Episode 01: The Neighbor’s Diary #3 – Before Judgment Review
“The Neighbor recounts some of the details leading up to the fall of humanity.”
Character: The Neighbor (Mike Davies, Jr.)
The Before Judgment series of “prequel” episodes begins with “The Neighbor’s Diary.” This installment focuses on The Neighbor speaking into his camcorder and providing a great deal of background information on how the apocalypse unfolded.
In this episode:
- Comments that there’s something wrong with the sun
- Recounts how the world deteriorated
- Mentions that the scientists knew that something was happening
- The days grew longer in September
- Most people seemed to accept the news with equanimity
- Mentions that his neighbor in the apartment above him is a priest, who drinks (Steven)
- Says, “Someone is going to need to know what went on here.”
- Says that it’s not safe outside
- Power is intermittent
- Says “nothing seems to work right”
- A plane crashed nearby
- Wonders if “maybe our time has come.”
The important thing to note is that Before Judgment is a companion series to After Judgment and works best when viewing that series. Before Judgment, as the title implies, provides background. This particular episode successfully kicks off the series because of how it utilizes a character’s personal thoughts and feelings to convey some vital information about “Judgment Day.” The performance from Mike Davies, Jr. is straightforward and effective. And the simple approach is nicely complemented by the subtle-yet-haunting music. It helps establish the episode’s almost surreal mood.
If there is a criticism, it’s one that I’ll reserve judgment on. The Neighbor’s monologue is intercut with short clips of people running, opening doors, bits of disconnected dialogue and so forth. My hope is that there’s a narrative reason for the diary entry to be interrupted because the potential problem is that it’s simply a stylistic decision, which just wouldn’t make much sense. We’ll see how that unfolds in future installments. Otherwise, Episode 01 is a resounding success, being both captivating and informative.
Topics: Sci-Fi, Web Reviews
Filed under: After / Before Judgment
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