recommended binge: station eleven

Theatre kids are the focus of this, haha, but I still enjoyed it. I saw it as good people wanting to continue society, with hiccups along the way due to crazy religious extremism. I love post apocalyptic shows/movies. This one was one of the best I have ever seen (and I’m 49yo and watch everything in this genre I come across). Station Eleven was so full of love and hope, given everything. Would absolute recommend!

#SO PRETENTIOUS.

I read the book after watching the show and preferred the storytelling of the show much more. Both were excellent!

Loved the show much more

Her other books are incredible too. Sea of Tranquility and The Glass Hotel are two of my favorites of all time.

The book was sooooo boring. I didn’t even give the show a shot after that

Pandemic fatigue

Same. I've recommended it so many times, and I still have no one to talk to about it.

It's not on streaming anymore, at least in Finland, which makes it all the more difficult to recommend and rewatch. Such a shame, I really really liked it. [The showrunner raised concerns of this happening back in 2022](https://deadline.com/2022/12/station-eleven-showrunner-patrick-somerville-mojave-desert-hbo-max-1235197874/)

The problem is that it's a two-faced show, you have the flashbacks to the actual event and then the 'current day'. The flashbacks are awesome and is what most people would enjoy. The current day bits are for theatre kids. And sadly there are more current day scenes than flashbacks. I am not interested in seeing a travelling theatre group with people dressed in the most bizarre clothes.

I went the other way and (I swear I’m not this guy) but felt the book was even better. Cried when it was over.

I loves the book beforehand too, and also thought the series was fantastic. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but the one thing I remember being confused about was that they added like in a child suicide bomber plot in the series? Am I remembering that correctly? That part did not fit for me.

I think I preferred the end of the book, because I think the show made some weird calls around the Prophet, and ditching "An Incomplete List" felt like it lost the really delicate subtext of wonder at our real, actual modern world. Along with a lot of really unique stuff about how important even ephemeral, inconclusive connections with people can be. Everything is connected really neatly in the show in a way the book is making a point of resisting. All that said - stunning show. Mackenzie Davis puts in a really brilliant, kind of thankless core performance that gets better with every watch.

She was really good in Welcome to Derry as well.

I typically get this response when seeing these types of posts on reddit. I've people say all kinds of c*** shows (not saying this one is c***) are amazing only for it to be extremely mid or just straight up bad (im looking at you Black Summer)

It certainly wasn’t terrible, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I was hoping I would. It didn’t leave much of an impression. Mackenzie Davis was enjoyable as always. That’s the biggest compliment I can give it.

Yeah I tried watching it twice and both times got 2 episodes in and it just never clicked.

I made it all the way through the series, but it was a struggle.

I have the last half of the last episode to watch and I just don't really care if I see it or not

I think the pretentiousness of it all put a lot of people off, like they were acting like being an actor would change the world lol I watched it once, enjoyed it but kind of tuned out when they started getting weird... but then it came out on 4K and when I watch a disc, I do it at night alone with no distractions like other people or phone or anything, and enjoyed it far more. Plus it helped that I knew when the pretentiousness would come in so it wasn't a surprise lol

I hate your friends! It is so good, from the get-go. How do you watch the first episode and not want to continue?!?! IT’S SO COMPELLING! Damn!

I do think the first 4ish episodes are the toughest sell. Not because they're poorly written, but because the show doesn't offer an easy hook. There's no obvious overarching plot, there's no central mystery to untangle, there isn't a clear structure to the storytelling. After 4 episodes, it's hard to answer the question "What is this show about?" with a clear, simple response.  I think that's exciting, when it pays off! And Station Eleven it absolutely does. The entire last half of the series is incredible, and all of these narrative threads that felt shaggy and disconnected get pulled into a taut, emotional braid.  But it's not particularly clear after 4 episodes that *that's* where the show is going. Its thesis statement doesn't emerge until the back half, and it does so quite deliberately, quite organically. Also, the show's one misstep imo is the ending of Episode 4, which feels gratuitous in a way that isn't necessary. It's easy to look past though when everything else is so well done. 

Such a beautiful show. Would recommend The Leftovers if you haven't seen it; I believe Station Eleven's showrunner worked as a writer on it, and it's also really great. 

> I wish they’d continued it How?

Jeevan wasn't a doctor, that's why he didn't know CPR. That's his whole character arc, he wanted to help despite not being a doctor.

I liked that about it. Everything had collapsed. There were still elements who were out for themselves and willing to kill for it. The fact that most people were trying to build a safe, stable society again…wow. I want to believe that would happen. I get that Jeeven going out of his way for a child he did not know seems implausible, but there are truly people out there who would help a child like this. I would. My (M39yo) partner would too. I know this with absolute certainty. I 100% get that this seems idealistic, and maybe it is, but what unfolds due to this behaviour reads as wonderfully true to me. It is a miniseries that believes in the best of people!