The episode "King and Commoner" is not a bad or average show, but it lacks the elements of a big-budget science fiction show. The characters, dialogue, imagery, intrigue, and cool future tech are all present and working according to plan. This show is suitable for those who enjoy major space opera or SFF epics, but there is a slight concern. Hari's digital ghost leads a trio to an abandoned imperial mine, acting on orders from the Prime Radiant. Hari is instructed to travel to a mountainous monument with a statue with an outstretched arm for his plan to work. He encounters a representation of Kalle, the mathematician who inspired his work. Gaal leaves, and Salvor convinces him to set up the Second Foundation on their own. However, their ship is attacked by giant mining machines, which race through the sand to the monument. Gaal saves Hari from death, and the trio is left to explore the world. The storyline explores themes of power, fate, and the consequences of human actions. The wise old man must travel to a desert planet (Star Wars) and pass through a secret ancient door (The Fellowship of the Ring) to ascend a giant statue in the shape of a man carved from a cliff (The Fellowship of the Ring). His pals' ship winds up in a cave where they escape just in time from a giant hidden creature that tries to eat them (The Empire Strikes Back). The creature swims through the sand (Dune) and moves like an insectoid robot (The Matrix) and shoots laser beams while mounted on three legs (War of the Worlds). The Foundation religious clerics Poly and Constant track down Hober Mallow (Dimitri Leonidas) at the demands of the Vault. Hober is a handsome, fast-talking con man who nearly gets himself killed the first time we meet him before humiliating the military dictator Commdor Argo (Philip Glenister) and his comically hot right-hand woman Forcer Wallick (May Lifschitz). Constant has the hots for him quite plainly, which is cute. The favorite storyline of the hour is the one where Demerzel travels to a grim penal colony to recruit Bel Riose (Ben Daniels), the disgraced general who was imprisoned for daring to disobey an order from Empire in battle. The tension of their meeting and Bel's subsequent meeting with Brother Day, the striking British character actor, make it feel like the politicking of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon gone galactic. Ben Daniels, who has transformed from a wasteful hermit to a handsome man, has a significant screen presence as Bel, sparring with Demerzel and Day and reuniting with his young husband Glawen. Isabella Laughland and Kulvinder Ghir also appear as Constant and Poly. The episode's lack of originality has left the viewer wondering what a more original Foundation might be. The genre-veteran chops of showrunner/director David S. Goyer and writer Jane Espenson are crucial to the show's entertainment, but breaking out of storytelling patterns is difficult. However, Goyer's keen eye for visual experiences makes the conversations that drive the show fun. The show borrows concepts and imagery from the SFF landmarks, but does so with a visual vocabulary all its own. The show features bubble-like blips of supernova color, better ship designs, convincing costumes, and silhouetted shots of characters looking out at viewscreens, evoking the viewer's view on their own. Foundation looks like nothing else on television, and few shows attempt to achieve this. The lack of originality in the episode has left the viewer questioning what a more original Foundation might be like.
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