| Scavengers Reign | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by |
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| Starring |
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| Composer | Nicolas Snyder |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Editor | Jason Klein |
| Running time | 23–26 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Max |
| Release | October 19, 2023 – present |
Scavengers Reign is an American adult animated science fiction drama television series created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner for Max, based on their 2016 short film Scavengers. HBO Max announced the series in June 2022, and its 12-episode first season premiered on October 19, 2023.[1][2]
Synopsis
The series follows the survivors of the damaged interstellar cargo ship Demeter 227 who are stranded on Vesta, an alien planet bustling with flora and fauna but filled with dangers. The survivors start off separated in three groups: Azi and her robot companion Levi, Sam and Ursula, and the isolated Kamen. Over time all their paths converge towards the crashed landed Demeter.
Cast
Main
- Sunita Mani as Ursula, a crewmember in the Demeter's horticulture lab; stranded on Vesta with Sam.
- Wunmi Mosaku as Azi, a cargo specialist on the Demeter; stranded on Vesta with Levi.
- Alia Shawkat as Levi, a robot from the Demeter; stranded on Vesta with Azi.
- Bob Stephenson as Sam, commander of the Demeter; stranded on Vesta with Ursula.
- Ted Travelstead as Kamen, a crewmember on the Demeter who is struggling in his career and in his marriage with wife Fiona; while stranded on Vesta he forms a bond with Hollow, a telepathic and telekinetic creature. Co-creator Bennett stated that Kamen's presence has "introduced human greed and gluttony into this animal kingdom,"[3] which causes Hollow to become more sinister.
Guest
- Alia Shawkat as Fiona, the Demeter's robotics engineer; and Kamen's estranged wife.
- Sepideh Moafi as Mia, a passenger on the Demeter who forms a romantic connection with Azi.
- Skyler Gisondo as Charlie, a passenger in cryofreeze on the Demeter.
- Pollyanna McIntosh as Kris, the leader of a scavenger group from another planet; intends to loot the Demeter.
- Freddy Rodriguez as Terrence, a member of Kris's scavenger group.
- Dash Williams as Barry, the youngest and least experienced member of Kris's scavenger group.
- Masha King as Mascha, a healer that Ursula and Sam meet in their travels on Vesta; part of a group that was stranded on Vesta many years prior.
- James Kyson as John, a member of Mascha's group.
Episodes
| No. | Title [4] | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Signal" | Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner | Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner, Sean Buckelew, James Merrill | October 19, 2023 | |
| The spaceship Demeter 227 is heavily damaged, with no chance of rescue. Life pods are shown ejecting onto a planet full of strange and hostile creatures. A pair of survivors, Sam and Ursula, are trying to contact the ship, but need a battery from another pod. Ursula almost dies collecting it. Elsewhere, survivor Azi has been growing crops with help from robot Levi, who is exhibiting perplexing behavior. Hostile wildlife destroy their homestead and heavily damage Levi. Another survivor, Kamen, is trapped and losing his mind after his escape pod becomes entangled in tree branches. He is freed by a creature with telekinetic and telepathic abilities, and it guides him away using visions of a woman. Sam and Ursula remotely execute the Demeter 227's emergency landing protocol, and the other survivors see it descending through the atmosphere. | |||||
| 2 | "The Storm" | Jonathan Djob Nkondo | Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner, Sean Buckelew | October 19, 2023 | |
| Sam and Ursula set out to find the ship, hoping that the crew members in cryostasis have survived and that the ship's shuttle is still operational. A flashback shows Azi's life on the ship, where she receives romantic interest from Mia, another crew member. In the present, Azi and Levi depart to find the landed ship. Azi learns that alien life is integrating with the mechanical components of Levi's body, who is experiencing compulsions to wander around and cultivate the local fauna. Kamen is under the influence of the alien creature, who uses telepathic visions of his wife, Fiona, to direct him. Massive storm clouds approach, forcing all the survivors to find shelter. Ursula and Sam find safety in the protective egg sac of a large aquatic creature, but must fight a predator to survive. | |||||
| 3 | "The Wall" | Vincent Tsui | Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner, Sean Buckelew | October 19, 2023 | |
| Ursula and Sam's journey takes them through an underground forest. Ursula stops to observe a moving display of natural wonder, but Sam is upset that they became separated. He is suddenly snatched and carried away by a local predator. Levi continues to exhibit increasingly independent behavior, and Azi grows further concerned. However, Levi's seemingly intuitive understanding of nature saves them during a stampede of alien animals. The telepathic creature manipulates Kamen into providing it food. Kamen starts hunting and killing, and the creature begins consuming meat. | |||||
| 4 | "The Dream" | Rachel Reid | Sean Buckelew | October 26, 2023 | |
| Azi attempts to clean up Levi's hardware, and learns that Levi can now experience pain, and doesn't want to be shut down again. Ursula mimics the behavior of wildlife to find Sam. She finds him near a crashed escape pod, where they bury the dead crew. Kamen uses traps to continue sourcing food for the telepathic creature, which has grown larger and more demanding. The creature expresses displeasure after a failed hunt, and Kamen begins crafting weapons. It is revealed in a flashback that Kamen caused the crash of the Demeter 227 by rerouting to a faster but riskier flight path, against Sam's orders. | |||||
| 5 | "The Demeter" | Christine Jie-Eun Shin | Jenny Deiker Restivo | October 26, 2023 | |
| Local wildlife infiltrate the damaged Demeter 227 and begin preying on passengers trapped in cryosleep. Charlie wakes up and narrowly escapes the ship, finding himself lost in the hostile alien landscape. He runs into Kamen, but the telepathic creature kills Charlie. Kamen tries to leave to find Fiona, but the creature reminds him that he is responsible for her death. In despair and guilt, Kamen begs for help. The creature absorbs him into its own body, where he enters an unconscious, dreamlike state. Azi's wounds from being attacked have festered, causing a painful rash. She finds a solution in aquatic creatures that feed on the infection, and also begins to respect Levi's new-found autonomy and personhood. While traversing a forest, Sam is bitten by a strange organism, and Ursula notes that the area is littered with the dead bodies of many different animals. | |||||
| 6 | "The Fall" | Diego Porral | James Merrill | October 26, 2023 | |
| Sam's bite, now infected, is from a creature that creates a genetic clone, but poisons the original victim. Sam hides the infection, and teaches Ursula how to continue without him. When the copy of Sam attacks Ursula, she kills it with fire, but it destroys their remaining supplies. Sam, now dying, gives Ursula his Captain's credentials. An unknown woman arrives and leads them away. Elsewhere, Azi and Levi lose their bike and must cross a large canyon. They are attacked by the telepathic creature, which rips Levi into tiny pieces. Azi attacks the creature and discovers Kamen inside, but she is thrown into the canyon. She sends out a distress call, which is picked up by humans on a nearby moon. | |||||
| 7 | "The Cure" | Jonathan Djob Nkondo | Charles Huettner | November 2, 2023 | |
| Azi's distress call is picked up by Barry, Kris, and Terrance, a trio of spacers who are motivated to respond only after realizing there may be loot for the taking. They land and designate Kris as their leader. While they are away exploring, the telepathic creature destroys their spaceship, trapping them on the planet. The stranger who found Sam and Ursula takes them to her crash-landed ship, and successfully treats Sam. Sam and Ursula flee when the woman turns out to be cooperating with a massive hostile alien. | |||||
| 8 | "The Nest" | Vincent Tsui | Jillian Goldfluss | November 2, 2023 | |
| Azi and the scavenger group find their destroyed spaceship. They decide to use the escape shuttle that is likely on the Demeter. Sam demonstrates superhuman physical capabilities after his recovery. While Ursula is asleep, he becomes hyper focused on building a nest for himself. Ursula confronts him, and they both discover that Sam is infected by a mind-altering parasite. Terrance is fatally mauled by hostile vegetation, and Kris kills him to end his pain. Barry throws away Terrance's birthday gift. | |||||
| 9 | "The Mountain" | Rachel Reid | James Merrill | November 2, 2023 | |
| During a flashback, it is revealed that another group crash-landed on the planet decades prior, including the woman who helped Sam and Ursula. The woman's spouse becomes infected with the same parasite that afflicted Sam - she kills him in self-defense, but she is also infected. Ursula catches Sam trying to infect her as well, and she confronts him. Azi, Barry and Kris climb a mountain on their way to the Demeter. Kris deliberately exposes Azi to danger, as a form of hazing. Kris wants to abandon the Demeter's crew without waking them up - Azi argues with her. | |||||
| 10 | "The Decision" | Christine Jie-Eun Shin | Jenny Deiker Restivo | November 9, 2023 | |
| Various lifeforms gather Levi's parts and reassemble its body. In a flashback, Azi is shown drinking with Mia, and they end up kissing. Azi, Barry and Kris cross a stream using an adhesive fashioned by Azi, but Azi sabotages Kris. Azi and Kris fight about waking up the crew. Azi is knocked out, tied up and left behind. Sam and Ursula travel on the back of a large creature. Sam coughs out another infectious seed, but he throws it away and gives Ursula a weapon for self-defense. They make it within sight of the Demeter, but Sam gives up and tears out the parasite, fatally wounding himself. The telepathic creature reaches the spaceship first. | |||||
| 11 | "The Return" | Diego Porral | James Merrill | November 9, 2023 | |
| A flashback shows how the yellow biological matter infiltrated Levi's body. Ursula frees Azi from her bindings and finds Levi, who is now partly biological, and has self-awareness. Kris and Barry explore the Demeter, and decide to take the shuttle without waking up the passengers. They use explosives to fend off the hostile telepathic creature. Kamen realizes he is trapped in a fake reality and demands to be released. | |||||
| 12 | "The Reunion" | Vincent Tsui | Sean Buckelew | November 9, 2023 | |
| Ursula and Levi begin the cryo wake-up process. Azi subdues Kris, but lets her go to defend Ursula against the telepathic creature. Barry wants to help the Demeter's crew, so Kris betrays him and launches the shuttle alone. Levi unleashes its mysterious powers against the telepathic creature, saving Azi and freeing Kamen. Some time passes, and the survivors have built a colony. Levi appears to have found a way to reproduce. Ursula looks back on Sam and tries to honor his memory. Somewhere in space, the shuttle is overrun with vegetation, and Kris is stranded. A giant ship docks, and masked robed figures come aboard. | |||||
Production
Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner created the original 2016 Scavengers short film for Adult Swim, where it aired as part of the Toonami block. The eight-minute animated short contains no dialog and depicts a pair of humans engaging in an intricate series of interactions with alien creatures. From 2018 to 2019, Bennett and Huettner expanded the concept into a series pilot that did not go forward at Adult Swim, though the show was later picked up by HBO Max.[5] The twelve-episode series was produced over two years by Titmouse, Inc. and Green Street Pictures with a crew including international animators working remotely from locations including Mexico, Spain, Portugal and France.[6]
Reception
The series has received critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an 100% approval score with an average rating of 8.7/10, based on 16 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Disturbing and wondrous, Scavengers Reign presents a vividly realized world that beckons exploration by its marooned characters and television viewers alike."[7] James Poniewozik of The New York Times called it "a lush, magnificent, hypnotic story of human survival in a place that feels, in a way that sci-fi planets only occasionally manage, truly otherworldly."[8] Andrew Webster of The Verge deemed it to be "equal parts beautiful and brutal, and it might be the most original piece of science fiction of the year."[9]
References
- ↑ Rice, Lynette (June 15, 2022). "HBO Max Orders 'Scavengers Reign' To Series; Adult Animated Sci-Fi To Premiere In 2023". Deadline. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- ↑ Spry, Jeff (October 19, 2023). "Astronauts embark on a surreal survival odyssey in new series 'Scavengers Reign' (exclusive)". Space.com. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- ↑ Edwards, Belen (November 9, 2023). "'Scavengers Reign's alien ecosystems are things of beauty". Mashable. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
- ↑ "Shows A-Z - Scavengers Reign on Max". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- ↑ Spry, Jeff (October 1, 2023). "Savage Planet: How 'Scavengers Reign' Creators Evolved Their Acclaimed Short into a Thrilling Sci-Fi Series". Animation Magazine. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ↑ White, Abbey (October 23, 2023). "How Max's 'Scavengers Reign' Created an Animated Series Like "Nothing You've Ever Seen"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ↑ "Scavengers Reign: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
- ↑ Poniewozik, James (October 18, 2023). "Review: 'Scavengers Reign' Is a Gorgeous, Hypnotic Space Trip". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ↑ Webster, Andrew (October 12, 2023). "Max's Scavengers Reign captures the beauty and terror of a truly alien world". The Verge. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
External links
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