Manhattan 1.09
Sep. 28th, 2014 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakBack from the mountains for two days before I hit the road again. Operaton Catching Up With TV is in progress, hence the review for last week's Manhattan episode just before the next one gets broadcast.
So it turns out Frank and Charlie teaming up isn't character-improving for either of them. Then again, making ugly compromises in the grand scheme of saving the world and/or one's marriage is something of a constant scheme. Mind you, I'm not sure Frank is actually concerned for Liza finding out about his affair, or her peace of mind, if only because he hardly seems to notice anything going on with her. But he definitely squirmed when Paloma's cousin Javier showed up and had Frank's daughter Callie translate for him, so: embarrassment for Callie's sake? His tie to his daughter, as opposed to the one to his wife, seems to be still in existence. Btw, I was frowning through most of the episode about the idea that Paloma and her family, now that they've finally gotten some characterisation, would turn out to be blackmailers. Not because it's impossible given their economic situation, but they seemed to have too much pride two eps previously. But then it turned out that actually they themselves were blackmailed/pressured by the government internal security guy as a kind of loyalty test for Frank (which he passed, since he didn't spill the secret), and that concern was one no longer.
The other thing that subplot brought was a new character, whom I'm tempted to nickname Clint Eastwood since he's basically Eastwood's persona playing just that role. Also apparantly of Russian origin biologically, given Frank's original blunder and his insistence on not being Russian. Considering this is also the episode where Helen gets asked the famous "are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?" question and makes fun of it, I wonder how Clint E. got clearance to work on the Manhattan project in an engineer capacity?
Meanwhile, Abby after avoiding Elodie for a few days resumes friendly relationships, leading to resumed flirting, leading very nearly to a kiss when Elodie's husband comes home, turns out to be Charlie's arch nemesis/colleague in Ackley's group and also an utter ass who gropes Abby as a kind of intimidation of her husband. I hope Elodie didn't know he would, because I've been liking her so far.) Him disparaging Josephine Baker after Elodie praised her in retrospect was a warning sign. Also, Elodie getting Abby to discuss which actresses are hot and coming up with Lana Turner vs. Vivien Leigh was great and I was downright hoping for them to run off together, but not if Elodie should turn out to be okay with her jerk of a husband's actions.
Mind you: Charlie NOT doing the standard expected thing - not just by Abby but also the audience - when Abby tells him about Elodie's husband, and instead of following the script of outraged male protectiveness going "well, try to stay out of his way" because he doesn't want the guy to interfere with his secret implosion maths sharing with Frank made it a great scene. Charlie's equivalent of Helen destroying the letter, in a way, though he'd argue that Saving The World Via Bomb comes first, now that he's completely behind it, and that Abby told him he could do this last episode. But he's done more than putting the project first, he's drunk the Frank Winters wife disregarding cool aid. Not being a macho and storming off to challenge Elodie's husband to a fight: okay, in a way refreshing even. Not showing the slightest bit of concern about his wife by, say, asking her how she feels and what she would want to do to the guy who groped her: awful. But, again, like Helen with the letter: painfully realistic if you're in the fever of obsession.
Speaking of Helen, her promotion coming as part of a Frank-Charlie alliance and not being about her merits (or wishes) has to be galling, and she rightly called Frank out on it, but it is a promotion, and it'll be interesting to see how she fares in the lab with the frat boys. (Maybe she can punch Elodie's husband?)
I take it Dr. Ackley burning the letter after Charlie asked for more security means Ackley is the actual Russian spy. There just had to be one (because of historic precedent), and it couldn't be any of those Inquisitor!Schiff suspected. I wondered whether Charlie would become one for a while, but Ackley with his corporate inside man imagine has of course a far, far better cover.
The ultimate "zomg" moment of the episode, though, goes to Liza Winters who in the second of her only two scenes, having used her new job clearance to get to work at the hospital, now uses the hospital's geiger counter to make the gut wrenching discovery that newborn babies at Los Alamos are already brimming with radio activity. I have no idea how scientifically sound this is, but the babies, Liza with the instrument and those familiar noises made for a powerful finale. Now what will she do with her knowledge?
So it turns out Frank and Charlie teaming up isn't character-improving for either of them. Then again, making ugly compromises in the grand scheme of saving the world and/or one's marriage is something of a constant scheme. Mind you, I'm not sure Frank is actually concerned for Liza finding out about his affair, or her peace of mind, if only because he hardly seems to notice anything going on with her. But he definitely squirmed when Paloma's cousin Javier showed up and had Frank's daughter Callie translate for him, so: embarrassment for Callie's sake? His tie to his daughter, as opposed to the one to his wife, seems to be still in existence. Btw, I was frowning through most of the episode about the idea that Paloma and her family, now that they've finally gotten some characterisation, would turn out to be blackmailers. Not because it's impossible given their economic situation, but they seemed to have too much pride two eps previously. But then it turned out that actually they themselves were blackmailed/pressured by the government internal security guy as a kind of loyalty test for Frank (which he passed, since he didn't spill the secret), and that concern was one no longer.
The other thing that subplot brought was a new character, whom I'm tempted to nickname Clint Eastwood since he's basically Eastwood's persona playing just that role. Also apparantly of Russian origin biologically, given Frank's original blunder and his insistence on not being Russian. Considering this is also the episode where Helen gets asked the famous "are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?" question and makes fun of it, I wonder how Clint E. got clearance to work on the Manhattan project in an engineer capacity?
Meanwhile, Abby after avoiding Elodie for a few days resumes friendly relationships, leading to resumed flirting, leading very nearly to a kiss when Elodie's husband comes home, turns out to be Charlie's arch nemesis/colleague in Ackley's group and also an utter ass who gropes Abby as a kind of intimidation of her husband. I hope Elodie didn't know he would, because I've been liking her so far.) Him disparaging Josephine Baker after Elodie praised her in retrospect was a warning sign. Also, Elodie getting Abby to discuss which actresses are hot and coming up with Lana Turner vs. Vivien Leigh was great and I was downright hoping for them to run off together, but not if Elodie should turn out to be okay with her jerk of a husband's actions.
Mind you: Charlie NOT doing the standard expected thing - not just by Abby but also the audience - when Abby tells him about Elodie's husband, and instead of following the script of outraged male protectiveness going "well, try to stay out of his way" because he doesn't want the guy to interfere with his secret implosion maths sharing with Frank made it a great scene. Charlie's equivalent of Helen destroying the letter, in a way, though he'd argue that Saving The World Via Bomb comes first, now that he's completely behind it, and that Abby told him he could do this last episode. But he's done more than putting the project first, he's drunk the Frank Winters wife disregarding cool aid. Not being a macho and storming off to challenge Elodie's husband to a fight: okay, in a way refreshing even. Not showing the slightest bit of concern about his wife by, say, asking her how she feels and what she would want to do to the guy who groped her: awful. But, again, like Helen with the letter: painfully realistic if you're in the fever of obsession.
Speaking of Helen, her promotion coming as part of a Frank-Charlie alliance and not being about her merits (or wishes) has to be galling, and she rightly called Frank out on it, but it is a promotion, and it'll be interesting to see how she fares in the lab with the frat boys. (Maybe she can punch Elodie's husband?)
I take it Dr. Ackley burning the letter after Charlie asked for more security means Ackley is the actual Russian spy. There just had to be one (because of historic precedent), and it couldn't be any of those Inquisitor!Schiff suspected. I wondered whether Charlie would become one for a while, but Ackley with his corporate inside man imagine has of course a far, far better cover.
The ultimate "zomg" moment of the episode, though, goes to Liza Winters who in the second of her only two scenes, having used her new job clearance to get to work at the hospital, now uses the hospital's geiger counter to make the gut wrenching discovery that newborn babies at Los Alamos are already brimming with radio activity. I have no idea how scientifically sound this is, but the babies, Liza with the instrument and those familiar noises made for a powerful finale. Now what will she do with her knowledge?
