Philip K. Dicks Electric Dreams
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The Twilight Zonewill always cast a long shadow.
In episode one, Real World, things start well enough.
Shes distracted, closed off, and replaying the event over and over again in her mind.
This is, of course, trauma.
A person who will supposedly fulfill all her innermost wants and fantasies come true.
(The depiction even comes complete with some nice textural commentary on the indulgent nature of action tropes.)
Fully triggered, she says to us as George, It feels like I want to cry.
Ill admit, my eyes lit up at this moment.
And I was so excited to see the episode continue to explore these ideas in earnest.
As a result, we constantly question every moment onscreen.
George even tells us, I keep feeling like theres a deeper truth!
Cerebral sci-fi is largely driven by a play at the audiences curiosity.
This is what a lot of hard-core sci-fi fans like.
This is the most crucial thing about sci-fi storytelling, especially when the characters are getting lost themselves.
but that makes precisely one of us.
Theres also some stunning inconsistencies.
even though just a day ago she suffered from crippling trauma.
We know that getting the bad guys doesnt actually do shit for recovering from trauma.
These things really matter.
Especially when they dont matter to the characters, for some reason.
Its a gutting notion.
But its one that would have been all the more gutting had the episode actually tackled it head-on.
And trust me, this should play like a gangbusters.
And thats why we were haunted.
But what Real Life lacks is a reality for the audience.
