"Away", a new drama on Netflix, tells the story of the first manned expedition to Mars: Emma Green (played by Hilary Swank) leads an international team of astronauts on the three-year mission, while her husband Matt (Josh Charles) is part of the Earth support team.
As we explain in the latest episode of the Original Content podcast, the show starts off a little slow and its space sequences (especially a first spacewalk) aren't as thrilling as we hoped.
But "Away" excels at creating compelling human drama: there's credible tension on the spaceship and mission control, and pain and guilt on both sides as astronauts are separated from loved ones on the long journey to and from. towards Mars.
Anthony admitted that before watching, he was worried that the show might be a little too weeping and melodramatic. Instead, he was impressed with how he made all of the storylines natural and important, no matter how high or low the stakes are. And we also loved the way astronaut backstories are filled in via flashbacks - the third episode, centered on Chinese astronaut Lu Wang (Vivian Lu), was one of the first highlights.
In addition to reviewing "Away," we also talked about what we've been up to since the last regular episode two weeks ago, and we discussed a new Disney + co-watching feature called GroupWatch.
You can hear our review in the player below, subscribe using Apple Podcast or find us in your favorite podcast player. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review on Apple. You can also Follow us on Twitter or send us feedback directly. (Or suggest shows and movies to watch!)
If you'd like to skip ahead, here's how the episode breaks down:
0:00 Introduction / recovery
5:55 Disney + discussion
9:19 "Away" review
41:41 "Away" Spoiler Discussion