Synopsis
Two siblings living in a small town need to make enough money to take care of their mother, who has glioma. Bolton (Jack Reynor) gets a job offer from a Mexican company to try out their new gaming technology called a peripheral. Bolton got the offer because of his gaming achievements, which were really the work of Flynne (Chloë Grace Moretz). The peripheral is unlike anything Flynne had ever seen. It would seem that the peripheral isn’t a normal sim but actually Flynne operating another body that’s in the future.
When first participating in the sim Flynne was tasked with retrieving information, she believed this was part of her mission. It was later revealed that this is what Aelita (Charlotte Riley) wanted her to do to collect the data she needed. Now, knowing the real truth behind the mission, Flynne is hired to help find Aelita. She would be working for The Klept but more closely alongside someone who grew up with Aelita, Wilf (Gary Carr).
The future world that Flynne would come to inhabit is very different from the world she lives in now. This is because of the Jackpot. The Jackpot is a series of catastrophic events that killed a large amount of the human population leaving it unrecognizable.
Interpretation
Since the show is based on a book it would seem that it has to cram a lot of exposition into the runtime for things to make sense. I haven’t read the book personally but this is how watching it felt to me. Nevertheless, the exposition felt realistic in how it was told to the audience because Flynne is new to the future world she now inhabits. I think it being a book would explain the side characters’ actions because it would seem that they would do things without much build-up. This tends to happen with Movies/TV show adaptations.
The creator and showrunner of The Peripheral, Scott B. Smith, spoke with io9 about the making process of the show. Based on what he said it’s clear that it was an intentional choice to make the show difficult to follow.
“I think one thing I’ve always loved about Gibson’s work is that it’s not very accessible, and he draws on the reader’s intelligence to build the world. You have to watch how the characters use the terms and you gradually pick it up through that. We wanted that to be similar to the viewing experience—“
Regardless of the hard storyline to follow, the concept of the show is extremely interesting. I’m very excited to see where the series goes next season.
