Gemini Division: Rosario Dawson’s Intimate Sci-Fi Confessional

Sometimes it’s exciting to start watching a new show unaware of anything beyond a vague understanding of its format and cast. That was how I approached Gemini Division, Electric Farm’s high-profile new web series launching today, and I was pleased to discover how easy it was to engage with. So, if you want to experience it the same way I did, don’t read any further, at least until you’ve seen the first episode.

Gemini starts off simply, with a girl and her boyfriend on a romantic jaunt to Paris — but within the first two minutes of the first episode, it becomes clear that Anna (Rosario Dawson) is no ordinary girl and that this trip is getting strange fast. The series seems primed to unfold at a deliberate, increasingly intriguing pace, with the mystery constantly building. And while some elements are a bit obvious — the “stranger stalking us” moments are John Grisham-level cliche — the series hits its stride in the interactions between Anna and Nick (Justin Hartley). Because the most terrifying secrets are the ones kept by those you love.

Taking the first person approach, the story is told through video phone updates being sent by Anna — yes, a character directly addressing her web audience, that’s sooooo lonelygirl15 (and nearly every other web series that’s followed), but with one key difference. Rather than reaching out to an unknown audience, Anna is sending high-tech voicemails, initially to an unseen confidante. It’s a cool move in a number of respects: By showing off Anna’s future-phone in the first shot, the not-too-distant future time setting is quickly established, and the audience also gains immediate intimacy with the show’s protagonist — not the slightly self-conscious intimacy of a blogger, but the totally open communication that occurs between close friends.

“It was originally that she was going to be talking to a much less defined character, but then Rosario, being the great actress that she is, really wanted to know everything about this character who she was talking to,” series creator Brent Friedman said in a phone Q&A. “Because she rightfully said ‘The more I know about them, the more I can understand how I would talk to them — what level of intimacy would I give, what level of vulnerability I would allow myself to have.’ “

Future episodes will feature the character communicating not only with the mysterious friend but also with her employers. While Friedman refused to say whether or not Anna’s friend would appear in the course of the series, he did promise that he/she would definitely play a role in events to come. It’s what keeps this show from feeling like another stale lonelygirl15 clone — Anna isn’t vlogging, she’s communicating, and the use of a communication technology makes perfect sense in that scenario.

Dawson does a fantastic job of hooking in her audience; her performance is friendly and relatable, creating the sense of a fully-realized character from the many gaps left in the script. And technical specs are on par with the quality of her performance — while the clearly blue-screened backdrops are occasionally distracting, overall they work with the entire series’ hyper-real look.

Daisy Whitney calls Gemini Division a major test of web video, noting that if a series with this much backing and talent attached can’t connect with audiences and advertising dollars, then we’re quite possibly all doomed. It’s easy to agree with her, but I’m more intrigued to see if the quality can be maintained and if the series’ fancy alternate-reality game and ad-supported buzz will actually be in service of a great ongoing narrative. Watching the first two episodes, I was hooked — but sometimes that just makes you a dumb fish.