Well, that worked for me. A lot!
(First, I'm sorry I've delayed my review for so long, but I started a new job and I'm overwhelmed. I just have extra time on the weekends, so I had to wait until Saturday so I could rewatch the episode and give my impressions.)
This is one of the good ones, one of the episodes I remember and think represents some of the best features of this show. We are introduced to Daniel Grey (and in fact I think this episode should've been called "Daniel Grey's Anatomy") who is, you know all rich and powerful. The episode also coveys several aspects of morality in Betaville, showing how corrupt and decadent this society is. This brings to mind stories about the last years of the Roman Empire. Something tells me Betaville is about to have some major political revolution of some sort.
Let's see what happens in this society.
- There's an elite (but then there's always an elite no matter the regime) and they enjoy immense wealth and power. But then, according to what we've seen so far, nobody is really poor in Betaville, and this is what makes elitism even more insidious. If ordinary people have an OK life, they are more likely to support the system. But of course the very rich get even richer.
- Clones are slaves, and people don't even question that anymore. This tells us this modern version of slavery is so ingrained in society's psique that most people will take it for granted. It's just part of the natural order.
- Masters have a life and death power over their property the clones.
- The elite gets entertainment where it can find, even at the cost of another person's humanity. Even Sarah, who is part of the elite, has to play according to the rules and do what she's supposed to do. Even if that involves being part of the spectacle.
- The only "journalists" who get to interview the powerful are gossip tabloid shills who make shallow questions. The reporters seemed to find silly comments about the Daniel + Sarah love thing to be something useful to be published. Well, if the public wants that...
Another interesting aspect was the medical one. The entire idea of the operation was that the recipient's body would maintain its basic motor functions intact. Indeed, it would make no sense to transplant an entire brain, just the higher functions. We'll get back to that.
Things I hadn't noticed back in 1998
- It turns out we never leard why Daniel Grey is rich and powerful. Profession: billionaire.
- This is the premise of the movie "The Island," with clones being used as sources of spare parts for the rich. The movie is very good and I recommend it. It's a smart premise and it worked in this episode very well. Anyway, the reason I didn't notice that in 1998 is because "The Island" is from 2005...
- Daniel Grey = Dorian Grey. Of course, of course. But instead of a portrait, this D. Grey has clones. Both Greys want to live forever and will make a pact with the devil, so to speak, to achieve their goal.
- It turns out Jason Priestly has a hot sister. I didn't know that.
- When I originally watched this episode, I imagined they would transplant parts of Daniel's brain into the clone's head. I mean, physically cutting his brain. yet, no incisions were made; it's all digital, and the brains are merely scanned, and then the recipient brain is "printed" with the desired pattern. This, of course opens a pandora's box for me. The fact that you can reproduce a pattern in another brain means the brain in the receiving end of the operation will behave like you, but it doesn't necessarily mean you'll wake up in that body. For all we know, we could end with two arrogant and smug Daniel Greys.
- The incidental music worked very, very well in this episode. It gave the eerie feeling you get from this futuristic and decadent society.
- Daniel's younger clones don't look like him at all. They could have done a better casting job.
- The actor was young, but ten years older than the clone's age, and probably ten years younger (perhaps younger) than the "old" Daniel. That was a smart choice, though the "old" guy still seemed too youthful to make the story believable. But he was quite pudgy (probably because of too much pudding.)
Grade
One of the best episodes in the show.
This one gets 9 shades of Daniel Grey.
Replying to previously made observations:
Sarah Dale, a big movie star (or whatever she was, don’t know if they really ever said)
They did mention that. She calls herself a courtesan. He calls her "an actress" because he wants to be kind and wants to get into her pants.
For some reason, Daniel really wants this girl. She’s not that great-looking, even seems a little too thin.
Personally I find her very pretty, though a nasty person. But just because YOU didn't fall for her, it doesn't mean nobody would. Men have obsessed with much uglier women.
but it’s hard to believe this guy would want to have her that bad
Stranger things have happened. The heart wants what the heart wants, and it's expected taht someone who can have anything would obsess with something he cannot have for the first time.
You’d think he’d at least float the idea to her in private first,
It was a power play. it was a way of embarrassing and pressuring her. Apparently her standing (in social media?) is something important to her, so she's vulnerable to the public opinion, and he wants to use that.
Turns out the whole operation was a fraud apparently, (...) I guess that explains why two men who supposedly both had brain surgery don't have so much as a band-aid on their head, let alone a shaved head since it was brain surgery.
The episode shows no incisions being made. The brains are merely scanned and brain patterns are changed accordingly, as they showed it with those poorly made 1990s graphics. Since no cutting is made, no healing is necessary. It's an entirely different concept of surgery. But then this is a science fiction show.
So what happened? Did they just not do the surgery? If so, why is Daniel suddenly a scared little wimp? Or did they move a little of Daniel’s brain into Carl? Of so, then why no sign of a surgery? What a mess. They couldn’t even get the punchline right on this story.
OK< so you didn't understand it, but that doesn't mean the story was not well written. As stated earlier, they would "transplant" only Daniel's knowledge and personality into the clone's brain, but the motor functions would remain that of the clone's. Apparently knowledge and personality are two distinct things, located in distinct parts of the brain. But in the end they just copied Daniel's knowledge, not personality. So, "Carl" still cared about the children, and old Daniel still liked pudding. But now Carl can lay the piano and remember Venice.
At one point Sarah even asks Daniel if she can “buy” his “slave”. There’s no great moral debate in this one.
Which just shows how moral can change from society to society. The fact they don']t debate something they see as obvious and part of the natural order of things is very telling. You seem to be expecting OUR notion of morality in Betaville, which would be odd.
Sara suggests a trip to some romantic city (I forgot which) but Daniel has a better plan for her: take a long walk – off a short pier.
LOL! It was Venice.
Final pun of the week
The host ends his intro by saying,
"But there's a hefty price to be paid... in more than just dollars." Of course there is. And it's paid in
betacoins! Ha! See what I did there? Bitcoins,
betacoins... Funny, isn't it?
