Inhumans: Something Inhuman This Way Comes...
October 22, 2017 4:46 PM - Season 1, Episode 5 - Subscribe
Black Bolt and Medusa reluctantly work with Louise to help locate the rest of their family. Meanwhile, back on Attilan, Maximus' actions change the game completely.
Seriously, what's going on with this show?
Right? I think the most baffling thing to me this episode is Locus calling out what assholes the royals are. What that tells me is that on some level, the writers understand that we should not sympathize with the protagonists, and yet they still chose to tell the story this way.
The sad part is, if they changed the focus a bit, the whole thing could mostly work as it is. Like, if B-listers like Locus were the protagonists, caught between most of the asshole royal family on one side, and the crazy-but-maybe-useful Maximus on the other? Might've been interesting.
I just... have no idea how someone could've looked at these scripts and said, 'yep, let's actually film this.'
posted by mordax at 11:10 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Right? I think the most baffling thing to me this episode is Locus calling out what assholes the royals are. What that tells me is that on some level, the writers understand that we should not sympathize with the protagonists, and yet they still chose to tell the story this way.
The sad part is, if they changed the focus a bit, the whole thing could mostly work as it is. Like, if B-listers like Locus were the protagonists, caught between most of the asshole royal family on one side, and the crazy-but-maybe-useful Maximus on the other? Might've been interesting.
I just... have no idea how someone could've looked at these scripts and said, 'yep, let's actually film this.'
posted by mordax at 11:10 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
As for inexplicable decisions, why exactly did they let bleeding drug girl go off to call the police? And what phone was she going to use?
I think because she's filler. She was added during the transition from film to tv show to pad the runtime, that's also why the surfer guys disappeared abruptly and the assault on them suddenly stopped. They were added in haste and had to be removed quickly so they wouldn't need to reshoot the main scenes. If I'm right we won't see any of them again until the last episode, maybe only on AoS.
posted by FallowKing at 2:06 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think because she's filler. She was added during the transition from film to tv show to pad the runtime, that's also why the surfer guys disappeared abruptly and the assault on them suddenly stopped. They were added in haste and had to be removed quickly so they wouldn't need to reshoot the main scenes. If I'm right we won't see any of them again until the last episode, maybe only on AoS.
posted by FallowKing at 2:06 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
If drug girl is filler, and the surfers are fillers, what exactly was the meat of the story? Did they really have a 90 min movie script/concept, and pad it out to this? I can't see that, because so far I'm not seeing any story at all. Maybe the "movie" is confined to the bookends, and they invented a whole new middle?
Also wondering where Triton went. The actor is listed in the imdb credits for future episodes, and I really can't imagine they went to all that work with him for the little screen time he got. He isn't really dead, right? Not that anyone should actually care he's alive...
posted by GhostintheMachine at 3:48 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also wondering where Triton went. The actor is listed in the imdb credits for future episodes, and I really can't imagine they went to all that work with him for the little screen time he got. He isn't really dead, right? Not that anyone should actually care he's alive...
posted by GhostintheMachine at 3:48 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
I just... have no idea how someone could've looked at these scripts and said, 'yep, let's actually film this.'
Again, it's useful to keep in mind that in almost no case does a production company look at a script and say, 'yep, let's actually film this.' Instead they say, "yep, we're filming this, so we're going to need a script."
Then they say, "and we have to have it by Date X because that's when we're filming it."
I have to assume that this was the best their limited writing resources could come up with for this particular property by whatever Date X was. Lot of constraints there. That doesn't excuse the finished result, but that's how these things tend to go.
posted by Naberius at 7:59 AM on October 23, 2017 [2 favorites]
Again, it's useful to keep in mind that in almost no case does a production company look at a script and say, 'yep, let's actually film this.' Instead they say, "yep, we're filming this, so we're going to need a script."
Then they say, "and we have to have it by Date X because that's when we're filming it."
I have to assume that this was the best their limited writing resources could come up with for this particular property by whatever Date X was. Lot of constraints there. That doesn't excuse the finished result, but that's how these things tend to go.
posted by Naberius at 7:59 AM on October 23, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I mean, I liked the realization that, hey, maybe _we're_ the assholes here, but man the number of things they're adding and dropping to pad this out is not boding well for anything resembling a coherent story for any of the rest of the MCU.
posted by Kyol at 9:35 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Kyol at 9:35 AM on October 23, 2017 [1 favorite]
I feel like it's got roughly the same level of coherency, and depth, as an 80s kids cartoon. This "Inhuman spends time learning about how to be a better person from a normal human" stuff really feels aimed at 8-year-olds. The abrupt way characters get written in and out, and the way even the humans have like, one defining personality trait at most (and completely insane non-reactions to aliens from the moon) would all fit better in a kids cartoon too.
TBH it maaaaybe wouldn't be terrible, if it were an 80s kids cartoon. Certainly the limited budget wouldn't be an omnipresent elephant in the room the way it is here.
posted by mstokes650 at 10:16 AM on October 23, 2017 [2 favorites]
TBH it maaaaybe wouldn't be terrible, if it were an 80s kids cartoon. Certainly the limited budget wouldn't be an omnipresent elephant in the room the way it is here.
posted by mstokes650 at 10:16 AM on October 23, 2017 [2 favorites]
When Dave said "Never mind, it's a dumb thing to say" he could have been talking about any line in any episode of this show.
And the plotting? More like plodding, amirite?
Okay... Why doesn't Tibor just stab Maximus in the neck and be done with it? Maximus has NO POWERS.
So Attilan has only 1400 residents? That's not even the population of a mid-sized High School in the US. This show makes so much more sense if you think of Black Bolt and Medusa as homecoming king and queen, with the rest of it just being typical high school cliques. It's like Riverdale on the Moon, except Riverdale is probably written a million percent better than this.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:59 PM on October 23, 2017
And the plotting? More like plodding, amirite?
Okay... Why doesn't Tibor just stab Maximus in the neck and be done with it? Maximus has NO POWERS.
So Attilan has only 1400 residents? That's not even the population of a mid-sized High School in the US. This show makes so much more sense if you think of Black Bolt and Medusa as homecoming king and queen, with the rest of it just being typical high school cliques. It's like Riverdale on the Moon, except Riverdale is probably written a million percent better than this.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:59 PM on October 23, 2017
I have to say though, I'd like to see Sarinda Swan in something with good writing. She's created some great emotional moments without any real support from the scripts.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 9:33 PM on October 23, 2017
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 9:33 PM on October 23, 2017
If drug girl is filler, and the surfers are fillers, what exactly was the meat of the story?
The main plotline is Blackbolt, Medusa, Maximius, Male Geneticist, Female scientist. So far I'd call this show vegetarian, it's lacking substance and it shows.
The Karnak/Gorgon filler plots also happen to take place in a very inexpensive forest whereas the main plot uses multiple locations and extras.
posted by FallowKing at 5:00 AM on October 24, 2017
The main plotline is Blackbolt, Medusa, Maximius, Male Geneticist, Female scientist. So far I'd call this show vegetarian, it's lacking substance and it shows.
The Karnak/Gorgon filler plots also happen to take place in a very inexpensive forest whereas the main plot uses multiple locations and extras.
posted by FallowKing at 5:00 AM on October 24, 2017
Okay... Why doesn't Tibor just stab Maximus in the neck and be done with it? Maximus has NO POWERS.
And sure, when he had Auran in Attilan ready to enforce his will, that was one thing. Or even when Maximus was still preachin' the good story about how things would be better for everybody, but now that things are crumbling, I'm not sure how the story has legs past someone just smiting him into a fine pink mist and saying "Yo, Black Bolt, you're an ass, but you're a predictable ass. Getcher ass back up here m'kay?"
I suppose, people are nervous about doing that to the King's brother.
I'm still watching, but it's slipping from a generally amusing bad AoS-episode into "what the hell am I watching here?" like Legends of Tomorrow.
posted by Kyol at 6:32 AM on October 24, 2017
And sure, when he had Auran in Attilan ready to enforce his will, that was one thing. Or even when Maximus was still preachin' the good story about how things would be better for everybody, but now that things are crumbling, I'm not sure how the story has legs past someone just smiting him into a fine pink mist and saying "Yo, Black Bolt, you're an ass, but you're a predictable ass. Getcher ass back up here m'kay?"
I suppose, people are nervous about doing that to the King's brother.
I'm still watching, but it's slipping from a generally amusing bad AoS-episode into "what the hell am I watching here?" like Legends of Tomorrow.
posted by Kyol at 6:32 AM on October 24, 2017
I have to say though, I'd like to see Sarinda Swan in something with good writing. She's created some great emotional moments without any real support from the scripts.
I liked her in Graceland. She was somewhat under-utilized there, too, but it was a vastly better written show than this.
I still think the biggest shame of this show is how it managed to lure in a bunch of actors who are all (except maybe Isabelle Cornish, who I haven't seen in anything else and hasn't impressed me here) much better than the material they've been given to work with.
posted by mstokes650 at 12:31 PM on October 24, 2017
I liked her in Graceland. She was somewhat under-utilized there, too, but it was a vastly better written show than this.
I still think the biggest shame of this show is how it managed to lure in a bunch of actors who are all (except maybe Isabelle Cornish, who I haven't seen in anything else and hasn't impressed me here) much better than the material they've been given to work with.
posted by mstokes650 at 12:31 PM on October 24, 2017
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
Den of Geeks: I mean, the stand-in for the Human Torch is some schmuck named Dave.
A little harsh on the Daves of the world, but not far off.
Seriously, what's going on with this show? Why did they green light this, now? They don't have the story, they certainly don't have the budget, and they don't have a purpose. I just realized the non-Royal Family characters have used their powers far more than the main characters have. Mordis, Locus, Auran, the guy in the cell with BB, fainty guy, butterfly girl, projector eyes. Meanwhile the family either can't or won't use their powers.
As for inexplicable decisions, why exactly did they let bleeding drug girl go off to call the police? And what phone was she going to use?
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:48 PM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]