The Peripheral [Amazon Prime]

pixelburp

Coming Oct. 21, based off of a novel by William Gibson. Adapted by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy; being the chief heads of Westworld, I'll leave it to ye whether that's a good point or bad. The trailer does look super-slick, and suitably cyberpunk in places (it is Gibson after all)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSaWHbCSmRI

pixelburp

New trailer popped up; this looks quite stylish with some decent talent behind it all.

https://youtu.be/bRdkRQzcrrc

cdgalwegian

The series had its world premiere on October 11, 2022 at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, before its debut on October 21, 2022 on Amazon Prime Video.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peripheral_%28TV_series%29

AMKC

https://youtu.be/bRdkRQzcrrc

Not that I will be watching it on that lol but I will watch it for sure.

Slydice

Thread here:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058262687/the-peripheral-amazon-prime

pixelburp

Threads merged.

AMKC

Thanks. I did look before starting a thread on it. Nothing came up :( .

cdgalwegian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119769496#Comment_119769496

Thread set up for this type of thing here:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058262887/the-anybody-watching-this-series-thread

I did ask in the Sofa thread if this should be a sticky, because it's a very common occurrence.

corkie

https://www.theverge.com/23412567/the-peripheral-review-amazon-prime-video-william-gibson-book

As with all adaptations, The Peripheral comes with changes; unfortunately, in this case, they’re to the detriment of the story. In the book, Gibson does a great job exploring celebrity and power and the delicate work of managing optics in a post-social media world — the complex art of seeing,

After been burned by ROP, I don't think I will be tuning into this. Going by above they may have ripped the source material to shreds?

Mr E

Seems to be good reviews overall, though. Comparisons to Westworld (when it was good).

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/peripheral

2 episodes out today.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119770283#Comment_119770283

Probably not a bad idea; will do that, thanks.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119773800#Comment_119773800

Super cautious as Amazon seems on a bent to cancel anything that isn't The Boys (or Rings of Power, one presumes)

pixelburp

Watched the first episode this and it felt like a slightly less cryptic Westworld; less existential blather, while still containing many of the trappings from that other show. Its main cast were earthier and more straightforward than the abstracted navel gazers of Westworld.

I'd keep watching. Looked great too, some great use of future tech in both futures.

Also: genuine trigger warning for anyone with a fear of close-up Eye stuff. There was a surgery scene that left nothing to the imagination.

Mr.Nice Guy

I watched the two episodes. I didn't really get a Westworld vibe from it. I felt it was a bit like the kind of sci-fi show that Channel 4 might have put out a few years ago. I found it okay but it didn't leave me desperate to see what happens next. I'll stick with it for now.

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What makes me a bit wary of a show like this is I've a feeling the twist will be that what we thought was the real world wasn't real at all.

Slydice

1: Huh.. the USA side of the show has a kind of look and feel that reminds me of the tv series Reprisal (boards.ie thread). Like clean/crisp but with violent consequences. I'm still getting a feel for the tech. Nothing glaringly wrong.. but nothing exceptionally groundbreaking feel to it yet.

Definitely had a looking-through-my-fingers-over-my-eyes moment included!

Overall though.. the intro is there.. a bit of a mystery, a bit on the setting/bigger-story, where the characters are, what is important to them, what the stakes are.

At this point I'm guessing..

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they are using Robot drones over in London.. seems to be something about a climate disaster.

Some of the real world tech shown is kinda cool.

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Those drones and the invisible cars.. if I remember science developments.. those don't seem completely off.

The hovering rooba tho.. yeah right! .. ger out of it! Back to the Future taught too hard a lesson about hover technology! 😁

They'll need something more of a kind of a hook for the story than what's been shown so far I think. Will see how they get on with that.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119779555#Comment_119779555

Yep! I was like.. NOPE! 😱

Slydice

2: Alright, keeping it consistent and building along. I think it feels like the story will be slowly unfolding for the rest of the season.

There's a lot going on at the same time and I think the showrunner/executive producer/screenwriter Scott Smith has done well in tieing it all together.

Vincenzo Natali is delivering well enough for most of it. Once it comes down to combat, he does OK but I get the feeling there's no one on board for the nitty gritty of a complex fight/firefight. Still it's good enough.

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That figth at the start was cool, especially the tech use and strategy. Not that the details seemed off, just that they could have felt more fine tuned.

The bigger mystery does seem to be the arc that will be unfolding over the season. If I was guessing..

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Seems to be they are in separated universes since some moment that happened before this series started.

Something bad has already happened in future universe and can't be undone.

Possibly it can be undone in the past but since the universes are separated, it won't help the future. This combines well with what Aelita said in the first episode.

Seems like an environment catastrophe to me. Don't know though. Fair play for trying to save a separated world.

Slydice

3: Damn there is so much going on in this show. There are layers and layers. Complex science fiction and story from what I can tell.

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Like that first shot.. that was a flashback and just to pay off as a small nod for one scene later in the episode.

Then what happened to the future. One thing in the back of my mind also being .. is it all really just a game/sim.

At the same time, giving some benefit of the doubt.. what happened to future Earth.. what happened to Paraguay??! ..

Was it all some climate disaster? Is it something like Dark City.. London just floating in space..

Well at least the statues have an explanation in being air scrubbers. That could be either of the above possibilities.

Then the haptics in near-future .. that's kinda cool.. this merge effect sounds a little like Star Trek borg.. I dunno.

I wonder about Jasper .. the actor Chris Coy playing him.. he looks like he could carry a violent role but he's not that way here. Something reminds me of violence about him.. maybe I saw him in some role before like that or maybe he reminds me of someone else.

Anyway.. yeah.. a lot going on.

I have to give nods to the folio crew for the sound effects on one scene where brickwork moved.. they sold it well.. despite my eyes feelings like they were seeing curtains! 🙂

and a bit more understanding of the word Peripheral in this show from this episode. It's a whole world away from just VR.

lastly.. I had to look up Cherise Nuland .. she's played by  T'Nia Miller .. who I'd forgotten played Zephyr Halima Ifa in the Foundation series. She did great in that role and is strong here too. Just in the back of my head .. as I was trying to figure out why she seemed familiar.

AMKC

So I have watched all three episodes over the last two says and what an excellent show.

The poor policeman would have been better letting your man shoot him but how was he do know. Cool cars and tech do.

As for the peripheral I guessed it must have been something like that but not that it would involve the future too.

This could have made an excellent film series the music the sets everything is like it was made for cinema.

Thoreley enjoying it so far

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119781719#Comment_119781719

I suppose I just meant Westworld in a very superficial sense: a mysterious Virtual World, a slick alternate reality with no apparent consequences. Faceless robots. Uhhh... Probably just the Nolan/Joy links really but was a passing thought at the time.

Watched Episode 2 and ... well, that changed things. I had wondered about the specificity of the London setting; seemed like a strange choice for a VR world. Turns out all was not what it seemed then: quite the original concept

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And I appreciate how my immediate thought of "wait a minute, how can they send back a cure for the Mum, who already died to them, without causing temporal issues? Simple; they're now two separate timelines, caused the moment the future made contact with the past. Very tidy.

fritzelly

Really liking this show - loved the scene about what happened to the world, nice cgi

mcsean2163

About halfway through ep 3. I feel it's starting to sag a bit. Flynne talking with the baker woman felt off. Also, Flynne's back story erasure is a shame. The fact she looks amazing in the past and future also lessens the effect of her loving the future body and the wilf romance is poorly represented so far.

The first future episode was good but later episodes not really capturing the essence of the outsize power wielded by the future leaders, especially when they're in a small house now.

It's good and I get it's not meant to be the book but the pacing is a bit off at times. Still good, though, kind of wish I hadn't read the book 😅

Slydice

4: This one.. well it was put together fine.. it was mostly a filling-in episode I think.

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Hints that the tech causes damage to the user.

More detail about this Stubs type of multiverse.

Then the reveal of the disasters of the future..

Back to pushing along the main story next episode I'd guess.

AMKC

OK I have some questions. Why did they send Conner in and not Burton? I thought Burton wanted to go in. Also Conner gets stopped when he tries to leave but then it says that they told Conner something but it never showed that.

Also what was Cherise going on about with Lev?

Kinda my fault I suppose I watched it in two half's. Not the best way.

The scene about what happened to all the people and the World was very well done. I liked that.

Mr.Nice Guy

I think Conner went in because they wanted to let him experience having a full body.

I found the latest episode a chore to get through. Needs to pick up a bit.

Slydice

I got to thinking today

*yeah yeah, laugh it up*

Anyway..

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Surely a Stub might be able to create a Stub.. They did say more than one stub had been created

So maybe there's loads of Stubs. Some might well be at war with each other

Maybe neither of these are an original

pixelburp

Caught episode 3 and really enjoying this. Just the right amount of mystery without seeming intentionally vague -, though I haven't had this much technobabble dropped into dialogue since the heyday of Star Trek. That plus the modern propensity for mumbled, low volume dialogue has made some exchanges a bit "uhmm, what was that?"

And what I've liked is that the "real world" segments are just as interesting - and dangerous. The local gangster felt more immediately real and dangerous than the slightly campier London villain and her giant shoulder pads.

Did I catch it right that whatever happened the world was referred to as the "jackpot"??

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119859135#Comment_119859135

Did I catch it right that whatever happened the world was referred to as the "jackpot"??

Yes you did.

Slydice

5: The episode was titled What about Bob. Yep.. can't be forgetting Bob 😲

Ned Dennehy has such a recognisable face. I checked his imdb to see when I saw him last and it was probably Blade Runner 2036 and Rogue One. Probably The General was the first film I saw him in. I imagine himself and Jack Raynor had some say in how his characters Irishness was portrayed.

As for the big story.. I haven't a clue. Every direction seems like violence.

Mr.Nice Guy

I didn't like the ending of the recent episode. It reminded me of the stuff in Westworld S3 that turned me off that.

Agent Coulson

Always great to see Ned Dennehy turn up in a show.

meep

Super analysis on fhe series here that goes deep on the techniques and philosophies of the story.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc7I2hzudyX-olanEnapXnbRronwbiBic

pixelburp

Episode 4 and the oddest interactive monument slash history lesson ever lol. Bordering on weird just for the sake of it - and didn't quite understand why it was cloaked? Anyway, while it triggered my allergies for exposition it was interesting to see what this "jackpot" amounted to. And it kinda felt more realistic than most apocalypses: stands to reason in reality it wouldn't be one single thing, but a cascade of shítty global events that knackered civilisation.

Recent developments give this future London a shade of Children of Men? That is: a version of England persisting while the rest(?) of the world sank under the waters, metaphorical or otherwise. That's going by the comment about Paraguay anyway. Presumably America doesn't exist anymore - if that's where the nuke went off (sidebar but I'd say in reality there's more chance of a nuke going off in India/Pakistan/Russia where regimes are fluid, and systems are more lax than the US - but it's more arresting for the intended audience of this I guess).

Bit of a holding pattern of an episode otherwise, I guess existing for the purposes of adding some colour to this version of London and its relative structure & history. Sounds like whatever this version of England is, it's functioning as an Oligarchy. Not much added otherwise but I have to say this show is gripping me in its own way. Far from a Best of the Year for me - but there's enough here. Good production design, interesting premise and setting, characters relatively interesting.

When Nuland appeared with her giant shoulder pads and hammy performance & elaborate murders, I realised what this show was; not to be taken too seriously at all. There's clearly a glint in the eye underneath the serious faces.

My Big Swing Guess about why there's a diorama of Flynn's trailer?

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They're the ones in the sim (though that contradicts all this chatter about multiple stubs).

Slydice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119880308#Comment_119880308

It doesn't feel like the trapped close-ended Children of Men to me. This one feels like they have some sort of a future despite what happened to them. The children of men one felt different like they'd, understandably, decided they didn't.

cdgalwegian

The first three episodes of this are reminiscent of the other fantastic J Nolan and Lisa Joy season 1 of Westworld, in its mysterious mind-bending futuristic world-building. They were the show-runners with that, who had taken the concepts of a book (and films), and started out with an awe-inspiring sci-fi story, and proceeded to lower its panache considerably after the first season. Same situation here of an awe-inspiring vision of the future with deep mysteries, but the Nolan/Joy couple aren't the show-runners here, so I have hope this won't lose the run of itself.

So far, it's fantastic; metaphor heavy, where reality itself is questioned through the philosophical use of metaphor itself. Very clever, and very exciting.

Grace Moretz slighly over-egging the pudding with a bit of over-acting (is that down to the director?), but Jack Reynor great in this.

The philosophical conundrums of identity and reality were the core of Westworld, with the added layer of autonomy vs manipulation. This seems a variation of the same theme, but with more of a 'grounded' emphasis. This way seems

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more like the Matrix, and choices we make i.e. like the choice Cypher had negotiated - to stay in or out of the Matrix

I'd expect betrayal to feature later so.

Slydice

6: What?!?! That's how this one ends?! What's going on!?

Bit of a filler episode I guess. Things ticked along but nothing huge happened.

Shoutout to Ned Dennehy again though for another good performance! 🙂

cdgalwegian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119865493#Comment_119865493

Episode 4 certainly a dip in quality; that futuristic PowerPoint demonstration was just naff - as a continuation of the exposition-heavy episode as a whole. The episode seemed as if the writers felt like we, the viewers, needed a breather to catch up on all the heavy ideas, and let them sink in, before they press on. In truth, I think i probably did need it - I just didn't like the sense of being spoon-fed. To prevent bloating the season unnecessarily with a lot of "show don't tell", it seems we had to be subjected to the spoon-feeding exposition in preparation for what's to come. In that case, this seems to be the calm before the storm, as the team 'gear up' for the Peripheral, so with all the clunky heavy-lifting out of the way, I expect more like the first 3 episodes to come, and the need to be strapped in.

Mr.Nice Guy

I thought the recent episode was an improvement. I'm still finding the combat scenes a turn-off as I don't know that the show needs them. I also think the show could tone down the smugness from certain characters as it seems like the future London is rife with them. I much prefer the modern day (or near future) scenes rather than the far future scenes.

Slydice

Well though.. those scenes are also not the modern day near future scenes as there are scenes in between shown so they might be considered the near modern middle future scenes 😁

ejmaztec

I thought the futuristic "Miss Marple" was very entertaining, and odd at the same time 😐️

pixelburp

Episode 5 and definitely the most "filler" of the lot; a little segue featuring the assassin was OK I guess, but not especially tense nor moved the plot forward all that much. Seemed to have one purpose which was to ensure Flynn had a reason to confront Mrs. ShoulderPads, for the first time, so they could snarl at each other at the end of the episode.

AMKC

Well that's got to be the craziest title to an episode of a show I have ever seen "f uc k you and eat sh it" lol.

Not the greatest episode. It was OK but not really much happened.

Surprised your one beedes such an awkward bulky remote to operate Bob's collar. Surely a remote watch would have been better.

Weird odd ending. I wonder is she dead? Will bob get away?

cdgalwegian

Episode 5

https://screenrant.com/peripheral-lev-zubov-2032-twist-stub-theory-confirm/

I had been thinking about the Jackpot, and how unaffected London seemed to be, which is implausible, considering

Spoiler Warning

the damage that would have been inflicted on it with not just environmental factors, but the anarchy and its destructive tendencies afterwards. So considering the Zubov scenario, when Flynne realizes she is not in a SIM, but is operating the body from the past,could this turn out to be misdirection? Is the London of the future what Flynne assumed it to be, in fact, after all - a simulation? So the future London could be desolate, and the Peripheral is just a construct of this, or, it could all be future simulation.

I'm still confused by the stubs though;

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Future items, except for headsets, can be sent back in time without creating a stub? If each stub is a branching off from the 'original' timeline, initiated by the quantum-tunneling from the future, via a headset sent back as information of how to build it, isn't the information from that stub sent forward to the new future timeline, rather than the original? It does seem a bit illogical if it goes 'forward' to the original than the new one; that there is interaction with the original rather than the separate new current timeline. But that's how it's supposed to work by the rules set down then; the headset maintains a link with the original timeline, and this is how hands-off experimentation can be done in the stub without causally affecting the original future. But I suppose 'causally' affects means physically, so they can't interact, but information is different. So maybe this is how the (dubious logical) link from stub to original timeline can be maintained.

Slydice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119917745#Comment_119917745

I don't rememeber any

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future items being sent back. they seem to have a data/information/communication channel and they know a lot about the past so they can exploit it. where future items seem to have materialised, it seems to be from them sending the how-to for them. like sending a 3d printer a how-to and the pharmacy machine a how-to. I am guessing something similar with the haptics the military used... just sent as blue prints or plans or leaked emails or something.

cdgalwegian

Oops, I meant to specify the information sent back for the items, like the pulse gun, not the item itself. Added that in later, and didn't check it.

Slydice

7: Violence! Everywhere violence! Everything spirralling! Only violence remains!

I'm not sure where the bigger story is going but like.. it just seems like a whole lotta violence needs to be worked through to get there.

anyway.. Ned Dennehy .. yeah.. think I'll be turning around and walking in a different direction if I ever see him approaching in real life 😁

Not that's there's not a bigger more intricate story.. there's definitely something going on and it looks like they've put the details in. That encryption language makes sense and it feels a bit jarring to follow.. which kinda makes sense for a language meant to not be understandable.

I definitely thought 'Clean' during that one scene where

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Burton took out Ned Dennehys character. The setup, getting the body to move, the armour penetration shot through the wall. Yeah.. clean.

Burton doing the finishing off with the pistol was cold! 😲

The mother did seem to be thinking on a higher level when she told yer man that the third option was for him to die. She'd sacrifice for her kids.. but he wouldn't I guess.

I definitely agree with yer man about Tommy killing the sherrif, I did not see that coming! I knew he was thinking it but.. wasn't expecting him to do it. That really helped knock the story over to a spiral of violence for me.

The cops assistant is an AI bot modelled after a lost daughter I'm guessing.

 T'Nia Miller as Nuland really does ominous baddie so well. Something feels like she's a really big danger in all her scenes.

Oh! and there's some bacteria in Flynnes head now! What's that gonna do! I wonder are they trying to escape their Jackpotted world into a fixed up stub and use some kind of mind transfer to do it.

Right anyway.. one episode left this season. Unless it's violence.. I can't guess where it's going!

Slydice

Oh! and episode 7 was called "The Doodad" 😁😂

Mr.Nice Guy

I think if this was a longer season, I'd be out. I'm finding the storyline hard to follow and it's not engaging me enough to try and figure it out. Also I've realised there are only so many unbearably smug characters I can take on a show. I did at least like the stuff that happened in the last half an hour with the Sheriff.

De Bhál

I enjoyed this episode, few questions answered. Still confused about parts of what's going on, but still, I'll keep with it.

That fight between Denehey and Burtons friend in the clinic waiting room was a tough watch. Never seen so many stabbing wounds to a person.

pixelburp

Episode 6 and no question, this show loves its ostentatious antagonist's; the police inspector as camp and flamboyant as the RI bigwig. Even the "real world" mobster Pickett is a "big" character that feels like he was an unused player from Justified. It's funny cos the rest of the show plays it relatively straight laced and grounded to a degree; these characters keep appearing and just gear-change the whole energy of the show.

Slydice

8:

Me at the end of the episode: Hold on.. what?! 😲

Me at the end of the credits scene: Hold on.. what?! 😲

Well then, that's the end of season one. Wiki says:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peripheral_(TV_series)

A second season is in active development.

well then.. that'll be an opportunity to see.. learn? more.. maybe?

Standout performances in this season, I'd have to give to Ned Dennehy as Bob and T'Nia Miller as Cherise Nuland.

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Both did baddies well. Ned as an assassin and T'Nia as an ominous overlord type

Don't get me wrong.. I would like a second season. I'm just stumped on what is to be revealed.

pixelburp

Episode 7 and finally, the two camp camps meet; I will say, as jarring as the power figures in this London can be, with their ostentatiousness and overall "big" performances, at least nobody else in the show comments about it. A lesser script would have had one of the peripherals snarking about The Inspector's ludicrous manner. Instead they're treated like they exist: colourful, absolute monarchs who might kill you just for the lols. Though of the trio, The Inspector seems the least mercurial?

So many questions remain about the nature of these timelines - especially this version of the past that has been interfered beyond repair, by the sounds of if. Where does that leave our protagonists and their place within it? I wonder is there room for evn more time-travel shenanigans.

Mr.Nice Guy

I'm done with it. Didn't like the finale, and haven't been a fan of the overall story. For me anyway, the characters aren't likeable enough to persist with it.