This week's mystery will be short, sweet, and utterly head scratching: Vicki the Small Wonder Robot.
For you 80s children who used to tune into this little science fiction gem, just bear with me here. Think about it. Vicki was the invention of a set of parents who didn’t want to do housework anymore. At the beginning of the show, she wasn’t quite their kid, but they seemed to care about her beyond just being considered a Roomba in a white pinafore. Although, they technically left it to their son and the oblivious yet obnoxious next door neighbor to teach Vicki about humanity, they kept hinting that she was slowly becoming a part of the family. They even sent her to school and taught her to smile.
If they show had continued, what would have become of Vicki? The dad would have had to keep altering her every few years so the neighbors wouldn't be suspicious of why she was eternally 10 years old. And if Vicki continued to show more signs of humanity, would she have eventually become sentient? And if she did, would she have gone down the path of the Robin Williams or Haley Joel Osment android? Would she have longed for true humanity to the point of depressed desperation?
Or would she have followed the more predictable killer robot route? Would the laugh track have finally driven her over the edge until she dropped couches on every human being?
Think of it. No one would see the Skynet apocalypse coming from a little girl in a pretty red dress. "Hasta la vista, Lawson Family"!