Station Eleven: Why the Adaptation of the 2014 Novel is Some of the Best TV in Years
Yes, I know, this is not a film. However, after finishing this miniseries (which these days is like an extended film) I have yet to stop thinking about the visuals, music, and ideas this complex story presents. Due to how moved I was by this series, I decided to write about it, and encourage anyone reading this to take a chance on it.
Station Eleven is one of the most exciting things on television in a long time. A series that easily fits into a list with shows like Breaking Bad, The Leftovers, and Twin Peaks as shows that pushed our expectations of what TV can be and the worlds it can transport us to.
Station Eleven is based on the novel by Emily St. John Mandel and it follows a cast of characters through a world devastated by a fast-spreading pandemic (yes, it hits a little close to home). The story is told with different intersecting timelines that slowly come together as the series unfolds. However, the plot centers around the present where a group known as the Traveling Symphony moves from colony to colony performing Shakespeare for survivors of the pandemic. The star actor of the Traveling Symphony is a girl named Kiersten, a “pre-pan”, meaning she was alive before the pandemic. She spent the first year of the pandemic with a stranger named Jeevan that she met after he attempted to save the lead actor in the performance of King Lear she was a part of in Chicago. The lead actor, Arthur Leander, was something of a creative guide for her and a big part of her inspiration to be an actor. The different relationships Arthur Leander had in his life become key as the story unravels, specifically that of his ex-wife, Miranda, who wrote a graphic novel called Station Eleven. This graphic novel is inspired by the death of Miranda’s family and features a character lost in space, trying to make sense of the past. After gaining a copy of this book, Kiersten uses it as a tether to the world that once was, and as a bridge to the world that could be. Yet others use the book to start a quasi-religion as a means of combating their misplaced fears.
Reading that brief description you may think the story sounds a bit all over the place, and it’s true! In this case, though, the writers expertly connect storylines in a way that never leaves the viewer abandoned, making these scattered pieces able to be held nearby. The beauty of Station Eleven is its ability to stay patient, never allowing its purpose to slip away amid a complex story. Station Eleven is a story about valuing art and the ability that value has to propel us towards a better tomorrow. A Shakespeare performance imbued with pain and love can transcend far beyond the shortcomings of an audience’s understanding. Why is this? It’s because our collective experiences, however broken and imperfect, can inspire a whole new generation of creatives when laid bare.
“I remember damage.”
“There is no before.”
“I don’t want to live the wrong life and then die.”
These words are contained in the pages of the graphic novel that propels many key characters and serves as a foundation for their worldview. Imagine a world where the only hope of being happy is to regret our choices and always try to forget the parts of our past that are uncomfortable. Sounds like a pretty terrible way to live. Yet, that is the world Station Eleven puts us in, one devastated by tragedy, and asking those ruined by it how they will choose to pick up the pieces. Some handle that call better than others. Some respond by hurting others, some respond by risking everything to help others. That is the choice laid before these characters when given the chance to heal from the damage, will they make others experience their loss or use that pain to inspire others stuck in the same cycle.
I couldn’t help but think of the apostles in the New Testament, they were with Jesus, the promised Messiah that the world had been waiting for in eager anticipation. Then just like that he was taken away from them and they were left with the call to use all that had been given to them, and use it for the sake of the gospel and the growth of Jesus’s name. Imagine it, you’re faced in what feels like the end of the world with the death of the Messiah and then he returns only to tell you that it’s up to you now to walk in his Holy Spirit and share his name. That’s quite the call! These are broken men that have been given the greatest purpose one can have, and now they must decide whether to forget the path and move on with their lives or stay faithful to the call that they’ve been given. For the Traveling Symphony and others, that call is to share the words of Shakespeare and to remember the beauty the past can hold. Yet some choose to destroy what came before and strive only for a future of their own creation.
What would we do if the world came to an end and we had to rebuild? What would we do differently? What would we preserve? Who would we choose to do it with? These are all questions Station Eleven considers with delicate beauty. It understands the deep fear that accompanies change as well as the great joy of being a part of something new.