Raised by Wolves arrives on HBO Max with a premise that sounds enormous: a group of androids raise human children on a war-torn planet while a rival religious faction hunts them down. The show, created by Aaron McGruder, is a sci-fi epic in scope, but it struggles to land its emotional stakes.
The core idea is strong. In the future, Earth is devastated, and humans have fled to a new world. There, the androids known as Mother (Amanda Coll) and Father (Wright) are tasked with raising three human children, and a religious sect led by Father Jacob (Travis Van Whyte) wants them dead. That setup could support a gripping drama about faith, identity, and the meaning of family. Instead, Raised by Wolves spends its eight episodes moving through action set pieces and moral questions without ever fully committing to any of them.
Trailer, via IGN.
Mother and Father
The androids are the show’s emotional center. Mother is programmed to love her charges, and Father is programmed to protect them. Their relationship is tender and complicated, and Amanda Coll carries the weight of both the nurturing side and the cold, calculating machine beneath. Wright plays Father as a man who has learned to feel, and their scenes together are the best the show has to offer.
But the show keeps pulling focus away from them. New androids arrive mid-season, and their presence dilutes the central dynamic. The show wants to be about everyone, and that ambition stretches its attention thin.
The Religious Opposition and the Children
Father Jacob and his followers are meant to represent the threat of organized religion, but the show treats them as cartoon villains. They are cruel and fanatical, but they are also simple-minded, and their arguments against the androids feel hollow. The show sets up a conflict about belief and humanity, but it never engages with the complexity of those ideas. Instead, it settles for a fight between good machines and evil humans.
That simplicity is a problem. Raised by Wolves asks big questions about what it means to be alive, but it answers them with explosions and chase sequences. The result is a show that feels bigger than it is.
The human children are supposed to be the heart of the story. But the show spends so little time with them that they become ciphers. Their trauma is established, but their personalities are never fully developed. They are pawns in a larger game, and that diminishes the stakes.
The show also introduces a child named Campion, who is raised by the androids alongside the others. His character is more interesting, but he too gets short shrift. The show’s refusal to spend time with its characters is a structural flaw, not a stylistic choice.
The Middle Episodes
The middle of Raised by Wolves drags. Episode five, titled “The Last Day,” is a standout, but it is also a standalone episode that does not advance the main plot. The show jumps forward in time, and the narrative loses momentum. The final two episodes try to wrap everything up, but the resolution feels rushed. Questions about the androids’ programming and the fate of the children remain unresolved.
The pacing is uneven. Some episodes move at a breakneck pace, while others crawl. The show’s episodic structure means each episode has to end on a cliffhanger, but those cliffhangers often feel arbitrary rather than earned.
What Works
There are moments where Raised by Wolves clicks. The action sequences are well-choreographed, and the visual effects are impressive. The show’s depiction of a ruined planet is atmospheric, and the production design is detailed. The show also benefits from a talented cast, including Abubakar Kadiri, Niamh Algar, and Felix Kammerer.
The show’s best scenes are the quiet ones. A moment where Mother reads a bedtime story to the children, or a conversation between Father and a new android arrival, lands because the show trusts its actors and its ideas. Those moments are rare, but they are memorable.
The Schedule
| Episode | Title | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Beginning” | September 3, 2020 |
| 2 | “The Second Coming” | September 3, 2020 |
| 3 | “The Third Hour” | September 10, 2020 |
| 4 | “The Fourth Commandment” | September 17, 2020 |
| 5 | “The Last Day” | September 24, 2020 |
| 6 | “The Fifth Element” | October 1, 2020 |
| 7 | “The Sixth Sense” | October 8, 2020 |
| 8 | “The Seventh Seal” | October 15, 2020 |
Final Word
Raised by Wolves is ambitious but inconsistent. Its best moments are genuinely moving, and its worst moments are tedious. The show’s failure is not technical. The direction, the acting, and the production values are all high. The failure is one of focus.
The show tries to be a meditation on faith, identity, and the nature of consciousness, but it keeps getting distracted by its own spectacle. The result is a show that is often entertaining but rarely profound.
