Station Eleven (HBO Max)

JTMan · 07-12-2021 7:04pm #1

NY Times thinks this will be one of the best TV shows of 2021. ( https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/arts/television/best-tv-shows.html )

"This limited series, which arrives Dec. 16, is about a global pandemic that wipes out most of humanity, and I am assuming I’ve scared off at least half of you already. But hear me out: The adaptation by Patrick Somerville (“The Leftovers”) of the 2014 novel by Emily St. John Mandel is moving, eccentrically funny and even hopeful. Following a Shakespeare troupe that travels the Midwest 20 years after doomsday, it invites us to ask what we want to survive us after we’ve done the old mortal-coil shuffle. (Streaming on HBO Max beginning Dec. 16.)"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaAG-SwEa7k

gmisk · 07-12-2021 9:53pm

I must admit I gave up on the book...but might go back this looks pretty good

yabadabado · 07-12-2021 10:08pm

David Wilmots character one of the main leads?

Pretty big gig for him.

Slydice · 07-12-2021 11:21pm

Wierd.. trailer feels similar to Y the last man.

jill_valentine · 10-12-2021 6:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287563#Comment_118287563

Very different tonally and thematically.

One of my very favourite books and the cast looks amazing. The advance hype is very strong, so I've high hopes it might live up to it. Strange to me Sky Atlantic isn't carrying it though, seems fairly squarely in their wheelhouse imho.

jill_valentine · 14-12-2021 1:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287051#Comment_118287051

If it follows the book, he's one of the five-ish main ones, and he's really key to the second half.

This is starting to appear on best-of-the-year lists and getting tips for awards based on the advance screeners. It starts on Thursday with 3 eps in the US, but over here it's being carried by Starzplay (?) on Rakuten.

Slightly mystified by that if it's an awards contender because it doesn't look cheap.

gmisk · 14-12-2021 9:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118318120#Comment_118318120

Starzplay gets a lot of big stuff here now, you can get it via Amazon prime (but you pay extra for it)

jill_valentine · 17-12-2021 12:08am

First three episodes are out and about and I haven't enjoyed 3 eps of anything this much since The Terror. Phenomenally well made. Just a little bit weird, but so confident it makes it work, that and all the space and quiet. It's thoughtful and ponderous rather than Walking Dead grimdark action but that just gave some stuff more impact IMHO.

Also, Idk how David Wilmot feels like he's somehow extra Irish in this but he does and it's class.

Raging I have to wait another week for more now though.

JP Liz V1 · 17-12-2021 12:50am

StarzPlay on Sunday January 30th

BillGrogan · 17-12-2021 1:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118334267#Comment_118334267

How did you watch it?

jill_valentine · 17-12-2021 3:32pm

I saw it on a friend's dodgybox, I'm afraid, so I'm no use to you. Thought it was wonderful though, I'm raring for more.

My only caveat is that sometimes you're shown something that feels a little pointless or random - having read the book I know it's probably not, the significance of everything just isn't instantly apparent. But if I hadn't read it and didn't know that's what was happening I might think it was being a little randomly aimless now and then, because it will only be in the next few episodes that stuff starts interlocking in a big way.

The first three episodes feel like three almost standalone stories, but they're not at all. A big theme of the book is that all this stuff that might seem like a superficially throwaway or insignificant thing turns out to have huge importance or resonance in a few chapters or years time.

The other thing is, seeing the premise in summary doesn't do the execution any justice at all. There's some really, really clever audio and editing stuff that I'm guessing is down to Hiro Murai, and it's some of the best executed "nonsequential timeline" stuff I can think of, it doesn't feel like anything else in the genre.

The post-pandemic setting is beautiful too, the rest of the show has very little in common with Last of Us, but the thriving environment and reclaimed buildings did bring it to mind. It makes a big difference in the tone compared to what you might expect because even though there aren't many people around, everything feels really... well, alive.

jill_valentine · 20-12-2021 12:05am

Has anybody else caught up with this yet? Mad to rave about it with somewhere.

Atlantic Dawn · 20-12-2021 12:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349480#Comment_118349480

On episode 1 now, hoping to get through the first 3 tonight if I can.

gmisk · 20-12-2021 10:11pm

Watched episode one.

I like it! I actually don't mind the little flashes back and forward which I usually am not a fan of. It felt very personal and intimate given the large scale of some set pieces, the child actress is excellent. Looks to be one to stick with!

jill_valentine · 24-12-2021 3:48pm

I thought yesterday's two episodes were a slight step down from the first three, but I still enjoyed them greatly.

David Wilmot's performance in the second is fantastic, but the writing is awkward at times. The Travelling Symphony stuff is struggling to keep Alex sympathetic I think, and a lot's being asked of Mackenzie Davis to try to make their dynamic work. Lori Petty, meanwhile, makes everything she does look easy.

The 1 ep of Travelling Symphony + 1 ep of Somebody Else pattern seems to be holding, which is interesting, but frustrating because that’s two big cliffhangers we've been left with in 2040 before heading into somebody we don't know yet for an hour.

Slydice · 29-12-2021 1:23am

01: Wow! That was some damn well written world-ending right there! Definitely need to know more!

The amount of curse words I used about Tanya!😁 but I guess it's ok.. ish.. kinda.. not really but you know what I mean.

Really felt for young Kirsten. Felt better seeing she'd made it to grown up. Everything felt wierd about Jeevan taking an eight year old kid off like that.

I'm guessing the space scene was just grown up Kirstens imagination.

I really liked the flicks between the episode scenes and the post apocalypse scenes. Was hoping for one at the hospital but it didn't happen.

Seeing Mackenzie Davis was a big plus. She was great in Terminator Dark Fate. As I remember she had some real heart in that film so I'm guessing she'll deliver a grown Kirsten from the first episode pretty well.

So yeah, I guess the story is main strength that has pulled me in so far.

Slydice · 29-12-2021 2:34am

02: The kid playing young Kirsten is doing a great job!

Also, Phew! Kinda felt some relief there when

Grown Kirsten stabbed the dude. Not for what she did but just that the show lifted the veil on some tension it had been building up. Definitely stuff was starting to feel off and at least that gives some revelation to the mystery. Though it did raise more questions.

Definitely bad vibes from that dude she stabbed and his brother. Also the dude who invited the troupe to perform.

Huge questions about what happened to Javeen and Frank but I get the feeling Frank will have been killed at the apartment by an outsider attack. Javeen.. I dunno.. something more complicated there.

I liked the Hamlet costume. Poor ole Hamlet with the weight of the world on his shoulders... or maybe the coats represent the ghosts haunting him.. I dunno.

A show with a decent script! What a difference!

Also, Mackenzie Davis is a huge strength. The terminator link, her physicallity, her performance of the characters attitude, all feeling sharp like a blade!

Slydice · 29-12-2021 3:13pm

03: Well.. somehow this show had me rooting for a Conference Pitch meeting on Logistics! 🙂 Air and Sea Unite!

I'm guessing Miranda survives this hotel room stay. They showed the spacesuit in the room with her but I also noticed it on the bus earlier. I'm not sure now if I've missed other hidden elements or if they matter hugely.

Liked the tie-in with Kirsten but I was also noticeing for some of the earlier flashbacks that Kirsten didn't exist in them 🙂

Two good episodes so definitely this director Hiro Murai is one to watch! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiro_Murai

Experience with Barry, Legion on wiki, also Atlanta which I don't know but scored high on RT: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/hiro_murai

Also Danielle Deadwyler's performance as Miranda Carroll. That was really good. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle_Deadwyler

Slydice · 29-12-2021 8:40pm

04: That one dragged a bit but then.. that ending! 😲

This Prophet dude has to go!

Still unsure about Franks fate. Also Jeevan.. could be dead or alive .. nothing has been shown on screen.. wolves were implied I guess.

I wonder who was that baby that little Kirsten was holding. Maybe a little brother from before the night of the play.

Slydice · 29-12-2021 10:07pm

Alright, so.. the halfway point.

What's the show? Well it's an end of the world (disease) situation. Not actioney, more story about the characters.

Set in the before times and after times using flashbacks/flashforwards. It's kinda half how-the-world-ends-and-people-cope but also half actors/acting/directors/cast/crew/theatre as those are the professions of the people the story revolves around.

Early, it goes fast and has some decent hooks. Getting to be a bit dragging out in the middle but could change again.

Checked the wiki to get a feel for how the rest episodes as the directors/writers seem to matter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Station_Eleven_(miniseries)

A couple of hard-to-tells coming up but then looks like the final episodes will be back to the people from the early ones so might be setting up to end on a high.

05: Ah! Well, that explained a bunch. Episode did drag a bit again. Maybe because I was guessing the reveal from very early on.

So I guess there's going to be a Grown-up Station Eleven powered Kirsten vs a Grown-up Station Eleven powered Tyler. I wonder if Miranda had any changes in the two editions. Maybe they can come to terms.

This Irish guy 😁 The Dubliner theathrical businessman who used to go boating in the mouth of the Shannon.. I assume outta Limerick or off of Kerry. Can't beat having an Irish guy for drinkin and saying F*ck a bunch 😁 and

shitting in a changing room while getting off his head on drugs

fritzelly · 29-12-2021 10:51pm

I'm half and half on this - the future stuff is boring AF, if it wasn't a limited series I would have given up on it

Slydice · 30-12-2021 3:32pm

06: Okie..

So the airport folks are still up and running but who's there and what they do is an unknown. Could be good or bad.

Getting to see these bandanas, I'm guessing they don't catch Kirsten. That the kids might take them out. Kirsten already seems to have gotten 3 and there looks to just be 5 more. Maybe the kids will attack them. Hard to tell. Maybe not, maybe there's gonna be an exploration of the bandanas.. hardly that they are the remnants of the cheerleaders?! No sign of a woman among them so far.

These kids definitely need help though. Tyler seems to recognise he's lost control and can't care for them.

Slydice · 30-12-2021 5:17pm

07: Not sure if there's an award type for her role but Matilda Lawler has done every scene as lil Kirsten really well.

Ah nooooo Frank! 🙁

I remember damage

Slydice · 30-12-2021 5:21pm

Oop! There's a bit at the end of the credits in 07. It's just a voice line.

Just rechecked the other episodes just in case but nothing at the end of their credits from what I could tell.

ejmaztec · 31-12-2021 2:18am

I may have been hallucinating but I could have sworn that the pushbike guy also played the part of Elizabeth's agent in the airport episode (except with a black wig and a "foreign Accent"). I remember the fella as the regular villain, Elias, in Person of Interest.

fritzelly · 31-12-2021 4:13am

Will be very pissed off if they do a bait and switch and this show gets renewed - on episode 7 and it's tough to stay engaged with it, better be some payoff