Dune: Prophecy

Adapted from Brian Herbert's trilogy of prequel novels, Dune: Prophecy is an intricate, beautifully realized sci-fi thriller that enriches the Dune experience in every way. At just six episodes in length, it's also frustratingly short. Surely a series this captivating would deserve a longer first season.

It's a positive complaint, in a way, asking for more of a good thing. Season one barely scratches the surface of the immense journey ahead, and Dune: Prophecy lays out a vast and tantalizing prospect of what's to come.

Ten thousand years before Paul Atreides, the Bene Gesserit have yet to become the power players that control the galaxy. Known only as The Sisterhood, they're led by the ruthless Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson), who sees the work of generational engineering a sacred duty to right the wrongs of her childhood horrors.

At her side is Tula (Olivia Williams), her gentler, but no less ruthless sister, who follows her headstrong elder into the darkness. But where Valya only sees pawns in her game, Tula won't let go of her innate goodness, no matter how desperate her actions become.

Dune: Prophecy is, as the title implies, all about prophecy, devotion, and fanaticism. It's at its best when it explores the inner lives of women who've built power for themselves in a hostile, patriarchal universe, yet who still live in fear and paranoia at the prospect of losing control.

Watson and Williams are immaculate as the Harkonnen's. Strong, icy, complex, kind, passionate, and cruel all at once. Their performances are as good as anything in Denis Villeneuve's superb films, and the prime reason to tune in weekly.

Watson's Valya, in particular, is one of the most fascinating characters on TV all year. Superficially, she's as evil as they come. Totally unscrupulous to hurt others to advance her cause. But she's driven by past wrongs, all of which are understandable, and there's a constant sense that her actions are under tougher scrutiny than similar ones committed by the men in power. Watson delivers a powerhouse performance, never allowing us to judge Valya entirely. Even as we recoil from her deeds, we can't help but empathize with them.

For her part, Williams is no less magnetic. Tula's past unravels over the course of the first four episodes, and it's a tragic series of events that feel inevitable. Which only adds to their misery. Williams carries the uncertainty and faith beautifully.

When Dune: Prophecy moves away from the Harkonnen's to the less interesting sub-plots involving House Corrino and their offspring, it plods. Political intrigue and grand theatrics have always been at the center of the Dune adaptations, yet they remain the least interesting parts of what is ultimately a deeply humane story.

Actors Mark Strong and Jodhi May are great in their parts as Emperor and Empress Corrino, yet they have very little to do this time around. They're unwitting pawns in a greater game, and the family drama involving their offspring is strikingly less intriguing than The Sisterhood.

Luckily, even these parts are livened up by a stellar and dementedly fun turn from Travis Fimmel, playing Desmond Hart; a man supposedly swallowed and resurrected by the great sandworm Shai-Hulud.

Fimmel is a prophet like Valya, and equally dangerous in his own way. He skulks in the emperor's house like a rabid dog, whispering his truth to anyone and no one. It's a great and unnerving performance that electrifies every scene that would otherwise sag.

After four episodes of six, which were sent for review, Dune: Prophecy left me eagerly anticipating for more. It's precisely what I wanted from a new series into this grand story. One that, for the most part, never strays from the promise of delivering an intimate story of religion and control on an epic, galactic scale.