Apple released the first two episodes of their sci-fi epic “Foundation” this week and “epic” is exactly what they were. There are so many visual and narrative intricacies to dig into in these two hours of TV. That’s probably why it took us as much time as Apple spent making the episodes, to properly cover them. Join us next week for a regular-sized episode.
Jim and I have seen episode three of HBO’s Chernobyl series, “Open Wide, O Earth”, and are shaken by the graphic depiction of the Chernobyl first responders’ last days. We get to see the horror from multiple perspectives, the victims themselves, the and the friends and family who struggle to cope with this strange manner of death and the danger it poses to them. Meanwhile as the Soviets manage to contain and stop the fire, we gear up for the long war ahead; to fully contain the death and destruction of Chernobyl it will require 750k lives and three years of sacrifice. Will they be up for the challenge? And will they solve the mystery of the reactor’s destruction, so that it might never happen again? All this plus some light discussion on the relative merits of free market capitalism vs centrally planned economies in feedback. You know, kids stuff.
Jim and I strap on our lead shielding and check our dosimeters before doing a deep dive into the second installment of Chernobyl, the HBO miniseries about the doomed nuclear facility. In “Please Remain Calm”, the stakes increase as the lives of over 60 million Europeans are threatened by the crisis, and decisions are made that will lead to the deaths of individuals to potentially save millions.
Jim and A.Ron have seen AMC’s The Terror, the epic horror/historical drama set in the mid-nineteenth century that tries to answer the question of what went wrong during the doomed Franklin expedition to the arctic circle. These intrepid men were looking for a path through the sea ice that would open up speedier (and more profitable) trade to the new world and eastern markets, but instead they find themselves trapped in a frozen hell for years. Which will run out first? Their supplies or their sanity? To make the situation worse, they are steadily hunted by an mysterious creature. The show is gorgeous, it’s extremely well acted with Bald Move TV vets such as Jared Harris, Ciarán Hinds, and Tobias Menzies, and features genuine moments of psychological dread and horror. We talk about the show itself, and briefly talk about what the ensuing anthology AMC has recently green-lit might look like.