ReBoot (TV Series) Number 7 (1997) User Reviews

"Who's number one?"

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 10/10 · 19 July 2016]

Do my eyes deceive me? Someone else actually did a review on a Reboot episode who isn't me! Such a pity it's spiteful fluff done by a moron who clearly isn't a fan of the show. Whatever.. This episode is one of my utmost favourites in the series, I love how deep the story goes and how it develops and explains just how Enzo changed so much as a character and offers a glimpse into his mind in one rather mind-bending story. Matrix is feeling more hopeless and frustrated over his inability to find any trace of Mainframe in he and Andraia's ongoing journey through the games and systems of the Net than ever before, when suddenly in the strange system of giant metal satellites in which they currently find themselves appears a game that seems to be a perfect copy of Mainframe and Matrix's dream(!) come true at last, but when he Andraia and Frisket reboot into the forms of Megabyte, Hexadecimal and the cute little Scuzzy, Matrix faces a sort of crisis of his identity as he and Andraia gradually begin to take on the mannerisms and attitudes of the villains they look like as they avoid odd versions of Bob and Dot that are a little too heroic and Matrix/Megabyte searches for the mysterious and enigmatic figure known only as Number One... And he does find out the startling meaning of Number One in a bizarre sequence of a mad court where things become seriously metaphysical and surreal as Matrix, in a dark void, is faced by Megabyte, himself, and his lost innocence as represented by his younger former self, who all wake him up to the fact that the "Number One" driving force in his existence is his hatred, and that in his burning desire for revenge he's lost the best parts of himself and has become almost as cold and ruthless as the viruses he so despises... The sequence is a profound depiction of his inner struggle and for me is definitely one of the most powerful moments in the whole show. It's such an unexpectedly psychological direction to take the episode in and they did it so well, it really works. Just imagine how it would feel to be confronted by phantoms of your own making and being forced to hear truths that you couldn't stand to, they did an excellent job of visually and emotionally portraying it in this story, the show had such wonderful variety. Afterwards it's revealed to have all been a dream as Matrix was knocked unconscious by the ball in an easy golf game, but he takes hope from the experience and has a more clear resolve to find Bob and his home again. I love the revelation that sprites can dream, it adds another little dimension to the Reboot universe - Matrix is in a dream, within a game within a system within the net within a computer within the unseen 'real' world of the User!!! It' still great to me after all these years, one of the most brilliant and thoughtful episodes they ever produced.

Embarrassing Prisoner pastiche

[vivathevoice · 1/10 · 29 April 2016]

I thought I'd take a look at this episode after seeing it listed on Wikipedia on the page for the cult show The Prisoner. There have been some great Prisoner pastiches in cartoons, like the episode of the Simpson's, The Computer Wore Menace Shoes, and the very funny Pinky and the Brain story Brainwashed. Unfortunately, this one falls flat. I think the main problem is it is trying to take itself too seriously, and doesn't pay for laughs. The Prisoner quotes seem ham fisted and out of place, and appear to be shoehorned into a narrative which makes very little sense. One wonders what the writers were thinking when they came up with this, very few of the young viewers watching Reboot would be able to fathom what the heck it was all about. I found myself cringing when Enzo quoted the "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed.. line. I wonder if Patrick McGoohan ever saw this? I'm not sure he would have approved. In conclusion, a very awkward and self conscious piece of pulp TV, which does little to justify its existence, other than as a piece of fan fiction by a writer who should have resigned!!