If all ten episodes of Foundation‘s first season prove to be as good as episode 1, Apple TV+ subscribers are in for an other-worldly treat these next two months.
The series debut episode, titled “The Emperor’s Peace”, plays out over the course of 1h 9min, and viewers should come away feeling zero regrets having devoted that time to Apple’s Original new space drama.
The production value and special effects seen throughout the episode, both in quantity and quality, rival any high budget Hollywood science fiction film. Seriously, at some points it is hard to wrap your head around the fact you’re watching a TV show on Apple TV.
The dazzling special effects are complimented with equally high budgeted set and costume design, which together, place Foundation amongst television’s most absolute elite visual productions.
The acting from the episode’s most prominent characters, namely Lou Llobell and Jared Harris, are top notch, and reliably carry the episode through its more narrative centric scenes.
The overarching futuristic space plot is not only captivating in itself, but also pivots in unexpected, jaw-dropping directions just over the course of the first hour long episode.
As far as similar shows go, there was a fair amount of murmuring headed into the debut of whether Foundation could be Game of Thrones in space, and with its epic production quality, British accents, and savage monarchal politics, that’s looking to be an apt comparison. (We would throw a splash of West World in the pot too.)
The first ten minutes of the episode admittedly gave us slight pause, as it shortly follows a young band of child actors doing their child acting best, but we were pleased to discover the episode quickly moves on to bigger and better things.
Having seen just one episode, it’s hard to say exactly where the rest of the season is headed. Without giving any spoilers, episode one leaves off in a place where it’s hard to predict exactly what the following episodes have in store.
Even if the following nine episodes somehow find a way to be space junk, we’d STILL recommend all Apple TV+ subscribers and science fiction fans make time to watch “Foundation” episode 1.
Now the question is: have we been primed for 10 glorious hours of television wonder? Or did Apple cram all its space goodness into the pilot?
Official SimpScore | Foundation: The Emperor’s Peace
9/10
Bookmark us to keep tabs on all our upcoming Foundation related coverage.