Major spoilers – proceed at your own risk

 

The missile is in flight. What do you do?

This season finale is one of those episodes where the show swings for the fences and by and large it absolutely connects. We touch base with the entire cast in a series of short movies which all finish in about the same place; with the first warhead falling. That’s very nearly the only thing they have in common.

The episode opens with ‘Promise me You’ll Find Someone’, which sees supporting character Rachel struggling with a busted tire, a screaming baby and occasional dead people. Brigitte Kali Canales is fantastic, especially when things go from bad to worse and the final scene here is absolutely heartbreaking. If you’ve seen the movie Cargo, you’ll be prepared. It will still get you.

Then the opening credits play, this time with Teddy illuminated by a mushroom cloud.

This sets the tone and the entire episode explores what our characters do with the final minutes of their lives. For Victor (who perhaps gets a tad far on that horse but we’ll let it slide), that involves desperately fighting for survival and finding himself in the company of a historian who is unusually positioned to survive. Strand lies to him. Then tells him the truth, and as the episode closes, we watch the two men watching a mushroom cloud on the horizon and Strand clearly making plans.

While Victor may well be being set up as the villain of the next season, Morgan and Grace are set up as the possibly doomed parents of the future. This is where the show skews dark, as the pair are interrupted from an attempted suicide by the arrival of Rufus, Rachel’s dog. What and who he’s towing is impossibly moving and for a second, there’s nothing but that moment and what it means.

Then three more explosions go off.

This is the one vignette that doesn’t quite work simply because it doesn’t quite have enough room to breathe. Morgan and Grace, and their new family, have the submarine and its supplies right there, but they also have radiation and three different shockwaves to deal with. Nothing is good, but the episode closes before we or they have time to figure that out. It’s a shame, but I’d lay money on them being in season 7.

As for the others, Dwight and Sherry unite in two-fisted, belligerent do-gooding in ‘Enjoy the View, Asshole’ while for Dakota and Teddy, the end of the world comes at an overlook Teddy chooses to see the world end. For John Dorie Sr and June, the end of the world comes with them choosing to bring one last bad man in. More importantly, they both forgive Dakota for murdering John and in doing so, they dislodge the programming Teddy had placed inside her. Coupled with the ensuing standoff, they successful disarm Teddy and Dakota murders him. As June and John Sr dive into the emergency shelter Teddy had nearby, Dakota is flash burned by the shockwave and annihilated.

Finally, Luciana, Daniel and the rest initially capture Riley and force him to take them to the hotel. But Daniel, who heard someone give them coordinates over the radio, has suspicions. This section is fantastic, not just for the tension and the pay off but for the fact that Daniel is never shown as being defined by his illness. He’s psychologically unwell but he’s also sharp, ruthless and focused and that saves everyone’s lives. Well that and Al! Who’s been gone so long you forget how much you missed her. Most interesting of all, she evacuates them using a CRM chopper, suggesting that the next time we see these characters may well be in uniform over on World Beyond…

But what stays with you, more than the brutal horror of the warheads or the terrifying way some of these characters die is the hope. Rachel gambles everything on a very good dog and he comes through. Morgan and Grace get a family even if it’s under extreme circumstances and a piece of graffiti that closes the season also bookends it and ties off Teddy’s plot. This is a beginning, a new one for a show which has had a handful already and been improved by everyone.

Verdict: Fragile, human, terrifying and defiant, this is the season finale the show needed. Let’s see what the future brings next. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart