Black Mirror season 5 has been available on Netflix for awhile now, and opinions have certainly been mixed. With anthology shows, there are always going to be some episodes that are better than others, but we make the argument on this edition of the Sci Fi Fidelity podcast that all three episodes of this latest offering were better, and specifically more thematically rich, than most critics give them credit for. We each picked our own representative episode to discuss, talking about the many philosophical questions about love, cheating, and personal identity posed by the central conflict of "Striking Vipers and honing in on the teenage perspective in "Rachel, Jack, and Ashely Too" and how the story must be seen through younger eyes to appreciate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SFF62: Black Mirror Season 5

Mike and Dave turn up the volume on sci fi, fantasy, comics, and horror-themed television shows that deserve your attention and share monthly interviews from those behind all of your favorite series. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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When the Sci Fi Fidelity podcast began in the fall of 2016, Den of Geek was just over half its current age and podcasts were experiencing a surge in popularity. As a result we dove into our analysis of science fiction and supernatural television shows with fervor and were able to introduce listeners to the unsung heroes of the genre TV field through thoughtful reviews, insightful interviews, and discussions of our favorite aspects of this corner of the entertainment world. Alas, the journey comes to an end just shy of the podcast’s fourth anniversary as we move the discussion to our video outlets, but we wanted to take some time to look back at the best moments from our hundred-episode run.
We immediately found ourselves recalling some of our more memorable interviews, including Dave's solo chat with Christian Kane of The Librarians, the one with William B. Davis during The X-Files revival in January of 2018, and when we spoke with Battlestar Galactica and Lucifer star Tricia Helfer almost exactly a year later. It was difficult to choose our favorite show topics, but we had to go with two of our most downloaded episodes: our reviews of A Discovery of Witches and The Umbrella Academy, both in February of 2019.
We end our retrospective with a remembrance for our favorite discussion topic — our very first one called “Spaceship Characters” from the January 2017 episode. We then turn it over to our listeners who took the time to share their own favorite moments from the past four years of Sci Fi Fidelity. Thank you to everyone who listened and participated! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SFF100: Best Podcast Memories

We went into our viewing of Motherland: Fort Salem with some skepticism before choosing it as a topic for the podcast, but the show exceeded our expectations. Far from having the cheesy humor, aggressive feminism, or underdeveloped mythology that the series easily could have fallen prey to, we found the story to be deeply engaging, the premise to be wholly unique, and the characters to be immediately magnetic. With the podcast coming to an end with episode 100 next week, we were happy this was the final show topic of our run. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SFF99: Motherland: Fort Salem

Tales from the Loop is an unusual sort of sci-fi anthology show in that each separate story is united by a common pastoral setting and a dominant central family. This is no doubt in part because the series takes its inspiration from a series of unrelated but commonly themed paintings by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, which combine scenes of everyday life with a normalized science fiction sensibility. When we spoke to showrunner Nathaniel Halpern and actor Paul Schneider, they both emphasized this subtle style of storytelling as the hallmark of the show.
When we spoke to Halpern, it was well before Tales from the Loop dropped on Amazon on April 3, 2020, so we were still getting a sense for what the show was about and how the paintings inspired him. Schneider joined us later after we had seen a few episodes, and he told us about his character George Willard, the son of the Loop’s founder with whom he has a strained relationship. 

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SFF98: Tales from the Loop Interview

Does the Apple TV+ version of Amazing Stories, which still has Steven Spielberg’s name attached to it, live up to the more optimistic vision of the stories we’ve come to expect from the 80s original? As we break down the first two episode of the series, “The Cellar” and “The Heat,” the answer becomes clear that the positive messaging is intact even if the intended audience might skew a bit younger. Both stories have minor narrative flaws that wouldn’t have bothered us in the least back when the original Amazing Stories aired. Remember, this is the show that had a World War II cartoonist draw landing gear on a crippled bomber!
We approached Amazing Stories the same way we would any other show that’s outside our normal wheelhouse by judging it by what it intends to be rather than what we want it to be. The episodes we watched were enjoyable from start to finish despite their shortcomings, and they were both fit with the feel of the original series, which should be counted as a success. Plus the great thing about an anthology series is that each episode can be a fresh story with its own merits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SFF97: Amazing Stories

It’s not surprising that Alex Garland, who is known for films like Ex Machina and Annihilation, is the creator behind Devs, a series on Hulu that features his trademark obsessed tech guru that has let his own invention become way too powerful. In this case, the world is one in which predictive algorithms have become so sophisticated in their ability to anticipate future actions that free will is disproven and fate is set. This is perfect fodder for the podcast, which loves to explore the nature of time and the ability to change the future or glimpse the past.
As usual with the podcast, we take a look at the first two episodes of Devs to discuss the premise and characters that make up the cast of the show. We note that the premiere really sets up the overall mystery through the eyes of Sergei, a new recruit to the Research and Development division (known as Devs) of the tech corporation called Amaya who vanishes under mysterious circumstances. But really Devs is about Lily, Sergei’s girlfriend who is understandably suspicious about the disappearance of the man she loves.
The spoiler zone of the podcast goes deeper into other episodes of Devs that have aired so far, specifically exploring the bombshell advancements inside Devs, but we also share our admiration for Lily’s daring plan to gather evidence. We admit that we were fooled by her subterfuge just as much as those at Amaya, and although there's evidence her life is in danger, we’re hoping that the introduction of the multiverse theory will allow her to change her fate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SFF62: Black Mirror Season 5

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