Review: Debris – In Universe s01e04

The debut season for any show is always a bit of a precarious time, as it tries to find its feet.  Debris is no exception and as an audience we’ve all been looking for it to cement its own tone and rhythm.  After a few episodes it may well have found some solutions, but is also struggling to feel fully formed.  The big question is, in episode four: ‘In Universe’, has it solved some of these issues?  *Warning! Some Spoilers Ahead!*

Last week’s episode, ‘Solar Winds’ made some good progress in finding a rhythm that worked for the characters and despite the presence of too many subplots, actually gave us a pretty solid show.  ‘In Universe’ follows up some of that good work by presenting an interesting problem, with some unique challenges that aren’t easily solved.

In Maxwell Nebraska, farm workers wake up to torrential rain which seems to be doing strange things to their crops, as well as changing the quality of the light.  When a few of them try to leave the area of the rain, they fall to the ground and die.  Cue the arrival of Orbital, who discover that the men who died appear to have died from asphyxiation and have damaged lungs.

Bryan (Jonathan Tucker) and Finola (Riann Steele) then theorise that maybe the area is being terraformed into a chlorine-based atmosphere.  Entering the affected area in what are effectively space suits, they are surprised to find survivors who it seems have been transformed to be able to breathe the new air, and will die if they leave.

This is nice idea and a step in the right direction for Debris, to take it away from the comparisons with other shows.  Like last week’s mystery, this one isn’t a simple situation where they pitch up and then turn off the debris.  Here they actually have to first figure out what is going on, and then try to devise a workable solution.

With there already being a number of elements bring it very close to ‘Fringe’ territory, they need to be careful with anything that suggests other dimensions or parallel universes.  ‘Solar Winds’ flirted with that, but kept it interesting, and here they move much more into solid alien sci-fi storytelling.

The wrinkle in what might have been a simpler solution is what to do with the people who are still alive, but reliant on this new atmosphere.  This brings into play an intriguing moral layer that isn’t an easy one to resolve for the characters.  Both Bryan and Finola put forward points of view here that have merit, and there isn’t an obvious answer.

Bryan for instance accepts that some lives may be lost for security reasons, or for the greater good, while Finola is much more inclined to try to save every life, even if that increases the chances of a greater loss elsewhere.  This type of discussion is surely going to rumble on through further episodes, and they will hopefully let this become a much deeper examination of their differing viewpoints, rather than a simplistic binary choice.

In this instance Finola comes up with a plan that might work, which is quite idealistic, but inventive.  The only issue with it is that it does utilise what is effectively a very cheesy plot device, calling in a convenient piece of debris they already have.  They will have to very wary of doing that too often, or it will get extremely tedious.  She does however initially accept Bryan’s position in one regard and doesn’t tell a relative the full extent of what is about to happen.

Where ‘In Universe’ succeeds is when they focus on the sci-fi side of things and are trying to solve a mystery.  On top of this they are adding extra layers, some of which enhance it and some just confuse the issue.  For instance, while the moral implications of their work or the overarching competition between superpowers are interesting, the several degrees of conspiracies within conspiracies is muddying the waters.

So far we have a third party, Influx, who are sort of an ill-defined rogue terrorist type organisation, the CIA making Bryan keep secrets from Finola, the CIA boss Maddox working off-books, and now potentially another secret plot involving Maddox’s wife.  That’s not even mentioning the apparent survival of Finola’s dead father, who also happens to know a lot about the Debris.  This could very easily verge into ‘Lost’ territory, where too many questions are asked, without any answers ever being given for half of it.  They’re juggling too many plates in the hopes of making things seem more mysterious than they are, falsely giving the impression of complexity.

Away from these quibbles though, there is a show forming at its core that has a lot of promise.  Although they seem intent on making it difficult for the characters, the relationship between Bryan and Finola is developing into an effective team with interesting differences, and the ‘issues of the week’ have been more compelling.  If they can avoid falling into a few traps that are staring them in the face right now, Debris has every chance of becoming really interesting.