Our third look at Foundation—after a first teaser in which showrunner David S. Goyer explained why the source material is so important and a moody second look that set the stage and the players—we’re into the meat of the series: People doing a lot of talking.
I kid, I kid. Or do I?
The talking is set against a lot of drama and action—explosions, a constantly frowning Lee Pace, some gorgeous locations—but the overall vibe of this trailer is that there are a lot of things the show wants to say, no matter what’s exploding in the background. In that way, it may be more true to the books than previous trailers suggested.
Apple’s summary of the show gets quickly to the key points:
When revolutionary Dr. Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) predicts the impending fall of the Empire, he and a band of loyal followers venture to the far reaches of the galaxy to establish The Foundation in an attempt to rebuild and preserve the future of civilization. Enraged by Hari’s claims, the ruling Cleons (led by Lee Pace) — a long line of emperor clones — fear their unrivaled reign may be weakening as they’re forced to reckon with the potential reality of losing their powerful legacy forever
Foundation is based on the books by Isaac Asimov, a series of collected stories and novels that have been hugely influential in the decades since their publication. They are quite difficult to sum up, though Goyer apparently pitched the series to Apple by saying, “It’s a 1,000-year chess game between Hari Seldon and the Empire, and all the characters in between are the pawns, but some of the pawns over the course of this saga end up becoming kings and queens.”
This trailer shows a clearly troubled empire that probably needs to crumble, but also raises questions about Seldon’s Foundation, which is meant to preserve knowledge for future generations. “We must preserve only the most essential pieces of civilization,” a character says, but who decides what’s essential? And on what basis?
Foundation premieres on Apple TV+ on September 24th.
Equal parts exposition and explosion sounds good to me. I’m way past ready for the pendulum to swing back from “show don’t tell” as the supreme golden rule of storytelling — or at least the supreme golden gotcha of what most people look to criticize first in a story.
I know MT wrote this tongue-in-cheek, but… so? Is it done interestingly by engaging actors? One of the best movies of all time is 12 Angry Men. All doing A LOT of talking. Only a couple exploding.
But then my favorite part of The Fellowship of the Ring —book and movie — is the Council of Elrond, so what do I know.
It seems like Apple got the feedback that the last trailer was too much exploding, and gave us a trailer with a lot more talking and ideas. Personally, I’m on the side of a good balance between the two – I will absolutely listen to people talking intelligently quite a bit, but maybe with some explosions in between.
I approve of the casting of Jared Harris. A great and versatile actor who first came to my attention for his role on Madmen. (Which incidentally might be my vote for the greatest TV series of all time, as well as being science fiction adjacent.)
@@@@@1. Puff the Magic Commenter
Show don’t tell isn’t the problem, the problem is at either extreme. Some people take it literally and encompassing everything, some ignore it. Both extremes are bad. It’s an extremely helpful guideline but it must be known that it mainly applies to character. Never “tell” us about a character. Show us what the character is like. Trying to force the rule into plot and setting leads to problems especially in literature though can still work in film to some extent.
Two people talking IS action…if one person strives for an objective and the other opposes or introduces complications.
And it’s really kinda rare where you can’t improve a story by showing action rather than telling about it.
Jared Harris also had a great if small role in The Expanse as an Asteroid Belt leader of dubious allegiance.
As long as they correct Asimov’s rampant mysogyny I’ll be fine with it.
Some years ago I gave a talk at a Mythmoot about “Isaac Asimov and the Rise of the Nerd-Hero” with the premise being Asimov heroes didn’t need explosions and ray-guns, they out-thought the enemy. Foundation and Empire hinged on the idea that it didn’t matter that our intrepid heroes stole a spaceship and made a risky ride to Trantor; the politics of the corrupt Empire made the demise of their enemy inevitable regardless of what they did.
I understand the need for action in a TV series but I hope they don’t completely eliminate the Asimov principle that brain counts for more than brawn…
I’m fairly certain I read Foundation, at least the first book (checks Goodreads—yep, it says I read it and rated it 2 out 5 stars) but I don’t remember anything about it. I think this might be one of those situations where the TV series can definitely improve on the source material because based on what I’ve seen so far I’m more excited for Foundation than Dune and I’ve been dying for a proper Dune adaptation for years. I’m not sure how I’ll watch it on TV since my smart TV doesn’t have Apple Plus as an app option. How well does casting from a Chrome tab to TV work for their content? Guess I’ll find out in September.