What I’m Watching: Avenue 5 (Season Finale)

Avenue 5: Season 1, Episode 9 “Eight Arms But No Hands” (B+)

This was a rather chaotic way to end this season, fittingly out of control to ensure that there is plenty more of this show as its characters are now stuck in space for much longer than they were before. That said, it was awfully easy for Rav and the pilot to dock and meet them, and you’d think they could have sent a bigger ship to take all of the passengers home instead. But alas, it was a sequence of musical chairs with different people frantically running into and pushing each other out of the passenger seat, with Ryan nearly taking off before Billie issued a harsh reminder that his hand was very much needed. It will be sad not to have Iris on board, but I look forward to seeing how she steps into Rav’s place as the public relations face of this disaster on Earth. Rav is also going to bring some more negative energy to the ship, and she’s going to keep Judd in line in a different way. Matt changing the airlock codes and then disappearing, potentially to kill himself, was worrisome, but I enjoyed the ensuing subgroups Ryan split everyone into to search for him. Doug and Spike were a fun couple, and Mia got plenty sick of Mads while he was describing his very attractive physical appearance. The big misstep of the episode came from a surprising person – Karen – as she took her made-up passenger liaison role a bit too seriously and made an executive decision to change the airlock that more than doubled their journey time instead of shortening it. I can’t wait for season two, and I hope that some of the actors earn some Emmy attention for their great work here.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Hugh Laurie as Ryan