It’s hard to get a legitimate take on this show due to Apple fans. The consensus that I got was that it was not anything like the books, might be missing the point. But the veteran actors and Emperor plotlines are great while the new actors and Foundation plotline are weak.

I went through the book series again and was wondering if anything from the books does get adapted or is it pretty much the same as season 1?

  • Brainsploosh@lemmy.world
    261·
    3 years ago

    I’ll add my voice to the consensus, ignore the part where it’s connected to the books. It’s a superficially similar story, but it has neither the purpose, storytelling or even plot points of the books.

    What I find the hardest is that despite having a solid plot and concept to follow, the series has very weak story telling. It might be that I’m getting old, but I find the focus is more on eye candy and cool situations than on progressing the story and characters.

    It has the feel of filler content to generate ad opportunity, or an illustrated podcast about someone who once read the books but has too much ADHD to be able to retell what they read.

    That is also the vibe of much other content on AppleTV, so might be a conscious choice of which I’m not a target demographic. I’ll be shouting at clouds about it though, maybe it’ll slow climate change while I’m at it.

    • 𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆@lemmy.worldEnglish
      121·
      3 years ago

      I agree, it is a shame that the movie industry is full of egos and back patters. Foundation could have easily turned into a massive franchise. I can’t even finish watching season one. It was slightly interesting at first, but it totally lacks any depth and ruined all of the subtle points that tie the books together. There is nothing to build upon and expand the franchise into something interesting based on the books. Their biggest crime is calling it Foundation. It would have been better on its own mediocrity.

  • tiny_parking@lemmy.world
    9·
    3 years ago

    Firstly, forget the books

    Secondly try to convince yourself that two or disparate storylines somehow will combine at some point to become meaningful.

    Thirdly for some odd reason I still enjoy it

  • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.worldEnglish
    71·
    3 years ago

    I didn’t start watching until season 2 was even out, I’m a huge fan of the books and had zero faith they’d be able to do them justice. I just couldn’t see how a story spanning tens of thousands of years, with frequent lead character changes, could work for TV.

    Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your view) they’ve taken an attitude of just changing whatever they want to create a fantastic (imo) scifi show. So yeah, as tiny_parking says, ignore the books (if you’ve read them). The TV bears only a passing resemblance, in that Hari Seldon / psychohistory is a main feature.

    Tbh my biggest gripe… WTF did they do to Daneel Olivaw?! Now he’s a murderous psycho sexy fembot. Why. Whyyyyyyy. They could’ve created the Demerzel character and kept Olivaw as an antagonist for the good guys. One of my favourite characters from all scifi series, reduced to a murderous fembot.

  • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
    41·
    3 years ago

    It’s different, s2 started terribly but picked up dramatically, if you can survive the first 3 episodes it’s actually pretty good.

    Gaal is less completely hatable as an actress and character after the first few episodes of s2, but only because they seem to have tried to tone her down, she was the worst part of s1 also.

    They need to be arrested for criminal misuse of Jared Harris, poor guy, but the queen is fun and constance is the somehow stealing the screen from everybody in the best ways.

    If only they could somehow kill off Gaal…

  • Ensign_Rutherford@startrek.websiteEnglish
    3·
    3 years ago

    I’ve not read the books so I’ve got nothing to compare it to, I’m defintely going to go and read them after I’ve finished season 2 though.

    I’ve been enjoying it, not quite as much as the first season but it’s still fun to watch. The whole Empire thing is good, they’ve made some interesting character choices for Demerzel which I’m not really into, they don’t happen in the book though from what I’ve read.

    It’s taken a real turn and there are a bunch of new characters in it, I like most of them and it feels like the plot is moving forward swiftly with their scenes. The spacers show up more and are really, really cool. I hope we learn more about them.

    I’m thinking it’s generally okay but I’ve not read the books and I’m fairly easy to please though

  • val@infosec.pub
    2·
    3 years ago

    But the veteran actors and Emperor plotlines are great while the new actors and Foundation plotline are weak.

    This is still true, though I’d say sadly Empire isn’t quite as good as it was last time around. It honestly feels like watching two different shows most of the time. If someone ever releases a cut that is just Empire and whatever is needed for that plot line to make sense, then I could recommend it.

  • The Giant Korean@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    3 years ago

    I enjoyed Season 1 much more than Season 2 so far. I’ve never read the books, but I’ve heard about them. Lee Pace is amazing.