The last two episodes of BrainDead's first season have a lot of table and couch dancing with Laurel debating if she should leave, a drunken love proposal from Gareth taken back after being stabbed, and with Luke deciding where his place really is, all while Gustav and Rochelle set to vanquish the space ants from Washington D.C.!
The first hour comes off more contentious then the second, as none of the characters seem to be consistent, honest, or as sure of themselves as they should be by this point in the season, but over all that provides for some intense and fun antics that results in some feel-good moments in it's second half.
To start off Red Wheatus is sick from his Queen being damaged from the skirmish between himself and Laurel and her friends in the previous episode. It becomes clear again at the senate hearing in which they are suppose to vote on the new budget proposals, that Red is not so much radical, as completely incoherent and overemotional and needs some scripted help from Gareth.
In the meantime Laurel again finds out more about these internment camps with Stockwell's help, as it becomes clearer from following a series of footnotes in the budget book that these places are going to be made with large amounts of glass followed by Laurel taking a little trip to nearest building site, that these are really Hothouses for Cherry Blossom growing!
Laurel, who has to initially fight Luke, because Luke explains his dealing to become the next CIA director, still manages to get Luke to find away to stall the hearing for another day, citing that it's a national holiday to honor Native Americans! The commission agrees and that buys them another day.
In the meantime Laurel friend from LA makes a proposal, as a foundation called Ocean--, a supported of making people aware and fighting Global Warning, has given 2 million Dollars so that Jake and Laurel can finish their Island Voices Documentary. At first Laurel sends Jake on his way believing this to be the work of Wheatus/The Space Ants. She confronts him, but he denies everything and continues to call her Lana.
At some point Laurel essentially gives into the idea that she should leave. Her conversation with Gareth about it doesn't go smoothly, as he accuses Luke's actions of that of liberal, as opposed to this being about anything else and where it seems to hit them both that they have to do what they have to do in terms of the passions or life pursuits.
Laurel also has a conversation with Gustav and Rochelle that doesn't go to well either, after Gustav tries to ask Rochelle out, who turns him down, siting how different she thinks they are and that she hs boyfriend! Laurel though, just gets frustrated and says that she is done! But then Gareth comes back later being a bit drunk and makes a marriage offer to Laurel!
Ell Pollick pays Red a couple of visits too, where she pretty much tells Red he's weak and she's taking over leadership! The first conversation results in sending a man after Gareth to kill him, since he had helped red keep afloat, but only ends in a stabbing, where Gareth takes his proposal back, just at the moment Laurel was thinking of accepting it! The second altercation between Ella and Red doesn't go so well, as she insists that his demise is for the good of the group! He then uses his gun again and kills Ella Pollick! Her male space ant tries to retreat, but Red's Queen catches him and devours him, which results in a more or less healthier infected Red!!
After Laurel gets scared from learning Gareth was stabbed, she turns around and offers to help Rochelle and Gustav again by telling them what she learned about the hothouses so that they may begin to execute a plane, at least to get the insects from Washington D.C. from being able to survive and get out of the city!
Bob Isenstadt keeps trying to silence Luke and threatens the future of his potential job, siting he is not happy with the his look into hothouses, again insisting that it's hurting their secret plan to take out the space ants. Luke then feeds him false information about the water supply, and Bob inisits he knows about that too. This prompts Luke to realize that the whole thing has to be some kind of sham or conspiracy and he gets reinvigorated by being reminded why he became a senator! He is then able to stage a sit-in, keeping the everyone from voting on the budget, including the farm bill. C-Span begins to air coverage, but quickly the feed is cut off, but Luke, with help from Laurel is able to get broadcast again by using an app called Periscope!
The final episode puts most of the characters back on even keel. Gustav and Rochelle go on a mission to try and destroy the cherry blossoms in the local hothouse. With Gareth's help by attaining Red's security badge, Gustav resolves to make use it to make his own security badge! He and Rochelle go the grocery store and by a shelf-full of salt. The too then come to building site, as Gustav posses as Red Wheatus and Rochelle his Chief of Staff. They were first greeted by one of the builders, but he happily buys that Gustav is Wheatus and offers to haul the covered wheelbarrow of salt into the building for them, while making political small talk. Their plan might have been more successful, hadn't FBI Agent Onofrio had been there! Before being fully exposed, the two are able to bolt for the doors, although Rochelle does this better than Gustav, and they get out!
Other parts of the episode deals with Luke's actions of the sit-in protest and after being threatened with a sex tape, still finds a way to win against the farm bill once and for all, while he confronts the truth about his and Laurel's father. The revelation hurts Luke, but it doesn't effect him like it does their father. It becomes apparent that shame may be another key component in extinguishing the space-pests, but what works for one person may not work for another. For Dean Healy, Laurel tries to condemn the man from within by showing her footage from her 9th Birthday Party, does rid Dean of the Ants, but leaves him in collapsed and in a comma. There's an awareness that Laurel's attempts to want to help the people of Washington D.C., is realized and that, really, her pursuits were very selfish and that it didn't make her feel any better about the relationship she had with her father. But where Red Wheatus is concerned, we find playing on his emotions (along with the fact that found some left over brain matter to eat) has different results. The Queen does come out again, but humorously in an effortless step, it is Gary the intern that unknowingly comes to squish her upon Red's office carpet!!! Red himself also lives, but even worse than before, what's left of Red's brain doesn't function quite right, not really knowing what he's saying or what he's talking about, but somehow this doesn't stop him from being reelected-- twice!!!
Laurel ad Gareth come to terms by admitting that they love each other and they move in together, while still realizing they still have some bugs to work out!
Rochelle and Gustav tried again to thwart the space ants plans. They realize that they are trying to get to the hothouses before it's too late, but if they get cause the Cherry Blossoms to loos their leaves early, then the ants will never reach their intended situation, problem solved! They go and purchase special feralizer, but right before they could act, they are pulled over. Before they know it, what starts of with one police officer and Gustav pushing his rights results in multiple police officers and FBI Agent Onfrio on the scene. Whether Gustav lied or not, remains unknown, but when Onfrio pulls out Gustuv's credentials from his back pocket, it appears that Gustav is NSA! This calls the whole thing off, as the officers and Agent Onfrio disperse. Rochelle and Gustuv where succeful in getting the trees the loose their flowers and leaves!
But, the episode actually ends with a reveal that things are not as wrapped-up as they seemed. Luke finds himself on Wallstreet and we learn Laurel had followed him there. In addition, on a cherry blossom, another Queen shows herself to the viewers!
My Thoughts About The First Season:
The First season over all is fun and ends satisfactory enough in it's own right. Briandead is surely not like many other series on TV, not just because it's a political satire with a whimsical, but relative premise, but because it's written characteristically much like Robert and Michelle King's previous work, The Good Wife. It's true that each series is not exactly like the other, but where The Good Wife was unlike other shows on TV, was that it proved to be a series that, despite being serialized, it didn't just follow one predictable train of thought or plot! It easily could drop something never to be seen again, or only to turn up again many episodes, or even in some cases, seasons later! You also never really knew what characters were going to stick together, but you could depend on that there was always going to be something to shake things up and get in the way of budding friendships or romances time and time again, but just as equally, there could always be something that brought those people back together again.
One ardent theme of The Good Wife could be an exploration of human hypocracy and/or the inability to stay true to something in the short-term. Briandead's mythology perhaps is something that keeps things a bit closer together, but by sharing these characteristics only expounds on what the Kings are able to uniquely point out, which is really the joys of human interaction and the reactions to ever-changing circumstances, -along with the struggle to know ourselves in that chaos, which can only be done with clever dialogue, good character acting, and by preserving something both charming and quirky.
BrainDead has all of that and some! Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been a delight to watch go through the motions, but like The Good Wife, the story was not just confined her life in the work place or politics, but it also is an exploration of whom Laurel is through her family and other relationships. The Healys really take center stage through the discovery and exploration of The Space ants.
Although I am a bit disappointed that Dean Healy (so far) has turned out to be a red hearing where the political aspirations are concerned, he has been quintessential in starting to get under both Laurel's and Luke's story, but also it's because he becomes apart of the mythology by becoming one of the infected.
One the greatest pleasures for me in the first season was the idea that being infected could, in some cases, "save" a person. Over the course of several episodes we learn that Dean Healy had Parkinson's before becoming infected, which was kept from Laurel, but that also, Dean was never a very good father and seemed to indulge in extramarital activities, which also seems to have embedded into both adult Healy children, whom clearly have problems with commitment.
When Dean first told Laurel that by becoming infected with the ants was good thing, curing him of Parkinson's, extending his life expectancy, and trying to show Laurel that he is still "dad" because he remembers things, caused Laurel to push herself away from him until this the season one finale, where it seems like Laurel has come to believe that he is still in there after all, and maybe he can be saved from the space ants by shaming him, which sadly only results in Dean collapsing and being put in a catatonic state!
It's true that some of these things could of been avoided, should of the characters had been a little less reckless in both not providing much-needed information to each other and because they often go exploring on their own, but that is part of what gives the series so much rope to really be able to explore both the mythology and the identities of whom these characters are or "can" be! It also allows us to go down pretty controversial paths and/or creates interesting, if not, at least, rather entertaining situations, especially because it seems like the space ants do not infect every person in the same way. In fact their hosts may be rather different people to begin with, but also because it appears that Ants themselves are evolving to adapt with their own political or philosophical thinking, which comes of at times like trail by error, which serves to humanize them and adds more absurd comical antics.
I also highly enjoyed Gustav's and Rochelle's dynamic. They brought a charming, but campy adventurous feel and an interesting juxtaposition to the other romantic relationships, that turned out together, not only helped a great deal to begin to get to the bottom of things, but also brought a sense of rational line of thinking in dealing with the ants. Red Wheatus and Ella Pollick I also found to be great characters. Red in particular was where this story was centered, but it was his lovely-dovey approach and loyalty to his Queen contrasted by murderous and hateful tendencies that made Wheatus an entertaining, but rather scary customer to watch, but it's unclear if Tony Shalhoub would reprise his role, considering how things have ended for his character.
It's not to say that Braindead doesn't have a lot of loose ends and seemingly a lot more story and mythology-exploring it can do, but that the season still found a way to tell semi-self contained chapter featuring Washing D.C., where I think one can still easily watch and live with it's final moments, should the series not be renewed.
Some may see Braindead as an unrealized political satire that doesn't give enough substance of it's scientific premise to make it's first season work, but knowing from the beginning of the season that The Kings have a four year plan, I knew we would only ever get so far on that score and that this journey with either Laurel and/or any other characters new and old, was not just designed to create a political metaphor in parallel to the 2016 Election season, but was also going to expand to explore different prominent sociopolitical cultural hot-spots across the country to further get under American Culture, but hopefully also tell a coming of age story for Laurel and humanity.
Laurel ad Gareth come to terms by admitting that they love each other and they move in together, while still realizing they still have some bugs to work out!
Rochelle and Gustav tried again to thwart the space ants plans. They realize that they are trying to get to the hothouses before it's too late, but if they get cause the Cherry Blossoms to loos their leaves early, then the ants will never reach their intended situation, problem solved! They go and purchase special feralizer, but right before they could act, they are pulled over. Before they know it, what starts of with one police officer and Gustav pushing his rights results in multiple police officers and FBI Agent Onfrio on the scene. Whether Gustav lied or not, remains unknown, but when Onfrio pulls out Gustuv's credentials from his back pocket, it appears that Gustav is NSA! This calls the whole thing off, as the officers and Agent Onfrio disperse. Rochelle and Gustuv where succeful in getting the trees the loose their flowers and leaves!
But, the episode actually ends with a reveal that things are not as wrapped-up as they seemed. Luke finds himself on Wallstreet and we learn Laurel had followed him there. In addition, on a cherry blossom, another Queen shows herself to the viewers!
My Thoughts About The First Season:
The First season over all is fun and ends satisfactory enough in it's own right. Briandead is surely not like many other series on TV, not just because it's a political satire with a whimsical, but relative premise, but because it's written characteristically much like Robert and Michelle King's previous work, The Good Wife. It's true that each series is not exactly like the other, but where The Good Wife was unlike other shows on TV, was that it proved to be a series that, despite being serialized, it didn't just follow one predictable train of thought or plot! It easily could drop something never to be seen again, or only to turn up again many episodes, or even in some cases, seasons later! You also never really knew what characters were going to stick together, but you could depend on that there was always going to be something to shake things up and get in the way of budding friendships or romances time and time again, but just as equally, there could always be something that brought those people back together again.
One ardent theme of The Good Wife could be an exploration of human hypocracy and/or the inability to stay true to something in the short-term. Briandead's mythology perhaps is something that keeps things a bit closer together, but by sharing these characteristics only expounds on what the Kings are able to uniquely point out, which is really the joys of human interaction and the reactions to ever-changing circumstances, -along with the struggle to know ourselves in that chaos, which can only be done with clever dialogue, good character acting, and by preserving something both charming and quirky.
BrainDead has all of that and some! Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been a delight to watch go through the motions, but like The Good Wife, the story was not just confined her life in the work place or politics, but it also is an exploration of whom Laurel is through her family and other relationships. The Healys really take center stage through the discovery and exploration of The Space ants.
Although I am a bit disappointed that Dean Healy (so far) has turned out to be a red hearing where the political aspirations are concerned, he has been quintessential in starting to get under both Laurel's and Luke's story, but also it's because he becomes apart of the mythology by becoming one of the infected.
One the greatest pleasures for me in the first season was the idea that being infected could, in some cases, "save" a person. Over the course of several episodes we learn that Dean Healy had Parkinson's before becoming infected, which was kept from Laurel, but that also, Dean was never a very good father and seemed to indulge in extramarital activities, which also seems to have embedded into both adult Healy children, whom clearly have problems with commitment.
It's true that some of these things could of been avoided, should of the characters had been a little less reckless in both not providing much-needed information to each other and because they often go exploring on their own, but that is part of what gives the series so much rope to really be able to explore both the mythology and the identities of whom these characters are or "can" be! It also allows us to go down pretty controversial paths and/or creates interesting, if not, at least, rather entertaining situations, especially because it seems like the space ants do not infect every person in the same way. In fact their hosts may be rather different people to begin with, but also because it appears that Ants themselves are evolving to adapt with their own political or philosophical thinking, which comes of at times like trail by error, which serves to humanize them and adds more absurd comical antics.
I also highly enjoyed Gustav's and Rochelle's dynamic. They brought a charming, but campy adventurous feel and an interesting juxtaposition to the other romantic relationships, that turned out together, not only helped a great deal to begin to get to the bottom of things, but also brought a sense of rational line of thinking in dealing with the ants. Red Wheatus and Ella Pollick I also found to be great characters. Red in particular was where this story was centered, but it was his lovely-dovey approach and loyalty to his Queen contrasted by murderous and hateful tendencies that made Wheatus an entertaining, but rather scary customer to watch, but it's unclear if Tony Shalhoub would reprise his role, considering how things have ended for his character.
It's not to say that Braindead doesn't have a lot of loose ends and seemingly a lot more story and mythology-exploring it can do, but that the season still found a way to tell semi-self contained chapter featuring Washing D.C., where I think one can still easily watch and live with it's final moments, should the series not be renewed.
Some may see Braindead as an unrealized political satire that doesn't give enough substance of it's scientific premise to make it's first season work, but knowing from the beginning of the season that The Kings have a four year plan, I knew we would only ever get so far on that score and that this journey with either Laurel and/or any other characters new and old, was not just designed to create a political metaphor in parallel to the 2016 Election season, but was also going to expand to explore different prominent sociopolitical cultural hot-spots across the country to further get under American Culture, but hopefully also tell a coming of age story for Laurel and humanity.
