Alpha Betas, Analyses Confirmation
Added 2021-03-14 03:04:06 +0000 UTC
From the sneak peeks to the trailer, and the 3 exclusive scenes provided, I've made a lot of predictions based on story, character, relationship, and even animation analyses. And now, the pilot episode is finally here.... which means now I've got a good chance to confirm some things. I've still got a little editing to do, but that doesn't mean I can't post a sneak preview as to what I noticed during the pilots regarding my predictions and initial analyses.
WARNING!: SPOILERS AHEAD! (for the pilot episode of Alpha Betas)
Predictions and Subsequent (Pilot) Results
Characters
- Eddie: the most dominant, de facto leader of the team, clever but cocky, a natural, can back up the talk -- I was almost spot on with his character: point lead, somewhat cocky, skilled as a gamer in his own right, has both bark and bite and can come in the clutch when he needs to
- Buck: the most short-tempered, arrogant, humorous, skilled with gaming -- I believe I was pretty close with his character: cocky to a fault, moreso than Eddie, humorous yet quick-tempered, though I wasn't expecting him to be an explosives expert when it really does make a lot of sense
- Mason: the most intelligent, snarky, level-headed, chill, mildly insecure -- except for him being an excellent shot and ballistics expert, I think I nailed his personality (intelligent but snarky and humorous, considerably chill but mildly insecure)
- Tommy: the most easygoing, a little naïve, friendly, optimistic, can get carried away in the right scenario -- I may have been a little off with his character; while he does seem friendly and optimistic and is the most skilled driver/transportation expert of the group, he may not be as naïve and passive as I initially suspected
- Head Honcho | Allison: dominant, aggressive, assertive, knowledgeable, doesn't take shit -- I was almost spot on with her personality with her being dominant, assertive, knowledgeable, and not taking shit from anyone; however, I wasn't expecting her to have a blunt sense of conversation with I was pleasantly surprised by
- Scientist Lady | Ruby: cool-headed, mature, highly intelligent, get-it-done mindset, brains behind the game operation -- I may have been a slight bit off with her personality but I got the general gist: mature, intelligent, get-it-done mindset, and cool-headed to an extent
- Steven: I'll admit I speculated that he was gay, possibly a recent transfer to CIA division, awestruck by the operation and the gamers -- I was waaaaay off! His personality oddities were the result of being an android, something I did not expect in the slightest; it does, however, open up the possibility of his character to change and grow over time due to this whether of his own volition or his programming, or both
Relationships
- I foresaw Buck and Eddie to be at odds from time to time given their cockiness
- I believed Tommy would be most likely to look up to all the others in some fashion
- I saw Eddie as the most likely to understand or know the personalities of the others the best
- I thought Mason and Buck would get along a little due to their similar snarky responses (blatant or subtle)
- Tommy may know Buck the best, but that was mild speculation
This was a major subset of ideas, none of which were solidly confirmed throughout even the pilot. I'll have to watch more episodes to see if their relationships are given a little more highlighting but only time will tell.
However, there was a relationship mentioned that I had not foreseen. There could be a potential romantic subplot between Ruby and Eddie that were not even hinted at in any of the prior AB material, probably why it did not cross my mind.
Timeline
- I do not know how well these characters knew each other pre-CIA recruitment; either they knew of each other but became familiar after recruitment, or they already were familiar with and even played together before recruitment -- This information is still unknown to me, but it could potentially pop up either in a future episode as a flashback, or be explained through dialogue
- The placement of the sneak peeks and exclusive scenes were unknown to me. It was unlikely that they won't be in the series at all, but likely that they would be somehow featured in early episodes of the series -- Nearly all scenes from the official trailer were present in the pilot (with slight dialogue differences), something which I did not expect. However, none of the exclusive scenes from Tyler, Marcel, or Brian made an appearance in this pilot
- The timeline of the pilot will likely have the 4 already trained for CIA game missions, but perhaps we might get a flashback episode later on if this is not the case -- This idea was confirmed; they seem to already be trained in these missions (or at the very least are familiar with what to do and how to do it)
Worldbuilding
- The ability to manipulate game code within the game was presented. Whether or not that can only be done in a simulation and/or the actual virtual world was a mystery. It was also a mystery as to who could do it and with what skill level. I speculated they all could manipulate game code but in either different ways or similar ones, or that Eddie was the most naturally skilled with this ability -- Game code manipulation / NPC (Non-playable character) extermination / glitches were hinted at being taken care of only by Alpha team through the use of the CIA Energy Division technology, and it was also implied that Eddie, Buck, Mason, and Tommy can all do this in some manner. The extent and skill level of said abilities from each character are still somewhat unknown, but that could easily be explored in future episodes
- If virtual entities are escaping into reality, I was curious as to how, and if such entities were being experimented on in the CIA should they appear -- This idea was completely false; the actual conflict seems to come not from within the game code escaping into the real world in some way, but rather it comes from external sources (glitches, hackers, Energy Divisions of other countries which I did not realize was a thing). I wouldn't say this idea is scrapped, but the source of the conflicts of future episodes will likely not be what I initially thought it was.