Netflix's Away Season 1, Episode 5 recap: Space Dogs

Away Season 1, Episode 5 recap: The crew prepares to say goodbye.

Christmas is approaching in Away Season 1, Episode 5, and the Atlas crew must prepare to say their goodbyes to loved ones as their continued distance from Earth means the signal will grow increasingly spotty. For the next two years, their primary communication with their home will only be via text and email.

It’s also time for each member to receive a medical exam from Ram to ensure they’re still in good health. Poor Kwesi is a bubble of anxiety and other moderate ailments, each attributed to his first adjustment to space. Perhaps the most concerning of all, however, is his foot. A sizable chunk of his heel falls off while he’s draping tinsel around the shuttle.

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Ram assures him some atrophy is normal. He’s not overly concerned with anything concerning Kwesi’s health, not the same way he fears for Misha. Given his frequent space flier miles, Misha has begun experiencing a severe case of space blindness. Emma gives him a direct order to complete his exam because he doesn’t want to accept reality.

While no one has gone completely blind from it before, and their eyesight usually restores upon returning to Earth, Ram warns Emma that no one has ever traveled as far or for as long as they have.

Misha is more concerned with perfecting a puppet show to perform for his grandchildren during their final video chat. He even gets Kwesi to act as his co-star. When the time comes, the puppet show is a touching and beautiful send-off for his kids and a veiled message to his daughter Natalya. The story about a dog who is meant for space all along feels very similar to Misha’s.

After, he gets emotional while talking to his daughter, finally apologizing for sending her away to live with her aunt and uncle as a girl while he left to be a cosmonaut. He says he struggled with suicidal thoughts after his wife died and didn’t feel competent enough to care for his daughter. As we watch Misha beg for her forgiveness, it’s hard not to cry, especially when Natalya tells him she doesn’t know how to forgive him.

More. Away Season 1, Episode 4 recap: Excellent Chariots. light

It’s even worse when you remember that this could be the last time they speak if Misha doesn’t make it back to Earth. That’s something they all have to grapple with as they say their goodbyes, especially Emma. Saying her farewells to Matt and Lex is incredibly difficult for her. She’s struggling to accept the years she’ll miss of Lex’s life.

When she gets back, she’ll be a senior in high school. Emma tries to give her advice about everything she can think of, from boys to the adults she needs to trust and listen to. Lex finally confesses to her mom that’s both sad and angry that being her mom wasn’t enough for her.

Emma says she’s happy that Lex could admit that and tells her she has a right to be upset. When the signal drops, Emma retreats to her quarters to be alone for a while. Lu eventually knocks to tell her that Misha is getting Kwesi drunk off his homemade vodka and feels embarrassed at having interrupted Emma at a vulnerable moment.

It winds up being a good thing, though, as Emma asks Lu’s advice on coping with the distance from their families. Lu says she has to keep looking forward, to think about the fact they’ll be the first people to step foot on Mars.

“You’re looking in the wrong direction, Emma.”

The end of the episode is a sweet ending as the crew take syringe shots of Misha’s vodka and celebrate Christmas in their unorthodox way. Kwesi even gives everyone a surprise Hannuakha gift (we learn that he’s Jewish) in the form of genuine greens! They’re delighted to have real food for a moment, even if it is just a few leaves of spinach.

Away Season 1, Episode 5 recap: Matt & Lex adjust to their new normal.

Matt returns home from the hospital, and both he and Lex have a difficult time adjusting to their home with all its changes. Wheelchair ramps and a hospital bed have been added to make the house more accessible for Matt. Regardless, he’s intent on making Christmas as normal as possible, including decorations and their traditional smoked brisket.

Lex and Matt are tiptoeing around each other, both trying to be strong for the other. Matt tells Lex it’s okay for her to be mad or sad; whatever she feels is valid. He doesn’t want her to bottle things up inside, and Lex tells him the same thing. Matt needs to take his own advice, though. We see Matt’s exterior crack on Christmas Eve when he can’t sleep and goes into the garage to get decorations to finish the tree off the top shelf.

Inching out of his chair more and more as he tries to grapple the box with a golf club, he fails to retrieve it and collapses to the ground. His mounting frustration results in him recklessly beating the wall of shelves. The one good thing about him being in the garage in the middle of the night is he hears Isaac’s truck pull up and drop Lex off.

He’s able to greet her by opening the garage door as she stands there looking guilty. Isaac invited Lex to Midnight Mass, a tradition for his family. Over Christmas dinner the next day, unable to stand the idea she might have ruined Christmas, Lex apologizes for sneaking out, just before Emma calls.

Ultimately, Matt and Lex stop by Melissa and Cassie’s Christmas party with their leftover brisket, and it looks like maybe, they might be taking a step in the right direction.

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Find out more about Away‘s impressive soundtrack at Men’s Health.

All ten episodes of Away Season 1 are now available to stream on Netflix.

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