Constellation – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

Live and Let Die

Constellation Episode 2 begins in the snowy woods of Sweden. Jo carries a freezing Alice on her back all the way to the house. Jo warms Alice up and hugs her, saying she smells like her again. She puts Alice in a hot water bath. When she goes to boil some more, Jo sees the Alice who is still sleeping in bed. Both exist at the same time.

The sleeping Alice wakes up. Jo can see the Alice in the bathtub from the mirror but when she goes into the bathroom, there’s nobody there. Jo asks the other Alice where he daughter is.

Back in the past, at the space station, Jo tries to connect with Houston but fails. She’s somehow lost hours, there are only six hours of life support left. In Kazakhstan, Henry and Irene both arrive. Irene tells Henry that there is no sign of life on board the station. But Jo is still there and has managed to switch two batteries, there are four left and she’s not sure she has time.

Magnus speaks with Frederic from the ESA, who says the chances of Jo coming back are dismal. They haven’t been able to reach her so even if she manages to leave she has to calculate her own entry point, which could be dangerous.

Jo is working the batteries and recording a message for her family when she hears a noise. She replays the recording and hears a voice tell her to stop breathing. She thinks it’s Paul. She goes to Destiny, the part of the ship where Paul was working and sees his amputated arm. When she holds the hand she suddenly sees Paul, but only for a moment. Jo also receives a pre-recorded message from Mission Control, saying they haven’t been able to reach her.

Henry and Irene discuss the situation at the mission control centre. He receives a call from Skagerrak, which signifies something to Irene. He asks Irene about her sister and she asks him about his brother.

On a ship in California, Henry’s twin brother Bud is being interviewed online. He’s a retired astronaut and speaks to the interviewer about what Jo could be facing. He gets annoyed when the interviewer asks what it would feel like to bring back dead bodies.

Jo works through the periods of darkness as well, using a portable oxygen mask, and manages to fix all the batteries. Soyuz 1 is powered up and Jo manages to start the launch process and calculate the deorbit parameters.

As per the recorded message, she retrieves the CAL days core and gets back into the capsule. She records an emotional message for Magnus and Alice, in case she doesn’t make it. She then leaves the iPad up in the station and locks up the capsule, getting ready for launch. But there’s a bolt malfunction.

The countdown reaches zero at the mission control centre, making everybody seems to lose hope. Irene leads them all in a prayer for the departed. On the space station, something moves inside the ISS. Jo’s bolt issue is suddenly resolved and her capsule takes off. Through a window, she sees a shadow inside the ISS.

Henry and Irene share a drink, toasting Jo and Paul. But the mission control centre finally realised that Soyuz 1 has entered the atmosphere. They connect with Jo and soon everybody heads out in search of her. The capsule’s parachute deploys and lands in the desert. Inside, Jo seems passed out.

She wakes up and opens the capsule door. In another moment, cars and helicopters have arrived. Jo is pulled out and warmly embraces Alice and Magnus. Meanwhile, Henry has the CAL data core taken out. He examines it and seems shocked by what he finds.

Jo, Alice and Magnus are all seated in a plane. Alice holds Jo’s hand but all of a sudden finds herself alone, with nobody else around her. Jo experiences the same thing but only for a few seconds. And then she’s back with the others on the plane.

At present, in the house in Sweden, Jo asks Alice where the other version of her is. She makes her get dressed and they head out in search of her. The CAL data core is in Jo’s backpack at the end of Constellation Episode 2.

The Episode Review

Constellation Episode 2 takes things slowly again, dragging out Jo’s work on the ISS. The entire thing is executed well and you do feel a mounting sense of tension as the countdown comes to a close. But this would have worked better in a show that was solely focused on space exploration rather than one tapping into more supernatural elements.

Since the story is clearly about a mysterious force or entity that ends up messing with Jo and Alice, focusing on the intricacies of the space station and the repairs for the capsule were not really necessary.

The happening on Earth is not much clearer. Henry and Irene seem to have some pre-established relationship but their conversations are vague and don’t throw light on any new information. There is plenty of mystery and as in the first episode, the story does well in adding little uncanny details. But all in all, this episode is a bit too slow and vague for my tastes.