The Peripheral Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Haptic Drift

The series is takings its time revealing things to us, giving us only a small clue at what the Research Institute is up to on The Peripheral Season 1 Episode 3, “Haptic Drift.” 

At least with this episode, it feels as if we are doing something productive. Wilf and Flynne are looking for Aelita; this isn’t another episode where everyone sits around talking in the future.

The slower pace of the narrative works better during “Haptic Drift” because of that. We don’t come away from this episode feeling as if we’ve wasted time and accomplished nothing.

One small thing I appreciate about this episode is that it revealed why the series is called The Peripheral — peripherals are the bodies/robots made only for people to transfer their consciousness into, temporarily. It’s such a small non-important reveal, but it brings me a bit of joy.

Through Dr. Cherise Nuland’s own investigation into Aelita West, we learn that the Research Institute has a stub research division, which apparently needs to be kept top secret from everyone outside of that section.

We’d met Dr. Nuland’s errand boy during his virtual trip to see Corbell Pickett on The Peripheral Season 1 Episode 2, “Empathy Bonus,” but we hadn’t met the woman herself yet.

Dr. Nuland seems like she’ll be an intriguing and enthralling villain. She’s ruthless and cunning, and it’ll be interesting to compare how she and Corbell go about achieving their goals. While both are threats to Flynne and Burton, they appear to be vastly different in how they operate.

As for Aelita, she’s even more of a mystery.

Wilf and Flynne searching her hideout reveals multiple strange connections to Flynne — the grandfather clock and the miniature version of Flynne’s home and trailer, complete with little figures of Burton and company.

You can’t quite tell what it means yet, but it’s obvious now that Flynne and Burton weren’t selected solely because of their video game prowess. There’s a deeper connection that hasn’t been revealed yet.

It wouldn’t be shocking to learn that either of them is a big player in either the founding of Research Institute or the group that opposes them. There are a lot of possibilities, and it’ll be exciting to learn the truth.

The Peripheral does an excellent job at dropping these little breadcrumbs to get us thinking. It’s the most intriguing aspect of the show, and while at times I’d wish they would pick up the pace, “Haptic Drift” manages to tease and reveal just enough to keep us captivated.

Between what Flynne finds at Aelita’s lair and her conversation with Billy Ann about how no one has told Flynne what her future holds, The Peripheral is definitely hinting at us learning something unfavorable about Flynne’s future.

Stray Thoughts

• To be clear, we’re all shipping Wilf and Flynne now, right? His conversation with her when the cop stops them is swoon-worthy.
• Unfortunately, Corbell Pickett is here to stay, whether we want him to or not.
• I still don’t care for him or his storyline.
• Flynne needs to come up with a plan in case she ever encounters that weapon again. It looks brutal.
• Should we take bets on how long it’ll take Jasper to betray Flynne and Burton? I don’t have a ton of faith in him.
• Flynne’s outfit in the future with the hood is absolutely stunning.
• I’m a fan of badass and in charge Burton.

What did you think of this episode of The Peripheral? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of The Peripheral premiere Fridays on Prime Video.

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