Summary
Bryan and Finola’s relationship reaches a major turning point in “Supernova”, as both realize they have nobody to trust but each other.
This recap of Debris season 1, episode 6, “Supernova”, contains spoilers.
The truth will set you free, or so the saying goes, but it hardly seems to apply to Debris. After a couple of weeks of awkwardness between Finola and Bryan after the former discovered that the latter not only knew about her father’s apparent survival but had kept it from her to mine her for information, “Supernova” marks a significant turning point in their relationship. Yet Bryan’s honesty only convinces both that they have nobody to trust but themselves. They might be closer now, but they seem further away than ever from an overarching conspiracy that involves at least two of the world’s major governments and the cult-like radical group operating between them.
The case of the week in Debris episode 6 involves a group of teenagers using a chunk of space junk to revitalize the elderly, restoring their youth just when it seems like the world is forgetting about them and waiting for them to die. The ringleader, Kurt (Dylan Colton), a former engineer who had discovered the debris quite by accident, figured out its utility and used it to spring his wife, Clara (Paloma Kwiatkowski), from an assisted living facility where she was in the early stages of dementia, rationalizes this as giving a second chance, a second life, to people who need it. But there’s an issue, since there always is. If any of them stray too far from the debris, their biology boomerangs in the opposite direction, they age instantly, and they die as withered husks. The only way to stop that is to de-age more and more people, allowing each to venture further away from the debris. That sounds like a vicious cycle.
There’s not much to this plot, really. It has some sad undertones since it’s literally about coming to terms with the fact your life – or the life of a loved one – is over, but even by the usual standards, there’s little mystery here. It’s obvious from quite early on what the debris does, there’s no race against Influx to build excitement, there’s no “let’s try this!” scientific ingenuity and the case is eventually closed by Kurt and Clara realizing the gravity of what they’re doing and deciding to walk away and die together – it mostly just amounts to a lot of standing around in the woods, which is probably just as well since Finola and Bryan have a lot to talk about.
Finola and Bryan spend most of Debris season 1, episode 6 in the middle of an international game of telephone. Maddox, who is interrogating Anson Ash after his capture last week, wants Bryan to pump Finola for information about trips to Greece and Cyprus that her father supposedly took before he “died”, and Ferris instructs Finola to feed Bryan details of such trips so that Maddox can assume Influx were following him before they eventually took him. But why? What does Ferris have to gain in doing that, or perhaps more accurately, what does she have to cover up?
Either way, Bryan realizes they’re both being manipulated and takes the bold step of fessing up about what he knows. Since we’ve established that going against protocol is a pretty major deal for Bryan, Finola appreciates his candor. For the first time, they’re on the same page, but we still know very little about what’s going on with their superiors, even if we can make some educated guesses.
“Supernova”, for instance, finds Maddox in more secret meetings, acquiring a piece of debris off the books, one assumes to sort out whatever is wrong with his son. That doesn’t give us anything to go on regarding Ferris, though, and Influx’s agenda is still fairly inscrutable. Anson Ash is fond of talking in rather grandiose terms, but what they’re really up to remains anyone’s guess. While he’s in custody he gets several calls from a number in Maine, though, so perhaps that’s where we’ll be heading next week.
