In the not-so-distant future, technology has an even greater hold on humanity than it does now.
Audiences were introduced to Flynne and Burton Fisher, a brother, and sister trying to survive in a world against them on The Peripheral Season 1 Episode 1.
The concept of VR games taking someone to another world isn’t new, but The Peripheral adds layer of stakes and makes for a great entry in this sci-fi subgenre.
The performances from the leads elevate the series to something special, and (the always incredible) Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) leads the cast to interesting places.
She plays Flynne Fisher, a young woman who gets in over her head when her brother, Burton (Jack Reynor, Strange Angel), recruits her to help with testing a new sim game (so they think).
The Peripheral Season 1 Episode 2 revealed that they got more than they bargained for when taking on the contract.
The first hour ended with a huge cliffhanger: the FIshers (and their friends) are under attack by people hired on the dark web. The goal: kill the entire family.
This followed the sim character (Burton’s body controlled by Flynne’s mind), getting killed toward the end of the first hour.
The character getting killed caused Flynne to have an adverse reaction; she threw up, lost some consciousness, and just felt overall sick.
This left us with many questions, but luckily those questions were answered during the second episode.
Much to the disbelief of Flynne and Burton (especially Burton), when Flynne returned to the world of the “sim,” not only did she arrive in an avatar of her own body, but a mysterious man named Wilf (Gary Carr, The Deuce) revealed that she’s actually in the future.
The avatar of her brother she controlled was a real body that got killed (which is why she felt sick when she got out), and these avatars are located in London in the year 2100.
Flynne obviously became skeptical but wanted to do whatever she could to protect her family, so she let her defenses down to hear the future people out.
They give her things that will help prove to her that they’re telling the truth, including medicine to help cure her mother’s sickness.
She’s once again (rightfully) skeptical, but the more she learned about the world, the more she became inclined to believe this mysterious organization.
They revealed that the woman that initially met Flynne (when she was in Burton’s body), Aelita West (Charlotte Riley, Trust), has gone missing, and they are searching for her.
This strange group of people’s leader is Jasper (Chirs Coy, The Deuce), and Flynne didn’t trust everything he said.
And why should she? She got a mountain of info dumped on her lap by people she’d never met before that claimed they were from London 70 years in the future. I’d be pretty darn skeptical too.
Flynne’s a smart woman, though, and kept the information they wanted to herself until she could get something out of the bargain.
When the avatars log out, they go into “AI mode,” which basically runs the avatars on autopilot, which is pretty creepy. Everything about these people, especially Jasper, came off as creepy.
Wilf made this situation another step creepier by seemingly flirting and being interested in Flynne when she got shut down.
Flynne cared the most about her mother, and during the negotiations with the faction, she insisted that they help her mother get better (past the medication that they gave her already).
This plea seemed to have worked, as at the end of the episode, Flynne’s mother wandered around the house on her own and revealed to Flynne that she can see.
This shocked Flynne and Burton and made us wonder what the future group did to help their mother.
At this point, we only know a bit more than what Flynne knows about these mysteries. Wilf seemed to be the only one from the future she can trust, but can she trust him? Did he help her mother get better?
He’s given her no reason not to, but he’s also not really given her any reason to trust him. As Flynne pointed out, he kept giving her his word but not doing anything to act on it.
The Peripheral managed to hook us with these first airings with its strong performances, great craftwork, and interesting story.
As mentioned, we enjoy the craftwork and effects of the series. The effects haven’t been used to their full potential (based on the trailer) yet, so we are excited to see more.
The chemistry between Chloë Grace Moretz and the two leading men, Jack Reynor and Gary Carr, is outstanding, and as a fan of Moretz, I’m happy to see her lead her own TV show.
Another great part of the show comes from the score and the opening sequence.
You can check out the opening sequence below!
Take a closer look. The title sequence for #ThePeripheral is here. Don’t miss The Peripheral, streaming exclusively on @PrimeVideo October 21. pic.twitter.com/dTXBAr5ocj
— The Peripheral (@ThePeripheralPV) October 19, 2022
While the first hour exceeded the second in quality, it wasn’t for the lack of story.
The second segment of the series felt like a big information dump — both for Flynne and the audience.
While that information definitely will prove to be instrumental in the future, getting it dumped on us in an hour proved to be less intriguing.
That being said, the start of The Peripheral set up the show wonderfully, and we are very excited about what the rest of the season holds for this series.
We hope the action and effects continue with the quality they’re at, and the story remains fascinating.
These hours brought up a lot of questions that we want the answers to ASAP!
What do these people in the future (either group of people, the one that sent the kill team or the one that supposedly helped Flynne) really want? Who can be trusted?
What are the exact details of changes in the 70-year gap? Will she be able to figure everything out before more harm comes to her, her friends, or her family?
And a very weird question that we can’t get out of our minds even though it’s disturbing:
She piloted her brother’s body in the first episode… isn’t that kind of strange? Wouldn’t being inside your brother’s body be… discomforting? They clearly won’t talk about this, but it’s something we’re curious about.
So, Fanatics, what did you think of the premieres?
Will you be tuning in to more of The Peripheral?
The Peripheral comes from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (creators of Westworld), based on the novel by William Gibson, and airs on Amazon Prime on Fridays.
Michael Stack is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.