Virtuality on Fox*
Plot
Virtuality is set aboard the Phaeton, Earth's first starship. It revolves around its crew of 12 astronauts on a 10-year journey to explore a distant solar system. To help them endure the long trip and keep their minds occupied, NASA has equipped the ship with advanced virtual-reality modules, allowing the crew members to assume adventurous identities and go to any place they want. The plan works flawlessly until a mysterious "bug" is found in the system.
"It's very much about what's fantasy and what's reality; what we do to escape our lives and what actually institutes our lives; are these things very different," [Universal] president Katherine Pope said. (THR)
Crew
Executive directors - Ronald D. Moore, Michael Taylor, Peter Berg, Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun
Director - Peter Berg
Writers - Ronald D. Moore, Michael Taylor
Cast
James D'Arcy is "Roger Fallon". Psychiatrist. A gifted therapist and producer of an onboard reality show in which the crew members are obligated to take part, the price of their interstellar voyage. Though those two jobs might sound incompatible, Taylor said that he combines his tasks with aplomb.
Sienna Guillory is “Rika Goddard". Botanist, in charge of the hydroponics. Fallon's wife, though Guillory said that her character is having an affair with someone on the ship.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is "Frank Pike". The mission commander. Ex-military. Coster-Waldau reported that Pike has re-created a Civil War battle in his virt module and reruns it often, trying to solve a particular historical puzzle.
Joy Bryant is “Alice Thibadeau”. Exobiologist, but with a different specialty from her husband, Kenji.
Nelson Lee is “Kenji Yamaguchi". Exobiologist. Married to Alice Thibadeau. Writer/producer Taylor described them as a young couple, very much in love and having something of a second honeymoon on the ship.
Omar Metwally is “Dr. Eyal Meyer". Ship's doctor. Born in the West Bank of Israeli and Palestinian parentage.
Richie Coster is “Jimmy Johnson”. Inventor of the matter/antimatter weapons technology used to propel the ship. In a wheelchair because of an accident in his past. Coster described his character as "an agent of chaos." He's vital to the mission's success, which is apparently the only reason anyone puts up with him.
Erik Jensen is "Dr. Julius 'Jules' Braun". Longtime NASA scientist, designer of the ship and navigator.
Jose Pablo Cantillo is "Manny Rodriguez". Mathematician and superstring theorist.
Gene Farber is "Valentin Orlovsky". Geologist and Rodriguez's partner.
Clea DuVall is "Sue Parsons". Ship's pilot. An ex-fighter pilot and very much into physical activity. Her virt modules are mainly about extreme sports.
Kerry Bishé is "Billie Kashmiri". Computer expert. Interfaces with the ship's artificial intelligence, which is named Gene. Or perhaps Jean. Taylor declined to say whether the personality is male or female.
Jimmi Simpson is "The Green-Eyed Man".
Spoilers
io9 (May 21, 2008):
There are three strands in the Virtuality pilot, and only one of them relates to virtual reality as such:
1) The ship, the Phaeton, is nearing a slingshot maneuver around Jupiter, which will either send it back to Earth or send it hurtling forwards to its destination of Eridani. This is the "go/no-go" decision point, which will decide the crew's fate once and for all. At the same time, the ship's doctor, Eyal Meyer, has Parkinson's Disease, which throws an extra wrinkle into the tough decision. Should the ship go forward and risk not having a doctor on board? If they don't go, it may be 20 years before humans can try again - which may be too late. There are also glitches with the ship, and emergency repairs may cost one character their life.
2) The crew are all spending time in virtual reality "modules," including everything from a restful seaside scene to a Civil War battle where Confederate troops attack Union soldiers, only to fall into an ambush. In all their "modules," a mysterious figure known as the Green-Eyed Man shows up and kills the humans in gruesome ways. (Unlike in The Matrix and other scifi classics, being killed in VR doesn't harm you in real life, but it's jarring.) Is the Green-Eyed Man a hack by one of the crew members? A computer glitch? Or something else? Everybody suspects Billie, the computer geek - until she's raped by the Green Eyed Man, in a brutal and horrible scene.
3) Even as the crew is stressed out by the experience of being in deep space alone for 10 years, and losing themselves in VR entertainments, they're also being watched. In particular, the ship is one huge "reality TV" show, which is broadcast back on Earth. The ship's computer whiz, Billie, becomes the "host" of the show, which is struggling with declining ratings - so she has to find ways to increase the show's "drama" to make it more compelling viewing. There are interview segments interspersed with sequences where Billie films the crew arguing. The crew have to take part, or risk breaching their contracts - which could mean their families back on Earth lose their preferential housing. (There are tons of hints that Earth is one huge ecological cesspool, and liveable dry land is at a premium, with long waitlists for housing.)
The show's most freaky character - sort of a cross between Gaius Baltar and Brother Cavil - is Roger Fallon. He's the ship's therapist (and may have to take over as doctor if Meyer is incapacitated.) But he's also the producer and director of the ship's "reality TV" show, which places him in a weird conflict of interest. He's supposed to be listening to the crew's problems, even as he's urging Billie to create more "drama" to boost the show's ratings. He's a manipulative snake, who's a famous self-help guru with a book that's almost as popular as the Bible back on Earth. We're clearly supposed to hate him and yet find him oddly compelling. His wife, Rika, is having a virtual reality affair with the ship's captain, Frank Pike. (Yes, the captain is really named Pike.)
Other simmering subplots: Manny and Val, a gay couple, have been stuck on galley duty and hate cooking, plus they're bad at it. Another married couple, Alice and Kenji, are having sex in weird spots all over the ship and trying to keep it secret for some reason. (Plus it seems as though Alice had an abortion so she could go on the Phaeton's space flight, and her sister just had a baby back on Earth.) Billie is adjusting to being the host of the "reality TV" show, and her VR module is a hilarious scenario where she's a Joan Jett-esque rock star who's also a superspy. (And her band are all super-spies too.) Another character, a scientist named Jules Braun, is having the computer create a virtual reconstruction of his dead son, Shawn.
io9 (May 22, 2008):
Rika, the wife of the ship's therapist/show producer Roger Fallon, works in the ship's "greenhouse" and says plants are better suited to space travel than humans - but the plants start having root problems. Roger allegedly gets a percentage of all the revenues from the ship's "virtual reality" show. Jules Braun has the V.R. program simulate his dead son Shawn, but the simulation isn't real enough, until the program takes from Braun's own psychological profile, and then Shawn is a bit of a psycho.
One of the Green-Eyed Man's virtual-reality murders targets Captain Pike when he's having illicit virtual sex with Dr. Fallon's wife Rika. The Green-Eyed Man "kills" the Parkinsons-afflicted Dr. Meyer in V.R., but he finds the experience liberating instead of scary. When the Green-Eyed Man attacks Billie, the computer geek, she tries to tell the computer to "freeze" the program, but the program won't stop. And she can't exit the program prematurely. (Oh, and the V.R. is via headsets, not a holodeck. Shoulda mentioned that before.)
Dr. Fallon disagrees strongly with Captain Pike's decision to take the V.R. modules off-line after Billie's assault. He feels that without the V.R. modules, the crew will go nuts in deep space. Also, an engineer named Jimmy Johnson, who's confined to a wheelchair, really needs V.R. because it's the only way he can get out of his chair. (The show has a dozen characters, which is a lot to get to know.)
And here's the major spoiler: At the end of the pilot, Capt. Pike gets killed while trying to repair the ship's com-array. (It sucks, because he's one of the most likeable characters in the script, and we've gotten pretty attached to him by this point.) And the ship's com-array is still broken at the end of the episode. Jimmy Johnson takes command, and his first order is to reinstate the V.R. modules.
Pilot script review at TheFutonCritic:
"Virtuality" is brimming with joyously clever ideas and concepts, not to mention filled with decidedly unique characters and relationships - and I didn't see any of it coming. While "Battlestar" is mired in metaphors about the politics of 2008, "Virtuality" takes on our growing attachment to technology - how it's starting to define us and how we see ourselves.
* Last updated 22/8/08
Virtuality is set aboard the Phaeton, Earth's first starship. It revolves around its crew of 12 astronauts on a 10-year journey to explore a distant solar system. To help them endure the long trip and keep their minds occupied, NASA has equipped the ship with advanced virtual-reality modules, allowing the crew members to assume adventurous identities and go to any place they want. The plan works flawlessly until a mysterious "bug" is found in the system.
"It's very much about what's fantasy and what's reality; what we do to escape our lives and what actually institutes our lives; are these things very different," [Universal] president Katherine Pope said. (THR)
Crew
Executive directors - Ronald D. Moore, Michael Taylor, Peter Berg, Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun
Director - Peter Berg
Writers - Ronald D. Moore, Michael Taylor
Cast
James D'Arcy is "Roger Fallon". Psychiatrist. A gifted therapist and producer of an onboard reality show in which the crew members are obligated to take part, the price of their interstellar voyage. Though those two jobs might sound incompatible, Taylor said that he combines his tasks with aplomb.
Sienna Guillory is “Rika Goddard". Botanist, in charge of the hydroponics. Fallon's wife, though Guillory said that her character is having an affair with someone on the ship.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is "Frank Pike". The mission commander. Ex-military. Coster-Waldau reported that Pike has re-created a Civil War battle in his virt module and reruns it often, trying to solve a particular historical puzzle.
Joy Bryant is “Alice Thibadeau”. Exobiologist, but with a different specialty from her husband, Kenji.
Nelson Lee is “Kenji Yamaguchi". Exobiologist. Married to Alice Thibadeau. Writer/producer Taylor described them as a young couple, very much in love and having something of a second honeymoon on the ship.
Omar Metwally is “Dr. Eyal Meyer". Ship's doctor. Born in the West Bank of Israeli and Palestinian parentage.
Richie Coster is “Jimmy Johnson”. Inventor of the matter/antimatter weapons technology used to propel the ship. In a wheelchair because of an accident in his past. Coster described his character as "an agent of chaos." He's vital to the mission's success, which is apparently the only reason anyone puts up with him.
Erik Jensen is "Dr. Julius 'Jules' Braun". Longtime NASA scientist, designer of the ship and navigator.
Jose Pablo Cantillo is "Manny Rodriguez". Mathematician and superstring theorist.
Gene Farber is "Valentin Orlovsky". Geologist and Rodriguez's partner.
Clea DuVall is "Sue Parsons". Ship's pilot. An ex-fighter pilot and very much into physical activity. Her virt modules are mainly about extreme sports.
Kerry Bishé is "Billie Kashmiri". Computer expert. Interfaces with the ship's artificial intelligence, which is named Gene. Or perhaps Jean. Taylor declined to say whether the personality is male or female.
Jimmi Simpson is "The Green-Eyed Man".
Spoilers
io9 (May 21, 2008):
There are three strands in the Virtuality pilot, and only one of them relates to virtual reality as such:
1) The ship, the Phaeton, is nearing a slingshot maneuver around Jupiter, which will either send it back to Earth or send it hurtling forwards to its destination of Eridani. This is the "go/no-go" decision point, which will decide the crew's fate once and for all. At the same time, the ship's doctor, Eyal Meyer, has Parkinson's Disease, which throws an extra wrinkle into the tough decision. Should the ship go forward and risk not having a doctor on board? If they don't go, it may be 20 years before humans can try again - which may be too late. There are also glitches with the ship, and emergency repairs may cost one character their life.
2) The crew are all spending time in virtual reality "modules," including everything from a restful seaside scene to a Civil War battle where Confederate troops attack Union soldiers, only to fall into an ambush. In all their "modules," a mysterious figure known as the Green-Eyed Man shows up and kills the humans in gruesome ways. (Unlike in The Matrix and other scifi classics, being killed in VR doesn't harm you in real life, but it's jarring.) Is the Green-Eyed Man a hack by one of the crew members? A computer glitch? Or something else? Everybody suspects Billie, the computer geek - until she's raped by the Green Eyed Man, in a brutal and horrible scene.
3) Even as the crew is stressed out by the experience of being in deep space alone for 10 years, and losing themselves in VR entertainments, they're also being watched. In particular, the ship is one huge "reality TV" show, which is broadcast back on Earth. The ship's computer whiz, Billie, becomes the "host" of the show, which is struggling with declining ratings - so she has to find ways to increase the show's "drama" to make it more compelling viewing. There are interview segments interspersed with sequences where Billie films the crew arguing. The crew have to take part, or risk breaching their contracts - which could mean their families back on Earth lose their preferential housing. (There are tons of hints that Earth is one huge ecological cesspool, and liveable dry land is at a premium, with long waitlists for housing.)
The show's most freaky character - sort of a cross between Gaius Baltar and Brother Cavil - is Roger Fallon. He's the ship's therapist (and may have to take over as doctor if Meyer is incapacitated.) But he's also the producer and director of the ship's "reality TV" show, which places him in a weird conflict of interest. He's supposed to be listening to the crew's problems, even as he's urging Billie to create more "drama" to boost the show's ratings. He's a manipulative snake, who's a famous self-help guru with a book that's almost as popular as the Bible back on Earth. We're clearly supposed to hate him and yet find him oddly compelling. His wife, Rika, is having a virtual reality affair with the ship's captain, Frank Pike. (Yes, the captain is really named Pike.)
Other simmering subplots: Manny and Val, a gay couple, have been stuck on galley duty and hate cooking, plus they're bad at it. Another married couple, Alice and Kenji, are having sex in weird spots all over the ship and trying to keep it secret for some reason. (Plus it seems as though Alice had an abortion so she could go on the Phaeton's space flight, and her sister just had a baby back on Earth.) Billie is adjusting to being the host of the "reality TV" show, and her VR module is a hilarious scenario where she's a Joan Jett-esque rock star who's also a superspy. (And her band are all super-spies too.) Another character, a scientist named Jules Braun, is having the computer create a virtual reconstruction of his dead son, Shawn.
io9 (May 22, 2008):
Rika, the wife of the ship's therapist/show producer Roger Fallon, works in the ship's "greenhouse" and says plants are better suited to space travel than humans - but the plants start having root problems. Roger allegedly gets a percentage of all the revenues from the ship's "virtual reality" show. Jules Braun has the V.R. program simulate his dead son Shawn, but the simulation isn't real enough, until the program takes from Braun's own psychological profile, and then Shawn is a bit of a psycho.
One of the Green-Eyed Man's virtual-reality murders targets Captain Pike when he's having illicit virtual sex with Dr. Fallon's wife Rika. The Green-Eyed Man "kills" the Parkinsons-afflicted Dr. Meyer in V.R., but he finds the experience liberating instead of scary. When the Green-Eyed Man attacks Billie, the computer geek, she tries to tell the computer to "freeze" the program, but the program won't stop. And she can't exit the program prematurely. (Oh, and the V.R. is via headsets, not a holodeck. Shoulda mentioned that before.)
Dr. Fallon disagrees strongly with Captain Pike's decision to take the V.R. modules off-line after Billie's assault. He feels that without the V.R. modules, the crew will go nuts in deep space. Also, an engineer named Jimmy Johnson, who's confined to a wheelchair, really needs V.R. because it's the only way he can get out of his chair. (The show has a dozen characters, which is a lot to get to know.)
And here's the major spoiler: At the end of the pilot, Capt. Pike gets killed while trying to repair the ship's com-array. (It sucks, because he's one of the most likeable characters in the script, and we've gotten pretty attached to him by this point.) And the ship's com-array is still broken at the end of the episode. Jimmy Johnson takes command, and his first order is to reinstate the V.R. modules.
Pilot script review at TheFutonCritic:
"Virtuality" is brimming with joyously clever ideas and concepts, not to mention filled with decidedly unique characters and relationships - and I didn't see any of it coming. While "Battlestar" is mired in metaphors about the politics of 2008, "Virtuality" takes on our growing attachment to technology - how it's starting to define us and how we see ourselves.
* Last updated 22/8/08