LisaBham - Moderator - Registered: May 2000-Posts: 1924
06-26-2000 05:30 PM
What were your thoughts on the science fiction aspects of tonights episode.
Palomino
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 202
06-26-2000 05:53 PM
Not alot of sci-fi, just the blood thing.
Apparently they are alien on a cellular level, but human in form and structure(hence the need for infused human DNA?).
You would think the FBI would just look at the X-rays in the hospital and conclude they were maybe barking up the wrong tree. Pierce seemed surprised in WR that he had human bone structure - why didn't he know that already if the FBI was all over the hospital like that, and even going through the garbage? It would have been sloppy not to look at the X-rays.
XxLotzOfBeHrHuGsXx
Level 2-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 70
06-26-2000 06:13 PM
I thought it was interesting that Max and Isabel (also Michael) never get sick...something alien related?
virgogurl
Level 5-Registered: Nov 1999-Posts: 1145
06-26-2000 06:56 PM
I was wondering about the whole "never getting sick" thing. Maybe on the aliens home planet they just dont get sick. But then again, if they wanted the aliens to be normal on earth, then why wouldnt they get sick? i mean, getting sick is like a fact of life. And if their "essence" was combined with human DNA, wouldnt that make them prone to getting sick?
virgogurl
Level 5-Registered: Nov 1999-Posts: 1145
06-26-2000 07:34 PM
BUMP!
Roswell_Amanda
Level 3-Registered: May 2000-Posts: 327
06-26-2000 07:47 PM
I was wondering about the blood thing! What was that?
virgogurl
Level 5-Registered: Nov 1999-Posts: 1145
06-26-2000 09:16 PM
Bumping again!
Come on Zero, LSS, GraceKel, Nemo...(and everyone else who occupies the SF threads) where are you guys? We need your creative input!
Palomino
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 202
06-26-2000 09:48 PM
Maybe the horse was a bad shapeshifter?
Come on, what do you want at 12:49?
shapeshifter
Level 3-Registered: May 2000-Posts: 352
06-26-2000 11:19 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Palomino
Maybe the horse was a bad shapeshifter?
Come on, what do you want at 12:49?
especially from a Palomino
Seriously (?), re never getting sick: a) they were engineered, b)they are able to manipulate molecules for purposes of healing (along with changing ketchup to mustard).
Marym
Level 3-Registered: Mar 2000-Posts: 128
06-27-2000 01:05 AM
About the "We never get sick" thing..
I don't like that for an excuse as to why they haven't been discovered before.
When the child welfare services find stranded children in the middle of the desert they don't just adopt them out without doing every medical exam in the book. Wouldn't they need a medical history before they could even be adopted? It just doesn't make sense that they have NEVER been to a doctor that has run blood tests. And wouldn't their parents wonder why their kids have never had so much as had the flu?
Another thing (kind of unrelated).. in the first episode Micheal said "It was you the Evans found on the side of the road".. but in Toy House Max mentions the day his parents went into the orphanage and adopted them? Major inconsistency there.?.
LSS
Level 5-Registered: Feb 2000-Posts: 1164
06-27-2000 06:16 AM
Folks--Since this is the second SF of BB thread (the first was a few months ago)I pasted below my prior comments in case some of you missed them the first time around. I will be posting some of the original posts from the other contributers to that thread tomorrow -- right now I'm preparing for a public lecture that ironically enough is on SF ("Aliens, Cyborgs, and the Image of God: SF as Theological Discourse"...wish me luck tonight!).
********************************************
BL0OD BROTHERS: Although this episode did not contain a variety of SF elements, it did present viewers with interesting facts concerning alien biology:
(1) SICKNESS AND THE ALIEN CONSTITUTION: M/M/I, we are told, are immune to all earthly disease ("We don't get sick"--Isabell). Of course, such immunity does not make them impervious to injury or trauma, as is evidenced by the car accident. (NOTE: Also, in Riverdog, Max refers to a prior ankle injury and Isabell's sun sickness).
Exactly WHY our podsters are immune to sickness is never disclosed. Are earthly diseases too alien to affect them? Or are their internal systems designed to ward off earthly sicknesses?
And what about that record recovery time Max experienced? Are we to think some kind of regenerative powers at work on a non-voluntary level? Does Max "heal himself" as he lays in the hospital?
(2) ALIEN BIOLOGY. Prior to this, our knowledge of alien biology is limited to Liz's discovery in the PILOT episode. Our gang's concern with Max's blood sample, however, reminds us that while our aliens may look/and are human, there are real biological differences. These differences, however, do not extend to vital life signs. At various times in this episode, for instance, the Paramedics report blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate, etc. without causing undo alarm (undo, that is, for a trauma victum). It is only the request for blood tests that causes universal alarm among our teens. (Of course Max is not too keen on staying for the MRI the next day, but it is unclear as to whether it is the examination or spending the night in the hospital that he wants to avoid.)
Karst
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 110
06-27-2000 06:48 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Marym
. . . .
When the child welfare services find stranded children in the middle of the desert they don't just adopt them out without doing every medical exam in the book. Wouldn't they need a medical history before they could even be adopted? It just doesn't make sense that they have NEVER been to a doctor that has run blood tests. And wouldn't their parents wonder why their kids have never had so much as had the flu?
Another thing (kind of unrelated).. in the first episode Micheal said "It was you the Evans found on the side of the road".. but in Toy House Max mentions the day his parents went into the orphanage and adopted them? Major inconsistency there.?.
I don't know the particulars about New Mexico adoptions (I'm more familiar with Missouri's process), but I find it hard to believe that any state would automatically allow whoever finds lost children to keep them. What if they were just lost, and not parentless? Keeping them would be kidnapping.
Some states allow private adoptions directly between birth mother/parents and adoptive parents, and those are often very loosely regulated. But with no parent(s) to consent to the adoption, the state would be doing everything. Nowadays, there would be some investigation of the adoptive family (and maybe some training sessions for them, to make sure they have the necessary skills to care for the children) before an adoption is allowed.
So what seems like a contradiction is just different stages of the adoption process: the parentless children are found; they are taken into custody by the child welfare authorities, who try to locate their parents or other surviving relatives; once it is clear there are no known relatives, the children are placed for adoption; the couple that found them may or may not apply to adopt the children - they are not obligated to (and they may lose out to another couple). But most people who adopt, want an infant. Starting about 5 or 6 (I think), it gets harder to find adoptive parents (and is almost impossible for high schoolers, unless they're relatives.) So the Evans may have had little competition for Max and Isabel.
What Michael is referring to is a part of the story that doesn't have legal significance, but it gives the start of the chain of events that ended in a legal adoption.
I agree with you about the authorities doing tests on children before adoption. But I don't know if they involve drawing blood. Actually, for seeming 6-year olds, what would most likely be done would be a standard physical, which doesn't involve drawing blood (or doing any tests) unless there are indications of disease or injury.
As for not getting sick, I think that is a matter of their different cell structures. Viruses and bacteria use specific enzymes to get into human cells, and then interact with specific portions of the human cell they enter. If the podsters' cells are different enough, earth viruses and bacteria couldn't even get in - they'd have the wrong "keys." Then, even if they could get in, none of their actions would have any impact on the podster's cells.
***********
In my own opinion, it is largely due to episodes like this that the cancellation crisis and panic to increase the SF content at the end of the season happened. The pilot started us with a show that mixed SF and romance, and included the idea of a hunt for the podsters' origins. It was beautifully done - I don't think anyone complains that the pilot needs either more romance or more SF.
But the SF, especially the hunt for their origins, tended to disappear. Repeatedly. And for long times. For example, Michael finds the key at the end of The Morning After, there is no mention of it for two whole episodes, and then at the very end of the third episode after the discovery, the connection with Atherton is made. I don't think it is coincidental that the following episode, 285 South, is so popular - we're finally back to the balance the pilot had, at least for a while. Then the SF started disappearing again in Riverdog, and vanished in Blood Brothers. At least things started picking up again in Heat Wave. But by then, two months had passed since the pilot, and the series was getting reputation of being slow and low in SF. And TPTB were getting restless (perhaps because they weren't getting what they paid for - remember, they bought the series based on the pilot, and they didn't get a series that looked much like the pilot at first).
Oh well. Sorry for the rant. I know some people, at least some of the ones into the romances, love Katims and Co. But I think the cancellation panic and 13-episode renewal could have been avoided if the WB had gotten something more like what it was promised in the pilot. Then we could have had more SF at the beginning of the season, and, if the cancellation threat had been avoided, maybe a less frantic end.
[Edited by Karst on 06-27-2000 at 09:31 AM]
Eowyn
Level 2-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 99
06-27-2000 08:30 AM
Hi,
I just watched the ep this morning and I was thinking about the "we never get sick line" and the way it was said made me believe not that they don't get sick but that they hide it so no one knows. When Isabel said nothing like this ever happened before, I got the feeling that she meant they never were in a situation where any of them were in the emergency room. So my theory is they did get sick before it just was they were able to hide it from their parents and others because they knew what could happen, if people see that they are sick they could get discovered. Also if you notice in the ep Max was hurt/unconcious but he healed rather quickly, from this I came to the conclusion that if the aliens do get sick they just heal very quickly (quicker than humans would, perhaps they can even heal themselves so no one would know they got sick in almost the same way Max healed Liz in the pilot) which can also hide any illnesses and protect their identity. Thats just my theory.
Luv Always,
Eowyn
Palomino
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 202
06-27-2000 09:39 AM
Karst : good explaination. I'm glad you beat me to it. The children would not have blood drawn, but they would have to be fingerprinted, footprinted and photographed to check against missing children. They also would have to get their shots, especially before being registered for school. No doubt their parents had to wait weeks for paperwork and country-wide searches to be finished, not to mention the background checks and investigations of themselves.
Let's hope that during this time the shelter/orphanage housebroke them.
tanchel
Level 1
Registered: May 2000-Posts: 23
06-27-2000 09:50 AM
Someone mentioned Max's disinclination to stay overnight at the mention of the MRI. I think at this point in the storyline, M/M/I don't *know* what medical tests would reveal. We know their cells look different under a microscope, but we have no way of knowing if that difference would come through on xrays. Nacedo tells them at the end that they do have human bone structure, so xrays wouldn't have seen anything weird there. An MRI might have picked up some differences in their brains (which is where their powers are located, according to Pierce), but I don't think our aliens really know one way or another what would be revealed. Remember Michael's astonishment at being told that he is basically human, with some extras thrown in?
And I agree with the theory that our aliens have gotten sick before, but recovered quickly enough to avoid doctors and tests. This may be the first time something traumatic enough happened to require hospitalization, and that's probably the reference Isabel was making.
JanetMG
Level 3-Registered: Dec 1999-Posts: 246
06-27-2000 09:56 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Karst
But I think the cancellation panic and 13-episode renewal (and the super-paced 6 final episodes) could have been avoided if the WB had gotten something more like what it was promised in the pilot. Then we could have had more SF at the beginning of the season, and, if the cancellation threat had been avoided, maybe a less frantic end.
Just chiming in to agree w/you, Karst. For me, the frustration really started w/River Dog. I was getting antsy, but in 285 South it seemed like they finally were making progress. Then, the materials they found were stolen in the first 15 minutes of River Dog. Oddly enough, I also ended up being disappointed on the romance front. (I tuned in to the Pilot for the sci fi, but loved the romance as well. I think that the Pilot had a great balance.) While most other fans would disagree--to my mind, the M&L relationship story didn't live up to the promise that the Pilot showed. But that's a discussion for another thread.
LSS--Good luck with your speech--sounds like an interesting topic. Any recommended sci fi reading on that topic?
deidra e, jones
Level 4-Registered: May 2000-Posts: 513
06-27-2000 09:58 AM
Unknowingly, Michael used slight mind control over the nurse. The 3 aliens, not knowing their true powers, espeically mind control, could have used it during their childhood.
Remember in Toy House when Max saved the bird? He didn't know that he had healing powers at that time. It just came naturally.
shapeshifter
Level 3-Registered: May 2000-Posts: 352
06-27-2000 10:29 AM
More of a literary thing than science:
Max's desperation to get out of the hospital and avoid tests was foreshadowing of WR.
On a psychological level it would reflect a lifetime fear of being discovered and "tested."
Palomino
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 202
06-27-2000 11:16 AM
Originally posted by Karst:
As for not getting sick, I think that is a matter of their different cell structures. Viruses and bacteria use specific enzymes to get into human cells, and then interact with specific portions of the human cell they enter. If the podsters' cells are different enough, earth viruses and bacteria couldn't even get in - they'd have the wrong "keys." Then, even if they could get in, none of their actions would have any impact on the podster's cells.
---------------------------------------------
This is actually scientifically plausable, and makes much more sense than Isabel lying or understating facts. She literally meant "WE DON"T GET SICK". In fact with a mix of alien/human DNA and different cellular biology(although structurally they may be identical) it would be very unlikely that the COULD get sick - if you understand how viruses and infections work. (I won't get into a biology lesson right now.)
"Nothing like this has ever happened before" means that they were not badly injured before.
Max probably did not want the MRI for several reasons:
He did not know what views of his internal workings might reveal,
He really was scared of staying due to their long-standing fear of WR style testing,
and
He simply seems to have the type of personality where he would feel uncomfortable in strange surroundings, and would prefer the comfort of home.
ROStaFEHRian
Level 2-Registered: Mar 2000-Posts: 56
06-27-2000 12:06 PM
Hello Karst (and everyone else!)
I enjoyed reading your post and agree with most of what you say, particularly about the evolution of change in the episodes and the process between finding the children and the adoption. I also thought Iz was referring to a time later when the Evans came for them at the time of finalizing of adoption.
Just very briefly ( my graduation research project paper is due in the am- well actually it was due on the 15th - and I have to
formally present the results on Thursday morning and I am still fighting with the SPSS statistics package. Just taking a quick break)..
I think that children found in such mysterious circumstances as Max and Is and Mike would have more than the usual exam ordered by state and local child welfare services as someone suggested just above.
It is more likely than not that, lacking medical records and evidence of the usual immunizations and newborn screens data, at the least, these would be repeated which includes drawing blood for titers to determine if they have already had certain childhood exposures prior.
Wandering 6 year olds, particularly in their state, would also most likely all or part of an "abuse screen" and this would include labs for nutrition status, sexually transmitted disease. It is unlikely that a blood smear as part of a complete blood count (although a smear may be checked off separately and doesn't have to be done) would not be done.
It is credible that the podsters have a fear of the unknown as far as docs, hospitals, what tests may really show, etc. It is also credible that they might never have to see a doc unless they needed clearance for something, ie sports, and even then no bleed need be drawn. DocPau, I believe, commented on this in detail on the prior SFoBB thread.
However,
I think the the choice to have Liz see abnormal cells was a mis-step. It is best, story-wise, to keep all evidence, if there is any at all, on the genetic level. No kind of screen (except- of course- a genetic screen) would routinely look at DNA and/or protein analysis unless there is a work-up for serious and/or family history or a specific disease type.
BTW- to have Pierce to show "blood cells" that really are epithelial cells (and on an XRay film for heaven's sake..who the heck was responsible for that??!!) was just plain wrong. They need a medical advisor for the show, badly.
Wish me luck, guys...
and good luck LSS (if you don't mind, do you have an abstract or version of your talk you could email me?)
ROSta
Karst
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 110
06-27-2000 03:33 PM
Hi Rostafehrian: Actually, it's occured to me since my first post that siblings are not separated for adoption, if at all possible. But it's more difficult (of course) to find a couple to adopt 2 children rather than 1. So the child welfare authorities (whatever they're called in New Mexico) might have done DNA tests to see if Max and Isabel were actually siblings. Unless the two picked up the language fast enough to say they were brother and sister, before DNA test samples could be taken. Since adoption by the Evans would take a while to be a done deal, I could see DNA tests being done in the meantime in case it became expedient to split the two up for adoption.
Lorrilei1960
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 280
06-27-2000 03:53 PM
tanchel made a good point about Michael's surprise that they were actually human. If you watch Max's reaction in WR when Pierce tells him that his bone structure, organs, etc., are human, he also seems surprised. I agree that Max wanted to avoid the MRI because he didn't know exactly what it would reveal.
I also agree that it's a little fishy that Max and Isabel NEVER had any kind of a blood test. Most parents, especially adoptive parents, would at least want to know their children's blood types in case of emergency... as well as knowing if they needed to be immunized (which someone mentioned).
Also, with Mr. Evans being an attorney, he probably could have more easily naviagated the adoptive legal system than an average couple. I like to think that the Evans bonded to the children on some level when they found them and took an immediate interest in their welfare which prompted them to seek adoption.
LSS
Level 5-Registered: Feb 2000-Posts: 1164
06-27-2000 05:50 PM
Rosta mentioned DocPaul so I thought I'd post of the Doc's responses from the old thread. Remember that in March we could not mention Destiny or any of the information from the later episodes. So--here it is--a post from THE BEST OF THE SF OF BB ORIGINAL THREAD (Enjoy):
DocPaul 03-22-2000 08:44 PM ---------------------------------------------
1) When Isabel mentioned that they don't get sick, that probably meant that they have never been sick in their life, but doesn't preclude the possibility of illness. Especially since Michael was very sick in the episode "The Balance." Not having a childhood
illness isn't really that uncommon. Some people have extremely good immune systems that fight off common illnesses before they really cause concern. You can recover from a sinus infection without antibiotics easily, but it will take your natural immunity about
two weeks. Maybe as descendents to space travelers, these teenagers have hyped immunities.
2) Alien biology is probably also at the cellular level. Liz's cheek scraping she plated and checked in the microscope from Max's pencil showed abnormal or non-human epithelial cells which was depicted by a green coloring and squarish cells reminence of cork. More than likely the alien difference is in the tissue structure, such as body antigens, red blood cells, etc. But, obviously the alien blood must be a hemoglobin carrier since the aliens breath
oxygen without signs of hypoxia. The blood was red indicating iron concentrate. Difference would have to be in the antigens and surface molecules. Also, cursory study of Max by the EMT showed his heart to be where a human's is, respiratory rate was normal, vitals were normal, and pupils were normal and responsive. This suggests that in all structural aspects the aliens are for the most part human. Maybe they are a special breed of hybrid, part human and part alien? MRI/CT scan may have shown abnormalities in brain structure or enlarged pineal glands? But at most when Max entered the ER they
would have had to do a series of C-Spin X-rays to rule out cervical neck damage. Once the EMT places a neck restraint only a physical examination and C-Spin series can rule out injury. This could be done without x-ray if Max was awake, but he wasn't so he must have been x-rayed.
3)As far as Topolsky's FBIers identifying Alex as the blood donor is questionable. First, they would have had to retrieve the vial of blood draw for the CBC and do a donor match with the blood retrieve from Alex's nose bleed. But the sample taken from the sample would for the most part have been
contaminated by the air, garbage, etc. whereas the sample taken for the CBC resides in a sterile vacu-pak. The best they could probably sumise under such conditions and the time period allowed is that Alex and Max have the same blood type and Rh factor.
But, hey this is t.v. Here, they can bend the laws of science, that's what makes it sci-fi.
DocPaul
LSS
Level 5-Registered: Feb 2000-Posts: 1164
06-27-2000 06:02 PM
BTW--Rosta...when can we say "happy graduation"?
LSS
bluecornmoon
Level 2-Registered: May 2000-Posts: 84
06-27-2000 07:36 PM
Just a piece of information for those who are wondering: I live in NJ and back a few years ago, my neighbors died and left their two kids, 6 & 4, orphans. I kept them until after the funeral and then informed the authorities that none of the relatives (in Europe and Asia) wanted them. A lady from Child Services visited me, we went to the office the next day and filled out papers and they left them with me until 5 months later, when we officially adopted them. We received 5 checks for US$ 246.00/month and they never told us to take them to the doctor, the kids never visited the CS agency, etc. (BTW, any time they want money, they refer to all those checks that I received for them a long time ago! LOL).
Karst
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 110
06-27-2000 08:14 PM
Bluecornmoon:
I find your story fascinating. I'll let my mask slip a bit and admit that I'm a lawyer and I've been involved in adoptions. I've also been involved in cases where the children had been removed from the home due to abuse or neglect. Your situation just goes to show how different states can be. But Missouri tends to be middle-of-the-road on social issues, so I'm fairly confirdent about making generalizations. (As long as everyone checks with a local attorney before actually doing anything.)
In Missouri, and I'm sure most states, things may have moved as quickly, but would not have been nearly as simple without consent from the mother/parents. The only way to really to settle the question of how Max and Iz got adopted would be to research New Mexico adoption circa 1989. Maybe I'll be getting back to you on this.
JanetMG
Level 3-Registered: Dec 1999-Posts: 246
06-28-2000 09:51 AM
Karst, If you do decide to check out New Mexico adoption law, add me to the list of folks that would love to hear about it. I'm also curious about emancipation procedures in New Mexico (but admittedly not enough to research it myself). The ending of Independence Day seemed awfully unrealistic to me (too fast, no guardian ad litem, no evidence of ability to support himself, etc.), but I haven't addressed family law issues since a semester in a legal clinic during law school. (I'm also a lawyer, but I specialize in a narrow sector of the financial services world that I can't imagine Roswell getting into.)
Karst
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 110
06-28-2000 05:56 PM
It seems New Mexico has things pretty well codified, as least as far a family law goes.
As for the emancipation (the simpler question), the minor does have to be managing his/her own financial affairs. From the way the New Mexico statute is written, it sounds as if the minor must already be managing his own affairs, and not just getting ready to start. So it does look as if Independence Day glossed that over.
There is a specific requirement that the court find emancipation be in the minor's best interest, which implies a minor with no visible legal income would face an uphill battle. Given two outcomes - foster care, and at least the possibility a 16-year old might have to quit school to survive - I think a Missouri court at least would decide for foster care, even though everyone agrees it is never an ideal solution.
As for the guardian ad litem, in Missouri one would not be appointed if the minor otherwise had a lawyer to represent his interests, which Michael did in Mr. Evans. So that part didn't really surprise me.
As for the adoption, New Mexico has one thing to worry about that we mostly forget in Missouri, the federal Indian Children Welfare Protection Act (or something like that - I didn't write the name down, and don't feel like getting back on line at that database to retrieve it). This act requires efforts first be made to adopt native American children to native American couples. New Mexico adds state requirements to make sure the federal law is followed, or else is inapplicable. So an extra complication would be verifying that Max et al. were not native American.
A background check on prospective adoptive parents is required, including a criminal background check, except for certain exceptions (stepparents in most circumstances, and people nominated in wills to adopt children are the two categories I remember best).
One thing I hadn't thought about was the pre-adoption transfer of custody. But Missouri doesn't have orphanages, at least in my area (which Max mentions), so I can use that as an excuse for not thinking about it right away. It turns out that New Mexico requires a pre-adoption placement with the prospective family (which we call the transfer of custody, even if the couple already have custody in fact), and there has to be a study to insure that the child is doing well in the prospective family. There are exceptions, but they are the same as the background check, more or less. (Sorry. I read the statute late last night and didn't take notes. But I did notice the Evans didn't fit any exception, not even by a stretch.) After all that and the waiting period, the adoption can be finalized.
So Max's story was a bit simplified - he wouldn't have been adopted straight out of the orphanage. But to a 6-year old kid, the important thing would have been leaving the orphanage, and the home study and court appearance would have just been puzzling adult stuff. Although judges in my area at least love doing adoptions and always talk to the child, if they can talk at all. Partly to get an official ok (though it isn't legally necessary), mostly to hear how happy the kid is.
One thing I don't remember noticing is any reference to guardian ad litems in adoptions. There might be a separate statute imposing that requirement. But the New Mexico adoption statute was pretty complete. New Mexico also allows private agencies to get involved, even on the background checks and home studies (Missouri makes it purely a state matter). So in practice, adoption in New Mexico may be a bit more laisser-faire than in Missouri. But there are plenty of the standard adoption formalities.
Hope that helps. Sorry I didn't take notes.
[Edited by Karst on 06-28-2000 at 06:02 PM]
Nemo
Level 3-Registered: Dec 1999-Posts: 421
06-28-2000 05:59 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Karst
...The only way to really to settle the question of how Max and Iz got adopted would be to research New Mexico adoption....
This would be interesting for comparison, but the story is fictional. In the field I know something about (physics), great liberties are taken for dramatic purposes. Slow processes are made faster, gradual things are made more abrupt, complicated things are made more simple, etc. as usual in stories. Likewise, liberties have been taken with the local geography. So perhaps legal matters in the story will likewise be handled faster and with fewer complexities than usual, to allow the story to be more dramatic. (Similarly, I wouldn't expect the biological aspects of the story to bear close scrutiny.)
If the story were aiming for detailed authenticity, wouldn't there be a separate city police force -- the sheriff's jurisdiction would be the county outside of city limits? But the story seems to be better served by a fictional sheriff who covers both.
[note added later: The post just above, by Karst, came in while I was writing this one. I do not want to detract from it. Karst, I appreciate the perspective you have provided, and want to thank you for doing all that work.]
[Edited by Nemo on 06-28-2000 at 06:16 PM]
Lorrilei1960
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 280
06-28-2000 06:07 PM
I know this is off the topic of Blood Brothers, but it does have to do with adoption/foster parents, etc... and it has always bothered me.
How in the world did Hank end up as Michael's foster father, and how did he manage to keep him? It seems as though Valenti knew about Hank's drinking, and probably knew what a creep he really was. It makes me wonder if there ever was a Mrs. Hank. Isn't it unusual for a single male, living in a rundown trailer to be allowed to foster a child?
JanetMG
Level 3-Registered: Dec 1999-Posts: 246
06-28-2000 07:06 PM
Thanks, Karst that was interesting!
Nemo, I realize that they have to (and should) simplify and shorten things to better tell a story. But it's kind of like the sci fi, when a show is trying to play it "real"--it should be plausible. The emancipation procedures were shortened/simplified beyond the point of plausibility. To their credit, at least they cared about continuity here. That is, I assume the writers wanted the-Hank-was-tortured-and-killed plotline (wherever it may lead), didn't want the audience wondering why Michael wasn't placed in another foster home immediately, and wanted the Pod Squad & Co. to have a place they could meet privately for the upcoming eps, including Sexual Healing.
Karst
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 110
06-28-2000 07:28 PM
Nemo: Don't worry. I agree with you about liberties being taken with reality. I just get curious. Actually, the thing about the sheriff being all alone without a police department bothered me from the first episode. I think it's just easier to talk about the sheriff than the chief of police and make it sound scary. Also, we usually don't think about police chiefs out in the field the way we do sheriffs. (Though that's just popular image, left over from westerns. Sheriffs tend to be busy at their desks even in rural areas nowadays.)
Lorrilei: I cannot fathom how Hank ever got approved as a foster parent. The only possible reason I can think of would involve Hank being married at the time he/they got Michael, and the wife holding things together well enough to make a decent impression. You do occasionally find couples with all the parenting skills concentrated in one spouse, but I think they would not be likely to be picked as foster parents, because the social workers would want a functioning family unit. All the foster family situations I have heard of involved a couple, never a single person (of either gender). Also, there are background checks and visits to the home. All that gets repeated regularly, so even if the hypothetical wife had gotten them approved as foster parents, when she died and things fell apart, Hank would have been found out. And of course, Michael et al. have only mentioned Hank, ever.
[Edited by Karst on 06-28-2000 at 07:31 PM]
Eowyn
Level 2-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 99
06-28-2000 07:31 PM
Hi Lorrilei1960,
It makes no sense at all about Hank, except for dramatic purposes and to explain Michaels tough persona. However I think it would have worked just as well and more realistically if Michael never got adopted and he just went from one foster home to the next. However this is a minor thing and I can deal. Not to mention the story involving Hank gave the producers a good backdrop to talk about abuse.
Luv Always,
Eowyn
Lorrilei1960
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 280
06-29-2000 01:11 AM
I know, I know... for dramatic purposes it worked, but that's the kind of thing that makes me really work to suspend my disbelief. I think the bouncing around scenario would have made more sense... but then they'd have to hire more actors to play the various foster parents (not that we saw Hank that much).
Nemo
Level 3-Registered: Dec 1999-Posts: 421
07-02-2000 12:09 AM
After seeing Destiny, 285 South looked partly like an analogy of the larger story. [Atherton's domed house = Earth, etc.] Is this episode like that too? Was Max before the accident analogous to the former Max who died? And the surprisingly sudden recovery in the hospital analogous to the re-creation according to AlienMom?
If so, I hope it is significant that the person with Max before the accident is Liz.
The horse, later referred to humorously as Mr. Ed, strays into the jeep's path and precipitates trouble. Now we have Ed Harding, another nonhuman creature, often causing trouble by blundering or worse. And in Destiny we see the teens "saving Mr. Ed." Is the incident with "Mr. Ed" in BB and the later appearance of the shapeshifter as Ed Harding a clue that he or someone like him was a cause of trouble in former Max's time?
[Edited by Nemo on 07-02-2000 at 05:27 PM]
jenlev
Level 3-Registered: Jun 2000-Posts: 214
07-02-2000 03:02 PM
hi there,
thanks for all the information on adoption rules and medicine. i can't help but think that what is known by the posters here is more then 16 year old podsters knew. they present as in a certain amount of denial and fear about their heritage, and seem despite they intelligence and studies to have avoided examining their own nature? michael seems to confront isabel and max with this quite a bit.
the response of the podsters to the blood brothers situation borders on panic. i get the sense that they have not wanted to look too closely at just what makes them different. therefore they might not be to clear on how others might assess or understand those differences.
also, someone posted about the liberty of sci-fi to warp the truth, and suspend disbelief. makes sense to me. and, about max not wanting to stay in the hospital: i imagine that both the idea of staying there and the m.r.i. would cause sufficient panic in any of the podsters. especially given their heightened sense of risk about discovery at that point in the plotline.
jenlev
[Edited by jenlev on 07-02-2000 at 03:07 PM]
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