The 2022 TV schedule has certainly offered some surprises, and a couple of the largest stunners have come from Amazon and its Prime Video platform. As if it wasn’t enough to blow fans away and leave the world intensely questioning Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, and what it might deliver, another project seems to be hitting it off with those who love sci-fi. Just four episodes into The Peripheral, people are already raving about it online.
Its pedigree almost demands this sort of support when you really think about it. The Prime Video series The Peripheral takes cyberpunk author William Gibson’s novel of the same name and pairs it with Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan already sounds like it’d be a success. It looks like the series has lived up to that promise so far, especially when inspiring such Twitter reactions as this with its mere premiere:
Got round to watching the first episode of The Peripheral, Very good stuff, and it's long enough since I read the book that I'm not putting effort into analysing what's different or the same. The London sequences look amazing.November 3, 2022
So what’s The Peripheral all about? Well, the short short version goes as follows: Flynne (Chloë Moretz Grace) and Burton Fisher (Jack Reynor) are beta-testing what they think is merely a premium VR rig. It succeeds in that respect, but it also connects the two to London 70 years in the future. Oh, and there’s apparently an apocalypse coming that could redefine the world as we know it. This is definitely a show from the team behind Westworld.
What’s even more exciting is that The Peripheral looks to already inspire people to binge the available episodes to catch up. As episode 4, cryptically titled “Jackpot,” premiered last week, another new convert praised the series with this confession that they’d seemingly mainlined all four in a row:
Just watched the first four episodes of The Peripheral on Prime and dang, I am hooked. Always been a sucker for good sci-fi world building and this doesn’t disappoint. That said, it took me until about halfway through ep2 to really get sold.November 8, 2022
Reading that Joy and Nolan have struck dystopian gold yet again almost makes up for Westworld’s surprise cancellation. While it might not get the HBO series its proper conclusion, it’s at least comforting to know that the Joy/Nolan mind trust is still up to its old tricks. This definitely seems to be the case, thanks to this next reaction that hints at The Peripheral living up to the early days of its spiritual predecessor:
Me trying to understand the Time Travel part of this show #ThePeripheral pic.twitter.com/RMvYgmGJneNovember 5, 2022
Believe it or not, The Peripheral is about halfway through its first season run, as it seems to have an eight-episode order. This has people like Twitter user “_NIKIWE__” fired up to get people on board, in hopes of making sure this story gets to continue its intended lifespan through discussions like this:
I feel like The Peripheral is not being hyped enough, they really went all out with technology they use here. Have yall ever imagined a mind body communication gadgets? This scientific fiction has shown us another side of leveled up tech. Thank you @PrimeVideoZA.
Ultimately The Peripheral could be a pretty important series to Amazon's future in the entertainment game. As Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Fallout series is also a part of Prime Video’s stable of future delights, how this project delivers might play into that show’s fate as well. If this last reaction is anything to go by, Amazon should be really happy with what they’ve put into play:
Feeling more excitement and faith in the Fallout series ever since watching #ThePeripheral . Amazing cast and writing with an interesting plot. Definitely scratches the near future/cyberpunk/sci-fi itch. Less convoluted and more accessible than Westworld, by far. Into it!November 9, 2022
The buzz is promising, but ultimately it's up to you the viewer to decide if The Peripheral is all it's cracked up to be. If you're a streaming fan that needs a new show to test the waters with, Season 1 is currently making its way through its eight-episode run. A Prime Video subscription is all you’ll need to catch up on this latest mind-bender, and with weekly debuts for new episodes each Thursday/Friday at 9PM PT / 12AM ET respectively, it’ll be easy to get current.
