We have all fallen in love with an all-star cast. From movies to series such as White Lotus, we have found that there are definitely strengths in talented numbers. The same can be said for the Anthology Series Extrapolations, currently streaming on Apple. This 8-episode (so far) single-season series by Creator and Director, Scott Z Burns writer of Contagion, The Last Days, premiered on March 17th, just in time for Earth Day 2023.
While not all of the characters connect in each episode, there is at least one singular character woven into the next episode. A sort of gentle reminder that we are all connected. And that our decisions for our planet have consequences for those who come after us.
Because we don’t ever plan on things getting that bad. Right? These unanticipated stories of how the upcoming changes to our planet will affect love, faith, work, and family on a personal and human scale are frighteningly too real. Sienna Miller speaks to a whale, and Kit Harrington reminds us how the rich get richer. None of the pitfalls in each episode are all that surprising, or even daunting. It is just eerily familiar, which creates a provocative dialogue between the characters and our own thoughts.
Now you can take a look at rotten tomatoes if you wish. And from there, you can decide that you are not interested in a “cinematic lecture” about climate change and human judgment. Or, you could swallow your streaming pride, take a deep breath and watch the series with an open mind. Only then will you see what Scott is trying to desperately achieve.
You see, Extrapolations is not a futuristic adventure, it is simply a mirror of where we already are. Sure, the series time-jumps through each episode starting in 2037 taking us well over 2070, but this is not Buck Rogers or Battlestar Galactica. There are no evildoers, aliens, or masterminds out to destroy the world and humanity as we know it. The only bad guys are us.
It may be difficult to watch, us on our very own, continuously make damning mistakes that insult and deteriorate our own resources. With every episode, you are reminded of the simplicity of life’s pleasures. And you see their true value as they are removed from our ecosystem. With each talented character, Scott reveals the common bond that ties us through time. You also see their regret for past ancestral errors and continuous decline with inhumane behaviors. Scott reminds us that the generation facing the mess next, are children, making them the teachers in a declining climate society.
The truth is, we are already making these errors, and we all know it. Maybe that isn’t entertainment. And it is not a documentary because these exact events have not actually happened yet. But as the series so brilliantly explains, every step we make in the wrong direction creates the degrees of climate destruction. The only hope we have is that a series like this is made to make us stream, critically think, assess and perhaps, be the change.
