Away, on Netflix, is a science-fiction drama that commands our attention and very well deserves it too. It is real, captivating and doesn’t dull out for even a moment. This one definitely deserves to make it to our streaming lists.

The whole portrayal of ‘journey to Mars’ hasn’t been a new or unique idea for Hollywood. We have seen the likes of such a storyline but in the case of Away, it is different. Away has been shot in space on the way to Mars which makes it hugely different and commendable when compared with similar works.

The series proceeds to show how going to Mars is quite the mammoth task and is not to be taken lightly! There are risks in the job and Emma Green (Hilary Swank)  puts it as blatantly as possible. Away predominantly speaks about the struggles of five astronauts risking almost everything to make a mark and, of course, bring in a humongous change to humankind. 

The basic storyline doesn’t speak of the technicalities of getting to a different planet, it deals with the work-place drama that follows. For me, this has been such a new genre to binge on and has been refreshing, to say the least. The performances are up to the mark, leaving no scope of expressing any reservations regarding the same.

The ten episodes of the show follow Hilary Swank as she is entrusted with the responsibility to lead a Mission to get to Mars.

This mission of getting to Mars and landing back on Earth will go on for a duration of three years. Emma Green has a wonderfully supportive husband who tries to be there with her through everything and motivates her to keep going forward with the mission. Originally her husband was supposed to be on the ship too. 

Away realistically shows many difficulties! 

I mean yes, this is not about going to a different country in an aircraft while you comfortably lounge in your seats watching some content thirty thousand feet above the ground – this is the real deal. It is assumed that there will be a bunch of hardships that will be shown and that is exactly how it turned out to be!

Away, at a certain point, will show enough hardships which are spirit-dampening and soul-crushing for you to watch as an audience! Starting from equipment malfunctioning, which causes a water shortage, to a part of somebody’s foot falling off in space because let’s face it, space can be a very weird place to be in.

Despite the innumerable hardships, everybody is still at the mission unwavering as ever. You’d think to yourself that there is absolutely no excuse for you to not do your job correctly while you’re walking on the face of Earth (lol, jk!) Despite encountering equipment failure after failure, with chances of their resupply ship being exploded, Away won’t and can’t stop for anything. 

Relatable and real! 

The team comprising of the five people on board for the mission have left their families back on Earth and that is really what Away stands for, among other things.

There’s isn’t too much of technology that has found expression through this series, neither is it about the action that has been put behind the series. It is about the journey of their crew-members and how they relate to each other about having to leave behind families back on Earth.

There’s not much to lose if the mission doesn’t work out. It is an exploratory research that is being conducted and chances are that if this mission doesn’t succeed, such experiments will not be conducted in the future.

There are elements of thrill and revelation too (okay, this could be a teeny tiny spoiler). Despite technical equipment failing, the whole crew still manages to keep pulling through it all. This leads to astronauts debating about the various causes that can possibly make this a miracle, but a revelation is made and everything starts to make sense again.

Overall, Away makes for an interesting and satisfying watch because there are such elements in aplenty. How the show-makers have sincerely and thoughtfully incorporated the whole team of brilliant minds at NASA solving every (ALMOST) complicated problems to keep the astronauts safe and sound makes for a good watch! I’d ask you to stream this because Away has a lot to offer and there isn’t a possibility anyway for a review to sum it all up for you!

Away is streaming on Netflix.

Read our other reviews here.