Virtuality review
Beware of minor spoilers.
It isn't a secret around here that I very much dislike the FOX network. The cancellation of Firefly a few years back was a disaster and more recently the cancellation of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles pushed me over the edge of never wanting to support the network until new more intelligent management took over. On top of that, in and between those things, everything that would come out of the mouth of FOX executives resulted in dog shit pouring out of their mouths and nostrils. I can only take so much until I start expecting garbage from a network or studio. Both television shows that I mentioned were well written, powerful at times, brilliantly acted, overall resulting into fantastic television series, however, ratings and in some cases bad promotion caused FOX to cancel them although critically acclaimed, for the most part.
Most of us are very aware that the ratings system isn't applicable in the digital age but networks and advertisers can't seem to figure it out. As far as I'm concerned, the ratings difficulties comes from the simple reason that the audiences for these type of TV shows are very different from general audiences. Face it, serialized science fiction is very intelligent and because of that networks and studios usually say something like "it's too intelligent for American audiences". The sad truth; yes, shows like Firefly, Terminator: TSCC, Battlestar Galactica and several others are too intelligent for general American audiences. The result; reality television. Between the different audiences of scifi television and general mainstream viewers, one can argue that the ratings system is not flawed because reality television scores very high ratings. This is what has happened to entertainment and our bread, intelligent seekers, is staying small and fading away making room for more reality television. What would happen, however, if you mixed reality television with science fiction? Taking a very science fiction story and mixing it with a reality concept?
March of this year, Battlestar Galactica aired its finale episodes - Daybreak, the series finale, was an emotional end to one of the greatest science fictions television series from the last several years and without a doubt, one of most well written series in modern television age. The genius behind the series is Ronald D. Moore, among a few others, but it was Moore who crafted the series to what he envisioned. Now that Battlestar Galactica is over, although The Plan is on the way, Moore is beginning to move on to other projects, one of which includes the Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica. The other, and already failed television series, is Virtuality which FOX decided not to put to series, however, recently premiered the filmed pilot on their network with little to no promotion. Why is it failed already you ask? The answer; because it wasn't mainstream enough! In December of 2008, FOX looked at the "backdoor" pilot and ordered it to be reworked. "Fox is looking at the pilot now and it 'might stay in consideration for May and be reworked as a more mainstream drama',” which is a quote that comes from Galactica Sitrep via The Hollywood Reporter. Translation; FOX executives agree that it's too smart and rich which means the American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, etc. crowd will not watch it. Ron Moore and co. is now tasked to dumb down the pilot of Virtuality. The end result, FOX is predictable and decided not to bring Virtuality to series, only airing the pilot this past Friday.
"The crew of the Phaeton is approaching the go/no-go point of their epic 10-year journey through outer space. With the fate of Earth in their hands, the pressure is intense. The best bet for helping the crew members maintain their sanity is the cutting-edge virtual reality technology installed on the ship. It's the perfect stress-reliever until they realize a glitch in the system has unleashed a virus on to the ship. Tensions mount as the crew decides how to contain the virus and complete their mission. Meanwhile, their lives are being taped for a reality show back on Earth." Written by Ron Moore and Michael Taylor, Peter Berg (The Kingdom, Hancock) directs the pilot of Virtuality which stars, "Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Commander Frank Pike; Sienna Guillory as Rika Goddard; James D'Arcy as Dr. Roger Fallon; Ritchie Coster as Dr. Jimmy Johnson; Erik Jensen as Dr. Jules Braun; Omar Metwally as Dr. Adin Meyer; Kerry Bishe as Billie Kashmiri; Joy Bryant as Alice Thibadeau; Nelson Lee as Kenji Yamamoto; Jose Pablo Cantillo as Manny Rodriguez; Gene Farber as Val Orlovsky; Clea Duvall as Sue Parsons; Jimmi Simpson as Virtual Man". [NFD]
When I hear the name Ron Moore, I get excited at the prospect of seeing something that was written from his brilliance. BSG proved to be an experience in television unlike any other and with that in mind, knowing that he created this new concept called Virtuality, I was easily pumped to see something new that didn't have anything to do with Galactica. The question I held up until the premiere is if the brilliance of BSG was only for BSG - could he bring the creative genius to Virtuality giving us, the viewer, another product worthy of his now impressive name? The short answer; hell yeah! I loved Virtuality!
Tasked to direct Ron Moore's Virtuality is Peter Berg who's work you'd recognize from films like Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom and Hancock. He's also attached to direct the big screen remake of Dune. In Berg's past films, it's obvious that he has a handle on action, which is very evident in The Kingdom, a movie that I really like. The hope from Virtulity, at least from my point of view, is if the director can tell a dramatic story, directing actors to provide excellent performances capturing excellent drama. The point of that hope is of course the potential of handling an epic story like Dune which I'm now hopeful he could since the pilot of Virtuality is a fantastic piece of entertainment. In short, his direction of Virtuality is fantastic between the story telling exposition and the visual aspects of the pilot. The visual effects alone rival even big budget Hollywood films, for example; the space travel of the Phaeton which looks pretty flawless and the virtuality world, specifically the luminescent skylines shown in Frank Pike's Civil War program among the other VR mods.
Most of all, Virtuality is more than just a science fiction, it's a very character driven show with a lot of threads. Each character in the ensemble cast has their own thread to deal with, some of which cross with other character threads adding a lot of depth to the particular character and overall story. Ron Moore incorporated a lot of drama to the story just in the pilot and it never seems like it was too much. In the pilot, we have rape, adultery, depression, anger, illness, marriage, homosexuality and many more things one of which includes a character that infiltrates everyone's virtual mods killing them. As for the reason, we don't know and we probably will never find out considering Virtuality isn't going to series. There are several scenes in the pilot which I found to be fantastic story telling, however, I don't want to really give them away. Even still, it is worth mentioning that the scene shared between two characters after the rape might actually be my favorite moment in the pilot. I'm always a sucker for emotional moments between two characters. The chemistry between characters in Virtuality is very strong and it shows - it doesn't matter if the characters dislike eachother or love eachother because the performances given by each actor provides excellent chemistry resulting in a very enjoyable viewing experience.
Virtuality reminds me of older science fiction like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Outland. That feeling is one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much because, simply, there isn't space science fiction like that anymore. Most SF is big budget action films, which is always good, but movie history has shown that contained and small SF's usually turn out to be the most enjoyable since everything is focused on the characters. More than likely, sadly, Virtuality will not go to series especially since the ratings Friday night were very very bad but that is FOX's fault. With no promotion, they premiered Virtuality during the summer on the weekend of the Transformers 2 premiere. Sure, like people are going to stay home and watch a TV show they can easily DVR when Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen just came out - FOX will never learn.
I love Virtuality and after seeing it twice, I'm annoyed that we won't be seeing more from these characters in their world. What could have been in a series might have been a very interesting story to see, especially since I got the feeling that they are all in a virtual world to begin with and virtuality man was a sort of exit out of that world. This is definitely something you should sit down and watch, at least at some point because of the writing and direction alone. At least we still have Ron Moore's Caprica on the way and at least FOX can't get their hands on that to ruin. Up next, FOX cancels Dollhouse!
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Obsess with Ron Moore much?
Geez, do you genuflect when his name is mentioned? From the sound of this “review” one can imagine pilgrims journeying to the stable where the virgin Mrs. Moore gave birth to the Ron Christ.
I’m sorry, but the constant references to his “genius” are more usually, and more aptly reserved for those who actually create something Original, and if Joe Haldeman is to be believed, Ron Moore still hasn’t.
As it is, without Bonnie Hammer and the Skiffy Stealth Marketers, RDM isn’t much more than a repackager who takes other people’s work, inserts Angst, Despair, cheesy Emo Soap Opera elements, Shakey Cameras, and Rape-As-A-Story-Element into existing properties, and then gets called a genius for doing so.
Yes, the Networks, Skiffy included DO look to the ratings system to figure out which shows are worthwhile, and which ones need quick demise. As you admit, you’ve watched Virtuality more than once, do you assume, simply because it’s available on Hulu, and Fox on Demand that ratings wise, both your views should be counted as distinct separate viewers? If you look at the numbers “during Broadcast” the viewers dropped off in droves. Why is that? Is it just that many people aren’t sophisticated enoungh, hip enough, or smart enough to see the shining brilliance of Ron Moore? Or Could it be that the convoluted Soap Opera story was just not enough to keep the viewers interested?
Again, I’m sorry to insult this seeming new religion that has arisen around Ron Moore, or the devotees to it, but let’s be real here, simply throwing in copious amounts of gritty Angst and Rape does not make something great programming, nor does it make the person responsible for it the Second Coming of Jesus.
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