Fridays, 10 pm, AXN
***1/2
Plot: A female astronaut returns from a 13-month solo mission. A routine check up reveals that she's pregnant. But how?
Setting: Set sometime in the near future, the story sees a technologically evolved world with the human face standing on the threshold of something momentous. Much has changed from the present world we inhabit, but certain things remain the same
The Story So Far: Molly (Halle Berry) has had an encounter in outer space but cannot share it with her husband and robotic 'son', but herself is unsure what it is. She works for the Agency, which is run and funded by a private corporation called Yasumoto. She's worked there and everybody knows her. But she can't shake the feeling that something is being hid from her. Her doctor friend Sam, who is also a colleague, informs her of an impending pregnancy, stunning Molly. She isn't sure what she experienced during a brief blankout in space, but is pretty sure it couldn't have led to a pregnancy (because she has been trying for years with no success and because she believes she had been intimate with a former lover, long believed to be dead). Meanwhile, she sees several changes have taken place in the nature of her "humanich" prototype son, Ethan. He seems distant and aggressive. Sam suggests they call in the pregnancy, but an eerie meeting with a fellow astronaut compels her to keep the secret to herself. The Agency eventually finds out about it, they want her to come in and be quarantined but she decides to flee with her family to her dad's, who lives on a remote island. But will she outrun them for long?
Highlights: Steven Spielberg has executive produced the show. So, expect high production values and superior quality of writing with some cinematic vision brought in. The detailing and futurist research is quite eye-catching. Halle is competent as the troubled Molly but it is the restrained Ken Watanabe as the unpredictable and driven Yasumoto who shines. Photography and VFX are top-notch.
Verdict: Going by the four episodes so far, things are moving at an even pace and you are intrigued enough to see how the story unfolds. Each episode introduces a significant twist, and that should sustain the momentum for some time.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}