'Dimension 404' Recap: 'Polybius'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

If there's one thing that plenty of people can speak to as a shared experience in life...it's that middle school, or high school, had their share of rough moments for us. At some point or another during that time frame, we felt like the outsider, or we were picked on by a bully and those unpleasant experiences often allow for us to look back on this time in our life in bittersweet fashion.  

Now whether or not those moments in our lives were good or bad for us, is something decided by the individual, since life is what you make of it. But the harsher side of those experiences, and the positivity that can come from it, was explored in great and brilliant fashion in the fourth episode of Dimension 404, 'Polybius'. Now this particular tale takes us back in time to 1984, where we meet young Andrew Myers, who is a bit of an outsider in the town of Beaverton, Oregon. He doesn't quite fit in at school, nor does he really have a ton of friends, but what Andrew does have going for him in this life is that he's a talented arcade game player, and he's working toward becoming a published writer as well. But when a new game named Polybius, arrives in his local arcade, Andrew's quiet life is about to become quite noisy, because this game is unlike anything he's ever played, and its deadly secrets are about to be revealed...

Now I've made it no secret that I'm a huge fan of this show and that every episode has blown me away, but this one...this one is something special. Because this tale, well this one is perhaps the most epic love letter to the science fiction and horror films of the 1980's that I have ever seen. In fact it's so perfect with its homages that in many ways, it feels like someone uncovered and released a lost film from that era. The look, the sound, the feel of the whole thing is straight out of that decade and I love the episode's tribute to The Last Starfighter and I equally love how much horror made its way into this one, including a couple of guest spots from horror and sci-fi legend Adrienne Barbeau (Creepshow and Escape from New York) and one of my personal favorites from the horror genre, Ken Foree (​Dawn of the Dead). Those surprise cameos just add credence to this rich story and once you get past the fan boy moments, there's other wonders to be found as well.

Case in point, the richness of this world. I mean, wow, the Writer's Room truly recreated the awkwardness of middle school and high school and you're plunged back into that era in an instant and reminded of how harsh that timeframe can be. But a show this intelligent can't just recreate a moment in time, it needs to give us more and does just that by adding incredible depth to Andrew as a whole. Because he also happens to be gay in the 1980's...an era which wasn't exactly welcoming of LGBTQ people and that's reflected in uncomfortable fashion by the story's heavy use of the other 'F' word and that merely adds to the realism of this episode and it's wonderful that such garbage doesn't bring Andrew down in the slightest since we eventually see him come to terms with who he is and no longer feel an ounce of shame for it. 

Plus, as I mentioned before, this episode directly examines how one can make a bad situation, good, since not only does Andrew accept himself, he finally stops buying into the B.S. of the people around him, he even says it point blank when he declares he's through running and it's magnificent to see a character enjoy a complete arc such as this and it makes him quite the hero when all is said and done. Either way, I really cannot get enough of this show and how intelligent it continues to be and truth be told, this is definitely my favorite episode of the series to date because of the nostalgia it sent my way and because it told an honest and powerful story and sadly, I've come to realize that there are only two episodes left in season one, which means I think I'll take a little longer and cherish the final two because this show continues to be the most refreshing series I've seen in a long time and I'm betting the folks behind the scenes saved the absolute best, for last. Until next time. 

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