Reel Review Mom

Every so often, a sci-fi series comes along that makes you want to grab your friends by the shoulders, shake them a little, and shout: “You don’t understand—this is peak science fiction!” For me, Apple TV+’s Foundation is that show. It’s ambitious, jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and—dare I say—better than I ever thought Isaac Asimov’s dense, brain-bending classic could be translated onto screen.

Now, let’s be clear: adapting Foundation is no small feat. The original novels are brilliant but not exactly… binge-TV friendly. They’re filled with philosophical debates, galactic politics, and big ideas about the rise and fall of civilizations—epic stuff, but not a lot of car chases or lightsaber duels. Enter David S. Goyer and Apple’s bottomless budget, who somehow took this “unfilmable” saga and turned it into a show that’s equal parts thought-provoking and ridiculously entertaining.

First of all, the visuals. Every frame looks like it was painted by some cosmic Renaissance artist who had access to a trillion-dollar CGI lab. The Empire’s palace, the sprawling galactic cities, the icy, distant planets—it’s so cinematic that I sometimes forget I’m not in a theater. Honestly, it makes most other sci-fi shows look like they were filmed in someone’s garage with a fog machine and a green bedsheet.

Then there’s the story. Foundation follows Dr. Hari Seldon, a mathematician who invents “psychohistory”—basically the galaxy’s most terrifyingly accurate predictor of the future. Seldon foresees the fall of the Galactic Empire and a looming dark age, and he sets out to shorten that chaos by creating a “Foundation” to preserve knowledge. Sounds straightforward, but then you throw in cloned emperors (yes, CLONED EMPERORS), political backstabbing, space pilgrimages, rebellions, and more twists than a pretzel factory, and suddenly you’ve got sci-fi television that’s as addictive as it is smart.

And let’s talk about those emperors: Brother Dawn, Brother Day, and Brother Dusk. The idea of three genetically identical rulers at different ages simultaneously running the galaxy is chef’s kiss brilliant. It’s equal parts creepy and fascinating, and it creates so many moments of drama that I found myself muttering, “Oh, no they didn’t,” at the screen.

Casting-wise, the show is perfection. Jared Harris as Hari Seldon? Inspired. He brings this mix of gravitas and quiet rebellion that makes you want to follow him into the end of the galaxy. Lee Pace as Brother Day? ❤️ Absolutely magnetic—equal parts godlike ruler and deeply insecure man who just happens to control billions of lives. And the supporting cast, from Lou Llobell’s Gaal Dornick to Leah Harvey’s Salvor Hardin, make the sprawling narrative feel grounded and human.

Now, what makes Foundation one of my favorite sci-fi series isn’t just its scale or its smarts—it’s the fact that it manages to balance heady philosophy with actual human emotion. It asks the big questions (Can the future be changed? Is free will real? How much control should leaders have?) but it also gives us flawed, passionate characters to wrestle with those questions. That’s the magic. It’s not just a galaxy-spanning chess match—it’s a story about people caught up in the tides of history.

And yes, it’s not all perfect—sometimes the pacing slows to “watching-paint-dry-on-a-spaceship” levels, and occasionally the show gets a little too wrapped up in its own grandeur. But honestly? I don’t care. Even when it’s indulgent, it’s beautifully indulgent. Like, if I have to stare at another ten-minute sequence of spaceships gliding majestically through the cosmos, you won’t hear me complaining.

In short: Foundation is everything I want in a sci-fi series. It’s smart without being smug, epic without being hollow, and emotional without being cheesy. It’s one of the most well-crafted shows on television, and easily one of my favorites of all time. If you like your sci-fi with brains and spectacle, this is the show to binge.

So yes, I am fully, unapologetically obsessed with Foundation. And if Apple TV+ wants to keep pouring a small country’s GDP into making more seasons, I’ll happily keep watching—and shouting about it.