The First

This seems to me like a bait for SciFi fans, 95% drama and 5% SciFi, and that is really fair percentage estimation. Since there is really not much of a SciFi in it at all, rather something that is achievable in science today!

This is a genially well made and well acted series that feels more like art house movie that your typical TV series or movie. The science fiction elements are mostly in the back ground and credit should be given because they are done in a very subtle, and believable way. The focus is on the relationships of the astronauts but it doesn't mean we don't also get a look at the preparation but it is looked at from a personal perspective. For example there is a problem with the unmanned MAV they previously sent to Mars and if they can't fix the problem it could effect funding for the mission as well as their survival odds of the astronauts and it is shown how that effects the people on the show along with the other events that take place during preparation. At the end of the day the show is mostly about the people that are left behind and primarily about the daughter of the potential commander of the mission and how his relationship with his daughter could effect the mission.

Most science fiction fans would have preferred the focus to be on the mission but there are some merits in this approach as well. My recommendation is to watch it with no expectations and be patient this is definitely taking a leaf out of the 2001 A Space Odyssey school of film making but like 2001 the slow pace is designed to ground the story in reality something that few TV shows and movies dare to do these days, this is not a failing of the show but a failing of viewer attention spans.

Contrary to the others here i found it engaging and interesting. if you're after space imagery and spaceships.. no. this is -maybe- a pretty realistic insight into the human, psychological dimension and systems behind such a program. why i liked it? because we often forget the human, interpersonal dimension when it comes to space flight.. it conveys the human behind this excellently. one might argue too much daughter time.. but this is the story... and i find it very understandable given the circumstances.

cinematography: 10 stars sounddesign: 10 stars & i as others already mentioned.. sean penn is really good in this..

Wow what a mess. Firstly this is NOT sci-fi. The entire plot could be overlayed with Sean pen being a doctor in a 1980's hospital series, say a submarine cpatian -- or for that matter a truck driver -- or a partner in a dental practice who is juggling home n work. There is no US of the science or futuristic aspects, no major thought challenge theme from it. it is just there.

All this series is is a pedestrian drama. And it is one that literally uses every single worn out trope and cliché one has ever seen. I challenge any reviewer to even name a single original aspect -- or even well done cliched one in this series.

And really, I get that Sean Penn thinks he is a military vet after playing one in a film, but "the First' clearly makes him imagine he is a film writer since he has acted in films as he is apparently responsible for the post production adding of the bizarre pauses with haiku like voiced overs. Terrence Malik can do that Sean -- you can't without appearing desperate to save this mess. Really Sean, the dirt and the stars are made from the same stuff? Wow, that is heavy. newsflash: Democritus told us this two THOUSAND and five hundred years ago. It's not news.

Where were all the rockets, spaceships, science and space?

Every damn episode is of Sean Penn boohooing and working out. Sean Penn running with no shirt on, Sean Penn using dumb bells in the pool, Sean Penn playing basketball and more Sean Penn and his damn dumb bells! This was just a glorified Sean Penn work out video.

You know what would of made this better? If you had Sean Penn running with no shirt on....in space! Sean Penn using dumb bells in the pool....in space! Sean Penn playing basketball and more of his damn dumb bells....in space!

If there is a season two. Lets have it actually be about Sci-Fi and less about Sean Penn. If you have to have him working out, he better be working out on Mars!