I can’t remember when I last saw such transcendent, effortlessly supreme performances from a cast in service to a story that doesn’t deserve them.
Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons make all 8 episodes of the new series Night Sky eminently watchable, even as the Sci-Fi narrative slowly collapses around therm.
Spacek and Simmons is an Illinois couple who are on the precipice of their Golden Years. They’re the human versions of a comfy old shoe. We know them, we like them, we feel comforted by their small town existence and familiarity.
What we learn right away is that, out in their backyard shed, there’s a trap door that leads to a tunnel that leads to some kind of chamber. When they go inside the chamber and close a door, or push a button or whatever…they are transferred to another planet.
To be more precise, they’re transferred to a cool den with nice furniture and a big window from where they can look out at the gorgeous, deserted planet. They don’t know where it is, and they’ve never gone outside to explore it. They just dig having this secret that they’ve kept for twenty years and more than 850 visits.
As a first episode – Night Sky grabs us from the start. The actors’ characters, Irene and Franklin, are so normal, so Midwestern nice and authentic, that they are the perfect guides to have us believe in whatever weird, spacey things might come our way.
Alas, new characters come into the story – mysterious characters whose past, present and future are mostly a ball of questions that will go unanswered and plotlines that only go halfway down a narrative trail without ever going all the way.
Unless. Unless!
This was meant to be one hell of a set up for a Season Two (unconfirmed at this time)? Then I could look back with more admiration.
As it stands, this might just be an 8 episode version of LOST, teasing something profound, but never pulling the trigger on any kind of satisfying resolution.
I am leaving out many “reveals” per the wishes of the producers – most are gentle layers, peeling back the sad history of Irene and Franklin, and almost giving us something to work with on a mysterious dude called Jude (Chai Hansen) who ends of being their in-home caretaker. Almost.
I watched the last two episodes a second time to make sure I hadn’t missed something. I don’t think I had, but re-watching the performances of seasoned pros like these actors was worth it.
Night Sky premieres on Amazon Prime Video. May 20th
