Beacon 23, Season 1 Episode 1 - Corbenic

Show Summary and Recap

The show opens with what appears to be an invasion from another ship to catch us up to speed, there is a flashback to events prior to this. In events preceding, the Crest ship appears to be traveling at faster than light speed with intent to dock with Beacon 23. However, there appears to be a communication problem and the Beacon is sending the "All clear" signal for Crest to arrive. In actuality there is too much dark matter and this is problematic for the arrival. Due to the inability of the Beacon Keeper to warn them, the ship crashes. However there is a single life sign, that of Aster, presumably sent by the ISA (Interstellar Space Authority) to study a newly found mineral deposit with unknown isotopes never seen before. The rest of the show is spent looking for these minerals as well as establishing a level of mistrust between Solomon and Aster, the main heroine.  The show ends with an invasion from another ship which appears to be hiding in the debris.

Personal AI

Bartholemew (Bart) and Harmony, AI Companions attuned and protective of their human counterparts. They have their own personalities and self police with Harmony telling Bartholomew to run a self-diagnostic as part of her admonishment. That Bartholomew is spiteful is part of the charm of these AI's. The nice thing about it is Harmony's behaviors augment with processing or computing power. It is a nice touch.

Analysis

Silo was 10 episodes and even that felt rushed at times, Ahsoka was only 8 episode and definitely felt rushed but some of those episodes were really short, like 30 minutes. I hope this show is able to tell a good story in 8 episodes.

The show has beautiful science fiction computer generated graphics of outer space and spaceships.

This episode was named corbenic, which from the legend of King Arthur was the name of the castle housing the holy grail. It is likely Beacon 23 is representative of the holy grail castle corbenic and the mysterious isotope is the holy grail. We shall see...

The AI Companions are a great novelty in the genre and I hope they are expanded upon with character development as the series goes on.

Hugh Howie's characters seem to have a common theme of overcoming loneliness and perseverance. 

The mysterious mineral/isotope disappears when separated from the rock it is embedded in. It will likely be what the invaders are looking for.

Characters of interest

• Aster - appears to be an igent of the ISA, but is doubted by Halan and likely to be something much more than a mere scientist. Has two tattoos on her right arm, one appearing to be Vishnu the Hindu god,  and one on her left arm. 
• Solomon Smythe - grumpy old Beacon Keeper, who according to Bartholemew was murdered by Halan.
• Halan - Feaux Beacon Keeper, former soldier who went AWOL. Seems to have PTSD due to some incident involving finding the rocks that does not respond to futuristic pharma
• Bartholomew (Bart) - cranky. spiteful AI companion of the late Solomon.
• Harmony - protective, helpful AI companion of Aster.
  
• Mysterious Entity - likely caused by exposure to the minerals/isotopes/rocks.

Mysteries and Questions

• What is Corbenic is there more to it? The title of the episode, assuming it is a literary reference in relation to the beacon
• Is Solomon still alive? Did he steal Halan's ship and escape? If not then, where is Halan's ship?
• Is the mineral and isotope exposure causing Halan's PTSD/hallucinations or is there more to it?
• The lighthouse picture in episode 1, is there more to it or is it just a pic/memory from the past?
• Why so many unauthorized trips from the beacon by Solomon?
  

Trivia and Technical mumbo-jumbo

• GWB - Gravity Wave Broadcaster said go (the light emitting portion of the beacon)
• MAP - said stop progress due to Dark Matter Hazard, not sure what it stands for
• ISA - interstellar Space authority
• Food - at least in the Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) appears to be middle-eastern pita, hummus and spinach
• Of the 8 passengers aboard the Crest, only Aster survives.
• Solomon spent 9 years with over 172 trips to collect these minerals
• Asher tells a story about being alone for 74 days in sector 91
• PTSD was eliminated 73 years ago from advanced pharma
• Eshu colonies - was to be the final destination of the crest who was carrying 5 years of supplies.
• two hundred years ago, data was beamed at the speed of light, now it is hauled in "data haulers"