Foundation Review: The Leap (Season 1 Episode 10)
As far as season finales go, Foundation Season 1 Episode 10, “The Leap,” is underwhelming. There’s really only one moment that feels exciting, and the rest seem more like moments that could happen at the end of any episode during the season.
Shows don’t need to end the season with a huge cliffhanger or be totally action-packed to earn the praise of having an amazing season finale. Foundation opts to go the quieter route, which is fine, but it simply highlights some of the weaker moments of the season and its storylines.
The moment where Salvor and Gaal finally meet is the most exciting of the hour. It is something we’ve been building towards for the majority of the season, impatiently waiting for their paths to cross even before we knew the mother/daughter twist of it all.
It is also the only moment that really feels like a conclusion of a Season 1 storyline and set up for Season 2.
Salvor has been trying to understand her connection with the vault all season. While I still have some questions about how her connection to Gaal resulted in seemingly getting visions from the vault, I’m not too upset that we don’t get answers on that yet. Odds are, that will be quickly brought up as Gaal and Salvor start chatting more.
Foundation is smart to end “The Leap” with the two of them meeting. It is the redeeming moment of the finale that actually makes you want to know what happens next because it is one storyline we feel personally invested in.
Empire discovering it has been contaminated and the foundation gearing up for war have their intriguing moments, but you could also walk away from the series now and not feel upset that you don’t see what happened next.
It’s because there’s no character in either storyline that we care about enough to invest in their tale, at least not for me.
Gaal and Salvor have always been the characters I wanted to see what happened to them the most. Empire came across as stiff or boring (looking at you Azura and Dawn), and Salvor is the one person on Terminus that we really got to know. Hugo has potential, although we mainly only cared about him in connection to Salvor.
Hari is too frustratingly cryptic to connect to in any meaningful way. The best moments with him are when he was with Raych or Gaal because we were invested in those relationships. We’re not dying to see what insane thing he reveals next in the name of his master plan.
Despite how great Gaal and Salvor finally meeting is, it can’t save “The Leap” from being just an alright finale. Hopefully Season 2 does a better job at keeping us invested in the majority of the storylines.
Stray Thoughts
- Hari’s deception is on-brand for him, but it is still frustrating.
- Is Demerzel somehow grieving over the loss of Dawn, or is she behind the corruption?
- Dawn and Day referring to each other as father/son comes out of nowhere to the point where it’s almost comical.
- I can’t decide if Day’s view on Dawn is sign of corruption or if the spiral walk and his trip changed him somehow.
What did you think of the Foundation Season 1 finale? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Foundation Season 1 is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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Allison Nichols
Allison is in a love affair with television that doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Slightly damaged fictional characters are her weakness. She loves to spend her free time curled up with a cat and a show to binge-watch. Allison is a Tomatometer-approved critic (Rotten Tomatoes).