‘Foundation’ 2×05 Reaction: Paint Lee Pace Like One Of Your French Girls

After an episode where Lee Pace didn’t appear at all, much less in his signature barely-there robe, Foundation 2×05 sees him back ~~black~~ blue. Granted, the episode still has an actual plot, and we’re super worried about what’s going to happen with Gaal, Salvor, and (to a lesser extent) Hari. We’re also not exactly here for Brother Viagra’s whole nude schmooze situation. So, let’s get that out of the way up front. But really, we’re just calling this hour a win. Because we get to have fun with it, which is really all that matters at this point.

Even right off the top, with an episode title like “The Sighted and the Seen,” it’s simply impossible not to wonder if Brother Day would be seen here. And he is! Not only that, but he spends quite a lot of time posing in bed, artfully arranged all, “paint me like one of your French girls” because Queen Sareth “wants to copulate.” Of course, we all know she doesn’t actually want to hook up. Why? It’s a plot to try and get information on the assassination attempt. (Also, though, seriously…why.)

But who even cares? It’s fun, it’s sexy…it’s (almost) naked Lee Pace! He’s back!

Now, the real question is where he’s been hiding all this time and for what purpose. And please, let’s hope it hasn’t just been round after round of robot sex. Ok? Ok. Also an important question to consider: Why, instead of the promised sex tape, were all those Dusk/Rue scenes primarily focused on the present day? Was it about advancing the plot? Because the plot this season promised us in the premiere was “Lee Pace hates clothes,” so it would stand to reason that less old Empire sex and more young Empire sex would actually be the way to advance that particular story. But, apparently, nobody consulted with us on that.

And here’s another important question: Is it possible Day is helping his other selves with this whole memory-tampering thing? Personally, if I were always comically committed to making sure my naked leg was arranged just so for the perfect effect, I’d probably want to forget it, too. Just saying.

Reactions to Foundation 2×05

“You got them all fooled. They think you care about them. But the truth is, you don’t care about anyone. They’re all just points on a graph. It’s where you’re gonna fail. Because you don’t care who lives or dies.” Can not-Raych give some public “health” agencies a talking to?
Lizzie: The plot of Foundation sometimes gets a little dense, but the dialogue —and the delivery — are always on point, which makes it all so much easier.
“You’re a man. An impressive man by any measure. She’ll not have seen the like.” Kind of impossible when he’s always making sure everyone has seen the like but ok.
Lizzie: But who is doing the measuring?
“What if you want to…I don’t know…get spanked? I imagine there are paddles around here that would leave the royal crest on one’s bottom.” I’m sorry…what?
Lizzie: Out of context, the quotes on this show are kind of hilarious. Imagine if you hadn’t seen the episode. Just imagine.
Correct. I also love this exchange, which weirdly has no relation whatsoever to the naked Empire. “Do you trust me?” “I wish I had never met you.” Talk about a whole fucking MOOD.
Lizzie: Drinking game for next episode. Take a drink every time someone says something that would also work while said to a naked Empire. But only if you think of the right naked Empire while doing so.
You can tell I don’t ship Cleon/Sareth because at no point during that heated exchange was I like “ok now bang and make up.” At no point.
Lizzie: Hold up, does anyone actually… Ship them? I ship her and overthrowing Empire, if anything, except that would mean no naked Lee Pace. There’s absolutely nothing to ship there. Antagonism is sometimes just antagonism.
“I embrace regrets. I want to remember the view from the top of the mountain. Even if that means I also have to remember the fall.” Eleventy-billionth reminder that this series does not exist without writers and actors. This is art. The AMPTP’s goons and plans for AI could never.
Lizzie: And that these same people, in pre–season interviews, went on about the dangers of AI and how prescient Asimov’s work felt. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA are fighting for everyone here.
“But an embryo’s a very different proposition to an actual person.” Hari Seldon for the motherfucking win.
Lizzie: The best part is how matter of fact this is! Just duh. Almost like math.
“But whatever it is, it would surely spatter. She was in the bedroom with him.” If y’all got things spattering when you’re in the bedroom…
Lizzie: This is rude, Shana. I did not need that mental image, and surely no one else did.
Sorry, not sorry, for my previous comment. Anyway. “To envy Day is to envy yourselves.” So, they envy their middle-era self for getting to always be naked. So true.
Lizzie: Also for looking, you know, that way naked? Which, valid.
“When a man is old, he doesn’t care what he remembers. He cares how he’s remembered. And at the end, we’re all just memorials.” And yet, you have a sex tape. Is this the title of it?
Lizzie: For someone so concerned about legacy one second, some very questionable decisions have been made. Just saying.
“Yeah, he kissed me. Fuck you for that.” Continue to stan Salvor. And now…let’s worry about what’s going to happen to all of them after that ending with the threat of no second Foundation. Yikes!
Lizzie: Salvor is the best thing about this show even when Lee Pace is naked. I said it.