Raised by Wolves (Ridley Scott, HBO)

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We used to live next door but one to the zoo when i was small - so although strictly speaking not wolves, I was virtually raised by tigers, lions and a jackal

[/invaluable contribution to thread]



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Two more episodes on deck!!! It's not been addressed, I don't think, but the title audio track is a perfect pairing for the weird aesthetics of this series.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Well now. This one jumps right into the deep end of the ....ocean. Weird, interesting (but kinda weird) stuff!

This better not go the way of Carnivale.



The Adventure Starts Here!
Well now. This one jumps right into the deep end of the ....ocean. Weird, interesting (but kinda weird) stuff!

This better not go the way or Carnivale.
Which episode are you referring to? Somehow I either missed one last week or they let us watch two because two episodes were waiting for me (6 and 7, I think). And now I'm not sure where it's headed... again.

And I still don't quite know who I'm supposed to be rooting for.



The Adventure Starts Here!
This better not go the way or Carnivale.
Oh, mentioning Carnivale is almost a trigger for me. Ugh. If only that series had ended literally about FIVE MINUTES before it did, I could have lived with it being snuffed out like that.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Which episode are you referring to? Somehow I either missed one last week or they let us watch two because two episodes were waiting for me (6 and 7, I think). And now I'm not sure where it's headed... again.

And I still don't quite know who I'm supposed to be rooting for.

Looks like they added two. I think they did last week too. I was referring to her recent simulation pod experience.


The only thing I'm having issue with is the casting of Travis Fimmel. He has the same eye flutter head twists in every character he plays. And his speech patterns I feel are too much of our language instead of belonging to his time. Too much American slang. "You betcha!" Of all the quirkiness of this series, it's that that risks pulling me out the most.


Right there with you on Carnivale. I watched it again a year or two back and really enjoyed it. I even thought they had edited the ending removing the cut in question. I was excited! Then bloop, my memory was off on the timing and there he was. They really should consider a name change to HBOMG.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
WAY off topic, but still on HBO, if any of you enjoy dry humor with a good bit of slapstick sprinkled in, do check out Avenue 5. I started it out of boredom when it first aired. I admit to not liking the first episode but maybe halfway into the second, I was rolling with laughter. It's just so absurd! I don't imagine they will continue it with another season, and that's a shame really as it was pleasantly mild and silly.
__________________
"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear



The Adventure Starts Here!
Yeah, I'm not a fan of Fimmel, out of the whole cast. His acting is very... meh. I just don't believe what he's trying to convey (because it just doesn't feel like he's actually TRYING very hard). Too bad he's such a pivotal character.

One of the things that keeps pulling me out of the story world isn't Marcus's colloquialisms. It's actually that I never know how vulnerable Mother and Father really are. I mean, I realize Mother's eye-switches change everything, but why did SOME bullets knock Father to the ground where they could subdue him, when other bullets a minute earlier barely did anything at all? Same with Mother. Suddenly she's tied up and semi-cooperative? I dunno.

Although I *think* they want us to root for her (if only because she cares for the children), I keep remembering that she also just explodes people (and LOTS of them). And that she now willingly puts those eyes in knowing she might end up zapping people in a horrific way. Hard to root for a robot that does that sort of thing repeatedly.

But I can't really root for the humans (either the religious ones or the atheists) for various reasons. Everybody seems to be on a quest or mission that is slightly "off" in some way.

I suppose that means we're left rooting just for the children, although I don't even like all of THEM.

Still watching, though. And still curious and interested. So I guess they're succeeding in their storytelling.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
"I believe the children are the future."


lol. Sins of the father and all that. Two enemies claiming their version of God will protect them while smiting the enemies that just happen to be praying for the same thing. None are good, IMO, but want to be the good guy. Whether they recognize it is what keeps me invested. Well, it all keeps me but that prevents me from questioning who to root for I guess. Even the children are not out of reach of envy and jealousy.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
I don’t know if you guys have seen all of them, but I’m up to the crazy cathedral milk love ambush battle axe episode.

I don’t find it hard to know who we are rooting for, it’s Campion. He’s got a great wig and that’s really all we need. Super emo Campion.

Speaking of wigs, Paul's hair is really great for a kid on a colony planet. Then you have all the grownups with these asymmetrical razor cuts that are touched up every day. Can we at least meet the hair stylist? Are the androids doing it for them. If so, bring me an android. Trimming my neck is something I want to leave in 2020.



The Adventure Starts Here!
I don’t know if you guys have seen all of them, but I’m up to the crazy cathedral milk love ambush battle axe episode.

I don’t find it hard to know who we are rooting for, it’s Campion. He’s got a great wig and that’s really all we need. Super emo Campion.

Speaking of wigs, Paul's hair is really great for a kid on a colony planet. Then you have all the grownups with these asymmetrical razor cuts that are touched up every day. Can we at least meet the hair stylist? Are the androids doing it for them. If so, bring me an android. Trimming my neck is something I want to leave in 2020.
OH MY GOSH. I kept thinking I should mention the hairstyles but kept forgetting. What the heck, right? They're these random, asymmetrical half-buzz-cut, half-mullet things that make no sense. Like someone started buzzing on one side and then the batteries on the clippers died or something.

I guess I'm rooting for Campion, or most of the kids, I guess. But since there are other kids in the story now. Dunno who I'll end up really rooting for.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Well, things got kinda Dark, real quick. My head is kinda spinning from the last episodes.

There is so much going on and it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Mother’s dream sequence is probably top of the list. I wanted to rewind it to see the “creature” again, but I thought better. I enjoy sleeping through the night.

How about the 3 mins of blood flow reversal / superhuman / bad guy dead. I don’t even get the point of that conflict, when it was over before it started. My guess is it will have an effect on the fetus, but it seemed tacked on.

Hey, let’s throw some chrome trading cards into a fire for good measure.

Too bad this show probably won’t make it far enough for us to see Paul and Campion as the heads of two separate warring factions.




The Adventure Starts Here!
I'm still trying to wrap my head around Marcus's swift turnaround... just because he heard a voice in his head a few times. Instead of questioning his sanity, he completely flips his entire worldview. So, does that mean this voice is compelling him or changing him? Or is this just lazy writing?

Strangely enough I still don't have a firm opinion on this show. I'm intensely curious to see where the plot goes, but I'm just not wholly invested in any of these characters. I have no idea why that's happening, but it's still true nine episodes in.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Totally fair.

WARNING: "stuffy stuff" spoilers below
  • Kids' hair. Yeah, Paul's hair is perfect. Maybe it's a right-of-passage Klingon ascension head shave kinda thing. lol. No. I don't know.
  • The Prisoner Blood Frenzy. This really annoyed me. I thought the use of him was morbid and interesting, but that flip at the end and his strength seemed way out of place. That felt cheap and I would have rather he had made a last ditch effort to just escape or anything other than what he did. I get frustrated the more I try to think about that bit.
  • Marcus' Flip. I'm OK with it. The guy had to be nuts already growing up the way he did, beaten and likely abused and taught he was fodder for the war and nothing more. He's been seeing/hearing things since his second episode, I think, so drifting on down that madness isn't out of reach for me. And he's not only hearing voices. That structure burned Ambrose and was cold to the touch after. The voice told him to "let her go" followed by the fight with himself, and that could have all been hallucination, but I can't ignore the structure and the noise it made before burning Ambrose. That with him seeing whatever signs he is seeing play out to believe that he is the prophecy I feel is enough to justify his switch. Now. I hate Marcus' character in general, but I think that's more the actor as commented in an earlier post. I wonder if another actor would have played that slip better. Fimmel seems to be doing exactly what he did in Vikings and that is not cool and just comes off down right lazy and uninspired. The signs are there for the character. I fault the actor, in this case, for not acting it out. I mean compare him to Amanda Collin's performances (especially that weird modern dance bit where she starts to malfunction, gyrating and contorting; gosh I wish I could remember which episode that was!). She is spot on for the character and weirdness of this universe she exists in. Fimmel, eh, he's the same paranoid viking just on another planet. At least he made it past France.


Please know when I reply I don't mean to defend it, necessarily, but to just share my take on things and why some points aren't bothering me. Usually, when I watch a movie or a series, certain things stand out and catch my attention enough to pull me out of my suspension of disbelief. That happened a lot with GoT and Westworld. At least in season 3 of Westworld, and maybe half of season 2. That said, I'm really surprised that I'm as invested into this show as I am. Yes, I catch little details that might otherwise throw me out of the moment, but they're just not hitting me hard with this one. I do not know if that's a testament to the oddities in set design and story, or just my intense desperation to have (need??) a science fiction series fix. I'm totally OK with the latter.



The Adventure Starts Here!
Totally fair.

WARNING: "stuffy stuff" spoilers below
  • Kids' hair. Yeah, Paul's hair is perfect. Maybe it's a right-of-passage Klingon ascension head shave kinda thing. lol. No. I don't know.
  • The Prisoner Blood Frenzy. This really annoyed me. I thought the use of him was morbid and interesting, but that flip at the end and his strength seemed way out of place. That felt cheap and I would have rather he had made a last ditch effort to just escape or anything other than what he did. I get frustrated the more I try to think about that bit.
  • Marcus' Flip. I'm OK with it. The guy had to be nuts already growing up the way he did, beaten and likely abused and taught he was fodder for the war and nothing more. He's been seeing/hearing things since his second episode, I think, so drifting on down that madness isn't out of reach for me. And he's not only hearing voices. That structure burned Ambrose and was cold to the touch after. The voice told him to "let her go" followed by the fight with himself, and that could have all been hallucination, but I can't ignore the structure and the noise it made before burning Ambrose. That with him seeing whatever signs he is seeing play out to believe that he is the prophecy I feel is enough to justify his switch. Now. I hate Marcus' character in general, but I think that's more the actor as commented in an earlier post. I wonder if another actor would have played that slip better. Fimmel seems to be doing exactly what he did in Vikings and that is not cool and just comes off down right lazy and uninspired. The signs are there for the character. I fault the actor, in this case, for not acting it out. I mean compare him to Amanda Collin's performances (especially that weird modern dance bit where she starts to malfunction, gyrating and contorting; gosh I wish I could remember which episode that was!). She is spot on for the character and weirdness of this universe she exists in. Fimmel, eh, he's the same paranoid viking just on another planet. At least he made it past France.


Please know when I reply I don't mean to defend it, necessarily, but to just share my take on things and why some points aren't bothering me. Usually, when I watch a movie or a series, certain things stand out and catch my attention enough to pull me out of my suspension of disbelief. That happened a lot with GoT and Westworld. At least in season 3 of Westworld, and maybe half of season 2. That said, I'm really surprised that I'm as invested into this show as I am. Yes, I catch little details that might otherwise throw me out of the moment, but they're just not hitting me hard with this one. I do not know if that's a testament to the oddities in set design and story, or just my intense desperation to have (need??) a science fiction series fix. I'm totally OK with the latter.
That's actually helpful stuff in your spoilery section, so thanks. I'll probably rewatch these last 2 episodes in hopes of some of this clicking in my brain better.

The weird gyration moves were just in the last episode or so, right? (If I rewatch, I'll let you know.)

Little things that are no fault of the show have sometimes shoved me out of the story world too. In my case it's stuff like random thoughts: "Gee, I wonder how the actors playing Mother and Father like those one-piece rubbery suits. I don't see any zippers so going to the bathroom must be hellish and take forever."



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Unlike others : p , I keep forgetting Mother’s name. She is why I watch it, more than anything. Yes, Paul’s hair is the real prophesied one, but Mother’s rapid facial switches and those earnest, pained expressions are why I stream in.

The rest is kinda falling apart for me. Leading the way are the worst “human” parents in the galaxy.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Unlike others : p , I keep forgetting Mother’s name. She is why I watch it, more than anything. Yes, Paul’s hair is the real prophesied one, but Mother’s rapid facial switches and those earnest, pained expressions are why I stream in.

The rest is kinda falling apart for me. Leading the way are the worst “human” parents in the galaxy.
Can't help it. Totally crushing on the android that can replace their eyeballs and destroy worlds type of chicks =\ that's always been a weakness of mine.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Can't help it. Totally crushing on the android that can replace their eyeballs and destroy worlds type of chicks =\ that's always been a weakness of mine.

I always had that strange little boy fascination crush on Destro that obviously transferred to the T-1000 and now Mother. Still Danzig.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I always had that strange little boy fascination crush on Destro that obviously transferred to the T-1000 and now Mother. Still Danzig.
ROFL.
Full circle then. I mean Destro's chrome dome with mother's chrome(ish) body suit? Two parts of the same puzzle! I started a weird obsession with nerdy mean chicks with glasses and deep, manly, nazi-like voices cuz of The Baroness. Thanks, GIJoe. =\