DUNE: PROPHECY Episode One (Mostly) Non-Spoiler Review
Some thoughts on the new Dune: Prophecy TV series' first episode
I watched Dune: Prophecy last night and have some thoughts. Here are my (almost) spoiler-free and (very) scattered thoughts:
Overall, I enjoyed it, but I think it borrows too much from Game of Thrones, both in style and tone. Lots of grimdark characters brooding in dark halls plotting for positions of power in a teetering empire. But as with House of Dragons, the opening chapter missies the mark. The strength of the original Game of Thrones TV series (and the books!) is that they are grounded in very strong characters. In Dune: Prophecy, we get a rushed voice over and then are dumped into a story that might as well be House of Dragons season 3. They even had flying dragons at one point! Perhaps they were winking at the audience, but I thought it too much. We know next to nothing about our protagonists, who they are, where they come from, what they want, besides a few basic and cliched brush strokes (“ruthless leader”, “wild ingenue”, “stoic lover”, “soldier with skeletons in his closet”, etc., etc.) That’s a mistake if you want viewers to remain interested. At the very least, you have to know the character’s motivations, and this first episode does a poor job making them clear, or at least fresh. We’ve seen much of this before, and that’s a mistake.
Dune: Prophecy is relying too much on the audience’s knowledge of other Dune films and books: the sandworms, the Voice, the definition of a Truthsayer, the Bene Geserit, the Spice, the shields, hand to hand combat, etc. The Dune universe is huge, and I wanted them to slow the hell down and (re)introduce the viewer to these massive concepts, as they are central to the storyline(s). I’m usually a fan of “in media res” openings, but not at the expense of story. I worry many viewers will drop off because they don’t understand why these things are significant. You shouldn’t need to have read all the Dune books and seen all the films to follow along and enjoy the show.
This story takes place millennia in humanity’s future, and they missed a golden opportunity to (re)introduce us to this world through the eyes of young Valya Harkonnen as she is taught by her dying mentor. Instead we get a clunky and rushed flashback and voice over, and a terribly campy and disjointed “vision” of an impending future apocalypse. It’s bad writing and direction. This show, this material, deserves better.
The show picks up some with the introduction of Princess Ynez and her arranged marriage to the nine year old Duke’s son. That scene where the boy’s robot toy gets loose and the whole court freaks out because AI tech is verboten is just great — a superb example of how you don’t need voice overs to explain backstory. Their reactions alone are enough to show us how this world feels about robots and AI. And, ouch, that ending was almost as hard to watch as the last scenes of Substance (oof). I guess they are following Game of Thrones that way.
Desmond Hart (played by Travis Fimmel) is uber cryptic and so terrifying, and he stole the show in every scene he was in. So far, for me, he’s the most interesting character, because he is so different from everyone else.
Also, the human war against machines, the so-called Butlerian Jihad, is central to the story of Dune: Prophesy. I would have liked more explanation of it. AI is so central to the world we presently live in, and the show runners missed a grand opportunity to comment on contemporary issues surrounding fears of AI. Instead, with the exception of one forgettable flashback image (that borrowed heavily from Terminator), we are barely aware there was a huge and devastating war that traumatized humanity so much that they outlawed computers. Think about that for a moment, then think about how little this episode acknowledges that.
I know the series had a few hiccups getting started, and so I’m hopeful that the mess of the first episode gets straightened out as the series progresses. This episode reeks of too many cooks. Still, the “coming this season” montage at the end makes me hopeful that the series will get better.
Overall episode rating: B-; Entertaining at times, but often flawed, cliched, and overly reliant on audience knowledge.
The wise elder teaching (or cleverly hinting at) history is a common trope for introducing information because it works. We become students who, like the initially young protagonist, learn the highlights of history but know it will take time to even come close to the elder's understanding. In fact, gaining that understanding can be a subplot. I'm willing to bet money that the original version(s) of the script were written like that, but a Big Suit said "Game of Thrones is hot, rewrite to make more like Game of Thrones." and demanded more & more such "improvements" until the script written by someone who love Dune became the movie you saw.