AMC’s Pantheon has one of the most brilliant storylines I’ve seen in years.
It seems animation series are ratcheting up the battle for supremacy and I’m here for it.
I’ve watched the first season and I’ve got such mixed feelings about Pantheon. The first half of the season was really grounded and eerie which I loved, but then it suddenly became over the top with anime fight scenes and a cartoonishly evil villain.
It just felt like they tried making two shows in one, but I am curious to see how season 2 goes. I hope they ease off on the fantasy stuff.
I am enthusiastic about Pantheon, but generally agree with your nuanced take.
I mean, in the first half we have such heady scenes as this where they discuss solutions to the classic Dining Philosophers Problem. Brilliant and, imho, a bold move from the writers to include something that in depth.
And yes, later on, it gets more mainstream with anime fight scenes in video game virtual reality, and concepts echoed from classic media like The Matrix and The Truman Show to make it more engaging to non techy audiences.
Personally I liked 95‰ of it. It took chances, was willing to pull from a lot of resources while still remaining somewhat original in its presentation, and had endearing and engaging characters.
I’m stoked that Amazon picked it up as AMC cancelled it reneging on its commitment to producing a second season. I haven’t been this excited about a tech show since Mr. Robot or Halt and Catch Fire.
Personally I liked 95‰ of it.
So 9.5% was good?
Lol, whoops. % not ‰.
Haha sorry for being pedantic, I just thought it was funny.
The first 3 episodes of season 2 are out now. :)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“Most of the girls in my class completely missed the moment when the world began to end, too wrapped up in their own drama, obsessed with their own lives,” Maddie recounts in an intriguing voiceover that opens the series.
Another teenage misfit, gothy Caspian (Paul Dano) excels at math and hacking—and seems to be living in a small-scale version of The Truman Show, with parents who are, for reasons that take some time to emerge, roleplaying a dysfunctional marriage for his benefit.
And with regard to the UI-driven future Chanda seems so excited about, for its potential to free humans from white-collar drudge work and launch new leisure industries, is it really such a great idea?
While computer animation might have sent it plunging into the uncanny valley and live-action TV would have required expensive CGI effects that might’ve looked silly despite their price, there’s a warmth to the elegant, anime-style characters and backdrops drawn by Titmouse (the studio behind Big Mouth and the new Beavis and Butt-Head projects on Paramount+).
All of this—along with a stellar voice cast that also includes Taylor Schilling, Aaron Eckhart, Maude Apatow, and the late William Hurt—helps Pantheon earn what starts out as an ambitious, potentially goofy premise and escalates into something all-out wild.
The concept fueled story lines on Star Trek, Stargate, and other sci-fi franchises for decades, before making inroads into the prestige-drama futurism of Westworld and Black Mirror; “San Junipero,” a feature-length romance between two uploaded intelligences in a VR afterlife, became a breakout episode of the latter anthology series.
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Just started watching tonight. I am only 2 episodes in to the first season.
Right away, noticed all of the audio quality was horrible. I checked on Google and confirmed: the voice sessions were done by the actors from home during lockdown using whatever tech they had on hand, even if it was only their phones. Not a deal breaker, though, just a curiosity. The acting performance, aside from their production flaws, are decent.
The show has been good, great actually up to this point. I have been watching a lot of forgettable TV lately and Pantheon has been a refreshing entry.
Just finished watching the last episode 5 minutes ago… still kinda high of how good that just was… I haven’t seen/read anything this good/all encompassing in years. How have I not heard or seen anything about this show until I saw it pop up on torrent sites a few days ago. Just WOOOWWW… If you’re into literature def go out of your way to see this. It’s very very modern though. I notice people have a hard time grasping what is actually being told. It has some minor flaws throughout, but the culmination at the end is … WOW… Very happy to have lived and experienced this.
Ok, came back here to say I just binged season 2 and holy crap…uhh…yeah…one of the best things I’ve ever seen…just wow.
