Ask yourself what you would do.

As the final act of Apple TV+’s series approaches fast, we reach the end of December, the point in time where we started. We are on board a flight over US Airspace, listing to young Kaya talk to her Dad, Captain Perry. Something seems to be spreading panic throughout the passengers – who on earth said it was a good idea to let air passengers have WiFi access so they can read real-time news?

Then, causing Captain Perry’s – and my – heart to drop, Kaya tells him on another call that she believes her Mum is upset because he is dead. Add to this his next call from NORAD’s General Wilson telling him he’s five hours behind in time and they will crash in less than 10 minutes, and I’d be having a panic attack too if I were on that aeroplane.

Enter our final act’s hero, Doctor Rachel Wheating – a physics professor specialising in ‘quantum anomalies’. Unless she’s mates with Sam Beckett this does not bode well. We finally learn that these calls – and by extension all of them – are evidence of a multiverse of infinite dimensions and that the only thing that differs between the one she is in and the one he is in is time. Oh and if he changes anything, the world will end so please can he let the crash happen, ‘k thanks bye.

I’m unclear at this point as to how exactly the world will end, but Dr Wheating confirms Sam’s theory from episode 6: ‘the Universe’ seems to be course correcting and if you take action to stop it or change it, you or someone linked to you / the call will pay with their life. (A tiny narrative criticism here, no-one lost their life in episode 3, but lives were certainly irrevocably altered.) It does make sense that if every small change involving up to 3 people has caused a ripple that has damaged the fabric of time, a change involving over 350 people could cause enough disruption to obliterate existence. If you got that call, would you put your faith in this science?

If you had fighter jets, the fate of the world, your passengers and crew, and your young daughter’s need for cookies weighing in the balance, what would you do? Which side would you bet on with 9 to 1 odds? Do you need to ‘phone a friend’? Captain Perry does, and as we fly through the clouds with him, you’ll need a tissue as the episode closes on an incredible cliff-hanger.

Verdict: A breakthrough in the case as we learn what the phenomena on these calls are – but we still don’t know who or what is responsible, and if the universe as we know it can be saved. 10/10

Claire Smith