I really wanted to like Alien: Covenant (2017), though if I had to be honest it’s a particularly stupid movie at points where it didn’t need to be, mainly for reasons of ‘movie,’ though to see it you have to manage to look beyond the gorgeous production design and visual effects, both Ridley Scott trademarks.
One of those stupid points comes relatively early in the movie, which is the the tendency in his movies for people to visit alien planets and, just because they have a breathable atmosphere, everyone decides to either take off their helmets or to not wear one at all (this was also seen in Prometheus (2012)).
If Covid has proven anything – as should have the flu and numerous other viruses – that just because you can breathe the air doesn’t mean that something hazardous to your health can’t be carried on it.
Which brings me to The Silent Sea, which I had good feelings about when our intrepid crew of astronauts reached the moonbase abandoned by the South Korea’s Space and Aeronautics Administration (SAA) (supposedly due to a radiation spill) after they restarted power and air processing, Doc Song (Bae Doona) was asked if they could take off their helmets, and she responded, “Well theoretically speaking, yes.”
Doctor Hong (Kim Sun-young) took off her helmet despite the implied uncertainty, as did Captain Han (Gong Yoo) more because she had done it than for any other reason.
Though you’ll notice not everyone else did, till the station’s air purification was activated – because they understood that just because you can breathe the aid doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s isn’t something present that you shouldn’t be breathing.
So, combine this small testament to common sense with gorgeous production and costume design as well as a storyline that hews closely to Scott’s movie without being a copy it’s fairly easy to see why The Silent Sea is just better though another reason is that the first season consists of eight episodes, so it gives things room to breathe, something Alien: Covenant could have certainly used.
SCREENPHILES 
I stumbled across The Silent Sea on Netflix randomly and was happily surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I thought that it was really great. I like how you noticed how uncertain the crew members were when figuring out if they could take their helmets off or not.
And that’s not a huge thing in the scope of the movie, but that being said it’s important.
They understood that the environment was not one that they were familiar with, therefore they should be doing things with a little bit of caution.
The thing about Ridley Scott movies is that they seem to exist in a world where bacteria and viruses don’t.
It’s really stupid and it’s something that he should pick up on, but he never seems to.