Parallel Lives

"Parallel Lives" is the twelfth episode of VR.5 and was never aired during the show's original broadcast in 1995. This episode guide is from the VR.5 FAQ and was originally written by the authors of the FAQ.

Synopsis
This episode plays with the concept and characterization of almost every character we have met so far. Much of the dialogue is taken from earlier episodes but it is said by the wrong character under very different circumstances. It involves Duncan waking up to discover that Sam was the one who survived the crash as a child, not Syd (who only appears in one very brief scene), and that the lives of each character are substantially different. It is extremely convoluted and literally requires the viewer to keep track of VR inside VR inside VR. Concepts of reality are toyed with throughout.

Main Cast

 * Lori Singer (Sydney Bloom)
 * Michael Easton (Duncan)
 * Anthony Head (Oliver Sampson)

Guest Stars

 * David McCallum (Dr. Joseph Bloom)
 * Will Patton (Dr. Frank Morgan)
 * Tracey Needham (Samantha Bloom)
 * Penn Jillette (Orwell Kravitz)
 * Billy Burke (Marco)

Crew
Written by: Jeannine Renshaw, Thania St. John, John Shirley, John Sacret Young

Directed by: Michael Katleman

VR.5 was created by: Adam Cherry, Geoffrey Hemwall, Michael Katleman, Jeannine Renshaw, and Thania St. John

Executive Producer: John Sacret Young

Co-executive Producer: Thania St. John

Co-executive Producer: Eric Blakeney (2,3,5,6,8)

Supervising Producer: Michael Katleman

Producer: Naomi Janzen (2-10)

Producer: Jack Clements (2-10)

Producer: Mel Efros (1)

Co-producer: Geoffrey Hemwall

Observations

 * Syd is using Compaq computers.
 * It is possible to have a VR sequence within a VR sequence within a VR sequence.

Spoilers

 * Duncan now believes that Sam and Doctor Bloom are alive.
 * Doctor Bloom is alive and testing Duncan for some unknown reason.