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Sweet Jesus, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I, uh, am sure that I watched this show very closely and promise that the completed weecap will be, perhaps, less confused. This isn't one of those shows where you just tune in, is it? But, here's what (I think?) happened.
Sarah and Derek broke into the offices of Dakara Systems (their logo is three dots!) and stole their hard drives. John analyzed them but sees that they're intended for use by an AI. And, they need a huge server in order to run their programs -- which they don't have. Cameron searches for Chrome Artie in Ellison's yard, but naturally doesn't find him -- he's already at Catherine Weaver's.
Derek confronts Jesse about -- something? She says she's there to stop "her." I'm assuming she's talking about Cameron, because she talks about her being "metal." God forbid we use a proper noun in that scene. Later, he tells her that John is his nephew.
Ellison finds out that a transformer blew and trapped Dr. Sherman in an enclosed room with running servers. He overheated and died. He talks to Catherine who tells him that Dr. Sherman was working in Babylon, their AI program.
Sarah and Cameron meet with Alex of Dakara Systems and his son Xander, who is their lead programmer and, it appears, socially challenged. Alex and Sarah flirt about '80s music. Dakara Systems was intending to complete an AI program for the Air Force but they needed an infusion of cash in order to pay for some special microchip. Sarah gave them the money (it was everything she had, including diamonds!) and they passed it to a guy over sake. The chip he gave them was a phony and, despite Alex's protests, Sarah tracked down the guy they gave the money to and kicked his ass. Turns out he was an actor, hired by Alex. She kicked his ass too and he said that he was never going to finish the Air Force project in time but wanted to insure Xander's future (because he's a total misfit and he's afraid that he won't be able to survive without him).
John goes to Riley's house, with her foster parents and siblings. He gets skittish after she's a total downer and takes off. She sees Jesse later and tells her that she wants to go home. Jesse convinces her to stay and it's weirdly tender. Later, Riley freaks out on her foster mom and tells her that she's dead and is going to be a bleached skull. This inspires her to go to John's house and tell him that she rejects his rejection.
Ellison deduces that the AI program, or John Henry, killed Dr. Sherman because it didn't like what it was being taught and it hadn't been programmed to value human life. Later, Catherine takes Ellison to a room where Chrome Artie introduces itself as John Henry. Later, Sarah is in the bathroom and sees three red dots… ON HER FACE. She freaks out and breaks the bathroom mirror. Excuse me while I go scan some Pynchon for a breezy, simple beach read.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Hello everyone. I'm filling in for the excellent Daniel this week -- I'd like to say that I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, capable of picking up things rather quickly. HOWEVER, this shit is dense, no? In any event, I'll do my very best not to confuse you. Or piss you off.
Ellison is digging. Look there's a face. I think this may be a dream, which I know is a favorite of Daniel's. He brushes dirt away from the face and we see that it's Chrome Artie. And, Ellison wakes up. He grabs a gun out of his bedside table and walks to his window where he observes Cameron walking around his backyard driving a metal rod into the ground. That's got to be a great workout. He shines a flashlight outside and she looks at him and tells him to go back to bed. It's been mentioned in the forums -- this girl has beautiful hair. Ellison follows her advice.
Derek and Sarah get out of a really big pick-up truck and give their keys and a big tip to a grateful valet. Derek tells him to keep the truck running. I realize he knows the future and everything, but you would think he'd consider the environment and energy conservation. Saving the world can start small.
Upstairs at a place that is not a hotel, Derek picks the lock on a door. Once inside, Sarah confirms that it is the right place. It's Dakara Systems, which has as its logo those three damn dots. Derek looks at all of the computers and says that they should have brought John, but Sarah replies that you don't need to know much about computers to know how to jack the hard drives -- which she proceeds to do.
Back at the ranch, John is analyzing the hard drives. It's all vaporware. They have a design for an AI "to handle big problems." But, you would need a whole server to run it and they have nothing, well, even less now that Sarah has "lobotomized their desktops." John says that they have a plan, but their situation is akin to having a design for a nuclear weapon without the plutonium. Derek says blankly that Sarah is chasing phantoms and smudges on the wall. Sarah's not buying it. Since Dakara is working on AI and their logo is three dots -- well, the coincidence is just too crazy to be overlooked. Derek thinks that the three dots were fingerprints left by that "poor bastard while he was bleeding out in the basement." Sarah points out that everything that was on the wall has meant something and it's all blood.
Cameron enters and announces that Chrome Artie's body is not in Ellison's backyard. Then, she leaves. Derek tells Sarah that he's not suggesting that she stop looking, but this Dakara stuff is not the Turk. Derek leaves and John suggests that maybe Sarah has been looking "too hard." She snaps that if he's going to start picking on her too, well, don't.
The day, John is at his computer when Sarah wakes. He's been doing some research. It appears that Dakara is looking for investors to create the server farm they need for their AI plan. John has made her an appointment as a prospective investor. He gives her a dossier that explains that she will be posing as a rich divorcee looking to invest in tech start-ups. He also made her a cheat sheet so that she wouldn't look like an idiot when talking about tech stuff. Sarah asks him if he was up all night working on this. He says that Dakara is a start-up, just like Cyberdyne once was. Andy Goode was building a chess program, Barbara Chamberlain was trying to solve a traffic problem-- it always starts small.
Derek walks into a room with a towel-clad Jesse. He's been going through the pictures that she has taken of him and his clan. He puts his gun on her dresser and tells her that she's got 30 seconds. "Funny, Derek," she replies defiantly and he is not kidding, lady. I say that but have no question that this girl will make it out of this scene alive. She says that she was sent back to find John. Derek says that she could have told him that and she says that he could have told her that he was living with him and "her. It. Metal." She says that he's not talking to anyone anymore, only her. He's making questionable decisions that are getting people killed. What will happen if he spends the 20 years with her? She's there to stop her. Just pointing out how narratively inhospitable this show is -- I'm assuming that they're talking about Cameron because she lives with them and seems to be a robot. But, I don't really know. She adds that she's there to save him and Derek puts his gun away and says that he has to think about the stuff that she just said. She asks why he's there and why she can't send him back and he picks up a picture that she has taken of him and John and tells her that he loves her "but don't push it."
Ellison arrives at the ZeiraCorp building with police swarming it. He meets a detective of some sort who says that he'd heard that Ellison had recently lost a lot of weight. He confirms, saying that "too much iron in your diet is not good." The detective explains that a heat wave caused a blackout that weekend and a guy who was working in the server room was left without ventilation or a/c for 8 hours -- he was cooked. They wheel out the body and Ellison takes a look. It's Dr. Sherman.
Catherine Weaver tells Ellison that Dr. Sherman had been consulting on an AI project named Babylon in the building basement. I love that song. She says that during the blackout the AI program reserved generator power for itself and cut off power to the other building's systems, thus causing the death of Dr. Sherman. Ellison asks if the AI program controls the building and she says blankly that he makes it sounds like a monster movie. She explains that the AI has access to the power supply in order to facilitate its growth. OK, that's scary. Ellison wonders if growing involves allowing the agonizing death of a man and I'm making a guess that he's being...rhetorical? She replies that she doesn't know what its intentions were and Ellison says that does sound like a monster movie. "Which is why we need to find out," she says. OK, Shirley Garbage needs to do some jumping jacks before her scenes or something. She looks good, but she is flat.
Sarah and Cameron arrive at Dakara as some Air Force guys are leaving. Alex Akagi introduces himself to "Sarah Gale." As they sit down in the boardroom, Alex explains that they were the victims of industrial espionage the night before...someone stole their drives. Oops! He says that there is a lot of money in AI. He's not worried about someone using the software, because his son Xander, who designed the software, created a security feature that will make the program attack. The Air Force is looking to buy the software and he says they've been interested in AI since as "far back as the 80's." Sarah says it's odd to hear the 80's referred to as "far back." Indeed. He asks her if she likes music, because that's how he marks the decades. For him, the 80's will always be Duran Duran. Yeah, forget about the end of the Cold War, it's all about "Girls On Film." Oh, Sarah loves Duran Duran too. She used to go dancing, gee, she misses dancing. She used to dress up. What a weird little monologue. It's like Annie Sullivan's rats monologue in The Miracle Worker. Cameron laughs and says that hair is the hardest part to get right. Everybody just kind of stares at her.
Alex says that the Air Force is spreading money everywhere in an effort to obtain AI technology. Xander pipes in, "I call her Emma." He named his AI after his mom, who died when he was young. Awkward. Alex suggests that he and Sarah get some coffee in the other room -- they leave Xander and Cameron. Cameron asks Xander if he plays chess. In the other room, Alex explains to Sarah that Xander is brilliant but has problems connecting to people in the world. "He needs you. I bet sometimes it seems like he always will." She tells him that she has a son. He's also "challenging." Alex says that he would throw his life out the window for his son. After the break-in, he'll need at least a million dollars to continue. They're kind of flirty with each other.
John goes to the home of Riley's foster family and meets her foster parents. It's a full house of horse-playing, happy people. And Riley. He goes to her room and she says that her foster parents are too nice -- they're aliens. They run a house of misfits and rejects. What a pair these too are. Move over Frankie and Annette. They look at her posters and John says that he likes the one of a bear catching a fish in a river. Um, that's not a poster of a bear. It's of the fish, she corrects. She wonders if the other fish even cared, or even noticed. They just keep swimming, because nothing important happened. John tries to leave, but she stops him. He tells her that though he told her in Mexico that he would explain everything, but he says there's nothing he can explain. She says he can just be there with her, but he says "sorry" and leaves.
Sarah and Cameron are going over the information about Dakara. It's got three dots, an AI with strong survival skills, and the Air Force. Cameron says their AI is not the Turk, because Xander doesn't play chess. Instead, he plays Go, which she pulls out and begins to play. Xander told her that it has been calculated that there are more Go games than there are atoms in the universe. I just don't believe that. She recites a Go proverb that Xander told her: Strange things happen at the one-two point. It means that the usual rules don't always apply. Sarah replies that they same rules always apply. Dakara will get the money to meet their Air Force deadline because it's written in blood on her basement wall. I wish I could count on a sign like that when I really needed one. Sarah picks up three little white Go pebbles and places them in her hands like the three dots and shows them to Cameron. I think Cameron rolls her eyes.
Riley is shopping when she is approached by...Jesse. Apparently Riley wanted to talk to her. They go to a dressing room where a sullen Riley tells her that something is wrong -- John was going to tell her something but he ran away. Jesse tells her that it's normal -- he's a boy. Jesse remarks that there are a lot of mirrors in this world. She doesn't think she can continue this mission. Jesse says she understands that Riley is upset, even if she has real feelings for John ("There's a reason people follow him all over hell.") Riley suggests that she may want out. Jesse says without real menace that there is no out and that Riley can do this. Then, she kisses her on the side of the head.
Derek and John are together and Derek tells him that he's starting to see the three dots everywhere himself. He says that you can forget what you were looking for in the first place and John says that he never forgets. Derek clearly seems to be evaluating John right now. John finally gets annoyed and Derek says that he just wants to know that he's seeing clearly. John just kind of stomps off.
Sarah and Alex meet for another coffee. He says that he met his wife at the first performance of Pink Floyd's The Wall. He says that there are some Japanese developers that make a microchip that is a supercomputer necessary for their program. They need a deposit though. Sarah asks him if he thinks it works and he says it's the future.
Ellison is in Babylon talking to a programmer/IT guy. It's freezing in the basement, which IT guy says is necessary. The more you ask of a computer, the more power it needs, the more heat it creates, the more power that it needs to cool it. He says that Babylon is a pig. Ellison asks if he knows the story of Babylon and IT guy says that he was a computer science major with a minor in beer bongs, so he didn't do stories. He gets the Ellison's Notes version, "God destroyed it." IT guy says that Babylon should have been shut down by the blackout, but it extracted every watt of energy from the generator to keep itself going -- it created new rules. Dr. Sherman was working with the AI -- "Touchy-feely BS, if you ask me," says IT guy, though he hadn't been asked. Ellison asks how Babylon felt about Dr. Sherman -- did it know it was killing him when it flipped the switch. "Impossible," says IT guy, adding hammily, "I hope." I know that "hammily" is not a word, but it was necessary.
Sarah and Cameron are counting some money. Cameron says it's not enough (to give to Dakara). How much would be enough? Everything, including all of the diamonds. So, Sarah says she'll give everything. Cameron asks if she's certain and Sarah replies that certainty is a luxury. That's actually pretty true, especially in this economy. Cameron says that the rules do not apply and Sarah concedes. Just had to prove your point, huh, Cameron?
Later, Sarah and Cameron are at dinner with Alex, Xander, and the microchip guy. Alex makes out like they have to do a bunch of stuff to appease him, though I'd imagine giving him a bunch of money would fill whatever requirements were necessary. The Japanese guy gives a short toast with sake, then Cameron stands and gives a much longer toast, in Japanese. The Japanese guy loves it. Xander gives the nerdiest, most impassioned speech to Cameron about some powerful processor. Very geeky. He explains that if all of your memories and traits that made you a person where downloaded onto a machine, this chip could run it. Cameron just kind of smiles at him. The Japanese guy, who seems kind of drunk, says that he loves America because there's no pressure (Huh? Has he SEEN The Hills? There's so much pressure) and he like the sake. Sarah asks him to cut the crap and hand over the microchip, which he does. So much for Alex's formality. Xander hands him a briefcase, presumably filled with cash and diamonds. He says that it has been a pleasure doing business with Sarah and she replies, "Domo Arigato." After the Japanese guy is gone, Alex compliments her on her Japanese and she says that she was a fan of Styx before Duran Duran. Laughs.
Riley returns home to her excited foster family. Two kids are fighting over the remote. The boy says to the girl that he's going to tell mom that she hid the remote even though it's Shark Week because she wants to watch "pillow biters sing and dance." Really though, do 13-year olds use the euphemism "pillow biters?" It's like my grandpa up in there. Someone tells the boy that they don't use that language in that house. In the kitchen, Riley mumbles, "He's crazy." The foster mom asks her what she said and she repeats that he's crazy, they're all crazy. While I appreciate her standing up for the gays, she looks pretty crazy herself right now. She tells them that they all care about their "cold sodas" (no refrigeration in the future? Sucks!) and Facebook pages, even though it doesn't matter. They're going to be nothing more than bleached skulls. "Don't you get it? You're dead. All of you are dead." Why would they get it? The mom tries to calm her down and Riley pushes her, which is shitty since she's much smaller. Foster mom looks at her like, "See ya!" Riley says, "I'm sorry," and looks embarrassed at what she did and walks away.
That night, at Dakara, Xander excitedly starts to work with the microchip. Sarah tells Cameron that they're about to burn all of their dreams to the ground. It must be difficult to maintain the level of functional crazy that she has to maintain. There's a problem with the chip -- it's not working. Cameron takes it, looks at it, and says that it's larger than they said. It's been made to look as if it's modern.
Sarah is pissed and Alex tells her that while his dad was fighting in WW2, his grandfather's house was taken over by his neighbors (because he's Asian and they were in an internment camp). Sarah tells him that he couldn't have known about Minamoto (that was the Japanese guy). He tells her that he'll pay her back and she says not to worry. She's going to talk to Minamoto. Alex says that she shouldn't because he's "old country." He's a gangster, which brings her to the conclusion that he was paying Minamoto to steal the chip. She gets a text message. "Target Acquired. Moving To Location." She gets up and leaves.
Ellison is talking to Weaver. He says that he knows all of the "facts" about Dr. Sherman's death. "Means. Opportunity. But intent? Not even Mr. Murch (IT guy) can guess." I'm going to just break out a second and say that the last little speech didn't mean shit about shit. Means? Opportunity? You could, of course, on this end of the statement argue why it makes sense to say that, but if you were trying to find out something, wouldn't that just be confusing? Weaver suggests that they just question the Babylon AI, John Henry. Dr. Sherman gave it the name. She says it's not a person, but it's a mind.They're going to take Weaver's advice. Murch tells Ellison that John Henry communicates in images, because they thought it too creepy for him to talk. It understands voices though. Ellison tells John Henry his name and his own picture shows up on a huge screen with lots of fancy graphics running across it. He asks him if he knew Dr. Herman and a 1 shows up on the screen. Murch says that 1 is a "yes" and a 0 is a "no." He asks John Henry if he worked with him today (no) and why not? Nothing shows up except some weird algebra and Murch says that could mean a number of things. He should rephrase the question, so he asks what happened to Dr. Sherman. We see a video of Dr. Sherman working and the lights go out.
Ellison asks John Henry to show the surveillance video after the lights came back up. We see Dr. Sherman lying on the floor and a ticker on the bottom of the screen that reads that medical attention is required. Ellison asks John Henry if Dr. Sherman was alive at that time and he says no. He also knew that redirecting the power would kill Sherman. Ellison asks how John Henry felt about Sherman and he has no answer. No opinion. He tells Murch that John Henry has no ethics. It should value life. He blames Murch for Sherman's death and starts to leave. Weaver asks him what he would teach John Henry and he says he would start with the 10 Commandments. It's going to be hard to teach a robot to honor its mother and father, but sure.
Sarah, Derek, and Cameron bust into Minamoto's apartment. He says that he doesn't have the money. He's an actor, hired by...Akagi. Sarah's about to blow his brains out, but Derek knows that he's not lying. Sarah kicks the actor and tells him that he never saw her face before leaving.
Outside, John meets up with them and asks them what is happening. Sarah says it's all adding up, but Derek says that she's till searching for shadows. He tells her that she got played. "Welcome to the human race."
Alex shows up at the Dakara offices calling for Xander (as dysfunctional as he seems, you'd think he'd always know where he is) and Sarah is there and starts beating the crap out of him. She seriously takes him apart. He begs her not to hurt Xander and she asks him about the three dots. He says "It's just a logo, you crazy bitch." She punches him once again. Sarah brings him to a room where Cameron is watching Xander. She tells him to confess to Xander what's up. He says that there was no chip. They weren't going to make the Air Force deadline and he wanted to make sure that Xander was taken care of. Alex says that sometimes he doesn't understand what Xander was saying. Just get a second job, dude. You don't have to steal from people. He tells them that the money is under his desk (and that the logo is just a logo) and Sarah and Cameron walk away.
Jesse returns to her room to find Derek there. She says that she's going to regret giving him a key. He tells her that John is his nephew and that she's the fourth person to know that. He says that he came here to fight a war and do whatever it takes to fight Skynet. He tells her there's no more room for secrets -- she needs to tell him everything now. She tells him that, the whole time they were stationed at Serrano Point, she was using his toothbrush. Oh yeah? Well, he wasn't brushing his teeth with that. I really want to know what he was doing with it. And, I don't. But I do. She hugs him. And, she doesn't say anything about Riley.
The day, John is waiting for Sarah when she gets home. He's worried and hugs her. Then, there's a knock at the door. He knows that it's Riley. He answers the door and tells her it's unlike her to knock. She tells him that she rejects his rejection. She asks him if he wants to go for a walk. He doesn't answer, but he yells to Sarah that he's going out for a while. She seems nervous and excited that he's hanging with her.
Sarah goes to the bathroom to freshen up. She sees three red dots on her face and freaks the fuck out. She breaks the mirror into a million pieces, which of course makes you feel like this isn't going to get much better for her.
Weaver tells Ellison that she has thought about what he said about teaching John Henry ethics. She says she doesn't know how to do that. She says she wants to show him something. On the elevator down to the basement, they discuss the urban legend of John Henry. Weaver says that John Henry beat the machine, but he could not beat progress. She leads him to a room where, seated, is freaking Chrome Artie. He greets Ellison and says that his name is John Henry. "How are you today?"
Jeff Long tried his best. He can be reached at jeff.long75@gmail.com
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