Missions (2017– )
Highly promising sci-fi show, great effects, plot and atmosphere
16 June 2017
This is the 10-episode first season of a French sci-fi production which (having seen two episodes) seems to be solid, well-plotted and gripping, though perhaps with some expected genre commonplace. The episodes are very short (23 minutes each), but they are compact, well paced and filled with action. The acting is okay and the atmosphere is suspenseful and tense, underlined by fine special effects and a professional production. I would say this is a psychological, supernatural sci-fi thriller.

Two millionaire philanthropists vie with each other to finance the first successful manned mission to Mars.

The French crew has 8 passengers. The eighth passenger to board the spaceship (reference to Alien?) is a psychologist who is summoned in the last minute to replace a member of the team who dies unexpectedly. She seems to be the pivot of the events unfolding along the episodes.

The Americans land on Mars first, one day earlier, but Earth loses contact with them as soon as they get there, and the French mission, soon before reaching destination, gets a disturbing danger message from the lost US crew warning not to attempt a rescue. The French decide to go for them anyway, despite the danger, and so the exploration team becomes a rescue party.

However, things get eerie as a series of mishaps and complications start to come up the more they approach Mars, compromising both mission and survival.

A strangest and unexpected presence they find in Mars defies their rational understanding of the mission and anticipates several possible plot lines to develop, from the supernatural to the political and the scientific.

We found the show gripping, suspenseful and very watchable. The French are producing high-quality, superbly written and acted TV shows lately, and this is no exception. Though it is not fantastically innovative (so far), we are enjoying it quite much! Let's see what happens as the episodes come along. It is a 9/10 for the time being.
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