Further along in Dune: Prophecy now. 4 episodes down. A bit of a lull in the past episode. Starting to feel a bit too much like late-period GoT. All the acting borders on stately: wooden, stiff. Like everyone is auditioning for some English drama school.
I’m sure when this was pitched they pointed out it’s basically GoT in space (with the LANDSRAAD power moves), and has elements of every YA franchise from Harry Potter to The Maze Runner (with the Bene Gesserit sisterhood being space witches). Focusing on young acolytes before they’ve taken their vows, as in this last episode, also felt a bit like some of the weird Star Wars Jedi Academy spinoff shit.
Basically this series is the rise of the Sisterhood, with the Harkonnens filling in as House Stark, and the Atreides taking up the House Lannister role.
Most things in the Dune universe are recognizable (ships, weapons, etc.) but so futuristic as to be alien. The recent Dune movies nailed this. This show is set right after the war with the thinking machines, so 10,000 years*** before Paul Atreides, but it unfortunately feels recent, with horses and clans hunting animals while bare chested in the forest, etc.
There’s a bit of a charisma vacuum so far. Emily Watson is interesting but she’s not lead-a-space-opera interesting. There’s a weird mystic guy who can burn people with his mind, but he’s not in enough scenes.
Main issue is the dialogue/writing. Made from Frank Herbert’s extensive notes but written by his untalented son, Brian. Brian is basically the Eric Trump of dialogue smithing. Brian and Kevin J Anderson did a whole series of Dune novels together but they are unreadable. That side is appearing more in the TV show now, which is incredibly sad. Series based on The Great Schools of Dune, a trilogy by Brian and Kevin. I tried reading House Atreides and House Harkonnen, but both were worse than fan fiction. So I don’t know if they figured their shit out by the time of this trilogy of books, but I doubt it.
Mid season lull, hopefully, and the series can recover.
***had to look up the era. So it’s 10,000 years before, makes sense there are horses and space clans who refer to their family as “my people”, although there are spaceships that can fold space already too.
