Foundation is generally a pretty serious show. Season three in particular is charting humanity’s march toward certain doom—unless those with the power to reshape the future can figure out an alternative path before it’s too late. But levity creeps into the Apple TV+ Isaac Asimov adaptation when you least expect it, with season three continuing the humorous legacy of a character we said good-bye to back in season two.
That dearly departed character is Hober Mallow, of course—the heroic scoundrel who used his con artist skills to aid the Foundation in its explosive standoff with Empire. He was the first Foundation player that came close to being comic relief, and he injected a shot of energy into the show’s heavier themes of power, destiny, and complex mathematics. He didn’t survive the events of season two; we’re still laughing/crying over his fiery farewell scene opposite his unlikely ally General Riose, involving a well-meaning toast made with some repugnant wine.
But even if he’d made it to New Terminus with the rest of the Foundation, he’d be dead by the time season three picks up 152 years later. His legacy lives on in another form: his descendants, including Randu Mallow, head of the Alliance of Traders—a rebellious faction within Foundation that’s been accepting weapons from Empire ahead of a brewing civil war. Randu is missing an arm but hasn’t let that hold him back; in the season three premiere, “A Song for the End of Everything,” he battles Pritcher, the Foundation’s top intelligence operative, to keep ahold of his clandestinely acquired firepower.
Having been brought into the story in a memorable way, Randu doesn’t appear in episode two, “Shadows in the Math.” But we do meet two other Mallow relations: Toran and Bayta Mallow. Their status as newlyweds is a novelty in Foundation’s world; marriage is no longer a traditional practice, though if anyone can bring it back into fashion, it’s these two.
When we meet them, they’re vacationing on Kalgen, a “pleasure planet” where the amusements have been dampened by the villainous Mule’s recent arrival. Still, that’s seemingly no concern of Toran and Bayta; despite Toran’s family ties (Randu is his uncle), he’s not interested in the traders’ dispute with the Foundation. He doesn’t even care about Empire. He’s fabulously rich, and Bayta just wanna… be cute and decadent and show off on social media.
Yes! Foundation has influencers. Instead of TikTok, Toran and Bayta make “scatters,” a very similar idea except instead of an iPhone, they use small cameras that fly around to capture their best angles. Foundation is a show that knows how to introduce new characters, and these two are no different: we first see them sunbathing on their terrace, sipping drinks, when the Mule’s ship, the Blacktongue, drifts in overhead and blocks the rays.
“The pirate stole our sunshine,” Bayta groans, as Toran motions over an attendant and asks him if he can tell the hovering ship to get out of the way. The hired man chooses his words carefully: perhaps it would be easier if the couple just shifted their lounge spot? At this, Bayta sweetly asks him for help moving her towel because (dramatic sigh) “it has a heavy weave.”
While we’re trying to figure out if Toran and Bayta are as awful as they appear to be, the attendant notices he’s being filmed. It’s a scatter! It’s a fun little prank! Everyone chuckles, and the couple heads inside their luxurious spaceship, where the AI, who Bayta has named “Sweetheart,” greets them by asking, “Should I make drinks?” (The answer is obviously yes.)
While Toran and Bayta are aware of the Mule’s activities, they’ve taken a lighthearted attitude toward everything. “The coup is the place to be seen, apparently,” Toran says as he watches the views ratchet up on their scatter post. “Frisk, yet dire,” Bayta agrees.
Their cocktails and smooches—interspersed with a bit of backstory hinting that Toran and his uncle don’t get along, and Bayta insisting she doesn’t care about politics—are interrupted by a visitor. It’s Pritcher, who’s on the outs with his boss at the Foundation. Nobody on New Terminus believes the Mule is a serious threat, but Pritcher is certain of it, and he’s taken matters into his own hands.
First things first, he wants to get eyes on the Mule himself. But he’ll need help accessing an exclusive party the Mule is hosting at one of Kalgen’s glittery clubs. And who better to help him infiltrate such an event than… a pair of famous influencers?
As he recruits their help, we get flashes that Toran and Bayta (delightfully portrayed by Cody Fern and Synnøve Karlsen) aren’t as vapid as they appear to be. Toran picks up on the idea that helping Pritcher will be perfect cover for the Foundation, since if a Mallow is involved, everyone will assume he’s being backed by the traders instead. It’s a risky proposition, and they hesitate. But when Pritcher scoffs that they’re “too rich to really be scared… too callow, too complicit,” he touches a nerve.
The super-rich may be untouchable in most circumstances, it’s true, but these two aren’t heartless. One of Foundation’s many strengths is its layered characters, so we can expect that Toran and Bayta, whose love for each other is absolutely genuine, will become even more complex as we get to know them better. Just like Hober, whose rakish charm masked a surprisingly robust moral compass, they could fill a similar role of being outsiders to the conflict who end up throwing their weight behind the good guys.
Or, they could completely surprise us in some other way. It’s only episode two, after all!
We don’t get to the party in this week’s episode, but it’s definitely coming soon—inevitably bringing the Mule, who hungers for love as part of his fiendish quest for power, into the orbit of two characters who’re already adored across the galaxy. What combustion will that bring, and more importantly, how will Bayta and Toran be dressed for the occasion?
New episodes of Foundation arrive Fridays on Apple TV+.
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