TV Review: Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dream: Safe and Sound

Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams – Safe and Sound

Starring: Maura Tierney, Annalise Basso, Connor Paolo
Director: Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones, Thor: The Dark World, Terminator Genysis)
Written by: Kalen Egan, Travis Sentell

Review by: Sidney Morgan

This review contains minor spoilers.

Adapting stories is a tricky endeavour. In Foster, You’re Dead! (the short story on which Safe and Sound is based), the characters live in continuous fear, believing the Russians are preparing for war. When it was published in 1955, readers could connect with this fear because it mirrored their own reality. The cold war was almost ten years old, and people feared another world war, maybe even a nuclear war. Though the threat of war still looms today, the writers behind this adaptation decided to focus on the consequences of state-run fear.

In this episode, Irene Lee (Maura Tierney) and her daughter Foster Lee (Annalise Basso), move from the ‘country’ to the city. Irene, a vocal opponent to unchecked state surveillance, believes that all of the terrorist attacks seen on the news never really happened, claiming they are just part of a government-run propaganda war aimed at terrifying its citizens enough to get support for proposed extreme security measures. Hmmm, but wait… this sounds familiar, no? Meanwhile, being the new girl at school, Foster has to deal with her own issues. Feeling alone, she ends up finding a friend in the most unexpected of places, someone who helps her navigate this strange new world. As events unfold though, Foster begins to question who she can and can’t trust.

As in previous episodes, the acting is solid. Tierney (Newsradio, ER) had a minor role, and given the script, plays it well. She is single-minded in her fight for people’s freedom. Unfortunately, her story becomes a cliché and is stereotypical – big bad men have the upper hand, and naive women fail to read the signs of danger around them. Yada, yada, yada. To say more would involve too many spoilers, but the writing, geesh, the writing…

Basso (Captain Fantastic, Ouija: Origin of Evil) is very convincing, playing the innocent and anxious new girl in school who gets manipulated and used easily. Oh so easily. It’s craz… Oops. No worries. Rant averted. Anyway, Foster just wants to fit in, but her origins (she comes from a place the government claims is a hotbed of terrorists), makes this difficult. Her internal struggles, being fed by her trust issues and paranoia, are clearly exhibited in Basso’s acting, and it’s an asset for this episode.

Instilling fear to tighten the fist of rule is accomplished here by having citizens believe a terrorist act is just around the corner. It provides justification for the state to engage in 24/7 electronic surveillance and increase security measures. This is a great foundation to tell a compelling and very scary story. Unfortunately, a few things get in the way of successfully doing so.

Foster, who really doesn’t know how things work in the city, is cautious and hesitant. And rightfully so. Her mom’s stance is clear, and over the years, Foster has likely heard more than enough monologues about the state’s role and the dangers of allowing it to have free reign to monitor (read spy on) its citizens.

So, how is it then, that she so easily questions what she believes? How is it that she seemingly ignores what she’s learned from her mother? Where’s the logic in that? Might as well believe Jason Bourne would turn himself in because the CIA asked nicely or that Norman Bates would disobey his mother. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, right? And yet, I almost didn’t notice, at least consciously, because Basso plays her role so well. But then, I got to the end. Those ridiculous two minutes that just tainted the whole episode.

During the course of the episode, seeds were planted for at least two alternative explanations of what was happening. Questioning what is real made sense and is in line with many other PKD stories. It makes you think and maybe want to rewatch the episode to figure it out. However, the episode finishes with a sort of epilogue that explains exactly what happened, seemingly imposing one interpretation over another. Seriously? (Did you hear that facepalm?). And trust me, this isn’t a Sixth Sense scenario where knowing the end makes you want to watch again to find all those clues you missed that were right in front of your eyes. No. Nada. At all.

I’ve mentioned this in my reviews of other episodes: Amazon seems to have invested significant resources into the production of this anthology. So far, the cinematography has been nice, even impressive and the actors (and their performances), great. The biggest weakness appears to be the writing, and that’s inexcusable. I get there are different writers, directors, and actors involved, which inevitably leads to varying levels of episode quality. But to have inconsistent quality in writing, shouldn’t happen. There are six more episodes, and I hope this weakness is a fad rather than a trend.

Verdict: Watch it. It’s an enjoyable story, and Annalise Basso’s performance alone will make you feel as though you’re in the front seat with her, driving through the madness and paranoia. She pulls you into her world with force and does make you forget everything else, for a while. But just in case, make sure you take a deep breath, or three, when you get to the end. You should be fine.