Where The Stars Are Scattered Thinly (Foundation S2 E4)

Welcome to spacing out with BB and Jason this week covering Foundation season two episode four, where the Stars are Scattered thinly.

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Welcome to spacing now.

I'm Bb and I'm Jason, and we are discussing the Apple TV sci fi series Foundation, one episode at a time. Spoiler free. This is our first time watching through the series, so we're not watching ahead or anything. We won't have any spoilers at all. The show's Foundation season two episode four, where the Stars are Scattered Thinly. This originally aired on August fourth, twenty twenty three. Written by lay Danna Jackson

Five check. Did we like the episode overall?

So would you like it?

Eh? It was all right. Stuff happened and it wasn't super duper confusing this time, so it was better than other episodes for sure.

I thought it was enjoyable. It was fairly light. Yeah, the tone is definitely getting a little lighter in the show. We're finding a little more balance with that.

And I liked that the action sequences with those guys on that one planet where they were fighting. That was really fun. Something happened.

Yeah, we got some some fights and some new space travel. It's also very like flirty episode.

I guess, yeah, you're right.

Yeah, I enjoyed it. I don't know that it's like going to be a standout episode or anything. But also, notably did not have our two main women in it. Yeah, that was minus a voiceover.

I really missed them, and they're unenthusiastic tempistry.

But just going off the screenshot that shows up for the next episode, it looked like it was going to feature.

Them trivia time, What facts or news could we uncover for where the stars are scattered?

Finlay trivia? Our director Mark Tanderai, someone who has a long radio career, but has also directed some horror films including Hush House, at the End of the Street and Spell. So when I read that, I wondered if we were going to be in for like a horror type episode, But not so much. It's a pretty bright episode. TV credits also include Gotham Man doctor who Oh. Then the book they pick up and open from the do some bars bookshelf is the streemad bag of a dad Gita,

Deep space dive. Let's break down some of our thoughts on the episode. You can share your thoughts with us through email or social media. We may use your comments on an upcoming episode.

Where do you want to go first?

I don't remember how the episode started.

I'm pretty sure we started at the palace with the cloud Queen and the young Emperor, Is that right?

I don't remember if it was with the spaceship and Marshmallow waking up, but either.

That might Yeah, no, that is that is where we started. We started with the.

I'm coming out of hyperdrive.

Yeah, I was confused. The first note I wrote just said flirtation and that wasn't specific enough because I was talking about hober Mallow and what's her name, not Polly, her name is Constant because she's really into him.

She really is. She's like thirsty for him. Yeah, in a way that's like uncouth.

Even in that first scene, like he said something and just like did this loud giggle.

Yeah, tone it down, girl, but also like respect because like sometimes, like I hate to do this, women tend to be very coy and indirect with their flirting and dudes don't get it. It goes over their head. The signals aren't matching up and they think, Oh, she's really nice and it's not like, oh, she likes me and wants my dep which is what the vibe she's giving off right now is very thirsty.

Yeah, And at the end of the episode, he's very direct, like, oh, I thought we were going to go on this trip together and we were gonna consummate for.

Her words, and I'm sure he was like, oh, Okay, she went there, but yeah, she's thirsty and the only thing that can satisfy her thirst this Marshmallow or herber Murru, I don't know his name. And then they like they take his ass to the triangle or whatever it is the vault and no resistance from him at all until they finally revealed that the last guy that approached it was turned into ash and then he's like what the fuck? Wait? Yeah, but then he still goes in.

I mean, I think he didn't feel like he had a choice to get away.

I feel like in the vault it was very basic and boring, Like the only part that was kind of interesting was when finally Celdic showed up. And I feel like when they came in after two days of being alone and freaked out, the energy from Hobermellow should have been like way more chaotic, way more desperate. Like if I haven't seen two people and I was stuck inside of it like an eternal abyss, I'd be freaked out. I'd be like, oh my god, what the fuck where have you been?

Yeah, he gets over it really quickly. Yeah, he's.

What did you think about the abyss or the vault?

Yeah? I mean I didn't feel too much about the inside. It felt like a stage or something.

Yeah, and I feel like this Feldar or whatever his name is, he seems more like evil, right.

Yeah, he's like sinister. Yeah, he's playing like the role of the god.

Yeah, he's really leaning in.

Yeah, and he's like trying. He's like doing things the maintain control. That's why he fried that guy.

Creepy, creepy, creepy, creepy, creepy. I didn't like that at all. I felt like alarm bells should have gone off, but because the religious people were so religious, they didn't care. And then the one skeptic stayed back and got a separate mission that he was totally into because he got called the Blade.

Yeah, and it seems to be just going along with it, not trying to run away as far as we can tell.

Yeah, I feel like there's got to be like an angle here. There's gotta be one because this guy's a con man, not just because he wants to thrust. I could not get over that line.

We got thrusting, we've got insertion.

Oh my god, why was that the most homorotic interaction when we literally had two gay men in a scene together who were partners, so it's not like, oh, we don't know each other, we're going to be respectable weird. I really wish that there was a kiss before they went on their little AirPod mission, just a quick like good luck, babe peck or something. But I guess they're trying to show us how they're a little bit disjointed.

Yeah they are. There's there's a lot of friction there.

Yeah.

Oh maybe they just they don't kiss in the workplace.

I don't believe that. I really don't. I've seen coworkers hold hands and eat together and be very like canoodlely googly googly love. I've seen a lot. Okay, I used when I worked as a security guard. I even't seen them go to the parking lot and bang went out, so I'd be excited to go to work. I don't know, but I thought it was interesting that part of the lore is that people don't see books often.

Yeah, so there's we've gotten definitely like pieces of this idea that they have restricted technology in this universe, and you would think that would mean like more books. We saw books on like the library, the Emperor's Library on Tranter, or Seldon's Library or something. Yeah, And then.

But he's like an elite, right, so he has access and privilege. So it was interesting to see a home library. And it's kind of sad because the guy died, so you don't know what's going to happen to those books with that Really like ignorant population, no offense. I think ignorant people are obviously capable of like learning and subcombing or nots upcombing to the ignorance, I guess, but persevering and advancing and all that. But it's hard to believe that the house was so nice too. Holy shit, I

I don't know. I mean, because he it's hard to get a read on him, like where obviously he has loyalties to the empire if he's sending him stuff, but he also seems to acknowledge that like the Empire harmed their world by leaving coming there and then harmed them by leaving.

Yeah, so it's hard to say like where he stands with the Empire, even though he was like dedicated to informing them, so on some level he was aligning himself with them, and he died with them. So it's just very interesting. I don't know.

Yeah, I was surprised that they were shocked by books.

Yeah, that was really interesting, and I think that's a like really good way to kind of understand life in the outreach or life even in this galaxy, in this area. Because the guy who said he'd never seen a book is somebody who you know, lived within the higher realm of the Empire. He was a military class, respected individual. Yeah, and you would have guessed that maybe semi educated, but

Yeah. Then also like they had to kill amount for that, so you take as many books as you want for real.

I thought it was really cool that they could travel in their spacesuits. They didn't need to be in a ship or anything. They just like got zooted out. That was cool. I think the technology here is so interesting. On one part, you've never seen a book. On the other part, you're wearing this highly advanced mechanical suit that lets you be transported through space. Crazy.

Yeah, And then they talked about what did they say, like some sort of technology was banned centuries ago AI, something to do with Selden's.

Yeah, yeah, AI technology like uh least something about artificial intelligence, Yeah.

Something along those lines. And then we also know that there used to be robots and those for the most part don't exist anymore.

Yeah. Like Cloud Queen, I love her and I i'd.

Have her back this time.

I missed her pigments. Yeah that always that like elevates her look and makes her look so futuristic and like queenly. But today she's like, no, I'm gonna take it off. She like really beared it out, like she she explained it to us like we were fucking stupid, And part

Don't you think they're listening.

Yeah, but apparently they have like technology so that it muffles them or something, and then they were able to recuperate memory, which means that that concubine lady definitely remembered sleeping with that old man.

Yeah, and that was a weird thing because he's like, do you want to go watch the porn we made that you don't remember because I watch it all the time. Yeah.

Back in my day, we used to memory wipe the concubines. Now my grandson is a marrying one. But she's really determined to figure out whether or not her succession had anything to do with like some sort of planned attack, which I never even thought about because I didn't know the circumstances of her coming into power, which would have been interesting to see. It would have been cool to know this royal family in season one and then see

I don't know well, yeah, she's he's on her own mission to figure this out. And then I'm not sure what she'll do, like if she finds out that brother Day did orchestrate the death of her family to manipulate her into being his wife, And I'm not sure if she might still go through with it, but be because she really implies like she's not the weak one that he thinks she is.

I think what she wants to do is kill him. Yeah, And I think that's another reason why she's trying to find out how he wasn't assassinated successfully, so that she can learn from others' mistakes. So I think she might go through with it. It doesn't mean, if anything, that gets her closer to him. Yeah, And uh, I think we're on the cusp of her maybe finding out that Day's step mom girlfriend is a robot, because if they watch that footage, it's going to show her getting her

Really, yeah, I didn't think about that.

Yeah, And then I don't know, I thought that was really clever that she's like, I don't know why we didn't get courted together. When she was talking to Dawn, She's like, it makes more sense. In my opinion, and I think she's like flirting with him and being very like Coquette.

Yeah, this whole thing like plays out like Porno with all these like step family and like, oh, you guys are the same person.

So it's it's not cheaty.

Yeah, Like.

I don't know, very interesting. I like her arc. I'm really interested to see what she finds out and I hope she gets justice. I'm tired of Day. I'm really tired of Day. He wasn't even in the episode, I know, even implying like talking days like exhausting, such a like pompous asshole, Who are we all done? Do you want to talk about astro queen?

See if I missed anything? Like there was like a lot more humor in the episode now, I think we can start to expect that now if they brought in more characters and more dynamics.

Yeah, I will see. It's definitely lighter. Not that I don't like heavy things, I do, but I think there has to be a balance, and I feel like the show to me is still not there yet. It's like trying really well, like trying and showing like I think the world building is coming across a little bit more slowly.

I don't know.

I'm just curious to see what happens next, which is good. I think it's just like last season was so hard to follow.

Yeah, I feel like I'm keeping up with it now. Yeah, I don't have to feel as dumb.

Yeah, And I kind of wish they would bring some of the stuff up from last season into this season, like that Salt place. Yeah, that would be interesting to see what they're up to now, like get a check in with them and see what happened after Empire kind of turned the world around a little bit.

Yeah. That's just one of the things that does not work well for this show, wouldn't it, Because that was such a meaningful experience for the brother day of last season to go through that and find like I basically don't have a.

Soul, Yeah, and just leave it at that.

Just like that really is like stripped him down and impacted him, and that place is also very meaningful for Demersal, and we kind of just leave all that behind. We have the characters are same but different.

Yeah, it's weird. I don't know how I feel about that. I wish we had a little bit of closure with that.

Yeah, But I think as we've seen from what I've read, like there's a bit of course correction with this season that they don't jumped through time like they did all last season. And the show was also continued its tradition of showing us men's butts.

Oh yeah, that was random, just in the garden. Yeah, like just a nude man. I wonder if it's one of the concubines for day Maybe it's really interesting.

Astral Queen, who was the standout character in the.

Episode, Astral Queen.

I'm gonna give it to the general. The general, Yeah for what for getting back on the horse? No, wait, to his girlfriend, I mean boyfriend, to his boyfriend, for not just standing by his man, but also correcting him and saying to be wise enough to question it. Like going into war. You don't go in blind. You question the sority.

Yeah, and keep yappuff, communicate, give me a glance.

Yeah yeah I like that. Yeah. So him, I don't know his name, his name.

I don't know how to say it. Well, delaywin.

What is he in the Lord of the Rings? No, but he he was, you know, he was with his partner. He's he's like, hey, you got to warn me. You gotta give me like a signal if you're going to start knocking bitches out, and you know he's tending to his wounds. He's still on board with the plan. But he's a question authority bro. And he got a free book and he'd never seen one before. So hats off to seeing your first book and then getting it. Wow, what a treat you.

Think he'll get in trouble for having it?

I don't know. Is it that kind of place?

I don't know.

Is it a thing that like they just don't exist because they're like an archaic technology, or they don't exist because they're banned right, like it's and plus it's in sanscript. Who reads sanscript in this world? I barely know anybody in like, you know, my circle that knows sanscript like that, especially ancient Sanskri. Yeah, what about you? Who's your standout character?

I'm trying to choose between Queen Sarah and Constant.

Do you like a thirsty, like forward bitch or do you like a bitch that's being thirsted after who's manipulative?

She was good at manipulating? Yeah, I Constant? Yeah, that guy really Like I think the Queen is really in control of this episode.

Yeah, and her shoulder blades were sharp today in that backless dress, and the woods look good. She's a skinny legend.

Yeah, she's She's definitely among the strongest characters in the show.

Yeah, we're is saying a lot considering how many fucking characters there are.

Right, they can't even get them all in one episode anymore. We got to like trade off storylines. Yeah, so next time we'll have probably a brother day and then and Salvor the mother daughter team and Harry who's a human. I forgot about that.

Oh yeah, he's human.

So yeah, those are astral queens. They will receive their rewards as soon as we can figure out where they are or when they are or when they are.

Oh, we should include a packet of pigments for their pleasure. What is with seven pigments? Man, it's like there's a whole pigment story arc because it's happening through all the seasons.

They love that stuff.

Oh, speaking of pigments, remember that guy, that monk who snorted that stuff when they right right before they landed. Do they have cocaine in this world? What was that Rhinohorn?

I mean, I think we're led to believe it's at least something like that.

Yeah, and then when he meets Selden, he's like, I'm not drinking wine. I'm cool. So he's like turning no, were a new leave for something? What's up with that quickness for quitters?

And they're also like, you better hide that fancy old line from him.

Yeah.

All right. That wraps up our coverage for this episode. The next one is called The Sighted and the Scene. We will be back to cover that. Thank you for spacing out with us. I remember, by the time you recognize an atrocity, you may have been complicit in one already.

Facts. Thank you for spacing out with BB and Jason. You can help us out by subscribing and leaving a positive rating or review. Remember you can contact us through email or social media. Next time, we will cover Foundation season two, episode five, Decided and the Scene