Maniac: Windmills

September 21, 2018 10:09 PM - Season 1, Episode 2

Focusing on Annie, we learn of the root of her problems.
posted by k8t (13 comments total)

I love love love Julia Garner. She is great as Ellie.

But why is their dad living in a robot?
posted by k8t at 10:10 PM on September 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

I saw the contraption more as a pod. The brand on it spells "A-void"(!).
posted by jouke at 1:48 AM on September 22, 2018 [4 favorites]

I think he's depressed.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:14 AM on September 22, 2018

Yep, he's A-voiding life.
posted by Pendragon at 8:24 AM on September 22, 2018

But why is their dad living in a robot?
posted by k8t at 1:10 AM on September 22 [+] [!]

I absolutely loved this. The world they have built is so solid, so well realized, but it's not all dished out right up front. We only learn about it as the characters interact. It feels like a weird, unregulated capitalism with not-as-advanced tech, and i love it
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:08 AM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]

Den of Geek review - Emma Stone gets a showcase in Maniac's improved take on its own beginning.

AV Club recap - A sisterly subplot shines on Maniac’s second episode
posted by oh yeah! at 1:31 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

I thought of it as a sensory deprivation tank, though that shouldn't be a prolonged environment.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:34 AM on September 23, 2018

I watched the first two episodes of this last night, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I love surreal genre TV so this should be right up my alley, but both episodes dragged for me, and some of the quirk felt forced.
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:10 PM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

I sort of felt the same way at that point, showbiz_liz. I stuck with it anyway, and did not regret it in the slightest.
posted by Tabitha Someday at 6:46 PM on September 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

I continue to be blown away by the production design. The computer conttol room was so full of (what looked like) practical (as opposed to cgi) blinky lights.

It gave me set design squee.
posted by Faintdreams at 11:29 AM on September 26, 2018 [3 favorites]

I'm loving it so far. Everyone gathered around the table finally gave me the Alien vibe that someone picked up on last episode, and Annie's present and past make the character a lot more empathetic even as she does not-nice things, such as blackmail Patricia for drugs. I even like some of the unanswered questions, such as: Is/was the dog in the flier real? Is Annie's sister still alive? And why isn't Friend Proxy a thing?
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:13 PM on September 29, 2018

So, I saw a "you have a daughter named Usnavi that goes to Hunter College" caption in the first ep, and I figured it was just some walla. But now we know that Emma Stone's character said it during a threat.

Lin Manual-Miranda played a character named Usnavi in a broadway musical he did the music for named "In the Heights". The character was so named because his parents saw a US Navy ship when deciding on a name for their baby. Also Lin and his wife went to Hunter College for high school. There is a zero percent chance the reference was not intentional.

The only way that Lin Manuel-Miranda shoutout could have been stronger would be if a Puerto Rican dude came out and started singing "I'm not gonna throw away my shot!!" over and over. In fact, it's so strong, I'm going to spend the rest of the series wondering if there some alternate universe Lin thing coming up, and that's taking me out of the universe a bit :-/
posted by sideshow at 5:51 PM on October 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

Point of order: it's spelled "Usnavy" in the captions.

The koala though???

Like I love the heightened reality stuff, but it's been a vaguely consistent world, and a sentient, chess-hustling koala (koala-robot?) did not fit in my model of that world. I am unsure what to make of it.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:12 AM on September 10, 2020