A smartly-written and visually-arresting show from the ‘Westworld’ creators, ‘The Peripheral’ gives credit to the viewers’ intelligence and keeps us wanting more
A smartly-written and visually-arresting show from the ‘Westworld’ creators, ‘The Peripheral’ gives credit to the viewers’ intelligence and keeps us wanting more
If I do not watch science fiction for prolonged periods of time, I crave a solid dose and The Peripheral is just what the doctor ordered. Bouncing from King’s Landing to Sicily, (what can I say, a reviewer’s life is a hard one) the touchdown in the two neon-drenched timelines of The Peripheral made for an exhilarating head trip.
The Peripheral
Season: 1
Episodes: 3 out of 8
Run time: 65 to 73 minutes
Creator: Scott B. Smith
Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Gary Carr, Jack Reynor, JJ Field, T’Nia Miller, Louis Herthum, Katie Leung, Melinda Page Hamilton, Chris Coy, Alex Hernandez, Julian Moore-Cook, Adelind Horan, Austin Rising, Eli Goree, Charlotte Riley
Storyline: A gamer sees something she should not, and now has to pay a heavy price
Based on William Gibson’s 2014 novel of the same name, The Peripheral is set in the near future. Flynne Fisher (Chloë Grace Moretz) lives in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her brother Burton (Jack Reynor), a Marine veteran, and her ill mother Ella (Melinda Page Hamilton).
Flynne works a dead-end job at a 3D printer, and as her mother’s medical bills mount, she and Burton make extra money by gaming for rich people. The siblings share an avatar and when Flynne makes it to a higher level in one of the sims (simulations), the avatar gets the attention of a mysterious Bogota-based company.
The company offers a stash of cash to beta test a new sim. Flynne is amazed the reality of the new sim, which takes her to what looks like a strangely deserted London. Aelita (Charlotte Riley) who starts off as a voice in Flynne’s head, reveals herself and the sim, which requires Flynne to break into a Corporation with an employee’s eye (eye-trauma alert). Why do so many shows have awful things done to eyes nowadays; is it something to do with our voracious and never-ending consumption of content?
After the break in, all hell breaks loose and suddenly Flynne and her family are in danger with a nine-million dollar hit taken out on them on the dark web. While there are people out to get the Fishers led by scary Cherise (T’Nia Miller), there are also people who want to help her, chief among them being Wilf (Gary Carr) who introduces Flynne to his colleagues, the suave Lev (JJ Field), gloomy Ash (Katie Leung) and Ossian (Julian Moore-Cook) who is very good at “looming”.
Flynne figures out that the sim is the future, 70 years ahead, when most of the population has been decimated by a catastrophe called The Jackpot. There are evil-doers in Flynne’s here and now as well including Corbell Pickett (Louis Herthum) who cleaned out the town rather innovatively by sending the bad guys to meet their maker in rather horrific way…
The Peripheral has impeccable credentials counting Westworld creators, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, as executive producers. The fact that it is based on a book by the man who created the word cyberspace is an added bonus. Gibson is considered the father of cyber punk and his debut novel, Neuromancer, is the creative engine that drove The Matrix.
While there are heavy-duty concepts at play in The Peripheral, there are no information dumps that bring the action to a grinding halt. Giving credit to viewers’ intelligence, we are given clues to what is happening as the characters get them.
Visually arresting (I cannot get over the brick wall parting like a curtain) and smartly written, there is a lot to enjoy in The Peripheral. When the show takes a pause to quote that traveler in time and space, William Blake, (hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour) and that other William (“if you prick us, do we not bleed”) is a chance to wander in a garden of literary delights.
From the episode titles, which include “Empathy Bonus” and “Haptic Drift” to the comparison of soles and souls, the weight given to words is welcome. That these words ride on a good-looking, blistering-paced show calls for us to bow and pray to the neon god we made.
The Peripheral is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video
