Mars

Great show, really atmospheric and factual as well. Its kind of a Docu-Drama with a sprinkling of suspense in there. The music is really good too, really adds to the experience.

I liked this a lot and in the official website there is the information that the show returns on spring. I can't wait for the next season!

Twin Storytelling! This novel approach to story telling has great potential and I've chosen to characterize it as that of twins: one brainy the other dramatic, together dynamic. National Geographic (not somewhere I expected to find good SciFi) has artfully presented the race to colonizing Mars as both Science (using interviews with those intimately involved in the historical and current space program) and Fiction (as a dramatic projection of the how those theories will play out in the next 15+ years). I've found it fascinating, even though, in the first season, I was sometimes impatient when the drama had been interrupted by the science (the drama is that good!). The first season I binged because I hadn't become aware of it until it had finished broadcasting. The second season I watched episodically, as broadcast, and feel they have fine tuned the balance and rhythm of integrating hypothesis and projection. I gave the first season an 8 (fascinating) out of 10, but have now raised my rating to 8.5 (exceptional) and hope National Geographic will continue this experiment by renewing it for an indefinite run. This is a really great series! [Documentary Science and Dramatized Fiction hybrid]

I am all for this kind of stuff - going into space, colonization, living among the stars and I hope to witness this when it happens. But I am very much on the fence with this show. maybe my expectations were too high. The concept of the show is good as is the execution. The documentary parts are very informative and insightful. Then there is the scripted part that is all about dramatization. And most of it is due to illogical decisons of the characters. The science isn´t waterproof and I felt there are a lot of plot holes. One thing this shows, and I´m not sure if intentional or by accident, is that humans will stay humans. They take their structures and hierachies with them no matter where they go.

you will enjoy it if interested in Space travel, the documentary parts of 2016 are very interesting, and the fictional part situated 17 years later are stimulating for the social implications of such an endeavour.

This show is really about its format; the mix between fact, and dramatization is novel and I hope to see more like it. Unfortunately the calibre of acting and writing needs to be much higher for this format to succeed, else it could actually sour the entire format.

I definitely enjoyed season 1 more than season 2 as I felt the whole show moved more into drama category than documentary by season 2. Not that this wasn't well done overall, but the mix documentary-fiction of season 1 was just so well balanced and informative that I can't help feel a little disappointed by season 2. Not that the second season doesn't have merit on its own and depicted something we can all agree on: humans being humans, conflicts, personal vs national interest, the need to colonize over and over again.

However, nothing beats the charm and discovery of season 1 with the first steps, the first trials, the first everything.

This would normally tick all the boxes for me. It struggles between actual good story and preachiness. Had it had a lower budget, It would have been unwatchable.

it should be two different shows. It just seems so split in how it was produced. Still worth giving it a shot though