This initial outing written by Battlestar Galactica reboot and Star Trek: The Next Generation veteran Ronald D. Moore is smart and full of twists, but ultimately delivers an ending that falls a bit flat due to over-explaining and lack of resonance. Sarah and George are two versions of the same person, each in a different century, and each believing the other is a fantasy. Sarah believes she does not deserve her amazing, futuristic life. In fact, her life seems more likely to be the sexy, science fiction fantasy of George, a man in the 21st century who's wife was murdered by a killer that was never caught. The question of which world is real remains elusive until the very last scene, which was so talky it took away from the impact of the choice Sarah makes to give up a true happiness she feels undeserving of in favor of a life of suffering, auspiciously to atone for the sense of guilt she carries about surviving a massacre of fellow officers. A compelling idea that I wish the story could have explored more deeply.
The comfort and beauty of the future life Sarah lives is alluring enough to suggest it might be George's fantasy. And, the gritty hardness of the present day George lived in with his grief and regret had a reality to it that suggested Sarah's final conclusion may be right. But, the point of the story seemed to want to be that guilt can prevent us from embracing happiness that is right in front of us. Problem is, we never feel Sarah is very happy in the story. When she chose George's life, it seemed as if she had as much grief to fight through and as good a chance at happiness with Paula as she did with Katie in the future. Katie's flat expositional speech at the end lacked humanity. It read more like a Rod Serling outro. Despite his memory gaps, George's life seemed more believable. It's possible that budget constraints prevented the creators from giving Sarah a moment of the "futuristic super cop" her partner calls her. George actually had the more exciting action sequence, though it had a video game quality to it. Was this a creative decision designed to cast doubt on the reality of Sarah's backstory? Perhaps. By the end, it felt as if too much was happening off-camera. And, it may be that an hour was not long enough to tell this story. But, Sarah never gave me a reason to believe she had that much happiness to lose in the future, and George's connection to Paula felt too real to think he'd never be happy with her.
Despite these gripes, the episode was imaginative, well acted, kept me guessing until the end, and did provide some food for thought. Terrence Howard is always a pleasure to watch. And, Ronald D. Moore delivers solid Sci-Fi with a message once more, as he has for decades. So, I give Real Life a 7 out of 10 and look forward to more Electric Dreams.
The comfort and beauty of the future life Sarah lives is alluring enough to suggest it might be George's fantasy. And, the gritty hardness of the present day George lived in with his grief and regret had a reality to it that suggested Sarah's final conclusion may be right. But, the point of the story seemed to want to be that guilt can prevent us from embracing happiness that is right in front of us. Problem is, we never feel Sarah is very happy in the story. When she chose George's life, it seemed as if she had as much grief to fight through and as good a chance at happiness with Paula as she did with Katie in the future. Katie's flat expositional speech at the end lacked humanity. It read more like a Rod Serling outro. Despite his memory gaps, George's life seemed more believable. It's possible that budget constraints prevented the creators from giving Sarah a moment of the "futuristic super cop" her partner calls her. George actually had the more exciting action sequence, though it had a video game quality to it. Was this a creative decision designed to cast doubt on the reality of Sarah's backstory? Perhaps. By the end, it felt as if too much was happening off-camera. And, it may be that an hour was not long enough to tell this story. But, Sarah never gave me a reason to believe she had that much happiness to lose in the future, and George's connection to Paula felt too real to think he'd never be happy with her.
Despite these gripes, the episode was imaginative, well acted, kept me guessing until the end, and did provide some food for thought. Terrence Howard is always a pleasure to watch. And, Ronald D. Moore delivers solid Sci-Fi with a message once more, as he has for decades. So, I give Real Life a 7 out of 10 and look forward to more Electric Dreams.