Big Society

"The walls have ears."

Writer: Guy Adams

Format: Audio

Released: February 2016

Series: Vienna 3.02

Featuring: Vienna

Synopsis 

Tom McQueen is set to win The Selection and become Chairman Sweet's new business partner. Failure isn't an option. Failure is for the weak. Tom McQueen doesn't even know the mean of the word failure.

But another candidate has entered the process, a candidate by the name of Vienna Salvatori. Tom McQueen will soon learn the meeting of another word: fear!

Verdict

Big Society was a good episode to continue my way through the third series of Vienna! I am a big fan of the story arc going through the series and this followed on the opener of Self Improvement very nicely. Both Vienna and Jexie were on the case to find Jonah Hall, but I think it's safe to say that this character was completely unlike what anyone was expecting! I thought the arrival at the scene of the Selection was good and following Tom McQueen was fascinating. He was a very interesting character who had some quite unique thoughts on the world of business and failure. He didn't take failure as anything other than abhorrent and that was quite the basis for a character. He was hardly a likeable character so his plight of not getting the recognition he claimed to be deserving of for winning the Selection wasn't exactly sparking feelings of sorrow. It almost seemed fitting for a character of his like. I thought Chairman Sweet was an intriguing character and I really liked his raspy voice. The fact he was older made him instantly more unlikeable because it seemed like his days of caring and showing compassion were long gone. He was only out for himself and that makes for a strong villain. I thought the reputation of Jonah Hall was interesting and I liked how he remembered having Doctor Ludovic Glospan inside him. Yes that's right, because Jonah Hall was literally a hall. A sentient building with artificial intelligence. I didn't see that coming so I appreciated the unique nature of it, but I must admit by the end of the episode I had grown a little tired of it. It got boring quite quickly which was a shame as I just couldn't maintain interest in talking buildings. I know Jonah actually took offence within the episode to being labelled by Sweet as 'just' a building, but that's entirely how I saw him! I did think it was fun for Vienna and Jexie to get involved though and the entire concept behind the filmed footage for the television show was good. If Jexie was annoyed at them not getting a payment at the end of the last episode, Vienna ensured that their likeness was well compensated for here! Sweet couldn't believe that but that's what he got for putting monetary matters in the hands of his lawyers. Even though he hadn't used the footage for airing, Vienna had been filmed and that was enough for her to get a payout. The lawyers didn't want to risk a future lawsuit. I thought Tom being used by Sweet was good if not entirely expected and his reaction to hearing how he was actually deemed an underperforming employee was pretty amusing! He didn't take kindly to that and the Selection. It all felt like a warped version of The Apprentice which I think was actually the aim, although I definitely would have been more interested in the television show of The Real Housewives of Drahva! Imagine the Drahvins being filmed like that. Especially with their thoughts on men! That would be terrific. I thought Sweet's intentions with the Good Day formula made him a strong villain as he was selfish and quite dastardly with his scheme in the water supply. I thought the way things came about for his downfall were good and I like the mystery heading into the finale. A planet called London beckons, and Jexie isn't excited. Overall, a decent episode for sure! 

Rating: 7/10