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H2O SF

I've been avoiding SF shows and movies for a while, but after being dazzled by Happiness last year I decided to take a chance and watch The Silent Sea, a Korean near-future dystopian lunar adventure series on NetFlix. It turned out to be a pretty good choice.

This series begins on an Earth with rapidly-dwindling water resources, which isn't all that far a reach from the reality facing the real world in a few decades. Water becomes far more valuable than petroleum or gold, and people are subjected to strict rationing, are compelled to euthanize their pets, and as you'd expect live generally miserable lives -- it's pretty much like Dune without the sand worms and still suits. Meanwhile, a team of scientists and soldiers are sent on a mission to a base on the moon abandoned five years earlier to retrieve some samples left behind there.

From the moment this crew blasts off you know things aren't what they seem. The lead astrobiologist's sister died at the abandoned base along with everyone who worked there, and it's obvious from the start that she's going to find out why. The captain of the crew is remarkably tight-lipped about every detail of the mission. After crash-landing and losing their first crew member to his injuries, they finally fight their way to the base. Then things just get stranger as they discover what they were sent for, how everyone died five years ago, and the fact that someone (or something) is still alive at the base, and wants to kill them.

I thought the production and casting of The Silent Sea was quite impressive, and while not as special-effects heavy as most SF shows did a fine job of convincing me everyone was actually on the moon. The cast all did very well with their roles, particularly Gong Yoo as the crew captain Han, Bae Doona as astrobiologst Song and Kim Sun-Young as the mission's physician. The story is rife with irony and rock/hard place choices, but also offers a plausible and (to me) very realistic look at just what the human race will do to survive.

It's possible Netflix will greenlight a second season for The Silent Sea, but I'd personally leave it where it ended, as it made me think a lot -- and I'm not sure I want to know what happens next. :) I do recommend this one as an interesting SF series.

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