The Peripheral Season 1 Ep 1 – 2 are the first instalments of a 2022 American science fiction cyberpunk drama streaming television series executive produced and created by Scott Smith. Produced by Amazon, it is based on the 2014 book of the same name written by cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson.
S P O I L E R S
The Peripheral Season 1 Ep 1 – 2 has an intriguing premise. Instead of a simulated virtual reality that most cyberpunk stories deal in, the ‘other’ plane is actually the future! The series is set in two separate future times viz. 2032, where our protagonist Flynne Fisher (Chloë Grace Moretz), a skilful virtual gamer struggles to survive in an economically depressed mid-West and 2100, where the Research Institute (based in a post-apocalyptic London) have devised a means to influence the events of the past and which allows a person from the past to exist in the future via a alternate body designated as The Peripheral.
Definitely intriguing! However, The Peripheral Season 1 Ep 1 – 2 almost wastes its potential with ponderous exposition. While Ep 1 worked well to subvert our expectations of what the series is about, Ep 2 slows down the narrative somewhat to the detriment of any engagement. We would have expected more plot development to have taken place at least by Ep 2. Thus, in general, the jury is still out as to whether the series will live up to Gibson’s vision. We certainly hope it will.
READ OUR ANALYSES OF WESTWORLD.
The key quest for Flynne is to be a gun-for-hire for future folks working against the Research Institute, to help them find Alieta West – why they believe that Flynee is best placed to do so, isn’t quite clear. But apparently, the future folks are more than able to make it worth her time and effort – meaning, tons of moolah! It does feel as if the series has not quite kicked off yet but maybe the first two episodes were mainly set-up. But isn’t that the usual excuse for poor writing?
It is great to see Chloë Grace Moretz leading the series though, after too many disappointing roles and seeming to never quite match the impact she had with Hit Girl (in Kick-Ass), there is certainly scope for her to excel in this and for the series to be above average scifi fare. Fingers crossed.
Watch The Peripheral Season 1 Ep 1 – 2 on Amazon.
… still there’s more …