SXSW Episodic Review: The Man Who Fell To Earth

Based on both the 1963 Walter Tevis novel and the 1976 film from Nicolas Roeg (starring, of course, David Bowie), the first two episode of the upcoming 10-episode Showtime adaptation of The Man Who Fell to Earth debuted Sunday at South by Southwest.

Shot in London and Spain (substituting for New Mexico), the series comes from creators/executive producers Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard), Jenny Lumet (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Rachel Getting Married) and showrunner/executive producer John Hlavin (Shooter).

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as, well, the man who fell to earth. His mission here is life or death, for him, the final remaining few of his species, and their planet. When we first met him, he’s giving a sort of TEDtalk from the Royal Albert Hall. He appears to be a billionaire tech giant and he’s about to tell the audience of adoring fans his story, about how he’s the ultimate illegal alien/immigrant.

Throughout the first two episodes (“Hallo Spaceboy” and “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed”) the story goes back to his origin on Earth and how he meets Justin Falls (Harris), a single mother trying to take care for both her young daughter and her dying father. We also begin to meet the other characters who will become pivotal to Farraday’s story, including those played by stellar cast including Nighy (in the Bowie role), Kate Mulgrew, Clarke Peters, and Jimmi Simpson.

It’s hard to judge just the quality of a show based on just two episodes but I liked what I saw. While the show is dealing with themes like capitalism, climate change, racism, and lack of affordable healthcare, there were still a lot of lighter moments, too. While the show might be about Ejiofor’s Farraday, it’s Harris who is really the star. Falls has so much on her plate just trying to survive each day, now she’s essentially saddle with a man who, for a while she thinks has some serious mental health issues. More than once, she abandons Farraday but goes back each time because she just can’t leave him on his own.

At the post screening Q&A, the producers revealed they are definitely hoping for a season two. It takes a while to world-build so it remains to be seen just how long that process plays out, but it was said that season one was made with a number two in mind. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly they transition Farraday from the “just landed on Earth” character who learns everything as he goes to his billionaire tech guy persona. Honestly, we might not even see that guy in season one. While there’s more than a few laughs at Farraday expense as he learns to talk and manage the customs of human beings, I’m not sure how far that can go beyond the first few episodes before it gets tiresome.

The Man Who Fell to Earth begins airing on Showtime, Sunday, April 22.

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The Man Who Fell To Earth

Episodics, World Premiere
Online: March 14, 9am-March 16, 9am