User Reviews

After season one had concluded on a somewhat optimistic note, season two starts four years into the future, in the year 2041. This episode sets the stage for the season which seems to focus on the clash between science interests (researching the so far purely ficticious topic of primitive Mars life forms) and economical interests (which are only barely touched upon in the first episodes). I liked the characterizations quite a lot, as a number of characters from season one return, but there are also new characters and new entities (most prominently the "Lukrum" corporation whose objectives remain a bit fuzzy throughout the episode). As with season one, the narrative constantly switches between the fictional tale from the future, and a parallel topic from the present (in this case, an oil drilling platform in the Arctic). Brief snippets of subsequent episodes (which were shown during commercial breaks) indicate a much bigger potential for conflicts between the two sides.

This episode completely made sense, so familiar. We are far from eradicating real humanity threats, who walk, breathe and live among us, right beside us. Parasites. That mentality is so old, so part of us... We are bound to fail, no matter where we go. We are quite basic mammals deep inside in the end.

Couldn't wait for the Season 2 to begin - What a disappointment.

The only thing missing is Trump - everything else is just life on Earth but in Space Suits.

Horrible cringy show. FAR from realistic or based on any actual science. Star Wars is more believeable than this trash. This show brought to you by Greenpeace and no one with any studies in actual scientific or engineering field and selectively get quotes from famous people. And why do they interview journalist and activists?? Those people are out of place and got more screen time than most of the actual scientist and engineers!

This show is entertaining and I'll continue to watch it but the character development is predictable and shallow. Basically, scientists and governments are noble with nothing but good intentions. Private corporations are evil with with greedy agendas. The nations of the world cooperate in peace to achieve a "greater good". The corporation wants to ravage and destroy! Blah. Blah. Blah. Really tiresome premise. I'll continue to watch only because I'm a Sci Fi nerd. It sure won't be due to stellar acting or unpredictable writing.

The first season was ok but this first episode is like a Greenpeace ad... cut ins and info spots between some well done actual story are all extreme left sources.. Man beat us with a club... it's like an intense Avitar but relentless monovision and doom and gloom.. I'm out of here .. didnt expect soon fed but but just cant get a shovel fully down..

Accuracy 4, Science,

Until a Earthlike Atmosphere is created, Mars will continually get deadly levels of Solar Radiation (Gamma, X-Rays, Microwaves, Neutrons, Photons, Ultra Violet) making living on the Surface of Mars Deadly. As to why the First Season they went underground.

Is is also questionable if the Earthlike Atmosphere will be enough as Mars does not have a Magnetosphere, that blocks out most Deadly Solar Radiation before getting to Earth's Atmosphere.

Supposedly when Mars lost a previous Eathlike Atmosphere, most water evaporated into Space, the remaining froze at the northern and southern Mars Ice Caps. Meaning if they need water they must be located near the northern or southern Mars Ice Caps, below minus 23 degrees Celsius, metals, plastics, start to shatter like glass.

Entertainment 6

We still have the talking heads - the likes of Elon Musk - from the present day to give the whole a documentary feel, but now there's also detail, for instance, of the interaction between Greenpeace and a present day drilling rig off Norway.

I'm sure we're supposed to appreciate the parallels between the oil exploration and the private drilling company that's been introduced into the fictional drama on Mars. But as we concentrate more on Greenpeace, it really starts to get in the way of the main storyline. It also focuses attention on the areas where the realism from season one has taken a bit of a hit and political correctness has started to rear its head.

Take, for instance, the plot line concerning water. On Mars water is always going to be scarce. The whole mission would be obsessed with the practicalities of it: purity, freezing and melting, containment, recycling, litres per person per day and so on. They would discuss the numbers. They would go to whatever reservoir they had and they would simply look at it. But not in this version. We're meant to believe in water being transported in a vast pipeline, clearly modeled on an oil pipeline in Alaska, and supposedly 25 km long.

And that's before we get to the drama. It's hard to sympathise with the characters on Mars when the story is constantly punctuated by Newt Gingrich or Greenpeace warriors on their walkie talkies. And we're further distanced from the fictional story as quite a number of the explorers have English as a second language and their accents just aren't always good enough. Added to that, the script is fairly sparse and the dialogue not always convincing. Lingering "emotional" head shots are no doubt meant to compensate, and sometimes they do, but other times they linger a little too long in actors that aren't quite up to the job.

In short, they needed to be fanatical about the realism, the characterisation and the plot to justify the talking heads. They just about managed it in season one, but in season two the balance has tipped the wrong way. You'd need to cut out half the earth-based documentary footage, bring in two or three really good actors and review the science to fix this. As it is, season two is only worth watching for Sci-fi aficionados. Episode 1 - 4/10. Second season - 6/10.