I loved this show so much that I stayed up all night watching Season one on ROKU, and would have watched the rest of Season two if it had not switched to a paid show. I guess the first day was free to get you back for more. My reason for 8 stars is that the show was cancelled as it did not attract enough viewers. When will the producers begin to realise that an audience which enjoys a serious program about science or medicine, is not interested in the shenanigans of the bored wives, and an audience which enjoys the soapy drama of extra marital affairs, marriages in trouble, unwanted pregnancies, teenage romances and such, is bored to tears with the serious part? The poducers need to make up their minds which kind of audience they are aiming for and stop trying to wear two or more hats. The ramped up fictional drama was unnecessary, as the story of the development of the atomic bomb was dramatic enough without team leaders disappearing into psychcological torture prisons, and last minute confrontations in the tower before the first test. Perhaps eminent mathemeticians were shot by trigger happy privates who only saw an Asian face. Perhaps the team leader disappeared and his wife managed to get out of Los Alamos and go all the way to Princeton to request Albert Einstein's help in finding where he was being held, and get back to Los Alamos before anyone realised she had sneaked out. Perhaps, but the drama did not ring true. Nor did the spy killer private who could not keep his mouth shut. Because the series was dragged out, we never got to see the aftermath of the first test, as the scientists had been kidding themselves that it would not be used on innocent civilans, then a few days later two cities were obliterated. The first explosion showed three main characters facing the blast out in the open without their protective black goggles, and even opening their eyes! Give me a break. One thing the series did convey very well was the claustrophobic atmosphere of the hastily built compound in the desert where families were located thousands of miles from their homes and family, and subjected a military discipline by a military police who seemed to think they were running a detention camp for enemy aliens. No one could enter or leave without a pass, and the scentists and families were not allowed to leave at all, although some seemed to managed clandestinely. Any infringment of military orders was considered treason. Telephones lines were tapped and switchboard operators listened in on every call. Mail was censored and may not be forwarded. Some homes were bugged in case anyone spoke of what they were working on. It is a great piity that the series was cancelled, as the aftermath of the first test would have made a great series.
