Wisely Somerville and his team avail themselves of the story's dreamlike feel to merge past and present with complete clarity. Through masterful directing and editing, each episode conveys the way that history lives and breathes within memory, coexisting with the present, whether within a performance or a fugue state.

At times dark and heartbreaking, it’s also luminous, wondrous, even funny — the most uplifting show about life after the end of the world that you are likely to see.

Station Eleven takes Mandel’s book and amps up its sense of a cozy post-apocalypse, where humanity comes together, rather than drifting apart. I entered the series deeply skeptical, and I left it feeling at least semi-hopeful for what humanity might yet become, even after the end. ... The alternation between storytelling modes also gives the show a pleasant rhythm once you fall under its spell.

It weaves the stories of its eight principal characters in a way that never feels redundant or overcomplicated.

There's nothing to get you thinking about what really matters than seeing how rickety the foundations of civilization can be, and the humaneness of the answers Station Eleven offers feel more comforting than troubling.

In the early episodes of the series, the stark beauty of the ruined world the characters inhabit is fully capable of carrying the show, but it doesn’t need to. Strong performances all around, particularly from Lawler as the child Kirsten, and scripts grounded in the characters’ relationships make every episode indelible. Things start to disintegrate toward the end, unfortunately.

Viewers who come to the TV version without having read the book will watch another reasonably decent story of dystopia that looks and sounds like a lot of current TV fare. ... The filmmakers could have slavishly copied the plot of that book and had a perfectly fine TV series. But they didn’t, and they don’t.

First two episodes are excellent. At long last a mature take on dystopia. Also it's a clever metaphor on collective but more interestingly personal **** how this morbid fascination can also help grow artistic natures. Sadly ep 3 doesn't keep up and falls into some clichéd, cringe-worthy musings on parasitic philistines vs "true to self" artists and very lame attempts on intercultural open-mindedness (our Black protagonist pretending to speak some kind of Cantonese to business partners in... Malaysia -where everyone speaks English!!!. Note to Americans: There are -far- more Chinese able to speak foreign languages than you! ). What a way to ruin a show! Edit: The rest of the show, besides the clichés of movie **** and jealousy of also-rans, is almost flawless. Really refreshing take on Hamlet and a beautiful musing on ....musing!

Well directed and edited, captivating story and a strong lead. I really enjoyed the way a graphic novel about a mysterious space man was connected to the story and characters, it very surreal and intriguing. The first 7 episode have been great!

Interesting take on the post-apocalyptic genre. Some of the casting and acting was good. Mackenzie Davis turned out a very good performance and was well cast for her role. Other casting was like the budget overran and they had to go cheap - yet any high school drama club has better actors... so, always very strange why that happens. Clearly casting, acting and writing did not align in many places. Episode 5, The Severn City Airport, is my favorite episode... I almost always enjoy David Wilmot's acting. Daniel Zovatto is an interesting casting choice as "The Prophet" and he does a very good job. I wouldn't have thought to cast him in the role - but, it really works in an interesting way. I was thinking of rating this a 7 (or even an 8) - but, just too many bad actors strangely cast in minor roles. Perhaps casting directors think minor roles are not important so they carelessly cast the minor roles? I'm going to go read the professional reviews for some possible insight as to what was going on. *************************************************** Having thought about it for a while... I think a major problem with Station Eleven was Himesh Patel as Jeevan Chaudhary (the audience member who takes care of Kirten the night of the pandemic and for the next several months). Himesh Patel fulfilled the role at an acceptable level. It is just that it was a critical role, and it should have been cast differently with a better actor. I think Himesh is fairly good actor - but, he messed up the series - in my humble opinion.

I'm on the third episode. First episode was great. Really took us in and we were waiting with baited breath for the next episodes. Then the non-linear storytelling began and ruined things for us. I wish they just told the story linearly. Jumping back and forth through time is risky unless it's done right. I am not sure if we will continue watching as the story is really going in a direction that is uninteresting.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]