‘Moonhaven’ Recap: ‘The Pilot’ & ‘The Detective’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘The Pilot’

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘Moonhaven’.
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One thing that we can all agree upon right now, is that mankind is facing a great deal of problems. After all, our climate is on the brink of devastating change, new diseases are popping up and causing strife. Not to mention, the political system is a mess and flush with out of touch and egotistical ‘public servants’ that serve corporations and outdated ideologies, and their ego, over the will of the people. Plus, conspiracy theories and misinformation are running rampant and old racist foes that should have been defeated long ago, are suddenly making a comeback. Which is… an exhausting list of issues we are currently facing and well… it leads one to wonder how we address them and how we defeat them. 
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Because some of these issues are cyclical in nature, lending credence to a frightening pattern for certain… the kind that now has data that is being studied by scholars and scientists everywhere. To see if by chance… we can identify root causes of these issues and end them, and even then, there are no guarantees that we will fix them. Because it just seems as though there are traits and problems, we as a species cannot shed, despite our ability to be self-aware of them and understand their impact. Which allows for that all important conundrum to stand and well… perhaps in order to really solve our problems… humanity needs a vastly different approach. One that explores who we are and what we represent on a fundamental level through the use of technology. A notion that wouldn’t work now… but perhaps could be handled in the future?

For we need isolation and quality research to take place to figure this all out and we can't do that right now. But it just so happens, that a brand-new series on AMC+, explores what that kind of examination of the human condition might look like down the line, and if by chance, it would provide us with the answers to our problems, and that makes Moonhaven one of the most inventive shows to hit the airwaves in recent years. For this is a story that takes us into the 23rd Century, wherein humanity has established a colony on the moon, one designed to solve humanity’s woes. For the lunar colonists are under the watchful eye of a powerful artificial intelligence system known as IO. Which has been studying humanity for generations in an effort to provide us with simple solutions and well, when we catch up with a dying Earth and thriving Lunar colony in ‘The Pilot’ and ‘The Detective’, the time has come to retrieve IO from the moon and use its data to fix humanity.

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‘The Detective’

A mission that allows for us… to see a fascinating future for certain. One where the Earth is a devastated and dirty and angry place, one desperate for salvation and it serves in stark contrast to the wonders of the moon. Where humanity has indeed found a better way and lives in the harmony, we’ve always desired. Since police forces on the moon offer counseling and comfort and people work hard to express love over anger and do their best to show that the human condition can transcend old and outdated societal norms. Since children are swapped at birth to live with different families so that the people that live here understand we are all one and will care about the lives of others at last. And that world-building really does offer hope that perhaps we can move beyond the strange and evil nature we sometimes exhibit if we made fundamental changes to how we live and how we structure our world and society.
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But that’s precisely where this story takes quite the unique turn for certain. For we come to learn that murder still happens in this utopia and the push to be docile and calm allows for this colony to lose a certain edge that has kept us going for ages. Not to mention, the human ego hasn’t quite been eliminated from this world since the leader of this colony has grave concerns about having her leadership revoked as IO expects, since she believes she could do more for the people if she stayed in her position of power for longer than her term dictates. Which brings forth some shocking contrast, the kind that makes this colony feel oddly familiar in a way. As though it is indeed nothing more than a more relaxed version of the world we live in now, where the problems are simply buried beneath beauty and supposed harmony.

Which means that this first season of storytelling, is going to be a powerful and in-depth exploration of the human condition and the fundamental reasons we do the ugly things we do, before it asks us… if we can change and if we are worth saving and well, that makes this series… an absolute must watch. For in this is the kind of examination about the world that we need right now, one that really forces us to look differently at the human condition at a time when it seems to be reverting to its darker instincts and truly, Peter Ocko and Jim Gavin, the same brain trust of the supremely thoughtful show Lodge 49, are to be commended for assembling such an intelligent show. One that is going to ask us some hard questions and stay with us long after it ends and it will be genuinely fascinating to see what those questions are going to be, as this incredible season of storytelling continues along. Until next time.

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