Are we alone? SETI--the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence--is a privately funded project using radio telescopes and optical telescopes to scan the stars for signals.

In the second episode, panic strikes the community as a full-blown catastrophe looms. Locals mobilize to confront the authorities and protest the nuclear power industry.
Twenty-eight hours after the accident began, the lieutenant governor appeared at a news briefing to say that the plant's owner had assured the state that 'everything is under control'. Later that day, Scranton changed his statement, saying that the situation was 'more complex than the company first led us to believe'. There were conflicting statements about radioactivity releases. Schools were closed and residents were urged to stay indoors. Farmers were told to keep their animals under cover and on stored feed.