Maybe the point of the whole series is to rebuff conspiracy theorists by illustrating the fact our government is too vast and incompetent to actually execute half the conspiracies it's accused of?

Maybe they're just big fans of The Prestige?

I saw his name in the credits, and couldn't figure out where he appeared in the ep.

"Hey Bill - we handed out 25 live-fire pistols to the cadets, but I only got 24 back."
"Don't worry - I bet it'll turn up later."

Man, Dougray Scott just never catches a break.

A plausibility question: how did no one notice - for what seemed like at least a few hours - that the Mormon was carrying a live weapon?

I think it might have to be someone who wasn't in the pilot, if only for the show's longevity. Every time a show has a "central mystery" and runs 22 eps a season, they have to keep expanding the universe - it's not really the cadet, it's not the INSTRUCTOR, but it's the ACTUALLY instructor's BOSS, but it's ACTUALLY…

I agree with you — it's dumb, arguably pretty entertaining fun. It will be interesting to see how long it can last; so many of these "wrongfully accused, on the run" shows burn out quickly (I'm looking at you, Traveller).

I actually think it was a Garden & Gun ripoff - the logo was essentially the same, as is its editorial coverage:

The staged pic - and frankly all of their different journeys to the orientation morning - was a little too random, and then he's kind of hamfisted about blurting out his orientation.

Is that the blonde one? I thought I caught him in the upcoming scenes montage.

I like Joanna Braddy theory - she's doing it so "nothing like what happened to her parents happened again," and in the logic of TV and movies, that could very well mean that she blows up a convention to "show how nothing's changed" or how "our government is still letting us down" or some such. Ridiculous, but it crops…

I think at least 3 of my REM boots are Italian - Borderline, and then 2 from the Green tour — The Dream and Poets of the Wheat. Those Italians turned out a great product.

I totally see your point about its almost natural perceptual draw, but I think what got me was the increasing coincidence that got us there — 100 or so tattoos X only about 10 monitors sowing the tats X no one else being able to read the Chinese dialect X her not being allowed in the room in the first place X the doc…

I'd suggest REM "Live at the Borderline," from 1991.

"Sorry guys - we just lost the Statue of Liberty. If only we'd diverted some of the resources we used building overnight this suite of tactical clean rooms into having more people than the junior officer on duty look at these pictures. We'll get 'em next week, presumably."

Honestly, they totally could have stretched it — it's a bomb, but we don't know WHEN? Then actually have an arc or their tracking it down, instead of everything hamfistedly happening in 4 hours.

Right - I'm all for coincidence in plot, but that's tough — a 1 in 100+ chance she walks in at the exact time to see the tattoo that points to a bomb plot for later that day.

And I mean, the bomb plot was for THAT DAY. How fast can the admin asst type into Google Translate, is what we should all be asking. How fast?!

"Weller! Get in here! Babelfish says it means 'Super Karate Monkey Death Car.'"*