Station Eleven: A Limited Series on HBO Max Portrays Joy and Humanity in a Post-Apocalyptic World
Station Eleven was a 2016 novel by Emily St. John Mandel. I read it then and was fascinated but frustrated by St. John Mandel’s tale of a post-pandemic world that has lost 99% of the population.
I was transfixed by the character Jeevan Choudhury, a person who is lost and full of regrets but finds his humanity strengthened on the other side of the worst possible thing that could happen.
Stockpile
A new limited series version of Station Eleven is now on HBO Max. But, of course, some might prefer not to watch a show about a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic.
Others will be transfixed and inspired. The series shows us the best in our humanity and clearly says we need art to preserve it.
Jeevan becomes an accidental guardian to 8-year-old Kirsten. Jeevan is in the audience of a stage production of King Lear, where Kirsten plays one of the king’s young daughters. Jeevan leaps from the audience to the stage to help the actor playing Lear as he collapses from a heart attack.
Jeevan then attempts to shepherd Kirsten to safety. Near-strangers Jeevan and Kirsten are bound together by chance. Her parents are unreachable, but Jeevan’s sister has called with warnings about the seriousness of the flu.
As Jeevan and Kirsten buy a massive amount of groceries, the grocery clerk asks if they are buying so much food because of the “thing.” Jeevan doesn’t want to answer in front of Kirsten but then admits the precarity of their situation. He tells the checker he should go home.
Together, Jeevan and Kirsten load six grocery carts, which are then lashed together with bungee cords. Kirsten steers, and Jeevan pushes the carts through the snow to his brother Frank’s high rise. They have no way of knowing they will spend the next 80 days together on the 42nd floor.
New World
Kirsten soon realizes her parents have died. She begins reading a graphic novel, “Station Eleven,” obsessively. It was given to her by the movie star Arthur Leander, who played King Lear. The two had a special bond.
Miranda (a logistics expert who was married to the movie star) wrote the story of “Station Eleven” and created all the illustrations. Only a small number of copies were printed.
While Jeevan and Frank become Kirsten’s de facto parents of this new world, “Station Eleven,” the tale of a doomed astronaut on a broken space station, becomes the language of her soul.
The Traveling Symphony
Kirsten and Jeevan are separated, and Kirsten finds, joins, and grows up in The Traveling Symphony, a caravan of trained musicians and Shakespearean actors. Twenty years on, the Symphony has an established route visiting settlements on The Wheel, a circular route near Lake Michigan.
Kirsten performs Shakespeare and has become a leader among the troupe and an expert with knives, ready to defend her fellow actors with daggers and projectiles.
The Prophet
Another damaged child has a copy of “Station Eleven,” unbeknownst to Kirsten (she thinks she has the only copy). He calls himself David and is a self-styled prophet, quoting “Station Eleven” and recruiting children as terrorists.
The Prophet is one element of the story that I found especially irritating in the book. It’s hard not to empathize with him in the series, though. He was mistreated by every adult in his life before the pandemic, and despite landing in a relatively safe and cushy spot in the post-apocalyptic world, things go from bad to worse.
Playing with Time
Station Eleven is very supple in the way it uses time. In the first episode, scenes set in a pre-pandemic Chicago allow a flash-forward 20 years, showing fallen buildings, halted trains, and the greenery that’s overpowered the massive city.
We return to Frank’s apartment repeatedly, then skip forward 20 years, so we understand grown-up Kirsten’s thoughts. This is a haunting aspect of Kirsten’s portrayal of Hamlet. The performance is outside, at night, lit by torches. She wears a skull cap, red eye makeup, and a coat made of many sleeves, stuffed and hovering from her back. As she pauses during a soliloquy, the flames catch her face, and we see clearly how her memories both inform and intrude upon her performance.
Other Souls
Not very many people have survived the pandemic of the story, but the series can effectively balance and intertwine the stories of many characters. Life in the post-pandemic world is difficult but not without its pleasures. It’s inspiring to see these small communities survive and thrive with no technology and limited resources.
The humor of this show makes the subject matter bearable. Post-pans (people born after the pandemic) have many questions about the internet and phones. The relationships of the Traveling Symphony are complex and ever-changing, but a good sense of humor seems to be the most valuable and handy of possessions.
One of the episodes focuses on a doctor who survived the pandemic because of a fluke — she had been fired for an ethical mistake and was at home when the flu arrived. In the post-pandemic world she has created a new practice in an old department store, helping pregnant women. It is a rare show that portrays the powerful bravery and joy of women giving birth.
The ninth episode tells us how Jeevan and Kirsten are separated. No spoilers, but I will say this is one of the best episodes of television I’ve ever seen.
How the Story Ends
As of this writing, the finale has not yet aired. I can’t wait to watch, but I’ll be sad it’s over.
It was a mistake to extend The Handmaid’s Tale beyond the first season. The show ventured beyond the story written by Margaret Atwood. When it descended into a non-stop festival of violence in season two, I stopped watching. (Sidebar: There is an excellent film version of The Handmaid’s Tale starring Natasha Richardson, Robert Duvall, and Faye Dunaway from 1990. It seems like no one ever talks about it, but it’s worth checking out. You can buy it on Amazon Prime.)
I feel differently about Station Eleven. In departing from the novel’s story, the series has been able to build a world full of hope and cooperation. Exactly what we need as we navigate our own, much less virulent pandemic, which has left us doubting the good in people. The vision of this show is welcome and helps us imagine a future time of good health, peace, and community.
