It’s been a wild ride for “Scavengers Reign,” the critically acclaimed adult animated sci-fi series, which was canceled by Max in May and got a second chance at Netflix on May 31, where it solidified its cult standing just in time for Emmy voters to make it the dark horse in the Outstanding Animated Program race. However, we’ll have to see if it’s enough to greenlight a Season 2 from creators Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner. But then the whole point of “ Scavengers Reign ” was to break free from every other adult animated series.
It’s a mind-bending sci-fi adventure about a deep space freighter crew stranded on the beautiful yet deadly alien planet, Vesta, whose intertwining ecosystems of exotic flora and fauna pull them into the organic machinery alongside the imaginative creatures. Adapted from Bennett and Huettner’s 2016 Adult Swim short “Scavengers,” the 2D series is definitely more of a surreal slow-burn than commercial actioner. The survivors of the damaged interstellar cargo ship, Demeter, are divided into three groups: Sam (Bob Stephenson), the commander, and Ursula (Sunita Mani), part of the ship’s horticulture lab; Azi (Wunmi Mosaku), a cargo specialist, and her robot companion Levi (Alia Shawkat), who exhibits bizarre behavior under the planet’s spell; and the isolated Kamen (Ted Travelstead), who forms a strange symbiotic relationship with the telepathic creature Hollow.
“We wanted to treat the planet like a character, so a lot of t.