A malfunction in Beacon 23 – a ‘lighthouse’ at the far end of the universe – leads to a chain of events that will expose more than a few secrets.

Honestly the main thing I took away from this opening episode of an adaptation of Hugh Howey’s short story series of the same name was confusion, but in the best possible way. As an opener, it does very little to hold the viewer’s hand, putting us in exactly the same position as each of the two main protagonists with relation to one another, despite spending more time with Lena Headey’s Aster. All we know for sure from very early on is that neither she nor Stephan James’ Solomon are entirely what they seem.

In fact, the show wrongfooted me several times in this opening hour. Solomon’s early attempts to stave off a disaster clashed with another, darker side of his personality suggested in one-sided exchanges with his floating robot assistant. Aster journeyed rapidly from confused victim to confident manipulator. Nothing ever quite turns out to be what it initially appears, but there’s also consistent, enticing suggestions at deeper motives and struggles beyond what we are seeing on the surface.

It’s tricky to say too much more without risking spoilers, and it’s really a story you want to experience properly. With more twists and turns in one episode than many other shows manage in a whole season, perhaps the most remarkable part of all is how deftly the show handles it all. I recall well the mess of season 2 of Heroes, where the writers seemed to have taken the idea that people loves Season One’s twists so much that they had to do multiple big 180s per episode, and how tiresome that quickly became. The key here is that none of the surprises detract from the central established tenets of each character, rather adding layers of nuance and mystery to what we’ve seen.

In terms of lack of handholding, the show really does little to explain itself in terms of setting. The beacon is clearly a space lighthouse, with many similarities to its earth-based counterparts, and something called the ISA is apparently running things. Beyond that, the show is content to just let the viewer fill in the rest by themselves, focusing on the drama and tension between the characters rather than wasting time on exposition for a universe which may be far advanced from our own but remains recognisable in all the important ways.

Verdict: I have no idea where it’s going, nor even which (if any) of the protagonists I’m supposed to be rooting for, but I was never bored, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. What else could you want from a series opener? 9/10

Greg D. Smith