Not so much the plot, I meant the tone, style and themes. 1st episode was peak-Garland. It felt so similar to Annihilation/Ex-Machina/Sunshine, which themselves feel like ersatz-Solaris. It’s all just Kris Kelvin and the ocean; strange wibbly goings on fucking with the reality/memory/identity/consciousness of the protagonists to a Ligeti/Artemiev type score. Technology in the woods, reeds swaying in the water. It just didn’t feel original at all to me.
He really can’t do dialogue, either. Ex-Machina was ruined for me by characters talking in pure exposition, explaining basic concepts to each other that they each already know, for the benefit of the audience. This didn’t disappoint on that front. In Tarkovsky, the sci-fi elements are just a means to an end, it’s all about the people really. Garland tries to do the same, I feel, but ends up focussing on the technology too much, with fairly wooden characters and not enough depth. But like I said, can’t blame him for not being Tarkovsky, and if you’re gonna steal, why not from the best.
Yes, basing the plot around determinism is a cool and fairly novel idea, though, and I will watch the rest to see what he does with it.