As Billie, Lenora Critchlow is Avenue 5's lone capable voice. The de facto captain once the events of the premiere episode shake out, Crichlow brings both a sense of calm and a sense of abject terror, since she’s the only one who might know just how screwed everyone on board the waylaid vessel actually is. Ethan Phillips’ Spike, an ex-Mars bound astronaut, might have some idea, but as long as the booze is flowing on the Avenue 5 bar, and there are lonely mothers wandering around looking to make idle chatter, he doesn’t really care.
The A.V. Club talked all things space with Crichlow and Phillips in the interview above, including what Phillips gleaned about space from his many years in the Star Trek universe.