Beacon 23 Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Beacon Twenty Three
Beacon 23 Season 1 Episode 6, “Beacon Twenty Three,” is another stellar throwback episode in the vein of “God in the Machine,” featuring the first Beacon Keeper and an origin story for The Artifact. It’s a strong outing across the board, expanding on the cliffhanger from last week’s “Rocky,” which delivered a revelation about Solomon’s rocks.
Beacon Twenty Three
From the beginning, this series hasn’t quite connected. Firstly, it tries to do too much. Secondly, it introduces a plethora of questions without answering previously addressed ones.
However, around episode five, the threads started weaving together. The extreme slow burn began to pay off (which would’ve been more effective with a larger episode count). Thankfully, “Beacon Twenty Three” maintains the late-blooming momentum with plenty of exciting backstory.
While the Aster reveal isn’t entirely unpredictable if you pay close attention to the final moments of last week’s Beacon 23 episode, it’s still a delightful way to forge a connection between her and Halan. The episode also confirms the beacon itself as the main character, with the mercurial and malicious Bart as its voice. He’s the connective tissue in this story.
Acting MVPs
Performance-wise, Wade Bogert-O’Brien delivers solid vocal work as Bart. Bogert-O’Brien has been an underrated force this season thus far, conveying all the shades and colors of the unpredictable AI solely with his voice. That’s a tough line to walk while maintaining a non-human-like timbre in the voice.
Guest stars Marc Menchaca and Sydney Meyer are also standouts. Menchaca gives us a richly complex character with Keir, utilizing his short time onscreen to offer a nuanced, emotional performance. As for Meyer, she injects Grisha (Aster’s mom) with a quiet intensity that draws the eye whenever she’s in a scene.
It’s All Connected
It finally feels like these seemingly disparate moving parts are coming together nicely. “Beacon Twenty Three” is immensely informative, answering long-held questions in an action-packed, entertaining narrative.
While this reviewer thanks the sci-fi gods that Beacon 23 is starting to hit its stride, it’s difficult not to be worried when only two episodes are left in the season. (Whatever happened to 22-episode seasons? What about 13-episode seasons?)
Regardless, “Beacon Twenty Three” sets the stage for what’ll hopefully be two impactful, edge-of-your-seat, thrilling episodes. By itself, though, this outing is the show’s strongest thus far.
Stray Observations:
- Fun fact: Marc Menchaca is married to Lena Headey. The pair tied the knot last year.
- Keir’s beer looked more like water in a glass stein.
- Do you think we’ll use iPad-like devices in the distant future? According to Beacon 23, it’s a possibility.
- Aster not recalling her time on the beacon makes sense, considering Halan’s memory loss (well, that and the fact she was roughly five years old). He didn’t remember how he wound up on the beacon. The continuity between the symptoms one experiences when in contact with The Artifact is nice.
- Where did Dr. Avalon go? Notice how the picker didn’t vanish, only Avalon. Maybe The Artifact whisked her away to the alien civilization on the other side of it.
What did you think of this episode of Beacon 23? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Beacon 23 drops new episodes every Sunday at 9/8c on MGM+.
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Melody McCune
Melody loves TV. Maybe too much. Besides being a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV, she's the Managing Editor for Geek Girl Authority, an Independent Contractor for Sideshow Collectibles, and a Senior Writer for Eulalie Magazine. Additionally, she has bylines in Culturess, Widget, and inkMend on Medium. To top it all off, she's a critic for Rotten Tomatoes and CherryPicks.