Good Science Fiction is thin on the ground these days. When I heard some enthusiastic commentary about the Cantonese SF serial “Mobius”, I had to check it out.
The premise of the tale is that the world on random occasions enters “loop days” – five successive repeating Groundhog-like days – and then resumes normal progress. We are unaware of living through those identical 5 loop days, apart from occasional vague senses of deja vu.
The protagonist of this tale had a strange experience as a student, after which he was able to remember the events of the five days during a loop. Since this is SF, not Fantasy, there is a rational explanation for his acquiring this ability, which is eventually revealed in the course of the tale. Being able to remember events during these 5-day loops gave him the functional equivalent of pre-cognition. He played with this occasional foreknowledge of the future for a while, and then decided to join the police where he could put his ability to good use. When a major crime happens to occur on one of those random loop days, he is able to use his knowledge of what is going to happen to make cautious changes and minimize the damage.
Meanwhile, a biotechnology company is developing a breakthrough process which promises to end many diseases … and is thus making enemies of the world’s major pharmaceutical companies since their businesses will be ruined if the biotechnology company is successful. Two of the three founders of the company die in “accidents” within a few weeks of each other – both on loop days – while the surviving founder (the CEO) receives death threats from an entity calling itself Squid. The protagonist volunteers to lead a small police team to protect the CEO. Then the world enters another loop day cycle.
First pass, the CEO advances the career of a beautiful researcher to take over the duties of one of the slain founders; but the lady has her own reasons for pursuing this research. As the day subsequently repeats, events begin to take markedly different directions. The protagonist realizes there must be someone else who also can remember loop days and is taking actions to change things. But who is this other person, and what is his or her objective?
The situation becomes even more complex on a subsequent loop day, when it emerges that the biotechnology company is facing a financial crisis. Major shareholders disagree with the CEO about the appropriate action to take – three of those shareholders being the ne’er-do-well son of one of the deceased founders, the rather cute daughter of the other deceased founder, and the CEO’s own stunningly beautiful wealthy wife. Then a Chinese-American lady representing a foreign Venture Capital fund arrives, willing to invest in the company. (Is she beautiful? Do you have to ask?)
The tale includes all the requisite shoot-outs, fights, explosions, fires, and nail-biting moments – with just a hint of romance. More to the point, the twists & turns in the plot mislead the viewer as the mystery deepens about who is doing what to whom and why; the viewer has to remain alert! The serial format (16 episodes of about 45 minutes each) allows for the development of the characters and insights into their back stories and competing motivations. All of this is illuminated by excellent photography of the cityscape. If you have ever wondered what the inside of a state-of-the-art biotechnology lab looks like, or what happens at a spectacular modern high-society Chinese wedding, or what conditions are like in the laundry-festooned low-rent apartment blocks – this serial delivers it!
The 12 hours of a serial provide space for much better story-telling than a typical 90-minute SF movie. Unfortunately, after 11½ hours of an engrossing tale leading to a heart-stopping climax, the producers fumble in the last half hour and give the tale an unnecessary happy ending. Satisfying Science Fiction is indeed thin on the ground these days.
