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The guy that looks like Obama, was in Breaking Bad, ya'll. He plays a serious-don't-F-with-me, quite well.
I thought the show was better than I thought it would be. I didn't have high hopes for it. But it did go through a lot in just the pilot episode, so it'll be interesting to see how they play it out in a season (if it's not cancelled).
On the other hand, I do have one annoyance... the fat guy. I don't understand how someone who was on pure hunting/gathering/farming diet for 15 years, can be fat. Stuff like irritates me because it's unrealistic. I had the same issue with that big guy in Lost. Meh. Makes no sense.
I didn't like this show either for many of the reasons stated here already. Not the least of which, the commercial made it look like that young kid would be some kind of tough girl, but she still needs a man to save her.
However, Hurley being fat on Lost was explained. He was out in the jungle dipping Dharma potato chips into Dharma ranch dip that he found from a Dharma supplies depot or drop.
The guy that looks like Obama, was in Breaking Bad, ya'll. He plays a serious-don't-F-with-me, quite well.
I thought the show was better than I thought it would be. I didn't have high hopes for it. But it did go through a lot in just the pilot episode, so it'll be interesting to see how they play it out in a season (if it's not cancelled).
On the other hand, I do have one annoyance... the fat guy. I don't understand how someone who was on pure hunting/gathering/farming diet for 15 years, can be fat. Stuff like irritates me because it's unrealistic. I had the same issue with that big guy in Lost. Meh. Makes no sense.
I agree about the fat guy. In their world you'd see a lot of thin, strong people. Those teenagers had been working to feed themselvers all their life and the younger children wouldn't have an idea what that 'other' world was even like. I'd think in their world to be fat would be a mark of very great distincion since only the rich/gentry/powerful would have the food.
About Lost... if you consider the time lapse and the detail, it hadn't been that long in real time so I can accept that. (And Hurley had his stash of course).
It got huge ratings and its being spoken of as a hit so I'm hoping... There is so much to explore.
A crank radio (even if not destroyed by the mysterious force in the story) would be useless if there were no power to broadcast from any radio stations. With an extremely large human population on the Earth, a lot of people would have to die to reach any possibility of survival of the rest without all the "stuff" that makes adequate food production possible in the present day. Especially considering that very little of our food is locally produced now. Transporting food over even fairly modest distances just would not happen in the scenario they're talking about.
Someone commented about how fast they found the missing. I'm thinking that this is a largely empty place. If they spend a while walking towards there, and there was walking, eating sleeping, watching and thats pretty much it, then it would be pretty boring. In books you can do a lot with that but it doesn't come through too well on TV.
I imagine the die off was massive. Cities would be avoided, I'd think, for years as there would be so many bodies rotting. Culturally this could translate into an unspoken tabu. But at first survivors would go as far from large centers of people as they could since it would be a breeding ground for disease. Their village appears to be small and more or less by itself and I would think this is how most people would live.
I was thinking about the clothes, too. If the numbers you'd expect died off, all the stuff they left was up for grabs. The mcmantions of today would have been a heap of ruins by then, but before they did they would be picked clean of anything of use. This would definately include blankets and sheets and shoes and boots and any clothes and coats they found. So long as kept dry and clean, they'd last. The hair and makeup don't match, but the clothes could be said to.
Notice how the small kids are dressed, with the school, with handmedown of a sorts? They'd canabalize what they could and reuse it as they could.
Does anyone remember Jericho, about the middle, when they didn't have water to wash with? They rubbed this gunk into the actors hair so it really looked like it would. Ah, for that sort of realism.
Arghhhh....I'm trying not to get too invested in this show after the whole Terra Nova heartbreak. I'm finding discussing the situation/premis of both shows (no power, or in the case of Terra Nova time travel to escape a toxic world) far, far more interesting than discussing the actual show itself....
I imagine that there would be all sorts of skills that might be useful. Even ones that don't come to mind immediately - many professions that focus on less Western medicine would be at an advantage over traditional ones, I would think (?). 15 years into this future would you be better off with an experienced midwife or your ob/gyn? A blacksmith or farrier would be in more demand than many modern day professions. I knit...I make the occasional scarf and baby blanket but that also means I could make a seine or a trapping net.
I would think that the overlords would be sort of like the devil you know being better than the one you don't..... the might have to pay taxes (most likley a percentage of their crops) but a "good" warlord would always make sure to leave enough for the people to survive on - out of self interest to be sure but still....
I'm not a hard core survivalist/prepper type but we've had to "bug out" before in different places we've lived (typhoons, hurricanes, tsunami warnings, wildfire, etc...) and we've got some basic gear including things like paper maps in case the gps isn't up and running. Crank flashlights and radios (I assume those would still work? or is the premise that nothing can charge a battery even if it's off the grid?)
Husband is always draggin me into REI for something or other and sometimes I like to play " what would I be able to grab and carry " in a Walking Dead kind of world, LOL.
I think something alot of people don't realize that much of the produce you buy in the supermarket today wouldn't be able to be used for germination of new plants...
Lots of good points. And yes, it is.
I wish CBS had saved our Jericho message board. Aside from the arguing and planning, we had a section about the Jericho world and some very deep discussion. When the pattern emerged in this show my first thought was it was an emp since we did some real indepth discussion of how they work there. It will be interesting to see what sort of fanfiction this show produces, since aside for the hurt/comfort stuff and the romance, a lot tends to be about the background and includes lots of specualtive detail.
We had a thread on what skills you had that would make you useful. It was amazing what you'd not think of. Anyone who could maintain things like clothes, or make them, or repair them would be valuable. Someone who could tat socks with holes would be important. Makes it fun to think of the things we call hobbies which didn't used to be.
With the overlords, I'm sure part of it is that. The essense of feudalism was a sharing of needs. The pesants needed protection from raids. The lords needed someone to grow food. Thus it started. And in terms of the guns mentioned elsewhere, should anyone but the overlord come to the town with bad thoughts, all of them would be out, so in a way its advantageous so long as they get enough from you.
Depending on how the emp occured, some ham sets might still be working. If it was arial then the signels might not go far, or not at all. One thing which would would be morse code.
Yep, all that stuff from the store won't grow itself. Hopefully this is where the purist and the hobbiest with their heirloom seeds come in.
Jericho rules! Maybe this show will get better and survive the cut! But then again, that's what I've thought about a number of JJ Abrams shows in recent years.
I liked the pilot enough to give this show a shot with a few caveats. It does seem to be more like 150 years later. Sure things would get overgrown quickly but it looked like decades had gone by outside. The girl w/bow is a little too close to The Hunger Games to me. Mr BadA-Kung-Fu guy is so good 10 guys watch him beat you up one at time is a tired concept. In a real knife fight the second he turns his back to 8 guys they all take him out. Silly. I agree that after 15 years the kids are just now exploring? Give me a break. They are kids and this is their world. They'd be dirty, poorly groomed, and wild as hell exploring every inch of their surroundings. The writers want us to suspend logic of course but then will rely on it at some point. So we'll see.
I thought the premiere was just okay. I don't like the lead actress. Plus her hair looked so distractingly fabulous. Not the realism I expected from a show with this subject matter.
There were a couple of hand-drawn small wagons and garden carts in the village - but they looked old rather than new and handmade. Did anyone spot any waterwells? I didn't. Was there an adequate spring somewhere nearby, perhaps? How faraway was that lake with the drowned church? Did they haul and purify the water by boiling it?
No gristmills, other waterpowered mills, sawmills, or windmills? (for grinding corn or wheat and pumping water, etc., if not for generating electricity. And eventually, for weaving cloth). No blacksmith? No bloomeries and/or forges? No rehabbed vintage steam locomotives or even steamboats providing minimal transportation for goods and people? No sailboats, rowboats, or canoes, or kayaks, with all that water in the streets and reborn lakes?
Where were the piles of firewood? Even assuming the opening episode took place in mid-summer (judging by the corn), wood would be required for cooking and it would be time to start getting it in for winter - make that winter two years ahead, as wood has to season before it will burn well.
Would people continue to live in large suburban houses which might have been new when the power went out, or would they create smaller, easier to heat dwelling places after a while? My money's on log cabins and dug-outs, not vinyl-sided two and a half story snouthouses as depicted. Much more efficient, and easier to defend.
Only a few horses were evident, none in the hands of the "good guys", and no mules or oxen. After fifteen years, breeding programs could have made these animals quite abundant and commonly available. Where were the sheep? Any spinning wheels and looms around? Grandma's treadle sewing machine? Butter churns? Coffee mills, also useful for grinding small amounts of corn or wheat? I'd surely have appreciated a glance inside those decaying suburban vinyl-sided houses.
Why did they burn all those candles at once? Totally unnecessary to squander them like that - and how did they get their presumably-by-this-time handmade candles to be so even in shape, and such a pristine white? Bayberry candles are green, if you're lucky enough to find bayberries near Chicago - more likely tallow candles would be used, and they're a light yellowy tannish color. Did they find candle molds in an antique shop and reuse them, or are these candles dipped? If either of these options were used, wouldn't the results be taper-shaped, rather than the squat, very current (i.e. 2012) low candles like those available today? A few oil lamps and lanterns were in use - where did they get the lamp oil, after fifteen years? It was nice to see cressets, however - wish they'd indicated what was in them. Pine knots soaked in tallow, perhaps...
Why was the "village"'s defensive wall wattle, when the small cul-de-sac (oddly appearing to sit in the middle of nowhere rather than in typical suburbia) backed up to dense woodlands? Surely a pioneer-style stockade fence with blockhouses - and a lookout - would have provided better protection against marauders of all kinds.
Where were the old books? Surely, they'd be cherished as sources of knowledge, wisdom, and entertainment. Other forms of entertainment and social activities would (perhaps the series will eventually get to this) would include accoustic instruments, singing, dance, storytelling, amateur drama, games and participatory sports.
I noticed ice cubes - nice, clear, squarish ones - in the head bad guy's drink. Obviously a luxury item in mid-summer, indicating access to a good ice house somewhere, plus labor to cut the ice of ponds in winter and store it, then retrieve it months later when wanted. Very high-living, and a nice quiet touch to indicate the status of this bad guy (sorry, his name escapes me - the military fellow with the big tent, equine-art folding screens, and oriental rugs near the conclusion).
In short, after fifteen years, a society which resembled the mid-nineteenth century would seem far more likely than this neo-Dark Ages scenario.
Having survived two severe ice storms and related power outtages of around a week each time during the dead of winter in recent years, I found that my most useful possessions, barring battery-operated devices, had been around c. 1860: fireplaces, firewood, cast iron skillets and wooden spoons for stirring, a brass dipper on a long iron handle (good for boiling small amounts of water for hot chocolate, tea, oatmeal, or face washing), candles, oil lamps and lamp oil, an old coverlet to hang in a doorway, wool blankets to pile on...where were the sturdy old items of this sort?
Perhaps upcoming episodes will focus more on typical activities of daily living rather than on all that shiny clean hair (really, with soap made from lye and fat? Okay, maybe they knew about soapwort and used that instead, or indulged in raw egg conditioners, which would be REALLY indulgent. They could always use rags or old curlers and water-set their hair, so the ladies' curls didn't bother me too much) and all those sword fights. Hope so, anyway...
Last edited by CraigCreek; 09-22-2012 at 03:48 PM..
There were a couple of hand-drawn small wagons and garden carts in the village - but they looked old rather than new and handmade. Did anyone spot any waterwells? I didn't. Was there an adequate spring somewhere nearby, perhaps? How faraway was that lake with the drowned church? Did they haul and purify the water by boiling it?
No gristmills, other waterpowered mills, sawmills, or windmills? (for grinding corn or wheat and pumping water, etc., if not for generating electricity. And eventually, for weaving cloth). No blacksmith? No bloomeries and/or forges? No rehabbed vintage steam locomotives or even steamboats providing minimal transportation for goods and people? No sailboats, rowboats, or canoes, or kayaks, with all that water in the streets and reborn lakes?
Where were the piles of firewood? Even assuming the opening episode took place in mid-summer (judging by the corn), wood would be required for cooking and it would be time to start getting it in for winter - make that winter two years ahead, as wood has to season before it will burn well.
Would people continue to live in large suburban houses which might have been new when the power went out, or would they create smaller, easier to heat dwelling places after a while? My money's on log cabins and dug-outs, not vinyl-sided two and a half story snouthouses as depicted. Much more efficient, and easier to defend.
Only a few horses were evident, none in the hands of the "good guys", and no mules or oxen. After fifteen years, breeding programs could have made these animals quite abundant and commonly available. Where were the sheep? Any spinning wheels and looms around? Grandma's treadle sewing machine? Butter churns? Coffee mills, also useful for grinding small amounts of corn or wheat? I'd surely have appreciated a glance inside those decaying suburban vinyl-sided houses.
Why did they burn all those candles at once? Totally unnecessary to squander them like that - and how did they get their presumably-by-this-time handmade candles to be so even in shape, and such a pristine white? Bayberry candles are green, if you're lucky enough to find bayberries near Chicago - more likely tallow candles would be used, and they're a light yellowy tannish color. Did they find candle molds in an antique shop and reuse them, or are these candles dipped? If either of these options were used, wouldn't the results be taper-shaped, rather than the squat, very current (i.e. 2012) low candles like those available today? A few oil lamps and lanterns were in use - where did they get the lamp oil, after fifteen years? It was nice to see cressets, however - wish they'd indicated what was in them. Pine knots soaked in tallow, perhaps...
Why was the "village"'s defensive wall wattle, when the small cul-de-sac (oddly appearing to sit in the middle of nowhere rather than in typical suburbia) backed up to dense woodlands? Surely a pioneer-style stockade fence with blockhouses - and a lookout - would have provided better protection against marauders of all kinds.
Where were the old books? Surely, they'd be cherished as sources of knowledge, wisdom, and entertainment. Other forms of entertainment and social activities would (perhaps the series will eventually get to this) would include accoustic instruments, singing, dance, storytelling, amateur drama, games and participatory sports.
I noticed ice cubes - nice, clear, squarish ones - in the head bad guy's drink. Obviously a luxury item in mid-summer, indicating access to a good ice house somewhere, plus labor to cut the ice of ponds in winter and store it, then retrieve it months later when wanted. Very high-living, and a nice quiet touch to indicate the status of this bad guy (sorry, his name escapes me - the military fellow with the big tent, equine-art folding screens, and oriental rugs near the conclusion).
In short, after fifteen years, a society which resembled the mid-nineteenth century would seem far more likely than this neo-Dark Ages scenario.
Having survived two severe ice storms and related power outtages of around a week each time during the dead of winter in recent years, I found that my most useful possessions, barring battery-operated devices, had been around c. 1860: fireplaces, firewood, cast iron skillets and wooden spoons for stirring, a brass dipper on a long iron handle (good for boiling small amounts of water for hot chocolate, tea, oatmeal, or face washing), candles, oil lamps and lamp oil, an old coverlet to hang in a doorway, wool blankets to pile on...where were the sturdy old items of this sort?
Perhaps upcoming episodes will focus more on typical activities of daily living rather than on all that shiny clean hair (really, with soap made from lye and fat? Okay, maybe they knew about soapwort and used that instead, or indulged in raw egg conditioners, which would be REALLY indulgent. They could always use rags or old curlers and water-set their hair, so the ladies' curls didn't bother me too much) and all those sword fights. Hope so, anyway...
I'll give them consideration in that scene for some of it. I'm sure there are more villagers than the ones we say. But its a warm sunny day in growing season and most were probably out working. I did like the way they were using every spot you could grow food for doing it, including a junked car. They could have the other things and we didn't see them. They might also not have some of them as the overlord isn't approving. Or this particutar bunch doesn't but others does. We haven't seen enough to fully know.
I have a thought on the houses, that they were communal. I didn't see any other dwellings, and we didn't see inside, but it would make sense if you had a house which was structual to use it, and if its big share it. My one real question is what sort of decay would you get over fifteen years? Houses today are made to last without major repairs for thirty so maybe they'd be okay, but in time they'll have to branch out. My house is 82 years old and standing firmly so if it was my choice I'l look for an old one. But if all you have are new one, it would be doable.
Your right on the candles. (nice to find a fellow candle fan). Probably few have any idea of the difference. I'd assume they have oil lamps of some sort. You can buy those at walmart so they should still be around.
And yeah, I do want to see them less nicely coaffed. At least the guys can grow mullats
The year before I moved here was the Big Ice Storm. My friends had no power for over a week. They did have a fireplace. I chose a heater which works without power and a gas stove. When the power was out a while ago I really needed coffee, so put it in the auto maker and just boiled water and dribbled it in. It wouldn't the same story but really would be interesting to see the beginning and how they coped (or didn't).
The sword fight? I'll suspend disbelief for a good sword fight. The one on the cliffs in Princess Bride is still my modern favorite there but I have rewatched this one a few...
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Maybe this show will get better and survive the cut! But then again, that's what I've thought about a number of JJ Abrams shows in recent years. 
