Constellation: Written in the Stars

Johanna “Jo” Ericsson (Noomi Rapace) is an astronaut with the European space agency, while on a mission at the International Space Station (ISS) a freak accident during an important experiment leaves one crew member dead and the others trying to survive.  The escape capsule that could bring the remaining four crew members home is damaged and life support is running low.  The second escape capsule can only take three crew members.  Jo makes the tough choice to be the one to stay behind and repair the remaining capsule in hopes of getting home herself.  In the meantime, members of several of the space agencies want to prioritize the retrieval of the experiment in trying to discover a new form of matter and that possibly caused the accident in the first place as the most important mission, even above the lives of the astronauts.  What exactly was so special about the experiment and what does this mean for the crew?  Watch and find out!

The first episode begins with Jo already back on Earth, so we know she gets home, but something isn’t right.  She is hiding something.  She has her daughter with her, but things just don’t seem right.  Most of the episode flashes back five weeks to the accident and the episode feels more like a regular space drama than science fiction, with a few weird factors thrown in.  It isn’t until she is back home that science fiction really kicks in, with the passage of time seeming to change and things not quite the way she remembers them.  There is a lot of suspense but not a lot of answers given in the first episode.  Jo seems to be worried that she is being tracked or followed by someone or something.  She also is in possession of what we can only assume is the experiment that was taking place during the accident. This all adds to a mystery that wasn’t full explained or explored in the first episode.

I have mixed feelings about the show.  The performances are very well done and the sense of mystery and paranoia is good, giving the show a great atmosphere!  The space station scenes feel real and the settings are all well-conceived and executed.  The plot flows nicely even with the majority of the episode taking place in a flash back. The scenes with the astronaut families were emotionally driven and well crafted.  The problem is it just didn’t grab me at first.  My curiosity is peaked about where it is was going, and the characters all seem very interesting, but I don’t feel enough information about what this is really all about was given.  The first three episodes were released simultaneously, and I think Apple TV is banking on people watching all the episodes at once.  I just wasn’t hooked.  I do find the mystery intriguing and am curious as to what it is all about, but not sure I am intrigued enough to spend my time finding out.