Harsh Realm Comic Book & TV Series Review

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[00:00:54] Sometimes we get so deep into conversation that we have separate segments worthy of their own place in the sun. Here is a reshuffled mini episode.

[00:01:23] By the way, the one thing I will say about Harsh Realm is it's my favorite TV show named after a made up grunched slang word. And if you know, you know. Grunch speak? Yep. But it's so funny how Gabriel made a joke on bummer for Harsh Realm. Slang that stands for, but...

[00:01:48] I remember watching the first, that's another show that I remember watching the first episode and that's literally it. It was kind of The Prisoner meets The Matrix, even though it was filmed before The Matrix but came out, the fall of... Around the same time. Yeah. Critics call the first never-before-seen episode of Harsh Realm The Hidden Jam. Where the hell are we? Like a classic episode of The Twilight Zone.

[00:02:18] Harsh Realm, Fridays at 9 with never-before-seen episodes beginning April 14th, only on FX. And you got Terry O'Quinn. Yes. Yeah. You can't go wrong, man. Yeah. He's the villain. Yeah. Santiago, right? And Sarah Jane Redmond. Satan, the devil herself is also on there. I had no problem going through the episodes casually because I was just like, okay, so... I think this could have evolved.

[00:02:47] It ended up being re-aired, including the episodes that didn't get aired originally on Syfy Channel and FX. And I find it interesting how... I read the comment before I started reading it. Despite the goof up, how the comic book creator wasn't credited right away. Yeah. And I don't think that was Chris Carter's doing. I think that was just some stupid... I don't know. I don't know what happened. I think it just got lost in the details. I really think it was just... They bought the property, but made it their own. But yeah.

[00:03:18] Phil Lord. Yeah. I don't think it was as bad as that, where it's like, let's be a spoof artist too. No. When they made Spider-Verse, but they didn't credit the original creator of Miles Morales. So she hasn't seen a dime of that money. Oh boy. Nope. Nope. Yeah, I heard about that. I mean, if you have Peter David, but... If you want to become the creators... Yeah, Peter David. We got a bunch of E-Man shit coming out.

[00:03:45] The guy who fucking created E-Man is begging for money on GoFundMe to pay for... Well, his wife is to pay for his dementia treatment. It's fine. Yeah. Terrible. And it is amazing how... Kind of like how HR is pretty useless in many jobs. It makes you wonder, what is litigation and the legal department doing now? In case you think they would clear that instead of, we hope you forget that you're not owed X amount. It's like, I created it. Why would I forget? So... For real.

[00:04:15] It wasn't an unpaid internship, guys. Right? It wasn't something I... You know, it's kind of like how that one first AD who technically directed all the room but took his name off. He's regretting it. It's like, now that worst movie of all time is still screened. I could be making money. Or I did see Harsh Realm. I don't even know what Harsh Realm is. That was Chris Carter's follow up. And it is kind of like the prisoner. But it's so funny.

[00:04:43] The taglines are the platoon meets the matrix. I'm like, yes and no. But it's its own kind of thing. And I was just kind of like, interesting. Like, I think this could have gone somewhere had it lasted a little longer. And it's just tough to tell because they killed it before I was in infancy. And... How many episodes in? Oh man. It was like... Yeah. Just nine episodes. Yeah, that'll do it. You can find it all on YouTube.

[00:05:12] Max Martini was on there. So years before the unit and Pacific Rim. Oh! And despite Scott Berstow... So here's the connection. Yeah, Scott Berstow, the now canceled actor from Lonesome Dove, this series. The fuck did he do? Yeah. He... I think some pedophilia. Was it pedophilia? Sexual harassment. Mom luster. Yeah. It was something of a boy. Second degree assault. And it was one of those. He...

[00:05:41] He got canceled around 2003 before Me Too. And it was just one of those like, yeah, he can do the work as an actor, but it just was one of those like... And again, just once you did, just unforgivable. So... It was just one of those is like, it didn't happen on a movie set. It happened in his own free time. Despite that, you would actually remember him from the Miracle Man episode of X-Files. And... Oh, man.

[00:06:08] It's one of those where it's like, it sucks because he's already playing someone who's an anti-hero or just not a good person. So it's not a complete turnoff. You definitely would have seen him on the 2002 Twilight Zone show. Oh, him. Holy shit. Some sci-fi channel films. But yeah, it was one of those is like, I knew going in this started a predator and just like, well, but I hear it's an interesting show. And so he's fortunately kind of like X-Files. The focus isn't just on him.

[00:06:37] It's kind of just on the overall scenario, the virtual reality and the trapped island thing. So it's, it's worth a watch. I kind of gave an average review, but I didn't regret a minute of my time because those last five free episodes were very intriguing. It was picking up. It was getting comfortable. Yeah. Julian Anderson. The problem with the harsh realm is the problem with harsh realm is that it's so, it's so like, it's, it's so few. Like, you know, you cannot make something out of it. It's like, it's like half a season of the first season.

[00:07:06] And by the time at that point, you know, first season, usually, you know, about what works, what doesn't work and figure out, you know, which characters work, which plots, you know, what kind of plot do you want to show to be? Like it's the first thing. If you look at the X-Files first season, if they still have canceled after like nine episodes, it would have ended with an episode like, like what? Wait, what's the, what's the episode? I'm forgetting ninth episode of the first season. Like it's generally one of the worst episodes of the X-Files show. Right.

[00:07:33] Well, the first season was the worst because it was so strange and people didn't get it. Well, no. And that's all fair. Like that there, there are some dud episodes. In fact, I still like, so it is so funny where I was like, yeah, season nine might be the weakest season, but season one had some duds, but I forgave it because I know it's still fighting its voice and it's still caught. It's or it would get my attention and it just had that clunky ending. That was as bad as an M night movie, but season ones of every show are like that because they're

[00:08:03] establishing the characters. You're getting your main plot, your subplot. Then you have your other subplots that, that come back in the future that they're playing seeds for, but you don't realize it until, you know, it's either going to be an intricate show like X-Files or it's just going to be one of those that decides to go off and do something new or become a cult hit without even realizing it.

[00:08:29] And then as season two picks up, they either go with a cliffhanger from the previous season or they're like, oh, this is all brand new or it's going to be an anthology deal. Yes. No. And in all fairness, like I think there is a lot of devils in the details. I just had it binged, binged it all in one afternoon and before I worked out and I was just like, OK, there's a lot of stuff that's not working, but I kind of want a little more

[00:08:57] like they just there was some little deep, some little details that slowly came in. They had some good actors. They had Rachel Hayward, who you would know from. Man, she's been in everything. Xena, True Calling, the L word, Dead Zone. So it's like they had some very reliable guys. D.B. Sweeney was good as kind of the second lead. He's kind of was the main reason I wanted to watch this anyway. What a great name. Mike Pinocchio. I still like the dude from. On Solo with the heart of gold.

[00:09:26] Oh, kind of. Yeah. I like the dude from Twilight Zone named Sneezy Waters. Sneezy Waters. I'm not kidding. That's his name. It's so funny. Which version Twilight stuff? Which 80s? 80s Twilight Zone. Yeah. I was like, what? Who named themselves Sneezy Waters? What's so funny, though, is there is an X-Files connection. Apparently, Sir Jane Redman did appear in, you know, the X-Files, I want to believe, as a

[00:09:56] character referred to as Agent Fossa. And that's her name on this show, Inga Fossa. I think it's just an Easter egg. It's just for those who are Chris Carter heads. But no one would have possibly gotten that at that point. Like this show was. I'm a Carter head. I know everything. I didn't know that. I didn't know about that until today. But when you said it, so I know. Well, and there is. I mean, it is kind of Millennium Leftovers. Lance Hendrickson plays the general who recruits Hobbs to this virtual reality game. Yeah, it's just near the end.

[00:10:26] Like those last two episodes, I was like, OK, now we're kind of at the point where this is something I would see totally would be perfect for something like Revolution, Jericho, Foundation, even new Battlestar. And it's just it came out wrong time, wrong place. It took a while getting going. What I had seen the same season two. Yes. Was season one perfect? No. Should you watch it anyway? Yes. Like it'll just kind of. It's a happy disappointment.

[00:10:55] Like, I really think you'll you'll appreciate not only the X-Files Millennium crew as a whole even more, but you'll also you'll want I ended up checking out the comic book by James Hudnall and Andrew Poquette. I mean, that that's that you go down that rabbit hole like that guy. James D. Hunnett, who did finally get properly credited when the show came to DVD and was syndicated,

[00:11:22] just not on the first run of you, my guys might know him for writing the unauthorized biography of Lex Luthor. Never. Really? No. OK. Yeah, he he's written all kinds of artwork, done professional writing and done some lecturing. So I was just like, this made me appreciate another underdog who kind of made his own kind of career doing a very diverse stuff. But you would have probably read some of his Superman stuff from the 87 to 06 run and Strike Force.

[00:11:53] Yeah. I mean, I haven't read a lot of comic books, but yeah, but I'm looking like lately, I've been wanting to go back to comic books again. So just, you know, starting back up with reading comic books. So I'm looking for it for sure. Yeah. Also about Harsh Realm. Yeah. About Harsham, I'll say this, that it's a show that they came out of the time the X-Files was spent for us, but like a lot of the critics and the audience at the time felt like the mythology had just floundered. Like the show was being on David the company was on its last legs at that moment, right?

[00:12:22] So it feels like it feels like it feels like a long time to spin off this and the long gunman. Like these both shows, you know, they can't work. I mean, Fox in the back, Harsham. Yeah. I mean, also, you cannot forget the idea about Harsham was that, you know, like the whole distribution circus that went on with Harsham, right? Like, you know, Fox, you know, the way the Fox was promoted as the great show of the century or something.

[00:12:47] And then just, you know, lots of bad fate decisions, lots of, you know, bad broadcasting decisions, et cetera. I think shutting it off, like shutting it off over different timings. And, you know, that's how you market a show, right? No, I agree. There we go. It's like, Lone Gunman, it's a shame it's canceled, but you get a little more from it, especially in doubt. But there are times where I'm just going to find like I'll see someone trip on their ass and be like, it's almost kind of like how the lone gunmen are when they're transported or different computers or tech stuff out.

[00:13:17] But I this one. Yeah, it's a missed opportunity. It's just it was definitely the wrong time, wrong place. But I love to argue. Yeah, please. Can I say something? Please, please. Yeah. Like if like, you know, like a lot of people talk about the exposure revival. Like I love to see Harsham, Harsham reply someday, you know, like, I don't know.

[00:13:38] I think Harsham is a show that I think could work in today's day and age, you know, I mean, since they're making it kind of a anthology, they could probably do a virtual reality chapter and just have it be a level from the Harsham verse. You know, kind of like the virtual reality episodes of X files. But I mean, Samantha Mathis, I don't I know she's a vice president of SAG after now from 2015 to 2019. But she kind of defined the 90s for me.

[00:14:07] It's like she was in everything. You know, Super Mario Brothers, you know, American president, Broken Arrow, American Psycho and Punisher. And you're just like, man, what happened? She's a fun character actress. And I still see her doing some TV stuff. I was like, yeah, that's the but that's the gal who was in every other 90s movie playing the girlfriend or the the tomboy next door. She just kind of.

[00:14:33] So it was interesting seeing her get a rare kind of authoritative role on this. And to be fair, I guess my only issue is everyone has all their powers like Pinocchio has his. He's cynical and he's a Delta Force guy from working in Desert Storm in Yugoslavia. But Florence is a mute with powers and Dexter is an alternate version of a real life dog of the character.

[00:14:59] I was like, this could have been an X-Men kind of TV show. It's just kind of. It kind of I don't think it's screwed around and found out. I think it just it was so busy getting it done, it kind of took a while to kind of breathe. And again, as a result, it had to suffer because, again, Carter's trying to keep he's getting over Millennium getting canceled at this point. He's keeping X-Files going because that's his baby. He's already had success from the first movie.

[00:15:27] He's starting up Lone Gunman. So, yeah, it just it was lost in the shuffle. It just some someone had to go. And this was kind of the. This is like a Mormon choosing which of his wives he wants to live with. I hate to use that phrase, but that's kind of what it is, is like you kind of having to choose which one stays on the air and which one. Just unfortunately, I can't get the guys to give me another shot. But I think the best episodes. Yeah, that one of the X-Files.

[00:15:55] At that one, the X-Files and Chris Carter, they all became victims of their own success, frankly, in my opinion. Like Chris Carter, the X-Files, they became victims of their own success. As you see it, they're like, you know, at that point, you know, you're saturated. The same thing happened with Joss Whedon, if you look at the production history of Buffy, Angel and Firefly. Like, what's another example? I'm I'm forget. This is the main comparison I can feel because right now I'm watching Buffy. So, I mean, looking over the production history of Buffy and Angel.

[00:16:25] So, I mean, that's something that's fascinating to me. So, like, yeah, you know, right now, like, Joss Whedon, I mean, I mean, obviously, the thing about Joss Whedon is his conversations become largely about his, you know, sexual allegations, etc. And the way that he's become, he's become more of your, he's become a no-go for a lot of people. It makes sense. So, yeah, like, you know, that's what happens, you know, like when you're trying to make three different shows and, you know.

[00:16:52] Well, and if no one said anything, corrected your behavior, you're going to keep doing it. So it is kind of one of those. It's so funny. Like, there was stuff I liked about his stuff. And then there was other stuff where I didn't like, like, I think Chris Carter. When he does a controversial take that I don't agree with, like, I don't think the gunman should have died. But at the same time, I kind of admire his conviction that he stuck with that that was intended. So. He's kind of a more mature.

[00:17:19] Like when Josh kills someone off, he did that just as a cheap rise because he just got fan mail. Hey, I love so and so. They're sexy. And he's kind of a sociopathic behavior. While Chris is interesting in that he doesn't really. He just he goes with kind of his gut. He's like, that's what I think we should do. Sorry, didn't turn out well. But instead of like other guys who have to write themselves out of a corner or retcon something, he's just like, well, sorry. I didn't predict it right. You know, it's kind of interesting. I like.

[00:17:50] I like to think the Buffy success came in spite of Josh. I mean, sure. Josh. Yeah, no, I did. I just. The writers have not said anything about it. Buffy. Yeah. A lot of the Buffy writers, I feel like Marty Noxon, David Fury. I live around Jane Espenson, obviously, like a lot of the core writing team was a. I think it's a reason how Buffy success that angels play in Tim Minear, Jeffrey Bell and Drew Goddard came into the. So many. Angel when Drew Goddard came in. Yeah, exactly. Like, you know.

[00:18:19] I never believed in fate or destiny or that stuff about your path already being chosen. Who could believe it when a choice made in the space of a heartbeat can change your life? But here I am wondering what force put me here, brought me to this moment.

[00:18:50] Final thoughts on Harsh Realm. I mean, that's basically his version of the prisoner. People were comparing it to the Matrix, even though it was already in the can. It just didn't come out until after the Matrix. Samantha Mathis star in that or was she like recurring? Wasn't she on that? Samantha Mathis? Yes. Harsh Realm? Yep. Basically the commanding officer. And so, yeah, you got all these kind of actors who are kind of fading from the public memory, but. Scott Bairstow. Scott Bairstow. Problem with kids. Kids again. Exactly. Yeah.

[00:19:20] I thought I was going to struggle watching this show, knowing that I know he's a scumbag behind the scenes, but surprisingly the focus was on every. His character is likable. Yeah. Well, and the focus was on an ensemble. So it was when it wasn't focused on him. Then it was Ontario Quinn and Glenn Moore showers overseers. Then it was on Max Martini and. Moore showers a great guy, by the way. Oh, my God. Yes, he is. I hung out with him for three hours. He's a great guy. At a convention or. Yeah. We literally hung out for three hours. The guy was awesome. Yeah.

[00:19:50] He still teaches acting. Yeah. I forgot that he was in harsh realm. That was. I saw that before I met him. But yeah, that was. Yeah. We were joking how there's apparently some brief like inferences in one X files episode to harsh realm because there's a who's named that. But so give me how many actors were from millennium and strange luck on this, you know, D.B. Sweeney, Han Lance Henderson. No strange luck. Oh, Jesus. That's a good. Yes, I do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:20:18] But if you think about it, maybe this is a mere X files verse. Maybe this is in one of the lone gunman's video games. Yeah, maybe this is. I've only seen one episode of lone gunman. I've only seen one episode of lone gunman. I know. I know that 9-11 stuff that was kind of a. I know that. It scared me away too at first. Yeah. I was like, oh no. But then, yeah, it's it's more to it than that. But I do find it funny how D.B. Sweet has been a hardworking actor.

[00:20:47] And then you have all these producers who we know and like who don't want to work with them. And you're like, oh, jeez. You're like, really? What did he do? He's a good actor. He's a good actor. Yeah. But even if you're a good actor, if you're we're human, if we're having a bad day and we're on our sixth audition, I'm probably not going to bring it to you. You know, I'm just going to give you something that makes you think. I mean, John, I was just I when I'm not editing, I'm just looking at fun interviews all the day.

[00:21:14] And I saw one historical one before we started of John Wells talking about how he got asked to do a one season, six episode Stephen Bochko show. And Bochko proceeds to say this is terrible, rips up his script and says, but I think you're a great writer. So join. I mean, I love those have John Wells. Yeah, John Wells. Yeah. Okay. He got hired. And he gets hired by Stephen Bochko. I'm just printed. Johnny zero.

[00:21:43] Let's name some really not well-known ones that he did. Smith. Smith. But Johnny zero was 2003. That was six or seven episodes. That was pretty good. That was basically X-Files meets the fugitive. Yeah. But all these or is it? No, Johnny zero. I know there's John Doe and there's Johnny zero. Well, Johnny zero. Yes. Johnny zero Fox. And it just wasn't marketed. But yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:11] So in my mind, harsh realm is in the X-Files. I was a first person shooter. Like that's an extension of that computer game. But I mean, Chris is just playing around at that point, just kind of doing Easter eggs, which I kind of credit to him. But I do kind of wonder why even aside from his Amazon pitch, why he doesn't do more pitches or if he's just tired of doing that. And he hasn't really spoken on it. He's just kind of.

[00:22:35] Talked about how he got certain stuff done, but I don't know what he's done in between, you know, just doing conventions. Yeah. So on harsh realm, why do you think that was the prisoner for the two thousands? It was more than just a number. I don't know. I don't know. So speaking for those who don't know, she is the ultimate geek.

[00:23:03] I don't know if I would call it the prisoner. Well, it's just as such. Yeah. But it's it. It has that flavor to it. But hard to compare to the Matrix, even though it was in development before that, you know, it's yeah, it just had the bad luck of coming out. The of airings, you know, what, six months, seven months after I gave it a chance because like it finds its voice in those last three episodes.

[00:23:32] And I didn't give it a chance at first because I'm like, oh, yeah, it didn't last long. It's X-Files leftover. Chris Carter isn't as successful outside of that. I'm glad I gave it a chance, even though it was kind of average. Now, there is. This one actress who is on Harsh Realm ends up playing a version of that character in an X-Files episode, implying that it's kind of a cyber universe like that's a video game inside. Mm hmm. X-Files. There's there.

[00:24:01] The argument could be made that Harsh Realm falls into the X-Files universe. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. You threw me with saying that homicide life on the street is in the X-Files universe. We can we can get into that later. But I know. A different day. Harsh. Like I said, Harsh Realm suffered from coming into everyone's consciousnesses six months after the Matrix.

[00:24:32] Uh, I thought the idea and like I said, I wrote I wrote an essay about what happened, what I think should have happened with Harsh Realm. That. The potential of that show. Was definitely untapped. Pretty unrealized. And you're like, I could have gone into it more. Yeah.

[00:25:00] But there were also some slight steps for the technology that were not, I think, accurately addressed for the technology that was available at the time. Yeah. They always took shortcuts with that. Oh. And that, that, that. Even though it's in the future, kinda. That hurt my heart. It wasn't that far in the future. Yeah.

[00:25:23] But the way they treated the technology around the virtual worlds and the hardware needed to run those virtual worlds, that was the, my biggest problem. I'm like, you know where these, these servers have to sit. If you don't, you know it's easy to find them. I mean, military intelligence could easily find the colonel's data farm. Yeah. And, and rage quit him.

[00:25:54] I mean, trap him in his own world. That would, that would work. Yeah. So. That was, that was my biggest problem. Like some of the technology wasn't leveraged as efficiently as it could have been. Yes. But the intrigue of what was going on. And good cast. In, in the virtual world and outside the virtual world was a lot of fun.

[00:26:22] I'm a fan of Sarah Jane Raymond, uh, Mark Ralston. D.B. Sweeney. Yeah. Oh yeah. I gotta love that man. Oh, dude. Glenn Moreshauer. And, uh, so here's two in universe connections. So basically, uh, sign and Zayt, the season seven episode. It's a plot arc of X files, just showing mold or search for his sister. And they're just finally concluding it in that episode.

[00:26:49] A character is briefly watching harsh realm on TV. So in the X files verse, it's kind of a TV show, but then it gets even more wild because then in the second infamous movie, which that second recut, that's a whole other story. Uh, Sarah Jane Raymond plus special agent charm Fossa, which is kind of a wild because she played in Fossa on harsh realm. So they're joking. Okay. Maybe it's a mirror universe. Maybe it's whatever, but it's, it's an Easter egg for those who are Chris Carter heads.

[00:27:18] So, you know, it had a lot of things going for it. I think it could be a video game in the lone gunman universe for sure. And despite, I mean, I've always known about it years before I ever saw it in recent years. I was just like, yeah, I know Jillian Anderson, Lance Henderson were, you know, voiceovers and cameos in the pilot. I know Terry O'Quinn was here as the evil general guy. And it's like, okay, yeah. And, uh, the, I think it would have found its voice in that second season. It's just, it had a lot to go through.

[00:27:48] I find it so wild how FX and sci-fi channel did marathons of this. And I'm like, where was I? I would have totally watched this. And I just, I missed them. And they, they aired like a few of the episodes that didn't get aired in the first run on Fox. I'm like, yeah, it's just. Yeah. There's, there's, there was two episodes, I think that did not air on the original run.

[00:28:10] Plus scripts for the, the other, well, you know, the story between Fox and Chris Carter and JMS, right? J. Michael Straczynski was involved. Sort of. Okay. I knew about the comic book lawsuit. I knew about that, but well, yeah, that I've already covered that part of the earlier segment.

[00:28:36] So JMS and Chris Carter were working on a new series. It was a collaboration with the two of them together. So that does confirm. I always thought they had something in common, even though Carter wasn't a sci-fi. Guy and JMS had a similar gritty evaluation. Okay. That's cool. They were going to do a series together.

[00:29:02] If, if I don't know how the deal was structured, but if, if harsh room had aired that 10th episode. Okay. They were working for Georgeville TV around 2012, 2013, but they were running distinct shows rather than a single collaborator creation. He, Chris Carter. They were going to collaborate on it. There was, there was a show that that was going to go, that they were going to start producing together.

[00:29:30] If harsh room Fox canceled harsh room before that final, that 10th episode went into production. So the deal collapsed. Chris Carter basically said, I'm, you know, taking my balls and going home. So the project never happened. There's an image. Uh, so that's wild. Okay. Cause I'm going home. Um, I love the South Park. Uh, so yeah, all I'm seeing is the after that Amazon pilot, which was pretty cool.

[00:29:58] And then hunters, which he was developing for ABC that didn't make it. That's for Will Smith's overbrook entertainment. So no, it was, that was not that show. Uh, wow. It was a totally different show. And you would think they, they would totally get along perfectly. Cause no, they, they, they, they were working on it, but the studio support dropped out. Well, I'm just saying in general, they just have similar minds. Yeah.

[00:30:26] There was some clause that allowed, uh, Fox to clock Chris Carter back to X-Files because harsh rum didn't continue forward past point A. I forgot. And that's the same reason why Space Above and Beyond was canceled after that one season. Fox said, no, you're not going to get a season two. Uh, you know, you two guys Wong and I forget the other guy's name.

[00:30:55] Uh, Glenn Morgan and James Wong. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Those two guys come back to X-Files because X-Files ratings dropped by, you know, two tenths of a percent of a point. We need you back. We want you back. Not we need you back. We want you back. Same thing with Steven Bochco and David E. Kelly. They keep leaving LA law to do their own shows like Doogie Howser in Chicago. And then they're like, can you come back? Like we don't want to, but we, I guess we have to, cause we started the show. Yeah. We started the fire. Yeah. That that's what happened with space above and beyond.

[00:31:24] Cause that was, that was primed to go to a season two, but Fox was terrified. Fox was terrified of X-Files slipping at all. So they brought those two back. Yeah. Why can't we have both? Um, I know. Right. Why can't we have nice things? And then why do you guys want to air stuff out of order? Like with firefly and everything is like, don't, don't do that. It never works.

[00:31:53] It's everything is serialized. Better TV is serialized. The best shows are the ones that you want to watch all day. And then you get something from instead of I'll put it on when, whenever, uh, the Maddening, the madness it's. Mm-hmm . So what do you think they would have done with the concept? You know, it's. Uh, I, I, I went for some of the comic. It's, it's pretty much alike in a lot of factors. It's just kind of taking its time more with different.

[00:32:20] Guys training in simulations and what have you. Well, the show is kind of always on the run. I. In these different tests. You know, just, and this is just my personal preference for the storylines that we got. I think having a focus on a, why the Colonel decided to hijack this world who. Yeah. We don't really get to know him. Right. We don't get to know him.

[00:32:50] We don't get to know why. Sweeney and Max Martini's characters reveal some info as it goes on, but that's not the same. That's like. That's like a story of a story passed down by another story. And, and D.B. Sweeney's character was supposedly the key Pinocchio supposedly had the information about why the Colonel was doing this, but he was kind of scared and didn't want to tell anybody because he didn't want a whole lot of people dying. Mm-hmm.

[00:33:18] Um, but I, that we, we should have gotten a reason why the Colonel was doing this because it seemed like, and this is just my theory from the show, the episodes that we got. It seemed like he was holding on to all of these soldiers. Yeah. Because remember these soldiers who were trapped in that world, cause you, you saw the room with all the, the bodies, right? Yeah. And their consciousnesses. Their consciousnesses. There's all these skill squads coming for them.

[00:33:48] You're like, what's going on? All these futuristic military guys. Those, all of these, all the consciousnesses of all those soldiers, and it looked like it was about 500, were trapped in that world that the Colonel created. Mm-hmm. And all of those soldiers. Almost like Agent Smith in the Matrix. Were high level soldiers.

[00:34:12] They either had high aptitude in specialized areas, high physical skills. Definitely all of them had, uh, well, it was implied that they had a high mental capacity. Like a chip in them? Not a chip in them, but smarter than the average bear, you know?

[00:34:33] So, was the Colonel trying to build and train a super soldier army in the virtual world where, you know, literally. I kind of got that. A year, a year could pass in the virtual world where only a week would pass in the real world? Mm. Kind of like how space and time and outer space are different from. Right.

[00:34:57] He was trying, I, he was trying to train, uh, an army of super soldiers or, you know, super soldiers at that time. But for what purpose? Because he didn't have enough of them to actually, uh, invoke a real coup on the United States. So what was his goal? What, why did he want to hold onto these soldiers? I'm with you. Because they hit that on them.

[00:35:25] Those soldiers could not, those soldiers could not exit Harsh Rom. Right. And go back home, you know, consciously. Why was he holding onto them? What was he doing with them? What was his plan? What was his plan to do with them? And all it takes is them turning this whole computer system off and you're all fried. So, yeah. Right.

[00:35:43] And why wouldn't the, the, the army command structure, why wouldn't they take steps to either disconnect Harsh Rom from the internet, from the world to isolate it so people couldn't travel in and out like the colonel had been. Yeah.

[00:36:06] And, and why couldn't they find the colonel's server farm for his copy of Harsh, because he hijacked Harsh Rom. All right. But he's obviously not using the army's server farm. He's using his own. So how did he do that? He had to have taken like a dozen trucks, load them up with servers, drive them off someplace else and hook them up somewhere else. How did he do that? Yeah.

[00:36:35] I would have liked more on that because. Yeah. How did he create his own copy of Harsh Rom and how did he make his copy of Harsh Rom supersede the army's copy of Harsh Rom? How did that happen? And, and like I said, and how he did that might connect to why he's doing this. We don't know. But the fact that those threads were just left dangling there. Annoyed me.

[00:37:04] Cause I was, I was sitting there thinking about some of those for a while. I'm like, what if he did this? What if he did this? Why did he do this? Why didn't, why didn't he rage quit the army's version? So his version would be the only one and they couldn't find him. What is going on here? That's why I swear by Sean Ryan. Cause he wraps everything up. He treats it like a mini series. He doesn't wait for the sensors and network execs to cancel everything. So everything he does stands well on its own because it's like, yeah, you got some closure.

[00:37:32] Obviously I'll keep it open so I can revisit it. But it's like, yeah, all those edgy shows he did the unit, the shield, everything is like, even though they had more time, he would always wrap everything up. He's like, this might be our final year. I haven't heard from them in a while, even though they're letting us do everything and I'm not going to be pushed over. So yeah, he worked on Nash Bridges as their main story editor. And then it's so funny. He went from can't be fun stuff like that to even more diverse and visual and gritty stuff.

[00:38:01] And you're like, you know, I wish he would get an Emmy or Golden Globe because he's very multi-talented that there's all kinds of talents. I think Courtney Kemp, who started off as a staff writer on Good Wife and then created the power franchise should definitely get a accolade. But yeah, there's all kinds of people is like, I wish we knew their names because people know their movies and shows. They just don't know them. We'll return after these messages.

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