"(a) how all three women are only now starting to have psychological problems, or at least they're only now becoming critical; and (b) Norma's Social Security check."
Ah, yes. Things are starting to come back to me about that discussion—things I had in mind to say.
People did bring up the psychological problems, and connected the violent behaviour of the women to the rampage in the Raven by the brain-damaged kid, Joey, in "Fallen Idol". What I saw in both cases, though, was the timing of the violence: it only happened when the blood was wearing off, and a new treatment was overdue.
If you consider Joey, for example, Natalie had injected him with a dose of Nick's blood to excellent effect; but later on she refused to give him a second dose, even though he had realized that his mentation was starting to revert to its earlier level of retardation. Up to that time, he'd been behaving normally: both mentally, and in terms of his emotions. A bit manic on the computer, but wouldn't you be excited if you suddenly realized you could think like normal people? And wouldn't you be mad if someone refused to continue the treatment that made you normal again? Basically, it was only when the dose wore off that Joey got violent.
We see something similar happening with the women. They are distinctly antsy about needing their doctor. It suggests to me that she's out of touch, away from town even, and overdue to return. Hence they are overdue their treatments. The effects of the blood wear off at slightly different times for each woman, which might be a response either to slightly different dosages or to physiological differences between the woman (metabolism, perhaps; or tissue type, or something like that).
Each woman, as her treatment wears off, gets a manic episode. The first goes nuts in a department store, and gets shot. The second reacts violently to a (truly offensive) instructor at the health club. The last is only starting to get symptoms in the last couple of acts: we see her later in the tag when the blood has worn off completely, so we can't say if she had a manic episode in between: maybe Nick saw her through it.
What are the symptoms of blood withdrawal? Vision problems come first. (Joey seemed to be seeing things oddly too.) Irritability comes next. Then manic violence, triggered by something that can be quite minor. After that, you get a return to "normal", whatever that is: for Joey, it's being retarded; and for the women, it's being in early old age. Even the corpses revert at this point, which is the cute bit.
The point here is that the timing of their psychological problems has nothing to do with their age when Dr. Jurgen started treating them. It could have been twenty years ago or a hundred. Nor does it have anything to do with their appearance: they could have been old ladies youthened by the injections, or young ones whose youth was maintained.
Presumably, up till now, Dr. Jurgen has always given them their next injection before the full withdrawal symptoms developed. She may have been a bit late before (suggested by the fact that the women do seem to associate their symptoms with needing their doctor), but never this late. We have no idea what might have delayed her this time, of course. But her concern when she does come suggests that she does feel a responsibility for the women she treats.
no subject
Ah, yes. Things are starting to come back to me about that discussion—things I had in mind to say.
People did bring up the psychological problems, and connected the violent behaviour of the women to the rampage in the Raven by the brain-damaged kid, Joey, in "Fallen Idol". What I saw in both cases, though, was the timing of the violence: it only happened when the blood was wearing off, and a new treatment was overdue.
If you consider Joey, for example, Natalie had injected him with a dose of Nick's blood to excellent effect; but later on she refused to give him a second dose, even though he had realized that his mentation was starting to revert to its earlier level of retardation. Up to that time, he'd been behaving normally: both mentally, and in terms of his emotions. A bit manic on the computer, but wouldn't you be excited if you suddenly realized you could think like normal people? And wouldn't you be mad if someone refused to continue the treatment that made you normal again? Basically, it was only when the dose wore off that Joey got violent.
We see something similar happening with the women. They are distinctly antsy about needing their doctor. It suggests to me that she's out of touch, away from town even, and overdue to return. Hence they are overdue their treatments. The effects of the blood wear off at slightly different times for each woman, which might be a response either to slightly different dosages or to physiological differences between the woman (metabolism, perhaps; or tissue type, or something like that).
Each woman, as her treatment wears off, gets a manic episode. The first goes nuts in a department store, and gets shot. The second reacts violently to a (truly offensive) instructor at the health club. The last is only starting to get symptoms in the last couple of acts: we see her later in the tag when the blood has worn off completely, so we can't say if she had a manic episode in between: maybe Nick saw her through it.
What are the symptoms of blood withdrawal? Vision problems come first. (Joey seemed to be seeing things oddly too.) Irritability comes next. Then manic violence, triggered by something that can be quite minor. After that, you get a return to "normal", whatever that is: for Joey, it's being retarded; and for the women, it's being in early old age. Even the corpses revert at this point, which is the cute bit.
The point here is that the timing of their psychological problems has nothing to do with their age when Dr. Jurgen started treating them. It could have been twenty years ago or a hundred. Nor does it have anything to do with their appearance: they could have been old ladies youthened by the injections, or young ones whose youth was maintained.
Presumably, up till now, Dr. Jurgen has always given them their next injection before the full withdrawal symptoms developed. She may have been a bit late before (suggested by the fact that the women do seem to associate their symptoms with needing their doctor), but never this late. We have no idea what might have delayed her this time, of course. But her concern when she does come suggests that she does feel a responsibility for the women she treats.