The First

:

Season 1
  • Network: HULU
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 14, 2018
User Score
6.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 49 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 49
  3. Negative: 12 out of 49
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User Reviews

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  1. thegordo
    Sep 16, 2018
    4
    While there's a lot to appreciate in the writing and shooting of this drama, and Sean Penn does a surprisingly outstanding job, the whole series is quite boring. If you're interested in TONS AND TONS of character development, relationship complications, and social issues salted with the slightest bit of sci-fi, then this may be for you. I can't deny some inventive cinematography andWhile there's a lot to appreciate in the writing and shooting of this drama, and Sean Penn does a surprisingly outstanding job, the whole series is quite boring. If you're interested in TONS AND TONS of character development, relationship complications, and social issues salted with the slightest bit of sci-fi, then this may be for you. I can't deny some inventive cinematography and unique vignettes here, though a good bit of the non-relationship writing is a tad simplistic (as relates to government/science issues).

    That this is a series about going to Mars is basically a MacGuffin to just drive the drama.

    While I enjoyed Solaris (2002) for what it was, it was like having to watch an 8-hour version of that style. It is a mature, complex drama, though, if that's what you're looking for.

    It barely gets a 4 because I hate to give it a negative rating. It does have artistic merit. I didn't find it to be that enjoyable, though.    … Expand
  2. Ascospore
    Nov 16, 2018
    6
    Sloooow. But some of the space sequences and the atmospheric soundtrack are memorable. Cut out all the crap with the daughter and it would've been a more watchable 5 episodes instead of a tedious 8.
  3. FabrizioMaffei
    Sep 20, 2018
    6
    If you expect to see a fast sci-fi series forget it, because The First isn’t that kind of science fiction, and also because there’s not much sci-fi (the first episodes and the last).
    But sci-fi can also be in the background if there is a good idea, which this series reaches in half.
    Behind everything there are the feelings of the characters (and their families) who are involved in the    If you expect to see a fast sci-fi series forget it, because The First isn’t that kind of science fiction, and also because there’s not much sci-fi (the first episodes and the last).
    But sci-fi can also be in the background if there is a good idea, which this series reaches in half.
    Behind everything there are the feelings of the characters (and their families) who are involved in the mission that will take them to Mars.
    Sometimes this kind of style (like Malick) works very well, thanks to actors such as Sean Penn and Natascha McElhone in a state of grace, but other times no and it becomes trivial, boring and in which the dialogues become just chatter for commercials.
    There are characters that we've seen a few hundred times (like Denise Hagerty).
    Of others characters (like Sadie Hewitt) we understand the fate from the first episode, and they are there… don’t know why.
    The episode 7 doesn’t have any logical sense.
    But still, The First has its charm thanks as I said to the protagonists, a great photography and beautiful music.    … Expand
  4. Strongsafety
    Sep 15, 2018
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am giving it a four because some of the acting was good. Penn is good and intense in his roles. He was good as the dad. I was expecting a movie about space exploration. But after streaming five episodes I realized that this has more to do with personal struggles on Earth than it has to do with seeing people on Mars. A lot of social issues, family issues, couples issues, politically correct issues, people getting drunk and singing, people swimming with dumbbells........I stopped after episode 5......… Expand
  5. WSG524
    Sep 16, 2018
    6
    Very interesting, and well done! But...Who the hell is the guys repairing old phones in a filthy workshop?????

Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Most Discussed TV Season of 2018
86
#86 Most Shared TV Season of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
62

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 29
  3. Negative: 3 out of 29
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Richard Roeper
    Dec 14, 2018
    88
    This is an ambitious, bold, beautiful, occasionally trippy, big-picture sci-fi drama.
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  2. The Atlantic
    Reviewed by: Sophie Gilbert
    Sep 17, 2018
    60
    The scenes with Hagerty and Denise dominate the show to a disproportionate extent, and to the detriment of lots of other things The First wants to do. Penn is solid and stolid as Hagerty, conveying more depth in the scenes with his family than he does with his crew. What’s missing is a sense of why he wants so badly to be the first man on Mars. ... That said, when Hagerty and his crew finally make it into orbit, the series clicks into place.
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  3. RogerEbert.com
    Reviewed by: Nick Allen
    Sep 17, 2018
    70
    Enamored with its characters to a possible fault, The First is cut and paced like the roughly 368-minute director’s cut; you can imagine a two-hour film, probably with the same budget, that hits the same emotional beats and divides audiences like previous high-concept sci-fi stories like "Contact" did. As is, The First is a noble, ambitious series, but one that demands equally ambitious viewers.
    Read full review
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