Amazon series Undone screens two trippy episodes and teases mind-bending secrets at SDCC

Undone, the animated Amazon Prime series that brings Alita: Battle Angel star Rosa Salazar into the world of rotoscoped weirdness via BoJack Horseman creators Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg, has looked like the perfect kind of supernatural genre fare since its very first trailer. Salazar's character had a brush with death thanks to a car accident and now keeps seeing her dead father (Bob Odenkirk). Director Hisko Hulsing and the team behind A Scanner Darkly provide the trippy visuals to complete the package. Now that Undone has attended its first San Diego Comic-Con, the details make it sound even cooler.

SYFY WIRE attended its panel, which incuded Salazar, Bob-Waksberg, and Purdy as they discussed a show that seems to cross the boundary between life and death. But first, they showed off a sneak peek at the first two episodes. And they were awesome.

Played back-to-back, the episodes revealed that the trippy, time-warped Groundhog's Day-like mania wasn't just out of its mind for psychedelia's sake, but to explore mental illness and — surprise — solve a murder. Odenkirk's character was killed, he reveals, and Alma (Salazar) has the power to see a little bit more than normal people — which could be very useful in changing the past.

Purdy explained that the show came about when she and Bob-Waksberg worked on an episode of BoJack where he had a drug trip, but then that she injected plenty of personal details into the series. The family history of schizophrenia, suicide attempts, and interest in indigenous cultures/medicines all came from Purdy's life. Salazar had no idea it was going to be a rotoscoped program until she met with the creators, after reading the first two scripts, and was put at ease thanks to her experience being animated. Purdy followed up, explaining that the show remains unclear about whether or not Alma has schizophrenia, but instead is focused on showing each person's own version of reality. Since the show deals with mental illness and shamanistic healing techniques, Purdy said, they had plenty of experts that they consulted.

The show will also feature Angelique Cabral, Constance Marie, Siddarth Dhananjay, and Daveed Diggs along with guest stars John Corbett, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sheila Vand, and Tyler Posey. It screened its first two episodes back in June at ATX TV Festival, but will premiere at a later date.

Click here for SYFY WIRE’s full coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2019, including up-to-the-minute news, exclusive interviews, and videos.