10 Geeky Reflections on Episode 2 of Netflix's One Hundred Years of Solitude
How nitty gritty details from the book show up in the series.
1. EP2's Opening Sequence Foreshadows Colombia's War of A Thousand Days
Both José Arcadio and Aureliano dream of war in the opening sequence, foreshadowing the coming War of a Thousand Days.
Not in Book: Aureliano's War Premonition in River
In the show, Aureliano's premonition happens while submerged in the river. This, as far as I can tell, is a new scene, created for the show.
True to Book: José Arcadio Buendía's Solar Weapon
The first scene with José Arcadio in EP2 is him holed up in his workshop tinkering with a solar weapon invention that he wants to sell to the government. This all happens in chapter one of One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Annotate it or read the original text for yourself here.
“He would spend hours on end in his room, calculating the strategic possibilities of his novel weapon until he succeeded in putting together a manual of startling instructional clarity and an irresistible power of conviction. He sent it to the government [...] José Arcadio Buendía promised to undertake it as soon as the government ordered him to so that he could put on some practical demonstrations of his invention for the military authorities and could train them himself in the complicated art of solar war. For several years he waited for an answer.” (page 4)
2. The Red Armband Aureliano Removes in the River Is A Book Detail
This is an example of more painstaking foreshadowing of the coming war. Red armbands are briefly worn by all conscripted men in Macondo.
Annotate it or read the original text for yourself here.
“He imposed obligatory military service for men over eighteen, declared to be public property any animals walking the streets after six in the evening, and made men who were overage wear red armbands.” (Chapter 6, p 107)
“[Úrsula] reestablished Sunday mass, suspended the use of red armbands, and abrogated the harebrained decrees." (Chapter 6, p 109)
3. Aureliano Spotting Mom In The Telescope Was Book Inspired (Though Not 100% Book Accurate)
The moment that Aureliano spots Úrsula returning to Macondo after five months of searching for her runaway oldest son is so well done. The creators of the adaptation riffed on an early scene from the book: a telescope demonstration Melquíades put on for the townspeople.
Annotate the telescope demo or read the original text for yourself here.
“They placed a gypsy woman at one end of the village and set up the telescope at the entrance to the tent. For the price of five reales, people could look into the telescope and see the gypsy woman an arm’s length away. 'Science has eliminated distance,' Melquíades proclaimed.” (Chapter 1, page 2)
Although the demonstration above did not take place in the show, Aureliano is reenacting a version of it at the end of the episode. I can imagine him sitting behind the scope all day looking for his mom in the distance.
4. Aurelianos Premonition About A Cart In EP1 Is Explained In Episode 2
This foreshadowing shot happened in EP1. Time Stamp: -7:10
This reveal that the cart contains the alchemist lab happened in EP2. Time Stamp: - 54:32
5. More Ominous Ants & Pig Foreshadowing! (Just Like EP1)
This image is from the beginning of the episode (time stamp: -48:28) when Aureliano & José Arcadio Jr. are hunting a wild boar. One of the boys steps in mud full of ants.
Then there is this moment at the end: ants on the embroidery and bassinet (time stamp -17:01).
6. Playing Cards in The Book, Tarot Cards in the Adaptation
In the book, Pilar does tarot readings, but she uses a regular deck of playing cards, not a tarot deck. You can read more about this trivial difference I found interesting here in a previous post: Small Potatoes: Netflix Chose Tarot Over Standard Cards
7: I Love How The Show Creators Planted Images of The "Little Gold Fish" In EP2
"Little gold fishes" are a BIG deal for Colonel Aureliano Buendía's character. Check out my annotating guide for "little gold fishes" and more images showing how the show included the fishes in EP2 in my post below.
Annotating Guide: “Little Gold Fishes” in One Hundred Years of Solitude
8. Lovely Minutiae: "Mm. Wednesday"
At -38:55 in EP2, José Arcadio Jr. is weaving his way through hammocks in the dark on his way to visit Pilar. A sleeping man utters "Mm. Wednesday." This tiny moment is directly from the book and just exudes the thoughtfulness that has gone into this adaptation!
I'm not going to get into the inappropriateness of that relationship and Pilar's predation on a teenage boy, but I cannot type both their names in the same sentence without mentioning it.
9. A Reordering of Events That Makes Sense
In the show, Amaranta's birth happens. -->Then there's a birth celebration at the house. --> Then José Arcadio Buendía and Aureliano interrupt the party to announce they've separated the gold.
In the book, "Amaranta's birth + birth celebration" and "the gold separation + gold separation party" are entirely separate events. The show melds them together.
Amaranta's Birth & Party In the Book
“One January Thursday at two o’clock in the morning, Amaranta was born. Before anyone came into the room, Úrsula examined her carefully. She was light and watery, like a newt, but all of her parts were human. Aureliano did not notice the new thing except when the house became full of people.” (Chapter 2, p 30)
The Alchemy Achievement & Party In the Book
"Úrsula was happy, and she even gave thanks to God for the invention of alchemy, while the people of the village crushed into the laboratory, and they served them guava jelly on crackers to celebrate the wonder, and José Arcadio Buendía let them see the crucible with the recovered gold, as if he had just invented it." (Chapter 2, p 29)
10. Why No Swears? Lol
José Arcadio Jr. says the gold mass looks like dog shit in the book. In the show, they cut the swear, and he says "dog poop" instead. Not sure why.
Read the dog poop/slap scene from Chapter 2 (page 29) in the book:
“Showing it all around, he ended up in front of his older son, who during the past few days had barely put in an appearance in the laboratory. He put the dry and yellowish mass in front of his eyes and asked him: “What does it look like to you?” José Arcadio answered sincerely:
“Dog shit.”
His father gave him a blow with the back of his hand that brought out blood and tears.”