I just watched the first two episodes and I'm already loving the series. I immediately got
Fringe undertones while presenting a distinctively different dynamic and storyline.
The series has a terrific cast, especially J.K. Simmons who is always a pleasure to watch. A credit to his craft, I can tell which counterpart of Howard we're dealing with right away based just on his body language alone, an ability that reminds me of Tatiana Maslany. Hm...I wonder if she's interested in doing double duty again? Yeah, probably not.
During the first episode, when Part Howard explained his hospital routine to Counterpart Howard, I knew he was going to forget the flowers, specifically the exchange with the nurse on duty. As Part Howard kept remembering bits and pieces to inform Counterpart Howard, I knew he was still going to forget to mention that exchange. That process of recalling some information but forgetting a crucial piece reminded me of Roald Dahl's
George's Marvelous Medicine as George tried to reconstruct his magical potion, and I specifically recall as a kid always saying "Don't forget the lipstick!" Well, I guess that allusion probably only just came to me.
I particularly like how the series expressly states the two universes were once one until one became two and then diverged, a process not unlike the twinning of John Crichton in
Farscape. There is no original universe and now they're two different universes with a shared past. That dynamic was nicely explored with Nadia (although it's a shame Part Nadia died) and continues to be explored with the Howards (and to a small extent so far, the Emilys), and I hope it remains a major focus of the series while not getting too bogged down in the espionage and conspiracies of both sides.
After the first episode, I was a little worried that the series would present weird things like Part Howard's interface work just for the sake of being weird without any proper explanation of what he was doing, but the second episode showed through Howard's promotion to interpretation that there is something behind it. That gives me hope there's a rhyme and reason behind it all and we will learn more as the season progresses. My bigger worry now is how all of the conspiracies that are going on fit together, including but not limited to Counterpart Howard's scheming, the purpose of Nadia's work, whatever Emily is doing, and the nature of the "peace."
I will be interested to see how the Howards deviated...why Howard-B seems so cold blooded while Howard A is so nice.
I expect that something to do with the nature of the Howards' relationship with the Emilys. I imagine the break-up made Counterpart Howard cold, but the question is why did they break up?
Also, weird to see Apollo in his natural accent.
Whereas I found it refreshing to hear Jamie Bamber with the accent. I always prefer an actor to stick with their original accent instead of flat, "neutral" accent.
How is Baldwin getting across? The crossing looks pretty heavily guarded and controlled?
I wondered the same, and not just her, but also all of the defectors Counterpart Howard said he had to hunt down and retrieve. If there was another entry point, why doesn't Counterpart Howard use that instead of using visas to get across? Unless there's something he has to do on an "official" level even if his side doesn't seem to be happy with what he's doing.
