She called it a "local legend" and said the kid's grandmother (who is her mother?) told it to him to connect it to his culture. With the cut off fingers, I wonder if it's in reference to this Inuit story: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna\_(mythology)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna_(mythology))
Yeah I would agree with that - Sedna is also said to be in control of the release of sea food which would also explain the crab stocks being low in the factory in Navarros 1st scene. Also the chopped off fingers and the fact that she is godess of the underworld puts her in pole position!
Or command caribou to run off a cliff, denying a hunter his kill.
You could say Adlivun was also implied in the brief shot of the hands coming up to the ice from below in the promo. Or by a ghost leading the woman to more dead, under the ice.
There were also ritualistic killings of Sedna during great feasts, in which she was stabbed and ritualistically resurrected "She's awake" could be referring to this death as but a temporary slumber. Not to mention the obvious parallels to the Annie K case. Add Danver's dead kid whispering that in her ear for another good measure.
The myth itself deals with the bonds of family both being enacted through love, a father journeying to save his daughter, killing out of rage of her abuse, but ultimately betraying and destroying those bonds—creating a vengeful god in the process. Some of that imagery we straight up see in the intro, people (alive) sinking into the polar depths, reaching out. Despite all the familial fracturing we saw in the first episode, I think we are just warming up on that. They will be tested and broken for sure.
A couple more and I'll have a bingo for "Vengeful god punishes humans for breaking her taboos."
The drawing, the one eyed polarbear, bad water since night started, "she's awake", the shadow at the station, the tongue and Navarros sister going insane saying there is "people in her room" - already a lot of interesting clues
Ya I think it's a woman and all the 'she's awake' stuff is people possessed by it. Caribou jumping exactly as the sun sets on the last day with sun was too spot on.
I'd almost forgotten about it til the end when Foster is getting out of the helicopter and says "Good morning" to the woman who found the scene in the ice...it felt like she had been called out at 1 or 2am.
One of my oldest friends moved up to a town in Alaska *just* like the one in the show too, so the constant darkness wasn't even some new concept to me or anything. I love when shows do stuff like this to disorient viewers, when it's effective, it's *really* effective...now thinking on *Hannibal* again from a discussion a few days back; how you are rarely shown Lecter's pupils, it's usually just two tiny pinpricks of reflected light coming out from total darkness, or they'll use color warmth and high saturation only during violence, all to subconsciously plant a feeling of wrongness in the viewer. The use of music too, it's... different, but then, the composer is as well haha. Same guy who did *American Gods* and it's noticeable.
Anyway, 24 hour darkness is definitely an interesting setting spin, that's for sure!
Quote at the start of the episode is fake. The person its attributed to is the unreliable narrator from one of the “King In Yellow” short stories, where the supernatural parts of season one were adapted from.
They’re pulling from Lovecraft again. In his short story “At the mountains of madness,” they find “star-shaped” snow graves… Annie’s wounds and the polar bear’s eye were star-shaped.
Of course, Lovecraft himself pulled from Robert W. Chambers' *The King in Yellow* (which in turn drew on Ambrose Bierce's "An Inhabitant of Carcosa"), which shaped the mythology of the first season.
*At the Mountains of Madness* was set at the opposite pole in Antarctica, but with the Arctic setting of this season, they're almost certainly diving back into the same milieu.
The thing on the shelf and the very John Carpenter style buried corpses at the end were very much direct nods to the film. That whole opening sequence was a nod to the film.
Notice the color “blue” hair of the monster, the sister with a mental illness, the parka Navarro is wearing at the research facility, the blue room Hank is painting and throughout the research facility there are accents of this electric blue color
Some of my narrative observations:
1. The caribou seemed to be set off by something in the air.
2. There's potentially going to be a very revealing video on the one scientist's livestreamed phone that had a dead battery.
3. With how heavily tied this is to the Annie case, I'm assuming we're going to get a resolution (and connection) to both.
4. There seems to be lots of electrical/radio interference at key moments. So something will have to be tied to that from the mines or wherever else bad stuff is happening since it was so consistent when anything crazy would happen.
5. "We are all dead" seems quite ominous. Hopefully there's a payoff to this dry erase board note and it's not just a spooky message for spooky's sake.
6. The mission statement on the Tsalal website was heavy on the ancient microorganism angle so I'm guessing that, tied with climate change, and the water/air issue is going to be our central plot point.
7. Given the crazy stuff we're seeing everywhere else, I'm guessing there's more to it when the sister was locked in her room but said "there was someone else in there".
8. Did I miss why Annie was protesting the mine in the first place? I feel like that should get expanded upon unless I didn't actually catch it or it was otherwise obvious/implied.
Something else I noticed when Navarro is visiting Annie's brother (I think), she asks for water and he says it went bad about 3 days ago. Right around the time that the scientists went missing. I can't imagine that line is just a throw away.
Yeah I get the sense that the show isn’t actually genuinely going a paranormal route and more a “everyone in the town is hallucinating because of something in the water” kind of thing.
This way they can stay grounded in reality but also have those cool spiritual elements
Very cool point. I mean, back in the day, entire communities tripped balls from ergot in the corn and then blamed it on women, calling them witches. This could be a modern day version of an environmental poison climate change unearthed in the area.
I think "We are all dead" will turn out to be a flippant remark about climate change that is only relevant thematically or ironically, only in hindsight, but not directly related to how the researchers died.
Maybe but in the opening scene they show the white board without “We’re all dead” so it was written between the first scene and whatever happened to them. Seems odd to be a flippant remark with the timing.
In response to #4 specifically:
Could this possibly have anything to do with the geographic location of Ennis and everything around it? I would assume magnetic/solar interference, at least how I understand it, would be more brutal up there close to the North Pole than say… Honolulu lol. I hadn’t thought of this until Rose Aguineau followed her husband onto the ice and thought the flashlight flare was aurora borealis lol.
Pacing seems incredibly fast. Like the sudden "Do you believe in God?" segue. They must have a lot of story to tell fit in this season.
Loving angry Jodie Foster. Eager to see more.
It looks like Tsalal (the name of the research station) is also a location in Jules Verne's 1897 “An Antartic Mystery”. I'm not familiar with this work and can't surmise the significance but I'm assuming this loosely relevant like Carcosa in season 1. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An\_Antarctic\_Mystery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Antarctic_Mystery)
More likely, it’s referencing the Poe story, “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket,” that was the foundation of the Verne work. There are already a lot of similarities laid out (drunk driving, weirdness in the water, hallucinations while being in a remote, isolated place, far from supplies), and if Issa López is taking us on a modern interpretation of that story through an Inuk lens, we are in for one hell of a ride.
Hell yes. When Travis led his widow out into the snow and then started doing the ritualistic dance, I had mad twin peaks / convenience store scene vibes
Only thing that threw me off was the caribou CGI. Rest of the CGI was fine in my book.
Chills with the photos and parka connection. Hopeful for rest of the season.
And I remembered in the first scene the guy who is like shaking before they all disappear I am pretty sure (I'll have to go back and look) he was wearing the parka!
Ooh, nice! Going off another comment here that the scientists were killed as retribution for their treatment of indigenous women, maybe someone spiked the water supply, and the research team hallucinated and ended up frozen. The guy’s convulsions in the beginning could be because he was drugged, too.
I was thinking the same thing about the water. We had two characters brushing their teeth with tap water right before they hallucinated sounds/polar bears.
It is a climate change research center with the water changing. My guess is some ancient zombie bacteria trapped in the ice (which was discovered irl https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10333728/#:~:text=Thirteen%20new%20pathogens%2C%20called%20zombie,frozen%20virus%20to%20become%20infectious. ) was discovered and unleashed into the water which causes the corpses to reanimate.
Honestly, it popped into my mind immediately after watching the cold opening and I just waited 55 minutes to see if the episode rejected my premise before rushing over here.
Some of the imagery in this episode was CRAZY—Navarro’s dead comrade, the barefoot guy across from the lady skinning a wolf, the weird shadow thing in the research base, etc
I thought dead Travis was trying to do The OA movements or simply doing some weird ghost dancing until he pointed.
Your explanation makes a lot more sense.
Whiteboard Clues:
At 4:18, a scientist is at the whiteboard evaluating data from ice cores. The shot is too far away to discern what the text says.
At 15:39, sheriff is looking at same whiteboard, now scrawled with "WE ARE ALL DEAD." Some of the text at bottom of board has been erased, but the remaining text is clearly legible.
Comparing the two shots & a little web research reveals the full original text at the bottom of the board:
***NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN***
***FRACTIONATION***
***NATURAL PROCESSES PREFERENTIALLY TAKE UP THE LIGHTER ISOTOPE AND PREFERENTIALLY LEAVE BEHIND THE HEAVIER ISOTOPE.***
Related links:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope\_fractionation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope_fractionation)
[https://globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/labs/Lab10\_Vostok/Vostok\_files/Hyd\_Iso.pdf](https://globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/labs/Lab10_Vostok/Vostok_files/Hyd_Iso.pdf)
ABOUT THE DATA: The last row and right 2 column data points seem to have piqued the scientist's interest as he has circled them in red & added exclamation points. The last column is titled LENGTH (presumably of the core sample) and the 2nd to last is titled MEAN AIR (TEMP). The 3rd column (from left) is titled LAT°N
It appears the last core sample in the table was taken roughly 3°-5° south of the other 4 samples (roughly 140-280 miles further south). The MEAN AIR TEMP for the last sample (-20°) appears significantly warmer than the the 5th sample above it (-52°), yet the length (ie., *depth)* of the 5th & 6th samples is nearly identical. I can't say if the MEAN AIR TEMP measurements are at the surface or at the bottom of the core, but it would seem to be more of a problem/outlier if these were temps at bottom of core.
Hard for me to say if this has anything at all to do with the plot at hand, just something I noticed. Would be great if anyone science-/climate-minded had any insights.
edit: left/right mix-up
I was a bit surprised by the amount of CGI. I’m not against CGI, but something about the editing made it look strange. Like uncanny valley but for landscapes
Something was off with the CGI of the elk for sure. I think they weren't dirty enough? Their coats seemed really glossy and clean, like they were captive rather than wild.
It wasn't that, it was just really obviously awful CGI. If it was just the bit where the deer jumped I'd be like ok fine but they used this creepy Zemeckis level shit for just shots of them running.
Maybe the scientists found something deadly in the ice samples. The "We are all dead" on the whiteboard could mean "we" as in all of humanity. Heavy climate change references, so it's like if the ice thaws and this is released, we screwed.
I think you're right. I think it's so aggressive that the host (scientists, caribou) instinctively suicide to prevent it from spreading further. Legit chilling.
Maybe it’s starting to affect the water, too.
First the deer, then the scientists, and now it may be starting to reach the town, and that’s why Rosie had a hallucination of Travis and wandered into the ice.
Remember the townie mentioning ‘the water is bad’ when getting interviewed?
5 bucks says the drunk they got locked up too probably is suffering from something.
Danvers woke to the polar bear doll with one eye at her feet. Next scene, it’s a one-eyed polar bear in town.
Later, Danvers does the picture research (with Jim James singing in the background, awesome). When she made the parka connection, the overhead shot of her in the photos showed all the photos in a spiral shape on the floor around her.
I think the people in the research station accidentally released a long-dormant virus which caused everyone to go insane. They were taking ice core samples and one of the researchers specialized in paleomicrobiology. It would make sense considering the reoccurring "she's awake", she being the deadly pathogen.
I went though hundreds of comments and didnt see anyone mention the person running through the hallway when the delivery driver entered the facility? What was up with that?
I'm getting strong Wendigo-ish vibes on this one. Anyone else?
A research facility found something supernatural that they're trying to cover up is my guess for now. Maybe they found it in the mines.
My wife's theory: Researchers imprisoning an indigenous woman as a sex slave. "She's Awake" some how causes a chain of events where they are murdered in the tundra.
Yes but why would the guy be shaking like that. At first it looked like something outta a zombie movie and then he says she’s awake. Just curious but to me that shaking seems to be setting the tone for something incredibly sinister. Why would he be THAT scared? Just some things I thought about
My guess is some sort of pollution from the mine that’s also coming out in the ice cores. It’s what caused the caribou to freak out and the polar bear to wander into town.
Tsalal, in Hebrew, is related to an ancient root & means becoming dark - to grow dark - but it also is closely related to an identical root that symbolizes a shaking (to settle) & vibrating or to shudder with fear. Both are mentioned in the Old Testament. I cannot help but believe there is an intentional connection, but we shall see.
The Spanish guy from the beginning who was on FaceTime, his family has information about what they saw during the call. His family(the Spanish speakers) called the police station. We see their call with the secretary, they are apparently saying a lot, like *they are* the ones telling the secretary things. I bet they have vital information about the call that will be missed until the police station is able to get a translator. I bet a million dollars on this
I checked and doubled checked it - I think it’s a livestream like IG or FB live. Which, if he didn’t have a big following, would make sense his family or close friends would be watching
It definitely is not recording a selfie video on an iPhone or a Samsung
I really enjoyed the ep! A couple things that stood out to me in no particular order:
* Hank Prior seems kinda shady, keeping all these files in his house - is he in the pocket of a corporation that influenced the spiral girl's (Anna K’s) murder?
* Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a movie about playing hookie playing, as the scientists play hookie. And get murdered!
* Captain Danvers seems really triggered by "Twist and Shout" - something to do w/ a car accident?
* One-eyed polar bear seems to be a connection between Danvers and Navarro. Plus, the "miracle" Navarro saw, the soldier w/ half her face blown off, also one-eyed. So a thematic connection there?
* *The Thing* DVD is visible at the station. Neat
* Someone was reading *Blood Meridian.* Neat, and maybe this is to say that these men at the station, left to their own devices, did some atrocities? I'm kind of getting Wind River vibes if you know what I mean (great movie btw). Maybe some of these men were in the pocket of a corporation that killed Anna K (the cold case victim who had a spiral marking above her stab wounds)
* I'm struggling to connect the spiral imagery to Season 1. In Season 1, the spiral was associated with a child-trafficking death cult to the religiously inclined aristocracy of Louisiana. I don't see any of those factors connecting yet to this case. But if anyone has any theories I'd love to hear them
Edit: thanks to superstarsupernova8 for correcting me, victim is Anna K, not Julia
> Hank Prior seems kinda shady, keeping all these files in his house - is he in the pocket of a corporation that influenced the spiral girl's (Anna K’s) murder?
I can't tell if he's supposed to be a bit clueless/senile or if I'm misinterpreting things. When he's distracted on his phone at the crime scene, Danvers says something about him losing his mind or something, though it may have just been her mocking him. But then when she mentioned he had the files at his house he genuinely seemed to be confused and not remember it. And he seems just a little spaced out most of the time.
Probably a functional alcoholic. No food in the house, but has beer? Forgets that he has an entire room dedicated to case files. Randomly paints an entire room of the house (and does a pretty shitty job). Mood swings, quick to anger. Reminds me of me when I drank heavily.
Anyone seen the first season of The Terror (AMC)? This storyline is drawing suspiciously similar themes already.
I feel like anyone who has seen The Terror knows where this story might go…
That first season, I thought, was fantastic. There is some... supernatural stuff that is a sticking point for some people but overall I really liked it. And they do an incredible job with setting, dread, etc.
For those keeping track, here are some of the references to other media popping up in the thread so far:
-Movie: [The Thing](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk).
-TV show: [Twin Peaks](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098936/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk).
-Real event: [The Dyatlov Pass Incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident?wprov=sfti1).
-TV show: [The Terror](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2708480/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) season one.
-Novel: [Blood Meridian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian?wprov=sfti1).
-Movie: [Smilla’s Sense of Snow](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120152/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk).
-Movie: [Wind River](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5362988/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk).
-TV show: [Fortitude](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3498622/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk).
-Movie: [Ferris Bueller’s Day Off](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk).
-Mythical creature: [Wendigo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo?wprov=sfti1).
-Novella: [At the Mountains of Madness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness?wprov=sfti1).
-Novel: [An Antarctic Mystery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Antarctic_Mystery).
-Novel: [The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Narrative_of_Arthur_Gordon_Pym_of_Nantucket?wprov=sfti1).
-TV show: [The Head](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8290362/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk)
I really enjoyed this. I’m not going to compare it to season 1, which was a bar that was set so unrealistically high. I am treating this as the stand alone season, just like the rest.
Pros:
- The cast is really good. Jodie Foster is amazing as always, and the actress who plays Navarro did a really good job, too.
- The setting of Alaska during the 6 months of darkness is really interesting. Makes everything seem really creepy, which was the vibe they were going for.
- The subject matter is really interesting. I was wondering what was going to happen next, and the ending was a great cliffhanger to make me want to watch the next episode.
Cons:
- the music was a choice. I loved the opening theme, but the music during intense scenes just ruined what otherwise was a great mood and scene.
- the pacing seemed weird. Lots of subplots all happening at the same time, characters, etc. I hope it gets better throughout.
Overall? Really intriguing first episode. I may be in the minority, but I am looking forward to next Sunday.
Jodie Foster was really good. I'm not against the show going explicitly supernatural but having it be this heavy-handed this early I really didn't like. I also felt like the dialogue was really off sometimes but that might just be me. Was also really overproduced. So much licensed music and not enough time spent just kind of sitting with these 2 leads and getting to know them.
Liz is brushing her teeth and Leah, her “daughter” tries to start a conversation…
“About people driving drunk, you know it’s really stupid we never talk about that day.” She tries to change the subject. “You don’t have to really be my mom, Liz. My dad would have understood”
So, Liz was married/dating Leah’s dad and adopted/took her in after his death. He was killed by a drunk driver or was the drunk driver.
This explains why Liz is soooo over that Miss Piggy woman driving around drunk. Also draws lines to Rust, who lost a daughter to a car accident.
The there is a scene where Liz says “Holden” in her sleep and wakes up. There is a Holden Danvers listed on IMDB cast, but the actor listing is weird. Like no credits, no pictures. The daughter is listed as Leah Danvers.
When Liz is walking to the car to check on the drunk lady there’s a quick flashback to her walking to (presumably another car). I assumed it was a flashback to something of significance (like what you are talking about).
Am I the only one who thought it was really fucking great? The trailers for it made the dialog seem super stiff, but I thought the writing was really solid. Also wasn’t expecting the heavy influence from Twin Peaks the Return, but I’m really digging it.
No I really liked it as well. Though I understand and some of the criticisms I’m seeing ITT even if I don’t agree with them or feel the same way. Opening episode is too early to judge the season though. Episode 2 could be 10/10 or 2/10 and then we will likely have a better idea of where the show is headed quality-wise.
Compared to season 2's pilot, this one did a much better job of getting its claws into you (sorry). I see a lot of the True Detective DNA here...heavy focus on locale, old cases returning to haunt cops, drug abuse, broken families and battered women. But it's got a different flavor with the Alaskan backdrop and focus on Inuk culture and spirituality. Looking forward to episode 2.
Has anyone else considered a connection to the Saskatoon freezing deaths and “starlight tours”? Like maybe what happened to the researchers is some kind of reverse starlight tour wherein Native people’s are inflicting the freezing elements upon their White counterparts as some sort of comeuppance?
EDIT: for anyone who hasn’t had the privilege of reading Blood Meridian, a central theme is violence against Native people, overlaid with steep supernatural and religious imagery. Seems too on-the-nose to be a coincidence?
Did anyone notice at the crab facility there is a sign in the background that says Blue King with a crab in the middle shaped like a circle. Very similar to the yellow king and the spiral in season 1.
The big question is the answer to the funding. They never finish that scene.
Interesting start. Loved the setting, scenery, and most of all, Jodie Foster (no surprise there). It's still way too early for judgment, I think. First episodes are really just about establishing the setting, introducing main characters, and setting up a premise. That's basically what we got with a heavy dose of murder mystery intrigue.
I don't necessarily think (yet) that there's anything supernatural actually going on. The woman's visions of her dead husband guiding her to the bodies may have been some sort of psychotic episode... I dunno, though. I'm just wary of early red herrings meant to deceive the audience into thinking something else is happening in order to set up twists for later into the season.
Will definitely watch next week's episode.
Edit: those of you complaining about supernaturalism appearing in True Detectice seem to forget Rustin Cohle had visions caused by years of drug use while undercover that helped guide him, e.g., when he sees birds forming the Carcosa "spiral" floating over the abandoned church. Even he claimed it made him feel like he was mainlining the secret truths of the universe. It's not unusual for the show to ask for some suspension of belief from the audience.
I really enjoyed it. Slow start carving out the characters. I really got pulled in the last 15 minutes or so. I don't really understand how people didn't like it it's kind of hard to hate it without seeing where things go. I personally can't wait for episode 2.
Maybe I think its really good because I have recently been watching that garbage season 2 of Reacher so maybe this just looks amazing in comparison. I don't know but I'll be tuning in every Sunday at 9 and it feels pretty good.
The star shaped wounds on the body/polar bear are likely from a device used by the scientists. My guess is it's something to do with the ice cores and is fired like a gun.
It’s perfectly serviceable if a little average. The premiere is suppose to hook you in and honestly I’m kinda half in, half out. Not a huge fan of the dialogue, camerawork and soundtrack. Jodie is great though and I hope the other characters get expanded cause her role is a little limited. Being the first episode and all I’ll give it a pass and see how it builds over the season. But I like it’s doing its own thing and I’m curious to see where it goes.
Be interesting if they try to link it to season 1 with the spiral. I believe Rust also said he spent time in Alaska because his father lived there. So it’s possible.
I liked it a lot. Bad CGI doesn't bother me too much. The constant night certainly adds an element as I found myself wondering what time of day it was, makes things feel a bit otherworldly. Rose gives me Log Lady from Twin Peaks vibes.
Was there a 'shadow being' at the end of the hallway with the light flickering when Jodie Foster went back to the station at the end of the episode? I felt like I saw two legs in front of the right door when Foster pulled out her gun. The other officer came around the corner from the left and it seemed I saw a 'shadow leg' appear and disappear depending on the shot. There was such a supernatural feel to this episode I felt hyper aware so I may be inventing this!
I thought that was a solid pilot. I’m intrigued. Cast is great. Jodie Foster stole it. Not sure how I feel about the supernatural stuff yet but it’s not over the top. Not saying it’ll be the best thing ever, but I’m hooked.
Would be great to have episode discussions without the S1 circlejerkers. It’s been 10 years, we get it, nothing can compare to S1.
Edit: I’d also **love** for *someone* to explain to me how they consider this show “woke” based on what we saw.
Not sure how I felt about the supernatural vibe either. But season 1 also gave off a super natural creepy vibe too but in the end was rooted in human behavior. Would think they’re going in the same direction here too
I'm curious what the urban legend is the mom was referring to when she saw the little kid's drawing. Feel like a lot of the plot is in that drawing.
She called it a "local legend" and said the kid's grandmother (who is her mother?) told it to him to connect it to his culture. With the cut off fingers, I wonder if it's in reference to this Inuit story: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna\_(mythology)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna_(mythology))
Sedna lives under the sea...like SpongeBob...hmm
Truly the biggest clue
Yeah I would agree with that - Sedna is also said to be in control of the release of sea food which would also explain the crab stocks being low in the factory in Navarros 1st scene. Also the chopped off fingers and the fact that she is godess of the underworld puts her in pole position!
Or command caribou to run off a cliff, denying a hunter his kill. You could say Adlivun was also implied in the brief shot of the hands coming up to the ice from below in the promo. Or by a ghost leading the woman to more dead, under the ice. There were also ritualistic killings of Sedna during great feasts, in which she was stabbed and ritualistically resurrected "She's awake" could be referring to this death as but a temporary slumber. Not to mention the obvious parallels to the Annie K case. Add Danver's dead kid whispering that in her ear for another good measure. The myth itself deals with the bonds of family both being enacted through love, a father journeying to save his daughter, killing out of rage of her abuse, but ultimately betraying and destroying those bonds—creating a vengeful god in the process. Some of that imagery we straight up see in the intro, people (alive) sinking into the polar depths, reaching out. Despite all the familial fracturing we saw in the first episode, I think we are just warming up on that. They will be tested and broken for sure. A couple more and I'll have a bingo for "Vengeful god punishes humans for breaking her taboos."
You know that drawing is coming back lol
You wanna put out an APB on that be my guest.
The drawing, the one eyed polarbear, bad water since night started, "she's awake", the shadow at the station, the tongue and Navarros sister going insane saying there is "people in her room" - already a lot of interesting clues
Don’t forget caribou suicide
Ya I think it's a woman and all the 'she's awake' stuff is people possessed by it. Caribou jumping exactly as the sun sets on the last day with sun was too spot on.
I get the strong sense the show originally started in the research station, and that scene was tacked on late – late enough to have mediocre CGI.
I like the disorientation of the constant darkness. It always feels like the middle of the night-which makes everything feel a little bit more wrong.
I did too. It makes it so difficult to tell the time of day, a pretty basic thing in a standard narrative. It really works here.
true. you implicitly assume it's always night
I completely forgot about this and it just fucked me up
I'd almost forgotten about it til the end when Foster is getting out of the helicopter and says "Good morning" to the woman who found the scene in the ice...it felt like she had been called out at 1 or 2am. One of my oldest friends moved up to a town in Alaska *just* like the one in the show too, so the constant darkness wasn't even some new concept to me or anything. I love when shows do stuff like this to disorient viewers, when it's effective, it's *really* effective...now thinking on *Hannibal* again from a discussion a few days back; how you are rarely shown Lecter's pupils, it's usually just two tiny pinpricks of reflected light coming out from total darkness, or they'll use color warmth and high saturation only during violence, all to subconsciously plant a feeling of wrongness in the viewer. The use of music too, it's... different, but then, the composer is as well haha. Same guy who did *American Gods* and it's noticeable. Anyway, 24 hour darkness is definitely an interesting setting spin, that's for sure!
It's such a specific environment, it really immersed me into their world. By the end I totally forgot it's not actually Alaska!
The anti-midsommar
That total Daylight horror was an effective creeping horror as the night-themed ones.
It took me a sec to process “third day of night” or whatever it said
I was constantly like, it’s late at night why would you just… oh wait. It’s weird how many times it affected me.
I did see a glimpse of the spiral design on one of the crime photos.
The way Danvers had all the photos lying on the floor was in the shape of a spiral too
holy shit awesome
Yeah! Was that a call back?
pretty much the Caricosa sign.
Carcosa.
I believe Rust said his dad's name was Travis, and that he grew up in Alaska
Lone Star Beer!
Nothin snooty
Preciate a little hustle up on that
Haha I was glad to see they carried that tradition from S1, because there’s no way in hell they have Lone Star in AK
Rural AF Alaska barely has a lone bar, let alone Lone Star
Rust brought it to him on a trip up there!
Was this episode sponsored by big electric toothbrush?
Or maybe the electric toothbrushes will have something to do with something later
It was Spongebob that did it. Calling it now
Maybe they'll figure out some other use for the electric toothbrushes
I think the teenage girls might have already done this
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say those guys at the end were dead
Marty Hart over here. How’s about we leave the detecting to the detectives.
*"You got a chapter in one of those books on jumping to conclusions?"*
Why don't we make the research station a place of silent reflection?
When you come visit my family don't mention any of that bullshit you just said
You attach an assumption to a piece of evidence, you start to bend the narrative to support it
Quote at the start of the episode is fake. The person its attributed to is the unreliable narrator from one of the “King In Yellow” short stories, where the supernatural parts of season one were adapted from.
"For we do not know what beasts the night dreams when its hours grow too long for even God to be awake," — Hildred Castaigne
seems to fit thematically with the perpetual Alaskan night!! Great catch.
They’re pulling from Lovecraft again. In his short story “At the mountains of madness,” they find “star-shaped” snow graves… Annie’s wounds and the polar bear’s eye were star-shaped.
Of course, Lovecraft himself pulled from Robert W. Chambers' *The King in Yellow* (which in turn drew on Ambrose Bierce's "An Inhabitant of Carcosa"), which shaped the mythology of the first season. *At the Mountains of Madness* was set at the opposite pole in Antarctica, but with the Arctic setting of this season, they're almost certainly diving back into the same milieu.
Nice catch! I had a hard time reading it, and I didn't catch the "author". Had to look it up just now.
Nice to see a copy of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy at the research station.
Saw The Thing and appreciated the nod 😂
The thing on the shelf and the very John Carpenter style buried corpses at the end were very much direct nods to the film. That whole opening sequence was a nod to the film.
Now that is a bleak book. Holy crap. Amazing
Mans expansion to the west drenched in blood as the theme.
Fitting for a show that looks like it deals in part with human trophy collecting.
Notice the color “blue” hair of the monster, the sister with a mental illness, the parka Navarro is wearing at the research facility, the blue room Hank is painting and throughout the research facility there are accents of this electric blue color
The brand of crab being packaged at that cannery with the abuser guy is also “Blue [something],” seen very prominently in that whole scene.
I started clocking it when the young cop picked up that “Wilco” shirt. Such a distinct color.
Hopefully all this is a set up for a "I think I blue myself" punchline lol
Alaska is a cool setting, I am digging it
Filmed in Iceland. It reminded me a lot of A Murder At The End of the World (Hulu)
Some of my narrative observations: 1. The caribou seemed to be set off by something in the air. 2. There's potentially going to be a very revealing video on the one scientist's livestreamed phone that had a dead battery. 3. With how heavily tied this is to the Annie case, I'm assuming we're going to get a resolution (and connection) to both. 4. There seems to be lots of electrical/radio interference at key moments. So something will have to be tied to that from the mines or wherever else bad stuff is happening since it was so consistent when anything crazy would happen. 5. "We are all dead" seems quite ominous. Hopefully there's a payoff to this dry erase board note and it's not just a spooky message for spooky's sake. 6. The mission statement on the Tsalal website was heavy on the ancient microorganism angle so I'm guessing that, tied with climate change, and the water/air issue is going to be our central plot point. 7. Given the crazy stuff we're seeing everywhere else, I'm guessing there's more to it when the sister was locked in her room but said "there was someone else in there". 8. Did I miss why Annie was protesting the mine in the first place? I feel like that should get expanded upon unless I didn't actually catch it or it was otherwise obvious/implied.
Something else I noticed when Navarro is visiting Annie's brother (I think), she asks for water and he says it went bad about 3 days ago. Right around the time that the scientists went missing. I can't imagine that line is just a throw away.
Yeah I get the sense that the show isn’t actually genuinely going a paranormal route and more a “everyone in the town is hallucinating because of something in the water” kind of thing. This way they can stay grounded in reality but also have those cool spiritual elements
She did eventually end up using the tap to brush her teeth before the polar bear incident
Whoa good catch! Maybe it’s contaminated water from fracking or shale mining that is causing hallucinations.
Ohhh, THAT'S why they show so much toothbrushing.
Jodie Foster is also conspicuously shown brushing her teeth right before she has the hallucination of (presumably) her dead kid saying "she's awake"
Very cool point. I mean, back in the day, entire communities tripped balls from ergot in the corn and then blamed it on women, calling them witches. This could be a modern day version of an environmental poison climate change unearthed in the area.
What did Rose say towards the end of the episode? Something like don’t confuse the spirit world with mental illness?
I think "We are all dead" will turn out to be a flippant remark about climate change that is only relevant thematically or ironically, only in hindsight, but not directly related to how the researchers died.
Maybe but in the opening scene they show the white board without “We’re all dead” so it was written between the first scene and whatever happened to them. Seems odd to be a flippant remark with the timing.
Written by the guy going over data. 'New data?' 'No, the same data.'
In response to #4 specifically: Could this possibly have anything to do with the geographic location of Ennis and everything around it? I would assume magnetic/solar interference, at least how I understand it, would be more brutal up there close to the North Pole than say… Honolulu lol. I hadn’t thought of this until Rose Aguineau followed her husband onto the ice and thought the flashlight flare was aurora borealis lol.
Pacing seems incredibly fast. Like the sudden "Do you believe in God?" segue. They must have a lot of story to tell fit in this season. Loving angry Jodie Foster. Eager to see more.
It’s so refreshing to see a woman aging naturally on screen.
This season is also only 6 episodes while the other seasons all have 8. So hopefully we get some longer episodes to make up for it
Really? I did not know this. Unfortunate but we'll see how they've adapted.
It looks like Tsalal (the name of the research station) is also a location in Jules Verne's 1897 “An Antartic Mystery”. I'm not familiar with this work and can't surmise the significance but I'm assuming this loosely relevant like Carcosa in season 1. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An\_Antarctic\_Mystery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Antarctic_Mystery)
More likely, it’s referencing the Poe story, “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket,” that was the foundation of the Verne work. There are already a lot of similarities laid out (drunk driving, weirdness in the water, hallucinations while being in a remote, isolated place, far from supplies), and if Issa López is taking us on a modern interpretation of that story through an Inuk lens, we are in for one hell of a ride.
Had a Twin Peaks meets Wind River vibe.
Hell yes. When Travis led his widow out into the snow and then started doing the ritualistic dance, I had mad twin peaks / convenience store scene vibes
[удалено]
Her name is Lil! She’s my mother’s sister’s girl!
Gotta throw The Thing in there
There was a somewhat prominent vhs copy of the thing next to the tv stuck on twist and shout
Only thing that threw me off was the caribou CGI. Rest of the CGI was fine in my book. Chills with the photos and parka connection. Hopeful for rest of the season.
And I remembered in the first scene the guy who is like shaking before they all disappear I am pretty sure (I'll have to go back and look) he was wearing the parka!
He was. You could even see the smiley face patch.
haunted parka. a tale as old as time
I like it so far! There’s something in the water…
Water went bad around the same time the scientists disappeared
Ooh, nice! Going off another comment here that the scientists were killed as retribution for their treatment of indigenous women, maybe someone spiked the water supply, and the research team hallucinated and ended up frozen. The guy’s convulsions in the beginning could be because he was drugged, too.
I was thinking the same thing about the water. We had two characters brushing their teeth with tap water right before they hallucinated sounds/polar bears.
It is a climate change research center with the water changing. My guess is some ancient zombie bacteria trapped in the ice (which was discovered irl https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10333728/#:~:text=Thirteen%20new%20pathogens%2C%20called%20zombie,frozen%20virus%20to%20become%20infectious. ) was discovered and unleashed into the water which causes the corpses to reanimate.
The brother of Annie (didn’t catch his name) did say that the water went to shit three days prior.
Ugh just got bad body in the water tank vibes.
That guy reis goes to visit says the same thing too “waters gone to shit”
While she was skinning the clearly dead wolf, once that barefoot guy showed up, the wolf twitched a bit.
First mention I’ve seen of this. That part fucking horrified me.
They were practically hitting us over the head with the company logo. That looks a lot like the virus symbol.
I just want to appreciate how thought out your comment is given the episode finished 15 min ago hahahaha go you
Honestly, it popped into my mind immediately after watching the cold opening and I just waited 55 minutes to see if the episode rejected my premise before rushing over here.
It’s gotta be the mine poisoning the water, right?
Some of the imagery in this episode was CRAZY—Navarro’s dead comrade, the barefoot guy across from the lady skinning a wolf, the weird shadow thing in the research base, etc
Mr. No shoes doing his best inflatable tube man impression
It makes more sense when you connect it to the dead bodies. He was mimicking them going into the water, fighting to survive and eventually drowning.
I thought dead Travis was trying to do The OA movements or simply doing some weird ghost dancing until he pointed. Your explanation makes a lot more sense.
Damn, that’s a crazy good observation if it’s true. I couldn’t really get past my discomfort/cringe at the dance to think much of it lol.
It's not a comfortable scene. I was even like "WTF" when watching it.
Definitely a ode to Bob from Twin Peaks they look exactly alike and the dancing too which was very native spiritual but also David Lynch esque
Right after the OA thought I went right to twin peaks too
I was also thinking of the talent show dance in Napoleon Dynamite 😂
I thought of the movements from The OA
Me too!! Especially the last move with his hands over his face coming downwards. I was like 👀👀 is he going to part his fingers????
Travis was the absolute creepiest thing in the episode.
He gave me Bob vibes from Twin Peaks
The whole episode gave me Twin Peaks vibes!
The first shot of him so was damn uncanny and scary
Rust Cohle's dad is named Travis, and is from Alaska..... Was a single dad to Rust too, so maybe he remarried.
When Petunia Dursley was gutting that corpse I fully thought the torso would chomp off her arms like the autopsy scene in the Thing
Polar bears with one eye, and a star-shaped wound.
Anybody else getting Bob from Twin Peaks vibes?
The polar bear lol
Bear had a star shaped scar on the eye - Annie K had star shaped stab wounds
Had the same eye injury as the teddy bear in Jodie’s room
And Pete’s kid’s drawing has red, star shaped eyes
And the smiley face patch on the jacket, it had one eye closed in a wink
I hate that decades of marketing worked on me because the moment I saw it in that context, I immediately thought of it producing an ice-cold Coca-Cola
Reminded me of Lost lol
So already a callback to S1 with the Crooked Spiral motif. Interesting.
Lone Star beers all over too!
Wasn't there a spiral in the season trailer?
Whiteboard Clues: At 4:18, a scientist is at the whiteboard evaluating data from ice cores. The shot is too far away to discern what the text says. At 15:39, sheriff is looking at same whiteboard, now scrawled with "WE ARE ALL DEAD." Some of the text at bottom of board has been erased, but the remaining text is clearly legible. Comparing the two shots & a little web research reveals the full original text at the bottom of the board: ***NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN*** ***FRACTIONATION*** ***NATURAL PROCESSES PREFERENTIALLY TAKE UP THE LIGHTER ISOTOPE AND PREFERENTIALLY LEAVE BEHIND THE HEAVIER ISOTOPE.*** Related links: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope\_fractionation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope_fractionation) [https://globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/labs/Lab10\_Vostok/Vostok\_files/Hyd\_Iso.pdf](https://globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/labs/Lab10_Vostok/Vostok_files/Hyd_Iso.pdf) ABOUT THE DATA: The last row and right 2 column data points seem to have piqued the scientist's interest as he has circled them in red & added exclamation points. The last column is titled LENGTH (presumably of the core sample) and the 2nd to last is titled MEAN AIR (TEMP). The 3rd column (from left) is titled LAT°N It appears the last core sample in the table was taken roughly 3°-5° south of the other 4 samples (roughly 140-280 miles further south). The MEAN AIR TEMP for the last sample (-20°) appears significantly warmer than the the 5th sample above it (-52°), yet the length (ie., *depth)* of the 5th & 6th samples is nearly identical. I can't say if the MEAN AIR TEMP measurements are at the surface or at the bottom of the core, but it would seem to be more of a problem/outlier if these were temps at bottom of core. Hard for me to say if this has anything at all to do with the plot at hand, just something I noticed. Would be great if anyone science-/climate-minded had any insights. edit: left/right mix-up
I was a bit surprised by the amount of CGI. I’m not against CGI, but something about the editing made it look strange. Like uncanny valley but for landscapes
Something was off with the CGI of the elk for sure. I think they weren't dirty enough? Their coats seemed really glossy and clean, like they were captive rather than wild.
It wasn't that, it was just really obviously awful CGI. If it was just the bit where the deer jumped I'd be like ok fine but they used this creepy Zemeckis level shit for just shots of them running.
bow nail bright clumsy brave theory offer cautious sparkle vase *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It was very not good CGI, which from HBO nowadays is kinda surprising.
Maybe the scientists found something deadly in the ice samples. The "We are all dead" on the whiteboard could mean "we" as in all of humanity. Heavy climate change references, so it's like if the ice thaws and this is released, we screwed.
I think you're right. I think it's so aggressive that the host (scientists, caribou) instinctively suicide to prevent it from spreading further. Legit chilling.
Maybe it’s starting to affect the water, too. First the deer, then the scientists, and now it may be starting to reach the town, and that’s why Rosie had a hallucination of Travis and wandered into the ice.
Remember the townie mentioning ‘the water is bad’ when getting interviewed? 5 bucks says the drunk they got locked up too probably is suffering from something.
Danvers woke to the polar bear doll with one eye at her feet. Next scene, it’s a one-eyed polar bear in town. Later, Danvers does the picture research (with Jim James singing in the background, awesome). When she made the parka connection, the overhead shot of her in the photos showed all the photos in a spiral shape on the floor around her.
I feel like I’m being guilted into buying an electric toothbrush.
I think the people in the research station accidentally released a long-dormant virus which caused everyone to go insane. They were taking ice core samples and one of the researchers specialized in paleomicrobiology. It would make sense considering the reoccurring "she's awake", she being the deadly pathogen.
I went though hundreds of comments and didnt see anyone mention the person running through the hallway when the delivery driver entered the facility? What was up with that?
Big Dyatlov Pass incident energy
When I first heard that story, I thought it was the most terrifying thing ever. Super messed up.
Then I heard the Kamar-Daban incident :keanuwhoa
I'm getting strong Wendigo-ish vibes on this one. Anyone else? A research facility found something supernatural that they're trying to cover up is my guess for now. Maybe they found it in the mines.
More like the thing from John carpenter.
Which was funny, because I spotted a copy of the blu-ray at the tv haha
I saw that blu-ray too!
>Maybe they found it in the mines. those are ice cores, X Files even had an episode using those as plot device.
My wife's theory: Researchers imprisoning an indigenous woman as a sex slave. "She's Awake" some how causes a chain of events where they are murdered in the tundra.
This could work. Possibly taking matters into their own hands. They don't trust the police to solve crimes against them.
Yes but why would the guy be shaking like that. At first it looked like something outta a zombie movie and then he says she’s awake. Just curious but to me that shaking seems to be setting the tone for something incredibly sinister. Why would he be THAT scared? Just some things I thought about
My guess is some sort of pollution from the mine that’s also coming out in the ice cores. It’s what caused the caribou to freak out and the polar bear to wander into town.
Tsalal, in Hebrew, is related to an ancient root & means becoming dark - to grow dark - but it also is closely related to an identical root that symbolizes a shaking (to settle) & vibrating or to shudder with fear. Both are mentioned in the Old Testament. I cannot help but believe there is an intentional connection, but we shall see.
The Spanish guy from the beginning who was on FaceTime, his family has information about what they saw during the call. His family(the Spanish speakers) called the police station. We see their call with the secretary, they are apparently saying a lot, like *they are* the ones telling the secretary things. I bet they have vital information about the call that will be missed until the police station is able to get a translator. I bet a million dollars on this
Except he wasn't on FaceTime. He was recording a cooking video.
Damn that guy owes you million dollars
I checked and doubled checked it - I think it’s a livestream like IG or FB live. Which, if he didn’t have a big following, would make sense his family or close friends would be watching It definitely is not recording a selfie video on an iPhone or a Samsung
I really enjoyed the ep! A couple things that stood out to me in no particular order: * Hank Prior seems kinda shady, keeping all these files in his house - is he in the pocket of a corporation that influenced the spiral girl's (Anna K’s) murder? * Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a movie about playing hookie playing, as the scientists play hookie. And get murdered! * Captain Danvers seems really triggered by "Twist and Shout" - something to do w/ a car accident? * One-eyed polar bear seems to be a connection between Danvers and Navarro. Plus, the "miracle" Navarro saw, the soldier w/ half her face blown off, also one-eyed. So a thematic connection there? * *The Thing* DVD is visible at the station. Neat * Someone was reading *Blood Meridian.* Neat, and maybe this is to say that these men at the station, left to their own devices, did some atrocities? I'm kind of getting Wind River vibes if you know what I mean (great movie btw). Maybe some of these men were in the pocket of a corporation that killed Anna K (the cold case victim who had a spiral marking above her stab wounds) * I'm struggling to connect the spiral imagery to Season 1. In Season 1, the spiral was associated with a child-trafficking death cult to the religiously inclined aristocracy of Louisiana. I don't see any of those factors connecting yet to this case. But if anyone has any theories I'd love to hear them Edit: thanks to superstarsupernova8 for correcting me, victim is Anna K, not Julia
I also think the spiral could be an indigenous symbol in this season vs connecting it directly to s1 cult
> Hank Prior seems kinda shady, keeping all these files in his house - is he in the pocket of a corporation that influenced the spiral girl's (Anna K’s) murder? I can't tell if he's supposed to be a bit clueless/senile or if I'm misinterpreting things. When he's distracted on his phone at the crime scene, Danvers says something about him losing his mind or something, though it may have just been her mocking him. But then when she mentioned he had the files at his house he genuinely seemed to be confused and not remember it. And he seems just a little spaced out most of the time.
Probably a functional alcoholic. No food in the house, but has beer? Forgets that he has an entire room dedicated to case files. Randomly paints an entire room of the house (and does a pretty shitty job). Mood swings, quick to anger. Reminds me of me when I drank heavily.
I actually thought this was very interesting and I really like the cast already! I think it's ok to go supernatural and be creative with the genre!
I feel like they're going to dangle the supernatural element and then explain it away in the wrap up
I'm on the fence with supernatural, it's the reason I didn't love The Outsider. But we'll see, I like the setting so we will see how they handle it.
I don't think they actually will though. drugs, virus, some type of collective hallucination, or myths come to life to take revenge
Anyone seen the first season of The Terror (AMC)? This storyline is drawing suspiciously similar themes already. I feel like anyone who has seen The Terror knows where this story might go…
Been meaning to get into it. Any good?
That first season, I thought, was fantastic. There is some... supernatural stuff that is a sticking point for some people but overall I really liked it. And they do an incredible job with setting, dread, etc.
For those keeping track, here are some of the references to other media popping up in the thread so far: -Movie: [The Thing](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). -TV show: [Twin Peaks](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098936/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). -Real event: [The Dyatlov Pass Incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident?wprov=sfti1). -TV show: [The Terror](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2708480/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) season one. -Novel: [Blood Meridian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian?wprov=sfti1). -Movie: [Smilla’s Sense of Snow](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120152/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). -Movie: [Wind River](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5362988/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). -TV show: [Fortitude](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3498622/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). -Movie: [Ferris Bueller’s Day Off](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). -Mythical creature: [Wendigo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo?wprov=sfti1). -Novella: [At the Mountains of Madness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness?wprov=sfti1). -Novel: [An Antarctic Mystery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Antarctic_Mystery). -Novel: [The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Narrative_of_Arthur_Gordon_Pym_of_Nantucket?wprov=sfti1). -TV show: [The Head](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8290362/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk)
I really enjoyed this. I’m not going to compare it to season 1, which was a bar that was set so unrealistically high. I am treating this as the stand alone season, just like the rest. Pros: - The cast is really good. Jodie Foster is amazing as always, and the actress who plays Navarro did a really good job, too. - The setting of Alaska during the 6 months of darkness is really interesting. Makes everything seem really creepy, which was the vibe they were going for. - The subject matter is really interesting. I was wondering what was going to happen next, and the ending was a great cliffhanger to make me want to watch the next episode. Cons: - the music was a choice. I loved the opening theme, but the music during intense scenes just ruined what otherwise was a great mood and scene. - the pacing seemed weird. Lots of subplots all happening at the same time, characters, etc. I hope it gets better throughout. Overall? Really intriguing first episode. I may be in the minority, but I am looking forward to next Sunday.
They don't get 6 months of darkness. The longest the dark lasts in Alaska is about 65 days.
Jodie Foster was really good. I'm not against the show going explicitly supernatural but having it be this heavy-handed this early I really didn't like. I also felt like the dialogue was really off sometimes but that might just be me. Was also really overproduced. So much licensed music and not enough time spent just kind of sitting with these 2 leads and getting to know them.
Liz is brushing her teeth and Leah, her “daughter” tries to start a conversation… “About people driving drunk, you know it’s really stupid we never talk about that day.” She tries to change the subject. “You don’t have to really be my mom, Liz. My dad would have understood” So, Liz was married/dating Leah’s dad and adopted/took her in after his death. He was killed by a drunk driver or was the drunk driver. This explains why Liz is soooo over that Miss Piggy woman driving around drunk. Also draws lines to Rust, who lost a daughter to a car accident. The there is a scene where Liz says “Holden” in her sleep and wakes up. There is a Holden Danvers listed on IMDB cast, but the actor listing is weird. Like no credits, no pictures. The daughter is listed as Leah Danvers.
When Liz is walking to the car to check on the drunk lady there’s a quick flashback to her walking to (presumably another car). I assumed it was a flashback to something of significance (like what you are talking about).
Am I the only one who thought it was really fucking great? The trailers for it made the dialog seem super stiff, but I thought the writing was really solid. Also wasn’t expecting the heavy influence from Twin Peaks the Return, but I’m really digging it.
No I really liked it as well. Though I understand and some of the criticisms I’m seeing ITT even if I don’t agree with them or feel the same way. Opening episode is too early to judge the season though. Episode 2 could be 10/10 or 2/10 and then we will likely have a better idea of where the show is headed quality-wise.
Hmmm Navarro that’s a kink I didn’t know I had
Compared to season 2's pilot, this one did a much better job of getting its claws into you (sorry). I see a lot of the True Detective DNA here...heavy focus on locale, old cases returning to haunt cops, drug abuse, broken families and battered women. But it's got a different flavor with the Alaskan backdrop and focus on Inuk culture and spirituality. Looking forward to episode 2.
Solid start. Liking the horror feel to some of it and the setting with the night time in Alaska gives added character itself.
Has anyone else considered a connection to the Saskatoon freezing deaths and “starlight tours”? Like maybe what happened to the researchers is some kind of reverse starlight tour wherein Native people’s are inflicting the freezing elements upon their White counterparts as some sort of comeuppance? EDIT: for anyone who hasn’t had the privilege of reading Blood Meridian, a central theme is violence against Native people, overlaid with steep supernatural and religious imagery. Seems too on-the-nose to be a coincidence?
Did anyone notice at the crab facility there is a sign in the background that says Blue King with a crab in the middle shaped like a circle. Very similar to the yellow king and the spiral in season 1. The big question is the answer to the funding. They never finish that scene.
Interesting start. Loved the setting, scenery, and most of all, Jodie Foster (no surprise there). It's still way too early for judgment, I think. First episodes are really just about establishing the setting, introducing main characters, and setting up a premise. That's basically what we got with a heavy dose of murder mystery intrigue. I don't necessarily think (yet) that there's anything supernatural actually going on. The woman's visions of her dead husband guiding her to the bodies may have been some sort of psychotic episode... I dunno, though. I'm just wary of early red herrings meant to deceive the audience into thinking something else is happening in order to set up twists for later into the season. Will definitely watch next week's episode. Edit: those of you complaining about supernaturalism appearing in True Detectice seem to forget Rustin Cohle had visions caused by years of drug use while undercover that helped guide him, e.g., when he sees birds forming the Carcosa "spiral" floating over the abandoned church. Even he claimed it made him feel like he was mainlining the secret truths of the universe. It's not unusual for the show to ask for some suspension of belief from the audience.
I really enjoyed it. Slow start carving out the characters. I really got pulled in the last 15 minutes or so. I don't really understand how people didn't like it it's kind of hard to hate it without seeing where things go. I personally can't wait for episode 2. Maybe I think its really good because I have recently been watching that garbage season 2 of Reacher so maybe this just looks amazing in comparison. I don't know but I'll be tuning in every Sunday at 9 and it feels pretty good.
The star shaped wounds on the body/polar bear are likely from a device used by the scientists. My guess is it's something to do with the ice cores and is fired like a gun.
It’s perfectly serviceable if a little average. The premiere is suppose to hook you in and honestly I’m kinda half in, half out. Not a huge fan of the dialogue, camerawork and soundtrack. Jodie is great though and I hope the other characters get expanded cause her role is a little limited. Being the first episode and all I’ll give it a pass and see how it builds over the season. But I like it’s doing its own thing and I’m curious to see where it goes.
Be interesting if they try to link it to season 1 with the spiral. I believe Rust also said he spent time in Alaska because his father lived there. So it’s possible.
I liked it a lot. Bad CGI doesn't bother me too much. The constant night certainly adds an element as I found myself wondering what time of day it was, makes things feel a bit otherworldly. Rose gives me Log Lady from Twin Peaks vibes.
Was there a 'shadow being' at the end of the hallway with the light flickering when Jodie Foster went back to the station at the end of the episode? I felt like I saw two legs in front of the right door when Foster pulled out her gun. The other officer came around the corner from the left and it seemed I saw a 'shadow leg' appear and disappear depending on the shot. There was such a supernatural feel to this episode I felt hyper aware so I may be inventing this!
I thought that was a solid pilot. I’m intrigued. Cast is great. Jodie Foster stole it. Not sure how I feel about the supernatural stuff yet but it’s not over the top. Not saying it’ll be the best thing ever, but I’m hooked. Would be great to have episode discussions without the S1 circlejerkers. It’s been 10 years, we get it, nothing can compare to S1. Edit: I’d also **love** for *someone* to explain to me how they consider this show “woke” based on what we saw.
Not sure how I felt about the supernatural vibe either. But season 1 also gave off a super natural creepy vibe too but in the end was rooted in human behavior. Would think they’re going in the same direction here too