The Peripheral Episode 1 and 2 Review – A Wanna Be Westworld?

The Peripheral is a new Sci-Fi series produced by Amazon Prime Video which is based on the 2014 novel by William Gibson of the same name. The show is created by Scott B. Smith but some reports also suggest the involvement of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Both of them are credited as Executive Producers in the intro of the show and Smith is credited as the sole creator. I don’t know what’s the story there. The show stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Jack Reynor, Gary Carr, Charlotte Riley, Adelind Horan, Alexandra Billings, T’Nia Miller, Louis Herthum, J.J. Feild and Eli Goree. The premise of the show revolves around, “Set in the future when technology has subtly altered society, a woman discovers a secret connection to an alternate reality as well as a dark future of her own.”

There was a considerable amount of buzz around the show given the involvement of Westworld creators- Nolan & Joy. The trailer of the series was released at the NYCC and it was quite hypnotizing. Given that Westworld Season 4 was one of the better series that we’ve gotten this year and how it is a considerable upgrade from the previous two seasons, I was excited of what the creators had in store for us with this Sci-Fi series. The show like us most of the things days was met with mixed reactions upon its double feature debut on Prime Video. It looks like the fans love it while the critics find it mediocre. Having this knowledge, I entered to experience the show myself and now after completing it I have some thoughts I’d like to share.

Rating – ★★1/2

The Peripheral Review – Intriguing or Irritating?

The Peripheral’s premise pretty sufficient to understand what happens in the first two episodes. The first scene in between a teenage girl and an adult guy who we later realize are Aelita and Wilf respectively. She tells him that she is leaving to save a world and he asks her not to but she doesn’t listen. We then cut to an entirely different setting (Year 2032) and meet our protagonist- Flynne, she lives with her sick mother and brother Burton, in the woods in a small town. We see how caring and responsible she is. We see the love between her and her mother.

She and her brother has problems on the surface but they care for each other very much. We also get a glimpse of her skills when it comes to VR games. She fills in for her brother and manages to cross a level with ease that he was struggling with. She works in a local shop that produces 3D dolls or anything. I think it is a shop with a lot of 3D printers. We see she has some feelings for the deputy sheriff of the town but he is getting married as well. The real action begins when her brother prints a weird device in her shop which is being paid for someone she doesn’t know.

He tells her that, the manufactures need him to beta test this simulation and in turn would get cash. He asks Flynne to do it as she is much skilled at it than him. Flynne enters the sim to realize that she is a completely new reality in Burton’s body as it was designed for him. There is a voice assisting him on the tasks. She picks up a girl at a party and then kidnaps her from there fighting her bodyguard robot. She then takes her to the voice and then the first day ends. Flynne is excited to do this and agrees to do it everyday.

She goes out to get an ultra expensive tablet for her mother from “bad” people. They try to be cute with her and refuse to give her to pills until a disabled man- Conner comes to her rescue on his automated “meant for the disabled” bike. He simply intimidates them with his words. The guys leave, giving the pills to Flynne. Conner and Flynne go home. One of the jerks who was fooling around with Flynne is beaten by this old suave guy- Corbell Pickett who hits them because they were intimidated by a disabled person.

When Flynne enters the sim, a second time things go south as the same lady that was a voice in her head, meets her in hospital where Flynne’s eye is swapped for the lady who she’d previously kidnapped. After the procedure, they both go to a secure location where the swapped eye comes in handy. We learn that the lady is actually Aelita who we saw in the previous episode. Flynne dies in the simulation while saving Aelita to escape. Flynne decides never to do this again. Flynne is contacted by the same person we’d seen with Aelita warning her about an impending attack on them. Flynne tells this to Burton who then readies his friends to brace for a war. Episode one ends here.

Episode 2 stars with how Flynne and Burton defeat these attackers with some help from Conner. We see that Flynne comes in contact with Wilf and learns that this is not a simulation rather a reality itself which is set 70 years in the future (Year 2099). Wilf convinces Flynne through her mother’s sickness that what he is saying the truth. Flynne cracks a deal with Wilf that if he cures her mother then she’ll help him looking for Aelita. Simultaneously, the other gang contacts Pickett to kill Flynne and Burton. The episode ends with Flynne’s mother getting better.

Verdict

The Peripheral doesn’t have some gaping flaws that one would see but the biggest gripe I have with the film is despite being high concept the series is just not interesting enough. The main character of Flynne with whom they’ve tried to create some kind of emotional link but simply felt nothing for her as she looked like one of the most uninteresting protagonists. The world that they’ve created is not fleshed out yet. I liked how they color grade and play with the visuals when they’re in a sim.

However, despite everything I’m not hooked. I appreciate that they did a double feature as they were aware that the first episode wouldn’t convince the audiences to comeback. The second episode was better as some of the things got clear, it packed in a lot of heart of better than the first. I like the eye removing bit from episode one, that was quite harrowing as they went all in with it. I don’t want to badmouth the series as it is not bad, just not interesting. It is technically sound. If you’re into sci-fi series then you might like this.

However, I’d say wait for all the eight episodes come out as then you’ll have a better idea, reading all the reviews, whether it is worth spending time on or not. From the two episodes that I’ve seen, its nowhere close to the brilliance of Westworld Season 1. It may improve but for now it does give the feeling that the show is a wanna be Westworld. I would deem the first two episodes of The Peripheral around 2.5 out of 5 stars. Might seem a bit brutal but this was my honest rating. Hopefully next week’s episode is more interesting.

The first two episodes of The Peripheral are available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video. New episodes release every Friday at 9.30 pm.

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