The Peripheral season 1 review: Chloë Grace Moretz’s sci-fi series is sleek, sharp and absorbing

3.5/5

Story:

Young Flynne Fisher’s life revolves around taking care of her ill mother and trying to rake up money to purchase the latter’s medicines. Flynne’s only escape from her harsh reality comes in the form of VR gaming, where she is able to pilot realistic AI avatars set in a VR universe known as a sim. When her brother receives an offer for a highly realistic sim in exchange for a huge sum of money, Flynne taps in, and her world is irrevocably changed.

Review:

Dystopian science fiction is always a favourite among sci-fi filmmakers, as evidenced by the plethora of stories revolving around the premise which have made their way onto the silver screen in recent times. Given just how much the genre has been tapped into, it is definitely an ambitious task to spin a fresh narrative around the premise. The makers of The Peripheral definitely seemed to have understood the assignment in this regard, coming up with a thrilling new sci-fi series with impeccable storytelling.

The fact that the series comes from the creators of the hit dystopian sci-fi drama Westworld, should definitely come as a hint to what viewers can expect from the new series. Starring Chloë Grace Moretz, the series, set in 2032, follows the story of Flynne Fisher, a young woman whose days are spent caring for her ill mother. A skilled gamer, Flynne is often asked to step in for her brother Burton, as the latter engages in hyper realistic VR gaming through his avatar, in a set up known as a ‘sim’. One day, Burton is offered a job by a mysterious Colombian company to check for security breaches in its tech through a sim, and Flynne taps in for her brother. Her astonishment at the hyper realism in the new sim soon turns into horror when she realises that the person who tasked her with the job has a dangerous ulterior motive. Her interactions in the game soon lead her to make shocking discoveries about her present and future.

The Peripheral wastes no time in laying out its cards in front of the viewers, which it does through its brilliantly written and well put together story. Granted, the show certainly has a lot going on, in terms of the overabundance of futuristic terms and concepts viewers have to wrap their head around in order to truly understand what is going on. Time travel and alternate realities are tricky enough concepts to grasp as it is, and The Peripheral certainly does not make things easier with its complicated expositions.

But the brilliance in the writing shines through in the way how, despite the convoluted technical terms, the story unfolds in a way that viewers can grasp sans difficulty, which helps them figure out the complicated concepts along the way. The writing and script also brilliantly manage to put a fresh spin onto run of the mill sci-fi concepts, such as the near total collapse of human civilisation, a future where chip implants in humans are the norm, AI which perform a range of functions from being butlers to personal assassins. The way the story marries the common sci-fi themes with its personal fresh twists make it stand out from recent sci-fi shows.

Well fleshed out characters and fabulous performances by the lead cast also work in the show’s favour. Even the supporting characters, both the morally upright and the grey, are given their due with the writing. Thus instead of seat filler characters who simply exist as background noise, viewers are provided with characters with well defined arcs and nuanced motivations that go beyond the usual ‘good guy, bad guy’ tropes.

One of the main drawbacks however, comes in the form of the over complicated parts of its narrative. Although most of the concepts can be understood as the story progresses, the writing could have done a better job at simplifying the same. The over-complicatedness also extends right until the series’ finale, and the rushed nature results of the same does not seem to accord enough time for viewers to properly mull over and fully grasp just exactly what happened.

Verdict:

The Peripheral is a sleek, intriguing and intelligent sci-fi series that delivers run of the mill concepts in a fresh, exciting new package. Save for its hard to crack ending and some overly complicated bits in its narrative, the series is an engaging watch that guarantees to lure sci-fi lovers in with its impeccable storytelling.