In this wildly free-roaming episode, Ben and Eugene discussd institutional failures in education, the assumption that everyone is motivated by greed, Disney’s Song of the South taken in a modern context, the notion that the child of two hillbillies could be educated not to be a hillbilly, is electing an idiotic TV personality to the US Presidency a good idea, dress Crocs, electrolytes, does this film punch up or punch down, is it anti-intellectual, anti-moron, or both and, most importantly, why on Earth are they discussing this film.

The film is Idiocracy and it’s what plants crave.

Next week: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century – Space Rockers

Simon and Eugene we discuss whether Hubot technology changes what death means for humans, compare customer satisfaction in the pizza and battle Hubot industries, and ask whether there is less sex with robots this season.

00:00:34 Opening Credits
00:00:59 Rick’s Rebellion
00:02:07 Douglas Makes His Choice
00:03:52 Bee and the Missing Code
00:05:52 Law Firm Crisis
00:06:32 Inger’s Family Trouble
00:07:27 Douglas’s Death Debate
00:27:57 Kevin Gets Groomed
00:32:52 Damaged by Hubots
00:48:55 Fingerprint Trick
00:54:00 Bea and Roger’s Past
01:05:02 Niska Revealed
01:16:09 Lennart’s Fate
01:20:08 Virus and Arabic Download

Kenneth and Eugene discuss the arrival of Klaatu, the identity of the so-called “innocent,” the impossibility of getting building permits in California, and bring to light the shocking connection between this episode and the Starlost.

00:00:34 Welcome to Fusion Patrol
00:01:20 Episode Synopsis
00:02:39 Act 2 Overview
00:03:20 Act 3 Developments
00:04:03 Act 4 Tensions Rise
00:04:34 Epilogue Reflections
00:04:53 The Innocent Explained
00:05:28 Writer Insights
00:06:45 Story Complexity
00:07:28 Viewer Engagement
00:10:20 Dabney Coleman Discussion
00:10:46 Norman Klenman Background
00:17:01 Guest Star Highlights
00:20:12 Car Chase Analysis
00:21:29 Driver Education Anecdote
00:25:02 Star Trek Connections
00:27:37 IMDb Ratings Debate
00:30:31 Finger Goof Observation
00:33:10 Leisure World Discussion
00:38:39 Santa Margarita Valley Reveal
00:42:56 Concluding Thoughts
00:46:23 Next Episode Preview

Simon and Eugene mark the 800th episode of Fusion Patrol where they discuss the classic 1931 Frankenstein, the extent of the impact of this film across other media, the differences between the film and the book, and whether the film or Mary Shelley are responsible for the perception of the mad scientist.

00:01:00 Anniversary Opening
00:02:29 Frankenstein’s Obsession
00:04:51 The Monster Escapes
00:06:47 First Impressions
00:10:51 Boris Karloff’s Performance
00:15:26 Film Versus Novel
00:18:52 The Beast’s Short Life
00:22:33 Morality and Responsibility
00:26:18 Script Differences
00:30:41 Deleted Dialogue
00:36:10 Body-Snatching Ethics
00:39:35 The Stage Play
00:43:00 Mad Scientist Trope
00:50:24 Never Alive
00:53:54 Why Not Start Small?
00:59:04 Waldman’s Dilemma
01:00:37 Mary Shelley Revisited
01:03:07 Science and Fear
01:08:35 Final Thoughts

John and Eugene dicsuss the return of sad Buck, the daughter of America’s mom, the ridiculous plot contrivance of this episode, and how the name New New Orleans just trips over the tongue.

Simon and Eugene discuss Swedish electric wiring, hubots and eggs as baby substitutes, and how a baby upgrade programme could work.

Kenneth and Eugene discuss David Vincent’s need to have someone else believe him, the double-bluff of having an obvious main Invader guest star who isn’t, and ask the all-important question: If the cylinder contains the masterplan for invading the Earth, does that mean the Invaders have been working without a plan so far?

John and Eugene look at the 2492 Olympic games on the planet Mykos.

They discuss the in-built advantages/disadvantages of having aliens with different physical capabilities competing against one another, ponder how small of an area you could hold the games in if there were no pesky audiences, ask if the writers were unable to come up with two imaginary drug names, look at the fascinating history of the branding of this episode vis-a-vis the disastrous 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and come up with a new tag line for this podcast: “We’re from the future, and we’ve got some script notes.”

Kenneth and Eugene look at Andrei Tarkovsky’s famous, and ponderously slow, 1972 film, Solaris. They discuss why 40 minutes of the film is set amongst wet greenery, Tarkovsky’s daddy issues, they ask “What the hell was the point of the horse?” and “Why did we sit through 10+ minutes of silent driving through Osaka?”

This cursed episode of Fusion Patrol was over four years in the making.

00:00:35 Introduction to Solaris
00:01:39 The Lost Recording
00:02:02 Revisiting Solaris
00:02:48 Watching at 1.5 Speed
00:03:42 Synopsis of Solaris
00:05:37 Part Two of the Film
00:07:58 The Nature of Guests
00:08:36 Dissecting the Film’s Themes
00:12:09 The Nature of Identity
00:12:26 Different Versions of Hari
00:18:25 Film Length and Pacing
00:21:03 Cultural Context
00:30:43 The Purpose of Characters
00:32:40 Understanding the Guests
00:34:34 Questions of Existence
00:39:10 The Climax of the Story
00:45:22 Communication with the Unknown
00:54:00 Tarkovsky’s Personal Influence
00:55:46 Visual and Aesthetic Choices
00:58:02 Final Thoughts on Solaris
01:11:21 Critique of Adaptations

Next week: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Olympiad

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Simon and Eugene discuss upgrading the babysitter, the theme of children abandoned by mothers, and Eugene grapples with his unresolved cyber security issues.

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