january3–16, 2022 | newyork 69PHOTOGRAPH:
IAN
WATSON/HBO
a reaffirmation of the value of life and
human connection.
Somerville and his fellow writers
have done a very smart job interpreting
Mandel’s work, keeping key elements,
excising others, and reshaping the nar-
rative to make this series function as
both a postapocalyptic saga and a com-
mentary on the role of art. Like The Left-
overs, Station Eleven doesn’t spend any
time attempting to explain its catalytic
event—we never learn exactly how this
flu spread so quickly or why it could not
be contained. These ten episodes are
much more interested in how human
beings cope after losing nearly every-
one they love and everything thatonce
was familiar.
The series opens in about thesame
way the novel does, with actor Arthur
Leander (Gael García Bernal) collaps-
ing onstage in the middle of a production
of King Lear. Jeevan (Himesh Patel),an
audience member, is one of the firstto
recognize what is happening to Arthur—
and the only person in the ensuingchaos
to take one of the young membersofthe
cast, Kirsten (Matilda Lawler), under
his wing and help her get homefrom
the theater. Unfortunately, the concept
of home fundamentally changesover-
night as the contagion and newsofit
spreads, leading Jeevan and his brother,
Frank (Nabhaan Rizwan), to become
Kirsten’s guardians.
Station Eleven slides in all directions
on its x-y axis, moving forward intime
20 years, when we find the adult Kirsten
(Mackenzie Davis) on the road witha
roving band of actors and musicians
known as the Traveling Symphony, and
back again to the earliest days of theout-
break, as well as to events that
occurred before it. A numberof
shows this year have adopteda
similar time-jumping structure,
but few have managed itwiththe
purpose and elegance ofStation
Eleven. In the two yearswe’ve
spent living with covid, mostofushave
learned how the pandemiccanskewour
sense of time. Days, months,andyears
blur together. They blurtooinStation
Eleven, in which imagesofa barelyoccu-
pied, overgrown Chicagotwodecadesin
the future are folded intomomentswhen
the flu has just begun andthecity still
looks normal. Dialoguefromconversa-
tions that took place yearsearlierbleeds
into what is happening in2040.
Even though there isa harddividing
line between pre- and post-pandemiclife,
the series shows how historyfindsa way
to repeat itself, creeping into the present
even when we think it has all been packedaway.Allfouroftheseries’directors—
HiroMurai, JeremyPodeswa, Helen
Shaver, andLucy Tcherniak—leaninto
thatoverlapping,almost dreamy qual-
ity withoutsacrificingthestarkrealities
ofwhat’sinvolvedinsurvivingwithout
modernresources.
Theshow’sscope expandstofocus
onmultiplefigureswithinitsmassive
ensemble.ThisincludesClark(David
Wilmot),a friendofArthur’swhois trav-
elingtoretrievehisbodywhenallhell
breaks loose; Elizabeth (Caitlin Fitz-
Gerald),anactresswithwhomArthur
has a child; the Conductor (Lori
Petty), the outspoken, quietly
heartbroken leader of the Sym-
phony; Alexandra (Philippine
Velge), a member of the troupe
who has essentially been raised
by Kirsten; and Miranda (Dani-
elle Deadwyler), Arthur’s ex-wife, who
wrote, illustrated, and self-published
a graphic novel called Station Eleven.
Text from Miranda’s comic, which is
passed on to young Kirsten in the early
days of the pandemic, echoes throughout
the episodes as though its verses were
biblical. “Iremember damage” is a line
uttered more than once; “I don’t want
tolive the wrong life and then die” is
another. While these quotes come from
the graphic novel, they resonate strongly
with what the characters in the series are
experiencing, a reflection of how fiction
and art can feel as though they’ve been
tailored specifically to the present andthecontoursofone’s ownprivateheart.
Thisis a themetheseriestouchesupon
overandoveragain—whentheSympho-
ny’sactorsfindtranscendencethrough
Shakespeare,orFrankbustsouta raphe
spentdayspracticing,oryoungKirsten
softly, butnotwithoutjoy, sings“The
FirstNoel”at a particularlybleakturning
pointa few daysbeforeChristmas.(Allof
theperformancesinthisseriesareexcel-
lent,butI can’t say enoughaboutwhat
a groundedandpurepresenceLawleris
as young Kirsten. She’s extraordinary.)
Music,theater,andliteraturecan pro-
vide both an escape from our circum-
stances and a way of processing them.
Nothing illustrates that more effectively
than the comic Station Eleven, a tether
to the before-times and a means of shed-
ding the shackles of temporality alto-
gether. “Arthur gave me Station Eleven,”
adult Kirsten explains in episode eight.
“And when I read it, it didn’t matter that
the world was ending. Because it was
the world.”
The fact that Kirsten and others derive
such pleasure and meaning from Station
Eleven the graphic novel during a pan-
demic becomes even more profound
when one realizes that Station Eleven
the show does something similar for us
during our own pandemic. Our world
isn’t ending, even though covid is still
a presence in it. But when you become
immersed in Station Eleven, it really
does become the whole wide world.
What a gift. ■STATION ELEVEN
HBO MAX.