This Friday on 'TR 2070' ep 5 'Infiltration'

Solid episode tonight – the pictures and sound quality was clear enough that I could even make out the dying word of Leland – “echelon.” Strange start, but it was explained. I was disappointed to hear that Collector appears to be gone from Rekall. I thought Nick Mancuso played a very menacing fellow there. Hopefully, this is just a cover story and Collector will pop up again. (I could check and see how many episodes he is listed in, but I’d prefer to be surprised.) I thought it a little odd that Hume could investigate a crime occurring where his wife worked. However, as a auditor, I would be allowed to audit a School Board where my wife worked as long as she didn’t hold a position of influence like CFO or Head of Security. I’m not sure what Olivia Hume does at Uber Braun; I’m not even sure they ever mentioned that she worked there before.

Anyway, some nice little twists in this story. As Hume and Ian investigate the murder of Joseph Granger from Uber Braun, Barbara seems to be the honest employee trying to keep our heroes from being impeded in their investigation. She even has a nifty jamming device to keep the corporate suits from listening in for a short time. She gets fired for her action and later asks for shelter at the Hume home. But it turns out she is in fact the murderer of Granger and the one trying to sell his discovery to Nagle at Rekall. Granger was going to sell directly to Nagle, and cut her out of her share. She was only helping the CPB in hopes that Ian could break the code on Granger’s computer so she could have some Echelon data to sell to Nagle.

The mysterious “Echelon” project is fun as well. The corporate records indicate $500 million was spent along with two years work from 610 personnel, with no evidence of anything being accomplished. The lab is pretty much a barren room with a computer. Ian manages to break the 20-digit encryption code and then has to deal with a 60 second countdown before an explosion will decimate everything. I was a little disappointed in the way he stopped the countdown. It gets down to about 10 seconds, and then he just says, “I’ve think I’ve got it,”. I’d rather have seen a visual of it getting down to a few seconds and then jamming, or having him say something like, “I managed to loop the countdown so that it will just go from 10 to 5 over and over again endlessly.” But that’s a minor point.

Turns out Project Echelon is a combination cloaking device and the creation of a Super Beta android with the same abilities as Alpha androids. I liked the way the cloaking device was hinted at earlier on with Ian barely seeing a form of something and then having it fade back into a wall. Once it is all revealed, Barbara ends up being strangled by the very device she was so anxious to find. Ian heroically takes two hits to the chest to protect Olivia from being shot by Barbara. David manages to grab the gun and blast the Beta android out of commission. To cap it off, Ian recovers and Olivia discovers that he is an android. A great moment and Olivia is suitably pissed off, yet it’s hard for her to argue about an android that helped save her life. She is forgiving to David later on, and even appreciates that he was trying to be her protector by not revealing the truth about Ian.

Other observations: Once again, their no-nonsense boss stands up to the corporate suits. When Nagle won’t let them back in the building and wants them off the case, Martin tells them that they’ll conduct the interviews outside the building if need be, but they are staying on the case! Also, we get some dialogue hinting that we don’t even know for sure what Alpha androids can do, or who authorized Ian to work for the CPB or why. The mystery deepens.

Some good dialogue too. I liked when Nagle tells Barbara she’ll access to more luxury that she’s ever dreamed of, and she replies, “You haven’t seen my dreams.”

I see the repeating stock footage of the city mentioned by others in earlier reviews. There’s a shot with a big screen in a boulevard showing the same half a face it was showing before. And we conclude with a shot of a brief shower with everyone looking happily relieved to have it – exactly the same shot as last week’s episode. And once again, the show is compelled to end on an irrelevant shot of the city.

But overall, a pleasing episode with some surprises and a little more human/android reaction and less troubled marriage reaction – in fact, the whole marriage subplot was rather upbeat this week. For the extra bonus of the revelation of Ian as an android to Olivia, I’m giving this 9 futuristic phones slightly similar to Skype.

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Peter Firth! Now I’m paying attention.
As happy as I am to see him I am sorry that Mr. Collector is gone. One of the answers I was looking forward to learning was how much Collector knew and whose side he was on. I wanted to know what the look between him and Taavo was all about.

I am wondering if there was a large time lag between the making of the pilot and the filming of the series.
1. It feels like they were told to go in a different direction then the pilot
2. Sometime when there is a lag the original actors are no longer available
This is just my speculation as it seems this show is not in ‘cult’ status to find information like that out.

Random but nostalgic moment for me. They put her gift in a plastic bag. I remember those!? My area is fairly new to the ‘bring your own bag’ to the store so I just got a kick out of the plastic bag. He didn’t even charge 5 cents because you (I) once again forgot your bag in the trunk of the car.

Was the whole buying the pyramid thing supposed to be a witty comic moment? It was just a strange scene and everyone looked uncomfortable. However, when they were saying good-bye and David says don’t follow me I will have to kill you to Olivia that was just so natural and like a real couple having fun and teasing each other. It made me wonder if it was an ad lib by him.

I do not proclaim to be a writer but some of these lines are just terrible. What was that whole mess with Peter Firth saying to Ms. Raymond that the reason he was touching her knee etc etc.
1. If you leave the reason he was touching her knee as sexual it fits into the story of how she says she felt used.
2. There are way less awkward ways to tell a lady she is getting used to the good life then by putting your hand on her knee and then telling her I am feeling the texture of your stocking, the texture of your dress. What!!!!!

Could somebody help me? When does Olivia work and can I get her hours.

When David says to Farve if you get this I will buy you the biggest steak. What a missed opportunity for witty human/android banter.

I thought Olivia’s feeling of betrayal and her response was very well done.
David and Olivia have an adult conversation at the end that really sounded like a real married couple. Very good and I am liking that we are seeing a relationship between them.

So no wrap up? It seemed like they found the murderer and that was it. Which yes in a procedural this is true but being as this started out as more then that it would have been nice to have a little follow up of what was going on.

Two questions for you all:
1. Did I miss them telling why the android killed Ms. Raymond. I understand he was enhanced and out of control but did they make it clear? Was he a killing machine and was going to kill all of them? If anyone could clarify, thanks in advance.
2. I know nothing about guns. So am I missing something or is the show being inconsistent. Last week Farve got shot and it did no damage. This week it threw him back into the wall. Did Ms. Raymond have a more powerful gun? Do the police in the Recall world have the least affective guns?

Brimfin

However, as a auditor, I would be allowed to audit a School Board where my wife worked as long as she didn’t hold a position of influence like CFO or Head of Security.

I thought it was very telling when Olivia said if she knew something and your (David) life was in danger. Like she would have a conflict because she signed her security agreement. I would hope that it would not matter who’s life was in danger the security agreement would not supersede it.

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AS expected, it was an entertaining episode. Nothing really special about it, but I don't find the cases boring, as it normally happens to procedurals for me. And yes, Olivia found out about Farve. We also learned that Calley knows Farve as "resident android... expert" (they got me there for a second). Neither Calley nor Martin seems to have any idea Farve is an android, even though Calley works for the Assessor's Office. It's because Farve was assigned to the CPB through a convoluted channel, Calley can't disclose the in the executive order that assigned Farve and Farve, duh... Didn't read it. Oh, well...

I think the best way to cover a few aspects of the episode is replying to your comments.

by brimfin » I would be allowed to audit a School Board where my wife worked as long as she didn’t hold a position of influence like CFO or Head of Security.

I guess I've been watching too many sci-fi shows with evil corporations, because "Head of Security" sounds very sinister.

Ian manages to break the 20-digit encryption code and then has to deal with a 60 second countdown before an explosion will decimate everything. I was a little disappointed in the way he stopped the countdown.

I would have made the solution more character-centered. For instance, the answer to a riddle would stop the countdown, and David would solve by with the knowledge acquired ina previous case.

Turns out Project Echelon is a combination cloaking device and the creation of a Super Beta android with the same abilities as Alpha androids.

Since Alpha androids supposedly don't exist in this world (Ian is the first and nobody else seems to have managed to make one), I wonder why they would classify the existing androids as Beta, and spare the Alpha denomination for somethig that hasn't been created yet. "I've just created this fantastic android that does almost everything a person does. I'll classify it as a Beta, since one day somebody may come up with something better."

David manages to grab the gun and blast the Beta android out of commission.

And it seems the 70mm gun has dropped out of the story for good.

When Nagle won’t let them back in the building and wants them off the case, Martin tells them that they’ll conduct the interviews outside the building if need be, but they are staying on the case!

No, nagle works for Rekall, and Nagle is the "nice" Head of Security. The nasty Head of Security works for Uber Braun and his name is Leland. He is the one who wanted Hume and Farve out of the case.

There’s a shot with a big screen in a boulevard showing the same half a face it was showing before. And we conclude with a shot of a brief shower with everyone looking happily relieved to have it

Yeah, I was wondering if it's going to rain at the end of every episode. How often does it rain tehre?

by lorkris » I am sorry that Mr. Collector is gone. One of the answers I was looking forward to learning was how much Collector knew and whose side he was on. I wanted to know what the look between him and Taavo was all about.

Great point! I think you're right about this episode having been shot a long time after the pilot. I remember in Pushing Daisies, for example, some sets had a slight change from episode 2 on. I think they shoot the pilot, and then try to sell it or get it approved. Until they reassemble the crew again. That takes a while and by then some stories may be dropped, and new actors can be hired.

I do not proclaim to be a writer but some of these lines are just terrible. What was that whole mess with Peter Firth saying to Ms. Raymond that the reason he was touching her knee etc etc.

I agree it was clumsy. But the scene did serve a few purposes. It showed that Barbara was objectified by men and that explained some of her motivations for the crime. It laso showed that nagle is not the nice guy he pretended to be. But for a moment I thought he was going to say he was trying to feel her body to try and find some listening device attached to her and... Guess what!

Could somebody help me? When does Olivia work and can I get her hours.

Her working hours include working when David wants intimacy even though he's thinking of another woman, one whose suicide he failed to prevent. But she has mandatory sublimator breaks.

When David says to Farve if you get this I will buy you the biggest steak. What a missed opportunity for witty human/android banter.

Honestly I didn't get that. A steak? This is weird writing on a par with last episode's "David, the fish are missing you."

So no wrap up? It seemed like they found the murderer and that was it. Which yes in a procedural this is true but being as this started out as more then that it would have been nice to have a little follow up of what was going on.

At least for these first episodes, it seems the CPB can only do so much to solve these cases, but they are not set to debunk big conspiracies. Once the direct guilty person is found, the case stops. As Martin says, "One step at a time."

Did I miss them telling why the android killed Ms. Raymond. I understand he was enhanced and out of control but did they make it clear? Was he a killing machine and was going to kill all of them? If anyone could clarify, thanks in advance.

I think that was a direct result from the fact the Beta hadn't been tested yet. Android is an android expert and he highly recommended not turning it on, because he knew how dangerous it would be.

I know nothing about guns. So am I missing something or is the show being inconsistent. Last week Farve got shot and it did no damage. This week it threw him back into the wall. Did Ms. Raymond have a more powerful gun? Do the police in the Recall world have the least affective guns?

To me it was clear that was a more powerful gun. Remember it was the villain's gun. Who knows where she got it? The gun from last episode didn't leave a mark on Ian, and this one tore holes in his clothes.

A couple things somebody said but whose quote I seem to have missed. I agree the couple's relationship in marriage is developing well, and I like it too. And I think think they mentioned Olivia works at Uber Braun in the pilot; in fact, last episode she was doing Uber Braun work while David wanted intimacy, and he asked if somebody in her office could do that work and she said, "I'm that someone."

As the show progresses, I start to become more demainding in my grading. So, this episode gets 7 tigers from Mars with sinister eccentricities.

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A pretty good story this week as expected from the show's creator. We now know sort of where Favre came from ,Special Executive, but not why. This was discussed in front of Ehrenthal ,but was the word android used specifically to describe Favre ? so Ehrenthal might not know, though he'd have to be dense not to figure it out.
Barbara turning out to be the villainess was unexpected and her dealings with Nagle show us how murderously competitive Rekall and Uber Braun are ,we've lost Collector but gained another slimeball in the security chief at Uber.
My only gripe is the end of the story when the experimental Alpha android was revealed as a stereotypical Neanderthal skinhead a bit naff.
8 er Martian ticklers out of 10

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Hume and Farve investigate the murder of an Uber-Braun employee Granger.

In this episode we learn that Olivia works at Uber-Braun. I'm not sure if that was brought up before but this creates some tension in the episode. David and Ian meet up with Barbara who is a friend of Olivia at Uber Braun. Barbara ends up being very helpful to David and Ian, even too helpful as she ends up putting her job in jeopardy. Ian attempts to crack a secret code and is thwarted by the executives at Uber Braun.

Barbara ends up losing her job and ends up at the Hume residence as a safe haven. Olivia insists she spend the night and there is a palatable sexual tension as David is in the same room with two beautiful blonds. I almost expected them to get into some convoluted 3 way in this Showtime series. David sets up a cool bugging device and ends up finding out that Barbara was involved in the murder.

Peter Firth was introduced as Nagle, the new big shot at Rekall which is good addition IMO. David learns that Barbara was in fact trying to get Ian to crack Granger's code so she could sell the secrets to Nagle.

The ending is a bit formulaic as David, Ian, Barabara and Olivia are back in Granger's computer center and there's a confrontation and there's a deadline before the whole place blows. Ian is able to crack "Echelon". Echelon ends up being a super Betta android. There's a bit of a shootout as Barbara attempts to kill Olivia and things get a bit off kilter. The super better android comes alive and actually kills Barbara so her whole plan backfires. Olivia then is shocked to find that Ian is actually an Alpha android and more tension ensues.

Overall I thought it was a good episode and I give it a 7 out of 10.

*Here's a question, Why is it always night in the series?

Also, what's with the Asian language mixed with Spanish and the Asian store fronts and rickshaws. Have they ever explained why the characters are all North American, British, or English speaking people yet they live in a area where everything is in Japanese or some Asian language mixed with Spanish?

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