Dune: Prophecy Season One Finale: Truths Coming Out

Dune: Prophecy put up a powerfully long finale tonight on Max -- an hour and twenty-one minutes -- for its short six-episode debut season.  And it made every minute and sound of the Voice count, as it dealt out a series of blows and retributions and affirmations of what we already knew and suspected.

[I'm not going to give you a detailed recap, but I suppose I should warn about spoilers anyway ... ]

First, we learned more of the brutal truth about what Valya was willing to do, and did, to insure that the Sisterhood went her way.  That way was to keep AI as an essential weapon in the Sisterhood's arsenal. I agree with Valtya's view of AI,  But as to her methods ... well, we see that she killed not only Dorotea but a vast majority of the Sisterhood in that room, because they opposed her view, and thought AI was a blasphemous threat to humanity.

Later, we're also treated to a battle royale between Valya and Desmond Hart.  It's pretty much a draw.  As readers of my reviews here of Dune: Prophecy know, I've been a bigger fan of Hart than Valya.  They might both have well died, had not Tulya arrived and rallied her sister Valya -- and then, after convincing Valya to let her son Hart be, because she as his mother not only loved him but was sure she could control him, Tula goes and tends to her wounded son.  I said a few episodes ago that I thought Tulia would ultimately be a more potent character than Valya, and I think she proved it in that scene and in this episode.  

One thing I didn't like, though, was the Emperor's self-inflicted death.  He wasn't a bad Emperor, as far as Emperors go.  But leaving a Bene Gesserit in the palace, who now through face- and body-shifting looks just like Princess Ynez, I thought that was a pretty cool move.

All in all, I think these six episodes have offered a memorable and captivating prologue to the Dune saga. Kudos, again, to Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert who wrote the novel Sisterhood of Dune, which I haven't yet read and on which Dune: Prophecy is based, Frank Herbert who got the Dune saga going with a series of masterpiece novels, and everyone who starred in this TV series.  

I'll see you back here when the second season comes along.

See also Dune: Prophecy 1.1: Compelling Prequel ... 1.2: The Hart of The Matter ... 1.3: The Power of Voice ... 1.4: The Ambience ... 1.5: Revelation and Seduction

and Dune, Part One: Half the Movie, Twice the Power of Most Other Complete Films ... Dune, Part Two: Not As Good as Part One

Dune: Prophecy 1.5: Revelation and Seduction

There's more than one revelation in the riveting Dune:Prophecy 1.5, but I'll focus here on only one, clearly the most important in this series:

[And of course, there will be spoilers ahead ... ]

We learn about Hart's parentage.  First, let me say again how much I enjoy the ambience of this prequel series, which feels so much like I felt in the 1960s, when I first read Dune and Dune: Messiah, the original Dune novels.  My eyes on the streaming screen give me the same feeling as my eyes on those paperback books.   They feel the same and smell the same, though of course, anything my brain perceives in watching Dune: Prophecy is entirely a product of my brain processing what I'm seeing on my laptop.  I'm not touching any paper or perceiving what subtle stimuli it delivers to my nose.

But what is Hart's heritage?  Anirul -- the aptly named AI system that the Bene Gesserit illicitly utilize (also a sensory pleasure to see in action) -- delivers its conclusion: Hart comes from both Atreides and Harkonnen lines!  Now we saw the two lines mate, as it were, just a few episodes ago.  Young Tula Harkonnen and her Atreides lover, whom she kills the morning after.  It makes sense, doesn't it, that someone with the powers of Desmond has to be the product of the two most powerful lines that stretch across the Dune saga, of course making their appearance in the very first novel by Frank Herbert.

Meanwhile, apropos love making, it was good to see Empress Natalya seduce Desmond -- God knows what that will produce if she becomes pregnant -- and Sister Francesca doing the same to the Emperor himself.  I tell ya, they got the royal couple coming and going in this episode, fortunately or unfortunately not together.

My only regret about this series is that it's a mini-series with a vengeance, the first season ending next week with only its sixth episode.  But it's shot to the top of my list, and I'll be back here not only next week with a review, but whenever its story continues on HBO: Max.

See also Dune: Prophecy 1.1: Compelling Prequel ... 1.2: The Hart of The Matter ... 1.3: The Power of Voice ... 1.4: The Ambience

and Dune, Part One: Half the Movie, Twice the Power of Most Other Complete Films ... Dune, Part Two: Not As Good as Part One

Dune: Prophecy 1.4: The Ambience

We learn a lot in every episode of Dune: Prophecy.   Before I tell what specifically I learned in episode 1.4, let me begin with an overall ambience I realized I was experiencing when I was watching this episode last night:  there's something about the pacing, the cinematography, the dialogue, the acting, I don't know, about Dune: Prophecy that makes me feel I'm in the original Frank Herbert Dune novel and its Dune Messiah sequel.  More so, much more so, than the original David Lynch movie, and the more recent efforts by Denis Villeneuve.  I haven't read the Sisterhood of Dune prequel by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert that is the basis of Dune: Prophecy and of this authenticity feeling I have about it -- whether it's in the Sisterhood of Dune, or just in Dune: Prophecy, or in both -- so I don't know who deserves credit and thanks for this.  I guess like the Dune saga itself, it's real and powerful, but its specific contours are blurry (cool, in Marshall McLuhan's sense), and it maybe, likely, adds to the charm of this narrative on HBO Max, or even is responsible for it.

Now on to some more specific things I learned last night, and here of course there will be a few spoilers in what follows:

• It's confirmed that Desmond's fearsome ability to burn people from the inside out can indeed extend across the galaxy -- it's the case that Kasha's burning at the same time as Pruet was not somehow a reflection of Pruwet's burning.  He and Kasha were both burned by Desmond at the same time.
• Desmond's power to burn people extends to more than two at a time.
• A single Bene Gesserit is so far no match (for want of a better word) for a one-on-one with Desmond.  It will likely take some sort of group of Bene Gesserit to do him in.

What other powers does Desmond possess?  Is he responsible for Lila's awakening?  Also, I said last week that I'm liking Tula more than Valya.  I'm also beginning to think that Tula not Valya may be the one to bring Desmond down (if anyone can do that).  There is something about Valya that is too ... obvious. She and her wiles are easier to spot than Tula's.  We'll see.

And I'll be back here next week with my review of the next episode.

See also Dune: Prophecy 1.1: Compelling Prequel ... 1.2: The Hart of The Matter ... 1.3: The Power of Voice

and Dune, Part One: Half the Movie, Twice the Power of Most Other Complete Films ... Dune, Part Two: Not As Good as Part One

in Kindle and paperback

More books about McLuhan and the media at Connected Editions

Dune: Prophecy 1.1: Compelling Prequel

I just watched the first episode of Dune: Prophecy on HBO Max.  Here's a non-spoiler review:

This prequel to the Dune series takes place 10,148 years (you can look up whether that's Earth years) before the birth of Paul Atreides, we're told near the beginning of this first episode.  Now the Dune series of novels is second only to the Foundation series of novels, I've thought ever since I started reading science fiction many years ago.  And the first episode of Dune: Prophecy has a lot in common with the first Dune novel.  Both have some scenes I'd rather not have read or seen.  And both start off way too slowly.   But Dune proceeded to be monumental in its story and impact, and Dune: Prophecy looks like it could be headed in that direction, too.

The essence of Dune: Prophecy is the establishment and growth into power of the Bene Gesserit, one of the most compelling components of the future Dune saga.  The characters in this powerful order that seeks to guide and control the universe by breeding the most appropriate humans for the job are well introduced in this first episode, but my favorite character is Desmond Hart, played by Travis Fimmel, whom I first noticed in his incandescent role of Ragnar Lothbrok in Vikings.  He has a way of speaking and acting that dominates every scene he's in, and leaves an indelible impression.

Someone on some social media site remarked that Dune: Prophecy was just Game of Thrones in outer space.  I did hear someone comment in Dune: Prophecy about "bending" someone's will, and, as I said, there was a scene or two I would rather not have seen, but the Dune story first came out in two serials published in Analog Magazine in 1964 and 1965, followed by the novel in 1965, so if Game of Thrones and Dune: Prophecy have any connection, it's that Thrones was influenced by the narrative qualities of Prophecy rather than vice versa.

And Dune: Prophecy has a freshness and some unexpected turns -- which I won't tell you about -- all its own.   I will tell you that Mark Strong as Emperor Javicco Corrino is memorable -- the Emperors have always been among my favorite Dune characters -- as are Emily Watson and Olivia Williams as the Harkonnen Sisters, who play such important roles.

So if you've been a devotee of the Dune saga, well, you can't go wrong with Prophecy. And if you haven't read or watched yourself into the Dune universe, well, you don't know what you're missing.

See also Dune, Part One: Half the Movie, Twice the Power of Most Other Complete Films ... Dune, Part Two: Not As Good as Part One

Dune Part Two: Not as Good as Part One

I'm beginning to think I'm bound to be disappointed seeing a science fiction trilogy I love brought to the screen.  Those of you who have read my reviews of Foundation, and/or listened to my discussions of the Apple TV+ series on podcasts, will know my frustration with that TV series.  In a sentence, the part that had nothing to do with the original trilogy, the Cleon clones, was the best, and the series lacked some of the strongest parts of the trilogy (or the extent of the trilogy that has so far appeared on the screen).

Ironically, I thought the first part of Denis Villeneuve's rendition of Dune was excellent on just about every level (here's my review).  But the second part, which I just saw last night, indulged in major changes in major characters, and left others completely out.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Let's start with Chani.  The love that she and Paul had for each other lit up the second half of Dune (Frank Herbert's original long novel).  In the movie, she's annoyed or angry with Paul in just about every other scene of the two, including storming off and away at the end.

Alia, Paul's sister, an extraordinary character in the novel, with all kinds of powers derived from the spice she received in Jessica's womb, is seen in the movie only briefly as a young adult in a vision Paul has of the future.  A child with such wisdom and power was a cardinal element of the novel.  In the movie she's reduced to a voice that Jessica hears, presumably coming from the baby she's carrying.  

And what happened to Thufir Hawat the Mentat?  And the Space Guild?  Their way of bending space with their minds actually received more attention in the Foundation TV series, though they indeed were extensively developed in the Dune novel. 

Meanwhile, Feyd-Rautha had plenty of screen time, but I thought his character was reduced to a cartoonish cliche, complementing one Atreides opponent before he kills him, and Paul himself as Feyd-Rautha is about to die from Paul's superior knife-play.  The actual fight, I'll admit, though, was excellent.

And while I'm on the subject of what was excellent in Dune Part 2, I thought Javier Bardem delivered in every scene as Stilgar, whose part was well-drawn in the movie, as did Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, surprisingly relevant in the movie as in the novel.  Indeed, all the acting was fine or better in Dune Part 2, as was the cinematography.

But I'll end with one more complaint: I don't know, but the scenes of Paul riding the sandworm just weren't as impressive as the scenes required.  All too often, they looked to me as if Paul was riding some kind of undulating carpet made of sand (I was half expecting to hear Steppenwolf in the background).

In sum: see Dune Part 2 -- if only to prepare yourself for the third installment, which will bring Dune Messiah to the screen, which I hope will remedy some of the many problems in Dune Part 2.

See also: Dune, Part 1: Half the Movie, Twice the Power of Most Other Complete Films

 

Rebel Moon, Part 2: The Robot and the Freshness

Just saw Rebel Moon, Part 2, on Netflix the other night.  I enjoyed it.  For some reason, my favorite character was the robot, JC-1435, aka James or Jimmy.

I'm not sure what that says about this second part of the movie (which, based on the ending, may well be the beginning of a series of two-part or one-part movies in a saga that now feels to me much more like Dune than Star Wars).  Maybe it's the antlers on Jimmy's head.  Maybe it's the voice -- you can't go wrong with Anthony Hopkins doing the voicing of anything.  But all in all, James conveyed a sensitivity that's rarely seen in robots or androids in movies or TV series, and which in its own way had a subtlety that even Data in Star Trek: TNG seldom quite achieved.

The battles were good and exciting, strong edge-of-your seat stuff.  The villains, however, often verged on cartoonish.   The heroes had more subtlety, and maybe that's because there were more of them than the villains.  I won't warn you about spoilers, because there won't be anything specific in this review, but I will say that this part of the movie which I hope will be a series concluded with fewer heroes than it had at the beginning.

Yeah, I hope we'll see more.  I like looking at the state of the human species at times like these, when we've gone way out into the cosmos, and met other intelligent beings, some of them now deadly foes, others of them loyal friends.  The problem with both Star Wars and Dune, and we can add Foundation to this list,  is that if we've done any reading or watching, we already know who the major characters are and who they will be.  Sometimes we even care about them so much, we don't like it if they're substantially changed in the new treatment (or at least, I feel that way).  But Rebel Moon, even though it deals with very well worn tropes, has a winning freshness and relevance to it.  The heroes in Rebel Moon, when they're not fighting Nazis, are harvesting grain.  Just like they do in Ukraine.

And that's why I'm totally aboard to see more.

See also: Red Moon, Part 1: Galactic Heroes and Villains

Rebel Moon, Part 1: Galactic Heroes and Villains

Just saw Rebel Moon, Part 1 on Netflix.  It's a two-plus-hour movie with touches of the Star Wars, Dune, and Foundation universes, but a story all its own.  And it's just Part 1.  Which if we're comparing it to Stars Wars, means Rebel Moon is in effect two movies.   I very much enjoyed the first one, and I look forward to the second.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Here's what's going on:  There's a Nazi-like empire whose King and Queen have been assassinated, leaving those in charge intent of exterminating the rebels.  The action takes place on a handful of planets strewn across space.  There are robots (including one robot in particular, capable of feeling), cybernetic mixes of organic/electronic, natural beings of all shapes and sizes, and plain old-fashioned human beings including some who are more than plain.

A lot of the movie is focused on a team of heroes.  The recruitment of each provides pretty good stories in themselves.  My favorite was Tarak, a character who looks like a Native American, shows his prowess riding a fierce bird, reminiscent of the dragon-riders in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, and indeed Tarak is played Staz Nair who played Qhono in Game of Thrones.

There are lots of exciting battles, and not all the heroes survive.  That's always a big plus, because it keeps you on your toes.  And there are other surprises as well.  The two biggest are Kai turning on the rebel team.  Given that he's played by Charlie Hunnam, who played such a shining hero/anti-hero in Sons of Anarchy, Kai's selling out the team as the smart move was especially jolting.  No way Jax would have done that.

But the even bigger surprise was Kora.  We first see her at work on a farming planet, where she soon demonstrates her martial skills.  But by the time the movie is over, we're seeing on the screen one of the most effective fighters ever to take on dozens of fighters in rapid succession and sometimes at once.  And we also learn at the end that Kora is actually Arthelais, daughter of the tyrannical Regent of the Empire, Balisarius (poor choice of name, too close to Belisarius, the real last great Roman general on our planet, who already provided inspiration for the name Bel Riose, the last great general of the Empire in Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire and appearing in the second season of Foundation on Apple TV+).  But the reason that Kora/Arthelais has such prowess as a fighter is that she carefully trained a human weapon by her father.

The two hours went by quickly, and my only regret was that I couldn't watch the second two right there and then.  I'll certainly be back here in April 2024 when I do.

See also Rebel Moon, Part 2: The Robot and the Freshness

Foundation 2.6: Hari and Evita

Well, I thought Foundation 2.6 was one of the best episodes so far.  Here's why:

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

1. Young Hari -- both as a boy and a young man -- was pure gold.  It was a neat, powerful story all on its own.  Hari and Yanna were a great, pivotal couple.  And the way he killed Yanna's killer Tadj was perfect -- standing in just the right place in the middle of a stampede, so he was safe (just as he had taught himself how to do as a boy) and she was trampled was an epitome of what he is trying to do as the older Hari we have come to know deals with the stampede of ongoing and upcoming events, and the current renditions of Empire.

2. Speaking of which, I enjoyed Sareth sounding like Evita as she stood next to Empire who had just proclaimed her to be his and the populace's Queen. Indeed, her proclaiming to the people that she was them, and they were standing up there via her at the center of the universe, could have been taken right out of that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical.  The only difference was that Juan Perón really valued Evita beside him, unlike Day who didn't seem too thrilled with what Sareth was saying.

So those were two outstanding segments and themselves worth the price of admission.  The rest, I didn't like quite as much.

3. As I always say about what I see on any fictional television screen, if you don't see a character's head blown off or to smithereens, there's a fair chance the character might live.  Further, in science fiction, there are all kinds of ways a seemingly killed character can survive.  In the case of Hari, there is already a digital Hari who would survive the flesh-and-blood Hari's death.  And, yeah, I see the poetry in his dying, just as he's thinking about and we're learning about what  happened to Yanna.  But I didn't like seeing him drown, anyway, and I hope we see him in the flesh again.  I've gotten to like Hari alive, even though he's not flesh and blood in the original Asimov stories at this point, and even though his digital self would be a passable approximation of the recurring Seldon hologram in the novels.

4. I also don't especially like Tellem, even though she does have a great name that makes me think of that Exciters song every time I hear it.  And I suppose the Second Foundation she may actually be beginning to think she could help create could be a believable victor, eventually, over The Mule.  

But, well, we'll have to wait and see.  I'll add here that there was a character in a fedora hat in 2.6 who showed up twice without saying a word -- a sure sign that this character is someone important.  Just four more episodes to go this season.

Note added: Joel mentions the Spacers scene in his comment.  I wanted to add here that, although the Spacers come from Asimov's novels that take place in a time well before the Foundation stories -- they were the first humans to colonize worlds in other solar systems -- the idea of Spacers who have unique abilities to power spaceships comes from Dune. At least, that's the first place I encountered such human-derived beings who could "fold" space.

See also Foundation 2.1: Once Again, A Tale of Two Stories ... 2.2: Major Players ... 2.3: Bel Riose and Hari ... 2.5: The Original Cleon and the Robot

And see also Foundation 1.1-2: Mathematician, Man of the People, and Cleon's Clones ... Foundation 1.3: Clonal Science Fiction, Hari Seldon as V. I. Lenin ... Foundation 1.4: Slow Hand, Long Half-Life, Flipped Coin ... Foundation 1.5: What We Learned in that Final Scene ... Foundation 1.6: Folded Variations ... Foundation 1.7: Alternate History/Future ... Foundation 1.8: Divergences and Convergences ... Foundation 1.9: Vindication and Questions ... Foundation Season 1 Finale: Right Up There

 

Raised by Wolves 2.1-2: A Viking Out in Space, with Androids

Raised by Wolves was back for a second season on HBO Max yesterday, with two sharp episodes that advanced the narrative in all kinds of intriguing and important ways.

Travis Fimmel was superb, as he was in the first season as the sun god prophet Marcus.  The actor has a unique way of expressing emotions, which (of course) first became clear to me in Fimmel's memorable performance as Ragnar in Vikings.  In Raised by Wolves, we see it again as Marcus almost seeming to channel Ragnar expresses his fury and disappointment about having to kill an atheist whom Marcus would much rather have converted to his spiritual perspective.  And it worked so well -- if you think about it, Ragnar versus the Christian world is much like Marcus versus the godless world out there on that distant planet.

The unfolding story in the atheistic center was multi-layered and fascinating as well.  Mother's beloved Campion doesn't see life and his world the same way as his android "mother" on a growing number of crucial issues.  He doesn't see the world the same way as Paul, Marcus' adopted son, does either, but the two make a good team.  And Mother (well played by Amanda Collin) and Father (well played by Abubakar Salim) don't see eye to eye, as well -- ranging from mother and father differences that we recognize in humans here on Earth (Father tells Mother she needs to treat Campion like an adult) to much more serious life and death situations.

The science fictional elements are vivid, ranging from life in the robotic center to the flying snake that seems reminiscent of Dune.  In fact, the whole desert part of the Wolves story reminds of Dune, with nice frightening new ingredients like the acid water.   Good thing Raised by Wolves is on in winter, when I'm not likely to want to jump in any nearby ocean for a swim.

I'll be reviewing every episode of this excellent new season of this powerful series, and I'll see you back here next week.

See also Raised by Wolves 1.1: Fast Action and Deep Philosophy  ... Raised by Wolves 1.2-3: More than Meets the Eye ... Raised by Wolves 1.4-5: Halfway to Dune ...Raised by Wolves 1.6-7: The Look on Mother's Face ... Raised by Wolves 1.8-1.9: Frankenstein and Motherhood ... Raised by Wolves Season One Finale: The Serpent

Podcast: Page to Screen: Dune, Foundation, The Man in the High Castle, The End of Eternity

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 222, in which I share the talk I gave yesterday in Krakow, Poland via Zoom at PhilosophyCon about the aesthetics and philosophy of assessing the screen adaptations of the science fiction classics Dune (1984, 2021), Foundation (2021), The Man in the High Castle (2015-2019), and The End of Eternity (1987).

Thanks to Michal Tadeusz Norworyta for moderating.

Q & A at conclusion.

Relevant videos:

• The complete PhilosophyCon panel 
• Cora Buhlert, Joel McKinnon, and Paul Levinson discuss the first season of Foundation (also available in audio podcast)
• Paul Levinson interviews Rufus Sewell about The Man in the High Castle

Relevant blog posts:

• Review of Dune (2021)
• Review of The End of Eternity (1987)

 

Check out this episode!

Foundation 1.8: Divergences and Convergences

A towering, slowly moving like colossi in motion, powerful episode 1.8 of Foundation just up on Apple TV+, with new significant changes from Isaac Asimov's writing, and also replete with surprises even in the parts of this narration that were not in the original stories that appeared nearly a century ago.

I accounted for any and all divergences from Asimov in my review here last week: this TV series is an alternate history of Asimov's Foundation stories.  But that's not a blank check in terms of critical review.  The changes still have to work in my book for this story on the screen.

[Spoilers follow ... ]

The big one that screamed at me tonight is Hari wanting to plant the Second Foundation in his homeworld Helicon not Trantor.  This is a tough change for me to swallow or follow -- the Second Foundation being revealed on Trantor was one of my favorite parts of Asimov's writing, from Ebling Mis on forward. I guess I can learn to make Helicon work in the TV series.  But, then again, the Second Foundation on Helicon is at this point only Hari's aspiration, not a reality, so anything's possible.

What is pretty clear, by the conclusion of this episode, is that Gaal Dornick on the screen is not the Preem Palver come early I said she was last week, nor the Wanda Seldon others said she was.  She's traveling in suspended animation on a 100+ year trip back to her own world.  And ... hmmm, I guess that means she could end up being the equivalent of Preem or Wanda sometime in the future, after all.

The clone story, of which we saw only Brother Day, was excellent again.  To all who think Day is soulless or heartless, he did try to lend a hand to the old guy who was surrendering his life on the spiral walk.   I'm not saying he has much goodness in him, but he's capable of real empathy (portrayed by especially strong acting by Lee Pace)  Demerzel is, too.  But so far, she remains to me a very dislikable robot.

I'll conclude with another word about the Spacers.  As I mentioned when they first were mentioned in an early episode, they existed alright in Asimov's stories, but as people who lived and developed their culture on and among planets far out in space.  They did not have the power to "fold" space. That, as far as I recall, was the power the "spacers" plied in Dune.  What this means in the intertwining literary and cinematic histories of both the Foundation and Dune stories is that not only is Dune indebted to Foundation, but now there's a little vice versa.

And I'll be back here next week with my review of the next-to-last episode of this season.

See also Foundation 1.1-2: Mathematician, Man of the People, and Cleon's Clones ... Foundation 1.3: Clonal Science Fiction, Hari Seldon as V. I. Lenin ... Foundation 1.4: Slow Hand, Long Half-Life, Flipped Coin ... Foundation 1.5: What We Learned in that Final Scene ... Foundation 1.6: Folded Variations ... Foundation 1.7: Alternate History/Future ... Foundation 1.9: Vindication and Questions ... Foundation Season 1 Finale: Right Up There

Dune, Part One: Half the Movie, Twice the Power of Most Other Complete Films

The first half of Dune -- over two-and-a-half hours of almost a six hour movie -- came up on HBO Max late yesterday.  It's also in theaters, and an expert critic or two proclaimed that it can't be fully or really appreciated unless you see it on the big screen.  Maybe my mind is prone to see in cinematic vistas, but I liked the movie just fine on my Mac Airbook.

In fact, I thought this first half of a movie was superb, far better than most other complete films, including David Lynch's 1984 brave attempt to do Dune (the only thing I remember about that movie was Sting).  The new 2021 first half of the movie was true in all important respects to the original Frank Herbert novel, very well acted and staged, with desert scenes that made me thirsty.  The sandworm and the Fremen were especially effective, and all the major characters shined (well, I guess you can't say that about the Harkonnen, who were nauseating, but that's exactly what they're supposed to be).

I've told people over the years who are thinking of starting the Dune book series -- I first read the novel in the mid-1970s, about ten years after Frank Herbert's masterpiece was finally published -- that they just need to suspend their judgement for the first third or more of the book, which is dense and often boring, and hold out for the tour-de-force it becomes as the story progresses.  That origin of Dune, that template that director Denis Villeneuve had to work with, makes his accomplishment even more impressive.  And in addition to the movie narrative, the battle scenes and the music are powerful, too.

Jason Momoa was outstanding -- he should talk in his roles in plain English more often.  His character Duncan Idaho has a great future ahead, and Momoa got him off to a good start.  I also liked Jason Bardem as Stilgar, and Zendaya was stirring as Chani the short time she was on the screen.  Oscar Isaac, who was powerful in Scenes of a Marriage, delivered the same as Duke Leto in Dune.

I first saw Rebecca Ferguson in Reminiscence earlier this year, and was struck by her performance.  She was fine in the crucial role of Lady Jessica in Dune.  I thought I saw some cheap shot at Timothée Chalamet in some review I glanced at and didn't read.  He was fine in the even more important, pivotal role of Paul.  I'm looking forward to seeing him with blue eyes.

That will happen in Part Two, when with any luck we'll also meet Alia, (maybe) see what happened to Duncan Idaho, see more of the Bene Gesserit, meet the Emperor, and who knows what else.  And I'll be back here when that movie is released with another review.

See also Dune, Part Two: Not As Good as Part One

Foundation 1.6: Folded Variations

Well, the three-hour first part of the Dune movie debuted on HBO Max tonight, but of course I watched the latest episode of Foundation on Apple TV+ first.  And I was greeted by something straight out of Dune -- interstellar travel via the folding of space.  In Dune this is done by members of the Space Guild.  In Foundation, the folding is done by Spacers, a nod to Asimov's work, in which people who went to space, in the original robot novels, were Spacers.

Brother Day travels via folded space to a distant world.  The more interesting action, and I expect the more ultimately important, takes place back on Trantor.   Brother Dawn, now a young man, differs from his clonal twins.  He's a better shot than Brother Dusk ever was, and Dawn is color blind.   Color blindness is usually the result of genetics.  If that's the cause of Dawn's inability to see red, that means something went wrong with the oft-used duplication process.  Certain drugs can also cause color blindness.  If that's the cause of Dawn's faulty vision, the big question is who caused it.  A genetic cause would implicate the robot Demerzel.  An environmental cause could be due to anyone in Dawn's vicinity once he came out of the tube.

Dawn also seems in love with the lovely gardener.  Now in Asimov's novel, a gardener kills the Emperor, much to a young Hari Seldon's horror.  But that gardener was a muttering old man, an individual who slipped through the lines of Hari's predictions.* Will the young, lithe gardener do the same to Brother Dawn?  I hope not, they make a nice couple.  But I'm going to keep an eye on her.

*Note added 24 October 2021:  In effect, that gardener presaged the Mule.

And speaking of Hari?  Of course we learned nothing more about what we saw at the end of last week's episode.  But I am used to that.  We do see that Hari planned the stabbing, with a very reluctant Raych.  But everyone and their favorite grandparent guessed that already.

Alright, I'll be watching and reviewing here Dune tomorrow.  If I don't see you then, I'll see you next week with my review of Foundation 1.7.

See also Foundation 1.1-2: Mathematician, Man of the People, and Cleon's Clones ... Foundation 1.3: Clonal Science Fiction, Hari Seldon as V. I. Lenin ... Foundation 1.4: Slow Hand, Long Half-Life, Flipped Coin ... Foundation 1.5: What We Learned in that Final Scene ... Foundation 1.7: Alternate History/Future ... Foundation 1.8: Divergences and Convergences ... Foundation 1.9: Vindication and Questions ... Foundation Season 1 Finale: Right Up There

Raised by Wolves 1.4-5: Halfway to Dune

I thought the 4th and 5th episodes of Raised by Wolves were really good, especially the 5th, because it gave us a nice big origin story about Mother - how she was created, and endowed/programmed with her mission.  Her maker tells her she's humanity's last hope, a nod to Star Wars mythology.

But maybe because I saw the trailer for the new Dune movie the other day, maybe I would have thought this anyway, maybe both factors are at play, but Raised by Wolves really felt to me tonight to be deeply indebted to Dune.  The sweeping sand dunes, the monsters hidden in and under the sand, the boy - with the two possible candidates - as the savior, all these speak Muad'dib on Arrakis.

Meanwhile, Travis Fimmel's Marcus, now leading the pack of Sol true-believers, seems increasingly like Ragnar in Vikings.  Not only because Fimmel's mannerisms are the same in both narratives - which I don't mind and in fact find appropriate in both - but the characters both are subject to visions, seek advice from strange characters, and have the same reactions to women.   In other words, the Marcus character played by Fimmel was deliberately designed to recall Ragnar, and that's also fine with me.

One of those characters also resonates with the Count of Monte Cristo and his mask.  Except this mask was put on the character because he raped women in hibernation over the long voyage.  His reason: Sol commanded him to populate the species, though he doesn't deny the carnal pleasure he obtained from following Sol's commands.   Since he's in a mask, that can't help but raise the question of who he is?  I'll make a wild guess: maybe the master programmer of androids who created Mother back on a dying Earth?

Anyway, these echos of Dune and Star Wars, not to mention of course Blade Runner, point to the depth of Raised by Wolves, not that it's too derivative.  An important science fiction series should be standing on the shoulders of giants, and I'll be back here next week to tell you how Jack and the Beanstalk fares with these giants.

See also Raised by Wolves 1.1: Fast Action and Deep Philosophy  ... Raised by Wolves 1.2-3: More than Meets the Eye

Humans Season 3 Final Three Episodes: Hybrids

I decided to review the final three episodes of Humans, Season 3, as a single piece, since they're even more closely connected than episodes usually are in this fine series.   The upshot of these episodes, and a great foundation for a fourth season, is that it's possible to have a true synch-human hybrid - true, that is, and assuming I'm understanding this correctly, on the genetic level.

Leo was already a hybrid of sorts.  But he was born human, and given parts of a synch brain to save him after he died, or almost died, depending on how you look at it, from drowning.  That synch part was taken out of him this season.  But it turned out that the totally human Leo was not quite totally human.  He was something a little more, retaining something of his synch essence even after the hardware was removed.

And as Odie now V who attained his hybrid quality in a different way, tells Niska, who has now also risen to a superior level, the baby that Leo and Mattie are having will be a hybrid from the moment of birth.  Or, actually, she's a hybrid already in the womb.

This takes Humans to a whole new level, almost reminiscent of the best of Dune and its genetics.  (I also dealt with this in a different way in my Locus-award-winning first novel, The Silk Code.) In fact, I can't think of any other AI story - including Westworld - where the genetics and digital have been so tantalizingly woven together.   Or promise to be - for at this point, at the end of season, it has not quite fully happened.

So our synths have now progressed from (a) most of the green-eyes are non-sentient, but our original cohort are sentient because David Elster wanted them to be that way to take care of Leo, (b) all of the remaining green-eyes are sentient due to the awakening due to the release of the code by Mattie to save Mia last year, (c) to human-synch hybrids on a different level, including synchs on a different level, as evidenced by V, Niska, and soon Mattie's baby.

Sadly, Mia's death means that Mattie's release of the code to save Mia had no long-term effect on Mia, though she did play a crucial role in the new order that's arising.  And, hey, death is never necessarily dead when it comes to androids, so ... who knows, we may see Mia again.

And you'll see me back here with reviews whenever Humans returns.

See also Humans 3.1: Class Warfare ... Humans 3.2: Mortality ... Humans 3.3: Human Leo on Fictional TV and the American Southern Border ... Humans 3.4: Sam ... Humans 3.5: Progress

And see also Humans 2.1: Westworld meets Nashville ... Humans 2.2: The Consciousness Code ... Humans 2.3: Motives and Uploads ... Humans 2.4: Android Orgasms ... Humans 2.5-6: Children ... Humans 2.7-8: Universal

And see also Humans: In Ascending Order ... Humans 1.7: "I Think You're Dead, George"


                    "DNA is the ultimate dossier."

Bosch 3: Best Season So Far

Binge-watched the third season of Bosch on Amazon the past few nights, and found it better than ever.

Among my favorite parts of this unconventional season of an unconventional hard-boiled LA noir cop series are: a serial killer who comes in and out of the story, and apparently has no connection to the central story lines, rides by Bosch, untouched, and likely to play a central role in season 4; Bosch discovers that he has not solved his mother's murder, and the new suspect is, well, I don't want to give that much away; and, Frank Herbert's Dune makes a cameo appearance.

Bosch has a gut connection to The Wire, and not just because Jamie Hector and Lance Reddick play major roles.   There's nothing in Bosch like The Wire's drug crime and culture of Baltimore, but the police part of Bosch has the same compelling intra-gritty cop story.

Loyalty is always put to the test, in an environment in which almost no detective is thoroughly ethical or reliable.  Bosch epitomizes this - he's par excellence no angel, but someone you'd want on your side and not on your case.  Titus Welliver delivers the best performance of his career - by far - and is well on his way to portraying a character as iconic as Sgt. Friday.  In fact, I'm feeling more and more that this Bosch series of Dragnet meets The Wire will be as significant in our popular culture as those 1950s network television and early 21st century cable series.

Unlike many other fine police shows - such as Chicago PD, which deals with a different case just about every week, and has a Sergeant who is not quite believable in the violence he dishes out - Bosch sticks with its several cases throughout its 10-episode season, with some of those cases even going a lot further than one season.  And the quality of the detective life portrayed on Bosch feels to me more realistic, though I have no direct knowledge myself of what police life is actually like.   It's testament to the writing, acting, and production of the series that it feels so real.

I've enjoyed Bosch from its first season two years ago. But having just seen the third season, I'm thinking Bosch is not only the best police drama now on screen but on its way to being one of the best police dramas ever on television.

See also  Bosch: First Half: Highly Recommended ... Bosch: Second Half as Fine as the First ...  Bosch Season 2: Dragnet with Uber

                   another kind of police story 

Game of Thrones 6.2: The Waking

I titled this review of Game of Thrones 6.2 "The Waking," because I didn't want to give too much away, in the unlikely event that anyone reading this hasn't seen the episode.   I might have entitled this review "The Melting," since ... well, read no more, if you don't want the last moment of the episode deprived of its shocking power on its first viewing.  [spoilers ahead]

Now, I'm such a romantic I was hoping that Ned would somehow be brought back from the dead after his stunning death at the end of the first season.  When he wasn't, I figured there was not much point in hoping for the same for his out-of-wedlock son, Jon Snow.

But hey, that's just what happened in the last minute, and I'm glad about it.   Jon is too important a character to lose in the confrontations that reside ahead, which I assume will be between the fiery dragons of the south and the frigid demons of the north.  Of course, we have no idea what condition Jon will be in his resurrected form.   If he's lost his mind, then what's the point of bringing him back? But it also seems unlikely that he'll be exactly or even more or less the same as he was before his death.   As a possible point of comparison, the loyalty of the resurrected was a key element in the early books of the Frank Herbert's Dune series, one of the best series in science fiction (in fact, second only, I would say to Isaac Asimov's Foundation series).

Meanwhile, we have at least two other re-awakenings or reacquaintances in this fine episode of GOT. Bran was MIA all last season, and it's good to see him back on the screen, with a character played by Max von Sydow just to add some interest.   Bran's powers have now expanded to vividly clear trips in his memory, approximating travels back in tine, and these should gives us some important missing elements in the back stories.

And the two dragons have been unchained by Tyrion, which is about time, and very much welcome. The revelation from Tyrion that they are as intelligent as they are fierce promises some crucial turning points in the story ahead.

I'm so far liking this new season better than the beginnings of any of the previous seasons, except the first.

See also Game of Thrones 6.1: Where Are the Dragons

And see also Game of Thrones 5.1: Unsetting the Table ... Game of Thrones 5.8: The Power of Frigid Death ... Game of Thrones 5.9: Dragon in Action; Sickening Scene with Stannis ... Game of Thrones Season 5 Finale: Punishment

And see also Games of Thrones Season 4 Premiere: Salient Points ... Game of Thrones 4.2: Whodunnit? ... Game of Thrones 4.3: Who Will Save Tyrion ...Game of Thrones 4.4: Glimpse of the Ultimate Battle ... Game of Thrones 4.6: Tyrion on Trial ... Game of Thrones 4.8: Beetles and Battle ...Game of Thrones 4.9: The Fight for Castle Black ... Games of Thrones Season 4 Finale: Woven Threads

And see also  Game of Thrones Season 3 Premiere ... Game of Thrones 3.3: The Heart of Jaime Lannister ... Game of Thrones 3.6: Extraordinary Cinematography ...Game of Thrones 3.7: Heroic Jaime ...  Game of Thrones 3.9: A Critique 

And see also Game of Thrones Back in Play for Season 2 ... Game of Thrones 2.2: Cersei vs. Tyrion

And see also A Game of Thrones: My 1996 Review of the First Novel ... Game of Thrones Begins Greatly on HBO ... Game of Thrones 1.2: Prince, Wolf, Bastard, Dwarf ... Games of Thrones 1.3: Genuine Demons ... Game of Thrones 1.4: Broken Things  ... Game of Thrones 1.5: Ned Under Seige ... Game of Thrones 1.6: Molten Ever After ... Games of Thrones 1.7: Swiveling Pieces ... Game of Thrones 1.8: Star Wars of the Realms ... Game of Thrones 1.9: Is Ned Really Dead? ... Game of Thrones 1.10 Meets True Blood

And here's a Spanish article in Semana, the leading news magazine in Colombia, in which I'm quoted about explicit sex on television, including on Game of Thrones.

And see "'Game of Thrones': Why the Buzz is So Big" article in The Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2014, with my quotes.

Also: CNN article, "How 'Game of Thrones' Is Like America," with quote from me

 

"I was here, in Carthage, three months from now." 

#SFWApro