User Reviews

Logan, Jessica and Rem are attacked by primitive people known as Castouts, but rescued by another group of people known as Positives, who take the travellers to a community protected by a force field. The Positives have developed a method of splitting people into positive ( good ) and negative ( evil ) duplicates. The process is used on Jessica. When complete, the negative Jessica is banished into the wilderness. Logan senses that something is up when Jessica changes her views on Carousel. He and Rem break through the force field and go looking for the negative Jessica, hoping to reverse the treatment...

One of television sci-fi's favourite clichés - the perfectly ordered society with a dark secret - is given another outing here. Kim Cattrall, who plays 'Rama 2' is better known today as that Castout 'Samantha' from 'Sex In The City'. Nice photographic effects as Jessica undergoes the process. At one point we even see her through a kaleidoscope. I wish the negative Jessica was given a bit more screen time though. Apart from a dirty face, she doesn't look all that evil to me. Script by Simon Wincelberg.

Logan, Jessica and Rem come across a group of what appear to be savages, a forcefield having rendered their solar vehicle inoperable, a net thrown over them. This is when they notice another group on horses, more peaceful and cooperative, and they speak about "being processed." Our trio soon find out that those they encounter in the city are "positives" while the savages are the "castouts". In the city, there's a processing machine they separates humans into two parts, isolating our evil and good selves. The castouts are the negative sides to our personalities while the positives are the wholesome, pure innocents who seem almost zombie-like. Jessica is "split in two", with Logan and Rem having to "put her back together again" which will not be easy since the negative side was sent packing. With William Smith as Patron, the good leader of the city who wants to process Logan and Rem(not yet knowing that Rem is an android who has the ability to cross through the city's electronic shield). Smith also portrays Modok, the castout who is leader of the negatives. Logan might just be able to appeal to Modok in confronting Patron with the hopes of repairing the separations so that Jessica may be returned back to her normal self. While the costumes are a bit laughable(this was 1977, we must keep in mind), and the separation of self a bit corny of a plot(although it does comment on how important we are as a whole, unable to function without both sides of ourselves, unstable when human nature is tampered with), seeing Menzies as a potentially violent savage, knife in hand, is an interesting image. HALF LIFE also features the stunning Kim Cattrall in an early performance as Patron's wife, actually an impostor, a negative whose positive was killed accidentally during processing. This episode shows the significant advantages of having an android on your side to aid during a time of need. Good showcase for Smith, allowed to play two different characters, both of which factor mightily in the overall story.