At the start of January I burned through what I was sure at the time was the nailed-on best show of 2022. Station Eleven (available on HBO Max in the US and Starzplay in the UK), which I’ve already wanged on about a couple of times in previous newsletters, is a drama set in the aftermath of a deadly flu pandemic that manages to be simultaneously gripping, deeply sad and quietly optimistic about the future of humanity.
Following an interconnected cast of characters through the pre- and post-apocalypse, the show is told in a fragmentary, time-skipping manner that is bewildering at first but becomes satisfying and revelatory once you adjust to its rhythms. Its cast is stacked with talent (Mackenzie Davis and Himesh Patel deserve to gobble up all the awards they’re pointed at). And it’s gorgeous to look at, full of grand, sparsely populated vistas – a product of the real pandemic that was raging while the show was filming.
