Season 2 of Foundation debuts on Apple TV+ on Friday, July 14.
Isaac Asimov's Foundation is an epic, complex, hugely influential work of science fiction that was long considered unfilmable. This is partially because the story spans millennia, and partially because large chunks of the trilogy – originally serialized in the pages of Astounding Science-Fiction in the 1940s and ‘50s, and later supplemented by a pair of sequels and prequels – consist of rather dull history lessons where people sit in a room describing cool stuff that happened in the past of their sprawling outer-space empire.
And yet, Apple TV+'s Foundation series not only successfully adapts Asimov's magnum opus, but it also delivers a spectacle of tremendous proportions. Not that it’s perfect: The first season was too much like the books, in that it was more of an exposition delivery system with disparate plot threats than a TV show. Season two, however, corrects a lot of those mistakes, finding a good balance between the plot (here chronicling the decay of The Galactic Empire, and the shifting of entire civilizations) and the individual character stories that matter little in the grand scheme of things, but make the macro more meaningful. The result is less about following the source material and more about remixing the books into a story that fits within the Foundation universe and delivers on the promise of a massive story encompassing whole planetary systems of compelling character drama – one that nevertheless knows when to be goofy and fun.
The season begins with Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) waking up more than a century after the events of the first season. With the exception of a handful of characters, everyone we met in season 1 is dead. This gives Foundation an opportunity to dive deeper into the characters who remain. This limiting of the focus actually widens the scope of the plot, with every episode giving the impression that we're seeing events with huge consequences for the galaxy at large, like the impending imperial wedding that would end the Cleon clone dynasty.
Foundation now finds time to be intimate, small-scale, and concentrated on individual characters, challenging the deterministic nature of the novels. Hari Seldon's (Jared Harris) entire plan to reset the Empire after an anticipated dark age is predicated on the movement of the masses, not on individuals. Nevertheless, that notion is challenged throughout season 2. We see this in Gaal's story, as she becomes obsessed with stopping a threat from 150 years into the future called The Mule, while she and Salvor (Leah Harvey) try to connect as recently united mother and daughter, even as they attempt to follow Seldon's instructions for establishing a Second Foundation. Llobell and Harvey are fantastic as Gaal and Salvor, selling both the emotional core of their character journeys and the weight each of them carry because of their association with Seldon. Seldon himself gets a bigger role this season, and Harris is a joy to watch as we see more of Hari's backstory, and as he reckons with the consequences his actions have on the people dedicating their lives to a future they'll never see. “Love as the fifth element” is a cliche, but Foundation does a good job of showing how love can help create great change.
Also getting a bigger place in the spotlight is Laura Birn's Demerzel, the last robot, who serves the Cleons. The season has a lot of surprises in store regarding her relationship with the throne and to the Empire at large, as Foundation starts to explore Aasimov's Robot stories, which has potentially big repercussions for the future of the series.
The brainy, sometimes overcomplicated nature of Foundation is made more entertaining and outright fun by season 2’s willingness to get weird. Episode 5 introduces a planet of psychic Mentalics with convoluted powers; there’s also a pair of wacky clerics and their alien monster pet who travel around fringe worlds selling the word of Hari Seldon and Psychohistory as if Seldon is some religious magician, doing little tricks.
Season 2 continues Foundation's departure from Asimov's more talkative writing by playing with conventional space-opera action sequences and starship battles. Like Denis Villeneuve's Dune, Foundation finds a good compromise in distilling the novels' cerebral themes and subjects in a more accessible format. And it still looks spectacular, and not just expensive, but expansive. The details on worlds and ships, as well as the vast landscapes, help sell Foundation as a TV event.
