Sunday, August 7, 2022

Emmy Catch-Up: Station Eleven (Penultimate Episode)

Station Eleven: Season 1, Episode 9 “Dr. Chaudhary” (B+)

This episode makes the strongest case yet for Emmy nominee Himesh Patel as a lead on this show, since he’s been surprisingly absent since the first episode, in which he was definitely the most-featured actor. But it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that, in a world without technology and the ability to communicate as we can in our present, people can have entire existences without others knowing they’re still alive and well. The brief appearance of Tyler in this hour was an example of that, since people don’t know who others are supposed to be unless they properly introduce themselves and explain their backgrounds and connections. Jeevan calling himself a doctor and saying that he was alone got him into trouble since he got brought in following his wolf encounter, and it was interesting to see him in a world defined by synchronized birth and simple survival. That Kirsten reading Station Eleven was what led to him getting attacked the first time and then going out to try to find her book after their fight feels like it should have been so preventable, but it’s easy to develop complicated interpersonal dynamics when you only encounter a single-digit total of people in the post-pandemic world. There were some sweet scenes showing how he grew into his role, and I do wonder now that we know he’s still alive in the present if he’ll be able to somehow be reunited with Kirsten before this show comes to a close.

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