Irene and Franklin York seemingly experience the natural effects of aging, but once they embark on separate adventures associated with the portal, they become youthful. Only when they find their purpose do their spirits come alive, improving their physical and mental health. Night Sky explores the psychological effects of aging and, like Cocoon before it, shows that people are never too old to be in love or to start living again.
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Aging into Their Comfort Zone in Night Sky
Although Irene (played by Sissy Spacek) and Franklin (J.K. Simmons) have traveled through the portal to another planet close to 1000 times, the couple never dared venture beyond the viewing room. Every day is like clockwork for them, and despite having access to another world, fear of leaving that routine behind keeps their curiosity at bay.
Two decades after their son’s suicide, Irene and Franklin still feel its lasting effects on their lives. Irene’s struggle with depression brought an onset of medical conditions, one causing her to essentially be wheelchair-bound. Doctor’s visits and pharmacy trips are their only adventures these days. Franklin’s only purpose is to take care of Irene and he is lost without her, having spent decades living with her in their routine. All that changes once interloper Jude (played by Chai Hansen) and Byron (Adam Bartley), their nosy neighbor, interrupt their daily routine.
The Younger Characters Embrace Exploration
By comparison, the show’s younger characters fearlessly embrace their new journeys. Byron’s longing for purpose and to create a legacy fuels his desire to explore the portal in hopes of making a significant discovery. This is his chance to be what he always wanted to be: special. So it’s no surprise that he sets foot onto the mysterious planet without hesitation, to what may be his detriment.
Argentinian teen, Toni, desperately wants to escape isolation and finally live free from her overbearing mother. Her initial fear of the unknown is quickly eclipsed by her excitement after the portal transports her and her mother to New York City. Having already traveled by way of portal to the Yorks’ cellar, Jude begins his quest to find his dad. When Denise York (Kiah McKirnan), Irene and Franklin’s 25-year-old daughter, realizes how unhappy she is with her life, she spontaneously drops out of her MBA program to start living for herself. Each of these characters is on the journey of self-discovery and must confront familial issues.
The Psychological Effects of Aging
Night Sky addresses the power of the mind over one’s body by showing Irene’s health slowly improving throughout the season. Here, the aging process doesn’t control the body, but rather the body controls the aging process. At the start of the series, Irene is introduced as a helpless old woman whose deteriorating body forces her to rely on a stair lift and her husband. After her doctor discloses that her health is on the decline, Irene decides to give up and take her own life just as her son did.
During her last trip through the portal, she stumbles upon an acutely ill Jude who she decides to nurse back to health. Now she has a sense of purpose and someone who needs her instead of the other way around. Helping Jude is also her chance at redemption for her son’s suicide over which she carries extreme guilt. As her bond with Jude grows stronger so does she, with her progress surprising her doctor. By the end of the season, Irene has regained her ability to walk and even starts driving again! In helping Jude find his father, her health improves because the mission has now made her life worth living. Not only does she no longer need her wheelchair, but her actions and the way she speaks also exude youthfulness.
For Franklin, the passing years and numerous trips to the planet left him jaded yet never moved him to want more. The older he got, the less interested he became and the more loyal he was to his regimen. Until Byron interrupted that regimen. At first, Franklin dislikes Byron but when they bond, Byron’s childlike excitement and curiosity rub off on Franklin, pushing him to finally traverse the planet. Although he backs down from leaving the viewing room, he overcomes his fear when Byron goes missing while inspecting the terrain. He now has a purpose that forces him out of his box: rescuing his neighbor.
As people grow older, they become more confined to their comfort zone which, in turn, can exacerbate the aging process. Night Sky shows how people can lose their sense of purpose by staying within that stagnant zone. The younger characters are too busy searching for their place in this world to have a routine. In interacting with these characters, the Yorks reclaim some of their youth, which ends up healing them both emotionally and physically. So does a lack of curiosity and purpose negatively impact one’s mood, thereby advancing the aging process? Well, the Yorks’ transformation is strong evidence that ‘you’re only as old as you feel.’
