The Silent Sea

It's a story that doesn't really tell anything new. The show is nevertheless quite entertaining and in places really exciting. However, the story is not quite convincing, especially since there are some rough plot-holes and logic errors, and the ending is not really satisfying either. Some effects and also the set can't always convince. But since it was not a boring story, I can give 6 stars.

I was kind of excited when I first started watching this because it had a cool concept and the trailer looked good. And even though the visuals were stunning and the actors did an amazing job, it felt like something was missing. It's definitely a thriller but once the unknown was known, its momentum slowed down. And that ending was kind of anticlimactic, with some plot holes included.

This eight part Korea science fiction series is set in a near future where events have led to almost total desertification of the Earth. Water is a treasured commodity. With this in the backdrop Captain Han Yun-Jae has been tasked with leading a mission to retrieve samples from an abandoned lunar base. Amongst the team is scientist Dr Song Ji-An. Dr Song's sister had been one of the base's staff that was lost in a 'radiation leak' five years previously. The mission, which was due to take twenty four hours, gets off to a bad start; a crash landing leaves the crew having to walk several miles on the moon with limited oxygen. Things don't get much better when they reach the station. It soon becomes clear that not everything they were told was true, there are plenty of hidden dangers, they have difficulty finding the samples and what they find appears to be dangerous; to make matters worse it would appear that they are not alone.

I thought this was a pretty solid series. It might not have been the most original but it delivered plenty of tension throughout. It is science fiction but there are also good horror elements such as what happens when people come in contact with the strange 'Luna water'. The characters were the sort one would expect in such a series; the leader who insists on sticking to the mission even after things go wrong; one trying to learn what happened to a family member; one constantly complaining and one who can't quite be trusted to mention just a few. The cast is solid; most obviously Bae Doona, who always seems to impress, as Dr Song. The effects are pretty good even if science is often ignored... for example I never though characters were operating in one sixth of Earth gravity. There are some nice surprises and ultimately I enjoyed the series so would recommend it to fans of the genre; just be prepared to suspend your disbelief.

These comments are based on watching the series in Korean with English subtitles.

The good : The story, it's pretty good, and it creates tension in a masterful way. The special effects are great.

The bad: It's a slow burn and a bit of a cliché. Conversations seem to be somewhat forced for character creation and at times seem out of context and significance.. The story sometimes loses momentum.

This show needs another season, because it leaves many unanswered questions and the story does not have a meaningful conclusion.

So... Despite these facts I still recommend this show, to SCI-Fi fans, it is better than many recent productions.

The Silent Sea is a pretty good effort at a SciFi thriller. Sure it has its moments of clumsiness, but it unfolds an interesting story.

Beyond the human drama aspect - where some of the inter character communication is a little strange perhaps for Western audiences - there's a good angle in the story that then develops into several layers.

I do get a bit tired of sci-fi that shows characters in endless corridors - when you pay so much per sq foot to build in space the last thing you'd do is waste so much space on corridors - but bad space station design isn't unique to this show - and plenty of aspects of the internals are also quite satisfyingly detailed.

All in all this is a good sci-fi show that's worth a look and persevering with - worth a 7.