Before having an opportunity to see Amazon's new The Peripheral series with our own eyes, we spied more than a few unflattering reviews in the news streams.

Based on a book, did it not do it justice? Was this a case of non sci-fi lovers just not being able to understand and appreciate it? No.

The truth of this series is possibly not literally stranger than fiction, but will bring that saying to mind.

The Premise

The Peripheral's weakest link is undoubtedly its premise and oddly not crucial to anything later in the story.

Main character Flynne played by Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick Arse, Mother/Android) is presented as a young woman so great at gaming that she could but doesn't do it professionally.

Instead she supports her very sick mother and ex-military brother with a basic store clerk type job.

Both mother and brother require medication, which she can only just barely afford and that by resorting to buying them from criminals.

Much better and easier money in gaming, but up against the US health system on not one but two fronts, she chooses the path of poverty.

For reasons not examined.

Right.

But wait, it gets stranger.

When she games, she typically does that with her brother's account because men can't stand to be beaten by women.

Really?

The book this series is based on was published in 2014.

Statista details that 48% of US online gamers were female in 2014 and it has varied but is 48% again.

There is a trivially small gender disparity here and by 2030 when this series is set, no-one would predict it to have grown.

Female game streamers have millions of followers.

Plus, many gamers play characters of the opposite gender and gaming isn't like real life where hateful or moronic grief is in your face.

It's far removed from you.

Were there truly any men who couldn't stand to be beaten by an apparent woman - because character and player aren't always on the same page here - and for some reason she would even care about that, she could just turn her computer off.

Beaten means game over.

Sticking around to suffer abuse is totally optional.

The series doesn't harp on about these totally unbelievable elements of her character but they do get several mentions.

Nothing which happens later relies on them.

They feel artlessly tacked on.

On checking the book's plot we find both to be deviations.

In the book she takes on the story central but different job (security, not gaming) for her brother because he's off counter-protesting religious extremists.

So Amazon didn't want to risk alienating religious viewers and figured taking a random dump on men would be a safe bet.

How prevalent is gaming in the US?

There are 332 million people living in the US. Of them 189 million are gamers, which is 81% of internet users.

So 81% of this show's viewers would personally know this to be both false and absurd.

Not a strong foundation for any series, especially a sci-fi one.

Beyond Absurdity

Putting aside the gaming / gender silliness, the show is excellent.

There's one debate between Flynne and her brother on the material merits of empathy, which actually begins with a concrete example of that.

But bizarrely neither Flynne nor her brother connect those dots.

Again undermining the notion that she is secretly brilliant.

There's also one scene where a minor character's facial expressions are wildly out of proportion with their circumstances.

Do we recommend it?

We'll keep watching but are on the fence.

Scott B. Smith was sole writer and showrunner for these first three episodes.

He only co-wrote most of the remaining episodes, and Greg Plagerman replaced him as showrunner.

Need to see a few more to make up our minds.

A month ahead of its premiere date, season 2 was listed in Production Weekly magazine, which is usually a reliable indication of renewal, but there hasn't been any official word from Amazon yet.

The Peripheral is streaming now on Prime Video.

[ Main Image: The Peripheral - Chloe Grace Moretz. Credit: Prime Video via IMBb.com. ]

References

Clement, J. (October 20, 2022). U.S. video gaming audiences 2006-2022, by gender. Statista.com.

Clement, J. (October 20, 2022). Video gaming audiences in the United States - Statistics & Facts. Statista.com.

Markov, Roman (July 19, 2022). Top Female Twitch Streamers of 2022. Streams Charts.

Rotten Tomatoes. The Peripheral - Season 1. (viewed November 5, 2022)

Wikipedia. The Peripheral. (viewed November 5, 2022)

Wikipedia. The Peripheral (TV series). (viewed November 5, 2022)