Let’s see your smarty-pants friend anticipate what happens to the people who are infected by what was thawed from the permafrost! Besides, I would argue the point of Fortitude isn’t so much the parasite as it is the reveals about Richard Dormer’s character – his relationship to Elena and his father – and what he has to do in the end.
-Tom
Also, sometimes the journey is the point, not the destination.
That was my reaction anyway. Slightly disappointed by the last two episodes in that series. But totally blown away by everything leading up to them. I’ve been recommending this to people I work with who I know have Prime (as it’s still free on Prime -hint-), but nobody has taken me up on it yet.
I apparently just don’t know how to properly sell it like you guys did to me.
Just finished watching this (well, the first season). Amazing, really good. Thanks to Tom for recommending it. I think of it as an updated Twin Peaks (remote community, odd characters, out-of-town detective). But it goes places even Twin Peaks wouldn’t go.
One weird thing at the end (and I guess we’re beyond spoilers at this point), if the wasp had never been exposed to humans before, why did Darwin think it was disproof of a benevolent god? Did they just screw that up, or did I miss something?
I almost feel like I want to watch the whole thing again. There are so many characters, that halfway through, when I found out which ones were important, I couldn’t remember what they’d done up until that point.
I can’t believe I wasted my time on this! Started out SO good, and ends up with the goofiest ending ever… with Stanley Tucci’s last reactions mirroring my own. Such a good cast wasted. Well… it wasn’t terrible i guess… but flies?!?
To be honest, I’m struggling to remember who Darwin is. Was that the dog who was licking Professor Stoddard’s disemboweled carcass? I guess I need to watch this series a third time, which will be a great way to prep for season 2 in January. Michelle Fairley, w00t!
Uh, parasitic wasps, thankyouverymuch.
-Tom
I think he means Charles Darwin, and there must have been some point where Darwin was quoted in reference to it. I don’t remember it either.
Yeah, near the end, when Natalie is explaining to… whats-his-name, the guy who was in the room with the doctor when it asploded, about the wasps. She says “Darwin considered them proof that there could not be a benevolent god, their lifecycle is so wicked” or something like that. And then the super-creepy school teacher dude says something like “it isn’t the wasps who should make us question a benevolent god, it is us!”
But earlier, they were explaining to the governor that the wasps were pre-historic and had never been in contact with humans before, because they’d been frozen for thousands of years, and people had only been living on Fortitude for 100 years or so.
It’s a super minor nit, it’s just that it happened right at the end, so I remember it.
As a reward for recommending it, Tom gets a 6-month extension on having to watch The Wire. But you’ll have to get there eventually.
Season 2 has started up!
Just discovered this recently on the Prime video list and watched the whole first season. Very well done as far as creepy and weird mystery-suspense goes. I’ll likely check out the second one eventually once it hits Prime.
Pretty sure they’re saying that these particular wasps were pre-historic, but similar species had been discovered before and Darwin had commented on them. There are quite a few examples of the parasitic hijack-a-body strategy in the real world - the premise here raises the stakes from taking over ants and such to high-level predators like us.
This season seems to be all about turning the dial up to 11. Wendigos, parasitic wasps, decapitations - and that’s just the start, the list is ever growing.
Someone should tell the scientists about the new Crypt-Keeper wasp, just in case they were going to put the wasps not causing the behavioral anomalies to bed.
Pretty jealous of those of you who can watch this now. Has there been any word on a US release?
I’m not enjoying it quite as much as the first season, since they did away with many of my favorite characters in season 1 and Dennis Quaid is not quite the actor or character that Stanley Tucci was. But it remains very unsettling.
Polar bears wandering into elementary schools. Reindeer eating polar bears. Some sort of goggled figure that shorts out the electricity nearby and comes and goes seemingly unstoppably. A blood aurora just like one that accompanied some sort of cannibal madness in the nearby Russian town 70-odd years ago. And what the fuck is that doctor doing to Elena? I mean, it sure looked like Elena woke up there, and was forcibly knocked out again, so I am not convinced she’s actually in a coma. And I am pretty sure there’s no legitimate reason to be cutting holes in her.
Some good news for US fans like myself.
Ah, I was wondering why the second season wasn’t airing in the US. Pivot having failed dismally makes sense. PS holy shit episode 5.
So many things I never expected to see in a TV show. Like self-castration, w/ bonus overhead shot of the result and severed organ lying in the tub . I am not sure how I feel about the ending but that was quite the ride.
Season 2 starts Friday on Prime!
It’s here!
PSA: There is an article up on ArsTechnica about Fortitude. I was like “hey cool this show needs all the fans it can get”. But then I started reading it.
I’ve seen the first season, but holy crap spoiler territory. A lot of commentators take her to task for the spoilage, but she hasn’t addressed these at all.
Oh man, I loved the first season. This awesome.
Two episodes in and not really liking it much. They seem to have lost all of their compelling actors and Dennis Quaid is no Stanley Tucchi. Will have to see where this ‘Red Aurora’ storyline goes, but it certainly has not grabbed me the way the first season did.