Synopsis/Details
The New Eden one-hour near-future sci-fi adventure drama series asks and answers two important questions: 1) “Will we let technology terminate us or teach us?” and 2) “What power and responsibility do each of us have to change what’s broken in our world?” We see this play out through the eyes of the 18-year-old, brilliant but angsty heroine, Eva.
The pilot begins in the last normal moment of Eva’s life, before the Event changes everything. Eva and Grams, her award-winning scientist grandmother, snuggle up on the couch, watching old movies, in Grams' cabin aboard the New Eden, a futuristic science vessel hosting a student program for the summer. As the movie ends, Eva checks on the status of the storm they’ve been riding out. She sees something alarming and alerts Grams.
This is the start of the Event, a cataclysmic Earth event (that the ship's residents don’t fully understand until several episodes later). The scenes go back and forth between Eva and Grams in Grams’ cabin and what’s happening on the ship’s bridge.
Then we step into a therapy session, where the therapist guides Eva into talking about how and why she ended up on the ship and what she’s been struggling with. We first learn about her misplaced trust and failed relationship with her boyfriend, Dylan; her struggles living in her sister’s shadow; her frustration with the state of the world and her immature response to it; and her deep affection for her grandmother and mentor, Grams. Then, through further questions, we proceed with Eva onto the ship, see her reaction to it, and witness the start of her interactions with her student group. She’s attracted to a boy named Eli, and she’s butting heads with a girl named Mei, who are important characters as the series progresses. The therapist also tiptoes around the Event (so we begin to understand that something really bad happened, and that’s why they are there).
The scenes interweave between what is happening during the Event and the therapy sessions to paint a picture of Eva and her relationship with Grams amid the unfolding catastrophe.
Finally, the Event ends and everyone – including Eva and Grams – are left wondering what happened. The pilot ends with some concerning news that the Captain is just about ready to share.
The rest of the series goes back and forth in time, diving into each of the main characters' “before” worlds, revealing why they are the way they are, and then revealing bit by bit what really happened as the characters grapple with their new reality.
It's something of an ensemble cast treatment, but Eva is our clear heroine.
We dive deeper into a frustrated Eva struggling to escape her sister’s shadow and feeling powerless when she examines the world around her. It’s not until the summer program, where she joins her beloved Grams, an award-winning scientist who lives on a high-tech science vessel called the New Eden, that Eva begins to see a new vision for her world and herself.
The shipboard experience immerses Eva and her student group in companionship, creative learning, and the inevitable conflicts of youth. But as the group dynamics settle down, a storm ushers in new excitement. But it’s more than a storm. It’s a much bigger Event.
Struggling to understand what happened, the New Eden passengers soon learn they may be the only survivors of a cataclysmic Earth event. Then, a literal beacon brings new hope; the VP of the U.S. survived and must be rescued from the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.
But the rescue expedition turns deadly as the shipmates realize not all the ills of humanity have been washed away. A standoff ensues, and Eva finds her own power just in time to change the course of humanity’s future.
