I genuinely did not expect Pantheon to become something that i would even like, i thought it was just going to be some boring animation about computers and A.I, at best I went into it thinking I was just going to watch some interesting sci-fi animation and move on, but this show had other plans. It is so much more than an animated show about technology. It is family, love and of course A.I.
The foundation is fascinating, it is about Maddie, a teenager whose life is turned upside down after the death of her father. She eventually discovers that her father may not be completely gone after all. His consciousness has somehow been uploaded into a computer, creating what the show calls an Uploaded Intelligence, or UI and by this the show creates so many more questions because if you can upload someone's mind, are they still the same person? Is it actually them? are they alive? etc
That question basically sits underneath the entire show, and I loved it because Pantheon doesn't give you some ridiculously simple answer. Instead, it keeps pushing the idea further and further. At first, the whole concept of uploading a human mind sounds like this amazing technological achievement. Imagine being able to preserve someone's consciousness forever. Imagine never really losing someone because they can continue existing digitally. Then the show starts showing you what happens when that technology becomes powerful enough that the people controlling it can basically influence the entire world and it shows you why immortality is a bad idea.
Maddie is probably the perfect character to experience all of this through. She is dealing with loss of her father while simultaneously being forced to question whether the person communicating with her is actually her father. I really liked that the story doesn't treat her emotions as something that can simply be solved by technology. The relationship between Maddie and her father is one of the strongest parts of the show because underneath all the science fiction craziness, it is still a story about a daughter who doesn't want to lose her dad.
Then there is the whole idea of immortality. Pantheon doesn't portray immortality as simply “live forever, problem solved.” It asks what happens when humanity removes one of the things that gives life meaning. The animation itself is really really good. The show also does a great job of making technological advancement feel both incredibly exciting and incredibly dangerous. It doesn't simply say technology is good or bad. It shows how the people who control it, and what they choose to do with it, are what really matters.
For the ending, id say that without spoiling anything, I will just say that the show goes BIG. Really big. The show starts with a teenage girl dealing with the death of her father and somehow ends up asking questions about the future of humanity itself, the action sequence is also incredible. So, if you are into science fiction and some just really good storytelling, I seriously recommend Pantheon. It is definitely a show you can binge watch and after watching an episode you are craving the next one and the next one. Image source:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11680642/mediaindex/?ref_=mv?ref_=mv_sm
Rating: 88/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.
