Morgan and Grace meet up with Al. Al has some problems. She works through them. Explosively.

Want to see a happy ending at the end of the world? Maggie Grace cements herself here as an MVP in a cast full of them as we follow Al in two different time periods at once. One is shot through her beloved camera as she’s interviewed by her not-quite girlfriend, minutes before the missiles fall. The other is Al, alone, for a while, fighting a CRM reclamation team sent to put Isabelle in the ground.

Grace has this cheerfully grim energy to her that makes Al a joy, albeit a frightening one, to watch. She’s always moving, always thinking and memorably here captures an Empty, uses it for target practice for the cannon she’s tied to (seriously) and then asks for commentary. In the hands of lesser writers or performers this would be cack-handed, here it’s sweet and very sad. Al can only express her love for Isabelle by keeping her safe. She can only keep her safe by keeping the CRM off her. That means they can’t be together.

Morgan and Grace, the patron saints of found family, have other ideas and their interactions with Al this episode put her in a position to make a choice. So as we cut between that final interview and the present, we see Al audit her life. The endless road, the joy of collecting histories from people forever, of making something in a world of nothing. Or love.

In the end, the choice is made partially for her. The CRM, especially at this point in the universe’s timeline (Iris and Hope have a plan but they’re a few years upstream I think) are a monolith. The odds are they’ll find Isabelle eventually. But when they do she won’t be alone. In this blasted, partially radioactive world that’s more than anyone could dare ask for.

Verdict: Darkly witty, deeply sweet and spattered with gore, this is one of the best episodes of the season focusing on one of the best characters the show has ever had. I almost hope we never see her again. But if we do, there are going to be fireworks. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart