REVIEW: ‘Another Life’ Season 2 Offers Up Sci-Fi to the Max

I watched Another Life Season 1 well after its debut – the first Christmas in the pandemic to be exact and it struck me. A hard sci-fi show with an extremely diverse cast and one of the most logical and mission-driven captains in the genre? I was immediately smitten. And with Season 1 ending on a large cliffhanger with the Achaia encroaching and Salvare trying to rush to warn their fellow humans, Another Life Season 2 had a lot to pick up on, and it does.

Produced by Halfire Entertainment, Aaron Martin serves as the series Creator, Executive Producer and Showrunner, with Noreen Halpern and Katee Sackhoff serving as Executive producers. Additionally, the cast includes Sackoff, Justin Chatwin, JayR Tinaco, Samuel Anderson, Elizabeth Faith Ludlow, A.J. Rivera, Tongayi Chirisa, and even more guests you’ll have to see to find out.

Another Life Season 2 picks up right where we left off with Commander Niko Breckinridge (Katee Sackhoff) watching The Achaia destroy an entire planet. As a clear message to Earth Niko is struck. Changing her mission to diplomacy, she puts her life on the line to open negotiations with The Achaia. But, instead of conversation, the layers of mistrust pile even higher as Niko is directly confronted with her dreams and desires, all to be hers if she allows herself to become the Achaia’s envoy.

When the crew discovers the Achaia’s weakness, the season turns into a race against the clock for Niko to get back to Earth. The question of the season is not only will Niko make it back to Earth in time to save everyone she loves, but also will who will make survive the season at all?

Another Life Season 2 pushes even further on the sci-fi gas pedal venturing into astrophysics folding elements of space and time, and wormholes as fuel, alien mind take overs, hallucination spurred by said alien mind take over, and many more alien life forms we haven’t seen in the series so far. In truth, Another Life doesn’t hit the breaks until the very end and every minute is packed with sci-fi goodness.

That said, it’s sci-fi strength is also it’s hinderance at points. With so much packed into every scene and many storylines either emerging for the first time or coming to fruition from Season 1, the breakneck pace makes it hard to keep everything on track. That said, while the story may be unwieldy at time, especially in the first few episodes of the season, by the mid-point the heart of it shines through: the characters.

While there is a lot of death this season that happens unexpectedly and ups the stakes for the Salvare, the shock of watching characters die doesn’t outweigh the fulfillment of watching them grow. One of the characters with the largest growth is Cas (Elizabeth Faith Ludlow). From Mutineer to the only one Niko trusts to execute the mission if she isn’t on the ship, Cas has pad her dues over the seasons and has come transformed into a leader that doesn’t freeze but embraces her role. Putting herself aside, Cas has emerged as one of my favorite characters this season. She’s unrelenting, brave, and confronts her own doubts directly.

But like the season before Niko is the solid star of Another Life Season 2. Her resiliency, her vulnerability, her physical strength, and her mental fortitude, every bit of Niko is who I want to be as a leader. While this was present in Season 1 of the series, this season we get to see what Niko can accomplish when people put their trust in her. Instead of having to fight her crew and assert her worthiness as commander, she is centered on the mission and survival. And while discoveries around the crew’s instability become clear, Niko has pushed it and garnered not only a trust in her as a leader, but admiration and love as a friend.

I can’t begin to explain how strong and stunning Sackhoff is as Niko, nor can I overstate the balance she represents. Niko is a commander, a fighter, and a soldier. But she’s also a love interest, a mother, and a woman dealing the weight of unrelenting trauma and misfortune. Niko is dynamic in the best sense of the word. She is constantly evolving, learning, and pushing herself. But the thing that makes her standout is her selflessness, not for glory, but to keep those depending on her safe. Even when all hope seems lost, if someone needs her she becomes the person that can save them even if she is wavering in her own determination.

Ultimately, Another Life Season 2 is a strong ending for strong sci-fi. There is a complete story told here, avoiding the cliffhanger endings of Netflix shows canceled too soon. Instead, this season caps off a story with both resounding moments and small ones. Characters like Zayn (JayR Tinaco) and Bernie (A.J. Rivera) are handled with complexity as is their romance. Cas thrives, questions herself, and comes into her own. Even William grows. And we also see characters like Richard (Tongayi Chirisa) take a dynamic spot among the existing Salvare crew.

Is this season a little too packed? Yes. But once the story taps into its characters, the beauty of the series comes through. At only two seasons, with a solid ending, this series as a whole is well worth a weekend binge.

Another Life Season 2 is available now exclusively on Netflix.