Back in the days of my distant youth, I once argued with a college professor over what ‘good film criticism’ looked like.
According to the academic, the very best critiques somewhat magically removed the thoughts and impressions of their writers and thinkers from the entire equation, instead relying on their command of facts, figures, and history upon which they based the sums of these evaluations. While I understood what the teacher was saying, I pointed out that regular folks didn’t tune in to watch ‘Siskel And Ebert’ (Google it, if you must) to hear about their command of facts, figures, and history: they did so because they wanted to know what Gene thought of a flick versus what Roger thought of the same flick, so opinions mattered. No mention of facts, figures, or history changed what the popular duo thought – well, they might be limited instances out there in cyberspace – and audiences often responded by seeing a motion picture based on these opinions instead of all the other arty gobbledygook. Though my instructor disagreed, he (thankfully) never held it against me.
Bolstering the professor’s position, however, I’ve always argued that the best people to evaluate an intellectual property like Frank Herbert’s Dune is – more often than not – best left to those folks who know it best. As a universe, the saga is grounded in an expansive mythology that winds up being confusing to regular folks, so the significance of certain scenes or sequences risk being entirely missed unless one understands contextually the deep ins and outs of Harkonnen culture, the talents of the Bene Gesserit, the politics of the Spacing Guild, and the benefits of Imperial House Atreides. This is why when I’ve occasionally been prodded to write more about Dune on SciFiHistory.Net I usually reply to such requests that I don’t feel schooled enough to do it with any degree of legitimacy. Sure, I might like to, but there are others out there much more enlightened than I am.
However …
HBO’s Dune: Prophecy presents an opportunity. Unlike the films (which, frankly, I’ve all found exceptionally well-constructed but almost entirely unrelatable), Prophecy explores a previously untapped era that only circumstantially ties into the greater foundation. In fact, I’ve even read online that – ahem – quite a few Dune aficionados don’t recognize it as an official chapter because it takes some significant liberties with what’s been written and previously established as canon in that world. While I can’t even fathom making such an argument myself (I do know a Harkonnen from an Atreides, but so what?), I still have watched Prophecy, and I think I can safely say a few things about it that might be worth the price of admission.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on ..)
From the show’s IMDB.com page:
“Ten thousand years before Paul Atreides joined the Fremen to lead an uprising on Arrakis to take down House Harkonnen, two sisters (Valya and Tula Harkonnen) create the mysterious all-female order called the Bene Gesserit. In Dune Prophecy, the siblings combat forces that threaten the future of humankind.”
According to the academic, the very best critiques somewhat magically removed the thoughts and impressions of their writers and thinkers from the entire equation, instead relying on their command of facts, figures, and history upon which they based the sums of these evaluations. While I understood what the teacher was saying, I pointed out that regular folks didn’t tune in to watch ‘Siskel And Ebert’ (Google it, if you must) to hear about their command of facts, figures, and history: they did so because they wanted to know what Gene thought of a flick versus what Roger thought of the same flick, so opinions mattered. No mention of facts, figures, or history changed what the popular duo thought – well, they might be limited instances out there in cyberspace – and audiences often responded by seeing a motion picture based on these opinions instead of all the other arty gobbledygook. Though my instructor disagreed, he (thankfully) never held it against me.
Bolstering the professor’s position, however, I’ve always argued that the best people to evaluate an intellectual property like Frank Herbert’s Dune is – more often than not – best left to those folks who know it best. As a universe, the saga is grounded in an expansive mythology that winds up being confusing to regular folks, so the significance of certain scenes or sequences risk being entirely missed unless one understands contextually the deep ins and outs of Harkonnen culture, the talents of the Bene Gesserit, the politics of the Spacing Guild, and the benefits of Imperial House Atreides. This is why when I’ve occasionally been prodded to write more about Dune on SciFiHistory.Net I usually reply to such requests that I don’t feel schooled enough to do it with any degree of legitimacy. Sure, I might like to, but there are others out there much more enlightened than I am.
However …
HBO’s Dune: Prophecy presents an opportunity. Unlike the films (which, frankly, I’ve all found exceptionally well-constructed but almost entirely unrelatable), Prophecy explores a previously untapped era that only circumstantially ties into the greater foundation. In fact, I’ve even read online that – ahem – quite a few Dune aficionados don’t recognize it as an official chapter because it takes some significant liberties with what’s been written and previously established as canon in that world. While I can’t even fathom making such an argument myself (I do know a Harkonnen from an Atreides, but so what?), I still have watched Prophecy, and I think I can safely say a few things about it that might be worth the price of admission.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on ..)
From the show’s IMDB.com page:
“Ten thousand years before Paul Atreides joined the Fremen to lead an uprising on Arrakis to take down House Harkonnen, two sisters (Valya and Tula Harkonnen) create the mysterious all-female order called the Bene Gesserit. In Dune Prophecy, the siblings combat forces that threaten the future of humankind.”
Here’s the thing …
As good as a show looks … as good as a cast acts … as good as a script sounds … that doesn’t necessarily translate to a quality experience.
Oh, I can hear the naysayers now. Yes, a program like Dune: Prophecy has to go to some amazing lengths to craft a universe that is authentic to the source material. Yes, the producers should recruit some of the best talent the industry has to offer and put them through their requisite hoops. Of course, the scripts should all be written by screenwriters who can convey the weight of such political skullduggery – much more than the average television show – and it should all weave together with great artistic aplomb.
Indeed, Dune: Prophecy has all of that going for it … and, yet, it still rings a bit curiously hollow.
So ... here’s the thing about that …
Imagine that you’re an HBO or Cinemax executive, and you’re still coming down from this commercial, cultural, and critical fame that was Game Of Thrones. You know you’ve spend an astonishing amount of time, money, and reputation in building an audience for such fare; so now you decide you need to cast your net as wide as possible to find another diamond in the rough to keep those folks watching. You only make money when they show up, and you don’t want to risk losing them to something as superficial and spurious as Dancing With The Stars, so what do you do?
Well, you draft the Frank Herbert space saga and put them on deck … but with two blockbuster films already exploring it what can you do to jump aboard?
Setting Prophecy in the distant, distant past is a calculated risk. Sure, you can strap the ‘Dune’ name on it and fool, maybe, fifty percent of the people; but that Game Of Thrones audiences is really turning in for what I’ve always called the Fantasy / Soap Opera, so you’re going to need material that works in a similar fashion. And that’s largely what showrunners Diane Ademu-John and Alison Schapker have accomplished here: gone are the Seven Kingdoms, and – in their place – we’re extrapolating the highs and lows of these various ‘houses’ (i.e. dynasties) in outer space … but you’d hardly ever know it because space rarely rears its head in this saga.
Therein lies part of the problem in assessing this world: few if any of these characters are all that interesting.
Without segueing into a greater exploration of Dune’s plotlines (they’re a bit thin, frankly), I’ll try to stick with its faces.
As good as a show looks … as good as a cast acts … as good as a script sounds … that doesn’t necessarily translate to a quality experience.
Oh, I can hear the naysayers now. Yes, a program like Dune: Prophecy has to go to some amazing lengths to craft a universe that is authentic to the source material. Yes, the producers should recruit some of the best talent the industry has to offer and put them through their requisite hoops. Of course, the scripts should all be written by screenwriters who can convey the weight of such political skullduggery – much more than the average television show – and it should all weave together with great artistic aplomb.
Indeed, Dune: Prophecy has all of that going for it … and, yet, it still rings a bit curiously hollow.
So ... here’s the thing about that …
Imagine that you’re an HBO or Cinemax executive, and you’re still coming down from this commercial, cultural, and critical fame that was Game Of Thrones. You know you’ve spend an astonishing amount of time, money, and reputation in building an audience for such fare; so now you decide you need to cast your net as wide as possible to find another diamond in the rough to keep those folks watching. You only make money when they show up, and you don’t want to risk losing them to something as superficial and spurious as Dancing With The Stars, so what do you do?
Well, you draft the Frank Herbert space saga and put them on deck … but with two blockbuster films already exploring it what can you do to jump aboard?
Setting Prophecy in the distant, distant past is a calculated risk. Sure, you can strap the ‘Dune’ name on it and fool, maybe, fifty percent of the people; but that Game Of Thrones audiences is really turning in for what I’ve always called the Fantasy / Soap Opera, so you’re going to need material that works in a similar fashion. And that’s largely what showrunners Diane Ademu-John and Alison Schapker have accomplished here: gone are the Seven Kingdoms, and – in their place – we’re extrapolating the highs and lows of these various ‘houses’ (i.e. dynasties) in outer space … but you’d hardly ever know it because space rarely rears its head in this saga.
Therein lies part of the problem in assessing this world: few if any of these characters are all that interesting.
Without segueing into a greater exploration of Dune’s plotlines (they’re a bit thin, frankly), I’ll try to stick with its faces.
- Emperor Javicco Corrino (played by Mark Strong) is such a poorly drawn leader one wonders how he ever came to power in the first place. He possesses no great nobility, and he can’t seem to make a decision entirely on his own that smacks of any measure of authority much less certainly. He’s a rather obvious puppet, and if the galaxy is this stupid to not see through his time on the throne then maybe they’re not worth being ruled anyway.
- Javicco’s wife – Empress Natalya (Jodhi May) – is the typical highbrow shrew drawn from any one of Shakespeare’s greater explorations of the ruling class. Though she professes to loving her husband, it becomes very clear early on that she craves power far more than affection. By the end of this first season, she’s exposed (to audiences) as willing to do anything – yes, ANYTHING – to maintain her seat of prominence, so no development along the way is anything but entirely predictable.
- Similarly, Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) is the show’s big villain, the female leader of the Bene Gesserit with Harkonnen blood running through her dastardly veins. Like the Empress, she’s an entirely selfish individual whose hunger for influence over the galaxy-at-large will most likely lead to her downfall, though audiences will properly relish her various falls from grace in the process. There’s no allegiance she won’t exploit along the way; and – sure – it’s nice to see someone as accomplished as Watson sink her teeth into pure villainy. It should be the stuff of great television …
… but, as I said, it all still feels a bit … hollow.
Prophecy’s greatest failing is that – alas – we’ve seen all of this before. From the popular TV primetime soaps of the 1980’s through their evolution in the 1990’s to the worlds of money and politics, this kind of thing has been done to death. Setting it within the Herbert saga – so freshly on the heels of Game Of Thrones and its spin-off House Of The Dragon – diminishes the effort to the point of asking, “Why didn’t we just call this Dune Of Thrones?” If that’s all you’re essentially succeeded, then why hide it within an IP that maybe deserves something a bit better, a bit more refined?
Please, trust me when I suggest that I could go on and on with this singular point. There isn’t a measure of freshness or originality anywhere in its six episodes; and – by the big finish which may set up audiences for something potentially more interesting next season (I won’t spoil it) – the spice and its fandom deserved something vastly more intellectually complex than – ahem – ‘Mean Girls In Space.’
Now … here’s the thing …
I’ve always said that there is often times a really great story somewhere within bad storytelling. The best writers can not only sniff it out but also help bring it to life whilst allowing enough room for supporting plotlines to garner a bit of secondary coverage. Famously, Akiva Goldman did this with Fox TV’s Fringe when he joined the writers’ room: for those who don’t know it, he told the resident scribes that they were ignoring the gem of the long form mythology – the parallel world storyline that elevated the show to wide acclaim – by choosing to dish up the usual parade of stand-alone episodes more akin to what we’d already see with The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and The X-Files. Such a revelation, I think, is needed for Prophecy, or it’ll turn out as more of the same.
So while it’s great (as I said above) to see Watson do something special, her time onscreen pales in comparison to what actress Jessica Barden is doing – in flashbacks – as the younger version of Valya Harkonnen. A good deal of her effectiveness is owed to the fact that – as a young’un – the audience actually gets to see the beginnings of something dark and mysterious in such a way that we’re drawn in and we want to know more. Though we’ve not been given all of the answers, we’re perched on the edge of our seats hoping that some of these secrets are forthcoming. That, my friends, is good drama. It’s good mystery. It’s compelling storytelling. Sadly, once we return to the present-day time of the show, the writers are only giving us (as I said) the kind of thing we’ve seen ad nausea, anchoring the pace in more of the same.
Somewhere about the time that TV’s Lost became a sensation, all of the writers angling for a prime gig in Hollywood (and around the world) decided procedurals were best framed in flashbacks. As a consequence, that’s all the current crop of web-spinners seem to be capable of producing – something that only makes sense when we reveal it to you as having some narrative predicate in the near or distant past – and their continued reliance on such trickery has quite possibly killed a generation of storytellers. Start telling a story wherein there’s actually a story worth being told, and maybe – just maybe – so many series wouldn’t be in this predicament. Certainly, your audiences might be bigger.
Like so many other programs I’ve digested, Dune: Prophecy doesn’t quite work as a series. Instead, it might’ve been a great stand-alone telefilm (or two) that could’ve been a welcome addition to Herbert’s wider story if you’d actually explained your purpose for being … and if that purpose was something more than a cash grab. As it stands now, that’s my bottom line on Prophecy: it’s trying to leapfrog its way into validity on the back of what Denis Villeneuve accomplished on the big screen. While it looks stunning, it means nothing … and that’s a big, big, big miss.
Dune: Prophecy – The First Season (2024-2025) was produced by Cunning Hand, HBO Max, Legendary Television, Pioneer Stillking Films, Villeneuve Films, and Warner Bros. Television. The series is presently available for streaming via MAX.
Recommended, but …
Essentially, I’m finding it hard to find anything substantive to say about Dune: Prophecy.
It isn’t that it’s a bad story, but that doesn’t dismiss the fact that – ahem – so very little truly happens that I just didn’t feel all that engaged. It isn’t that the performances are bad, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that most of the vast assortment of characters are given so little screen time it’s hard to feel motivated to care about them greater than the plight of their respective individual circumstances. It isn’t that the show has no wider tie-in to the vastness of Dune as a franchise (or, at least, what I know of it), but it’s that this is so far removed from the theatrical outings that one might wonder if it even takes place in the same universe. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for something different, but Prophecy looks, sounds, and feels much more like a watered-down incarnation of Game Of Thrones than it does an authentic prequel to the Villeneuve flicks.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that I’m beholden to no one for my review of Dune: Prophecy – First Season as I viewed the program via my very own subscript to MAX.
-- EZ
Like so many other programs I’ve digested, Dune: Prophecy doesn’t quite work as a series. Instead, it might’ve been a great stand-alone telefilm (or two) that could’ve been a welcome addition to Herbert’s wider story if you’d actually explained your purpose for being … and if that purpose was something more than a cash grab. As it stands now, that’s my bottom line on Prophecy: it’s trying to leapfrog its way into validity on the back of what Denis Villeneuve accomplished on the big screen. While it looks stunning, it means nothing … and that’s a big, big, big miss.
Dune: Prophecy – The First Season (2024-2025) was produced by Cunning Hand, HBO Max, Legendary Television, Pioneer Stillking Films, Villeneuve Films, and Warner Bros. Television. The series is presently available for streaming via MAX.
Recommended, but …
Essentially, I’m finding it hard to find anything substantive to say about Dune: Prophecy.
It isn’t that it’s a bad story, but that doesn’t dismiss the fact that – ahem – so very little truly happens that I just didn’t feel all that engaged. It isn’t that the performances are bad, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that most of the vast assortment of characters are given so little screen time it’s hard to feel motivated to care about them greater than the plight of their respective individual circumstances. It isn’t that the show has no wider tie-in to the vastness of Dune as a franchise (or, at least, what I know of it), but it’s that this is so far removed from the theatrical outings that one might wonder if it even takes place in the same universe. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for something different, but Prophecy looks, sounds, and feels much more like a watered-down incarnation of Game Of Thrones than it does an authentic prequel to the Villeneuve flicks.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that I’m beholden to no one for my review of Dune: Prophecy – First Season as I viewed the program via my very own subscript to MAX.
-- EZ
RSS Feed