by Austen Terry, Contributing Writer
Over the past several years, Amazon Prime has come out with some pretty decent original content, especially in the sci-fi genre. Recently, they dropped their newest show, The Peripheral, which based on the William Gibson novel of the same name. It’s a futuristic sci-fi show that reals like a darker twist on the Ready Player One world mixed with the world of The Matrix. Amazon spared no expense on the budget. The future world of the show is beautiful to look at, and it takes on a semi-futuristic tech feel. The actual futuristic tech doesn’t feel as imaginative, but still shows that this alternative future reality is something you can believe is real. Everyone involved is giving their all and bringing great performances. The story pulls you in, and the mystery wraps through your mind, making you want more and more answers, while still leaving you with questions that one day will be answered in future seasons.
The Peripheral is set in the year of 2032, where Flynne Fisher (Chloë Grace Moretz) escapes the daily monotony of her day-to-day life by filling in for her brother, Burton Fisher (Jack Reynor), during VR play throughs of realistic RPG video Games. When Burton is contacted by a company to try the newest headset for what he believes is a new video game, Flynn has to step in because she is responsible for his avatar being considered in the first place. Upon playing, Flynne, in Burton’s body, is transported to an alternative reality future where Aelita (Charlotte Riley) leads Flynne on a mission that puts their family in danger, both in their present time and in this future. When Aelita goes missing, her brother, Wilf Netherton (Gary Carr), continues to use Flynne (now in a peripheral of her own body) to find his sister and figure out what she is up to. In both realities, Flynne is being hunted by one of the leaders of the future world: the Research Institute, lead by Cherise (T’Nia Miller).
There is quite a lot going on in this show, and it is definitely one you will need to pay attention to throughout. Each episode leaves you with more questions, keeping you excited for the next one. The show brings in new ideas, while also pulling in current events to tell how the future alternate reality becomes the way it does. The visuals are quite unique, and show the gravitas of this future quite well. I was left, though, feeling that the future was imaginative enough. One of the things that has been a staple of futuristic shows and movies is that it’s always been impossible to believe technology that seems out of this world. Whereas, with most technology like haptics, robotics, or 3D printers, the way they are used in The Peripheral isn’t far off from where we are in the real world. That could be because this show is based on a novel from 2014 where these ideas would seem revolutionary in scope, or that they aren’t used to wow the audience.
Moretz, as always, delivers a fantastic performance, and if anything, she’s the only thing keeping you coming back each week, outside of the mystery. She plays her roles really well — you can somewhat say it’s two roles, or even possibly three: she’s 2032 Flynne, who is just trying to do what she can so her and her family can survive; then there’s 2100 Flynne, who is trying to figure out this alternate reality and see if she can trust these people and if she can help; and there’s the Peripheral, a robotic thing with human skin and features, that Flynne controls when she is in 2100, but when she is not there it very much acts like a robot. Moretz plays these roles to phenomenal strengths, and definitely works well with Reynor and Carr. She, as the protagonist, and Miller, as the antagonist, also blend and work extremely well together, with both showing what they will go to protect what they care about.
With the show set in a small South Carolina town, there are of course others who show up, each of whom bring their own traits to the roles. First, you have secondary antagonist, Corbell Pickett (Louis Herthum), who is the boss hog of the town — everyone fears him, and he runs everything. Second, you have Deputy Tommy Constantine (Alex Hernandez), who tries being the good cop and is just trying to figure everything out to protect his friends. Third, you have Connor Penske (Eli Goree), a disabled marine who just wants to help and regain some of what he has lost. There are several others, but each character and actor brings something to the table that will keep you invested until the end of the season.
The first season of The Peripheral is a great introduction to this world, and gives you just enough to keep you invested throughout. Hopefully there will be more seasons to come to fully flesh out the experience. It may not go down as the best sci-fi ever, but it possibly won’t be easily forgotten, either. I recommend checking it out now that all episodes are streaming on Amazon Prime.
Score: 7/10
The Peripheral is currently streaming on Prime Video
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