Hamdo’s past is something we can only get details about from his point of view so far in the series, and while it mentions his rise to power and how he sold people on following him, it doesn’t directly address his mental state. I’m guessing that it was something like when real world dictators or leaders of genocides have gotten to a certain point in their attainment of power. Perhaps he got power and then became constrained and trapped in Hellywood by a combination of a lack of water and the forces of his enemies. Hitler might be a good example of this type; his true crazy showed through in occasional outbursts but it never really got to the point of worrying his top advisors and getting out of control until he started losing his periphery and was locked in Europe with angry allies closing in from both sides.

Or it could be that he seized power, the amount of water to power Hellywood was never really likely to be there, and at the height of his power he started indulging his paranoia and other psychological issues, like the Khmer Rouge leaders after they had taken over Cambodia. Moving everyone from the cities for ideological reasons, mass killings of anyone who might be perceived as enemies, and repeated provoking of Vietnam via border raids all followed from the height of Khmer Rouge power instead of from a decline in it. (Vietnam gets big props in my book for getting sick of their crap and rolling in to drive them out of power in 1979. I think they would have gotten better press about it if the US and its allies hadn’t just finished fighting them several years before.)

The backgrounds did seem less stark and washed out this time compared to ep 01-02, good point about the garden. The way the bricks were painted with a fake sky, in a chamber that was a little too small to really have the feel of a greenhouse or conservatory, gave it some sort of unstated unpleasantness.

Glad to have you onboard for the posts

What I want to know is what Hamdo was like before he became this nutter he is today. I can understand why people still follow orders but he had to be something special originally to get to the top and have that level of control

Anyway, it’s horrifying but engrossing stuff, and while I can’t really say I’m “enjoying” the series, I’m definitely hooked.

Was it just me, or were the backgrounds less stark in this episode? As you point out, there’s a lot of disrepair, murk, and grime everywhere, which really helps in painting the picture of a world about which no one really cares. Not even Hamdo’s garden is pleasant.