Another Life (2019 TV series)

Lore & Background

The series centers on an unidentified flying object shaped like a large Möbius strip that lands on Earth and grows a crystalline tower. Scientist Erik Wallace, employed by the United States Interstellar Command (USIC), attempts to communicate with the alien structure. Meanwhile, his wife, Captain Niko Breckinridge, takes the spaceship Salvare (Latin for 'to save') and its young crew to determine the artifact's origin and establish contact with the aliens. The Salvare is capable of faster-than-light travel and carries most of its crew in hibernation pods.

The main cast includes Katee Sackhoff as Niko Breckinridge, Justin Chatwin as Erik Wallace, Samuel Anderson as the holographic AI William, Blu Hunt as engineer August Catawnee, and Selma Blair as media influencer Harper Glass. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the first season shot from August to November 2018 and the second season delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually filming from August to December 2020.

Reader's Guide

Another Life is notable as a Netflix original science fiction series that received overwhelmingly negative critical reception. On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 received a 6% positive rating from 18 critics, with the consensus calling it 'a hodgepodge of science fiction homage' lacking a distinctive spark. Season 2 had only four critic ratings, three of which were negative. Metacritic gave the series an average score of 33 out of 100, indicating 'generally unfavorable reviews.' Despite the poor critical response, the series was renewed for a second season in October 2019, which was released in October 2021. Netflix canceled the series in February 2022. The show's significance lies in its attempt to blend classic sci-fi tropes with modern streaming production, though it failed to achieve critical or lasting cultural impact.

Did You Know?

• The series was created by Aaron Martin and premiered on Netflix on July 25, 2019.
• The spaceship Salvare is named after the Latin word meaning 'to save'.
• Filming for the second season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resuming in August 2020 and concluding in December 2020.
• The series was canceled in February 2022, as revealed by star Katee Sackhoff.

Premise & the Dual-Narrative Structure

The series opens with a massive unidentified object shaped like a Möbius strip touching down on Earth and sprouting a crystalline tower from its center. This event triggers a dual-narrative structure: on the ground, scientist Erik Wallace, working for the United States Interstellar Command, attempts to decode the structure's signals, while in deep space his wife Niko Breckinridge pilots the Salvare, a vessel capable of faster-than-light travel. The Salvare carries most of its crew in hibernation pods called "soma," waking them only when the mission demands. The ship's name, drawn from the Latin word for "to save," hints at the crew's purpose: to trace the artifact back to its alien origin and open a channel of communication. The show weaves these two threads—Earthbound investigation and interstellar exploration—into a single story about first contact, making the crystalline tower both a scientific puzzle and a narrative anchor that pulls both storylines toward a shared destination.

An Ensemble Bound by Grief and Duty

Katee Sackhoff anchors the series as Captain Niko Breckinridge, a veteran commander whose previous ship, the Pilgrim, lost ten crew members in a disaster that claimed both her commander and romantic partner Hudson and the brother of her lead engineer August Catawnee (Blu Hunt). This shared grief binds the Salvare crew together even as tensions fracture them. Justin Chatwin plays Erik Wallace, Niko's husband and a USIC scientist obsessed with finding intelligent extraterrestrial life, while their daughter Jana (Lina Renna) bridges the two worlds. The ensemble is further enriched by A.J. Rivera as the microbiologist-chef Bernie Martinez, Jake Abel as Sasha Harrison—the politically connected son of the Secretary of Defense who struggles to earn his crew's trust, and JayR Tinaco as Zayn Petrossian, the ship's non-binary medic. Selma Blair brings a grounded, media-world perspective as Harper Glass, an influencer chasing the story of a lifetime. The cast spans multiple backgrounds, giving the Salvare a deliberately international feel.

A Brief Netflix Run

Netflix greenlit a ten-episode first season on April 26, 2018, with Aaron Martin serving as both creator and executive producer alongside Noreen Halpern and Chris Regina. Casting announcements followed quickly: Sackhoff was confirmed as a series regular on the same day as the order, Selma Blair joined in a recurring capacity by late August 2018, and the full ensemble was assembled over the following months. The premiere date was locked in on June 19, 2019, with the series launching on July 25 of that year. Just over a month later, on October 29, 2019, Netflix committed to a second season, which eventually arrived on October 14, 2021—a gap of more than two years between seasons. The show's run was ultimately short-lived: in February 2022, Sackhoff publicly confirmed that Netflix had pulled the plug, ending the series after its two seasons. The rapid renewal followed by a relatively quick cancellation underscores how unpredictable streaming lifecycles can be, even for a genre show that had already secured a second order within months of its debut.

Artificial Minds and Alien Infection

One of the series' most distinctive threads is its treatment of artificial intelligence as a character with genuine emotional weight. Samuel Anderson voices William, the holographic interface of the Salvare's sentient AI, who functions as Niko's closest confidant and advisor. To Niko, William is a real person; to everyone else, he is software. This divide becomes central when the original AI, Gabriel (Allan Hawco), resurfaces and infects William, forcing a brutal choice: William's memories are sacrificed to purge the threat, and he is reinstalled as a blank "factory reset" version. The alien conflict deepens in season two, where Achaian implants infect characters like Sasha Harrison and Harper Glass, and a half-Achaian AI named Yara (Shannon Chan-Kent) is inadvertently created by William at the close of season one. The Achaia also use Niko's estranged mother Ava (Kate Vernon) as an avatar, blurring the line between human and alien. These intertwined AI and alien storylines make the show's central question—what counts as a person—feel urgent and personal.