TV Series Thread

[Hydra009]

I rewatched it a couple times and it's growing on me.  Kinda grotesque but that's the point.

The rules are that humanity has entered into a pact with the Black Hand (some sort of eldritch being or something, idk).  Humanity pledges allegiance to the Black Hand in exchange for immortality.  But instead of invulnerability, they can die, they're just knitted back together a few seconds later.  But the catch is that they're never completely restored.  So Ken's head wound is permanent (and used as a convenient butcher knife sheath) as is the skin ripped off one of his arms.  Same with Mud's disgustingly gooey chin.

So when the gang "cements" people, they essentially drown to death every couple of minutes and are revived a few seconds later only to drown again over and over for an unknown length of time.  And they feel the pain of death, so this is essentially torture and literally a fate worse than death.

Breadhead is not a human.  He's a sort of golem - a loyal lackey to Ken and also affected by the boon/curse of undeath by the Black Hand.  He's like a human in that he has simple thoughts and impulses, but he lacks real agency - he's generally loyal to a fault.  He can "mutiny" against Ken, but even then he's still just following the crowd.

The identity of the human is revealed incredibly early on, which I find strange from a writer's standpoint.  Definitely could've milked the mystery for at least a couple episodes.  I don't know how they kept the secret as well as they did, which wasn't actually all that well - all it takes is one random accident in public and the cat's entirely out of the bag.  And these people are reckless in the extreme and there are no hospitals so even something as simple as a stray shot or car accident and it's all over.

As far as the prophecy goes, the human will somehow bring final death upon the undead.  I'm not sure how, though.  It's heavily implied that the human serves as a beacon for the angels to scour the world clean, but the angels already know the location of the undead because they have been monitoring them.  Perhaps the human must somehow personally break the curse of undeath - through some sort of ritual or possibly with their own death.  It's very unclear.

I'm also at a near total loss when it comes to the factions - there's the Rotlings (humans cursed with undeath, named such because they literally decay over the ages, scarred and misshapen by the countless deaths they've suffered), the Virtues (humans cursed with undeath who lord over the Rotlings and are not scarred because they put their brains in robotic bodies - eating the brain is equivalent to the cementing fate described earlier), and Heaven (angelic vulture-like things poised to definitely wipe out the Rotlings but might also attack the Virtues, we don't know their exact relationship)

[Blackleaf]

Their undeath doesn't seem like a very good deal. You'd think they'd welcome death after a while, but they seem terrified of the idea of dying permanently. Wait a minute... They're essentially in the opposite situation to the characters in The Amazing Digital Circus. The humans in the circus want to escape, but are trapped. The people in Gas Light District are trapped in eternal torment and are afraid of being released from it.

[Hydra009]

I mean, lots of people nowadays would take that deal.

And presumably, these people were just a small fraction of humanity that were in some sort of dark cult before the end of the world which wiped out everyone else.  And they likely didn't know the fine print (the 99.99% restoration after death) or have any idea of what undeath would look like milllenia later.

[Cassia]

Revisited S1E1 of the "The X Files". It's been a while. I was still working on my grad degree when it came out. It's very well done. I wasn't a 100% non-believer the first time. I was probably more open to supernatural/paranormal claims.

I always wonder if TV/Movies have had a big impact on what people believe. I do think perhaps very popular movies that theme on historical or scientific events become the living history in our minds.

After Oliver Stone visited the Kennedy assassination, there is no way such a loser could have killed Kennedy on his own. Right.

In the UK, for example, the number of UFO reports peaked in 1996, coinciding with the popularity of The X-Files and the release of the film "Independence Day".

My belief threshold is so high now, if a human-type being is talking to me about anything beyond the normal daily logistics like "let's meet at 7pm for dinner", I assume they are lying if no backup evidence is presented. And even then, I give dinner at 7pm a 50% chance.

[Nobody]

I think a whole lot of people joined the RCC after the movie The Excorsist came out, and a whole lot of people stopped swimming in the ocean after Jaws came out. So there's definitely an impact on what people believe.

[Hydra009]

How much popular media actually influences a person is a fascinating topic.  I wish I could say with certainty what influences what and how much.

Unbeliever is right in that it can inflame existing fears - Jaws being the classic example.  I even have a family member very much afraid of sharks and that fear coincides with watching Jaws.  Even though statistically, the drive to and from the beach is much more dangerous than the sharks themselves.

I have another one terrified of birds and is very much influenced by the Alfred Hitchcock film.

A regular gripe I have is that space aliens are more likely to be viewed as dangerous than non-dangerous and this coincides with their depiction as hostile invaders in popular media.  Also, the "mad scientist" trope, which I suspect of being linked to anti-intellectualism in general and in particular, a predisposition to a fearful reaction to cutting edge research (stuff like a particle collider supposedly creating a world-ending black hole).  The reality is that this trope exists merely as a vehicle in which an author can introduce some wacky new technology - usually a dangerous one - into a plot.  It's a plot contrivance, not a real thing- *bright flash and mushroom cloud in the background* ...usually not a real thing.

Another example is that the Nazis were essentially defeated on 35mm film - films in the 40s and 50s depicting the reality of the war and the horror of the holocaust effectively dismantled any lingering fondness for nazi ideology (for a few decades)

On the other hand, there's this usually religious perception that people are blank slates who mindlessly imitate the media they consume - so violence in media translates to violence in real life.  Yep, the video games cause mass shootings argument.  I think I can conclusively prove that people do not necessarily imitate what they consume with Christians themselves reading the New Testament.  *tongue firmly in cheek*

I genuinely think there's some sort of cycle of influence where people are influenced by media and also influence it.  Little nudges here and there.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I was gifted the entire boxed set of "The X-Files." I gifted them along to the St. Louis County Library for their annual book sale. I liked the drama, the actors were often first rate, and [beginbangingheadagainstthewall]they never fucking proved anything[endbangingheadagainstthewall].

[Hydra009]

I was gifted the entire boxed set of "The X-Files." I gifted them along to the St. Louis County Library for their annual book sale. I liked the drama, the actors were often first rate, and [beginbangingheadagainstthewall]they never fucking proved anything[endbangingheadagainstthewall].

There was a pretty funny spoof of that on Invader Zim.  One guy finally captures space aliens on film, vindicating his childhood belief, but unexpectedly, the aliens invite him to leave Earth on their spaceship (he accepted, of course *gestures broadly*) and in his excitement, he accidentally brings the video recorder with him.  Oops!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Who thought that "black oil" thing up?

[Hydra009]

Who thought that "black oil" thing up?

Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz according to imdb.  Or was that rhetorical?

[Hydra009]

I just finished the latest Rick and Morty.  Three good ones in a row.  This one is isn't exactly as stellar as the last two, but it's not bad, either.  7/10.

It makes me wonder what I'd be like as a one of a multitude of multiversal counterparts.  (Not completely a theoretical question since I am a twin)  I'd like to think we would all work together and wouldn't be horrible to each other.

I think my crowning achievement would be a New Eden - a world that's mostly feral and unspoiled except for a comparatively small high-tech civilization confined to one of the larger islands that sustains itself with a fairly modest environmental impact.  A number of eco-cities sustaining a population of about a million or so people instead of billions, much more sustainable.  A pleasant and somewhat comfy existence without being either excessively in need or in greed - a golden mean.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz according to imdb.  Or was that rhetorical?

Putting those folks in the "Lazy" bucket.

[Hydra009]

New Rick and Morty episode sucked.  I knew three good ones in a row was too good.  They can't all be winners.

[Nobody]

That looks more like The Simpsons.