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  1. #1. The Peripheral Plot Summary: Comprehensive Recap

The Peripheral Plot Summary: Comprehensive Recap

Searching for The Peripheral plot summary? Here we go! It doesn't take a particularly close inspection to discern the pedigree of this latest sci-fi offering from Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan. With its sanitized, Reiss-tailored vision of our future, glossy white androids, and ruminations on what is and isn't real, it has all the hallmarks of a show that comes from the same creative stable as Westworld.
The Peripheral is the first product of their new creative partnership with the cash-splashing streaming service Prime Video. It is an adaptation of William Gibson's 2014 novel of the same name, marking the author's return to the cyberpunk genre he had pioneered after a hiatus of 15 years. The adaptation and supervision of the adaptation were handled by A Simple Plan writer Scott Smith.

#1. The Peripheral Plot Summary: Comprehensive Recap

The Peripheral Plot Summary Source: Netflix
The crux of the story is formed by two overlapping narratives, each of which depicts a strikingly dissimilar prediction of what lies in store for us in the future. In one of them, we find ourselves in a rural part of North America, where there is available employment, and the only industry that is prospering is that of the local meth lord. There, the siblings, played by Chloe Grace Moretz and Jack Reynor, look after their ailing mother while eking out a living through a side hustle in the world of online gaming (imagine the plot of Winter's Bone if Jennifer Lawrence had been an expert player of World of Warcraft).
In the other, more distant future, Gary Carr's fixer, Wilf, lives in an immaculate, scarcely populated London steeped in corporate espionage, cocktail parties, and an overbearing nobility (Philip K. Dick's Downton Abbey). Hardcore Gibson fans will notice that a significant portion of the author's biting social criticism and cultural projection has been sidelined, which brings the story's principal murder mystery to the forefront of the narrative.
The finished product is a streamlined neo-noir that explores its divided premise to remarkable effect, ping-ponging between possible futures as Chloe Moretz's character, Flynne, gradually begins to alter the borders of her known world. Invisible cars and robo-cabs have been done better elsewhere.

 

The Peripheral Plot Summary
Still, sonic knuckle-dusters and synaptically connected special forces soldiers feel fresh and organic in their implementation, which facilitates some punchy, well-orchestrated action set-pieces to liven up the chin-stroking speculation about the nature of reality. Some sci-fi trappings fall slightly flat, but others feel fresh and organic in their implementation. Moretz tackles the role of Flynne with a steely resolve, and her supporting cast, despite some fairly jarring London accents, is uniformly strong.
Even though Flynne is a more generic heroine than her book counterpart, Moretz performs her life. It is, however, T'Nia Miller's portrayal of an archly evil adversary that steals the show. She exudes a subtle dread in each scene and takes great pleasure in her villainy, whether casually floating mortal threats or feeding an underling to a swarm of angry bees. A jargon-heavy science fiction show with not one but two future planets to assimilate is not going to be to the tastes of everyone, and the occasionally lurid violence (episode one has a scene of ocular trauma that is not for the faint-hearted) might further give pause.
Not to mention the terrible reality that a pessimistic lack of hope permeates both timeframes, which may not be what we need now, given the current state of affairs. Still, despite its Cassandra-like tendencies, The Peripheral is a compelling enough window into another reality that makes good use of its central premise. It is also a game that has a genuinely fresh feeling take on time travel, which easily sets this apart from other less impressive technological fares.
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