[7.3/10] Even for a two-parter, there was a lot going on here, but I like the basic idea. Putting Zeta and Ro (Ro especially) in a Misery type situation creates different sorts of obstacles for our heroes, and if this show didn’t play their inveigling so lightly, this one could easily scan as something out of a horror movie.
It’s true for Ro, who finds herself effectively imprisoned by a creepy fan who’s made a shrine to her and has a white knight syndrome for protecting her against her will. Honestly, my one big complaint with this episode is that they don’t play this creepier. Buss, her captor, is mostly played for laughs, which scans as odd when he keeps trying to kidnap her or restrain her, even if Ro proves that she can handle herself.
Zee’s in just as much, if not more, trouble, when he realizes that his supposed helpful “fans” are really just hackers and tech-scavengers who want to disassemble him and use his parts for their own purposes. I like that he’s hoodwinked by them holding Ro’s safety over his head -- it’s the right way to affect his decision-making. I’m also intrigued by Plug and his seeming desire to actually become a robot.
Of course, we need the NSA to keep chasing. I’m not against it necessarily, it just adds another layer of plot on top of this which complicates things more than it makes them more interesting. Still, the agents provide Ro a chance to kick some butt and give us the cliffhanger of Zeta getting captured by the bad guys, so we’ll see where this one goes.
Overall, I like the “kidnapped by obsessive fans” premise, which seems even more relevant today than in 2002, but I didn’t love the jumbled execution of it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-17T21:58:41Z
[7.3/10] Even for a two-parter, there was a lot going on here, but I like the basic idea. Putting Zeta and Ro (Ro especially) in a Misery type situation creates different sorts of obstacles for our heroes, and if this show didn’t play their inveigling so lightly, this one could easily scan as something out of a horror movie.
It’s true for Ro, who finds herself effectively imprisoned by a creepy fan who’s made a shrine to her and has a white knight syndrome for protecting her against her will. Honestly, my one big complaint with this episode is that they don’t play this creepier. Buss, her captor, is mostly played for laughs, which scans as odd when he keeps trying to kidnap her or restrain her, even if Ro proves that she can handle herself.
Zee’s in just as much, if not more, trouble, when he realizes that his supposed helpful “fans” are really just hackers and tech-scavengers who want to disassemble him and use his parts for their own purposes. I like that he’s hoodwinked by them holding Ro’s safety over his head -- it’s the right way to affect his decision-making. I’m also intrigued by Plug and his seeming desire to actually become a robot.
Of course, we need the NSA to keep chasing. I’m not against it necessarily, it just adds another layer of plot on top of this which complicates things more than it makes them more interesting. Still, the agents provide Ro a chance to kick some butt and give us the cliffhanger of Zeta getting captured by the bad guys, so we’ll see where this one goes.
Overall, I like the “kidnapped by obsessive fans” premise, which seems even more relevant today than in 2002, but I didn’t love the jumbled execution of it.