Away
netflixWhilst Netflix's new space opera Away is sufficiently bingeable, its insistence on cheesy dialogue and toothless plot points are as suffocating as the extraterrestrial vacuum it is largely set in.
Perhaps in contrast with the concept of the series, the writers have a stubborn insistence on tethering the drama too often to earth, pinballing between the space station, mission control and just about anywhere they feel like. This is understandable, considering the constraints of trying to tell a ten hour story in one location, but the unadventurous and one-note sequence of events both on Earth and on the station conflict with the setting.
In the end, it effectively kneecaps itself by removing the sense of wonder which should be so intrinsic to a series set outside of our planet. Why even bother creating a show with a setting so extraordinary and brimming with potential to subsequently fill it with familial drama as emotionally engaging as a nine-hour shift at an Amazon warehouse? To reach the occasional mesmerising cosmic set piece, one has to trawl through mountains of unengaging, soap-like trite.
Worse, whilst much of the plotting feels redundant and unstimulating, what does seem slightly more interesting is often just silly and with a disregard of the realism the series often aims for. For example, in the final episode – and this subplot is set up, played out and resolved all within this episode – the Chinese ambassador tells their country's astronaut to hide her face in the photo of them all to send back to Earth, already an extremely bizarre demand. Then, when the astronaut instead demands that in order to do so, she wants a request fulfilled, they actively attempt to fulfil her request. But why? This makes no sense from China’s point of view. They know there’s no way to force her to hide her face, and would they seriously believe that when she saw that the request was done, she would oblige to hiding her face in the most famous photograph ever to be taken? But apparently they did, and the very last shot of the show is one of surprise from the Chinese ambassador. The show pretending like this wasn’t an entirely predictable – and on balance, the most likely – outcome and then ending on it feels not only unearned, but like expecting passengers to clap when the plane lands.
There is also a weirdly religious undertone – in a sharp contrast to some other Netflix content such as The Devil All The Time; are Netflix trying to make content that goes both ways to be unbiased? Whenever they haven't penned a monologue that sounds straight from a politician's speechwriter, the writers love to insert random messages in the form of a prayer or sermon at points in the episode where nothing much seems to be happening. Most commonly, this comes from Ato Essandoh's Kwesi, whose personality seems to have been simply unbothered with in favour of letting him spout messages about love, the universe and just about anything else that pops into his head. It’s space – trying to rationalise nigh on every action the astronauts make with sappy motivational speeches and new lame inciting incidents sucks all the fun out of it.
Despite multiple shortcomings, Away is not necessarily a waste of time. It suits the bingeable Netflix format well; the ploddy pacing means it isn't a show that benefits from being spaced out and, whilst some episodes feel uneventful, there is just enough forward momentum and crucial visual excellence – a combination of directorial ingenuity and fantastic special effects – to warrant watching the show in this manner. The acting and other technical aspects are pretty sublime, if not necessarily memorable. It's just a shame that so much of the story's potential intrigue has neglected to reach the stratospheric heights the show sets for itself.