Final Space Season Two

Recently, the second season of Final Space was made available on Netflix and having watched it, I thought I'd write a few words about it.

I won't go into any great details about the plot for this season, so as not to spoil it for those of you have not yet seen it. I shall just content myself with mentioning that this season revolves around (anti-) hero Gary Goodspeed and his crew of misfits quest to find six dimensional keys needed to free the titan Bolo and open a path to final space, in order to free Gary's love-interest Quin, who was trapped there, following the events of the first season.

Ideally speaking, the second season of a show should be an improvement over the one that came before it and I am pleased to say that season 2 of Final Space succeeds in that regard, those aspects of the first season that I liked are still present, whereas the things I cared less about have been either fixed or toned down considerably.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the way Final Space's second season handles its main character. In my original review of the show, I stated that I didn't care much for Gary, so I was pleasantly surprised that I found him to be greatly improved as a character this time around, with Season two succeeding him into making him a protagonist that I found myself rooting for in a way that the first season did not.

I will also say that, while I maintain my opinion that Final Space is at its best during its more serious moments, I found myself liking the comedic moments more this time around. Not every joke lands (the "marking the territory" scene early in the season went on for way longer than it needed) but, generally speaking, I thought they landed more often than in season one.

Season two further expands Final Space's universe adding new characters, most of which I enjoyed.. Of special note among the newcomers, in my opinion, is Cheryl Goodspeed; Gary's estranged mother, who serves as one of this season's primary antagonists. By any standards, Cheryl is a terrible person, not that that prevented me from appreciating her as a character. Her presence in the show also helps giving us more insight into her son and making him into a more sympathetic character.

Any negatives? Well, one could perhaps make the argument that, at times, the overarching story of season two feels less focused than that of season one, although, in my opinion, the interaction between the cast and Gary's character development compensate for it somewhat. In addition, certain plot-developments could perhaps have benefited from being developed more. Oh, and personally, I could have done with more Lord Commander.


That said, I ultimately found Final Space season two is a worthwhile continuation to the adventures of Gary, Mooncake and the others, one that definitely left me looking forward to season 3.

Final Space

Sorry about the lack of new content the past few months. It was not my intention to let the blog go on hiatus for quite this long, but unfortunately, sometimes these things happen. Nonetheless, I offer you my apologies.

Anyway, not too long ago I wrapped up the eight season of Friendship Is Magic and originally, I had intended to write something about it. However, nothing I wrote really satisfied me, so I decided to put that idea on ice. However, I will briefly, give my opinion on this; the show's penultimate season, before we move on to the main event. 

Basically, while season 8 did feature several episodes I really like, I can't deny that MLP at this point is getting a bit long in the tooth and I don't feel as strongly for the series as I used too. Still, I will probably watch the final season, if only to see how the show ends.

But enough about miniature equines, its time to talk about another cartoon I watched fairly recently: Final Space. 

For those of you not in the know, Final Space is an animated series, which aired earlier this year., created by Olan Rogers. 

I first became aware of this series thanks to a video by Youtube cartoon reviewer EyeofSol, titled Final Space And the " Adult" Animation Myth (found here, in case you are interested), which piqued my curiosity in the show and upon seeing that it was available on Netflix, I decided to give it a go.

Set in the distant future, Final Space is the story of Gary Goodspeed, a young man who, due to certain circumstances, is currently serving a five year sentence aboard the prison ship, Galaxy One. Gary's routine is abruptly shattered when an adorable green creature crashes into him. Taking a liking to the critter, Gary names it Mooncake and adopts it as a pet. 

Unfortunately, it turns out that there are other people interested in Mooncake and soon, Gary finds himself caught up in a mission to keep his new friend out of the clutches of an alien warlord known as the Lord Commander and save the universe from complete destruction. You know, the usual stuff.

That's the basic plot of the show. So, what did I think of it? 

Well, I'm going to start by touching briefly on what is, in my opinion, one of the weakest aspects of Final Space: The Comedy. Now, of course I know that comedy is one of the most subjective things ever and if you found this show to be hilarious, than good for you. Personally though, I found the humor to be very hit & miss. Does that mean I sat through the first season of Final Space more stone-faced than a peeved Clint Eastwood? No, not at all; there was the occasional moment that made me crack a smile, but for the most part, the comedy of Final Space didn't tickle my funny-bone: I knew I was supposed to find certain scenes or exchanges funny, but they did not do it for me. 

Another aspect in which the show falters a bit is in the depiction of its main character, Gary. Voiced by Rogers himself (who also does the voice of Mooncake), most of Gary's dialogue consists of him either yelling in a high-pitched voice, rambling and otherwise being pretty obnoxious. In fact, watching Final Space I got the feeling that Gary could have stepped out of a web-comic and not one of the good ones either. 

To be fair, Gary gets a bit more tolerable as the show progresses and he has his moments that prevented me from completely disliking him, but there were still plenty of times when I wished he would shut up.

That's pretty much all the negative stuff I have to say about this series, because when push comes to shove, Final Space has far more strengths than flaws. 

The show's comedy may be uneven, but it definitely succeeds when it comes to its more serious and dramatic moments.  For example, I may not really be a fan of Gary as a character, but that doesn't change the fact that an early scene showing us his loneliness and isolation made me feel for the guy. Other moments, such as the death of a major character are handled very well. Furthermore, the plot is consistently engaging across the ten episodes that makes up the show's first season.

Finally, the voice actors all do a good job bringing their characters to life. The stand-out among the cast must be David Tennant, whose performance helps make the Lord Commander one of the more memorable villains to appear in a cartoon recently.

Despite a few quibbles, I do genuinely recommend Final Space and am looking forward to the second season and hope that it will prove as entertaining (or more) as this one. If you are in the mood for a serialized space-opera adventure, I say check it out.