Date of airing: August 16, 2009 (ABC)
Nielsen ratings information: 2.48 million viewers, 1.6/3 in Households, 0.8/2 with Adults 18-49, 1.0/3 with Adults 25-54
Not unlike the previous episode, it brought attention to a new saying, and ever since I watched this episode for the first time, I wanted to use the H2IK sequence for myself, but a) there is never an opportunity to do so because I already don’t know anything, and b) I don’t have friends who could help me out with the H2IK sequence, let alone know what it means, as it could very much only be used as part of an inside joke. Besides that, I am not a teacher, so I will never be in a situation like Donner was during the final flashback scene, in which he needed help from his H2IK sequence partner Ajay, just to get around the Hall current answer (which is actually called the “Hall effect,” but maybe they renamed it 30 years from now – thank you, Wikipedia), which, by the way, I did not understand because Ajay was speaking in technical terms and I got lost five words into his answer. Maybe I should look up some of the science terms the characters were throwing around with, just so I stay up-to-date with all the scientific limbo being used. It does show though how DEFYING GRAVITY continues to be in the hard science sub-genre of the science-fiction genre. This I like a lot.
Once more, DEFYING GRAVITY has proven to be a show that makes use of slow storytelling and takes time with the episode’s premise, let it work on the characters, let it branch out to each of the astronauts and people on the floor, and make sure that the electrical glitches have a meaning and is not just a problem quickly fixed by the end of the first act because the writers needed to work towards the next greatest twist by the end of the second act. This might still be one of the more obvious reasons why DEFYING GRAVITY did not work with the viewers, although an argument can be made whether the audience could have been made comfortable with the slow storytelling, as they did not even tune into the pilot, which means no one even knew that the show was premiering in the first place. But because DEFYING GRAVITY failed to capture audiences, we will never know if other writers have learned something from the way this show ran and built its narrative, and whether more broadcast network dramas can figure out how to slow down their story and let the characters live and breathe. That makes DEFYING GRAVITY a unique show in the broadcast television landscape, which is all by itself a reason for the show’s failure with the audience – they do not want unique. This is why NCIS and LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT are still on the air, and CSI and LAW & ORDER came back with revival seasons.
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| Magic tricks with magnets! |
The writers upped the ante on the hallucinations, now with Donner seeing his two colleagues and friends he left behind on Mars, while Evram’s backstory was also expanded with the flashes he got during the lights switching on and off. For a second I might have been a bit disappointed that not more characters were included in the assault of hallucinations, but now that it is pretty clear Zoe is not the only one having weird moments on the Antares by hearing a baby screaming and crying, all while Ted is having visions of a Martian sandstorm. All of the Antares astronauts will live through visions and hallucinations sooner or later, which also means it is part of the greater story arc. Not unlike the changing of the astronauts’ (and Eve’s) genomes, something is creating those hallucinations and visions and flashbacks (presumably Beta, according to Eve’s trip to Mars when sitting in front of Beta during one of the flashbacks in the previous episode), and it is supposed to define the characters for the rest of the trip through the solar system. And with that, the characters’ backstories get flashed out, as they are not just being defined by flashback scenes, but by actual hallucinations and visions – more different from the way LOST did it, by just dropping a flashback episode into each hour of the island survival drama.
Of course, the slow storytelling of DEFYING GRAVITY could bite the show in the butt every once in a while, as evident during Donner’s EVA and his decision to just remain there in front of, or above, the panel when he eyed his dead Martian astronaut friends in the distance. He did not say anything, he did not move, he did not respond to either Ted or Zoe’s pleas to respond or get back to the airlock... No, the writers decided to kill a little time here by having Sharon mouth the generic “I miss you” and “I love you” stuff, which is indeed romantic (and an awfully traumatic experience for a character to live through), since it could also lead to Donner finally getting over the trauma – it was not a hallucination for hallucinations’ sake, it was a way for Donner to say goodbye to his past and embrace the future, which is apparently something Beta wants Donner to do for some reason. But the whole spiel took a damn long time, and there could have at least been 30 seconds to a minute cut from the story, to spend it on something else. Like Wassenfelder’s reasoning for staying put in his quarters and almost freezing to death because he cannot swim.
But damn, does this show have a splendid continuity. Wassenfelder’s almost-drowning in the previous episode was not just a story for the sake of filling time, but it instead proved to be a delivery of depth to his character, a permanent fault in his persona, and something he simply cannot fix and might even threaten him for time to come. He did not learn how to swim during the five years of training (weird, considering it had been a problem early on during his training), and he still feels insecure around all the astronaut stuff while being an astronaut, on a spaceship, touring the solar system. It makes for a stunning story arc for Wassenfelder, because at some point either he is going to accept being an astronaut, or he succumbs to the pressure of being one. All while dealing with Paula and Nadia in different aspects – the latter cannot stand him being on the Antares, and the former tries to help and assist him, but is also disgusted by his clear misogynistic manners. That is going to be a weird love story in the second season that does not exist.
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| There are two dead astronauts on top of the spaceship! |
By the way, hats off to Paula for staying behind, just to make sure that Wassenfelder is not only safe, but also not alone in this weirdness of floating in a space capsule. In the end, she is a good friend, something Wassenfelder is probably starting to learn now, especially after he managed to not be her friend in the previous episode, as she was almost dehydrating herself into a coma.
