Philip K. Dicks Electric Dreams
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We begin in the distant future with humanity battling for resources with a dangerous and ethereal alien race.
Its as abusive a relationship as you might imagine.
And thats why dramatic writing is so important to the function.
With anthology shows, you always know that there will be twists, turns, and secrets that unfold.
My driving question as an audience member wasnt Whats really happening?
It was, Oh, God, how is she going to get out of this?
Together, it all paints a detailed portrait of co-dependency.
We genuinely wonder, Is she free?
Can she escape the cycle of abuse with someone new?
As anyone in a co-dependent relationship would feel, shes racked by nervousness and guilt.
But its all short-lived when Silas and another soldier apparently come home from the mission after all.
At first, Silas is weak and dependent on Veras care, but he also seems so different.
He treats her with kindness and decency and all the things weve never quite seen from him.
Has this haunting experience changed Silas?
Has he seen the light?
And as the general tells us, these aliens are without pity, empathy, or human kindness.
Or is he an alien?
Sadly, this is where the episode goes off the rails.
Not necessarily within the logistics of the story itself, though.
Vera then uses this act to prove to the council that he must be human.
To which they agree.
And thus, Silas is freed.
Vera asks for the aliens real name.
Im afraid that you wouldnt be able to pronounce it, he admits.
To that, they join heads in their new future.
Is this episode really just about when a personseemsdifferent?
And, as a result, were left wondering what it all really means.
In sci-fi stories where characters never actually face the conflict at hand, the central metaphor matters tremendously.
(No, those kinds of changes usually go in a different, darker direction.)
And so theres nothing I can ultimately grab onto outside of the story itself.
With Human Is, I was constantly transfixed, but ultimately at a loss.
