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Post by TopTrog on Sept 26, 2021 11:36:47 GMT
Two episodes out, what do you guys think? Bold. That is the one word that describes it most fittingly for me so far. And I mean the best possible interpretation of "bold".
There are many excellent reasons why the Foundation series has always been regarded as untranslatable to film. The mind-boggling epicness of Asimov´s world building and the scope of his vision unavoidably result in a story taking place over vast timescales. Asimov wisely chose to initially publish it as a series of short stories with a completely new cast of characters for each. Thirty years later he added additional novels that significantly not only expanded the scope of the story and even later in the prequels - crucially - gives key characters much more needed depth. So - in my own grossly simplified view - the Foundation books start as a visionary exercise in worldbuilding carried by separate short stories into an epic series of works that achieve greatness by combining this with fundamental questions about human nature and evolution.
So how do you translate all of that faithfully in every aspect to film ? You can´t. Film as a medium works best if the characters transport all of the important things in relatable ways (such as small interactions) as intuitively as possible. That is pretty much the opposite of what the first Foundation books do, as they regularly invoke the genius of Seldon and his calculations that predetermine everything that takes place. Only in the later novels do we get the whole picture that this is not at all what actually happens and we find out who has really been guiding everything (that is what I still regard as the masterstroke by Asimov, where he makes the connection to his pre-foundation works and really puts the question on human nature).
So how do they approach it in the series ? I was surprised to find out that they are setting this up and playing it almost completely straight. That is not what I expected at all and the sheer boldness of it is shocking. They made some interesting choices and so far they all work for me. Some examples:
(1) Choosing Gaal as the point of view character. Very well done, she transports the wonder of the universe which we are being dropped into very well and at the same time is very relatable, so no need for lengthy exposition. No small feat this.
(2) Let´s call it "the three emperors". I did not like this at all at first and thought that it was a bit of cookie-cutter roman-emperor style villainy until it dawned on me that what this does is to illustrate different possible personas within each of us and the choices a person can make in the course of life. To put it mildly that is a key theme within the Foudation series.
(3) The Demerzel reveal. I thought WTAF why do this now ? But that is where they literally go all-in and set up to already start looking at all the depth in the whole story that was added only 30 years later in the follow-up books.
And about transporting key story things in film in small scenes....the back-to back scenes near the end of Ep. 2 (Demerzel with Dawn and Gaal´s inner monologue in the swimming pool) blew me away as they do this masterfully.
It is not all perfect of course. It feels a bit rushed as lots of stuff is happening in quick succession, not all of which is clear. But they are clearly not lacking for audacity with their vision of the Foundation universe and now they really have to deliver on that part. Consider me intrigued.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2021 19:21:07 GMT
Never read the books, been mostly spoiler free. I was curious about this one cause I've had the books recommended to me over the years. With that in mind, here's my take on things.
Production: Overall good. Cinematography has some great moments. Sets are gorgeous. Acting is decent. Lee Pace is a wonderful choice for Brother Day. It's a role that could very easily be ridiculous instead of imperious. Kind of like Emperor Cartagia or Sebastian in Babylon 5. Story: That's where the show falls a bit early on. Understandable given it's a rough book adaptation. The first half of the first episode is disjointed. Not terribly compelling, it's the story leading to the story I actually want to watch. Luckily once they lay some... foundation, things start to progress. But I'm still more interested in the things happening around the protagonist than the protagonist herself. Her story just isn't that intriguing. It'd be something if it was at least entertaining but it's only middling in achieving that. Comparably, I was entirely absorbed by the conflict between Brother Day and Jared Harris. To me that was the meat of the story. I was also interested in Dusks mental decline, and the inter-politics between the brothers in general. Conceptually: This had to be great. Not just for the show, but all those book recommendations over the years. There was expectation to it. Thankfully, it is. I love the world-building and the setting. Fall of a galactic empire, rebuilding civilization. Those are intriguing ideas. That's the hook the show needed. Makes me think there's a better central story to come too.
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Post by Atemporal Vanguardian-Debugger on Sept 27, 2021 0:11:23 GMT
Never read the books, been mostly spoiler free. I was curious about this one cause I've had the books recommended to me over the years. With that in mind, here's my take on things.
Production: Overall good. Cinematography has some great moments. Sets are gorgeous. Acting is decent. Lee Pace is a wonderful choice for Brother Day. It's a role that could very easily be ridiculous instead of imperious. Kind of like Emperor Cartagia or Sebastian in Babylon 5. Story: That's where the show falls a bit early on. Understandable given it's a rough book adaptation. The first half of the first episode is disjointed. Not terribly compelling, it's the story leading to the story I actually want to watch. Luckily once they lay some... foundation, things start to progress. But I'm still more interested in the things happening around the protagonist than the protagonist herself. Her story just isn't that intriguing. It'd be something if it was at least entertaining but it's only middling in achieving that. Comparably, I was entirely absorbed by the conflict between Brother Day and Jared Harris. To me that was the meat of the story. I was also interested in Dusks mental decline, and the inter-politics between the brothers in general. Conceptually: This had to be great. Not just for the show, but all those book recommendations over the years. There was expectation to it. Thankfully, it is. I love the world-building and the setting. Fall of a galactic empire, rebuilding civilization. Those are intriguing ideas. That's the hook the show needed. Makes me think there's a better central story to come too. IMO please read the books you may like them better.
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Post by AnDromedary on Sept 27, 2021 23:36:55 GMT
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Post by rewindbutton on Sept 28, 2021 6:33:14 GMT
I think the first episode was absolutely brilliant. I'm going to agree a lot, so bear with me. The liberties it takes are quite understandable I didn't like all of them, but the trailer prepared me for this. not sure the whole concept of psychohistory came across as the very intriguing idea that I remember it being Well this. I was hoping for so much more. the first episode was absolutely great. Agreed. they linger a little too long on the "show some flesh" moments at times Agreed, it was badly done and pointless. Oh, and the end of the second episode ... well, I have no idea what's going on. Me neither. I felt it was weird and again badly done. I would have been happier if the first episode had started a bit weaker but the second had improved on it My hope as well. somewhat intelligent and sophisticated scifi drama (god knows we don't get a lot of those) with a very bold art style and gorgeous visuals.
I was hoping it wouldn't be somewhat intelligent, but agreed. In my mind, the third episode is crucial: if it's bad, then there's no hope that I'll get the series I was hoping for. And it would prove my fears, that they really don't know what they are dealing with: The grandad of scifi that established many of the tropes to come.
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Post by rewindbutton on Sept 28, 2021 6:35:27 GMT
Two episodes out, what do you guys think? [snip] I feel you. Not one for purists, this one.
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Post by rewindbutton on Sept 28, 2021 6:45:47 GMT
has always been regarded as untranslatable to film I've always thought so too. The mind-boggling epicness of Asimov´s world building So far the show has been lacking in this respect. I wanted to be boggled. they regularly invoke the genius of Seldon and his calculations that predetermine everything I always liked this, and the gasp -moment, when they realize that even Seldon could get it wrong sometimes. It is brilliant. The Demerzel reveal. I thought WTAF why do this now ? I still don't get it. It was one of the big reveals to be saved till alter.
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Post by TopTrog on Sept 28, 2021 17:57:58 GMT
The Demerzel reveal. I thought WTAF why do this now ? I still don't get it. It was one of the big reveals to be saved till alter. Yes, that surprised me the most as it does make their task way more challenging in my view. Not only do they now have to deliver on the epic scale and world-building feel, but I think they now pretty much set themselves up for having to transport additional thematic depth that the original trilogy itself did not have before Asimov´s much later works. That is the kind of ambition I generally like to see, but I think it makes the line they have to trace between accessibility and staying true to the original scope and motives of the saga even more tight. I like to think that they know where they are going with this if they already mapped this out to 80+ hours - we´ll see.
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Post by AnDromedary on Sept 28, 2021 18:30:05 GMT
I still don't get it. It was one of the big reveals to be saved till alter. Yes, that surprised me the most as it does make their task way more challenging in my view. Not only do they now have to deliver on the epic scale and world-building feel, but I think they now pretty much set themselves up for having to transport additional thematic depth that the original trilogy itself did not have before Asimov´s much later works. That is the kind of ambition I generally like to see, but I think it makes the line they have to trace between accessibility and staying true to the original scope and motives of the saga even more tight. I like to think that they know where they are going with this if they already mapped this out to 80+ hours - we´ll see. I actually have a bit of a better view of the second episode, now that I know that they are planning this for 8 seasons. Whether or not it's a good idea to have such ambitious plans and whether or not they'll be able to deliver on them are different questions of course. But having it planned out for 80 episodes gives them more time to develop Gaal and her time frame a little more before moving on to Salvor Hardin and beyond. With so much show-time on their hands, I now really do believe that they will cover the entire epic time scale of the Foundation books (including the Mule, Second Foundation and all that), provided Apple will fund them long enough.
I also read in another review from someone who apparently already got to see the entire first season that Gaal will - as the reviewer put it - "be ditched" after about the first half of the season, which indicates to me that they will move on in time at that point.
I also think I get the intention behind both Demerzel and the three emperor clones. They can provide consistency throughout the forward leaps in time. Demerzel, as a robot, does not age and the three clones will just shift positions. Brother Dawn in the pilot episodes will become Brother Day in the Salvor timeframe while current Brother Day will be Brother Dusk and so on. They can basically keep the same actors over the entire fall of the Empire. Say what you will about the depiction of the emperors (and I am not sure I am 100% on board with it) but in terms of filming it, it's a clever little trick.
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Post by rewindbutton on Sept 29, 2021 10:01:49 GMT
it's a clever little trick. I always end up agreeing with you, dang it!
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Post by TopTrog on Sept 29, 2021 18:11:08 GMT
I also think I get the intention behind both Demerzel and the three emperor clones. They can provide consistency throughout the forward leaps in time. Demerzel, as a robot, does not age and the three clones will just shift positions. Brother Dawn in the pilot episodes will become Brother Day in the Salvor timeframe while current Brother Day will be Brother Dusk and so on. They can basically keep the same actors over the entire fall of the Empire. Say what you will about the depiction of the emperors (and I am not sure I am 100% on board with it) but in terms of filming it, it's a clever little trick.
Now that is a very cool idea I had not thought about. This would also give them a way to transport some of those underlying "human nature" topics that I Liked so much from the later Foundation books. Will Day regret some of the things he did as he becomes Dusk ? Will Dawn be different to his predecessor as he becomes Day because of what he has seen ? A clever little trick, indeed.
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Post by AnDromedary on Oct 25, 2021 15:27:36 GMT
I just caught up to the current episode of the series (episode 6).
So, I am really torn about this at the moment.
First of all, as I said in my last post, I though episode 1 was brilliant, episode 2 was a bit of a step down in terms of pacing and story telling IMO. I am glad to say that I think in those terms the series picks up again in episode 3. From that point on, they really commit to the time frame of the books and they move on from the Heri Seldon time frame to 40 years later and Salvor Hardin's time frame (there are some twists that connect the two a little more than they are in the books but it's cool).
Also, the pacing definitely picks up gain and I think it's a fantastic tv show. It's still a very heady scifi drama series which goes into complex concepts about change vs. stagnation, religion vs. science (or how to reconcile the two), Cultural vs. military power, individualism vs. indoctrinated beliefs and other philosophical issues. I'd say it's probably among the most intellectual tv I've seen in a long time. But still, it also has grand visuals, a lot of bombast and a bit of action and thrill. Also some romance, although, I still think it's not exactly the strong suit of the series so far. So all in all, as a tv show it's brilliant.
So why am I torn?
Well, it really, really deviates from the books. As I said before, I don't have a problem with a lot of the changes. I think the gender swap for both Gaal and Salvor works great and actually improve the character cast quite a bit. The fact that technologically they updated it to 21st century scifi instead of 1940/50s scifi is great. Also, whenever the series is about the empire and its fall, I appreciate the details and I am perfectly ok with all the freedoms they take because that wasn't really described in Asimov's books anyway, so that's all great. I don't even mind that they extended Gaal Dornick's role way past what it was in the books. I get that you have a cast for the show and you don't want to through a protagonist away after 2 episodes. That's also fine.
No, what I have a real problem with is the character of Salvor Hardin. It's been a while since I read the books but IIRC, Salvor is this master manipulator who masterfully entangles his adversaries during the first Seldon Crisis into a plot that allows him to solve the situation without any violence whatsoever. The Foundation doesn't even have a real defense other than their intelligence and they (Salvor in particular) use that to deal with, hell, even dominate with their militarily powerful neighbors in a beautiful game of diplomatic chess. Salvor's most famous quote from the book is "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." That says everything about his character.
But here in the show, Salvor is almost the antithesis of the book's character. She is the "warden" of the Foundation, not it's mayor (like in the books), which means she is responsible for defense first and foremost. And that seems to be how she thinks, mostly she is reacting to circumstances, without a real plan or really knowing what she is doing past the next 5 minutes. When her parents actually throw book-Salvor's line "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" at her, she dismisses it as "an old man's doctrine". In the last episode, she even starts shooting Anacreon soldiers left and right with a sniper rifle. I mean, what the fuck?!? First I thought this maybe was supposed to be a young Salvor who still needs to grow into the one we know form the books, so they can have some character growth (and that might still be the case) but a lot of the plot points are already from the point in the book where Salvor should act diametrically opposed to what she is doing here.
Also, I don't remember Salvor being in any way special in the book, beyond his ability to reason things out and find a great solution to a tricky problem. In contrast, tv-Salvor seems to be super special in some way. For whatever reason, she always gets coin tosses right and she is the only one who has some form of connection to the vault 9which IIRC in the books just opened for everyone - and also opened in the beginning of the first crisis and didn't convey some sort of weird visions to Salvor the "chosen one" or something).
Again, I don't mind making changes and taking some liberties but basically flipping a character and a plot around 180 degrees like that, that's not cool. I am also disappointed that they couldn't resist taking the pacifistic attitude that the Foundation had in the books away, so they could put in some action scenes on Terminus.
And again, it all works as a tv show. It just is not something that befits the Foundation books at all and that, I find massively disappointing unfortunately. Well, still there are 4 more episodes to go in season 1 (and I saw season 2 is already in the works). So let's see where this goes. I still have a good time watching it but I really have to separate it from the books at this point because whenever I don't I can basically hear Asimov stirring in his grave over this.
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Post by rewindbutton on Oct 26, 2021 11:48:57 GMT
I just caught up to the current pisode of the series (episode 6). Well written, as always. it all works as a tv show. It just is not something that befits the Foundation books at all and that, I find massively disappointing unfortunately. It does work as a TV show. If it was just some random sci-fi show I'd probably love it. But it's supposed to be Foundation, and I don't recognize it at all. It's not brainy, it feels like Star Wars, and I don't mean the OT. I think the screenwriter had a Reader's Digest version of Asimov's books to work with.
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Post by AnDromedary on Oct 26, 2021 15:51:29 GMT
I just caught up to the current pisode of the series (episode 6). Well written, as always. it all works as a tv show. It just is not something that befits the Foundation books at all and that, I find massively disappointing unfortunately. It does work as a TV show. If it was just some random sci-fi show I'd probably love it. But it's supposed to be Foundation, and I don't recognize it at all. It's not brainy, it feels like Star Wars, and I don't mean the OT. I think the screenwriter had a Reader's Digest version of Asimov's books to work with. I actually think it still is a very brainy tv show overall. Interestingly though, the brainy parts don't really happen so much on Terminus (where they should happen) but rather in the part where we see the fall of the empire (which i expected to be more the war/action part of the show). That's a bot weird.
I really wonder what the thought process of the showrunners is there. They have an official podcast that goes with the series and where people on the production team give some background info. I have started listening to it and am hoping to get some insights there. I am sure the people who made the series know the books very well and given how high minded (and good) the dialogue is at times, I don't think they are stupid people. I kinda really want to understand what they were thinking there.
EDIT: Ok, I listened to the first 2 episodes of the podcast and it's basically (and not surprisingly) a circle jerk, where they just tell each other how great everything is. The comments on Salvor specifically are: "I love how grounded and in the moment she is." and "When all the eggheads are like 'what should we do?', she goes 'where are the weapons?'", cue everyone laughing. I mean, what the hell people?
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Post by AnDromedary on Oct 27, 2021 22:07:01 GMT
So I listened to the podcast some more and they do actually mention the fact that the saying "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." is reversed in the show. The showrunner does say that this is supposed to be kind of an "origin story" for Salvor and her arc in this season is to learn that lesson and make that attitude her own.
Hmmmm, not sure it really works (as in, I still think it's very weird twist on the character) but ok, color me intrigued again at least.
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Post by rewindbutton on Oct 28, 2021 10:51:11 GMT
they do actually mention the fact that the saying "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." is reversed in the show. So.. Action is the last refuge of the incompetent screenwriter? Who did they hire, Michael Bay? I would say it doesn't. But yeah, I'll keep watching and hoping that it gets better.
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Post by DragonKingReborn on Nov 3, 2021 19:31:03 GMT
*has not read the book* Episode 2 - it seems that math homework is super serious business. Did the boyfriend have any motive beyond 'the equation isn't finished so he doesn't know if we're all going to die'? Liking it well enough, so far. Like Raised By Wolves, it seems another series that has had a lot of money thrown into it and that is paying dividends in terms of creating a believable world.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2021 20:43:09 GMT
*has not read the book* Episode 2 - it seems that math homework is super serious business. Did the boyfriend have any motive beyond 'the equation isn't finished so he doesn't know if we're all going to die'? Liking it well enough, so far. Like Raised By Wolves, it seems another series that has had a lot of money thrown into it and that is paying dividends in terms of creating a believable world. I also haven't read the books. There will be some sense made of the ending of ep 2 in later eps. They didn't do a good job of executing the twist though. Too left-field and no setup, its completely one-sided. The boyfriend doesn't have any credit yet, any substance. However... It seems like a bit of a can-of-worms. It leads to a lot, it's just the execution was poorly done.
I loved episode 3. You get a great window into Empire and the Cleons, notably Dusk. The Foundation plot-line also changes direction a bit, for the better IMHO. This is where the story really starts to get some footing moving forward.
It's like this is a grand opera played in reverse. Watching everything slowly unravel step by step. I love it.
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Post by DragonKingReborn on Nov 3, 2021 20:49:07 GMT
*has not read the book* Episode 2 - it seems that math homework is super serious business. Did the boyfriend have any motive beyond 'the equation isn't finished so he doesn't know if we're all going to die'? Liking it well enough, so far. Like Raised By Wolves, it seems another series that has had a lot of money thrown into it and that is paying dividends in terms of creating a believable world. I also haven't read the books. There will be some sense made of the ending of ep 2 in later eps. They didn't do a good job of executing the twist though. Too left-field and no setup, its completely one-sided. The boyfriend doesn't have any credit yet, any substance. However... It seems like a bit of a can-of-worms. It leads to a lot, it's just the execution was poorly done.
I loved episode 3. You get a great window into Empire and the Cleons, notably Dusk. The Foundation plot-line also changes direction a bit, for the better IMHO. This is where the story really starts to get some footing moving forward.
It's like this is a grand opera played in reverse. Watching everything slowly unravel step by step. I love it.
Thanks - I'll stick with it. I am still torn on whether or not Lee Pace - whom I like as an actor - is intimidating or not as Empire.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2021 22:17:35 GMT
I am still torn on whether or not Lee Pace - whom I like as an actor - is intimidating or not as Empire. I agree he's not intimidating. I do think he's a good choice for the role. It's one that could easily be screwed up. Either by going too over-the-top or devolving into a one-dimensional monster. This is sort of venturing into potentially spoilery territory but I'm not going off of anything concrete anyways. I'll restrict myself to what I was thinking in ep2. Empire is getting played. He wipes out two planets, but I don't believe it was his idea. Whoever bombed the Skybridge knew exactly how to screw with him and wanted a seed of hate. Of serious insurrection. Destabilization. I don't know who but you betcha I got a lot of theories. The blonde attaché has weirdly unlimited and unrestricted access to the Cleons. She's #1 on my, "I got my eyes on you, you lil shit" list in ep2. There's a lot more to her and I don't mean her big yet obvious reveal. That's almost a red herring. I was suspicious of her at the beginning, then she turns out to be an AI. From a technical storytelling perspective, that's subtly supposed to "close that case". But really it's just providing context, or a backdrop. In Ep2 with little Cleon Day sitting there watching her repair her shoulder, it felt odd. Like, she's the mother they didn't have. But she's not a mother, she's a chained AI molding them from birth.
With that in mind, I have to wonder if he's supposed to be intimidating or not. He's surrounded by the mechanisms of his empire propping him up. He's more petulant than concerning. And I'm not entirely sure that's an incorrect portrayal. There are aspects to him that remain childlike throughout his Day and Dusk selves. Makes me wonder if those attributes are his nature, or her nuture.
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Post by DragonKingReborn on Nov 3, 2021 22:34:28 GMT
I am still torn on whether or not Lee Pace - whom I like as an actor - is intimidating or not as Empire. I agree he's not intimidating. I do think he's a good choice for the role. It's one that could easily be screwed up. Either by going too over-the-top or devolving into a one-dimensional monster. This is sort of venturing into potentially spoilery territory but I'm not going off of anything concrete anyways. I'll restrict myself to what I was thinking in ep2. Empire is getting played. He wipes out two planets, but I don't believe it was his idea. Whoever bombed the Skybridge knew exactly how to screw with him and wanted a seed of hate. Of serious insurrection. Destabilization. I don't know who but you betcha I got a lot of theories. The blonde attaché has weirdly unlimited and unrestricted access to the Cleons. She's #1 on my, "I got my eyes on you, you lil shit" list in ep2. There's a lot more to her and I don't mean her big yet obvious reveal. That's almost a red herring. I was suspicious of her at the beginning, then she turns out to be an AI. From a technical storytelling perspective, that's subtly supposed to "close that case". But really it's just providing context, or a backdrop. In Ep2 with little Cleon Day sitting there watching her repair her shoulder, it felt odd. Like, she's the mother they didn't have. But she's not a mother, she's a chained AI molding them from birth.
With that in mind, I have to wonder if he's supposed to be intimidating or not. He's surrounded by the mechanisms of his empire propping him up. He's more petulant than concerning. And I'm not entirely sure that's an incorrect portrayal. There are aspects to him that remain childlike throughout his Day and Dusk selves. Makes me wonder if those attributes are his nature, or her nuture.
Interesting... Your prime suspect makes sense when you consider what the show has revealed about the two planets that got nuked. They both come across as deeply religious populations which would likely have been heavily anti-robot in the robot wars.
An AI would likely have been an expert in covering the - impossibly complex - tracks of acquiring the bombs used to take down the space tower (and she was leading the investigation anyway).
This theory - I like it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2021 22:40:45 GMT
Your prime suspect makes sense when you consider what the show has revealed about the two planets that got nuked. They both come across as deeply religious populations which would likely have been heavily anti-robot in the robot wars.
I didn't make that connection, good context.
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Post by DragonKingReborn on Nov 3, 2021 22:48:23 GMT
Your prime suspect makes sense when you consider what the show has revealed about the two planets that got nuked. They both come across as deeply religious populations which would likely have been heavily anti-robot in the robot wars.
I didn't make that connection, good context. And if true...then she has been playing the long game.
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Post by DragonKingReborn on Nov 7, 2021 19:41:32 GMT
Episode 7 done. Re: Harry So it was a plan between Harry and Boyfriend. That's fine - I can buy that. I have an issue with the motivation, though. His math couldn't account for an individual, he said, but Boyfriend being with Math Girl would 'ruin' everything...? Maybe it's explained further later on, but for the moment, it doesn't quite...add up. Re: (present day) Brother Dawn Seems like a nice kid. Also seems like he's going to get his gardener girlfriend killed for knowing too much. Re: (present day) Brother Day Early episodes Brother Dawn grew into a very angry man. Understandable, watching the original Brother Day bomb a couple of planets into the Stone Age. Re: Robot Lady A...religious robot...? I...Ok.
I think possibly her beliefs are coming in to play with regards to the Cleons and the 'stagnating' of their soul. In a flashback to the death of the original Brother Dusk (now, briefly, Brother Darkness), she mentioned how he 'always leaves her'. I think she may hope to save the Empire by letting 'Empire' (the Cleons) die, and in so doing, let the soul of the original Cleon, a man she clearly cared for, grow. Re: Math Girl Being awake during the Jump to Trantor gave her the ability to see the future, did I read that quick scene montage correctly? Or was she special - beyond super Math Skills - before the Jump and that caused her to wake?
Also, the Warden on Terminus seems connected...via the Vault? More information required, but I'm intrigued to see where this particular story is headed. Overall, for a high concept show, it seems really well done. The scope is impressive - I assume they're using tech similar to the Mandalorian for the scenes of massive planetscapes. They're showing us a lot without trying to tell too much.
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Post by AnDromedary on Nov 7, 2021 22:29:03 GMT
Episode 7 done. Re: Harry So it was a plan between Harry and Boyfriend. That's fine - I can buy that. I have an issue with the motivation, though. His math couldn't account for an individual, he said, but Boyfriend being with Math Girl would 'ruin' everything...? Maybe it's explained further later on, but for the moment, it doesn't quite...add up. Re: (present day) Brother Dawn Seems like a nice kid. Also seems like he's going to get his gardener girlfriend killed for knowing too much. Re: (present day) Brother Day Early episodes Brother Dawn grew into a very angry man. Understandable, watching the original Brother Day bomb a couple of planets into the Stone Age. Re: Robot Lady A...religious robot...? I...Ok.
I think possibly her beliefs are coming in to play with regards to the Cleons and the 'stagnating' of their soul. In a flashback to the death of the original Brother Dusk (now, briefly, Brother Darkness), she mentioned how he 'always leaves her'. I think she may hope to save the Empire by letting 'Empire' (the Cleons) die, and in so doing, let the soul of the original Cleon, a man she clearly cared for, grow. Re: Math Girl Being awake during the Jump to Trantor gave her the ability to see the future, did I read that quick scene montage correctly? Or was she special - beyond super Math Skills - before the Jump and that caused her to wake?
Also, the Warden on Terminus seems connected...via the Vault? More information required, but I'm intrigued to see where this particular story is headed. Overall, for a high concept show, it seems really well done. The scope is impressive - I assume they're using tech similar to the Mandalorian for the scenes of massive planetscapes. They're showing us a lot without trying to tell too much. It's funny. Most of the things you find strange and that don't add up are things that weren't in the books and that the showrunners added themselves. I agree on most of them and am not sure where most of it goes. Still, I do find the show very intriguing even if it messes with the books a lot. I have decided I will just see it as it's own thing.
RE the planetscapes and the behind the scenes stuff: I am listening to the accompanying podcast and it turns out, most of it was actually shot on location. E.g. Terminus was shot in Iceland, while other scenes where shot in e.g. Fuerte Ventura (according to the podcast they shot in 7 different countries total). Apparently they went all over the world to shoot in very different locations to give the different planets an individual feel. Quite the ffort indeed. I am very happy that Apple puts that kind of money in such a high concept show. Not a lot of networks/streaming providers will put that kind of funding into something that isn't low brow action and guaranteed to get a crowd watching. So good on them, even if it really does mess with the books a lot at this point.
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