Jan 18, 2018
On account of the total lack of science, this science fiction pilot (after the first and only episode so far) can only be described as religious fiction, traveling with the implausibility drive across the galaxy.
In an era of Interstellars and Martians, no sci-fi production should abandon all science and wander through the valley of the unenlightened.
Here is why.
One: space ship ex machina.
It begins with the same problem "Interstellar" had: How can a society fighting for its bare existence possibly have the political, scientific and economical means as well as actual natural and technological resources to not just fund interstellar space travel and build the necessary space vehicles, but to also build some whopping domiciles on a planet that is apparently "on the other side of the galaxy"? This would represent a feat of literally astronomical dimensions. The fact that it is supposed to happen in a few decades makes it all the less plausible. It would probably cost trillions of Euros to build a fleet of rockets to bring all the manpower and the machinery and the habitats (etc. etc.) to ? near earth orbit! I am not even talking about the space stations and space docks needed to build the interstellar ships, load them with all the loot and people and ship them to where ever. It would probably bankrupt the earth or at least collapse international, worldwide economics on a well-functioning planet - it would be simply impossible on this near future broken down earth.
Two: Protagonist Readiness.
Our protagonist needs about 5 minutes to go from someone who "fought against the OASIS program" to "count me in bro". This is poor character building. But he needed to be on the planet and weird ghost things must happen in the pilot, otherwise there will be no episode two. Still, disappointing and inconceivable.
Three: Recruit Jackassery.
Seeing the new bunch of people slipping into their space suits in old-school NASA orange it becomes apparent that future astronaut selection is apparently done by a chimp. Astronaut training (for those not selected last minute) for being a part of a colony mission somewhere takes two months (instead of several years for JUST a "simple" near earth orbit mission). They are replacements and additional personnel, but it costs fortunes to actually find, recruit and train just ONE person. EVERY chosen man MUST be of incredible value in a certain area of expertise (like a botanist on Mars). Since it is extremely expensive to send even ONE person up to orbit the number of said experts is very low. If one should fall out of the program, several substitutes underwent the same rigorous training, just for the tiny tiny possibility that the main expert should become inoperative. So it is absolutely impossible someone would butcher carefully organized and trained people for a last minute replacement WITH ABSOLUTELY NO AREA OF USEFUL EXPERTISE FOR SPACE TRAVEL.
On a side note: apparently the people they need are overweight drillers and failed cops (!). This is "Armageddon" all over again...
Four: The impossibility drive.
Here is what we know:
1) The planet is VERY far away - someone said on the other side of the galaxy (!)
2) They travel there in a rocket (apparently), which uses fuel
3) Since the leader of the colony is missing for a week, but he sent for the priest before that, the actual travel time for the bunch of nerds was somewhere between an hour and a few days - maximum.
4) This story is set in our universe (not in some fancy comic universe where the Millenium Falcon needs 12 Parsecs for the Kessel Run) and is therefore bound to our physical laws.
Here is what we also know:
The nearest solar system to ours is 4.5 light years or so away (Alpha Centauri). The NEAREST. "The other end of the galaxy" is approx 100.000 light years off. So...
Conclusion: Since there is no other conceivable alternative, humanity somehow got their hands on the improbability drive from "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", a device which takes ships across all distances instantaneously (however improbable that may sound). Plus: the rocket obviously used some kind of chemical reaction for its DeltaV. There might just be a slight fuel problem somewhere between here and the other side of the galaxy.
Or: They used that wormhole-drive which landed the crew of the "Event Horizon"-ship directly in hell. This would actually make some sense (see point six).
Five: Unrelativity.
It is not possible to travel at light speed or beyond, since it would take an infinite amount of energy to do so. There is just no way they could possibly go to this planet AT ALL, let alone in a few days. And even if they would travel there at light speed, all of humanity would probably be long gone when they somehow survive and arrive. Their journey would have lasted exactly 0 seconds (thanks Einstein!), while on Earth or planet OASIS millennia would have come to pass. Plus: how the hell do they send E-Mails with video attachment back and forth? Did they also bring geosynchronous satellites to Oasis? How are they operated? Probably from the Earth Room LSD pit
Six: Planet Hell.
So in order to save a starving civilization on Earth people have chosen to colonize Oasis: A tatooiney rocky desert planet on the other side of the galaxy, with little or no surface water and no perceivable flora or fauna. Fantastic. Even now we know about a bunch of exoplanets in the habitable zone of other solar systems a million times more welcoming. Plus: Where does all the fresh Oasis air come from, when there is no flora for photosynthesis? They probably drilled for that too or something...
To sum up:
A planet with no money sends people without any useful expertise to a useless planet.
Verified