Pretty Much Pop #68: Raised by Wolves: Biblical Sci-Fi

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What happens when a male android loves a female android VERY much, and they nurse human embryos together on a distant planet after fleeing from war-torn Earth? Why the female android flies and makes a bunch of people explode with her eyes, that’s what happens! …In the first episode of this bonkers HBO Max series by Aaron Guzikowski (with notable assistance from Ridley Scott of Alien and Blade Runner fame).

Brian, Erica, and Mark reflect on how much we’re supposed to understand, what if any character we’re supposed to identify with, whether the imagery is just TOO heavy-handed, and how this show compares with related sci-fi like Westworld or post-apocalyptic shows like The Walking Dead. Beware: Spoilers abound in this one, so you might want to watch the show, or just let us reveal its weirdness to you.

Here are some articles to feast on:

• “‘Raised by Wolves’ Finale Explained by Showrunner: WTF Was That?” by Adam Chitwood
• “‘Raised by Wolves’ Showrunner Aaron Guzikowski on Crafting an Ambitious Science Fiction World” by Jack Giroux
• “‘Raised by Wolves’: Ridley Scott Explains That Monstrous Finale” by Jennifer Vineyard
• “‘Raised by Wolves’ Season 2 Theories That May (or May Not) Happen” by Meghan O’Keefe
• “5 (Spoiler-Free) Themes Underlying Season 1 of the Sci-Fi Series, ‘Raised by Wolves’” by  Frumentarious at Sandboxx
• “The Aspirational Android Parenting of ‘Raised by Wolves’” by Lydia Kiesling

This episode includes bonus discussion from both before and after the election that you can hear now by supporting the podcast at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. This podcast is part of the Partially Examined Life podcast network and is curated by openculture.com.

If you didn’t get Erica’s opening joke: