See: Season One, Episode One “Godflame” Review

Directors: Francis Lawrence
Writer: Steven Knight
Cast: Jason Momoa, Sylvia Hoeks, Hera Hilmar, Christian Camargo, Yadira Guevara-Prip, Alfre Woodard

Episode: 01×01 “Godflame”
Air date: 01/11/19
Availability: Now streaming on Apple TV+ (first three episodes available).

When Apple TV+ dropped the trailer for See, it was hard not to be wowed by the cinematography and costume design—and the premiere confirms it: this show is gorgeous. Whether its worldbuilding hooks you is another question. Despite aspirations to scratch that Game of Thrones itch, the pilot suggests a slick, expensive curiosity rather than the next cultural juggernaut.

For a first episode, See moves quickly—lots of exposition, introductions to key players, one terrific fight scene, and a finale swing that could have closed out a season. Set in a far future where humanity has long since lost sight (and even speaking of “seeing” is blasphemy), scattered clans survive in the remnants of North America.

The story opens with a birth, a battle, bloodshed, and retreat. Maghra (Hera Hilmar) gives birth in a cave while her husband, Baba Voss (Jason Momoa), leads warriors to intercept a threat. Using heightened hearing, smell, and touch, the combatants track foes by footfalls, brush, and the rush of air from swinging weapons. The resulting melee is the episode’s highlight—visceral, readable, and grounded in the show’s rules.

Back at the village, with a larger army bearing down, the elders debate flight versus fight. Here the episode’s pacing wobbles: despite a ticking clock, tension doesn’t quite accumulate before the inevitable escape push.

Tonally, See is unabashedly weird fantasy. Performances are strong—even when choices will divide viewers. Alfre Woodard’s Paris midwifes with a hymn; Sylvia Hoeks’s Queen Kane prays in a manner that’s… memorable; and Momoa even breaks into a hush-hush haka pre-battle that’s equal parts cool and questionable stealth. The show often feels closer to glossy post-apocalyptic YA like The 100 (albeit for adults) than to prestige court intrigue.

Bottom line: an eye-popping pilot with one stellar set-piece and big swing worldbuilding, dulled by rushed tension and some tonal whiplash. Expensive, intriguing, but not yet essential.