Final Space Review: The Closer You Get

"You shouldn't have come here. I tried to warn you."

Alright, Final Space, damn.

When I was writing my last review, I was very torn about whether or not I should simply scrap what I had and make a double-feature review for it and "The Closer You Get"; it's billed as a two-parter, after all. But I decided to simply put my thoughts down there to encapsulate that moment in time, and I stressed heavily that its merit rested largely on this. "The Remembered" had a lot to justify in my mind, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I'm an idiot for underestimating Final Space.

Spoiler warning! Like, seriously, this is a monumental episode and I don't want this ruined for you. Alright.

To briefly recap my thoughts from last week, I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about Avocato's return. I felt like it was the show throwing in a bit of fan service and watering down the permanence that I thought came from his death in "Chapter Six." I was, however, willing to give Final Space the benefit of the doubt, and lo and behold, "The Closer You Get" absolutely crushes it. You should always be afraid when Olan and the crew start posting about how dark an episode's gonna be because no amount of warnings on their part are ever enough preparation: this one's devastating, and a crucial turning point there to remind you that nothing in the universe of the show is sacred.

"The Closer You Get" starts immediately with a shocking new development: Tribore manifests out of thin air in typical Tribore fashion with a message his team was able to intercept from Quinn. It's glitchy, and not much can be ascertained from it, but it's our first lead in Season 2 that Quinn's still out there, so naturally Gary sets out to recontact her as soon as the opportunity arises—that opportunity being Avocato, blank-minded as he is, suddenly remembering a way they could get in touch—throwing caution to the wind for a chance to communicate back to her... and truly, what follows couldn't possibly have gone worse.

While Avocato's return serves an incredibly crucial purpose by the episode's shocking ending, his utility throughout "The Closer You Get" leading up to it is no less compelling. I feared that wiping his memory clean would lean into the sorts of cliches you'd expect, but the way that every revelation Avocato makes is paced, and the interconnectivity of the present and the memories of his past, ensures that the mechanics of his character never come across as contrived. Also helping is the rift it creates between him and Lil Cato, a character who's endured some of the most horrifically bleak experiences of anyone in the show. In a sense, he's lost his own father yet again, and every recollection on his part just feels like salt on those wounds.

It's a tough spot, and even though Lil Cato lashes out a lot, it never becomes irritating: this is a traumatic situation, and he has to live with the one person who can't reciprocate the emotional connection that he's desperately yearned for. His heartbreak turns to frustration, and the simple idea that Lil Cato can feel anger from that detachment, not just sadness, and that he refuses to accept his father's changes, adds dimensions that few other shows have managed to find in their own attempts at similar narratives.

While they accompany Gary on his journey to Kanopus Prime as back-up—Avocato recalls, in one of his flashing memories, going there with the Lord Commander because it contains pools of liquid space-time that can be used to look into other dimensions including Final Space—it quickly becomes Gary's mission alone. He drops unconscious with a sip of liquid space-time and takes a hellish journey through a dimension of colossal shadowy figures and corpse trees and, with the help of a friendily-named-but-terrifying creature named Phil, he's finally able to find Quinn and talk to her... only for it to be a grave mistake.

As Nightfall suspected earlier, Quinn's message was a warning: Gary needs to stop trying to save Quinn, because if he comes, Invictus will find him. There's no sweetness to their encounter, and it's as soul-crushing of a reunion as you could imagine; try as he might to reassure her, Quinn knows more than he does, and before she's able to convince him to leave for his own safety, Invictus appears, captures Gary, and takes over his body. Things have officially hit taken a turn for the worse, but with five more minutes to go, it's just the tip of the iceberg.

Before we get into that, though, I suppose it's worth mentioning "The Closer You Get's" sub-plot, which I feel is the episode's only weak point. This time, Tribore reunites with members of the Resistance, most notably Shannon from Season 1. Shannon's had a strange history, having appeared in "Chapter Nine" and the season finale but making little to no impact, with her sole personality trait being an obsession with Tribore. (She was so underdeveloped then that she went entirely nameless; the name "Shannon Thunder" only manifested itself in a joke from a livestream, a clear riff off of the voice actress' name.) Sadly, she doesn't make any more of a splash here, being deployed here simply to make some revelations about her scene partner: upon confessing her love to Tribore, he denies her on the spot, revealing he could never love anyone but himself as he changes genders every six months, creating a narcissistic yet forbidden romance.

On one level, it's... unusual. The implication is that Tribore is supposed to be along the lines of non-binary, maybe genderfluid, but it serves to exemplify some of the blind spots to Final Space's writing. No show has any obligation to present representation, and I also realize that I'm not really one to talk myself, but insofar as Tribore is meant to be an examination along those lines, there's a lot of finessing that has to be done to the formula, and the show's attempts at presenting his sexuality feel more questionable than anything else. On another level, though, the sub-plot just comes across as disruptive in the grand scheme of the episode's dramatics. I recognize the importance of having a lighter, more comedic counterweight to the main action, but it doesn't match the energy or development to feel solid in its own right, and instead, the sub-plot almost intrudes upon everything else going on.

But back to the serious stuff. Invictus has taken over Gary's body, and the moment his body goes cold, a murder of crows flock to it, with some attempting to carry Lil Cato away as prey. Suddenly, Avocato's memory gets completely jogged; he remembers when he was commanded to kill his son under the Lord Commander and refused, and with that, Avocato's back, and all is right... for about a minute. Once Gary's Invictus-controlled body enters the equation, and is elegantly fought off by Avocato, Invictus realizes his body is more strong than Gary's, becoming her new vessel of destruction. Avocato's thoughts suddenly cloud with darkness, instructed with one task: kill the man who stole his son.

More than just being the apex of the episode, the scene is the apex of the series as a whole to this point, a devastating emotional crescendo unlike anything we've seen before in its intensity. It's rare for me to feel a legitimate sense of fear from a show like this, but I've never been more horrified of what Final Space was capable of. With two shots straight through Gary's chest, Avocato opens the floodgates to literally anything happening, though one thing is clear: there's no winner. Lil Cato attempts to talk sense into his possessed father in tears, but Invictus twists everything against Gary, and he aims to kill. Lil Cato has no other option: he shoots Avocato in the torso—a familiar and horrifically symbolic sight.

Invictus may have retreated for now, but no greater damage has been dealt. Gary's in critical condition, Avocato's been overtaken by the most evil force in the universe, and Lil Cato, just after properly reconnecting with his father, hasn't just had him snatched away: he's heard his father make an oath to kill him. The haunting score used at the end of "Chapter Six" reprises itself like a punch to the stomach, and Lil Cato curls up by Gary's body in a similarly-recycled manner. If there were ever an entry to prove Final Space's place in the pantheons of legendary sci-fi and animation, this is it.

Notes and Quotes:
-Balloonshop Reference of the Week: In the cold open, Gary and the crew try to bring Avocato's memory back with the help of some good ol'-fashioned whippin'. Sadly, heads were not out.
-Not too much going on in the Crimson Light outside of Tribore's sub-plot, but I loved H.U.E. showing initiative in tasering the hell out of Clarence. He's a character who's desperately needed a win because he's been so deprived of a real sense of purpose, so seeing him take charge like that was a real treat. Hopefully there's more where that came from in the last few episodes this season.
-Gary, when prompted to climb a corpse tree: "Alright, y'know, is there another tree I could climb? Perhaps an apple, or a guava?"
-"You're not my father." "Neither is he."

FINAL GRADE: A+. Barring its sub-plot, "The Closer You Get" isn't just Final Space in perfect form—this is Final Space raising the bar. Let's just leave it at that, honestly. With four episodes left this season, it's hard to say where we'll be able to go from here, or if there's a happy ending anywhere in sight. All we can do is cross our fingers, hope for the rest, and enjoy this crazy ride.

For my last Final Space review of "The Remembered," CLICK HERE.

Additionally, you can access every Final Space review I have ever written HERE.

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