Starring:
Keith Carradine as Arthur Bristol
Lolita Davidovich as Doctor/Arthur's Wife/Arthur's Daughter/Hooker
Gretchen Palmer as Receptionist/Arthur's Wife/Student/Stripper
Adam Arkin as Paul Danko
Peter Jason as Priest
Lin Shaye as Nurse
Maureen Teefy as Chrome
Written by: David S. Goyer, based on the comic book "Weird Science" by William M. Gaines
Directed by: Walter Hill
Keith Carradine plays Arthur Bristol, a man who has quite the problem: he cannot wake up from his dreams. Any time he “wakes up”, he is caught inside another one, and so on and so forth, indefinitely. We are immediately thrust in to his situation, as he sits in a doctor’s waiting room, desperate to get help. A little while later, a black woman enters, and informs him that the doctor is ready to see him. He goes into the doctor’s office, and is met by a red-haired doctor (Lolita Davidovich), who runs through his life’s milestones before asking him what is wrong. He is a 40 year old professor, married with no children, and once divorced.
He tells her his problem, only to “awaken” again, inside the same waiting room. The same black woman notifies him that the doctor is ready to see him. He enters into the doctor’s office again, and this time goes into a little more detail: he entered a government-funded sleep study out of pure boredom. The government was attempting to create a drug that could put its subjects into an immediate state of lucid dreaming. The doctor informs Arthur that studies have proven long-term states of dreaming can induce psychosis, and then proceeds to stand up, and put a gun to her head, squeezing the trigger.
Arthur wakes up again, this time next to his wife, who is also played by Lolita Davidovich. He informs her that he had a bad dream, and she tries to soothe him, falling asleep in the process. Arthur goes to check the time, only to discover his clock is running backwards, one of the traits of a dream his doctor described to him. When he “wakes” up again, he comes home to his wife in the shower. But now, his wife isn‘t Lolita Davidovich, but the same black woman (Gretchen Palmer) from his doctor‘s office! And so the story goes on, with the same characters cutting in and out of his dreams, playing different parts.
Somewhere in all of this, Arthur has a heart attack. Could this have something to do with his constant state of dreaming…perhaps he is in a coma, and all of his dreams are merely his brain fighting to stay alive? Interestingly, none of this is explored; everything is kept as mysterious and as ambiguous as possible, until a final reveal that simultaneously sent chills down my spine, while ultimately revealing nothing.
This is actually the perfect start to the series, one that avoids all the pitfalls that later episodes would fall into; namely that this series has literally zero budget, and many future episodes seemed to rely on ideas and effects that the budget simply couldn’t match. “Dream of Doom” features no outlandish special effects, yet makes up for it with a very simple, yet intriguing, premise. Keith Carradine, as Arthur, is solid in the role, as a man who’s legitimately confused about his situation, and desperately trying to come to grips with it, before it's too late. The "what's-real-what's-not?" atmosphere makes for an engrossing experience that sucks you in, while also providing a real dose of legitimate unpredictability.
“Perversions of Science” was always wildly uneven, but the most frustrating thing about all of it was that it occasionally (read: very rarely) showed flashes of brilliance. This episode is one of them, and, in a bit of unfortunate foreshadowing, the closest example of near-perfection it was ever able to obtain.
EPISODE RATING: 8/10.
Keith Carradine plays Arthur Bristol, a man who has quite the problem: he cannot wake up from his dreams. Any time he “wakes up”, he is caught inside another one, and so on and so forth, indefinitely. We are immediately thrust in to his situation, as he sits in a doctor’s waiting room, desperate to get help. A little while later, a black woman enters, and informs him that the doctor is ready to see him. He goes into the doctor’s office, and is met by a red-haired doctor (Lolita Davidovich), who runs through his life’s milestones before asking him what is wrong. He is a 40 year old professor, married with no children, and once divorced.
He tells her his problem, only to “awaken” again, inside the same waiting room. The same black woman notifies him that the doctor is ready to see him. He enters into the doctor’s office again, and this time goes into a little more detail: he entered a government-funded sleep study out of pure boredom. The government was attempting to create a drug that could put its subjects into an immediate state of lucid dreaming. The doctor informs Arthur that studies have proven long-term states of dreaming can induce psychosis, and then proceeds to stand up, and put a gun to her head, squeezing the trigger.
Arthur wakes up again, this time next to his wife, who is also played by Lolita Davidovich. He informs her that he had a bad dream, and she tries to soothe him, falling asleep in the process. Arthur goes to check the time, only to discover his clock is running backwards, one of the traits of a dream his doctor described to him. When he “wakes” up again, he comes home to his wife in the shower. But now, his wife isn‘t Lolita Davidovich, but the same black woman (Gretchen Palmer) from his doctor‘s office! And so the story goes on, with the same characters cutting in and out of his dreams, playing different parts.
Somewhere in all of this, Arthur has a heart attack. Could this have something to do with his constant state of dreaming…perhaps he is in a coma, and all of his dreams are merely his brain fighting to stay alive? Interestingly, none of this is explored; everything is kept as mysterious and as ambiguous as possible, until a final reveal that simultaneously sent chills down my spine, while ultimately revealing nothing.
This is actually the perfect start to the series, one that avoids all the pitfalls that later episodes would fall into; namely that this series has literally zero budget, and many future episodes seemed to rely on ideas and effects that the budget simply couldn’t match. “Dream of Doom” features no outlandish special effects, yet makes up for it with a very simple, yet intriguing, premise. Keith Carradine, as Arthur, is solid in the role, as a man who’s legitimately confused about his situation, and desperately trying to come to grips with it, before it's too late. The "what's-real-what's-not?" atmosphere makes for an engrossing experience that sucks you in, while also providing a real dose of legitimate unpredictability.
“Perversions of Science” was always wildly uneven, but the most frustrating thing about all of it was that it occasionally (read: very rarely) showed flashes of brilliance. This episode is one of them, and, in a bit of unfortunate foreshadowing, the closest example of near-perfection it was ever able to obtain.
EPISODE RATING: 8/10.
FULL EPISODE
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