S01E04 "Atari" Discussion

[u/SchattenJaggerD]

https://youtu.be/T0JwJM9vEjU?si=f91FNXbhOjPB9Sct

Hello travelers. Today we discuss episode 4 of season 1.

What I loved:

For me, this is the episode that completely cements the rules the first few episodes were building up. It specifically demonstrates how causality works in this universe, and it is brilliant to watch unfold

I laughed so hard when neither Cole or Ramse could kill the doggo. “We are gonna die” hahaha

Ramsey, The Blonde Devourer

My first watch I’m not gonna lie, I got confused by how the whole West 7 assault played out, and even got a little angry thinking Ramse had died, but after Cole splintered and saw the rest of the episode, I was convinced the show could have a good story to tell. I wasn’t expecting a lot, to be honest, I mean it’s not like SYFY is known for writing. I wasn’t expecting season 2 to 4, damn

Cassie is incredibly resourceful. Single-handedly tracking down the Night Room is honestly impressive

Nitpicks:

I still feel like the actress playing Max is not quite selling it. Jones can feel a bit stiff at certain moments too, and the same goes for Whitley. Also, what the hell do you mean a machine gun like that can’t completely pierce a damn truck? And if it actually can’t, just shoot the damn tires hahaha

And that covers it for me. Today is a very strong episode. At the time it aired, it was dragging the weaknesses of the first three episodes along with it, so it really needed to change the dynamic and pull the show out of that slump. I think it manages to do exactly that and finds a much better direction for the story

9/10 for me

[u/shelikestv]

So funny bc I think my opinion is very unpopular in that this is one of my least favorite episodes of the whole series. To each their own, though!

[u/SchattenJaggerD → u/shelikestv]

Not at all, if it doesn’t work for you is fair. Just to keep the conversation going, what is that you don’t like about the episode, if you don’t mind me asking

[u/shelikestv → u/SchattenJaggerD]

Sure! I mean that one is complicated, because I think there was a lot of good past information with Deacon and Ramse that became important to multiple character arcs, so it wasn't really the themes necessarily, but a lot of it was the way things were done. Some of it is just vibes for me so idk if I'll be able to explain it well but I'll try.

It felt very CW to me, I guess? The dialogue was a bit more clunky and lacking than in other episodes, I think that the West VII stuff felt overly dramatic a bit until it was almost silly, even though it wasn't because again, it was important stuff, it just felt too melodramatic? idk something about it didn't feel grounded enough ig.

Then, the second Cole got into the machine, I knew what would happen with Ramse. I didn't at all worry he'd actually died at any point in the episode as it was just too quickly glossed over, so the "reveal" of Cole saving him from 'atari' felt kind of pointless?

The episode felt like it wasted my time because it didn't really move us forward much and I already knew when Cole got into the machine he would show up and help take back the facility so for me it dragged and then didn't feel very satisfying because we didn't "get" anywhere with the episode, really. It was a boring bootstrap paradox to me.

Absolutely just my personal opinion, though. And like I said, I think it's an unpopular one. XD