Debris Review: Do You Know Icarus? (Season 1 Episode 9)
Not every show can bounce back immediately after a lackluster episode, but Debris Season 1 Episode 9, “Do you Know Icarus?” has done so with a plum, breaking its normal format and delivering a thoroughly enjoyable hour of television.
Practically every genre tv show over the last twenty-five has done their own riff on a time-loop/Groundhogs Day and, as a result, it can be difficult to see a new done that feels fresh or interesting. While this one isn’t totally inspired, it does feel different enough to be exciting.
A big part of this is that there’s a really wonderful sense of escalation during this episode. It does this by subverting our expectations for how procedurals like this usually go. Audiences are used to starting small and then building out from there until it shows the full scope of whatever the case is.
Instead, the show jumps rapidly from the investigation to, not just discovering what is actually happening, but also already having been caught up in it without the viewers or Finola and Bryan realizing it. This happens in such a straightforward and concise manner that you’re almost not sure whether or not to believe it.
The subject of this investigation, Shelby, delivers his explanation of what’s happening in such a way that it feels sinister but there’s also an inherent compassion that runs through his scenes. It’s a fascinating and nearly instantaneous switch of perspectives from the second that Finola and Bryan meet him.
He isn’t hurting anyone, he isn’t even really doing anything wrong, but there’s a kind of malice to him. It’s also the way that his menace diminishes that’s interesting. When he starts out, he’s the one with all of the information, all of the foreknowledge and that puts him at automatic odds with the two agents.
That’s unavoidable because the people holding all of the cards can be nothing but scary and intimidating. It’s the reason why Ben Linus from Lost was always such a threatening force because he seemed to know things that no one else does and that puts people — characters we like — at a disadvantage.
The more the episode goes along, the audience starts to become the ones that have that knowledge, too. He becomes less sinister and more like someone desperately trying to save their family.
A smart move on the show’s part is the parallel it makes between mirrors and the alternate reality nature of what is going on here. Debris understands that anyone who is watching a sci-fi like this has also likely watched Star Trek and anyone who’s watched that is going to be able to make that connection in an instant.
On that note, it’s an equally savvy move to demonstrate the differences for Bryan when he’s not in a timeline that features Finola. They’re more nuanced and subtle. It’s showing us how comfortable Bryan has become with her versus the way he would be with virtually anyone else.
He’s not as charismatic or gregarious. His movements are a lot less lively and playful. Not everything needs to be about shipping and we’ve hesitated making a direct line in that regard up to this point, but it’s seeming pretty undeniable now that this is the direction the show is heading in.
What did you think of this episode of Debris? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Debris airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.
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Drew Koenig
Drew has an ongoing, borderline unhealthy obsession with pop culture, but with television in particular. When he's not aggressively trying to get out of a perpetual state of catching up, he can be found passionately defending the ending of Lost. More of his online work can be found at The Lost Cause and he also co-hosts The Lost Cause Pod.