Guh. Netflix’s “Away” is about the first manned mission to Mars. This *should* be all about the thrill of exploration and discovery, right? Right???? Nope. It all about how this Benetton ad full of Incredibly Diverse international astronauts are all emotional wrecks, how leaving home for three years will lead to tragedy and regret.
Hollywood… y’all suck.
Who the frak is this series even *for?* Science fiction fans? Doesn’t really look like it. Space exploration aficionados? Not from the looks of it. People who love weepy emotional barf? Maybe, but how many of those people will want to watch rockets?
Based on this trailer, there’s one way this series could be salvaged. Through the first season run, as we see our Politically Selected and Politically Correct crew being prepared by their UN-approved government program, you see distant background references to some private program. Make sure that whenever it is referenced, anybody responding to it does so with scoff and scorn. But in the last few minutes of the season finale, as our Diverse Heroes approach Mars, they detect radio signals from *ahead.* While nobody was looking, SpaceX got there ahead of them… landing at the US Space Force base that got there ahead of *them*. Season two starts with our Quotanauts landing at the USSF base and being welcomed to a hotel being assembled by the SpaceX crew. The Season One cast all look crushed and defeated, and then the camera pans over to the Season Two cast of American USSF and SpaceX explorers setting out to not only explore Mars but to begin mining operations. Season Two goes in an uplifting direction, with the idiots from the first season being bypassed and forgotten.