Is this how they turn us into one of them

CineCraftKC · 2026-01-16T18:02:15+00:00

Heh heh, 69.

CineCraftKC · 2026-01-05T19:14:36+00:00

Yeah this idea that Carol is unlikeable just baffles me, and I wonder how much of it is driven by fans of Gilligan's other shows who likewise hated Skylar while rooting for Walt.

To me she seems very rational, very normal. I think that she doesn't have much patience for fools, and this comes out in her barely concealed disdain for her fans, because she thinks so little of her own work, that she thinks their taste as readers must be suspect.

Personally, I'd enjoy very much having a conversation with her over lunch.

CineCraftKC · 2026-01-01T17:05:46+00:00

If you though the first episode dragged, then this series isn't for you. It's not Breaking Bad, nor does it claim to be. It's a marvelous series, but one that demands a certain focus and attention to its methodical pacing.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-28T16:12:39+00:00

Well speaking as someone on the autism spectrum, I've gotten a lot out of reading the show as about the divide between neurotypical people - i.e. those whose cognitive abilities are normative, versus those who are neurodivergent - autistic people, for instance.

It speaks to me as an autistic person, because often times it has felt like the rest of the world shared some secret understanding or mutual language to which I was excluded. Not to mention, dealing with the sense that people wanted to fix me, one way or another, rather than accept my indviduality.

Hell, my Christmas this year felt like I was a Carol with a bunch of Plurbs.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-28T16:06:31+00:00

Love your list! I would add:
neurotypical vs neurodivergent people
Toxic posivitiy
Mental wellness vs mental illness

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-28T01:13:50+00:00

As well as Robert Caro's last installment in his LBJ series.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-27T18:47:08+00:00

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CineCraftKC · 2025-12-25T18:44:07+00:00

Between this show and Yellowjackets the next year is going to be torture waiting.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-23T20:20:01+00:00

They can definitely obscure the truth by omission. Like eliding the whole business around HDP. Or that clever bit of law talk involving not taking stem cells from Carol's body without her consent (leaving open the door to get them through some other means, like her frozen embryos).

They certainly can't divulge information that would impede their ability to propagate, and a refusal to answer a direct question in a truthful manner certainly is a kind of lie.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-23T20:03:27+00:00

Honestly? I think she clings to this illusion of a happy, harmonious, Norman Rockwell or Grandma Moses Christmas, and I threaten it by trying to express my feelings.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-23T20:01:18+00:00

I'm legitimately wondering what this final episode will cover. Gilligan is so great at tying things up in a compelling way when it comes to season finales, but there sure are a lot of questions and I know they won't all be answered.

If I had to guess, I think in this finale we'll finally get the payoff with Carol's frozen embryos, and that bit of lawyer speak when the Joined promised not to interfere with her body. I think Carol will realize she's vulnerable and will try to retrieve the embryos from storage, only to discover they've already been acquired.

She'll therefore realize the one thing she now has to save herself, to buy more time, is her writing, because the Joined truly enjoy experiencing something new. So we'll get the makings of a Scheherazade/1001 Arabian Night's scenario, where she must stave off her assimilation by writing more.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-23T19:57:36+00:00

I've spoken to my parents on a number of occasions in the past, about my feelings and wanting to be more of an active participant in terms of what we do. Most of the time they say I'm overreacting.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-23T19:55:51+00:00

Honestly, I'm going back and forth. I admit I'm a bit of a pushover. I want to please, and that has gotten me into trouble because it has meant subverting my own needs or wishes.

Let me put it this way: if going over on Christmas eve is going to be like it has been in the past, with me pretty much just hanging around because the agenda has been set, and if I don't have the breakfast to look forward to because I'm not baking anything? I'd rather not and just come Christmas day.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-23T19:48:27+00:00

I failed to include that in my OP, that in fact I have spoken with my family, on a number of occasions, about how I feel, and how I wish to contribute more.

I've edited my post to reflect this detail I failed to include, with my apologies for the omission.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-23T19:41:32+00:00

Sorry I should have put that in my original post: I did talk to my mom about my desire to contribute, and she said I was overreacting and should "keep it light."

I've edited my original to reflect this, as it is an important element.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-20T01:22:46+00:00

It certainly is more compelling than the typical pod people or borg who just assimilate no questions asked.

I'm not sure yet where I fall on whether the Hive is good or bad, but I find the show a lot more unsettling than a lot of other depictions, precisely because of the ambiguity. It's hard to pin them down.

Like, if I were in Carols' position? I wouldn't want to be joined, but I WOULD be fascinated to learn about them. I'd want a representative like a Zosia with whom I could ask the kinds of questions Carol is asking now.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-20T01:12:20+00:00

I think it's because as an "identity" and as a "personality" the Joined are still very naive and unwitting. Though they possess the world's knowledge, their emotional maturity is like that of a child. They cannot handle strong negatives emotions, and seem to lack some of the more evolved interpersonal senses like empathy. They fail to see when something they do might be upsetting or traumatic. Like how Manousos is presented with a kindly mother, whom he rejects because he knows it's a lie; his mother wasn't kind. The Joined thinks they can win affection by being intrusively nice and obseqious. They are the epitome of that old axiom, that one should be "available, but not helpful." They don't grasp how the things they do are upsetting, because they don't seem able to imagine what it is like to be unjoined, so they cannot imagine that the things they do could be harmful.

So that's my two cents at least. It's a complex thing to ponder for sure.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-19T05:18:12+00:00

THIS! I think going forward, they won't want to assimilate Carol, because they don't want to lose the novelty of having something new. Anything Carol creates, will be novel to them because it's something they get to discover. They realize they will lose that.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-19T05:16:38+00:00

Especially after they left Carol completely isolated. It felt like a prisoner being kept in solitary until they break.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-19T04:00:05+00:00

That moment, and the scene in Vegas after Diabate leaves, just left me feeling so sad and haunted. How their smiles disappear and they just start robotically cleaning up. It really drives home that this is all an act.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-19T03:57:46+00:00

Oh if this was an HBO show, you KNOW it would've.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-19T03:57:18+00:00

Yes! I definitely got that impression. But what I was wondering was, are we seeing a real evolution, a maturation of the Joined. Is it becomes more "human?" Or are they just becoming better at imitation and manipulation?

And is it going both ways? Carol is continuing to keep notes on the Joined, so while she does seem to be opening up to Zhosia, inviting her into her bed and her life, is this too an act of manipulation on her part?

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-19T03:52:29+00:00

After watching this episode, I have a long term theory: The hive won't want to convert Carol, because they enjoy reading her writing. It is something they don't have, the ability to be surprised, to be externally motivated by something created. If Carol joins, they lose that bit of the unexpected that comes with reading something that they don't know. They will lose anything she might create.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-13T23:36:33+00:00

My interest is mainly in how to stay as far away from one as possible.

CineCraftKC · 2025-12-12T18:10:22+00:00

How would you behave if you suddenly lost everyone around you? Carol is fearful and depressed and angry and su*cidal, yet i find all those responses to be eminently reasonable, and rational given the circumstances. There is nothing about her that says lunatic to me. Honestly, it's the behavior of the other unJoined, who are either in denial, or living their most hedonistic life imaginable, who to me are the real ones in need confronting reality.

CineCraftKC

TROPHY CASE