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Childhood's End on Syfy


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My search didn't reveal it and so, couldn't find an existing thread on this already.



An adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End" will run this year. Charles Dance to star. Loved the book and am anxious to see how it will translate. Does anyone else anticipate watching?


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There may have been an earlier thread on this, but I can't remember when or where it was.



I'm . . . lukewarm on it? It should be interesting, although a huge downer in terms of the ending:




Can you imagine showing that ending, with all the children become a psychic hive-mind, the adults committing suicide or blowing themselves up, and then the Human Hive-Mind essentially consuming the Earth before joining the Overmind? Man.



Also, I always got the impression that the Overmind was playing the Overlords for chumps. The reason why they couldn't join the Overmind was because it didn't want them to - they're more useful as a servitor species due to their peacefulness, sense of duty, and long-term societal stability.


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  • 1 month later...

It's a bit weird that they're playing it mysterious about the plot of a story that has existed in print for fifty years. I mean in fairness most people watching won't have read it but it's not gonna be difficult to find out, is it.

Childhood's End is one of the Clarkes I've not yet read, will have to fix that soon.

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  • 5 weeks later...

It looks like they might be speeding things up compared to the book. In the book, about sixty years pass between when they arrive and the ending of the story.



Like I said in my earlier post, I'm curious as to how they'll play the ending. Will they play it straight, depressing and all? Or end with something different?



I would not be surprised if they changed the ending, so that the psychic ascension of the children is arrested and the Overlords depart to "allow humanity to choose when and where to progress". Or if they just had the psychic children hive-mind leave, and humanity remains to live on rather than evaporating since no more children are born.


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  • 6 months later...

I always suspected that world peace and prosperity for all would come with a catch...

Did I miss something, did they skip a scene?  Ricky is in the corn field and surrounded by CIA men with guns and is told to turn over the alien gift or else, go to commercial, and there he is in a limo in Washington DC.  What happened?

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 I had hoped to read the book before watching, but there is a long queue at my library.  Popular book, apparently.

I found the bland, basic lead and his partner annoying and kept finding myself wishing they'd chosen the 82-year-old blind woman from Seoul.  She'd probably have been more interesting.  Or at least had some sense of personality.  Despite the blandness of the lead couple, I still really liked it.  Charles Dance's voice sent lovely little shivers down my spine.  Looking forward to watching the other two episodes.  Syfy is on a roll lately.  

I always suspected that world peace and prosperity for all would come with a catch...

Did I miss something, did they skip a scene?  Ricky is in the corn field and surrounded by CIA men with guns and is told to turn over the alien gift or else, go to commercial, and there he is in a limo in Washington DC.  What happened?

When he handed the gift over, he pulled the cap off. At that exact moment everyone started to get cured of diseases and such. 

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I really liked it too. The reveal at the end was perfect. Prior to it, I found myself wondering what it was the Overlords would look like, but I never thought that it would be disturbing because of religious reasons. That is such a great twist.

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I found the bland, basic lead and his partner annoying and kept finding myself wishing they'd chosen the 82-year-old blind woman from Seoul.  She'd probably have been more interesting.  

That's exactly what I thought.

I was pretty bored up until the reveal at the end, at which point, I laughed my tits off. Awesome. Is that what happens in the book?

 

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That's exactly what I thought.

I was pretty bored up until the reveal at the end, at which point, I laughed my tits off. Awesome. Is that what happens in the book?

 

Yes. Although in the book it is 50, instead of 15 years.

I loved the episode, great adaptation. I like how they made the first part in a modern setting, instead of fifties.

No idea why they changed Rikky character from secretary general to a random farmer though.

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