4 ms·

I haven’t read the books, but I found Gaal Dornick and Salvor Hardnick’s storylines very difficult to follow. The actors felt miscast and the character developm

I haven’t read the books, but I found Gaal Dornick and Salvor Hardnick’s storylines very difficult to follow. The actors felt miscast and the character development felt extremely rushed. Possible spoilers: One minute Gaal arrives and meets Raych Seldon. Within an episode, somehow they’ve become lovers? Um. What? Hugo is possibly the most pointless character. Salvor comes off as a heroic, protagonist, but it doesn’t seem earned. The “Empire” is the only interesting plot line. Brother “Day” is casted very well. The rest of the show made little sense. Overall the show has extremely high production quality. It’s looks like a beautifully seared, delicious piece of steak. But when you cut into it, it’s a glob of fat.

nobody9999 5y ago
>I haven’t read the books, but I found Gaal Dornick and Salvor Hardnick’s storylines very difficult to follow. The actors felt miscast and the character development felt extremely rushed. As I said, it seems that a lot of the story has been sacrificed to the altar of "what works on TV." Which is really dumb IMO, but happens all the time. In the novels (which I really do recommend highly!), the former is a minor character and the latter is much, much more than the series makes out. If I had to hazard a guess, the treatment of those characters is an attempt to appeal to the female 18-34 demographic more than anything else. Which gives Asimov's storytelling short shrift. For what it is, the first season of the TV series (which covers the first third or so of the first novel), is so far from the novel that I kept saying "what the hell just happened?" "That makes no sense!" and "I hope Asimov's estate was compensated handsomely for this. That's the only good that could come out of it!" That said, I tried in my submission, to ignore the novels and look at the TV "adaptation" separately. And the best I could come up with was "the production values were high" and "the story line wasn't too terrible." I torrented the episodes, even though I have a free six-month subscription to AppleTV+. Given that it's been my only experience with Apple's productions, I certainly won't be using, let alone renewing that subscription. Then again, as a middle-aged man, the series is definitely not geared toward me. Perhaps it will find success with the target demographic. But do go and read the original trilogy and, if it sparks your interest, the follow-on novels as well. They are much more coherent and tell an interesting story with astonishing scope.
- throwntoday 5y ago
  Apple seem to just be throwing money at anything now to fill their catalog. The production quality of their shows is high but the shows themselves are poorly written trash. I've watched a handful of their originals and so far the only one I can recommend is Dr. Brain. It's a Korean sci-fi drama, which is the only reason I imagine it was immune to the diversity at all costs mandate.
mike1o1 5y ago
I completely agree with the point about Gaal. I honestly thought she was a pre-teen as the actress looks very young, so start the second episode with a sudden romance was very off-putting, as she looks so much younger than Raych. I wish they would have built up to that a bit. I've enjoyed the show, but so far it's on the strength of Jared Harris as Hari Seldon and Lee Pace as Brother Day. The rest of the show is very forgettable and reminds me of low budget sci-fi "villain of the week" type shows. (Note: Not a bookreader, and not at all familiar with the books)
- Leparamour 5y ago
  >Jared Harris Didn't watch Foundation yet, but loved him in The Expanse, such a charismatic presence.
  - ozzythecat 5y ago
    If you liked him The Expanse, check out Chernobyl. It’s his best performance so far.
    - voltaireodactyl 5y ago
      While Chernobyl is absolutely a masterpiece, Jared Harris’ performance in The Terror season 1 remains his finest by an incredible margin. Every muscle he exercised in Chernobyl is on display in TERROR S1, and about a thousand more. Highly highly recommend for anyone who appreciates mature, emotionally complex drama. It’s a crime how few people seem to be aware of it!

nobody9999 5y ago

>I haven’t read the books, but I found Gaal Dornick and Salvor Hardnick’s storylines very difficult to follow. The actors felt miscast and the character development felt extremely rushed. As I said, it seems that a lot of the story has been sacrificed to the altar of "what works on TV." Which is really dumb IMO, but happens all the time. In the novels (which I really do recommend highly!), the former is a minor character and the latter is much, much more than the series makes out. If I had to hazard a guess, the treatment of those characters is an attempt to appeal to the female 18-34 demographic more than anything else. Which gives Asimov's storytelling short shrift. For what it is, the first season of the TV series (which covers the first third or so of the first novel), is so far from the novel that I kept saying "what the hell just happened?" "That makes no sense!" and "I hope Asimov's estate was compensated handsomely for this. That's the only good that could come out of it!" That said, I tried in my submission, to ignore the novels and look at the TV "adaptation" separately. And the best I could come up with was "the production values were high" and "the story line wasn't too terrible." I torrented the episodes, even though I have a free six-month subscription to AppleTV+. Given that it's been my only experience with Apple's productions, I certainly won't be using, let alone renewing that subscription. Then again, as a middle-aged man, the series is definitely not geared toward me. Perhaps it will find success with the target demographic. But do go and read the original trilogy and, if it sparks your interest, the follow-on novels as well. They are much more coherent and tell an interesting story with astonishing scope.

throwntoday 5y ago
Apple seem to just be throwing money at anything now to fill their catalog. The production quality of their shows is high but the shows themselves are poorly written trash. I've watched a handful of their originals and so far the only one I can recommend is Dr. Brain. It's a Korean sci-fi drama, which is the only reason I imagine it was immune to the diversity at all costs mandate.

mike1o1 5y ago

I completely agree with the point about Gaal. I honestly thought she was a pre-teen as the actress looks very young, so start the second episode with a sudden romance was very off-putting, as she looks so much younger than Raych. I wish they would have built up to that a bit. I've enjoyed the show, but so far it's on the strength of Jared Harris as Hari Seldon and Lee Pace as Brother Day. The rest of the show is very forgettable and reminds me of low budget sci-fi "villain of the week" type shows. (Note: Not a bookreader, and not at all familiar with the books)

Leparamour 5y ago
>Jared Harris Didn't watch Foundation yet, but loved him in The Expanse, such a charismatic presence.
- ozzythecat 5y ago
  If you liked him The Expanse, check out Chernobyl. It’s his best performance so far.
  - voltaireodactyl 5y ago
    While Chernobyl is absolutely a masterpiece, Jared Harris’ performance in The Terror season 1 remains his finest by an incredible margin. Every muscle he exercised in Chernobyl is on display in TERROR S1, and about a thousand more. Highly highly recommend for anyone who appreciates mature, emotionally complex drama. It’s a crime how few people seem to be aware of it!