H+ Chapter 1: The Beginnings (Episodes 1-6)

Transhumanism is better known as H+

A new series [H+ The Digital Series] by Bryan Singer (producer of the X-Men films, House M.D. and Usual Suspects), H+ The Digital Series takes viewers on a journey into an apocalyptic future where technology has spiraled out of control.

I just discovered this, even though it premiered in August 2012. I don't remember when I subscribed to its channel, but apparently my time to learn about it and watch it is now.  Here are the six episodes of H+ Chapter 1: The Beginnings.

EPISODE 1: "DRIVING UNDER"
San Francisco, USA - 5 minutes before it happened
Prologue: Fragments of news reports show a future world as it adopts H+: a radical new way to be connected to information and each other through only your thoughts, via a high-tech implant. While the breakthrough is hotly anticipated by the masses, it is a change not easily adopted by its discontents. We segue to a couple parking their car in an underground airport garage. The husband, Lee, surreptitiously watches a football game on his H+, upsetting his wife Julie who wants him to drive safely. Their domestic squabble is interrupted by a bizarre spectacle throwing their world into chaos.

Driving under... the influence of football: "Come on, baby, it's double OT. There's not going to be any reception down there."

Boom, from the get-go, we see that the more things change, the more things stay the same.  Husbands will be wrapped up in sports, and will try to hide from their wives, who will eventually bust them anyway.  This is how it was with my fiancee, now my wife, and me in the weeks heading into our wedding.

EPISODE 2: ""ON THEIR LEVEL""
San Francisco, USA - 15 seconds after it happened
Julie and Lee stand shocked at the sudden chaos surrounding them in the lot and then risk a similar fate as Lee goes to aid the fallen people. A mysterious bearded man in glasses, Kenneth, appears and leads a small group down to Level 6, where he insists they're safe. But some in the group are skeptical of their hero and his theory for what has just happened.

From 5 minutes before it happened, to 15 seconds after it happened. Exactly what "it" is, we don't know yet.

EPISODE 3: ""PROPHETESS""
Helsinki, Finland - 7 years before it happened
A young man, Topi, enters a bar to meet a woman named Manta, who he has chatted with online. Manta plays mysterious, giving Topi a hard time, but Topi may have secrets of his own.

You and someone you meet online decide to meet. That is, in person. So what happens?

EPISODE 4: ""AIRPORT SECURITY""
San Francisco, USA - 1 minute after it happened
With a small group from Level 6 of the parking structure, Kenneth takes Lee's body to a van to get out of the water from the sprinkler system with the hope he may be able to save him.

"What makes you such an expert?" He used to work for the people who made H+ implants.

EPISODE 5: ""A LARGE FAMILY""
Mumbai, India - 5 months before it happened
Breanna, a hard-charging technology executive, and her husband Conall (both Irish) meet with a doctor, Gurveer, and a young woman, Leena (both Indian), to arrange a surrogate pregnancy. When the introductory meeting turns into something more like an interrogation and Breanna leaves to continue a work call on her H+, Conall tries to make a more human connection.

Surrogacy is no dispassionate transaction. There is a human undercurrent of attraction and also jealousy.

EPISODE 6: ""VOCI DAL SUD""
Oria, Italy - 2 years after it happened
In a desolate village, Matteo tries to help a man injured in an accident, but realizes getting the medicine he needs will not be easy.

From San Francisco and Helsinki, to Mumbai and Oria, H+ is ever present. But can it connect cultures?

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD