Electric Dreams - Season 1 Review
This review of Season 1 of Electric Dreams is spoiler-free!
Anthology series come in all different shapes and sizes these days. Some focus on telling a different story every episode, while others tend to tell one story for a whole season before moving to a different story for the next season. In some cases, it's a means to tell many different stories in a specific universe. For others though, it's meant to showcase a different world and give a different ensemble of actors a chance to dive into the show. Electric Dreams tackles the later of these two, taking on the stories of Philip K. Dick. Following the vein of something like Black Mirror, Electric Dreams seeks to tell science fiction stories that come with a major hook. To give you a little tease, it's not nearly as good as the aforementioned show.
So, with an anthology series, it's difficult to talk about Electric Dreams as a season and I actually considered doing this review as a podcast because it would be easier to put together. But alas, I felt like writing would be better so I could tackle a few different stories. For a series that manages to put out ten different premises throughout its first season, I really only felt like 3 or 4 of them landed. The problem with this is that for every good episode we saw, we were given two bad ones. This resulted in me feeling drained and putting the show aside for long periods of time without finishing it (hence why this review took so long as the show was released back in January). For me though, I think I want to take time to discuss some of the shows bright spots. In a show that doesn't necessarily have true peaks and valleys style that many other shows do, I think I should perhaps just mention the few good moments. As a result, this would mean that you don't have to check out the entire season, but you can enjoy a few select hours presented.
Starting off with a bang, Electric Dreams' release of Amazon Prime started with Real Life. In this episode, we are introduced to Sarah (Anna Paquin) and George (Terrence Howard). These two people are facing remarkably similar situations in their lives as they're chasing dangerous killers. Are their minds begin to deteriorate they look to help from a futuristic VR system that links them together. The catch is, one of these people isn't real, and it's up for the two of them in the linked together mind to determine which one isn't. This episode banks on the performance of a lot of the people involved. Anna Paquin and Terrence Howard are both great in their starring roles, and the show striking similarities that are sometimes difficult to have in media where to people who are different are meant to feel the same. A lot of the side characters also manage to play into this connection as well and make it that much more enjoyable. So, as one of the better episode of Season 1, Real Life is a great start for the show that it doesn't manage to keep up.
The other episode that I want to discuss in true depth is The Commuter. For anyone who was interested in Electric Dreams from the start, this is the crown jewel of the show. It's the episode everyone is talking about. The Commuter focuses on the story of Ed Jacobson, a railway worker. When his son begins to experience what seems to be psychotic breaks, he meets a woman looking to go to a non-existent place known as Macon Heights. Upon becoming curious as to what she was referring, he boards the same train and follows people to a village that promises to wipe away the horrors of real life. From here, Jacobson's life is changed and he tries to get back what he lost. Timothy Spall steals the show in this episode as he's the emotional punch of the show and manages to convey a wide array of emotion in just one short hour. It's great story work, and the story, in general, makes sense but also leaves you with questions that are exciting to consider.
So thinking about all of Electric Dreams' first season, there are only a few episodes that I really want to point out to viewers as truly exciting in the overall shows 10-episode run. The four that I want to encourage viewers to watch are Crazy Diamond, Real Life, The Commuter, and The Father Thing. For many, this show is going to be very divisive as happens with a lot of this style of anthology series. People have differing opinions and choose to feel how they feel about a show or movie. This is no different, so while I feel Electric Dreams was filled with missed opportunities, there are others who may see this as perfect television. So while I admit to only enjoying a few episodes, I encourage anyone with the time to give Season 1 of Electric Dreams a try and see what they think for themselves!
