Simon Foster comes home to his apartment which seems to consist of one hallway.  However, it looks futuristic and has a videophone.  He has a video message from the unemployment office telling him his benefits have run out.  Since the current unemployment rate is 33%, this is going to be a problem.  OMG, these soviet-style hives, the enormous poverty, what century is this dystopia?  Oh, 1999.  C’mon, TZ, only 10 years in the future?  I expect more confidence in America from Canadians.

Simon puts a few items in a box and takes it to a pawnshop.  We see him walking over a bridge with a train passing underneath.  Is this intended to illustrate that he must walk because he can’t afford a ticket?  It is a strangely out-of-place shot since it is only 6 seconds, and the only outside shot.  For some reason, it had an effect on me.  Maybe because the rest of the episode is all interiors, maybe because it subtly conveyed information about the character, maybe because it explained the decision to only go 10 years ahead (no budget for a fancy 21st century train).  Sometimes it is the most insignificant things that catch my eye.

Quint the pawnbroker looks through the items and offers only $50.  Simon says the watch alone is worth that and haggles Quint up to $65.  Quint has an idea how Simon can make more money and leads him through a door marked PRIVATE.  Luckily there are no gimp shenanigans back there. Quint has an illegal memory-dipping operation.  People in 1999 pay to have other people’s memories implanted in their brain.

Bravo to TZ for adding some texture to the process.  Unfortunately, Control-C / Control-V memories are less vivid, washed out.  To get good, sharp memories, you have to do Control-X, or even better Control-XXX.  Unable to find a way to tax the process, the government has made it illegal.  Simon admits he has not had an exciting life, but Quint says ordinary memories are valuable too; just mundane life events like a soap opera.  Sadly he is ineligible for the really big money as he has no evil twin.

There is another nice futuristic touch when Simon goes home.  He slides a card through a device to unlock his door.  Nice; but even better, this alerts his landlord ^[1] to get on a speaker and threaten him with eviction if he doesn’t pay his rent.  It takes so little to add a little something extra to a story, why is it so rare?  The final straw is when a cockroach falls into Simon’s bowl of soup.  His desperation is perfectly conveyed, and heightened due to the viewer’s visceral reaction to the bug.  More congratulations to TZ for finally showing some signs of life. ^[2]  I look forward to many fine episodes in the years to come.  Oh, only 8 episodes left.

Simon returns to Quint’s shop.  He sells the memory of his high school graduation where he received the aforementioned watch as a prize.  Wow, who wrote this, a writer?  Despite his regret, he returns to sell a birthday memory.  Then, he sells the memory of his first steps — this guy has some memory!  Then a trip to the circus, and his first date.

Now with plenty of cash, he gets a new suit and an opportunity for a new job.  Unfortunately, he blows the interview because he can’t remember his skillz and experience.  Then he sells his first sexual experience, although the second was probably longer and worth more.  He immediately regrets this loss and demands Quint restore the memory.

The ending is a little muddied because it isn’t clear whether it is a happy or sad one.  It doesn’t feel set up as a dilemma.  It feels more like they couldn’t decide which way to go, so just ran it up the middle.  Regardless, it is a big, clear premise, the casting is great, and there are some surprises in the script.  One of their better efforts.

Other Stuff:

• [1] When is the triggering word “landlord” going to be outlawed?  Really, calling back to a time when serfs couldn’t own land?  And mentioning the lord?  I feel very threatened.
• [2] Even more amazing as this episode is from the director of Ray Bradbury Theater’s dreadful Banshee.