A Girl and an Astronaut is a series that wants to be science fiction, but can’t stop itself from diving into its romance. Starting from 2052, the series imagines a non-dystopian future, with successful versions of tech currently in the works. However, this is intercut with shots from 2022, where fighter pilots Niko and Bogdan have a Top Gun-esque rivalry, only with an added love triangle with Marta. Something here could have been done to make the sci-fi and the romance more relevant with each other, since the heart of the premise is a tragedy of lost love. However, the supposed stakes of the love triangle don’t feel real, as immediately, we know that Bogdan and Marta end up having a loveless marriage. The resulting show isn’t downright terrible, as the cinematography and visual effects are stunning. But the series feels like it should have been two separate stories, or at least made the romance feel compelling enough to watch.

Alternating between two decades (2052 and 2022), the series compares the present with an imagined near future. Unlike other sci-fi works, the future doesn’t feel dystopian, but it feels close to today’s world, albeit with useful tech. There may not be any flying cars yet, but AI-home integration is a thing now, so is simulated virtual outdoors and holograph camouflage passageways. These technologies could have looked fake, but the visual effects make these look seamless in the series’ world. The visual effects in the 2022 scenes also look great as the pilots race in their aircrafts. If the series had a more compelling story, or if it was shortened into a film, the effort placed in these scenes would have matched its storyline, and would have made the series a more compelling watch.