Foundation

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!

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.

This series started quite mediocre. You have this part about psycho history with Hary Seldon which makes basically no sense and is unwatchable awful. To make it clear this part is on Asimov and it's by far the worst part of this show.

Then there is the good part about the genetic dynasty and the foundation itself. This part is not from Asimov especially the genetic dynasty is written by the showrunners and has nothing to do with Asimov. There might be some borrowed stuff from Ancillary Justice but it's basically its own thing and it's great.

In the 3rd season they decided something amazing to get rid of the bad part and stick with the great one. Now this show is one the best SF show you can watch.

S3 E1-5 was amazing lets hope they keep it up.

I do not count myself an Asimov expert, nor had I been a big Foundation series fan during the first 2 seasons (though I did watch them). But this 3rd season has really caught my attention. Not meant as a knock on any of the prior show-runners or writers (I'm not familiar with the in's and out's within the prior production team(s)) but what I can say, being a sci-fi fan and television follower generally, is that Roxann Dawson is stellar behind the screen as a director and producer. Both in sci-fi/fantasy and more mainstream programming. While I thought she was great in Voyager as B'Lana, her work since behind the camera has been quite notable. And each time she gets involved with a series, like she has here, it thrives. Just sayin.

Makes Game of Thrones feel like The Powerpuff Girls

A banquet for the senses, a feast for the synapses- this show is the real deal

If you want a show that challenges you to read deeper, ask questions, venture to learn more about what it means to be human, to be a small, but crucial part of a civilization; to seek peace, to understand beauty, to investigate faith, to dissect geopolitical constructs on a core level- there simply isnt any other show~*

The depth of wisdom that drives this show is honestly mind-boggling. It presents an ostensibly true utopia, a future paradise for humankind wherein anything is possible but just barely an inch out of reach- and its utter collapse in the face of transcendence to godhood due to ambition and hubris is by far the most fascinating spectacle I've ever seen~*

This show is an achievement comparable with the establishment of a new language: a new society, an unearthed Olympus, riddled with Gods all competing for significance~*

The writing, the performances, the world-building, the construction of an entire universe heretofore beyond comprehension, bolstered by exceptional performances by Lee Pace and the rest of the cast~*

If true drama, heft and bedazzlement are what you require, then look no further than this- the Foundation- the core of what makes us human: the (frivolous?) search for the meaning of life~*

If you will, grapple with the war between religious fervor and scientific achievement, misguided enforcement of laws by man and true liberation, absolute truth and righteousness

Love and absolution

You have been warned.