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i really know what you mean abt Away having mixed genre and not fully delivering on either. Like i felt my eyes totally glaze over every time the focus was on the daughter or even the dad, even though i didn’t mind their stories independently i just wasn’t all that invested. whereas i really loved all the crew by the end of the season bc they all do so much more growing and don’t feel as stagnant. also the “problem / conflict of the day” episode format can be fun with sci fi but it gets pretty stale with family dramas lol

 Yeah, I wouldn’t have minded the stories existing as they were but wayyy toned down, especially Lex’s, like, to see Emma trying to be a supportive wife and parent from space and dealing with these conditions, sure, that’s interesting and novel, but it should have been much more in Emma’s perspective than actually following Lex meet and spend time with this boy. There was just nothing novel or new about it, even Matt’s added a lot more, there are way fewer stories about disabled people out there, compared to a pretty ordinary teen romance. 

It seems to be a really common complaint from what I’m seeing, so hopefully they take a cue from this for s2 (if we get one) and focus more on the astronauts.

And another anon:

I think your points about Away are spot on. I even started to skip the teenage stuff. There would have been so much more interesting topics/storylines to go deeper: science!!!, religion/atheism, cultural differences,… I was also disappointed that in the end it was Emma’s husband who solved the water problem, it made her look even more incapable of doing her job. (Which should have been Lu’s anyway imo)

Oh, lol, same. And seriously!! These astronauts and their backgrounds and the intersections and contradictions are so interesting. Just language ALONE, I loved that unlike, for example, Sense8, another very international show where they mostly all spoke accented English, here they actually speak the language they naturally would and people actually have to ask for translations and banter about it organically, like Misha and Lu teasing Emma for not knowing Russian. That’s fair! Or the way they’re each slightly snobby about their area of expertise. 

The only thing I didn’t love was just how far apart they started the mission, kind of petty and immature in how they were arguing, but still, at least they put their differences aside. There’s just so much scope in that, it feels a bit of a waste to focus on the interpersonal drama that could have existed in any old show and then, as you said, the lead-biased writing, where in this case Matt has to be the one to fix things to justify being a lead. 

I guess it’s working, Away’s been at the top in the US Netflix rankings since it dropped, but I hope they take more time with the other astronauts next season too.

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I am literally losing my mind over Lu and Mei, the yearning, the tenderness, the resolve, the isolation. Even tumblr buzzwords feel alive again bc their dynamic is just so good. I watched the al l the lillies compilation bc I don’t have time for the whole show LOL but the final picture…iconic…I wish I could talk about this with someone because it’s a cosmic entity I stg

I know! I just keep repeating the same words, the pining, the yearning, the selflessness, the romance, but they apply so completely to them. I mentioned before how stripped down their scenes are and how that actually highlights just them and like, remember that Renault ad that briefly went viral, with the two childhood best friends that fell in love? One of them was a redhead and it was set to a slowed down female cover of Wonderwall? This is like that, where because the flashback scenes are deliberately limited, you feel their significance all the more, like these are the moments when things Changed, when huge pivotal shifts happened.

Like, even with the huge jump between the very start of the calligraphy lessons and the night before the launch, you know they’ve passed these two YEARS without making a move or acknowledging what’s been them, just silently aware, because Mei bringing it up now is a new thing. The way she brings it up, having made the decision and picking the quote, practicing the calligraphy for it, engraving the ring and preparing that little speech, it’s so moving. And Lu, who’s usually so decisive and knows the right to do, helplessly giving in because she wants it tooooo. Not only will they be apart for three years, it’s not impossible that she’ll die up there, and she can’t help but want this to be her last night on Earth too. ;_;

And then, anon! They lie next to each other without making a move! By the time they meet again at the end of the mission, having been in love with each other for FIVE years, they STILL WON’T EVEN HAVE KISSED. That’s why I need the fic, lol, get me to that place, please. Mei so in love she’s carrying that ILY note around with her so it can be found in her desk, and for Lu to know the depths of Mei’s feelings for her at the same time she realizes Lu’s being punished because of her sentimentality in leaving that note. It’s too, too much.

Oh, and tbh, while it’s nice to see Lu through the season, you’re actually fine just watching the compilation, removing Mei cut down a lot on what could have been sprinkled throughout the rest of the scenes. 😡 

You can talk about it with meeee! I can’t stop thinking about them.