Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy is on my Mt. Rushmore of sci-fi epics, which Apple has completely bastardized. First we have the PC virtue signaling: taking one of the protagonists & turning him into a black female Han Solo wannabe, and obviously we need to see her getting laid. Which is par for the course with the rest of the paint-by-numbers Hollywood plot embellishments - the violence, trysts, blasting away at aliens, etc.
In Asimov’s universe, Salvor Hardin famously remarks “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” Now that Apple has turned him into Black Wonder Woman, she announces she’s going to the armory “… to see what kind of violence we can muster.” On the bright side, it’s good to see Apple handing out script writing assignments to 12-yr old boys.
"If it has to be explained to you, you're not capable of understanding it."
Yes, that was sort of my point.
I'm well aware that Asimov's Salvor Hardin was no fan of violence, but I already explained why I think there is a justification for Salvor Hardin in the series being quite different from Salvor Hardin in the book.
As for compelling dialogue, I think the scene of Salvor's interview with the Grand Huntress of Anacreon is brilliant from start to finish. I like the funny introduction: "I can't tell if she's lying or if she's just not telling the truth." "Is there a difference?" I especially like when Salvor starts guessing about her past, and she begins with quite reasonable educated guesses, and then there's that point when she can tell exactly what her mother died of. And I like how it ends as well.