Will Netflix rescue it?
Scavengers Reigndebuted on Max in October 2023 to almost universal acclaim.
The plaudits andawards nominationswere easy to understand.
All of which made the shows subsequent cancellation byMaxin May of this year all the harder to fathom.
Simply put,Scavengers Reignis one of the brightest stars to have shone across the sci-fi landscape.
To see it snuffed out now would be a crime.
Heres why the show matters, and why it deserves your time, attention, and a second season.
We see the planet Vesta hanging in space, its surface illuminated.
A soft, slow and insistent piano melody begins to play.
The sequence ends on another shot of Vesta, this time with the planet sheathed almost entirely in darkness.
There is light and hope on Vesta, but also fear and darkness.
There is beauty in the journey, but also ever-rising notes of terror and panic.
But above all else,Scavengers Reignis about adaptation and balance.
The show begins many months after the event that forced our survivors to abandon ship.
Were introduced to three pockets of survivors and watch as they adapt or die (sometimes both).
Their relationship as it evolves provides some of the most rousing, uplifting and heartbreaking sequences of the series.
Humans, after all, dont require telepathy to subjugate or wreak havoc.
Viva la Vesta
There is arguably another main character in the story: the planet itself.
Vesta itself is alive and aware in ways that boggle the mind.
Everything on its surface is connected.
Everything no matter how bizarre or fantastical makes perfect sense in its wider context.
Intelligence, forethought and artistry crackles through the shows every word and frame.
The process that unfolds seems by turns natural, bio-mechanical, symbolic and nothing short of magical.
The orbs are thrown into the air, where they remain, hovering and glowing.
This bold, profoundly beautiful sequence almost single-handedly justifies the shows existence.
Everything is contained within the mesmerising circumference of that one alien flower.
That flower will make you think about how short life is.
Ultimately,Scavengers Reignreminds us that its not how life ends thats important, but how its lived.
Its just getting started.
Scavengers Reign season one is available to stream now onNetflix.
