3x01, "The Unicorn Evils"

[tylik]

Darn, but that was excellent.

I don't know how much more information this gives us about the whole beta/gamma thing. But it does suggest, and pretty strongly, that Hafs (and by implication Chaz) aren't immune to the more perception/interpretation affecting aspects of the anomaly.

So much good in this episode it's almost hard to post anything, as I'll be leaving out so much...

...but for whatever reason, Sam, for me, gets special mention. Well, and Brady dealing with Sam. Darn it Sam, you are more awesome than you know. Keep fighting.

[tylik]

Oh, does a Glock have an accessible hammer for Brady to jam the web of his thumb under? (El Jefe? Anyone?)

(The efficacy - well, and more to the point the problems - with this maneuver were discussed at that gun defense seminar that so unnerved me. And I seem to recall it is not possible on a number of guns, and I'm trying to remember enough about the Glock's I've handled...)

[miminnehaha]

I will have a little moment for the Weepies in the playlist... After I recover from all the story ECR. 24 hours later, still too "oh!" to 'squee'.

[Elizabeth Bear]

Oh, does a Glock have an accessible hammer for Brady to jam the web of his thumb under? (El Jefe? Anyone?)

(The efficacy - well, and more to the point the problems - with this maneuver were discussed at that gun defense seminar that so unnerved me. And I seem to recall it is not possible on a number of guns, and I'm trying to remember enough about the Glock's I've handled...)

Like all fictional guns, it's "modified."

[Edmund Schweppe]

Oh, does a Glock have an accessible hammer for Brady to jam the web of his thumb under? (El Jefe? Anyone?)

Like all fictional guns, it's "modified."

Oh, of course. The Glock Model 23 Mark WTF.

[Scedasticity]

I know it's silly to expect a gamma's mythology to make sense, but Felicity Tabor's seemed particularly disjointed to me.  We have unicorns+inversion (of unicorns)+Indian affairs+environmental concerns+Kids These Days...  I can sort of see how it could have developed, but the synthesis just strikes me as weird even by gamma standards.

Another thought: Gammas have Stealth Mode and... um, Non-Stealth Mode, when they stop hiding.  Some of them don't seem to have a Stealth Mode.  Some of them don't seem to have, or at least never exhibit, much of a Non-Stealth Mode -- when confronted, they act pretty much as sane as they did before exposure, as opposed to those who start raving.  Some seem to flip back and forth.  ...I'm not sure where I was going with this.

Another difference with Hafs-as-gamma is this time they have an assessment tool.  Chaz can reflect her thoughts to monitor progress.  Essential if they want to know if any of their treatment programs are working.

Keeping in mind that the mirror always reflects the glass as half-empty.  And is viewed as a severe invasion of privacy.  And my personal gut feeling is that use of the mental mirror should be minimized -- it can't be good for anyone's mental health to see the nastiest or most pained parts of other people all the time.  This isn't to say that it should never be used as a diagnostic -- but not regularly, not if there's any other way to get the information, not if they don't absolutely need the information.

[jimsmyth]

Another difference with Hafs-as-gamma is this time they have an assessment tool.  Chaz can reflect her thoughts to monitor progress.  Essential if they want to know if any of their treatment programs are working.

That's actually a great tool for a lot of the others held there, too.  Though I'd recommend he not try it on Bloody Larry. 

[Paul Oppenheimer]

Another difference with Hafs-as-gamma is this time they have an assessment tool.  Chaz can reflect her thoughts to monitor progress.  Essential if they want to know if any of their treatment programs are working.

Keeping in mind that the mirror always reflects the glass as half-empty.  And is viewed as a severe invasion of privacy.  And my personal gut feeling is that use of the mental mirror should be minimized -- it can't be good for anyone's mental health to see the nastiest or most pained parts of other people all the time.  This isn't to say that it should never be used as a diagnostic -- but not regularly, not if there's any other way to get the information, not if they don't absolutely need the information.

Not only would it put Chaz at risk, but I can't see how it could be good for the relationship. As Scedasticity said, such use of Chaz's mirroring ability would be viewed by Hafs, by Chaz, and by the rest of the team as a severe invasion of privacy.  Hafs doesn't want her baby brother reading her mind, and he doesn't want to be doing it.  Also, this is a case in which the observation is nearly certain to change what is being observed.  We worry about this with introspective methods in psychology; all the more so when the "introspection" is being done by means of reflection from another person.  We have no evidence that Chaz can read someone's mind, store his memory of the reflective moment, and read it back later, do we?  At least most of the time we have seen him mirroring, as opposed to disappearing, he has been doing realtime reflection of the person he's mirroring, to the person he's mirroring.  Not only that, but it's hard to believe that such a procedure would not reinforce Hafidha's interpretation of events in terms of an evil master plan in which she has been caught up.

It's not clear how much reflecting Chaz can do without beginning to disappear into the person being reflected. Chaz seems to have his own mythology (barely) under control. What would prolonged involvement, from the inside as it were, to Hafs's current theory of herself do to him?

[Scedasticity]

Exactly.

[jennygadget]

Keeping in mind that the mirror always reflects the glass as half-empty.

It does, doesn't it?  I wonder how much of that is the anomaly and how much of it is Chaz's mythology.

[el_jefe]

Oh, does a Glock have an accessible hammer for Brady to jam the web of his thumb under? (El Jefe? Anyone?)

No, it's all internal. But maybe Brady was thinking that Chaz still has a Sig, which does have an external hammer.

(The efficacy - well, and more to the point the problems - with this maneuver were discussed at that gun defense seminar that so unnerved me. And I seem to recall it is not possible on a number of guns, and I'm trying to remember enough about the Glock's I've handled...)

And FWIW, I wouldn't try it with any sort of speed. After your close enough and talking the subject down, sure. Carefully put your hand on the firearm and drop your thumb in the nook if you feel motivated.

For a dynamic move, you can put the pistol "out of battery" by pushing back on the slide, and it will be unable to fire. Cup your hand around the ejection port, and if you rack it all the way back you can prevent the bullet from ejecting completely, which transforms a pistol into a paperweight until the subject uses both hands to clear it.

But I wouldn't want to do either one.

[Grayjack]

Just what is this?  "A swirl of red like cardinal wings caught his attention. He turned, but whatever it had been--flicker of movement, hallucination--was gone."

Am I missing something obvious, or is this a hint of tricksy PTB laying traps to be sprung in a future episode?

As for this episode, it's amazing that something this painful can also be so satisfying.  Beautifully done.

[mataglap]

Ha ha ha!  Will we ever find out what Reyes will make of The Black Heart Procession?

[Jess]

Yeah, Chaz broke his promise. And I'm glad. The old "Kill me if I ever turn into one of them" thing is the easy way out, at least in this case. Not doing it was a lot more painful. Chaz is willing to live with that to give his friend a chance.

[miminnehaha]

I'm glad Chaz didn't keep his NOT-a-promise.

The glimpse of red? Wings.