Chapter 37-2- Balance of Power

[Jannit]

There is so much to get through here!

I managed to get myself off of the WA addiction over the past several months so there is SO much catching up to do to get back up to speed on everything that’s happened to this point. I’m going to need to start mainlining WA again to get back to where I should be!

A few thoughts relevant to this episode:

1. Pegs and Michael
These two have never made much sense to me. They never seemed to really have much chemistry in the episodes and like people have pointed out, they just don’t seem very well suited to one another.

Back in the very first episode, we saw Michael get hit on by some girl in his college class and although he turned her down cold, there really wasn’t much difference between his reaction to her and his reaction to Pegs in terms of emotion as far as I could tell. Plus, it set the bar for him having a VERY low tolerance for girly drama bullshit which Pegs seems to have in spades. I really do hope this is the end of the “Pegs and Michael” arc.

I agree with some of the comments about Pegs being better suited to someone that will pander to her clingy nature and Michael needing someone with more of a backbone. If I were to pick a single current character for Michael, it would be CJ.

Some time ago, there was a discussion around Michael and CJ’s abilities in terms of planning and execution of missions. The basis was that CJ was great at planning but crappy at execution and Michael was the opposite. Put these two together and you’ve got one hell of a power couple, in my opinion.

2. CJ and Saul
Nope. Never going to happen, romantically speaking. There’s obviously a one-sided romance going on with CJ’s feelings for Saul but to me it feels like it’s grown (or is growing) past that point. These are two people who have been though a LOT of stress and danger together. They rely on one another and trust each other. I don’t doubt that there is love between them but I get the feeling that it’s platonic. CJ’s a smart girl and being as analytical as she is about other things, I can’t see her fighting a losing battle with the Saul romance.

To me what we heard before the surgery was two people who genuinely care about one another and nothing more.

3. Michael as Leader
This episode seems to set the stage for Michael to take a step back from the leadership position. As we’ve seen in other episodes, Michael isn’t one to be a leader just for the sake of being a leader if there are other people capable of filling that role. If someone (Victor?) emerges as a person that the rest of the colony supports, I think Michael would step down willingly enough. Plus, this would free him up to explore other story arcs such as the business with Angle’s family!

Sorry about the length - there's a lot to sift through here and I'm still trying to work my way through the pages of responses.

[werewolf]

Oh snap I just thought of something why Pegs is so cold to Micheal.
Pegs is Pregers with the other guys baby. shes not showing yet. Cause she might have just found out before leaving Colorado.
She all upset cause her ex had to save her ass again. wouldn't that be a knife twist to Micheal?

[Red Shirt]

Before anything, I knew the video would be coming back in to play. I just hope they destroy it before Riley see it. She tend not to take bad news really well.

I really hope she managed to escape Irwin with a bottle of those "anger meds" that she has been taking.

2. CJ and Saul
Nope. Never going to happen, romantically speaking. There’s obviously a one-sided romance going on with CJ’s feelings for Saul but to me it feels like it’s grown (or is growing) past that point. These are two people who have been though a LOT of stress and danger together. They rely on one another and trust each other. I don’t doubt that there is love between them but I get the feeling that it’s platonic. CJ’s a smart girl and being as analytical as she is about other things, I can’t see her fighting a losing battle with the Saul romance.

To me what we heard before the surgery was two people who genuinely care about one another and nothing more.

Not so sure about how much her crush is in the past... The incident when she stripped down in front of him to clean up and then later kissed him was less than two weeks ago*. (Ch. 31 3/3 @ 9:25 and Ch. 32 2/3 @ 17:55) She might be beginning to accept it, but I'm sure she's still pining for him. I think though, that Saul does care for her in a "soldier brotherhood" sort of fashion and that the tenderness he showed CJ right before she went under was done so to solidify her will.



"Man, she did that shit on purpose."

* Best guess: seven days of surveillance, day 8 Victor infiltrates, day 9 attack, day 10 second wave, 1-2 more days before amputation.)

[MrRedBeard]

Oh snap I just thought of something why Pegs is so cold to Micheal.
Pegs is Pregers with the other guys baby. shes not showing yet. Cause she might have just found out before leaving Colorado.
She all upset cause her ex had to save her ass again. wouldn't that be a knife twist to Micheal?

Oh wow and if Michael is hurting now that would seriously wound him.

[Jannit]

Not so sure about how much her crush is in the past... The incident when she stripped down in front of him to clean up and then later kissed him was less than two weeks ago*. (Ch. 31 3/3 @ 9:25 and Ch. 32 2/3 @ 17:55) She might be beginning to accept it, but I'm sure she's still pining for him. I think though, that Saul does care for her in a "soldier brotherhood" sort of fashion and that the tenderness he showed CJ right before she went under was done so to solidify her will.

Good points, Red Shirt. I agree 100% with your comments on this. Given the break, I'd forgotten exactly how recent that kiss was. That aside, I still don't see CJ taking it any further in the romantic sense especially with Lizzy back in the picture.

[Alizée]

Just as a side note, something Michael said in Beyond Our Walls (29-2) has even more weight now.
When Pegs and group are leaving he narrates, "And just like that, they were gone. She was gone ... and I was the idiot who let her go."
=[

[SmokeyZombified]

Oh snap I just thought of something why Pegs is so cold to Micheal.
Pegs is Pregers with the other guys baby. shes not showing yet. Cause she might have just found out before leaving Colorado.
She all upset cause her ex had to save her ass again. wouldn't that be a knife twist to Micheal?

Nice, I never considered that and it is a real possibility!

[Merlin1274]

So this is something I didn't really think of until about my third listen through. Besides Saul, Riley, and Tanya, Michael has known his soldiers longer than any other main characters. Meaning Puck cares more about Michael then Saul would. Saul and Victor are closer than Saul and Michael. I'm seeing some future conflict between Saul and Puck (other than the fact that both of them in the same room leads to some interesting conversations, and potentially hilarious ones too).

Never forget back in the first chapter of Season 1 Michael mentions He and Saul served together over seas and were in the same unit. They have history.. Vic will follow Saul's lead

I think when it comes down to it.. The Fort Irwin peeps and the Tower Peeps will have Michaels back. He saved them countless times and has done a lot to keep them alive this long.. The Colony people I think will follow inline specially since Michael has the military backing him up. There maybe resistance but I think they will eventually look to him to lead. Specially if CJ does not get her head straight from loosing the leg..

[Jannit]

Oh snap I just thought of something why Pegs is so cold to Micheal.
Pegs is Pregers with the other guys baby. shes not showing yet. Cause she might have just found out before leaving Colorado.
She all upset cause her ex had to save her ass again. wouldn't that be a knife twist to Micheal?

I'm fuzzy on the time frame for this but could it be Michael's if she is pregnant? Not sure I subscribe to the idea but if the timing fit and if she is pregnant, she could have made up the Boulder guy just to throw Michael off if a baby does come along.

Again, no clue about the timing as I'm pretty out of touch with that right now.

Come to think of it, do we have a timeline of events created for WA? That'd be super helpful when looking at these sorts of things.

Edited to add: Never mind the derpy question. That handy highlighting gave me the link to the timeline. \o/ Such a smart forum.

Edit #2: Scratch that idea. The timing doesn't work at all.

[Witch_Doctor]

Oh snap I just thought of something why Pegs is so cold to Micheal.
Pegs is Pregers with the other guys baby. shes not showing yet. Cause she might have just found out before leaving Colorado.
She all upset cause her ex had to save her ass again. wouldn't that be a knife twist to Micheal?

I was half expecting Pegs to be four months pregnant when Michael found her in Fort Irwin. But THIS, this would be a super shocker!

She seriously freaked out at Michael before slamming the door, and it sounded more like a personal meltdown. What could cause her to go Fukushima?
She loses Boulder-guy. (This we know)
Did Boulder-guy turn?
Did she have to kill Boulder-guy or witness Boulder-guy's death? (She didn't seem shaken like one would have expected at losing a loved one when Michael rescued her at Irwin. Then again, none of them seemed too concerned at having lost all friends and family during the outbreak. Saul, Datu and Datu's checker buddy are the only one's who seemed concerned for missing loved ones.)
Is she carrying Boulder-Baby?
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