Is anyone else watching this. It’s not at all what I expected, but is also really quite good. 4 episodes in, it’s not a show about space travel so much as it’s a show about the people who do space travel. The characters are meticulously constructed, flaws and all, and all allowed space to breath. Sean Penn (is arguably the weakest link in the show, just because he’s 1) so recognizable that it’s harder to see his character, Tom, and 2) so ridiculously muscle-bound that it’s distracting. But luckily the show doesn’t focus exclusively on him: it spends as much time on Laz–the billionaire who is largely responsible for funding and controlling the Mars venture, Kayla–who is second in command on the mission and was its original commander, Sadie–the biologist, and Denise–Tom’s daughter, who is a painter and recovering addict. (Note: all of the main characters as far as I’ve watched, with the exception of Tom, are women.)
The show is a very slow burn and focuses way more on the internal motivations and interactions between the characters than on the technical aspects of space flight. It also does surprising things with its character plots–characters react to events like normal real people would and not like characters in a story. The show is very subtle in how it suggests its themes, and it really takes its time to let vignettes breathe. And it uses the time-honored tactic (which I really like) of ending each episode about 5 minutes before you expect it to end.
The technology that the show does show is very believable, given today’s tech and probable future evolution. (Lots of voice command, wearable tech, and augmented reality.) The politics are very plausible.
It’s not an addictive show, but it’s worth watching.
I went in completely blind, just watched it because I saw signs about a screening here at work. I had suspicions due to the build up but the first episode did surprise me a bit. I haven’t moved on to episode 2 yet but will give it a go soon.
I’ve been binge-watching The Shield, which I never saw back in the day, but will burn through the last half dozen episodes this week. This is next on my list.
We binged the whole thing. Like others said above, it’s very much a character drama that just happens to use the space program as a backdrop. There is space stuff, but it is not the focus. Still, the performances were very good and we watched it all over the course of a weekend. I’m looking forward to more episodes in the future.