‘Constellation’ Recap: ‘Five Miles Out, the Sound Is Clearest’

3/6/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Noomi Rapace as Jo in Episode 105 of ‘Constellation’ - ‘Five Miles Out, the Sound Is Clearest’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Constellation’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

There are a great many things we fear in this life. Some of which are simple in nature, such as the dark or being around tiny critters with eight legs. Whereas some of them are grand and complex, such as being alone forever or watching our loved ones suffer through an illness. But above all, there are two fears we harbor that trump just about every last one of the rest of our worries. Specifically, we all harbor some kind of fear of death, and we all are terrified at the prospect of losing our mental faculties. Because our mind is something that is precious to us, and something we mostly harbor control over, so the thought of having that slip away to the point where we lose our grip on reality and our choices… really is a terrifying prospect.

One that prompts us at times to go the extra mile to ensure that our mind is indeed healthy and stable. Which is why we will visit a therapist or a psychiatrist now and again, to ensure that’s the case, and it’s why we sometimes ask for objective observation from our friends and family regarding our state of mind. All because, that terror is real and tough times can make it feel as though we are indeed losing our mind. Which is why Jo’s actions in the next episode of Constellation on Apple TV+, make sense, despite their harrowing and seemingly outlandish nature. For ‘Five Miles Out, the Sound Is Clearest’ picked up shortly after last week’s episode, where Magnus had hit his head, and well… good news was in the cards regarding that.

In that, he wasn’t dead, just banged up and well… knowing full well that she would be held accountable for this act, Jo used his moment of pain as a respite to put together her own plan to understand whether or not she was losing her mind. So, she scooped up Alice, called an ambulance and hit the road, making sure to pick up the Cal and call in some favors along the way. The kind that would allow for others to examine the strange cocktail of pills she used to swallow as she made her way into the interior of Denmark. Not to cause harm, but to get answers. Because the person that sent her those tapes and those transcripts had to know more, and she needed those answers to determine her true mental state and well… that quest ended being a touch fruitless… at first.

Jonathan Banks as Henry in Episode 105 of ‘Constellation’ - ‘Five Miles Out, the Sound Is Clearest’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

Because while the people responsible for sending her those tapes were eager to help prove to Jo that there were strange recordings, they had picked up from radio chatter throughout the years, the kind that spoke to strange occurrences in space and time once an astronaut crossed the threshold of the Karman Line, there just wasn’t much for Jo to hear. In fact, no one outside of the gracious hosts Jo and Alice met heard anything on those tapes. Leaving Jo to believe that there was a very good chance that she was indeed losing her mental faculties courtesy of the stress and emotional damage she experienced aboard the ISS. But that’s when this episode took quite the turn in this little game of whether or not Jo is mentally competent to function in this life after a harrowing trauma.

For on the way to the cabin that we were introduced to earlier in the story, the Cal helped reveal that those tapes did indeed harbor secrets untold, the kind that spoke to strange occurrences in space and more that doesn’t add up on terra firma. Such as the fact that Alice didn’t recognize her own voice or vernacular when she heard a clip of the ISS accident and that wasn’t the only moment present here that spoke to the possibility something stranger was taking place. After all, Henry was struggling mightily in this tale with hearing his brother and hearing things that weren’t there. In fact, their connection was so strong, they could communicate through a mirror from across the globe and even influence one another physically.

Making it clear, that something incredible is taking place in the depths of space. Something that changes some astronauts in ways we cannot imagine, and it would seem, the Cal is related to it and is only making things worse. As to what exactly is going on, we still don’t know, and that’s okay. Because that’s part of the fun, and the mystery, one that this series is slowly unraveling in all the right ways. But before we ponder upon those answers, we can celebrate one smart tale. One that did an amazing job of preying upon one of our deepest, and darkest fears and how important it is to know and feel that we are okay mentally. And now that Jo has a better understanding of that, the show will likely indeed dive into the questions at hand, and what was unleashed on that fateful day aboard the International Space Station. Until next time.

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