"Wayward Pines" miniseries discussion (spoilers)

[Turd Ferguson]

When this show started, I was convinced that Matt Dillon's character was dead and Wayward Pines was hell, or a town version of Hotel California with Terrence Howard's sheriff being Satan. That I could deal with.

But, I read spoilers on the books to see if I was right, and I can't even enjoy the show anymore. These questions rage through my mind every time I watch:

How are there cars? They should be rusted out and useless.

How is there gas? Who is refining it?

Who supplies the lightbulbs for the town?

Who supplies the paper?

Will my refrigerator still be keeping my ice cream cold in the year 4015?

I may be completely wrong and Wayward Pines could have been a hub of commercial activity back in the 21st century, but if it wasn't, the idea of the town existing by itself 2000 years in the future falls apart REAL quick.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Robits or aliens?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

@Ferguson: From what I remember of the book, Pilcher set the whole thing up in a plan that took years to implement; apart from the cryogenic chambers, there's also a massive underground cavern with all the provisions - fuel, food, vehicles, etc. - that the town would ever need.

Oh, and about 'Hotel California': It's not Satan.

 

[Lonemagpie]

yep, exactly as I predicted. Damn shame it's revealed in a huge long expository speech. Next question is why did they settle for the town being 2014 level?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Abnormalization did not happen quickly.

It was a slow laborious process involving hundreds if not thousands of years of evolution.

They had to go back to this "save point" to find a usable sample-population completely absent of abnormal DNA.

between the lines, that's what blonde Doctor said.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

 

[1001001]

Assuming what we've been told is actually the truth...

I'm hoping they have answers for the myriad questions this raises. Seems strange we would devolve so quickly and so completely.

Why don't the Aberrations come down the cliff Sheriff Burke climbed up?

I still think they would be better off explaining everything to the adults. Better than murdering them in the public square.

Are they planning to eventually retake the planet, or are they planning to stay in their little bubble forever??

I'm still watching, but I hope this has all been thought out and will have a satisfying ending.

 

[Starkers]

so wayward pines is effectively Terminal from Blake's 7, complete with Links?

I had read Lonemagpie's hypothesis and he was right, it still doesn't quite make sense, if you were going to do this why would you populate your town with any old random who comes your way, and why create a fake 2014? To keep the adults happy seems a stretch,especially given its such a creepy place. What's worse, to find you're one of the last humans or to imagine you're trapped in some kind of hellish Stepford?

And if kids are so important why are their any people without kids (Carla G and her husband for example) it makes no sense. It just doesn't quite hang together, either something else is going on or the story's full of holes (I suspect the latter)

 

[1001001]

I had read Lonemagpie's hypothesis and he was right, it still doesn't quite make sense, if you were going to do this why would you populate your town with any old random who comes your way, and why create a fake 2014?

I thought the teacher said that people were specifically chosen, not randomly captured.

2014 must have been when they went into hibernation...??

 

[Beagleman]

I really hope this explanation turns out out to be a lie because of all the reasons mentioned above, it doesn't makes one lick of sense.

 

[Starkers]

I had read Lonemagpie's hypothesis and he was right, it still doesn't quite make sense, if you were going to do this why would you populate your town with any old random who comes your way, and why create a fake 2014?

I thought the teacher said that people were specifically chosen, not randomly captured.

2014 must have been when they went into hibernation...??

Well Juliette Lewis' last memory of the real world was 2000 or so so they've been freezing people for at least 14 years, they might be specifically choosing some people but others seem to end up in Wayward pines by virtue of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and even when people were chosen you have to wonder why. Why would you take a highly trained secret service agent 2000 years into the future just to run a toyshop?

 

[Starbreaker]

So the solution that TVLine.com came up with is that old sheriff abducted the Burke family on those two separate occasions before he was put into hibernation as well. Plausible, but silly.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The tenders of the program, probably Men in Black are clones?

Time travel or parallel earths?

I'm still not ruling out aliens.

This could all be a thought experiment in a bio dome?

in fantastic Four comics, there was this town that made a time dilatation bubble. Years past on the inside for every couple minutes on the outside. When the bubble popped a couple days later, it was a few thousand years later for the bubble people and they were covered in tinfoil all futuristic like and ####.

Remember how the Morlocks worked?

Seemingly cannibalistic bastards, running amok, but it turned out that they were Like bees, but with a telepathic central command forcing structure and order.

 

[Starkers]

So the solution that TVLine.com came up with is that old sheriff abducted the Burke family on those two separate occasions before he was put into hibernation as well. Plausible, but silly.

If what we've been told is the truth then that is the only thing that makes any sense. Although it still doesn't make any sense really, unless the plan was always to take the whole Burke family, but surely if that was the case there must be easier ways of doing it than disappearing Burke and then hoping his wife and son go looking for him?

The more I think about this the less sense the show makes. Are the people being specifically chosen or taken randomly (or is it a mixture)?

If they’re picked for particular talents why bother when it doesn’t look like you’re going to make use of those talents 2000 years in the future? And why would you lift people who are going to be missed like Secret Service agents? And even if you were going to do this, why have them go missing instead of merely faking their deaths?

If people are taken at random on the other hand, is this a deliberate process or just because they pass through the actual town while it’s being constructed and might blow its cover? And again why take any adults anyway if what you want is a ‘first generation’?

So many holes!

 

[Morpheus 02]

i'm not totally convinced it's the future...or at least this hibernation stuff.

how long is the series supposed to be?

I was bummed when Juliette Lewis' character died, because I had assumed by the end she'd be reunited with her adult daughter...I think Matt Dillon's character will find her by the end...possibly a set up where she tries to get her mom anyway, and becomes a season 2 character.

There's two-way time travel involved... this is more of some kind of experiment rather than to "save the future"...as others asked, where do the supplies, energy, etc. come from?

 

[Morpheus 02]

I'm surprised that they're adapting the trilogy into just 10 episodes. I thought that they'd just be adapting the first one. Hopefully it won't feel rushed.

We're 1/2 way trough the show...how are we bookwise?

 

[Enterprise is Great]

I haven't read the books but I've read that episode 5 is where book 1 ends.

 

[Admiral2]

in fantastic Four comics, there was this town that made a time dilatation bubble. Years past on the inside for every couple minutes on the outside. When the bubble popped a couple days later, it was a few thousand years later for the bubble people and they were covered in tinfoil all futuristic like and ####.

"Central City Does Not Answer." The last of John Byrne's stories in the comic.

It wasn't just any town. It was Reed's hometown and the setting for FF for the first two issues before they got their costumes and set up in new York.

They find out about the time difference when Iron Man goes through the boundary and falls out a second later, claiming he'd been trapped there for three weeks.

I've got nothing to contribute past that. I thought WP was crap. Just the mention of this story brought back pleasant comic-reading memories.

 

[Starkers]

Well I’m still not entirely sold, and there are still plot holes aplenty, but at least episode 6 did address some of my issues, especially with regard to why they were treating the adults in town the way they were and keeping the reality of the situation a secret from them. I like as well how, in hindsight, we reappraise some of the characters (in particular Terrance Howard’s sheriff). I’m guessing Carla Gugino and her husband are going to blow a hole in the fence, with terrible consequences (I wonder if Pilcher has a group C?).

It’s still utterly preposterous, but its eminently watchable, I like the way characters motivations and allegiances shift, and Toby Jones is a joy as effectively the world’s nicest Bond villain!

 

[Morpheus 02]

i'm kinda disappointed it really is suspended animation. Having all this stuff work 2000 years later seems crazy.

But I guess i'll roll with it until it's done

 

[cultcross]

At OP's request, moving to Sci-FI and Fantasy.