HBO has done it again. First they gave us Six Feet Under (the best TV series of all time), then they gave us Leaving Neverland (the best documentary of all time), then came Euphoria (one of the best teen dramas) and now: Years and Years (also airing on BBC One in the UK).

Years and Years tells the story of Vivian Rook, a rising British politicians in the late 2020s, told through the eyes of a random British family that watches her rise over the years on TV. Rook is played by the brilliant Emma Thompson.

When I was a teenager I was sent to a high school that had a program for brilliant students and because the students were so bright, the teachers had to be incredibly bright to stay one step ahead. I remember my English teacher had such an intimidating intellect that you didn’t want to even raise your hand in class for fear of looking stupid. And yet this man absolutely worshiped Emma Thompson. She just exudes a certain sophistication, and she does a great job playing Britain’s maverick future leader, a character that seems very vaguely inspired by Donald Trump.

The show portrays a dystopian future where bankers have wrecked the economy, the government is pursuing genocidal policies in refugee camps, and all the cool kids are becoming trans-human.

A scene commenter illuminaticatblog might like:

The first season ends with one of the characters deserting her physical body completely and being the first person to get her mind downloaded, though we’ll have to wait for season #2 to see if this risky new technology works.

Even if it is possible one day to download our entire consciousness on to computer, does that really mean we live forever, or does it simply mean an another us (that thinks, remembers, and feels exactly like we do) just takes over in our place?