A space odyssey for modern times, Away is sure to fill all your cravings for adventure, action, connection and drama. Filled with sweeping space-scapes, intense drama and heart-warming moments of human connection, this series is more than just a space adventure, it is a earnest portrayal of the human spirit’s drive to rise to new heights and new challenges.

Hilary Swank leads a cast of brilliant actors, including Josh Charles, Vivian Wu and Ato Essandoh, who each bring depth and sincerity to their characters. The cast is diverse, hailing from different backgrounds and countries but, thanks to the superb writing, this show avoids tokenism and gives each character a juicy backstory that gives the actors a lot to work with. Each sub-plot could be a series of its own, truly.

The main storyline focuses on Commander Emma Green. A driven astronaut who has shared her race to Mars with her husband, Matt, Emma struggles to balance her role as wife and mother with her singular dream of landing on Mars. As Emma and her team enters orbit, things on the home front are suddenly in peril when Emma’s husband Matt suffers a stroke that leaves him paralyzed. Emma wrestles with guilt and home sickness as she continues to journey further from earth.

Emma Green isn’t the only astronaut torn between two worlds. Each member of the international cooperative team has their own story and struggle. Despite home struggles, Misha Popov (Mark Ivanir), a Russian cosmonaut, is determined to make his daughter proud while continuing his impressive career as an in-flight engineer. He bonds during the mission with Chinese chemist, Lu Wang (Vivian Wu) over similar cultural expectations and ideology. Wang has a private conflict of her own when her secret affair with a colleague at NASA command in discovered.

The Mars crew is rounded out with Ram Arya (Ray Panthaki), the Indian pilot and medical officer who is estranged from his family and Kwesi Weisberg-Abban (Ato Essandoh) the botanist turned astronaut who infuses his Jewish faith into his life’s work.

Aside from the genuinely enthralling storylines and superb acting, Away is chock full of beautifully shot scenes, Whether tight angles from inside the space capsule or sweeping shots of outer space, the cinematography of this series is of big-screen quality.

They spared no expense in production, perhaps that is why this excellent series is destined to be a single season event. Regardless of it’s short run it is still well-worth the time to watch. It really is one of the best series I’ve watched in a long while. Don’t binge this one, savor it, take it all in and love it while it lasts. Away is not to be missed.