Tide Line Blue

Genre: Action / Apocalypse / Suffering / Human Endurance
Score: Good

Following a cataclysmic event that wipes out 90% of Earth’s land mass and 6 billion people, the few remaining survivors are getting back on their feet again with a period of moderate peace and prosperity. The island states set up a New United Nations, but even before its inauguration individual states are bickering over the details. A rogue submarine captained by an ex-New UN naval officer launches missiles into the meeting thus throwing the world once again into war.

The series follows the lives of two brothers who used to live on the last surviving space station. They were evacuated to Earth many years ago, but were separated on landing and have led very different lives. They’ve been apart for many years, yet they reunite on the night of the submarine’s attack on the UN. The series charts their very different views at the start of the conflict, their desire to protect different things and their helplessness in the current circumstances. As the series develops, the two brothers see beyond the factional behaviour of those around them and begin to head towards a common goal.

This is a damned good series. If you’ve watched “Now and Then, Here and There” and you enjoyed it, this is for you. On the action side, there’s some fascinating large-scale naval battles (which are surprisingly technically accurate), but really this is a story about human endurance, the effect of war on innocents and, perhaps most powerfully, how children respond to war. Each character is well developed into shades of grey.