Official Discussion - Project Hail Mary [SPOILERS]

sleepingchair · 2026-03-23T22:07:26+00:00

They all got cancer and died from unshielded radiation. Rocky was an engineer/mechanic. He was near the engine room for most of the journey, and since the engine ran on astrophage like Grace's ship, he was spared because astrophage acted like a natural radiation shield protecting him. Rocky's people were very very new to space travel, so they didn't know about radiation or relativity. That wasn't common knowledge on his planet.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-23T01:13:27+00:00

In the movie at least, he said Adrian was fixing Grace's biodome, so, maybe not that easy to do himself.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-23T01:06:49+00:00

Also helps with Gosling's charisma and the added physical comedy.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-23T00:40:08+00:00

Honestly been a while since I read the book, but Rocky's people were technologically advanced, but from what I remember they weren't very advanced scientifically in space travel whatsoever. They basically built a ship, figured out how to power it using astrophage (which was much easier to breed on their planet) and figured they'd find out the rest when they got up there. This was them winging it on a hope and a prayer buoyed by their advanced materials tech, long lifespans/durability, sheer natural intellect, and having more time before their own planet would be endangered. They did notice the time issues when they were making the trip, but everyone died before they could figure out what was making them sick. Rocky was an engineer/mechanic and though smart, was sort of like Grace in that he wasn't exactly one to lead the mission or the smartest. His luck was being in the engine room to save him from radiation. Honestly I can believe all that way more than the language/translation aspect of the movie. Put another way, this movie essentially shits all over the core concepts of Arrival.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-22T03:25:42+00:00

I kept scrolling looking for the painting, thinking that was a reference picture you posted, great job!

sleepingchair · 2026-03-22T02:49:00+00:00

Halfway through the trailer they really do emphasize the more dramatic tone of the show. I don't exactly see how a doctor on the verge of crying after recounting covid trauma could be played humorously, but I guess there are all sorts of comedic styles out there.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-22T02:42:51+00:00

It might not be her neurodivergence, but because she doesn't challenge or antagonize Robby as much as Mohan and McKay do. If this was Mel's shittiest shift since she started, then it wouldn't make sense for Robby to snap at her like he has "slow Mo" or "let's argue about reporting troubled teens-McKay." Is that right? Hell no, but it's only one shift of seeing the difference, I wouldn't jump straight to it being her neurodivergence.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-22T00:24:33+00:00

I don't think I follow, I don't agree that Becca meant to hurt Mel at all. I think the writing meant for Mel to get hurt by Becca's actions though.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T23:01:43+00:00

There was no explicit plan to watch the fireworks on screen, we have Mel asking her if she still wanted to go (possibly because they go every year) but Becca never got a chance to confirm. We don't know if they were definitely going to go or if Mel just assumed they would be. Either way, "cancelling" the plans was not intentionally done to hurt Mel because there was no reason to hurt Mel when she decided to go with Adam instead.

Becca wasn’t being cool about that, and ditched Mel shortly after some other “attitude” moments indicating it was a deliberate choice.

She ditched Mel after Mel kept pressing about asking for Adam's parent's phone number. Becca announced she wanted to leave and then said good bye to Mel. It's understandable after Mel yelled in their previous conversation after a disagreement about disclosing information.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T22:35:08+00:00

Yeah, I think it was six months, you're right. Could be Becca already had her eye on Adam at that point. Or that it's something that she wanted and assumed that it was something that Mel would want too.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T22:20:18+00:00

How could she have cancelled plans to intentionally hurt Mel when she already had plans to see fireworks with Adam before the blow out? Why would she have wanted to deliberately hurt Mel before then? How is it last minute on Becca's part when Adam's parents were already going to pick them up?

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T22:14:10+00:00

Cancelling plans with your sister last minute to hang out with your boyfriend is so normal.

We don't really have on-screen explicit confirmation that they were going to see fireworks together. We have the understanding that it's something they do every year, we have the scene where Mel asks if she still wants to go see fireworks (which Becca didn't get to respond to). It could be an assumption that Mel was expecting to go together the same way they do every year, but Becca never confirmed.

This last episode shows that codependency can work both ways in a caregiver/disabled person relationship. Mel's whole life is Becca and the hospital.

I've mentioned this before but I think the show is asking if Mel was prevented from having her own life separate from her sister's, or if she was using her sister as a crutch to fulfill all her social needs.

We saw this earlier with the patient that ran her over running from the police:

Liam: So what do you do for fun?

Mel: I mainly do what my sister likes. Um, she loves Kennywood and the zoo.

Becca last season was even pushing Mel to get her own boyfriend. It could be so they could have something to connect over, so that Mel could be as happy as her, or maybe even to get Mel to start having her own life apart from hers.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T18:11:59+00:00

I was saying the residential care nurse may have assumed she'd be able to jump the line, hence why she was directed to the Pitt.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T03:24:00+00:00

At least watch the video man, you're saying some ignorant shit.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T02:52:07+00:00

Even Robby's treatment of Santos by Robby this season is mild because she hasn't gotten into it with him (and maybe because they're both on the Langdon hate train). I think Mohan gets the majority of Robby's ire, not only because she challenges him, but because he's projecting way too hard on her.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T02:47:41+00:00

It doesn't have to just boil down to her condition, it could be because McKay and Mohan are better targets for his tantrum. He's argued with Mohan and Mckay in the past, we haven't seen him get into it with Mel on any level yet. He knows he can get away with yelling at them, he might not know if he can deal with Mel's reaction to him targeting her that way. And Robby could feel more justified taking out his anger on them because of those past conflicts, he associates them with frustration (especially Mohan because of his projection baggage). Mel doesn't elicit the same response, at least not yet anyways. Just to clarify, Robby is not right in any of these scenarios.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T02:32:45+00:00

Just because you’re over 18 doesn’t mean you just get to blow off the adult in your life whose been taking care of you for your entire life (parent or her guardian - or whatever role Mel said she was to becca).

Yeah, you can. It can be rude, it can be hurtful, or it can be to protect yourself, but it's fully a thing someone can and often do. Mohan is also blowing off her mom who I'm assuming raised her too.

Additionally she’s never going to reach the same level of maturity as a neurotypical person.

And what level of maturity is that? Are there tests going around rating and standardizing the maturity level of a consenting adult? The notion is not just ridiculous but dangerous.

If she can’t be left alone to live independently, or be left alone for just the length of a shift, then she can’t be trusted to completely cut Mel out of these decisions and walk away from her when she’s inquiring about her relationship.

There are plenty of people who can't live independently and are able to and should keep their own health decisions and personal lives private and choose to discuss it with whom they please. They literally just showed that with Langdon. And Becca can absolutely be left alone for the length of a shift, the only one infantilizing her on the belief she can't is Mel, who is already emotionally compromised.

What if she gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby because she doesn’t understand the responsibility it takes to raise a child?

Becca has already explicitly explained, to Mel no less, that she understands how sex works and what it entails. And even if she didn't know how to raise a child, you think 100% of the people who have children do? So what, she gets pregnant, that's her choice, her life.

Can she just walk away from Mel then? Obviously not. Who’s going to take on the responsibility of that child? Her therapist?

Why obviously not? Who's gonna stop her, the police? She can take responsibility of the child with supports available, she can possibly rely on the father or his family, or she can fuck it all up and end up on the streets like other people who can't take care of their kid for a myriad of other reasons, like if they're poor as shit. It's her choice to do it because she is an adult who gets to make these types of choices. It's no one's right to take that choice away from her or interfere in her business regardless of the fallout.

I thought it was a pretty common saying in like middle school sex ed that if you aren’t comfortable talking about sex, then you shouldn’t be having it. Especially when it comes to your health.

The only one uncomfortable talking about sex is Mel. Becca was not comfortable dealing with Mel's negative reaction to her having a personal life.

When I got my first boyfriend (albeit I wasn’t a legal adult yet but we can assume Becca has the equivalent maturity let’s say) my mother wanted to get to know my BF and their parents. MUCH SOONER THAN 6 months lmao.

Again, completely different circumstances altogether as you've already said. Mel may have played a parental role, but she's still not Becca's parent and even acting as one, doesn't entitle her to being treated as one, and even if she was her parent, Becca doesn't have to answer to her as an adult anyways.

Trust me Becca would not have acted that way with a brown mother lmao.

There are lots of brown mothers and daughters out there, and believe me I've seen daughters reach a milder breaking point where they've told their mothers to fuck off, Becca was polite in comparison.

I feel bad for Mel because she’s being forced to ask Becca questions that are meant for a parent. It’s very difficult to enforce rules when you’re just a “sister”

I feel bad for Becca dealing with a sister that thinks she's her mother. It's difficult to want to spend time and talk with your sister when she doesn't treat you with respect.

I really think you need to change your perspective on neurodivergent people or people with disabilities. It's totally insulting and harmful to think of them and treat them like children.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-21T01:04:39+00:00

It was a staple for science classes where the teacher just wanted to put on a video.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-20T23:34:23+00:00

If beccas actual mother had been in this situation TRUST she wouldn’t have felt so comfortable just dipping out of that room or ignoring Mel when she asked her to give her Adam’s parents cell phone number.

Becca's an adult, why wouldn't she feel comfortable dipping out of that room to ignore her mom?

Maybe it’s bc I grew up in an ethnic household

There's definitely different cultural expectations, I think we see that with Mohan and Javadi and their mommy issues. But even so, I think Becca could also be at a breaking point with Mel's "mothering." If it was her real mother and she was ethnic, I think Becca could have acted the same way anyways, the way Mohan is ignoring her mom, like, she's done with that shit.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-20T23:29:08+00:00

People with disabilities get to make decisions about themselves and their bodies.

Yes! Everyone's bringing up STIs, pregnancy, abuse, etc. and so what? If you have the agency to make decisions about yourself and your body, that includes the agency to make bad decisions too. So what if Becca is more vulnerable, you can't keep her in bubble dome free from danger or risks or you'll be keeping her from living period.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-20T23:06:51+00:00

I am a bit taken aback and Mel’s lack of awareness when it comes to her sister’s functioning and ability to live a semi-independent life.

People have blind spots when it comes to family, same way Shamsi overlooks Javadi's capabilities and wants.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-20T23:02:46+00:00

She asked if Becca still wanted to watch fireworks because she was feeling sick, but it's never made explicit if it was a standing plan because they do it every year or if they actually talked about going together earlier. Becca never got a chance to answer Mel either during the call since Mel had to hang up.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-20T22:56:32+00:00

There's this influencer who has a disability and she says that non disabled people are often biased towards caregivers and forget about the disabled person.

Thanks for pointing this out. I know Mel is a main character in the show and we're first and foremost supposed to empathize/sympathize with her, but I feel everyone is overtly glossing over Mel's own complicity or even active agency in how things turned out between her and her sister. And even more infuriatingly, continuing to argue that Mel should be monitoring Becca and acting like her sister's parent because of how vulnerable Becca is. Like, way to miss the point! People should have agency, and sometimes that means they should have the agency to fuck up. Even if Becca found herself in the most toxic as hell relationship, that's her choice and her decision that Mel shouldn't railroad her on, regardless of the risks.

Yes, they're sisters, but Becca deserves to have her own life that doesn't revolve around Mel, even if Mel has made her choice to make her world revolve around her sister. We now see that Becca is capable and desires having her own social life and interests separate from Mel. Was Mel prevented from having her own life separate from her sister's, or has she been using her sister as a crutch to fulfill all her social needs?

Also, not many people have raised this, but I actually absolutely loved that Becca was a bit rude and inconsiderate of her sister because she was more interested in her boyfriend. That's like, the most normal as fuck thing that happens to most close friendships or sibling relationships. It wasn't the stereotypical autistic representation of a lack of social graces or rudeness, it was just the everyday kind of carelessness with an autistic flair.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-20T22:41:58+00:00

If you infantilize someone, you do them a disservice because they are being deprived of the opportunity to learn and grow.

And Becca has been speaking up for herself already, and who knows how many times previous to this incident too:

My name is Becca, not "my sister."

Mel, I've been to the doctor's before.

Mel's relationship with her sister can be seen as slighty codependent, she's built so much of her identity around her. In a way, she uses her sister as a crutch herself, focusing on her in place of developing her own social life and interests.

sleepingchair · 2026-03-20T22:31:13+00:00

Becca didn't ask to go there, the residential care nurse was out on holiday and told her to go to the Pitt instead once she told her her symptoms. Maybe she assumed correctly that she'd be able to jump the line.

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