Q: What is the music in the opening scene?

A: "Hatchet-Headed Woman" by Marc Bristol, performed by File Gumbo, a Puget Sound group. The music style reflects the scene location in southern Louisiana. 

 

Q: Are the women in the opening scene good guys or bad guys? 

A: Good question. Watch the next episode.

 

Q: What is on the computer screen in the opening scene?

A: The graphics show the track of a satellite, a satellite icon and transponder locations...

 

Q: What are "heat potential maps"?

A: Maps of the heat in the ocean that contribute to intensifying a storm. Sea level is used to make the maps.

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Q: Why is the guy in the Berkeley scene speaking Chinese?

A: Some militant leftist groups in the 1970s were Maoist. He is berating young Connie for failing an exercise, using Chinese to show her she doesn't belong. The others probably don't speak Chinese either.

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Q: Does NASA really measure sea level by satellite? Has the President cut it from the budget? Will California fly its own satellite?

A: Yes. Not yet. That's what Governor Brown promised, if climate satellites are defunded. And yes, California can do that!

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Q: What's a transponder?

A: It's a signaling device, commonly used to communicate with a satellite.

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Q: Are there really black sites in the U.S.?

A: The Guardian reported in February 2015 that the Chicago Police Department "operates an off-the-books interrogation compound [known as Homan Square], rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site." [Wikipedia]

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