"Gary, time is not mine to give. Time belongs to none of us."
I think it's sort of funny what constitutes in Final Space as a
"breather episode"; for however much "Change is Gonna Come" might be a step
back from the previous two hard-hitters, it's far from a walk in the park. Nevertheless, it's been labeled that by Olan, and I feel like that also speaks
interestingly to his methodology with Final Space in
general—always move forward, but take the time, occasionally, to reel things
back in and heal up. There's certainly a lot of action that occurs within
this latest half-hour, and crucial action at that, but for all of its
intensity, "Change is Gonna Come" is also an episode that finds everyone,
after the proceedings, in a good and comfortable place, though not without a catch.
The focus of the episode, unsurprisingly, is Quinn, the show's most immediate
priority. After she goes comatose from her extensive Final Space poisoning,
the crew seeks out rare selenium to absorb it and stabilize her condition.
(Fascinatingly, the transplant is also reminiscent of Nightfall's, a brilliant
full circle moment.) That journey, as the crew takes a swift detour to a
comet possessing the only ounce of selenium in all of Final Space, becomes the
episode's main framing mechanism, and while there is a lot at stake—this is literally a life or death situation—the fact
that the plot's as self-contained as it is provides that assurance that business will be mercifully finished.
It's a solid narrative to center around as well because it's both
meaningful and subdued, enabling the show's extended cast to take charge and
carve out niches within. Most directly, Mooncake and the Catos carry out
most of the heavy-lifting (Gary, tending to Quinn, is largely AWOL), but while watching, I
found myself more interested in the unexpected tenderness of the episode's
ancillary cast. Even though Sheryl doesn't do much here, her presence in
this episode resonates, between her tales of former debauchery and her
unexpected sweetness, consoling both H.U.E. and Gary through the gravity of
their personal dilemmas. On that note, H.U.E. also gets some of his most
thoughtful character work in a while; as he struggles through the morality
qualms of keeping Quinn's condition secret, he ponders if he's finally felt
what it's like to be human. For a character who's gone up and down over the
course of the show—from a cynical, degrading AI in Season 1 to a pitiful
garbage bot in Season 2—it's easy to appreciate his evolving sense of
pathos.
It's Gary who cements his place as the MVP of the episode, though, in the episode's final few minutes. With Quinn's body too weak to
withstand the selenium fusion, he volunteers to have his pain receptors fused
with hers to take on the brunt of her physical pain. It's a harrowing and
intense moment as Gary writhes on the ground, blood pouring out of his nose
and eyes as he demands more, but there's never been a better display of his compassion.
That juxtaposes fascinatingly with "Change is Gonna Come's" main sub-plot,
with Ash confronting Invictus and demanding her brother back only to learn
that Gary is, in Invictus' words,
"a crusader who's saved no one, [and]
a jackal that will kill everything in his path"... including Fox. By
no means is it a reveal that humanizes Invictus or presents her as any less
of an antagonistic menace, especially in the potential that she'll use Fox
as a pawn to will that fate into happening, but it cuts deep as an explanation for why Invictus does what she does. For all of the seeds it plants
into the ongoing narrative, though, Ash shines through, loathing the powers
that she has been granted and choosing to side with Gary in the face of such
an uncertain situation... but only time will tell if the right decision was
made. It's great to see her returning to the crew as she deliberates on
Invictus' offers, though, and with some cool new abilities to boot.
Tribore and Quatronostro round out the episode, though they remain the most
lukewarm members of the show's cast. With the degree that Season 3 has been
redefining its characters, it's frustrating that Tribore continues to hammer
in the same general approach as always, leading a resistance by his own
prerogative, and fueled by his own ego more than anything else. The reveal
here that he's a figure of strangely mythic proportions tasked with liberating
the forsaken and leading them out of Final Space at least etches out Tribore's
self-imposed mission as legitimate, but the difference it creates in the
overall narrative feels too slight and vaguely-defined to be gratifying. I'm sure that he'll come back into the narrative at
the exact right moment and do some amazing things as Tribore is prone to do,
but everything about his existence feels like a recursive error: the appeal of
his character is supposed to be his inexplicability, but when we never get an
explanation of why to care about what he's doing, it's hard to maintain his
appeal.
All in all, "Change is Gonna Come" feels like a checkpoint for the season, a
moment for everyone to recover and for things to return to normal, if a new
normal. Enjoy this moment while it lasts.
FINAL GRADE: B+.
For my last Final Space review of "All the Moments Lost," CLICK HERE.
Additionally, you can access every Final Space review I have
ever written HERE.
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