What if you could browse the internet in your mind? Wouldn't that be convenient? That's part of the set-up for Bryan Singer's new digital series H+. The first two episodes of the webseries have arrived online, and both serve as an exciting introduction to this intriguing sci-fi story.
Created and written by John Cabrera and Cosimo De Tommaso, directed by Stewart Hendler, and produced by Bryan Singer, H+ gets off to a strong start, with the first part of the webseries beginning with a series of news clips, which give us an idea of what H+ is all about. This includes a snippet of a talk show interview, which has the hosts trying to understand the concept of H+ and reminds me of that Today show clip from 1994 when they were just learning about the internet. Except in this case, the discussion is about an implant that's put in people's minds, essentially putting them online. As you'll see in Part 1, there are some people who see the dangers of such technology. And then the story jumps forward to the worst case scenario. A virus.
I can easily see the appeal of such an implant, and I love that the man in the car uses it to sneak in a bit of game-viewing. Of course, it proves to be a major distraction while he's driving, and his wife is obviously displeased when she learns he's not giving his driving (or her) his full attention. These are the kinds of things that would likely happen if this kind of technology existed. And then, of course, there's the danger of giving the internet (and anyone on it) access to your mind.
There are definitely places to go with a set-up like this, especially after what happened at the end of Part 1. According to the series' description (vague spoilers!), 33% of the world's population has implants in this version of the future. Assuming most of them are affected by the virus, the aftermath of this attack is likely to be huge. The rest of the description hints as much...
But something else is coming... something dark and vicious... and within seconds, billions of people will be dead... opening the door to radical changes in the political and social landscape of the planet -- prompting survivors to make sense of what went wrong.
The second part of the webseries is already online as well (watch it here and picks up immediately after Part 1. New episodes will become available on Wednesdays. You can subscribe to the H+ Youtube channel here.
