Timber

Man, this thing looks like shit on Starz through Xfinity. Does the stream look any better? I might have to consider ponying up the $9 just do be able to see what's going on on this show.

That said I thought it was another fantastic episode. I wish we knew the reason Baldwin/? diverged on their paths.

Inhumans99

I think the show is supposed to look drab as there is not a lot of color that pops on the screen. I am watching it on my LG 4K (cheapie model, but still...and calibrated to boot) and I think it looks as good as it will get even if I decided to stream it direct from Starz on my iPad.

Watched first episode last night and I am definitely in for the season. Unlike Outlander or Black Sails I feel like I will stick with Counterpart.

DJariya

I thought it was a little too early to do a backstory episode on Nadia/Baldwin. We're just barely getting to know these characters.

But, overall not a bad follow up to week 1. Simmons interactions as Howard/Other Howard was great.

Deftones

Loved how he put in the ear plugs before he got into the car.

mugwump

Casting J.K. Simmons was genius since he's shown he can play a scary bad-ass and a milquetoast equally well in his movies so why not have him play both?

rw2516

I think his badass character is what makes the show work. We become interested in him and then intrigued with what's going on around him. Otherwise the show would be dull.

johnnysd

Funny, I think the wussy version of him is what makes it interesting. Especially since we can assume he gradually changes over the show.

hdnmickey

Loved how they slipped in details about how the two worlds are different within the negotiation scene and others. But at the same time, I'm not sure I caught them all. Might have to watch this last episode again at some point.

Sadly I saw that twist with the wife coming. But still what is sure to become a fun development as this series goes on.

Deftones

Yeah the cell phone thing was the big mention in the negotiation. They can build huge buildings but no cell phones? Guess that plague put them way behind.

hdnmickey

What stood out to me was the mention of vaccinations. Didn't catch what the "plague" was, but it seemed that the other side has a cure or vaccination.

rw2516

I got the impression that the other side has an epidemic that was caused by someone on our side being sick when he crossed over. We are basically immune but over there it's deadly. Could be the common cold. They blame us for it.
They have vaccinations for diseases we don't have them for. The other side is holding them in reserve as major bargaining chip so they must be for big stuff like alzheimers or maybe even cancer. They appear to be the number one thing we want from them above all else, besides their population census and location of the oil deposits in Mariana Trench.

Deftones

I don't think plague was the word they used. But sounds like nearly everyone there died due to disease.

hdnmickey

Wouldn't make sense for it to be anything that we had a cure for, or wasn't deadly to humans, before when they say the alternate world was spun off.

Timber

Yeah, the advertisment in the movie theater and then the negotiations told us that there was some major pandemic over there. Do we know if it was caused by someone on this side?

Another episode that was hard to see and hear but CC helps out a lot.

rw2516

It' seems pretty clear from the negotiations that the other side blames us for the pandemic.
It's something communicable and easily spread.
People on our side aren't affected by it.
It was probably an accident that happened because it's something we don't give a lot of thought to on our side.
There appears to be an inoculation for it. People from their side get shots before coming here so they don't catch it.
It has to be something that:
1. We eradicated a long time ago, or
2. Something we've developed a resistance to over the centuries.

kantonburg

I think it's this. The ambassador mentioned since they've only been around since the 30's they didn't have the vaccinations we had at that point. Could be pox or any disease that was could kill in the 30s

Tom Banjo

I don’t see how that’s possible. This was supposedly the same world until it split into two different timelines 30ish years before.

hdnmickey

Not in the 30's. 30 years ago or so. End of the Cold War. Which is why I posted earlier that it wouldn't make sense for it to be something we can found a cure for, or had vaccines for, before the point they say the split happened.

rw2516

Then it's a big plot hole. I can't think of any world wide pandemic since 1988 that we not only cured but eradicated. Our world history is not fictional in the show.
It's something we can go about our lives willy nilly and not worry about, but if someone from the other side comes here they catch it and it's deadly.

Another thing that's fishy about the divergence being 30 years ago. Howard would have been around 30 years old at the time. How could they have been identical until age 30 and then become that different.

Timber

Did the worlds diverge 30 years ago or did we discover each other 30 years ago? The show says one world became two 30 years ago but I just can't make that work in my head.

rw2516

The premise is that 30 years ago an experiment created an identical duplicate of our reality. Only since that point did events progress differently.
That's what makes it difficult to determine what the pandemic could be. The second reality should have the same immunities and vaccines we have as of 1988.

It appears to be like how the common cold killed the martians in War of the Worlds.

SmithsGuy

Perhaps an Avian Flu?

rw2516

Maybe HIV has something to do with. Events played out differently there and that the pandemic is about compromised immune systems rather than the actual transmission of the virus that makes them sick.
An HIV pandemic that doesn't kill unless you catch the cold or the flu.

Bandoman

Just found this thread. I guess not too many here are watching this. I'm really enjoying it so far.

mugwump

I'm enjoying it as well even though I fully expect them to leave us with more questions than answers at the end. I'm a sucker for alternate universe shows.