The Peripheral: The Creation of a Thousand Forests   Show Only 
December 2, 2022 9:13 AM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe

Lev sabotages Flynne's treatment. Ash finds an unlikely ally. Wilf discovers some unsettling truths about Aelita. Flynne tries to save her world from Cherise.

Post credits scene for this episode.
posted by ellieBOA (19 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
! I had no idea Roger Corman was still working!
posted by From Bklyn at 2:03 PM on December 2, 2022 [4 favorites]


Comment in the wrong thread? He’s not credited on this show? Amazing at 96 though!
posted by ellieBOA at 3:05 PM on December 2, 2022


Pretty sure that it's a comment on the quality (or lack thereof) of this episode.
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 5:17 PM on December 2, 2022 [2 favorites]


This whole show was... well, to put it in gamer terms, tryhard. The opening credit sequence is decent (and makes me envious of those who were able to break into motion graphics whereas I couldn't), and there are a handful of genuinely interesting characters-- Flynn, Burton, Connor, Lowbeer, etc.

However, there's too much else that's half-baked. Bob was a pointless filler character-- filler, in a show with only eight episodes!-- and unless his daughter or grandkid somehow become important in the next installment, that whole introduction to him was excessive. Thorzdad mentioned a "Tarantino vibe" in the bowling alley scene, which I noticed as well. It's like the director or whoever loved Tarantino and wanted to do a scene in his style, and that was their chance. However, I couldn't help mentally comparing this pastiche to the real thing. I doubt that bowling alley scene will occupy a similar spot in the back of my mind for thirty years.

While Bob was a pointless character, in turn, Jasper was underutilized up until this episode. I really wish more time had been spent with him prior to that scene by the railroad tracks, which was probably the best thing in this finale. Considering what happens in that scene, I wonder what it would've been like if Jasper had gotten the same amount of overall screen time as Tommy.

As for Future London, the romance was unconvincing, the swearing pointedly unnatural, and the ending too brief and poorly explained. I sort of get Flynn's solution, but for a time travel story to work, it has to be presented in a straightforward way. This wasn't.

I watched this show with my husband, and will borrow his copy of the book, so I can see for myself how much is different between the two (apparently, it's quite a bit?). Also, I too would like a BBC show about Lowbeer solving mysteries, perhaps somewhere in the vicinity of Dover.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:25 PM on December 2, 2022 [2 favorites]


I watched this show with my husband, and will borrow his copy of the book, so I can see for myself how much is different between the two (apparently, it's quite a bit?)

Not quite a bit. Entirely. This episode had exactly nothing to do with the book.

I’m guessing (hoping?) the ending involved a ton of slight-of-hand, bait-n-switch, smoke-n-mirrors, that will be revealed in the next series. What that might all involve, though, I have no freaking clue. All I know is, whatever they reveal, there will be a lot stuff thrown at TVs.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:58 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]


So hold up, they only had 8 episodes for this season and THATS how they spent their precious minutes? Like there's so much actual plot/story stuff they could have spent time on instead of like 30 seconds of someone driving in a car at night you know? Just like really poor time management. I want to like this show but goddamn they making it difficult sometimes. What the hell is this sudden genius plan Flynne has come up with? No idea. Where did she get the idea from or the background information ? No idea, never shown. Long useless scenery-chewing scenes tho? Lets pile them on!!

I imagine if I had read the books I'd be in full meltdown by now.
posted by some loser at 2:40 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]


I imagine if I had read the books I'd be in full meltdown by now.

I’ve taken to watching as if it’s an entirely original show, and not adapted from any book. It doesn’t make things work any better, but it saves wear-and-tear on the tv from thrown objects.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:47 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]


One thing I forgot to mention: at least this episode didn't have any (that I can remember) belabored metaphors or folksy similes that "my dad/mom/cousin used to say". There was way too much of that in this show. Such lazy writing pretending to be deep.

I’ve taken to watching as if it’s an entirely original show, and not adapted from any book. It doesn’t make things work any better, but it saves wear-and-tear on the tv from thrown objects.

Most of what I watch nowadays is anime, which, when it's an adaptation, tends to be faithful to its source material. However, that's because TV anime is often just a promotional tool for a (much more profitable) original manga or novel series. If only things worked that way in the US...
posted by May Kasahara at 7:52 AM on December 3, 2022


Well, there was the "we called you an acorn because we knew you'd grow up to be STRONK" folksy BS early in the episode. And yes, wearying. But how else are we supposed to know it's set in the South???
posted by cyrusdogstar at 1:33 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]


I feel like the show runners thought that all this future stuff was pretty dull and the real meat of the story was back in Kentucky the whole time.
posted by some loser at 7:45 PM on December 4, 2022


So... I guess I enjoyed this overall, but if it were any worse I would have bailed. I felt like these last couple episodes were relatively strong.

It's hard to shake the sense though that it could be much better. The cast is overall great, and there's some very good characters who I like spending time with. The overall conceit is also good, and raises a variety of interesting ethical quandaries.

But why a whole clown car of comic book villains? Why is everyone 1 step removed from psychotic violence? The violence follows action-movie/video game logic where people frequently murder/get-murdered and it all gets kind of shrugged off. And the huge jumps in writing quality give me some kind of linguistic whip lash. Lowbeer? Super fun! Jasper? I mean... him killing his shitty buddies wasn't a terrible scene per se, but I couldn't stop mocking it. I told my wife while we were watching it, "look, if I call you in the middle of the night and start relating some incongruous, folksy anecdote from our past, please call the police immediately."

This seems like it could be so much more of a thoughtful show. But I guess it must be by design... this is what they want to create. I'll probably check out a follow up season, but I wish they would nudge the show in a different direction. Certainly not holding my breath though.
posted by Alex404 at 4:01 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]


I was really enjoying this show until the last episode. Even with Flynn's super-genius plan, there's still a whole lotta people suffering in her stub. How is that ok for her? And she's suddenly become very wise to the ways of this future world, after spending 6 or more episodes not understanding very much. And what does Lowbeer get out of helping her? Argh, so many plotholes.

I have to say though: casting choices, especially for London characters, have been superb.
posted by gakiko at 3:27 PM on December 11, 2022 [2 favorites]


Having read and really liked the book, can anyone explain to me what exactly the fuck happened at the end here? She made a new stub, then got herself killed on purpose, but somehow got right back into the future? Neither my wife nor I can figure out WTF just happened.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:25 PM on December 11, 2022


I think the missing idea here is that the new stub was branched off from the present moment of her own stub -- not, as I'd first assumed, from some pristine timeline prior to or absent future-London's interventions. This way the new stub's Flynn is fully up to speed, being, after all, for all intents and purposes, a true continuation of "our" Flynn's consciousness. And so the new Flynn's already come up with precisely this plan and understands her place in it. (Might need some hand-waving, I guess, for the "new" Flynn to understand that she shouldn't implement the suicide part of the plan. Not sure how she'd know that she was the new one.)
posted by nobody at 3:03 PM on December 12, 2022 [4 favorites]


There's been SO MUCH EXPOSITION in this series until now, at the very end, when we really wanted some fucking exposition.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:27 PM on December 14, 2022 [1 favorite]


It's been renewed for season 2!
posted by Pronoiac at 12:58 AM on February 10, 2023 [1 favorite]


Even with Flynn's super-genius plan, there's still a whole lotta people suffering in her stub. How is that ok for her?

In a universe of infinite timelines, it would be impossible to create positive outcomes in every one. Flynne appears to be focusing on decreasing suffering in the primary timeline.
posted by fairmettle at 8:06 AM on June 17, 2023


Ugh. The season 2 renewal has been reversed. The strikes would have delayed the next season until 2025. Perhaps it will move elsewhere?
posted by Pronoiac at 2:55 PM on August 18, 2023


Welp
posted by infinitewindow at 9:03 AM on August 26, 2023


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