The Rain

Netflix, 2018-19

Genre: Science Fiction, Post-apocalyptic

Created by: Jenny Ann Balverde, Esben Toft Jacobsen, Christian Potalivo

Written by: Jannik Tai Mosholt, Lasse Kyed Rasmussen, Marie Østerbye, Poul Berg, Mette Heeno

Starring: Alba August as Simone Andersen; Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen as Rasmus Andersen; Mikkel Følsgaard as Martin; Lukas Løkken as Patrick; Jessica Dinnage as Lea; Sonny Lindberg as Jean; Angela Bundalovic as Beatrice

Directed by: Kenneth Kainz,Natasha Arthy

Let’s get the bad part out of the way first: the science behind “The Rain” is ridiculous. The premise is that all water in the wild is now fatal to humans, and the mere act of getting your foot wet stepping in a puddle will kill you. Not only that, but you then suddenly become extremely contagious and kill everyone in the same room.

Here’s the problem: water tends to be pretty ubiquitous, and even if you can avoid rain, snow, fog and water pistols, the fact is water vapor makes up 1-4% of the air, and so in any given hour you’ll inhale anywhere between 420 and 9600 liters of water molecules, depending on whether you’re in the Sahara or Mississippi, sitting or running. Nearly all of it gets exhaled right back out, which is why you don’t blow up like a water balloon and burst, but that water has made contact with your mouth, your throat, your bronchial tubes, your lungs. A tiny amount goes into your blood. If getting a fingertip wet in the rain can kill you, then breathing outside air will leave you deader than Harold Stassen. And more contagious than “I’m Henry the Eighth I Am.”

Still, the basic storyline was similar enough to a superior web comic, Minna Sundberg’s Reuben-winning “Stand Still Stay Silent” that I decided to give it a chance. SSSS depended on strong characterization, solid plotting and a generally forbidding post-apocalyptic world that it’s remained an engaging read for over 900 pages. So I promised myself not to grimace as the characters exhaled pure poison on a cold, damp day, and to suspend disbelief. It was worth it.

The water, laden with a mysterious virus, has eliminated nearly all life in Denmark and Scandinavia. (The series is Danish, although in English). Two children, a brother, age 11, and sister, age 13, are rushed into a shelter by their father, who apparently had something to do with this distressing turn of events.

After six years, they are forced out of the shelter by the food supply running out (there is a power failure the first day, and the designers decided to sacrifice the hydroponic farms for moody lighting), and immediately run foul of a roving band of survivors who are very hungry. The sister knows of a shelter where there might be food. They team up, and learn that in six years, they, and the world at large, have drawn very far apart.

This is a powerful drama, impeccably acted, and once you get past the disbelieving guffaws of the initial exposition, becomes a credible, even realistic vision of a post-apocalyptic Scandinavia. The locale adds to the charisma; not just the scenery, but the nature of the characters, who are mostly decent people struggling strongly to maintain their decency. It makes them very attractive to watch.

Netflix recently announced a second season was being made.