HBO's Raised by Wolves is a sci-fi series that takes too long to go anywhere

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Androids in the apocalypse. What could possibly go wrong? 

HBO Max’s Raised by Wolves is a sci-fi series worth digging into. The show comes from the mind of Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners), but most of its marketing material advertises the involvement of executive producer Ridley Scott - who also directs the first two episodes. That’s actually fair, because from what I’ve seen, Raised by Wolves is very much thematically consistent with the sci-fi director’s recent works, such as Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. 

The director has explored androids in hard sci-fi scenarios many times over, and his touch is very visible in this series. Despite being a show centred on two androids in a barren planet, Raised by Wolves frequently touches on spirituality as a theme - which is the first tell-tale sign that you should buckle up for a wild ride. The series struggles under the weight of everything it’s trying to do, but there’s enough potential here to keep watching - and hope it gets better along the way. 

Two androids, sitting on a barren planet

Raised by Wolves kicks off with two androids, Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim) landing on the strangely barren planet of Kepler-22B. The stoic duo then carry out their one task - raising several human babies born out of embryos. We don’t know why they’ve specifically been sent here to raise these children, nor do we know who sent them. As the series progresses however, we learn where they came from. 

Far from them is an apocalyptic planet, torn to pieces by a society that has separated into two warring factions - atheists and the Mithraic. The Mithraic believe in Soul (a religious deity of sorts), while the atheists are decidedly less concerned with religion. Both of them use androids, robot-like beings that soar through the skies in T-poses, and destroy humans and structures alike with ease. Before the end of that world however, two things happened: Mother and Father were sent to Kepler-22B, and many of the Mithraic escaped on a spacefaring ark. 

Mother and Father are atheists, and make for good series protagonists - forever chained to their core programming, but brimming with strange emotion that surfaces when their children are put in danger. The duo tragically lose several of them to a mysterious sickness over the years, leaving them with just one child: Campion. He is more than willing to turn to religion in the midst of all this tragedy, but that’s a big no-no in his parents' eyes.

Two atheists, sitting on an ark

Mother and Father’s society-raising mission is compromised when they have all but one child left, so Mother makes an executive decision - she flies up to the Mithraic’s ark, slaughters most of them, crashes the ark onto Kepler-22B and steals its children. Their fabulous new society is back on track, but survivors from the ark now find themselves stranded on this strange new planet.

Suddenly, Raised by Wolves isn’t just a simple story about two androids raising a family anymore. The children Mother has kidnapped are devout to the religion they were raised into, and don’t take kindly to being pulled out of the ark. Atheists Marcus (Travis Fimmel) and his wife Sue (Niamh Algar) snuck on board of the ark, and now pose as part of the Mithraic on Kepler-22B. Campion succumbs to peer pressure and starts pulling away from Mother and Father. 

Raised by Wolves demands a lot from you. In just three episodes, you’re introduced to new worlds, civilisations and religions - and the characters that inhabit them. That’s no easy task for any show, so it’s hard to fault this show for failing to do so well. There are a lot of balls in the air to keep track of, and not all of them are interesting enough to keep your attention. Entire episodes can drag on as dull characters deliver exposition to one another, or as the children follow an incredibly predictable path to rebellion. 

One show, moving very slowly

Raised by Wolves’ main failure thus far is that none of its characters really stand out, besides Mother and Father. The two androids are strangely the most emotionally compelling characters of the bunch, bolstered by great performances from Collin and Salim. Mother is nurturing and kind with her children, but horrifyingly bloodthirsty with her enemies. Salim is a lot less emotionally involved by comparison, but tries his best to connect with the children with a series of really bad dad-jokes. He becomes a lot more interesting in Episode 3, where he realises he might not actually be useful in raising the children. 

The rest of Raised by Wolves’ cast simply doesn’t hold a candle to these eccentric androids. Even the two human atheists dressed in Crusader-like armour struggle to elicit the same level of emotional storytelling. Barely any of the children stand out - besides Tempest, who comes with a tragic backstory. The world of Raised by Wolves is far, far more fleshed out than its characters - but seeing as we spend most of our time watching them bicker on an empty planet, that type of characterisation simply doesn’t work here. 

Verdict

Having seen less than half of its first season, I’m not altogether sure where Raised by Wolves is headed. The series drags on, fleshing out its world and characters at an excruciatingly slow pace. Its tone and atmosphere can get grating as well, with a distant sense of suspense as two factions draw closer to conflict in the grimy, grey background of Kepler-22B. 

If there were more cosmic sci-fi series around, I’d recommend looking elsewhere to get your fix - but it’s pretty slim pickings in this genre, I’m afraid (try The Expanse). Raised by Wolves’ production value is certainly something to behold, but it’s going to need a better selling point than ‘high budget sci-fi with two eccentric androids’. As it stands, that’s all this series has to offer. 

Raised by Wolves will be available to stream on HBO GO on September 3, 2020. New episodes will premiere weekly. 

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