I started watching “Foundation” this weekend. And while I don’t love it I have been watching and waiting to watch the last episode today or tomorrow as time permits.
I don’t love the show because it is nothing like the book. It starts off similar to the book with some additional details (I liked the Genetic Dynasty stuff) but by episode 2 it starts to diverge and quickly goes its own way. I’d go so far as to say it has nothing common even in spirit with the books. I remember the “Foundation” books for how smart they were – there were these crises or situations the Foundation(s) were facing and they managed to get out of it always. I still remember the Mule and the Second Foundation and while I am sketchy on the actual plot details I have a vague memory. Infact I started listening to the first book a few months ago in preparation for the TV show and so I have a fresher memory of that. And that’s all the more irritating coz the TV show has all the characters but everyone’s so butchered and different. If the books were smart/ about using one’s mind the episodes are more “physical.
Salvadore Hardin is nothing like the books. Hari Seldon started off like in the books but I am starting to feel he is a controlling jerk – wanting to manipulate events and people his way. In the books he was more of a guy with a plan (and a backup plan) and he didn’t do much to meddle with things.
I still like the Genetic Dynasty stuff. And overall the show has me hooked in that I haven’t just quit it. I suppose if it wasn’t called “Foundation” or didn’t have any of its characters I’d have liked it with less baggage. But I suppose then I’d have said that show is a sorta-ripoff of the Foundation books. 🙄
(Update: Finished “Foundation” and I didn’t like it any more. The last episode was just a waste of time. I like the Empire stuff – that was great. Hari Seldon seems to be a liar and a bit of a control freak – you simply can’t trust the guy! Salvor Hardin was great in the books and I liked the character in the show initially but soon I lost interest. And Gaal Dornick – again, liked the character and the actress – but soon lost interest and it was just irritating when the character would give this commentary during each episode. Those sounded like grand sounding words with no real meaning. This show was definitely not the “Foundation” I was hoping for).
In other TV news while on topic, I happend to watch “The Handmaiden“. Now that’s a masterful movie! Not suitable for watching with kids – it has a fair bit of sex scenes and erotic stuff – but it’s a terrific watch. It’s Korean, I watched it via subtitles.
Lastly, the third Psych movie called “This is Gus” came out on the weekend. My daughter and I had been watching “Psych” episodes for the past few months (I got her hooked on it so I am re-watching and this is her first time) so on the weekend we also watched (me re-watched) the first two “Psych” movies and then this third one. Loved it as expected. “Psych” is a great show. Hats off to Steve Franks for creating it!