If you had something in your house that would teleport you to another planet, would you use it? The new Amazon Prime series Night Sky, starring Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons, has Franklin and Irene in this exact situation - in the backyard of their rural Illinois home, they find a bunker that sends them to an entirely different world, however when they find another person in their bunker, the show evolves into a mystery science fiction science fiction drama that stumbles and fails awkwardly throughout its first season. Despite Simmons and Spacek giving genuinely great performances, the writing behind the show feels clumsy and the dramatic punches it wants to pull just end up feeling like a nudge on the shoulder.

 

When I hear of a show starring such prolific actors, my one hope would be for the supporting cast to stand up on their own and deliver a performance on the same level. However, unfortunately, the writing fails them too. Specific arcs feel less of a priority than others, and some just feel kind of pointless at the end; not to mention that a specific heavy subject is dealt with throughout the show, and the way the show handles this subject feels like a disservice to the character and those who deal with said subject. Actors such as Chai Henson and Kiah McKirnan seem like they can give powerful performances with their characters, but there really isn't much to work with. Other performances, such as Adam Bartly's Byeon, are just absolutely poor, failing to give proper intrigue to these characters with extremely minimal depth. One of Night Sky's biggest crimes is that it fails its supporting characters, and by season's end, most arcs feel somewhat inconsequential, and lack the interest in what will happen in the next season.

 

It's a shame because I really do admire what the show does with Simmons and Spacek, though it isn't exactly perfect at all. They play a cute old couple dealing with the reality of growing older and their bodies just not being what they used to be. It's obvious that this couple yearns to feel young again, but also to live life serving a purpose, and their arc throughout the season is actually quite satisfying. However, there's just so much it can do.

 

Night Sky at first showed promise as a sci-fi drama, however, as soon as it's able to get the ball rolling, it continuously does a disservice to its supporting characters and some performances that are just plain poor. Simmons and Spacek deliver great and effortless performances, but they can only do so much to save this first season from lackluster writing and an ultimately unrewarding finale.