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What better reaction to this particular episode than a binary one? X-Philes either loved or hated Season 11 Episode 7 “Rm9sbG93ZXJz” (in our discussion guess which was Darrell and which was Chip!). The spartan dialogue and AI overlord-filled episode was written by Kristen Cloke and Shannon Hamblin, directed by Glen Morgan, and it aired on February 28, 2018.
Two news items lead us off this week! FIrst up Syfy has an exclusive interview with writers Kristen Cloke and Shannon Hamblin, and then we have Indiewire’s belief that ‘Rm9sbG93ZXJz’ keeps it simple and silent for a creatively daring episode! Afterwards we engage in a spirited debate about this show, as Darrell found it a poor use of an hour while Chip enjoyed the intersection of the X-Files universe with many of the tech issues we face in our own.
There’s lots to love in the Spooky Drawer! We travel back to 2016 with The Daily Telegraph reporting that Microsoft deleted a ‘teen girl’ AI after it became a Hitler-loving sex robot within 24 hours! Next we revisit the classic 1970’s sci-fi show The Six Million Dollar Man, then like Mulder and Scully we run from Gizmodo’s scary take that Roomba’s next big step is selling maps of your home to the highest bidder! We have to hide in a building featuring brutalist architecture to avoid the AI, and then escape, head to a sushi bar, and relax with a delectable blobfish! That gets us ready for your divided opinions and feedback!
We also want to share the images discussed in our analysis, and here they are!
The X-Files Forowa Restaurant
Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks
Eric Joyner’s Painting A Story of Robots and Donuts
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