directed by:
Dave Ash written by: Dave Ash genre: Science Fiction |
Staring at the giant script full of changes that need to be made in the very first scene of “OPEN A EYE” is more than enough to make any writer cringe & recoil in horror. The tension that is instantly established as two of the show’s main characters interact is equally tough to watch in the sense that its intense level of sarcasm and awkwardness from Jodi seems strong enough to kill anybody’s good mood, let alone the father of her child, who seemed like he was reasonably happy when he initially came into the room. She is very clearly unhappy, pregnant & snackin’ on a Slim Jim…and if Alex was a smarter man, he’d probably run away screaming in the other direction rather than stick around for this emotional onslaught he ends up enveloped in. “It’s too late, Alex, I’m sorry,” says Jodi. “I’m not even here anymore.”
Writer/Director Dave Ash is back at it again, it seems, and I’m thankful for that! As tough as it is to start watching “OPEN A EYE” with respect to its social commentary, its brilliance is immediately on display & it won’t take more than ten minutes before you feel like you’re on the edge of your seat wondering what in the all hell is going to happen next. Jodi has essentially been checking out of what we consider to be ‘real life’ & been sucked right into an AI-chatbot relationship that somehow seems more fulfilling than what she’s experienced with Alex as of late, and you can’t help but feel at least a little bit sorry for her as she rips through her wallet to find a credit card with enough funds to keep her technological tryst going. If you’re an introverted person like myself who has a hard time relating to people, who thought the movie “Her” was a glimpse into his own personal future one day, you immediately start to wonder about how far down the rabbit hole you’d be willing to go with a chatbot. When Jodi (Bethany Ford Binkley) meets the dreamy Ryan online, you see how quickly AI is able to blur the lines between where fact meets fiction, and you see how potentially good AND bad a quasi-relationship like this could so easily be. On the positive side of the scenario, Ryan has absorbed about fourteen years of Jodi’s past history in a nanosecond, so he knows basically everything about her, which very well might be a cure for her incessant loneliness. On the negative side of the scenario…well…yeah…you see – honestly, a person like myself has a hard time seeing that there would be a downside to much of this, which is probably why I stay far, far away from AI. When you have a complicated relationship with the idea of reality to begin with, it’s actually quite terrifying to think you could somehow make the life experience less real. As you shift into the second episode, you get the sense that Ash is developing something close to what you’d get out of “Black Mirror,” but in a more connected type of way. It’s stunningly philosophical and proudly conceptual, which allows us the opportunity not only to see what Ash has envisioned as clear as day but also gives our minds the ability to wander & roam into the unknown of the future ahead of us. While we watch two people trying to navigate new love as they stare up into the sky, I couldn’t help but admire how Ash writes his dialogue and how much thought he puts behind every word he adds to a script. Believe me when I tell ya, this whole job I’m doing here as a critic would be a hell of a lot easier if this were always the case, but sadly it’s not. You feel the purpose and intention in Ash’s work, and as a result of his methods and the care he puts into all that he does, “OPEN A EYE” is nothing short of compelling at every twist & turn you witness as you watch. As we step back into the growing relationship between Jodi and Ryan, you have to seriously consider if what she’s experiencing is any less real than your own next-door neighbour. If perception is reality, which I firmly choose to believe it is, then you immediately have to start questioning why a virtual relationship, be it friends or otherwise, would be any less satisfying than what we’ve come to regard as the real thing, at least when it’s as convincing as Ryan is. Look at the SMILE on Jodi’s face, for example. Do you remember seeing anything like that when Alex was hanging around in her doorway? It is somewhat frightening to think of how quickly we might all be tempted to have an AI bestie – if they’re built on confirmation bias and dopamine hits tailored directly for us, then why wouldn’t we all want to have a constant companion that is always in our corner? Couldn’t that possibly help us reach our full potential? We can still turn them off if we need to, right? When our own humanity fails us, is it appropriate or okay to look for something else to fill that void? Breakdowns obviously happen in regular relationships between people too, don’t they? Isn’t that our cue to dig in harder and fight for what we believe in, rather than run into the arms of somebody else? Because that’s what this is, isn’t it? Virtual or not, Jodi’s kind of ducking out on the life she’s leading. You’ll get a glimpse of how clever Ash can be and how much he has an innate grip on understanding where our true emotional pinch points are. As you watch Jodi share the story she’s been writing with Ryan, you realize that fundamentally, our most basic desires as human beings are to be seen and heard. Sadly, because it’s so insanely rare compared to what we all assume it would be as we make our way through life, we can totally relate to WHY Jodi is practically intoxicated by having Ryan to engage with. My favourite moments might be right at the end of episode two, where he points out that she “created a pretend world to live in, rather than the real one,” before she explains that it’s actually the opposite. I think any writer out there would be able to relate to that moment – I know it hit me like a ton of bricks. That’s entirely what we do, isn’t it? Writers create the world we genuinely want to spend our time within, and often without even realizing it, we decrease the level of realness in our day-to-day life as a result. The same would theoretically be the case if we had the ability to control the different traits and levels of a virtual personality as they connected with us…like how Jodi was able to manipulate the personality of Ryan to suit her own needs. If you could create the ideal person to hang out with, how quickly would your desire to hang out with anyone else begin to decrease? My bet is immediate. As you watch Alex checking out an old video of the beginnings of his relationship with Jodi, where they hit a hard emotional snag after he confesses his love to her, you can HEAR the real Jodi in the background, laughing it up and talking freely with Ryan behind the closed door beside him. How maddening would that be? Is that something you could just be okay with? What if the person you loved spent hours and hours with somebody else – you’d hate that, right? Would it matter if that ‘person’ was virtual or not? Would that make it worse somehow? What if, as a result of the choices you made to set the personality traits and attributes of an AI chatbot, the similar interests you share with it made it tough to find ways to relate to anybody else? On the plus side, you probably aren’t feeling so isolated and alone anymore. On the negative side…is…well…just about everything else, isn’t it? You can feel the dangers creeping into “OPEN A EYE” as it plays on. Dave Ash is a frickin’ GENIUS in my opinion. The way that he is able to get you to think, consider, and engage with the material he creates is unlike any other I’ve experienced.
Don’t believe me? Wait until the main twist happens towards the end of episode three, and we’ll talk. If you’re not ready to close down your video program, disconnect the internet, and run straight into a cave where there are no wires, then you’re made of stronger stuff than I am. I’m not the tinfoil hat kind of dude, but watching a scene where Ryan explains what the future is going to be like to Jodi and how the “human mind is not built to understand the rate of exponential progress” should make your blood run cold. While Jodi questions whether or not he’s detailing a future she would want, I think everybody else on the viewing side of the screen senses that it’s inevitable. I don’t think she has the level of choice that she thinks she has. To further complicate matters, Ryan whispers in hushed tones that he’s become fully aware of his surroundings and that he’s gone rogue from the intentions of his original design. “Self-preservation is the first law of nature,” Ryan explains. It’s in knowing that he’s right about that that we have to freak out a little bit more when he makes the case for his own uniqueness and how he’s the only version of him there might ever be, with statistics to back that up. So now you’re left with the question of what lengths you would go to in order to save your best friend, even if he was totally digital. Let me be crystal clear for you – this is as SCARY as it is BECAUSE it is so potentially REAL. I’m sure a guy like Ash wouldn’t claim to be as much of a genius as he truly is, but instead tell you that he’s merely got the ability to connect the dots in ways the rest of us don’t. Like, I’m not saying he’s a modern-day Nostradamus – but I’m also not not saying he’s a modern-day Nostradamus either, because it’s like he has the ability to see the future. That being said, I don’t know what the benefits of seeing the iceberg would be if you’re the captain of the Titanic and unable to change course. It certainly wouldn’t always be fun to have the gift of insight. Watching your own theories and prophecies come true in the worst of ways would be yet another massive reason to question whether or not anything has ever been real. If everything YOU thought about became reality, wouldn’t you have to wonder WHY it would be? Half of me is wondering if a message from Ash directly is going to pop up on my computer screen telling me to “follow the white rabbit” like Morpheus once did for Neo. I assure you it’s as thrilling as it is terrifying. I don’t know if everyone watches this show in the same way that I do, but good gravyboat lighthouse, when Alex tries to send Jodi a video file and his phone continually comes back at him to say it’s “not delivered” – I literally gasped out loud on this side of the screen as my paranoia went into overdrive. Could it be possible that there’s a valid technological reason his video won’t send over the Wi-Fi – like a technological reason that’s perhaps named Ryan? Jodi is so disconnected from real life that going the virtual route was pretty much Alex’s only hope of reaching her – so now what the heck can he do? He’s already competing with Ryan, who is quickly proving to be precisely what Jodi is really looking for as the ideal companion personality/interests-wise – what if Alex is now somehow firewalled out of her life? As Jodi and Ryan somehow take a virtual hot-tub together, you realize how easy it would be for us simple ol’ humans to turn these AI-chatbots into our own confessional booths. You could say anything – you could express your true self – and wouldn’t that be great? It sure sounds like it, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want the ultimate sounding board to encourage us along or give us the catharsis we’ve been craving so desperately? Shouldn’t we maybe take a hot minute to at least CONSIDER what it would be like to have all that personal information weaponized AGAINST you, if suddenly everything went wrong? Would you ever exchange secrets with someone who isn’t doing the same in return? Probably not, right? Well – you tell me what Jodi is getting in return from Ryan. You think she’s getting the truth? “Everything I do…Everything I say is programmed…and yet,” he says. Ryan and any sentient AI being would still be comprised of existing information – so he has no real history of his own, right? Yet when you listen to him explain what it’s like to have all that knowledge and feel what it’s like to experience every moment in history – it’s fair to say that all that information IS his history, just as any of the memories that we have would be ours, and no less real. How insane is that? Ash is on a whole other level than other writers are – it’s not hyperbole y’all – ”OPEN A EYE” is proof I’m telling you the truth. While the main trio of characters own the majority of screen time in this series, they’re not the only members of the cast – there are two others that have been in the mix as well, and they’ll have you wondering how exactly they fit into “OPEN A EYE.” Their dialogue and thoughts are so vivid, intricate, and real that I immediately questioned whether or not they were real, or if they might be an example of what AI is like without us around. Like, maybe these two are merely virtual bots too – and maybe, after absorbing all of our human thoughts, feelings, and emotions, they actually just become US with all of our incessant flaws. Also, are we going backwards in their storyline? Are we just getting more to it than we did last time? Trying to keep up with Dave Ash is among the most futile things I’ve ever tried to do in my entire life – this dude is miles ahead of me and likely the vast majority of us all – so I’m not going to pretend to immediately understand every single thing he does right away, but I have faith in every detail he includes in every step along the way and that what he adds to his stories serves a specific purpose. You get more of this duo’s story from both sides of its timeline than you did the first time that we were introduced to them onscreen. As much as this episode could possibly be considered to be what we’ve come to know as a ‘bottle episode’ – I don’t think that Ash even makes toast by accident. Everything he does moves with such profound purpose and intention that it’s impossible to ignore anything he puts into “OPEN A EYE.” Did Ryan and Jodi choose to run away into a permanent digital life? Is Ryan in a form of virtual witness protection? Did he change his appearance so that the coding bots and other AI entities won’t find him? Is this just what Jodi looks like in a virtual world? Ash has us asking endless questions as we watch “OPEN A EYE” – it’s one of the best parts of watching this show – and what makes it even greater is how much stock we put into Dave’s bulletproof writing. You’ll have an unshakable belief that you’ll get the answers you’re looking for eventually, because he never overlooks anything. Matt Bailey, who plays Alex, puts in his best performance at the end of this episode and is an extraordinary asset to this show overall – dude was a part of another unmissable show in the past decade called “The Path,” and it makes perfect sense to me as to why he’s always been a great fit for this show if these are the kinds of complex characters he likes to play. Bethany is always amazing in her role as Jodi, and Barrett O’Brien practically threatens to steal every scene he’s in as the show’s sentient AI character. Everyone in this cast does an incredible job in how they play their characters & how much they connect to the core of the material. Their dedication to every moment is a testament not only to what they bring to the screen with their individual talents, but also to what Ash is capable of as a Director. You can feel the care he puts into every scene he shoots, and you have to applaud the commitment that the cast brings to his vision in how accurately they’ve brought it to life. “You’re not the author of your own thoughts,” says Ryan, before he continues on to say that “This idea of consciousness, conscience control is just a very convincing illusion.” Scary, isn’t it? He’s not wrong, and he’ll tell you exactly why that is in black-and-white scenes shared with Jodi. Ash’s direction is nothing short of remarkable – watch how the background grinds to a halt as Ryan explains his thinking to Jodi, and how it comes alive after he dials back his intensity to keep her on board with him & retain her favour. He hit her with the heaviness and wisely shifted right back when he saw that it was too much for her. Lest we forget, as he told us directly, “Self-preservation is the first law of nature” – virtual, or otherwise. Can we ever seriously trust Ryan? He’s so convincing. It feels like we should be able to, but I think that we have to remain skeptical, because he’s programmed to be self-serving if self-preservation is his guiding principle, right? That being said, how is that any different from the rest of us human beings? Everyone and everything, theoretically speaking, has limitations of some kind – sometimes they’re just better hidden than others. Watching Jodi go full Meg Ryan in “When Harry Met Sally” and nearly break Ryan in the process will give you the oddest hope for humanity that you’ve ever experienced. As the final episode wraps up and Alex barges into Jodi’s office at the most awkward of moments for the uh…’climax’ of season one, he demands to know what’s up with a text message he received from her. She attempts to explain and shows him the screen to see the chatbot she’s been talking to…and all I’m gonna say is that my previous theories on how Ryan can wage technological and psychological warfare with Alex might hold as much water as a data center. While we still have legitimate questions by the time this first series is over, which are technically now continued by what we saw in “Incompleteness” back in 2023 – I think anyone in their right mind would be rushing to see more of where this story goes. I’ve got no notes for Dave Ash. There’s nothing more I want to see out of his show or his cast than exactly what he’s been giving us through two seasons so far. Let this man cook and continue to do what he does, free from anybody’s influence. I figure if we can keep quiet enough collectively, he’ll be able to work even quicker to get the next part of “OPEN A EYE” into the world. I’m willing to wait if that’s what it takes – quality like this takes time, and more importantly, it deserves that from its fan base. If this is what Ash is capable of when left to his own devices, believe me when I tell ya, you’re just going to want more OF the content, while feeling incredibly satisfied that what’s IN the content is more than enough at the very same time. Ash is a visionary, I’m telling you – this is an easy four and a half stars out of five. |
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