Charlie Jade

[broberfett]

The first episode was boring as hell. I'm trying to decide if they have a lower or higher budget than Flash Gordon.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ I found it hard to follow (sci-fi cuts prob don't help) but I think it has a decent look, maybe not high-budget but shot well which helps offset any actual cheapness.

 

[broberfett]

The dialogue is not great. The main star has no charisma, maybe the charisma of a rock. A very boring rock.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Just watched the second ep, and I am *very* intrigued. (I freaking *love* the music, I know that much already. And Reena is totally hot. ) I think I will stick with it. I already find myself wishing that this show would be released on DVD here - unfortunately, it's only available in Region 2.

A couple of questions (remember that I missed last week's ep): Who was that girl narrating the last scene? (she said, about Charlie, something about "he's more lost than I am")? Also, am I correct in assuming that Vexcor's home universe is Alpha, but they have 'satellite' offices in the other two 'verses?

One other thing: I realize the necessity of the different color schemes, but it's beginning to grate. Especially in Beta, where everything is so blue that it's almost sickening.

 

[JD]

I didn't notice this thread before, so I'm gonna just pop in and say that what I saw in the first ep was pretty interesting... oh, crap commercial break is over.

Edit 1: Ok, half way through now, and so far so good,I'm starting to like this even more as it goes along. Yeah, not alot has happened yet, but what has seems to be setting up some interesting situations. Oh, and 01 Boxer is creepy as hell. One question, is each episode narrated by a different character. And the edited language is getting annoying already.
Edit 2: Done now, and I can officially say that there is now a new Charlie Jade fan on the boards. As for the pacing, I'm getting a feeling that perhaps we should think of this as a 20 hour movie, instead of 20 individual episodes, and IMO if you do that then I think it's understandable why the first few episodes are slower paced.

 

[cylkoth]

And Reena is totally hot. )

Indeed...

A couple of questions (remember that I missed last week's ep): Who was that girl narrating the last scene? (she said, about Charlie, something about "he's more lost than I am")? Also, am I correct in assuming that Vexcor's home universe is Alpha, but they have 'satellite' offices in the other two 'verses?

Reena was the voice. Both she and Charlie were in the vicinity of the secret Vexcorp facility in Alphaverse when it blew, and they both 'shifted' into Beta, where they're both fish out of water. And yes, Vexcorp has it's tentacles into all three verses to varying degrees.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Reena was the voice.

Hmmm. I was confused by the appearance of somebody else I didn't recognize, whenever her voiceover was on. I thought it was meant to be that person.

Reena's from Gammaverse, though, isn't she?

 

[JD]

I made the same mistake, so don't feel bad. Yeah, Reena is from Gammaverse.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Two other questions:

- Why is that Boxer kid called '01'? Is he a clone or something?

- Who was the old guy that Reena was talking to? She goes to his house, he gets all angry, she leaves, he shoots himself. He had no idea who Reena was, but she seemed to recognize him, though. Who was he?

 

[JD]

I've been wondering about the 01 thing myself. I have a feeling that alot of this stuff will probably be answered as the show goes along, at least I hope it is.
Which brings up another question, how much is left unresolved at the end of the season?

 

[Sakrysta]

I am so frustrated that I missed the first couple episodes on Sci-Fi. Kegek's avid praise for this show put it high on my "to see" list. Unfortunately, I was on vacation when the airing began, and from looking at Sci-Fi's online schedule, it doesn't like they're doing any repeats. Very bummed, as I really would like to start at the beginning. Amazon Unbox needs to make it available so I can just download it and be done with it.

 

[Sakrysta]

So, I've managed to see the first episode, and it's very cool. I love the non-American feel of the direction. Alphaverse is so intriguing. I love that I barely have a handle on what's going on. A show shouldn't reveal all its secrets in the first episode.

If my initial impression is sustained in the ongoing story line, I will gladly invest in the DVDs if and when they become available in the US.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

- Who was the old guy that Reena was talking to? She goes to his house, he gets all angry, she leaves, he shoots himself. He had no idea who Reena was, but she seemed to recognize him, though. Who was he?

If I remember correctly, he was a scientist involved in the dimensional work for Vexcorp.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

- Who was the old guy that Reena was talking to? She goes to his house, he gets all angry, she leaves, he shoots himself. He had no idea who Reena was, but she seemed to recognize him, though. Who was he?

If I remember correctly, he was a scientist involved in the dimensional work for Vexcorp.

I see. So was he just pretending not to recognize Reena, then? Who gave Reena the note telling her to go to his house?

At first I thought that Reena had assumed he was his counterpart from her universe, then I realized that (apart from Jasmine/Paula) there don't seem to BE any counterparts in this show.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

- Who was the old guy that Reena was talking to? She goes to his house, he gets all angry, she leaves, he shoots himself. He had no idea who Reena was, but she seemed to recognize him, though. Who was he?

If I remember correctly, he was a scientist involved in the dimensional work for Vexcorp.

I see. So was he just pretending not to recognize Reena, then? Who gave Reena the note telling her to go to his house?

At first I thought that Reena had assumed he was his counterpart from her universe, then I realized that (apart from Jasmine/Paula) there don't seem to BE any counterparts in this show.

She doesn't know him either. She was shown his picture by one of the scientists who worked on the project in her verse, he's the one who gave her the note... I think.

 

[stj]

I thought Rena was told about the old man by his coworkers counterparts in the gammaverse (although he reveals the betaverse coworkers are dead.) More to the point, I have no idea why he kills himself. Nor do I have any idea exactly why Rena runs from Charlie. She needs to gather all information about what exactly happened to her and Charlie so far as she knows might be one. Her voiceover even makes it appear that she wasn't afraid he might finger her for the bombing! (Which he plainly wasn't, as he didn't shout to passersby "She was at the reactor accident with a gun!" or some such.) It seems she ran so Charlie wouldn't get an exposition dump which would cut short the Charlie angst.

Shaky character motivations are a little offputting, especially for the suicide. 01 being a standard issue psychopath isn't terribly interesting, either. On the other hand, Charlie doesn't have narration flatly contradicting what's on screen either. Try it once more at least, I think.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

I missed the pilot and watched the second episode and was quite confused by watching the second episode myself.

The chop chop nature of some of the episodes would certainly be one of my criticisms, there are bits about CharlieJade I don't like but other bits I think are wonderful and fascinate me

As for the pacing, I'm getting a feeling that perhaps we should think of this as a 20 hour movie, instead of 20 individual episodes, and IMO if you do that then I think it's understandable why the first few episodes are slower paced.

I agree its better to think of CharlieJade as a long series short films stitched together into one giant movie.


addressing the weird old guy blowing his own head off, here's what I've read into it

* SPOILERS *

(I've already downloaded some episodes off the net which have not been aired)

The old man is a guy who worked on the parallel universe project, but he isn't like one of the scientists we know from our own world. He's a deeply traumatized individual who realizes he's been made, once Rena sees him he knowns a big bad foreign world and a powerful mega corporation with no concept of democracy has him in their cross hairs. The old guy has been hiding out in today's South African community, he might have even found solidarity with the local poor and he's no intention of being detained again by these futuristic people who will never treat people humanely so at first he takes out his anger on Rena, remember this is an old guy who is very mentally disturbed. When he realizes fighting Rena is pointless he blows off his own head rather than become victim to the likes of Vexcorp and their inhuman agents and he certainly doesn't want to stick around to watch today's South Africa being split apart atom by atom in some big rip. The trance/gangsta style soundtrack by Kalahari Surfers in this episode adds to that futuristic tension and the weird uneasy feeling running through the ep.

 

[JD]

So were the people who Reena was talking with about with him, Beta scientists who had escaped to Gamma? Because that was the impression I got from their discussion.

 

[stj]

^^^Something about the phrasing gave me the impression that his betaverse coworkers were dead. If he knew they went to gammaverse would he be so sure it was impossible they were alive?

And is betaverse not our universe?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And is betaverse not our universe?

Beta is supposed to be ours.

The old man is a guy who worked on the parallel universe project, but he isn't like one of the scientists we know from our own world. He's a deeply traumatized individual who realizes he's been made, once Rena sees him he knowns a big bad foreign world and a powerful mega corporation with no concept of democracy has him in their cross hairs. The old guy has been hiding out in today's South African community, he might have even found solidarity with the local poor and he's no intention of being detained again by these futuristic people who will never treat people humanely so at first he takes out his anger on Rena, remember this is an old guy who is very mentally disturbed. When he realizes fighting Rena is pointless he blows off his own head rather than become victim to the likes of Vexcorp and their inhuman agents and he certainly doesn't want to stick around to watch today's South Africa being split apart atom by atom in some big rip.

So which of the three universes is his home, then?