Review: A Galaxy-Spanning Story Unfolds in 'Foundation' Season 2

Apple TV+ returns to the world of the future as envisioned by sci-fi great Isaac Asimov with Season 2 of the epic adaptation of "Foundation." The new clutch of episodes, 10 in all, waste little time before showing us just how action-packed the season will be, as the emperor Brother Day (out actor Lee Pace) proves himself a badass even when bare-assed: He fights off a band of elite assassins, wearing nothing but a confident grin. (Top marks to the show for the lighting, editing, and choreography of this fight scene, along with many others.)

Last season's cliffhanger ending involved a time jump of more than a century, bringing Gaal (Lou Llobell) – the protege of genius mathematician Harry Seldon (Jared Harris) – back to her watery home planet (now devoid of human life) and uniting her with Salvor (Leah Harvey), the daughter she never knew she had. Mother and daughter are about the same age, thanks to the time-twisting vagaries of cryogenic suspension and space travel; they bond quickly. When they discover a holographic version of Hari Seldon preserved in a quantum computer called the Prime Radiant – a glassy gizmo that looks like a tchotchke from Pier 1 – they're soon haring off on a mission to kick-start the next phase of Seldon's grand plan: The creation of a "Second Foundation." The first Foundation is a collective of scientific geniuses laboring on the planet Terminus to preserve human knowledge and fight back the coming dark ages; a second such project is needed to keep the first one from descending into its own brand of autocracy.

Seldon's plan relies on "psychohistory": A mathematical projection of the future that puts human motivations and responses into complex equations and predicts the flow of events across millennia. As planned, the first Foundation has grown into a religion, and is now sending out missionaries to convert planets at the empire's edge. Two red-robed clerics – the light-hearted duo of Constant (Isabella Laughland) and Poly (Jairaj Varsani) – travel the stars, spreading the gospel of "Prophet Seldon" and, in the process, bringing some cosmic comic relief to the show.

Back on the planet Trantor – seat of power for the ancient empire – things are more sober. The triune of Emperors ("brothers" Day [Pace], Dawn [Cassian Bilton], and Dusk [Terrence Mann], all clones of the original Emperor Cleon) are facing a major shift in the traditions that have held sway for centuries: Namely, Brother Day has decided to forsake the purity of their imperial line. He's determined to marry Queen Sareth (Ella-Rae Smith) and have children the old-fashioned way. The assassination attempt against Brother Day could either be a response to his controversial plans from within his own inner circle, or a vengeful strike from Sareth, who suspects that Brother Day maneuvered her into the marriage by killing off her entire family. Making things more complicated, Brother Day has been preparing for his conjugal duties by sleeping with his android advisor, Lady Demerzel (Laura Birn).

Fellow clones and co-emperors Brother Dusk and Brother Dawn have their own romantic entanglements with possible suspects in the assassination attempt. But were one or both of them behind the plot?

The intrigue extends beyond the palace. Seldon's growing religious movement starts to worry Brother Day ("Once you start kneeling and praying, it's hard to get back to standing and thinking," he warns), especially when Constant and Poly cross paths with an insouciant con artist called Hober Mallow (Dimitri Leonidas), teaming up with him and unleashing all sorts of chaos. Dispatching brilliant (but disgraced) General Bel Riose (Ben Daniels) to gather intel, Brother Day ensures the general's loyalty by threatening to kill his husband unless he obeys. (In a further show of representation, the season also tucks another same-sex couple into the action, though their relationship isn't as obvious.)

War is imminent between Trantor and Terminus as the cold calculations of math crash into the hot arrogance of pride. Who will win? And does it matter? Looming over everything is the eventual advent of The Mule: As glimpsed by Gaal, who can see the future, The Mule is (or rather, will be) a terrifyingly powerful tyrant who could shatter both Empire and Foundation, and make Seldon's darkest predictions come true.

Psychohistory may be unnerving in its accuracy, but the strands of cause and effect it traces are knotty; similarly, the seasons' storylines loop and whorl. It takes all 10 episodes to get a handle on what's going on, and there's some slowness in the early episodes, but the action picks up as the season continues.

What's more, the cast and the show's top-shelf production values keep your attention. Pace occupies place of pride in the series, not just for his sculpted physique, but for the way he handles his character's complex traits. Sympathetic, attentive, and smart, he's also reckless and callous to a sociopathic degree. Birn, as Demerzel, masters an equally complex role: What is the ancient android's backstory, and what does she want? We find out more about her this season.

Harris, too, has an especially difficult role: Being an AI copy his original self means versions of Harry Seldon can pop up all over the place, often at the most unexpected moments. Seldon is part action hero, part MacGuffin, and part Man Behind the Curtain, like the Wizard of Oz. His backstory, too, comes to light, and it's heartbreaking.

Laughland, Ghir, and Leonidas form a delightful trio, and the show wisely balances their lighter touch against Seldon's grim prophecies and realpolitik schemes, which unfold, layer by layer, with increasing intricacy.

The series examines ideas like fate and choice with rare intelligence, but you have to pay attention to get what showrunner David S. Goyer (and Isaac Asimov before him) is driving at. There are bumps along the way: The story takes some narrative shortcuts to keep the action moving and resolve seemingly impossible conundrums. As a result, it can sometimes feel like you're watching an old Saturday morning serial. But as the pieces start fitting together, the show's momentum, and the emotional stakes, become more and more compelling.

"Foundation" Season 2, premieres on Apple TV+ on July 14.