Class of ‘09

Was looking for something great to post and then came across this gem. I watched it…no binged it a few weeks or months ago and enjoyed every bit of it…okay not so much the romance between the two ladies. Anyhow. 

Going with the theme of AI and Data, this is an appropriate series for watch. 

It is done in an interesting way featuring the cast in three major timelines past, present and future. 

Anyone who loves to see what it takes to become a Federal Agent will appreciate this show. There is a slight obsession with power for those who like these types of shows. Maybe it is the feeling you get when you walk into onto a crime scene and the cops have to make room: for you because it is a case that transcends borders and the local sheriff no longer has jurisdiction (at least the movies tell us this much). 

There is a story about how one person’s amazing attempt to stop crime through profiling and prediction goes all wrong. Maybe this is a look into the future with all the data that we are collecting and all the records that our systems have about people in our world. Maybe this is a conversations about the three strike rule (a law that punishes offenders if they commit crimes repeatedly and sets a limit to three-seemingly turning crime into a baseball game). 

The cast director was spot on in the choice of characters as were the actors in all the moral dilemmas they portray. 

My favorite and most troubling scene comes a little later in the show when a car is disabled remotely after some kind of violation. I guess it is not too sci-if given that this is possible with many cars today but transition from control to self-driving and then remote control is quite troubling. 

There are ways in which this show takes from some of the ideas in Eagle Eye at least in part with the immense power that is surrendered to the system when it takes over all operations and after some form of consciousness begins to make use of all devices with chips in them. 

The Peripheral

This is a look into the future written by a Canadian-American Author William Gibson. 

I recently had a conversation with a friend about the definition of the word prophet. My response was initially based on the standard definitions that I have from a Christian upbringing. We are taught that a prophet has a role that is split into two major aspects. First, he is tasked with the job of foretelling (like forecasting) second, he is really a. Voice of the divine or what we call forth telling. In the history of cinema, there are quite a number of authors and story tellers who have proven to fit quite well into the category of foreteller. In a sense, if we collectively believe what they say, we give it power. Those who subscribe to religious teaching will tell you that we have power through what we say and write to create the future we desire. 

One could safely say that if you have spent a decent amount of time studying science fiction, you are likely to come across a few ideas that will emerge in the future. 

This is what the peripheral is. It feels like a memo to developers of 3D modelers, Augmented Reality Developers as well as Metaverse Enthusiasts about what is possible in the future. 

The protagonist (Chloe Grace Moritz) and her brother (Jack Reynor) are make a great team and are fond of playing online games with headsets until they are asked to test out a very realistic game that turns out to be a little too real. We are then taken back and forth into the future in a world a little similar to what we saw portrayed in the film Surrogates featuring Bruce Willis where humans can subscribe or have access to a humanoid that they can control while laying in a semi living state. The surrogate does all the work and is remotely controlled by the human master. 

On the other side…or in the future you have a whole race that lives in a post apocalyptic but quite advanced world where quite a number of features that they see are simulations. On one side you have a leadership team of villains led by (T’Nia Miller) who made an appearance in the Diplomat where she plays the role of a politician’s troubled sister. You also have a law enforcement official (Alexandra Billings). You also have a Russian AntiHero (JJ Field) who seems to get a kick out of being brutal. Then you have the resistance led by a brother sister team. 

You also have a supercomputer that has major transformative properties. Interesting applications in the military, defense also exist such as a means of connecting soldiers and enhancing their abilities to communicate with each other as well as ‘inhabit’ one another. There are also some applications about health and medication with an ability to get remedies form the future and make use of them in the past. 

For those who are trying to find portals or looking at the potential that exists with technology and different realities, this should prove to be a great viewing.