I missed the pilot episode because I had no idea when it was going to be on so I was pleasantly surprised to catch this episode of the show. But the pilot might help me understand this nit. Okay, Max was a super-soldier and part of a super-secret project. And she escaped... several years ago. Now maybe it's just how the world has changed since the claptrap about EMP (which would only work if a real nuclear attack followed it, otherwise it would just be a matter of replacing burnt wires) but doesn't it seem like the military has a LOT of resources dedicated to finding one single person? I'd hate to think this is going to be another bad promo for Stormtrooper school. There's only a thousand people chasing the good guy (or girl) in any given episode but none of that multitude is capable of putting a shot into the target. How do they train these soldiers? "Here's your gun. Stand around with a mean look on your face. Don't worry about how to work the thing." No wonder they need super-soldiers!
Also, a point that came up in debates with Peter, who loves the idea of super-soldiers. Okay, maybe it is possible to take children and mold them into killing machines. (Of course if that were the case, I should qualify. I was raised on G.I. Joe!) But what good are they? Who are they used against? Why bother sending in a squad of superpowered infantry when a cruise missile will do the same job? Is there any terrorist group in the world that is so bad that they can't be handled by the regulars of the US Army or Marines?
Other than that, it was a good episode and it'll be interesting to see what the next one is like.

Great show, IMHO. But I did have one nit with this episode. Lydecker apparently knew who Hannah was, as she had orders to contact him if Max ever made contact. I find it a little hard to believe that he would have kept Hannah alive all those years. She was a civilian who knew about the project, and was able to tell Max quite a lot of information. That just seems like too much of a security risk to me. Seems like he would have eliminated her long before now.

Though I suppose he probably did it just to flush Max out of hiding.

-Does feline DNA really sound like a good idea?

-I brought this up in "Pilot," but it takes even more precedence here. Max goes into "heat" 3 times a year. Is this really a good design for a genetically-engineered soldier?

Yeah, the feline DNA seems to be good idea, since now she sees in the dark and always lands on her feet.

And I can't see how being in heat 3 times a year is a bad design for a soldier compared to the trade off in abilities. Besides if the soldier is only in heat 3 times a year then they can fight the rest of the time without distraction.

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I found this to be an enjoyable half hour but I really hope this doesn't become a cliche where we have Max escape at the end of every show. It seems like such a plot killer.

EMP (which would only work if a real nuclear attack followed it, otherwise it would just be a matter of replacing burnt wires

No, it's not a matter of replacing the wires. The wires are fine. It's the CHIPS that get fried. EMP essentially pushes overvoltage through every chip, and fries them. Trust me on this, I deal with equipment that must be EMP-shielded (I work for a defense contractor). Consider if you have a chip on a circuit that normally runs at 5V. If you run 50V through the sucker, the component will die, but the wiring will be fine.

The reason the EMP would essentially destroy the economy is... do you realize how much crud is computerized? Remember the Y2K hype, and how everything was computerized and they were all going to fail?

In the "Worldwar" series, Harry Turtledove got it right. The aliens EMP'ed the Earth, expecting it to fry their chips, but because tech at the time of WWII was using tubes (valves to you Brits), there was no damage due to the pulse.

Addendum: You can't replace the chips because the chip foundries are highly computerized themselves.

ScottN, in this "Worldwar" series do aliens arrive during WWII and then become part of the Cold War? I heard about this plot but I haven't actually found a title or author to go with it.

Yeah... Though it's not really the Cold War...

It's discussed over on the Sci-Fi Novels board.

Newt, specifically, you can find it here.

So, do we get to see her climb out of water in every episode?

I hope so!

I'm going to have to view the premiere again, because an EMP that mostly affected the west of the US would hardly make us a third-world country overnight; the majority of American finance is still hubbed in New York or overseas, and it would take maybe a year to rebuild. If that.

Is that a watertight backpack she dives into the water with at the beginning? Or do they have to dry out that money?

Uh, that's what I meant... just didn't want to be too technical in the explanation of the process. (Silently slinks away while resolving not to open his mouth until he knows what he's talking about.)
But really though... I know everything is computerized and that would be a lot of chips and boards to replace but I can't see it taking that long. It would be a great boost to the economy for the half of the country that survived. My point was that EMP is supposed to be the first strike in an attack- like hitting someone in the face with pepper spray before shooting them. But in this case, the shot never followed. So it would just be a matter of recovering. Yes it would hurt but not that badly. If a nuclear attack followed on the other hand, it would be devastating because the infrastructure that makes it possible to replace all that destroyed hardware would also be in ruins.
If EMP destroyed the economies of every single capitalist country in the world, then I'd be able to buy the idea of the US becoming a third world nation. But as long as a single factory that made circuit boards survived, I don't think there would be that huge of a change.
For all that, it is a good show.

I liked the pilot episode but was disappointed by this one. It seemed to go too fast and temporary, just a bunch of plot threads wound together and then finished never to be heard from again. Max's "heat", Hannah, the island, the boyfriend, the theft at the beginning all seem like temporary things to make the plot go forward, not things we're likely to see again for the sake of continuity. Here's hoping I'm proven wrong . . . that's just a guess.

But do we have to explore every plot thread opened by the pilot in the first 5 episodes? At this rate, Max will find Zach in 2 months and she and Logan will be married by the end of season 1. Okay, so I'm exaggerating. But really, there seemed to be kind of a minimum of difficulty in finding Hannah, if not in getting her off the island, and the she left quickly and easily at the end of the show, no fuss, no carryovers to other episodes. It seemed hastily done.

Logan was great in this episode, though. :) And I liked the sequence where Max's hanging out at the bar with her friends at the beginning because of the camaraderie (sp?) between them, not cause she was eyeing all the not-cute guys in the place.

Max up later than her roommate?

Does Max sleep?

Just some general questions about this "heat":
-Can we all say "pon farr"?
-Is it really efficient for it to hit super soldiers every 4 months or so?
-Presumably it can be predicted . . . does Max want to, um, "behave badly" during this time? she seems to regret it later, so if she knows it's coming why doesn't she shut herself in her room for a day or something? Or tell her roommate not to let her do anything she'll regret later?
-Speaking of her roommate, how long have they been roommates? Less than four months, or has Max only had one or two cycles and Kendra hasn't caught on yet? Or is Kendra very, very slow?
-How long has Max had these cycles? Cats (where she claims to have gotten it from) mature significantly quicker than humans (just a few years, right? I don't know for sure) but Max, although obviously physically maturing at nine (so much so that she looks 14) doesn't know where she came from -- she didn't learn anything like that til she escaped. I'm really not trying to be gross, but the kids, according to Max were trained that they came from each other, or from nowhere, or they just were, or whatever. How were the scientist on the project supposed to explain this cycle to the kids? Or did they not plan for it and it was an unintentional side effect? (very sloppy if it was).
-how do the kids at the lab (if they're still alive) deal with this?
-how long does it last? a day, two days, five days?

I liked the Max-Logan scene at the end ('our relationship isn't like that, but I'm jealous as heck') but it was rather first seasony; they don't seem to have real chemistry down yet, though they both act well in this scene.

Normal not being able to understand the Jamaican man seemed a bit racist, but I might be reading too much into it.

Again, Logan has some amazing technology. Is there any communication he CAN'T do?

Let's hope next week's is better . . . I didn't hate this, I just felt kind of lost - it went too fast, without having a real permanent impact.

Trekkerxphile:
I could understand Normal's ineptitude in this ep...I couldn't understand Herbal either. I don't think that's racist.

The Jamacian guy was speaking what sounded like French (or some dialect). So Normal not understanding him wasn't racist. IMHO

Hmmm.... I posted this before (I thought) but it was deleted...

DW,

If the EMP took out the areas where the chip foundries (fabs) are, then it would be impossible to replace chips. Fabs are so highly computerized that they are bootstrapped to about the fourth or fifth generation. That is, today's fabs were not possible to build about 2 years ago, they use the previous generation of chips to build. Example: if all fabs were destroyed today, the industry would have to bootstrap through about 4 or 5 generations: Gen 1 built "by hand", Gen 2 built using products from gen 1 fabs, etc...

THAT'S why an EMP would be so deadly. All the chips would fry, and there would be NO REPLACEMENTS!!!!

Scott N--

ALL chips would fry? Even those just lying on the table not connected to anything?

ScottN: Trust me, I didn't delete anyone's posts.

While reseaching Air Force files, a character mentions SAC. That term is now obsolete. I can understand Terminator having the nit, since it was made before SAC was obsolete. However, shouldn't these writers be current on their research?

My only complain:
I wish Max would be able to wear a pony-tail.

One of Kendra's students pays her with coffee, to which she says "haven't seen that in a while." But back in the pilot, Max gave the scuzzy police officer a cup of coffee with a saliva twist. I guess it's not that hard to come by.

CCabe, Herbal is speaking in Jamaican patois. I've been to Jamaica, and they do speak that way in some parts. Gibson had his space Jamaicans use the same patois in Neuromancer.