Force Majeure... some questions..

[Guest Jim McLean]

i think Hoffman really bought into Noahs beliefs. He was on his knees beside the iron lung as if Noah was his savior. Hoffman was a odd duck, but he knew what he was doing

I agree. That scene by the Lung made that clear, well to be fair, I suppose Hoffman believed it before meeting Noah, and regardless of the morality of Noah's actions, was happy to find a group of people who believed as he did, making him an insider rather than outsider.

[Guest Laurent.]

I agree. That scene by the Lung made that clear, well to be fair, I suppose Hoffman believed it before meeting Noah, and regardless of the morality of Noah's actions, was happy to find a group of people who believed as he did, making him an insider rather than outsider.

Which is probably why he joined them during their escape. He thought he'd be better off hiding and surviving with people who shared his beliefs than surviving on his own when May 5th would arrive. I don't think he gave much thought to his role in "repopulating" the Earth.

The suicides thing doesn't seem to make much sense right now... I guess I'll rewatch this episode sometime this weekend to tell you what I think of it. Right now the best answers seems to be either:

a) They wanted to fulfill some prophecy about the coming of the flood (The Thousand Days), can't remember if their was a lot of discussion about it in the episode.

b) They couldn't endure having to face May 5th without their father (as they were far away and he was dying) so they decided to kill themselves in an act of protestation and revolt (because they were frustrated to have been taken away from their own family).

Now, was the blond children who were in adoptive home taken away by some child-protection agency or were they given away by the iron lung man to announce their prophecy when the thousand days would come?

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Which is probably why he joined them during their escape. He thought he'd be better off hiding and surviving with people who shared his beliefs than surviving on his own when May 5th would arrive. I don't think he gave much thought to his role in "repopulating" the Earth.

The suicides thing doesn't seem to make much sense right now... I guess I'll rewatch this episode sometime this weekend to tell you what I think of it. Right now the best answers seems to be either:

a) They wanted to fulfill some prophecy about the coming of the flood (The Thousand Days), can't remember if their was a lot of discussion about it in the episode.

b) They couldn't endure having to face May 5th without their father (as they were far away and he was dying) so they decided to kill themselves in an act of protestation and revolt (because they were frustrated to have been taken away from their own family).

Now, was the blond children who were in adoptive home taken away by some child-protection agency or were they given away by the iron lung man to announce their prophecy when the thousand days would come?

i think Noah(Iron Lung Man) and his asst. put them up for adoption. You know after long thoughts about this epi. i am beginning to think that the two girls that committed suicide where either confused and saw the light and saw doom and gloom and that there was no new life after May 5, 2000. I am basing this on the other children almost seemed programmed and went along with Noahs plan

[Guest Jim McLean]

Which is probably why he joined them during their escape. He thought he'd be better off hiding and surviving with people who shared his beliefs than surviving on his own when May 5th would arrive. I don't think he gave much thought to his role in "repopulating" the Earth.

I myself wasn't implying that was his intent, I meant the story and focus on the hand touching implied he was welcome in the group and - to the audience - the potential they'd he'd become part of the programme.

The suicides thing doesn't seem to make much sense right now... I guess I'll rewatch this episode sometime this weekend to tell you what I think of it. Right now the best answers seems to be either:

Awesome! More the merrier!

a) They wanted to fulfill some prophecy about the coming of the flood (The Thousand Days), can't remember if their was a lot of discussion about it in the episode.

It's mentioned a prophecy, as it's the suicides in these particular circumstances what brings Hoffman onto the scene. I'm assuming this was intended in the suicide rites, given the markings they made prior to killing themselves and the clear programming the twins as a whole group seemed to be indoctrinated under... I think, anyway! :)

b) They couldn't endure having to face May 5th without their father (as they were far away and he was dying) so they decided to kill themselves in an act of protestation and revolt (because they were frustrated to have been taken away from their own family).

Now that's the question, was the statement as protest or acknowledgment they are believe in the doom "Noah" has prophesied? I don't recall any statements implying they were frustrated by the rehoming, but I could be wrong!

i think Noah(Iron Lung Man) and his asst. put them up for adoption. You know after long thoughts about this epi. i am beginning to think that the two girls that committed suicide where either confused and saw the light and saw doom and gloom and that there was no new life after May 5, 2000. I am basing this on the other children almost seemed programmed and went along with Noahs plan

They had been put up for adoption, but so had all the twins, given that they traced several missing reports for blond people when they were tracking the calls of the two suicides, so I don't get the impression the two had any special circumstances.

Edited June 23, 2007 by Jim McLean

[HighPlainsDrifter]

the autopsy that was done by CCH Pounder showed that even though they where virgins they where taking estrogen shots that made their eggs stronger? didnt both girls have seven healthy eggs?

i wonder if those two girls where the main ones to help re-populate. maybe all that estrogen and all the other stresses drove them over the edge?

[Guest Jim McLean]

the autopsy that was done by CCH Pounder showed that even though they where virgins they where taking estrogen shots that made their eggs stronger? didnt both girls have seven healthy eggs?

i wonder if those two girls where the main ones to help re-populate. maybe all that estrogen and all the other stresses drove them over the edge?

Any evidence to infer that the other girls would not have had similar 7 eggs? Otherwise, I'd presume that this was the same for all the twins.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

you know after re-thinking this episode and dissussing some of the points in this episode, i find Force Majure another victim of great writing and story telling. Man they got us re-thinking and re-analyzing.

This is great TV at its best

[Guest Jim McLean]

you know after re-thinking this episode and dissussing some of the points in this episode, i find Force Majure another victim of great writing and story telling. Man they got us re-thinking and re-analyzing.

This is great TV at its best

I agree. Drama sometimes acts too close to the design parameters of its nature; there always has to be certifiable answers, there always has to resolutions, even when in real life, we don't get that luxury. We don't always know WHY someone dies. In fact many detectives and police officers throw out the need to know why, just the HOW and WHEN.

Drama is rarely ambiguous, and this is a good example where there pieces are in play to come to conclusions, but the drama isn't forced to spoon feed certifiable answers to it's greedy audience.

[Guest F_Black]

I'm glad I stumbled in here as I'd always kept forgetting to go find out why the two girls killed themselves instead of running off to the farmhouse. The idea that they whigged out when they realized ILM was dying and he couldn't be with them "on the other side" makes the most sense to me. That and a plot device was needed to bring Frank et al. into the case anyway, since they'd never bother if all the girls (and boys) just up and left for Idaho.

[Guest Jim McLean]

I'm glad I stumbled in here as I'd always kept forgetting to go find out why the two girls killed themselves instead of running off to the farmhouse. The idea that they whigged out when they realized ILM was dying and he couldn't be with them "on the other side" makes the most sense to me. That and a plot device was needed to bring Frank et al. into the case anyway, since they'd never bother if all the girls (and boys) just up and left for Idaho.

I suppose - regardless of whether the audience sees it as intentional ambiguity or bad writing - the end result is the audience are left as uncertain as the lead characters are. That's kind of cool - brings you into the show a little more..