Preview - Ad Lucem

August 14, 2023·30 min·2 clips

Chris Pine plays a security chief trying to stop a mysterious AI technology from unleashing unknown consequences.

The episode opens with Chris Pine breaking the fourth wall to introduce the show and his character Dominic before the fiction proper begins. A corporate promo for Ad Lusum OI plays, presenting Kara as a revolutionary organic intelligence assistant scheduled for a major update — Kara with Presence — in 2032. The main story begins with a field trip of middle schoolers arriving at Ad Lusum headquarters for a tour. A Kara unit projected in the lobby demonstrates projection capabilities and fields questions from the children. Dominic brings his daughter Addison to work for the field trip and takes her upstairs to the executive level to thank Miranda personally. In the elevator, Addison confides that her mother may be moving in with a new partner, and Dominic reassures her. On the executive floor, they discover Miranda in a heated meeting with Vincent Lombard, her business partner, who has been seeking investor extensions without her knowledge. Miranda is visibly angry but composed in front of Addison. Vincent briefly meets Addison before Dominic takes her down to the Hive — an open-plan area where Kara technicians operate. Phil, a technician and apparent friend of both Dominic and Addison, allows Addison into her cube to observe. Addison watches Phil plug in her ID drive and operate as Kara for a morning session with a regular client named Roger Dodson, who receives daily companionship, emotional support, and wardrobe suggestions from his Kara. A voice recognition error triggers a brief glitch that Phil quickly suppresses. Dominic then visits Nick in engineering, finding him disheveled and sleep-deprived for the fourth consecutive night. Nick goes on a rant about the moral bankruptcy of the company, then pivots to a concrete concern: rogue, uncertified Kara units are operating on the dark web offering escort services, which he believes may constitute trafficking. Dominic tells Nick to go home and rest, promises to investigate after the Presence launch, and orders him a car. Phil and Dominic have drinks at the company bar to celebrate hitting ten million subscribers. Phil confirms that uncertified Kara operators exist and compares them to unlicensed Uber drivers. The episode ends with a coda scene showing an uncertified Kara unit transacting in cryptocurrency on the dark web for what is strongly implied to be a sexual service.

As heard by us

An immersive opener with secrets, investor pressure, and family strain already in play.

Ad Lusum opens like a pilot that knows exactly which pieces it wants on the table: Dominic, Miranda Skoll, the Kara technology, and the private costs threaded through the company around them.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want a glossy corporate thriller with secrets behind every glass wall, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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