Away Season 1, Episode 9 recap: Spektr

Away Season 1, Episode 9 recap: The water crisis deepens.

Away Season 1, Episode 9 is one fine hour of television, perhaps my favorite episode of the season thus far unless the finale tops it. For starters, what is a “Spektr,” as the episode title suggests? It’s an old Russian ghost story that Misha brings up at the worst of times.

The beginning of “Spektr” kicks off with the Atlas crew’s worst nightmare coming true: their back-up water system has reached its last legs. The only water they have left is barely enough for them to survive the next three days, certainly not enough to get them through the final weeks before Mars. Even if they wanted to do the slingshot plan now, it’s too late. Pegasus II would not reach them in time.

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Kwesi, it turns out, has the most experience with dehydration for depressing reasons. His parents died of dysentery. Ever since he has had an obsession with water and its effects on the human body.

According to his calculations, they only have about six hours to orchestrate a new plan, since, beyond that, the effects of dehydration will start to make them all weak, dizzy, and lightheaded.

If Ground wants them to try something complicated, it needs to be sooner than later, before their senses begin to dull.

That leaves them with only one other option, according to Ground. The Atlas is protected with a  layer of water bags to protect the crew from radiation. If they can drill into the layer perfectly, they might be able to get enough water into the collection bags to survive the remainder of their journey to Mars.

The problem is, there is no margin for error. If they drill even a millimeter too deep or in the wrong direction, they’ll put a hole in the ship directly to space, which can obviously kill them, hence “Spektr,” if you hear the ominous hissing sound — run. Knowing what their intended course of action is, the crew gets all of their most sentimental belongings out of crew quarters, which is the best place to begin drilling.

Lu and Emma take care of measuring the perfect spot and, as a surgeon, Ram does the actual drilling. It doesn’t work. The drill goes too deep and the crew rushes to get out of the quarters, losing the entire area until they’re able to get down there and seal the hole.

Without the water from that layer, things begin to look seriously dire for the crew. Even Darlene and George think it’s over and they start preparing their speeches to the world. But Matt is not ready to give up on his wife just yet. With the assistance of Freddie, they concoct what they call a “fourth-grade science experiment,” which would involve two astronauts going on a spacewalk to the hull of the ship.

Using a static shock machine to charge their suits, they would release water from the hull into space, where it would crystallize, and then guide the ice crystals into collection bags and toss them into the airlock where the pressure would turn them into water again. It’s extremely risky and there is no guarantee it will work, but it’s not like the crew has anything left to lose at this point.

They submit their last words to Ground, in case they fail.

“It was worth it.”

Thankfully, though, the mission succeeds. Ram and Emma make the spacewalk in the most visually stunning sequence of the season. Mars is framed in the background as the ship slowly soars through space. Emma pulls the lever and a stream of brilliant ice crystals spew forth, clinging to her suit as she and Ram slowly guide them into countless bags.

But before heading onto the spacewalk, Ram all but confesses his feelings for Emma. He doesn’t want to die anymore. he wants to continue living, with her. It’s so emotional!! It’s heartbreaking!! What about Matt? But their chemistry! I had a lot of emotions watching this sequence, as you can tell.

And when they do live and return to the airlock, Emma and Ram remove their helmets and gaze intensely at each other with such raw emotion and relief — I thought they were about to passionately kiss, and honestly, I wouldn’t have hated it. I’ve been getting vibes between Matt and Melissa on Earth, too. It’ll be interesting to see the fallout from Ram’s confession.

Away Season 1, Episode 9 recap: Isaac helps to keep Lex distracted.

Meanwhile, Lex is struggling to deal with the possibility of her mom’s death. Isaac visits her at Melissa’s house to apologize for his actions. He tells her everything going on reminded him of the days when his father was missing, before learning he had died. But his mom reminded him that he had gone through it, while Lex was going through it.

He manages to distract her from the uncertainty for a while. They spend the day at his church and eating chili, before ultimately stargazing in the back of his truck. Lex asks Isaac’s questions about death and coping. Everyone has been telling her to hope for the best, but she wants to get a different perspective in case the unthinkable happens.

Isaac is honest with Lex. He tells her how hard it is, the worst pain you could imagine. But it does get better — which sometimes makes it worst. Sometimes you need the hurt so you don’t forget them. Lex wonders if she will be able to see the sky the same way again if her mom dies.

Will she look up and feel nothing but sadness? Isaac tries to give her a different perspective. Maybe she’ll look up and see Emma looking down on her. Plus, he reminds her that her mom isn’t dead.

“Don’t give up on her.”

Then they spend the rest of their date making out, which, as Lex says, is much better for distracting her and Isaac is happy to oblige. Thankfully, Lex might not have to say goodbye to Emma, after all.

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