Broken Toy Ep.1 | A Web Series on The Watch List

Astounding progress has been made by the United States government in the development of the once-theoretical Mach 24 jet engine. Fast jets, however, need fast pilots and a program to re-engineer aviators with accelerated reflexes and neural pathways capable of flying these fighters has been a disaster. Four prime candidates were upgraded. All four died horrifically. A fifth — never meant as anything more than a disposable test subject — has unexpectedly survived the strain to his nervous system. Hunted and confused, he is now a violent fugitive on the run from his grave.

4 Swirlies

“Wait. People can survive without their lungs. Yes or no?”"

A very nicely written sci-fi thriller web series. Looks good, sounds good… the acting’s a little stilted but otherwise this episode is very strong. It has a nice mix of tension, pathos and humour - often all at once. It’s a hard mix to get right, but the creators kept everything grounded in the characters.

In many ways, this is what a first episode should be - putting you right into the middle of the action and parceling out just enough backstory so that you understand the context, without spending all of its time telling you what happened before. What I think it could have done better is to let us know what to expect from this series. The ending feels like just that - and ending. Does the web series, so far only four episodes, continue with the same characters? What do I have to look forward to if I remember to come back?

I know this is gonna sound kinda pissy, but I think they could have gone with a better title. Titles are hard - but if you’re clicking around in YouTube, does this title make you stop and think; “Oh here’s a well produced science fiction thriller web series. I should watch it.”

We’re starting to build up quite a solid little collection of science fiction web series to cover - Tyranny, Aiden5 and Broken Toy are just off the top of my head. Go web!