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formerlyfreedom
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7 hours ago, sadie said:

That rocket must have been built in shop class because I’ve  owned more dependable used cars. 

So true!  One would expect better work on a newer space ship!  

7 hours ago, sadie said:

And I grew up here on the Space Coast. My Dad worked for NASA for 30 years and I watched the Challenger blow up live and in person as a teenager...

I grew up down there too!  Ditto on watching Apollo and Shuttle launches.  The roar of that Saturn V rocket as it shook all of the windows in our house was so awesome!  The smaller SpaceX rocket seems like a bottle rocket compared to that monster Saturn V!!  I worked for Boeing for a few years, so watching as many protocols regarding NASA, etc. being broken on this show made me laugh.  

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On 9/8/2020 at 11:42 AM, greekmom said:

I finished binge watching this yesterday.  I did ff alot of the stuff with the daughter. She bores me.

Thoughts:

My initial thought is why would you send 2 women with children back on Earth. I am not saying that women should not go to Mars but this is a dangerous, life threatening mission and both women even though they want to go do have commitments with their kids. I get Ram, I get Kwesi, I get Misha (oh my god, my favourite character, especially his dictation "smiley face emoji, smiley face emoji") but logically, any women on board shouldn't have had children at home for such a mission.  That's just my opinion. 

I loved the background scenes on all the  characters, but I agree with poster above. Why would Mei take the card that says "I love you" to work? Especially if you are on the down low? 

The psychologist isn't that great. They would have anticipated that even though they have people waiting back home, the crew is now their own little group of people and we all need love and support. I don't doubt that Ram and Emma are confusing the fact that they are counting on eachother for survival as romantic love.  Would they have fallen in love on Earth? Probably not because they were working together for 2 years before the launch.  Do they love eachother? I think yes, as friends but they should have been warned by the psychologist that this may occur when they are alone. That they might confuse the need for eachother for survival as romantic love. 

The technology capabilities we have to suspend disbelief.

I am glad Lu didn't bow under pressure and take the photo as requested by her government as they didn't give her what she wanted. I do hope that they don't retaliate with the husband and her son.

I think that Matt might have figured out how Ram feels about Emma as they were holding hands. I hope he doesn't take it the wrong way but I think if anyone is to cheat it's Matt with Melissa.

Even though I am not a big Swank fan I still will watch season 2. 

Great post. Here are my thoughts. 

1. Love Hilary Swank. Love the idea of a female Commander. But I’m not convinced Emma was the right person to lead the group.As others have said, she’s way too weepy. Or she’d sit around in her room moping. And talking to Will (tm The Good Wife).  She didn’t spend enough time with the group, and I believe she missed out on a lot of group bonding time. Was that purposeful? Is the Commander supposed to remain somewhat distant and aloof? 

My other issue is that she didn’t seem creative or innovative. It seems like none of the crew’s good ideas came from her. I fault the writers. Of course she shouldn’t have the answers for everything (although if she were a man, she probably would’ve been written that way). But all of the episodes are fresh in my mind since I binged all of the episodes this week. I remember hearing great ideas from Misha and Lu, but never Emma. 

And I thought the actress playing Alexis was really good, but her character drove me crazy. I hate the way teenage girls are written on most TV shows — they’re bratty, angsty, reckless, and disrespectful toward their parents and other adults. Tired trope. 
 

 

 

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23 minutes ago, topanga said:

And I thought the actress playing Alexis was really good, but her character drove me crazy. I hate the way teenage girls are written on most TV shows — they’re bratty, angsty, reckless, and disrespectful toward their parents and other adults. Tired trope. 

Yes, I'm so sick of this trope too, and as someone who raised 4 daughters I know there are plenty of cheerful, kind, thoughtful teenage girls. I guess I liked Lex because she was less of a monster than we've come to expect on TV. And she's actually helpful at times! But I do hear you. 

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21 hours ago, topanga said:

And I thought the actress playing Alexis was really good, but her character drove me crazy. I hate the way teenage girls are written on most TV shows — they’re bratty, angsty, reckless, and disrespectful toward their parents and other adults. Tired trope. 

She did a 180 rather quickly after her Dad's stroke and her Mom leaving.  At first she seemed like she was handling it all okay, then suddenly a guy starts talking to her and she becomes Evel Kneivel within hours, then she's sleeping with the guy, and then her Dad's suddenly A-ok with it.  She's only 15, for crying out loud!!  I understand her angst and all, but she changed so quickly - like night and day with her.  I'd be fine if we have less of her character in the future.  I really don't care about her love life.  More Mars, less earth!!  🙂  

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I would prefer less soap and more science, but this was a fun watch. The acting was all really strong and I liked most of the characters and their interactions (with some issues, see below) and seeing what goes into a massive space launch from multiple perspectives. Really, one of my disappointments was that we ended up getting more of TVs inexplicable favorite thing, teenage angst, than actual space stuff at times! 

The actress playing Lex is really good, and I liked her at first and really felt for her, but as the season went on she went full on teen girl angst and I just got fed up with her. The second she meets a cute boy it was like she decided that right now, with her mom going to Mars and her dad recently in a wheelchair and struggling, was the right time to start sneaking out and doing teenage rebellious stuff and lying to her father. I know that part of the premise is on the people left behind in the space mission, but could they give her a better story than this?

Speaking of bad timing, when Melissa was like "you dont even see it" I laughed because I never saw any attraction between her and Matt until that very moment! Like, yeah maybe Matt didn't have time to notice your crush in between dealing with his wife going on a super dangerous space mission, basically running NASA in secret to keep her and her crew alive, having a stroke, being in a wheelchair and adjusting to that and to physical therapy to maybe walk again, and his teenage daughter choosing now to start lying and doing dangerous stunts and sneaking off with her new boyfriend! I cant put my finger on why, but I find Melissa to be unlikable and bland, even if the actress is fine. I am glad that they didn't do a thing with Matt being resentful of Emma for going to Mars and its some kind of thing where he feels emasculated by his wife doing this big thing in a male dominated field while he is having health problems and is doing behind the scenes stuff, they didn't really do that. I really hope they dont go there with Matt and Melissa, but I fear they will. 

It is kind of hilarious that both Emma and Matt got totally thrown by a friend/co-worker announcing their attraction to them at a really stressful moment, to their total bafflement. 

In general, it was shocking how under-prepared everyone seemed to be. No one seemed to have many back up plans, the crew seemed like they hardly knew each other or could work together until about part way through, and its just nuts that they would send someone to Mars who had zero space experience. I know that they wanted interpersonal conflict and lots of problems to solve for the sake of drama, but it made it seem like everyone they sent to space had no respect for the chain of command and were emotionally unprepared for everything, and that the ship was being held together by duck tape and luck. 

I thought that I would find the flashbacks to everyone's pasts would be kind of stupid and on the nose, but they actually worked pretty well. Misha and his puppets and his email emojis (oh my God, its like when I taught my dad what texting was) and Lu were my favorites, but everyone had their moments. You know, as much as Hilary Swank is a talented actress who had convey a lot of strength and intensity, I ended up almost agreeing with the almost constant insubordination, because Emma so often seemed like a pretty bad commander. She was so weepy and quick to give up or sit in her room and cry and angst about what was going on at home, I can get why the rest of the crew was worried that she wasn't fully committed and why she had so many problems with group cohesion. Her using some of her water rations to water a plant was probably her most questionable move, she had to know what a bad idea that was and this could lead to her getting dehydrated and compromising the integrity of the mission as the leader, and she did it just to feel better? Maybe she would feel better and more in control by doing captain stuff? She had her moments, but I hope that later on we see her toughen up. 

The ending was very strong, they really built a lot of tension with mission control being totally silent and the families all watching, until they got confirmation that they landed, and I am glad that Lu didn't go through with having to hide behind her visor, and instead everyone took the picture together with their visors up, although I hope her government doesn't take it out on Mei or her family. I am glad they made it to Mars, and while this show has a lot of problems (save us all from love triangles) I am excited to see what happens in season two now that they made it.  

Edited by tennisgurl
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I finally finished watching.

I know this show is more soap than scifi BUT I swear when Ram and Emma were going thru the checklist prior to entry into Mars atmosphere where they all stood a very high probability of dying in a flame filled coffin and he decided that would be a good time to STOP(!) and talk about his feeeeeeelings, I desperately wanted Emma to stuff him in the airlock and open it. Whoosh, problem solved. More water for all of us!

(An aside: the special effects during the entry and landing of the Atlas were SUPER SUPER cheesy. Clearly they blew the budget on cast and had nothing left for special effects.)

I'm with all of you commenting on the strong cast. The cast made ALL the difference for this show. I ended up really loving Lu and Misha after a slow start. (I'm actually sorry I referred to Misha derisively as Grandpa Cosmonaut in an earlier comment.) Hilary Swank was terrific in a role that was written poorly. Some (most?) of the dialog was embarrassing but the cast did great work with it. Even the daughter, though I could have lived without her at all, did a great job. I didn't actively dislike her, which I often do.

Dislike Matt intensely. I'd have preferred if he'd died from that stroke. He and his stink face can please go. Thanks for the FF button.

What I'd like to see in Season 2: Matt's funeral, less screen-time for Lex, bring Mei back!, fewer tears from Emma, fewer feeeeeelings from Ram, more emojis and puppet shows from Misha, well you get the idea. I'd also like to see them give Melissa some work that doesn't involve mooning around after some man.

Kudos to Lu for giving the scary Chinese lady the finger with the picture. They better not take that out on Mei.

One question: people mentioned Emma and Ram hand holding (and Matt seeing that). When was that? I thought it was at the very end but I never saw it and little things like that irritate me.

So I'll be back for Season 2. Hopefully Matt won't be. 🙂

Quick edit to say that I just realized that even if they do kill off Matt he might still be on the show as GhostMatt who would show up all the time on Mars anytime Emma was feeling kinda weepy and unsure of herself and needed to talk. GhostMatt could be the 6th crew member. I should be more careful what I wish for.

Edited by zibnchy
more to say on the subject of Matt
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I'm through about epi 5.  (I'm not sure, it was the one about the water shortage.)  How the heck did Emma get chosen to lead the mission?  She's been awful.  First there was the space walk stunt, then exposing herself to Ram's illness, then cutting her water consumption to save a basil plant...  Yeah, all make for good tv drama but it shows she's a very poor leader.  This stuff along with the overwrought teen drama at home have made me lose a lot of interest, I'm only half paying attention.  (Which is why I'm not sure what epi I just watched.)  I'll stick it out to the end but frankly I'd rather watch The Martian for the gazillionth time.

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On 9/8/2020 at 3:53 PM, ClareWalks said:

Okay, re-read your comment through that lens and I agree, especially when one of those women has a husband with a potentially incapacitating health condition and their only backup parent figure is a single mom of a special-needs child. They did NOT think this through!

I couldn’t help but wonder why people with young kids would be selected. I’m guessing the first mission to Mars would be hugely competitive with heaps of candidates who were so committed that there was no space for kids derailing their focus. The show certainly didn’t go out of its way to demonstrate what Emma brought to the table that no one else could match and that rendered her split-focus worth it.

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Why should having kids disqualify a candidate? Yes, it's an incredibly dangerous job, but they're the ones that can make the call for their family. Also, if you have young kids, chances are you're on the young side and likely in peak health and fitness, as well as able to stand the stresses of space better.

That said, I wish we'd gotten more detail on why these particular people were chosen for the mission, other than they're all apparently the best and the crew had to be multinational.

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I feel this way about this show and most fiction shows.

I live in NYC and most TV shows and movies never get Manhattan's geography right, and it's not that hard.  Law and Order never got grand jury proceedings right and that's not hard either. 

But, I enjoy these shows and movies because I don't focus on what's wrong, or what doesn't work.  If I were to do that, I'd never watch anything filmed in NYC. 

This show really isn't about science or about Mars.  I see it as a show about people working together for a goal which is a good thing for people to see today.

I also love the show's soundtrack.

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8 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Why should having kids disqualify a candidate? Yes, it's an incredibly dangerous job, but they're the ones that can make the call for their family. Also, if you have young kids, chances are you're on the young side and likely in peak health and fitness, as well as able to stand the stresses of space better.

That said, I wish we'd gotten more detail on why these particular people were chosen for the mission, other than they're all apparently the best and the crew had to be multinational.

I don’t think it should disqualify them, I just think if I was picking people for a three year mission to a distant planet and I had two equally competent candidates - one with young kids, and one without, I’d pick the one without.  I don’t have kids so maybe I overestimate the number of young fit women without them, but it seems like there’d be a few who managed to not accidentally get pregnant during astronaut training. 

 

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12 minutes ago, marieYOTZ said:

I don’t think it should disqualify them, I just think if I was picking people for a three year mission to a distant planet and I had two equally competent candidates - one with young kids, and one without, I’d pick the one without.  I don’t have kids so maybe I overestimate the number of young fit women without them, but it seems like there’d be a few who managed to not accidentally get pregnant during astronaut training. 

 

To me, the fact that Emma actually pleaded to go home because of her sick husband and whiny daughter is another knock against the writers. We’ve already talked about Emma’s questionable decision-making an inability to generate ideas that helped her crew. 

 Most women astronauts would not be like this, even mothers, so it upsets me that Emma was written this way. Certainly no male characters would ever be written as conflicted and ineffective as Emma. 

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25 minutes ago, topanga said:

Most women astronauts would not be like this, even mothers, so it upsets me that Emma was written this way. Certainly no male characters would ever be written as conflicted and ineffective as Emma. 

I have to agree. Astronauts, male or female, aren't just regular people. That's why so few make it through the incredibly rigorous selection process. They have a very distinct combination of qualities you don't find in most people. They're smart and fit obviously, but they also must have a certain amount of ice water in their veins to even get on those giant tin cans and get blasted into space without screaming in terror. 

I agree with the poster who referenced The Martian above. The astronauts in that movie are far more representational of reality, in my opinion. As evidence, I cite the lack of crying, moping and hugging

And yet I still enjoyed it. 😁

Edited by Melina22
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14 hours ago, Melina22 said:

I agree with the poster who referenced The Martian above. The astronauts in that movie are far more representational of reality, in my opinion. As evidence, I cite the lack of crying, moping and hugging

And yet I still enjoyed it. 😁

Me too, despite all of my nitpicking. 

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15 hours ago, topanga said:

Most women astronauts would not be like this, even mothers, so it upsets me that Emma was written this way. Certainly no male characters would ever be written as conflicted and ineffective as Emma.

This is the issue, exactly. Misha isn't crying and begging to go home because his daughter resents him and his grandchildren are tugging at his heartstrings. Yet Emma, the mission commander, FFS, has a crisis of conscience? Hilary Swank is an EP on the show; she should have objected to all the angst.

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On 9/12/2020 at 10:35 AM, marieYOTZ said:

I couldn’t help but wonder why people with young kids would be selected.

I guess it would be one less distraction for an astronaut on a lengthy mission like this, but with this being new territory for NASA, astronaut selection is a crapshoot and there's no guarantee that a potential "ideal" candidate would cope any better.  Luckily our real-life astronauts seem to be much more stable than how their job is portrayed on TV with this particular show.  Em is no Capt. Janeway from Voyager!! 

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"...astronaut selection is a crapshoot..." Considering that astronauts are recruited and trained in groups, it's far from a roll of the dice or picking the short straw. The early Apollo astronauts were guys always at the top of the list in the classroom: Aldrin and Armstrong.

Teacher Christa McAuliffe had young kids at home, to say nothing of her young students, and kids across the country that NASA was hoping to get hooked on the space program which had become so routine and unremarkable.

And while most astronauts are relatively sane and stable, there was that one who drove across the country wearing a diaper... Wasn't she headed to mess with a rival?

Shannon

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Ok, I finished last night and have to admit that despite my complaints I did get teary when they landed.  I guess I was more invested in the characters than I thought.  And I love that Lu defied her handlers about the photo.

Now looking forward to The Right Stuff in a few months.  More science, less tears.

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12 hours ago, IrishPirate said:

"...astronaut selection is a crapshoot..." Considering that astronauts are recruited and trained in groups, it's far from a roll of the dice or picking the short straw. The early Apollo astronauts were guys always at the top of the list in the classroom: Aldrin and Armstrong

And while most astronauts are relatively sane and stable, there was that one who drove across the country wearing a diaper... Wasn't she headed to mess with a rival?

I should've worded that better.  I meant choosing those to go to Mars might be more of a crapshoot in terms of predicting who might have a come-apart with such a long journey.  I know that NASA is very selective in their process, but sometimes someone could have a melt down even after passing their rigorous tests.  Case in point: the astronaut you mentioned.  She had some sort of meltdown over a relationship.  

I thought that there had been some testing down with potential candidates for Mars.  Seems like I saw something about that.  I thought they were sent in small groups to live in isolation to see how they would do.  Maybe I'm thinking of a TV show.  I'm sure the training for going to Mars will be extremely selective.  That's why I find Em as a Commander to be a bit of a "WTH were they thinking?"  She's just too darn weepy.  She does not instill confidence.  

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On 9/6/2020 at 9:52 PM, Melina22 said:

Oh and I love that one of the astronauts brought half a Mars bar. To Mars. 

I wondered about the "half" - did he eat half of it at the halfway point? 😆

On 9/7/2020 at 6:10 AM, WendyM said:

And really, it's not cool that the husband has the answers and is even involved in this mission in the first place.

I suppose it's not - but he did work at Mission Control all along.

Our astronauts have had families - though granted I do wonder why anyone with a child would take a three year mission. On the other hand, soldiers do it all the time. So I don't really see this as a specifically mother issue. Though I do think having a spouse with CCM would eliminate a person from that kind of mission.

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9 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

She still needs her mom, if course, but at this point the support is more emotional.

They probably all thought that things would be okay, then her Dad had a stroke and it basically left her at home to see about him.  As a teenager, that would be a daunting task.   I just hated that she suddenly rebelled like that.  I thought she was holding it together fairly well, then bam, she did the complete opposite!  That's the drama that I really don't care to see.  Teenage angst.  Ugh!!   

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On 9/14/2020 at 7:21 PM, ChitChat said:

I thought that there had been some testing down with potential candidates for Mars.  Seems like I saw something about that.  I thought they were sent in small groups to live in isolation to see how they would do.  Maybe I'm thinking of a TV show.  I'm sure the training for going to Mars will be extremely selective.  That's why I find Em as a Commander to be a bit of a "WTH were they thinking?"  She's just too darn weepy.  She does not instill confidence.  

The isolation pod simulation thing happened on an episode of Lucifer. But then someone was murdered, so...

15 hours ago, ChitChat said:

They probably all thought that things would be okay, then her Dad had a stroke and it basically left her at home to see about him.  As a teenager, that would be a daunting task.   I just hated that she suddenly rebelled like that.  I thought she was holding it together fairly well, then bam, she did the complete opposite!  That's the drama that I really don't care to see.  Teenage angst.  Ugh!!   

I understand this situation must have been stressful, but the way the character was written is horrible. So tropey. And she's an only child who had absolutely no friends until the "bad boy on a dirt bike" showed up. 

There's a show on Netflix called Never Have I Ever about a teenage girl dealing with grief, friendship, rebellion, and general growing pains. But it's a comedy--with a few dramatic elements. The main character is written smartly and with much more nuance. I love this show although I'm far from its target demographic.

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13 hours ago, Neurochick said:

I think this show was more drama than Mars story.

A different type of Mars story is "Mars" on Netflix.  I watched season 1 on NatGeo in 2016.  It's an interesting series because at times I thought I was watching a documentary.

That was a very good show. Fiction interspersed with interviews with today’s scientists about how feasible it is. 

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2 hours ago, Haleth said:

That was a very good show. Fiction interspersed with interviews with today’s scientists about how feasible it is. 

The thing about "Mars" was there was drama, but the drama was almost verified by the scientists who were saying, "this could happen on Mars, or that could happen," and then the drama would show it.  

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Hated that Emma and Matt's term of endearment was "shithead". Even if there is sort of a funny/sweet story behind it, I still don't like it. If I were an Oscar-winning actress and objected to something like that in the script, I'd ask the writers about it and lobby to change it.

Who took the picture of the astronauts on Mars? I didn't see a tripod with a camera on it. 😄  Lu should have given China the finger in the picture.

There was a scene with the daughter and someone outside with the horses in the background. Those horses were standing absolutely still! My daughter and I were trying to tell if they were real or a background. Then one of the horse's ears twitched. 

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3 hours ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

Who took the picture of the astronauts on Mars? I didn't see a tripod with a camera on it. 😄  Lu should have given China the finger in the picture.

Well, she sort of did - since it was supposed to be her with the visor shut. It was a pretty big F U, so far as I could tell. I worry about when she gets back home.

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I don't understand why they wanted her visor to be shut anyway. So China manages to get the first official picture of THEIR astronaut on Mars, and they want her to be unrecognizable? Indistinguishable from the American or the Brit, or anyone else? Weird.

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12 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

I don't understand why they wanted her visor to be shut anyway. So China manages to get the first official picture of THEIR astronaut on Mars, and they want her to be unrecognizable? Indistinguishable from the American or the Brit, or anyone else? Weird.

I figured China wanted all the glory to go to China, not to one person who people would hail as their hero. 

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13 minutes ago, ClareWalks said:

I don't understand why they wanted her visor to be shut anyway. So China manages to get the first official picture of THEIR astronaut on Mars, and they want her to be unrecognizable? Indistinguishable from the American or the Brit, or anyone else? Weird.

Because it's not about the individual, it's about the national achievement.

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To me it's like when one athlete in, say, Canada, spends years working incredibly hard all alone and spending tons of their own money to get to the Olympics, then if they win a medal everyone says, "Awesome! Canada won!" 😁

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On 9/12/2020 at 9:28 AM, ClareWalks said:

How the hell did Ram catch a virus anyway?! They'd been on the ship for months. They make damn sure everyone is healthy before they launch. There's nobody/nothing else that could infect them. It was IMO a massive plothole.

I think Misha offers the throw away line that explains it - Ram's medical file says he carries the Epstein Barr virus and that it can be reactivated in space causing illness.

Since Epstein Barr is one of the most common viruses it would be unusual for him not to have the antibodies for it.  Not sure about the space environment reactivating the virus but the immune system does enough weird things to those of us stuck here on earth that I gave it a pass. 

CDC article about Epstein Barr

https://www.cdc.gov/epstein-barr/about-ebv.html

 

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On 9/9/2020 at 11:12 AM, ClareWalks said:

I was wondering if they'd lost communication with NASA like Pegasus had. Now THAT would be a nightmare.

I totally thought that was going to happen and then Matt would be free to "move on." That they'd think they never made it.

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On 9/11/2020 at 1:49 PM, zibnchy said:

 

Dislike Matt intensely. I'd have preferred if he'd died from that stroke. He and his stink face can please go. Thanks for the FF button.

What I'd like to see in Season 2: Matt's funeral, less screen-time for Lex, bring Mei back!, fewer tears from Emma, fewer feeeeeelings from Ram, more emojis and puppet shows from Misha, well you get the idea. I'd also like to see them give Melissa some work that doesn't involve mooning around after some man.

I really dislike Matt too. Inserting himself into mission control and acting like he’s the only one with a loved one up in that flimsy rocket was annoying to me.

Why not just make him head of NASA since he’s barking orders at Darlene and the other commanders and expecting them to follow his orders? I ff’d through a lot of his back flash scenes because, I don’t care about him! What does Melissa see in him? 

Emma’s blubbering over her family needing her was bad too. You chose this life..deal with it. 
I didn’t mind the daughter, Great actress but we get it, she’s 15 and going through stuff. I found her “romance” at 15 a bit silly. Will she be married by the time her mother returns?

I did enjoy getting to know all the astronauts back stories, aside from what I thought were stereotypical Russian and Chinese characters. 

I found myself tearing  up at the end and hoping for a season 2 (with less Matt)! 

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I am not much interested in space science and the sort, so I was fine with the drama provided here. I think the did a truly wonderful job of having the gang get closer to each other over the course of the season. The scene with the plants may be my favourite scene. 
 

Also, Ram? So hawt. I have a new tv crush. 

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I like Matt but I like Josh Charles.   And I think with a multi-year mission the how does that work with the family at home is a potentially interesting story.   I just wish they'd told it better.

As for moms of young kids (or dads) being selected I'm not sure they would be less able to do their job than any one of a number of deployed service people make those same choices on a daily basis.   

That said, i had no interest, NONE on watching Matt and Cassie's mom or Emma and Ram.  NONE.   Chemistry vacuums.   Vacuums!    

I live about 10 miles from mission control in Houston and used to live closer and I  just keep going, "but that's not what this looks like."   I mean I know that is true about every television show ever but this  time it is in my backyard so it bugs in particular me.

 

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6 hours ago, bybrandy said:

I like Matt but I like Josh Charles.   And I think with a multi-year mission the how does that work with the family at home is a potentially interesting story.   I just wish they'd told it better.

As for moms of young kids (or dads) being selected I'm not sure they would be less able to do their job than any one of a number of deployed service people make those same choices on a daily basis.   

That said, i had no interest, NONE on watching Matt and Cassie's mom or Emma and Ram.  NONE.   Chemistry vacuums.   Vacuums!    

I live about 10 miles from mission control in Houston and used to live closer and I  just keep going, "but that's not what this looks like."   I mean I know that is true about every television show ever but this  time it is in my backyard so it bugs in particular me.

 

I agree that the idea of watching the experience from both the home front and the mission on Mars can be very interesting. As a military brat, I like that the dependents (who are rarely acknowledged as having made sacrifices themselves) are getting a nod. Going to Mars is a larger undertaking, but only in terms of distance. And even so, our astronauts past and present have had families.

I do think they've made Hillary too weepy and indecisive, which I think is directorial, because I think she can definitely look and act like a commander.

I very much liked the way they filled in the other astronauts' stories, and turned them into not only living, breathing, people, but people I could like. After the first episode I wasn't so sure.

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Why is Matt still sleeping in a hospital bed? Is it because he's not ready to accept downstairs as his bedroom?  Because they've got plenty of money for Matt to buy a nice bed that will fit his needs that is likely far more comfortable than a hospital bed.

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1 hour ago, bybrandy said:

Why is Matt still sleeping in a hospital bed? Is it because he's not ready to accept downstairs as his bedroom?  Because they've got plenty of money for Matt to buy a nice bed that will fit his needs that is likely far more comfortable than a hospital bed.

He still has mobility issues, and a hospital bed makes it easier for him to get in and out. And I don't think the house has been fully adapted to his needs yet.

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18 hours ago, Rabithed said:

I really dislike Matt too. Inserting himself into mission control and acting like he’s the only one with a loved one up in that flimsy rocket was annoying to me.

Why not just make him head of NASA since he’s barking orders at Darlene and the other commanders and expecting them to follow his orders? I ff’d through a lot of his back flash scenes because, I don’t care about him! What does Melissa see in him? 

Emma’s blubbering over her family needing her was bad too. You chose this life..deal with it. 
I didn’t mind the daughter, Great actress but we get it, she’s 15 and going through stuff. I found her “romance” at 15 a bit silly. Will she be married by the time her mother returns?

I did enjoy getting to know all the astronauts back stories, aside from what I thought were stereotypical Russian and Chinese characters. 

I found myself tearing  up at the end and hoping for a season 2 (with less Matt)! 

Hate to break it to you but I think you just saw the future (nice powers). I think that now that Darlene has retired Matt is going to become the head of NASA Flight Command and the drama is going to go full throttle (pun intended)!!!

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3 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

He still has mobility issues, and a hospital bed makes it easier for him to get in and out. And I don't think the house has been fully adapted to his needs yet.

Yeah, I guess.  I live with a person with mobility issues and they invested in a really nice bed that accomodated their needs but was a real bed and didn't feel like being in a sick room or sleeping on a crappy hospital mattress and they've never regretted it.  It tends to be the suggestion I give if people have mobility needs that aren't expected to get appreciably worse or quickly better.

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On 9/16/2020 at 11:14 AM, topanga said:

There's a show on Netflix called Never Have I Ever about a teenage girl dealing with grief, friendship, rebellion, and general growing pains. But it's a comedy--with a few dramatic elements. The main character is written smartly and with much more nuance. I love this show although I'm far from its target demographic.

ITA!  Loved that show...

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We just got done watching the show last night.  Can somebody clarify something for me?  Like other people have mentioned, the picture of all FIVE astronauts from the moon was a big F*** U to her boss and country, but did she also have her face shield down?  It looked like the person on the far right you couldn't see their face. If so, now that would REALLY be a FU to her boss!

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On 9/12/2020 at 9:36 PM, Melina22 said:
On 9/12/2020 at 9:12 PM, topanga said:

Most women astronauts would not be like this, even mothers, so it upsets me that Emma was written this way. Certainly no male characters would ever be written as conflicted and ineffective as Emma. 

I have to agree. Astronauts, male or female, aren't just regular people. That's why so few make it through the incredibly rigorous selection process. They have a very distinct combination of qualities you don't find in most people. They're smart and fit obviously, but they also must have a certain amount of ice water in their veins to even get on those giant tin cans and get blasted into space without screaming in terror. 

I

Yes! That’s the problem with the writing, they made Emma and even Ram I think “too regular and relatable”.  Misha and Lu were more in line (but even Lu had her moments of ridiculous) of the characteristics of an astronaut. I liked all 5 of them, and in the beginning I didn’t think that would happen, and I know the “drama” aspect is why that happened but from a practical aspect yeah, I don’t think it represents what astronauts are really like.

 

A good movie I think that also shows their personalities is First Man. I thought Ryan Gosling did a pretty decent job in that movie. But yeah, it definitely seemed like Neil Armstrong was very.....bland and at times cold. But I get it, you can’t be warm and fuzzy, because back then, they really were in, to quote Star Wars, a “bucket of bolts” that sounded like it was gonna break into pieces as they took off into space. I’d be terrified. 
 

I personally don’t think the problem with the story was that they choose a bad candidate in Emma-I think the writers just wrote her very badly. They tried to make her a super star at work at write her as a super mom. I think she was supposed to be their “best” astronaut-yet the 10 episodes written made one think otherwise with all the drama.

The show should have been 6-7 episodes, I don’t think we even needed 8! I actually didn’t mind the husband, he actually gained my respect in the flashback scene when he held his tongue when she climbed onto that jet and wouldn’t “confirm” the not pregnant question, I thought she was going to take off in the jet- he could have easily overstepped his bounds and intervened to “keep her and baby safe” because that so would have happened in shows or movies in the past. But I liked how he just astutely observed. I think I also have a soft spot because I liked him in don’t tell mom the babysitters dead 😂

Anyone know If season 2 is happening? It doesn’t seem like this show got a lot of viewers????

Edited by snickers
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On 9/12/2020 at 9:12 PM, topanga said:

Most women astronauts would not be like this, even mothers, so it upsets me that Emma was written this way. Certainly no male characters would ever be written as conflicted and ineffective as Emma. 

Agreed. I don't see how shows such as this, where the main characters is a weepy, indecisive, guilt-ridden and self-doubting woman, is supposed to be seen as empowering. I much prefer the determined and optimistic-even-in-the-face-of-danger type of characters that are usually depicted in space exploration shows.  Emma comes off like an emotional train wreck most of the time. 
This level of bad writing is usually found on the Lifetime network.

I doubt we will continue past the third episode (we decided to give it a 3-ep chance). 
The second episode was way too maudlin and trope-y. You can already predict that every episode will have  crisis in space and a crisis at home. And everything is exaggerated for maximum drama. A space walk should be standard procedure for an astronaut - but everyone acted as if it was the first time they had ever been outside a space craft.
And the worst part: Emma's husband, in a hospital bed, watching the space walk on TV (despite the live feed being cut), manages to figure out a solution before any of the hundreds of experts at NASA. 

It doesn't help that the writers have stuffed every nook and cranny with potential angst: afflicted husband; angsty teenage daughter; care-giver's daughter with downs syndrome; possible closeted lesbian crewmember; disrespectful and untrusting crew; .. and on and on .. 
Could it get even more angsty and treacly?  Sure - why not add on flashbacks? (complete with bad wigs and gauzy screen filters) 

I don't think I will ever come around to believing that NASA, or any international space organization, would have put this particular group of people together for a three year mission to Mars. They appear undisciplined, unprofessional and act as if they barely know one another. 

 

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