SPOILERS ...
REALLY, SPOILERS! ...
For the first 2 episodes I thought "Looks like we have something good here", and then it seemed to start to slide into an incomprehensible mess.
By episode 6 I was about to pull the pin. Sure, sci-fi is speculative fiction, but the test is whether or not it makes sense according to the rules set up by its own story. And whether or not it makes basic science sense.
But once we cross into "Android is having a baby" territory, it really is seeming like wishful fantasy crossing into the world, with a touch of Pinnochio ... can the android have a real child !?!
But I stuck with it until the end of the season and I am so glad I did. The entire first season is a setup that is giving us the initial glimpses through the crack in the door into the full picture, and once you are done you will feel like backing right up and rewatching from the start to understand all the hints and snippets we were given along the way but didn't realise what they were about.
SPOILER - The unstated story as implied by what has been seen to date:
"Sol" is likely the fiery entity at the centre of Kepler-22. On this planet there was an advanced civilization of humans that developed android tech and other advanced tech. For reasons unknown (likely influenced by Sol and Sol's ability to telepathically communicate with the local humans) the civilization used androids as incubators to birth snakelike creatures (ref: Mother's visions of the android tapped inside the dodecahedron box, with android fluid dripping from its mouth ... which is what we subsequently see happen to Mother). The jewel encrusted skull Mother finds is an ancient android skull.
Speculation: In the distant past some members of that civilization escaped Kepler-22 and relocated on Earth, and were what we believe are Neanderthals.
Sol transmitted to Earth the tech data needed to build androids, especially Necromancers like Mother. This information was received and presented to the world as religious scripture and led to Mithraism as the dominant religion rapidly displacing other religions because it was "evidence of god". The zealotry also inspired the religious war that pitted Mithraists again Atheists. There is a neat possible clue here - the phrase "Praise Sol" is an anagram of Polarises i.e. believers vs non-believers.
Sol's message to the faithful was to kill all unbelievers and come to Kepler-22
In the meantime, Campion the android hacker used instructions to modify pre-Mother on Earth to be receptive to software instructions that would enable her to combine silicone and carbon compounds within her torso and artificially create a new creature - likely instructions received by the scriptures. We are told at some point that Campion used live with the Mithraic.
Now it all falls into place:
- Humans come to Kepler-22 and some of them are telepathically receptive to
- Sol because we are all descendants of the original inhabitants of this planet.
- Sol wants Mother to birth a snake and is able to affect her programming via influence through the sim pods.
- The giant dodecahedron in the desert responds to Caleb's needs because both it and Caleb are receiving messages from Sol.
- Other humans, and also Father, see fleeting figures of the past because they are being telepathically influenced by Sol.
- Native Hooded priest dude leaves metallic "tarot" cards for Mother to find.
- Because Mother is of Mithraic tech, the cards respond to her but she doesn't understand the warning.
- Paul finds the cave painting of Mother and Father's ship landing, and the subsequent giant snake - another warning that is not understood.
- Mary's reading of Mother's amniotic fluid makes her realise that whatever is growing inside is growing abnormally fast.
- Hooded priest dude realises Mother doesn't understand the warnings so as a last resort rushes to push her into the hole. But fails and dies.
- Mother finds the android skull, recalls her vision of the trapped android being forced to birth a snake, and realises too late that she is an unwitting vessel of something bad and gives birth.
- Mother and Father aim to save the children by destroying themselves and plunge into a hole. This, and other holes, lead to the centre of the planet and they pass through the fiery core unharmed because Sol won't harm the snake child ... for reasons we don't know.
- Mother and Father pass through to the other side of the planet and the snake escapes ... as super-snake.
With all of the above unpacked, I am really looking forward to Season 2. This is the most ambitious sci-fi we have seen brought to TV since The Expanse.
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