ASCENSION is a lifeboat for humanity's future which was launched in 1963 part of a 100 year mission to the
nearest star using nuclear power. It is 50 years into the journey when a murder occurs aboard the ship where each
generation feels in crisis since they can't leave the starship. Back on Earth in 2014, a reporter is looking into
claims that a spaceship may have been launched in 1963, but he is getting stonewalled.
ASCENSION interweaves these two stories about what is happening on Earth and
what is happening on the ship. The drama on the ship is more interesting that what is shown back n Earth.
The first night introduces us to the variety of characters on the spaceship along with the power plays, struggles, and their
stories. It is a sci-fi soap opera in a way mixed with mystery and intrigue while the story with Gil Bellows (back on
Earth) isn't worth my time since I rather get back to Ascension. You have the Captain's wife (played by
Tricia Helfer known to many sci-fi fans for her role as Six on BATTLESTAR GALATICA) who has a secret system of information
she has gathered by getting a group of women to sleep around with key people while you have the black guy officer investigating
the murder on the down low not to create a panic. I loved being able to explore the various parts of the ship
with the characters while I could care less about stuff on the people running the project from home since I found none of
those Earthbound people to be interesting at all.
That brings me to the one
thing I didn't like about Night One which is the ending and I wish they saved this surprise for later or didn't do it
at all. I just wonder if that little ending will rob the show of a little mystery. This is the first night of a three night event that could be expanded to a series for SyFy if it does well and you should check out
the timeline for the ship vs. Earth on the page for Ascension on SyFy.com. You should check out the series and
make your own judgment on whether you want to stick around or not since it is a mixed bag with the ship drama being great
and the Earth stuff not so interesting.
