Pantheon

The show has great animation with an equally great storyline filled with suspense and intriguing mysteries. Pantheon is a show that deals with artificial intelligence, conspiracies, and what it means to be human, and it does all through interconnected storylines with Maddie, a girl dealing with the loss of her father, who worked in computer technology and Caspian, a hacker who spends most of his time on the internet looking up mysteries to distract from his dysfunctional family life. That's all that can be said because it's one of those shows that needs to be seen for oneself to see how amazing it is. My only wish is that AMC advertised the show more so general audiences would know about it.

This show is smart, emotional and entertaining. There are a few interconnected side stories going on that make me excited to figure out the big picture.

I noticed there are so many details and small moments that reflect our real modern life. Genuine uses of technology in daily life byt things that I have never seen shown before in film or television. These small touches made the story feel grounded in reality even though it is science fiction in the end. Highly recommend the show so far (2 episodes). Also cool to see the dedication to William Hurt. I did not know that he had worked on the show before his death. RIP.

This show deals with heady sci-fi concepts in a way that is fully grounded in relatable human drama. The soundtracking, art style, voicing and pacing are all completely on point. It also incorporates a lot of digital imagery and connects with the online world a fair bit.

With that ground start, we can expect it to go deeper down the rabbit hole as it goes. Honestly excited for every new episode.

I won't spoil what the central premise is, you just have to watch to find out. BTW, isn't this new 600 character requirement a joy to deal with lol? Anyway, 9/10 really quality stuff, and I don't normally go for animation.

This show occasionally has some of the most beautiful writing I've ever seen in an animated series. Other times, it's painfully ordinary.

What I mean by that is, "Pantheon" begins as a highly compelling character drama imbued with Sci-Fi elements from theoretical computer science. I immediately fell in love with it, and this series continued to deliver-episode after episode. However, at a certain point in season 1, it begins to pivot.

When the virtual world becomes a more prominent component of the series, it gave writers the freedom to pretty much write any sequence of events from an imaginary standpoint. This led to an immense number of action scenes, and this remains rampant for roughly 9 episodes in a row. Given that Pantheon is two seasons and a total of 16 episodes, this action becomes part of its identity.

Don't get me wrong, I have no opposition towards action scenes or fantasy. It was animated quite well, given their budget. But this series was previously a really eloquent character drama. That's what made me binge it, and I missed that. Problems were solved through a thought-out series of events, and then it just becomes "my energy blast is stronger than yours", which feels like a betrayal. For 9 episodes, Pantheon is comparable to your average superhero show or movie.

However, the last two episodes of season 2 were once again interesting. I enjoyed it quite a lot and commend the writers for pulling it off. I still prefer the first six episodes of season 1, but the ending of season 2 was a pivot I welcomed with open arms. Had it not been for those two episodes, I would have given this series an overall 8/10, instead a 9.

We need more series like Pantheon and they need to be supported. While it has its flaws, it's still better than a vast majority of 'live-action' television series.

(8.6875/10) Season 1 (10/10) episodes 1-5 Season 1 (8/10) episodes 6-8 Season 2 (7.5/10) episodes 1-6 Season 2 (10/10) episodes 7-8.

Watching "Pantheon" is like reading "Neuromancer" for the first time - I found myself totally engrossed in the world and story, and eager to find out what happens to both the main and supporting characters. Few movies, series, or books can do that for me (looking at you, "LoTR RoP").

While the animation could be better, I'm willing to overlook it because the story is simply that good. Compared to, for example, Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG, whose later episodes had really good graphics but lacked in storytelling and character development, Pantheon is so much more thought-provoking and philosophical.

I never read the short stories by Ken Liu on which this series is based, but given that the author has a producer credit, I am confident that the entire series will be excellent. Without giving spoilers, for me what stood out is that the technology described in Pantheon is very much plausible - given some more years of research. But as Isaac Asimov said, "The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."

That, I think, encapsulates nicely the series. If you enjoy cyberpunk or apocalyptic stories, then I'm sure that you'll enjoy Pantheon.