Moonhaven

...It Is A Detective Mystery After All, (essentially), and an interesting one at that, despite the pacing. Visually it's very well done. The acting is average, has a few high points, but not great. Oddly enough, although unintentional, it works very well in many ways (or could) as a "Deep-Past/Deep-History" prequel to Raised By Wolves. All of the kernel elements are there. Despite it not being a prequel to that very odd, interesting (& dark) but foolishly canceled series, thinking of it on some level as just that has made Moonhaven slightly more enjoyable for me than it otherwise would have been. For that reason I've given it a couple of xtra stars. Either way, it's not as terrible as some reviews make it out to be. Just quirky, and as mentioned, meanders a bit like many detective stories tend to do as they flesh out & find their footing.

Wow, a lot of people seem to hate this, and I'm going to say something about that, but first let me just talk about how much I like the series.

In Moonhaven, humans have completely trashed the earth. To try and save the planet they installed an advanced AI on the moon which moon colonists work with to both create technology to heal the earth and to create a new societal approach to keep man from continuing his destructive ways.

This utopian moon colony is seriously hippy-dippy. People learn elaborate group dances to commemorate good and bad events and the job of police is not to solve crimes (the AI can do that) but to help people heal from the trauma of violence.

The creators of this show really thought through this world. You can argue about whether this tribal hippy thing is what an A. I. would create, but if you think about the forces that make man so destructive it actually seems like a pretty reasonable approach. And the show has detailed social structures, rituals, and language changes. (It also at times has an odd medieval-ish quality to it.)

The series begins just before the moon colonists are sheduled to come to earth and begin the healing process. But things aren't that simple. A woman is murdered. Her earther sister (beautifully played by Emma McDonald with a dry, Zendaya-like cynicism) is a pilot who happens to have come to the moon just then. Soon there's more violence. The genial police begin to realize there's more going on than their AI has solved (or told them). Meanwhile there are political conflicts that could bring down the earth-healing plan.

The first episode begins at a leisurely pace made up for with its originality, but soon there are a lot of twists and turns and things really start moving.

So, great sci-fi, world building, a compelling mystery, political intrigue. What's not to like?

For a lot of people on IMDB, the answer is ... everything! This series has a ton of 1-star ratings, and it's very puzzling to me.

Now, one thing that can kill a good show's ratings are anti-"woke" folk downvoting, but from the reviews it doesn't seem that's what's happening here, even though its diverse cast and powerful women are what often triggers these people.

But a lot of the criticisms don't make much sense. For example, some say the show is "cliched and predictable" yet those same people complain about the bland cliched utopia which means they don't understand that a utopia in sci-fi almost invariably is rotting underneath. Some people find the female lead unlikable, but she's a classic anti-hero who represents the earther brutality the mooners are supposed to heal, so why *wouldn't* she be abrasive? Some people say the series is slow moving and yet some say it's not as good as the movie Dune which moved like paint drying.

I feel part of the issue is expectations for sci-fi. For some, sci-fi is all about the CGI and the epic mythmaking. These are the people who want Star Wars and Terminator and don't understand the appeal of an Ursula Le Guin. Building an intricate world is, for them, not sci-fi, because it's not viscerally exciting. For me, though, it's intellectually exciting.

I'm not saying people have to like the show, but the critics are being ridiculous. In my life I've given maybe 2 series a 1-star rating, yet half the people here give it a 1 and say that the acting and writing are incompetent, which is not a reasonable or sensible critique. If someone finds it a little too slow, or finds the premise unconvincing, or just doesn't like the characters, that's their prerogative and there's no right and wrong in personal taste. But this level of antagonism is just ... weird.

This is why I'm honestly wondering if perhaps the anti-woke brigade is simply getting more strategic and trying to downvote shows without showing their hand so obviously. Because there's really nothing in this series that should reasonably be making people so mad unless they utterly hate diversity and strong women and hippy-dippy utopias.

But I can't ascribe beliefs to critics that they aren't themselves claiming, so perhaps it's something else. It just makes no sense to me.

In short, it's a great story, great sci-fi world building, fun characters, and a nice mix of drama, humor, action, and intrigue. I highly recommend it.

From the premise to the setting and the characters, Moonhaven looked to me at first a bit ridiculous. I gave it a chance, though, and I began to like it. Very much. Acting and writing are decent, production values high. Sometimes the music is outstanding. The atmosphere and details (i.e. In language and thinking) were very captivating for me.

Don't let yourselves be deceived by the looks and behaviors of the mooners. It is only similiar to flower power and the likes. But it is a very different view of common life, and in this future the insights to this life is considered as the final salvation of earth, since the future teachers of humankind (and a mysterious AI) are nurtured there, far away from any influence our violent, bubbling world could have on them.

That seems to be a very realistic approach to what is needed four our own salvation. It is a different perspective, maybe not as radical as here, or, maybe even more radical. However, it is inevitable that we soon will need salvation if our own history shall not turn out like that in this show.

Of course, the show is not perfect. There are a few cliches (evil people want to take power over this paradise) and some idlings, and at some rare points you may not fully know what's going on. But the biggest flaw is that this season ends just after 6 episodes...luckily, season 2 is confirmed.

I give it 8 points, which means "very good". It is worth watching and thoughtful, especially in our time, which grows increasingly egocentric and narcissistic.

Should you even be able to give a review if you only watch 5 minutes? The amount of 1 & 2's from people who don't even watch and actually hate sci fi sorta affects the overall rating. It's not Blade Runner but it's nowhere near this low of a rating.

The negative reviews are very strange for this show. I found it kept my interest and I am keen to follow where it leads. Silly arguments about what is and what is not science fiction are irritating and lead nowhere. I will continue to watch as it is intriguing.