Foundation

... Its name didn't need to be Foundation. Imo, it's about 50% Asimov and the rest is a combo of soap opera, sc-fi-imperial politics, CGI explosions and Webb-esque space vistas. Heck, you could claim several other writers' materials were influences. Lots of this series is purely mainstream, outer space SF.

But it's excellent SF! Captivating sub-plots, likable characters and gorgeous images are extremely entertaining! In its own right, it is a superb show. Aye, and there's the rub... A "show" isn't necessarily literature. Michael Crichton and James Patterson were/are graphic oriented writers, evoking a "screenplay" feel in their fiction, which isn't meant as a detraction. Excellent easy read authors! Asimov isn't as frugal a wordsmith, however, and there are probably as many different visual interpretations of scenes in his books, as there are readers of his books. But then again, this is series is just loosely "based" on his work, whether it is expressly acknowledged or not.

While I love the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov(and the Empire and Robots series), I admit it may be a bit dated. The novels were written during the '50s and Asimov never described the visuals in detail.

It was therefore expected that any adaptation would diverge from the source material. And I don't mind it. A faithful adaptation would not be possible because we wouldn't know how the ships are supposed to look like, for example. I don't mind the gender swap in itself.

But the creators take too many liberties with the source materials to the point the story doesn't make sense for any science fiction fan. If Terminus is 55,000 light years away from Trantor and the colonists don't have jump ships, how do they travel? Why does it take 900 days to get there? That would mean they are travelling at 22,300 times the speed of light. This kind of oversight may be OK for a Marvel show, not for a show where math plays a central role.

I was also disheartened by changing Demerzel's gender. Not because of itself, but because in the books Eto Dermerzel is a very special character with a deep backstory. Changing his gender sends ripples everywhere. It's like making Han Solo or Ron Weasley a woman.

Hari's relationship with Raych is also changed for the worse, presumably to make room for Gaal. Sigh.

All these changes leave us with really impressive visuals and a weakened story. Not the Foundation I expected.

I remember watching the first couple episodes and not being very impressed. Not necessarily hating it, but not intrigued. It felt like a very traditional sci-fi series, akin to dune or star wars. A year or two later, i tried watching again... and now i'm somehow roped in and invested and binged most of the show well into 4 in the morning.

Great visual effects, music, vfx, product and costume design, even acting. Really intriguing clone concept (and a very obvious anagram for Cleon). Fantastic world building and i appreciated the non-linear storytelling. Interested to see where this series will take us!

Foundation is an intriguing sci-fi series that grows on you the more you watch it. At first, it can feel confusing-just as you're starting to get to know a character, they disappear, only to return much later, if at all. Then you're introduced to someone new, and the whole process of connecting with a character begins again. On top of that, events unfold across different locations, and the series makes massive jumps in time-particularly long ones between seasons.

I've completed Seasons 1 and 2. One of the show's strengths is that as each season progresses, the seemingly loose ends begin to tie together and make sense. Many odd or minor events and details-even from the very first episode-are only explained later in the season or in the finale. But if you keep your eyes and ears open, you might catch subtle clues that help you make sense of things as they unfold. Almost nothing is said without a reason. While Season 1 is built largely on suspense, Season 2 leans more toward action.

The series features numerous plot twists that help keep viewers engaged. Many come out of nowhere and aren't always happy or innocent-but that's part of the fun. In many ways, it resembles Dune, especially in tone and scale. However, one of Foundation's most distinctive traits is its pacing: at times, things move very slowly, only for the show to suddenly jump forward by decades, suggesting sweeping generational changes and the loss of familiar characters.

Magnificent bouts of rich storytelling often feel diluted by cheap and pointless moments of juvenile entertainment. While the core of this series held the potential to become an ode to the greatest science-fiction writer of all times, it would appear that Apple couldn't keep itself from interfering in their typical (biased) politically correct, family friendly fashion. You stand on the shoulders of a giant, and behind that giant stand millions of minds inspired by a vision of the future the whole of humanity can rally behind. The implications of the existential questions raised by Asimov are not PG-rated, this shouldn't be either.