Ascension

TV Mini Series
2014
TV-MA
1h 17m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

19K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer0:31

Space Sci-Fi Drama Sci-Fi

A young woman's murder causes the subjects of a century-long mission to populate a new world to question the true nature of the project as they approach the point of no return.A young woman's murder causes the subjects of a century-long mission to populate a new world to question the true nature of the project as they approach the point of no return.A young woman's murder causes the subjects of a century-long mission to populate a new world to question the true nature of the project as they approach the point of no return.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

19K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,278

102

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 nominations

Episodes3

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TopTop-rated 1 Season 2014

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
During an interview, Tricia Helier, who is semi nude in this series, was asked whether she had any issues performing sex and nude scenes. She said "Sex is still taboo in America. You can't show a naked body on TV but you can show heads being blown off. We came into the world [nude]. I don't think we should all walk around naked all the time--but I don't see why it has such a hush-hush element to it."

Goofs
Throughout the series we see the occupants of Ascension apparently experiencing normal Earth gravity. In deep space there are only two ways to simulate the effects of gravity; either you build a ship that rotates around a central axis, where centrifugal force gives the appearance of gravity at the rim, or you rely upon thrust from the engines. Since Ascension is clearly not cylindrical (all through the series we see flat floors and a deck layout along the axis), the apparent force of gravity must therefore be provided by thrust from the engines.

To approximate the gravity of Earth, the engines would need to provide a constant acceleration of 9.81m/s2. At this acceleration, the ship would reach 97% of the speed of light in just 2 years and the journey to Proxima Centauri (Ascension's quoted destination) would take roughly 5.2 years. In the show, the ship has apparently been en route for over 50 years, almost 10 times as long as the journey should take.

Such a speed would not be possible for a ship of this type in any case, as it would need a huge shield against interstellar material and an impossibly large fuel load.

All of this is simple math and physics and could be questioned by any reasonably well-educated person in the 1960s; it's inconceivable that none of the crew or other people on board would not have questioned this inconsistency.

Alternate versions
Syfy Channel originally aired the show as three 2-hour episodes (with commercials). But Netflix has divided the series into six 43-minute episodes.

Connections
Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Sci-Fi Shows That Deserve a Second Chance (2017)

User reviews200

Review

Featured review

7/10

Full of surprises! Watch the first 3 episodes before making a decision!

This show is not what you think. I will not give away any details. But if you watch the first episode, thinking that this is about a space adventure, you may want to quit watching. Don't.

The second episode will develop the story a bit more, and the third episode, if you are looking for a space adventure, will give you what you were looking for.

This show is a roller coaster ride, with multiple surprises, twists and turns. The acting is believable, the special effects are good. Just enough to make it realistic, although there are some iffy spots.

I don't know that I am allowed to post links here. But look up some of the early American and Russian spaceship cockpit layouts. I assume there are some online. This is directed to the reviewer who said the tech was not realistic to the period. That is thoroughly explained, and if you compare those images to what you see in this show, it ought to be pretty close.

This miniseries is really about what the project, as explained in the show, says it is. The future of the human race and finding a way into space. You will see for yourself, and understand just what is going on by the end of the third episode. You will get an idea of just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

I am sure there are more surprises to come and I for one am looking forward to them. I am glad I looked through the reviews and found the one advising me to watch to episode three. That was very good advice. You can safely ignore the negative reviewers. It is unlikely they made it past the first episode, so they do not know what they are talking about.

I am giving this a 7, though I am leaning more towards a 6. I think a 7 is fair for now, and if I can adjust it later after I have finished this miniseries, I will.