Foundation

Apple TV took an absolute massive swing back in 2021 by adapting a science fiction book series everyone thought was impossible to film. You watch Jared Harris as the brilliant mathematician Hari Seldon, a man who uses complex math to predict the total collapse of the galactic empire. We also get a powerhouse performance from Lee Pace playing Brother Day, the arrogant clone emperor trying to hold his crumbling rule together. I always tell my friends to watch this show if they want to experience the biggest and most beautiful space opera on television right now. The story drops you right into the middle of a massive political crisis spanning thousands of years. A closer look beneath the cool spaceships and cloning facilities reveals a very human story about survival. A structural analysis shows that every political argument between the royal clones and the rebel scientists mirrors our own real world struggles with power and destiny.

The camera work on this series makes almost every other space show look cheap. You immediately notice the insane scale of the capital planet Trantor, with its massive floating rings and deep metallic cityscapes. I do get a little annoyed when the camera uses too much lens flare during the bright desert scenes on Terminus. The constant glowing lights sometimes make those harsh survival moments feel a bit too much like a glossy perfume commercial instead of a desperate colony. A return to the dark and moody throne room of the emperors thankfully restores a much better visual balance. Giving the royal clones bright blue and gold clothing perfectly captures their massive ego and wealth.

Pay attention to the set design and you will see how the buildings completely define the different planets. The grand interior of the imperial palace feels totally overwhelming because the endless painted ceilings and massive open windows match a family that literally owns the galaxy. A quick trip across the universe to the outer rim offers a totally different vibe entirely. The rusty metal shelters and dirty work coats on the colony world look like a harsh frontier camp. My main complaint involves the magical floating vault on the edge of the town. The floating metal geometric shape looks a bit too much like a generic video game puzzle instead of an ancient mystery. Still, putting these desperate colonists in small dirty tents forces a natural grit that jumps right off the screen.

You really have to listen to the grand musical score to understand the massive scale of this story. My ears constantly catch the heavy drums and weird electronic hums that play right before a major space battle breaks out. The editing moves at a very strange pace because the plot constantly jumps across hundreds of years and multiple generations. We get a highly emotional and epic orchestral score composed by Bear McCreary, and that bold choice makes the quiet betrayals feel incredibly huge. The sudden crack of a massive spaceship exploding in orbit actually grounds the crazy science fiction in a very physical and loud reality.

Let us clear up some common mysteries about this massive science fiction epic.

Is the show exactly like the original books? No, the showrunner David S. Goyer made massive changes to the original novels written by Isaac Asimov, especially by inventing the entire genetic cloning dynasty for the emperors.

Where did they film those crazy alien planets? The production crew traveled all over the world to places like Malta, the Canary Islands, and Ireland to capture those breathtaking landscapes.

Do I need to understand complex math to watch this? The whole concept of psychohistory sounds really complicated, but the show explains it very simply as a tool to predict massive crowd behavior over long periods of time.

The incredible visual effects and the amazing acting from the emperors keep me coming back, but I cannot deny that the colony storyline drags quite a bit in the first season. Certain romantic subplots out in the desert feel so slow that you almost lose your connection to the giant galactic war happening everywhere else.

Fans of massive sci fi worlds will definitely love finding the hidden visual details in these royal palaces. If you think you have the eye to spot the hidden imperial ship in our daily tv show guessing game or just want a great framed alternative for your breaks, test your skills at Flickle. You can also play our fun trivia game with your friends to prove your ultimate pop culture knowledge.