Limetown: Episode 3: Napoleon
October 16, 2015 9:40 AM - Subscribe
APR journalist Lia Haddock speaks with the second known survivor from Limetown, inching closer to discovering what the true purpose of the infamous research facility was.
Lia's reaction to the creepy phone call made me really like her. She wasn't scared or cowed at all, she was furious. You go on that journalistic rampage for the truth, Lia!
Also, I'm more certain than ever that Lia is somehow connected to Limetown through more than just her investigation and her uncle. It seems like things have gotten too swiftly personal for her and the other Limetown people for it to be otherwise.
posted by yasaman at 10:11 AM on October 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Also, I'm more certain than ever that Lia is somehow connected to Limetown through more than just her investigation and her uncle. It seems like things have gotten too swiftly personal for her and the other Limetown people for it to be otherwise.
posted by yasaman at 10:11 AM on October 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Also, I'm more certain than ever that Lia is somehow connected to Limetown through more than just her investigation and her uncle.
"Is it happening?"
I almost swerved off the fucking highway when her mother said that. So much scarier than the cat-scare at the end of the second episode (the dude yelling was startling, but it wasn't as purely frightening as that phone call).
Okay, so... yeah, it's totally a hivemind situation. Perhaps Rev. Whatshisname was immune because of his earlier-generation implant or the like.
And the Rev. had one of the best monologues (both in writing and acting) I've heard in a long, long time on a podcast series. Just amazing. I'd love to hear the story of getting that from concept to execution.
posted by Etrigan at 10:34 AM on October 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
"Is it happening?"
I almost swerved off the fucking highway when her mother said that. So much scarier than the cat-scare at the end of the second episode (the dude yelling was startling, but it wasn't as purely frightening as that phone call).
Okay, so... yeah, it's totally a hivemind situation. Perhaps Rev. Whatshisname was immune because of his earlier-generation implant or the like.
And the Rev. had one of the best monologues (both in writing and acting) I've heard in a long, long time on a podcast series. Just amazing. I'd love to hear the story of getting that from concept to execution.
posted by Etrigan at 10:34 AM on October 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
Okay, so someone has uploaded their soul to a group consciousness. We get it! This is the downside of a stated 7 episode series - you have to move too fast sometimes.
Maybe it's because I'm coming down off a Black Tapes high, but this episode felt very "actorly" to me. I enjoyed the Rev's tale of the pig and what happened, but I felt that there is way too much telegraphing going on.
Still, I'm in to the end. Lia's Mom's last line sealed the deal for me. Now that I think I know what is going on, it's Lia's story that will bring me back for more.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:46 PM on October 16, 2015
Maybe it's because I'm coming down off a Black Tapes high, but this episode felt very "actorly" to me. I enjoyed the Rev's tale of the pig and what happened, but I felt that there is way too much telegraphing going on.
Still, I'm in to the end. Lia's Mom's last line sealed the deal for me. Now that I think I know what is going on, it's Lia's story that will bring me back for more.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:46 PM on October 16, 2015
I wondered if Napoleon possessed him as he died, causing his blackout.
The opening sermon was about death as a doorway.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:59 PM on October 16, 2015
The opening sermon was about death as a doorway.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:59 PM on October 16, 2015
Yeah, the phone call with Lia's mom was great, and I actually teared up a little when Napoleon has to be killed. They did a really good job of building up that interaction (as one-sided as the description obviously was) and making you feel the Reverend's distress.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:19 PM on October 16, 2015
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:19 PM on October 16, 2015
We get it! This is the downside of a stated 7 episode series - you have to move too fast sometimes.
To contrast, The Black Tapes went through, what, five episodes before anything but a hint of a story arc emerged. It's a tightrope.
posted by Etrigan at 3:44 PM on October 16, 2015
To contrast, The Black Tapes went through, what, five episodes before anything but a hint of a story arc emerged. It's a tightrope.
posted by Etrigan at 3:44 PM on October 16, 2015
So here's my partial theory. Obviously, some sort of hive mind. The reverend I think mentioned something about glimpsing death or the other side, or something like that. There was also some sort of implant involved, right? Somehow they turned on the hive mind for the whole population. There was some divide in the community between Dr Totem and "the man they were there for", who I think is Lia's uncle. Somehow this ends with them burning Dr Totem alive, and him dying while connected to the hive mind causes the whole town to see the other side of death, after which, well, I don't know. I think this works with the panic and people screaming "turn it off," where "it" is whatever is enabling the hive mind.
I'm not sure if I missed it, but did they explain how the reverend survived? Did he leave before the panic like Winona? Also, the movie theater gets mentioned again, which I find strange. Seems like a weird detail to mention in all three episodes.
posted by noneuclidean at 3:52 PM on October 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure if I missed it, but did they explain how the reverend survived? Did he leave before the panic like Winona? Also, the movie theater gets mentioned again, which I find strange. Seems like a weird detail to mention in all three episodes.
posted by noneuclidean at 3:52 PM on October 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Loved this episode, I listened to it while ill, and it gave me some serious mind-melding with animals vivid fever dreams.
posted by Braeburn at 8:52 PM on October 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Braeburn at 8:52 PM on October 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I listened to it while ill, and it gave me some serious mind-melding with animals vivid fever dreams.
Have we learned nothing?
posted by Etrigan at 4:20 AM on October 17, 2015
Have we learned nothing?
posted by Etrigan at 4:20 AM on October 17, 2015
Perhaps Rev. Whatshisname was immune because of his earlier-generation implant or the like.
IIRC, he mentions at the beginning of the interview that he survived because he wasn't affected by the panic because he was 'turned off', with no context as to what that meant. I figured that meant that, basically, once he had been deactivated he couldn't be reactivated and so avoided the Panic.
posted by Itaxpica at 5:43 PM on October 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
IIRC, he mentions at the beginning of the interview that he survived because he wasn't affected by the panic because he was 'turned off', with no context as to what that meant. I figured that meant that, basically, once he had been deactivated he couldn't be reactivated and so avoided the Panic.
posted by Itaxpica at 5:43 PM on October 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
I would guess that the Reverend's thing about death was because he experienced Napoleon's pretty directly as it happened.
I found it really surprisingly sweet how he loved being mind melded with a pig.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:42 AM on October 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
I found it really surprisingly sweet how he loved being mind melded with a pig.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:42 AM on October 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
I wondered if Napoleon possessed him as he died, causing his blackout.
That occurred to me as well. In part because the Reverend cites Vonnegut's Mother Night as the book he was reading, which Napoleon seemed to like.
In Mother Night, the main character, Howard Campbell, an American, remains in Germany as the Nazis rise to power. Outwardly, he becomes a Nazi supporter, and an influential radio propagandist advocating for the Nazi regime. Secretly, he is using his radio broadcasts to transmit intelligence on Germany to the US.
A major theme of Mother Night is "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Perhaps "the Reverend" was a pig (or maybe a merged pig-human?) pretending to be a human. Some of his descriptions seem more animal-like than one might expect, especially "I kicked a hole through the wall and broke the doctor's leg before they sedated me." A strange, albeit not inconceivable, reaction from a human; a more likely one from a pig in mortal terror.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:00 AM on October 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
That occurred to me as well. In part because the Reverend cites Vonnegut's Mother Night as the book he was reading, which Napoleon seemed to like.
In Mother Night, the main character, Howard Campbell, an American, remains in Germany as the Nazis rise to power. Outwardly, he becomes a Nazi supporter, and an influential radio propagandist advocating for the Nazi regime. Secretly, he is using his radio broadcasts to transmit intelligence on Germany to the US.
A major theme of Mother Night is "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Perhaps "the Reverend" was a pig (or maybe a merged pig-human?) pretending to be a human. Some of his descriptions seem more animal-like than one might expect, especially "I kicked a hole through the wall and broke the doctor's leg before they sedated me." A strange, albeit not inconceivable, reaction from a human; a more likely one from a pig in mortal terror.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:00 AM on October 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
This was a cool episode. I think a lesser story teller would have tried to take a more direct route but this was a neat way to find out what's happening. I was, at first, disappointed they didn't try and stay in the range of the believable for the sake of keeping up the feeling of this could happen right now, but this episode justifies that decision.
posted by Tevin at 12:24 PM on October 23, 2015
posted by Tevin at 12:24 PM on October 23, 2015
I'm with the commenter on the earlier episode that she's not reporting of her own volition and is maybe unconsciously following a plan set for her. This could explain the framing of a 7-episode arc but the "in real time" apology episode that otherwise seemed incongruous to that framing. I predict that the series is going to end with another staff person reporting that Lia has disappeared along with the others (once she's fulfilled her purpose of getting the information out, for whatever reason).
posted by quiet coyote at 3:10 PM on October 24, 2015
posted by quiet coyote at 3:10 PM on October 24, 2015
So did Lia follow up on the 'turned off' comment? someone mentioned in one of the earlier threads their hope that this show would ask all the right questions, and I'm not sure it is.
posted by garlic at 2:20 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by garlic at 2:20 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I found this one awkward, as if it were too much 'telling a story' rather than letting the story play out.
But the huge gaps between episodes also makes it challenging to recall any of the details. I might hold off until the series is finished and then binge on it over the course of a week.
posted by kanewai at 7:05 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
But the huge gaps between episodes also makes it challenging to recall any of the details. I might hold off until the series is finished and then binge on it over the course of a week.
posted by kanewai at 7:05 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hey all, a new mini-ep and full ep were posted! The feeds are still messed up.
posted by Pronoiac at 8:39 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by Pronoiac at 8:39 AM on November 2, 2015
garlic: "So did Lia follow up on the 'turned off' comment? someone mentioned in one of the earlier threads their hope that this show would ask all the right questions, and I'm not sure it is."
She did not, and I was pretty bummed out.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:00 AM on November 3, 2015
She did not, and I was pretty bummed out.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:00 AM on November 3, 2015
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Also, my bet is that they activated telepathy for all of the 298, they formed a hive mind, and then they either disappeared into the caverns or ascended -- Polyphonic Spree-like -- to another plane of existence while taking all of their DNA with them.
posted by stet at 9:51 AM on October 16, 2015 [1 favorite]