The Peripheral

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Wombat

Wombat

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I never read the book - I wasn't even aware Gibson had gone back to writing full on sci-fi after Idoru, etc. - but I liked it well enough, even if it is obviously of the Westworld era of sci-fi.

That said....
This is just Fringe, isn't it? Two now disconnected universes that can (via 3d printing and telepresence) transfer between realities. I take it future world is actually irreparably fucked in reality, so EvilCorp (which may as well be called Massive Dynamic) is rewriting history in this timeline to weather the coming collapse in style and take over afterward, with the future elites living out the remainder of their lives telepresenced here in their past.

So how long until we get peripherals mass printed in the 'present' for future-people to drive? Won't defeating the same robot-person get old episode after episode? And shouldn't our present heroes just get present-tense peripherals to drive to minimize the danger?

And finally, how is time connected between the two timelines? Is it 1:1? Otherwise, what's to stop a future me from printing five bodies and making an appointment next week for five days for each of me to hop in a body and converge on the 'heroes' in the present? What happens when Tuesday me learns how Wednesday me failed in the past and leaves a note for Wednesday me to do something else that results in Wednesday me succeeding in the first place? An infinity of parallel universes? What are the rules, dammit!

P.S. I take it the big twist will be that the societal collapse will be caused by time travel shenanigans in the first place?
 
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Homsar

Homsar

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I should have never clicked that spoiler but that makes me think my assumptions are correct. I only read the first paragraph. Ugh the first 2 episodes feel like they are in wonderland. Dude roles up on a lawnmower and blast people, feels like the movie Adaptation when everything goes off the rails and someone takes over the story

Adaptation was such an an awesome film me and my best friend argued for weeks about what the movie
 
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Void

Void

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I really enjoyed this. Never read the book, and I can definitely roll my eyes at stuff like all the bros hanging out at the campfire just happen to all be elite military soldiers/hackers with tons of guns stashed nearby, or Chloe being so much better at vidya games than all the men, but if I let that kind of stuff go, it was a pleasant surprise. And I actually think Chloe looks way better in this than whatever I saw her in last, particularly when she has the curly hair in redneck world.

Hopefully it won't end up being shit by the end, as so far I'm looking forward to the next episode.
 
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Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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I liked it. Not turning this In to a Book vs TV show thread. They long left the reservation of the book plot. Assuming that in the end it ties together more closely.

Wombat Wombat

You're pretty close although with what all has changed I’m not sure. Probably very.

They’re very rural and I’d argue the show makes them look more like a medium size town. So bros, of which some are prior service, hanging out at a fire isn’t that surprising. We routinely sit around a fire pit when the weather changes telling stories. And in the house or right next to us are a number of firearms. And we’re just normal people.

It is 1:1 on the time.

I though this would have been a really cool place to hire Thomas Jane and make him play a Miller type character and turn this in to a detective noir set in a not so distant future. Different enough tech and theme but it would feel close to a Blade Runner or Expanse. Instead they, of course, went the more BOOM route.
 
Wombat

Wombat

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To be clear, not only have I not read the book, I don't even know the plot outline. All my 'spoilers' were in relation to the TV show, spoiled just for people who haven't watched the episodes yet.
 
Mahes

Mahes

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I am wondering if I should just binge this on full release.

Kind of tired of the weekly thing since having been spoiled to watch shows as I want. I will indeed watch this, as I enjoy good shows/movies that deal in the reality concept.
 
Rabbit_Games

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Mahes said:
I am wondering if I should just binge this on full release.

Kind of tired of the weekly thing since having been spoiled to watch shows as I want. I will indeed watch this, as I enjoy good shows/movies that deal in the reality concept.
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I've been doing this for quite a while now. I never watch anything Weekly, anymore. I wait until a Season is done, listen for whether or not it's been killed already or if a new Season is coming, and THEN I'll decide to binge it or ignore it.
 
Tripamang

Tripamang

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I really enjoyed the first couple episodes but as other people have said since this is the Westworld crew they're going to burn through the captivating content pretty rapidly. Once the mystery of what the people in the future want with people from the past runs out I expect this will take a nose dive. I always thought it was a shame that Westworld wasn't capped at a couple seasons to keep the story solid and I'm betting I feel the same way about this. Definitely worth a watch.
 
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Homsar

Homsar

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No clue what's going on, obviously everything comes off as a simulation and nothing is real
 
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Wombat

Wombat

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Homsar said:
No clue what's going on, obviously everything comes off as a simulation and nothing is real
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Honestly, that was my first impression after the pilot - that everything in 'the present' was a game. Given the time difference and whatever the depopulation event was, the odds of any of them showing up in the future were low to begin with, and 3d printers with future tech may as well be magic spawn points in the present.

Then again, I was one of the six people on Earth that thought the plotline of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Wikipedia was neat, so I may be biased.

Edit: Actually, that's one thing that sticks in my craw: the vehicles. FutureThug said they put out a hit out on the family on the internet. Sure, plausible. They then also gave the hit team invisible cars, but not any future tech beyond that? But the future vehicles aren't invisible, they flat out deassemble - look at the suit jacket falling through the bike in the future in the first episode.
 
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Xevy

Xevy

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I almost think it's the opposite. I saw the lack of people in this very beautiful/ideal easy changed future to be fake and it's just a simulation. Not sure how many timelines there are but I'm guessing that realm is like the VIP world when you've made it in whatever the current "real" world is for them. Then you have people trying to bypass whatever timelaws there are to go to 2030 and amass wealth/fortune. I wager that in the "real" 2070 you have 0 chance of getting access to a time gate so the fact they built one in their VIP simulation is huge as it allows those who already have a lot of wealth/power even more of it and allows them to control it so they're not challenged. That's just my guess, I don't want to read any spoilers but I'll happily keep watching to see what happens.

The one thing that bothers me is how much Burton looks like skinny Seth Rogen. It's mind boggling to me. Dude's a good actor too. Moretz Grace is pretty good too, but when she nailed the part in Kickass at like age 13 you knew acting wouldn't be a problem for her later on.
 
jayrebb

jayrebb

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Just saw 2 eps back to back. Front to back. It's bringing the heat that Cuckiwan, GRRM, and Rings of Power creators failed to deliver on.
 
Mahes

Mahes

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So,

I decided to watch this now. So far this show has been very engaging and thought provoking. Its my kind of show. Its well written, directed and acted. What a breathe of fresh air over some of the other stupid shit that has recently come out.

The Eyeball scene had me cringing. The amount of control a person would have to have, to be able to acknowledge that moment without feeling that pain, with no prior training, would take a natural. Her reaction after getting out was perfect. Fucking hell I would not have gone back in. I will say that having a group of good ole boys just wipe out a trained group was a little bit over the top. I wish some of them had at least been shot. I will just chalk that up to the Elite group vastly underestimating the good ole boys.

I am enjoying this as much as I enjoy "The Boys". I would rate this show, so far as, one of Amazon's best shows and as a bonus I doubt it cost 1 Billion to make. It does have good effects though the city statues do not quite look right.

I am going to reserve discussions about time travel and changing the past until I see a better understanding of what is going on.

I hope this continues to remain good.
 
jayrebb

jayrebb

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Mahes said:
So,

I decided to watch this now. So far this show has been very engaging and thought provoking. Its my kind of show. Its well written, directed and acted. What a breathe of fresh air over some of the other stupid shit that has recently come out.

The Eyeball scene had me cringing. The amount of control a person would have to have, to be able to acknowledge that moment without feeling that pain, with no prior training, would take a natural. Her reaction after getting out was perfect. Fucking hell I would not have gone back in. I will say that having a group of good ole boys just wipe out a trained group was a little bit over the top. I wish some of them had at least been shot. I will just chalk that up to the Elite group vastly underestimating the good ole boys.

I am enjoying this as much as I enjoy "The Boys". I would rate this show, so far as, one of Amazon's best shows and as a bonus I doubt it cost 1 Billion to make. It does have good effects though the city statues do not quite look right.

I am going to reserve discussions about time travel and changing the past until I see a better understanding of what is going on.

I hope this continues to remain good.
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I enjoyed the consideration that when people are interacting with things in the past-- that the individuals of the past are considered less real and less human than the people doing the manipulation, sympathy and empathy for them are limited. A game, almost, as the protagonist had accused. As they sort of don't exist.

Thought-provoking questions right now are:

Does the human race have the mental facilities to be able to interact with the past with the same regard for the present? Will they ever?
 
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Mist

Mist

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Mahes said:
having a group of good ole boys just wipe out a trained group was a little bit over the top
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Have they not mentioned that the good ole boys are all war veterans of some fucked up war with fucked up implants?
 
jayrebb

jayrebb

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Mist said:
Have they not mentioned that the good ole boys are all war veterans of some fucked up war with fucked up implants?
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Not explicitly. But it's made pretty clear by showing the audience rather than spelling it out for them.
 
Mahes

Mahes

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Mist said:
Have they not mentioned that the good ole boys are all war veterans of some fucked up war with fucked up implants?
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Now that I think back, they did mention it when they discussed the biker guy.
 
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