Our ongoing series covering web-based productions in the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror genres. If you have a recommendation for a web original that we should look at, contact us at mail@axiomsedge-scifi.com.
By John J. Joex
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars
TYRANNY is a web series created, written, and directed by John Beck Hofmann (and he also stars as the lead character). The series follows a man named Daniel McCarthy (Hofmann) who undergoes some experiments in 1999 that give him visions of a troubled future. TYRANNY begins in the year 2011 when an interviewer/interrogator asks McCarthy to recount his experiences. We then go back to 1999 when McCarthy first undergoes the experiments and loses memory of several days while also seeing glimpses of the future. Intertwined through this are various conspiracy theory threads as McCarthy begins to investigate clues about what has happened to him while being monitored by the FBI and other, undisclosed parties.
Production-wise, TYRANNY is actually one of the best web series I have watched thus far. For the most part, it has the look of a professional production which makes sense seeing as Hoffman is the Director of Photography of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California and has worked on the IMAX film Roving Mars as well as James Cameron’s Aliens of the Deep. He has also done work for NOVA and National Geographic and has received an award for his documentary on the Mars Pathfinder Mission. So Hoffman brings a high level of professionalism to this series while also demonstrating that he is adept with more than just documentaries as he instills TYRANNY with a sense of paranoia and tension.
Unfortunately, he does not manage to sustain this edge throughout all of the fifteen episodes that have been produced thus far. The series starts out very Prisoner-esque as McCarthy is confronted by an intimidating foreign interrogator who prods him for information. This gets the series off to a good start, but when it goes into the 1999 flashbacks it starts to meander and seems to get off course. In fact, it gets downright dull for several episodes and also seems to get vague and distant as the connection to the future events gets lost in the shuffle. But as it progresses toward the fifteenth episode it starts to pick up some steam and then that installment really gets the story kick-started once again. But then it leaves us hanging, and I’m not certain when we can expect to see the next episode.
The Wikipedia entry for the series claims that Season 1 will have 22 episodes, so I assume the other seven are on the way, though I see no information about them on the show’s website. The site does ask for donations, so perhaps they are working on raising the funds to complete the first season. And I definitely look forward to what will come next. Even though TYRANNY seemed to get off-track for a while there, I believe it has much promise with its sci fi/conspiracy elements and a strong finish could make this a top contender among genre web originals. It has already received nominations for the 2010 Indie Intertube Awards in four categories, and hopefully those accolades can help Hoffman generate enough interest in the series to secure any additional funding he needs (I’ll be sending my donation shortly).
One comment, though, about the viewing experience. This series is hosted by Koldcast.tv, and while I have watched other web series there, this experience was a particular. It would regularly freeze up and even trying to buffer for a while did not help much. It’s also available on YouTube, but I even had trouble with those episodes. In between trying to make it through all of the episodes of this series, I watched The LXD on Hulu and The End. on its own site and had no trouble with those. And I have watched other series on Koldcast.tv with little or no trouble. So I don’t know if I just got unlucky this time around, but it definitely was a struggle to make it through all 15 episodes. But then again, maybe you can look at it as a testament to the show’s intrigue and quality that I soldiered on despite the technical difficulties. You can watch the first 15 episodes at Koldcast.tv or at YouTube.
SciFinal.com – Offering a comprehensive directory of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Web Series with over 200 listings.Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
The End. (the period at the end is intentional) is a fun little romp that’s worth checking out even if you only sample a few episodes. It gives us a Terminator-like setting where deadly robots (“Killbots”) have wiped out all but a few pockets of human survivors. But the series does not give us a grim Terminator future conflict of humans locked in a desperate struggle to defeat their would-be exterminators. Instead, it gives us a humorous turn on the concept and focuses on two ne’er-do-wells, Duke and Johnny, who are constantly on the run from the Killbots but end up getting distracted from the task at hand. Each episode, all of which run about two minutes, follows basically the same template. Duke frantically runs up and says “Johnny! There’s a Killbot just around the corner of that building! If we take off now we might be able to make it out of here in time to get to Columbus! If it still exists.” Johnny, usually involved in some mundane activity like reading old gossip magazines or munching on marshmallows or trying to relieve himself, is less concerned with the impending threat and stays focused on whatever he was already doing. Before long, he gets Duke sidetracked and they veer off into some trivial conversation as we hear the Killbot approach. Then the implication is that their aside ends as the robot terminates them, but in a “They killed Kenny” maneuver they show back up unharmed in the next episode and repeat the same formula.
If you have seen one episode of The End. you have pretty much seen them all, but then the whole fun of the series is to see what gets Duke and Johnny sidetracked each time. Some episodes are laugh out loud funny (like when Duke tells Johnny to hurry up and finish peeing but Johnny can’t do it because of the pressure) and some kind of fall flat. But if you didn’t like one, then just go on to the next and maybe it will generate a few more chuckles. The series has produced 20 episodes so far and it has started to play around with its formula a bit and has even added a few more characters. It doesn’t have much in the way of a story arc, though, so you can pretty much pick it up anywhere. And as mentioned before, the episodes are short, so if nothing else it’s a good way to fill up a few minutes of surfing time with a laugh or two. You can watch the entire series at its website (start with the first episode at this link).
