Raised by Wolves Review: “Lost Paradise” and “Faces”

“Hey, buddy. So we shot your mom and dad, and then we spent 13 years lying to your face about it, but you know what, we sure do love you.”

The power dynamic shifts in Raised by Wolves, while the mystery of the planet deepens, and the show grows increasingly mythic.

In the face of danger and threats to the continued survival of the human race, people continue to act like buttheads. It’s depressing, but entirely plausible.

Titles: “Lost Paradise,” “Faces”

Cast and Crew

Directors: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Alex Gabassi
Writers: Don Joh, Karen Campbell

Amanda Collin as Mother
Abubakar Salim as Father
Winta McGrath as Campion
Travis Fimmel as Marcus
Sienna Guillory as Mary
Niamh Algar as Sue
Jordan Loughran as Tempest
Ethan Hazzard as Hunter
Felix Jamieson as Paul
Aasiya Shah as Holly
Ivy Wong as Vita
Matias Varela as Lucius
Susan Danford as Justina
Litha Bam as Bartok
Clayton Evertson as Dorian
Cosmo Jarvis as Campion Sturges
Susan Danford as Justina
Loulou Taylor as Cassia
Garth Breytenbach as Den
Anlia van Rensburg as Kroni
Chris Fisher as Halphas
Tristan de Beer as Grigori
Tanya van Graan as Lempo
Tarryn Wyngaard as Vanth
Kabelo Bouga Chalatsane as Eligos
Aaron Muchanyu as Raum
Brendan Sean Murray/Adrian Schiller as cannon fodder Otho
Shoko Yoshimura as Mastema
Jenna Upton as Danjal
Daniel Lasker as Furfur
Avumile Qongqo, Nala Khumalo as clerics
Sienna Hurst as Ghost Child

Premise

Mother learns more about her past, and an increasing number of survivors encounter manifestations of… whatever haunts this planet.

Despite a battle plan that goes disastrously awry, the Mithrains take control.

Nothing, of course, is as straightforwards as it appears.

High Points

Despite the show’s increasingly mythic tone and visuals, the connections to real life cannot be avoided. I found Campion’s baptism particularly powerful. Fanatics, led by people who don’t actually believe, continue to think that forced conversion is meaningful. A young person encounters a reprogrammed family member and realizes they have become strangers.

“Faces” features more weirdness than the last couple of episodes, but it has been effectively directed.

Low Points

When the Mithrain soldiers first begin to fire on Father, they demonstrate a ludicrous lack of skill. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so imprecise.

The Scores:

Originality: 3/6

Acting: 5/6 Travis Fimmel stands out in these episodes, in several difficult scenes.

Story: 5/6

Production: 6/6

Effects: 6/6

Emotional Response: 5/6

Overall: 5/6 The show has been revived for a second season.

In total, Raised by Wolves, Episodes 6-7, receive 35/42

Lingering Questions

1. The show raises a number of questions regarding Mother’s variable power and their application, and more importantly, regarding the manifestations. Do we have literal ghosts? Is this machine intelligence and some manifestation of the ship, a notion briefly suggested in Lost Paradise? Is Sol real? Is the planet an Altair-4, with some remnant of the vanished civilization at work?

2. In a world where we’ve seen no direct references to the currently established Terran religions, why does Mary yell, “Jesus Christ!” when Marcus returns? If that’s a clue, it’s intriguing. If it’s an oversight, it is, in a show so steeped in religious references, a serious error.

I’m betting on allusion-as-clue.

3. Will we ever get a scene where Tempest punches Hunter in the weenie?

One reply

  1. I noted that “Jesus Christ!” bit, too. I don’t think it was accidental. I expect we’ll find out that sides in the war were less straight forward than we’ve so far been led to believe. Especially the “atheists” which the big bad church of Sol might well be using as a generic term along the lines of “infidel”.

    I keep wondering two things:

    1) Where are the eloi? Seems like we’ve seen the morlocks already. (No, I don’t think they’re on Earth in the distant future but if a certain broken statue appears on a beach somewhere…)

    2) Is the whole thing going to turn out to be a simulation/dream/etc.? I hope not but I can’t shake the nagging feeling that it might be going that way.

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