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| Agent Ross gets his briefing |
With Blade Runner's sequel Blade Runner 2049 about to hit cinemas, Philip K Dick (PKD) is posthumously having quite the year in 2017. The first of the ten episodes in the Channel 4/Amazon's Electric Dreams series, The Hood Maker was a smart place to start. With definite Blade Runner-esque themes and styles this episode sets the tone with viewers unacquainted with PKD's works, yet more familiar with Harrison Ford as Deckard.
There were so many things I loved about The Hood Maker. Richard Madden and Holliday Grainger fit together so well, in trust and mistrust alike. I'm especially loving Grainger having her moment, as she is appearing in both this and JK Rowling's Strike series on the BBC. Beyond the two title characters, there isn't too much to comment on in terms of characters. The episode decided to predominantly focus on those two and rightly so. However, I still had a few more questions about Honor and agent Ross as the episode finished. How has Honor managed to snag a job with the authorities whereas most of the other telepaths seem to live in abject poverty? Who was it that actually made agent Ross train to perfect his gift and how does the hood maker know about it? I do enjoy a certain amount of ambiguity, especially in a one-off episode such as this. It enables you to focus on what the show is actually trying to say, it can give the viewer creative control of a few parts of the story and it can create suspense. I actually didn't mind the ending of this episode, regardless of what Honor chose to do, the main point was that the power was in her hands and she could, for once, decide for herself what happens to her future. However, back to my original point, I would have liked just a few more character elements filled in.
The style of this episode was gorgeous. Hazy neons and soft focus abound, it reminded me of The Handmaids Tale in cinematography but with a very different set design. The rain-soaked, grimey slums and the almost smokey atmosphere of the police precinct combined with Ross's duster, hat and the episode's love of figures unseen or lingering in the shadows gave an edge of US 1950's detective noir. There were more than a few things that gave ititss own twist however; obviously the telepaths, the wonderful Noma Dumezweni as Ross's boss and Richard Madden reverting back to his own accent and a distinctly 70's feel to certain scenes, to name a few.
The reoccurring imagery of Honor wading through the river towards Ross as a child was beautiful and having it as the opening of the episode showed us what the story was really about. Honor spent her time trying to use her powers for good and attempting to subvert people's expectations of her. Notably, she doesn't try to pussyfoot around people. She acknowledges that 'reading people' can be painful and not particularly enjoyable to watch, but it can be useful. As she tearfully, recalls how she was able to 'read' her mother, to an extent, from the womb and how this began a lifetime of people being constantly afraid of her, the point of the episode begins to emerge. The last scene, through the locked door, clarifies it. Honor wants to redefine what her powers mean. All through the episode, people are demanding criminal action against telepaths simply because of what they are and the threats they passively pose. However, Honor refuses to read Ross and when she does, it's peaceful, observational and seems to be purely the memories he is allowing her to see. The hoods represent repression and violence towards the telepaths, however, Ross represents hope for the two communities to co-exist. We see from Ross and Honor on this case together how effectively this can work.
Perhaps this is too extensive a reading of the episode, but it is a strong start for the Electric dreams series, with the preview for next weeks episode boasting a completely different outlook. Below you can see both the preview for The Hood maker and next weeks Impossible Planet which you can catch on Channel 4 at 9pm.
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