5 ms·

Raised by Wolves Is Original Sci-Fi at Its Most Polarizing (2020)

72 points by walterbell 1y ago

blinded 1y ago
I liked it a ton. Its nice to see hollywood take a chance on new IP. Not exactly the same comparison but The Silo series by Apple also comes to mind.
- junipertea 1y ago
  The Silo is a book adaptation, not a new IP.
  - throwawayffffas 1y ago
    It's "new" IP in the sense there has been no previous tv show or movie and that is not attached to a large existing franchise. It's not marvel or Star Wars.
    - blinded 1y ago
      That's what I met to convey. Apologies for that.
comeondude 1y ago
It was so weird and visceral. Wish they didn’t cancel it.
- madaxe_again 1y ago
  Distribution sucked. Wouldn’t be surprised if 80%+ of their audience pirated it.
  - walterbell 1y ago
    It's on iTunes now.
scheeseman486 1y ago
I'm still pissed off about this one. People call it a mystery box but that's a bit unfair, the story, motivations and worldbuilding do make sense it's just extremely weird. Did end on a hell of a cliffhanger though.
pringk02 1y ago
I remember when the pilot had Ridley Scott’s name attached to it in some way and I couldn’t help but wonder: What is it with that man and pregnancy in space?
- madaxe_again 1y ago
  2001: A Space Odyssey. He’s cited it as being profoundly influential on his thinking and film making. The Star Child is the dream, Scott creates the nightmares.
lwansbrough 1y ago
Absolutely love the title sequence of this show. Maybe my favourite part about it. :/
- gibagger 1y ago
  It was pretty poetic and enigmatic, wasn't it?. As for the show, I have mixed feelings. They just kept jumping the shark time and time again so at some point it got sort of normalized.
faeyanpiraat 1y ago
The first season was excellent, and then in the 2nd season they did ruin lots of the story lines with just lame choices, and then the ending went completely downhill for me. It pissed me off, just like GoT. There was this other series called Murderbot which had some similarities in the setting of the story. It was not that great compared to the 1st season of Raised by Wolves, but it was consistent throughout the whole series (so far) in quality, and it is much more satisfying. Anyways if you like scifi and haven't checked out The Expanse yet, that is a masterpiece.
- datahack 1y ago
  I’ve been listening to the audiobooks of the expanse via our local library. Absolutely fantastic series — you are spot on! Also, remember to support your local library.
  - block_dagger 1y ago
    I watched and read the entire series. Much of it is boring and poorly written both from a style perspective as well as character development. It’s famous but doesn’t live up to many scifi masterpieces imo.
    - faeyanpiraat 1y ago
      What would you recommend?
      - block_dagger 1y ago
        Scifi series: Dune (the first 3 books) Vinge’s Deepness series Dark Forest (3 Body Problem…)
      - justinclift 1y ago
        Alastair Reynolds "Revelation Space" series was really good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space_series Also, both the "Children of Time" and "Shadows of the Apt" series by Adrian Tchaikovsky are excellent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Tchaikovsky#Bibliography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Tchaikovsky#Bibliograph...
everyone 1y ago
Really? it was dumb as a brick imo.. Also they did that slimy practice of having a busy and intriguing 1st episode, then a whole season of bland filler, concluding in an action packed final episode. I honestly felt scammed after watching S1 of that.
mrmincent 1y ago
I loved it, it was so weird and different to anything else I was watching at the time. I was sad-but-not-shocked to see it get cancelled. Would love to see it finished via a book.
jose_mr 1y ago
"Ridley Scott directed the first two episodes of the series, and using his name as part of the marketing is a fair move (even if it was created by Aaron Guzikowski, who wrote Prisoners.)" Interesting observation made by Nick on www.rogerebert.com
- gregopet 1y ago
  Ridley Scott can be terrible with stories (or picks projects with poor stories), as long as individual scenes are great. I've had trouble watching some of his work to their end, there was just so much WTF and random stuff. His name on a project is for me a signal to carefully check some reviews before committing.
gsich 1y ago
Very good show, got cancelled sadly.
guerrilla 1y ago
This is one I really didn't like. It's just too weird for me. It thrns my stomach to even think about it. Really dusgusting somehow. I say this as a big fan of horror and sci-fi and Alien* in particular.
- JohnKemeny 1y ago
  Why? Is it the androids raising children or something else?
  - justinclift 1y ago
    The extremely poor acting and non-sensical plot turned me off.
  - guerrilla 1y ago
    I don't know how to explain, just some visceral ick factor I've never had before.
wangii 1y ago
I have only one problem w/ the S1: the creators just not have the guts to kill Mother or Father. Don't get me wrong, I like them but it could make the whole series more distant and cold. on S2: a total disaster.
mojo74 1y ago
I liked it. It was strangely hypnotic viewing. Travis Himmel looked like he was stoned in it (his acting style?) and the plain weirdness of it reminded me of old Heavy Metal comics of the seventies. The nearest I have had to that was reading the Prophet series. Themes of religion and general human weirdness https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/prophet https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/prophet
- aaron695 1y ago
  [dead]
scarredwaits 1y ago
Excellent title sequence too (both visually and the music).
franze 1y ago
I never thought I would weep for a psychotic, hallucinatory, pregnant weapon of mass destruction. Yet here I am.
OldGreenYodaGPT 1y ago
I believe it was an ancient AI trapped on a planet, sending signals into space in hopes someone would come and set it free.
Mistletoe 1y ago
I beg HBO Max to show me any sci fi it has and it has never shown me this once and I’ve never even heard of the show. Guess HN had to save the day this time. I don’t see it available to stream anywhere? I’m opposed to pirating on moral grounds, what are my options now? https://www.reddit.com/r/raisedbywolves/comments/18510kf/where_to_buy_raised_by_wolves/ https://www.reddit.com/r/raisedbywolves/comments/18510kf/whe...
- mixmastamyk 1y ago
  Look it up on justwatch.
  - Mistletoe 1y ago
    I did, it’s just blank. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/raised-by-wolves-2020 https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/raised-by-wolves-2020
    - walterbell 1y ago
      Looks like Blu-ray/DVD physical media are still being sold.
SideburnsOfDoom 1y ago
What I wanted from "Raised by Wolves" was out there, big concept Sci-Fi What I would have settled for was a decent Space opera. What I got was a Shaggy God Story, a wild hallucinated fever dream, a wooly, baggy technicolour Biblical riff, that promised a lot but made little actual sense. I slogged through season 1, and then gave it up.
xtiansimon 1y ago
No love for “Lost in Space” (2018–2021)?
an0malous 1y ago
This is the best show I’ve seen since Game of Thrones. It’s so unique and mind expanding. The problem with the modern data driven approach to TV production is that it optimizes for the shows that are just good enough to get people to keep their subscriptions, and the truly visionary stuff gets cancelled. The best shows always take a while to build up popularity because they’re so new that people aren’t willing to give them a chance at first. Breaking Bad and Mad Men didn’t become popular until season 2 or 3. TV execs have no vision anymore, it’s all run by hill climbing algorithms that look for the nearest maximum now. The golden age of TV is behind us now. It’s just yet another example of enshittification.
aeve890 1y ago
Cool show, weird plot, but what totally ruined for me was... Travis Fimmel. IMO this guy has zero range. Always the same lazy, drunk-ish style since, I don't know, Vikings. Ragnar in Kattegat, Ragnar in Azeroth, Ragnar in space, Ragnar in Dune.
- walterbell 1y ago
  https://ragnantmedia.com/heartfelt-farewell-travis-fimmel-bids-hollywood-goodbye-in-emotional-open-letter/ https://ragnantmedia.com/heartfelt-farewell-travis-fimmel-bi...
  - aeve890 1y ago
    Oh wow. I didn't know. Praise Sol I guess?
- atombender 1y ago
  Agreed. I think the overacting suited his character, but it got old very fast. Then I tried to watch Vikings, and was put off in the same way. I think he could have potential if directed correctly, but so far he has been overacting with the same kind of psychotic swagger in every role I've seen him in.
wetpaws 1y ago
[dead]
atombender 1y ago
I thought it was one of the most original sci-fi shows ever made for TV. But it was also constantly frustrating, dragging out the central mystery while filling the time with too many standard tropes (rhe scenery-chewing bad acting of Travis Fimmel, the annoying kid that keeps disobeying the androids). If the first season had been reduced by half and followed up with some answers, it would have been fantastic. The second season was frustrating because it kept adding new mysteries and conflicts rather than filling out the world building and backstory. It was well made enough that it could have gotten somewhere, but it was apparent that the second season had a lower budget, and I was not surprised to see it get canceled in the midst of the HBO cost cutting. (I've been waiting for an interview with Aaron Guzikowski where someone asks him what the ending would have been if they'd have time to tell the whole story. Sadly, no such interview seems to have happened, and Guzikowski hasn't done anything since that show.) While mystery shows are intriguing, it's gotten a bit much. I feel we need to get back to stories where we don't go several seasons waiting for a real answer and resolution, while constantly under the threat of cancellation.

72 points by walterbell 1y ago

I liked it a ton. Its nice to see hollywood take a chance on new IP. Not exactly the same comparison but The Silo series by Apple also comes to mind.

junipertea 1y ago
The Silo is a book adaptation, not a new IP.
- throwawayffffas 1y ago
  It's "new" IP in the sense there has been no previous tv show or movie and that is not attached to a large existing franchise. It's not marvel or Star Wars.
  - blinded 1y ago
    That's what I met to convey. Apologies for that.

comeondude 1y ago

It was so weird and visceral. Wish they didn’t cancel it.

madaxe_again 1y ago
Distribution sucked. Wouldn’t be surprised if 80%+ of their audience pirated it.
- walterbell 1y ago
  It's on iTunes now.

scheeseman486 1y ago

I'm still pissed off about this one. People call it a mystery box but that's a bit unfair, the story, motivations and worldbuilding do make sense it's just extremely weird. Did end on a hell of a cliffhanger though.

pringk02 1y ago

I remember when the pilot had Ridley Scott’s name attached to it in some way and I couldn’t help but wonder: What is it with that man and pregnancy in space?

madaxe_again 1y ago
2001: A Space Odyssey. He’s cited it as being profoundly influential on his thinking and film making. The Star Child is the dream, Scott creates the nightmares.

lwansbrough 1y ago

Absolutely love the title sequence of this show. Maybe my favourite part about it. :/

gibagger 1y ago
It was pretty poetic and enigmatic, wasn't it?. As for the show, I have mixed feelings. They just kept jumping the shark time and time again so at some point it got sort of normalized.

faeyanpiraat 1y ago

The first season was excellent, and then in the 2nd season they did ruin lots of the story lines with just lame choices, and then the ending went completely downhill for me. It pissed me off, just like GoT. There was this other series called Murderbot which had some similarities in the setting of the story. It was not that great compared to the 1st season of Raised by Wolves, but it was consistent throughout the whole series (so far) in quality, and it is much more satisfying. Anyways if you like scifi and haven't checked out The Expanse yet, that is a masterpiece.

datahack 1y ago
I’ve been listening to the audiobooks of the expanse via our local library. Absolutely fantastic series — you are spot on! Also, remember to support your local library.
- block_dagger 1y ago
  I watched and read the entire series. Much of it is boring and poorly written both from a style perspective as well as character development. It’s famous but doesn’t live up to many scifi masterpieces imo.
  - faeyanpiraat 1y ago
    What would you recommend?
    - block_dagger 1y ago
      Scifi series: Dune (the first 3 books) Vinge’s Deepness series Dark Forest (3 Body Problem…)
    - justinclift 1y ago
      Alastair Reynolds "Revelation Space" series was really good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space_series Also, both the "Children of Time" and "Shadows of the Apt" series by Adrian Tchaikovsky are excellent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Tchaikovsky#Bibliography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Tchaikovsky#Bibliograph...

everyone 1y ago

Really? it was dumb as a brick imo.. Also they did that slimy practice of having a busy and intriguing 1st episode, then a whole season of bland filler, concluding in an action packed final episode. I honestly felt scammed after watching S1 of that.

mrmincent 1y ago

I loved it, it was so weird and different to anything else I was watching at the time. I was sad-but-not-shocked to see it get cancelled. Would love to see it finished via a book.

jose_mr 1y ago

"Ridley Scott directed the first two episodes of the series, and using his name as part of the marketing is a fair move (even if it was created by Aaron Guzikowski, who wrote Prisoners.)" Interesting observation made by Nick on www.rogerebert.com

gregopet 1y ago
Ridley Scott can be terrible with stories (or picks projects with poor stories), as long as individual scenes are great. I've had trouble watching some of his work to their end, there was just so much WTF and random stuff. His name on a project is for me a signal to carefully check some reviews before committing.

gsich 1y ago

Very good show, got cancelled sadly.

guerrilla 1y ago

This is one I really didn't like. It's just too weird for me. It thrns my stomach to even think about it. Really dusgusting somehow. I say this as a big fan of horror and sci-fi and Alien* in particular.

JohnKemeny 1y ago
Why? Is it the androids raising children or something else?
- justinclift 1y ago
  The extremely poor acting and non-sensical plot turned me off.
- guerrilla 1y ago
  I don't know how to explain, just some visceral ick factor I've never had before.

wangii 1y ago

I have only one problem w/ the S1: the creators just not have the guts to kill Mother or Father. Don't get me wrong, I like them but it could make the whole series more distant and cold. on S2: a total disaster.

mojo74 1y ago

I liked it. It was strangely hypnotic viewing. Travis Himmel looked like he was stoned in it (his acting style?) and the plain weirdness of it reminded me of old Heavy Metal comics of the seventies. The nearest I have had to that was reading the Prophet series. Themes of religion and general human weirdness https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/prophet https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/prophet

aaron695 1y ago
[dead]

scarredwaits 1y ago

Excellent title sequence too (both visually and the music).

franze 1y ago

I never thought I would weep for a psychotic, hallucinatory, pregnant weapon of mass destruction. Yet here I am.

OldGreenYodaGPT 1y ago

I believe it was an ancient AI trapped on a planet, sending signals into space in hopes someone would come and set it free.

Mistletoe 1y ago

I beg HBO Max to show me any sci fi it has and it has never shown me this once and I’ve never even heard of the show. Guess HN had to save the day this time. I don’t see it available to stream anywhere? I’m opposed to pirating on moral grounds, what are my options now? https://www.reddit.com/r/raisedbywolves/comments/18510kf/where_to_buy_raised_by_wolves/ https://www.reddit.com/r/raisedbywolves/comments/18510kf/whe...

mixmastamyk 1y ago
Look it up on justwatch.
- Mistletoe 1y ago
  I did, it’s just blank. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/raised-by-wolves-2020 https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/raised-by-wolves-2020
  - walterbell 1y ago
    Looks like Blu-ray/DVD physical media are still being sold.

SideburnsOfDoom 1y ago

What I wanted from "Raised by Wolves" was out there, big concept Sci-Fi What I would have settled for was a decent Space opera. What I got was a Shaggy God Story, a wild hallucinated fever dream, a wooly, baggy technicolour Biblical riff, that promised a lot but made little actual sense. I slogged through season 1, and then gave it up.

xtiansimon 1y ago

No love for “Lost in Space” (2018–2021)?

an0malous 1y ago

This is the best show I’ve seen since Game of Thrones. It’s so unique and mind expanding. The problem with the modern data driven approach to TV production is that it optimizes for the shows that are just good enough to get people to keep their subscriptions, and the truly visionary stuff gets cancelled. The best shows always take a while to build up popularity because they’re so new that people aren’t willing to give them a chance at first. Breaking Bad and Mad Men didn’t become popular until season 2 or 3. TV execs have no vision anymore, it’s all run by hill climbing algorithms that look for the nearest maximum now. The golden age of TV is behind us now. It’s just yet another example of enshittification.

aeve890 1y ago

Cool show, weird plot, but what totally ruined for me was... Travis Fimmel. IMO this guy has zero range. Always the same lazy, drunk-ish style since, I don't know, Vikings. Ragnar in Kattegat, Ragnar in Azeroth, Ragnar in space, Ragnar in Dune.

walterbell 1y ago
https://ragnantmedia.com/heartfelt-farewell-travis-fimmel-bids-hollywood-goodbye-in-emotional-open-letter/ https://ragnantmedia.com/heartfelt-farewell-travis-fimmel-bi...
- aeve890 1y ago
  Oh wow. I didn't know. Praise Sol I guess?
atombender 1y ago
Agreed. I think the overacting suited his character, but it got old very fast. Then I tried to watch Vikings, and was put off in the same way. I think he could have potential if directed correctly, but so far he has been overacting with the same kind of psychotic swagger in every role I've seen him in.

wetpaws 1y ago

[dead]

atombender 1y ago

I thought it was one of the most original sci-fi shows ever made for TV. But it was also constantly frustrating, dragging out the central mystery while filling the time with too many standard tropes (rhe scenery-chewing bad acting of Travis Fimmel, the annoying kid that keeps disobeying the androids). If the first season had been reduced by half and followed up with some answers, it would have been fantastic. The second season was frustrating because it kept adding new mysteries and conflicts rather than filling out the world building and backstory. It was well made enough that it could have gotten somewhere, but it was apparent that the second season had a lower budget, and I was not surprised to see it get canceled in the midst of the HBO cost cutting. (I've been waiting for an interview with Aaron Guzikowski where someone asks him what the ending would have been if they'd have time to tell the whole story. Sadly, no such interview seems to have happened, and Guzikowski hasn't done anything since that show.) While mystery shows are intriguing, it's gotten a bit much. I feel we need to get back to stories where we don't go several seasons waiting for a real answer and resolution, while constantly under the threat of cancellation.