Summary
“D-Day” makes for a surprisingly conclusive finale, and if this is the end of Another Life — which it should be — then at least it went out with the decency of an actual ending.
This recap of Another Life season 2, episode 10, “D-Day”, contains spoilers, including an open discussion of the Another Life Season 2 ending.
It feels like sometimes several times a week I’m forced to complain about the dreaded Netflix cliff-hanger, so I’m grateful to the Season 2 finale of Another Life, ominously titled “D-Day”, for ensuring I don’t need to. I must say, I didn’t expect a conclusive ending here, and I think if you read between the lines a bit what we got isn’t actually as conclusive as it appears. But at the same time, it at least feels like an ending, and after such a half-baked and inconsistent pair of outings, that’ll have to do.
Another Life season 2, episode 10 recap
Anyway, predictably, the explosive climax of the penultimate episode was a bit of red herring. Erik and William are fine. The Achaians, however, are not. But there are many more waiting in the wings, and that means that we must return to the initial premise of the season, which is diplomacy. Can humankind negotiate peace with these mysterious, seemingly benevolent extra-terrestrials?
Well, it would have been interesting to find out, but “D-Day” makes the matter much simpler by revealing that, yep, the Achaians were just evil all along. Their so-called “gifts” aren’t really about peace and love but control, and the terms of their “peace” require the proliferation of their implants and the installation of their artifacts. It’s not exactly a fair offer, but since 59 Achaian Rings are supposedly heading right for Earth, it doesn’t need to be. The aliens have the numbers. And the humans don’t have the firepower to turn so many away.
Just in case, though, the Achaians also want the Salvare gone and the neutrino weapon along with it, and they comically use Seth’s worthless carcass to make a point about their seriousness. A 24-hour time limit makes for a usefully dramatic ticking clock device. Time is of the essence.
There’s probably a point being made here that the American establishment wants to kowtow to the invaders immediately while Niko and her team of get-it-done explorer types are willing to go against orders to save the day; it’s arch storytelling and no mistake, but it’s also undeniably quite satisfying since at least the show is on the right side. Nobody wants to be a spineless politician, do they? Except perhaps the privately educated, but I digress.
William’s plan for dealing with the Achaians sans the neutrino weapon is complicated and full of some logical leaps that I’m sure some people won’t buy. I made a quiet personal agreement to just overlook the details since it has been easier that way all throughout the season, but even I was scratching my head a bit. In simple terms, the plan is to infect a synthetic Achaian with a computer virus – the Achaian is discovered within the debris of the Ring, and I honestly think it’s synthetic just to facilitate the whole virus idea – and then have it infect one of the crew, who’ll be taken aboard the artifact to infect everything else.
This is, mostly, an excuse for Niko to enter heroic self-sacrifice mode once again, and for us to call back to some of the season’s earlier themes and ideas. There’s a poignancy to Erik activating the virus, and to Niko once again communing with the Achaian interpretation of Ava. Ava has some more exposition to dispense, but it’s a little late in the day for us to really ponder about the maker of the Achaians and why it’d be so adamant about stopping the spread of humanity. Maybe it caught an episode of The Real Housewives of Wherever and decided enough was enough. We’ll never know.
Another Life Season 2 ending
Anyway, the plan works, saving Earth and thwarting the Achaian threat – for now, anyway, though with the likelihood of a third season being so slim, probably forever. There are definitely loose ends that could be tugged on, though, should there be enough interest. The Achaians retreated, but were not wiped out; the widespread galactic thank-yous suggest all kinds of interesting spacefaring species to encounter, and Niko elects to leave Erik and Jana once again to go on more galactic adventures. So, you know, it could be continued. The question, really, is should it be?
I can’t answer that for you. I know I’ve had quite enough of Another Life, which seemed like one too many, but you never quite know with Netflix, do you?
You can stream Another Life season 2, episode 10, “D-Day”, exclusively on Netflix. Do you have any thoughts on the Another Life Season 2 ending? Let us know in the comments!
