AWAY Season 1: A Moving Human Tale Set In Space

One would expect that a show about a group of astronauts going to Mars, its main story will of course revolve around the journey of, well, going to mars and all the technical and personal challenges that come with it. But Away, Netflix’s emotionally cathartic interstellar drama from creator Andrew Hinderaker and showrunner Jessica Goldberg is not that kind of show. Yes, from the surface, it focuses on the story of five astronauts venturing into the unknown for the future of mankind. But at its core, Away actually tells a moving personal tale of family and human relationships, a portrait of what isolation and being away from our loved ones can do to us, as well as a nice-core science fiction about the importance of working together. The result is a space drama that’s unafraid to wear its hopefulness and optimism on its skin. And in an era where cynicism has dominated the TV landscape, it’s so refreshing to see what Hinderaker and Goldberg have offered us in Away.

Into The Galaxy

Hilary Swank plays Emma Green, an American astronaut tasked with leading an international crew on the first mission to Mars. We first meet her when she’s giving her opinion to the press about why she wants to lead this crew and why this mission is important for the future of humanity. And right away we can sense how determined she is of making sure that the journey will go smoothly and exactly as planned. But Emma is not the only one who is excited about it; the other four members of the team — an engineer from Russia named Misha (Mark Ivanir), a chemist from China named Lu (Vivian Wu), a botanist from English named Kwesi (Ato Essandoh), and a pilot from India named Ram (Ray Panthaki) — also share that same optimism and excitement. Even Emma’s husband, Matt (Josh Charles), who is a chief engineer of the project, and her daughter Lex (Talitha Bateman) are also equally stoked to see her leading this mission.

Naturally, when we’re talking about a TV show or a movie focusing on a journey into space, the characters will face a life-or-death situation due to some malfunction in the ship, then a heated conflict between the characters will arise for the sake of creating tension, or even in most case, space itself becomes a metaphor for a self-discovery journey that the characters must take before they’re able to reinvent themselves back on earth. But Away has decided to strip its story nearly from all of that, and instead just focuses mainly on how the characters and their relationships grow throughout their journey to Mars. Of course, at some points, Emma and her crew do face a dire situation, conflicts between the characters will also happen too, but it’s all just a small fraction of the main story that Away is trying to tell.

What the show largely offers is the personal dramas and the look into the interior lives of the characters both when they’re on Earth and on the spaceship. We follow them throughout ten episodes, and we learn about their stories one by one from a series of throwbacks that are told elegantly along the way. And by the time we get to the end of the season finale, not only will we feel like we understand and relate to each of them on a deeper level, we will also take plenty of valuable lessons from each character.

Through Emma, we learn about leadership and familial love; how being a leader doesn’t always mean that you do everything yourself, and how important it is to know when to ask for help and being vulnerable when you need it to. Through Misha and Lu’s storylines, the show offers us a great insight into perception and the need to keep things focus. Then from Kwesi and Ram, it’s human emotions. What’s truly fascinating about this is the fact that the show manages to integrate so many life lessons into the characters’ backgrounds without making them a big deal while at the same time still keeping the main storyline of the show, which is their journey into Mars, intact.

This is not to say that Away is flawless from start to finish. Some parts can get a little too polarizing, and a few episodes have an uneven pace, especially when it’s divided into two storylines: the one focusing on the space and the one exploring Matt and Lex’s lives back at home. But it’s not the kind of flaws that Hinderaker and Goldberg can’t overcome with their layered writing and deliberate storytelling. In fact, even in the show’s weaker moments, the script still manages to evoke a feeling of hopefulness that is elevated even more by the compelling performances from the cast.

Swank, in particular, is marvelous in the leading role. In a performance that we haven’t seen from her before, Swank builds Emma’s life and emotions with nuance and subtlety, as well as openness and resiliency. Her chemistry with the other cast, especially with Panthaki and Ivanir, is also spot-on in every scene they share together. When Emma is at her vulnerable, Swank doesn’t need to put on a loud, fleshy performance to show it. Everything is kept by her as low-key and believable as possible. Wu, Essandoh, and Charles are also equally magnificent at displaying shades of their characters. There’s just no weak link in the acting department.

Being Away From Your Loved Ones

One other aspect that makes Away even more remarkable is how real it is at depicting human emotions and the toll that being away from our loved ones for a very long time can take on us. Throughout the season, we see Emma and the other astronauts often struggling to cope with the feelings of isolation that comes from not being with their families, and being powerless when something happens to them back on Earth. And the show is able to portray that pain in a really authentic way that watching it unfold onscreen will without a doubt make some people, especially the ones who are right now unable to be with their families due to the pandemic, resonate even more deeply with the show.

The resonance of the story to our current condition at the moment, however, doesn’t just stop there. The show’s core message is about the importance of working together in a time of crisis, about why we need to put aside our differences if we’re to accomplish great things. And this part, in particular, feels timelier than ever at the moment. It almost feels like the show reminds us that if we want the pandemic to be over soon, we need to come together as one unit and agree on the real problem that is happening right now so that we can flatten the curve.

Final Thought

Away is clearly built to inspire, and because of all the timely things that the show tackles throughout the season, whether intentionally or unintentionally, along with the compelling narrative displayed excellently by the cast, that sense of inspiration feels even stronger and more emotional by the time you arrive at the finish line. It aims for the star and it accomplishes exactly that; though to get there, the journey, of course, isn’t always smooth.

What do you think will happen throughout their mission to Mars? Let us know in the comments below!

Away season one premieres on Netflix on 4 September.

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