Debris Episode 8 Spaceman Review-

Our patience has been rewarded in Debris Episode 8. The exhilarating episode was fast-paced and full of WTF moments that answered questions but introduced so many more.

A fast-paced Debris Episode 8 raised the stakes and injected a massive shot of adrenaline. Up until now, Debris had stuck to its formula. A new piece of debris, a new power, huge emotional swings, and victory for Brian and Finola. It was a pattern that worked for the series but left little room for genuine suspense. There was the bigger mystery of Influx and Finola’s father, but they were predominantly afterthoughts. Wisely, creator JH Wyman set the pace in the first seven episodes only to switch gears in whiplash-inducing speed. The final result was a defining episode that sets up the remainder of the season and has the power to bring in new fans.

Even from the beginning, it was apparent this would not be like every other episode of Debris. A young woman is running for her life. There is a sense of danger and vulnerability about her that makes her defense that much more shocking. In an attempt to escape the clutches of a bad guy, she fazes through him while still in the body bag she used to hide. The problem being the body bag fell off of her halfway through the man. She fazed all the way through, but the bag did not. The result is a gruesome reminder that there is a lot we don’t know about the debris and the aliens that created it.

Thanks to the creepy tech Maddox used on Anson Ash in the last episode, they know exactly where George is. He is in the Channeled Scablands of Washington. It is the perfect remote, wild, and at times alien-looking environment to find George, Influx, and as luck would have it, the young woman with the fazing ability. The setting matched the mood of Brian and Finola, who are weary of their respective bosses and worried about how to navigate the orders they were given. Both Maddox and Ferris have plans for George that are incongruous with the partners. One wants him dead, and the other wants to use him like a lab rat. Brian and Finola’s trust has been tested before. There is no question now that they are a team.

In a series of surprise twists, the young woman is found, and fazing isn’t her only skill. She can also become invisible. Influx has been experimenting on her and others. They have implanted pieces of the ship directly into their bodies. That grafting allowed her to control her ability. Brian and Finola rescued several others, so we can assume the others also all have grafts and skills. If they are all unique, we don’t know yet, but they are currently in the American’s hands.

This woman knows about the “ball of light” that the clone knew about in Episode 2. What is this light ball, and why are those affected by the debris drawn to it? Another wise call back to the clones has MI6 Agent Brill(Sebastian Roché) using a clone of himself to repair facial wounds. The gruesome full face transplant opens up far-reaching possibilities for future plot beats.

Finola and Brian manage to locate and rescue George. Luckily, Maddox’s men who were instructed to kill George were killed in the gunfight or were taking the other experimental subjects to safety. Knowing this, Brian and Finola take George and destroy the surveillance equipment, ensuring George would be safe for at least a little while.

One final twist belongs to George. He is not a clone but reanimated. Influx implanted a piece of debris into his eye that allows the man to live again. He understands it can only be done once in a person’s lifetime. The process, unfortunately, destroyed his hippocampus, which means his short-term memories are faulty at best. Tyrone Benskin plays George with a heavy dose of kindly absentmindedness that speaks to who he was before his death but also dovetails nicely into who he may be now. He is a true believer in the debris and the civilization that brought it to Earth.

Similar to Walter Bishop in Fringe, he is a dottering genius with a chaotic streak that is equal parts beneficial and destructive. He was working on a device for Influx to track a “game-changing” piece of debris. He believes the wreckage was sent here to fix our world and save humanity. To do that, he must get to the essential debris piece before Influx. He needs parts and information from Dr. Lagari, who he worked with at Orbital. Lagari is long dead, and so his files will have to do. The problem is they are classified. Finola uses Ferris’s need for George to get the files he needs.

Debris Episode 8 was everything fans have been clamoring for while also satisfying new viewers. It maintained the emotional appeal with Finola and her father’s reunion while simultaneously elevating the danger the duo is in. Riann Steele and Johnathan Tucker continue to be an underappreciated partnership. Wyman has wisely kept the pair as colleagues and friends, which has allowed them to develop as individuals and as a pair. Now that George is back in the fold, Debris is free to head off into so many different exciting directions. If patience is a virtue, Debris lovers just hit the jackpot. Follow all our Debris coverage here.

Scattered Wreckage:

• What was George working on at Orbital that made Maddox distrust him? Does George know more than he admits to, or does Maddox want him dead for reasons we still don’t know?
• What was Maddox turning Orbital into? What are his motivations? They must involve his son, among other things.
• While technically George is right, Finola’s feelings of abandonment aren’t the most paramount right now. The man has always prioritized his work over his family. How that will play out in the remaining episodes where they will need to trust each other should be interesting.
• Who is Garthea or Garcia, and why does George look panicked at the name?
• Why is George sleeping with aluminum foil covering him? Is he concerned someone can track him, or has he lost touch with reality? I’m betting on the former.
• The Scablands of Washington was named that because the land was barren and plants failed to thrive there. The Missoula Floods created the wasteland. This series of megafloods scraped mountains of soil and bedrock from the Earth along with being powerful enough to create earthquakes in their wake. Power of this magnitude has not been seen since but is the kind of natural energy that is scary, especially in the type of show Debris wants to be.