Brave New World feels like Peacocks attempt to make its own version of Westworld. Its an ambitious show based on a classic sci-fi novel by Aldous Huxley, with two opposite societies coming together and blowing up because of it. But does it give us enough story and characters to care?

Opening Shot: After a description of New London, a utopia where theres no monogamy, no money, family, privacy or history, we see an egg be inseminated. The egg is identified as Beta Minus. Then we see eyes looking into a microscope.

The Gist: Lenina Crowne (Jessica Brown Findlay) is a scientist in New London, and as shes working on an embryo, shes called into the office of Bernard Max (Harry Lloyd). Bernard is concerned that Lenina has been monogamous with a handsome man named Henry Foster (Sen Mitsuji). She thinks shes just been having a lot of sex in a row with one guy, but Bernard reminds her that she acts for the greater public, and the greater public isnt monogamous. He also seems to be fascinated with footage of Lenina and Henry having sex. Shes given a pill that helps alleviate her feelings for Henry, though she still looks at him as they pass each other.

She goes back to work, where she and her friend Frannie (Kylie Bunbury) plan on going to the sex party later that night. Bernard is called to the scene of the death of an Epsilon-level worker. It looks like the worker simply fell off a balcony, but he goes up and sees that his trajectory suggests he jumped. He also sees an Epsilon, CJack60 (Joseph Morgan) hanging around, while the rest of the workers around get pills to help them forget. But he also touched the body and felt something he never did before.

After that discovery, he goes to Wilhelmina Helm Watson (Hannah John-Kamen), a local artist and creator of Feelies pills. She tells Bernard to get out of his own head and stop considering his feelings over the feelings of the public good. He attends the sex party that night, but Lenina notices that he doesnt partake, and confronts him on his seeming hypocrisy.

We then cut to Savageland, a tourist attraction whee people in New London can see people get married and other sinful things. John the Savage (Alden Ehrenreich), who is a propmaster for the wedding show, has been friends with Madysun (Lara Peake), who plays the pregnant bride. He gets upbraided about his prop gun not properly going off. After going to find a CD hes never heard before (which sounds a lot like Radiohead) and goes back to his mother Linda (Demi Moore yes, you read that right), who puts herself on display in the window and likes to get drunk.

He gets kidnapped by a group that has Madyson as a member. The leader of the group wants to form a rebellion against the people running the theme park and the New London visitors who come and lap up all of this fake sin. They have a stash of weapons and drugs, and want Jack to infiltrate the New London fortress and corrupt the society from within.

Back at New London, Bernard is told by his boss (Ed Stoppard) that he needs to go on vacation to Savageland to set his mind straight. And, after Lenina confronts Bernard about his refusal to participate in that orgy, but then they envision a hologram of the two of them having sex, and he admits to her that he feels unsatisfied. This isnt real. Any of it. She says she can help him find himself.

Our Take: Brave New World is an adaptation of Aldous Huxleys 1932 book; its showrunner is David Wiener (Homecoming). The first thought that came to mind as we saw the initial scenes in New London was antiseptic. When you have a society that discourages monogamy or family, and babies are grown in an amorphous storage pod, antiseptic doesnt begin to describe it. We were just put off by the generic clothing and setting, the different rankings of peoples lives using Greek letters, with Alpha and Beta having plus and minus distinctions, and just the entire idea of a society that doesnt have any sense of anything but the general public.

The intrigue in Savageland was a bit more interesting, but equally confounding. Why does the old man at the junk store where Jack finds his CD want Jack to apologize to his mother? What exactly is the goal of the revolution thats recruiting Jack? How will he infiltrate New London? And what in the heck is Demi Moore doing playing what seems to be a relatively small part?

What were anticipating is that Lenina and Bernard will visit Savageland for their vacation and get embroiled in the revolution, with Jack returning with them to infiltrate the antiseptic society in New London. But by the time all of this goes down, will we really care?

Dont get us wrong; the acting is top-notch across the board, but this just feels like one of those shows where the characters will really find minds of their own a la Westworld or itll continue to be antiseptic and dull. Were thinking its going to be the latter.

Sex and Skin: Theres an entire scene that takes place at an orgy party, so yeah, theres a bunch of both.

Sleeper Star: We hope Kylie Bunbury gets more screen time, since we liked her so much in Pitch. And, for the last time, what in blazes is Demi Moore doing in this thing?

Most Pilot-y Line: On the way to the party, Frannie shows Lenina some virtual outfits she wants to use at the party. When she laughs at one, Frannie says, Fuck you, everyone loves sexy cat. Does everyone love it, Frannie?

Our Call: SKIP IT. Brave New World could get better, and the acting is pretty decent. But it just doesnt feel like a show that connects with the viewer strongly enough to keep them interested in the characters or the situation.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesnt kid himself: hes a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

StreamBrave New World On Peacock

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Stream It Or Skip It: 'Brave New World' On Peacock, Where A Utopia Gets Turned Upside Down By The Infiltration Of A Savage - Decider