Review: The First Two Episodes of FOUNDATION is Grand in Scope and Story

With what seems to be an abundance of great television to watch right now, Apple TV+ has brought us a show that I have waited to be made for a long time, Isaac Azimov’s Foundation.

I have been given the opportunity by Apple TV+ to watch the series and give you a weekly glance into each episode. I have to say from the start, the budget for this show must be one of the highest out there. The first episode alone has a better cast and special effects cadre than most big budget movies I’ve seen in a while. To go along with the amazing cast, which consists of Jared Harris (Chernobyl), Alfred Enoch (Harry Potter), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy) and a relative newcomer Lou Llobell as the main character, Gaal Dornick, the writing for the show is second to none.

The talented group is not only able to navigate viewers through multiple worlds and cultures with relative ease, but they take the rather complicated story line of how math can accurately predict the future and explain it on a level that can make someone like me feel like they could understand it.

I am going to go into full spoiler filled rant soon, but I am going to give you some spoiler free content for those of you who need it that way.

Foundation has a Westworld way of timey-wimey time jumps back and fourth. Luckily, it is pretty easy to follow, so that is fun. The show starts off following Gaal leaving her home planet of Synnax to be an understudy to the Empire’s most famous mathematician Hari Seldon (Harris). Little does she know that by doing so will set off a chain of events that will include terrorism, banishment and murder. All of this you will find in the first two episodes of Foundation.

I am a big fan of what this show is. It feels like one of the only shows that actually feels grand in scope and story. I am really excited for what this show has in store for us. Please check this gem of a show out and let me know what you think.

Please check it out and let me know what you think. Now, get out of here before I start spoiling things.

Okay folks, lets get into this. There is a lot to unpack here.

The first episode, “The Emperor’s Peace,” is directed by Rupert Sanders (Ghost in the Shell). It starts off showing off a monolith called The Vault on a semi-deserted planet called Terminus. The Vault is not only a mystery to us, but to the residents of the planet. From the outset you see that the people of terminus are supremely curious to what The Vault holds, however, they cannot get close because the closer you get, the more painful it is. The Vault has an invisible barrier that surrounds it which causes any human that enters the area pain and confusion to the point of passing out.

Then we rewind the clock 37 years to the planet of Synnax where we find Gaal preparing to leave her home planet forever to be an understudy to the Galactic Empire’s premier mathematician Hari Seldon. Upon arriving, Gaal finds out that Hari has an hunky assistant named Raych (Enoch), but they are all going to be arrested and possibly put to death. Using mathematical equations to predict the future called psychohistory, Seldon has predicted the fall of the Galactic Empire. Apparently this doesn’t sit well with the ruling party which consists of three clones of the original Emperor at different stages in his life called The Empire. At trial, The Empire has decided to execute Seldon and his troop for treason when a terrorist attack that kills close to 1 billion people on the planet causes The Empire to listen to what Seldon has to say. After listening to Seldon’s plan to help save humanity, The Empire decides to banish the team to a planet on the edge of the Galaxy called Terminus.

The second episode is broken up between The Empire’s struggle to make things right in a world that has been turned upside down and the crew of the ship traveling through space to their final destination Terminus. The Empire consists of three members- The Dawn, the child version of the original Emperor from 400 years previous; The Day (Pace) who is the adult version of the Emperor; and The Dusk, the elderly version of the Emperor. Dusk is dealing with his own mortality as he is getting to the fourth stage in the clones lives called The Darkness which is equal to death. As he gets closer to death, a new clone is being created to keep the cycle of clones going to retain the balance The Empire has maintained since the death of the original ruler of the Galactic Empire. Dusk feels that maybe the continued cloning may not be what is best for the people of the Empire. A thought that is concerning to the other clones.

While this existential struggle is going on at the center of the Empire, the ship rocketing to Terminus has its own drama going on. Like what was hinted at in the first episode, Gaal and Raych have fallen in love, despite what Gaal thinks is Seldon’s jealousy. However, no matter how she thinks of Seldon, the crew of people that were hand selected by Seldon to be on this one way voyage to the saving of the Galaxy, absolutely adore him. All of these scenes seem to be innocuous in nature. The people on the ship preparing for life on a harsh outworld planet that no one, except for Seldon, knows about. Then while at dinner, Raych seems annoyed and just done with Seldon after Seldon tells the story of how he and Raych met. Raych leaves in a huff, causing a scene that everyone notices. Afterwards, we find Gaal alone swimming, when she gets the feeling that something is not right. She heads straight for Seldon’s room where she walks in on Raych stabbing Seldon to death. Without thinking, she allows Raych to escort her to an escape pod where he throws both Gaal and the murder weapon. He tells her to trust him, then Raych ejects the pod containing a murder weapon and the love of his life into the blackness of space, five years away from the ships final destination.

At this point I am hooked. I could not wait to start the third episode. I know what I have given you is a spoilery overview of what these episodes have in store for you. If you have already watched, let me know what you think. If not, I highly recommend them!