Preview & Discussion : Sanctuary episode #318 "Carentan" * Spoilers *

[Joelist]

Aging is an effect of time, and time passed in the bubble. That was in fact why only Helen, Will and Ravi could possibly survive. Every other person in the bubble at that time was born there - the others had all died off of old age, sickness, famines et al. So because breaking the bubble puts them back into normal time at that instant those who died in the bubble are still dead (like Ravi). However, the timeline that existed in the bubble also ceases to exist hence the others all ceasing to exist. And that is where having an unstable time bubble sitting on Earth wrecks all normal causality based time thinking (like the Einsteinian dilation effect). It's also where using them as a plot device causes migraines and one simply has to accept the rules they operate under in the script, so long as those rules are communicated to the viewer (they were) and they are self consistent (they were).

Again, this to me is an agree to disagree. As a piece of drama and especially scifi drama it was grand. And actually I would say Carter had better luck with significant others than Will has...

 

[Fel]

Well, I suppose all other women look relatively young and gorgeous next to a millenia-old Hindu aqua-spider-goddess. Or at least they have the proper number of legs. Then again, perhaps Will is a leg man.

 

[Graybrew1]

Still, aren't these all just theories? Not really a known fact, because they don't really exist.

If time travel does exist....somebody please let me know, I will find the money I'm buying a ticket on that ride. :icon_e_wink:

 

[Joelist]

Still, aren't these all just theories? Not really a known fact, because they don't really exist.

If time travel does exist....somebody please let me know, I will find the money I'm buying a ticket on that ride. :icon_e_wink:

Exactly. Hence it makes more sense to go with however the show defines behavior of the bubble as long as it is internally consistent and we the viewer are told how it is supposed to work. Carentan did both of these.

 

[Graybrew1]

Exactly. Hence it makes more sense to go with however the show defines behavior of the bubble as long as it is internally consistent and we the viewer are told how it is supposed to work. Carentan did both of these.

Yes, you know that was not the problem I had with this ep. It just did not "feel" like Sanctuary to me.

But as far as the intellectual point of argument, I guess you are right, it is another matter of opinion as to whether the speculation of how they handled it was valid or not.

 

[Joelist]

Yes, you know that was not the problem I had with this ep. It just did not "feel" like Sanctuary to me.

But as far as the intellectual point of argument, I guess you are right, it is another matter of opinion as to whether the speculation of how they handled it was valid or not.

 

[Graybrew1]

Teh heh, enjoying those emoticons now aren't you?

 

[Joelist]

Teh heh, enjoying those emoticons now aren't you?

What can I say, I've been "iconized".....

 

[Graybrew1]

What can I say, I've been "iconized".....

Way OT, I know, but if you love these, sometime when you get time, check out the other one I told you about.

 

[Mr. A]

Hallo there!

Been lurking for a while (I'm a HUGE Stargate fan and Sanctuary fan as well), but this episode made me register.

And not in a good way. Sigh.

Okay, so, good things - the "3 days of dark causing famine" was smart. In fact, I thought it was an excellent episode until they, well, "fixed" it at the end there.

Then everything fell apart in the last 10-15 minutes.

Let's discuss Relativity a bit, and the fact that time is not constant. This is, after all, real-world stuff... acceleration results in relative time dilation. Extreme acceleration results in noticeable time dilation (and a noticeable reduction in length in the direction of travel, but that's not important here). So, let's say we send a rocket ship out at a fairly decent percentage of lightspeed. It heads out, it loops around, it comes back. Say 3 years have passed for the travelers, but 25 have passed for Earth. So, what happens? Do all the babies born on Earth in that 25 years "reset" and vanish simply because the time-dilated interstellar travelers came back? Goodness no. Of course not. Time dilation is just Not a Big Deal when considering relativity. Causality is retained. The travelers are just younger than they would have otherwise been. Everyone is *fine*, and also still exists. Yay!

"But fel!" you say. "What if it's an alternate universe?!"

Well, alrighty then. If we want to assume alternate universe I guess that's sort of okay, although an alternate universe should still be, well, causally consistent (causally, as in cause and effect, not casually, as in "I'll be consistent in jeans and a t-shirt").

But, they should at least be CONSISTENT about it.

Because the episode ends up with an old guy who shouldn't be old if the time bubble reversed, dying from a bullet that was never fired by a girl who never existed.

And that, my dear fellow fans, annoys the living daylights out of me.

Oh, and it would have been nice if the other inhabitants that didn't survive the famine but were born pre-time-bubble could have ended up all not-dead and confused and such. And really, if it reversed, NONE of it happened so the episode technically wouldn't have either and everyone from town would have looked around all "deja vu, ouch my head" and the Sanctuary crew and army would never have actually gone to that area. But, I know, I ask too much.

Either reverse it, or don't. But, don't do halvesies to land all outcomes squarely in the "SAD!!!" section. It's like fingernails on my mental blackboard.

Hi Fel, and welcome to GateFans! (Nice of you to uncloak, that is )



I'm sorry you thought this episode was a complete fail, I liked it a lot. You do, however, have an interesting point with the chain of events created when the time-dilation field was destroyed. I will give it some thought and see whether I agree or not with the bolded argument.

PS: Since you're a Sanctuary fan, I'd be interested in how you would grade the other season 3 episodes we list here.

 

[Fel]

Oh, I wouldn't say complete fail. I was totally into it until the resolution.

I think I would have been fine with it if they had "gotten rid" of the villagers in another way (for instance, stating that the contents of the other universe that was apparently overlapping ours would pull back into that distinct universe and no longer be accessible from ours, would be compatible with the general portrayal of multiverse philosophy as demonstrated in, say, Stargate).

I guess I just get annoyed when the writers seem to say "Well, dunno how to end this, the love interests could get awkward... guess we'll just have to kill all the bystanders for no good reason!"

What can I say, I have a soft spot for redshirted ensigns