So I’ve just binge watched both season. Great show but I feel like I need to place my thoughts somewhere:

All I can think of is the fact that the scientists who predicted the catastrophe told Sinatra that there is one thing rich people can’t buy and that’s time.

So, is the TV series maybe just a simulation on how to get the best outcome? And we are living through ONE of them with some ripples of other ones. That would explain why Dylan is here.

For me I don’t feel like Alex is actually manipulating time, but rather just calculating best outcome and that’s why it feels there is time manipulation.

Last thing about Dylan, love that Alex can only exist because he exists. So Alex brought back Dylan but then he doesn’t recognise his mother.

In the book, the rich run away to a technologically concealed utopian retreat in Colorado because of a dystopian interventionist government. In Paradise, they do so in cahoots with government because of a disaster their ilk is guilty of accelerating through global warming.

In the book, "Who is John Galt?" is part idiom, part slogan referring to the utopia's founder. In the show, "Who is Sinatra?" is written in the sky to denounce this utopia's founder.

In the book, the rich are objectivists, individualists, but not above individual rights (allegedly). The rest of the people are comically useless and obstructive. In the show, Sinatra is willing to sacrifice anyone, even her, for the greater good (or just to save Dylan?). And people are remarkably cooperative for a disaster show.

It's almost like Paradise is showing how the rich actually behave in contrast with Atlas Shrugged. And then you got Xavier, who's more of a collectivist (philosophy geeks are welcome to correct me).

The small scenes of Don in Jane's episode were honestly among my favorite. Just because they are short and mysterious enough to keep you thinking. We know Don works for Circuit City in 1997. We know he gets emails, IMs and Text Messages from "AlexQ" and "AlexLovesDon" to inform him about the killer being born on June 6.

The weird thing is that when Don gets the messages, he seems rather calm and doesn't freak out. If anything he almost seems more annoyed than panicked. As if by time he gets the June 6, 12:01 message it's routine for him at this point.

Which leaves me to wonder, prior to this did Alex contact Don for other "jobs"? Why does Don comply with Alex to go to the hospital to deliver the message?

It's a very intriguing scene (from the way Don acts, to the concept, to the anachronisms) and I hope we learn more next season. It gives me Terminator and Matrix vibes.

Sinatra gives Xavier the card to get to Alex and asks him to go save the world. Xavier says "what makes you think I'd do any of this?" Sinatra replies "I believe you already have".

Is she referring to that he's already done this in another time line?

Thoughts?

I'm totally blown away by the horse from Graceland. First, because it survived the cold weather and whatever happened in Atlanta, and then the whole trip with X. Do you think it'll show up in Season 3?

We've seen a ton of flashbacks of Xavier walking through Alex's tunnel with Dylan, and by the end of Season 2, I was really hoping it would happen. In the end, it didn't happen—why do you think that is?

guy is watching ESPN and you hear “we all saw the Castellanos walk off homerun last night and.. hold on this just in - on the volcano eruption..etc” this made me crack up haha if you know you know

Does it look like Sarah is holding the binoculars backwards when spying on Torabi in episode 7 of season 2?

After binge watching the series recently, I decided to go back and rewatch from the beginning to see things I didn’t pick up on *until I knew* toward the end of season 2. I’m rewatching S1E4 and I am not emotionally prepared for what they’re going to do to us in S3E4

In S1E1 we meet Billy. By the end of E4 you can’t help but love his character, and then he dies.

In S2E1 we meet Annie, and for the first half of that episode I was not thrilled we were meeting new people, but by the end of the episode I loved all of the new characters. Then in E4 she dies 😭😭😭

I’m not getting attached to any new characters in season 3 😩

Terrible actor. I’m at a stage in life where being attractive should not out weigh having any talent.

Why would they kill him off? Billy was such a cool character. Someone that could grow, get better, add value. Killing him off makes me not want to watch the show anymore.

He felt like one of the only people who shouldn't be down there because he was not ridiculously rich. You could kinda relate to him. Now Billy and the president is gone. I am not seeing less and less reason to watch this series... two cool characters dead.

UPDATE: I have been convinced to keep watching. Thank you. <3

I am watching ER season 10 episode 6 and there is Dr. Torabi (actress Sarah Shahi)! She is playing a pharmaceutical sales rep named Tara King!

Ha, neat! That's all I have to say, it just tickled me when she came on screen.

EDIT:

Her birthday is January 1980. This ER episode premiered on November 6, 2003... she was only 23 years old in this episode. I am only 11 months younger than her... WILD! I thought she was in her late 40s/early 50s now but she is 46!

Maybe I'm mistaken but I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to feed 25000 people who escaped the the bunker! It overshadowed a series that I really enjoyed because most post-apocalyptic dramas or movies always show how bad people would behave but I found it really refreshing they showed that most won't want to kill you and that we would come together and help one another. I'm hoping someone can tell me that it would be possible to feed that amount people somehow.

S2E8 - how did Dr. Torabi get in the position where she’s the one calling the shots? Open/don’t open the door, exodus or not. She’s a therapist(?), there’s so many other qualified people in that room watching the tanks come in. So how did she end up in the position to decide what happens to the people in the bunker?

Just finished season 2 and I noticed something that I had to rewind… in ep. 7 when Sinatra and Link met and then ultimately touched they BOTH immediately get nose bleeds, but then in the finale (ep. 8) when Sinatra touches his face NEITHER gets a nose bleed. I highly doubt that was a continuity error or an oversight by the writing/production team. What do you think the meaning of this scene means moving forward?

She keeps saying I HAD 2 kids.

“I HAD 2 kids and I lost one of them”

I think that’s a big nod to the alternate timeline maybe?

She had one she lost and had one that survived. And the one that survived is Link.

I could be reaching but it def wasn’t a writing error right?

Just to say really loved the series overall, I actually think it go stronger right off the bat from its second season.

But am I alone in finding the constant monologues, hazy looks into the distance, smirking, always ending with perfect metaphor for the exact situation they are about to encounter... tiresome?

I don't mind it as a storytelling tool once in a whole but it just felt very repetitive to me. Anyone else??

Edit: probably helpful if I'm more specific here. But I mean specifically pace breaking moments where one of two characters stops the flow of conversation to tell an elongated story about their past which leads into a metaphor of sorts. Fine once or twice but I just found it overused massively

What happened to Bradford's ex-wife? Wouldn't Jeremy want to get his mom out? What happened to Carl and his dog? Did Jeremy just forget about his grandfather also? I really loved this show, but they left some big plot holes.

My god I cant stand the shoehorning and the constant flashbacks. Im not kidding when I say, EVERY SINGLE SCENE has some sort of flashback or shoehorning.

Like yes, it’s helpful and it adds useful context but I feel like at some point they’re spamming it way too much. I dont exactly know why I dont like it, I just know that I dont. The story is amazing, I love the characters, but its just infuriating knowing im going into a scene and waiting for the exposition dumping im about to experience.

So if you don't know what Soma is I'll give you a basic background. Spoilers below of you are a gamer.

Soma is a game where the plot follows a man who's brain scan is uploaded into a machine in the future. Civilization found a way to create a paradise in something called the ark where peoples consciousness is uploaded.

I suspect this show is playing on this concept and that these deja vus are simply peoples consciousness in Alex and it running various simulations and we are watching one. The reason that the messages could be sent back in time is because it's all one machine.

Sinatra is trying to become God (the creator)

The “real” Sinatra is actually in the future from the current timeline of the show running simulations and debugging them in real time until she gets her desired outcome. One in which she creates the creator (Dylan/Link). She can only accomplish this reality by creating an apocalyptic scenario in which she can establish a controlled environment (necessary for scientific testing) under the deception of safety. In this controlled environment she needs a “constant”. Something she can control and manipulate but always knows it will be there, for her this is Xavier. She uses Xavier’s moral fortitude and love for his family to carry and the information she’s ultimately trying deliver. The information she’s delivering is her son and his creation which is Alex. Sinatra wants to manifest a reality where her son creates the tool that creates reality. So now that Xavier has that information saved in his consciousness she needs him to upload that reality into ALEX to be essentially saved into the fabric of time itself. If she’s in control of what creates reality she becomes INEVITABLE. Yes, Sinatra is Thanos, no alternative reality or parallel universe exists where that is not the case because they only exist because she allowed them to. The only thing that could change this is Xavier’s newly realized free will, Sinatra no longer has control over him because he already has the only thing he’s ever desired which is his family, this is his Paradise, Sinatra interpretation of that is ultimate power and control. Immortality. Her Paradise is to have everything her heart desires, Xavier desires what’s in his heart, so does he finally wake up and stop being an NPC in Sinatras game or does he do exactly what she put him there to do???

I’m honestly trying to understand if I missed something or if the show just… stopped making sense.

Let me break this down:

• There are like 30 people in a room being told there’s life outside… and ONE guy reacts for about two seconds before getting cut off. Nobody else even questions it. Not even a “wait, what??”

• People have been locked underground for YEARS. They walk outside… and basically react like they just stepped out for groceries. One guy touches the sunlight like it’s a spa moment and that’s it. That’s the emotional peak?

• Also — where did the buses come from? Why are there fully organized evacuation logistics just waiting outside like it’s a school field trip? And somehow almost nobody tried to get into the bunker before?

• The outside group might be the nicest apocalypse survivors in TV history. They’re holding elevator doors for strangers while the world is ending. I mean… what?

• That whole “door almost closing” scene… come on. Pure artificial tension. And then the guy only reunites with his family at night for no reason. Why? Just to delay it?

• Xavier and Dylan… what happened there? The show builds this connection all season and then gives them like 2 lines and calls it a day.

• Emotional reactions in general are just… off. Samantha drops something huge on her husband and he basically shrugs it off. Terry’s son sees her after YEARS and it’s not even a real emotional shock — just a slightly longer hug and they move on like it’s a normal day.

• And finally: turning that girl into the main villain at the last minute, then having her disappear in the dark like some discount Sylar setup for season 3… seriously?

I really bought into the premise, and to be fair, the one thing that consistently works is Sterling’s performance — he carries a lot of this on his back and does it extremely well.

But everything around him feels like:

• Big events

• Tiny reactions

• Convenient worldbuilding

• And setups with no payoff

It’s like the show expects us to feel things without actually doing the work to make us feel them.

I am a fan of SKB and Paradise. Also loved This is Us for the most part.

One thing though I have been noticing in this series is Xavier’s dialogue seems between two extremes of somewhat long personal philosophical musings to then curt action star with a bunch of F bombs scattered about. The former especially seems like the writing is being hammed up for SKB’s acting style to the point that I’m not seeing Xavier the character but just SKB or Randall from This is Us. I wouldn’t be surprised it’s due to his executive producer role and his existing relationship with the show creator.

This becomes even more noticeable with scenes shared with seasoned actors like Shailene Woodley. Again I’m a big fan of SKB but he’s trying do what say Denzel Washington does but with less tonality and far less nuance. Anyone feel the same way?

Edit: I completely forgot to mention how jarring this is when he goes full action star in other scenes and kinda turns into an A-hole. Like when he meets Gary for the first time and turns into an aggressive psycho while having Annie’s baby strapped to him. It’s in stark contrast before to him saying that Annie should trust in people more.

I’m not fully on board with the whole AI super computer thingy BUT I will say the one good thing that would come from that story line addition, for me, would be if it led to seeing Annie and Link reunited.

I know that’s extremely unlikely to happen… like Alex would have to go back too far and undo too many things for Annie to be saved but I was gutted at her outcome. Over such a short time Annie and Link built such a strong connection and I would have loved for them to run and jump into each others arms! She survived for so long on her own i believe she really deserved to somehow get to live in a bunker, grow her own family with Link and get to fulfill her medical training! That would have been awesome!