Last Days Of The Space Age is a family drama spiked with political history

“Nothing is changing!” beleaguered mom Judy Bisset (Radha Mitchell) exclaims in the first episode of Last Days Of The Space Age before bursting into tears because everything is, in fact, changing in 1979 Perth, Australia. Beyond the conventional domestic stresses of her two teenage daughters being a lot to handle, her husband Tony (Jesse Spencer) has been on strike for months, leaving the family on the brink of financial ruin and pushing her to become more of a career woman than she wanted to be. That same strike is causing rolling blackouts, disrupting the isolated coastal city as it’s getting international attention for hosting the Miss Universe pageant. Oh, also, NASA’s Skylab space station is about to crash nearby.  

It takes four of this Hulu miniseries’ eight episodes (only the first half of the show was made available to critics) for that last hook to come to the forefront. Last Days Of The Space Age builds slowly, weaving together so many characters and their stories that, at first, they can feel thin and disconnected. But everyone and everything comes together in episode three for a hilariously disastrous celebration of the 150th anniversary of Perth’s founding, demonstrating the strength of a show that’s simultaneously nostalgic while also clear eyed about the inequities of the past that are still relevant today.

And there are a lot of those. The Bissets’ elder daughter Tilly (Mackenzie Mazur) is obsessively pursuing her dream of becoming an astronaut and dragging her best friend Jono Bui (Aiden Du Chien) along for the ride, even though her high-school guidance counselor/gym teacher thinks she’s be better of getting a retail job and taking advantage of the employee discount. Tony will defend his daughter’s ambitions, but can’t accept the blow to his masculinity of having his wife become the primary breadwinner. Meanwhile, their younger daughter Mia (Emily Grant) just wants to surf but is harassed by the dudes on the beach.

The police are worse than useless, quick to shrug off an assault as unsolvable while profiling—and, indeed, harassing—Aboriginals. But some of the nastiest stuff comes from the constant microaggressions served up by Rosemary Giliberto (Ana Marie Belo) and her squad of busybody community leaders. There are comments about how she can barely notice the cuts Judy made to stock a luncheon, instructions for her Aboriginal neighbor Eileen Wilberforce (Deborah Mailman) to avoid doing anything “political” during a party honoring Western Australia’s colonization, and the assumption that Jono’s mother Sandy (Linh-Dam Pham) must be excited that Miss Cambodia is coming to town even though the Buis are Vietnamese. It all chips away at the idea of suburban bliss while also providing doses of humor when the guardians of propriety are dressed down or the victims of these jabs stand up for themselves.

Rounding out the Bisset family is Mick (George Mason), Tony’s brother who’s trying to hatch a sort of proto Sky News, a channel that delivers what he thinks people want to watch. (He bribes an airport-security guard to get a first look at the Miss Universe contestants arriving while promising to ignore the feminist protesters outside.) Mick’s relentless swagger offers an excellent contrast to the alternately lackadaisical and sad-sack Tony and the stretched-thin Judy. Period stories often involve queer people being ashamed or the victims of violence, but Mick subverts those tropes by turning the tables on a would-be assaulter and refusing to hide who he is from Tony.

But the show’s standout performance belongs to Judy’s dad Bob Foden (Game Of Thrones‘ Iain Glen), who’s quick to reassure his daughter while relentlessly judging her husband. He provides a connective tissue to the show’s sprawling ensemble, having a fling with Eileen that’s kept secret because she fears the wrath of her fierce Aboriginal activist daughter. Bob provides plenty of comic relief, too, like when he responds to the news that his granddaughter stole a car by having his beach trailer dragged to his daughter’s front door and then puncturing its tires like Caesar burning his boats.

There are probably too many plots being juggled here, which creates some jarring tonal shifts as the writers try to do a fairly comprehensive study of the issues of the era. Bob might be conning the Buis by offering them hope of reuniting with their son who fled Vietnam. There’s also a quick aside about Tony being involved in a military unit exposed to nuclear radiation by the British, likely a reference to Operation Mosaic. And Miss USSR Svetlana Kulkova (Ines English) gets splashed with red paint by a protester of the Soviet–Afghan War, inspiring Mick to tie his fortunes to making her the contest favorite. 

That plot at least works thanks to the captivating chemistry of the two big personalities sparring, with extra spice added by Svetlana’s gruff handler Yvgeny (Jacek Koman). English shines while dazzling crowds on the dance floor or venting her own frustrations at the path that’s been left to her in a way that hits Tilly and her ambitions harder than any other naysayer.

Even as the series goes to great lengths to expose the warts of 1979 Perth, Last Days Of The Space Age also gives its subject plenty of love. It’s easy to see why Mia wants to drop out of school to pursue surfing thanks to the gorgeous shots of the waves that she and Bob chase. The blackouts might be annoying and dangerous, but they provide pristine stargazing for Tilly and Eileen, who swap stories about NASA and Aboriginal sky gods. Teens occupy themselves with smoking pot and rollerskating, but the area’s safe enough for them to hitchhike into the city for some extra mischief.

Hopefully things will come further into focus as the Skylab drama presumably takes off and more of the disparate plots come together in the show’s back half. Last Days Of The Space Age starts slow, and the pieces don’t always fit together, but its mix of tender family drama, politically charged history, and nostalgic beach vibes are more than enough to keep us coming back for more.  

Last Days Of The Space Age premieres October 2 on Hulu