Apple’s blindness consultant on how he choreographs fight scenes on See

See, the post-apocalyptic action series staring on Apple TV+, is off to a rocky start. The show wasn’t favorably reviewed at launch, and I, for one, nearly stopped watching after the premiere. However, I soldiered on — because no one appreciates a good hate-watch more than me — and have found that the show has steadily improved with each episode.

Set 600 years in the future when the human race has been turned blind, See follows chieftain Baba Voss (Jason Momoa) as he and his escape their village before a group called the Witchfinders can catch them and kill them for acts of heresy, by which I mean that his two kids can see. In a world where everyone is blind, that freaks people out.

The show has improved, in no small part, thanks to Jason Momoa being able to carry the load when other cast members fall short. Leaning heavily on his on-screen fight experience, Momoa makes fighting as a blind person look very cool and realistic. “[Momoa], who did most of his own stunts, and his stunt double, Kim… they were tremendous,” said Joe Strechay, the show’s blindness consultant, during a panel discussion.

Strechay discussed the training needed to fight blind, something he was already familiar with. “There are people who are blind who are judo experts and champions that compete in the Paralympics,” he said. “My buddy, he’s a mountain climber, he’s summited Mount Everest and the highest peak on each continent.”

Strechay coordinated with the stunt team and fight choreographers to make sure every move and action by these characters looked just right. “You can judge… whether [someone’s] going to punch if I’m holding on their right arm or shoulder,” he said. “I can feel if they’re pulling back their other arm to punch [me].

"Now if they don’t pull back and just go it’s harder to judge. Just from their arm I can feel if they’re going to try to kick me. There [are] all kinds of things you can pick up just from getting to know someone’s movements and their body. And we played with that in the show."

Momoa’s character uses tools to distract his opponents when fighting. The choreography really works, and it’s actually believable that a blind warrior could take on whole groups of men and women by employing certain techniques and being familiar with his surroundings.

See airs on Apple TV+ every Friday. Is anyone else watching?

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h/t CBR