Electric Dreams (TV Series) Kill All Others (2018) User Reviews

Another North American dystopia

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 20 March 2018]

Set in a not too distant future where the North American continent is now part of the mega-nation of Mex-US-Can ordinary guy Philbert Noyce works in a factory. As most work is now done by machines instead of employing three thousand workers there are just three people working in quality control. Philbert is paying attention to the TV coverage of the upcoming election despite the fact that there will be just one candidate. The candidate spouts the usual platitudes then says 'Kill all Others'; Philpert expects a shocked response but nobody seems to notice; even when a billboard with the slogan on appears he is the only person obviously bothered; others just say why worry if you aren't 'other'... whatever that might be. The more he draws attention to what he is seeing the more he worries that people will believe he is one of the 'others'.

This episode, broadcast last here in the UK, provided a solid end to this series. The future depicted is clearly dystopian but not as obviously so as most such stories. I liked how early on it wasn't too obvious whether the candidate really said what Philbert heard or whether he was delusional. Mel Rodriguez does a solid job as Philbert; he is very much an everyman making his character easy to identify with. As the story progresses the tension rises nicely and there are a few disturbing moments before the final downbeat ending. Overall I wouldn't say this was the best in the series but it was still pretty good.

One man stand

[Lejink · 8/10 · 8 April 2018]

Saving just about the best till last, this, the tenth and last episode of the Philip K Dick Anthology was probably the most chilling and disturbing of them all. It started lightly enough as Philbert Noyce, a typical blue-collar assembly-line operative and his wife play tit-for-tat with interactive holographic advertisements but quickly gets darker as they settle down to watch a fawning campaign interview by their megastate Mexuscan's single Candidate, reminiscent of a recent Xi Jinping interview. Rather like the Chinese reporter who rolled her eyes Philbert is sceptical of this brand of one-party democracy but did she really intersperse the usual sub-Obama parodic platitudes with the phrase "Kill All Others"?

Philbert discusses his incredulity at this casual exhortation to ethnic cleanse with his two fellow workers on the production line but it's clear that they either missed the reference or can't get worked up about it, so long as they know they're not one of the "others" but when he later sees a neighbour set upon by a crowd of pedestrians for no apparent reason, repeat references by the Candidate on TV and especially the erection of a huge advertising billboard proclaiming the order with what looks a dead man's body draped over it for effect, Philbert snaps and rebels.

The viewer for a time is left in some suspense as to whether Phil is suffering some sort of persecutional delusion complex as he's made to submit to medical procedures at work including the wearing of a Fitbit type watch to monitor his behaviour but it's clear the worm has turned as he attempts to expose and lift the Candidate's hold over the sheep-like population. The bleak conclusion posits a chilling final image as "order" is restored.

Like so many of the episodes in this series I was impressed by the way the adaptations inserted topical references to the material further reinforcing Dick's presence and prescience of mind when he first wrote his short stories some 50 years or so ago. For the record Mel Rodriguez was great in this one as the little-big man who takes on the system while I also appreciated an edgy synthesiser soundtrack which accurately echoed Noyce's increasing paranoia.

I'm now working my way through a book of Dick's stories (none of which appear to have been dramatised in this series) and I'm not a great sci-fi lover but I can say there's plenty more good source material if a further series gets commissioned which I hope occurs.

[7.5] Never pay attention!

[cjonesas · 7/10 · 10 September 2021]

An intelligent episode with subtle messages of hope and deception mixed together. The acting is very convincing by the main protagonist; fear, disbelief and repressed anger oozing from his pores.

In the end, he came too close to the "truth".

"Who are the others? That's what I wanna know."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 7 February 2022]

Well if this isn't a perfect parable for our times. Every day we have real life examples of political elites who want to shut down the opposition and they're not too subtle about it. So when Uniparty Candidate (Vera Farmiga) drops the phrase 'kill all others' during a televised interview, it sets off alarm bells with Philbert Noyce (Mel Rodriguez). Only trouble is, virtually no one else is in tune to the message, or if they are, figure they're not part of the 'other' population. Just like the very high profile people who've lost their careers over a remark made that was deemed unacceptable, poor Phil gets barred from the public transport system and has to wear a monitor on his wrist so he can be kept in line by the powers that be. In a society like this which is becoming all too familiar, it doesn't surprise that with no available options left for him, Phil was just left hanging.

Best of all the episodes

[koofasa · 10/10 · 10 March 2021]

This was the greatest episode of the series and depicts a mega country that is run by a Uniparty government. It is frightening but well done. The people of the society absorb an offhand comment made by the leader that calls for the death of all others. It was the stuff of nightmares but also very much like the culture of purging the old ideas and history for the demands of the ruling party establishment we experience in today's world. We are there. Papers please.

Very rare, Anti Globalist Sci-Fi.

[hr-lindberg · 11 January 2019]

While most recent sci-fi, including this series as an whole, tends to be gentrified pc crap that only function to repeat the "orange man bad" mantra. This episode is a true gem, with some very cleaver critique of the globalist society.

While being set in in the u.s there are several hints that its actually europe and in specific the e.u that its about. You see this in the end with manchester soccer match , and the very cleaver use of color on and around the "candidate".

Its conveyence of consumer capitaism as an pooly hidden overall goal, with only token "orginal" workers is brilliant. And the same way is its critique og right think, a parralel to this could be britans tommy robinson. Being portrayed as a right wing radical by the large political and media consensus, and in many ways being branded an enemy of the state.

Middling sci fi, should be done better

[imdb2-5 · 6/10 · 28 June 2018]

Overall, this episode has lofty goals and features very good performances by the actors. But the script is written in a juvenile, detached and unconvincing way. It follows a man who is disturbed by what he sees in society around him.

I'm not sure how others were drawn in but the dialogue and performances by the "candidate" - the leader of a single party system - were so over the top and repetitive that it was not convincing. Does the party leader have nothing to do all day but make speeches? Other parts of this episode feature people not acting in the regular manner we expect, like explaining to someone else why a group of people may be chasing someone or how our protagonist has never noticed the catch phrase of this episode "kill all others" before and this is the first time either (a) he's ever seen it; or (b) he's somehow never noticed it before; or (c) it IS the first time it is used. Neither explanation lays groundwork for this to work.

It's a shame. Wastes good performances by talented people. This comes off as one of the cheaper productions of scifi, like an outer limits type of made for TV story line which doesn't usually happen with its competitor, Black Mirror. Some good concepts and fun in this episode with lampooning what society could be, but this episode isn't sure of itself.

Almost there.

[cmagnum · 9/10 · 21 August 2021]

"If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere" Congresswoman Maxine Waters, 2018.

"We've got to stay on the street and we've got to get more active, we've got to get more confrontational. We've got to make sure that they know that we mean business. I hope we're going to get a verdict that will say guilty, guilty, guilty. And if we don't, we cannot go away" STILL congresswoman after that previous statement, Maxine Waters, 2021.

In the 80s we were told that flying cars were just around the corner. Still waiting for them. But fascism came early.

The worst episode of this great series.

[jetstream22 · 6/10 · 20 September 2019]

He represents this broad notion of the "good man". I get it. But dear god. Speak up! Honesty! Woman in trouble! This man is the dumbest one-dimensional character in this entire season. I nearly found myself rooting for the "other" side, His lawfully abiding, good-citizen, wife did nothing to deserve this. What did he expect? I'll leave that for the philosophers/psychiatrists. No rational human being, with any sense of self-awareness or preservation, would DO THE THINGS HE DOES.

Kill All Others

[bobcobb301 · 8/10 · 18 August 2018]

There was an obvious political overtone to this episode, but if you block that out then you found it quite enjoying.

Not really the strongest ending, but it had me on the edge of my seat for the whole episode.

This was well-done and of high quality.

Another variant of a legitimate dystopian warning

[march306 · 8/10 · 26 December 2021]

What makes this one so intense and intriguing, is its timing and deliberate use of elements, focussing on Philberts impressions.

As in many productions (not only this series), the storytelling uses not too futuristic elements and hints rather expectable technical and social "progress".

The real deal starts, when Philbert is triggered and starts reflecting his receptions and the story - possibly - touches the audience by using / depicting details of a development, anyone can already see in the presence.

There is quite a bunch of dystopian classics, like "The Trial", "Brazil", "They live" using a much more ... well: kafkaesque set of elements and dark images. This one projects / just slightly exaggerates these elements into a world, that could in fact happen within just 3 years.

Another Government in Complete Control

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 21 January 2018]

So we are presented with another government that uses every method it can to sustain itself. In this case we have a Soviet like voting system where it's more important that people vote than whether they have more than one candidate. So now we are introduced to "the others." In her speech she dumps the words "Kill the others." People are so lacking in participation that they don't even hear this. Except for a guy named Phibert, who rants about the evils of this government. He becomes the focus because his actions draw attention to him. We don't need to be rocket scientists to know where this is going. This is the last series piece that I've viewed. I've seen them all now. Once again, the protagonist has no chance. The government has all the weaponry and all the power. People removed themselves from politics long ago and are becoming sheep. Poor Philbert (is he a nut?) can't help bringing horrors to bear.

Kill All Others

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 22 June 2018]

The final episode of the first series of the Electric Dreams strand has great world building of a modern hi tech but Dystopian society. Philbert Noyce (Mel Rodriguez) is one of the few manual workers left in a factory that has become fully automated. He is till old enough to remember when the factory employed thousands of workers and old fashioned enough to travel to work by public transport.

With the election taking place, he watches a political debate where the only candidate (Vera Farmiga) makes a shocking statement encouraging violence. She says Kill All Others. The screen flashes Kill All Others but does not state who the others are.

Philbert is disturbed by the statement and concerned why others are not similarly outraged. He wants to make a stand but this leads him to become a focus of the attention of the authorities.

As a conspiracy drama it fails. Poor Philbert, as Michael Caine from Get Carter would tell him. 'You're a big man, but you're in bad shape.' He is never going to be a match for the government.

Not subtle at all

[drpunkrock · 4/10 · 12 December 2019]

I did not really like this. The whole world they created is so on the nose. The one guy working with the main protagonist at one point actually said: "When did you last buy something? Go buy something, you will feel better." It cannot be more obvious. This is just bad writing. Maybe the scenario was too complicated to write it more subtle but Black Mirror can do it. I also can't really buy into this society. So nobody notices the phrase "Kill them all" repeatedly shown in several media outlets? Was it the first time when she said it on the TV or did she do it repeatedly? So he wants to ask the candidate a question on Live-TV and uses his phone from his apartment? Does nobody understand how technology works in this world? It could have been better with less going on and definitely subtler writing. Show, don't tell cannot be stressed enough for this one.