In the journey to make the Red Planet a second home for humans in the National Geographic Channel series, “Mars,” the unforgiving terrain and unknown circumstances were what we, and the astronauts, feared most. Now that the Daedalus crew have successfully landed, found a habitable lava tube, created a thriving underground living camp with greenhouses and research facilities, the community of humans living on Mars has been able to expand.
The Mars Mission Corporation headed by Ed Gran (Olivier Martinez), has sent more astronauts and scientists to join the the once barely surviving Daedalus skeleton crew. Already far ahead of their scheduled research goals, common sense would suggest that with more hands on deck, they can accomplish even more, and at a greater speed.
Well, not so fast.
There’s one thing that can not only delay further progress, it has the power to absolutely destroy everything the MMC has worked so had to accomplish thus far. And that ladies and gentleman, is us.
Humans, with their varying opinions, inflated egos and see-sawing emotions can ultimately be the Death Planet’s undoing — not the assumed reverse. Earthlings’ propensity for power trips, little patience to consider opposing plans on the best way to colonize Mars can ruin everything. In episode four, aptly titled “Power,” the internal unraveling due to human discourse has already begun, and it’s beyond depressing.
RELATED: ‘Mars’: The 4 most mind-blowing facts from Nat Geo’s revolutionary series
Thus far, every minute spent watching “Mars” has been beautifully humbling. The unified goal of the docuseries, in which the entire planet joins hands in a shared mission, is a venture which finally makes things such as race, nationality, gender, etc., totally irrelevant. It’s awe-inducing. We are all the same: Earthlings. And we are all looking for ways to both preserve and improve human life.
