The Honeymoon is Over as Bryan and Finola Fall Out Over Their Differing Principles
Another case. Another sleepy town suffering debris effects. And more rain. Seriously, why is it always raining in this show? However, this week, the rain plays an important role, apart from conveying its usual general sense of not okayness.
In a rural Nebraska location, a mysterious debris-induced rainstorm has essentially terraformed a local farm, altering the DNA of all of the migrant workers trapped inside to create a collection of terrified and confused chlorine-breathing lifeforms. In fact, the farm hands are so altered, that to step foot outside the rain barrier is to suffer a choking death from oxygen poisoning as we learn in the opening moments.
Bry and Fi are sent in to investigate, and it all initially feels like a regular episode of Debris, albeit with some really great spacesuits, and some very atmospheric and cinematic moments in an alien corn field. Bryan will discover some clues. Fi will put them together. The team have got this! Except, this week, they don’t got this.
We quickly learn that the farmhands are so altered, that not even the nerdiest scientist folks at Orbital have the first clue of how to reverse engineer them. Things come to a head when the rainstorm begins to grow in scope and intensity. We’re now looking at evacuating the next town, maybe followed by the entire county. Orbital needs to shut down the debris right now. Of course, in doing so, they will inadvertently kill all of the farmhands trapped in their chlorine-breathing bubble.
What to do?
Matters are made complicated by Finola’s discovery of her father’s general state of aliveness following a call from her boss, Priya. What’s more, she learns that Bryan and his people were already aware of the news, but chose to keep it from her. Finola feels deeply betrayed, but she is advised not to bring what she has learned to Bryan. So to recap: She knows that he knows but he doesn’t know she now knows. Yet.
The other shoe quickly drops in the form of Bryan’s friend Beck, who arrives from Emergency Containment to neutralize the debris stat. Wait! Before Finola has the opportunity to come up with a plan to save the farm workers? Well, yes.
Beck’s all business, and after a bonding conversation with old buddy Bryan, we learn that Bryan kinda is too.
Finola confronts Bryan over the plan, but their differing ideologies is made clear when he tells her “There are things that you understand about life that I don’t, and I respect that. But there are things that I know that you will not find very palatable. And one of the hard lessons I have learned is that when I am facing a situation like this I’m going to focus on the people that we are saving and not the ones we can’t.”
“I’ll find a way,” says Finola, who wants to save everyone.
“We don’t have time,” Bryan reminds her.
Well ok then.
Except Finola is very much not ok. While Bryan and Beck (ugh! We hate you, Beck!) work to secure the debris and doom the farm hands, Finola goes solo, privately contacting Maddox and requesting access to catalogued debris artefact 489. She also frees a man they picked up earlier attempting to make it back to his family, allowing him to join the others inside the bubble.
We soon discover that debris number 489 puts living organisms into some kind of stasis, meaning their bodies will be preserved until such time as Orbital is able to make sense of their altered DNA. How long will that take? A Year? Five? We don’t know, but as it seems the only option, Finola chooses on behalf of the workers.
Bryan returns from his containment duties to learn that Finola has gone behind his back. Just to prove that things are definitely not ok between them, Finola leaves the debris site without her partner, having found a way to save everyone after all.
Ouch.
Random Debris
- The ‘who knows what but won’t tell’ subplot is clearly designed to keep Finola and Bryan at odds over episodes to come, but let’s hope the show’s writers understand it’s not as interesting a plot point as some other nuggets dropped in recent episodes.
- We’re 4 episodes in, and getting a feel for the format and procedural nature of the show but isn’t it time we were given some more serialized elements to think about?
- We had a further glimpse into Maddox’s home life, and wow, it could just be the galloping paranoia talking but his wife seems cold!
Debris returns Monday, March 29 (10:01PM – 11:00PM) on NBC.
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