In the second instalment of the mini-series based on the works of sci-fi author Philip K Dick (PKD), we see two ordinary tour operators, Ed and Brian, roping themselves into a journey from the main spaceship they work on to, a long since inhabited, earth. The reason for their journey is an older lady, Irma Gordon, who wishes to see Carolina where her ancestors used to live. She offers the men money in return for the trip, which they both readily agree to. However, assuming the lady wants to simply view earth from the tourship, they set the autopilot to a different planet, a closer one that still looks like earth from a distance.
So, I had very high hopes for this episode. Last weeks The Hood Maker was so good and so atmospheric and tense that I assumed this would be more of the same. Don't get me wrong, the immersive nature of the programme and the world building was all still there courtesy of PKD. However, on the whole, I just didn't really get it. I mean there were snippets of bits that could have worked had they been expanded upon, but in just an hour episode, they just didn't work, really. In terms of different branches of story, you had Brian and his girlfriend arguing over when he's going to be promoted, with Brian seeming pretty unfazed both by his lack of promotion and his irked girlfriend, Irma paying the two men to take her on a tour to earth, which also didn't make sense to me. She spends the whole episode going on about a specific lake in Carolina where she wants to go, which is all well and good, but they won't be able to see that specific lake from the ship, so obviously she'll want to actually visit earth and yet the tour guides fail to tell her this and act surprised that she wants to do this. They discuss it with each other, but not her. The final branch of the story is the supernatural connection between Brian and Irma, every now and again flashing back to Irma's ancestor's life in Carolina.
The only branch of the three which actually fitted the hour's episode was Irma wanting to visit earth. The deception of the men went on long enough to make you uncomfortable and sad for Irma, that she was being lied to, you actively wanted her robot companion to get back at Ed for stealing her money and showing her a fake earth. Brian and his girlfriend only had two conversations, in both she was simply sitting at a table, pretty stoic and uninteresting, not likeable or irritating. Just meh. You don't care enough about the crumbling relationship that you're upset the last time Brian hangs up on her. The main reason given for the breakup is how Barbara (the girlfriend) wants to move up in the world, beginning with Brian being promoted, whereas Brian is bothered. But why? Fair enough they want different things, but we're not given an alternative. What does Brian want? He's not massively passionate about his tourism career. He doesn't seem to want something larger than his life at the moment, but it's unclear what. He seems to get it out of her that she doesn't really love him, simply the idea of them as a couple, moving up the ranks of society, but not much more than that. Usually, there's an alternative passion for the protagonist that the audience can cheer them towards. There wasn't here. Finally, the supernatural story. I mean yes the flashbacks (or are they flashforwards?) had been happening all through the episode but we only get a bit of an explanation more than halfway through the episode and it's sort of nothingy. In a larger series or a film, that would be a big moment. Irma shows Brian a picture of her ancestors and it is him. Brian, as her great, great uncle (or something). But again, Brian seems relatively unfazed. It does prompt him to break up with his girlfriend, I'm not overly sure why, but there we go.
Overall, there were moments in this episode which were effective, and certain storylines which worked well in an hour. But the heavier moments just didn't hold enough emotion for me, simply because I didn't care enough about the characters. I didn't understand their motives. Ok, Brian didn't want to continue with his girlfriend, but why would that lead him to actually kill himself by walking out the tourship with Irma. Yes, we saw him carry on as Irma's ancestor, transported to another time, living on earth. But, he didn't know that would happen. To him, he was dying. He was walking out the tourship to his potential death. I just didn't get it.
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