Beacon 23

 

DIRECTV gave me a free preview of MGM+ A few weeks back. I wasn't at all interested until I saw that there was a science fiction series entitled Beacon 23. About which I knew nothing, but they had me at science fiction. A little poking about showed that it was a Hugh Howey thing... and since I'd just finished watching AppleTV+'s Silo--another Hugh Howey thing which, while not without its story problems, still made for compelling viewing--I hit the play button for Episode 1. 

Big surprise: there were some serious story problems. But the basic premise of a space lighthouse keeper tickled one of my bones. And the beauteous Lena Headey tickled another one. (She plays a space traveler in distress who is taken aboard Beacon 23 by Solomon, the lighthouse keeper. Except it turns out that this isn't really Solomon, but Halan Kai Nelson...A soldier who has gone AWOL. Except (as we learn later) that that's not really true, either...even though Halan thinks that's what happened. 

Hidden identity plays a big part in this show, as you've probably already surmised. Hell, even the AI (Bart) has a few nooks and crannies. 

At any rate, I watched episodes 2, 3, and 4 in quick succession, and even though story problems continued to rear their ugly little heads, I was not discussed from continuing to watch. Alas, the 5th episode hadn't come out yet, and by the time it did, my free trial had run out. So I did what you would do: I looked to see if I could get a free trial of MGM+. Yep. 7 days for free. Problem: that would only get me the 5th episode, and there were 8 episodes. So I'd have to wait for another month. I didn't mark my calender...so I was kind of surprised when allofasudden the whole series was up. But before I clicked the free trial button, I happened to run across a thing on Amazon Prime Video which seemed to indicate that I could watch Beacon 23 there. For free. All of the episodes.

Had to be a catch, right?

Nope. I just rewatched episodes 3 and 4 (to get a running start), and then I knocked back episode 5. I try not to binge shows TOO much. For one thing, my brain doesn't process information very well if I don't pace myself, but it's actually kind of hard. I find myself actually caring about what happens to these characters.

Despite some obvious plot flaws.

So...there it is. If you like science fiction and don't mind a hard swallow every once in awhile...and if you have Amazon Prime membership (isn't that a requirement for U.S. Citizenship now?)... then this is worth a shot. Silo, too, for that matter...but you've got to have AppleTV+ for that one. (Bonus prize, though: Silo stars the beauteous Rebecca Ferguson...as well as the interesting rapper Common and the rather scary Tim Robbins.