Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams

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Season 1
Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
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Critic Reviews

  1. Yahoo TV
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Jan 18, 2018
    60
    It is uneven in the extreme. ... With this series and Netflix’s Black Mirror, the sci-fi anthology series is now back as a revitalized genre.
  2. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Ben Travers
    Jan 12, 2018
    50
    The best episodes ask you to engage with the ideas more than they faithfully recreate his narrative, but there aren’t enough of them. (“The Commuter” and “Kill All Others” are the only two standouts.)
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    Jan 11, 2018
    50
    In a series that doesn’t meet its potential, “The Commuter” is the best of alternatives.
  5. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    Jan 9, 2018
    50
    The series is wildly uneven, with, among those I watched, some strong and affecting hours as well as some overly long, poorly designed, and thematically scrambled hours.
  6. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Jan 4, 2018
    50
    While these stories are as lavishly produced as they are impressively cast, they soon begin to seem rather mechanical. Or preachy. [8-21 Jan 2018, p.13]
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  7. Las Vegas Weekly
    Reviewed by: Geoff Carter
    Jan 11, 2018
    40
    “The Commuter” benefits from having Timothy Spall as its bedrock; his performance as railway employee Ed Jacobson, a man with a chance to undo some of his life choices, is classic Twilight Zone stuff. ... It’s downhill from there.

Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Best TV Season of 2017
81
#81 Most Discussed TV Season of 2017

User Reviews

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User Score
6.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 73
  3. Negative: 10 out of 73
  1. McGillotine
    Jan 13, 2018
    5
    Philip K. Dicks Electric Dreams is a confused mess with great concepts that lead to a sometimes insulting execution. Now to be fair i'vePhilip K. Dicks Electric Dreams is a confused mess with great concepts that lead to a sometimes insulting execution. Now to be fair i've always appreciated Philip K. Dick as more so a visionary of Sci-Fi worlds rather than a writer himself and i think that it would be safe to assume that most directors who adapt his work clearly think the same with works such as Do androids dream of electric sheep? developed into the vastly superior film Blade Runner, Electric dreams takes a very similar route taking the overall concept of one of Dick's work and reworking it for a more modern audience, which is reasonable considering that some of the source material is beyond 60 years old. For the sake of this review given that there are 10 stories, with 10 different directors i will simply label what i found to be the good the bad and the ugly of Electric dreams without going into too much detail for the sake of space.

    The Good: The Commuter & Kill all Others
    When you have two good episodes out of a 10 episode season there raises serious questions for the longevity of this show. The Commuter, the third episode in, is by no means a great episode but it is good. With a memorable performance by Timothy Spall who does carry the 50 minute episode, there is never any real moment where you feel lost in comparison to other episodes and you finally find yourself having fun with the series. Secondly you have Kill all others, and while there is an obvious left leaning liberal bias in this episode regarding the Trump presidency, the connection to ideas in other works such as 1984, invasion of the body snatchers and political ideologies such as fascism add depth to the episode something sorely lacking in the other episodes.

    The Bad: Crazy Diamond, Autofac, Safe and Sound, Father thing
    Boring, predictable and lazy, these episodes lack focus, good writing and the capacity to engage the dullest of audiences. Starting of the bad with Crazy Diamond, a waste of an hour and Steve Buscemi's talent instead we're treated to pig people and a boring plot that starts somewhere and goes nowhere all within less than hour. Autofac continues this trend of bad episodes with across the board weak performances and a twist so lazy and under-cooked you can almost Gordon Ramsey in the background yelling that it's f*cking raw. But this is nothing in comparison to the plot twist in Safe and Sound the Black Mirror wanna be, that attempts to create a social commentary through presenting a paper thin plot that becomes predicable 10 minutes in and continues to pretend as though the audience hasn't already figured out whats in store for the next 40 minutes. Finally we have The Father Thing, a deformed hate child of Stranger Things and invasion of the Body Snatchers that really needs to be put down, with insufferable child actors and an uninspired plot.

    The Ugly: The Hood Maker, Human Is, Impossible Planet, Real Life
    These episode aren't bad, there not good either but i suppose there watchable and yes that is including the episode with Bryan Cranston, The Hood Maker isn't particularly bad, it has a slow start and all too easy ending, but for a start to a series its a promising one with good performances held back by an uninteresting plot. Human Is, has about one good moment and that's about it, it doesn't do much and like the trailers for this episode suggest revolves around the hype of there being Bryan Cranston who isn't really too much of a highlight for this episode. Impossible Planet, would be a good episode if it didn't get more unnecessarily odd and more creepy as the story progressed all leading to a baffling ending. Finally we have Real Life an episode which others quite enjoyed aside from myself. It had a talented cast, an interesting story but i didn't feel anything for it, mainly as the story didn't do anything that you would not expect it to and chances are, what you've already seen done better a dozen times over.    … Full Review »
  2. EludiumQ36
    Jan 25, 2018
    5
    You'll notice from my one-line take aways from each episode listed below that they're almost all derivative, either of shows a long time agoYou'll notice from my one-line take aways from each episode listed below that they're almost all derivative, either of shows a long time ago or more recent, but derivative just the same. The main title series graphics are enticing and each episode's production values are highline, but the stories themselves don't live up to their potential. I didn't really enjoy these, I felt obligated to work my way through them, it felt more like an assignment to finish than entertainment I looked forward to.

    Electric Dreams, Season 1 episodes:
    1. The Hood Maker - boring, fell asleep so many times
    2. Impossible Planet - so so
    3. The Commuter - too similar to a Twilight Zone episode
    4. Crazy Diamond - another "Are clones' lives as valuable as humans'?"
    5. Real Life - another "How do I know this is real life and not a dream?"
    6. Human Is - another my husband is replaced by an alien imposter
    7. Kill All Others - when politics goes really wrong
    8. Autofac - another "How do I know I'm real and not a cyborg?"
    9. Safe and Sound - satisfies your inner "it's all a conspiracy."
    10. The Father Thing - feels like a "Stranger Things" episode    … Full Review »
  3. nobodyreally
    Jan 23, 2018
    6
    Admit I have not seen them all yet but this show is what I would call decent mediocrity. Not the most creative television, not even close toAdmit I have not seen them all yet but this show is what I would call decent mediocrity. Not the most creative television, not even close to the cutting edge, but they do wonders with CGI even with a show with a middling budget.
    Not sure how many of these stories even stay close to the original Philip K. DIck stories, or if they have combined elements of multiple short stories to make one hybrid teleplay. Of course stories can be updated for tech, or given modern themes, but these episodes seem rewritten in stereotypical television fashion, with the typical Twilight Zone twist. Read "Autofac", and the television episode has been changed to a completely different idea that doesn't really even make sense.
    Also, a lot of mild gratuitous sexual situations/ mild nudity are added to spice things up, but they are not very erotic. Seems silly and unnecessary,    … Full Review »
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