> 01:14:34.670
some pretty deep thinking. That's some deep research,

01:14:34.689 --> 01:14:38.399
and that is... very, very intriguing idea. So

01:14:38.399 --> 01:14:40.619
I like that quite a bit, and I'm very happy that

01:14:40.619 --> 01:14:43.460
you put in as much work as you have with these

01:14:43.460 --> 01:14:45.979
numbers so far. Well, I appreciate it. It's definitely

01:14:45.979 --> 01:14:49.520
a nerdy pursuit, but I wanted to dig into that.

01:14:50.060 --> 01:14:52.779
But yeah, I'm sure we'll come up with more items

01:14:52.779 --> 01:14:55.720
as they hit our desk, so to speak, and we will

01:14:55.720 --> 01:14:58.149
deal with them accordingly. Other than that,

01:14:58.250 --> 01:15:00.109
I think we did a pretty good job throughout the

01:15:00.109 --> 01:15:02.789
episode just hitting on some of the core theories

01:15:02.789 --> 01:15:06.109
that either we're thinking about or are out there

01:15:06.109 --> 01:15:08.810
in the zeitgeist and people are bouncing around.

01:15:09.350 --> 01:15:11.829
If you have any theories, feel free to jump into

01:15:11.829 --> 01:15:15.050
any of our social media feeds and comment on

01:15:15.050 --> 01:15:17.529
any of the episodes or get a hold of us through

01:15:17.529 --> 01:15:21.779
your favorite podcast listening platform. I think

01:15:21.779 --> 01:15:24.000
that'll do us for today, Carol. Thanks so much

01:15:24.000 --> 01:15:27.619
for joining us for episode six of E Pluribus

01:15:27.619 --> 01:15:32.720
Unum on the episode HDP. I would love for you

01:15:32.720 --> 01:15:36.119
to join us on our next favorite podcast, which

01:15:36.119 --> 01:15:39.720
is Dad, You're Wrong, where a Gen X dad and a

01:15:39.720 --> 01:15:42.460
millennial son talk everything from horror to

01:15:42.460 --> 01:15:47.100
sci -fi to fantasy. And I hope to see you guys

01:15:47.100 --> 01:15:49.100
next week. Thank you so much.