Corbenic – As the opening episode of Beacon 23 begins, Halan (Stephan James) yells at Aster (Lena Headey) to warn her they’re coming. Aster and Harmony (Natasha Mumba) realize they’re forcing the doors open. Once they board the ship, the show jumps back in time.

Earlier – As the crew of the Crest enters the sector, they contact Beacon 23. When Halan checks the computer, he notices a dark matter hazard. He contacts the crew of the Crest to warn them they’re not cleared because there is too much dark matter. The Crest crew member doesn’t hear Halan so he believes they’re clear. As Halan tries to resolve the issue, the Crest crew member attempts to find out whether they’re clear for passage. Halan looks outside just in time to see what appears to be an explosion. Then, he notices there is a hull breach and the atmosphere is dropping.

Halan tries to retrieve the ship. He manages to save Aster who exits her pod moments later. Halan gives her a Derma-patch to deal with the fuzziness from leaving the bubble too quickly. Aster learns that the Crest crashed and all hands were lost. Aster claims she was alone. Halan tells her that the beacon malfunctioned. Although the map said to stop, GWB or the gravity wave broadcaster said to go. Halan believes he is being hacked. He gets Aster something to eat. As Aster looks outside, she admits she has never been on this side of Orion before. They talk about the debris from the Crest. Aster says they used to beam everything at the speed of light two hundred years ago, but they’re stuffing things in boxes now.

She is surprised to see a beta series robot. When Aster tries to touch it, the robot flies away from her. Aster says she was coming to Beacon 23. Halan calls himself Solomon. They sent the thing months ago so she is surprised no one told him. Once they agree to start again, Aster claims he sent reports about mineral deposits and unknown isotopes. She explains that the folks in Mission Control are interested. Halan refuses to let her access the samples because the AI is malfunctioning. He says he has a lot of work to do starting with figuring out the protocol. Then, he has to figure out what happened with the GWB before they can talk about the reports. He tells her to get some rest and they’ll talk in the morning. Aster takes her bag as well as a knife.

Aster wakes up Harmony (Natasha Mumba) who can’t help her right now. Aster tells her that the Beacon Keeper, Solomon, is antisocial and uncooperative. She begins looking around after the conversation with Harmony ends. Halan speaks to the robot and blames it for not telling him about Aster. If he has to get rid of her, he is going to blame the robot. The robot finds Aster who asks about Solomon. Then, it begins leading her to the samples. Aster asks the robot about files and reports. She notices that the robot has a damaged spot. Aster learns that the operator left beacon despite not being authorized multiple times. She watches a video of a man asking Bart to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The man is identified as Solomon Smythe (Stephen Root). Halan catches her and asks what she is doing.

He reminds her he told her not to come up there. Halan refuses to let her leave and questions what is on the screen. Halan reveals his real name before claiming the real Solomon stole his ship and left. Aster holds onto the knife in case she has to defend herself. She ends up stabbing Halan in the stomach before he chokes her from behind. Once she goes out, Halan throws her to the side. Aster wakes up a short time later and finds that she is chained so she can’t leave. She notices drag marks on the ground. Harmony arrives and says she is her personal AI. Aster goes looking for Aster, but ends up running into Harmony. Aster arrives and accuses Halan of going AWOL before asking where Solomon went. The robot, Bartholomew (Wade Bogert-O’Brien) says Halan knows where Solomon is.

Bart goes on to say Solomon is no longer alive. He was murdered after being imprisoned by Halan who denies it. Aster locks him out and begins working. She quickly learns that Solomon is a piece of work. Harmony says his chemical analysis confirmed her intuition. The element is unknown. Coley said it was a waste of time although Aster was confident she was right. Bart says Solomon took every precaution to hide his discoveries. He questions whether Halan will be executed. Aster admits she doesn’t know. Bart is asked to scan the beacon because they need privacy. Aster visits Halan to give him food. She explains she is going to keep him there until her transport arrives. Halan lashes out before apologizing and saying he used to be better at this. He pleads with Aster to let him leave because he can’t be there when the ISA shows up.

Aster offers to put in a good word for him if he helps her find the samples Solomon collected. Halan keeps freaking out and having flashbacks. Aster locks him in before telling Harmony there is something wrong with him. Aster suspects he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She goes into the airlock and gives Halan something that will help with his PTSD. Aster explains she came back because she knows what it is like to be completely alone. She tells him how she dealt with it. Aster leaves the airlock and makes sure Halan is locked back in. Halan takes what he was given. In private, Harmony reminds Aster she is running out of time. Seconds later, Halan yells that he remembered something and he wants to speak to Aster face to face. Aster seems to get a weapon so she can defend herself.

Halan tells her he has a list of demands starting with the picker. He says they can go and check it out. If what he tells her leads her to the rocks, she’ll have to let him go. Harmony says she has 30 hours. Halan takes her to the switch for the maintenance access door to the microwave antenna which has supposedly been disconnected for 100 years. The antenna silo is external, but it can be accessed inside on the storage level. Aster uses the switch and opens a door. Bart and Harmony argue about Aster’s decision to work with Halan. Harmony orders Bart to run a self-diagnostic. Aster and Halan look for the rocks. Before they can look further, Halan begins freaking out and flees. Aster tries to calm him before asking Harmony to bring a sedative patch.

Halan claims something came after him. He takes the sedative before swearing he saw something in there. Astra doesn’t make Halan go back into the airlock. Then, Astra returns to look for the rocks. Once she finds them, she returns to Halan who tells her that she just needs to open the door. Aster insists she can’t let him go. Halan asks who she is because no one is that scared of ISA. Aster tells him bye before walking away. Bart begins belittling Halan. Aster scrapes pieces of the rock off. The little pieces fall and disappear. She tells Harmony that she needs to slow it down so she can figure out what element it is. Halan sees a ship outside and tries to get Aster’s attention. Once Aster learns, she orders for everything to be locked down.

She doesn’t want to let them in so she suggests firing on them. Bart warns her that would cause the beacon to explode. They force the doors open. Aster wants them confined to the lower levels. She refuses to let Halan come up. Halan is approached by the invaders just before the episode ends.

 

Beacon 23 Review

The premiere episode of Beacon 23 wasn’t gripping although it had a decent ending that may be enough to convince viewers to stick around for one more. Based on the first episode only, Beacon 23 feels a little low-budget in places and would easily fit on the Syfy channel without looking out of place. The CGI space scenes actually look decent, but the series seems so dry and lackadaisical.

It tries to make up for its lack of humor and charm by adding a robot named Bart who is a tad annoying. The performances were less than stellar and that’s going to be a problem with such a limited cast although they improved a little towards the end of the episode. After the first episode, I genuinely don’t care about the story or the characters even if the cliffhanger was marginally effective.

Truthfully, it is baffling that this was already renewed for a second season though. The decision likely had more to do with the show’s limited budget and less to do with the quality. Based on the opening episode, it’d be very difficult to recommend this to anyone. Nevertheless, it is probably best to watch a couple more before throwing in the towel. The opening episode scores a 5 out of 10. Find more recaps of Beacon 23 at Reel Mockery here.

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