A still from ‘Extrapolations’ | photo credit: Apple TV+
The year is 2037 and we have resolved the Israel-Palestine conflict. The horrors plaguing the Gaza Strip are now issues related to water scarcity. After 14 years, a climate activist still going to school is asking people to pay attention to climate change issues.
David Schwimmer, Matthew Rhys, Meryl Streep, Kit Harington, Sienna Miller, Yara Shahidi and Daveed Diggs can’t save Apple TV+’s latest science fiction show on the dangers of climate change. Created by K Scott Z Burns fingering fame, exclusion Tired and preachy to the audience with its message in the first three episodes itself. As an interconnected anthology series, each episode is about a new story which makes it hard to easily measure the show’s overall potential and quality.
extrapolation
Director: Scott Z Burns
mould: David Schwimmer, Matthew Rhys, Meryl Streep, Kit Harington, Sienna Miller, Yara Shahidi, Tobey Maguire, Daveed Diggs
Number of Episodes: 8
plot line: An anthology series that showcases the effects of climate change on the planet through interconnected stories from different perspectives
The first episode introduces us to a businessman who hopes to build a casino in the Arctic Circle, patents governing desalination and water purification technologies, wildfires and myriad climate refugees, often with new characters and plot points. overwhelms the audience with. The episode struggles to establish a narrative structure and a distinct yellowish tint filter over it makes it difficult to continue watching the screen.
While the second episode attempts to extrapolate a time into the future that is rife with animal extinction, it soon sinks into eerie sensations where humans communicate with the last humpback whale about visions of life and death. while Whale is voiced by Meryl Streep. .. (we are not kidding). The episode feels bizarre and even funny, as one slowly begins to discover that very little thought has gone into imagining the apocalypse caused by climate change.
While the actors are in fine form, the script lets their charisma fade and the painfully short screen time given to most of them doesn’t allow them to fully develop into their characters.
The show is at its strongest when climate change forms the backdrop of the story, not the narrative as in the third episode where the creators examine humans’ relationship with theology in times of pressure. Following a young pastor in Miami, this episode illuminates the generational divide in addressing climate change and examines whether religion has the power to overcome fear generated by the ills of climate change.
Extrapolation is currently streaming on Apple TV+