Foundation S01E01 – S01E02 are the first two episodes of an American science fiction epic streaming drama based on the classic novel series written by Isaac Asimov. Asimov developed high concepts regarding the decline and fall of empires and civilisations in his Foundation series of novels (which number seven in total).
Together with Frank Herbert’s Dune series (out now as a film adaptation by Denis Villeneuve), Asimov’s Foundation is widely recognised as a pioneering scifi classic. However, in contrast to the recent Dune movie, Foundation is being adapted as a streaming series and theoretically, its narrative may have more time and space to be explored.
Foundation S01E01 – S01E02 sets out the premise of the series – in the waning days of a future Galactic Empire, the mathematician Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) spends his life developing a theory of psychohistory, a new and effective mathematical sociology. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Empire, a prediction that does not go down well with the ruling Emperor Cleon (Lee Pace) obviously. Young mathematician Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) is caught in this battle of wills between Seldon and Cleon and her life is irrevocably changed by events that suggests that Seldon may be right or are his predictions the cause of said events?
READ OUR REVIEW OF DUNE PART ONE.
Foundation S01E01 – S01E02 does an excellent job in presenting this complicated epic in digestible morsels and even someone unfamiliar with Asimov’s books should be able to follow the narrative easily enough. The caveat being – just like the Dune movie – at least some appreciation of hard scifi would be necessary to enjoy Foundation.
The plot, characterisations and thematic development are all top notch and certainly promises much for the series based on Foundation S01E01 – S01E02. Obviously targetted for the Game of Thrones crowd with its political intrigue, visceral violence and plot twists. Kudos to Apple and show runner David S Goyer (The Dark Knight trilogy) for putting together ambitious streaming adaptation. Highly recommended.
… still there’s more …