Mars

Ulysse has come down for a rough landing in the middle of a Martian dust storm, landing intact but instantly starved for power. The main battery is a casualty of the rough landing, and the the onboard computer, Irene, fails during descent. Emotionally stunted Basile, an awkward outsider among the crew whose only meaningful relationship during the trip to Mars has been Irene, is tasked with rebooting Irene in a power-saving safe mode; if he accidentally restarts her in a mode requiring full power, she’ll drain Ulysse’s power reserves almost instantly. Now in command of the mission, Simon Gramat assigns Renoir and geologist Eva Müller to accompany him to look for the wreckage of the doomed American mission, in the hope that batteries or solar panels can be salvaged and connected to Ulysse, but first, Meyer insists on documenting the first steps of humankind on Mars – his own. But during the search for the Z-1 wreckage, Gramat and his landing party discover that another man walked on Mars first…a man in a Soviet-era spacesuit that predates even the first robotic Mars missions. The man in the suit is still alive, and is rushed back to Ulysse. He identifies himself as 40-year-old Vladimir Komarov, cosmonaut, pilot of Soyuz 1, and when his photo is transmitted to Earth, his identity is confirmed…despite the fact that history recorded Komarov’s death in 1967…meaning he should be 90 years old.

written by Julien Lacombe
directed by Julien Lacombe
music by Etienne Forget

Cast: Hélène Viviès (Jeanne Renoir), Clément Aubert (Simon Gramat), Mathias Mlekuz (William Meyer), Jean-Toussaint Bernard (Yann Bellocq), Giorgia Sinicorni (Alessandra Najac), Côme Levin (Basile), Adrianna Gradziel (Eva Müller), Arben Bajraktaraj (Vladimir Komarov), Vincent Londez (Ivan Goldstein), Tiphaine Daviot (voice of Irene), Avant Strangel (Scientist), Ian McCamy (Adjunct Scientist), Lan Hoang Xuan (Goldstein’s nurse)

Notes: As Missions debuted on a French streaming service, all ten episodes share the same “airdate” since they were dumped as a full season, Netflix-style. The Amazon streaming link included above is for the English-subtitled edition of the series.