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Discussion - Raised By Wolves
Available on HBO Max, the first episode can be streamed for free.
From Executive Producer Ridley Scott, Raised by Wolves centers on two androids tasked with raising human children on a mysterious virgin planet. As the burgeoning colony of humans threatens to be torn apart by religious differences, the androids learn that controlling the beliefs of humans is a treacherous and difficult task.
I finally had a chance to watch this show, and just finished the final episode a few minutes ago. Now I am kind of at a loss for words. WTF did I just watch?
It started out with a decent enough premise, but just kept getting weirder and weirder with each episode, and by the end it felt like watching the slowly unraveling fever dream of a religion obsessed, nihilistic madman. It was definitely interesting and kept me watching til the end (just so I could see where the hell it was going to end up), but I don't think I can say that I actually enjoyed it, nor would I recommend it.
Again... WTF did I just watch?
I think you might be frustrated by the things that I found appealing. The ambiguity of a lot of it is what captures a lot of my attention/imagination. There's a range of possible explanations for a lot of the goings-on that are happening, which aren't explained, and that's what keeps me interested.
The main thing that I think makes it "good" rather than just "oddly interesting" is that I think it holds pretty well to what I think of as "core" scifi. Meaning, you take humans and put them in new circumstances, and then let them be humans, and focus on how individuals and/or humanity adapt to their new place in the universe.
I don't mind ambiguity, but only when the plot makes some sort of logical sense, or is at least consistent with the internal logic developed over the course of the show (even if that logic is a bit of stretch). But a lot of what went on (esp at the end) didn't make any sense to me whatsoever, and most of the plot twists felt incredibly sudden, and arbitrary. E.g.
SPOILERS
The creator's secret plan relying entirely on Mother somehow finding a working virtual reality suspended animation pod and diving into it. The rapist prisoner suddenly getting super buff from reversing the blood flow. Father abandoning everyone over Mother's virtual reality infidelity. Mother giving birth to the gravity defying, intelligent, serpent creature. Etc.I fully admit that it may just be that I am not sophisticated or smart enough to understand the allegorical meaning or allusions behind everything that happened in the show... but regardless, at least to me, way too much of it all seemed to totally come out of left field, and many of the character interactions/actions (especially at the end) seemed to directly contradict those characters' apparent motivations throughout the rest of the show.
I don't know if I would say it was completely ruined by the finale, although I'm going to be much more skeptical of any future seasons, seeing as how this has basically transformed into an Alien TV serial (should have been tipped off by Ridley Scott's involvement).
I wish the show got more into the philosophical questions regarding what it means to be human, rather than the superficial treatment it gives them. It doesn't need to go overboard, like Westworld (which sometimes felt like it was saying "this is deep...do you get it?!"), but I like sci-fi for the questions it poses rather than the plot or the characters involved (with some notable exceptions).
I feel the same. As a whole the season is ruined by the ending. I’d never recommend it to anyone.
I have a strong feeling it got sidelined by typical Hollywood narrative. A few episodes in when the father randomly became upset and jealous for plot reasons seemed very cis-mono-het normative. I watched to the end but lost a lot of respect at this point.
I've watched the first 3 episodes so far, and I am deeply impressed. The quality of the writing and the actors is top notch. They have done a wonderful job creating a world with depth that makes you want to poke your head into all the nooks and crannies and explore the background of everything and everyone.
spoilers
I'm very curious about Mother, and if the person (s?) who created her deliberately converted a "necromancer" war machine, or if they where forced to use one because that was all they had to work with.The two militant opposition to religious beliefs by mother is an interesting counterbalance to the militant theism of the people from the ark. Too often in sci-fi religion gets painted with a one color brush as "bad", and here the people from the ark certainly aren't great, the opposing atheistic zealotry displayed by mother makes an interesting contrast. It also makes her character even more interesting when compared to Father, who is clearly less focused on religion and more on ensuring the survival of the human race.
I had never heard of this show so can't critique it... but I love scifi and the trailer looks bizarre but absolutely incredible, so thanks for making me aware of it, @Omnicrola! Definitely adding this to my watchlist.
I hadn't heard of it either until this weekend, when a friend mentioned they had "acquired" it. Wife and I were both blown away, can't wake until the rest come out.
I haven't had a chance to watch the show yet, but I thought you might be interested in this news:
‘Raised by Wolves’ Renewed for Season 2 at HBO Max