No one claims to know what Command Z is, even the people who made it. Best described as a web series, available directly from director Steven Soderbergh’s website after a $7.99 charitable donation, Command Z consists of eight episodes of varying length. (It was also announced a few days before release, about the same time as that Full circle – a more traditional TV series directed by Soderbergh – debuted on Max). a second, secret Soderbergh series? ¡Que maravilla!
Immediately trailer proclaiming that the show is “coming out of Steven Soderbergh’s ass”, Command Z usually looks like an experimental web series centered around three people in the future who go back in time at the behest of Michael Cera’s disembodied head to fix their present. And that’s it. Largely. It’s also a bizarre PSA, a comedic plea for the viewer to both see our world’s problems as fixable and get involved in solving them – and perhaps watch more movies.
A particular episode lasts eight to twenty minutes (for a total running time of about 90 minutes) and centers on Jamie (JJ Maley), Sam (Roy Wood Jr.), and Emma (Chloe Radcliffe), three people who work for the AI version of Kearning Fealty (Michael Cera), a long-dead billionaire who has a time machine that looks like a dryer in the basement. Turn on the dryer, drink a gross brown liquid, put on a helmet and Jamie, Sam or Emma can send their consciousnesses back in time to affect the minds of selected people, which Fealty says will make the world a better place .
Consequently, the problems Kearning sends his employees to solve are also real problems that the supposed American public (and beyond) are facing as well, from climate change to social media and beyond. The team identifies someone about to do something terrible in the present of 2023, such as a Wall Street tycoon played by Liev Schreiber, and enter the mind of someone who can influence them to make a better decision – like a dog.
The whole thing is a strange experience, more sketch show than actual comedy (casting comedians like Wood Jr. and Radcliffe helps in this regard) and not very satisfying. It doesn’t take long to see Command Z for what it is, which is a weird attempt to raise money for some charities (viz Help for children and the Boston University Center for Anti-Racist Research) from one of our most experimental filmmakers, one who will hopefully remind viewers that small differences matter and that it’s easy to make them.
Yet Command Z, for all its lack of subtlety, is also interested in making viewers think about how art interacts with the world around it. Each episode ends with three movie recommendations on the topic of the episode, and the selections range from blockbusters to cult classics to family movies (for example, an episode on climate change recommends Soylent green, The day after tomorrowAnd Ice Age: The Meltdown).
The implication seems to be that, yes, Command Z is about as subtle as an ocean liner, but we are surrounded by art that engages with the world around us. Being open to acknowledging that this could be the first step in getting involved with the world, rather than watching it perish.
Every episode of Command Z ends successfully, as the trio complete every mission they are given. But according to their AI boss, their efforts only amount to a small output of actual change, usually less than a percentage point. That might be the most valuable takeaway, over all the hot-button issues it’s trying to garner viewership Command Z has to offer: the reminder that small victories are still worth pursuing, as long as we trust others to also make their own small efforts in the common cause of a more just world. Maybe you didn’t need a weird web series to tell you that, but if you know someone who does, it might be worth it.