Forever: Fountain of Youth

September 30, 2014 11:52 PM - Season 1, Episode 3

Henry is interested in aging and how to die, but New York's wealthy elderly are chasing a way to turn back the clock.
posted by oh yeah! (10 comments total)

Weirdly reminded me of Forever Knight for some reason. Immortality and cheesy b-plots. I have an inordinate fondness for the two male actors from previous work, so this could be solid comfort food TV.
posted by viggorlijah at 3:48 AM on October 1, 2014

I tuned in for the actors too, but this show is starting to remind me of the Mentalist--mysteries of the week with Adam filling in for Red John as the white whale that will hang around the periphery and tease us with a trickle of backstory, not resolving anything for many seasons, if ever.
posted by cardboard at 6:57 AM on October 1, 2014

10 People on Whom Immortality Was Totally Wasted
posted by homunculus at 5:02 PM on October 1, 2014

Was anyone else bothered that Henry didn't specifically seek out the (divorced) put-together, then non-drunk brain-mushed woman to make sure she got help? Her case seemed pretty egregious, but after the faux doctor was killed, Henry seemed to forget all about her.

Also, I don't know what to make of Abe. On the one hand, he's the best part of the show. On the other hand, he was raised from infancy all over the world with his British adoptive father, and yet he speaks with a genuine Judd Hirsch New York accent with a native's Yiddish vocabulary and intonation? "[startled] I had a nosh, but what does that matter?" is all in the attitude.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 9:26 PM on October 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

It's kinda cheesy, but for some reason we can't fathom, we're enjoying this show.
posted by idb at 9:26 PM on October 1, 2014

Was Abe raised all over the world though? From this week's flashbacks to his friend with tuberculosis, and next week's preview, it seems like Henry gravitates to NYC, so I can fan-wank that Abe's formative years were spent in the city, especially if Henry was making an effort to keep Abe connected with the surviving Jewish community.

I hope the show stays on air long enough for Detective Martinez to get in on the secret, a scene between her & Abe talking about Henry could be nice.

The central premise of the show is so brain-breakingly unfeasible. Not the immortality, I can accept that as the one given. But living in the panopticon as we do, Henry would be a registered sex offender after his umpteenth arrest for public indecency. And how often would he have had to replace his ID & credit cards after his wallet melted away to the void where all of his clothing goes?
posted by oh yeah! at 5:48 AM on October 2, 2014 [5 favorites]

I'm enjoying the comedy, not so much the procedural. It's starting to find a comic voice, and that part is growing on me. That being said, yeah, even if he usually gets killed at night (and can thus dodge police until he can collect-call Abe to come get him), there's still got to be witnesses galore. I'm hoping for a scene where he and Abe talk about that a bit more -- over the years they've probably built up a lot of tactics for dealing with the rebirth.
posted by Mogur at 9:24 AM on October 3, 2014

I enjoyed the pilot quite a bit; it had a nice cinematic quality. The second episode was also decent. This one, not so much. I binge watched all three one after the other tonight, so possibly experienced the law of diminishing returns. In the pilot, he died 3 times. In the next show he died once. In this episode he didn't die at all. I found the various ways he dies and his rebirths entertaining so missed that part in the latest episode.

I haven't noticed any verbal interaction between Detective Martinez and Abe, which I found oddly off-putting.
posted by the webmistress at 10:03 PM on October 4, 2014

So Henry finds a chemist who actually appears to have the sophistication to alter the aging process. One would think he might make the intuitive leap this person can help him in his quest to age and die naturally. It would be the reversal of what was being accomplished with Aterna. Even though there were radical side effects, it indicates that manipulating aging CAN BE DONE and perhaps with further experimentation refined to help Henry in a harmless way. Yet he doesn't, strangely, make that connection AT ALL. I mean I would buy that he would entertain it and reject it as too risky, but to make that connection at all? Seemed really weird to me.

Also the flashbacks of the charlatan don't really work with Aterna. Aterna does what it promises, it's just extremely dangerous. It's not a sham, really. They just don't mention that dying is a side effect.

Also the episode ends with Abe skateboarding. This seems to me to run counter to the episode and flashbacks which is about accepting aging. I basically thought this episode lacked a great deal while the previous two were entertainingly cheesy. (Disclaimer: I also watch the strain so....yeah I like cheesy)

And I missed Adam. Bring back our mysterious villain!
posted by miss-lapin at 10:44 AM on October 5, 2014

Ewww, drinking brains. Gross.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:15 PM on October 8, 2014