HBO Max‘s “Raised by Wolves” season 2 wrapped up in March of 2021, and we have still not received word on whether we’re getting a third season. The second season received good critical reviews, it is unclear how well it did in terms of ratings. With its mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, the Ridley Scott-produced series is not really comfort TV. So it makes sense that it hasn’t achieved the pop culture resonance more digestible shows like “Game Of Thrones” had in its prime.
Series creator Aaron Guzikowski made it clear he is already hard at work developing a story for season 3, should it get picked up.
“Who’s to say whether or not it will get ordered to production if we’ll get to that point,” Guzikowski told Collider. “But I have to keep working on it because if it does get ordered – we have no source material, so I have to keep writing it.”
While Guznikowski doesn’t necessarily exude confidence that the show will continue, I want to argue why it should.
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From the beginning, “Raised By Wolves” is a show that- while about the remnants of a post apocalyptic society rebuilding on a new planet- was never concerned with realism. Flying pregnant robots who explode people with sound waves, weird worms, space Christians, and ancient civilizations isn’t exactly ‘normal.’
What sounds impenetrable for some, it is something I enjoyed watching. With a visual style reminiscent of Ridley Scott, it was something that, if you could get on its wavelength, you could just vibe with. Much of the show is gorgeous to look at, with interesting production design full of foreboding vistas. Even when I was at my most confused about what was going on, I could just take in the production design.
It is certainly not for everyone, as its interest in alien worlds and robots owes a lot to ideas that Scott toyed with in later films like “Prometheus.” “Raised By Wolves” takes some of those ideas and puts them into overdrive while adding all kinds of pseudo-religious imagery. This could send some people running for the hills. For me, I’ll happily take a show that manages to question the nature of God while also featuring a chainsaw-wielding fighting robot.
That is not to say that I enjoy the show ironically. One of the biggest strengths is the main cast. Particularly for the main androids, played by Amanda Collin and Abubakar Salim. They are both compelling as robots who slowly learn about their capacity for emotion and all the chaos that comes with it.
Credit also to Travis Fimmel (“Vikings“) and Niamh Algar, as humans who also find themselves on the planet. Fimmel’s arc as he finds himself going from a reluctant hero to an unhinged cult leader is fun. Algar is the voice of reason and there’s an emotional weight that she brings as things get weirder all around her.
The main reason that we need a new season is because of how season 2 ends. The season ends just as we get a full sense of how much danger everyone truly is. Trying to describe exactly what happens without context could take all day. Essentially, we come to find out that this seemingly uninhabited world features traces of both alien and human civilizations. The ancient technology has the capacity to turn people into something different and horrifying.
We also get a better sense that there is a hidden intelligence that is happy to act as a deity, directing the humans and robots to their doom. The show’s final moments of season 2 double down on the mysticism, with floating corpses and sentient trees. If that sounds interesting, I cannot recommend enough that you watch this show.
Hopefully, the interest will be enough to keep the series alive to at least wrap up the cliffhangers. If you’ve slept on it, I highly recommend it for anyone willing to just let the visuals and weirdness wash over you.
“Raised by Wolves” season 1 and 2 are available to stream on HBO Max. We’ll let you know what we hear about this and other news.
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