by Adam Ritchie, Contributing Writer
I must admit that I slightly regret putting my hand up to review this series. But fear not, as my regret does not stem from the quality of the show, but more with its complexity and being faced with the task of reviewing it in detail for you, dear reader. So, my review will cover broader brushstrokes of key concepts and key story points, as I also don’t want to give too much away for those holding off on seeing it.
As mentioned, Foundation is a complex and layered beast, based on a series of short stories published in the 1940s written by renowned science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. Later, the stories were consolidated, and then later still Asimov wrote prequels and sequels due to a demanding fanbase. The basic premise sees Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) predict the downfall of the ‘Empire’ based upon a mathematical method he designed and calls ‘psychohistory.’ Psychohistory fundamentally used statistics to predict likely outcomes in large populations.
The ‘Empire’ spans the entire Milky Way and is set millennia into the future. It consists of three rulers on the planet Trantor, all clones of the original, Cleon I. One is known as Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton), one is Brother Day (the MCU’s Ronan — Lee Pace), and the other Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann). Basically, their rule operates with Brother Day helming the empire, as Dawn observes and learns, and Dusk the sage and wise is in an advisory, elder-statesmen-type role.
The series begins with Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) being invited to Trantor at the behest of Seldon (Jared Harris), as word of her intellect has reached the galactic hub. Gaal comes from Synnax, a planet where the pursuit of knowledge is considered heresy, so as you can imagine, she eagerly leaves her home behind.
As Empire learns of Seldon’s predictions, they unsurprisingly become a little tetchy and punish anyone known to be following his teachings. Managing to convince them to set up a safety net, Empire sends Seldon and Gaal (among others) to the planet Terminus for them to set up the Foundationin the hope of preserving the Empire.
As we skip ahead in time, the Foundationcontains a mysterious obelisk, creating what they term a ‘null field,’ as it is unable to be approached as it sits atop a high point, hovering in the hills. Only one person is able to approach it, and that is the Terminus warden Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey). Soon, Terminus finds itself under attack from Anacreons, there to set into action the war on Empire that Hari predicted so long ago, and causing a tense standoff between Foundation natives and the invading Anacreons. Eventually being able to find and board the famous Invictus ship, the Anacreons use their Terminus hostages as fodder to take control of the ship so they can launch an attack on Empire.
Meanwhile, political games are afoot between the Empire ‘brothers.’ Brother Dawn falls in love with Azura (Amy Tyger), a servant that tends to the gardens. As we discover he is ‘divergent’ from the original clone, this puts pressure on him to hide this fact as he knows what his fate will be if Brothers Day or Dusk catch on. Brother Day travels to another colony, and finds himself on a spiritual journey to prove his worth to the masses and assert Empires waning position in the galaxy.
Brother Dawn makes a choice to escape the safety of the palace, and with the help of Azure, makes his way to the underground cities on Trantor where ‘the people’ live. Not knowing Brother Dusk has become suspicious of him, Dawn finds he has also been double crossed by Azure with the aim of implanting a lookalike into Empire to overthrow it.
As I said at the beginning of this review, these are broad brush strokes of the series. There is a lot more to the story that I will not spoil for you, suffice it to say with the pedigree of David S. Goyer (Dark Knight trilogy) behind it and a lot of that sweet, sweet Apple cash, Foundation has some of the most impeccable production values I’ve ever seen. On the level of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, the mix of practical and CGI effects is truly spectacular here, and the set and costume designs are all visually breathtaking. Performances are all solid, with clear standouts being Llobell and Harvey. Harris, although not in the show a great deal, certainly imposes his talent when he is on screen.
The way the story is intertwined with different periods, you will need to pay attention. Admittedly, I found myself a bit lost at times; however, staying engaged paid off in a very satisfying way for me. Knowing a second season is coming gives me one more thing to look forward to for 2022, and my gut feeling is that Foundation could just be one of the greatest sci-fi series ever put on the screen once all is said and done.
Grade: A-
You can follow Adam Ritchie on Twitter, Instagram, and Letterboxd