Critic Reviews

There’s tons of pseudo-scientific cyberpunk gobbledygook, of course, but Smith keeps things moving and pretense falls to the wayside. ... “The Peripheral” is dead center fun.

The series feels like it knows where it's going and doesn't mind taking some time to get there.

Suffice to say that it is a bravura rendition of Gibson’s tale, told with confidence by people I suspect will keep the plotting tight and the internal logic – whatever that may be – consistent. Those who can follow it at the deeper levels will no doubt find it immensely satisfying. The rest of us can enjoy the ride, and the distraction from the decidedly untightly plotted present.

The Peripheral is a cut above everyday sci-fi with cool futuristic effects, but it starts meandering after a stellar pilot.

There are enough interesting things going on in the season’s first six episodes (some of which are spoilers we’re not allowed to talk about) that I’m curious how the final two episodes of the season will play out, as well as how/if a second season will work.

Despite the changes made to the original, the story remains, if not convoluted, at least one with an enormous number of interconnected and moving parts. And a comparable number of provocative thrills.

The Peripheral does a good job at setting up two future worlds that are relatable to a wide audience, and Moretz is great as Flynne.

The core ideas are interesting, long as you can keep them straight in your head, the cast is game, and the action is reasonably exciting. Let’s see whether patches in future seasons can upgrade this show from good to great.

It has a lot of promise, and when it works, it's one of the most exciting new series on television, but there are quite a bit of issues holding it back from being the next genre hit.

There are big ideas under the surface that The Peripheral can’t explore because of a greater investment in twisty plot, garbled jargon and complicated world-building. Still, there’s something to be said for a version of Westworld that is simpler and therefore less ambitious and less reliably frustrating.