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11.22.63 |OT| James Franco in Stephen King's JFK Time-Travel Miniseries
- Thread starter Ape Gone Insane
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Robdraggoo
Member
I havnt read it since it came out. But thats what i remember.
Macadinho94
Member
The soundtrack to this show is amazing, keep listening to the playlist on Spotify.
This is so annoying. Why is Hulu doing it this way? One of the best things about digital distribution is instant season release. Since the last episode of 11.22.63 that I've watched I've watched the entire new House of Cards season.
exmachina64
Banned
She is; after Kennedy completes his second term, a wave of conservatism stronger than the one our universe experienced occurs. George Wallace becomes president, conservative general Curtis LeMay becomes president after serving as Wallace's vice president and Reagan becomes president in '76.
In the book, she dies when they stop Oswald at the book depository.
Afaik, the leadership at Hulu still believes that weekly distribution a la the traditional model is best and keeps people coming back.
Discotheque
Banned
I loved the first few episodes of this but it got really annoying when Bill and Sadie entered the mix.
It's still a fun miniseries though but not as great as I initially thought it was.
It's still a fun miniseries though but not as great as I initially thought it was.
Keyser Soze
Member
I have convinced myself a Season 2 is coming. It would drastically depart from the book, and they would have to do a ton of original content for S2, but it could easily be done by resetting the world which is already a known entity in the TV show world.
(Slight Book Spoiler)
....
(Bigger Book Spoiler) ...
(Book Ending / Show Speculation)
(Slight Book Spoiler)
A lot has to happen post the JFK scene. A hell of a lot. There are 100 pages of the book post what happened there. The whole book in 800 pages. They are going to have to jam a lot of content into the finale to get Jake to the point
(Bigger Book Spoiler) ...
of giving up on changing the past via time travel and settle on leaving well enough alone for the sake of reality itself. The effort to get Jake to give up on his quest does not seem like something that can be explained away so quickly. The possibility of giving Jake another reset (Season 2) before he finally realizes he is fucking reality up too much to continue is not that big of a stretch.
(Book Ending / Show Speculation)
I actually thought Episode 7 was going to end with stopping/killing Oswald, Sadie dieing, and the cops storming into the room. Episode 8 could then have started with Jake been interrogated, let go, hearing about the LA earthquake, and returning home to the mess he has caused. That may have been tidy enough for a finale, but trying to shoehorn almost two chapters of a book into one episode is a lot in my opinion. Of course, they could always totally rewrite the ending, and try for a happier one, although seeing as they have already included the "Yellow Card Man" storyline in the show, and have shown that "the past is obdurate" many times, going for a happy ending at this point does not work. I am intrested in what they will do next Monday, although unless the show's ending departs greatly from the book I cannot see episode 8 been very tidy
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I'd be okay with a Season 2. But I'm one of those people that thinks "The book is the book, and the show is the show." I don't really consider changes to be fuckups. Some stuff just can't be translated to a TV show and still make it interesting. Especially when you only have 8 episodes. They might gloss over strong aspects of the book, but maybe there is something they can do better. I wouldn't be shocked if we get a more ambiguous ending as a hook for a possible Season 2.
I mean they could make this show for 12 seasons and it'll never be as bad as Under the Dome was. Lol.
I mean they could make this show for 12 seasons and it'll never be as bad as Under the Dome was. Lol.
exmachina64
Banned
I could see the show being continued into a second season, but I've suspected they're going to depart from the book's ending. If Sadie doesn't die, I'm going to be pretty convinced.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Bill got fucked so hard by all of this.
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Poor Bill. Those places were downright medieval back in the day. Can't say it's a stretch that a place like that would break him. During his conversation with Sadie, I just kept focusing on that open window with the breeze coming through, I knew it was going to go south. Book Spoilers:
The scene with Oswald looking at the newspaper in the park was excellent. Not some elaborate setup with months of planning, just an idea born out of opportunity.
And Sadie snapping Jake out of it. Get it, girl! She really got to shine in this episode.
I figured they would either do a huge swerve and have him fuck up Jake's plan on the big day or kill him off, guess they went with the latter because it changes the story the least. His character got majorly swept under the rug though, a bit of an unsatisfying end for him.
The scene with Oswald looking at the newspaper in the park was excellent. Not some elaborate setup with months of planning, just an idea born out of opportunity.
And Sadie snapping Jake out of it. Get it, girl! She really got to shine in this episode.
uncelestial
Member
Poor Bill? The guy who said "fuck JFK" and decided boning a married woman was more important than having friends or saving the world can get fucked.
I've watched the first 4 eps and while its entertaining there are some things I've major issues with.
1. In the third ep its all of a sudden 1962. It felt like 2 months had past, at the most.
2. Jake kills the butcher in Holden (?), walks out of the house bloody with something like 20 people seeing him. Its a small town and everybody knows he's a stranger and many people in town know his name. He still uses the same name after that.
3. While it doesn't make for good TV to have a character alone at most times it makes no sense that Jake has a partner now.
4. Time being really selective about when to push back. It seems only to be a factor when its directly connected to JFK
1. In the third ep its all of a sudden 1962. It felt like 2 months had past, at the most.
2. Jake kills the butcher in Holden (?), walks out of the house bloody with something like 20 people seeing him. Its a small town and everybody knows he's a stranger and many people in town know his name. He still uses the same name after that.
3. While it doesn't make for good TV to have a character alone at most times it makes no sense that Jake has a partner now.
4. Time being really selective about when to push back. It seems only to be a factor when its directly connected to JFK
Keyser Soze
Member
1. I dont remember this exact jump happening, but the show condenses time a lot. Viewers have to accept that for an 8 episode series. The book had much more down time. There were chapters that told the story of Jake simply blending into community.
2. It might not be the best explanation. but I believe the feeling from the neighbourhood was "fuck that guy," as he was known to be horrible to his family. The show and book also regularly makes the police for look slightly incompetent to be honest.
3. I did not like Bill's inclusion either as it was a big departure from the book, but in all honesty he was needed as a surrogate for the audience to help explain things. It was either that or a bunch of monologuing narration detailing Jake's thought.
4.The logic about this one is that time itself hates change, and the bigger the change the more time pushes back. Jake can make a bunch of little changes and maybe affect the lives of a few people, but do something that could change the country and the world and time basically throws a hissy fit. The ending of the book (last 50 pages or so)
goes into huge detail about the ramifications of messing with time and reality itself, it is much more complicated than everyone initially thought
I understand what you mean but that time logic only seems to extent to 2016. Every person he saves/kills directly or indirectly will (most likely) have or would have offsprings so its simple math that sometime in the future some great-great-great-great grandchild will have or would have some impact on mankind
On episode 3 currently.
I really enjoyed the book a lot and so far Im....ok with the show. However, i think it is really a piss pour excuse at writing when you throw in "F**ks" into normal dialogue...to make it, i dunno, more intense or real? In the first episode you have the Jack, who is a teacher for literature dropping f-bombs and his diner friend doing the same. It was so out of character from the books. Someone can correct me if im wrong but I dont remember Jack swearing like at ALL in the book.
You dont need f**k to make your show more intense and dramatized. So stupid.
I am enjoying J Franco though so far.
I really enjoyed the book a lot and so far Im....ok with the show. However, i think it is really a piss pour excuse at writing when you throw in "F**ks" into normal dialogue...to make it, i dunno, more intense or real? In the first episode you have the Jack, who is a teacher for literature dropping f-bombs and his diner friend doing the same. It was so out of character from the books. Someone can correct me if im wrong but I dont remember Jack swearing like at ALL in the book.
You dont need f**k to make your show more intense and dramatized. So stupid.
I am enjoying J Franco though so far.
metalslimer
Member
The show is very disappointing considering where I thought the show could go in episode 2. Episode 2 was my favorite personally. It turned more into a love story between Jake and Sadie and it lost a lot of the intrigue. I mean it's still a watchable show but I don't know if it is anything more than average
Also yeah the amount of time wasted in the last episode on the amnesia was frustrating.
Also yeah the amount of time wasted in the last episode on the amnesia was frustrating.
VisceralBowl
Member
That actually is what happened.
No, Oswald shoots her in the book depository.
It worked a lot better in the book, I'll say that.
Granted, the book is so much longer that they can incorporate a twist like that in a conceivable fashion, but I do admire that they at least tried here.
User 479360
Banned
I wish I could watch this on TV, as opposed to a streaming service. It's really interesting-sounding.
uncelestial
Member
Good ending. Really, could just been like a three episode thing. First, a middle one where he meets Sadie, and this.
But I enjoyed the watch so, nice work Hulu.
The stuff with Harry and Bill and George the shady friend of Oswald's and amnesia was all such silliness. If there's that much padding in an 8-episode show you got problems.
univariate
Banned
That was way too rushed. I wish there wasn't as much filler with Bill and the Jodie crap.
The alternate timeline was pretty neat, and I wish it was explored more.
The alternate timeline was pretty neat, and I wish it was explored more.
Macadinho94
Member
Cast Sarah Gadon in everything, her and Franco together were the best things about this series.
Why would they do this?
Overall I liked the show. I liked it a lot actually.
However the last episode felt rushed and is odd considering how much padding some of the other episodes had. I know they wanted to add some characterization and some stuff from the book but still. It would of been nice to spend some time with the alternate future and just to let it breath a little more.
Still good show.
However the last episode felt rushed and is odd considering how much padding some of the other episodes had. I know they wanted to add some characterization and some stuff from the book but still. It would of been nice to spend some time with the alternate future and just to let it breath a little more.
Still good show.
That's a pretty good theory and one I hadn't even thought of to be honest. We haven't seen episode 7 yet but watched 5 and 6 last night to get prepared for the finale. Will watch 7 and 8 tonight. I think the show was a lot better at the outset and peaked in the 2nd episode, but it's still be engaging even if the quality has dipped a bit in my eyes.
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I'm conflicted. I actually wasn't in love with this last episode. I feel like they rushed the big moment at the book depository, an also danced around explaining some of the other elements around time travel in this world. Probably could have used more about why things turned out so badly in the future, and why the past fights against being changed. Could have used a scene with Jake breaking into a library or and stealing a history book to see what was going wrong.
Book Spoilers
Overall I enjoyed the ride, but pacing killed this. My opinion is going to go against the grain of the responses in this thread, but I feel like an entire episode devoted to some of the Jodie characters would have helped. Get that characterization in, and then lazer focus on the Oswald plot after that. And then Episode 7 could have been leaner, put the actual shooting there and devote the last episode to the aftermath and the future stuff.
Book Spoilers
They kinda just glossed over the Yellow Card Man completely. I'm a bit ho-hum on the entire thing just because it feels like a waste. We didn't see that much of the alternate future and how Jake was literally ripping apart the fabric of reality with his traveling and making substantial changes. And seeing as how the show chose not to focus on the Jodie subplots, those relationships weren't really solidified enough...so it comes off as a "So what?" Which isn't how I felt about the book at all.
Overall I enjoyed the ride, but pacing killed this. My opinion is going to go against the grain of the responses in this thread, but I feel like an entire episode devoted to some of the Jodie characters would have helped. Get that characterization in, and then lazer focus on the Oswald plot after that. And then Episode 7 could have been leaner, put the actual shooting there and devote the last episode to the aftermath and the future stuff.
Alandrus Sun
Banned
Just wanted to say I started the show a few weeks ago and got caught up to the final episode to day, overall I thought it was a decent show that was both padded and rushed at the same time. I never read the books so I can only go off of what I saw in the show but episodes like the amnesia stuff could have been dropped entirely. Honestly, I started to lose interest in the show when the Jake-Sadie relationship became so prominent. I don't mind that the whole thing is just a love story but it feels weird when it suddenly shifts from conspiracy, detective stuff to knee deep in domestic couple life.
Any way, I actually enjoyed the last episode even if it was a bit rushed. In any other show that the future stuff would have been padded out for at least 2-3 episodes before finally returning to the past. I enjoyed that all we needed to know was that the world went to shit, Jake knows he's gotta go back to fix it. However, the overall resolution felt rushed I enjoyed the bittersweet ending with Sadie but the lasting impression I got from the finale was, "so what?"
Again, I never read the book but I knew that saving Kennedy would more than likely fuck up the world since as a history buff I know that Kennedy wasn't a particularly great President. Thus, I figured the meat of the story would deal with Jake as he gradually learns that somethings cannot be fixed while also figuring out his purpose. This is a guy after all who decides to go back in time to save the President because he basically has nothing else going on in his life. So by the end I would have liked if he was able to use all the experiences he got from the past to help him and others in the present.
Yes, he couldn't help Harry (or whatever the Janitor's name was in the past) but he's able to go to bat for him and get him that promotion. He's able to use his knowledge of the principal in the past to get her to be a more caring, compassionate person. Hell, maybe he even becomes principal after being inspired by Deek and has a new found vigor to inspire those students a this school. However, the only real resolution we got was between him and Sadie as he discovers she led a full and happy life without him. So again the question to me becomes, "so what?" What was the point of his journey if everything was already fine and he couldn't help anyone? What exactly was his growth?
Any way, I actually enjoyed the last episode even if it was a bit rushed. In any other show that the future stuff would have been padded out for at least 2-3 episodes before finally returning to the past. I enjoyed that all we needed to know was that the world went to shit, Jake knows he's gotta go back to fix it. However, the overall resolution felt rushed I enjoyed the bittersweet ending with Sadie but the lasting impression I got from the finale was, "so what?"
Again, I never read the book but I knew that saving Kennedy would more than likely fuck up the world since as a history buff I know that Kennedy wasn't a particularly great President. Thus, I figured the meat of the story would deal with Jake as he gradually learns that somethings cannot be fixed while also figuring out his purpose. This is a guy after all who decides to go back in time to save the President because he basically has nothing else going on in his life. So by the end I would have liked if he was able to use all the experiences he got from the past to help him and others in the present.
Yes, he couldn't help Harry (or whatever the Janitor's name was in the past) but he's able to go to bat for him and get him that promotion. He's able to use his knowledge of the principal in the past to get her to be a more caring, compassionate person. Hell, maybe he even becomes principal after being inspired by Deek and has a new found vigor to inspire those students a this school. However, the only real resolution we got was between him and Sadie as he discovers she led a full and happy life without him. So again the question to me becomes, "so what?" What was the point of his journey if everything was already fine and he couldn't help anyone? What exactly was his growth?
Macadinho94
Member
Agree somewhat, this show needed at least the Netflix standard 13 episodes. They even could have done two seasons of 8 episodes if Hulu wanted. Some bits were really rushed, especially the final 100 or so pages of the book where they rushed it into about 20 minutes. They never touched upon how time travel works really and never shown how and why the past pushed back. Still an enjoyable adaption, I'm just happy we got it and King seems happy with this adaption on his Twitter account anyway. (I'm sure he got a nice payday for it but still.)
I got more teary eyed with the phone call from the president than the actual ending. I had a feeling this would be a "Future can't be changed" story and I figured he would have to undo his changes (never read the book). But I would have liked more clarification as to why the "Kennedy lived" future went to hell other than mumblings of bombs and camps. In the end, the JFK episodes of Quantum Leap handled things better (where Sam saved the First Lady, when in his timeline she was killed). This, however, leaves me with a underwhelmed feeling, like when Indiana Jones said in that horrible Crystal Skull film about the journey being the most valuable reward... To that, I say "Bah humbug". Shame too, I really liked the story until that conclusion.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I don't mind the ending, but time travel stories are always unfulfilling. The dude literally wasted 5 years of his life to find out that you shouldn't change history. He doesn't even really turn his own life around, which is what you'd expect as a consolation prize in this kind of story.
Ending made me a bit teary-eyed I have to confess. It takes a lot for a show to make me do that.
I really enjoyed this series but here's what kind of sucks: The whole story was for nothing! He saves JFK but loses Sadie, warps back to present day and the US has gone to shit circa 1975 when it got bombed and there were refugee camps and stuff. Yikes.
So he basically has to give up and go back to regular present day, changing nothing, and lost two years of his life doing so. Seriously, this is one of the most depressing stories of all time if you take a step back and look at everything Jake tried so hard to gain only to lose it in an instant.
btw I don't think there will be a Season 2. There was only one book and it basically ends the same way.
I really enjoyed this series but here's what kind of sucks: The whole story was for nothing! He saves JFK but loses Sadie, warps back to present day and the US has gone to shit circa 1975 when it got bombed and there were refugee camps and stuff. Yikes.
So he basically has to give up and go back to regular present day, changing nothing, and lost two years of his life doing so. Seriously, this is one of the most depressing stories of all time if you take a step back and look at everything Jake tried so hard to gain only to lose it in an instant.
btw I don't think there will be a Season 2. There was only one book and it basically ends the same way.
Muskieratboi
Member
Robdraggoo
Member
No. It ends pretty much the same way.
Green Embers
Member
Yup, these were my feelings as well. On a side note but I was disappointed in the ending as it was too similar to the Red Dwarf episode. What I thought was going to happen was that
Jake was going to return to a paradise world and then someone else would accidently go through the closet undoing his hard work.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Oh man, I totally forgot that Red Dwarf did a JFK episode. lol
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