Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Away’ is a space drama that focuses on the first manned mission to Mars. It follows the journey of the crew aboard the ship while also keeping in touch with the situation of the families that are left behind on Earth. It deals with the emotional weight of saying goodbye to one’s family, of surviving the ordeals of space and to make peace with the fact that they might never make back it back while also trying to do the same at all costs. By the end of the journey, a lot changes for the crew of the Atlas. If you haven’t seen the show yet, head over to Netflix. SPOILERS AHEAD
Plot Summary
‘Away’ follows the stories of the people aboard the spaceship Atlas, which is headed for Mars. Under the leadership of Commander Emma Green, the crew- Ram, Kwesi, Misha, and Lu- that features international collaboration, goes through the challenges of keeping up with the malfunctions on the ship, while also keeping their sanity intact in the dark isolation of space.
Back at home, the families of the crew members also struggle to deal with the uncertain nature of the mission, where one misstep can lead to the death of their loved ones. Emma’s family goes through double trouble as just after her departure, her husband suffers a stroke. Lu’s life becomes complicated due to an extramarital affair, Misha struggles to make peace with his estranged daughter, Kwesi holds on to his faith to get through tough times, and Ram struggles with grief from the past and tackles complicated feelings in the present.
Away Season 1 Episode 10 Recap
As the time nears for the Atlas to land on the surface of Mars, Emma becomes more and more anxious about the situation. She has a nightmare where their ship explodes during entry into the atmosphere, and this fear of dying at the last moment is what eats away at her. Ram misconstrues her worries with the reaction to the fact that he had expressed his feelings for her, but Kwesi explains to him that Emma is struggling to keep up with the extreme burden of feeling responsible for the lives of everyone present on the ship. If something happens to anyone under her watch, she won’t be able to forgive herself.
Back on Earth, Matt and Lexi prepare for two things. The first is the touchdown of Atlas and the next is the result of Lexi’s CCM test. Moreover, Lexi still hasn’t told Matt about having made up with Isaac, which creates more tension between them. Matt feels that she is hiding something when he finds her and Melissa whispering between themselves. Eventually, he finds out the truth, but something else comes to light too. It turns out that Melissa has developed feelings for him, which has made things complicated for her.
The Ending
With the anticipation increasing regarding the touchdown on Mars, both the crew and the family members start to get restless. The families are invited to witness the event from mission control, where they get to meet each other. Back at the ship, Emma receives a message from Lexi where she tells her about the results from the CCM Test. It is revealed that Lexi doesn’t have the gene that could have put her at the same danger that led to her father having a stroke. This relieves Emma a bit, but she is still overwhelmed by the responsibility of making sure that the touchdown goes without any incident. She worries that one thing or another might go wrong at the last moment and they will all die in the process. She talks with Matt her in mind about this and worries about the hole they had drilled in the ship when they had problems with the water supply. She worries that some ice might have stuck to the ship on the outside, and these small things will turn out to be their undoing.
Finally, the time arrives to enter the atmosphere of Mars, but before that, the crew leaves messages for their family members. Misha takes the advice of Lu and lets his daughter know that he is proud of her. The flight goes just as Ram had said at the beginning of the episode. The outside of the ship catches on fire, there are sounds of explosions that makes it seem like the ship is going to get blasted away. But in the end, nothing goes wrong. They land safely on the surface of Mars.
They confirm touchdown for mission control, and all five of them marvel at the splendor of the new planet that is going to be their home for a while now. We also get a hint about the research they are going to do there. When Ram says to Kwesi that he is going to grow a garden here, Kwesi says that that’s not it. Their main goal is to prove that life has grown on Mars before. The groundbreaking discovery would also pave the way for other missions to Mars and lead to its eventual colonization. But we don’t go that far.
The time comes for the picture of the first person to set foot on Mars. By the contract signed between the countries involved, it was Lu who would get that privilege, making a Chinese person the first one in the world to do so. For her photo, she is told by her superiors to keep her reflective visor down. This would mean that Lu’s face would not appear in the picture. It would mean that this feat would not be hers to claim, but her country’s. However, Emma advises Lu to take advantage of this situation. Because she is going to be giving up an opportunity of a lifetime, she should ask for something in return. Lu tells her superior that in exchange for the photo op that they want, she wants Mei to be reinstated to mission control. They tell her to do what is asked of her, and say that they will consider her plea.
But Lu knows that a lack of approval means that it is not going to happen. This is when Misha advises her to do what she thinks is right. In a place like Mars, you find that boundaries and countries and flags don’t matter. People and family and love matters, and whatever Lu thinks should happen from now on is exactly what she should do. So, when it finally comes to taking the first picture of a person on Mars, Lu decides to throw the wishes of her superiors out of the window. When the first picture is sent to mission control, it is of all the crew members together, with their reflective visors up. She acknowledges their collective efforts for the mission and does what is right. However, her superiors are not pleased with it, and it will certainly have repercussions for Lu.
Read More: Where is Away Filmed?
