Netflix Series ‘Another Life’ Review

Another Life - American Web Television Series
Another Life is a cliched science fiction drama having a few magical moments in it.
Another Life - American Web Television Series
Another Life is a cliched science fiction drama having a few magical moments in it.

Another Netflix series ‘Another Life’ was aired on July 25, 2019. This American series is created by famous TV showrunner and writer Aaron Martin. It stars Katee Sackhoff and Samuel Anderson in a science fiction thriller about an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) that abruptly lands on earth.

Created by- Aaron Martin
Starring- Katee Sackhoff, Justin Chatwin, Samuel Anderson, Blu Hunt, Selma Blair
Cinematography- Ryan McMaster
Production- Navy Productions

Plot

An “ouroboros” shaped Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) is spotted in the planet sky, plonks itself in a soybean field and takes a form of a large crystalline structure which is referred to as ‘Artifact’. This ‘Artifact’ is believed to be an alien artifact. Thus, to solve the mystery and its origin, Niko played by Katee Sackhoff is sent on a space mission on a ship called ‘Salvare’ with ten crew members along with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) played by Samuel Anderson. Meanwhile, her husband Erik played by Justin Chatwin, who’s a space scientist, stays back on earth to find the same answers.

Analysis

This ten-episode series starts with a mysterious alien ship hovering over earth and crashing itself on the ground by turning into a crystalline mystifying formation. And all this cinematography and build ups elevate the hope and yearning to watch more. However, that urge somewhere dies down as the series proceeds.

Since, this is not the first space science fiction, we have an idea what might come. And ‘Another Life’ is no different than that. It is an extremely cliched plot of space science fiction drama, where an alien spacecraft lands on earth. And to investigate its origins, and solve its why and how, a team of astronauts is sent on a space mission followed by some obvious hindrances.

Anyhow, the series trails around with a non-linear narrative. Which means the story splits into two parallel narratives; one proceeding on earth and the other in space. And both the plots are more or less analogous to each other. However, the only difference is one goes wild very quickly and the other remains bland.

Nevertheless, the show has a few magical moments. In one of the episodes, three astronauts land on a completely unknown planet and inhale oxygen. The thrill of stepping and traversing through a pitch-dark planet and witnessing a soaring moon in a narrowly circumscribed avenue indeed captures fascinated attention.

Even so, what I was waiting to see entered the picture after four, hour-long episodes. And by that time, the show dampens its own thrill and viewer’s interest, both. Sure, stepping out of the spaceship to fix a mess, and floating in zero-gravity space with universe’s uncanny quietness and mysterious hum, do come, but it would not quench your thirst of surrealism. Maybe, drawing comparisons with Sandra Bullock’s ‘Gravity’ would be unfair here.

Besides, the show did try to talk about obstacles women face when they lead from the front. And “mom-guilt” when Niko leaves her daughter back on earth with her husband. She’s anxious and guilt ridden as she’s not there for her child and falling short of expectations in some way or the other. But this does not help to enrich the characters due to sluggishness in portrayal of the characters.

Despite a raft of flaws, the show kept me going till the end. However, it didn’t leave me craving for the next season.

Explore More:

Typewriter Review