When the MD guy was talking about Observers' view of time with the tube and blue water, my first thought was a) "is this a feminine hygine ad?" and b) "Eh, I liked the Quantum Leap explanation with the string crumpled up much better."
I had no idea Peter was from an alternate universe. When did this happen? I've only started on Season 2.
One thing I'd like to note is that I don't think so many sightings of Observers means the most important moment in human history is coming (though that is certainly one interpretation) but that our culture is actually speeding up. More people and an information superhighway means that any single event could prove much more important. Long ago, genocide or some other major event in another part of the world may not have concerned humanity as a whole because we were easily separated by cultural and physical boundaries and thus it was not Observed. Now that we are becoming so interconnected, however, I think the Observers are seeing that what may have once been minor is now very important.
Or maybe I'm stuck in sociology mode from studying for my exam. I'm just saying.
Also, I'm kind of wondering how August will be replaced, if at all.
EDIT: The more I read this post, the less sense I feel I make. Is anybody getting this or am I having a Walter Moment?
Annalee, you (and the other editors here) make me want to watch movies that I know I shouldn't watch. This is how much I enjoy your (and their) writing.
A friend of mine is very fond of these books and the movies, in the guilty pleasure mode. I told her that, even if Twilight is ridiculous from time to time, dramatizing and allegorizing the desires of adolescent girls is a perfectly respectable artistic purpose, and a rather underacknowledged one, compared to the familiar novel/movie/opera about a middle-aged divorced man having sex with young women and ruminating about sunsets while flyfishing.
That's disappointing, to say the least. I was so hoping that this movie would be fun to watch. The acid-peeing alien dog straight out of Alien and the WALL-E-like cute Rover dog are just about the only reasons now for me to watch this, given all the reviews I've read. The question is, though, are those two characters enough to satisfy me? I suspect not.
@Pessimippopotamus: Nope. We don't even get a courtesy Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development. We don't know why they speak English either, and strangely, no one particularly cares.
@Lauren Davis: Wow. I thought it would've made a cool backstory if they picked up our customs from radio and tv frequencies (obviously nonsensical) a la Omicron Persei 8.
@Pessimippopotamus: Yeah, given how much the Humaniacs look like astronauts (and they're called freaking "Humaniacs"), I thought we'd get some explanation. I bet it was in an earlier draft. This movie feels like it's been through a lot of drafts.
There are most likely 12 active Observers at any given time considering that they are named after months however, there may be more scattered through out the planet. (We have seen what is most likely a child Observer in "Inner Child".)
There are most likely Observers in the alternative universe since they were able to bring Peter over as well as give Walter a coin from the other side. Meaning that they are neutral in the war.
The color pattern green, green, green, green and red means something to them since that pattern has appeared hidden throughout past episodes as well as on their technology.
They do not kill, nor do they travel randomly. No side trips for a Slush-O. They have their assignments and stick to those places until it is over. Which is why they "hire" other people to be assassins and couriers.
They are not "The Strangers". Richard O'Brien in not an Observer.
Not only do they have a dull sense of taste, they also don't feel like we do. In the hottest day and the coldest ones, they only wear their suits. No coats. No shorts. Just the suit.
I hope you are right Annalee but I have my misgivings.
Maybe if the first movie wasn't so boring. It wasn't even ridiculous enough to get angry about, it was just a lackluster (ha ha) teen drama riding on the current vampire trend. If the second movie has a staff that is intelligent enough to know its current role in the media then that is great but with a budding franchise such as this one, I doubt the production staff is allowing too much "self-mockery." I mean, what if these girls catch wind of the fingers pointing at them behind their back. Seems like a pretty big gamble for almost no return. Unless of course, they are confident that their current demographic will either discount such lies or just not care.
If that is the case, I applaud the gall these movie makers have. What is more beatnik than creating something wretched and mocking and selling it right into the hands of the people it makes fun of?
Some quick thoughts...
1)I think they are extra terrestrials.
2) I don't think the writing is taken from other civilations- if they have 1200 characters without repeating one, then eventually there would have to be a coincidental squggle of lines that looks like something we already have on earth- there are only so many ways to mark a piece of paper with ink.
2a) not impossible that one of their alphabetic characters got picked up by an ancient civilaztion and was borrowed.
3) They have very insensitive taste buds and need serious heat to taste anything.
4) I don't think there ever was a frozen lake- Walter made up a story to explain who this strange man was. September is responsible for Walter crossing to the other side to steal Peter, making Walter's story tangentially true- the observer is responsible for Walter not losing his son, just not in the way Walter says... OR, he was responsible for peter's death and the correction was getting other peter for Walter here.
@BlueBeard: You are correct in your answer to 2a. The references to cuneiform writing and the Iron Pillar of Delhi were meant to establish the Observers as having been around and lurking on the periphery of human civilization for thousands of years.
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08:05 PM
The reviews from Time and USA Today are especially piquant and probably the best thing about this ghastly, dull pap.
07:57 PM
One thing I'd like to note is that I don't think so many sightings of Observers means the most important moment in human history is coming (though that is certainly one interpretation) but that our culture is actually speeding up. More people and an information superhighway means that any single event could prove much more important. Long ago, genocide or some other major event in another part of the world may not have concerned humanity as a whole because we were easily separated by cultural and physical boundaries and thus it was not Observed. Now that we are becoming so interconnected, however, I think the Observers are seeing that what may have once been minor is now very important.
Or maybe I'm stuck in sociology mode from studying for my exam. I'm just saying.
Also, I'm kind of wondering how August will be replaced, if at all.
EDIT: The more I read this post, the less sense I feel I make. Is anybody getting this or am I having a Walter Moment?
05:40 PM
Right in their movie?
And she gets money for it??
She's a genius!
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*Sob*
She was one of the better ones. Her writing was amazing. ;_;
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04:16 PM
There are most likely Observers in the alternative universe since they were able to bring Peter over as well as give Walter a coin from the other side. Meaning that they are neutral in the war.
The color pattern green, green, green, green and red means something to them since that pattern has appeared hidden throughout past episodes as well as on their technology.
They do not kill, nor do they travel randomly. No side trips for a Slush-O. They have their assignments and stick to those places until it is over. Which is why they "hire" other people to be assassins and couriers.
They are not "The Strangers". Richard O'Brien in not an Observer.
Not only do they have a dull sense of taste, they also don't feel like we do. In the hottest day and the coldest ones, they only wear their suits. No coats. No shorts. Just the suit.
04:15 PM
Maybe if the first movie wasn't so boring. It wasn't even ridiculous enough to get angry about, it was just a lackluster (ha ha) teen drama riding on the current vampire trend. If the second movie has a staff that is intelligent enough to know its current role in the media then that is great but with a budding franchise such as this one, I doubt the production staff is allowing too much "self-mockery." I mean, what if these girls catch wind of the fingers pointing at them behind their back. Seems like a pretty big gamble for almost no return. Unless of course, they are confident that their current demographic will either discount such lies or just not care.
If that is the case, I applaud the gall these movie makers have. What is more beatnik than creating something wretched and mocking and selling it right into the hands of the people it makes fun of?
Also, complimentary Edward Cullen pillows abound.
Just saying.
03:33 PM
1)I think they are extra terrestrials.
2) I don't think the writing is taken from other civilations- if they have 1200 characters without repeating one, then eventually there would have to be a coincidental squggle of lines that looks like something we already have on earth- there are only so many ways to mark a piece of paper with ink.
2a) not impossible that one of their alphabetic characters got picked up by an ancient civilaztion and was borrowed.
3) They have very insensitive taste buds and need serious heat to taste anything.
4) I don't think there ever was a frozen lake- Walter made up a story to explain who this strange man was. September is responsible for Walter crossing to the other side to steal Peter, making Walter's story tangentially true- the observer is responsible for Walter not losing his son, just not in the way Walter says... OR, he was responsible for peter's death and the correction was getting other peter for Walter here.
03:41 PM