Pantheon

Plot Summary

Maddie Kim, a freshman in a new high school, is having trouble fitting in. It doesn’t help that her father died two years ago, and his loss still weighs heavily on her and her mother. Things change, however, when she gets a message from a stranger who only talks in emojis, and they solve her problems at school. This stranger could be someone she knows more intimately than she could guess: her father’s brain uploaded to the internet. Meanwhile, Caspian Keyes is an older teen and a math and science genius. He’s an outcast at school and lives at home with his stressed mother and abusive father. This, too, is an illusion as his parents and surroundings are being carefully tailored by the computer company Logorhythms, the same company Maddie’s father worked for,  to manipulate his childhood and adolescence for some unknown purpose. This show asks this question of what would the next step of technological progress be after AI, and it is UI: Uploaded Intelligence. 

Creator Background 

Along with being a creator and showrunner for Pantheon, Craig Silverstein has been a producer for The Old Man and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. (FX Productions, 2025). He came into the Pantheon project by initially wanting to write an adult animated story and found the writings of Ken Liu. After reading them, he wanted to create the story, specifically noting that this narrative works best in animation given the reliance of the narrative on technology and depicting digital space (Screen Watching, 2022). 

Critical Evaluation

Among its presentation of the quandaries behind the concept of uploaded intelligence (scanning and copying a human brain and then uploading it into a computer system), Pantheon is a story about two teens dealing with their problems and families. Maddie’s father recently died, and she has to deal with the grief surrounding his absence while Caspian’s father is abusive to both him and his mother (later episodes reveal that his home-life situation is much more complex, but at its core, exposure to this type of abuse still colors his character). By grounding the series in these two tangible and emotionally evocative situations, it is able to develop clear and believable motivations for the characters while carrying less tech-savvy viewers through the technical jargon needed for developing the world. 

Pantheon deals with many philosophically difficult questions: what makes us human, what are humans without death, can there be life without physical presence, what are the economic and social consequences of immortality? The situation of the two main characters, however, allows each of these questions to be confronted through real-life examples. Maddie’s father returns after being dead for two years. His return causes problems for both Maddie and her mother, who has just started to move on. Maddie’s mother, a history professor, also questions whether a string of ones and zeros could ever be her husband, even if he sounds like and acts like him. This is all challenged through grief, with Maddie not fully processing it and only wanting her father back unquestioningly while her mother actively fought hard to move through her grief and is furious that the work was seemingly for nothing. These emotions drive these characters and drive the moral questions of the narrative. Pantheon is able to balance the complex philosophical problems with the tangible reality and emotions of its characters that make each moment more poignant and enrapturing to witness. 

Creative Use for a Library Program

This show could provide an opportunity to use a virtual reality (VR) game in the library. VR is an expensive format for gaming that many people would like to try and use but may not have the resources to ever play with. The library could either purchase or borrow a VR system that the teens could then use. This might be for a single program or for a more permanent resource for teens to access. VR is not nearly as smooth or advanced as any of the technology shown in Pantheon, but it would still be a fun experience for those who want to try it! 

Book Talk

A show that asks and shows the answers to what life would be like if people were able to upload their brain and consciousness to the computer: would they still be human? What would it mean not to die? How would this be abused by capitalist systems?

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation

Pantheon does portray and discuss many difficult concepts, such as grief, domestic abuse, and social/emotional manipulation. There are also a few scenes with body horror and gore within them. These are the areas that are most likely to have challenge issues. For the discussion of difficult topics, I would note that the show does not portray them in a positive or desirable manner, but instead shows the negative effects of domestic abuse and social/emotional manipulation. This could be a possibly triggering topic for viewers, particularly the depictions of domestic abuse. This, however, is not enough to remove a material from a collection. These types of stories are important to build empathy for and give representation to people who have suffered such violence. The body horror scenes are few, but it is understandable that they would be off-putting to some people. The animated nature of the show does not prevent the viewer from shying away from its depiction. These scenes, however, are necessary to the plot and, as stated before, are few within the entirety of the show. There may be a needed warning before viewing the material, but it is not enough to remove it. 

Reasons for Inclusion 

I had heard of this show a number of times in the past few years, but after the second season was released on Netflix this month, some teens at my library were discussing it. There didn’t seem to be a better time to start watching the show than now. I would include this show in a library collection for teens in a heartbeat. For one, it is addictively watchable; I binged the first four episodes in my first sitting. For another, it has two teens as the main characters and never speaks down to its audience. There were a few moments that definitely went over my head with the complexity of the topics. It’s challenging without ever being incomprehensible or pretentious. Instead, it takes its topics of grief, abuse, adolescence, and human-technology relationships very seriously. It’s a conversation starter and just plain enthralling. 

References

Brinkhof, T. (2025, January 16). Pantheon creator Craig Silverstein on uploading our brains to the internet: How the cult hit sci-fi show imagines a “techno-realist” future. Freethink. https://www.freethink.com/artificial-intelligence/pantheon-creator-craig-silverstein-on-uploading-our-brains-to-the-internet   

Common Sense Media. (n.d.) Pantheon. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/pantheon 

FX Productions. (2025). Craig Silverstein. https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/the-old-man/crew/craig-silverstein-executive-producer 

IMDb. (2022). Pantheon (2022) [Image]. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11680642/mediaviewer/rm2247757569/?ref_=tt_ov_i 

Liu, Ken. (2025). About. https://kenliu.name/about/#more-2 

Liu, L. T. (n.d.). Ken Liu Profile [Image]. https://kenliu.name/binary/presskit/KenLiu_Profile.jpg 

Prime Video AU & NZ. (2023, September 20). Pantheon S1 | Official trailer | Prime Video [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_HJ3TSlo5c 

Screen Watching. (2022, September 1). Meet the filmmakers: Craig Silverstein, producer: Pantheon (from September 1 on AMC+) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw4fWAIW5mA