This has been an odd show. It is not super faithful to the original books. It seems to dramatize the tension between Hari's predictions of great movements of people and the effects of the outliers - individuals who act in chaotic ways whose actions can't be predicted and actually *may* be forming history - in a way that I think is almost directly in opposition to the first few books of Asimov's series.
Often it doesn't seem to work very well - the tension isn't so much dramatized as it is just an unclear mess on the screen. But every so often, episodes rise through the disorganized world-building and give you a sense of something organized and interesting.
It's not really Foundation as such, but when it happens it's suddenly really quite good.
It happens in this episode with some big reveals, big plot points, some clockwork ticking into place and some fun scenes and engaging characters. But it also benefits from some *great* direction from Roxann Dawson, with the pacing, characters, form, shape and drama all operating at top form.
Genuinely this *may* come to be seen as a great show. It's definitely not a great one yet. But this may be a so-far mediocre show's first truly great episode. And who knows, that may bode very well for any seasons to come.
