Avenue 5 Review: Eight Arms But No Hands (Season 1 Episode 9)
The search for Matt becomes a search for what’s left of their sanity on Avenue 5 Season 1 Episode 9, “Eight Arms But No Hands,” as hope floats off not only from the shuttle, but from the wrong airlock.
While the episode is full of really great lines and character moments, there’s so much to talk about in regards to the final extended scene at the shuttle. It’s a breakdown of each character in some way, the slow realization that their life on this ship may finally be at an end if they indulge in their worst impulses.
For that to become an even larger realization that the wrong airlock leaves them stranded for eight years now is this depressing moment that their lives aren’t any closer to being better, but about to get a whole lot worse.
But it allows for a nice moment, at least, everyone agreeing that Clark is the best candidate to head home. Captain Clark has lost his marbles the most on the show as Hugh Laurie’s brilliant performance grows more unhinged (and his screaming goes even more high-pitched), and for the other characters to be in agreement about it is a satisfying little nod that he hasn’t been given over the course of the season.
It’s what makes Billie’s indifference so funny, as his requirement for the docking down the line is still needed. At least Clark gets that little moment of recognition for his service before all hell falls apart again during the next season with the fallout of Karen’s horrible move of jettisoning out of the wrong airlock.
It’s fitting that Judd essentially loses the one person that causes him to function, leaving him, along with the others, without any hope. Iris is the most competent and forward-looking person on the ship besides Billie, and so removing her from Avenue 5 and likely placing her back at mission command leaves Judd to give into his worst impulses and takes away one of the more sane characters left.
Sanity is starting to show its final deterioration, too. It’s a fun little joke to have all of the main characters continuously cycling into the shuttle and giving into their ultimate selfishness, but it’s the moment when the shuttle leaves when they finally break down fully. Their cries of anguish that close out the episode is a major downer to end on, but with how things have been going over the season, it’s rather fitting.
Avenue 5 has become a social experiment of what happens to people under extreme stress and no way of saving them. While it’s mostly been a comedy up to this point, mainly from how everyone reacts to one another, it’s more a psychological drama, what the show has put them all through.
The way everyone in the shuttle room turns on Karen so quickly, where she holds so much fear and power over them only moments before, shows how broken down the hierarchy on the ship has gone. No one has any power anymore, not really. Everyone is stuck, and everyone is angry.
It’s a weird downer to end on. No one wins, essentially, because Iris never intended to leave. Their last bit of hope is gone unless endless shuttles are brought to the ship and Earth, back and forth. But that’s what the docking situation happens to be, now likely eight years away.
Avenue 5 has done a fantastic job of nailing absurd dialogue and having enormously talented performers on the show make messes of themselves. If the show can tweak a little and become more comedic, it can find its stride and become something very special. As of now, it’s a rather good season of television, and has some incredibly memorable lines.
What did you think of this episode of Avenue 5? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Avenue 5 airs Sundays at 10/9c on HBO.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.