S01.E13: Celestial Body

[ottoDbusdriver]

Episode Description:

Quote

Bryan and Finola's lives are changed forever as Maddox and INFLUX converge on the Debris they seek.

 

Air Date: Monday May 24, 2021 at 10pm

 

[Melina22]

Evil Walter! What did you do to the poor people in the convenience store? 

Sorry but I found the show to be equal parts bad and disappointing. I did like the effect of the swirly smoke person, stomping down the road. (Apparently he didn't have a car.) 

So Finola's father isn't really her father? Is Finola even the real Finola? 

To me, the giant crowd scene looked like an acting class. "Act scared. Excellent. Now laugh. Now look excited." The extras must have loved the opportunity to use all their expressions. They did a good job. 

As for the plot... I don't have the energy for any more speculation. If there's another season, I'll come here for the snarky comments, but I highly doubt if I'll watch. It's just too disjointed and silly for me. 

[shapeshifter]

Walternate! Here all season I’d been alternately calling George “Walternate” and “Walter” based on George’s personality of the week, and now without warning he shows up!!!

[shapeshifter]

43 minutes ago, Melina22 said:

So Finola's father isn't really her father? Is Finola even the real Finola?

I think the way Tyrone Benskin spoke George’s lines after Walternate and the gang showed up left no doubt that, as Finola stated: Her father died 6 months ago. And Bryan’s remarks about why George is not a trustworthy narrator prepped us to realize it as well. 
But I think the Finola we’ve been seeing is the real one. 

[alvajon]

How bizarre were the twisted-up bodies at the quick stop? And Walternate (!!) is our new bad guy !! 

[Jenniferbug]

8 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Walternate! Here all season I’d been alternately calling George “Walternate” and “Walter” based on George’s personality of the week, and now without warning he shows up!!!

You summoned him! 😆

That was kind of an odd finale. The pacing seemed slow, which isn't shocking given that's how the show has been, but I was expecting slightly more oomph to the end of the season. 

Interesting reveals and set ups for future seasons, assuming they get them. I'm not entirely hooked on this show but I'm interested enough I'll keep watching if it returns. 

My guess is that the Finola we've been seeing is the "real" one. The one in stasis at the end is probably from an alternate timeline/universe since the Influx people mentioned "iterations". I would guess George is probably the same- he's the "real" one but whatever happened to resurrect him and however many "iterations" he's been through have changed him to the point he's no longer the father Finola knew. 

[Enigma X]

I was not surprised by the twist and never liked an evil Walter. I am going to guess that beyond this finale, that there is not set plan on the direction this show will be taking if renewed. (Was it renewed?)

[Jenniferbug]

10 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

I was not surprised by the twist and never liked an evil Walter. I am going to guess that beyond this finale, that there is not set plan on the direction this show will be taking if renewed. (Was it renewed?)

Allegedly, the show runner has a plan for 5 seasons. As far as I've seen, no word on renewal yet. 

[MyArchangel]

1 hour ago, Jenniferbug said:

You summoned him! 😆

That was kind of an odd finale. The pacing seemed slow, which isn't shocking given that's how the show has been, but I was expecting slightly more oomph to the end of the season. 

Interesting reveals and set ups for future seasons, assuming they get them. I'm not entirely hooked on this show but I'm interested enough I'll keep watching if it returns. 

My guess is that the Finola we've been seeing is the "real" one. The one in stasis at the end is probably from an alternate timeline/universe since the Influx people mentioned "iterations". I would guess George is probably the same- he's the "real" one but whatever happened to resurrect him and however many "iterations" he's been through have changed him to the point he's no longer the father Finola knew. 

I think the Finola in suspensia is actually a clone of the Finola from the pilot episode who experience Kieran...that was the closest she’d ever experienced debris and touched it before touching the piece tonight. 

[Jenniferbug]

45 minutes ago, MyArchangel said:

I think the Finola in suspensia is actually a clone of the Finola from the pilot episode who experience Kieran...that was the closest she’d ever experienced debris and touched it before touching the piece tonight. 

Oh that would be interesting! I had forgotten that. Maybe I need to turn the show on for background while I'm working today. 

[sempervivum]

So...even though Influx/whoever doesn't really know what happens to the guinea pigs whose emotions are being sampled by the debris, nonetheless they've come up with a PILL for themselves to prevent it happening to them. Do I have that right? And Bryan gets INJECTIONS to keep him from ?something? that might happen as a result of his close encounter? Do I have that right? But Scroobius Pip (can't recall his show name) can be riddled with debris and no prob. Got it.

And Finola's Pop Pop is now an evil genius, but he still covers up in aluminum foil to prevent ?somebody? from 'tracking' him?

IF this is renewed, and there's nothing else more promising on, I'll probably continue watching it. Sigh.

 

[Jenniferbug]

Yeah I really would like some answers as to how they know to counteract the effects of Debris when we've seen the pieces all behave very differently. I guess maybe for Influx they've got that whole "iteration" thing to maybe explain it? Which makes me think of the classic sci fi "all of this has happened before and all of this will happen again". But it doesn't explain why Maddox and Orbital would know a darn thing about it. 

[saber5055]

13 hours ago, Melina22 said:

To me, the giant crowd scene looked like an acting class. "Act scared. Excellent. Now laugh. Now look excited." The extras must have loved the opportunity to use all their expressions. They did a good job. 

This is EXACTLY what I was seeing during those scenes. I hope they all got extras paychecks to help cover those acting lessons.

I've seen every episode and, besides the two with Shelby, I don't have a clue what's going on. And this finale left me all "What the hell was that about." I come here to see if any of you posters know what's going on because I sure don't have a clue. Not that it matters I guess. Maybe this is like Seinfeld, "A show about nothing."

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, sempervivum said:

So...even though Influx/whoever doesn't really know what happens to the guinea pigs whose emotions are being sampled by the debris, nonetheless they've come up with a PILL for themselves to prevent it happening to them. Do I have that right?

I don’t think we can ignore the symbolism of very large, very blue pills (i.e., The Matrix). So if the often-ruthless rebels (Influx?) who have claimed throughout the series that they want the power of the Debris to be free to The People are into taking the Blue Pill, I guess that means they’re escaping from reality on some level.

Edited May 25, 2021 by shapeshifter

[tennisgurl]

And suddenly a wild John Noble appears! After all the Fringe jokes and references, Walter himself arrives, or at least Walternate sure has. This certainly has taken a few turns, and while I am not sure if I am following everything, I am pretty interested in where this is headed now. Finola thought she had a lot to cry about before, but now her dad has become a mad scientist, so she is going to be even more of an emotional wreck. The story this week was alright, mostly based around finding out the truth about George, but I really liked a lot of the effects and images. The smoke person walking by the road, whatever the hell was done to those poor people at the gas station, all of the people reacting to nothing while standing there, this show has done a consistently good job at making really striking shots that are eerie in how down to Earth they are. The season has had a lot of ups and downs, but I would watch another season. 

I suspected George of being in with the bad guys for awhile now, when he was going on in the hotel room about how the people should have the debris and how the governments would just use it for their own means, but not that he deliberately killed himself to be "reborn" again. I'm sure there is some kind of "so our dads a super villain" support group for Finola to join. I am thinking that this is the "real" Finola and the person in the cave is a clone or maybe even a Finola from an alternate universe. 

Seriously though, those twisted up bodies were just...ick! 

[Melina22]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Seriously though, those twisted up bodies were just...ick! 

I know! This show doesn't usually shock me but that was hard to look at. 

[Morrigan2575]

What was up with John Nobel's voice? He sounded really different.

I laughed when John Noble showed up because of all the talk of Fringe in the episode threads. 

I didn't trust George, I always figured something was off but, didn't realize he was with Influx. What was up with shadow/dust guy? Why did everyone but John Noble see him?

What's up with Bryan being the 3rd man? So many questions, pod Finola, Simon Roche, ball of light!?

The good thing is, I'm curious/interested enough to stay around.

Anyone know if the show has been picked up?

[Enigma X]

17 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

What was up with John Nobel's voice? He sounded really different.

He was using his actual Australian accent.

[Morrigan2575]

2 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

He was using his actual Australian accent.

Is that what that was? How odd, I actually thought he was trying for an American accent LOL 

[sharifa70]

Y’all are some cruel, cruel people for getting my hopes up with your cries of “Walternate!” I’ve spent this season thinking this show is just Fringe without the fun of Walter and Astrid, and then I read “Walternate” and I thought “Could it be?” and...it wasn’t. I love me some John Noble, but, oh, cruel world that has no crossover in it!

Other than that, I probably won’t watch any more seasons if this show gets renewed; I literally forget it exists until it shows up on my dvr. 

Edited May 26, 2021 by sharifa70

[redpencil]

On 5/24/2021 at 9:48 PM, Melina22 said:

So Finola's father isn't really her father? Is Finola even the real Finola? 

I thought he was still the same person (he killed himself so he could be "reborn") but had changed in some way and Finola was essentially disavowing who he is now.

4 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I didn't trust George, I always figured something was off but, didn't realize he was with Influx. What was up with shadow/dust guy? Why did everyone but John Noble see him?

Pretty sure they all saw him. At least, the guy in the back seat clearly saw him. I think the others saw him also, but just didn't as clearly acknowledge it (I assume because they have some idea of what it is).

All the people standing there and randomly emoting was very creepy. I kept wondering if they were just feeling emotions with no purpose, or if they were somehow "seeing" something and actually reacting. And now they have all lost their memories with newborns at home. Hopefully none of them are single parents with a newborn home alone! I kept thinking about the whole episode, how there must be babies alone, at the very least for some where the other parent is at work.

[Tachi Rocinante]

So is Swarm of Dust thing a good guy?  George and the others sure seemed scared of it.  Garcia, maybe?

I thought the woman at the beginning had accidentally smothered her rubber-looking baby.

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

So is Swarm of Dust thing a good guy?  George and the others sure seemed scared of it.

There was some comic book creature from half a century ago that the Swarm of Dust guy resembles, but made of blocks of rock. Anyone else recall?
Anyway, now that you ask, @Tachi Rocinante, I'm wondering if Dust Guy (or gal) could be a "Fourth" person who was left in a state worse than embittered Garcia. 
But, basically, I guess Dust Guy will have to be either a human affected by the Debris, or an extraterrestrial manifested on Earth. 

[Tyro49]

Yayyy! Walter has shown up! (Did anyone actually call this character by a name? If so I didn't hear it.) I've been thinking for several episodes now that Walter should be showing up somewhere to help figure out what is going on - and here he is!

This show sure has been twisty; but then, so was Fringe - never saw at the beginning where it was going to go at the end.

Been wondering for a while if the alien ship had actually been heading to Earth to contact us and give us some of it's technology (along with instructions on how to use it.). Probably none of it has been functioning properly because of its damaged state and the fact that nobody knows how to properly use it.

Glad Maddox found some bit that is helping his son recover; I've been hoping for that for a while. Seems a sad state to have a kid left in.

Also, how does Influx seem to know so much more about the debris than any government does?

Edited May 26, 2021 by Tyro49
added thoughts.

[Melina22]

1 hour ago, Tyro49 said:

Also, how does Influx seem to know so much more about the debris than any government does?

I know! And in extreme, minute-to-minute detail. 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Tyro49 said:

Yayyy! Walter has shown up! (Did anyone actually call this character by a name? If so I didn't hear it.)

I didn't hear New Walternate's name either, but in the TVline interview posted in the Media Thread, Wyman says he's Otto.

 

 

1 hour ago, Melina22 said:

2 hours ago, Tyro49 said:

Also, how does Influx seem to know so much more about the debris than any government does?

I know! And in extreme, minute-to-minute detail. 

I'm guessing because they don't worry about government red tape and politics and stuff like leaving dead bodies behind.

[pagooey]

I want to love this show! It ticks all my boxes:

• the current iteration of the government's Department of Weird Shit;
• hot, diametrically opposed DoWS agents;
• all Vancouver all the time;
• gorgeous, eerie special effects, getting better and better;
• time loops and parallel universes and clones, oh my! 

I haven't paid a lot of attention to chatter about it, so when John Noble showed up in the finale I shrieked a little. (And extra kudos to him: Walter Bishop was always sympathetic and tragic, even when he did awful things...but this Otto fellow, doing and saying little, was one terrifying mofo.) 

But I admit, I'm struggling to follow along. Thirteen episodes has been just too fast for me to invest emotionally in the characters, or accept their "us against The World" dynamic unfolding naturally. And backing up a dump truck full of Moar Mysteries! with renewal on the table compounds my confusion. Am I getting old? It's sure pretty to look at, but I hope this show gets a chance to breathe and stretch out a little, yikes. 

[saber5055]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

There was some comic book creature from half a century ago that the Swarm of Dust guy resembles, but made of blocks of rock. Anyone else recall?

Are you thinking of Ben Grimm from Marvel's Fantastic Four? He's from about half a century ago. I was thinking Dust Guy could be The Smoke Monster. From ... well, you know.

[CaptainE]

Did I miss a scene, or did Maddox off the Russian he go the briefcase from?  I’d be surprised if she didn’t have a plan for such a doublecross.

[shapeshifter]

46 minutes ago, CaptainE said:

Did I miss a scene, or did Maddox off the Russian he go the briefcase from?  I’d be surprised if she didn’t have a plan for such a doublecross.

I had to rewatch because my reception kept cutting out, and I was wondering if that was something I missed, but nope.
Maddox says to Irina:

• You know I can’t let you leave with that case, right? I mean, you know that. There’s another door for you, Irina, one only you can go through.

And then there's a scene change and we never see her again. It's not clear.

 

56 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Are you thinking of Ben Grimm from Marvel's Fantastic Four? He's from about half a century ago. I was thinking Dust Guy could be The Smoke Monster. From ... well, you know.

Yes! I think that's the one. Or at least someone like him. 

[AnimeMania]

Pig-Pen from Peanuts

[ottoDbusdriver]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I didn't hear New Walternate's name either, but in the TVline interview posted in the Media Thread, Wyman says he's Otto.

 

 

I'm guessing because they don't worry about government red tape and politics and stuff like leaving dead bodies behind.

Plus, Influx/Walternate knew about the telesphere -- almost like it wasn't the first time they had encountered/been told about one.  Which poses even more questions.  Maybe they are from an alternate reality where the debris rained down on Earth years earlier so they have had a chance to study it.

[Jenniferbug]

11 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Plus, Influx/Walternate knew about the telesphere -- almost like it wasn't the first time they had encountered/been told about one.  Which poses even more questions.  Maybe they are from an alternate reality where the debris rained down on Earth years earlier so they have had a chance to study 

I think Influx has either lived through various time loops with various outcomes (like in the Icarus 2 parter) or they're from alternate realities (which with the dimension hopping seems possible). Or both, because I guess like in Icarus it was both a repeating time frame and different realities (I think). 

I'm also wondering if there aren't telespheres at every debris event, but they usually fly off before Orbital arrives. We know one was present when Bryan, Garcia, and Ming were injured because Bryan keeps repeating "telesphere" (this is per the end credits transmission). The cloned guy in the 2nd episode asks Finola if she's found the "ball of light" yet. And then in whatever episode they find George, that woman who was experimented on by Influx who escapes tells Finola she doesn't know where the ball of light is. Finola says she didn't ask her that, and the woman seems confused (so possibly a conversation they had in a different time loop/reality?). 

I turned on the episodes as background noise yesterday and I'm honestly enjoying some of these things that got skimmed over on first watch. 

[shapeshifter]

53 minutes ago, Jenniferbug said:

12 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Plus, Influx/Walternate knew about the telesphere -- almost like it wasn't the first time they had encountered/been told about one.  Which poses even more questions.  Maybe they are from an alternate reality where the debris rained down on Earth years earlier so they have had a chance to study 

I think Influx has either lived through various time loops with various outcomes (like in the Icarus 2 parter) or they're from alternate realities (which with the dimension hopping seems possible). Or both, because I guess like in Icarus it was both a repeating time frame and different realities (I think). 

Thank you both for posting this stuff --some of which I've been vaguely mulling over, and some of which I missed, like:

54 minutes ago, Jenniferbug said:

I'm also wondering if there aren't telespheres at every debris event, but they usually fly off before Orbital arrives. We know one was present when Bryan, Garcia, and Ming were injured because Bryan keeps repeating "telesphere" (this is per the end credits transmission). The cloned guy in the 2nd episode asks Finola if she's found the "ball of light" yet. And then in whatever episode they find George, that woman who was experimented on by Influx who escapes tells Finola she doesn't know where the ball of light is. Finola says she didn't ask her that, and the woman seems confused (so possibly a conversation they had in a different time loop/reality?). 

I watched several episodes twice. If/when the show returns, I hope to be able to rewatch all of it again close to the start of season 2. This is the advantage of having shorter seasons of manageable watch-length. 

 

[Jenniferbug]

3 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I watched several episodes twice. If/when the show returns, I hope to be able to rewatch all of it again close to the start of season 2. This is the advantage of having shorter seasons of manageable watch-length. 

 

Me too! I honestly figured it would be decent background while I worked yesterday (and also that additional views couldn't hurt the change for renewal), and I was kind of stunned by how much groundwork was laid for later. I don't remember the mentions of balls of light even registering with me when I initially watched those episodes but it sure does now! 

[mythoughtis]

John Noble’s IMDB filmography lists him as Otto.   He seems to be just as  evil as he was in Sleepy Hollow.

George seems to be the expert on every bit of debris.  How is that possible? Influx seems only somewhat knowledgeable.   If they are time travelers, why do they need to look for the debris- I’m sure they have access in the future to detailed records of where each piece  was located. After all, they could teleport directly into the records room. 
What was the ending sbout( not the Finola clone), the two guys in the cave and the one guy talking to the tele-sphere. .  Are the aliens the tele-spheres?   

 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, mythoughtis said:

What was the ending sbout( not the Finola clone), the two guys in the cave and the one guy talking to the tele-sphere. .  Are the aliens the tele-spheres?

I guess we'll never know. 😞 
https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/debris-canceled-nbc-1234983472/

[ottoDbusdriver]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I guess we'll never know. 😞 
https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/debris-canceled-nbc-1234983472/

And just when it was starting to get interesting.

[salaydouk]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I guess we'll never know. 😞 
https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/debris-canceled-nbc-1234983472/

I can only hope that if Wyman can get this sold on a streamer... that he releases what was going to be his plan for the series.

[Tyro49]

I certainly hope some other network picks this show up!  To Whom should we write??

Also, I suppose there could be novels to carry the story forward, but I'd rather watch it. Again, if Fringe is anything to go by, this show has a lot of startling twists ahead, and I'd like to see them.