The Peripheral
William Gibson, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy · 2022 · TV Series
This series continues William Gibson's legacy by exploring highly advanced, interconnected virtual realities and parallel timelines, pushing the concept of 'inhabiting digital worlds' into new dimensions of temporal and physical separation.
What it is
In a near-future Appalachian town, Flynne Fisher makes money playing VR games for the wealthy. She discovers that the 'game' she's playing is actually a connection to a different, far-future London, and her actions in the 'peripheral' body have real consequences across timelines. The series explores themes of simulated realities, parallel futures, and the ethical dilemmas of remote interaction and consciousness transfer.
↑Inherited from(3)
As a work by William Gibson, The Peripheral is a direct descendant of Neuromancer, evolving its themes of cyberspace, neural interfaces, and the blurring of human consciousness with technology into a more complex, multi-temporal narrative.
The series shares Black Mirror's interest in the unexpected and often unsettling social and ethical implications of advanced technology, particularly concerning digital consciousness and remote interaction with 'peripherals'.
From the creators of Westworld, The Peripheral expands on themes of artificial bodies ('peripherals'), consciousness transfer, and the ethical implications of inhabiting and controlling simulated or remote entities.