This week I came across Scavenger’s Reign, a sci-fi animated series on Netflix.
The show is about a crew stranded on an alien planet, Vesta, with an interesting ecosystem. It chronicles the efforts of isolated groups to survive. The groups have little hope of a rescue. It’s revealed upfront that the company they work for has written them off without any search and rescue effort. The overall impression is pretty dystopian, particularly when the existence of competing interests later in the series reveals a pretty harsh interstellar society.
When one group manages to get their damaged orbiting spaceship to land, its arrival can be seen by the various groups, and the survivors begin working to reach it. On the ship is a shuttle they hope to use to leave the planet. But they have to get there before the various creatures on the planet manage to gain entry and harm the crew still in cryogenic suspension.
One group is composed of the captain and a horticulturalist (or biologist). As they work their way toward the ship, they encounter many dangers, and bizarre situations, including an apparent survivor from a previous crash many years before.
Another group is composed of a woman and her robot companion: Levi. Levi has become infected with organisms from the planet and appears to be undergoing a metamorphosis into a sentient entity.
The last group is a single desperate person: Kamen. In flashbacks it’s established that Kamen altered the course of the ship which led to the disaster that resulted in all of these people needing to abandon the orbiting ship. Kamen ends up encountering a creature who both exploits him and, strangely enough, protects him. We watch as the initially small creature grows on the food Kamen is able to provide, into something increasingly monstrous.
In many ways, transformation is a theme of the show, with it happening in each of the groups, often in a horrifying manner. It happens against the backdrop of the planet’s ecosystem, which is very dangerous, but also often cooperative. At first its easy to rationalize it as maybe the type of symbiotic relationships that evolve among Earth species, such as cleaner fish providing a service to larger fish by eating parasites and infected flesh from their mouth and gills, or the relationship between flowers and the insects who aid in cross pollination.
But in the case of symbiotes, each party gets something out of it. At times, Vesta’s species seems to provide assistance with no apparent benefit for themselves. And at a certain point in the series, numerous species end up working together to accomplish a specific and complex goal, implying that there’s something more at work on Vesta than evolved symbiosis. It seems like Vesta’s ecosystem may be a designed one, or maybe the remnants of one with some evolution over time.
The series ends without providing an explicit answer, maybe leaving it as something to be addressed in future seasons. Although it’s not clear yet whether there will be additional seasons. The show was produced by Max, who apparently canceled it. However, Netflix appears to have purchased it, so who knows what might happen. There certainly seems room for additional stories. I’m sure it will come down to how much viewership it gets.
Anyway, I recommend the series. I should mention that I struggled with the first few episodes. The pace is a bit languid for my tastes, but it becomes progressively more interesting the further you get into it.
In other notes, I’ve started watching the latest Star Wars show: The Acolyte. We’re only a couple episodes in, but so far I’m finding it entertaining. Some of the reviews claim the third episode, which will be released next week, “breaks” Star Wars canon, which sounds pretty interesting.
The show has pretty high marks from critics, but in the audience ratings appears to be the target of a review bombing campaign. Presumably the bombers are upset about the show’s multiracial cast. I saw one reviewer complaining that there “wasn’t a white guy in site”. I guess the Asian male authority figure didn’t count. I don’t expect these increasingly tedious campaigns to have much impact, particularly since Disney and other entertainment companies have discovered that appealing to multiple ethnic groups means broader audiences, particularly in international markets.
The Doctor Who season continues to be pretty good. I’m still not wild about the fantasy episodes. I enjoyed “73 Yards”, but the lack of any scientific explanation bugged me. The whole thing happening because the Doctor and Ruby disturbed a fairy circle, with no explanation beyond that, is annoying. The episodes since then have been pretty good, and definitely sci-fi in their orientation.
Finally, because I discussed part one, I’ll note that I caught the second part of Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon series. It was passably entertaining, but just that. I still think the overwhelming negativity this series receives is unwarranted, but great stuff it isn’t. If it wasn’t produced by Snyder, I doubt it would be registering as much more than B-movie entertainment.
So that’s what I’ve been watching. Have you seen any of them? If so, what did you think? Watching anything else interesting lately?
SelfAwarePatterns 
I am so, so tired of dystopian stories. And as to the Star Wars series, I would watch it, if I could. Too many interesting shows are are on “streaming sites” I do not subscribe to. And it seems more and more shows are pigeonholed on various and sundry sites, to attract new subscribers. I would be bankrupt if I acquired them all. So, I am missing out on several series I would love to watch, but se la vie (sp?).
LikeLiked by 2 people
On the dystopian stories, I think the reason we see so many is they just seem to provide better backgrounds for stories. I’m sure the uncaring company not providing a rescue is just to remove that expectation from the story. But later we meet people from a non-company colony who are just as callous. At some point, it’s not people acting like people. But little TV fiction stands up to scrutiny anyway.
Yeah, I hear you on the streaming sites. You can save money by jettisoning cable. All the old specialty channels seem to be increasingly devolving into indistinguishable mediocre crap. But all those subscriptions add up. I know a lot of people who just rotate between them, turning on one for a month or so, catching up, then cutting it and switching to another. But that takes effort. I often wish I could just pay for this stuff a la carte.
LikeLike
Oh you can get stuff a la carte. When Dune, Part 2 was released, you could rent it for $24.95. Then the rent dropped to something like $19.95, then $12.95 and then I saw it on HBO for free (well HBO charges for the channel, but it comes in the package supplied by our building, which we pay for, not the building).
I really wanted to see that movie, but I wasn’t about to be squeezed like a Macintosh or iPhone buyer to pay premium price to get it “sooner” rather than “later.”
And dystopian themes have abounded in SF books (galore!), so much of the material that might get turned into movies showed up earlier in manga, books, short stories that were dystopian in nature (this is partly due to running out of “alien invasion” stories and the like). I wish someone would make video productions out of Martha Wells Murderbot series. Those at least are somewhat uplifting, showing how AIs could learn to live with “others” both AI and meat-based.
LikeLike
There is a lot of stuff you can get a la carte, but much is still exclusive to particular services. I don’t know anywhere other than Disney+ where you can get the recent Star Wars TV shows. And watching the latest Star Trek series on Amazon seems to mean subscribing to Paramount inside of Amazon. The bad thing about this, is when shows are cancelled, sometimes they disappear completely, no longer available anywhere at all.
It seems like there’s a difference between universal dystopias, where all of humanity is stuck living in a miserable society, and one that has individual dystopian societies, which seems closer to our own world today. The Murderbot books seem like they’re in between. Most of humanity seems to exist in dystopian conditions, but there are places that care about citizens. And not everyone is callous toward those in danger.
LikeLike
Great review of a television show. I have never heard of “Scavenger’s Reign” before, but the concept does sound intriguing to me. The show reminds me a lot of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” films. Similar to the show, the “Dune” films also took place on a dystopian planet and focused on the lives of characters struggling to survive based on resources (ex. spice). I recently had an opportunity to see “Dune” again and loved it. If this show is indeed similar to those movies, I would probably appreciate it. So, I’ll definitely check it out when I find the time. Thanks for the recommendation.
Here’s why I loved “Dune”:
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think I’d characterize it as similar to Dune. It doesn’t have the sociological exploration that Dune has. It does have a lot of ecological implications, but it’s mostly implicit. For the most part, this is a show about people trying to survive in a alien wilderness, with little political activity. Although based on the end of the final episode, if there’s a second season, that could very well change.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Acolyte? I was never a big fan of the Star Wars franchise which to me were little more than juvenile mythological narratives punctuated with light saber duels. That is until “Rogue One” and “Andor.” The Andor characters were complex and conflicted—trying to do good but troubled by their sins along the way. I shall give this new entry a look see.
The complaints that there “wasn’t a white guy in site”(sic) are deeply disturbing. Sadly the culture moves at a snails pace. I guess it partly explains the rapid growth of racist boors on the right in that past few years—any progress is too much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is definitely closer to traditional Star Wars fare than Rogue One or Andor. So if you’re looking for more of what those shows brought, you might be disappointed. There are hints that the Jedi order may have its own dark secrets, and are more prone to base instincts than they like to think. If so, that could be interesting. Sounds like we’ll know more once episode three drops.
To be fair, that quote was one guy whose review I came across (on either Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB), but he may have been one of the few saying the quiet part out loud. As I noted in the previous post, a lot of this is self interest. If progress goes against your interests, you’ll see scare quotes around that word anytime someone uses it. That said, as a white guy myself, I didn’t feel excluded by the cast.
LikeLike
I watched Scavengers Reign and was taken in by the animation and fresh story line. I too wondered about the planet’s consciousness, given how seamless the flora & fauna interacted. The robot was great comic relief and its transcendence evocative. The blob-thing that eats meat and squeezes sustenance into the mouth of Kamen, that was at the edge of credibility. Its apparent revenge a bit disconnected from the rather bland lifestyles of the other entities there. It’s worth the watch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I took a lot of the blob thing’s behavior to be due to Kamen’s telepathic influence. But like many things, it’s never spelled out explicitly.
Yeah, one thing I often found myself wondering: wouldn’t there have been microbes infecting the humans? Maybe they had taken space vaccines or something, but if they were vulnerable at the macroscopic level, it seems like they should have been vulnerable at the cellular one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You watch a lot of interesting stuff, Mike and your reviews are always so tempting. One almost always wants to go find the series.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Mak. I’m really just reviewing the aspects of it I found interesting. But I also watch a fair amount of dreck or mediocre stuff that I never bother posting about.
LikeLike
You should post about the mediocre as well so we don’t have to watch them,just in case
LikeLike
I often enjoy the mediocre stuff, just not in a way that makes for an interesting post. For example, I rarely write about the Marvel / Star Wars stuff I watch even if they’re okay for bland entertainment. I only mentioned The Acolyte because of the review bombing, and even then because I was already doing a post on other stuff.
LikeLike
I’ve been watching Japanese animation, selectively. I love the artwork but the dramatisation and dialogue often leaves a lot to be desired. Exceptions are Miyazaki films from Studio Ghibli and the last one I watched, which was perhaps the trippiest animation I’ve even seen, with above-average drama and dialogue. Paprika is supposedly the film that inspired Inception, so if you got lost in that you probably won’t enjoy this acid trip of a movie. I loved it. Highly recommended. But its only on Netflix until the end of the month. (Done by Masashi Ando who worked for Ghibli.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve seen several Studio Ghibli movies and enjoyed them all, but I don’t think I’ve heard of that one. I did enjoy Inception, so probably worth trying out.
It doesn’t come up in a Netflix search for me. (Netflix content often varies by region.) Max has a Studio Ghibli portal, but it’s not showing there either. A general Roku search shows it available on Tubi, which is ad based. But it looks like all my other options cost money, so I might try it there.
Thanks for the recommendation!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Can’t say I’ve seen anything terribly interesting lately, but I’ve been watching old movies more and more. Just watched Anatomy of a Murder with James Stewart. Duke Ellington does the score. I’m starting to realize I really like realistic straightforward courtroom dramas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like old movies. Although I don’t think I’ve seen that one. I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks!
One of the few channels I can still tolerate leaving on in the background is Turner Movie Classics. It probably helps that only the best stuff from those times is still shown.
(In contrast, I recently looked up some of the old TV space shows from the early 1950s. Even allowing for the poor recordings, they’re pretty dreadful. They were probably considered unwatchable by the 1960s, much less today.)
LikeLike
There’s something about those older movies that seems far less frenetic than shows today, even when there’s a lot of action going on. I wonder if it has something to do with the background music. I noticed I tend not to like movies that play a lot of pop music. Or maybe it’s the evenness of volume. Anyway, yeah, I agree. I can’t stand having the TV on, but old movies are easy to ignore and don’t get on my nerves (even though, I have to say, I think our actors have gotten better overall).
I bet those old space shows are pretty funny though. I get a kick out of watching old stuff like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Technology makes a huge difference there.
LikeLike
I used to leave the TV on but muted, just for background activity. But mostly working from home, I finally had to break that habit. Aside from using up the life of the TV, it was too distracting. But when I do leave it on, it’s usually on something old.
On the old shows, it’s interesting that I now know where the old Muppet “Piggggssss in Spaaaacccceee” skit comes from. It’s a riff off the intros to those old shows. And it’s pretty early TV. Among other things, they haven’t figured out separate commercials yet, so the narrator keeps stopping to discuss this week’s sponsor, or the toy that “every true space ranger” must have. I guess it is funny in a way, but I couldn’t watch much of it.
LikeLike
I hadn’t heard anything about Scavenger’s Reign. That sounds interesting, and I think I’ll check that out. You may have won the show a new viewer there!
Regarding Doctor Who, there was a scene in “73 Yards” where Kate Lethbridge-Stewart mentions that UNIT’s being dealing with a lot more witchcraft than usual lately. I took that as a sign that even the characters are noticing something’s different, that they think it’s weird, and that UNIT’s already investigating… which, in turn, makes me think that an explanation is coming.
I’m not 100% confident that I’m right about that, but stringing us along with all this magic and witchcraft stuff, then at the end of the season, feels like a very Russell T. Davies thing to do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, the original marketing for this one must have been weak. I had never heard of it myself. Sometimes I wonder why people fund these things if they’re not going to market them.
I hope you’re right about Davies. And there certainly are interesting threads from that episode to pull on. My concern comes from interviews where he touts bringing in more fantasy. Although as you noted before, it wouldn’t take much to satisfy me. A vague allusion to Clarke’s third law would be enough.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I saw those interviews, too. But I also remember an interview where Davies said he would never bring back Rose. That was in the lead up to series four, the series where Rose came back.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, remembering that Davies lies (or changes his mind) reminds me of that thing the show had going on during the Smith era: “Rule number one, the Doctor lies,” which they used to get out of all kinds of plot corners.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A little late to the party, but someone else in my timeline mentioned this series and when I saw your post title I wanted to watch it before reading your comments. Glad I did. You maybe shoulda put in a spoiler alert.
I thought the series was well done, the character development and artistry were good, and the ecological concepts were interesting. That said, I couldn’t shake that this was science fantasy in the vein of Star Wars. Telepathy and telekinesis and various biologically impossible feats are too much.
Still, enjoyable. Thanks for the notice.
*
LikeLiked by 1 person
Never too late!
It’s hard to talk about a show like this without revealing some information, although I tried to be vague so that nothing crucial was given away to someone who hadn’t seen it yet. Always a balancing act. Maybe it seemed more spoilery to you because you had just watched it?
Of course, in the comment section all bets are off. I’ll sometimes mark a comment with a spoiler alert, but others are often not that careful. Always be careful in the comment section if you haven’t seen something (and if you care about spoilers)!
Yeah, the telepathy stuff I could have done without. It’s conceivable an alien species could have it using some form of electromagnetic communication, but there’s no evidence it could interact with a human brain any any effective manner. But telepathy has been in sci-fi for so long that I kind of consider it a grandfathered concept.
LikeLiked by 1 person