Line #27 Series/VR5


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9	[[quoteright:226:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/VR5_4656.jpg]]
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11	-->''"Welcome to the game, Sydney Bloom."''
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13	''VR.5'' is a short-lived science-fiction drama show that aired for less than one season in 1995 on Fox. It was part of the burst of interest in [[{{Cyberspace}} virtual reality]] that occurred in the mid-to-late 1990s.
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15	Sydney Bloom (Creator/LoriSinger) works as a telephone engineer, but she's also a computer genius playing with virtual reality (VR). One day, she accidentally discovers that she can take other people into [=VR5=] (full immersion VR) with her, just by calling them up on the telephone. Once inside, she can find out about them, but afterwards, they have little or no memory of the incident. For reasons which only become clear in the series finale, Sydney and her childhood friend Duncan (Creator/MichaelEaston) seem to be the only people who can take people into [=VR5=]. The shadowy "Committee" discover her talent, and co-opt her to do investigations for them.
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18	!!''VR.5'' provides examples of:
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20	%%* ActualPacifist: Duncan.
21	* AlternateUniverse: The Episode ''Parallel Lives'' has Duncan wake up in what he eventually dubs the B-side of his life. In this universe, he is a famous artist, Samantha, not Sydney, is the one who survived the car crash and Oliver is a ruthless jerk who ends up busting a cap in both of their brows. Of course, it is later revealed that the whole thing was [[spoiler:a VR trip Dr. Bloom put Duncan through in order to test his loyalties.]]
22	%%* AngstComa: Nora Bloom, kind of.
23	* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Dr Frank Morgan, who was listed as one of the three main characters in the opening credits,]] bites the dust as early as episode 4.
24	* AwfulTruth: Sydney has a hard time accepting the fact that her father was a member of the Committee.
25	* BlessedWithSuck: Sydney's ability to control and remember her VR trips sometimes seems to be more trouble than it's worth.
26	%%* CharacterDevelopment: Big time for a show that only lasted 13 episodes.
27	* CliffHanger: The series ends with [[spoiler:Sydney in a coma]].
28	* CuriosityKilledTheCast: Most notably, [[spoiler: Morgan's inquiry into Dr Bloom's work and his subsequent death.]]
29	* CyberPunk: A very light example, with a story combining {{cyberspace}} and shadowy intrigue.
30	* {{Cyberspace}}: The plot focuses on virtual reality.
31	* DeathByOriginStory: The death of her father and sister and her mother's suicide attempt are a major motivation for Sydney's continued involvement with the Committee and VR.
32	* DramaticHourLong: It's a drama with episodes of an hour, including commercials.
33	* FakeKillScare: [[spoiler:Abernathy]] fakes his own death in order to scare Oliver into fleeing.
34	* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:What actually happened to Dr. Bloom and Samantha.]]
35	%%* FilmNoir
36	* FlashbackNightmare: Sydney has a lot of these and understandably so, considering how troubled her past was and the fact that VR trips often cause her bad memories to resurface.
37	* GenderBlenderName: Sydney. This may be because the main character was written as male early in the show's development.
38	%%* TheHandler: Frank Morgan and Oliver Sampson.
39	* HollywoodHacking: Into human minds via an acoustic modem, no less.
40	* {{Homage}}: Too many to list. One of Duncan's trips into VR.5 recreates a number of classic TV shows and movies, including ''The Adventures Of Literature/SherlockHolmes'', ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' and ''Film/DialMForMurder''. The episode "Simon's Choice" pays homage to ''Film/SophiesChoice'', both in the title and some of the plot elements. "The Many Faces of Alex" is a ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'' homage festival, both in small Shout-Outs and the main plot line, which was described by the authors as 'Oliver's descent into Vertigo.'
41	%%* HumanPopsicle: [[spoiler:Frank Morgan, as revealed in 5D.]]
42	* ItsASmallNetAfterAll: And Sydney accesses it via an ''acoustic modem''.
43	* JigsawPuzzlePlot: The mystery behind the Bloom car crash is revealed in bits and pieces of info scattered throughout the entire show's run and culminates in the finale, which finally explains it all.
44	* KeepingSecretsSucks: Or as Oliver laments, ''"...a lifetime spent guarding secrets that no one gives a toss about."''
45	* KnightInSourArmor: Oliver. According to Abernathy, chivalry is something that runs in the Sampson family.
46	%%* LogicBomb
47	* LoveHurts: Oliver seems to have horrible luck when it comes to women. The love of his life, Alexis Miller, first abandoned him, [[spoiler: then got shot and died in his arms about 5 minutes after they reunited years later]]. One of his VR experiences also showed him standing by what was presumably the death bed of another woman from his past. And then, of course, there's [[spoiler: Sydney who ended up in a VR induced coma, much to his horror.]]
48	* MindScrew: Present to some extent in all episodes, but particularly in Escape and Parallel Lives.
49	* NotSoStoic: It gets harder and harder for Oliver to hide his emotional outbursts as his disenchantment with the Committee deepens.
50	%%* PlatonicLifePartners: Sydney and Duncan.
51	* RapidFireTyping: Sydney never seems to use a mouse, despite living in the era of graphic interfaces.
52	* TheRashomon: Sydney and Oliver's versions of events in "Escape" are radically different in terms of Oliver's role in her abduction.
53	* RuleOfSymbolism: In the [=VR=] scenes, some elements are in color and others are black-and-white. [[spoiler:The color elements represent things that are true. The black-and-white elements represent things that the subject's subconscious has created to fill in the gaps. This is most relevant when Sydney uses [=VR=] to probe her own memories.]]
54	* ShoutOut: Taster's Choice coffee. Sydney makes a cup for Oliver, Anthony Head landed the part of Oliver partly thanks to a series of Taster's Choice commercials he starred in.
55	* SmokingIsCool: Oliver in his pre-Committee days, as well as his {{Jerkass}} alternate universe persona. According to one of the writers, Anthony Head suggested introducing this to up the noir factor in "The Many Faces of Alex".
56	%%* TheTeaser
57	%%* TechnologyMarchesOn
58	* TelephoneTeleport: Sidney can transport herself and anyone anyone else into virtual reality by calling them up on the phone and slamming the receiver down on the acoustic coupler of her modem. The callee has no memory of the event after she hangs up.
59	%%* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler:Abernathy.]]
60	* {{Understatement}}: ''"I appear to be shot."''
61	%%* ViewerFriendlyInterface: Sydney's computer.
62	* YourMindMakesItReal: Not just the titular [=VR5=]. The series rotates on the concepts of virtual experiences, the placebo effect, and how that effect can have extended results.

Context Series / VR5