The Peripheral

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.

At this point the hard part is not imagining such a world, but peopling it with carefully developed characters and giving them convincing motives and arcs. “The Peripheral” does this only sporadically. It mistakes concept and spectacle for story.

“The Peripheral” has nothing new to offer its target demo of sci-fi, action, and drama fans, but if more of the same is an itch that needs scratching, it will satiate the unadventurous viewer.

Bright spots in “The Peripheral” include excellent performances by Moretz and Eli Goree as Conner Penske. ... Unfortunately, these strengths, much like “Westworld’s,” are too often lost in a commitment to mysteries that crowds out coherence, mistaking the challenge of deciphering what’s happening for the joys of solving the puzzle of why.

“The Peripheral” feels like a mashup of sci-fi ideas put to better use elsewhere, from “Avatar” to “Free Guy,” with a lot in between. Mostly, other than the sometimes-striking set design, there’s nothing particularly distinctive about the villains or the scenario, which feels more convoluted than engaging.

It is ironic that a show wanting us to question reality is populated entirely by characters who feel flimsy and bloodless. Intermittently, The Peripheral might look quite cool but it’s both hard to follow and hard to care about.

The series, based on a novel by cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson, boasts competently directed action that rubs up uneasily against deeply indulgent running times; no matter how good the chase scenes, we need a break as individual installments plod past the hour mark. This insistence on keeping audiences on the hook doesn’t consistently grant insight; despite how much time we spend with her, and despite Moretz’s best efforts, Flynne is little more than an archetype.