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AwkwardKnob posted:In my opinion, shows like Stargate or Babylon 5 came off way cheesier, and those had big fanbases dedicated to the lore and world. I'll give the whole season a go but A: I hoped/expected better from Ron Moore and B: I feel like this show will suck to watch week to week but might be exciting and scary to binge through later. I really don't know how to respond to someone comparing the characters in this show to the characters in Stargate (SG-1 at least), or Babylon 5. Those shows were cheesy as hell and often comedic, but all the characters dripped with personality and charm. EDIT: I'm in love with the idea of that one woman being Pam, it's too perfect.
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Jan 14, 2014 01:34
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I loved it. I haven't enjoyed watching a terrible show this much since "Roswell." I think it's hilarious that I've watched three entire episodes of this show and have literally no idea what anyone's name is. Also I may have had "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" stuck in my head continuously for the last three days.
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Jan 14, 2014 02:12
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Anonymous Zebra posted:I really don't know how to respond to someone comparing the characters in this show to the characters in Stargate (SG-1 at least), or Babylon 5. Those shows were cheesy as hell and often comedic, but all the characters dripped with personality and charm. It's all good man, that's just why I said it was my opinion. Like, I literally disagree with yours, straight-up. I didn't find SG-1 or Babylon 5 even 1/3 as riveting as certain people seemed to. Anyway, my point is that I think this show could fill a similar niche among people who like this kind of story. I'm hoping this show comes together more and starts to feel a little better thought-out as far as characters, but if it doesn't, I'll drop it. Hannibal will be back on soon and I'll be straight.
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Jan 14, 2014 03:08
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Anonymous Zebra posted:EDIT: I'm in love with the idea of that one woman being Pam, it's too perfect. They should just run with it and start having her carry around crockpots and pastries. Where does she get them? Who cares. Maybe have her barehand box one of the infected. I'd watch the hell out of that show. Honestly, they should shoot for making this show as ridiculous and over-the-top as possible. Too many sci-fi shows suffer from the "We're trying to make serious Sci-fi" problem. If you want to make serious sci-fi, it has to be really loving good otherwise you aren't going to get anywhere with it. However, significantly less good Sci-fi is really popular if it's batshit crazy. Terra Nova did not learn this lesson and failed horribly. Saltpowered fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Jan 14, 2014 |
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Jan 14, 2014 03:30
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Lawlicaust posted:They should just run with it and start having her carry around crockpots and pastries. Where does she get them? Who cares. Maybe have her barehand box one of the infected. I'd watch the hell out of that show. Terra Nova was hilarious and it's a real shame we didn't get a second season. I don't really understand why you think they are trying to make a 'serious sci-fi' though, it already seems pretty ridiculous and I like that about it.
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Jan 14, 2014 03:52
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Anonymous Zebra posted:EDIT: I'm in love with the idea of that one woman being Pam, it's too perfect. Comparing that lady to Pam, as apt as it may seem physically, is a vicious insult to Pam.
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Jan 14, 2014 04:25
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CODChimera posted:Terra Nova was hilarious and it's a real shame we didn't get a second season. I don't really understand why you think they are trying to make a 'serious sci-fi' though, it already seems pretty ridiculous and I like that about it. Counterpoint: Terra Nova was stupid enough to send us back to the Time of Dinosaurs, and then assumed we wanted to hang out with GoodDadSuperCop as he dealt with his terrible family and their bullshit.
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Jan 14, 2014 04:29
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In any case, if some of you are really hungry for some interesting sci-fi (from Canada as well), then I suggest you check out Continuum. Both seasons are on Netflix Instant right now, and the show is absolutely stellar. It's not nearly as good as the really god-like sci-fi that used to be on, but it's kept me interested and does a really good job of keeping the plot constantly moving forward.
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Jan 14, 2014 10:16
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Continuum is weird, it starts off kinda weak and comes across as by the number scifi but picks up very well in the tail end of season one. The Global Financial Crisis really helped with the blurring of lines between good guys and bad guys in some very interesting ways. Season two just didn't work for me though, they introduce a new big bad and slowed up progression of the main plot dramatically.
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Jan 14, 2014 10:27
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Woden posted:Season two just didn't work for me though, they introduce a new big bad and slowed up progression of the main plot dramatically.  The main plot actually gets advanced at a decent pace in season 2. Season 1 was basically criminal of the week poo poo until the finale.
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Jan 17, 2014 10:38
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I watched the pilot and it unironically did someone crawling through airducts while "bad thing" skitters behind him out of focus. This show sucks.
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Jan 17, 2014 14:25
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I don't particularly like Ron Moore as a rule, but I don't think Helix is so unredeemably bad as to be decried as the worst thing on television. We all remember the first season of Star Trek: TNG. Admittedly, it's great when a show can sell itself completely in its first three episodes, ideally it should be able to. I think Helix has a lot of marks against it, it strikes me as the psuedo-sci-fi that was so popular in the oughts. Ron Moore loves that stuff, although his seething hatred of technobabble seems to have fallen by the wayside for Helix. Understand that I'm not an apologist for the show, but I don't think it can be written off just yet. The fact that I'm interested in it at all has captured more of my interest than Terra Nova and recent network show launches. I can't imagine the show runners will keep the zombies as a primary threat for long, if they're competant, that will get resolved because zombies are pretty played out. I similarly can't imagine they'd just go with "it's an alien/bioweapon/precursor-to-life" that's just too cliche. Of course -- I could eat those words, but I need to believe that at least someone at the writing meeting would call shenanigans on that. Going out on a limb, I want it to be the insturmentality plot of Evangelion. The goo is sentient and wants to dissolve all life into a giant goo hivemind. End show with an ocean of goo and an abandoned world.
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Jan 17, 2014 17:17
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This show is a waste of a good idea, decent sets and a lot of money. The writing is godawful and is holding everything else back except for a few lovely supporting actors. Every character is keeping retarded secrets for no apparent reason and avoid obvious conversations about events that just occurred seconds before. They put themselves in stupid situations, conveniently alone even where its been repeatedly established that this is a bad idea. The early parts of the pilot talk about protocol but at this point it's all been thrown under the bus which then backed up and ran it over again for good measure. Billy Campbell looks like he wants to be anywhere else but in this show. The rest of the cast is a total write off. A few of the supporting characters look like production assistants drafted to fill missing roles due to budget problems. Hiroyuki Sanada is slumming it for a pay check and his faux aloofness is just annoying in the context. I really wanted this to be good but so far it's just really, really bad. I will watch for a few more before giving up, some shows take a bit to hit their stride but I don't see how that will happen here unless they fire the entire writing staff so the cast has something to work with.
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Jan 17, 2014 19:44
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"I can't have you going around shooting my patients! Tell your security staff to stop using lethal force!" "Or what?" "Or I'll sod off home and leave all my patients to die!"
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Jan 17, 2014 22:26
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Why is everything and everyone so retarded? The writing is terrible. Why see we have a bunch of superscience brilliant people who gently caress up everything. This poo poo could've been a lot better if even some of the characters had the IQ they're supposed to have. I'm still propably gonna watch it and yell at the screen how retarded everything is.
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Jan 18, 2014 04:58
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I couldn't agree more. There is about 5 minutes of interesting content during this show. The rest is the CDC acting like idiots
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Jan 18, 2014 05:01
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AwkwardKnob posted:It's all good man, that's just why I said it was my opinion. Like, I literally disagree with yours, straight-up. I didn't find SG-1 or Babylon 5 even 1/3 as riveting as certain people seemed to. Anyway, my point is that I think this show could fill a similar niche among people who like this kind of story. I'm hoping this show comes together more and starts to feel a little better thought-out as far as characters, but if it doesn't, I'll drop it. Hannibal will be back on soon and I'll be straight. the characters and some dialogue lines in B5 were kinda cheesy but the entire story arc was loving A+ stellar especially for that time period (early to mid 90s) where shows having a consistent story arc was unheard of
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Jan 18, 2014 12:30
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I'm willing to overlook the lovely characters and acting in this show to see where the plot goes. If they really up the ante instead of drawing it out, it could be a pretty cool The Thing/Resident Evil sort of over-the-top creature-fest. We've seen how the monkey blood goes all spiny and hard - maybe the infected will mutate and have crazy black spines. The only thing that discourages that is the budget - I imagine the infected will stay slightly-made-up human actors.
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Jan 19, 2014 02:30
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This might be a bit of a petty complaint, but if all these dudes are super smart science professionals, why do they explain so much basic poo poo to each other?
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Jan 19, 2014 04:28
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boom boom boom posted:This might be a bit of a petty complaint, but if all these dudes are super smart science professionals, why do they explain so much basic poo poo to each other? Nope, I complained about it too. And it's worse when they get stuff WRONG.
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Jan 19, 2014 04:36
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I think this show lacks a "viewer surrogate" - someone absolutely new to this situation that knows just as much as the "everyman" viewer, much like a Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker character or something.
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Jan 19, 2014 05:05
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I'm actively rooting for the virus to infect everyone on this show, kill them, and then spread to the rest of the Earth.
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Jan 19, 2014 05:09
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At this point I'm watching because I'm an idiot and force feed myself science fiction TV, and I'm hoping that there's the slightest chance it becomes redeemable. So far, I was liking at first glance, but after thinking about why I was liking it, I realized that it was everything around the writing I was enjoying, as production wise the show is B grade with F grade writing. I was only enjoying it because I was turning off my critical lens because I let a lot of poo poo go in an attempt to enjoy science fiction.
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Jan 19, 2014 10:42
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Anonymous Zebra posted:This is reminding me of a few years back when a slew of lovely network sci-fi shows all tried to cargo-cult the success of LOST. No...I'm not talking about Invasion, Threshold, or Surface, those were the first time networks tried it. I'm talking about the really lovely stuff they tried even later...The Event, Flashforward, and V. I hope the 'deep dark secret' stuff in TV shows like this ends up winding down soon. Having people intentionally be 'secretly' suspicious and derailing with covert motives sort of loses its punch because it's become too common. I like secrets in shows, I like the building up to a big reveal, and a bit of mystery, but an entire show can't be about that or else you spend every episode like what V did with the main antagonist Anna just turning her head and having a smug little smirk, and going, "Oh, the secret mystery? Maybe next week, audience. But everything is going to plan." *wink* I'll admit, the third episode got better, and it was nice to see the return of the "South Park Black Smoke Snakes". I'll keep watching just because Hulu has it for free, but I'm going to hazard a guess that we won't see a major upswing in the story until about episode 9 or so, the series will get better, then the final hour of story will be crammed into 20 minutes. I'm hoping it turns out to be something crazy like, "The disease is turning people into fossil fuels! That's why the military is so interested! We're converting human beings into pure crude!"
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Jan 19, 2014 10:48
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Tried watching the premiere twice. First time fell asleep, second time lost interest. Don't know if I'll continue watching or wait for Continuum and Orphan Black to start up with new seasons. Doctor Claw posted:I think this show lacks a "viewer surrogate" - someone absolutely new to this situation that knows just as much as the "everyman" viewer, much like a Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker character or something. Farragut (calmly): I have to do this right now. Anyone else: No, you can't. Farragut (resignedly): Okay. I'll just stay here and wait around. And I can't remember the last time I saw someone as dumb as the blonde CDC technician. She deserves to have a laugh track playing every time she does something ridiculous and idiotic (ie every scene she's in).
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Jan 19, 2014 11:10
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This show started as potentially decent and quickly dropped to terrible before pitching over into full blown comedy about half an hour into episode 3. That's when Samwell Tarly's retarded brother tells MichelleForbes 2.0 that an infected doctor escaped as Robert Carlyle's stand-in drifts by in the background and exclaims "What? Dr. Sulemani is on this level? SHE'S KILLING PEOPLE!!! Cue several dozen trained scientists reactions:  Meanwhile, Billy Campbell says something earnest in a hoarse, throaty tone. Probably to the nefarious and inscrutable Dr. Yellow Peril. At least Pam found a frozen monkey.
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Jan 19, 2014 11:48
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JediTalentAgent posted:I'm hoping it turns out to be something crazy like, "The disease is turning people into fossil fuels! That's why the military is so interested! We're converting human beings into pure crude!" No way, they're turning people into printer ink. That stuff is much more expensive than oil.
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Jan 19, 2014 11:48
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Anyone else shipping live action Pam and shifty Army dude? Just me? Okay then. This show has a lot of problems that have already been pointed out, but I'm such a glutton for punishment that I'll keep watching. Maybe (hopefully) it will get better. Also, as stupid as the love triangle things is, I find myself hating the Alan/Jordan thing more. Older male mentor/younger female student is such a weak trope. Her character would be a jillion times better if she was all, "I'm here to do science and science only, bitches, so step off."
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Jan 19, 2014 15:05
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Where did someone get all those explosives and why did they climb all the way up there to plant them on the dish when they could have just destroyed the base and brought it down... or just cut some wires or something? And why did destroying their external communications link stop their internal communication network as well?
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Jan 19, 2014 17:18
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Cardboard Box A posted:And why did destroying their external communications link stop their internal communication network as well? The switching equipment for their internal communications network was located on top of the dish. You can argue in retrospect that it was poor planning, but, really, who could have seen this coming?
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Jan 19, 2014 17:24
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As often as I've said I'm sort of opposed to critiquing a TV show too hard in its early episodes or bringing up the same points to deride, Helix is frustrating. Lack of personality and chemistry between the cast and I by the time I watched the third episode I was lost in a way because I'd totally forgotten everything from the first two. I remember the RedLetterMedia little thing about, "Describe a character without using their job or physical appearance" and while I've never done that with a show that I recall, I find myself realizing with Helix almost all the characters fit under the same: "Emotionally restrained, secretive, instantly expects everyone to do what they say, makes bad choices."
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Jan 19, 2014 19:41
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Is Farragut the next Heisenburg? Really?  It has to be satire. There's no way the person writing this wasn't doing so with a great big trollface on him... is there?
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Jan 19, 2014 22:53
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Slamhound posted:This show started as potentially decent and quickly dropped to terrible before pitching over into full blown comedy about half an hour into episode 3. That's when Samwell Tarly's retarded brother tells MichelleForbes 2.0 that an infected doctor escaped as Robert Carlyle's stand-in drifts by in the background and exclaims "What? Dr. Sulemani is on this level? SHE'S KILLING PEOPLE!!! I think this is my favorite part of how dumb this show is. You have a facility with a bunch of brilliant people who all turn into idiots as soon as something goes wrong. "I'm sorry. You're infected." "Well then, you have to let me out of here and into the general population!" "No. You need to stay here!" "WHY!!!!" Even if you're not a loving biological engineer or medical researcher, you'd think even most basic scientist could understand the idea of quarantine. I hate how all these Hollywood shows assume that everyone is going to go crazy at the thought of their own death. It works when the characters are ignorant gangbangers or rednecks but when it's loving educated people it blows my mind. Also everyone talking about how the security on this show are completely loving dumb is spot on. I've never done security and I've never done CDC work and I'll bet I could do a better job than any of the people on this show. If I worked for the CDC I'd sue them for slander. PaybackJack fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Jan 20, 2014 |
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Jan 19, 2014 23:57
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Cactus posted:Is Farragut the next Heisenburg? Based on the comments it's not satire. What a loon.
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Jan 20, 2014 01:41
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The_White_Crane posted:"I can't have you going around shooting my patients! Tell your security staff to stop using lethal force!" The show would've been so much better if they'd taken him up on it and booted the CDC out, and spent the rest of the show going full horror/suspense. I swear I've heard the title music somewhere before, but I can't place it. Is it just supposed to be generic waiting room music with a shift at the end that's meant to be "spooky"?
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Jan 20, 2014 17:55
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I didn't really think it was that bad. Yeah it's definitely not great, but I think a lot of people in this thread must have gone in with super-high expectations. I dunno, I guess I'm just used to even "good" shows like LOST being full of stupid bullshit. BSG had it's fair share of stupid bullshit. I will agree that the biggest problem is that I don't give a poo poo about any of the characters. If they don't make someone interesting quick it will be a short ride. But look at shows on showtime, they don't need interesting characters or good writing and they go on for ever.
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Jan 20, 2014 18:39
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What happened with the scientist lady and military guy who got the Frozen Monkey Sample, then filled a terrarium with instant growth, then killed it with magic gas, and they decided to not tell anyone???
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Jan 20, 2014 18:43
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Was episode 3 released early or something? I was looking for episode 4 being out but haven't seen it anywhere. It's a shame because I want to keep watching this and find out what happens, but I'm torn because I think I'll enjoy it more if I just hold off and binge the whole thing later.
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Jan 20, 2014 19:43
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AwkwardKnob posted:Was episode 3 released early or something? I was looking for episode 4 being out but haven't seen it anywhere. It's a shame because I want to keep watching this and find out what happens, but I'm torn because I think I'll enjoy it more if I just hold off and binge the whole thing later. Yeah, it went up on their streaming site at the same time that the first 2 were airing on TV. They don't seem to have done this with 4.
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Jan 20, 2014 19:45
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PowerBuilder3 posted:What happened with the scientist lady and military guy who got the Frozen Monkey Sample, then filled a terrarium with instant growth, then killed it with magic gas, and they decided to not tell anyone??? Yeah, out of ALL the stuff that happened in this show, THIS is the biggest HOLY poo poo YOU NEED TO TELL SOMEONE RIGHT NOW and no one does it. I really sort of think the Pam and the young girl scientist roles should have been switched around. Pam keeps all her characterization, but is now the lab person with the head CDC guy and his ex. She's a bit matter of fact and her downhome persona sort of hides how smart, experienced and well-read she is compared to the rest of the team. Young Girl is the animal person for the CDC. She's the one who makes stupid decisions like thinking something's not airborne, is so fresh out of school that she thinks she knows everything, still, but is still inexperienced enough to let someone like the Army guy manipulate her.
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Jan 21, 2014 01:27
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