The Eternaut
This is a short review because I’m on vacation, and because this short series seems to do a lot but really doesn’t. Plus, even though on paper the series seems like something I would really get into, I never formed any kind of emotional attachment to any aspect of the story.
The Eternaut is based on a 1957-1959 Argentinian dystopian science fiction comic, which was revived in 1969 and then again in 1975. The story has been passed around, inherited, reinvented, and generally accrued a lot of baggage before Netflix paid to have a series made. The story is weird, surprising, and impossible to guess comes next. In Buenos Aires, Argentina on a hot summer night, it begins to snow. The white stuff falls steadily but doesn’t accumulate more than a few inches. It instantly kills anyone who encounters it. A group of middle aged men who have known each other forever are trapped in an apartment complex by the snow, they’re not stupid or cowardly but they’re just average guys. They know they need to figure out a way to survive the snow, and they want to somehow find and bring their families to the complex that has become their safe haven.
This far into the story I was pretty intrigued. It’s an interesting idea and the danger is well presented. But then the story morphs into an alien invasion. After that it morphs into yet another thing. There are lots of characters and subplots and chilling sequences that try to break your heart and scare you and make you root for these hardy survivors. It’s an interesting moment every time we watch the men figure out how to survive and see hints of something bigger coming at them that they don’t see but we do.
There is an ongoing theme of persisting in the face of seeming insurmountable adversity, and having to bond together as a species to survive. At the beginning of the series I was reminded somewhat of The Night Eats the World, but for the most part it’s a pretty original idea, well done. The acting is fairly solid, though not outstanding from anyone, and the urban apocalypse of Buenos Aires is a great example of ruin porn. The scale is large and believable and is a part of the mens’ challenge as they must continue to figure out what’s going on, what they can do about it, and simply survive to another day. They are always on the cusp of failure, never totally sure what’s going on, and they never give up fighting against a foe they know almost nothing about.
The show is a mix of surrealistic apocalypse portrayed in the greys and thin shadows that we are accustomed to in our age of The Walking Dead style, with the most average of everyman characters. It tries hard to tug on the viewer’s heart and scare them, and with me at least it really failed. I was interested to see where the bizarre story goes, but I never felt any emotional tie to the characters. Nothing beyond great ruin porn stood out to me in the way of cinematography or written dialogue, or even the many action scenes. You’ll also have to read some really fast subtitles. I took Spanish for years back in the day, but I barely recognized the occasional word or phrase.
It probably won’t blow you away in any aspect, but it’s entertaining enough that I recommend this if you’re interested in watching something actually different. There is supposed to be a season two coming, and I will check it out, just to see where this bizarre story goes next. It feels weird to have zero interest in what happens to any of the characters and I’m still unsure why I feel that way. But I’ll watch it.
LINKS
CFR: In Addition
When Cranky sent me this review, the email began with “Here is yet another show you will not watch.” Ok Cranky, I won’t. In fact, I hadn’t planned on watching it anyway.
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