If you’re not watching NBC Universal’s new TV show Debris, you’re missing out! This is not your average “the truth is out there” UFO show! It’s sci-fi, almost a crime drama, and a mystery with each episode slowly unveiling what is happening as we the viewers learn through the clues the characters unearth.
What is Debris about?
When wreckage from a destroyed alien spacecraft scatters across the Western Hemisphere, it soon becomes apparent the pieces are messing with the laws of physics, changing lives in ways we can’t comprehend. Two agents from different continents, and different mindsets, are tasked to work together to recover the debris, whose mysteries humankind is not quite ready for.
The story begins with an explanation that says, “Three years ago images were captured of a wrecked alien spacecraft moving through our solar system. For the past six months debris from that spacecraft has been falling to Earth”.
We then pick up the story in New York, where some mysterious men meet in a hotel room to exchange a suitcase full of money for a piece of the debris. At the same time federal agents roll up in black SUVs and enter the hotel, looking specifically for one of the men.
An innocent hotel employee and one of the men fall to their deaths separately. The hotel employee was accidentally killed because she was handling a piece of the debris that had been left by the men who were attempting to escape the federal agents.
An entire “situation team” shows up in hazmat suits to safely contain the one piece of debris that killed the hotel employee, and that’s just the first 5 minutes of the Pilot episode. The two main agents MI6’s Finola Jones (Riann Steele) and CIA’s Bryan Beneventi (Jonathan Tucker) have somewhat of a “Mulder/Scully” relationship, only Bryan is a patriotic former Marine who served in Afghanistan and Finola is the daughter of a world renowned astrophysicist.
The two are in a race to contain and obtain every piece of debris they can find before the debris falls into the wrong hands, such as the mysterious men in the hotel. Watch the trailer below:
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The first episode shows us that the debris interacts with humans (among other things) in weird and mysterious ways, almost as if it is some kind of communication device and Finola gets swept up into the mystery when she is physically interacting with the debris herself.
In the second episode, You are not Alone, it seems like the debris can clone people, and maybe split them into different versions of themselves, either way it’s not quite clear. Brian and Finola are tasked with investigating a town where the debris is dragging metal for an unknown purpose.
The town was evacuated for the safety of its inhabitants, but the duo discovers several versions of the same man and attempts to find the original man before time runs out. At the same time, the agencies they work for have discovered that one of the men from the pilot episode, who was involved in the transaction for the piece of debris is showing up at other debris events and they do not know who he is nor who he works for, if anyone.
In the third mind blowing episode, Solar Winds Finola and Bryan are investigating a mysterious, otherworldly square that inexplicably appeared in the middle of a field. The agencies set up a perimeter base camp around the square. It seems that at this point the show takes a shift that seems to validate some theories of Finola’s father.
Even though the show is called Debris, and the whole concept is that these two agents (and company) investigate what they call “debris events,” each event is a different anomaly that interacts with our planet in different ways, which really enhances the whole mystery aspect of the storyline. It’s not even remotely campy, the feel is very much like any mystery/crime drama.
There’s also the whole subplot about “dangerous people” gaining access to pieces of debris. Debris starts off strong and then gets better and better with each episode as the subplots begin to reveal themselves, not to mention shocking revelations that none of the characters see coming.
The show is compelling and confusing with each episode giving the tiniest morsels of information that not only keeps the story going, but also makes the viewer desperate for more.
Creator and showrunner J.H. Wyman writes and executive produces alongside his company, Frequency Films. Jason Hoffs, Jeff Vlaming and Samantha Corbin-Miller are also executive producers. J.H. Wyman already has experience in this kind of drama after writing 28 episodes of J.J. Abrams’ TV show Fringe and 13 episodes of the crime drama Almost Human.
Debris is on Mondays at 10 PM EST/PST 9 PM CST on NBC and is available to stream on Hulu (the day after airing), NBC, and Peacock.
Joia DaVida reports on the entertainment industry in both Chicago and Los Angeles.
