Final Space Review: The Dead Speak

 

"Did anyone tape that? Because I could play that over and over and over and over and over."

--

As we enter the final three episodes of the season, there's a daunting revelation about the current state of Final Space as a show. It's not just that the show's future remains uncertain, like many of its animated contemporaries; as Olan made clear, these last three episodes were the victim of budget limitations and intense rewrites culminating in a final stretch that slowly works its way towards an entirely different finale. It's a level of transparency that puts me in an interesting position as a reviewer: do I assess the show differently knowing the sort of circumstances that have heavily factored into what it became, or do I treat the show as if we don't have a pulse on the inner turmoil? Fortunately, that's a question to ponder more intently as we near the finale, and doubly fortunately, "The Dead Speak" delivers in the face of that adversity.

I had a lot of issues with last week's episode. For as much as it surged the show forward, it felt like an overall muddled effort, too tense to allow itself to breathe or most of its moments to land. "The Dead Speak" feels like a nice step back from that mania, swapping out the breakneck pacing of its predecessor for a more foreboding atmosphere. It starts from as startling of a place as Final Space can—the Lord Commander murders and decapitates Bolo in cold blood within the first minute and a half—but the show's quick to assess everything that's happening and to reel it back enough that the dread can simmer. This isn't an episode that'll keep going in and out of conflict by the skin of its teeth again.

 The fact of the matter is that things are the worst that they could possibly be right now. Bolo is dead. The K.V.N. Net and Earth were destroyed. The Lord Commander is a Titan. Invictus continues to grow stronger. The trans-dimensional portal is adrift somewhere in space. And, as this episode reveals, everyone but Quinn has a nasty case of Final Space poisoning. Tensions are running high, with Avocato quick to snipe Quinn for being the reason they're trapped and Ash increasingly unsure of if she's on the right side or not after all. Whereas other episodes set against such critical conditions like "Forgiveness" have been able to take their time and navigate that darkness patiently, though, "The Dead Speak" sets its inner turmoil against a siege on the Galaxy Two by Invictus.

If the zombie Gary hailstorm was a bad omen last episode, it becomes an active terror in this one, with the Garys successfully infiltrating the ship and shutting off the power, forcing to team squad to splinter off and fend for their lives. Considering how much Final Space has struggled to allocate meaningful character work to its large cast, splitting everyone up into intelligent duos (barring Biskit, who naturally goes greenhorn) allows "The Dead Speak" to properly examine the interpersonal side of the show at a far more intimate, appreciable level than usual.

Quinn and Avocato is perhaps the most unexpected pairing. They're two of the most complicated characters in the cast, but the things that keep them up at night are diametrically-opposed. Quinn, buckled under the weight of being the root cause of their Final Space excursion, wants to save the universe as her altruism-driven, military upbringing led her to aspire towards; Avocato, meanwhile, simply wants to escape from his bad past, escape it all, and find peace with his son. Notably, too, we've seldom seen the two interacting as crew members, so while the revelation that Avocato quietly resents Quinn might be sudden, it makes sense as a feeling that would be bubbling from their relative disconnect in lieu of the closeness that they need. I like that the episode doesn't try to disqualify either of their perspectives, either. There's no real resolution between them, and though the narrative (through Gary's leadership) ultimately sides with Quinn, the episode tempts us to side in equal part to Avocato, as he reveals the Final Space poisoning that everyone on the ship other than Quinn is quietly dying from. Keep prodding at that gray area, show. 

Ash and Sheryl make a similarly strong and unexpected pairing as well, two characters that have a lot of potential to grow together but, inconspicuously, haven't. Their personal histories are a lot more in-sync (though displaced), with Sheryl immediately empathizing with Ash's current tug-and-pull between the two paths in front of her. Sheryl's one of the most interesting and tragically-underused characters in the cast right now, so I really enjoyed the opportunity to see her play towards a more maternal role here, approaching Ash's hostility with her smooth-talking warmth, and even proving the sincerity of her words by risking her life to save Ash from being possessed by Invictus. Ash remains alienated from the rest of the team squad, but here's hoping that Sheryl can become the sort of parental figure she deserves.

Lastly, there's Gary and Little Cato, the most uninvolved pairing but a sweet balm amidst the tension of the other groups. It's been a minute since they've had a one-on-one, Gary notes, and although there's nothing too narratively compelling about their scenes, it makes for a tender reminder of the fatherly role Gary played for Little Cato through thick and thin, and that even with Avocato's return he continues to play. It's impossible to have predicted, way back in Season 1, that Gary would be the most reassuring member of the pack, but he's expertly-composed here, deflecting Little Cato's worry for him even if that worry might be an order.

By design, none of the pairings really reach a moment of closure; "The Dead Speak" is more intent on checking in on its cast and seeing the state everybody's in, set against a high-stakes scenario that demands their cooperation. What the episode will most likely go on to be remembered by, though, is the climactic resurrection of one of the zombified Garies, drained of Invictus by Ash in hopes of landing the team squad a new clue. What we get is something far more heart-breaking, though, as the Gary struggles in between violent retching to recount what he remembers before Invictus claimed him. It's a moment to recognize that every single one of those Garies was a person, and still is a person, and that all of them were trapped in Final Space, never saved by their Quinns. As with the rest of the episode, there's no clue or cure-all here, either—it's just a sobering and haunting moment that reminds everyone that there's little hope to cling to left. There's no valiant fight to save the universe anymore, Quinn decides by the episode's end: the current plan now is just to escape, keeping everyone alive and together.

Even with that firm declaration, though, it's hard to say what happens next, and the reveal that there's another Earth in Final Space for every time Gary closed the breach—each packing a Titan—seems to forecast disaster. Here's hoping that the final two episodes of the season, despite their reconfiguration, can pick up the pieces.

FINAL GRADE: A.

For my last Final Space review of "Until the Sky Falls," CLICK HERE.

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