ScreenFish

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Lukrum

Mars S2E4: Looking to the Past

Be careful with those lab specimens . . . (photo credit: National Geographic/Dusan Martincek)

When we last left our intrepid bands of explorers, the strife so prevalent for the half of the season was placed on hold as one of the IMSF scientists decided to go alone out into the Martian landscape.? The fourth episode of Mars (National Geographic, Mondays at 9 PM/8 CT) begins with a brief reminder of how close Marta (Anamaria Marinca) was to dying from lack of air and/or becoming a human popsicle. She begins to recover and is extremely lucky that frostbite hasn?t claimed one or more of her fingers and/or toes. Immediately (and as could be expected), she is confronted by Commander Hana (Jihae) for putting herself and the rest of the crew in harm?s way.? Since she?s still on a hospital bed, Marta can?t run from the rebuke of her superior (not that she would anyway).

In another part of the science center, Javier (Alberto Ammann) and Amelie (Clementine Poidatz) have fallen in love with each other again and are looking forward to life with their future child. This could be a bigger issue when it?s born, but for now, the parents seem to be happy.? Until . . .

All of a sudden, members of the Lukrum company begin to fall sick. They?re not ill as a result of the flu, but something significantly more sinister.? It starts with a cough, followed by a lot a blood and (in one case) death.? Nothing seems to be able to stop it from affecting people or spreading among the colony.? Just as this knowledge is discovered, it seems one of the scientists returning from an outdoor expedition begins coughing and exhibiting the same symptoms.? He?s placed in an isolation portion of the lab, but Javier checks on him and suddenly discovers he?s got the same thing.? Amelie can only watch from behind glass as he suffers from an unknown contagion. ?What can be done?

In order to solve the problem, Marta realizes that she has to go backwards in her thinking. One of the samples that showed movement in the lab at the end of the third episode has mutated and doesn?t respond to ordinary drugs on Earth. Realizing this, her thinking leads her to understand that penicillin may be the answer. But will it be in time for both colonies?? And what can she do (if anything) while still recovering from her near-death experience?

In times of trial, it’s time to get along. (photo credit: National Geographic/Dusan Martincek)

I was very surprised by the goriness and gut-wrenching emotion of the episode?it almost had a Michael Crichton Andromeda Strain feel to it.? The real-life portion of the program brought the viewer to the Arctic again, but this time to northern Russia where reindeer are dying from a new strain of anthrax.? Again, the government and oil companies don?t want the public to know about the issue, but if left untreated, things could get a whole lot worse for the people there?and potentially the general public.

This brings me back to Marta?s realization. In order to learn from the past, we have to look there on occasion.? In fact, for the nation of Israel, one of the key words of life is remember. They looked back to the time when the angel of death passed over the houses of the Israelite people yet killed the first born of all the Egyptians, leading to the Exodus, parting of the Red Sea, and eventually claiming a land flowing with milk and honey (see Exodus 11). Christians take a look back every Christmas to the birth of Jesus on the outskirts of Bethlehem (see Luke 2). In addition, we all look at the past to be sure we don?t keep making the same mistakes over and over again.? Looking back is truly a good thing?as long as we don?t lose sight of the present and the future.

Two episodes remain. There?s still much to discover on Mars.

Mars S2E3: What Is Your Passion Worth?

All is well . . . for now.

It seems Mars has been all the rage this week.? On Monday, NASA was able to land the InSight rover on the planet, leading to numerous cheers (and a well-choreographed celebration) from the scientists tasked with getting it there.? Over the next months and years, I?m sure they?re going to acquire an immense amount of data that will prove to be beneficial when humans take their first steps on the Red Planet.

Adding to the intrigue was the third episode of Mars on the National Geographic Channel Monday evening (9 PM/8 CT). The last time we took a look at the scientists and miners, they were engaged in a full-on fistfight over a discovery of liquid water by the Lukrum company. Commander Hana (Jihae) was also dealing with the loss of her sister and as the new episode begins, she?s not done a good job handling the situation over the previous four months.

Marta (Anamaria Marinca) was incensed in episode two about the water issue and she?s still fuming about it.? When she beings it up to Hana, the commander?s repression of grief gets the best of her, causing her to explode on her colleague.? Marta decides that she?s going to get samples to prove the existence of new life forms and despite being told otherwise, takes a rover to Lukrum and starts collecting.? It?s at this point in the show that the drama really begins.

What do you do when you’re running low on oxygen and the temperature is -40? (National Geographic/Richard Donnelly)

Interspersed with clips of scientists working in remote portions of the Greenland Ice Shelf, a solar flare damages a transformer, throwing everything into disarray. Nobody can communicate on either base. Marta loses her navigational system and stubbornly tries to drive back to the base.? This isn?t a good idea when night is falling and temperatures plummet to levels that would kill humans. Since she?s on battery power, she?s limited to what she can do.? It suddenly becomes a race against time to rescue Marta from freezing to death. All that she?s worked for up until this point is seriously in jeopardy.

It?s at this point that a distinctive message arises from the episode of Mars. Scientists aren?t always folks who work in labs, but individuals who are so called to their respective projects that they are willing to sacrifice any and everything to make their goals happen.? The folks in Greenland left family to accomplish their tasks.? Marta was so committed to going to Mars that she put the mission ahead of her boyfriend, who didn?t take the news well.? For those who wish to follow after Jesus and be his disciple, they have to be willing to do the same thing?leave all they?re comfortable with and follow him, no matter what (see Luke 9).? He never said it would be easy, but worth it in the end (see Matthew 19:29).

At the end of the episode, one of the samples Marta collected begins to show movement.? Could this be the start of something big?? Or could it be something else?? Be sure to tune in next week to find out!

Mars S2E2: Can?t We Just Get Along?

Amelie (photo credit: National Geographic/Dusan Martincek)

The second season of Mars (National Geographic; Mondays @ 9 PM/8 CT) has already had a fair share of tension. When the scientists discover that a drilling company named Lukrum wants to mine the planet for profit, they?re not happy about it.? An uneasy truce is created to share water and electricity, but the miners proceed to take advantage of the scientists at every turn. The second episode picks up with Lukrum using 10 percent more water than allotted. Uncertain as to what to do, Commander Hana (Jihae) makes a plea to the head of the IMSF on Earth, Amanda Richardson (Cosima Shaw), for help. Richardson doesn?t feel she?s getting respect from her colleagues and begins to assert herself in a way that will distance herself from her predecessor.? Hana doesn?t like the bossy, somewhat petulant response that suggests the IMSF and Lukrum have a different relationship outside of Mars.

This concept of being worlds apart provides the focus of the documentary portion of the show.? The folks in the Arctic are drilling for oil, but there are people who want a different outcome to occur?namely, the protestors of Greenpeace. Equipped with their own ships and quick-moving watercraft, they push as far as they can?and then some?to get their points across. The two sides are never going to agree, but is there a happy medium where the two can coexist?

All the animosity between the two groups comes to a head when, at a party to celebrate the arrival of a spacecraft (and to take Amelie [Clementine Poidatz] back to Earth), a member of Lukrum inadvertently mentions their discovery of liquid water.? Marta (Anamaria Marinca) immediately takes a side for science, and before long, a full-scale brawl ensues.? Where is Commander Hana when all this is going on?

You never want to see this. (photo credit: National Geographic/Dusan Martincek)

It turns out she has a few issues of her own to deal with in addition to Richardson?s cold and curt message to her from Earth.? Hana?s sister and former head of the IMSF (also played by Jihae) is on the flight to Mars, but there?s a medical problem she?s kept from everyone. Sadly, it claims her life before she lands on the planet. But as there is death, there is life (in a weird sort of way), as Amelie chooses not to return to Earth at the last minute due to a discovery of being pregnant.

The second episode of Mars reminds me that we are not our own and are simply allotted time on Earth by God. While here, we must learn to ?live?at peace?with everyone,? as Paul noted (Romans 12:18).? That doesn?t mean we always have to agree with others, but we do have to take the initiative to coexist as best as we can.? Making the most of our individual spheres of influence will go a long way to keeping harmony within arm?s reach?even though we may never get to a place where people completely agree with us or our views.

But with all the tension on Mars, the third episode is shaping up to be quite a doozy. Make sure to tune in next week and catch it for yourself!