ars PARADOXICA: 02: Blackout
July 14, 2016 9:24 AM - Subscribe
A power outage creates an unlikely friendship.
The second episode of this serial science fiction / mystery podcast.
The second episode of this serial science fiction / mystery podcast.
When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there's no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe.
Episodes should be experienced sequentially.
The acting worked better for me this time around, as I didn't mind two career scientists being a little stiff.
That said, this is more or else an actual exchange:
"Nothing you're saying makes sense!"
"OK, well, I'm a time traveler!"
"What?"
"No seriously, I am!"
"OK."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:16 PM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
That said, this is more or else an actual exchange:
"Nothing you're saying makes sense!"
"OK, well, I'm a time traveler!"
"What?"
"No seriously, I am!"
"OK."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:16 PM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yeah, it's a bit weird how easily that was believed. On the other hand, they are all working in fringe science and there is something really odd about Grissom so I can just about accept it for the sake of the story.
I can't get over how much the male character in this ep (do we hear his name?) sounds like Cyril Figgis from Archer, to the extent that I seriously debated whether it could be the same voice actor. I do have a bit of a tin ear for accents, though, especially American ones, so maybe I'm way off?
I think the sci-fi plot was mostly establishing that (a) the timepiece can cause ripples that go backwards in time, towards the time and place of the Philadelphia Experiment ("project rainbow") where Grissom appeared in the first place, and that (b) choosing *not* to take the action that caused the ripple to spread back in time didn't remove the ripple, or collapse their timeline, or cause some universe-ending paradox. So, in this show, it might actually be possible to go back and kill your grandfather, and you just end up living as an anomaly in a (new? different?) universe where you were never born but the you-that-travelled-there continues to exist?
I'm kind of extrapolating a lot there from a small amount of information, but I really like time-travel stories and have spent some time with friends chatting about how different versions can be made to work for a comprehensible narrative.
posted by metaBugs at 8:22 AM on July 20, 2016
I can't get over how much the male character in this ep (do we hear his name?) sounds like Cyril Figgis from Archer, to the extent that I seriously debated whether it could be the same voice actor. I do have a bit of a tin ear for accents, though, especially American ones, so maybe I'm way off?
I think the sci-fi plot was mostly establishing that (a) the timepiece can cause ripples that go backwards in time, towards the time and place of the Philadelphia Experiment ("project rainbow") where Grissom appeared in the first place, and that (b) choosing *not* to take the action that caused the ripple to spread back in time didn't remove the ripple, or collapse their timeline, or cause some universe-ending paradox. So, in this show, it might actually be possible to go back and kill your grandfather, and you just end up living as an anomaly in a (new? different?) universe where you were never born but the you-that-travelled-there continues to exist?
I'm kind of extrapolating a lot there from a small amount of information, but I really like time-travel stories and have spent some time with friends chatting about how different versions can be made to work for a comprehensible narrative.
posted by metaBugs at 8:22 AM on July 20, 2016
I can't get over how much the male character in this ep (do we hear his name?) sounds like Cyril Figgis from Archer
Oh goddammit.
posted by Etrigan at 11:24 AM on July 20, 2016
Oh goddammit.
posted by Etrigan at 11:24 AM on July 20, 2016
Heh, maybe I should've kept that thought to myself! Whoops.
posted by metaBugs at 2:34 AM on July 21, 2016
posted by metaBugs at 2:34 AM on July 21, 2016
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posted by Etrigan at 2:10 PM on July 18, 2016