CRRRaSh! 305 Geekly Weekly

By Roy Mathur, on 2020-03-24, at 12:06:47--00:49:37 GMT, for Captain Roy's Rocket Radio Show, Listen

The Outside

Yeah, this crap is impossible to get away from, but enforced isolation due to ignorant, inconsiderate, stupid, and the plain suicidally defiant has led to a total lockdown in the UK. I could see it coming, but I'm disappointed. The government and other mainstream media, as well as I, and no doubt many other podcasters, warned against such irresponsible behaviour, but unfortunately not enough people heeded the warning and now look what's happened.

And what of the recent emergency SMS from the government? Three mobile phones on two networks in the house, but no emergency texts. So that didn't work, did it?

As I write these notes, remember I said HMRC would not be able to handle the added pressure of helping business through the crisis? Well, that is the case according to the BBC news which I can hear in the other room. Spiffing.

I hate when my predictions of things going wrong turn out to be right. I hate being the bearer of bad news. It's personally stressful to me, and I'm fed up of it, but look, let's end the Preshow on a positive note. There's still a chance to get a grip on the crisis before it explodes, but it's going to take all of us working together to stay safe, so that we don't spread the virus.

Let's do the show.

Devs

Alex Garland; I have mixed feelings about this guy. Good storyteller, stylish director, then the half-baked sci-fi-crappery that was Sunshine.

In Devs, programmer Lily, investigates the death of her programmer boyfriend. Both work for Apple-like cultish tech firm involved in a top secret computing project.

The quantum stuff in the script seems a mix of exotic barely comprehensible science, that I assume is sourced from technical consultants, mixed with hokum.

My own theory is that the boss and his creepy assistant have discovered that the world is a simulation, as per, hence those bits of script hinting at a conflict between not caring and caring and the semi-casual attitude to murder.

Devs is a creepy, dark, pessimistic toned horror disguised as a sci-fi techno-thriller, i.e. Garland's wheelhouse.

Westworld

Westworld is back. The androids have escaped and we are also seeing the futuristic world outside the park from the point of view of blue collar veteran Aaron Paul. Why they choose such a cliched character is beyond me, but there you are. Aside from that minor quibble, it is, as always, an excellent show.

IRL Bernard is posing as a labourer using the android interface. The way that self-programming world reminds me of a cross between The Matrix training sims, AZI/Azi (Artificial Zygote Insemination) tape learning in C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union series of novels, and the illegal technology to remote control humans in Stephen R. Donaldson's The Gap Cycle books. It is a genuine superpower and I like the way it is realised on the show.

Charlotte... okay, I throw my hands up at this point. The plot is dense, and frankly I've forgotten who or what she is anymore. My theory is after human Charlotte was killed, her robot copy was filled with Teddy's soul. What plan Dolores has for her? No idea. No idea what's going on with Maeve (Thandie Newton) either. Man alive, this is complicated!

Oh dear, this is a terrible recapitulation.

Dolores, on the other hand, is plotting her... well, I don't know. Survival of the androids? World domination? Some combination of both? Her scheming includes murder, theft, and a very robust response to any who try to stop her. At the end of the first episode, which is all I have watched so far, her violent trajectory brings her into the arms of Aaron Paul. Chivalry's about to bite you hard everyday day Joe.

Until Next Time

Don't overly stress and stay safe.