The First -Hulu series with Sean Penn

I’m really enjoying this drama. I personally think most of the negative reviews are because expectations were this would be a rapidly moving drama where the astronauts terraform the planet Mars by the fourth episode. The drama is really about the type of people, challenges and the personal cost of the travel into space.

 

Is this shot in the pseudo documentary style, like say Europa Report?

 

No, it's a traditional one camera drama. It's well made, doesn't really focus on being on Mars so much as the individuals, what drives them, their own hopes and dreams, how a major change in a mission sparks changes in all of them. Going in with the expectation that this is nicely paced but not rapid pace helps to set the expectations. Some folks will dislike it as they are looking to the accomplished goal as part of the series.

 

Okay thanks, I'll check it out. I was worried that it would use the pseudo documentary style to tell the story, of which I am not a fan.

 

3 episodes in im digging it!

 

If anyone has seen it, how does “The First” compare to the National Geographic produced “Mars” series which is also available on Hulu?

 

id say this is not so much as about the mission to mars but a deep look into the lives of the would be astronauts, engineers etc. Sean Penn is great (as always) he needs to act more

 

I want to see it, but I don't seem to be able to work up the enthusiasm.Maybe after I finish Maniac...

 

Maniac's a very good show. It reminds me quite a bit of Phil Dick and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind thematically.

 

I finished episode 3 tonight--so far it's superb. Great writing and acting. I love that the characters are so three-dimensional compared to the cardboard cutouts on most network shows. The slow pacing and emphasis on their lives doesn't bother me at all.

 

loved maniac, eternal sunshine meets brazil
the first is great, the acting, especially sean penn is fantastic.

 

I'm 3 eps in and I'm bored as hell (after the first ep, which was quite good). It looks like this is nothing more than a science-y soap opera. I feel like dropping it, unless someone can say that it gets better?

 

Hang in there, my feeling is that the slow build will pay off. I'm two episodes in and am enjoying it. One slight issue I have with it is it's one of those shows that though set and filmed in the U.S. (New Orleans), that still somehow manages to feel like it was done in Canada, there's just an "otherness" to it, a stark quality I've often seen and felt from Canadian productions. That's not a dig at the quality of Canadian productions, it's only when it's Canada for the U.S. that it often doesn't feel quite right.

 

I'm afraid I've checked out. I read a bunch of reviews since and they pretty much echo my previous critique. The clincher was when I read that the show was less The Martian and more The Leftovers! That focus doesn't interest me in the slightest.

 

Check back in, the show really gets better by the halfway point, it had me caring about theses characters. The portrayal of the relationship between Sean Penn’s Haggerty and daughter Denise was so well written and acted, I was deeply moved.

There’s one episode just past the mid-point that’s all a flashback which show’s the circumstances that lead Haggerty to have lost command of the first mission. Both Penn and Anna Jacoby-Heron as Denise are outstanding as is Melissa George as Haggerty’s wife. It’s a heartbreak to watch, but one of the best single hours of a series I’ve seen. From there things greatly accelerate and I quickly got through the remaining episodes; highly recommended!