Developed from an award winning 48-hour film festival short of the same name, online series Aidan 5 is well-crafted sci-fi noir fantasy, with taut writing and a unique visual language that allows the surprisingly no-budget production to portray atmosphere and action beyond the scope of most independent webisodes.

The most striking visual aspect of Aidan 5 is the sketched setting upon which the live-actors play. Shot in green-screen, the cast is placed in a black and white chiaroscuro dystopia, where drab and dark war with bright and striking. The controlled use of light and focus craft an environment for the mystery tale that never feels as surreal or as hoky as a description of the idea might suggest. Noir’s heavy reliance on grit is given something of the lie here, as it’s the drama of the picture composition that envelops the characters and traps them in their world. 

As the producers intended, the use of drawn backgrounds and scenic props – from police desks to cloning tanks – allows a range of location and action sequences impossible to accomplish live without a set budget, giving this series much more bang-zoom than web audiences currently expect (unless it’s a branded-tie-in production with some hefty marketing dollars – and that’s cheating). Aidan 5 episodes have involved shoot-outs and flying cars chasing elevated trains; the action is fun, but more importantly, the scope it allows the writing and directing gives the series a filmic quality.

Despite comparisons to currently almighty comic-books and the films the sketch-set calls to mind (like Sin City), the real strength of Aidan 5 is the storytelling. The writing is spare and brisk. Atmosphere is a real concern, and since the directors can shoot almost anything they can storyboard, it’s gratifying to see that opportunity isn’t wasted in flashy shots. Directors Ben Bays and John Jackson craft moment-to-moment story arcs with a visual language that carries all the implications of the script that might be lost under less deft hands.

More to the point, there’s a real story that doesn’t wallow where it might, but really moves along. Aidan 5 follows a detective through 2064 as he investigates the murder of his own clones. As the episodes progress from the first (which mainly expands on the action of the original short) the world is explored alongside the case, including the politics and social standing of clones. What might have been cloying or silly is rendered emotional and succinct, with strong performances all around. With sharp bits of noirish dialogue and narration, the story never lingers; refreshingly, some of the plot zips by so fast that the casual web viewer may miss an important moment.

Series leads Bryan Michael Block and Maya Sayre (Detectives Aidan and Riley) deserve big kudos – lesser chops would scotch the tone and drag the noir-heavy lines down into sketch comedy, but Block and Sayre deliver nuanced performances. The two actors bear a little resemblance to D’Onofrio and Erbe in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as does their characters’ relationship – one tortured soul and one soul torched slowly by her own quiet, supportive strength. One of the real strengths of Aidan 5 is the central duo’s dynamic development, and the episodes are doing a fine job of playing slow and steady here, letting each moment speak for itself.

That’s the general win here, a simple strength that can be overlooked by a critic busy with the details: each scene here gets something done, an easy enough thing to say, but as they say, harder to do. Net audiences will enjoy these honed bits of dark, sci-fi fun. New episodes are scheduled to release on Fridays. Check back on Myouterspace.com for interviews with the series creators and actors, to be posted soon.

Webseries to Watch: Aidan 5

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