Raised by Wolves (Ridley Scott, HBO)

Tools    





The Adventure Starts Here!
HBO wants to keep these shows in the conscious for longer than Netflix, who can probably never put that genie 🧞*♂️ back in the bottle.
My assumption is that they decided that three episodes is enough of a binge to get you hooked on the series so you'll wait each Thursday for a new episode.

But honestly, weekly episodes is how HBO always works (Game of Thrones, Westworld, all previous shows before bingeing became a thing). It's that three-episode "premiere" that's different. And probably smart, as you say, because of the Netflix genie that's been let out of its bottle.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Oh yeah.

How creepy were those newborns?



The Adventure Starts Here!
I've watched all three available episodes. I'm not sure what to think.
I'll keep watching. It could still fall into being nothing but tropes and bad plot choices. We'll see... the jury is still out for me.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I'm loving this. The odd is consistently odd. I was incredibly concerned with the 50's sci-fi design and stilted acting in the first few minutes but that very quickly faded and I've been completely enveloped by this absurbly stylized future.


I'd normally be cautiously optimistic but for what these three episodes have created, I'm good with what i have and I'm eager for more.



The Adventure Starts Here!
I guess I've been burned enough by shows that just drove themselves off a cliff that I'm slightly more cautious than optimistic. But, if there had been more episodes available, I definitely would have kept watching. I just worry.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I guess I've been burned enough by shows that just drove themselves off a cliff that I'm slightly more cautious than optimistic. But, if there had been more episodes available, I definitely would have kept watching. I just worry.

Yeah. I guess I'm drawing a line with myself lol. To not get involved with speculation as I did with GoT or expectations as i did with The Outsider. So far I THINK I'm enjoying this one more partly for that. One episode at a time. But I do think this has been pretty great sci-fi fantasy. I am totally believing Amanda Collin's performance and facial ticks as she slips in and out of her mental states.

It's like a weird future Gone Girl thing.




“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
I talked to my sis about it it. She said she didn’t think she could handle anymore blue-grey scifi



The Adventure Starts Here!
Yeah. I guess I'm drawing a line with myself lol. To not get involved with speculation as I did with GoT or expectations as i did with The Outsider. So far I THINK I'm enjoying this one more partly for that. One episode at a time. But I do think this has been pretty great sci-fi fantasy. I am totally believing Amanda Collin's performance and facial ticks as she slips in and out of her mental states.

It's like a weird future Gone Girl thing.

I try not to overthink plots too. And it definitely helps in my enjoyment of entertainment like this. So I'm not speculating. I'm just hoping it continues to draw me in. Yes, Amanda Collin is definitely a draw. I haven't figured out whether I love or hate her character, and that's largely due to her great, subtle facial expressions.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Comes Awn ppls, new episodes to watch.

And before anyone else, Lube Man.



The Adventure Starts Here!
Comes Awn ppls, new episodes to watch.

And before anyone else, Lube Man.
What did I forget already? Lube Man? The prisoner? Or someone else?

When we saw the prisoner, though, I admit that I kept seeing this ("'Tis but a scratch!"):




That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
^lol.


I'm loving this show. For me, at least, it may be some of the greatest T.V. sci-fi I've seen. Not THE greatest, mind you, but it's up with the first season of Battlestar Galactica (reboot) and Dr. Who. I'm feeling as much enjoyment as I did season 1 of Game of Thrones. More, in fact, as I prefer sci-fi over fantasy so it gets a bump up.


I can also see how it can turn a lot of people off though. There are weird bits all over the place that risk pulling a viewer right out. I think the Python reference is a perfect t example of thqt. So far for me, I've committed to this world and everything (even the weird/goofy stuff) makes sense in it.



The Adventure Starts Here!
I'm following the story fairly easily, which doesn't always happen for me with sci-fi or fantasy, so that's a big plus. I'm not walking away from these episodes thinking, "WTF?" (I don't mind a LITTLE of that, but shows like, ohhhh, Westworld and Dark often have me throwing my hands up in frustration these days.)

Having said that, though, I still don't see much of this that feels compellingly unique in the story. Like, I'm not thinking, "Wow! What a great twist! I didn't see that development coming!" It feels almost too smooth. For instance...

WARNING: "Spoilers!" spoilers below
With episode 5, where we see Mother and her creator, Campion Spurges, it didn't feel as if it revealed all that much to us because we've already heard the Mythraic soldiers and clerics talking about how this android had been reprogrammed by the atheists. So, a lot of the surprise/reveal was lost because they already told us that stuff in earlier episodes. Would have been far more striking to not have known beforehand that Mother had been reprogrammed.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I'm following the story fairly easily, which doesn't always happen for me with sci-fi or fantasy, so that's a big plus. I'm not walking away from these episodes thinking, "WTF?" (I don't mind a LITTLE of that, but shows like, ohhhh, Westworld and Dark often have me throwing my hands up in frustration these days.)

Having said that, though, I still don't see much of this that feels compellingly unique in the story. Like, I'm not thinking, "Wow! What a great twist! I didn't see that development coming!" It feels almost too smooth. For instance...

WARNING: "Spoilers!" spoilers below
With episode 5, where we see Mother and her creator, Campion Spurges, it didn't feel as if it revealed all that much to us because we've already heard the Mythraic soldiers and clerics talking about how this android had been reprogrammed by the atheists. So, a lot of the surprise/reveal was lost because they already told us that stuff in earlier episodes. Would have been far more striking to not have known beforehand that Mother had been reprogrammed.

I think that's a totally fair criticism.


For me...
WARNING: "spoileriishiness" spoilers below
...that reveal was less for twist and more for filling out the gray space between what, so far, as been pure black and white divides between those of faith and those of atheism. We knew she was reprogrammed, but she as a character has now faced the emotional side of the memories she had no access to up until this point in the story. Now, her hard line against "faith" is shifting to giving thanks to her creator. Father noticed it and questioned it. Mother's response was something to the effect of not having faith, but knowing that her creator (a real man) existed. Arguably, she doesn't know that if you take her time in the simulation chamber as just a vision. That she cannot perceive her experiences as similar to those of the human believers that she distrusts so much is kind of important I think. Especially considering that Father, a lower model, can. We've learned already that she is capable of self reflection and doubt, given her consideration that maybe she was the one poisoning her original children, so it should be interesting to see her growth if she can recognize her faith growing for what it is and not for what she rationalizes it as. I think that parallels what's happening with Marcus' experience at the prophecy structure, hearing a voice, given that he and his wife are atheists.



Twists? No. But I am very interested in seeing how these two very hard lined sides are going to deal with their sort of hypocrisy, calling their gods by different names as if names alone make the difference.


Westworld, season 1 was great. I didn't care much for the over-complexity of season 2 and only made it two episodes into season 3 I think before bailing. Totally throwing my hands up too, there.
__________________
"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear



The Adventure Starts Here!
All valid stuff, yes! Good points about watching this for that hard-line dichotomy between "faith" and faith. Will either side come to realize the irony of their situations?

Oh, and despite my sometimes thinking we're not getting enough twists, I'm still *fully* compelled to keep watching. Something irrefutably fascinating about the whole package here.



We've gone on holiday by mistake
What's this? Theon Greyjoy prequel?
__________________



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
What did I forget already? Lube Man? The prisoner? Or someone else?

When we saw the prisoner, though, I admit that I kept seeing this ("'Tis but a scratch!"):
Lube Man was the guy from the Watchmen series that slide into the sewer grate. His costume strikes an eery resemblance...



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Lube Man was the guy from the Watchmen series that slide into the sewer grate. His costume strikes an eery resemblance...

Rofl.
That's all I can reply. I deleted the rest. Thanks for clarifying!!



The Adventure Starts Here!
Lube Man was the guy from the Watchmen series that slide into the sewer grate. His costume strikes an eery resemblance...
Haven't kept up with any of the Watchmen stuff. My bad!