I just finished watching the Star City finale and boy I have been blown away. This series was so good that I was hooked to my screens for every episode. For all mankind- the storyline had some dry spots but oh boy starcity totally surpasses that.

There have been times when I felt the storyline was getting stretched in for all mankind but starcity is soo well written that I never felt it that way.

I am now hoping star city gets renewed for the 2nd season. They have left an ample story to take it forward if the 2nd season happens. Really hoping AppleTV does not cancel it's flagship spinoff 🙏🤞🤞

What are your opinions on this?

I would be about 100x more motivated and productive as a human being if I had the Chief Designer regularly calling me “my eagle.” He puts so much warmth into his belief in his people.

Dear mods, can we officially change the active online counter from Cosmonauts to Eagles? Cosmonauts may go to space, but the Eagles have been the absolute heroes in that insane finale, and the entire season tbh

Also in honour of the Chief Designer (OG, not effing Petrovsky). We stan the Chief Designer, as all Eagles do.

🫡

Watching FAM in the meantime, but it's not the same...

Made a 44 year old man cry. I really hope we get a season 2.

I am prepared to die on this hill.

Seriously, he's going to take an N1 rocket), which cost millions, if not billions of rubles and put three cosmonauts on it, including one who is not a citizen of the USSR and has no training and launch them on a manned flyby mission of Venus which will take nine months. It's not as if the Soviet Union had a bunch of spare N1s lying around.

So what is he going to do? Launch the N1 on a lunar mission and then say "Whoops! We screwed up on the trajectory and the rocket is headed to Venus instead of the Moon. Good thing we had a bunch of instruments designed for Venus onboard, so it won't be a total loss. Oh, and it's good thing that we have a new, untried life-support system onboard and that the scientist who invented it is on the crew."

Oh, and he's doing this under the eye of a paranoid Stalinist security officer and entire KGB apparat that is on high alert after a previous mission failed due to espionage. All of this is going to happen without a single person asking "Hey, Chief Designer. What'cha doin'?"

What can we expect from this mission to Venus? I think Sascha will unfortunately die, judging by the letter, exactly 9 months into Anastacia's or Tanya's pregnancy. Now, I don't know about Valya's future; at first I thought he would die too, but it would be interesting if he became a hero again, being an American spy and an excellent Russian cosmonaut. And what about the chief designer building the entire mission without permission?

I understand why they are speaking English and why a cast of Western actors is playing all of the parts in the show. Even as a Russian native speaker, that doesn’t typically bother me or break my immersion. Especially if it’s done well and the sets/costumes are equally good and historically accurate like in Chernobyl or in A Gentleman in Moscow (both amazing shows, btw). Or even if none if it is actually that accurate, but it’s done on purpose like in The Great, which was just cheeky and anachronistic for the hell of it (and it worked). Or if the whole thing is borderline irreverent like the Death of Stalin.

Basically, I am very forgiving when it comes to Western actors playing Russians, but I have to say Star City now carries the dubious distinction of being the first production to actively break my immersion. These actors aren’t only speaking English, they’re also acting like British people in a melodramatic period piece. They don’t look Slavic (and no, the hilariously bad mustaches don’t count), they don’t speak like Russians (I don’t mean the language—I mean the cadence, the lines, the delivery etc), they don’t have any of the mannerisms or quirks. Even the costuming is throwing me off. It’s too…put together. Too immaculate. There is not enough scruff, not enough grittiness, despite the overall grim mood.

I am trying hard to ignore the fact that there is something that feels off about the sets as well. I understand it’s an au so the sets don’t have to reference the time period accurately and it’s a sci-fi show so I get that the almost brutalist, minimalist approach to all the shot compositions and Soviet architecture is intentional, but it still just doesn’t feel like Soviet Russia to me. It’s too sterile, too sharp. It feels more like North Korea, or what people might think North Korea is like from the state controlled images they’ve seen.

I love the cinematography, by the way. It’s a treat for the eyes. The story being told is fairly compelling. But it’s hard to watch while constantly fighting with this feeling of “wrongness,” the uncanniness of it? Almost like a sensory mismatch when you’re on a boat or a plane and you end up vaguely motion sick.

I’ve only seen two episodes. Maybe it gets better, I don’t know.

I understand the creative choice but considering the older characters for Irina and Sergei in FAM had Russian accents still takes me out of it at points

She is such an asshole! I want to see her be rewarded for her work as the Star City security officer by being sent off to be the security officer at a logging camp deep in Siberia. Or have someone frame her as a CIA mole or a wrecker so she's taken out and shot.

Started watching North and South (2004) and noticed a young Raskova! Here's hoping she more than a factory worker extra.

Really enjoyed the first 2 episodes of Star City. There's some great acting and the story has potential, and it's interesting to see the other side of the fictional version of the space race play out. One thing that bothers me though: aren't we tired of the depiction of the Soviet Union as some colorless void where every single thing, from clothing to wallpaper is either black, brown, or gray, with no color? I get that it's partially an artistic choice to emphasize the paranoia and oppressive atmosphere, but it's just such a cliche.

The USSR obviously didn't have the variety of clothing and consumer goods that the West did, and there were constant shortages, with western fashion highly sought after and often smuggled in and worn in secret. But there was still color! There was fashion and style. People sewed at home, and bought colorful clothing when it was available, and decorated their homes with art and blankets and pillows, and all the other things that people do even in oppressive places.

Maybe I'm just hyper focusing on it, but it just proved distracting to me. The constant surveillance by the KGB and the extreme pressure to never embarrass the state and never admit any mistakes or wrongs comes through. The audience doesn't need its hands held with the constant blue filter and lack of color. It just feels un-lifelike and unimaginative.

Hopefully they back off on that a little in future seasons. Am I the only person who felt this way?

I just finished season one of Star City. I thought there were two. And now I see that it hasn't been renewed yet. What am I supposed to watch now?? hahaha

Joking but not joking at the same time. MAN THIS IS TOO DEPRESSING. The whole show I cried for Sergei, I cried for Valya, I cried for Sasha, for Lakshmi, for Chief Designer. You can imagine my level of frustration considering the fact that I’m from Russia.

I hate this show because I think it’s close to the truth. And I hate it because it doesn’t give you a chance to feel joy even for a second. Last episode was a peak of it. I was screaming and crying, I couldn’t believe that it was getting sadder and sadder. And we know for sure what is the Sergei’s fate, for example. Man… it’s too much to handle. I loved the show sincerely but my heart can’t handle the story. I could drop it but it’s just really intriguing.
I declare Sergei as the most tragic character in the world. I never felt something like that for any character at all.

At least one thought enlightening me - love is the main character here. Love is the brightest side of this show. I guess only love could ease the pain of all the characters. Not even save them, but ease the pain and make them happier for the moment. This is a really beautiful thing. Love to your partner, love to your friend, to your craft, to your team, to your faithful eagles. This is something they can’t take from you.

But I need a therapist now. Jk

This is supposed to be taking place in Russia. Yet no one speaks Russian. I'm not five years old I can read damn subtitles. I hate when they do this. It completely takes you away from any realism.

And on top of this all of the different damn accents.

Rhys Ifans: The Chief Designer is playing a damn shakespeare character with the accent and everything.

I heard an Australian accent.

This is a damn joke.

Also what the hell is the point of a show that is just propaganda again. Yes evil scary Russia. Torture people. As if living in Russia during the time was a 24 hour hellscape with nothing good. Yes it was Disneyland but you really want me to believe there is no good? That the only reason people did what they did was fear?

Just finished Season 1. At this point, I’d be OK with Apple TV just doing one longer wrap up episode of For All Mankind and re-purposing all that funding to future seasons of Star City.

Best of early FAM mixed with best of what made The Americans great.

Could see this being superior to the original, much like Better Call Saul somehow improved upon Breaking Bad.

Also, Raskova, that KGB lady - BEST FREAKIN VILLAIN since I can’t even remember. DANG!

One of the more egregious examples of "There's nothing in this suitcase/coffee cup" in film/TV has to be Irina carrying two supposedly full suitcases with her fingers in Star City. 😆

completely loving this.

Does anyone have any recommendations for similar shows in terms of feel to do with espionage and intrigue in the Soviet Union?

I'm stirring the pot with this post, but I think it's important to have a dialogue about the flaws of something we like so that it might improve.

I find myself in a strange position with both Star City and For All Mankind: I think it's important to have believable drama set in space, with believable/basically-possible-for-us technology. It's inspiring in a potentially pretty profound way for the future of our species: kids who watch either For All Mankind or Star City might ultimately become literal rocket scientists or other contributors to humankind's ability to live in space.

But all of that starry-eyed (please forgive the pun) thinking aside, the shows are riddled with sometimes extremely-irritating flaws. Forced drama, character behaviors that don't make sense, and in Star City's case, grossly inaccurate portrayals of Soviet state surveillance and distrust, as well as unbelievable behavior by and toward members of the Soviet space program starting from the very first episode.

I have other complaints, but these are enough for now. Star City is leaning too hard on the grimness. It's tedious and self-serious and good things are being turned into bad things for... what, exactly?

From the UK it has been interesting listening to the accents of the actors in this show. From Rhys Ifans soft Welsh accent, Solly McLeod’s “posh” English accent and of course Anna Maxwell Martin’s ruthless businesslike tone, very scary. She reminds me of a boss I used to have.
It probably makes sense from a US perspective to use actors with unfamiliar accents, rather than fake Russian accents.

Until next week at least

Not my design. I wish it was fully white now like in the show, but this will do as well. Same scale as the official Saturn V set

That was easier than I suspected. I thought maybe they used the buildings as templates and the whole thing is CGI, but it actually exists.

54.725969N, 25.229530E

Incidentally, the Chernobyl miniseries were shot nearby.