The Spirit Mill

Here at the Spirit Mill a warmer, more neighbourly atmosphere is encouraged. So, no eye recognition, just good old sweat and print. And a reasonable vocal range.

Ah. Julia Davis and Steve Buscemi, together at last. That’s right. Dawn Sutcliffe and Mr. Pink. Married in this one, no less. Also Joanna Scanlon features as a weird, genetically modified pig. What’s not to like? Well, if we’re going by IMDb ratings, actually quite a lot, given that it’s the lowest rated in the series. But since when did we ever adhere to that type of thing, hey?

For this, the fourth episode of Electric Dreams, we appear to be in the not too distant future in an undisclosed coastal location. And things are pretty bleak. Growing your own vegetables is illegal and any legitimate food that is supplied to you goes bad within 24 hours. Oh, and your house is about to fall into the sea. And everything’s a garish blue to the point of hurting your eyes. Nice.

We’re sort of giving it a bit more Blade Runner vibes for this one, with synthetic men and women (called Jacks and Jills) being the cornerstone of the story. Though in this instance they are fully integrated into society and not hunted like animals. Steve Buscemi (as a character called Ed in the second consecutive show in the series) has a hand in creating them. I wonder if he still has the diamonds? As you might expect, things go pretty badly for Steve – his attention gets piqued by a failing Jill, whom he tries to help secretly without his wife’s knowledge. In the end they team up and it’s a set of very watery curtains for him.

Anyway, the Spirit Mill is where the Jacks and the Jills are created. There’s a barely visible sign for the premises in the programme, but what’s interesting is near the start there’s a waste disposal company which utilises a similar ‘overlapping lemons’-style logo. I can only assume from this that the companies are linked and control significant parts of the lives of whatever poor souls inhabit this world; work, entertainment, sustenance and so forth.

‘Crazy Diamond’ is a clear reference to the nine-part Pink Floyd ‘song’ about Syd Barrett and his song ‘Octopus‘ does feature. So if you *are* part of the IMDb set, at least there’s something good to listen to.