This is probably the only story you'll ever watch about a vampire getting addicted to virtual reality.
Season three was very topical. This week we're worrying about virtual reality and video games, which was a societal panic when I was a teenager.
The story here is hard to grasp. Someone killed their partner at the video game company. Got it. But that person decides to put clues in the video game that could lead to her arrest, and Nick gets addicted to the game while following the trail.
The murderer even adds clues to the real world that match what Nick finds in the game... but why? There's no reason to lead the police on a chase like this.
The purpose of all this is for Nick to get over his boredom and enjoy being a vampire. His dark nature is just under the surface, waiting to emerge, and this video game threatens to break it loose.
While I don't expect TV shows to get tech details correct, I've probably never seen so many technical misunderstandings in my life. Even today, this kind of VR interaction isn't realistic. But the goofy costumes in the game are really what's hilarious. This is how you would write about video games if you'd only heard about them from The 700 Club.
Flashbacks:
None.
Little Bites:
-A lot of people have noticed Nick has an odd way of saying the word "clue," like he's pronouncing the older word, "clew," which was the term used to describe a ball of yarn, like the one you'd use to escape a maze. Lots of scenes in this episode make Nick look like he's searching through tight corridors.
-Familiar Faces: Rita is played by Catherine Bruhier, who was a charming (but sadly underused) regular on Due South.
-Nick is slipping back. La Croix offers him a bottle of blood and Nick actually drinks it. La Croix is delighted to see Nick wandering back into the fold.
-I'm endlessly amused by the idea of Nick wearing the VR gear at the mall, punching and kicking the air while confused shoppers give him a wide berth.
-Even though the setup for this case is hard to swallow, it's annoying how his co-workers don't want to follow the clues he finds.
-I guess it's lucky no one at the mall picked up the weird crap Rita left around. Did she plant it just before Nick got there? Did she ever ask herself why she bothered giving the police clues?
Final Analysis: The VR stuff is insanely corny and silly, but watching Nick fall into his vampire nature is one of the few compelling aspects of season three. Two out of five hourglasses.
Adam D. Jones is a writer, musician, and medievalist who feels a kinship for vampires because his sensitive eyes that make it difficult to go outside during the day.
"-Even though the setup for this case is hard to swallow, it's annoying how his co-workers don't want to follow the clues he finds."
ReplyDeleteIn an age of minority empowerment, the only sect of people who remain truly oppressed are us, the humble gamers. LOL
The premise was dumb and transparent enough to become kind of charming so I really enjoyed this one. There's even a meta premise for the lack of flashbacks - Nick is tired of those, too! (I'm not actually sick of them though, to be clear.)
But yeah seriously, Nick do the damn paperwork lol. I've usually only seen main characters breeze out when the side person is making inane small talk, not bringing up an actual issue.
To be fair to the writer, there's not a lot of technical detail given about how Nick is interacting with the VR world. Could be more like an interactive movie and all the neck biting is a pre-generated sequence rather than actually following Nick's movements.
ReplyDeleteAnd a nice touch: the computer cop is not a geek, but an attractive woman. She isn't even wearing glasses.