The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 6: The End

The last episode of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, on Apple TV+, was better than it could have been, but not what I'd hoped for.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

At least Ptolemy didn't take his own life, as suggested by the opening of the first episode.  But he died, with barely if any at all of the enormous improvements in his mentality brought about by Dr. Rubin aka Satin's medical treatment.  And I wanted Ptolemy, with his exceptional intelligence, to come up with a way of making it last.  But years ago, when I started out as a writer, I once heard another writer retort, when his work was faulted by a critic, hey, if you think that's such a good idea, why don't you write your own story?  And Walter Mosley could certainly say that to me in response to what I would have liked the ending his Ptolemy Grey story to be.

And there were many enduringly beautiful and profound elements to this TV series (I haven't read the book).  Robyn's development was wonderful to see.  The baddest guy got just what he deserved.  The interplay of Ptolemy's memories with the complex reality that swirled around him was handled memorably.   Indeed, it's not too clever to say that the whole story about the loss of human memory was handled memorably.  It's true.

Getting old is a hell of a thing.  The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey is eminently worth seeing, even if it doesn't have the happy ending my stubborn heart desired.

See also The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 1-3: In Flowers for Algernon Territory ... The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 4: Ptolemy's Fate ... The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 5: Slippage

a little time travel story -- free

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 5: Slippage

The saddest thing about the next-to-last episode of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey on Apple TV+ is that it looks like Ptolemy is at last beginning to lose it.  The "it" being the enhanced, super-sharp mentality that Dr. Rubin aka Satan's treatment has given Ptolemy.  At that party, the occasion for Ptolemy's speech that Rubin attended -- the only white guy in the room, as Rubin (very well played by Walter Goggins) observed and noted -- Ptolemy can't quite get that last line out.   Ptolemy (for my money, one of Samuel L. Jackson's best performances) is aware of that, too, but soldiers on.  He has crucial work still to do.

But that slippage wrecks my theory/hope that Ptolemy will somehow avoid what Rubin sees as an inevitable decline.  Though -- maybe not.  While there's life, there's hope, right?  And there's still one more episode of life in this six-episode miniseries.

A large part of the work left for Ptolemy is to convince his nephew Reggie's wife Nina's boyfriend -- who, in fact, killed Reggie to prevent him from taking Nina away by way of Texas -- to take some big sum of money to go away himself and leave Ptolemy's family alone.  It's a safe bet, I'd say, that this killer is not going to go away so easily.

The other work left for Ptolemy is to get Robyn to take control of his money -- multi-millions --when he's gone.  As Robyn rightly says, she's only seventeen.  She knows nothing about how to handle big money.  I'd say it's also a safe bet that Robyn will agree to Ptolemy's request before the series ends next week.

But Ptolemy will have to do all this work with his mind slipping.   And I'll be hoping until the end that that just doesn't happen.

See you back here next week, when I'll let you know what I think of how it all turns out.

See also The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 1-3: In Flowers for Algernon Territory ... The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 4: Ptolemy's Fate

a little time travel story -- free

 

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 4: Ptolemy's Fate

It was good to see Ptolemy in top intellectual form throughout the whole episode #4 of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey on Apple TV+.   This ranged from putting the cops who came knocking of the door of his apartment in their place, to coming to terms with Hilly, to pretty much figuring out who killed his nephew.

With only two more episodes to go of this fine series, the big question remains of how long will Ptolemy stay in possession of his razor-sharp mind, and his intellectual capacities even better than just restored.  Dr. Rubin aka Satan says he honestly doesn't know, because Ptolemy was so strong, so receptive to the restorative treatment, in the first place.

We should also bear in the mind that we see Ptolemy about to end his life in the very first scene of the series.  But, of course, that's a far cry from his actually taking his own life, rather than his being obliged to be a helpless witness to his own deterioration.  I'm ever the optimist, so here's what I'm hoping to see (I haven't read Walter Mosley's novel, so I don't know how that ended):

I'd like to see Ptolemy, with his still superior intelligence, figure out how he can make his enormous intellectual improvement permanent.  Is that too much to ask?  We live in a world in which our fictions more often than not have unhappy endings.  But Ptolemy realizing what he can do to extend the ascendance of his mind is not implausible.

I'm also wondering what else Dr. Rubin might have up his sleeve.  Has he been 100% truthful with Ptolemy?  We have no reason to think that he has not, at least so far.  I think he would certainly be amenable if Ptolemy were to come up with some ideas about how to extend his mental surge.

I'll see you here next week, with some thoughts on how Ptolemy's path progresses.

See also The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 1-3: In Flowers for Algernon Territory

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey 1-3: In Flowers for Algernon Territory

I figured I'd catch up with the first three episodes of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey on Apple TV+, and I'm very glad I did.  I mean, how you can you go wrong with a Walter Mosley novel (which I haven't read), adapted to the screen by him too, and starring Samuel L. Jackson in the title role?  You can't.

So, how good is this series, which tells the story of Ptolemy Grey, suffering from progressing dementia, given an antidote (science fictional, we don't really have that at present) which allows him to recover all of his memories, but not permanently?  Well, the high watermark of that kind of story is of course Daniel Keyes' 1959 "Flowers for Algernon," which I read as a kid shortly after it was published and still think is one of the best things I've ever read.  And, based on these first three of six episodes of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey -- I wish there were more -- I'd say it's certainly in same ballpark as "Flowers for Algernon".

In addition to the emotionally wrenching story of getting one's mind back only to lose it, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey is also a murder mystery.  One of Ptolemy's main motives is find out who killed his nephew, the clues to whom being buried in his mind.  And there's also remembering what happened to the love of his life, a new romantic possibility, and other puzzles for Ptolemy.  

In addition to Jackson, there's fine acting all around, including Dominique Fishback as Robyn (who takes care of Ptolemy after his nephew is killed) and Walter Goggins as the scientist who administers the magic potion.  There's so much going on here it's a good bet that the concluding three episodes will be as packed with memorable scenes as the first three.

I'll be reviewing each of them after I see them.  See you back here with my review of episode #4 after I see it this Friday.

I introduce Daniel Keyes at the 2000 Nebula convention in NYC