Consolidating our scifi TV reviews. Spoilers, doh!
WESTWORLD SEASON ONE EPISODE FOUR
“DISSONANCE THEORY”
Cross purposes. That’s the root of drama – multiple characters in conflict. For Westworld, a couple of the characters are androids who are beginning to adopt their own independent goals. Dolores and Mauve are over-riding their programming to recall past memories. But what is intriguing is that this is not accidental but a result of the tinkering by Bernard and maybe even Arnold. In this episode, it seems that the Man in Black (who we discover is an important person in the real world) and Bernard have something in common – the understanding of the park as a game – getting to the centre of the maze. But why? What do they get from winning this game. In the meantime, Ford reveals to Theresa that from his perspective, the real purpose of the park is for its creators to be gods – which raises doubts as what that might entail in the long run. Dissonance, indeed.
https://youtu.be/aW1c1mPiBEk
Full info at IMDB.
TIMELESS SEASON ONE EPISODE FOUR
“PARTY AT CASTLE VARLAR”
The beauty of a time travelling series is the fun people our characters get to meet on their journeys. This time, it’s Ian Fleming – the creator of James Bond – during World War II. As a standalone episode, it’s quite watchable but story arch (i.e. the Rittenhouse conspiracy) does not move an iota, except perhaps an added layer of depth to Rufus dilemma. Four episodes in, the team is bonding well but we need to understand what is behind Flynn’s quest soon.
Full info at IMDB.
FREQUENCY SEASON ONE EPISODE FOUR
‘BLEED OVER”
Frequency continues to examine the concept of a police investigation in two distinct time periods twenty years apart. This series is truly well executed and every episode so far has fulfilled the promise of the previous one. A survivor of a Nightingale abduction lives to tell the tale but is she a reliable witness? Reimy and Frank work the witness at both ends of time and find only a dead end. Again, there is a creeping sense of frustration and futility in both characters at their ability to change the outcome of their first interference with fate. Well played.
Full info at IMDB.
… still there’s more …