Despite a captivating pilot, The Peripheral fails to capitalize on its instantly intriguing setup, instead falling down poorly explained rabbit holes concerning alternate realities, conspiracies, heady sci-fi ideals, and terrible southern accents. With that in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising that it comes from the people behind Westworld (namely, executive producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan). Much like Westworld, there probably is a good show in here somewhere, but the writers are too busy trying to be clever and cerebral to let it breathe. I suppose the book on which it’s based could be to blame, but either way, it’s not worth the effort.