This futuristic satire is not so much an X-File as it is a short film feature David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. This bothers some people, but I clever outliers have always been a feature of TV series, as you know if you've seen the musical version of Xena or the Blossom Truth or Dare parody or, to go way back, Name of the Game one-offs that included a futuristic environmental parable and a slapstick Italian farce.
The idea of a machine uprising is ancient - Woody Allen once had a joke where a talking elevator beat him up for mistreating his toaster - but technological advances have made that less fantastical. This episode is disturbing, in spite of the abundant humor, because it's convincing. Excepting the ending, this all feels like it could really happen, precisely because much of it - the constant harassment from apps, the lack of human interaction with businesses - is happening now.
Funny, clever, and thought-provoking, this is every bit as good as Darin Morgan's handful of episodes.
The idea of a machine uprising is ancient - Woody Allen once had a joke where a talking elevator beat him up for mistreating his toaster - but technological advances have made that less fantastical. This episode is disturbing, in spite of the abundant humor, because it's convincing. Excepting the ending, this all feels like it could really happen, precisely because much of it - the constant harassment from apps, the lack of human interaction with businesses - is happening now.
Funny, clever, and thought-provoking, this is every bit as good as Darin Morgan's handful of episodes.