As the first episode of Station Eleven begins, we see pigs eating stuff and a pamphlet with the name Arthur Leander and King Lear on it. A light flickers before we jump back in time. Jeevan (Himesh Patel) watches the King Lear play and listens to someone type on their phone and send a message in the middle of it. When Arthur gets ill, Jeevan suspects he is having a heart attack and rushes toward the stage. He reaches the stage, confirms he isn’t a doctor, and begins asking for one. A doctor finally arrives and pushes Jeevan out of the way before asking for a defibrillator. Jeevan and a young Kirsten (Matilda Lawler) watch as they try to help Arthur. Once things calm down, Jeevan is questioned by a police officer. Jeevan admits he didn’t know the victim before walking over to Kirsten to ask whether she was in the play.

Her mom and dad aren’t there so Tanya regularly looks after her. They call her the wrangler because she watches the kids. They begin looking for Tanya. When they stop, Kirsten wonders if Arthur is dead which he likely is. Jeevan says he died doing what he loves most in the world if he is dead. Before Tanya shows up, Kirsten tells Jeevan she loves acting most too. Jeevan returns to his seat to grab his stuff. He sends a message to someone about Arthur’s death and how crazy it was. As he steps outside, he gets a message from Laura confirming she didn’t feel great so she went home. As other people theorize about what happened to Arthur, Jeevan notices Kirsten standing by herself. Kirsten usually takes the L with Tanya, but Tanya left in the ambulance with Arthur. Jeevan offers to take her there. Since she can’t go with a stranger, he quickly introduces himself as Jeevan Chaudhary. Kirsten says her last name is Raymonde.

Then, we see a woman looking at the poster of Arthur and writing his name down. He admits he didn’t think he was going to see her again after yesterday. He asks Miranda (Danielle Deadwyler) why she is there. She explains she finished it and wanted him to have one. Kiki enters, sits down, and begins coloring. The man says she is in the play with them. She is introduced to Kiki while he looks at the Station Eleven book. When Kirsten asks who the man is, he (Gael Garcia Bernal) says it is the man who ruined his life. Then, Jeevan calls Laura to tell her he has to drop something off before coming home. We see inside Kirsten’s backpack and she has the Station Eleven book with her. Jeevan’s call ends before he asks Kirsten what happens if her phone’s battery dies and whether she dies too.

He encourages her to save the battery since they might need it. Then, he tells her about Laura who is his girlfriend and who he might marry in the future. She asks about his job. He scrambles, makes up a few jobs, and admits he isn’t employed. As for the EMT stuff he did with Arthur, he learned it while watching ER. She says he was the first one to know, but he claims he was just the first one to stand up. On the train, her phone’s battery dies meaning she can’t call her parents. Jeevan gets a call from his sister Siya who is frantic because of the flu-like illness outbreak. He learns that a 16-year-old flew in from Moscow last night and had the symptoms. They’ve never seen a flu like this before so it is chaos at the hospital. He tells her about his recent fight with Laura because he lost his job at the local flower shop. Siya warns him not to believe anything the news says. People are walking around exposed meaning the whole city is going to be screwed.

Jeevan is told to find his brother Frank (Nabhaan Rizwan), lock themselves in, and build a barricade. She believes that would be their best chance of surviving. He freaks out and has a panic attack. His sister reminds him of the time he threw up strawberry Yoo-Hoo on Jenny Kemkin. Then, Siya abruptly ends the call. A distraught Jeevan walks off the bus at the wrong stop and Kirsten follows him. The train leaves before he calms down. We jump forward and see the abandoned city overrun by Mother Nature. He learns they got off at the wrong stop so they’re far away from Kirsten’s house. As they walk, Jeevan watches the latest news on his phone about the flu and Kirsten jokes about his battery dying. Kirsten pleads with him to slow down because she has snow in her boots. Jeevan tries to call his brother, but only gets his voicemail.

Kirsten reveals she believes Tanya and Arthur were in a relationship. They finally arrive at Kirsten’s house although she can’t get in because her parents aren’t home and Tanya has the keys. Jeevan tries calling Laura again. She doesn’t answer. She can only think of one person who cares about her and will take care of her. Unfortunately for Jeevan, that is Arthur and he can’t help them now. He invites her to come run an errand with him. Then, Miranda gets a call and learns about Arthur’s death during King Lear. The caller (David Wilmot) gets hung up on pretty quickly and watches a news report about the flu. His boyfriend or friend enters and learns that his flight will be okay. However, he doesn’t want to go to the funeral since he didn’t know the deceased and can’t miss work. He agrees and begins drinking alcohol immediately. Jeevan and Kirsten arrive at the grocery store while talking about money and his brother.

Kirsten asks about his sister’s call while trying to figure out what she said. Jeevan doesn’t want to talk about that. As he goes for the Yoo-Hoos, Kirsten says she can’t have sugar even on a sleepover. He nearly has another panic attack but calms himself. He tells Kirsten about it and says it was like he planned it. He says they need way more stuff than this and immediately grabs a buggy. By the time they check out, they have several buggies full of groceries and a bill well over $9,000. He pays for the groceries before the cashier asks if this has anything to do with the flu. Before Jeevan leaves, the cashier asks what he should do. Jeevan tells him he’d go home. At the hospital, Siya questions several children to find out if they’re experiencing any symptoms. She explains their parents are getting great treatment at the hospital. She immediately begins coughing when she steps into the hallway.

She talks to a coworker about who they called to tell about the flu. Siya says one of her brothers won a Pulitzer. She told the other brother who owes her 18 grand and eats cereal for dinner. They’ve heard nothing about the CDC. They discuss Tamivir and whether it works before stepping outside into pure chaos as people rush to the hospital. Outside the grocery store, Kirsten begins asking Jeevan about the flu and what he told the cashier. He ties the buggies together to ensure he can push them easier. Jeevan realizes this is scary but there is a health scare coming and people should get inside. He offers to help her call a cab if she wants to go back to her house. Otherwise, she can stay at his brother’s house, but she’ll have to consent to it. She says she wants to go home before walking away from Jeevan. As she goes, Jeevan pretends to get a message from her parents saying she should stay with him because their car got stuck in Lake Forest.

He also pretends they know Frank and the world isn’t ending after all. Around this time, the cashier leaves the grocery store as Jeevan recommended. She agrees to guide the buggies while Jeevan pushes from behind. On their way to Frank’s apartment, they spot a sick man in a car. Jeevan rushes up and closes the door as the man tries to open it. He tells the man not to open the door. He promises to call an ambulance to get the man help. Before long, they enter the apartment building and talk to the security guard who calls Frank’s room before letting them go up. Once they receive approval, they take the elevator to the 42nd floor. A woman tries to get on the elevator with them, but Jeevan refuses because it is full and dangerous. He insists it was really full although there was likely room for the woman. Frank is surprised that they have so many groceries although Jeevan claims the world is ending and they’ll need them.

As they continue arguing, Kirsten walks over to the window and looks at the city below her. Seconds later, they watch as an airplane barely misses the apartment and crashes to the ground nearby. Frank uses his cane to move toward the window and look at the aftermath of the plane crash. They contemplate going after Siya who recommended Jeevan find Frank and barricade themselves inside. Jeevan shuts and locks the door. He talks to Siya on the phone and tells her they’re together. We hear other people talking on the phone with their loved ones as well. We jump ahead 80 days. Jeevan and Kirsten leave the apartment while using a flashlight to see through the darkness. When they head to the lobby, they find the security guard dead at his desk. They step onto the street and everything is covered by snow. Jeevan says they should get to the lake as they walk past several rows of snow-covered vehicles.

It seems we move up to outer space and see someone in a spacesuit on a space station of sorts. He listens to radio frequencies and hears Jeevan and Kirsten introducing themselves. We jump forward many years and see an older Kirsten (Mackenzie Davis) on the ground reading a book. A man who appears to have no arms calls her name to tell her they’re rehearsing again. She promises to come over there in a minute. Then, we see that she is reading the Station Eleven book with a picture of the spacesuit on the page.

 

Station Eleven Review

Station Eleven has a lot to offer including an interesting story based on a novel, a capable cast, and relatability. The latter may actually hurt Station Eleven considering people are likely tired of hearing about sickness, death, and pandemics. Although this is just the pilot episode, Station Eleven could develop into a worthwhile series. There are moments when the show is captivating although not perfect.

Still, there were numerous questionable choices that will likely infuriate and confuse viewers. One issue is the way they’ve decided to introduce characters without any backstory or purpose. While Jeevan and Kirsten are trying to get home, we quickly jump to a conversation between Miranda and another character. The conversation could add significance to the show in future episodes, but it felt unnecessary and confusing here. As a result, I often struggled to find out who the characters were and what their purposes were. Unfortunately, this happened several times and I still don’t understand what was going on or why it mattered.

The constant time jumps are annoying as well although the abandoned city is gorgeous. Finally, the end of the episode was disappointing because I’d rather focus on Jeevan and young Kirsten. I am not sure where they’re going with this but ignoring everything that happened during Kirsten’s childhood would be a colossal mistake.

The show has promise even though I can see it quickly turning into an unwatchable mess. I hope that doesn’t happen since there is little to nothing worth watching right now. The opening episode of Station Eleven scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Station Eleven will be available on Reel Mockery here.