October 19 (2023-10-19) – November 9, 2023 (2023-11-09)
Scavengers Reign is an American adult animatedscience fictiondrama television series created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner for Max, based on their 2016 short film Scavengers. HBO Max announced the series in June 2022,[1] and it premiered on October 19, 2023.[2] Since the show's release, it has received critical acclaim, praising the acting, plot, animation and atmosphere.
In May 2024, the series was canceled after one season.[3]
Synopsis
The series follows the survivors of the damaged interstellar cargo ship Demeter 227 who are stranded on Vesta, an alien planet bustling with flora and fauna but filled with dangers. Initially the survivors are separated into three groups: Azi and her robot companion Levi, Sam and Ursula, and the isolated Kamen, who travels with a telepathic creature named Hollow. Over time all their paths converge towards the crash-landed Demeter.
Voice cast and characters
Main
Sunita Mani as Ursula, a crewmember in the Demeter's horticulture lab; stranded on Vesta with Sam.
Wunmi Mosaku as Azi, a cargo specialist on the Demeter; stranded on Vesta with Levi.
Alia Shawkat as Levi, a robot from the Demeter; stranded on Vesta with Azi.
Shawkat also plays Fiona, the Demeter's robotics engineer, who is Kamen's estranged wife.
Bob Stephenson as Sam, commander of the Demeter; stranded on Vesta with Ursula.
Ted Travelstead as Kamen, a crewmember on the Demeter who is struggling in his career and in his marriage with his wife Fiona; while stranded on Vesta he forms a bond with Hollow, a telepathic and telekinetic creature. Co-creator Bennett stated that Kamen's presence has "introduced human greed and gluttony into this animal kingdom,"[4] which causes Hollow to become more sinister.
Guest
Sepideh Moafi as Mia, a passenger on the Demeter who forms a romantic connection with Azi.
Skyler Gisondo as Charlie, a passenger in cryofreeze on the Demeter.
Pollyanna McIntosh as Kris, the leader of a scavenger group from another planet; intends to loot the Demeter.
Freddy Rodriguez as Terrence, a member of Kris's scavenger group.
Dash Williams as Barry, the youngest and least experienced member of Kris's scavenger group.
Masha King as Mascha, a healer that Ursula and Sam meet in their travels on Vesta; part of a group that was stranded on Vesta many years prior.
Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner, Sean Buckelew, James Merrill
October 19, 2023 (2023-10-19)
An interstellar cargo vessel named the Demeter 227 traveling to planet Vesta is heavily damaged, with no chance of rescue. Several escape pods fly to the planet, most of which explode. A pair of survivors on planet Vesta, Sam and Ursula, are trying to contact the Demeter, but they need a battery from another pod and Ursula nearly dies from poisonous air collecting it. Elsewhere, survivor Azi has been growing crops with help from robot Levi, who is exhibiting perplexing behavior from a strange, yellow goo. Hostile wildlife destroy their homestead and heavily damage Levi. Another survivor, Kamen, is trapped and losing his mind after his escape pod becomes entangled in tree branches. He is freed by a creature with telekinetic and telepathic abilities named Hollow, and it guides him away using visions of his estranged wife, Fiona. Sam and Ursula remotely execute the Demeter 227's emergency landing protocol. The survivors see it descending through the atmosphere as it lands on the planet.
2
"The Storm"
Jonathan Djob Nkondo
Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner, Sean Buckelew
October 19, 2023 (2023-10-19)
Sam and Ursula set out to find the ship, hoping that the crew members in cryostasis have survived and that the Demeter is still operational. A flashback shows Azi's life on the ship, where she receives romantic interest from Mia, another crew member. In the present, Azi and Levi depart to find the landed ship. Azi finally learns that the yellow goo is integrating with the mechanical components of Levi's body, who is experiencing compulsions to wander around and cultivate the local fauna. Kamen is under the influence of Hollow, who uses telepathic visions of Fiona, to direct him. A storm that rains crystals approaches, forcing the survivors to find shelter. Ursula and Sam find safety in the protective egg sac of a large aquatic creature but must fight a parasitic arachnid to survive. They manage to kill it, though Sam is wounded in the process. Kamen almost gets sucked into the storm when he is taken to Hollow and its colony's cave. Azi and Levi find refuge in a massive garden in a large tree stump that Levi has been cultivating.
3
"The Wall"
Vincent Tsui
Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner, Sean Buckelew
October 19, 2023 (2023-10-19)
Ursula and Sam's journey takes them through an underground forest. They reach a large, gray wall that separates the forest in half. They use a seashell-like object to enter the wall remotely, but it begins closing on them. While running, Ursula stops to observe a small blue creature that controls the wall, but Sam is upset that they became separated. While arguing with Ursula, he is suddenly snatched and carried away by a local predator. Levi continues to exhibit increasingly independent behavior, and Azi's concern grows. Levi's seemingly intuitive understanding of nature saves them during a stampede of alien animals. Kamen is manipulated by Hollow into bringing it food. Kamen starts hunting and killing animals for Hollow. Hollow begins consuming meat, quickly growing much larger and stronger.
4
"The Dream"
Rachel Reid
Sean Buckelew
October 26, 2023 (2023-10-26)
Azi attempts to remove Levi's yellow goo. While doing so she is incapacitated and attacked by a predator. She is saved by Levi. Azi learns that Levi can now experience pain and refuses to be shut down again. Ursula mimics the behavior of wildlife to find Sam. She finds him near a crashed escape pod where they bury the crew that died from the storm's crystal rain. Kamen uses traps to continue sourcing food for Hollow, who has grown larger and more demanding. Hollow expresses displeasure after Kamen fails a hunt. Kamen begins crafting weapons. A flashback reveals that in an effort to regain Fiona's affection, Kamen inadvertently causes the Demeter to be severely damaged by a solar flare by rerouting the ship to a faster but riskier flight path against Sam's orders.
5
"The Demeter"
Christine Jie-Eun Shin
Jenny Deiker Restivo
October 26, 2023 (2023-10-26)
Local wildlife infiltrates the damaged Demeter and begins preying on passengers trapped in cryosleep. Charlie, a young man in cryosleep, wakes up and narrowly escapes the ship, finding himself lost and dazed in the hostile alien landscape. After walking for days and getting injured by the dangerous fauna, he runs into Kamen, but Hollow snaps Charlie's neck, and Kamen hallucinates Charlie's death as Fiona's death. It is shown that Fiona died when Kamen left her behind on the exploding Demeter. Kamen tries to leave to find Fiona, but Hollow telepathically reminds him that he is responsible for her death. In despair and guilt, Kamen begs for help and Hollow absorbs him into its own body, where he enters an unconscious, dreamlike state. Azi's wounds from being attacked have caused severe rashes across her body. She finds a solution in aquatic creatures that feed on the infection. She begins to respect Levi's new-found autonomy and personhood. While traversing a forest, Sam is bitten by an alien pod's spikes. Ursula notes that the area is littered with the dead bodies of many different animals.
6
"The Fall"
Diego Porral
James Merrill
October 26, 2023 (2023-10-26)
Sam's bite, now infected, is from a creature that creates a genetic clone of a victim and poisons it. Sam hides the infection and teaches Ursula how to continue without him. Azi and Levi's bike runs out power and they must cross a large canyon using the bike's winch cable. Azi finally learns that Levi is now sentient and they sing a pirate song. When crossing the canyon, they are attacked by Hollow, which rips Levi into hundreds of pieces. Azi cuts Hollow and discovers Kamen inside, but she is thrown into the canyon. She sends out a distress call, which is picked up by humans on a nearby moon. When the copy of Sam, (now following them) attacks Ursula, she kills it with fire, but it destroys their remaining supplies. Sam, now dying, gives Ursula his Captain's credentials. An unknown woman arrives and leads them away.
7
"The Cure"
Jonathan Djob Nkondo
Charles Huettner
November 2, 2023 (2023-11-02)
Azi's distress call is picked up by Barry, Kris, and Terrance, a trio of spacers who are motivated to respond only after realizing there may be loot for the taking. They land and compete in a breathing competition to select their leader. Kris wins. While they are away exploring, Hollow destroys their spaceship, trapping them on the planet. The stranger who found Sam and Ursula takes them to her crash-landed ship and successfully treats Sam, with some of Ursula's help. The woman then pukes out a black seed, which she injects into Sam while he's sleeping. Sam and Ursula run when the woman turns out to be cooperating with a massive telepathic alien. The alien almost kills Sam but suddenly stops when it senses the seed in Sam’s chest. Azi and the scavenger group find their destroyed spaceship.
8
"The Nest"
Vincent Tsui
Jillian Goldfluss
November 2, 2023 (2023-11-02)
Azi and the scavengers decide to use the escape shuttle that is likely on the Demeter. Terrance is fatally mauled by hostile vegetation while trying to retrieve a gift for Barry and Kris kills him to end his pain. Barry destroys Terrence's gift due to guilt. Elsewhere, Ursula is exhausted from walking, but Sam bizarrely has a lot of energy and will to continue moving, despite walking for hours. They take a break in the morning, and Ursula falls asleep. Sam demonstrates superhuman physical capabilities after his recovery. He then suddenly becomes hyper-focused on building a nest of clay, red lights, and water. Ursula confronts him, and they both discover that Sam is infected by the heart parasite when he sees the larval form of the creature in his loose, bloody skin.
9
"The Mountain"
Rachel Reid
James Merrill
November 2, 2023 (2023-11-02)
During a flashback, it is revealed that another group crash-landed on the planet decades prior, including the woman who helped Sam and Ursula. The woman's spouse becomes infected with the same heart parasite that afflicted Sam – she kills him in self-defense, but she is also infected, days later. Before Ursula and Sam abandon the nest, Ursula forces Sam to tell more about his life to confirm that he isn't overtaken by the parasite, and reveals that he had a girlfriend a few months before the Demeter's voyage. While traveling, the duo find a mountain with a river passing through and they use a makeshift armadillo boat. As they are being stalked by a pack of hostile creatures, they fall into the river because it is too steep. Ursula is wounded in her leg by one of the creatures while underwater, and Sam kills it with a knife. When Sam is helping Ursula, she catches Sam trying to infect her as well, and she confronts him. Azi, Barry, and Kris also climb a mountain on their way to the Demeter. While climbing, Kris deliberately exposes Azi to danger, as a form of having Azi lose her fear of the planet's creatures. Kris wants to abandon the Demeter's crew without waking them up and Azi argues with her, but they continue their journey.
10
"The Decision"
Christine Jie-Eun Shin
Jenny Deiker Restivo
November 9, 2023 (2023-11-09)
Various lifeforms gather Levi's parts and reassemble their body. In a flashback, Azi is drinking with Mia, and they end up kissing. Azi, Barry, and Kris cross a stream using an adhesive fashioned by Azi, but Azi sabotages Kris, and kicks her into the river. Azi and Kris fight about waking up the crew but Azi is knocked out, tied up, and left behind. Sam and Ursula travel on the back of a large creature. Sam coughs out another infectious seed, but he throws it away and tells Ursula to get her knife for self-defense, which she reluctantly does. They make it within sight of the Demeter, but Sam gives up and tears out the parasite, fatally wounding himself. As Barry and Kris, and Ursula, make their separate ways to the Demeter, Hollow reaches it first.
11
"The Return"
Diego Porral
James Merrill
November 9, 2023 (2023-11-09)
A flashback shows how the yellow biological matter infiltrated Levi's body via a glowing flower shown numerous times that grows on dead matter. Ursula finds Levi, who is now made of different life-forms and is growing a farm near and inside an abandoned escape pod. Levi ignores a scream that leads Ursula to Azi. Ursula finds Azi struggling on the riverbank and cuts her free from Kris' bindings. Meanwhile, Kris and Barry explore the Demeter and decide to take the shuttle without waking up the passengers. They use explosives to do so, but Hollow ambushes them while Kamen slowly begins to wake up. Kamen realizes he is trapped in a vision and demands to be released, but when more explosives are set off on the Demeter from Barry and Kris trying to fend off Hollow, in Kamen's vision the Demeter is destroyed and he is falling back to Vesta from space.
12
"The Reunion"
Vincent Tsui
Sean Buckelew
November 9, 2023 (2023-11-09)
Aboard the Demeter, Ursula begins the cryo wake-up process. Azi finds and subdues Kris, but lets her go to defend Ursula against Hollow. Barry wants to help the Demeter's crew, so Kris betrays him and launches the shuttle alone, much to Azi's and Barry's horror. Azi is then suddenly attacked by Hollow, and is almost forced to eat its hypnotic black goo, but she is saved by Levi. Unleashing their mysterious powers against Hollow, Levi overwhelms Hollow with visions depicting the evolution of life on Vesta. Levi's powers manage to save Azi and free Kamen, turning Hollow back to its original small form. After the survivors are woken up, weeks pass, and the survivors have built a colony. Azi has reunited with Mia, Levi has found a way to reproduce by using the glowing flowers, Ursula looks back on Sam and tries to honor his memory by wearing his clothes and putting his keycard in her notebook, and Kamen is mute, but has created a thriving garden of his own. Somewhere in space, Kris' shuttle is overrun with vegetation, and she is almost dying from thirst. The shuttle docks on a massive spaceship, and masked robed figures come aboard. The figures find a baby Levi that had found their way onto the shuttle when Kris allowed Barry to take one of the glowing flowers.
Production
Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner created the original 2016 Scavengers[6] short film for Adult Swim, where it aired as part of the Toonami block. The eight-minute animated short contains no dialog and depicts a pair of humans engaging in an intricate series of interactions with alien creatures. From 2018 to 2019, Bennett and Huettner expanded the concept into a series pilot that did not go forward at Adult Swim, though the show was later picked up by HBO Max.[7] The twelve-episode series was produced over two years by Titmouse, Inc. and Green Street Pictures with a crew including international animators working remotely from locations including Mexico, Spain, Portugal and France.[8]
In May 2024, the series was canceled by Max. However, Netflix acquired the first season and were reported to be considering renewing the series with a decision to be made after its debut on the platform.[3] In November 2024, Bennett confirmed that Netflix had decided not to renew the series for a second season.[9]
Release
The series premiered on October 19, 2023, with three episodes released weekly until November 9, 2023.[2] In May 2024, the series was acquired by Netflix and released on May 31 in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand.[3]
Reception
The series has received critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 100% approval score with an average rating of 8.7/10, based on 22 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Disturbing and wondrous, Scavengers Reign presents a vividly realized world that beckons exploration by its marooned characters and television viewers alike."[10]James Poniewozik of The New York Times called it "a lush, magnificent, hypnotic story of human survival in a place that feels, in a way that sci-fi planets only occasionally manage, truly otherworldly."[11] Andrew Webster of The Verge deemed it to be "equal parts beautiful and brutal, and it might be the most original piece of science fiction of the year."[12]
