In A Girl and an Astronaut, Niko, an astronaut who disappeared 30 years ago, suddenly returns. While he has not aged a day since he went missing, his girlfriend, Marta, has not only grown old but also moved on. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
In 2052, Marta, along with the rest of the world, receives the news that Space orbiter Niko-One, which disappeared in space in 2022, has reappeared. Marta realizes that her husband, Bogdan, lied to her years ago.
The orbiter was sent into space by a Russian space corporation called SkyCom to test a stealth technology that would guarantee complete radar invisibility.
A day after the mission, SkyCom announced that the orbiter has exploded, killing Captain Nikodem Borowski, also known as Niko, who was onboard.
In 2022, Marta and her friend, Karolina, returned from the UK. The two were living in Karolina’s family home, where Marta met Karolina’s brother, Niko. He invited the two friends to come to the club with his group, and that is where Marta met Bogdan for the first time.
Marta was a DJ, whereas Bogdan and Niko were pilots; the two had been friends for years. While Bogdan was good at his job, he was never able to beat Niko at anything.
In the present, SkyCom keeps Niko’s body, which is exactly the same as it was thirty years ago. Nadia, whose grandfather was involved with the mission, finds out that apart from the stealth technology, SkyCom was conducting a secret experiment on Niko, which did not go as planned.
The scene shifts to 2022. Bogdan and Niko are vying for Marta’s attention, which causes a rift between the two friends.
When Bogdan messes up a mission, Niko takes full responsibility. This makes matters worse because Bogdan’s father is Colonel Wiktor, and Bogdan is forced to witness once again that even he favors Niko more than him.
The two friends fight it out for the time being. Later, Bogdan visits his mother, who is abused by his father. Wiktor is also having an affair with Karolina; she is in love with him, but he keeps hurting her both physically and emotionally. Furthermore, Marta finds out that her father is in prison once again.
In 2052, Nadia comes across old documents related to the mission. Niko had left a picture of him with Marta, asking SkyCom to contact her if anything happened to him. She also comes to know that the purpose of the experiment was to use Niko’s enhanced stem cells to cure Nadia.
Marta is now a dance instructor. She is married to Bogdan and has a daughter named Oliwia with him. However, their marriage has been falling apart for some time now.
The Polish government wants their citizen back, and the FSB also want to experiment on Niko’s body, but Nadia does not want to give anyone his body until he wakes up.
Sergey, a board member of SkyCom, led the mission 30 years ago with Nadia’s grandfather. He joins hands with the FSB when they promise him money and recognition.
In 2022, Niko relentlessly pursues Marta, even though Bodgan warns him that he will break her heart. Marta finally gives in and starts dating Niko, but she also continues to grow closer to Bogdan amidst growing tension between the two friends.
In the present, Nadia sends her trusted companion, JJ, to fetch Marta, hoping that Niko will respond to her presence and wake up. Marta does not hesitate and goes with JJ at once, while Bogdan is taken to the hospital in her absence due to heart problems.
An unconscious Niko reacts to Marta’s voice. When Marta is sent back to Poland, Niko wakes up. Fearing that Sergey will hand him over to the FSB, Nadia takes Niko with her and hides him.
In 2022, SkyCom wants to choose the best Polish pilot for the mission. They do not take one of their own because there is a huge risk involved due to the secret experiment. They plan to sub-hibernate the chosen pilot for 24 hours in space.
Bogdan and Niko are going to Russia with other pilots for training; the pilot with the best results will be sent to space.
Marta tells Bogdan that she is dating Niko when he expresses his wish to be with her. At Niko’s farewell party, Marta sees Niko kissing another girl. A hurt Marta sleeps with Bogdan. The next day, Niko apologizes to her, and she forgives him.
In Russia, Bogdan and Niko come out as the best pilots, but Bogdan deliberately messes up a test because he wants to stay back for Marta. Niko gets chosen for the mission. He is told about the experiment, and he still agrees to go.
Niko also meets a seven-year-old Nadia at SkyCom. She suffers from ALS, and her grandfather thinks that the sub-hibernation experiment will enhance Niko’s steam cells, using which he will be able to cure Nadia.
SkyCom brings Marta to meet Niko before he leaves for the mission. Once he leaves, she tells Bogdan that she has chosen Niko and that she is going to be with him. An anxious Marta leaves the control room right before Niko’s stealth mission gets over, but Bogdan stays there.
Following the success of the stealth mission, when Niko starts the secret experiment, he hallucinates that he is drowning in water and messes up the controls, setting the hibernation time to 30 years instead of 24 hours. He also enables stealth technology, which makes the orbiter disappear.
SkyCom is unable to locate him. Bogdan lies to Marta and tells her that Niko died in an explosion. Niko’s friends and family mourn his death, as Bogdan comforts Marta.
A Girl and an Astronaut ending explained in detail:
Do Niko and Marta meet again?
When Niko wakes up, Nadia tells him how he has been asleep for thirty years and how he has not aged at all. She also tells him that Marta is married to someone else and has a family of her own.
Marta, not knowing that Niko has woken up, has been trying to bring him home. She even asked an old and bedridden Wiktor, who is taken care of by Karolina, for help. Bogdan asks her to stop, but to no avail.
As a frantic Sergey starts looking for Niko everywhere, Nadia is forced to be at the SkyCom, leaving Niko unattended. Niko manages to escape from the underwater place where Nadia is keeping him.
A few sailors help him by hiding him on their ship and taking him to Poland. Niko soon realizes that the world has changed completely and that his home no longer belongs to him.
The FSB is still looking for him, but Niko manages to contact Marta undetected, and the two reunite after 30 years.
Why does the FSB want to kill Niko?
The FSB is using various drones to find Niko, as they believe that his miraculous body will open doors to new discoveries and by extension, to huge profits.
Nadia finds her grandfather’s old notes on the experiments on a pen drive, but she needs older technology to access them. JJ takes the pen drive from her to get her the notes.
However, JJ is working with the FSB and gives the pen drive to them after making them promise that they will cure Nadia. Sergey discovers that JJ is secretly working for the FSB.
From the pen drive, the FSB comes to know that Nadia’s grandfather’s later research concluded that the experiment would have been a failure anyway and that he would not have been able to save his granddaughter.
The FSB loses interest in Niko’s body and orders to get him killed. Sergey tries to dissuade them, but it does not work.
Does JJ kill Niko?
While Niko wants to continue where they left off years ago, Marta needs some time. She leaves Niko at Karolina’s place, where the siblings reunite.
Bogdan questions Marta about their relationship and tries to stop her from going back to Niko, but she admits that she does want to leave Niko. She thinks that he is not concerned about their relationship; he just does not want to lose to Niko again.
Bogdan goes to meet Niko.The two are initially happy to see each other but soon exchange blows when Marta’s topic comes up. Bogdan wants to send Niko away, not just because he is being chased by the FSB but also because he wants him away from his wife.
When Bogdan is with his daughter, he gets cornered by JJ and a few other agents. They torture him, and to save him, Oliwia tells them where Marta could have gone with Niko.
Marta and Niko go to wifi free areas to avoid getting caught by the FSB. The two start their relationship once again, even though the difference in their current bodies concerns Marta. She takes Niko to a camper trailer; her father used to take her there whenever he was not in prison.
JJ finds them, but before he could hurt Niko, Nadia arrives there. She orders him to let Niko go and stabs him when he does not listen. JJ dies immediately.
Do Marta and Niko end up together?
Bogdan goes to Wiktor to ask for help. He also arrives at the scene with the Polish army to save Niko and Marta. However, when the two go back to the trailer to get Marta, they find her gone.
Marta is seen walking alone on a bridge. She says that Niko has not changed, but with time, she has changed a lot. Bogdan asked her to choose between them, so she is choosing herself this time.
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