Nightflyers is the new SyFy original written by George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones). So, as a person that has never read Nightflyers, but has read the first installment of A Song of Ice and Fire, I went into this new series expecting to feel close to these characters only to be heartbroken shortly after.
As we enter this first episode we see a woman fighting for her life on a space ship. She’s appears to be hunted by a large man with an axe. And, there is something very off about this man. He seems to be quite happy about chasing her down. The opening is quite the grisly, but I won’t go into detail there as to spoil anything.
Shortly after this very suspenseful scene we meet a new character, Karl. (Eoin Macken) The year is 2093. And, he’s soon to be on the Nightflyer. Their goal is to make contact with alien life, the volcryn.
The crew of the ship is pretty upset because Karl has brought Thale (Sam Strike) onto the ship. Thale also happens to be an L1. As the episode unfolds we learn that L1’s have special powers. They can link up to human minds. And, strong L1’s can even make humans see things. I can understand why the crew is weary. But, luckily the crew has Karl and Agatha to work with Thale. Agatha is the ships Doctor, and Karl is an astrophysicist that is leading the expedition to communicate with the volcryn.
But, Thale is needed in order to communicate with the alien life. He is vital to the mission and absolutely needed. As the ship takes off on its journey things get strange. Visions of deceased loved ones, and warnings from what sounds like people being possessed are only a couple of terrifying experiences you can look forward to seeing in this first episode. Of course the crew thinks Thale is to blame for all of this.
Martin once read something stating that Sci-Fi and Horror genres could never be mixed. In an interview with SyFy he tells them that he took mixing the genres as a challenge. As a person that has never read Nightflyers I have totally fresh eyes going into the show. As a huge fan of both genres the challenge of blending horror with sci-fi was achieved by Martin in Nightflyers.
Nightflyers was not only suspenseful, but visually stunning as well.
8.5/10 Stars
