Susan Granger’s review of “See” (Apple TV+)
This dystopian sci-fi fantasy/drama series begins its second season with a third already in production. The opening credits are a montage of nerve endings that, as the volume increases, form various shapes.
BACKGROUND: Early in the 21st century, a virus wiped out almost all humanity. Centuries later, Earth’s few inhabitants are blind, having lost the sense of sight. Yet, utilizing ingenuity and heightened senses of hearing, touch and smell, they’ve learned to hunt, build and communicate without vision, often using clicks and whistles.
In the mountains, Baba Voss (Jason Momoa), hulking chief of the Alkenny tribe, rescues a pregnant woman, Magra (Hera Hilmar), marries her and becomes a loving father to her twins – Kofun (Archie Madekwe) and Haniwa (Nesta Cooper) – who are born with the power of sight.
Their biological father, the mythical heretic Jeramarel (Joshua Henry), is also not blind. He fled from evil Queen Kane (Sylvia Hoeks), known as the Divine Ruler who dwells above Kanzua Dam; enraged, she has launched a ‘witch hunt’ for him, her estranged sister Magra and their sighted children.
Plus, there’s Paris (Alfre Woodard), the Alkenny tribe’s wise and loving shaman; treacherous Boots (Franz Drameh) another of Jeramarel’s sons; and Lord Harlan (Tom Mison), leader of the Pennsa.
Eventually, Baba Voss’s resentful younger brother, Edo Voss (Dave Bautista), appears as a formidable adversary, Commander-General of the Trivantian tribe, known as the most powerful military in the world.
Written by Steven Knight and directed by Francis Lawrence, it’s filmed in the wilds of Canada’s British Columbia. “Alkenny” and “Kanzua” are alterations of Allegheny and Kinzua in western Pennsylvania
Looking ahead, Alfre Woodward notes: “The characters in season two do not see the past coming to haunt them, but the past coming to be resolved…’See’ has so many parallels with what is going on with the world – or even what could happen. There’s the idea of the masses laying trust in prophetic figures.”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “See” is a savage, strangely compelling 7, streaming on Apple TV+.
