Strange Days
Genre: Sci-Fi/Noir
Executive Producer: Julia Docournau
Writer: Chad Taylor
Based on the 1995 film
Season 1 Episode 1 - December 25, 2029
Cast:
Zoe Kravitz .... Ozzi Tilden (Regular)
Boyd Holbrook .... Digger (Regular)
Jamie Chung .... Steph (Recurring)
Jamey Sheridan .... John Doe/Phil Windt (Recurring)
John Reynolds .... Dan (Guest)
Nnamdi Asomugha .... Will Stone (Guest)
OPENING CREDITS SONG: "Ivory (Rework)" - MOVEMENT
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E15u92C9pxg
Plot: Los Angeles, California
Ozzi Tilden (Zoe Kravitz), 29, wakes up on Christmas morning like it is any other day. She makes her coffee. She feeds her cat. She goes for a morning run. This is one of her favorite days to run as she can glide past the neighborhood windows of families opening excitedly opening presents.
When she gets back to her apartment, she FaceTimes with her parents to wish them a Merry Christmas. They are on the East Coast so it is already early afternoon for them but they are sure to show her the multiple feet of snow they got overnight. She admits that she feels a bit nostalgic for snowy winters but the West Coast has its perks.
After the call, Ozzi checks her schedule and remembers that she has brunch with some friends. After getting dressed, she gets ready to leave and finds that there is a small Christmas present sitting on her doorstep. She can’t help but bite her lip as she examines the present. She enters her apartment and settles into her couch to open the gift. Inside, she first finds a note that read “To Oz, From Sian.” She loses her smile. Under the note is a small tape that looks like a thumb drive. She tries plugging it into different devices in her house but it is incompatible.
At noon, Ozzi goes to meet her friend Steph (Jamie Chung) and Steph’s husband Dan (John Reynolds) for midday brunch. Steph asks how things are going with Luis and Ozzi says pretty well. She then admits that she got an unexpected Christmas gift from Sian today. Steph looks surprised and says it’s been what…ten years? Ozzi responds “eight”. She then says the only problem is that she doesn’t really know what the gift is. She pulls out the jump drive and Steph says she has never seen anything like it before. She has Dan take a look at it and he immediately knows what it is. He says that is a Playback tape. Ozzi asks if he knows how to play it and he is hesitant about his answer. He leans forward and, in a hushed tone, says the answer is complicated.
Dan waits until they pay their check and get outside to say more. He says that Playback is a relatively rare media form that is traded on the black market. Steph asks how he knows this and he admits that he might have dabbled with it in his past. She gives him a glaring look and he says it was before they met. Ozzi asks if he knows how she can watch Sian’s gift and Dan pauses once again. He proceeds to text Ozzi an address and says that it is where she can find his old plug named “Digger”.
“To Oz, From Sian,” she repeats to herself on her bike ride to the address. She arrives at St. Vibiani’s, an old LA landmark now lying decrepit. Ozzi can’t help but admire the 150-year-old architecture but she does grow anxious about what is inside. She knocks and it takes a while for a disheveled man (Boyd Holbrook) to answer the door. She says that Dan has sent her to see Digger and pulls out the Playback tape. The man looks at her suspiciously before introducing himself and welcoming her in.
As they walk through the compound, Digger explains to her that this tape was made by Playback, a company that worked with a defunct lens technology known as SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device). SQUID is a recording device that connects directly to someone’s cerebral cortex, allowing the user to record events through all five senses. Users can then plug these tapes into Playback devices and can fully experience these recorded memories. Ozzi says it sounds like virtual reality but Digger says it is a step further than VR, which was one step too far for the general public. She asks what that means and he says it’s complicated but “let’s just say that Playback thrived on the…extraordinary.” But after Playback went out of business before fully hitting the market, the remaining technology became a hot commodity and a black market emerged. He looks around the church and tells her “welcome to the underground”.
While examining the tape, Digger asks who Sian is. She explains that he is her ex-fiancée. They haven’t talked in years but he's now a famous R&B singer. They arrive in a room that used to be a sanctuary but now is filled with people who look strung-out with illuminated lenses in their eyes. He takes her to a corner of the room and shows her a pair of Playback lens and wrist device (where the tape is inserted). He puts on the lenses and begins watching the tape. We can only see from Ozzi’s perspective as she nervously paces around. After some time elapses, Digger quickly takes off the headset and looks upset. Ozzi says it is her turn and Digger warns against it. He says that sometimes Playback tapes can get dark and he would recommend someone’s first time be on something more mundane. “But I thought Playback thrived on the extraordinary?” she asks with a sly smile.
She puts on the Playback accessories and enters a first-person perspective of someone else. She is in a loud, pulsating nightclub and staggers over to the bar where she takes a shot of alcohol, sending a sensation down Ozzi’s throat. Back in real time, she initially finds this experience scary but soon electrifying, being able to feel like someone else.
In the recording, Ozzi’s avatar walks through the club filled with beautiful celebrities. She finally makes it to the bathroom and is startled to find Sian (Nnamdi Asomugha) talking with an older man (Jamey Sheridan). Ozzi begins heavily breathing upon seeing her ex-boyfriend but can’t bring herself to turn off the device. Sian says that he’s just trying to have a good time and doesn’t want any trouble. The older man says neither do they. He then pulls out a Playback tape and says that he has heard that Sian is in the market for these. He says that he is and closely observes the tape, noticing a mark on the back that signifies that it has yet to be watched. This piques his interest. He asks what is on it and the older man whispers in his ear but Ozzi’s avatar cannot make out what is being said. Sian offers to transfer the man money but he says cash only. Sian pays him in cash and is given the Playback tape.
The older man leaves the bathroom and Ozzi’s avatar follows, which frustrates her. After a beat, the older man looks to the camera and gives a head nod. Ozzi heads back into the bathroom and checks the stalls before finding the one that is occupied. They open the door and find Sian foaming from the mouth and gasping for air before falling limp, with the illuminated lenses still in his eyes.
Back in the church, Ozzi screams in horror and Digger rushes to turn off the device. She returns to the real world and finds her hands trembling.
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