Review by Peter Syslo
Revised 7/15/08 for cedit correction
"THE FOLD" (2008) is a new web-based series from the minds of husband-and-wife writing team, Ray Sawhill and Polly Frost, and writer-director Matt Lambert – it will be viewable at www.thefold.tv on 8/3/2008. It is an erotically-based science fiction series, with a sense of humor; similar in style to “THE LEXX” or “HEAVY METAL”. The series is created in the “webseries” format, which means that each episode is only a few minutes long. However, the brief format does not mean that there is any lack of quality or content; on the contrary, this is an intelligent series with high production value. I am reviewing the first three episodes in the series and thus far, I have enjoyed what I have seen. In all fairness, I do think that I need to see more of the series, in order to fully grasp the concept and f ully understand the plot (there are various convolutions involving time-travel and several characters are involved). But, I must admit, the creators have “wet my appetite” and I want to see more. “THE FOLD” is directed by Matt Lambert and is written by Polly Frost, Ray Sawhill, and Matt Lambert. The series stars Julie Atlas Muz, Jake Thomas, Ampora McLean, Karen Grenke, Angela Lovell, Josh Matthews, Jeremy Lawrence, Stephanie Sellars, and Francesco Palladino. I will give just a brief and basic overview of the series, because I don’t want to over-explain things and I don’t want to reveal any surprises. In a nutshell, a scientist, Cody Ferguson (Matthews), has created a time machine but the ethics of using time-travel have come under scrutiny. At the same time, it appears that some sort of alien presence has made contact with earth and, strangely enough, various people are beginning to feel hyper-sexual. A cast of interesting and eccentric characters are at the heart of the story and throughout the series there is biting satire regarding sexuality, the media, corporations, technology, and social norms in general. “THE FOLD” is a very enjoyable series which speaks to the Sci-Fi fan, the technology fan, and the “sex” fan (all three of which seem to coincide – well, within me at least). If you are the kind of guy (or girl) who ever fantasized about Counselor Troi, Xev Bellringer, Dr. Beverly Crusher, or Number Six, then “THE FOLD” will be something that you will want to see. The science fiction and the eroticism are the predominant components to the story, but I also feel that it is the sharp-witted humor which really drives the series forward and gives it that special “signature”. What the creators have done with the series is that they have made sex fun again – like it should be! I think that the series really puts forth a message that needs to be conveyed to society – that message is: we’re human and we have sexual desires, let’s express tho se desires and enjoy ourselves. Getting back to the humor aspect, it runs the gamut from very clever, topical dialogue to outright and outrageous site gags. Regarding dialogue, the episodes contain sharply-written lines which preserve realistic conversation but yet add that “battle of the sexes” flavor to it. For example, a woman finds out that her husband made a sex tape in the future and after seeing the date on the recording she reacts by saying, “…and on our 75th wedding anniversary!”. Another example of intelligent and hilarious writing is when a corporate head gives a speech about the abuses of time travel – it really is a riot… and it does pose an interesting scientific query. Aside from the dialogue, the sight gags are very funny and they consist of things such as a time travel portal which looks like a vagina and ejaculation scenes where the wo man is “drenched” by the man. Also there are parodies/satires of modern things, like a “Gaming Babes” girl (she’s like a G4 host, with that “smart-girl” appeal) and a “Warcraft – like” computer-gaming experience. In general, the bawdy humor is in abundance and actually, I haven’t had as much fun with sex since the days of “The Benny Hill Show”, late 70s/early80s comedies, or something like “THE LEXX”. Getting to the technical aspects, the production value of the series is really incredible for working with a smaller budget. Lambert’s directing is as smooth as silk and I feel that he really brought out the best in the various scenes – my favorite scene was in episode three, when two of the women in the story are masturbating on opposite sides of a hot-tub, where a threesome is going on. It was the perfect mixture of humor, hot and raw sexuality, and science fiction. Along with directing, this success of this production is also due to excellent cinematography; the scenes are beautifully shot and they look like a much higher-budget production. Honestly, the thing looks as good as “BATTLESTAR”, “THE LEXX”, “STAR TREK” (any of the franchise), or “DR. WHO” (recent series). The acting is also very impressive and my favorites were Josh Matthews (Cody Ferguson) as the scientist/time-traveler with Asperger’s Syndrome, Jere my Lawrence (Avery Ferguson) as the corporate head and father of the genius scientist, and Angela Lovell (Rachel Campaniello) as the reporter for “Gaming Babes” magazine – she really is great in her role and she definitely has the librarian sex-appeal which fits so well with the subject matter. The only real criticism that I have, of the series, is that I was a little confused with the storyline, in the first and second episodes. I do understand the manner of storytelling – kind of like the PULP FICTION, time-and-detail-relevant type of story-telling (which is like piecing together a puzzle) – but things really didn’t start to “gel” for me, until episode three. I finally got a foothold on the mechanics and style of the series by that point and I actually feel that this is the point where the series began to “hit its stride”. But, that is my personal preference and opinion; I also feel that “SEINFELD” really didn’t “hit its stride” until season three and I consider that to be the best sitcom (ever) on television. Cutting to the chase: “THE FOLD” is a highly enjoyable, erotic, science-fiction series which does celebrate the “fun” quality of sexuality. The writing is top-notch – fresh, topical, racy, and exciting – Polly, Ray, and Matt are great together (Polly and Ray appear in the series too). As I stated above, I did feel a little lost by the complex/detailed storyline, in the first two episodes, but I did seem to catch on by the third episode and they have me wanting for more. The production quality is excellent and it is on par with higher-budget works; it is really a great idea to utilize the up-and-coming format of the “webseries”. I wish that they would show things like this on Current – Al Gore has an interesting idea, there just needs to be some interesting programming on the channel – put “THE FOLD” on there and people will watch! For my rating, I honestly feel that I would need to view the whole series before I mad e a truly accurate assessment, but for the first three episodes, I give “THE FOLD” an 8 out of 10.