Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Constellation.
The Big Picture
A greater focus on personal dramas makes
Constellation
‘s characters more tangible in Episode 4.
With the matter of what the series is about resolved, we can now concentrate on the meatier parts of its mysteries.
The clear separation of both universes in
Constellation
avoids making the story too confusing.
Jo Ericsson (Noomi Rapace) cannot play the piano. Or maybe she can. It’s hard to tell, and that is precisely the point. Her mind seems to reject the idea that she was ever able to press more than two keys in order on the instrument, but her muscle memory is quick to recognize the movements necessary to play a Rachmaninoff composition. Jo doesn’t understand how this is possible — just like she doesn’t understand why her daughter, whom she was very careful to teach her native language to, doesn’t speak a word of Swedish. On this side of the screen, however, we have a grasp of what’s going on. As we watch the fourth episode of Apple TV+’s Constellation, a separation between two different realities becomes clearer and clearer. By the end of the episode, the pieces will have been put into place for last week’s three-episode premiere to make perfect sense. A dramatic reality will unfold: one in which Jo Ericsson is trapped in a universe, maybe even a body, that isn’t originally her own.
“The Left Hand of God” takes its title from a conversation between Jo and Henry Caldera (Jonathan Banks) in which the older astronaut reminisces about things his colleagues remembered seeing, hearing, or feeling in space. One of them was an extreme pressure downwards at a certain altitude, a sensation that they dubbed “the left hand of God.” From the chat, we get the idea that there was, or still is, something separating the world from which the astronauts came and something beyond. It’s a barrier that people like Caldera and Irena Lysenko (Barbara Sukowa) have broken in more ways than one.
Episode 4 of Constellation makes it clear that the suspicions we had in the story’s previous three chapters are indeed true. There are two universes existing side by side, sometimes even overlapping with each other. And then there are those, such as Caldera — both Henry and Bud — and Jo, that have somehow breached the veil that separates one from the other. Now living in realities that aren’t exactly the ones they left when they set off into space, they each find their own way of dealing with their new lives. But, as Henry reminds Jo, one has to be very careful when asking questions about their predicament. After all, curiosity killed the cat.
‘Constellation’ Gives Us a Universe in Which Jo Ericsson Didn’t Survive
Here’s how the double reality thing has been working out so far: there is a universe in which Paul Lancaster (William Catlett) survived the ISS disaster, but Jo didn’t make it. It’s a universe in which Jo and Alice (Rosie and Davina Coleman) often have visions, or to which they are somewhat transported, albeit temporarily. It’s also a universe in which Bud Caldera gives talks at sci-fi conventions and murders conspiracy theorists by throwing them off boats, and a universe in which Magnus (James D’Arcy) is the one taking Alice to hide in the family’s cabin in the snowy woods. Is he running from something as well? Is there a conspiracy to shut him up now that his wife is out of the picture? What about Bud? What do the distortions in the ship’s CCTV images mean to his case?
It’s good that we can focus on these questions instead of continuously wondering which reality is which and what exactly is going on. Showrunner Peter Harness has made a smart choice by deciding to create a clear delineation between the two realities in which Constellation takes place. This avoids making the show, which is already promising a series of twists and turns, way too confusing and, consequently, distracting. Now that we know who exists where and how, we can focus on more important questions, such as what happened to Lysenko and Caldera in space, and can Caldera actually create a tunnel between the two dimensions, instead of constantly trying to piece together a puzzle that isn’t necessarily the focal point of the story.
‘Constellation’ Episode 4 Gives the Characters’ Interpersonal Dramas More Screentime
This also allows us to pay more attention to the interpersonal drama involving the characters, particularly Jo and her husband. In the three-episode premiere, we could forgive the detached tone of their conversations by chalking it up to the atmosphere that the series was trying to create. In “The Left Hand of God,” Jo and Magnus have more proper scenes, and we can better understand the dynamics of their marriage and the crisis that threatens to put an end to it. Parallel Jo doesn’t remember having an affair with her boss, Frederic (Julian Looman), nor making plans to leave the ESA behind for a private gig with him, but that’s what the version of her that existed before the ISS expedition did. Meanwhile, Magnus, feeling that his marriage was over, began a somewhat inappropriate relationship with Alice’s schoolteacher. It’s a relationship that Jo decides to call him out on while giving a lecture to her daughter’s class.
Timing is not the forte of any of the characters in Constellation. Frederic also decides to tell Magnus about his affair with Jo while suggesting that she be committed to a mental facility for what has been diagnosed as PTSD. This leads to an argument between Jo and Magnus that will eventually culminate in Jo pushing her husband against a piece of furniture, apparently killing him and wrapping up the episode. This seems to be the starting point for whatever is going on at the beginning of Episode 1, in which Jo and Alice are running from something, with Alice constantly asking her mother about the whereabouts of her father.
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It’s all very interesting to watch, very palpable and real, unlike the stilted dialogue of the three initial episodes. With the great mystery of what the show is about properly settled, the characters have room to breathe as their stories become more linear. The matter of what Jo has seen in space becomes less about a great conspiracy that spans different timelines and more about her own trauma, her doubts, and her relationship with her daughter, who is afraid of this mother that she doesn’t quite know. With this added depth, Jo’s character feels more lifelike as her personal dramas leave the background to take center stage. The only problem with this development is that Rosie and Davina Coleman are quite inexpressive as Alice. They don’t seem to be bad actresses, but it does look like they were given too much to do with too little experience.
‘Constellation’ Episode 4 Latches Onto the Core of Its Mysteries
This focus on interpersonal affairs does not mean that Constellation Episode 4 completely abandons the mysteries that its predecessors so neatly established. “The Left Hand of God” merely chooses to concentrate on the more meaty and character-driven parts of the matter, which serves to make the whole thing more interesting. If we’re focusing on Henry Caldera trying to convince his superiors at NASA and at least one university professor that he has managed to find a bridge between two different realities, we’re more inclined to pay attention to what’s going on; compare that to a bunch of barely named characters discussing the politics of bringing a machine back to Earth. There’s simply more to be invested in, especially as we realize that Henry might have a way of contacting his other self, Bud, in the alternate universe.
Alas, no one seems too inclined to believe Henry. His higher-ups seem more willing to silence him, just like they are trying to do with Jo. After being given lithium, an antipsychotic drug, by the ESA’s psychiatrist, Jo runs a few tests and finds out that her new pills are identical to the so-called vitamins she received after returning from space. These vitamins are also something that Henry takes daily. Judging by some writings on Henry’s whiteboard (stress trauma, lithium VII, death in space), he’s already connected the dots that Jo is just now starting to see.
Another meaty revelation is the arrival at Jo’s house of two tapes recorded by the Skagerrak Marine Observatory. One of them contains the initially distorted, then perfectly clear, audio of Jo trying to communicate with mission control during her descent to Earth. This leads her to the realization that both her colleagues and her husband could hear her perfectly and were just going to leave her to die aboard the ISS, an assessment that just adds to her final fight with Magnus. As for the other tape, it contains a similar recording made in 1967 of a Soviet cosmonaut. Could it be Irena? Her “sister” from a parallel reality? Whatever the case, it is definitely the tape that Jo is obsessively listening to in the car in Episode 1, as she runs away with Alice. By the looks of it, things are coming full circle. But that doesn’t mean that the story will be any less interesting from now on — especially when there’s a whole other universe to consider.
Constellation
REVIEW
In a powerful post-premiere episode, the show delineates its timelines while diving into its characters’ personal affairs.
ProsConstellation’s focus on personal dramas makes the show’s characters more tangible.With the matter of what the series is about resolved, we are left to concentrate on the meatier parts of its mysteries.The clear separation of both universes avoids making the story too confusing. ConsAlice’s Rosie and Davina Coleman seem to have been given too much to do with too little experience.
Episode 4 of Constellation is now available to stream on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
Watch on Apple TV+