TL;DR – This week, we continue to see the outworking of NJ Demerath III’s adage that “politics and religion are like a moth to a flame.”

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

Foundation Review –

It is no shock that I love me some Science Fiction. Indeed, I will take it in just about any form I can get it. But deep down, I think my favourite must be a good Space Opera with all its pontifications on show. It is a universe full of pomp and circumstance, and I am here for it.

So to set the scene, things are fraying all across the Empire, and no one is immune to its changes. On a water planet now home to a dead civilization, Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), and Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey) confront each other as old wounds are laid bare. As the Empire retreats from the outer rim, the Foundation starts to slip out, coming as magicians and priests to those planets that have lost everything. But not everyone is happy with a potential new master after just getting rid of the last one. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.     

One thing that I found interesting this week is that all the steps the show takes build continuity into the story. This is only the second season, but they are already grounding concepts that get introduced in books far forward in the narrative. We have already got musings of a Second Foundation to work as a counterpoint to Terminus. But this week, they not only alluded to The Mule (Mikael Persbrandt) but straight-up name-dropped him and his role in the future narrative. For all the continuity they build by keeping characters like Gaal and Salvor in the story, it must give them the space to lay these threads.

This season is based on one of my favourite books in the series because I like exploring how religion can work in a Science Fiction setting. We got some of this in the first season, which was the best aspect of that season. Arthur C. Clarke once wrote about how “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, and the hierarchy took this to heart. They are using the priest/magicians to help spread the influence of the Foundation to worlds abandoned by the collapsing Empire. The concept is sound, but it is the execution is what sells it. Isabella Laughland and Kulvinder Ghir perfectly nail that pupil/mentor dynamic with the added dash of irreverence that made it a blast to watch.    

Elsewhere in the show, it is time for intrigue, as a possible new queen is here, and centuries of tradition are about to be jettisoned. If there is one thing you know about tradition, it is that it does not give up its grasp lightly. Some people have a lot of gain by Brother Day (Lee Pace) stopping the genetic line of the Cleons. But then, if you are Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton), it may not make sense to go quietly into that good night when your future is at stake. There is an attention to movement in these moments at the palace that I always find fascinating. Alas, the weakest part of the show is still Hari, Gaal, and Salvor trapped in that ship. I am not sure trapping them in the future while all the exciting things are happening in the present works for the narrative.

In the end, do we recommend A Glimpse of Darkness? Well, yes, but … This episode was still more world-building, with a new call to action to find Hober Mallow coming right at the very end. For all the posturing, I hope we move forward soon, as we need a little bit of direction to the season that I feel is lacking at the moment.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Foundation yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Foundation
Directed by – David S. Goyer
Written by – David S. Goyer & Jane Espenson
Created by – David S. Goyer & Josh Friedman
Based On – Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Production/Distribution Companies – Skydance TV & Apple+
Starring – Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Lou Llobell, Leah Harvey, Laura Birn, Cassian Bilton & Terrence Mann with Isabella Laughland, Holt McCallany, Ella-Rae Smith, Sandra Yi Sencindiver, Olive Chris & Kulvinder Ghir and Mikael Persbrandt, Luis Torrecilla, Noah Taylor, Jordan Stephens, Eva Bradley-Williams, Jesper Christensen, Wade Briggs, Anthony Barclay & Haqi Ali