"Away" Netflix's New Sci-Fi Series, Season 1 Review

In Netflix’s new science-fiction drama Away, is a series about the first manned mission to Mars. the mission is a three-year mission to land on the Mars and return to earth. With Emma Green( Hilary Swank) as the mission commander leading the team of the world’s best and brightest include Misha (Mark Ivanir), Earth’s most experienced cosmonaut, wry-tongued Indian co-pilot Ram (Ray Panthaki), Ghanan/British botanist and space newbie Kwesi (Ato Essandoh), and Lu (Vivian Wu), the reserved Chinese representative who has been tagged as the first person to set foot on the surface of the solar system’s fourth planet.

Supporting Emma in every way from Earth is her husband Matt (Josh Charles

), who wanted to be on the mission himself, but was removed from due to a degenerative neurological condition. He’s left working in mission control as the brain behind the mission and at the same time taking care of their teenage daughter Alexis (Talitha Eliana Bateman).

While every episode alternates between Emma’s family at home, mission control, and whatever problem pops up on the Atlas, throughout the first season of the show, each character also gets their moment in the spotlight in flashbacks showing their background story and the path that led them to space and the people they’ve left behind.

While Misha abandoned his daughter to serve his country and ego, doesn’t know how to make things right with his daughter however he asks forgiveness before every spacewalk. Lu became an astronaut to prove herself to a father who preferred a son. Emma is constantly plagued by guilt and fear about everything she’s missing out on. Away also emphasizes on the burdens women have to face who want to have it all, all the female character has a big story to tell and sacrifices they made to be in the mission.

While most science fiction centres around world-spanning conflicts, but in Away, every conflict is personal, and so is every solution and without much of a cosmic threat or real villains, the show lacks much of action and dramatic momentum, but the strong characters still manages to propel it forward. Of course with Hilary Swank and the Josh Charles in lead the show will have the best to offer in upcoming seasons.

All 10 episodes of the show’s first season, which were all released on Sept. 4 are available to stream now on Netflix.