Last Updated on by
[Major Spoilers Ahead]
On the previous episode of Final Space, the Team Squad had to turn on the KVN net while preventing the Lord Commander from reaching the center of the Earth. Gary, Quinn, and Bolo teamed up as they fought off hordes of zombie Garys to turn on the KVN net from the final remaining access point in Wisconsin. Then, Sheryl and Avocato worked together with the support of KVN, Little Cato, and Biskit to blow up the Lord Commander’s ship as it drilled down into the Earth. Although the Lord Commander arrived on Earth to capture Mooncake for Invictus, when the Lord Commander realized there was a titan at the Earth’s core, he betrayed Invictus in order to take the titan for himself. Meanwhile, Kevin Van Newton managed both situations from his base, alongside Ash and Mooncake, before he was tragically consumed by a horde of zombie Garys. This culminated in a memorable ending where the Lord Commander managed to become the titan inside the Earth and destroy the KVN net. “The Dead Speak” follows the Team Squad as all hope is seemingly lost, with the Lord Commander right on their tail and the hyper-transdimensional bridge flung into deep space. Ultimately, this proves to be more of an intimate episode, with the focus placed on select interactions between the different members of the crew.
Despite this, the episode does begin with an action-packed sequence where the Lord Commander is chasing the ship before it can lightfold away. This adds a lot of fun to an overall darker, relational episode, yet it does come with its issues. First, I’m not necessarily sure how to feel about the death of Bolo before this begins, as it seems quite sudden if not slightly forced. Next, it seems that potentially for budgetary reasons we did not see the Lord Commander actually fight other titans except for the ending. Essentially, once the ship escapes, he is confronted by Invictus who sets all of his titans against him, yet we only see the aftermath of what could have been the best action sequence of the show. Nevertheless, it’s still wonderful to have the initial escape sequence following the death of Bolo, it’s just not properly executed. Altogether, there may have been a better way to handle Bolo’s death, and even if just a little more of the fight between the Titans and the Lord Commander were shown, that would have been a good contrast against the close-knit moments featured in the rest of the episode on the ship.
However, the majority of “The Dead Speak” had memorable character moments as both uncertainty and Final Space poisoning began to consume the Team Squad. It was particularly interesting to see all the different pairings coming together, include Sheryl and Ash talking about choosing the right life path, Avocato and Quinn discussing her need to solve everything, and Gary and Little Cato speaking to their fears of the future. Especially paired alongside a borderline zombie horror movie as the undead Garys invade the ship, these conversations paint a sense of dread and gloom unlike we have seen before. As the viewer, you are genuinely left wondering where the story is going because the characters themselves have no idea and portray that so well. But despite this, the Team Squad was willing to continue the fight, including Biskit who comedically killed zombie Garys with the cookie machine. Nonetheless, this provides us with our first real sign of hope, meaning that if they are willing to do whatever it takes to persist, we as the viewer should have faith that not all hope is lost.
Still, even with these touching moments and potential sign of hope, the best portion of the episode occurs when Ash removes Invictus from one of the zombie Garys. This results in the troubling revelation that every zombie Gary was a Gary from a different timeline who closed the breach into Final Space instead of Quinn and died in the process. In particular, it was delightful afterwards to see Gary come to the realization that even though he didn’t give his life to stop Invictus, he is now the one alive who has the ability to put an end to him once and for all. But more importantly, this has given the Team Squad a game plan, since every timeline connects to Final Space, and endless Garys have closed the breach from Earth, there is a chance of finding a new hyper-transdimensional bridge. They may have failed to defeat Invictus, and lost Bolo, but there still seems to be hope for them getting out alive.
In the end, “The Dead Speak” features some flaws surrounding the death of Bolo and the Lord Commander’s fight against Invictus, but it manages to make up for this with intimate character moments, the zombie Gary’s realization, and a sign of hope. Ideally, Bolo’s death would have had more of an impact, and we could have seen at least some of the fight between the Lord Commander and the titans rather than just the end, but these moments still serve to establish and close the episode. Yet, with so much having happened recently, it was nice to let the characters breathe and voice how they were doing in their own ways. Lastly, the realization that zombie Garys are actually Garys from other timelines that gave their lives for the cause genuinely relays the importance of Gary as a character. Plus, the Team Squad is now on the same page, except for Ash, and may have a way out of Final Space. But, what did you think of Bolo’s death and the titan fight? How do you think Ash’s storyline will impact the rest of the Team Squad?
Season 3 Episode 11: “The Dead Speak” (7.5/10)
