Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams 1.8 Impossible Planet: Eye of the Beholder

I've been saying throughout my episode-by-episode reviews of Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams, the 10-part anthology of standalone episodes streaming on Amazon Prime, that this anthology has been attracting some top-draw stars.  I mean, we're talking Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Anna Paquin, Terrence Howard, Maura Tierney, Mireille Enos, and the like.  But episode 1.8, Impossible Planet, brings us Geraldine Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin's daughter, first big appearance in Dr. Zhivago) as a woman in her hundreds wanting to visit Planet Earth before she dies.

The story brings us back out into space and is pure Philip K. Dick, this time pitting us into a choice of not whether this person, memory, or thing is real or illusion, but whether the faux "Earth" the unethical captain is taking her to will fool her into thinking she's really back on humanity's home.  The ending - which as you know from my previous reviews I won't reveal - is also classic PKD.

More than most of Dick's stories and the movies and TV episodes made from them, though, Impossible Planet explores beauty (or, better, reality) in the eye of the beholder.   There's also an explicit religious element in this story, or a recognition that you can't talk about the wonder of the cosmos without some reference to God.

That part was especially music to my ears.  I long ago realized that what was missing in our efforts to get out into space was a connection to the need to know more about our place in the universe, which is inevitably not only scientific but spiritual.   Towards that end - to get that deeper element out in the open and into the mix of reasons to get out into space - Michael Waltemathe and I put together an anthology of essays and short stories in 2015, Touching the Face of the Cosmos, and we're planning a conference at Fordham University (with co-organizers Lance Strate and James Heiser) with Guy Consolmagno (the Pope's Astronomer) as keynote speaker this April. (I'll try to remember to put a link here to the formal conference announcement when it's up in the next few weeks.)

But back to Impossible Planet, the writing (from the 1953 story by Dick) for television and direction by David Farr (best known for MI-5 and The Night Manager) is excellent, as is the acting not only of Chaplin but Jack Reynor and Benedict Wong (Kublai Khan in Marco Polo).  Even the robot - a combination of Malik Ibheis and Christopher Staines, also due in part to "movement director" Ita O'Brien - was memorable, and reminded me of the great robots in Forbidden Planet and Day the Earth Stood Still.  And I'm pretty sure that's more than in just the eye of this beholder.

See also Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams 1.1 Real Life: Mutually Alternate Realities ...  1.2 Autofac: Human v Machine ... 1.3 Human Is: Compassion or Alien? ... 1.4 Crazy Diamond: DNA Batteries ... 1.5 The Hood Maker: Telepathy and Police ... 1.6 Safe and Sound: This Isn't A Drill ... 1.7 Father Thing: Dick from Space ... 1.9 The Commuter: Submitted for Your Approval ... 1.10: Kill All Others: Too Close for Comfort

with John Glenn, Guy Consolmagno, much more

Marco Polo Season 2: Masterpiece

I binged watched the second season of Marco Polo on Netflix the past few evenings - superb, better than the first season in every way, and the first season was pretty good indeed.

I don't want to give anything away in the complicated, twisty story - with lots of surprises, even for those who know history - so I'll just mention some of the highlights -

• The opening credits are themselves a treat for eye and ear - animated brushstroke with meaningful images, and evocative voicing you just can't get out of your head.
• Probably my favorite single scene were horses set ablaze and running into the enemy camp - an assault via horseflesh, literally, deadly and devastating, with no loss of human life for the attackers.
• There's a great mix of religion, especially Islam and Christianity, into the story.  This was present in the first season, because Kublai Khan indeed welcomed all religions in his realm, but the religions play a much more decisive role in the second season.
• Women have outstanding roles, as fighters, lovers, strategists, and indeed all aspects of life.  A pleasure to see.
• There was so much attention on Kublai in some episodes, and so little on Marco, that at times I was thinking the series could be better named Kublai.  But Marco has some crucial moves, especially near the end.
• A personal favorite of mine in the twilight zone between historical fact and myth is Prester John.  It was good to see him brought into these battles for the world.
• Gabriel Byrne makes a fine appearance as the Pope.   And, actually, all the acting was top-drawer, with special kudos to Benedict Wong as Kubai and Joan Chen as his wife, the Empress Chabi.

Beautifully projected, brilliantly plotted, with an eye equally keen for the teardrop, which the blind monk hears, and the grand spectacle of a people who conquered more of the world than any other, Marco Polo is a masterpiece of historical drama, and I'm looking forward to more.

See also Marco Polo: Evocative History