Philip K. Dicks Electric Dreams
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Were con artists?What other punch in is there?
(Basically, the windows are on-the-fly Instagram filters.)
Meanwhile, Andrew (Benedict Wong!)
wants to relax and skate by doing as little work as possible.
Theres a little problem, you see: Earth was destroyed by a solar flare nearly 600 years ago.
And so the real con is born: Take her to a look-alike planet and tell her its Earth.
Its a heartbreaking notion.
And as the story unfolds, Irma warmly reveals the story of her life.
Well, notherlife, actually, but the strangely romantic details of her grandmother who once lived on Earth.
This was all before they went off to the frontier of the stars.
As Norton and Irmas relationship grows, their dynamic begins to play out Nortons internal guilt for betraying her.
As the con continues, we fret simply because we know what everyone wants.
Meaning the episode is able to wrench the simplest of dramas from the conflict between four characters.
(The three humans, plus the robot who does not like them messing with Irma.)
But more important, Irmas devotion to her ideal past unlocks the dormant feelings with Norton himself.
And so, hedoesnttell her the truth.
Instead, he pushes the con as far as it will go.
Not out of fear of letting down an old woman, but a strange belief in her devotion.
It turns out that her grandfather looksjust likeNorton.
They arrive at the fake Earth, a planet that is barren, caustic, and no longer blue.
Despite Andrews protests, Irma and Norton decide to take their space suits into the wasteland.
They keep pressing further, further, further until they lose oxygen.
And then, at the moment of certain death … Irma takes off her helmet.
Suddenly, the two of them find themselves in the picturesque scenery of Carolina.
They go skinny dipping, happy to share in their love, one seemingly rekindled after centuries of waiting.
So, did this happen?
Was it a feverish dream?
A story of a couple displaced by time and space?
Two people repeating history?
I know sci-fi fans love to fret and argue over the logic of ambiguous endings, postulating about whatreallyhappened.
And the episode that surrounds them is asking you to believe the exact same thing.
Which just means that, yes, the episode itself is just another con.
As my opening quote intones, theres no other kind of artist out there.
Because in the end, we all just want our dreams to be woven.
