competed Devs last night..
been watching it 2 eps per week every Wed/Thurs.. had heard about it in a magazine saying it was going to be great (and I was obviously familiar with Alex Garlands stuff 28 Days/Sunshine/Dredd/Ex Machina/Annihilation - thought Ex Mach/Annihilation were intriguing but not stuff i obsess over) so figured itd be just another streaming show one of many right? (albeit one that was intriguing due to Garland). So few weeks ago just by chance saw Ep1 was on, missed first 5minutes but looked interesting so may as well record and watch later... and was seriously intrigued touching on stuff I really wanted to see and got more into to it each ep (so much made sure to mute 'Devs' on twitter to avoid any spoilers)and ended up being a mind blowing series the best I've seen of this stuff since The Matrix (and has obviously been done in Existenz, 13th Floor, even some of Inception which I was hoping would delve into some of the stuff explored in Devs – same with the Matrix sequels, and even the last couple of Terminator sequels could've done with some Devs Many Worlds stuff) but this really approached it in a 'real world' scientific way incorporating the whole internet/google/social media age but edge of seat stuff each ep (basically an 8hr Garland movie).
various thoughts i had over the course of the series:
- I figured it would end up being the 'hologram/simulation theory' right in 1st ep when Sergei lost his mind after seeing the code (his reaction mirrored Neo when he found out he was in a simulation) and then Katie saying it changes nothing and how Forest and Katie demeanours were like they were acting as if theyd uncovered the world was a simulation. also the way looking at the past was described as a 'projection' (like a holographic projection)
- when it first emerged they were looking into the past at Jesus in Ep2 I figured oh wow its like a time machine: using the hologram theory to look into the actual past/future like in Deja Vu or a giant youtube video (in a similar way I had been playing with in a short story id written a few years ago) and that continued into the next few eps with seeing the fuzzy glimpses of Marilyn/Arthur Miller (lol) Joan of Arc etc ...but then there was what Katie told Lily in Ep 6 when she went around their house..and Katie laid it out to her .. that the machine takes all information of everything and makes predictions/projections based on all the information. .a simulation. so that made me think maybe its not the actual past (or future) its how Devs is interpreting the past/future based on its information and as lily says its a machine..it might be wrong (a crazy computer like Hal or one of the many evil computers in the original Star Trek).. so when they look at Jesus or the dinosaurs or the origins of the solar system etc it might just be a simulation based on whatever information its been given/drawn from human history (I figured that's where it would end up in the last ep - a twist revealing that it was all BS and that Dev's was wrong about everything - which kind of happened abit with Lily ) but when we see Devs 1st processing scene with the mouse, clock, forest etc its 'mapping' everything/all the molecules and going from there .. so maybe it is the actual past? I think that's what was implied.
-other stuff I began to think might happen in the final 2 eps - The universe would be revealed to be a hologram (which sort of happened when Stewart showed his work collegues) and that forest/katie/kenton/lily would all die (Lily in heroic Ripley way destroying Devs). Forest/Katie would pay the ultimate price in that fooling around with laws of 'nature' Promethian way (not to mention having people murdered) and that Forests attempts to resurrect his daughter (which I figured would be to do with somehow altering the past so he didn't distract his wife at the wheel) would result in everything going to shit/devs destroyed and maybe even the universe hologram being shut off and everything in existence being wiped out .. (the actual ending I was abit 'wtf?' as Forest/Katie were pretty evil/insane but then again maybe their motivations were kind of understandable )
-basically Forest wants it to be just one timeline (not Many Worlds) so its his actual daughter (so he can resurrect her), and so his role in his daughters death was predetermined not random/MW (which he hates the idea of). But he ends up in a (newly?) created simulation reality of 'Deus' where he never created Devs and he,his family,lily can be resurrected (which I guess they can't be in the 'real' world)
-so Devs is able to uncover the code of the hologram universe..everything is viewable/before and after in infinite universes..that raises the question who/what created the code/the universe? or was it Devs even? as in Devs has made sense of the universe(s) and is conveying it on screen but really its just subjective and isn't meant to be conveyed like that? (i.e. there is no hologram) idk its too complicated lol