The Hidden Hand: Dune Prophecy Series Premiere Review
The following review contains spoilers for the first episode of Dune Prophecy, “The Hidden Hand.”
The tasks assigned to “The Hidden Hand” seem insurmountable. The premiere of Dune: Prophecy is asked to set up an enormous cast of characters and the relationships between and the conflicts amongst those characters, all the while introducing audiences to an era of the Dune universe never before depicted on screen – one that is, in many specific ways, very different from the interplanetary Imperium of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and Dune: Part II. And speaking of Villeneuve, “The Hidden Hand” also has to recreate the vibes of his Dune movies on a much smaller budget. So, honestly, it’s pretty remarkable how much the episode is able to accomplish in its hour-and-change runtime, while also disappointing that it isn’t a complete success.
“The Hidden Hand” is much better at adding to the lore of the Dune universe than it is at telling a story. I’m not a big fan of voiceover, but hearing the tale of the Butlerian Jihad and the role the Atreides and Harkonnens played in it is just the right kind of lore dump that will get fans of the Dune universe looking to dive deeper sitting up in their seats (though I’m still salty they called it “the wars against the thinking machines”). It’s interesting to see the universe so recently unshackled from the binds of the thinking machines, with people so easily slipping back into trusting them. But when the premiere delves into the nitty gritty of the Emperor’s political woes with House Richese, it never piques any interest. It’s a storyline that feels more in line with the Star Wars prequels and their Trade Federations than the sprawling sci-fi epic we’ve come to love, and stalls the momentum of the episode.
That’s not to say that every element of its present-day thread drags, though. There’s a lot to chew on with the Sisterhood and the war within itself over how to proceed into the future, and the omen of Tiran-Arafael and the reckoning that Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) represents. Getting Emily Watson and Olivia Williams for the roles of Valya and Tula Harkonnen doesn’t hurt things either, as they consistently elevate the sometimes dry writing. Jessica Barden and Emma Canning aren’t often able to do the same, coming off as stiff and awkward as the younger Valya and Tula, but it seems more a symptom of the clunky dialogue. There are enough carrots on the stick between Tiran-Arafael, the backstories of the Harkonnen sisters, and the lineage of Sister Lila to keep “The Hidden Hand” from being bogged down in the mundane. But it certainly feels uneven.
There is an imbalance in the premiere’s presentation as well. With the budget of a premium-cable series and not a major-studio blockbuster, Dune: Prophecy tries its best to fit the molds set by Dune and Dune: Part II, but more often that not it feels like imitation. “The Hidden Hand” has its ups and downs, with its CGI often cracking under the pressure of comparison to its big-screen counterparts, while costumes and sets feel like, well, costumes and sets, rather than helping to build a cohesive, convincing, and immersive fictional worlds. Every once in a while there’s a moment of greatness – Kasha’s nightmare sequence and the horrifying burning of the young Master Richese come to mind – but the premiere never fully succeeds at blending itself into the universe of Dune.