George Orwell The elements for an original approach for the series were in this pilot but the director chose to accentuate the clichés and the popular themes instead of grabbing onto the real value. Many series that have died have tried to stretch the interest of the viewer beyond the practical – in a series, wasting many episodes on mindless action outside the arc, here, in the pilot, wasting air time with over used old ideas or overused statements.The core of the idea is at the very end where, as a few commentators have brought out, the virtuality encompassing the ship itself, or whatever the deep secret that only the commander knew and wouldn't share (the "down the rabbit hole" is the allusion to it as well). This seems to have been augmented by the vision of the evil virtual player being seen in MD garb toward the end – as well as the meta observation of not setting up how kill off the main character in a pilot when clearly he's the only one with leadership capabilities in the bunch. This scenario fits well with the lack of credibility that the crew could have passed the tests for a 10 year mission.In any case, more substantial exploration of the above virtual set up would have given more of a tease and interest. Certainly more than the naive assertion that if you throw in a gay couple you'll get an interested audience, even given that they are cooks who can't even cook , an odious psychologist whose running a reality show, and a tiresome boring phony dramatic dialog (oh how dumb was the bantering there along the way) of "go/no go" when it's clear what the answer has to be.So I give it a four because I did watch it, but it is oh so sad to see a wasted 90 minutes.

igoatabase Considering its very interesting topics saying I anticipated it is an euphemism. Covering virtual reality, space travel and reality television in a single pilot episode was a challenge and I think they successfully achieved it. However even if the few clips I saw convinced me it would be great I was a little worry about the way the writers would deal with reality elements.Their work is both inspiring and very smart because I find reality shows far too dramatic and not real enough. When they began to produce such shows I was hoping to find new tools to better understand the human's psychology but most of them are just empty shells meant to brainwash viewers. Hopefully there're also good productions like Project Runway that blend ideas very nicely. As for the Virtuality reality scenes there were quite many but most of them were short and filmed throughout a lipstick camera. It made them even more realistic, specially considering the female host looked quite superficial at first. But as in real life a coin always has an other side and it was quite emotional to discover it. So even if she looked like a Gossip Girl you should soon appreciate her for what she really is, not just an other pretty face. And in general the characters worked really well and some of them quickly grew on me as the minutes passed by. I already knew Clea DuVall wouldn't disappoint me but I was also gladly surprised by the other performers. My only complain would be the whole Benetton vibe because in some way it made the reality side less authentic but maybe the creators intention was to parody the other shows. It's specially true for the gay couple as sending them into space as a last hope doesn't make any sense. I found it was quite disrespectful towards the homosexual community in general as their members are often used to bring more drama. A good example would be Top Chef last season and its ridiculous "Team Rainbow". But again maybe they just wanted us to believe so. In fact that's what I really enjoyed in Virtuality, its ambivalent complexity.It leads us to the space travel topic. If you appreciate the genre and are a science howl then you'll definitely dig the few outdoor scenes, the ship design, its interior… It should also remind you of your favorite space opera film. So watching it I really felt like I was part of the crew. It's specially true considering there're many characters you can relate too. I also found the story quite inspiring because there's nothing more fascinating than following the daily life of astronauts sent into deep space to save humanity. It brought many great memories like my first battle in the Homeworld video game and of course the astonishing Battlestar Galactica miniseries. And I can reassure you that it has nothing to do with apocalyptic productions like Armageddon, even if I enjoyed it. Here the psychology is probably one of the most important element because the big question is "Will they be able to survive and reach their destination ?".Yes, because it's a lot about survival. Not the Survivor mumbo jumbo but the real and dramatic Robinson Crusoe adventure, like in Cast Away for example. I think the analogy is right because living alone on a desert island can be compared to traveling into space with a few crew members. You'll definitely miss Earth and its beautiful green and blue landscapes. Breathing the air in the morning and energizing yourself before a rising sun. All these tiny details that make you feel alive even when the weather is rainy and the mood even more sad. To solve the problem the writers decided to introduce the virtual reality module, extrapolating the novel's concept. It's supposed to be a key solution to the mission success but of course events didn't occur as expected and the virtual scenes were so disturbing, well directed and written that they actually reminded me of cult films like Event Horizon and The Lawnmower Man. The team behind Virtuality is so talented and has so many twisted ideas that they brought many refreshing and interesting elements to a topic that has already been well covered by others.All these great things made me a fan of the show even if the FOX decided not to pick it up. In fact I don't blame them because I can't imagine the pressure on their shoulders. I even call it the Carnivàle syndrome because both producers and most viewers are not ready for such a smart show. If you're accustomed to such artistic creations you shouldn't be surprised and only enjoy it for what it is, one of the best space pilot ever aired. However if you're not open minded and think Tim Burton and George A. Romero should be held into an asylum then Virtuality is definitely the wake up call you need. Yes because I recommend anyone to watch it, again and again to understand all the messages he has to deliver.

Ion Rau Well, did Fox asked Arthur C. Clark (oh, because is no longer with us, rest in peace!) to make this movie? Because instead of HAL we have a Jean and so on except the story base. And this kind of boring documentary type and journal kind of movie it's not really digestible... The act is interesting, landscape and images are great but, that's it... And who send a bunch of people at those early ages in spaces? With a budget of 200 bill dollars I couldn't send people who swear and fight every time... I thought that a cosmonaut or someone who was sent in this kind of journey is more serious and can deal with own fears and is disciplined and so on... This scenario was write with legs , sort of speak in my country... So, to cut the criticism, the scenario it's very bad, it has a lot of influences from every SF book and movie that guy read and seen and no scientific background. Very bad movie...

ebdanger Obviously if you care enough to do both of those things, then it doesn't matter if you like it or not, just that you DID watch it. A good TV show does not require millions of people that love the show. A good TV show requires millions of people that WATCH the TV show. It's all about whether people watch or not, that's where the ad revenue comes from. As for Mr. Snippity "What I would do if I was going to send out astronauts" Guy:'1 Make sure all of them are capable of walking. 2 Make sure none of them want to kill themselves. 3 Make sure none of them have dead children. 4 Make sure none of them are having an affair. 5 Make sure none of them are argumentitive. 6 Make sure whoever cooks is actuallyany good at it. 7 Make sure any of them are likable. 8 Make sure none of them have mental issues that come with having been raped. 9 Make sure none of them have Parkinsons.'Obviously you didn't watch the show--the entire point is that it is sponsored by a company who is sending these people out and putting them through this stuff for RATINGS. To make MONEY. People who are good at everything, who are completely normal, healthy, and good natured, and who have never had anything bad happen to them? They don't make for interesting characters. People who have conflict are interesting--which they actually bring up IN the show. Good job, sir, you have made a fool of yourself.