"THE PERIPHERAL" (Season One)
Review by Dennis D. McDonald
The “Putin Diaspora”
I was ready to abandon this after only three episodes. I’m glad I didn’t.
At first I thought the back and forth between “near-present-day” rural US and future post-apocalypse London was tedious and overly complicated. After four episodes things became more coherent. By the end I had become engrossed and eager for Season 2 to arrive to begin to tie up loose ends—of which there are many!
I have not read the William Gibson novel. THE PERIPHERAL series on Amazon Prime is based on familiar cyberpunk elements (which Gibson helped pioneer) such as multiple timelines, body augmentation, remotely controlled androids, devastating images of social and economic collapse, and warring clans making nefarious uses of advanced technologies.
Eventually it all does tie together even if many questions are unanswered at the end. At first I thought they were a too many characters and too many plot lines to keep track of but by the end things do tie together. I also get the impression that decisions were explicitly made by the producers to respect the intelligence of the audience.
Things are helped along by strong performances by all leads and by production values, special effects, and costuming that are world class. I could have done without some of the ultraviolence but overall I am very impressed with this series.
Review copyright 2023 by Dennis D. McDonald