Brad McBad

The show is beautifully shot, the emperor(s) are heart breaking and a wonderful addition. But they don't belong in Asimov's foundation series. Nor do the over the top action scenes. They are such a slog. Trantor was never an oppressive planet of misery for the masses. It collapsed because it was a high technocracy that had overspecialised to the point where it's supply lines (both economic and political) became too complex to last. It doesn't understand the source material. Seldon's core thing (and Asimov's by extension) was that individuals don't matter. It's the patterns of history that do, and they are what can be predicted. The show eschews this, in favour of nominating certain individuals as keepers of the plan - special people whose job is to keep the plan on track. That's not the point. The point is that the plan happens regardless of what individuals do. In the books, later on, one person who does has something extraordinary about them exists to utterly screw up the plan. Lee Pace, Laura Birn and Jared Harris put in good work, but the show seems to put all its eggs in Lou Llobell's basket, and she's... not great.