Syfy's #Ascension Review: A Goody

By Anonymous -
Ascension Tricia Helfer

"Sexist, racist and homophobic, yet I say you should watch it." These are words that come to mind when I think of Ascension.

Ascension is Syfy's original science fiction mystery drama that takes place in an alternate present time aboard a generation ship. In 1963, men, women and children were sent into space on a century-long voyage aboard the U.S.S. Ascension to colonize Proxima Centauri, assuring the survival of the human race. Insider TV nails it best: "The twists and turns of Ascension’s three-night mini-series flight landed the earthbound space ark’s most Right Stuffy space hero and the story itself in a mysterious place strewn with wreckage and reminders of other stories. And more mystery!"

Overt problems 
Racism: there are only two token lead black people: one black guy who rises from the lower deck to become an officer and the black librarian who adopted him after his parent's get blown to pieces. Verdict, librarian gets shipped into a coma by reacting to another person's shot. Black guy gets zapped to Mars, like literally.



Sexism: there is clear gender roles on the ship. And, the environment off the ship resembles the one in it. To quote a few fellow watchers and tweeters.






Homophobia: the token lesbian does not fare too well either. First, she finds out there are no gay folks on Ascension due to Enzmann, the lead scientist on Earth, wanting only the right people with the right gene who can procreate in the ship. To which, she gives the best reply: "I'm guessing there's a few in there. We tend to pop up where you least expect us." She survives a bullet to the stomach and being cared for by her kidnapping, quite crazy or not larky prisoner, only to fall into familiar trope of unneeded death.




But, after getting over my shock and unfulfilled ship by death, I couldn't help but applaud how quickly it escalated and refer back to Stahma Tarr murdering Jenny Schecter (I had to). It was a ballsy move and I am glad they didn't drag it out. It was over in an instant.

Gripping things about the show
Format: a two hours back to back daily showings for three nights. I get giddy when shows experiment with broadcast format and ditch the normal weekly episode run. By ditching the standard format, the series crescendos nicely, keeps its intensity, holds viewers' interest - even if they claim to have hated last night's episodes and wraps up nicely. It's a broadcast TV's equivalent of a Netflix dump all at once and have people marathon through it format. However, I strongly believe that Syfy will go back to the standard broadcast format when it does pick up Ascension for a full run. It would be a fool not to, pick it up I mean.

Twists: so many, it literally will give you whiplash. Which can alienate a few watchers but gets me excited. Why? You have to pay much attention or you may miss a key point. I love how the reveal of who killed Lorelai isn't done with a big reveal. In fact, you may just miss it. It's an offhand revelation, which can be great or frustrating considering the large part of the series is a whodunnit. I am literally kicking myself from giving too much spoilers and plot in the earlier paragraphs. But, the series has so much juice to it that there are so many things you can discover on your own that would not make my spoilers unbearable.

Caprica 6: I can't call her anything else. Tricia Helfer has embraces the femme fatale role so well, I need to see her in more roles like this. Her brief stint of power in the series overpowers all her stints on Killer Women, really. She also wore a red dress, though not Caprica 6's red dress. Come on, you know that dress. Pretty sure it's in a museum somewhere. In Ascension, Viondra Denniger, the character she plays just has you rooting for her. She puts the mani in manipulation.

The rest of the crew: really everyone is so good at playing their characters, it's quite creepy. Stokes remains a creep all through the series, but you can't help but revel when he gets his first taste of real alcohol. Or, Christa who channels Carrie all too well. She's a kid yoh! Or creepy Enzmann. I'm pretty sure his name is written underneath creepy in the dictionary.

And so much more, believe me!

Verdict:

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