Last Light 

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• Photo Courtesy Of MGM International Tv Productions
• LIGHTS OUT Scientist Andy Yeats (Matthew Fox) must figure out why the world's oil reserves are failing while his personal life is in shambles, in Last Light, a five-part miniseries streaming on Peacock.

What's it rated? Not rated

When? 2022

Where's it showing? Peacock

People have been talking about "peak oil" since the 1950s—the idea that oil production will peak and start to decline, leading to societal collapse ... unless we transition to sustainable energy. Last Light asks viewers to imagine a world in which our energy supply doesn't slowly dwindle but is shut off like a light switch. Planes fall from the sky. Tankers drift in the sea. Trains groan to a stop. Cars don't run. Power grids go dark.

It's an interesting premise, and the only man who can reverse what amounts to a sabotaged world oil supply is scientist Andy Yeats (Matthew Fox), who gets called away to the Middle East at a difficult time for his family—his young son, Sam (Taylor Fay), is supposed to undergo experimental eye surgery, and Andy's wife, Elena (Joanne Froggatt), doesn't want him to go, while his environmentalist daughter, Laura (Alyth Ross), can't understand why he works for the corrupt fossil fuel industry.

What follows over five episodes is a global adventure and survival story that I found entertaining, though the ending was disappointing. I may be in the minority of those who thought it worthwhile—its reviews have been abysmal—but its mix of action, family drama, and environmental catastrophe was engrossing. (five approximately 40-min. episodes) Δ