Ridley Scott's Underrated Sci-Fi Series Raised By Wolves Canceled Too Soon

Ridley Scott’s forgotten sci-fi series, Raised by Wolves, deserved more seasons than the two it got. Ridley Scott’s career in television often gets overlooked. His epic movies are what most people think of when they think of the sedulous octogenarian, and for good reason, considering the wide range of culture-defining movies he’s made.

However, his career in television isn’t negligible. As a producer, he’s worked on several notable series, including Numbers, The Man in the High Castle, The Good Fight, The Terror, Dope Thief, and Alien: Earth. In 2020, he even did double duty, producing and directing Raised by Wolves, an HBO sci-fi show that doesn’t get enough love.

What Is Raised By Wolves About?

Raised by Wolves premiered in 2020 on HBO Max and centers on two androids, called “Mother” (Amanda Collin) and “Father” (Abubakar Salim). Mother and Father are programmed to raise human children after the Earth is destroyed in an apocalyptic war that results from animosity between religious and atheistic factions.

Mother and Father attempt to raise their new crop of humans as atheists in order to ensure such a war never happens again. However, it’s not so simple, and the human offspring begin to question the omnipotence of their android overlords, and cracks begin forming in Mother and Father’s designs.

How Involved Ridley Scott Was With Raised By Wolves

Amanda Collin as Mother/Lamia spreading out her arms in Raised by Wolves.

Ridley Scott serves as the executive producer of Raised by Wolves and directed the first two episodes of the series. His production company, Scott Free Productions, also serves as one of the production companies for the show. The creator of the series is Aaron Guzikowski.

While Scott did not create the show, his influence is obvious in Raised by Wolves. The themes of religion, atheism, and creating life are central to his Alien mythos, in particular, Prometheus. His visual language kicks off the first two episodes of the show, and the series retains that aesthetic for the rest of its two seasons.

HBO Max Failed Raised By Wolves

Abubakar Salim as Father looking over his shoulder in Raised by Wolves.

Raised by Wolves earned a 75% for season 1 and an 86% for its second on Rotten Tomatoes. It seemed like things were looking up for the young sci-fi show, but then shortly after season 2 aired, the show was cancelled in June 2022. Salim speculated that the show was cancelled in the wake of the Discovery and WarnerMedia merger.

There was likely a lot of restructuring that had to be done in that merger, but it feels like HBO Max randomly chose Raised by Wolves to get rid of. Worse yet, HBO Max removed the series from its library in December 2022, and now, if you want to watch it, you’ll have to buy it on Amazon.