TV Review: Foundation Season 2
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Foundation season one was already a success, somehow wrestling all the world building, hard sci-fi, and expansive timeline into a coherent enjoyable narrative. It wasn’t without its challenges though and the show took a while to get going and often got bogged down in the minutae of its science. What words then can we use to describe the second season, which not only exceeds the first season in terms of plates spinning but also manages to make the show more accessible, improving on the quality of the first season?
In the wake of watching the finale, I must say it’s been a while since I had been gagged at a show’s finale like I was. From the flight of the Vault to the switcheroo at the airlock, the end of this season of Foundation was one giant reveal after the other. However, it’s not the reveals, which by themselves were shocking yes, but how the writers slowly built them up and structured them throughout the season. So much has happened in the episodes between Homer Marlow’s introduction, that I had forgetten about the device that allows people to switch places. So my jaw literally dropped when it happened and how. The mark of good writing is that it can make anything big or small, consequential or inconsequential with a single line of moment. Long considered a novel that was unfilmable, show runner David S. Goyer has done an incredible job of leading this production to the screen.
Season 2 kicks off 100 years in the future from where we left the characters off. In many ways Foundation feels like the show some disgruntled Tolkien fans hoped Rings of Power would be given that it had a huge time jump in between seasons whereas Rings of Power wanted to compress the timeline. There’s some validity to Foundations approach, but there’s no guarantee it will work in different genres. We’re introduced to a religion based on Hari Seldon, a woman who aims to be queen, and a conspiracy to hasten the empire’s decline. These touch points set the stage for the show, but it’s the digging into the themes and leaning into the humanity of these characters, even those who aren’t human (shoutout to Laura Burn and her brilliant take on Demerzel).
I have no idea what the budget of the show is (and the writers and actors definitely should be getting paid their worth as the industry strikes have shown) but every single penny of the budget they do have is on the screen. The visuals are outstanding and there’s not a single thing out of place. Everything was working in concert and everyone involved in this show should be giving themselves a pat on the back for an incredible season of television.
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