"Robert Reed - Eight Episodes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

fifty-three minutes of unexceptional behavior. Judging by
appearances, the parent network inserted commercial breaks
at random points. The series' pivotal event was barely noticed
by the early viewers: One of Dr. Smith's graduate students
was working with Permian-age rock samples, searching for
key isotopes deposited by ancient supernovae. The student
asked her professor about a difficult piece of lab equipment.
As always, the dialogue was dense and graceless, explaining
almost nothing to the uninitiated. Genuine scientistsтАФsome of
the series' most unapologetic fansтАФliked to point out that the
instruments and principles were genuine, though the
nomenclature was shamelessly contrived. Fourteen seconds
of broadcast time introduced a young graduate student
named MaryтАФa mixed-race woman who by no measure could
be considered attractive. She was shown asking Dr. Smith for
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 Eight Episodes
by Robert Reed


help with the problematic instrument, and he responded with
a wave of a pudgy hand and a muttered, "Later." Following
ads for tiny cars and a powerful asthma medicine, the
astronomer ordered his student to come to his office and lock
the door behind her. What happened next was only implied.
But afterwards Dr. Smith was seen sitting with his back to his
desk and his belt unfastened, and the quick-eyed viewer saw
Mary's tiny breasts vanish under a bra and baggy shirt. Some
people have interpreted her expression as pain, emotional or
otherwise. Others have argued that her face was so poorly
rendered that it was impossible to fix any emotion to her,
then or later. And where good writers would have used
dialogue to spell out the importance of the moment, bad
writers decided to ignore the entire interpersonal plotline.
With a casual voice, Mary mentioned to her advisor/lover that
she had found something strange in the Permian stone.
"Strange," he repeated.
With her thumb and finger, she defined a tiny space.
"Metal. A ball."
"Ball?"
"In the rock."
Smith scratched his fat belly for a moment, saying
nothing. (Judging by log tallies, nearly 10 percent of the
program's small audience turned away at that point.) Then he
quietly said to her, "I do not understand."
"What it is..."
"What?"
She said, "I don't know either."
"In what rock?"
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