TV-MA | 8 episodes, 1hr approx. | Science Fiction | 2024
Former NASA astronaut and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Henry Caldera (Jonathan Banks) has worked with Russians throughout his career, but it is getting a lot trickier. He knows that if the International Space Station (ISS) is abandoned, he might never be able to replicate his cutting-edge science experiment, because United States–Russia cooperation won’t happen post-Ukraine.
Odd Occurrences
During a spacewalk to repair the damage, Ericsson identifies the apparent cause of the disaster. The station collided with the desiccated corpse of a Soviet-era woman Cosmonaut, who presumably had been orbiting Earth like space-junk.While Ericsson remained alone on the station after the rest of the crew evacuated, she experienced periods of blackouts or “lost time.” After Ericsson returns to Earth, Irene Lysenko (Barbara Sukowa) of the Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS denies the existence of any such missing cosmonaut. Lysenko, who knows about Ericsson’s blackouts, gaslights the woman into changing her testimony, so the Russians can avoid responsibility for the accident. Or, is there something else she wants to cover up?
Regardless, Ericsson finds many things different from what she remembers. Some, like the color of her car, are small details, but others are substantial. While she thinks she is happily married to Taylor, he believes she is having an affair with European Space Agency chief Frederic Duverger (Julian Looman). Rather awkwardly for Ericsson, Duverger seems to think so, too. Perhaps most disturbing for Ericsson, her beloved Alice is also different. For one thing, her daughter no longer knows any of Ericsson’s native Swedish. But there are many more differences.
Meanwhile, Henry Caldera is obsessed with recovering the data from his experiment. Periodically, we also watch “Bud” Caldera, another former astronaut who looks and sounds like Henry’s twin. However, Bud Caldera’s career ended in ruin, forcing the embittered astronaut to debate moon landing conspiracy theorists at science fiction conventions. It is unclear what the relationship is between the Calderas, but some kind of resentment between them is implied.
Mr. Harness now suggests that something entirely different happened from what the first two episodes presented, opening a floodgate of speculation. The big cosmic mystery might have held up better if Mr. Harness had started at the end, then reverse-engineered the story. Instead, cracks emerge in the internal logic of “Constellation” when you revisit earlier sequences. The more viewers find themselves asking, “did that twist make sense?,” the more likely it does not.
Impressive Special Effects
On the positive side, “Constellation” features some impressive special effects. The ISS sets look great on-screen. Frankly, Mr. Harness and company depict the ISS crew in a much more credible manner than the recent film, “I.S.S.,” which characterized American astronauts as either passive shrinking violets or sociopathic villains.
It is too bad “Constellation” has distracting issues of logic and consistency, because Mr. Banks (“Breaking Bad,” “Beverly Hills Cop”) gives a career performance as Henry and “Bud” Caldera. He has a talent for making even the most mundane piece of dialogue sound pointed and cutting.
A great deal of money was lavished on “Constellation,” but many viewers will probably remember the inventive use of a Fisher-Price boom box to bridge the cosmic gap between characters. These are standout scenes, tightly executed by Israeli director Joseph Cedar, who helmed the foreign language Oscar-nominees “Footnote” and “Beaufort.”
You can see a great deal of hard work went into “Constellation,” but often in conflicting, counter-productive ways. As a series, it is too tricky for its own good. The results are occasionally interesting, but there is better science fiction available that’s more worthy of your streaming time. Not fully recommended.
