Final Space Review: The Descent Into Darkness

"Mom, maybe we... we try therapy. Just a few visits just to explore things."

Not unlike last season's penultimate episode, there's a resounding sense that "The Descent Into Darkness" is one final victory, as clear-cut as Final Space allows for, before we plunge into the abyss. It's far from lighthearted, but Gary and the crew come out of everything on top, even if it's only a matter of time—a week, to be exact—before things come crashing back down.

The most curious thing about "The Descent Into Darkness" is that it acknowledges that there are multiple sides to every story. We've seen whiffs of it across the season, most notably in Todd H. Watson (who also returns here), but there was largely a sense of black and white, and that Gary and his team were the good guys squaring off against a cruel universe. Of all of the series' new characters, though, few have been as much of a slow burner as Sheryl. Her debut episode set her up as a strictly antagonistic force that exists to reverse Gary's progress, but every subsequent use has slowly given her more humanity, and more of an angle: she might be flawed and heinous, but she's human.

Make no mistake, she does some seemingly-unforgivable things here—stealing Rugaro's Dimensional Key by destroying an entire civilization of aliens and nearly killing Nightfall, to name a few—but there's a new side of her shown as she chronicles the one piece of her personal journey that Final Space didn't clarify earlier. After abandoning Gary and drunkenly wandering the streets, she encounters a Titan, Oreskis, who tells her that he can resurrect John if she retrieves the Dimensional Keys; Bolo, he argues, is a force of great evil who created the Keys to plot his escape before Oreskis imprisoned him, and they must be destroyed.

It's massively unclear which side of the story is true, but they're both valid in the minds of their respective characters, and they feed into the drive of both parties despite making them diametrically-opposed. The singular narrative of Season 1, captured entirely through Gary's eyes, is gone, and the gates to a multitude of realities have opened up, with only time being able to tell which truth is the realest. Feeling sympathetic, though, Gary spares Sheryl after realizing that she is finally facing the consequences of her actions (helped, in no small part, by a phenomenal, impassioned speech). It might be a terrible idea, as she's been nothing but bad news, but it's an interesting surprise that'll undoubtedly yield some exciting results.

The other half of the narrative is a little less impressive, but certainly rivals Gary's half in its scope. It's basically a way to get every other key player in the season involved, though swapping the still-weakened Fox for Tribore's triumphant return. While Gary, Nightfall, and H.U.E. (sharing his body with A.V.A.) go to Rugaro to retrieve the final Dimensional Key, Lil Cato, Ash, K.V.N., and Mooncake take a detour to Todd's ship to steal the Keys they lost last week back. It's fun and action-packed, but it lacks the sense of adversity that the episode's other plot has; there's no real struggle in their mission and no sense of danger, and its ending—Tribore traps Todd in one of his Happy Place vessels and launches him into the cosmos to an uncertain fate—feels a bit too convenient.

Todd might have been a more one-dimensional villain by the series' standards, but I liked that he was always adept at his villainy, and the way "The Descent Into Darkness" casts him off feels a little too unceremonious. Sure, there's room for him to make a comeback, and it's probably for the best to get him out of the way for the season finale, but if the latter point is anything to consider, what makes him a compelling character? He merely operated as a vessel to tell more affecting stories about other characters, and in a show where almost everyone has a distinct purpose, he comes out of everything feeling the most disappointingly expendable.

Minor complaints aside, "The Descent Into Darkness" is a great chance to consolidate as many loose ends as possible, and as we gear up for whatever Olan and his writers have under their sleeves, there's still so much to think about. Will Quinn be saved from the breach? Will John? Will Bolo turn out to be evil? One of the series' greatest strengths is that it's always raising new questions, and there's not a moment where you're safe from some unforeseeable twist. Anything can happen at any time, and there's no crazier occasion than a finale. Give us your worst, Final Space.

Notes and Quotes:
-While I never mentioned it in the review, I actually quite enjoyed H.U.E. and A.V.A.'s romance here. They've both been difficult characters for this season to utilize to interesting effect, but they had an infectious chemistry here that I wish Season 2 could've seized on just a little bit more.
-As a consequence of last week's episode, K.V.N.'s gotten a little bit crazier. We haven't seen how that difference has affected his character too much yet, aside from making him more impulsive, but I suspect that having him watch over Sheryl might not be the best idea...
-I like the recurring gag of Lil Cato's excessive excitement about flying as good and hard as he can; Steven Yeun's delivery is just drenched with anticipation, and it's hilarious every time.
-"You know the saying: if you love someone, throw them in a well, and if they drown, they were never yours to begin with."
-See you on the 21st in Chicago, Olan!

FINAL GRADE: A-. Although its handling of Todd leaves a little to be desired, "The Descent Into Darkness" is a fantastic lead-in to Season 2's finale, all while reaffirming Sheryl as one of the season's greatest new contributions. While these past few episodes have struggled to leave much of an impact, everything's finally starting to come together, and all the stars are aligned for a fantastic outing next time. I can't wait to see what comes next, but honestly, with Final Space, when was that ever untrue?

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

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

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