Dispatches from Elsewhere is the new show on AMC written, directed by and starring Jason Segel. The 10-part series takes the form of an anthology drama that explores the lives of four individuals who for one reason or another have lost their zest for life, and are simply going through the motions of their humdrum existence.
All four respond to a bunch of advertisements for a new kind of scavenger hunt game set in the real world, created by a mysterious organization that is more powerful than it lets on. Certain parts of the series bear an undeniable resemblance to the world of the 1999 movie franchise The Matrix, such as…
Finding The One
The aim of the scavenger hunt that the four main characters of Dispatches from Elsewhere have to complete is to find ‘Clara’, a mysterious girl who is said to have an ability called ‘Divine Nonchalance’ which the organization that created the scavenger hunt wants to study and replicate.
A similar hunt set the stage for the first Matrix movie, with Morpheus, Trinity, and their group, and the evil Agent Smith and his cronies all searching for an individual known simply as ‘The One’, who is said to possess unheard of power and abilities that both sides want to control.
Average Joe Protagonists
Dispatches from Elsewhere places a great deal of emphasis on how ordinary and humdrum the lives of the four main protagonists are. They work boring jobs, have no close friends or families, and are afraid of getting stuck in a rut of their own making that renders their life pointless.
In The Matrix, Neo started out as an anonymous desk worker in a cubicle for a faceless company. He has no friends or family to care whether he lived or died, and sees his whole life as a series of meaningless tasks performed repetitively for his monthly paycheck until retirement.
Yearning For More
The four protagonists of Dispatches from Elsewhere all have a strong desire for something more than what they have going on in their lives. Whether they realize it or not, all four are missing out on important human experiences that can only be gained by giving up their solitary existence and becoming part of something bigger. It is this conscious, and in some cases unconscious desire that prompts the four to partake in the scavenger hunt.
Neo in The Matrix was also aware that there was something missing in his regular life. He also felt an urgent need to be a part of something bigger. That was what prompted him to go online in the guise of a hacker, and what compelled him to meet with Morpheus and take the red pill.
A Shadowy Conspiracy
While the scavenger hunt in Dispatches from Elsewhere is set up as a fun game for a few hours of diversion for the participants, it soon becomes clear that there is something more sinister going on, something that is kept hidden from the four protagonists so that they are only aware of the prickling at the back of their neck which indicates everything is not as it seems.
Similarly, Neo woke up one day to find that his ordinary life was no longer as ordinary as it seemed. He was being pursued by agents whose goals were clearly more sinister than they were letting on, and Morpheus and his group were equally clandestine in their approach, only hinting at the bigger conspiracy that Neo had stumbled across that violently tore his world apart.
A Topsy Turvy Hunt
The scavenger hunt that the protagonists embark upon is anything but straightforward. It grows far more complex than solving a bunch of puzzles to win a prize, and instead plays with the character’s heads, and also the minds of the audiences, making it clear that that there are many more layers to the hunt than initially apparent.
The Matrix also introduced Neo to the world of Morpheus and Agent Smith by having him embark on a hunt, first when he was the one the Agents and Trinity were chasing, and then later when it was Neo who was chasing the truth of his own nature as the fabled ‘The One’. Neo also had to uncover the various layers to the hunt that only became apparent in gradual degrees over time.
Exploring The Nature Of Truth
A big part of the theme of Dispatches from Elsewhere is exploring the nature of truth and how it is possible for reality to be open to multiple interpretations. On one level, the protagonists are just playing a game. On another level, they are seeking help to deal with their personal issues. On yet another level, they are pawns in the hands of rival organizations. Even the world they see and interact with and their memories are shown to be unreliable devices for establishing the truth of things.
Similarly, The Matrix was all about Neo learning to accept that the world he called home was only an illusion, and his sense of personal identity was false.
Mysterious Opposing Factions
The biggest mystery in the world of Dispatches from Elsewhere so far is obviously the Jejune Institute and the Elsewhere Society, two rival factions purporting to be art collectives that organize the scavenger hunt that draws the main four protagonists into the action and sets the stakes for future episodes.
For The Matrix, Neo was caught between the machines that Agent Smith worked for, and Morpheus and his group of rebels, and had to make the choice between trusting what his eyes showed him and what his gut instinct told him in terms of which group to trust with his life.
Channeling Untapped Abilities
The four protagonists of Dispatches from Elsewhere are specifically designed to be as ordinary as possible, and yet they all possess abilities that, even to their own surprise, are perfectly suited to solve the puzzles that they encounter and keep moving forward.
There is also the special ability called ‘Divine Nonchalance’ that is hinted at being a supernatural ability that few humans possess which gives them an edge. This is similar to the god-like abilities that Neo was able to discover within himself as he learned to control his powers and the world of the computer simulation around himself to accomplish impossible tasks.
A Secret Bigger World
The entire point of Dispatches from Elsewhere is that the world is bigger and more magical and meaningful than what we see at the individual level. All it takes is meeting like-minded people and partaking in a common goal to open our eyes to the bigger possibilities.
In The Matrix, Neo chooses to trust Morpheus and his crew, and in doing so opened his mind up to the reality that the world he had originally known was nothing but an empty illusion meant to shield his brain from the much bigger world of machines and the people of Zion.
The Importance Of Love And Empathy
Ultimately, what the characters of Dispatches from Elsewhere are really seeking is a connection to their fellow human beings. The show goes to great lengths to stress the importance of empathy and companionship to give meaning to our lives.
For Neo in The Matrix, it was always his love for his fellow resistance comrades, particularly Trinity and Morpheus that made him put himself in danger, awakened his latent powers and ultimately allowed him to defeat the machines.
