Counterpart: Point of Departure

January 1, 2019 6:14 AM - Season 2, Episode 4

Howard Prime, Quayle and Clare must unite against a common enemy. Emily Prime turns her investigation towards her other. Yanek probes Howard's past.

Vulture Recap: Double Talk

posted by oh yeah! (6 comments total)

I liked that nice Howard tries very hard - and succeeds - in staying nice.

Not sure what to think of the "war mentality" - it all seems rather counterproductive.

Strange that Emily turns down finding more about the other bookborrower, and that the librarian didn't think it was suspicious, just strange. Was she thinking that there was some tragic romance between the two borrowers? Unless there's a specific plot reason, it seems sloppy spycraft to use the same book over and over to leave notes for one another (and have a notice forwarded whenever it was returned, all the time).
posted by porpoise at 7:09 PM on January 2, 2019 [2 favorites]

I don't think they were leaving notes in the book, were they? It was the return of the book itself that was the spycraft, that the hold release would alert Emily or Lambert that one was ready to talk. Presumably pre-amnesia Emily wouldn't actually lurk in the library waiting for Lambert to walk in, they would have had some pre-arranged secondary meeting place for post-book-drop.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:26 PM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. Good point!

No, there's zero indication that they left messages through the book although hiding something (a note) in the spine (or under one of the bookcover sleeves) would be reasonable to set up a unique site for the next scheduled meeting.

I think it was more the fact that they found a book that nobody else ever checked out and used that as the meetup signal that made me <huungh?>.

Also would depend on the efficiency of the library 1) receiving the book, 2) putting the book through the system(s), 3) the system(s) notifying the other party... so this must be a "in x number of days, meet at y coordinates."

But yeah, this is TV and a lot of it is inspired by W.Germany/ E. Germany espionage operations with similar levels of tech/ tech-differential.
posted by porpoise at 9:01 PM on January 2, 2019 [1 favorite]

So sanity check here: Am I right to assume that Mira and the rest of Indigo are getting orders from "management" via The Case? Now the question is, which "management" (alpha or prime?). I also hope that it DOES NOT end up that both "managements" are the same people or something because I thought that immediately the first time I saw the setup with the case and the radio antenna and audio mixing gear..
posted by some loser at 6:46 AM on January 3, 2019 [2 favorites]

I have no idea but look forward to finding out.

re: Management - I'm wondering if its a cabal of the initial discoverers of the crossover, or if they were the entity that created the crossover in the first place.

I'm also still trying to pin down motives. Like, was the plague introduced to create "more space" for the other world, but then that's pretty cold knowing that the other you could easily be a victim. Or was the plague intended to completely eradicate the other side?
posted by porpoise at 5:53 PM on January 3, 2019 [1 favorite]

"Am I right to assume that Mira and the rest of Indigo are getting orders from 'management' via The Case?"

I don't think so. I think Indigo is genuinely rogue from both versions of management, demonstrated by Mira's desperation to get one of the management-side cases.

Presumably the compartmentalized system that protects secrecy and the safety of individuals acting as management is vulnerable, inherent in its design, to management authority being hijacked by possession of one of the cases.

I think what we don't know, at all, is what's behind this structure of management, why it's mirrored on both sides (though this could be the historical determinatism of the early split), if they're in contact with each other (or are one and the same), or, indeed, what the whole mandate of management is. It seems like Indigo is directly opposed, so presumably the mandate is for management to maintain the status quo and avert direct conflict.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 9:25 AM on January 4, 2019 [3 favorites]