ALPHAS--Rosetta/Mission Log #4. 2011

[Truth Seeker]

Rosetta

While trying to thwart a Red Flag operation, Rosen and his team find a captive woman, Anna, who can translate any language. While the others try to track down the Red Flag leader, Gary bonds with Anna over their similar conditions.
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[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I liked it. The twist was great.

 

[Felon]

I didn't catch this. Would love to hear more (spoiler-free) opinions.

 

[Fast Learner]

I decided to give the show one more week and whaddya know, it was actually quite enjoyable! Best episode so far, by a significant margin.

 

[jaerdaph]

Best episode yet, and quite good too!

I still want more action set in Binghamton, NY though!

I'm wondering why they chose the obscure Binghamton, NY to house all the crazy dangerous ALPHAS? I'm guessing somebody on the show either grew up there, went to SUNY Binghamton, wanted to pay homage to Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling who grew up there and went to Binghamton High School, or some combination of the above.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I'm wondering why they chose the obscure Binghamton, NY to house all the crazy dangerous ALPHAS? I'm guessing somebody on the show either grew up there, went to SUNY Binghamton, wanted to pay homage to Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling who grew up there and went to Binghamton High School, or some combination of the above.

Or, it's a generic Upstate city.

Fanwanking, Binghamton makes the most sense. It's relatively sparsely populated (very spread out), easy access to NYC by multiple routes (including air, train, and two highways), lots of abandoned buildings (economically depressed), and fairly low-key (no one really goes there unless they have to).

(Went to SUNY Binghamton... pretty good state school. Lots of NYC kids go there.)

 

[jaerdaph]

Or, it's a generic Upstate city.

Fanwanking, Binghamton makes the most sense. It's relatively sparsely populated (very spread out), easy access to NYC by multiple routes (including air, train, and two highways), lots of abandoned buildings (economically depressed), and fairly low-key (no one really goes there unless they have to).

(Went to SUNY Binghamton... pretty good state school. Lots of NYC kids go there.)

Yes I know. I lived there for 15 years all the way through high school before I finally left for college.

 

[Gronin]

yeah I have to agree with the general concensus here -- the show was on the bubble for me until that episode -- definitely going to give it the season now to see how things develop.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Something kinda difficult to put into the right words, but anyway:

An interesting aspect of that episode was that Red Flag basically fought against something almost anybody today would appreciate - a cure against potential life-crippling brain damage. As this brain damage can also lead to potentially highly gifted people (albeit still with severe limitations.), e.g. Alphas.

It is not the first example were media in general highlights the fascinating talents that Autists can develop. I wonder if there is a message behind it in this case. Going beyond the issues often raised with X-Men, where it's the humans fear of the mutants that leads to conflict (and vice versa) and it's a power struggle, but also a message that even those that we don't fear and just feel pity for are more than it seems, that they have talents we should appreciate, and that overall, they are still humans and not just some kind of divergence from the norm.

It feels kinda dangerous, because in the real world, being an autist for example doesn't give you the power to perceive data signals or understand all language. It's a pretty nasty condition that makes life very difficult for you and everyone involved. But on the other hand it is positive, as we shouldn't just see people as victims of their body, but as equal members of our society.