Constellation (TV Series) These Fragments I Have Shored Against My Ruin (2024) User Reviews

A big fat nothing

[Chef74 · 6/10 · 27 March 2024]

This is a review of the final episode, NOT the entire season. I have no spoilers about Ep8, but I have references to the previous 7 episodes.

No spoilers because there is no new information. Entire episode is a repeat of all previous episodes. It also builds a little bit on top of the "universe switching" they did for lucky characters.

Let's see.. This Alice is from this universe, that Alice is from another universe. Let's repeat that at least 10 more times in the "final" episode. It still doesn't add anything to the previous 7 episodes. Henry is the lucky one, Bud is the loser one. Nothing new there. Nobody believes Jo's stories since episode 2. Keep quiet, lady! Unless you invent another machine to jump the universes your options are getting locked up or playing ball. In this episode Jo keeps repeating the same story over and over. Again nothing new. I guess they wanted to put some random stuff so they can justify Season 2. Oh, and we don't even need CAL for these parallel universe jump. It just happens. So need to even invent CAL.

Here is what I will do. When the next season is out wait for all 8 episodes, watch them as filler episodes when I get bored. No more waiting for a new episode with excitement. The production quality is good. It can play in the background.

Ultimately a study of grief

[kdrumm-46335 · 8/10 · 1 April 2024]

Forget the sci fi and appreciate the acting of Rosie and Davina Coleman. Whichever actress was on screen in the scene where Alice tells her father that she knows her mother is alive but she accepts that the other Alice will get to have her broke my heart. Viewing the series as one that addresses how people get through grief. The scenes between Alice and her parents in both realities are the heart of the series. I wish that streaming series would be brave enough to makes series with one season. The last scene obviously seems to be setting it up for a second series but I would have been happy for it to finish before the unnecessary "twist".

Great finale that sets up Season 2, but it feels like they are taking too many shortcuts in writing.

[ninjasnigel · 8/10 · 28 March 2024]

I feel like this show is almost entering the space where they mess with time and timelines, and I don't know how they will make everything make sense, but I hope Season 2 can put together some things in a good way, but it feels like the shortcuts they are taking to their logic is going to hurt them eventually.

At first, we are made to believe that the CAL experiment caused the splitting of the worlds, which turned out to actually have no effect at all really, since this has apparently been happening to people going to space all the time, and are experiencing the same thing without the experiment having happened at all. It makes sense for the female Russian astronaut (maybe) since she appeared in space and was the reason for the crash of the ship. And what about Bud? Did his world splitting occur only because of that experiment? In that case, it means that it affected things that happened before the experiment happened in the first place. More about this later.

If we are not to believe this theory, then what is the purpose of the CAL device, or the experiment at all? At first it seemed to enhance the "quantum entanglement". When nearby, it could for example power the tape recorder/player to be able to connect to the alternate universe. As we could se when in the car, when brought near, we could hear the recorded audio clearer. Another thing that enhanced the quantum entanglement seems to be when in a space that is isolated i.e not "observed by many actors" or just observed by one person. It seems to have caused a lot of chaos and when we combine both the CAL device and the isolated space like in episode 7, crazy things can happen, like Bud switching places and the two words coming closer to each other than ever. But then when destroyed, the two Alices can still communicate with each other in this episode, without being in an isolated environment. We also saw the tape recorder being burned, and yet it still exists in both worlds?

So we have two possibilities; the CAL being just a thing that can be used for whatever whenever the writers feel like making things exciting, but then not caring for the logic they once made, and the experiment made on the ship isn't really of any value whatsoever because the world splitting happens in space anyways. Or we have that the experiment was what started all of this, and it effects things back in time as-well, which is what I think they are trying to do. They also chose to introduce the crazy man/men, calling her "mother" in the same episode as she is mentioned being pregnant. So what do we have here actually? Do the really mean to imply that the person could be her child? Sure we can be messing with time a bit, but time travel..? This theory doesn't explain the inconsistency in how the CAL device effects its environment anyway.

Anyways, I really like the vibe and the mystery they are setting up, and I feel like there are a lot of fun story arcs coming in Season 2. I however feel like they are not completely consistent in their "sci-fi logic", even if you can make anything possible, things that wasn't possible in episode 3, shouldn't be possible in episode 8. I feel like if they aren't consistent in the reasoning on why things happen, eventually nothing will make sense at all, and the series will fall apart. It feels to me like that have ideas of cool episodes and interesting things that can happen, and afterwards try to come up with logic of how that could happen, and they cut corners in the logic in order to be able to make that "cool thing" happen, even if it doesn't make sense with the information already presented.

Season 1 (8/10 stars): Get Through The First Two Episodes And Then Enjoy The Mind-Bending Ride!

[zkonedog · 9/10 · 27 March 2024]

Apple has been on quite a heater, of late, in terms of original TV programming. Constellation deserves to be included in that list of successes-if one can just get through the first two episodes. After that, it is an extraordinary ride!

For a very basic overview, Constellation tells the story of Jo Ericsson (Noomi Rapace), a NASA astronaut on the International Space Station. When an emergency collision forces an evacuation, Jo discovers that the Earth she returns to seems...different...from the one she left. Husband Magnus (James D'Arcy) & daughter Alice (Rosie & Davina Coleman) seem estranged and other "life details" (cupboard arrangement, car color, etc.) are slightly off. Is this typical astronaut re-adjustment PTSD-or something to do with the quantum experiments overseen by NASA admin Henry Caldera (Jonathan Banks)?

The first thing that must be said about this inaugural season of Constellation is that the initial two episodes unspool extremely slowly. In a world of overwhelming amounts of "stuff to watch", I wouldn't blame viewers for thinking "this show isn't going anywhere" and tuning out. I almost did. But be assured-everything comes back around later in brilliant fashion! So, if you are at all interested, don't bail after episodes one and two.

After that rocky opening, a string of 4 episodes show steady improvement as characters are better developed and plots start to make a modicum of sense. The final two episodes? 10-stars and 9-stars from this reviewer-some of the best episodic TV drama I've seen in some time! Truly jaw-on-the-floor stuff for sci-fi fans.

I don't want to spoil any of Constellation's fascinating suppositions here, but suffice it to say that this season is a mix of themes from earlier sci-fi properties like Fringe, Interstellar, and Dark. Yes, that is high praise-but this Sean Jablonski (concept) and Peter Harness (written) series deserves it in the endgame.

Overall, I can only give Constellation S1 an 8/10 rating because it stumbles out of the gate. But again, I'd implore you-if even somewhat interested in the material-to press on. You may just find a little gem of a series that (hopefully) will be renewed for further mind-bending adventure!

I loved the beginning of the season and hated episode 6, now I'm back on team "Constellation"

[kbuzev · 10/10 · 4 April 2024]

Another episode, another polarized audience. People either love it or hate it. It feels like the writers weren't sure what the target audience is, so they tried to hook up both the sci-fi fans and the drama fans, but couldn't do that at the same time for some reason. The story isn't compelling enough for the audience to get so drawn into it that the shortcomings become forgiven. On the contrary, making such sharp turns only exasperates the lack of commitment and leads to viewer fatigue and a lot of disappointment.

With that out of the way, I personally enjoyed the season finale a lot. I realized the show is not about space or fiction, or even science. So I left this expectation back at episode 6 (which I rated very low).

This show is about one thing, and one thing only: Grief. Every single character has lost something dear to them, knowingly or not. The space setup is just a random setting that could have easily been anything else, with no repercussion to the story or the experience. I think the writers chose "space" both as a way to forcefully expand the audience (hence why so many people didn't enjoy watching), and a way to conveniently limit the scope and circumstances of the phenomenon that created the "switch". If they were cave explorers who encountered a "magic" cave, it would have been the same (I've actually seen such a movie, now that I mention it).

But leave all space and fiction aside, it's just a background and some noise. I love the main characters and the supporting cast. And especially Alice. They are all grieving, in their own way and coping however they can. It's a struggle we all go through. Pets, parents, friends. Old relationships. People we thought we know well. Careers. Projects. Colleagues. Ideas.

It's tough living a life of loss, filled with the constant "what if". And the purpose of this series is to expand on the "what if" and spin it in ways we haven't really though of, and leading us through new aspects of loss that luckily we can only imagine. And how everyone is quick to put a label "mental illness" on anything unexpected and out of the ordinary. To the people living the horror, it's 100% real. Be kind, you don't know how much the other person may be suffering in silence inside.

The season started great but failed to deliver

[chrispm-18331 · 4/10 · 27 March 2024]

Personally Mystery Series in general are something I love. The big problem with mystery series is at the end of each season some of the Mysterys that have been created should come to a logical conclusion or else it does not make any sense.

Throughout the whole first season I was curious on how it would conclude in the end.

• How does the Cal work?

• Why is Alice able to communicate with herself in the parallel world through a kids toy
• Why do alot of people seem to know about the other world

Unfortunatelly none of these questsions get awnswered and even more get asked at the end of the finale. There are so many plotholes that make absoluetly no sense.

4/10 from me because the look and feel of the series were nice and the actors are fine but the story makes absoluetly no sense as of the end of season 1.

Episode 8

[bobcobb301 · 31 March 2024]

Overall I enjoyed the experience of watching the show, but I feel like we did not get a lot of true answers. They are just going to have Jo accept her fate and stop asking questions, after everything she has gone through?

We did not get a real answer about what is going on and they did not even really leave the door open for a season two. Where the baby comes from is not a big issue, I am more worried about the possibility of this feature existing beyond space and other people being impacted by the quantum physics and double life, but it seems like the show did not want to even touch that issue.

Not Too Bad, Some Weaknesses

[polsixe · 8/10 · 28 March 2024]

Season 1 wraps up on a good note, definitely leaves room for more episodes. Story is well done and requires some thought, following who is who and which is which. The daughter Alice seems the smartest and best head on her shoulders. Mom Jo becomes increasingly befuddled and less astronaut like. Dad Magnus is a bit of a waste and doesn't add much to story, they could send him off for another nap in the next series. The phlebotinum tech is easy enough to grasp. A Euro-centred story with less USA involvement apart from a sour Henry/Bud, NASA or SpaceX don't enter the story. Episodes 6 and 7 in the far north were interesting as the different realities combined.

Was it the MacGuffin or just space

[fivish-1 · 4/10 · 27 March 2024]

So, was it the MacGuffin or just space? Seems to be space as it was happening with the first Russian in space. Breaking the MacGuffin did not stop the phenominon. Or were they just mad? How did MacGuffin #2 the tape recorder work? The two threads and their reality or otherwise were not clear. How could they jump across? The underlying premise of the show is entanglement and superposition quantum theory. This is not explained at all. The MacGuffin supposedly created a quantum field in which entanglement and superposition could manifest at the macro level. This is of course nonsense. But its science fiction so anything is possible.

Could have ended on a satisfying note.

[not_an_octopus · 3/10 · 28 March 2024]

This season was building to something so fantastic, only for it to culminate in a spectacularly hollow nothingburger. Biggest contrivances: characters making stupid decisions that go against their personality and intelligence in earlier episodes; the absolutely disappointing red herring of the CAL project; Bud/Henry inexplicably switching places; the inane pointlessness of Magnuss; electroconvulsive therapy being practiced in the 21st century; the fact that this series will likely be cancelled before it can get a second season to resolve this nonsense.

This show had so much potential and I'm so sad to see it end in a hollow shell of what it was when it started. It's clear they're trying to stretch content to bridge toward a second season, but the way shows are cancelled on a whim these days there is little hope we will ever get resolution.

The acting in this series was fantastic. Noomi Rapace was phenomenal. The twin girls who played Alice displayed great range. And I just want more and more of Johnathan Banks playing cranky kind-hearted old men.

Wish the writting was better

[luismnovo · 3/10 · 28 March 2024]

There have been so many series portraying the multiverse in so many variations, that you really need to be creative to be able to achieve something original. This is specially true after "Dark", which is probably the best time travel/multiverse series done to date.

This, I'm afraid, is just lame. The acting isn't terrible, but is let down by terrible writting. It approaches and original subject - the mental health impact of space travel on astronauts, but it does so in a completely absurd way - no explanation on what the machine actually does or why it was an issue even before the apparatus was created. Basically, you go to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere (that's where the ISS is, a mere 300km above the planet and still very much within its influence by all accounts) and come back with split personalities thanks to the duo-verse. It's a mess.

"Don't Ask No Questions, Don't Get No Lies...

[accidentsandcoincidences-20489 · 2/10 · 29 March 2024]

Don't Raise No Objections, Ain't Got No Eyes."

Aside from getting a Zero out of 10 score for entertainment value, the problem with an increasing number of shows like this (and Season 4 of "True Detective" as another example), is that they delve into such an abyss that the writers can never find a way out. Meaning no worthwhile resolution is possible.

The only remaining choices for these writers who've painted themselves into a corner are either to attempt, in one fell swoop, to try to give a shorthand explanation of the underlying reason(s) for everything that happened in the previous episodes (à la True Detective) -- unsatisfying at best, laughably poor at worst; or continue to leave everything hanging & unresolved, giving rise to more questions and contradictions -- as was done here. The final shot of episode 8 is a quintessential example of inanity.

Both methods are marks of storytelling amateurs flailing away.

I don't know what happened here?

[emastevanovic · 5/10 · 2 April 2024]

I liked the first 6 episodes even though they were a bit too long, static, repeating and confusing because i expected the valid explanation in the final two episodes...but there was none. I mean, there was an explanation but it shot down everything the premise was about (working on the CAL project, how Henry permanently teleported himself in Bud's universe but Jo kept trying and didn't succeed to go back to her's, why was Bud an evil murderer and a psychopath, what was even that?? Etc).

I thought the CAL was the main explanation of the quantum superposition and mash-up of parallel universes, but the conclusion is that the machine wasn't even needed for the strange happenings on the ISS, since it happened many times before it's invention. How?? Whats the physics behind that? And why does the CAL even exist then? To fix that problem maybe or is there another reason?

How come the Jo, who remained in the space station is still alive without the half of her head? What science fiction quantum entanglement is that?? Too many nonsensical stuff happended. And to add more weirdness, Jo is pregnant in the alternative universe with a quantum child or what does that ultrasound picture even mean? She's going to give birth to a child that is superpositioned in two parallel universes and it's going to defy all laws of physics, or am I so dumb i don't have enough capacity to unveil the logic of underlying meaning?

Sooo at the very end, we got two Jo's in one universe and none in the other.

And also something i was wondering about throughout the show...who helped Paul and Jo to fix the problem with the stuck capsule when two people were needed to press the button (one in the capsule and the other inside the space station), that part left completely unexplained. Who was the shadow who left alive in the ISS in both universes?

Idk why the producers have the immense urge to add complications to complications to complications to the story, to the extent that no one really can understand the meaning and the plot. I think they themselves are confused with their ideas too.

The acting was great, also the cinematography, i can say the same about the main premise too. But, the development was horrible and confusing. I wish someone from the executives can come up and give an explanation with full blown spoilers and not say stuff like 'it's onto the viewer to decide what happened and what didn't happen haha.' If this was a show based on the science facts and interesting theories in physics, the story should be following those facts and rules.

I'm not at all satisfied with the ending and i was hoping for the top show.

Zilch Nada Nothing. Went absolutely nowhere.

[terrylarosa · 1/10 · 28 March 2024]

First half of the first ep started with a bang, literally and after that the series puttered out with nothing to show for it. Though the acting wasn't bad the constant glazed, deer in the headlights looks from a few of the characters became annoying. Was the show about anything? A couple characters crossed dimensions; dying in one Universe and living in another and so what......nothing happened. And why are people even mentioning a second season? There's absolutely no more story to tell because there has never any story to tell. My wife wisely bowed out at the end of the first ep and I wish I'd done the same. I almost always enjoy anything Rapace is in but this was devastatingly bad. By now Apple has cranked out so many loser shows it's getting tedious. Do better Apple.

Garbage

[zehraraza · 1/10 · 27 March 2024]

Sadly, this episode does nothing to answer any of the questions brought up in the show. The only reason I tuned in was for answers but got none in this boring and useless finale. It's a terrible show and I really hope it does not get a second season. I certainly won't be tuning in

Even if the only aim of the show was for it to be a horror show, it still leaves far too many aspects of the story unaddressed.

In addition to feeling to a ridiculous plot, the show also fails to make us care for any of its characters.

All in all a complete waste of time.

Avoid it like the plague, however, if you are reading this review of the final episode, it means you may have made the same mistake as me and stuck in there, hoping for a pay off to be let down with none.

fringe wanna be but fails miserably

[weraqs · 1/10 · 28 March 2024]

Fringe had the best adaptation of parallel universe on any tv series.

This show misses on visual aesthetic, consistency and depth, character development, plot complexity, emotional depth, scientific basis.

Lets dive into topics, I won't be spoiling Fringe of course,

-visual aesthetic; there is no notification of if they are on the flip side, this confuses viewer, we don't have to track where you are, this is a tv series, not a documentary.

-consistency and depth; shallow as possible.

-character development; they remained flat, it ended flat.

-plot complexity; if you binge watch it, you can figure out it easily, there is nothing exhilarating about it.

-emotional depth; relationships felt shallow.

-scientific basis; wanna take on ISS and parallel universes, quantum tech and so on, try to get better advisors for your show.

Much Ado About Absolutely Nothing

[PetersonML · 1/10 · 31 March 2024]

At first look this series seemed to excel with a storyline that was akin to a parallel universe. Instead, a weak and ridiculously boring saga unfolded over 8 laborious episodes. I can only assume the writer(s) found themselves in a corner and didn't know what to write giving us approximately 8 hours of confusion and no real explanations of why. I must conclude by saying this series was absolute garbage which wasted my time that I'll never get back. I'm guessing there'll be a season two. I can't imagine the writer(s) will do anything better and I would warn potential viewers not to waste their precious time considering how the first season utterly failed.

Why does this episode feel cheap?

[plamen_xp_lv · 4/10 · 6 April 2024]

After the solid second half of the season, particularly last episode, this season finale is such a letdown. You have the impressive cast, you have the atmosphere, you have the plot in motion...just keep it going! If you want to make a second and third season, fine, throw 1-2 bigger things in, although I do believe this would have worked really well as limited series, maybe 10 episodes, of even 8.

However, what you should NOT do is make this a standard low budget sci-fi/horror mix. What I really enjoyed about the characters is that they acted smart so far, mostly. It made it feel like they were constantly adapting, learning new things, moving forward. Suddenly, Jo, and Henry Caldera are as stupid as they come. Henry knows what happened, even if how it happened is unexplained...and yet he is babbling about not being the same person, asking for DNA tests (even though it is very likely they share a DNA, just like everything else) and acting like a lunatic...instead of playing his cards smart. A Nobel Laureate is telling random people that he is a totally different person...from someone who is a carbon copy of him, when they know Caldera does not have a brother.

Jo at the same time is in a place that looks and feels like mental hospital, yet her strategy is to tell the people in charge...she can smell her real daughter and the one with her was not real. Of course, that would get you out in no time. Her daughter was also talking about the same stuff...but she is an 11 year old kid, kinda more justified from her.

Bud Caldera is one of the most boring, one-dimensional villains they could find. Like, villains are supposed to have an agenda, some strong qualities, anything. He is sad, drunk, angry, obnoxious, homicidal. No redeeming qualities, no duality, no gray areas, just pure psychopath. We get that he suffered during Apollo 18, but he is like complete opposite of Henry, and his goals and aim is to...just drink, be sexist, destroy lives and be a pain. Could have put more effort in him. Also, how did everyone...forget about him at the cabin? He traveled with the rest, yet he was left in the snow for hours (and no hypothermia/frostbite...) while everyone...left.

I don't have much hope for season 2, if this is how they set the tone for it. This would be a gigantic waste of great premise and a good cast. I really hope if there is season 2, that they set the tone right from episode 1, it would be the only way to salvage it.

Ultimates, it's lazy writing

[chaucer-50950 · 3/10 · 1 April 2024]

I enjoyed this drama to a certain degree. It had good visuals and mystery aplenty. However, the proof of the pudding is in the ending. And what that came to was a bit of a mess. When your audience has sat through eight hours or so, why can't you just give them something like resolution of the various storylines? They could do that in the original Star Trek within 50 minutes and the endings were always satisfying. In this, however, what you get is a few crumbs thrown to the hungry viewers. What that suggests is that they (a) are liking to string this out longer than something going through a black hole and/or (b) they just don't have a clue themselves. The point is that this is lazy writing. It throws all these mysteries at the viewer but is not honest enough to do anything properly meaningful with them. So, the mystery continues, minus that little ole thing called 'meaning'. Sorry to be so harsh, but it's a bit of a con.