Foundation

When I read Asimov's 'Foundation' novels I was somewhere in my middle teenage years, more than 50 years ago. What I remembered was the central idea of psychohistory, but not much else.

When the first season of 'Foundation' screened in the Fall of 2021 I was deeply committed to the HBO series by Ridley Scott, 'Raised By Wolves' and the ambitious character driven political allegory 'The Expanse' airing on Prime. Both were challenging explorations into deeply complex ideas living up to the best that literary science fiction is known for.

Whatever my mood at the time, I found the first couple of episodes meeting most of my expectations, but then I seemed to loose the thread of the show as it left a central character behind and seemed to veer into a good guys versus bad guys realm of conventional space opera. I wrote a rather sour critique at the time that expressed my disappointment.

However, I started watching season two and decided to go back and review the first season. This time I was able to not only stay with the plot, but its choices made much more sense to me. I was newly impressed, to say the least, and could barely remember my specific criticisms on the first go-round.

Now I have a taste for what so many critics felt years after they first panned films like 'Blade Runner' and '2001:A Space Odyssey' before they recognized them as pioneering accomplishments. I wouldn't necessarily place 'Foundation' at the level of those films, but as an extended series it successfully tackles some profound questions about time and history and human behavior that are becoming ever more pertinent in today's climate of ongoing political crises.

The show runners project a run of 8 seasons to complete a narrative that even Asimov failed to finish. It'll be a remarkable achievement if all of the necessary factors, corporate, financial and otherwise hold up to make it to the end. Here's hoping.

I remember watching the first couple episodes and not being very impressed. Not necessarily hating it, but not intrigued. It felt like a very traditional sci-fi series, akin to dune or star wars. A year or two later, i tried watching again... and now i'm somehow roped in and invested and binged most of the show well into 4 in the morning.

Great visual effects, music, vfx, product and costume design, even acting. Really intriguing clone concept (and a very obvious anagram for Cleon). Fantastic world building and i appreciated the non-linear storytelling. Interested to see where this series will take us!

Magnificent bouts of rich storytelling often feel diluted by cheap and pointless moments of juvenile entertainment. While the core of this series held the potential to become an ode to the greatest science-fiction writer of all times, it would appear that Apple couldn't keep itself from interfering in their typical (biased) politically correct, family friendly fashion. You stand on the shoulders of a giant, and behind that giant stand millions of minds inspired by a vision of the future the whole of humanity can rally behind. The implications of the existential questions raised by Asimov are not PG-rated, this shouldn't be either.

Foundation is an intriguing sci-fi series that grows on you the more you watch it. At first, it can feel confusing-just as you're starting to get to know a character, they disappear, only to return much later, if at all. Then you're introduced to someone new, and the whole process of connecting with a character begins again. On top of that, events unfold across different locations, and the series makes massive jumps in time-particularly long ones between seasons.

I've completed Seasons 1 and 2. One of the show's strengths is that as each season progresses, the seemingly loose ends begin to tie together and make sense. Many odd or minor events and details-even from the very first episode-are only explained later in the season or in the finale. But if you keep your eyes and ears open, you might catch subtle clues that help you make sense of things as they unfold. Almost nothing is said without a reason. While Season 1 is built largely on suspense, Season 2 leans more toward action.

The series features numerous plot twists that help keep viewers engaged. Many come out of nowhere and aren't always happy or innocent-but that's part of the fun. In many ways, it resembles Dune, especially in tone and scale. However, one of Foundation's most distinctive traits is its pacing: at times, things move very slowly, only for the show to suddenly jump forward by decades, suggesting sweeping generational changes and the loss of familiar characters.

Season 3 episode 4: "we are called the second foundation" - seriously? "We are the second foundation" - that should be the line! Apart of that one little flow, I enjoyed this episode. I don't know about you guys, but this One of the moments I shared a tear for the math working out. Isaac Asimov figured it out before I was born. Even before AI was born he figured out the 3 laws of robotics. This episode was mind-blowing!