I wrote these late night musings from Facebook about Station Eleven, a limited series on HBO MAX. It was based on the novel of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel. I liked the musings enough to re-post them here.
I’m slowly working my way through Station Eleven again for a second time. I’m really trying to savor the experience and watching it very slowly and deliberately. It’s a fantastic show and the experience watching this a second time and watching how the onion of the story reveals itself is just a damn good experience.
The show is based on an acclaimed novel, which I have not read. But I LOVED her next two books, Sea of Tranquility & The Glass Hotel. The show really captures the meat of how her novels work, how they flow and how time ultimately doesn’t matter. It’s all about the characters and their journeys.
I was initially turned off by this show by the poster as seen in the header. I love Makenzie Davis, but there’s just something about this image that doesn’t do it for me. Makes it feel like The Fault in our Stars or whatever. And I like that movie, but it’s not what I’m looking for. It’s a bad representation of what this show is and becomes. It’s about the characters and each episode is a different focus on a different character and how they all interact inside this story about the end and beginning of the world. It’s post apocalyptic and it’s so very timely. It’s filmed in 2021 in the middle of the pandemic and it really captures that feeling of dread and our dreams of being alive felt during the Covid pandemic.
The performances are incredible. There is not a weak link in the cast. This is a murderers row of character actors. I’ve love Gael García Bernal and this is one of his best roles. He’s so damn fucking charming in this! Mackenzie is damn good. She’s been amazing in everything since Halt and Catch fire. But Himesh Patel as Jeeven really steals the show. Over and over again he just steals my heart more and more. His character has such a great journey and is the real heart of the show. He makes it work for me.
But holy shit! I’m watching episode 3 and the actress who plays Miranda is amazing. She changes shape in each scene she’s in. I had to look to make sure it was her because she metamorphizes in each scene as the episode jumps in time. Her performance was a powerhouse! Just holy shit!
So i had to pause everything to look and see who she was and low and behold… It’s Danielle Deadwyler! She’s the star of THE PIANO LESSON, which played at Mill Valley Film Festival this year and she attended a party i helped plan. Hot damn, i wish i had paid more attention to her credits, i knew she was in Station Eleven, but because she’s such a chameleon in her roles… I didn’t put it together that she was MIRANDA! And it feels good too cause that party kicked ass and i booked the music. The photo below is of the piano player i hired taking with Danielle. Cool stuff. And i wish i had known because that would have made taking this photo so much more…”HOLY SHIT!!!!” She’s so good in this show!!!
This is a hard show to just sell to someone and I kind of get why the poster is so bad. It’s about the end of the world and the new beginnings that follows. It jumps through time a lot. It’s sad, but hopeful. It’s got a fantastic soundtrack. It’s made me want to learn more about Shakespeare. It makes me happy to be alive. How the hell do you put that on a poster?
If you liked ARRIVAL, The Leftovers, Children Of Men, Motorcycle Diaries, or I Saw The TV GLOW…. There’s a great chance you’ll like the tone and vibe of this. It’s really fantastic. It just feels to me like a warm old sweater or blanket. It fits just right for me.
