While escaping the Lord Commander, Gary and the Team-Squad suddenly find themselves caught in the gravitational pull of a black hole that leads directly to Invictus. Now, as the crew scramble for a way to escape, Quinn begins to suffer devastating effects from her Final Space poisoning.
Well, this was… intense. Final Space has never shied away from heavy, emotional moments, but this episode felt like nothing but a heavy emotional moment with occasional comedy breaking the tension. Right from the beginning as the ship was on the run to the final escape, there wasn’t a moment to catch a breath or find a safe place — it was constant danger, constant struggle, and constant emotion. My gosh, I felt like Mooncake trying to do breathing exercises watching this thing.
And, you know… it works. For where the show is — caught in what it has hyped up as the most dangerous place in the universe — to sell that kind of danger, it has to show the danger and it has to show consequences and it has to show a price to be paid for continued survival. The last few episodes have been merciless with their assault on the team squad’s physical and mental well-being and it is not afraid to show the scars.
I very much enjoyed Quinn’s journey in this episode and how it continued the theme of leaving loved ones behind even though it cleverly hid that commonality until the last minute. I’m always glad to get a look into what makes these characters who they are and this season hasn’t been a disappointment (even though, like I said last week, I wish we would get some characterization for Fox sometime or another).
I think I’m actually starting to come around to Bisket as the mad Mr. Scott of the ship. He had some pretty funny moments and proved his usefulness. His voice is still my biggest pet peeve as he sounds like Olan Rogers is doing a cartoony voice while everyone else on the ship has a normal voice and, to me at least, it makes him stick out like a sore thumb. With nothing but respect and love to Olan, Bisket’s voice is just so out of place it makes Bisket seem out of place. But, like I said… he was useful and funny in this episode, providing some great comedy relief amonst the misery, so I can learn to live with it.
I’m also considering the dynamic I’m seeing between Avacato and Little Cato. The two seem to have more of a working relationship with each other than a familial one. Granted, there is love there and it is undeniable, but it almost appears as though Gary is the more tender father and, sadly, we haven’t seen a lot of that since Avacato returned in earnest. I understand that there is a lot packed into this season and, given what we learned about Avacato’s actions in the past and the more than wedge it will likely place between him and Little Cato, it’s a good possibility that Gary will be performing fatherly duties again, but I do miss Gary and Spider-Cat as a duo.
The biggest shock with this episode was the ending and (spoiler alert ahead), because of the time we’ve spent with her and the recent revelations and how they affected her, it was highly emotional and devastating to see Ash fly into the black hole to confront Invictus alone. Although I would hardly call her decision logical, it made sense as she has lost her true and adopted families and her best friend. Ash has nothing left but her anger. I understood. It wasn’t out of nowhere, it was a decision that I got.
And it hurt. The loneliness, the anger, and the need for answers. In a way, this is so much worse than what happened to Nightfall or Fox because I get the sinking feeling that Ash will never come all the way back.
With its urgency and emotions at an exhausting level, “All the Moments Lost” was an episode that not only highlighted the (remaining) crew strongly in their ensemble roles, it was a focused and relentless survival story, balanced extremely well, with a climax that was punctuated by visuals, voice acting, and musical score that hit every mark. This show has sold the danger, it has sold the price, and it has sold that nothing is certain and everything is in doubt.
I go into the next episode with anticipation and fear as to what will come next.
Jason Gaston 