Review: The Silent Sea Episode 1

The Silent Sea

The Silent Sea is a Netflix venture starring:  

Bae Doona as Doctor Song Ji-an 
Gong Yoo as Han Yoon-jae 
Joon Lee as Captain Ryoo Tae-seok 
Feodor Chin as Kim Hee-sun 
Harrison Xu as Lee Gi-Su
Heo Sung-tae as Kim Jae-sun 

Its IMDb synopsis is as follows: 

"During a perilous 24-hour mission on the moon, space explorers try to retrieve samples from an abandoned research facility steeped in classified secrets"

Spoilers: The below article discusses the first episode of The Silent Sea. 

The cast of The Silent Sea

The Silent Sea is a gripping space mystery that will hook viewers with its storyline. The story opens with the view of an earth that's on the brink of natural collapse. 

There's water shortage, pollution is on the rise, and people are revolting. The dirty yellow filter used during the Earth scenes drive home the point of devastation and ecological collapse. 

In the midst of it, we are introduced to our protagonist astro biologist Doctor Song Ji-an (played by Bar Doona). She is stoic and mysterious. But her pet dog whom she loves shows audiences that she isn't emotionless but rather withdrawn. 

I have loved Bae Doona since I saw Kingdom, another Netflix series, so imagine my surprise seeing her in this show as well. 

The crux of the first episode is that a space team has been assembled to recover a mysterious sample from an abandoned moon institution called the Belhae Station.  To add to the mystery, it's said that the station was shut down due to a radiation leak.

Leading this mission is Han Yoon-jae (played by Gong Yoo). He is a hardened and experienced leader who knows how to get his team out of tense situations. 

I have loved Gong Yoo as well since I watched Goblin years back. So to have Bae Doona and Gong Yoo in the same show is a dream come true for me. 

Gong Yoo and Bae Doona

Their chemistry is palpable and one might even think that Han is interested in Song in some way. It also sparked my curiosity when he actively discouraged her from joining the mission in the beginning. 

The take off day soon arrives and our team is strapped in, all ready to head to space. The initial journey goes well, but soon there's trouble when the ship's exterior faces problems. 

The crew has to brace for impact on the moon. After a tense few moments where Song almost falls to her death, the team disembarks and sees their spacecraft fall into what looks like a deep crater on the moon. 

Thankfully, one character answers what the audience is wondering- how are they going to go back?. Looks like they will have to wait for a rescue craft. 

But without a properly functioning communication system they can't contact earth. Also, they don't have much oxygen and their only hope is to get into the station. Their Captain says as much too. 

But that's not the end of their problems as crew member Mr. Hwang has a fractured rib which isn't allowing him to walk or breathe properly. After just a few minutes he is out of breath and has to rest a little.

Crew on the moon 

This concerns Song. But Hwang tells her to keep on walking. Just as they near the Belhae Station, Hwang collapses. Closer inspection by his team mates reveal that he is out of oxygen and water as well. 

Captain Han offers him some water, but Hwang refuses to take their share of water. He then coughs up blood and dies with his head on the shoulder of his crewmate. But there's no time to mourn. 

The rest of the team has to get a move on. They leave Hwang where he died because their oxygen supply is frighteningly low at only about 1%.  

An AI voice reminds them to connect to a life support system. They initially struggle to get into the locked Belhae station after a series of wrong passcodes. But eventually they succeed. And that's where we end out first ep. 

Pros: 

Great visuals- I was initially worried about the moon scenes because it's very easy to make them look comical. But the team has made it look effortlessly real. The CGI is also great and doesn't take one out of the viewing experience. 

Tight script- There's not a single scene that's spent uselessly. Every scene explains or shows something while moving the story forward. Also, the tense music and great performances hold the show together. 

A captivating mystery- What is actually in that sample? Why did Han not want Song with them? Why was Belhae abandoned? God I want to know. 

Cons: 

Predictable moments: There are moments in the show that will come across as predictable and contrived to seasoned viewers. One moment is at the end of the ep when they are all struggling to open the door to the station. 

We know that they are going to get in since its just episode 1 and the one customary crew member who we don't know much to actually care about has already died. However, it works well enough since we are already invested in the characters by then. 

Overall, I am going to give the first ep a 4/5 and am excited to see where the show goes next. You can catch it on Netflix.