Outcasts

Was last night's the last episode? Did I miss something? Nothing was resolved. The ship from Earth arrived, there was some bollocks about disembodied creatures using ultrasound to give people a virus, and the battle between Berger and Tate didn't seem to comple to a conclusion...
 
I half-agree, Mr. Sales.

Tate regained the presidency and Berger was thrown into jail. That's pretty conclusive.

I've got to share your bafflement with sound waves (which are basically just vibrations) being turned into RNA/DNA.

The ship landing was obviously meant to tee up series 2, though there was no announcement of it coming back.
 
Berger turned into a pantomime villain in the end, and they just dispose of him by throwing him in jail? That's not a resolution. That's a minor setback.

It struck me that Outcasts couldn't decide whether it was a series or a serial. It didn't know whether to focus on the story-arc or have a separate story each week. And that resulted in it coming across as confused and confusing. What few clues they did drop to the "mythology" didn't make sense and explained nothing.
 
Ha, I agree Berger was a pantomime villain.

I think you're spot on regarding lack of focus. I'd add that there was a lack of action too.
 
thaddeus6th said:
...and Berger was thrown into jail. That's pretty conclusive
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...if one ignores the precedent, that no-one stays behind bars for long (even if they're released only to be strung up).

It's an odd virus that requires a communication link to do its job**. Besides, the opening shots seemed to show a barely-substantial presence moving through Forthaven, suggesting that the ultrasound wasn't the carrier of the virus. (And if the SLPs*** can transfer matter over sound waves, I can't see why they'd be bothered by a species that locks itself away in a single town, give or take jaunts "to the lake"; and they don't seem to attack the the wandering humans - the ACs and the diamond-man - at all.)



** - As soon as they suggested the "barrier", I just knew that the patients would start getting better when it was switched on. Worryingly, this means that the show's anti-realistic take on the universe has already penetrated my brain. :(

*** - Spectral Labrador People.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot about the 'sonic shield' flaw.

Ursa, of course it's penetrated your brain, using the sound waves from your TV speakers :D
 
Watching Outcasts, I was reminded of this post by Troo: http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/1153678-post78.html.

The story (Tranquil Sea, I believe, in Issue 7 of Pantechnicon) had all sorts of non-realistic happenings (such as hearing sounds through a vacuum). The reader could either conclude the author had no concept of science or reality, or that things are not as they are portrayed.

In the case of the short story, I believe the author knew exactly what he was doing. In the case of Outcasts, I can only conclude that the writers haven't got a clue (about science, human nature or drama): there is not some altered perception of reality (as in The Matrix), only clueless screenwriters.
 
thaddeus6th said:
On the skeletal remains: there was a previous species that evolved on the planet and was killed by the, er, Noisy Ones [my brilliant name for the ultrasound creatures].
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I guessed that, but did we evolve from them, or did they evolve from us? How did one of us get from Earth to Carpathia (or Carpathia to Earth?) Or, are the 'Noisy Ones' evolved from them (in that, 'we don't need bodies any more' way that I never quite find believable.)

Also, I knew there would be no explanation for the diamonds.

And how do you make fully grown, identical human beings, even with their DNA? You can't! Even identical twins are not identical and such clones would be babies.
 
I'd argue you don't need DNA at all, just a visual and audio representation of the person in question (like with Star Trek's holograms).

But, you're right. The sheer number of gaping logical gaps is surprising. Even moreso is the fact that, apparently, not one of them got pointed out to the writer.
 
I think we're dealing with a range of different phenomena:
  • Tate's children and the Labrador were seen only by one person, even though others were sometimes present. This would suggest implanted thoughts, though this doesn't rule out "holographic" techniques under other circumstances.
  • The duplicate of Josie Hunter was a physical presence.
  • Tate has observed movement caused to inanimate objects. (These may have been "holograms", telekinesis or mind-implanted.)
  • Whatever excuse the programme-makers dream up on the spot: why should the alien activities make any more sense that the rest of the show?
I watched the equally-scientifically-dodgy The Event last evening. Yes, the "science" is lame: how did the US government listen in on a message sent to a specific place** (i.e. it wasn't broadcast)? Having done that, how do they then not know the direction the message was sent? (And throwing in a random mention of SETI doesn't work.) However, though there were the usual longueurs, the show often had the kind of momentum that Outcasts never achieved even the once.


** - The destination was a distant star system. How long would it take to get there? If it used the portal technology, it wouldn't even be in normal space to allow interception. (Or was the message intercepted between the Earth and the satellite?)
 
Scarily, I actually thought The Deep was better... and that was nonsense from start to finish. Dear BBC, must do better.
 
Scary, depressing and true.

And the thing that was bad about both of them was probably the cheapest: the script (and script editing). Yet after the money spent on these two disasters (not inconsiderable amounts, I'd guess), one wonders how keen the BBC will be to fund another sci-fi (let alone SF) show.
 
I stopped watching The Deep after some scientist chap or other magically recovered from oxygen deprivation when a woman outside his sub threatened to tell his wife about their affair (or somesuch nonsense).
 
Yes, it has.

It's unknown (to me anyway :p ) whether there'll be a second series.
 
The only explanation for the vast number of loose ends left behind is that Ben Richards did expect to be busy now penning a second series. Thankfully the shocking audience figures mean that we have been spared that horror. My problem is that as Ursa rightly predicts, the BBC will now cancel any Science Fiction that isn't Doctor Who.

Just think that we could have had a third, and then maybe a fourth, series of 'Survivors' instead.
 
All very sad really. As a premise for a good yarn an Earth colony has some merit. However all it needed was just that. Survival on a strange planet against new phenomena. A kind of Star Trek puts down roots Lost in space kind of thing with more than just five or six people.

But what do we get. Over complex, multiple convolutions.

This has set back SF on TV for twenty years. In fact there will probably be a colony on another planet before the BBC tries it again. They'll probably call it Alpha Enders or something like that or maybe ITV will go for Corona Street.

As for The Event. Well all I can say is it's 24 meets The Fugitive, The Hulk and The Invaders.

Sadly the scriptwriters of 'The Event' seem to have read Outcasts and thought it was a good.
 
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I liked the original Fugitive when I watched it. (But then I was very young at the time.)



Checking the dates, I noticed that Lt Gerard was played by Barry Morse. (That fact had slipped my memory.)
 
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