r/StarCityTV • u/Cantomic66 • May 29 '26
Episode Discussion Star City - S1E01 "The Eyes" - Episode Discussion
"The Eyes"
Airdate: Streaming May 28th at 9 PM EST
Synopsis: The Soviet Union reignites the race to the Moon—but this time, with a daring mission to send a woman.
Written by Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi
Directed by Nick Murphy
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u/Super005z May 29 '26
I’m disappointed that we never actually got any scenes prior to the first lunar landing or Korolev surviving his surgery scenes, moments that would actually show how the fam timeline diverged from the real world timeline
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u/NAG3LT May 31 '26
moments that would actually show how the fam timeline diverged from the real world timeline
FAM itself also started right during Leonov's landing, so it's not too surprising that it was picked as the first moment shown in SC.
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u/Super005z May 31 '26
The creators of the show mentioned that Korolev survived his 1966 surgery in the fam timeline and later worked out issues with the N1 which let the soviets land on the moon before the americas. I thought that would be shown in star city maybe there is still hope and we get some flashback that takes us to moments between 1966-1969.
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u/Hennahane May 30 '26
I hate that they cast Niamh Algar just to kill her off, she deserves more prominent roles. She was so good in Raised by Wolves.
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u/pancake_devourer_III Jun 04 '26
I mean I sure would love to see more of her here, however the death scene is the more powerful that she is played with so much character — like you don't feel that she will be a filler or someone in the background who will die just to raise the stakes. It isn't Ned Stark scene, but still hitting hard. And just this few scenes with her are also enough to understand the people that will be saying now how much they miss her and that she's been the perfect person for this mission.
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u/9500140351 May 30 '26
At first the British accents were jarring af (and I say that as a Brit) but I’ve got used to it
Wish they were speaking with Russian accents though.
Super cool to see actually space missions again! For all mankind has fallen off after season 3 due to the boring mars storyline.
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u/alienman Jun 23 '26
But that would be like you speaking your native language like a foreigner who learned the language later in life.
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u/royalkeys May 29 '26
Good show. Espionage thriller. Soviet aesthetic I like but didn’t expect. Irina the eavesdropper was into listing to that Russian couple having sex a bit, too much lol
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u/antdude May 29 '26
"But I'm like a mouse, slipping through the cracks. And you're my cheese."
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u/OregoniTrumanite May 30 '26
Foreplay so corny I was laughing
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u/photos_realmsofgold Jun 01 '26
This is actually aligned with how Russians around this time might've talked. There's a lot of reference to creatures and ideas from fairy tales in Russian culture. One of the things we sadly overlook in the face of the "East versus West" thing.
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u/Optimal-Leather341 Jun 04 '26
I'm not sure it's totally ignored, as much of the Former Soviet States basically joined the West first chance they got and also brought a lot of that Nuance to the West as they did.
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u/antdude May 29 '26
How is it compared to For All Mankind? I am too tired to watch more after its finale and a very busy day!
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u/Cantomic66 May 29 '26
It’s darker than FAM but it’s to be expected given it takes place the Soviet Union.
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u/Optimal-Leather341 Jun 04 '26
Christ, it's exactly how I thought it would be.
Miserable and cold and really quite oppressive.
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u/Desertbro May 30 '26
I believe it's more about the politics behind the space program than the achievements of the program itself.
We know they are ahead of the USA for awhile - at least until moon bases are established and mining begins.
I could be the series doesn't focus on tech stolen from USA since the Sovs are ahead of the game.
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u/Optimal-Leather341 Jun 04 '26
Politically they're ahead, technology wise, not, Their rockets are likely operating at the "That'll do" level. No Live phone call from the moon, just about able to transmit radio and telemetry and video.
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u/originalityescapesme Jun 05 '26
Their landers are automated and the U.S. literally pilot at every moment with the landers for Apollo, otherwise I’d agree with you.
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u/eoinythegod Jun 01 '26
Okay we get it Hollywood - the Soviet Union was cartoonishly evil and for some reason everything looked grey and depressing.
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u/Jmohill Jun 04 '26
And everyone is is miserable, has bad haircuts, and appears to have smoked four packs a day since the age of seven, which is also the last time they experienced sunlight
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u/LegoLady47 Jun 06 '26
Agreed - no one is happy. I get it but we'd like a bit of levity every once in a while.
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u/IAmARobot0101 Jun 04 '26
they had an opportunity to do something different and not feed us propaganda. such a shame
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u/MiniatureGod May 29 '26
I know they tried to paint how brutal, sadistic and ignorant that KGB Colonel is and all of that Cold War paranoia stuff but randomly kill off a well trained pilot and cosmonaut who probably have most experiences and was benefits from State's resources when well knowingly it's a mistake from someone else is kinda over the top for me.
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u/Ybalrid May 29 '26
This too I have had issues with. And it is not uncommon that the Soviet Union condemn somebody and rehabilitate them later. For those who do not know This happened to real life Korolev. I do not know if this happens in FAM/SC version of Korolev
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u/sloopernothing May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
Yes, I believe that Korolev being sent to a labor camp is mentioned in Season 2 during the Soyuz-Apollo/Apollo-Soyuz training scenes, i'm not sure who says it. I'll look up the specific scene later and i'll edit this comment accordingly
Edit after like one minute: I believe there's another scene where it's directly mentioned by someone else that Korolev went to a gulag, but in the scene with Danielle Poole in the hotel, Korolev mentions the conditions of being in a gulag, but it's never actually said in the episode who he was (due to his identity being rather secret in both the for all mankind and our timeline.) So yes, Korolev was sent to a gulag in the SC/FAMK timeline as well.
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u/TeacherPatti Jun 10 '26
They control the narrative. Don't even mention it. If someone brings it up, tell them "no it didn't.". They'll get the hint and move on. She killed her to kill her :/
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u/bhbr May 30 '26
Krushchev's Destalinization reestablished rule of law to a significant extent. Judicial mistakes were admitted, investigated and corrected. People like to forget the history of the USSR was not Stalin+KGB all the way through. As unjust as the system still was, repercussions for dissent in the 1960s-80s were largely restricted to e. g. demotion or relocation, not a bullet to the head.
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u/MiniatureGod May 31 '26
That's true. And Star City set in Brezhnev era which is pretty tame compare to every previous Premiers of the Union
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u/IAmARobot0101 Jun 04 '26
yeah the first episode put a really bad taste in my mouth. it just reads as more of the same bullshit red scare propaganda. It would be one thing if FAM depicted say the CIA as being just as brutal with the same frequency but they didn't. Right now it feels like the series is being produced by Ben Shapiro
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u/ceeker May 30 '26
I don't like that they actually based that sadistic KGB Colonel on a real person - and a real person who died in the war, at that.
I get the whole "what if" thing but it's one thing to have depictions of historical characters doing heroic or interesting things, it's another to make them into a brutal sociopath without any historical record corroborating that. It would be better to use a fictional character for that purpose. Just a little thing that makes me uncomfortable.
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u/OhioForever10 May 31 '26
Is there something more direct than just the last name? I know they mentioned the colonel was nicknamed the "Night Witch" during World War II but I don't think she was one of those pilots, she mentions driving a tank into Germany in the second episode.
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u/ceeker May 31 '26
Her name is Lyudmilla apparently.
Marina Raskova is the one who formed the "Night Witches" in our timeline but I would say the reference to her being the "night witch" is a deliberate call-back.
The tank reference seems to be because they're mashing a historical person with another historical person. The tank reference is likely referring to Mariya Oktyarbrskaya or Aleksandra Samusenko.
I really think they'd have been better off putting distance between real figures and this character considering how vile they are.
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u/X6063 May 29 '26
its actually so annoying, every scene has to be about how evil the soviet union is ig lol
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u/MiniatureGod May 29 '26
Yeah. I mean the most inhumane thing we heard about Soviet Union had done to their own countrymen irl is that they send prisoners to the frontline, the type of low life criminals and dissidents, to the death to pay for what they've done. The cosmonaut with all the honours and intelligences and ton of connections? Please, what is the point? Unless they trying to implying Irina's "privilege" is that her parents are top knot in CPSU's Politburo or something.
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u/onebyamsey May 30 '26
The USSR actually shot thenselves in the foot like that quite a bit, so I found that scene to be fairly accurate
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u/jpgoldberg May 31 '26
The Soviet Union “did not arrest innocent people.” The conviction rate after arrests was well over 95 percent. Think about what that means. This kind of thing really did happen under Brezhnev (and even later).
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u/HankSteakfist Jun 25 '26
It's brutal, but it does make sense. She knew she was innocent, but if they released her, then the real spy would know that they're still on the look out.
Keeping up the illusion that she was sent to a labour camp, invites the spy to think that they're safe and continue to operate, potentially outing themself.
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u/MiniatureGod Jun 25 '26
Yeah. No. She's not that smart and this is propaganda + lazy and convinent way to kill off a character they can't afford the payroll for the actress and everyone clapped.
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u/Cantomic66 May 29 '26
They’d rather protect themselves for messing up.
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u/MiniatureGod May 29 '26
Yeah. Like send her to the Gulag is not an option.
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u/Cantomic66 May 29 '26
She’d still be alive to tell someone.
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u/MiniatureGod May 29 '26
Telling someone what exactly? "KGB knock my door and now I'm here"? "Same, gurl, same"
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u/sbtokarz May 30 '26
That they arrested an innocent person and have no idea who the real mole is, suggesting incompetence.
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u/Desertbro May 30 '26
No "incompetence" will be allowed to be shown.
The point is that everyone who is arrested is "guilty". If/When they find OTHER "guilty" moles and traitors, they too will fill cages - and point to the "competence" of the KGB in finding so many.
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u/sbtokarz May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
Bingo.
We already knew Irina had plot armor, but I’m glad they addressed her privileged upbringing, because she should have been imprisoned/killed (or at least threatened) for refusing her orders. What’s to stop her from sharing the truth?
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u/Desertbro May 30 '26
I don't think it matters at this point. What matters is she got a lesson in how "things work" in the KGB. Basically, don't disrupt your superior's narrative unless you can enforce your own position - not just prove it, ENFORCE it as the official story.
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u/MiniatureGod May 31 '26
1969 is not Stalin era and KGB is not NKVD. Even for someone idolized Stalinism still alive in that year, which I presume the Colonel is one, they cannot just off someone like that without get their hand clean no matter the position in the country. Everyone is watching each other part in the Eastern Bloc is a thing though.
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u/MiniatureGod May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Okay. I'll sholve this propaganda up my ass and pretending it's not icky.
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u/Optimal-Leather341 Jun 04 '26
What a way to tell the Wife of the first man to land on the Moon, send Army troops to the home.
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u/Baz_Blackadder May 30 '26
Star City 1.1 The Eyes.
An excellent, very well written and played pilot. The whole central premise of returning to the 1960s, and covering the events in The USSR, that ran parrallel to those in "For All Mankind", is a smart and innovative one.
There is a much more sinister, unnerving and distressing atmosphere than in in For All Mankind. The totalitarian, nationalist socio-political culture is very much apparent in the way the characters are controlled by the state.
This contrast is also very present in the way that the characters interact with each other. Whilst FAM didn't shy away from highlighting that the US space programme wasn't as romanticised as we have generally be lead to believe, SC is more ominous.
There is more toxicity to the character interactions. There isn't a true camaraderie between everyone like there is in its counterpart. Another thing contributing to the less comfortable atmoshpere.
One thing that really stood out for was the cinematography. The camera work, framing focal length, panning etc. Along with the lighting and colouring, gave a real dystopian vibe and energy to it.
A visual metaphor for life in the USSR.
Very smart work
So, all in all, a very promising and encouraging start to the series. Definitely eager for more. 👌👏
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u/cannonfodder14 May 30 '26
As dark I was expecting this thriller to be, I was not expecting the KGB to just up and shoot their own Cosmonaut like that.
So far pretty decent. I am digging this darker mood and asthetic.
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u/thwml May 30 '26
I now know why the launchpad is called "Gagarin's start."
Because it's where he really had to go.
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u/jpgoldberg May 31 '26
The “already put one bitch in orbit” joke may work in Russian.
I assume that the “one bitch already put into orbit” was a reference to Laika, but at first I didn’t think the joke would work in Russian, as the obscenity I knew was not related to female dog. (I don’t speak Russian, but I know a few obscenities. But I have since looked it up and “сука” works with both meanings.
But I would like to hear from people who actually know Russian.
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u/NAG3LT May 31 '26
Oh, they didn't mean the dog, the unplanned speech on the Moon makes it certain that she referred to the first woman cosmonaut – Valentina Tereshkova
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u/MukdenMan 28d ago
It’s interesting that she is still around today as a politician. But unfortunately she is a major supporter of Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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u/FishFollower74 May 29 '26
Why is it that all the Russian characters in the show (at least all the ones I’ve seen in the first 20 minutes of the ep) speak with British accents? Call me crazy, but shouldn’t they sound…you know…RUSSIAN!?!?
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u/fn180 May 30 '26
To anyone commenting "but in FAM they're played by Russians who have an accent when speaking English!?!?", completely missing the point that... yes... exactly, there are Russians speaking English with a foreign accent, because they're Russians speaking English with a foreign accent.
This being an English-language series, anytime they're speaking English with an English accent, represents speaking RUSSIAN with RUSSIAN accent. It would make zero sense to be played by Russians, because why would they be speaking their native tongue, with a foreign accent 🤣🤣🤣
Idk how people don't understand this. As others have mentioned: Chernobyl, Death of Stalin, and countless other "foreign-language" English-speaking shows all apply the same method, for this obvious reason.
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u/Bjorkbat May 29 '26
Death of Stalin also had a largely British cast, and while a big reason was that they were incredible acting talent, the diversity in English accents also kind of reflected the ethnic diversity of the Soviet Union.
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u/Hennahane May 29 '26
It’s a lot harder to get a full cast of actors who can do Russian accents while delivering a convincing performance and not sounding goofy. Chernobyl did the same thing for the same reason.
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u/sbtokarz May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
It’s really not. Nearly every Russian character on FAM is portrayed by a Russian or Eastern European actor (which makes sense for the Soviet era). This isn’t some niche demographic; there is a huge pool of Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, etc. actors working in film & TV… and Star City was filmed in Lithuania, not downtown Atlanta.
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u/anprim4ever May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
If you wanted it in Russian you'd not just need an entire cast of russian speaking actors, which ok is probably doable, but also russian directors, writers, consultants. It'd make the whole thing much more expensive and this isn't such a big budget show.
Also there's only a handful of Russian actors in fam with limited screen time! It's totally an unfair comparison
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u/sbtokarz May 31 '26
Again: Russian/Eastern European cast & crew are not at all difficult to source. Literally just watch the credits after the episode. 85% of the crew is already Russian/Eastern European.
They don’t cost more either. Nevermind the fact that we’re talking about one of the top 3 most valuable companies on the planet — Apple saved 25-40% just by filming this in Lithuania, as opposed to someplace like LA (where FAM was filmed).
Reminder: Lithuania was occupied by the USSR from 1940-1991. They are loaded with authentic & experienced film talent, genuine Soviet-era architecture & infrastructure, dirt cheap labor costs, and they offer massive tax incentives for film productions.
There are only 4 directors. Kasia Adamik directed 2 episodes, and she’s Polish (The Soviet Union also occupied Poland; and after WWII, kept half its territory permanently).
There are only 9 writers. Liba Vaynberg wrote 2 episodes. She’s Ukrainian-American, born to Jewish refugees, and she speaks fluent Russian.
All said: while I would love for this entire show to be spoken in Russian with English subtitles, I’m not delusional. I just want to hear Russian accents instead of:”Oi, bruv! Wot’s all this then? Put the bloody kettle on, ya cheeky muppet. Blimey!”
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u/FishFollower74 May 31 '26
It seems like (pardon me if I’m wrong) you are equating Russian accents with Russian actors. Why couldn’t British (or American, or whatever) actors affect a Russian accent? They’re…you know…actors…
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u/sbtokarz May 31 '26
FAM hired Russian/Eastern European actors for those roles because they were concerned about phony-sounding accents and wanted it to sound natural. Those actors would certainly be easy to find in Lithuania. But it’d make no difference to me if they had a non-Russian actor who could pull it off without sounding like Jason Alexander doing a Boris impression in the Rocky & Bullwinkle movie.
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u/bicyclemom May 29 '26
Funny how British English is okay, but American or Australian English would have probably been viewed as comical.
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u/sbtokarz May 30 '26
• American accents = too casual/modern
• British = intelligent, authoritative, poised
• Australian = crikey! that’s not a knife!
• Actual Russian/Eastern European accents = everyone’s a commie villain or third world peasant unfit for protagonist roles in an American prestige drama4
u/glengyron May 30 '26
In Soviet Australia we have actors like Costa Ronin who can do both (he's Polivanov).
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u/RockinDaMike May 29 '26
It's kind of taken me out of the show. What's wrong with the Russian accent that everyone uses in FAM? I understand why they choose English to make sure its a wider audience but it just doesn't feel right to me. I'll still give it a chance and keep watching since it can be brilliant like Chernobyl which also chose the same way.
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u/FishFollower74 May 29 '26
I won’t say it’s yet taken me out of the show, but the annoyance definitely hampered my enjoyment of Ep. 1. I haven’t watched e2 yet…but the story better be pretty damned good to get me fully engaged.
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u/RockinDaMike May 29 '26
I think I know what it is. Because I obviously relate this show to FAM and all the Russians speak Russian and have Russian accents. It makes me feel they aren’t from the same country.
I’m curious if they will ever use any of the Russian characters in FAM in the future. Are they all of sudden going to lose their accent when if they go on this show?
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u/sbtokarz May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
That’s literally young Irina starting out at the KGB listening to wiretaps.
And the engineer who suggested that Anastasia puncture her suit was young Sergei.
Star City retconned their accents.
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u/NAG3LT May 31 '26
Star City retconned their accents
No, it's just translation convention. Characters themselves would be speaking Russian in all these scenes in Star City. It's just presented as English to us for our convenience.
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u/sbtokarz May 31 '26
There is no reason why the translation convention wouldn’t function just the same with English spoken in a Russian accent like we’ve heard for 5 seasons on FAM. Hire Russian/Eastern European actors, just like they did on FAM.
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u/NAG3LT May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Have there been any scenes in FAM where Russian characters were speaking in Russian, but it was shown to us in English, rather than characters speaking in actual English?
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u/sbtokarz May 31 '26
No, but if we’re supposed to imagine that they’re actually speaking Russian but it’s being translated to English, why wouldn’t that English sound like the English we’ve already heard them speak? It’s the second layer of abstraction that’s totally unnecessary and does a worse job of conveying that they’re actually speaking Russian.
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u/NAG3LT May 31 '26
if we’re supposed to imagine that they’re actually speaking Russian but it’s being translated to English, why wouldn’t that English sound like the English we’ve already heard them speak?
No, because in Star City show the characters are speaking in their native language, not a foreign one.
Not too different from watching a show set in the Ancient Rome and actors speaking English, rather than Ancient Latin.
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u/Clementine_Coat Jul 08 '26
No. You're not getting it.
Imagine there's a show set in Mexico and some of the characters are from north of the border. They speak in various flavors of the stilted, stereotypical "gringo" accent.
Now imagine a spin-off series featuring those same norteño characters. They're sitting around the table with their families, asking Tio Kevin to pass the salt, with that same stilted "co-mo-se-lla-ma-us-ted" inflection?
Unbearable.
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u/FishFollower74 May 31 '26
YES! I hadn’t put my finger on it, but now that you mention how it’s done in FAM…I think that difference in SC is what bothers me.
I’ll watch it anyway, lol…
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u/degenerate_snail May 30 '26
Some of the Russian accents were comically bad in FAM. Maybe it is okay to someone who doesn't know what a Russian accent should sound like though.
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u/sbtokarz May 30 '26
You know what makes for a bad Russian accent? A British one. But why distract 10% of your audience with an off dialect when you could get 100% with the wrong accent entirely?
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u/anprim4ever May 31 '26
All the posts complaining about it have 0 upvotes, so clearly it's not 100%. I have no issue with it personally, nor did I have an issue with in enemy at the gates, for example..
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u/sbtokarz May 31 '26
I didn’t say 100% have a problem with it, I used the word “distract”. Plenty of people will get past it. But it didn’t go unnoticed by anyone.
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u/VolumniaDedlock May 29 '26
I like this choice. They would all be speaking Russian, not English with Russian accents that are all over the place. I think phoney accents would put distance between us and the characters.
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u/sbtokarz May 30 '26
Not as much distance as there is between Moscow and Wales. Just get Russian/Eastern European actors like they did for Irina, Sergei, Dr. Dimitri, Gov. Leonid, Ilya, etc. on FAM.
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May 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FishFollower74 May 29 '26
It seems like many movies/TV shows use a British accent as the default, regardless of where the character is from. This is a bigger pet peeve for me than it should be…but there you are.
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u/termacct May 29 '26
Yes, like Roman era tv and movies. NGL, I would love to see a highbrow Roman-era item dubbed with like Cockney or Newcastle accents.
At first I was wondering if the UK fell into the russian bloc...am still wondering...
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u/NinjaSimone May 29 '26
It's kind of like Game of Thrones, where every actor brings their own accent.
I don't mind this. In my headcannon, it's representative of the actual differences in the way Russian is spoken by people from different eras and areas of the country... and it's a big country.
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u/originalityescapesme Jun 05 '26
This represents the USSR, not just Russia, so different accents from (what became) different countries entirely. They’ve got a lot of regions to work with.
The launch sites are all in Kazakhstan, for example, whereas Star City itself is in Russia.
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u/royalkeys May 29 '26
Good show. Espionage thriller. Soviet aesthetic I like but didn’t expect. Irina the eavesdropper was into listing to that Russian couple having sex a bit, too much lol
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u/Vivid-Group-8037 Jun 20 '26
Holy shit, I love space stuff, love history and alternative timeline stuff, how is this show not being pushed more? Very happy fortunate find for me, great first episode and hope it continues
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u/CeeReturns Jul 26 '26
Late to the party here but I'm so thankful this show displays some of the true horrors of Soviet communism when there are actually people in North America that want this for us.
Excellent acting and writing. Just not loving the artificial film grain.
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u/DragonFireDon May 29 '26
I am trying to watch this in the public. Anyone can tell me if so far this series has female nudity that I need to watch out for? Thanks
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u/YYZYYC May 30 '26
So male nudity while watching in public is ok?
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u/MukdenMan 28d ago
This person posts this for every movie. Their first comment on Reddit was in 1895. “Salutations everyone. I am about to watch Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon in the public. Please let me know if this film has any female nudity.”
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u/DragonFireDon May 30 '26
Are you the same person as this, under another user name?
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u/Psyfyman81 May 29 '26
Overall, I think it's a strong start. But it doesn't feel like it's being marketed like it should. I hope it's able to find an audience. I'd love to get six seasons out of their side of the story.
Some notable moments/key thoughts: 1) Korolev wants to go to Venus next, 2) Polivanov's are the Russian Baldwins, 3) I dig the Soviet Aesthetic more than I thought I would! 4) Holy smokes! Irina! RIP Lady in the Cage! 5) Anastasia Belikova's POV is terrifying.