To the monsters, we're the monsters

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2022.  

#19 : Station Eleven

Some may have worried that a show set at the chaotic onset of a pandemic would be too close to the bone. But Station Eleven quickly proved to be stunning, uplifting television that mused on what makes life worth ploughing on with, as the Traveling Symphony theatre troupe offered art to the post-apocalypse masses. The most poetic show of the year bar none – with one of the most weep-inducing reunion scenes ever seen on screen.

I've heard this is a good series based on a good book - and yes, I have concerns that the whole pandemic thing may be too soon, but given the book was written in 2014, we can hardly claim that was too soon, can we?  So I'm intrigued as to the direction it took - and I like a poetic show, so I'm looking forward to it.

The first episode is pretty straightforward - yes, it's a bit weird in places but for the most part it follows a linear timeline and you suspect the confusion we feel is merely supposed to mirror the confusion that anyone would feel as a pandemic hits.  Not that anyone would know what that feels like, right?!?  But, then right at the end, we get two time jumps in quick succession and a trip to a spaceship, which suggest that things are going to get a bit more complex in later episodes...

And, oh yes, the second episode is very timey-wimey and even the bits that take place in what I'm assuming is now "the present" (2040) don't go out of their way to reduce your confusion.  And then, woah, it goes to a WHOLE new place which I really wasn't expecting.  And now I'm super intrigued...

And then the third episode takes us back to the beginning (2020 - which was both when the fictional pandemic and when filming started, which was then delayed by Covid-19) in the company of the man who died at the beginning of the first episode and his very intriguing wife who we've not met previously, but I think we'll be seeing more of her.  And then we realise that, wait, we have met her previously as it ties back nicely to the opening episode.  And the spaceman makes another appearance as well!

I think you get the general idea - it's not mollycoddling you with the plot.  You really have to pay attention - and even then, it's not at all clear what's going on for large portions of the earlier episodes.  But, the concerns with these things is always - is it actually going to go anywhere?  Or is it just gonna leave us hanging?  The last episode is actually quite intriguing because you don't know how it's going to end, but boy does it tease you with the reunion that you really hope is coming but you're not sure it will (even if you've read The Guardian spoiler).  And I think it gives us an acceptable ending - it's pretty open ended, but you don't feel let down by it.

For the most part, it handles the time jumping pretty well and not too confusingly and it has some very nice call-backs and call-forwards which make you go "ahhh - that actually makes a bit of sense now".  It also does an excellent job in drip-feeding you various relationships between various characters - and they're generally likeable but flawed characters that you care about or understand their motivations (as much as you can, anyway).  It feels like the book is probably pretty literary, but this adaptation isn't too literary to scare people off - I'm interested to read it now to see how close it is to this adaptation (and, whilst buying the book, the guys in Waterstones got very confused when I told them I was watching it because they didn't know this existed).

It deals in contrasts well, handling the mix of hope and despair, normality and ridiculousness, stability and chaos - everything and the opposite of everything really..  It manages some very emotional phone calls - which feels like the sort of thing it should do, but it does them very well.  It also, somewhat surprisingly, features a very cool morale-building speech - which is quite obviously given in an abandoned airport.  Additionally, there are some quite shocking scenes in it as well - you really don't see them coming and they certainly know how to end an episode.

It is BEAUTIFULLY shot - gorgeous scenery (and I mean absolutely GORGEOUS!), atmospheric lighting and some very interesting locations and costumes (it never hurts to set things in a travelling theatre group if you want to make an impact, does it?).  The style very much reminded me of Severance, so it you liked the look of that, then you may well like the look of this (and bizarrely one of the places in this is Severance City, Michigan).  The Last Of Us (which I'm sure we'll be seeing next year!) would be another thing close in visual style and it's also a lot closer in terms of storytelling style - although this features slightly fewer zombies.  Four directors were used across the season - Hiro Murai, Jeremy Podeswa, Helen Shaver and Lucy Tcherniak and they all deserve credit along with Patrick Somerville, the show-runner and the other writers for maintaining a similar-but-different feel across all the episodes.

It's got some serious actors in it too - they didn't mess about with this cast.  As much as this has a main character, it's Kirsten who is played by Mackenzie Davis (who I recognised from Blade Runner 2049, but she's been in quite a few things) and by Matilda Lawler as a young girl and they're both excellent (particularly Matilda given her age).  Other call-outs go to Himesh Patel (I recognised him from Tenet, but apparently he started out in Eastenders) as Jeevan (I would liked to have seen more of him), Danielle Deadwyler as Miranda (a tour-de-force performance) and David Wilmot (LOADS of things, none of which I recognise him from) as Clarke, all of whom are excellent.  But the whole cast is pretty damned good and there are some very recognisable faces in there - Gael Garcia Bernal, Nabheen Rizwan (who I didn't know, but he's Mawaan Rizwan's brother and they look very similar), Lori Petty (Tank Girl) and David Cross all pop up in episodes.

So, to sum up, I really liked this.  Yes, it's not exactly believable but it is indeed a very poetic show and it's lovely to watch (both visually and emotionally) and it rewards the attention it makes you give it - I'll be surprised if it's not in my top three at the end of the year.  At the time of writing, it's available to watch on Lionsgate+, which for most people means it's not really available at all, doesn't it?

#18 - An interesting drama
#20 - A great series