Season 1 Summary

[Episode 1]

Dr. Winifred “Fred” Eurus is a xenobiologist who is part of a scientific mission to Fons, a moon orbiting a gas giant. Much of the moon is ocean and she was exploring in a submarine when a giant wave hit and destroyed the sub and stranded her on the massive tidal plane - a miles-wide wasteland of shellfish and whatever detritus the waters have left behind. Our story starts as she is hiking across this landscape, trying to get to higher ground before the next wave comes. Despite her frustration over the situation, she is unable to contain her excitement over the ecosystem unfolding before her and records notes on every lifeform she comes across. She takes extra care to make sure her suit is sealed and her air intake is filtered to prevent her from contaminating this untouched world. While taking a break and observing some fish in a pool, she encounters monstrous crab-like creatures that try to pull her underwater, but she is able to escape. 

[Episode 2]

Fred makes some notes before scaling a cliff face. She’s found not the actual coastline, but a pile of basalt tall enough that she thinks she’ll be out of the way of the waves if she gets to the top before it arrives - which is soon enough that continuing to walk towards the coast might be an even bigger risk. Looking around for a path, she discovers two interesting organisms: one is a flexible treelike plant that juts out improbably from the sand and seems to get shorter with time, and another a congregation of giant shells. Just as she reaches the peak of the rocks, she sees the wave on the horizon - much like the wave that wrecked her sub, it’s ahead of schedule. Luckily she’s high enough, and after the brunt passes she sets up a beacon to help her crew find her. From her vantage point, she watches the shells open and slug-like creatures emerge to filter feed with tentacles, and sees them interact with something much bigger that’s come in from the sea. Fred then receives a distorted message from a crewmate, confirming they have found her signal.

[Episode 3]

A long, slow twilight is falling as the slow day cycle of Fons wears on. Fred’s rock is visited by a trio of birdlike creatures that go on to attack the large shells that are now exposed after the deluge has receded, only to be driven off by a gaseous deterrent. Fred is intrigued by the shells’ coordinated response, and ruminates on the chemical signals passed between trees on Earth - teamwork that doesn’t require conscious thought. She then sees an object fall from the sky, which turns out to be supplies from her teammates, whom she had begun to believe might leave her behind. She leaves the safety of the rocks to retrieve it, passing through the “village” of shells and contemplating their nature. On her way back, she slips partway up the rock and twists her ankle badly enough that she’s not sure if she’ll be able to make it back up. Twilight becomes night. 

[Episode 4]

While letting her hurt foot rest, Dr. Eurus observes the flora and fauna of the Fonsian night, including a multitude of invertebrates. She notices that the trees she saw before beginning to shorten. She finally makes contact with her ship, the Stribog. Unfortunately, the person she reaches is Dr. Robert Montague, the mission’s geologist, who she finds very annoying. After some banter, he informs her that the next wave is again coming much sooner than expected - instead of hours she thought she had, it’s only a few minutes. Horrified, Fred informs him that she is no longer on high ground and won’t be able to climb back up in time. In desperation and despite Montague’s protests, she forces her way inside one of the giant shells to avoid being crushed by the force of the wave. 

[Episode 5]

Inside the shell, Dr. Eurus tries and fails to be unobtrusive to the inhabitant, a blind slug or snail-like creature. With nothing to do but kick the alien when it tries to push her back out, she contemplates her memoir and starts formulating some paragraphs on the natural history of Fons, or what’s been speculated about it, at the same time thinking about extinction and consequently the direness of her own situation. She notices some irregularities in the shell’s interior - objects she doesn’t quite understand but seem to serve specific purposes. The alien first reacts in fear, but after a while seems more curious than anything. As the peak of the wave passes, she leaves and swims back to the top of the rocks.

[Episode 6]

Safe on top of the rocks, Fred speculates on whether or not her crewmates think she’s dead, coming to uncharitable conclusions on how much they would be affected. As her ankle heals she creeps slightly lower to watch the birds attack the shells again, observing an unusual three-participant mating behavior as they leave eggs around on the sand. In the process she notices one high-up shell has a filter apparatus on one side, and doesn’t have an occupant. Rather, it seems made specifically to filter and store algae and plankton, implying the shell creatures have a means of increasing their food supply artificially. While thinking about this, Dr. Eurus accidentally steps on an egg in front of one of the birds, which attacks her, cracking her face plate. Not being able to see, she panics and removes her helmet, despite knowing that this means Fons will no longer be untouched by Earth-origin microbes. Afterwards, she is contacted by Victor Stevens, her assistant aboard the Stribog, who confirms they’ll be coming to pick her up in less than a day. 

[Episode 7]

Dr. Eurus is dictating notes to Stevens when Montague interrupts to admonish her and see how she’s doing. They’re joined by Melissa Wang, an astrophysicist and old friend of Fred’s, one of the few people she actually would enjoy talking to. Fred goes on to give a report to the captain of the vessel, Ed Ricketts, a stern but friendly authority figure. We then move through a few conversations with Stevens, Montague, and Wang, showing their genuine concern for her wellbeing and a degree of closeness that Fred did not admit to while she was alone. They keep her company over the radio and speculate on the significance of the shell creatures, which Stevens christens “snailiens”, and a few large sea-urchin objects that has recently been deposited by the tide near her position. Wang raises the idea of alien vehicles made to move across the tidal plain. We switch finally to an interaction not involving Fred, as Wang readies the drop ship and Montague acts as mission control. All is going well until a magnetic storm hits, disabling their navigation equipment. Against Rickett’s wishes Montague and Wang attempt to manually launch the drop ship in order to make the launch window for saving Dr. Eurus - but fail when Montague is electrocuted by the control mechanisms.

[Episode 8]

In a series of snippets of Fred’s attempts to get in touch with the Stribog, we see her grapple with anger at her lack of control, fear for the safety of the crew, and despair and self-blame at the thought she will be left alone. Eventually, she gets in touch with Wang, who explains Montague’s accident and breaks the news that they won’t be able to rescue her yet - it will be another thirty days as they fly to another moon, Juturna, to complete the other part of their mission, in the meantime repairing their navigational sensors and collecting enough hydrogen to fuel the dropship in order to attempt to rescue her again. Stevens joins the conversation to apologize for not coming with her, and indirectly being the reason she’s alone. Angry and upset, Fred lashes out but has to admit that neither of them is to blame. A delirious Montague shows up pursued by Ricketts, confirming he’s still alive and undercutting Fred’s anger, allowing her to accept that the crew is doing all they can. As they send her extra supplies and leave, though, the solitude continues to weigh on her. With the next high tide the sea urchin-like objects return, depositing something on the rocks and revealing that they’re vehicles piloted by the snailiens. The object deposited turns out to be the remains of Fred’s submarine, rebuilt with shell and glass parts, and now somewhat functional again, meaning the snailiens are intelligent and capable of interacting with her - and that she’s not as alone as she thought. The season ends as she starts up the motor.