Defying Gravity: "Love, Honor, Obey" 9/13 - Grading & Discussion

[DEWLine]

Interesting tidbit - Nov. 5, 2052 is a Tuesday. Goss was going to wait until Nov. 5, the day after the election, to reveal Beta to the crew. We can conclude the election is not the United States Presidential Election (unless the Constitution is changed - Presidential Elections will be the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November every 4 years).

Of course, this begs the question as to why Goss couldn't adjust his own plans. He planned to reveal Beta on Nov. 5. The episode begins on Nov. 1 (the day after Halloween). That's only 4 days difference. Talk about unflexible.

Might have something to do with who's running the US government at that point and in what way that country's being run. A nation with a hospital named for C. Everett Koop is likely to have gone in a particular direction in the four decades between our now and the start of the characters' competition/training program.

 

[Christopher]

Might have something to do with who's running the US government at that point and in what way that country's being run. A nation with a hospital named for C. Everett Koop is likely to have gone in a particular direction in the four decades between our now and the start of the characters' competition/training program.

I don't recall Koop being a very political figure (although he was strongly anti-abortion, which might be what you're implying). In any case, though, a shift in the political ideology of the US Government wouldn't be likely to result in a change of Election Day from Tuesday to Monday.

 

[Shawnster]

Might have something to do with who's running the US government at that point and in what way that country's being run. A nation with a hospital named for C. Everett Koop is likely to have gone in a particular direction in the four decades between our now and the start of the characters' competition/training program.

I don't recall Koop being a very political figure (although he was strongly anti-abortion, which might be what you're implying). In any case, though, a shift in the political ideology of the US Government wouldn't be likely to result in a change of Election Day from Tuesday to Monday.

No, it would take a Constitutional Amendment or a dissolution/radical change in the US Government.

Are there any icons, logos, graphics or flags in Defying Gravity depicting the US Government as we know it today? I've not seen any US Flags, not even as a shoulder patch.

 

[Christopher]

In any case, though, a shift in the political ideology of the US Government wouldn't be likely to result in a change of Election Day from Tuesday to Monday.

No, it would take a Constitutional Amendment or a dissolution/radical change in the US Government.

No, it wouldn't, actually. The Constitution doesn't specify that elections must be held on a Tuesday. It says only, "The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States." Originally, Congress let the states hold elections anytime within 34 days before the electoral college met on the first Wednesday in December (I think the "which day" clause applies only to the day the electors vote). It wasn't until 1845 that Congress designated the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as national Election Day.

So Congress could change Election Day if it wanted; I'm just saying I don't see any reason why that would happen because of a shift in political ideology. It might come about for other reasons; I've heard proposals to make Election Day a national holiday, make a big patriotic event out of it as well as giving people more free time to vote, and moving it to Monday might be a good idea in that case, since it would then be part of a holiday weekend.

And of course we already have early voting in some states, stretching "Election Day" out to a whole month. I took advantage of early voting myself last year, since I wanted to avoid the rush on Election Day -- only to find that I had to wait in line for a couple of hours due to the heavy turnout, and if I'd actually waited until Election Day, there would've been no line at all at my local polling place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_(United_States)#History

 

[Shawnster]

Ah, thanks. Knew I should have looked it up.

So, it would just take an act of Congress. Piece of cake! This opens up the possibility that Congress moved election day for some reason. Despite the early voting, the only day currently referred to as "Election Day" now is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in Nov.

 

[Christopher]

^Yes; my point was simply that the existence of early voting demonstrates that there's no Constitutional requirement that the election has to be held only on a single particular Tuesday, that variations from that are possible.

 

[roguephoenix]

so this is a canadian produced show, right? any chance it will continue without abc's backing? i've seen 5 eps so far and i like it.

 

[Christopher]

It's an international co-production by studios in Canada, the US, Britain, and Germany, and is filmed in Canada. The US is the only nation where it isn't being shown on the network that's co-producing it (Fox is the US producing partner). So its future isn't dependent on its performance on any one network.

 

[AviTrek]

It's an international co-production by studios in Canada, the US, Britain, and Germany, and is filmed in Canada. The US is the only nation where it isn't being shown on the network that's co-producing it (Fox is the US producing partner). So its future isn't dependent on its performance on any one network.

In addition, given all those co-producers I would imagine the US rights are cheap enough that a cable channel should be able to pick up the rights.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I just saw the next episode after this one. Without spoiling any of you, here are a few highlights...

- You'll see what was in the compartment.
- The flashbacks centered around Eve and took place in Peru.
- You'll learn more about Beta.
- You'll find out what their true mission is.
- You'll find out why the term "Beta" is used.

Spoiler: Beta

There's an "Alpha" as well.

In short, the episode was a big turning point and we got to see more of the big picture. Now I really want this show to continue. It's getting interesting.

 

[firehawk12]

That was the most disappointing reveal ever, especially since they basically changed the premise of the show. I really think these people just have no idea how to write serialized science fiction television - they're trying to apply the soap opera relationship angst mechanics to the plot as well as the characters and it just doesn't work.

I mean, when you have a 20 minute scene in a shitty prime time soap where the girl tells her potential lover that her step-father/boyfriend/whatever tried to rape her when she was younger, that can work because it's generically emotionally manipulative. You spend the whole season alluding to the character's "dark past" and the payoff is a tear-jerker scene later in the season.

That just doesn't work in SF, especially nowadays. You can't just blab for 40 minutes and expect people to give a shit.

I now firmly believe this show should have just been a straight adaptation of the British/Canadian series rather than this... thing. Even if they kept all the "5 years ago" stuff and dropped the Beta stuff, the show could have worked. But nope... they tried to bite the low hanging fruit of Lost and screwed up their own show.

Oh well. Maybe Ron Livingston can jump to yet another show that'll get canceled in a few episodes.

 

[Tomato]

^

Should we/can we start another thread about the new episode? Seemed really interesting to talk about and I have my own theories too.

 

[BigFoot]

^ If you feel like it, go right ahead and start a new thread. I'll definitely join the discussion.