'Brave New World' draws Joseph Morgan’s fans but viewers find Peacock show's long sex scenes excessive
The Peacock has unfurled its wings and 'Brave New World' is definitely one of its crown jewels. But while interest was high in the series, not many were willing to sign up for another streaming network just to watch it.
One user put up a Sponge Bob Squarepants gif looking shifty-eyed with the comment: "So who is gonna pay for Peacock and put the episodes of Brave New World on t*rrent websites?" With a cast of mostly British actors and set in "New London", there were also UK viewers who had watched the trailer but had no way of accessing Peacock content, currently an exclusively US platform.
But those who binged on the first few episodes of the show had mixed reactions. There was an almost universal acknowledgment of how "good" the show looked, especially the set designs for New London, and the cinematography. One sharp-eyed Twitter user even pin-pointed the style used: "Watching #BraveNewWorld on the new @peacockTV and it's excellent. It's also the 3rd sci-fi series in the past year to use Santiago Calatrava's architecture as a background for a futurescape, which is good, because he's brilliant. Maybe use Zaha Hadid next."
Similarly, the show also drew universal ire for its overlong sex scenes and excessive nudity even though it was part of the show's 'world-setting'. One user live-tweeting while bingeing on the show wrote: "The sex scenes in this TV show are so long... but it's one of the main aspects of that world so...," while another said: "if you like rhythmically writhing naked bodies, this may be for you. Only kidding. The premise remains interesting, so I'll continue."
Since 'Brave New World' the novel is such a well-known text, the show's story 'update' was also not received too well. But oddly, while some criticized it for not updating it enough, others had a gripe with how far the show's plot had diverged from the source material.
One user asked that since Huxley had already predicted a lot of the things that had already come to pass -- like consumerism, discouragement of monogamy and motherhood, overdependence on pharmaceutical or recreational drugs --- whether "another update was really necessary?". Taking a contrary stand, another tweet said: "Whoo, boy, the new 'Brave New World' TV show lets you know right off the top that it has no regard for the novel. I can't tell if I'm more irritated or relieved."
Many of those who had tuned in were fans of Joseph Morgan, who is famous for his portrayal of Klaus Michaelson in 'The Originals'. Morgan plays all the Epsilon CJack clones on the show, and also Elliot, the 'original' World Controller on whom that particular Epsilon variant is based. "Who else signed up for #peacock mainly to watch #bravenewworld with #JosephMorgan," said one tweet, while others tagged the actor, praising the show and his performance specifically, using terms like "weirdly good" and "a freaking mood cjack60."
Another actor who drew attention for her performance was Hannah John-Kamen as Wilhelmina “Helm” Watson, who directs "Feelies", a meme-fied version of cinema in New London. Gushy tweets praised her performance, with one tweet saying, "she is a delight on top of a mountain of wonderfulness. And that's a lot. You'll love her character ... and her vibe. Trust me on this."
'Brave New World' premiered on July 15 on Peacock and is available to stream.