War of the Worlds Season 1 and 2 - Review

War of the Worlds (Canal+, 2019-present) is a television show I love because the set-up was well-executed, which left me curious for answers to dramatic questions.

While I was expecting a lot of similarities to the War of the Worlds 2005 film, I was glad to see a new approach. It’s fascinating to see the varying character’s storylines and how they connect.

The inciting incident happens when the Astronomer Catherine Durand receives a signal from alien life, and then metallic spacecraft collides with Earth. The threat has landed. This added to my tension and worry for the characters we had seen so far, and I wanted to know will they survive? What will happen next?

When a magnetic signal kills Earth’s population not underwater, underground, or in metal shelters, it made me even more excited to wonder about the power of such an enemy. I recalled The Walking Dead and the similarities between the two shows with the characters needing to adapt to the new world. The audience, in effect, becomes the characters, learning about the world as the characters do.

The show’s pacing is exceptional while drip-feeding us information. Notably, the cliffhangers left me wanting to watch more and more: a female body floats on water with a hole in the belly where the foetus is gone.

Emotional moments are well put together, especially around the death of Helen. She has just found out that Bill, in effect, killed her husband, Chris. Bill left with the pain of not only angering the woman he loved but now she is also dead. Will Bill be able to go on? Will he kill himself over this grief?

As the story progresses, the mystery surrounding Emily and Sasha and their relationship with the aliens keep me on the edge of my seat and hooked for more! The series asks bold questions to the audience. How human, the good in the world, can you be when the human race is almost extinct against an alien force, the bad in the world?

I’m looking forward to season 3 coming in 2022 July!