Main cast: Kevin Michael Richardson (Zima Blue) and Emma Thornett (Claire Markham)
Director: Robert Valley

Zima Blue is a philosophical episode, but unlike, say, Fish Night, this one can be a sock in the feels. Then again, this is based off a short story by Alastair Reynolds, one of the few sci-fi authors out there that can write this kind of things without coming off like a knob obsessed with picking at his own navel.

Zima Blue is a very famous artist known for his super huge murals and real life sculptures that incorporate a specific shade of blue that no one can really put a name to.

As famous as he is, he is just as reclusive and mysterious. His myth is enhanced by the fact that he is a handsome man that has undergone various cybernetic enhancements so that he can travel out there among the cosmos without being hampered by the limitations of human physiology.

Our protagonist and narrator Claire Markham has requested him for an interview for years now, and each time he has politely declined… until now.

At the eve of his unveiling of his final art piece, ever, he issues an invitation to Claire: meet him in two hours, no recording devices please; let’s talk.

Caught by surprise, she of course she accepts. Hmm, just what secrets of this artist will she discover over the course of their conversation?

Oh boy, this is one tough episode to fully evaluate, because, ultimately, the story is too big, too complex, to be confined into an episode that is about 10 and a half minutes long, including credits.

Now, the final scene is haunting, beautiful, and I actually watch that scene a few times just to bask in how it makes me feel a little ache inside. That scene does the original story justice, a gorgeous juxtaposition of destruction and rebirth. That scene is everything.

Up to that point, though, everything else is presented in a rushed manner. Zima’s life story is trimmed down a few rounds of exposition, and that’s it. Were not for that final scene that encapsulates the poetry of one’s search for the meaning of life perfectly, this episode would be a most unsatisfying one.

Then again, I’m not sure that the final scene would be as indelible to someone that hasn’t read the story. They may watch this rushed thing and wonder what the fuss is about.

The visuals are just right too, capturing a comic-style aesthetic that at the same time embodies the mysteries and artistry of geometric shapes that defines both Zima’s works and existence.

So I don’t know. I like that final scene, and I like looking at this episode, but so much of it is also a letdown. There are times when this episode is pure excruciating brilliance, then there are times when it is pure dreck.

Oh well, the brilliance and the BS balance out one another, I suppose, so I’m taking the easy way out and giving Zima Blue three oogies.