A vintage “AI” robot from the 1970s named Cassandra (now on Netflix) gives off, shall we say, SINISTER VIBES in the opening episode of this limited series from German creator Benjamin Gutsche. Five minutes with ol’ Cassandra and most sensible folks would pull the plug on her, but if the Prill family did that, the series might be over after 12 minutes. The Prills are a modern-day family new to a formerly high-tech house, and it sure seems like the megadeal they got on their spacious “retro” property is gonna cost them more in the long run. Ain’t that always the way?
CASSANDRA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A closeup shot of a vintage car radio. A hand, a cigarette between its fingers, fiddles with the knobs.
The Gist: The smoking guy clearly exists about 50 years ago. He’s tooling down a country road when he comes across quite a sight: A car smashed into a tree, dead person on the hood, a living woman and baby in the backseat. He asks what happened. “She’s here,” the woman says, pointing at a robot, apparently deactivated, its head drooping, over yonder.
THE PRESENT DAY. The Prills are new to The Middle of Nowhere, moving from Hamburg. It’s their first day in their new home, which is in a bit of disrepair – dirty, sheets on top of furniture, TV monitors with blank gray screens on nearly every wall. Sam (Mina Tander) is mom, an artist, and David (Michael Klammer) is the dad; they make direct reference to that old Tom Hanks movie, what was it called? Right: The Money Pit. Fynn (Joshua Kantar) is the teenage son, a musician, and Juno (Mary Amber Oseremen Tolle) is the tween daughter, still young enough to carry her favorite stuffy around.
At one point, this house was the pinnacle of technology, hence all the monitors. Fynn finds a control center in the basement, and it looks like a NASA console. He finds a big lever and flips it, but nothing happens until he leaves the room, when a HAL-9000 red light blinks to life. Everyone’s wowed by the indoor pool and the elevator. There’s vague talk about Juno’s nightmares, and maybe some marital instability between Sam and David, and a teaser line of dialogue that goes, “We couldn’t have stayed (in Hamburg) after what happened.” So what happened? Patience, friends, patience.
Fynn finds a robot with a TV-screen head, and yes, it’s the same one from the cold open. He pops off the access panel and tinkers with it as Juno watches. He turns it on and – nothing. Ah well. They go to bed and in the middle of the night the robot flickers to life, a woman’s animated face on the monitor — and every other monitor in the house. She looks like Tilda Swinton with a normie 1970s hausfrau haircut. She’s Cassandra, and I’d put the actress’ name who plays her right here in parentheses, but it might give away the late-episode reveal that she’s based on a real human being. Ah. Right. Crap. Well, the actress’ name is Lavinia Wilson. And let’s be honest, that particular development isn’t particularly surprising.
Anyway, Cassandra introduces herself as “the fairy godmother who keeps everything in order.” How sweet! She charms Juno and offers to help with homework, peels potatoes for dinner, runs over a mouse and leaves a long bloody smear next to the pool and makes Juno bury the carcass, just like a fairy godmother. She sings everyone awake too, which, better shut that one down. And she mows the lawn, although she seems to purposely hit a rock that flings through the window and pegs Sam right in the back, and then her face appears on a wall monitor and offers to call an ambulance.
Subplots emerge: Fynn befriends a kid at school, who comes back to the house and helps him discover a hidden den/game room in the basement which, if I’m not mistaken, has some Overlook Hotel-like carpeting, so, you know, yikes? Sam is worried about Juno acclimating at school, and contemplates enrolling her in a music and dance club, but Cassandra tells Juno about it before her own mother can. Meanwhile, nobody in the family can enter a room without Cassandra looking over their shoulder from the omnipresent monitors. Sounds like a real fun way to live!
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Black Mirror meets Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons, with a bit of A.I. as a movie influence.
Our Take: Cassandra thus far nicely blends ominous-portent sci-fi with slightly tongue-in-cheek comedy and family drama, the latter being its weakest element thus far. It teases the Prill family’s Baggage To Be Revealed Later, dropping in the apparent suicide of Sam’s sister and the what-she’s-been-through-ness of Juno and her chronic nightmares. Gutsche plays with the some of the cliches of HAL-9000-style malevolent-computer lurking threats, the likes of which we notice, having seen so many films and series featuring such things, although the Prill family hasn’t caught on quite yet, which tells us they haven’t consumed enough pop culture.
One of the pilot’s dramatic hooks is also a familiarity: Cassandra showing more of her true evil-ass self to Juno, a kid who’s too young to notice, or realize she’s a pawn in bigger manipulation games. It’s fun to watch the characters tool around the sprawling retro home, with its conversation pit, foosball table and other fun amenities, which gives one a tactile tingle, and is a keen gimmick — not every Terminator needs to have a zillion terrabytes of memory and look like a Cybertruck. But I have some questions: Was shag carpeting not a thing in 1970s Germany? Does Cassandra need a software upgrade? Can she help with the wifi signal or is she too old for the new school? Guess we’ll find out what she’s capable of soon enough, as Cassandra gave us enough of a fairly vibrantly conceived and acted debut episode to lure us in for more nefarious-automaton stuff, which inevitably enjoys more thematic traction in the current early-AI era. Only bummer is, Cassandra’s so clunky, she’ll never be able to dance like M3GAN.
Sex and Skin: None so far.
Parting Shot: Flames engulf the living room. No spoilers as to who started it!
Sleeper Star: I liked Filip Schnack as Fynn’s spirited new pal, although the character gives off likely-to-be-killed-by-Cassandra-sooner-rather-than-later vibes.
Most Pilot-y Line: Cassandra lets rip with a doozy: “I can read your every wish from your eyes!”
Our Call: Cassandra’s spirited opener is entertaining, and even though it points toward more predictable plot developments, it’s still worth sticking with for another episode or two. STREAM IT.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
