Foundation (Apple) [** SPOILERS **]

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120583651#Comment_120583651

Its only a trailer but seems to look like this will be a complete divergence from the books going forward.

Im interested still and hope as you do for more empire stuff as that was by far the most interesting story arc in S1

Given my distaste for Rings of Power and Wheel of Time completely ripping up the source material, I can understand people's annoyance.

I've not read all of the source works and am enjoying the show but it doesn't matter that the source was not great for direct adaption. They should have just made a different IP.

Asimov isn't THAT popular nowadays that they had to have the Foundation name attached

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120584204#Comment_120584204

I completely agree, its a similar although not as disaterous situation as happened to Terry Pratchett's Night Watch adaptation for BBC America, that show smacks of some show runner wanting to make a medieval, slightly magical, detective show with very specific themes and characters that to gain an immediate audience they decided to ram it into one of discworlds most beloved group of characters while changing absolutely everything about what made the charcters special, unique and adored.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120584379#Comment_120584379

I'm inclined as moderator to infract that post for even reminding us that Watch "adaptation" ever existed.

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120584397#Comment_120584397

Id consider that fair, I apologise to everyone

pixelburp

Another new trailer has arrived

https://youtu.be/2t0BGkVQMuQ

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120710034#Comment_120710034

Lots of Cleon so im happy.

Spoiler Warning

I wonder if that's possibly The Mule at 1:25?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120710349#Comment_120710349

Lee Pace must have so much to work with, basically playing multiple characters without ever having to share a set with "himself". By far the best character and hopefully the trailer isn't a tease and we do indeed spend more time with him/them.

Slydice

Looks like they're gonna be a fight.

pixelburp

And yet another new trailer? I guess Apple wanna push this one.

Whatever about the faithfulness (or lack?) of the adaptation or the tedious Chosen One garbage, this remains a very handsome, gorgeous show, one that leans into the Opera part of Space Opera.

https://youtu.be/kBHT1oebvDk

Potatoeman

I enjoyed it so far. It’s slow so may not be for everyone but I don’t mind that in sci-fi.

Slydice

Feels so fresh to me 🙂

spuddy01

Just finished the 1st season on wed bit of a binge. But quite enjoyed the show looking forward to the 2nd season.

pixelburp

First episode dropped today, FYI

corkie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120852603#Comment_120852603

Thanks for the notice!

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/foundation-recap-what-happened-in-season-1/

Spoilers in the below for the first episode of season 2.

https://foundation.fandom.com/wiki/In_Seldon%27s_Shadow

Edit: - The show definitely threw us back in at deep end, with what seemed at first disconnect story lines.

Sudden Valley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120852603#Comment_120852603

Good episode. The empire storyline is still the best and the acting talents of Harris still seem wasted

pixelburp

Caught that first episode and intriguing enough; certainly continues from the first season in that the Empire material was infinitely more interesting and gripping than all the Chosen One, superpower nonsense of Gail & Salvor (sic). It remains such a weak aspect of the show, and its thrust continues to undercut the whole point of Harry's grand plan. No one person is important in the grand scheme of the plan ... except for those that do.

Agent Coulson

Harris does seem wasted.

Everytime I see Lee Pace all I can think about pies.

Slydice

2.1: Oh that was good! This story feels so new. Jared Harris feels like he's really putting a lot in as well. Really felt like they build on how trashed he had been by Gaal in the first season. Had me remembering Ian McKellen stuck in his prison in X-Men at first.

The mega structure rings around the planet looked so cool!

At the start, that

Spoiler Warning

fight was shocking and later the eyeless assassins and how Empire was getting married and all how it was shown

combined with Gaal and Salvor talking the time passing and their ages

that was some good handling of such a complex story

Really feels like there's gonna be a big space battle or more coming up

God, I'm glad this is back. It looks as good as ever.

Pieces have been set nicely, new players introduced, and new world order explained. Fantastic way to introduce the 2nd season.

Apple are knocking it out of the park, with their sci-fi.

Considering how, as a tech company, I hate them; I'm loving the streaming direction

VinLieger

One things confusing me about the episode, Gaal shows the timelines blue and red, however the blue timeline shows no crisis bubbles happening beyond the first one but we know Hari had planned for and expected more to happen along the blue planned timeline?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120874088#Comment_120874088

I put it down to gross simplification crossed with the writer's of this show insisting on Gaal being the Only One who can save the Foundation.

Slydice

I was thinking a crisis meant, for Gaal and Hari, that the foundation plan was in danger while the blue would see it through.

If that is what blue was about, as I remember, it would mean crisis stuff could happen but probably in a way that would lead to the end of empire and the avoiding of the dark age.. ages? .. they were trying to avoid. That with the red line and the crisises.. there was mention of worser dark ages than the one they were originally trying to avoid by going the blue route.

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120877466#Comment_120877466

Well if that's the case they are again completely deviating from the books in which there were expected crisises in Haris plan the whole way through the foundations existence that if they fail to succeed in the foundation will likely fall, after each one a hologram of him appeared in the vault to explain the significance of what they went through.

mewso

The books are in the bin since about half-way through the first series.

corkie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120878011#Comment_120878011

Yes have varied very far from the source material. And introducing the below in spoiler, is way to soon.

https://foundation.fandom.com/wiki/A_Glimpse_of_Darkness

Spoiler Warning

Having 'The Mule', been shown as a future preview, really takes away from the Mystery of who he is for later seasons.

Foundation Season 2 could fix the worst thing about the Isaac Asimov books

We’ll get there, hopefully, but when the Mule shows up, we will have earned the Mule.”

Have they achieved that?

What I don't understand is they say in episode the 'The Second Foundation' wasn't formed yet, but then go looking for the planet it is on?

mewso

That first linked article in your spoiler is so bizarre. The Foundation series was flawed because it started as a series of short stories? Confused the reader? Nope worked perfectly fine. In any case people who haven't read the books seem to be enjoying the show so good luck to them. I watched episode 1 of this new season just to double-check and yep, from my point of view, still generally horse sh1t. So I won't be watching anymore. Lee Pace is good and the empire side of the story was done well in season 1. Only problem being that almost everything else was terrible imo so not worth watching it just for one small part.

VinLieger

They have diverged from the books a fair bit but the cult of scientism is a core part of how the foundation begins to expand in the books and as they are using the same names like Bel Riose for the General and Hober Mallow im guessing we will see some roots in the books for how the rest of the season develops,

Spoiler Warning

But I agree the Mule as a known entity has been produced far too early, the shadow of his future effects would be far more ominous to have used until later episodes.

Slydice

Holt McCallany, what a legend! He was great in Mindhunter! His charisma this episode captured all the scenes he was in!

2.2: Oh this story is pulling me right in. Definitely feels like there's some big action going to be coming up. I said it almost feels like a four dimensional story at this point. Not that I didn't note some weak points.

Spoiler Warning

The story feels like it's incorporating time in a really cool way. Not just messing about with a future line but also back but like.. where messing back doesn't feel as precarious to the future messer.

That baddie, at first I was guessing was an AI of somekind but Gaal said a telepath. Maybe a telepathic AI. I dunno.

The Hober Mallow thing seems to be a threat to wipe out Empire easily but the crisis that leads humanity all the wrong way to this baddie.

Can't believe they killed off Holt McCallany so soon. Big message about Hober Mallow to the foundation/audience I guess.

The weak points I felt were Salvor on the ship in the sky.. I'm going with the idea of maybe the lack of wind could be explained from inertia dampeners. Feels right for the level of tech empire had in season one. The other weak point was the planet the foundation was recruiting on. Very cheap looking set.. almost looked like a stage play.. kinda was for the recruitment ceremony.. though I'm hoping that meant they were saving money for space battles to come.

PhiloCypher

Really enjoy this show. It can be clumsy in its broadstroke world building like the mechanic of having Salvor and Gaal spend time in stasis pods to make sure they're still alive when we kick off season 2 138 years later. But in its more intimate scenes and especially in its 'Empire' scenes they've been incredibly deft in how they've used Queen Seraphs precociousness as a audience proxy to dig into the ramifications of Cleon the 17ths decisions and how its perceived in the wider Empire.