Away

I'm really not averse to a good lump in the throat - This Is Us and the first seasons of Grey's Anatomy are among my favorite series - but Away does make it really bad. Too much, I would say. Katims employs such cheap sentiment that you would think he pulled his cringe-worthy monologues, bombastic music and over-the-top American hero worship from the shelves of a Dollar Store. If you want to whine a lot, then you better drive at your local traffic light ten times through the red and check your bank account a month later. Then you feel more sincere emotions than when watching Away. You are just a bit more expensive. Well, yes. Away has more open doors and clichés than Pierre van Hooijdonk's commentary after the Netherlands - Malta. There is almost nothing unique in this series. Everything has been stolen from movies like Apollo 13, The Martian and Gravity. There are of course the shots of a loudly applauding NASA mission control center, after Emma & co have managed to solve a life-threatening problem. We see astronauts killing each other, but eventually coming to the conclusion that they will have to work together to survive. Of course there are also the personal reflections and the different characters come to insights that they never had on earth. It is all so uninspiring. Even Russia and China - completely in line with the narrative of the 1980s - are portrayed as countries with which it is difficult to cooperate. People who are willing to smash eight hours on a show really earn more than this. Finally, we should also talk about how clumsy the 'floating' in the space capsule looks. Could it be even clearer that the cast hung from two metal cables half the time? If you didn't already see it in the mechanical way of movement, then the contours of the uncomfortably seated harness in the crotch region betray it. Considering how tight that thing is tightened up, it's a wonder the male cast doesn't talk four octaves higher all the time. When it comes to floating, Away is consistent, because it looks just as fake as the rest of the set. I understand it's asking too much to shoot a series like this on location, but does it really have to be so clearly visible that they are constantly moving between sets made from cardboard? Okay, cardboard may be a bit overcoated, but it didn't feel 'real' to me for a moment. All the better that I have served this melodramatic misery all the way to the end. I feel the ride took even longer than Emma's journey to Mars itself. Don't do it to yourself. Life is short for series like this one.

A great Pilot. I'll keep looking!