#station11

[a11aboard]

Spooky season | Spooky tune

[echojulietfoxtrot]

Station Eleven Full Season Review (No Spoilers)

So now Station Eleven is out there in its entirety and I'm all caught up, I can tell you my verdict is that it was so stunning it could even wobble on landing and still be the best thing I've seen on television for years.

If I was irked by some decisions in the second half of the season - ones I suspect came during post Covid retooling - that's only because the bar was so high it felt like grease smudging on a masterwork. It's imperfect, okay - but it gets so much more right than wrong, and what it gets right it gets so right it's breathtaking. There is nothing else like this on television and it's hard to imagine there will be again.

Set at different times before and after a near-extinction pandemic - seen almost in passing more than in progress - Station Eleven is told through a web of different people; a guy trying to get a stranded little girl home in Chicago in the 2020s, a woman who writes a comic book as her marriage fails in 2010s, and a group of travelling performers touring Shakespeare around the "After" in the 2040s.

Across these ages and places, the rhymes and relationships between timelines slowly begin to emerge, and it becomes clear these different journeys might have a shared direction after all.

If that sounds like a confusing drag, it isn't. If it sounds too serious it isn't that either. If it sounds pretentious, well, I could tell you but I'd spoil my favourite gag in it.

Station Eleven is many things, and most surprisingly some of those things are lively, funny, and full of unembarrassed warmth, whether it's a scene set in the world where appendicitis will kill you, or the one still hosting the single worst pitch meeting I've ever seen.

What it is most immediately though, is an astonishingly beautiful thing to look at.

The world of After is a huge, sprawling landscape of vivid natural life, leaping into the space people used to fill, while the colourful survivors dwarfed within it seem to burst beyond themselves with energy and personality. The world of Before seems almost lifeless by comparison, but its thoughtful composition makes for a quiet tension as we wait for this life and almost everyone in it to meet their foregone end. A breakup, a job interview, an awkward dinner party; mundane events take on a poignant heft while the doomsday clock ticks away unheard, in rooms filled only with glass and closed doors and electric light.

The eclectic soundtrack and score is as hand-crafted as the visuals, and would be superb even out of context. It runs a diverse spectrum, from bluegrass strings and warm crowded-campfire folk singalongs, all the way to the eerie synths and cold, lonesome piano notes which punctuate the empty Post-Anthropocene around them. Hip hop, funk, blues, and 1990s pop, all show up too to make memorable cameos, as if to form a portfolio of human music to date. Music's starring role goes hand in hand - and sometimes blurs into - some remarkably clever sound design tricks, which I won't spoil, but go a long way to lending this universe an offbeat and off-kilter atmosphere, quite unlike any of its genre mates.

Production Design - and Wardrobe in particular - goes in even bolder, fresher directions for such a well trodden premise, conjuring a giddy mishmash of found, altered, and remade material from the leftovers of human society. An improvised knife pouch sits comfortably over a corset made from package strapping; ornaments become jewellery, blankets become imperious capes. Endlessly inventive and thematically on point, I'll be very surprised if the costume design alone doesn't win braces of awards, if nothing else.

The cast deserve their share too. They're perfectly selected and uniformly terrific; even apparently comic novelty weirdos live and breathe. But Davis as lead, Patel and Lawler as unlikely fellow travellers, and Deadwyler as secret weapon are all giving what feel like career bests. Special mention is also warranted by Lori Petty, who is wonderful in a supporting role that does exactly that, a character so lived-in even for her limited scenes that everyone else feels more real in her orbit.

The show demands plenty of each of them. The writing, once you learn to trust it, is compassionate and kind to both character and viewer, and though it may challenge your patience and attention early on, it's sure to be generous with rewards sooner or later. This kind of textured, patient storytelling relies on a large, totally committed cast to work, and they deliver, hurling themselves at both its highs and lows with equal zeal.

Make no mistake - bad things can happen in this world and to these people, and you'll feel them, but the show's interest doesn't lie in grimdarkness or despair. They have all lived through an indescribable loss, but Station Eleven is less concerned with trying to describe it anyway than it is in seeing them make sense of that "living" part, as best they can.

Violence is certainly present, but almost always off screen, and it goes uncelebrated. Its effect is what's important. Station Eleven is not here to wallow in the characters' trauma and pain - it is here to witness them unpicking it, decoding it, and reworking it to something new. Not everyone died, we're reminded, and characters who didn't die when everyone else did mean to get busy living, through art, travel, and each other. The show is unafraid to take big serious feelings seriously, but that's earned by being just as willing to allow for humor, and surprising left turns into the absurd on a hairpin whim.

The Direction, similarly, can be epic and ambitious when it wants to be, taking very cinematic advantage of the huge landscapes and lush outdoors; but it can just as easily and suddenly become quirky and strange and intimate. More than once I found myself startled into laughter just by a knowingly timed cut or needle drop, something completely unexpected and yet unimaginable any other way once it's done. One show-shattering plot revelation near the end is marked simply by closing in on Davis, feasting so exuberantly on a couple of swearwords you'll rewind to enjoy it again.

Book readers will of course want to know how faithful it is, and the answer is "It's complicated". They will find characters and plotlines taking dramatically different routes, and to entirely different conclusions; some themes are pressed harder or much more lightly than in the novel. Some plots are changed or replaced, some characters swap roles entirely. But the tone and sensitivities are in tune enough that these divergences feels like a complement, not a failure or rejection of the source. More often than being omitted, the book's ideas can emerge from an unexpected place to make the same points in the end.

This might best be approached then as an alternate timeline to that of the book's world, a companion piece; this Kirsten could understand that one, though they are fraternal rather than identical sisters. Where Book Kirsten is grateful not to remember the first year, this one remembers all too presently, and it's easy to imagine any difference between them stems solely from that fork in the road.

(Incidentally, if you're wondering - I would suggest reading the book first if you haven't already, solely because its plot depends on a surprise reveal near the end that's made matter of fact very early in the show)

The misgivings I mentioned about later episodes may be minor, but I'd be remiss not to note them - a particular subplot I found draggy was given more spotlight than it deserved, only to resolve in a way that's both puzzlingly unsatisfying and at odds tonally with what I think was intended. A secondary character involved with it is irritating without mitigation, and I promise you'll know exactly which one I mean.

But again, that only bothers me because everything else is so well considered and assembled that it jars. A draggy plotline frustrates because it's next to such compelling ones; one annoying character is nothing compared to the six or seven warm, funny, wounded ones I felt grateful just to spend time with at all. The show's unconventional, interlocking structure means there is always plenty of everything worth seeing through to the heartfelt end, if you just keep the faith.

Ultimately, Station Eleven is not a story about the end of the world; rather, it is a defiantly life-loving fable, a story about people figuring out how to live in whatever world they get left with. And more importantly how to thrive in it; how to make peace with who they had to become to get there, how to honour the people who didn't come with them, and who they can choose to be now. Something survives, this show insists, and so long as it does survival is insufficient. There must be more. We must make it more.

I cannot recommend this enough, but I'll do my best to try all the same. You'll laugh. You'll cry. It makes plenty of space and time to do both, and offers a graceful, only occasionally clumsy sense of understanding either way.

Station Eleven is now out on HBO Max in most territories, and begins in the UK&Ireland on STARZPlay via Amazon from 30th January.

[harosais1]

Station Eleven

[alcalexandria]

Station Eleven is *astoundingly* good. Do not sleep on it.

[lavender-tea]

Illustration of Dr. Eleven from one of my favorite books I’ve read this year: Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel.

(Original, Digital Illustration)

[glassisland]

“What was lost in the collapse: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty.”

Now reading: 'Station Eleven' by Emily St. John Mendel

[snejkha]

few doodles of characters from Station Eleven

[echojulietfoxtrot]

Station Eleven Post Finale Additional Info, Trivia, & Interview Highlights.

I've been listening to a bunch of interviews with the showrunner, producer and cast, notably a Twitter Spaces recording and an ATX Zoom interview with the cast.

Some highlights, from memory, are under the cut, including stuff about scenes that were deleted, some Word of God rulings on some debated stuff, and a few details about the significance of one thing or another. I've also thrown some random observations at the end.

I want to flag here separately though that they mentioned there are a decent number of cut scenes they may make available some day if there is an appetite, so go make noise if you want 'em

You can listen to both the interviews mentioned above here:

https://mobile.twitter.com/hbomax/status/1482081652566159360

https://youtu.be/33PovHwIXGc

This is a bit of a mish mash of stuff I found interesting from interviews generally though - so it won't all be in those two but if anyone asks I can probably dig up where I heard it.

Spoilers everywhere!

- Frank’s kid Key is named indirectly in Kirsten's honor, he's named after the literal key she didn't have the night of the play. Patrick Somerville saw Himesh and Mackenzie shoot the last scene and was fascinated by how Jeevan seemed hung up on Kirsten's key as a little detail that everything hinged on.

- Somerville says Tyler remains morally culpable for the things he has done, and that the Undersea are likely to remain dangerous for good, just by their nature as a group. The scene of Tyler and the mass of children is not intended to be a redemption, he should not be considered "clean" or harmless now, and he doesn't get a pass just because he's made peace with his mom. Somerville believes the Undersea are likely to become some kind of corrupt formal church over time, not ease into harmlessness.

So the point of these shots is not to depict the Undersea as anything positive, but to show the sheer scale of the disaster Kirsten has managed to avert. By figuring out how to engage with both Tyler and Haley and defuse them, Kirsten prevented the order the Undersea were waiting on from coming, turned back an army that could not have repelled by force, and stopped a catastrophe for both sides. And like a great beast deciding not to strike after all, the Undersea moves on.

There were additional deleted scenes with Haley (the kid who instigated the suicide bombings) which would have outlined this plot a little more clearly, but the takeaway is intended to be that Kirsten probably saved thousands of lives that night and at least bought everyone a *chance* to put themselves back together personally.

I have to admit this didn't really come across fully to me in how the show portrays it, but I find it really interesting because it means Kirsten has once again unknowingly followed in Miranda's footsteps, saving Severn City by figuring out how to reach someone, or at least some part of them that will respond.

- An early version of the reunion had Jeevan see Kirsten onstage performing, but they came to prefer the idea that Kirsten and Jeevan had that moment only between themselves, and she would be Director by then anyway. It also makes the yellow poster fakeout and then "distraction" of Deborah Cox's performance work; they wanted the audience to notice Jeevan just as incidentally as Kirsten does (notice too though that if she'd chased the book out of habit she'd have missed him - instead she's able to let it go with somebody who might benefit from it now in turn)

- In the scene where Kirsten tells Jeevan he walked her home, she makes a point to look to the Travelling Symphony; they are her home, and Jeevan got to her to them. This was Davis' idea on set and Somerville only realized the point she was making later and loved it. Kirsten's last little extra "Bye!" was also improvised in one of the takes, and he kept it because it felt like it showed that Kirsten has an innocence now that she’s never really been able to afford before. We are to infer that they both stayed up the whole night talking and catching up, and that they do fully expect to see each other again.

- They were asked about stuff that didn't make it in but that they kinda consider canon in their heads, and they mentioned there are a decent number of cut scenes they may make available some day if there is an appetite, so go make noise if you want 'em.

* There are a bunch of deleted Miranda scenes in particular, including a whole subplot about being sent to live with her aunt after Hurricane Hugo, and seeing Doctor Eleven for the first time.

* There was also a scene written but unshot where Little Kirsten encountered a "family" who seemed like they'd take care of her like Jeevan did; but they turned out to be Red Bandanas and she had to kill them to get away. This meant she had to unlearn a lot of the instincts towards trust she had learned from Jeevan, and the showrunner's tone made it sound to me like he's trying to diplomatically suggest they were paedophiles. This encounter is still sort of canon because Kirsten has lines later that allude to it ("I used to be dangerous") and refers to killing Red Bandanas when talking to Gil, but they decided it wasn't necessary to show because all the important stuff is already clear. I kind of agree, but think it would have made it much easier for a lot of people to understand why Kirsten's instincts are so finely tuned to the fact "David" is a potential threat when everyone else seems oblivious.

* There were further scenes with Haley, as noted above.

* There is also a promo shot that seems to be taken from a scene of Kirsten and Jeevan apparently playing catch in the apartment that we never see -

- Kirsten has a stomach wound when Sarah first meets her in Year 2; she's been cut or stabbed, presumably from a different incident to the one above (she's pressing down on this wound to manage it in the photo below)

- Lori Petty's glasses are Lori Petty's real glasses. She has Macular Degeneration, so like Dieter says, they're a very specific prescription that's not really replaceable post apoc. Not wearing them will damage her eyes over time, but she offered to go without the whole shoot - Somerville said absolutely not and wrote them in instead. But this is an interesting implied dimension to the Conductor; that she is gradually going blind, and why it's such a big deal that her glasses break. Petty sent in an apparently amazing self tape and did a chemistry test with Davis.

- Tyler does not know Alex is Rose's Alexandria when they're talking on the dock, though he may have worked it out over the course of events.

- Kirsten's calling towards directing (and imho in a sense, a more positive and healthy form of storytelling than Tyler’s) was always there, the moment in the airport is just her recognition and stepping up to it. Her aptitude and inclination towards it is hinted at early on by the play in the apartment, and how she naturally coaches and leads the other actors throughout.

Some Of My Own Observations:

- Per the hair and wardrobe folks, Kirsten's post pan braid is meant to emulate the point of her knives. She keeps herself honed, wary, and ready to strike if she needs to. Her looser, freer hairstyle at the end comes hand in hand with being able to move beyond that. Her costuming, they also say, is associated with the colour red, the colour of danger, and they tried to reserve it for her to some extent. If you look very closely, you can see some elements of what adult Kirsten wears that she's had since she was a child, most obviously the white and red cap which she uses to try to disguise Tyler when they're found by Miles. By contrast, the Airport is associated with clinical light blues and greys, and muted tones. Characters associated or under the influence of one or the other take on aspects of these colours, including Tyler. The stage makeup the troupe use is actually based on what stuff they could conceivably make themselves from the resources they'd have available.

- Kirsten's final outfit appears to have a utility pouch either made from part of one of the Conductor's shirts where her knife harness used to be, or meant to resemble it:

- Similarly, Jeevan takes on Frank’s cane and Siya's profession. The people they've loved and lost become part of them for the rest of their lives.

- Claudius is the villain in Hamlet. He kills Hamlet's father and deceitfully takes the crown. Clark would fully understand the implications of taking this role, and what dynamic that will generate in the play - it seems to be his own way to start making amends. He accepts it, if you will.

- The Conductor's poor health is signposted early on. When she jokes she should be made a saint, like Saint Deborah, Kirsten replies she hasn't died like she did. Sarah replies that she dies every time. She also seems to be physically exhausted even at the start of the year’s Wheel, needs Alex' help taking off her costume, and complains she's struggling to score Hamlet - in retrospect, Hamlet may not be the issue.

- Sarah's death in a sense links all three of Kirsten's surrogate parents; Sarah dies of the same thing that killed Arthur, who loved her, and looked out for her in the theatre. Like him she could not have been saved - but this time, Jeevan, present for both heart attacks, knows what he needs to do regardless.