"Possible Worlds" is a great end (at least as of this writing) to the Cosmos trilogy of documentaries, which started with the original series, hosted by Carl Sagan in 1980, then brought back by Seth McFarlane (the creator of Family Guy) and Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan, and hosted by Niel DeGrasse Tyson. This is a follow-up (really a season two) to the rebooted series "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey," which aired on Fox in 2014. This series aired in 2020, first on The National Geographic Channel, and then on Fox. The release got delayed when Tyson was hit with a bunch of sexual harassment allegations on the heels of the "Me Too" movement, and aired in the spring of 2020 once he was cleared.
The series maintained the same style and tone as the first rebooted season, utilizing animations to convey most of the story in each episode. Each episode had its own theme or topic, and various scientists from throughout history were then highlighted or spotlighted in the episodes. The topics were very wide-ranging, from evolution to the Cassini spacecraft, which was crashed into Saturn, to climate change. This time, there was not a climate change "specific" episode; it was discussed within the larger topic of human-caused extinction events (or things we have done that have threatened life on Earth). It also explored the possibility of life on other planets, the potential for humans to travel to other solar systems, and related topics.
One thing I appreciate is that the cosmic calendar is explained much better in this season than it was in the first season. I still think in episode 1 they could have done a bit better giving the entire scale. Meaning that the entire year is approximately 14.5 billion years, one month is about 1.2 billion years, one week is about 300 million years, one day is about 40 million years, one hour is about 2 million years, and one second is about 2.8 years. Then repeat that at least once an episode. If you watch every episode and pay attention, the entire scale is revealed, but not all at once. I know that when Season 1 aired, people were confused when Tyson would say that something happened on September 15th at 10 PM, or something similar, and thought he literally meant that an event occurred on that date, rather than it meaning that it happened about 120 million years ago.
If you want to get the series on DVD, it has only been released internationally. I can only find it as a region 4 (Australia) release. It has not been released in the US, and it does not appear to have been released in the UK either. So, if you want the DVD, you will have to hunt for it a bit (I got a copy on eBay for a decent price, and it does look like it is available on Amazon from time to time), and probably pay a bit more because of the fact that it has to be sent from Australia or New Zealand. And, you need a region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch it. There are no extras on the DVD; just the episodes, spread across three discs, and no captions.
Overall, the series is very good. While living in a very politically charged environment, people may perceive the show as having a political agenda, but it doesn't. The writers merely present scientific facts as we know them today, and make clear that those facts may change as we learn more. Additionally, while the science discussed is heavily slanted toward astronomy and physics, it also touches on other sciences, such as chemistry, biology, geology, and the like, and explains how they are all interconnected. Plus, there are a couple of very nice tributes/nods to Carl Sagan (who created the series back in the 1980s) and his life. It is definitely worth watching, even for people with a casual interest in science. For someone who is a fan of astronomy and/or physics, I would call it a must-watch.
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