Final Space Review: The Devil's Den

 

"Lightfold."

--

(NOTE: Major spoiler alert for this review! Do not read this unless you've seen the episode or are okay with it being ruined for you!)

Gary and his crew stand, immobilized, staring out the window of their ship. They're on the other side of the gate, back in their universe, but it's not a celebratory moment. The fabrics of the universe burst, blinding pink lights shining through the seams, as Invictus stands before them. At a loss for words, all he can say is "My God, what have I done?"

The classic story-telling adage is to always leave them wanting more, and that's certainly a concept that Final Space rides out to the max, especially with its finales. But whereas there has been some assurance in the past that things will be alright, with some persisting glimmer of positivity—the first season was renewed almost immediately, and the second, beyond having something of a happy ending, was renewed pretty quickly thereafter—the startling darkness which Season 3 ends on is compounded by the fear that this could very well be the end of the road.  

Final Space Review: The Leaving

  

"I've left a lot of places called home. Trust me, you get over it."

--

One of the hardest things to pen about a review, for me, is the opening. I have to condense all of my general thoughts about the episode I just watched with tact, nuance, and a certain level of reflection of what preceded it. I have to look smart enough to make the reader think that they'll be in good hands across the paragraphs that follow. But that doesn't mean that I'm any less susceptible to the anxiety of your average Final Space fan when something happens that just rips your heart out and leaves you at a loss for words. When "The Leaving" ended, all I was simply left wondering, nervously, was how the hell will Final Space finish off this season in anywhere close to a comfortable spot?

That underestimation of the amount of risk Final Space allows itself to take with its story-telling is something that enables its more emotionally-scathing moments to cut so deeply. From where the episode ended (which I'll work up to in a moment), there's no time for healing; almost the entire crew sits on the precipice of death while simultaneously having to deal with one of the greatest dangers they will ever face. And to think that we got there with an episode that started out, most cruelly, like everything was going to be alright. (You're a tricky, mean little episode title, aren'tcha?)

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.

Final Space Review: Until the Sky Falls

"Salvation comes in the blink of an eye."

--

As I've spent the last week sitting back and contemplating how to approach this episode, I've found myself increasingly unsure what my stance on it is. "Until the Sky Falls" is the long-delayed punch knocking our cast of characters back as hard as it can, and it ends with the party in the worst position they have ever been in this season... but even in doing so, it doesn't feel like an awe-inspiring distillation of the power of Final Space's story-telling dramatics. Instead, if it's not an actively frustrating episode, it's one that feels strangely out-of-step, not with the season's ambitions so much as the pace that it's been maintaining and thriving off of over this past stretch of episodes.

Perhaps it's important for me to single out what I think the greatest successes of Season 3 has been. Whereas Season 1 was intensely serialized, gelling together outside of its most pivotal moments and feeling perhaps too straight-shooting, Season 2 was more episodic, telling contained stories with a greater narrative diversity, to varying degrees of success and failure. Both seasons were remarkable, but flawed, and yet the greatest strength of Final Space persisted as its ability to burrow so deep into your soul with its dramatics: the betrayal, the sacrifice, the loss, the reconciliation. Season 3 continues to hold true to those most powerful of traits, all while weaving together the first two season's greatest qualities, predominantly through thoughtful, probing character work. Its episodes have all fed into the season's dark atmosphere, but they've also fearlessly dug into its cast, unafraid to make shocking revelations and bear witness to the gritty aftermath. 

Final Space Review: Hyper-Transdimensional Bridge Rising

"And now, I'm going home."

--

With the heavy and involved one-two punch of "Chamber of Doubt" and "Forgiveness," it's nice for Final Space to grant us something more on the fun side. I feel like a lot of Final Space fans can be wary of the series' lighter fare, but I think it's important to recognize the intentionality, balancing the show's moments of intensity with more light-hearted material, and even then, the definition of "light-hearted" for Final Space is one etched in thoughtful character development and personal sacrifice. Silly, silly show!

Interestingly, "Hyper-Transdimensional Bridge Rising" decides to spend most of its runtime pushing attention away from the main cast—who are probably at their tightest that they can be emotionally—and more towards an unexpected place. With Gary and co. meeting up with Kevin van Newton in London in hopes of leaving Final Space, they discover that his revamped bridge needs to be connected from the other side to work properly, and desperate times call for desperate members: Clarence.

Final Space Review: Forgiveness

 

"We can't change the past,
but we can write a new future."

--

Off the heels of one of the most intense episodes of Final Space ever, I had a lot of curiosity for where the show could possibly go from here. Would it delve into an even deeper chamber of darkness, or would it turn its attention towards mending conflict in light of the new status quo? As it turns out, "Forgiveness" delicately does both, digging through darkness to find the good underneath, into the souls of the show's most pained crew members and tying them together closer than ever before.

It's important that, after a moment of emotional destruction, Final Space is able to document, in equal parts, the act of emotional healing. It's a rare sentiment to see the show really dig its heels into, but that makes it all the more impactful for this episode to reel in its circumstances and focus on its characters and their innermost struggles. (The only tasty plot detail really pushing "Forgiveness" forward is a call from Kevin van Newton telling everyone to head to Earth as soon as they can, in hopes of escaping Final Space.) Similarly, it's an episode scant on the show's usual, occasonally-distracting comedic material, a decision that plays greatly to the episode's benefit; we get a nice smattering of well-deserved K.V.N. slams, but there's nothing to pull you out of the moment all of the characters involved are going through. Emotions are raw.

Final Space Review: The Chamber of Doubt

"Us against the world, just like old times."

--

(NOTE: Major spoiler alert for this review! Do not read this unless you've seen the episode or are okay with it being ruined for you!)

If there's one thing I've learned from the past two and a half seasons of watching this show, it's this: never let Final Space lull you into a false sense of security, ever. Only a week after finding its cast sweetly rejoined, "The Chamber of Doubt" shakes Final Space up with the greatest fracture our crew has ever felt, and while I have repeatedly announced that Season 3 has arrived, I waive off all of this false alarms because this... this is that time. We've hit our first true low, and we're yet to see how much the crew will scramble to climb out, or alternatively, how much further they'll fall.

Picking up immediately from last week's episode, "The Chamber of Doubt" opens with Quinn in the midst of a personal crisis; as she ponders her implant, she wonders if she's become Nightfall and if that means she no longer exists, an interesting breakthrough that coincides nicely with Ash's sudden, Invictus-fueled transformation. Indeed, skepticism is abound on the ship in general. Ash, in light of the news that he'll kill her brother, is wary of Gary, and Gary himself is wary of Ash's new powers.

Final Space Review: Change is Gonna Come

  

"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.

Final Space Review: All The Moments Lost

"Be aware that havoc is about to become our new normal."

--

(NOTE: Due to how late this review is coming in—consult this post for why—I'll be trying to keep discussion short and succinct. Sorry!)

With every passing episode, Season 3 opens up more and more questions. Last episode, Final Space seemed to make the bold announcement that we've hit the point of no return, the point where serious shit starts to happen and hearts begin to break, and "All the Moments Lost" continues its trend with another tantalizing dose of drama and some of the season's most challenging developments yet. 

There are two major components of "All the Moments Lost," but the most immediately striking is Quinn, whom much of the episode is devoted to. She's an interesting character; as I've talked about in the past, for how much Final Space is built around her, she's exercised so little agency due to the stakes of its narrative. Season 1 was all about building trust before cruelly snatching her away, while Season 2 stranded her, forcing her to incubate in Final Space. This season is the first time that we can really see the character coming into her own and getting a truly strong focus, and "All the Moments Lost" is her boldest episode yet, placing the dark undercurrent surrounding her character to the forefront.

Final Space Review: One of Us

"You don't know what danger is until you've read my customer satisfaction survey."

--

It would seem as if, after the past four episodes of patient warm-up, Season 3 is finally ready to let slip the dogs of war. While we've spent much of the past season getting a pulse on the foundational changes to the status quo—the most prominent strands being Quinn and Gary's relationship and the re-entry of the Lord Commander—"One of Us" is an episode centered around the climactic intersection of those two camps, ending with the team squad finally, fully intact once again... sans one. We'll get to that.

There was a lot of things I was worried about with this episode; with how much it has on its plate, it risked being another entry into Final Space that has too much on its list and has to selectively omit certain characters, and those fears only grew more rampant when the episode picked up a fluffy C-plot involving Tribore and Quatro. But against all odds, "One of Us" is most certainly the most balanced episode of Season 3 yet, giving every character a moment of their own that defines their utility in the grand scheme of the show.

Final Space Review: The Ventrexian

"Don't you quit on me."

--

The progression of a season of Final Space is always interesting. Final Space is a show that is methodically organized and structured, keeping its fingers on every fragment of its narrative and deploying them at all the right times to masterful effect... but that also means it's prone to a slow, if steady start. A rollercoaster needs to have an ascent before the crazy can occur, and true to form, "The Ventrexian" is another entry into the season that keeps pushing things up and harnessing that power, though that also means its potential is intrinsically contained—it exists to get Final Space to that point where it can really cut loose and devastate. All three of its plots, likewise, brace for that crescendo, if feeling a bit restricted.

The most obviously-significant proponent of "The Ventrexian" is, as its title points towards, the back-story it unearths within Avocato. Final Space has constantly alluded to his relationship to the Lord Commander, though hesitantly to avoid giving too much information away. That enables this episode to feel particularly exciting, with LC forcing Avocato to recite their personal history before his son and the rest of the imprisoned team squad. While I'm reluctant to say most of what Avocato outlines is much of a bombshell (at least up until the ending), it's easy to appreciate the show indulging in world-building, effectively a chance to flex the sturdiness of its conception.

Final Space Review: The Hidden Light

"A little love coin just deposited into my happiness savings."

--

Right off the bat with our second episode of our fledgling season, it's interesting to compare "The Hidden Light" to the episode that preceded it. "...And Into the Fire" was a flashy spectacle that sought to bring the horror tones of Season 3 to the forefront, but "The Hidden Light" aims to give the overarching narrative a bit more direction. The end result is an episode that doesn't match the former's energy, but it's a crucial stepping stone nonetheless, an enjoyable journey with all the right twists that sets Final Space on the right track for future devastation. 

What I was most interested in, going into the episode, was how "The Hidden Light" would handle its large, fragmented cast. As I mentioned last week, I feel that while Final Space has smart intentionality to how it divides its characters up and uses them across every season, it can be hard-pressed to give them engaging work episodically. While this episode distills what I think this season's priorities are going to be, and while there's still a large portion of the show's cast that feels untapped, it definitely feels a lot smoother than the premiere on that front. 

Final Space Review: ...And Into the Fire

"My danger glands are rock-hard, baby."

--

Final Space has returned! After its long, between-season hiatus, and persevering through a world very different from where we were in 2019, it's back, and its reception has been... rather mixed, to say the least. I get it. Expectations are high, Final Space is a show with very eager fans, and being given this long for anticipation to build encourages a certain unhealthiness. So before I really delve into the episode, I want to dissect that a little bit.

I don't want to spend a significant portion of this review discussing toxic fanbase mentalities, nor do I want to posit this as a sort of defense. I enjoyed "...And Into the Fire" independent of the polarizing response that it's gotten, even though I have some criticisms to make. But I do think there are some things that are important to address within that. There's a back and forth about the sort of entitled opinions a lot of people have been expressing about the show and while I, obviously, have no fears of being honest about the quality I perceive in a piece of content, there's been a seriously unpleasant vibe of lacking faith in what Final Space's game plan is. A lot of "critics" online have clung to Olan's word that the episode deliberately aims to not set anything too drastic up as some sort of admittance that he created an episode of intentionally weaker quality, and that Final Space decided to make bad episodes before getting to good ones.

That's not the case at all, of course. A strong show has ebbs and flows in energy, finds a rhythm between the quiet and the intense, and most of all, it necessitates the patience and enthusiasm of its audience to unravel its story. And this is the first episode, for goodness sake! If Final Space wants to start a bit slowly and immerse us in a more lightweight way, why shouldn't we let it? Truth be told, not only do I think that the idea that "...And Into the Fire" accomplishes little is an understatement, but I think that it accomplishes the most that any other season premiere from the span of the show has been able to accomplish. 

Final Space: The Sixth Key

"There's no turning back now. We're going in."

Season 2 has been an interesting beast. Whereas Season 1 was an exclusively linear straight-shot with one character's story arc in mind (Gary's), this season's been intent on branching everything out, incorporating a larger cast with more varied backgrounds and working to do justice to each and every one of them, all with a more episodic format. It's admittedly been more of a mixed bag, creating some of the strongest and weakest entries in the series so far, but with "The Sixth Key" tying everything together, I'm happy to consider the past season to be, by and large, a triumph.

Last season's finale was the peak of Season 1's tragedy, a massive downer that picked through the show's cast and left them, at least by (incorrect) assumption, for dead. With Season 2 being a more optimistic season overall, though, it makes sense that it would end on a more hopeful note. It's a pleasant surprise, and while no doubt filled with some heart-wrenching moments, it's never too cruel; there's a sense of progress, and of all of the past twelve episodes' work gelling into one concentrated effort.

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.

Final Space Review: The Set Up

"Go to sleep, my electronic princess."

While Season 2 has been far more episodic in its content than Season 1, this week's episode was a reminder that sometimes, you just have to get down to business. It's not an episode seeking to do anything conceptually high-wire nor overly-dramatic, existing as the last big push before we descend into the final leg of the season. There's nothing wrong with that, and its contributions are incredibly significant, but much of it doesn't register as a shock so much as a palatable dive back into the nitty-gritty.

The bulk of what "The Set Up" wants to surprise us with is Clarence's betrayal through giving Gary a false lead, deactivating A.V.A., and secretly departing the Crimson Light with the crew's Dimensional Keys en route to Sheryl. If anyone was going to betray the group, it was most definitely Clarence, though to the episode's credit, it's not as if he was preparing a revenge plot the entire time so much as acting off of an impulse reaction due to his narcissism not being fed on Carnivolo, a fake holiday he invented as a vehicle for others to give him lavish praise. I like that serving as the catalyst for what happens; it gives more spontaneity to how everything plays out rather than simply feeling like an idea that was carefully telegraphed into the narrative. There's an implication that Sheryl's been trying to court him for a while, well aware of his infatuation with her, and he's succumbed to his breaking point at the worst possible time.

Final Space Review: The Lost Spy

"Why must you damage property every time I accidentally poison a step-mother?"

Hot off of the most intense episode of the series, it would be unfair to judge "The Lost Spy" too harshly for being a far more low-key affair. A cool-down episode was necessary, offering Final Space a chance to reflect on its previous events and return to form, which it largely succeeds at, but sadly, I don't think it's anywhere near the series at its finest. For all the good things it manages to accomplish, it can be frustrating in equal amounts.

A lot of that comes down to how "The Lost Spy" allocates its time. There's three different plots going on: Gary tries to find Lil Cato, who has left the Crimson Light following the events of last episode, Clarence attempts to pull off another con with the help of Ash and Fox, and last but certainly not least, Todd captures Sheryl in an attempt to track down Gary. If you're thinking that two of those three are going to make up the meat of the episode, you're wrong—while Gary and Sheryl's arcs are far heavier, a surprising amount of time is invested in Clarence's scheme, and it seriously throws "The Lost Spy" off its balance.

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.

Final Space Review: The Remembered

"This is so serious."

Well, I feel like some parts of my last review didn't age too well. I knew that something particularly shocking was coming up, and the fact that Olan considers "The Remembered" to be the first piece of a two-parter means that we're only halfway across the journey... but what an interesting ride. (Massive spoilers here, by the way, So keep that in mind, and watch the episode before reading this if you haven't already.)

Final Space Review: The First Times They Met

"Here. It. Comes."

--

There's been a fair amount of hype surrounding this episode; after all, it's a network favorite, and an episode that Olan himself has sung his praises of in as vague a way as one can manage. It's always hard to predict what could come next from Final Space, a show always ready to nail you with a curveball without a moment's notice, and "The First Times They Met" does exactly that, allocating half of its time to one of the series' silliest subplots yet and the other half to one of its most intimate narratives yet, a delightful and heart-breaking showcase for Nightfall.

Season 2 has been a mixed bag in regards to its subplots, but this episode manages to find a great sweet spot between adrenaline-packed drama and lovable insanity in the form of a K.V.N. uprising. Apparently, Clarence, being the unscrupulous businessman he is, bought a surplus of K.V.N.s on discount because they had a derangement virus, and deeming them collector's items, locked them in the Crimson Light for decades, and once our K.V.N. breaks them out, they all conspire to murder Clarence and take over the ship. It's a hay-wire idea that turns its portion of the episode into a thriller of ungodly proportions.