Heres a question

Hey Damon;
If you really want to see the effects of "dumbing-down", and have your brain fried, read the comments made about the state of recently hired NASA engineers made during the CAIB's final public hearing in Washington June 12, 2003. It is a fact that current literature is geared towards a demographic with an eighth-grade education. Read the CAIB's comments on the use of PowerPoint presentations, which were recently reiterated by the Stafford-Covey Return to Flight group. Or, just watch the evening news. As I tell my wife, "the species isn't getting any smarter".
When a TV show gets too cerebral. such as the first two seasons of "Andromeda", it invariably gets reduced to the lowest common viewer in order to increase advertizing revenues. QL would suffer the same fate (and according to some, it did and that's why it was cancelled).
 
Going back to what I was saying about if Al would remember his original history or not, I think I came up with an answer to my own question. Beth would of course realize who Sam was later in life, and therefore eventually realize where he came from and why he was there. Al would know of this and know that a major life-changing event occurred. Even the "Mirror Image" alternate ending suggests this, which I forgot all about. Whether you believe that Al's memory would be overwritten by the new timeline or not, either way Al would be aware that his life was originally very different.

In the event that his mind would be overwritten, I'm sure he would be able to put two and two together and realize that his life must have ended up lonely, going from woman to woman and never having a family. Maybe this could even lead to some type of flashbacks, as Jennie said, from merging timelines. Of course, I still stick to my theory that post-"Mirror Image" Al would adjust to his new life, yet not necessarily have memories of it, being the version of himself that is an anomaly. And if anything, I like to stay consistent with my perception of the show. :b
 
I think it's actually a bit more complicated than that, Chris. But I agree with what you say here.

If you'll pardon the pluggery, this is actually a lot of what I deal with in my story "Beth" which I've been writing off and on since 1995 (I've been posting it at Fanfiction.net, but it's kind of slow-going as there are big holes in the chronology from what needs to be written or thoughts that have occurred to me since first starting it).

Anyway, in it, I pick up from Mirror Image....at the point of that final scene....and then move forward from there, sometimes making bigger chronological jumps than others. It's all from Beth's first-person POV, but I guess I'm kind of a bit of a subscriber to the unified time line theory in it. Al comes home to find Beth....but has periodic nightmares in which he's lost her in addition to the PTSD nightmares. Yet when I get to the point at which Sam changes things....I haven't yet decided how that scene will go down...I've read a few people's treatments of the moment when Al emerges from the Imaging Chamber to find Beth and there are strong merits to each. Or even if I'll have Al come to the realization of what actually happened at an earlier point in time. Or how. :)

I can tell you this....though it is probably several months away from being posted, I long ago wrote the scene in which Beth recognizes Sam. I believe she would have treasured the memory of the "angel" who restored her hope. I gave her quite a reaction to seeing Sam on the evening news. <g>

Again, I do apologize for the pluggery....it just tied in to the discussion as it related to the theorizing. :)

edited to add: Upon re-reading I realize I kind of left out my point entirely!! LOL

Basically....you've got the same Al but from two perspectives....the Al prior to the change and the Al after the change. So you've got the Al who comes home in 1975 to Beth versus the Al who came home in 1973 to an empty house. But it's the same Al....so vestiges of the original timeline ramble in his subconscious. Yet you do still have the complexity of the Project....for one moment in time....Al is in the Imaging Chamber just before Sam makes the decision to save Al's marriage...in a reality in which he's involved with Tina, had five failed marriages, etc. He emerges from the Imaging Chamber and everything has changed. But to me....that's still the same man. I think the memories that were accrued (from Beth's perspective and with Al) would gradually catch up to him....and the old would fade....kind of, I guess, like Sam forgetting the Leaps as his memory returns in The Leap Back.
 
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Oh, of course I agree it is more complicated...I guess that it was just my way of "dumbing it down" to explain things in a nutshell. Not that I think I do, but I also don't want to come off as insensitive as to the emotions of the whole circumstance in and of itself, and that includes Al's time as a P.O.W. (namely those extra two years he sentenced himself to), his relationships with women, etc. So if I come across as cold or unfeeling, too technical and ignoring emotions, or not taking into account the effect the story has on some of us fans, I apologize. I know the writing and depth of these characters deeply affects some of us (why else would we be on this board?), so when I add my two cents, it's always with all due respect.
 
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