It’s never a good sign when a network purposefully allows a reality show to run into the next scripted hour in an attempt to jumpstart ratings.
That said, Debris Season 1 Episode 6 started with a bang.
So, did the ending live up to the beginning’s promise?
It depends on how you look at it, I guess.
The “teenagers,” as they were initially called, were rounding up old folks to use as debris victims, seemingly to infuse life into the girl traveling with him.
When we finally saw him first approach a potential victim, my heart sank. His pretense of caring for the gentleman only to reveal he could help him end his lonely existence was heartbreaking.
There are so many lonely people in the world right now that these stories really hurt my heart. While so many are not out and about for fear of COVID, you’d have to imagine many might jump at the chance to chat with someone.
But I thought, why on earth would they so easily give up their lives?
Let me just say that while it might be difficult to remain near the debris for the rest of your life if it worked like a time machine for your body, I might be inclined to join that group, too!
It explained their reason for the hula hooping in the street. The hula hooping, though, should have been a giveaway that the girl wasn’t just any girl. Who the heck hula hoops in 2021? Probably old people rather than younger!
The more people that they fixed, the farther away they could be. Since math isn’t my favorite, I don’t think I would be willing to become a lab experiment even for that possibility to be, ah, refreshed.
But the possibilities of the debris in the right hands could help the world, vastly improving on Kurt’s attempt to gather up enough people to stretch the tech in numbers only. The possibility for dementia alone would be worth investigating on a scientific level.
Those possibilities make this piece of debris one of my favorites. And it also makes me even more curious about a species of people who have such advanced capabilities, why they have them, and how they use them.
And don’t you wonder why the debris takes people back to what appears to be young adults but not any further? That stuff fascinates me.
But for now, it doesn’t seem like learning more about the aliens, and their ilk or why the debris does what it does is a part of this story — at least not now.
Then again, who knows?
We got more drips and dribbles of information about INFLUX and with Bryan and Finola, who are finally sharing with each other, albeit reluctantly.
Ash didn’t have much to say other than what he said before. The public deserves the power of the debris.
Ash: You don’t get to control this debris. This technology is meant to free the world not entrap it. I find it interesting that you don’t understand that we’re suddenly in the path of power so vast with both the possibility of good and evil. You don’t know whose side you’re on.
Maddox: But you do. You’re on the side of good. You’re just a guy who’s trying to make the world a better place by opening up wormholes in Manhattan, yeah? You think it should all just be out there, available to anybody who comes across it. Is that right?
Ash: I am just a guy who wants some moo goo gai pan.
Maddox is right in this case. Ash thinks he’s on the side of good, but doing it by opening wormholes in the middle of Manhattan isn’t the way to go about it, so how good is their mission, and on what is it based?
But what Maddox didn’t do was admit he was good, as well. How could he be if he’s actively trading bits of debris for other debris? If his actions aren’t purely selfish, he’s not given any indication of what they might be otherwise.
But what about the reveal that he’s Russian? That came out of left field. Tarkolov. He’s intimately familiar with the Russians, but he’s not working with them directly?
Who is he and why is he planted in the US, and for what purpose?
And now we know that Bryan is beholden to Maddox physically. Something is wrong with Bryan. Or is there? We can’t trust Maddox aka Tarkolov, so this reveal about Bryan’s health could be a red herring.
Is Maddox keeping Bryan on a string by using his health against him? What could be in his blood? If you watch Debris online, you know the slow pace with which this stuff is revealed is agonizing.
But, at least Finola and Bryan are communicating. They’ve both admitted that they’re being manipulated to get information from each other. Unfortunately, neither of them knows why.
Right now, Finola is being more forthcoming than Bryan, who really needs to tell Finola about his health. It seems like something he doesn’t share with many people, although those around him know what’s going on since they deliver his meds.
When Bryan asked why the injections arrived early, the answer was hardly confident. “Must have been something with your blood” doesn’t suggest the guy knows much of anything other than that it is a situation, and he’s aware.
There is too much both Bryan and Finola don’t know, and stopping at the tip about surveillance isn’t going to do enough to clear the air or allow them to put their heads together to figure it out.
Finola: She’s using me to figure something out about my father. I have a bad feeling about it. I can’t trust Ferris. And you can’t trust Maddox. MI6 suspects that he’s been working against the coalition, most likely the Chinese.
Bryan: You’re wrong.
Finola: I’m giving you the information that I have. It is based on intel that I have.
Bryan: You don’t know what you’re saying. This man saved my life.
Finola: The only thing that I know for sure is that something is going on that both of us don’t even understand! We need to trust each other. That is the only way we’re going to find out answers. Is there anything that I need to know? Is there anything?
Bryan: They’re surveilling your apartment.
How can they trust themselves to be doing a good job for debris victims if their minds are so overwhelmed with doubt and unanswered questions? They aren’t at their best, and the people they’re helping deserve them at that level.
The case of the week didn’t link directly with the plot, which hurt the momentum a bit.
Whoever spoke with Ash is located in Maine, and that’s who Maddox wants to find. Is that who he wants to talk with on the rudimentary comm system he can make with the debris?
Is it getting too confusing without enough answers? Are you still interested?
Please tell me what you think below, and let me know what I might have missed.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.