The Silent Sea (2021)

Pretty but soulless

The Silent Sea seems to have all the right ingredients, from premise to set design to casting, but unfortunately somehow failed to truly grab my full attention.
I don’t consider my time with this show wasted at all, I did sit through all eight episodes in three days after all, but this is not a drama I see myself ever coming back to nor thinking about ever again

Visually speaking, this is a very impressive show. Probably the most expensive-looking Asian drama I have ever watched. The CGI definitely didn’t disappoint. And yet, for the most part, the cinematography didn’t leave a strong impression on me. Not implying that it was bad, not at all, I consider this to be a pretty visually stimulating drama, but it wasn’t anything more than competent. None of the shots felt bland or flat per-se but I can’t shake off the feeling, that The Silent Sea just lacked a certain something. Nice to look at, but not particularly interesting. The only thing I can say with certainty is that this show is dark, thematically, but also literally at many parts. So dark in fact, that at many points I was having real difficulties figuring out what was going on. That can be a stylistic choice of course, but I still don’t feel like it was an exactly smart one.

However, in my opinion, the biggest fault of the drama lies in the characters, which I couldn’t bring myself to really care about. For starters, I thought that many of them were too similar in personality. But I also just failed to connect with anyone emotionally. I don’t think that the actors are at fault here, if anything I was more than pleased with everyone’s performance, but it seems like The Silent Sea didn’t leave any room to showcase human emotion. For the most part, I don’t feel like we got to know anybody. There were very few scenes where I got a clear image of the crew’s dynamic with each other. I don’t need media to have banter and funny and witty one-liners every second scene, in a Marvel-movie-fashion, but I still needed something, anything from The Silent Sea that would have convinced me that these are truly individual people with their individual flaws, strengths, quirks, aspiration, and dreams.

Plot-wise I think this show was fine. The premise was what originally attracted me and the twists and turns kept me engaged, but I really do feel like a story can only be as strong as its characters and unfortunately, this drama just missed the mark here.

Please don't read this and conclude that I consider this to be a bad drama, I truly don't but it didn't really leave me feeling anything. It didn't make me smile (which, considering the genre, was to be expected), it didn't make me sad, it didn't frighten me, it didn't even really make me think about anything much.

Would I recommend The Silent Sea? Kinda a tough question. Personally speaking, it didn’t hit the spot, but I also feel like this might come down to a personal preference in genres. If you like science-fiction, violence, and (most importantly) cool-looking space-stuff, I’m sure you’ll have a field day with this. If you’re looking for a more emotional experience, maybe skip this one.

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A lunar apocalypse.

Silence is not empty, it's full of answers. It's upon us to find them out and unless there is an effort, it remains in nothingness. The sea that is full of beings, has the capability to engulf the entire world in it's womb, yet it knows it's limits. But what about the sea that's sleeping silently somewhere out there in the universe and knows no way of self-control? That's what we are here to discover.

THE SILENT SEA (고요의 바다) is a mixture of sci-fi, thriller and apocalypse; it has no romance elements and unlike most Netflix Korea shows, it's not gore and creepy, which means even for a thriller, it's not a heavy watch. The story is presumably an adaptation of "The Sea of Tranquility (2014), created by the director of this show. The drama is set up in far future (probably 100 years ahead). The world has changed a lot and the climate change has brought forward severe issues. Simultaneously, the development in case of aeroscience has sky-rocketed, resulting in easier travel to different planets and facile communication with earth.

A team of 11 has been formed to recover important samples from the moon, before they could shut down a station that faced a tragic accident 5 years ago, killing all the inmates. The team travels their on the spaceship 'Nuri 11' and sets out to 'Balhae Space Station' located on the lunar land. On their mission of retrieving the sample, they discover unusual activities and come to find out mysterious facts about the station that had happened 5 years back.

Song Ji An (Bae Doo Na) is a scientist who previously served as an astrobiologist but had to switch after a tragic incident to her sister. She was convinced to go on the mission. Han Yoon Jae (Gong Yoo) is a soldier for the space agency, who joins the team as it's captain. Dr. Jian's knowledge and Capt. Yoon Jae's leadership, are what drives the entire show.

Dr. Hong (Kim Sun Young) is a doctor who joined the team to provide medical assistance. Chief. Gong Soo Hyuk (Lee Moo Saeng) is also a space soldier who joins the team along with his space engineer brother Gong Soo Chan (Jung Soon Won). Lieutenant Ryu Tae Suk (Lee Joon), Chief Kim Jae Sun (Heo Sung Tae) are some other major characters.

The plot development is nice. The first 2 episodes that were expected to lay an introductory foundation, did a good job in establishing a good impression, except that they were slow paced. The space scenarios and the lunar premise were pretty intriguing to witness, for it also created a good amount of curiosity about what is next. I can't say that the entire story is immensely intriguing, because it had problems with pacing and storytelling. I expected some more back stories and for all of the characters, but it's understandable given the limited runtime. The gradual unfolding of mysterious facts and intentionally hidden secrets, were indeed intriguing. The ending, ummm, not something fabulous, that I was expecting but I liked how simple and meaningful it was.

Netflix Korea seems to be giving chances to previously failed or lesser experienced directors, writers and makers but it must try providing them with resources to nurture their skills. Just like Squid Game's, the director of this drama lacks profundity, though the show is not mediocre like SG. The pacing is inconsistent, not slow or rushed constantly that makes it boring or uninteresting of some sort, but a little noticeable.

The sound production is apt bcs it's Netflix, haha. The screen-editing is quite good; the connecting plots, revelations of elements and the suspense build up is up to par. CGI, well, Netflix is surely trying to improve thia area after serious criticisms; it was visible through this show. Even so, the CGI was actually poor in first 2 episodes, I can't lie about it though it improved with episode.

Writer Park Eun Kyo is an underutilized talent. She might seem a rookie to the audience, but she's the co-writer of the critically acclaimed Bong Joon Ho directed movie, "Mother (2009)". The basic concept of this show, though taken from another movie, had to rely on a well-written script, as the short movie was turned into a 360 minutes webseries. In that regard, jakka-nim has done a pretty good job. The overal story and screenwriting might not be something amazing, but overally as a show, it's a nice piece. Few things about the spaceship that went wary in the first episode could have been easily avoided but duh..

The drama addresses future world problems that we now only assume and predict with theoretical studies. The world has undergone enormous transformation due to severe climatic changes over years. Because of desertification, there is a scarcity of water as the water bodies including the sea dries down. All these are the concerns of future societies. The drama also narrates the possibilities that the future beholds in the area of space and planetary researches.

The pseudo-science created for the drama is compelling for sure. It is less of space science and more of a creative or fictional astro-biology. The lunar premise and the technological advancements are what we are gonna see in far future. Space show, in all aspects, is a new premise in the K-drama industry and it's good to see that it didn't entirely go phut. This is to a great extent an experimental drama. Just keep in mind that, the basic idea of the drama relies on astro-biology and not aero or lunar science.

There is a clear message of how greed and over-ambitious anticipations can bring destruction to mankind, even when it gives greater scope of research in science. Regret, responsibility and guilt are some other major elements incorporated in the characters. Good news is that, unlike many other Netflix Korea shows, The Silent Sea doesn't end with a cliffhanger. It didn't leave any single thing open or showcase any possibility of another season.

Overally, "The Silent Sea" is a good and interesting one time watch. The sci-fi elements and the actors are the prior reasons to watch this drama. I wasn't expecting anything excellent outta it since it's after all a Netflix Korea original show which is famous for creating 6/10 stupid shows. But anyways, this was good and moderately likable judging from all the points; be it technical and cinematic aspects or the message it wanted to convey. It's not very nice, still a decent watch, for sure.

P. S. Can't cite it bad just because of the poor CGI and faulty space facts used solely. There are plenty of aspects in a drama to be judged.

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