Constellation review: 'Lost' in space gets lost on re-entry

While Apple TV Plus has made a name for itself with slow-burn "prestige" TV shows, it does mean the streamer’s library lacks something for those who want something a little more fast-paced, action-packed or "silly" (to use the adjective endearingly). Well, that was the case, but Constellation goes some way towards filling this breach.

The story centers on an astronaut, Jo, who's on a mission aboard the International Space Station. When a quantum physics experiment being carried out by one of her colleagues causes the station to be scuppered, she has to find a way to get home in one piece. That’s only the beginning of her ordeal, though, as she finds the world she returns back to has some strange differences from the one she left. Cue several hours of psychological drama, conspiracy thrillers and sci-fi concepts, none of which we’ll spoil in this review.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a TV show that comes quite as close to noughties classic Lost as Constellation does — for good and for bad. Both spend the majority of their run-time firing off plot twists left, right and center, creating a mystery that makes for absolutely gripping TV as you watch it slowly build up. If you want something a little pulpier than Apple’s usual fare, you can consider this a warm recommendation.

Episodes one to four of the show fire out new concepts, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it curiosities and dramatic new situations with reckless abandon, and you’ll wish Apple had released the show all in one block so you can binge it all. I found myself repeatedly pausing the show to make sure I hadn’t just imagined some tiny hidden detail or tiny twist, or to be sure I was definitely following the whole thing.

However while Lost kept its foot to the pedal through six seasons, right up until its blaze of glory in that divisive final episode, Constellation slows right down to spend its second half trying to tidy up all the plot threads it spent the first half flinging out. A good idea in theory, but it makes the Earth-bound latter half of the season feel much, much slower.

For the last few episodes, the plot crawls down to a snail’s pace — while we’ve spent several episodes trying to work out what’s going on, for the final few we actually overtake the characters. So we have to watch them trudge through the Swedish tundra or power through episode-length flashbacks as they figure out parts of the plot that we worked out hours ago.

This all culminates in a finale that feels rather inconclusive, with the characters understanding what’s wrong with their world but not given a chance to fix it. We still don’t quite understand the depths of what’s going on, many characters’ stories remain unfinished, and enough final scenes seem to tee up a second season that this must be only the first part of a longer story. While this is fitting for another Lost comparison, such a conclusion feels unsatisfying compared to what the helter-skelter first few episodes promised. Hopefully, Constellation season 2 will offer us a more complete resolution.

Despite the pacing problems, Constellation remains exciting enough to be a breath of fresh air amongst Apple’s slower thrillers. Noomi Rapace provides a nuanced performance in the lead role as Jo and Jonathan Banks does a great job playing both Bud and Henry, with subtle differences making them feel distinct. An inspired casting choice sees both Rosie and Davina Coleman play Jo’s daughter Alice – without wanting to spoil anything, there are two sides to this character, and the use of different but near-identical actors to portray each version is a great way to subtly convey the differences.

Production all around deserves two thumbs up, perhaps owing to Constellation reportedly being one of Apple’s most expensive shows. The CGI is some of the best-looking of an Apple series, characters really seem to be in real locations instead of on a green screen, and the music does wonders at creating atmosphere. The editing keeps the show’s fast pace consistently exciting and stops the slower final episodes from being too tedious.

If you’ve seen another Apple show The Changeling, you may find parts of the latter half of Constellation oddly similar. Not only do they both use similar camera effects to create a dream-like world with vignetting, shallow depth of field and fairytale imagery, but a scene between Jo and Alice actually spoils the ending of the 2023 show! A curious addition, so if you’re going to watch The Changeling, make sure to finish it first.

On the topic of "doing your research before watching Constellation", some parts of its plot may be hard to grasp if you’re not scientifically minded, and the show doesn’t waste too much time explaining the science behind its narrative. That’s great in terms of pacing, but it could leave some viewers absolutely baffled. My knowledge of quantum physics begins and ends with what I’ve seen in other shows and movies and I was just about following by the end, but if you’re not well-versed in tales of multiverses or parallel worlds, may I recommend you check out our Constellation recaps so you know what’s going on!

Constellation is by no means a perfect show, but it’s close enough to be worth the eight hours it’ll take to watch, and is another notch in Apple TV Plus’ belt of fantastic sci-fi shows. Just a word of advice, though: I’d recommend waiting to watch it until Wednesday, March 27, when all eight episodes will be available to watch in one manic binge. Plus we’ll have an ending explainer out to coincide with that last episode, so you can make sure you grasp what happens in the finale!