Loveday Writing

When Nathan returns to his room, he finds Ingrid preparing for the dinner party they are hosting, with the AI Guy and Ivan assisting. Ingrid tells him that David Choak and some friends she made at the complaints desk are coming, and Nathan tells her he wants to invite Luke and Yang, the teenage girl he befriended on the 2Gigs floor at the end of the previous season. Ingrid approves and Nathan leaves to get Yang a day pass so she can come to the party.

Meanwhile, Pastor Rob chastises Nora for not pulling her weight in the village, Dave defends her but also tells him that they can find a way for her to contribute. Later, Matteo takes her to a cabin where she meets Boris Netherlands, an unemployed actor who Horizen paid $1200 to use his face and likeness for the AI Guy. Matteo proposes that Nora makes an avatar for Boris using his own device so he can sneak into Lakeview. Nora asks what the Ludds want with Lakeview, Matteo tells her that Pastor Rob is against all upload but the majority of the Ludds are against upload for the rich, the latter unites them all together.

Meanwhile, Ingrid’s dinner party rapidly turns into a disaster with the AI Guys constantly stuffing up and the class clash between Ingrid’s guests, and Luke and Yang. When Ingrid fires the AI Guys, Aleesha and Tinsley (using Nora’s avatar) step in. Nathan tries to talk to Tinsley, thinking she’s Nora, only for Tinsley to have to tell everyone the truth when Ingrid recognises her.

During the party, the guests discuss Freeyond, with David agreeing with Nathan that the poor should have the right to upload and design their own afterlives. Ingrid also tells them that Oliver used to play tennis with Pastor Rob, before he went off the grid, and apparently the Pastor used to cheat. Later on, Luke suggests to Nathan that Oliver’s partner may be the Ludds. Tinsley also tries to apologise to Nathan, but he chastises her for using Nora’s avatar. As Luke leaves the party, he tells Nathan to apologise to Tinsley.

After Ingrid finishes her design, Matteo and Dave propose that she return to New York and Horizen to help the Ludd movement from the inside. Matteo tells her that she’ll work with a Ludd agent, Agent Cheetoh, and she’ll stay at an untraceable place and use a burner phone. Agent Cheetoh is revealed to be Ivan.

Overall I felt that this was a solid second episode as we have a new complication in the Nora-Nathan romance with Tinsley developing a crush on him. Ingrid’s struggle to maintain the appearance of being uploaded is also shown when she has to stop to order food for herself, and the reveal of Ivan essentially being a double agent shows the complexity of the Ludd movement and the ethics of digital afterlives. It also raises the stakes of Nora’s involvement, as there’s always the possibility he could turn on her at any time. I also appreciated the reappearance of Yang (as well as the reveal of her name), both because she’s a likeable character but she also represents the need for a universal digital afterlife, which is what the Ludds are fighting for.

Stray Observations:

-Nathan is four inches taller than Tom Cruise, a fact that is apparently very important to him.

-The dinner party table theme options that Ingrid can choose from are tribal taupe, cheddar satin and Miami hotel.

-According to the prefera, David Choak prefers to eat intelligent or endangered species.

-Aleesha’s party avatar outfits cater for a Berlin nightclub, a Cairo disco, and drinks on a boat.

-Yang feasts on the food at the dinner party and Nathan allows her to take leftovers back to 2Gigs with her. Although considering that Nathan couldn’t even take clothes with him, I’m wondering how she’d be able to get the food down there, much less distribute it to the other 2Gigs uploads.

-Craig, Horizen’s tech division manager, has launched Prototykes, digital afterlife babies. The product also comes with a baby generator – generating a baby based on two parents. Lucy uses the generator to see what a baby between her and Luke would look like.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Once again, my apologies, I thought we were actually going to take a schvitz.” (Luke to Nathan)
• “Your life is 100% fubar. Nora’s gone, your murderer is on the loose, and if they ever find out that you got your memories back, they’re gonna come after you again. Meanwhile, you’re trapped living with Ingrid who is…no comment.” (Luke to Nathan)
• “Who else is coming?” “Some friends I made at the complaints desk, very discriminating people.” (Nathan-Ingrid on the dinner party)
• “Ma’am, I will try my best to do a good job.” (AI Guy to Ingrid on serving at the dinner party)
• “You are not seriously blaming yourself for your own murder!?” (Luke to Nathan)
• “I know I’ve asked you this before, what’s wrong with you man?” “Everything man, just everything.” (Nathan-Luke)
• “She’s a prefera, not a real person. She’s programmed to look like my ex-wife but uh, make an effort to learn my preferences.” “I pay attention to what Mr. Choak likes and give it to him forever.” (David Choak to Nathan and Ingrid, then the prefera)
• “Mr. Choak likes Bloody Mary’s and the rollback of environmental laws.” (The prefera)
• “For you sir, and champagne for the lovely sex doll.” (The AI Guy serving drinks)
• “I remember Amos n’ Andy, they were very racist as I recall.” “Things aren’t as funny today are they?” “Not those things.” (David Choak-Mildred, then Nathan)
• “How Frankenstein of you.” “I want to suck your blood!” “That’s Dracula.” (Matteo-Nora-Matteo on Nora’s love for designing avatars)
• “How’s the new temp?” “Uh, clueless, but eager and motivated by food. I might get her a clicker trainer like the one you get for dogs.” “Oh, you should.” (Lucy-Aleesha going back-and-forth)