Manhattan 2.02
Oct. 21st, 2015 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakShow, I apologize.
For most of this episode, I was growling that this really breaks my suspension of disbelief: the idea that Germany had a spy in the Manhattan project. It was worse than last season's scene, shown in the previouslies, where our heroes are told the German scientists are ahead of them, thought I, and was preparing an epic rant...when the briliant twist came, which in retrospect was fairly prepared for, AND which brings us back to historical likelihood again. I must admit I didn't figure it out before Frank did, and I should have. Because yes. Going on and on about how close Hitler is to being given the atom bomb by German scientists is THE best motivation for the Los Alamos scientists, and of course the government wouldn't be above faking evidence which they can't get. Frank realising that the US doesn't actually know anything about the German project was a well deserved epic moment.
And as I said, in retrospect, fairly prepared. Not just with the "two prisoners" scenario, but also with the subplot in which Abby makes to unscientific but ruthlessly practical suggestion to Charlie to hand out home adresses and names of relations of German scientists to the military so they can get assassinated. Mind you, not only would the US surely have those already but the whole idea is a bit anachronistic, in that something would occur more likely to someone of our present, which is used to drones being used to assassinate people (and killing a whole lot of bystanders as well), whereas in WWII you couldn't precision bomb this way, and for a US agent to get inside 1944 Germany, track down and kill the chief scientists involved in the German nuclear project is, shall we say, less than likely. But that's not the point. Abby is a civilian, after all, not a spy or a military strategist. The point is the suggestion per se, and while Charlie at first is somewhat appalled, making them "but half of them used to be our friends before the war!" objection, you can see it sinking in along with Abby's "they and Hitler wouldn't hesitate" counter argument. And of course one of the themes in any version tackling the whole Los Alamos subject, and definitely of this show, is the "how far would you go?" subject, and the losing of inhibitions.
Which is why Frank, before the reveal, is at the point where he's ready to shoot Buick. (Who's probably called something else, but we don't know what yet.) The first season drew some parallels between Frank and Fritz Haber in WWI, becoming the "father of chemical warfare" . Frank's belief that the weapon he wants to co-create is necessary to save the world and, what's more, was crucial to his motivation until now, and he was certainly driven enough to in extremis be ready to commit murder because of this. (This being Frank, I don't think survival was the key here, but his conviction he needed to warn everyone in Los Alamos of the German spy he thought he'd unearthed.)
"Buick": now where do I know the actor from? He looked familiar. And was excellent. At first my inner genre fan who knows her prison scenarios was convinced he was a plant, then I changed my mind again when he revealed his persona's fascism and thought he might be genuine, then I changed it back again to "nah, he's an interrogator in disguise" when Frank told him about his mother.
BTW: Frank having a German mother I can get on board with, but if she's become a famous concert pianist I doubt the likes of the late Fisher would have been unaware of the connection, even if she's left the US when Frank was 7. Also I'm not clear on why she would call the Gestapo on Frank in freaking 1936 when he was visiting her in Leipzig. Not only would WWII not start for another three years, but Hitler was actively courting the US then and was all for US visitors. 1936 was the year of the Olympic Games, for History's sake. Ah well. It stands to reason that Fisher & Co. did know but doubted Frank's loyalty until he 'fessed up, and maybe Frank's mother the Pianist got some actorly colleagues to impersonate the Gestapo to scare her son away.
The irony of Frank finally convincing everyone he's innocent but simultanously ensuring they can't release him because he figured out the whole "you must defeat German scientists in an arms race" is based on a lie is deepest black.
Let's see, what else: Frank developing a Head!Liza reminds me that the last few eps of s1 finally sold me on his love for her (instead of just the reverse). He's going to need her.
The gang of scientists camping out in the desert while trying to develop strategies and wanting Frank back made for a nice character scene; Helen trying to be the new leader, Meeks projecting his guilt re: Fisher onto the body of a prairie dog (I think that's what it was?), Fritz going along with whatever the rest is doing and Paul apparantly having decided to go back to ironic remarks instead of useless fretting over Helen, which is an improvement.
For most of this episode, I was growling that this really breaks my suspension of disbelief: the idea that Germany had a spy in the Manhattan project. It was worse than last season's scene, shown in the previouslies, where our heroes are told the German scientists are ahead of them, thought I, and was preparing an epic rant...when the briliant twist came, which in retrospect was fairly prepared for, AND which brings us back to historical likelihood again. I must admit I didn't figure it out before Frank did, and I should have. Because yes. Going on and on about how close Hitler is to being given the atom bomb by German scientists is THE best motivation for the Los Alamos scientists, and of course the government wouldn't be above faking evidence which they can't get. Frank realising that the US doesn't actually know anything about the German project was a well deserved epic moment.
And as I said, in retrospect, fairly prepared. Not just with the "two prisoners" scenario, but also with the subplot in which Abby makes to unscientific but ruthlessly practical suggestion to Charlie to hand out home adresses and names of relations of German scientists to the military so they can get assassinated. Mind you, not only would the US surely have those already but the whole idea is a bit anachronistic, in that something would occur more likely to someone of our present, which is used to drones being used to assassinate people (and killing a whole lot of bystanders as well), whereas in WWII you couldn't precision bomb this way, and for a US agent to get inside 1944 Germany, track down and kill the chief scientists involved in the German nuclear project is, shall we say, less than likely. But that's not the point. Abby is a civilian, after all, not a spy or a military strategist. The point is the suggestion per se, and while Charlie at first is somewhat appalled, making them "but half of them used to be our friends before the war!" objection, you can see it sinking in along with Abby's "they and Hitler wouldn't hesitate" counter argument. And of course one of the themes in any version tackling the whole Los Alamos subject, and definitely of this show, is the "how far would you go?" subject, and the losing of inhibitions.
Which is why Frank, before the reveal, is at the point where he's ready to shoot Buick. (Who's probably called something else, but we don't know what yet.) The first season drew some parallels between Frank and Fritz Haber in WWI, becoming the "father of chemical warfare" . Frank's belief that the weapon he wants to co-create is necessary to save the world and, what's more, was crucial to his motivation until now, and he was certainly driven enough to in extremis be ready to commit murder because of this. (This being Frank, I don't think survival was the key here, but his conviction he needed to warn everyone in Los Alamos of the German spy he thought he'd unearthed.)
"Buick": now where do I know the actor from? He looked familiar. And was excellent. At first my inner genre fan who knows her prison scenarios was convinced he was a plant, then I changed my mind again when he revealed his persona's fascism and thought he might be genuine, then I changed it back again to "nah, he's an interrogator in disguise" when Frank told him about his mother.
BTW: Frank having a German mother I can get on board with, but if she's become a famous concert pianist I doubt the likes of the late Fisher would have been unaware of the connection, even if she's left the US when Frank was 7. Also I'm not clear on why she would call the Gestapo on Frank in freaking 1936 when he was visiting her in Leipzig. Not only would WWII not start for another three years, but Hitler was actively courting the US then and was all for US visitors. 1936 was the year of the Olympic Games, for History's sake. Ah well. It stands to reason that Fisher & Co. did know but doubted Frank's loyalty until he 'fessed up, and maybe Frank's mother the Pianist got some actorly colleagues to impersonate the Gestapo to scare her son away.
The irony of Frank finally convincing everyone he's innocent but simultanously ensuring they can't release him because he figured out the whole "you must defeat German scientists in an arms race" is based on a lie is deepest black.
Let's see, what else: Frank developing a Head!Liza reminds me that the last few eps of s1 finally sold me on his love for her (instead of just the reverse). He's going to need her.
The gang of scientists camping out in the desert while trying to develop strategies and wanting Frank back made for a nice character scene; Helen trying to be the new leader, Meeks projecting his guilt re: Fisher onto the body of a prairie dog (I think that's what it was?), Fritz going along with whatever the rest is doing and Paul apparantly having decided to go back to ironic remarks instead of useless fretting over Helen, which is an improvement.
