S01.E01: Pilot

[nodorothyparker]

Airdate 2020.07.15

Quote

 

In a utopia whose perfection hinges upon control of monogamy and privacy, members of the collective begin to question the rules, putting their regimented society on a collision course with forbidden love and revolution.

 

 

[meatball77]

Orgies orgies everywhere.  I'm entertained. 

[AnimeMania]

The sound was not well balanced in this episode, as the episode progressed, I found myself lowering the volume several times. We have a rigid class system aggressively enforced, The lowest class isn't even allowed individual names, but variations of the same name. I didn't notice if there were any women in the lowest ranks. I am guessing since nobody gets pregnant anymore, there is no type of inherited positions. Drugs seem to keep people happy, probably without affecting your ability to do your job. There is no indication of how long people live or what happens to them when they get old.

Edited July 17, 2020 by AnimeMania

[Chaos Theory]

On 7/16/2020 at 11:00 PM, AnimeMania said:

The sound was not well balanced in this episode, as the episode progressed, I found myself lowering the volume several times. We have a rigid class system aggressively enforced, The lowest class isn't even allowed individual names, but variations of the same name. I didn't notice if there were any women in the lowest ranks. I am guessing since nobody gets pregnant anymore, there is no type of inherited positions. Drugs seem to keep people happy, probably without affecting your ability to do your job. There is no indication of how long people live or what happens to them when they get old.

First off this and 1984 are two of my all time favorite books.  I am not a book purist so I don't need the show to follow the book.  And to be honest I kinda like the interpretation of this.  It leaves room for some interesting storytelling.    Alot of things not discussed in the pilot were explictily discussed early on the book which explains why the society works the way it does.  I am hoping they are mentioned later in the season because it really is fascinating how the society works.

[Ottis]

Meh. It started out promising, with the culture of tomorrow. Lots of room there to raise questions about whether these changes are good or bad for society and individuals. But before we explored that, the show introduced a lame "but there is an underclass" plot that was cliched and disappointing.

[Catfi9ht]

On 7/19/2020 at 2:47 PM, Chaos Theory said:

First off this and 1984 are two of my all time favorite books.  I am not a book purist so I don't need the show to follow the book.  And to be honest I kinda like the interpretation of this.  It leaves room for some interesting storytelling.    Alot of things not discussed in the pilot were explictily discussed early on the book which explains why the society works the way it does.  I am hoping they are mentioned later in the season because it really is fascinating how the society works.

I'm sorry I'm late to the party. I had no idea this show existed until a couple of days ago.

Reading Brave New World in high school was the most influential experience on how I chose to be the adult I am now. The cautionary tale and societal messages in the book spoke to me on a deeper level than anything else I had read, watched, or participated up to that point in my life. I still see shades in our current society that are exactly the things Huxley warned against in the book even though it was written in 1931. To me, this book is truly prophetic and also shows how humans have always had these baser needs and we really haven't changed even though our technology and ways of life have.

I checked IMDB, and I've seen every iteration of this book on television prior to this show. Each iteration has been a disappointment that has failed to capture the essence of the book and its messages.

I've just watched the first episode of this show, but so far, I'm hopeful. I think the television series format will lend itself better than a movie and allow the writers to delve deeper into this universe which I find so horrifying, prophetic, sad, and utterly fascinating.

I really enjoyed the cast and am looking forward to watching the remaining episodes.

I'll put the rest of my post as it relates to book details in spoiler quotes so I don't potentially spoil anything for folks who haven't read the book.

Spoiler

I really like how they modernized the caste system and put men in women in each class instead of only alphas being male and betas being female, etc. 

I'm surprised they were so graphic and raw with the orgy scene because I didn't expect it on Peacock. However, I'm glad they did because this scene and potentially subsequent scenes are pivotal in establishing their "utopia".

I'm not sure how well the religious aspect of the books with Henry Ford as a deity will translate in the present so I'm guessing they'll leave that part of the culture out. I found this aspect of the culture particularly fascinating; I could see a religious sect establishing itself based on how Ford revolutionized technology with the assembly line. However, I won't be disappointed if this isn't mentioned or is changed into something else to fit better in the present.

When I first read this as a teenager, I struggled to understand the Native American analogies in the book because I had limited life experience to that point. With the show, they established it right out of the gate which I thought was pretty cool and relevant to current political events about Native Americans.

I'm looking forward to an episode on the nurseries and brainwashing techniques. Those were some of my favorite plots in the book.

The minor changes to John's character in this episode already made him more sympathetic in my eyes. I'm looking forward to seeing other adjustments they've made to the world-building or character developments based on new details they added to this episode.