A incredible show that combines popular genres, digs deep into an alternate history, has a phenomenal cast, and keeps you guessing as the mysteries begin to unravel throughout the series.

Star City soon establishes itself as an ideal kind of spin-off, replicating the strengths of its predecessor while thriving as a standalone drama.

Wrings taut drama from the story of Eastern Bloc men and women trying, at great personal and moral risk, to foster innovation under the thumb of authoritarianism.

If this is the more slow-burn sibling to For All Mankind, it’s one that gradually draws you in for something perhaps even more satisfying altogether. English accents and all.

Star City posits a much darker vision, and arguably one much more in keeping with our own current national mood. It makes for a bleak time — but some very compelling drama.

There’s a lot of potential to this setting and story, especially as a refreshing counterbalance to a show that arguably lost its purpose somewhere along the way. But for a show chock full of obfuscation and betrayal—both to the state and to the sanctity of marriage—Star City sometimes plays it too straight.

It’s frequently riveting television on a scene-by-scene basis, but can feel repetitive on a grand narrative level, proving to be a show that still feels like it’s trying to map out a course for itself.