Brave New World starts to unravel in its penultimate episode

The penultimate episode of Peacock’s Brave New World stumbles as it tries to set the tone for its revolutionary season finale.

With one episode remaining, Brave New World opts to do more setup. There are some bright spots in “Monogamy and Futility, Part 2,” but not enough.

We start things off with John giving Helm a glimpse into his mind. There she sees the death of the Director, which gets onto the network and becomes just another viral moment to add to the savage’s popular playlist.

John struggles to figure out his Optic in a sequence that is both trippy and unsettling; it’s one of the best parts of the episode. But that’s not the only problem he has to deal with, as his feelings for Lenina are getting out of control.

John’s emotions begin to consume him as he thinks of her with someone else; their arrangement isn’t enough. He sees her with another guy at a nightclub and takes out his implant. The two eventually engage in what has to be the worst sex scene in sci-fi history, and then John throws the headphones on once again to mope around New London.

CJack60 approaches John, and the savage tells the Epsilon to sit, which isn’t allowed. When he finally does as John says, he sees the Betas and Alpha staring, and John tells him to stare back. The entire time, John does not realize he is inciting a revolution.

Lenina continues to struggle with her emotions as well. Frannie continues to pressure her to return to how she was before the savage arrived, and is afraid Lenina may need reconditioning because of her interactions with the outsider.

Indra and Mustafa continue to clash over the new directive, which involves everyone dying for the sake of societal stability. But the World Controller calls Indra’s bluff that she planned the savage’s arrival, so basically, all bets are off on this new suicide plan.

Bernard, meanwhile, attempts to banish John, but the Epsilons stop it from happening. The next day, the Director approaches an Epsilon who ignores and walks away from him, an unthinkable transgression in this society. Several other Epsilons follow. When they return to their duties, the tools and clothing are covered with blood. It’s safe to say the virus, aka the savage, has successfully destabilized the populace, and the revolution has officially begun.

This episode was uncomfortably dark and very slow, almost to the point of being a chore to watch, meant for Epsilons. It feels like it took a century to kick this revolution off, and now that it’s here, there’s only one chapter left to wrap everything up while possibly leaving space for a follow-up.

Alden Ehrenreich falls flat here, and Jessica Brown Findlay struggles with the material. Harry Lloyd, however, looks like he is very much enjoying his pivot to full villain, something he did well in his Game of Thrones days. It will be interesting to see how evil Bernard compares to Viserys.

Brave New World has been picking up steam in its last few chapters, and despite this installment not living up to expectations, it still manages to set the tone for an exciting final episode.

Episode Grade: C+

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