Red Planet
Season 1
On the distant mining world of New Aries, a young colonist, Jim Marlowe, has acquired a native pet, a "roundhead" he names Willis, which can parrot speech and record visual information. As Jim and his sister P.J. are about to be sent to a boarding school, their mother Jane, the colony's chief medical officer, discovers that a substance in the deeper mines is killing the miners. She uses her authority to shut down the mines, but the decision is rescinded by the evil colony leader, a Beta Earth Mining Company man who sees only the rich profits at any cost. When the colony leader and the school's headmaster discover that Jim has a roundhead in captivity, they seek to steal it for use in medical experiments to make a serum that will temporarily protect the miners against the deadly substances in the mines. Willis records their conversation and when Jim escapes with him, it sets off a revolt against the Company that ends up involving the mysterious intelligent natives. Only Jim's friendship with Willis saves the colonists from eviction or possibly genocide at the hands of the natives, and in an epilogue set many decades later, we see that humans remained and "terraformed" New Aries to make it suitable for both species to co-exist.
Where to Watch Season 1
3 Episodes
- Part 1E1
Episode 1Part 1Jim Marlowe, Jr., and his little sister, Phillis Jane “P.J.” Marlowe, are teens growing up on the distant mining world of New Aries. Life on New Aries is difficult, with its surface being a red-colored desert. Along with the harsh climate and severe weather, there are many dangerous creatures living on New Aries, such as the three-headed Cerebus Hounds, the swift and voracious Water Seekers, and the misunderstood Locals, creatures so rare and dangerous they border on urban legend. Jim has recently acquired a new pet, a “roundhead” called Willis with the parrot-like ability to mimic human speech and record conversations. Willis is small, furry, and playful, can survive both on the surface of New Aries and the Earth-like atmosphere of the colony, and has some sort of connection with the Locals on an almost empathic level. As Jim and P.J. are about to be sent off to a boarding school, their mother, the colony’s medical officer, discovers a substance deep within the mines that is killing the miners. - Part 2E2
Episode 2Part 2The school’s headmaster Marcus Howe and the colony leader — a company man from the Beta Earth Mining Company — learn of Jim Marlowe’s new pet, and plot to steal him for medical experiment in order to generate a serum to protect the miners, and thus, keep the company in the black. Willis records this entire conversation, which prompts Jim, Willis, and P.J. to escape into the desert. With their life-support running low, they are forced to take shelter in a carnivorous plant, using the process of photosynthesis so the plant will generate oxygen and keep them alive. - Part 3E3
Episode 3Part 3Running from New Aries’ many dangerous life-forms, they are eventually found by the Locals. They are enraged by the attempted capture of the tiny Willis. In the end, only Jim and Willis’ friendship save the colony world from destruction by the angered natives, who reveal themselves to be an intelligent, highly advanced subterranean race. Willis then tells Jim that it is time for him to go. He is finished being a child, and must become an adult via metamorphosis. One of the colony’s doctors correctly assumed that Willis was not a separate species from the Locals, but rather a Local in its infant form. Jim says that he will wait for Willis to finish changing, but Willis states that this will take a long, long time. He and Jim will probably never see one another again. Many decades later, New Aries has been terraformed into a green, Earth-like world, with humans and Locals living side by side in peace. Willis, now a full-grown Local, has befriended Jim’s young granddaughter, and spends time with her wandering the grass-covered hills and telling her stories of the adventures he and her grandfather had together.
