Foundation Season 2 Episode 2 Review

The Good: Harry remains the best character in the show. His sarcastic outburst at Gaal was some of the funniest dialogue yet in the series.

The Magicians are also a funny and appropriate reimagining of their book counterparts.

The Bad: The show's handling of the concept of the second foundation is very different from the books but still very interesting. The biggest problem I have seems to be an implication that Gaal’s emotional outburst are what has caused the Seldon plan to go off course. Here, the show seems to be embarking on a time travel/causal loop premise The Foundation book series barely mentions the idea of time travel as an ancient in-universe legend (see ch. 74 Foundations Edge). The foundation stories themselves are linear and do not rely on time travel, causal loops, or even visions of future clairvoyance. Gaal and Salvor are clearly telepathic in this series, but they also appear to be clairvoyant. This is the biggest departure from the big picture book concepts and, if that’s what truly plays out, it would be a big disappointment.

Adherence to the books: Episode two alluded to the Mule as being the cause of the Seldon plan going off course. While this is certainly true in books, we don’t know that until after the Mule has begun his conquest. And even if Gaal is clairvoyant to the point where she can access her own future memories of a deadly individual, the prime radiant cannot, it can only predict patterns of societal behavior. So, what does this mean, that the radiant is reading Gaal’s mind? I find this to be the biggest departure from the books and/or the biggest logic flaw in the plot.

Book Spoiler Alert. In the novels, the mule is physically deformed and somewhat mentally challenged, or at least he pretends to be so as to hide his true identity. From the brief glimpse in Gaal’s vision, he appears to be menacing and intimidating. We may not see any more of the Mule this season since he doesn't show up for another 100 years or so in the timeline, but that deviation would be another disappointing one.

Missed Opportunities: I was sooo hoping that Ahmed Best would be cast to play the Mule. He played Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequels, and many people believe George Lucas originally modeled him after Asimov’s Mule character, a buffoon who later is revealed to be an evil mastermind. Afterall, he did call for the senatorial vote that led to Palpatine’s ultimate power. But I digress.

Conclusion: (Cut and Pasted from previous Post) Despite the many flaws, I still enjoy watching this show. If you are not a sci-fi fan and you're not a space opera fan, then stay away; this show is unlikely to entertain. If, like me, you are a sucker for sci-fi and space opera then I recommend watching this episode and this series.