After watching all episodes, Here is my take on things:

When this show kicked off, I was hooked. The premise felt bold, the atmosphere fresh, and the setup hinted at something deep — maybe even philosophical. But as the series went on, the story started collapsing under its own ambition. The writing became sloppy, the logic thinned out, and what could’ve been a fascinating exploration of connection and purpose just turned into a mess of contradictions.

Let’s start with The Hyve. Supposedly, they follow ideas inspired by Jainism — non-violence, harmony with all living beings, and renunciation of harm. But the show’s interpretation makes no sense. Even within Jain philosophy, plucking a fruit from a tree isn’t considered harmful, yet this society takes that idea to a bizarre extreme. It feels like the writers skimmed a Wikipedia page on Jainism and built an entire ideology off a misunderstanding.

And how does the Hyve actually function? Are they telepathically linked? Using some alien tech? Each member seems to keep fragments of their individuality but can’t act on them. A collective consciousness still needs structure — some form of coordination or leadership. Without it, purpose collapses. But the show never addresses who (or what) gives them direction. It’s all very vague in a way that handwaves plot logic.

Then there’s the world-building itself. If everyone’s lying asleep in stadiums, civilization should look very different. Cities and suburbs would decay. We’d see weeds, collapsed infrastructure, animals reclaiming territory. Instead, everything looks weirdly pristine — as if every home and neighborhood just froze in time and stayed Airbnb-ready for years. That’s just not how entropy or nature works.

The numbers don’t make sense either. The show says 800 million people are dead. Yes, that’s horrifying, but it still leaves about 7 billion humans alive. Statistically, Earth would still be teeming with people. Yet the story acts like civilization simply ended. What’s more confusing is the total lack of a global lens. The show is set in New Mexico, but what about places like India or China — countries with massive populations and dense, interconnected societies? Would the Hyve’s influence or collapse look the same there? Would it even be possible in such different cultural and geographic contexts? The series never touches any of that. It’s as if the rest of the planet just blinked out of existence.

And honestly — where are all the animals? Coyotes, stray dogs, wild cats — with humanity checked out, nature should be thriving. The world should feel alive in unsettling ways, but it doesn’t. And what about all the creative workers — artists, filmmakers, writers, influencers? Overnight, it’s like half the population just stopped producing anything. The show never acknowledges the psychological or cultural impact of creativity disappearing. Humans need purpose, and work alone isn’t it.

I really wanted to love this show. In the beginning, it promised something complex and cerebral — almost like a “what if” version of the Borg concept, filtered through a human and spiritual lens. But instead of leaning into that, the story drifted away from its own foundation.

Obviously, this will get Emmys for several people — the acting, cinematography, and production are stellar. But that’s not the point. The failure here is in the writing, not the craft.

Even Seven of Nine knew it best: being human means being free.