Debris S01E03: Solar Winds

© NBC

The third episode of Debris adds another new twist
by Chuck Duncan

Guest Cast: Matthew MacCaull, Sarah Desjardins, Christopher Shyer

I have no idea why this week's episode of Debris is titled 'Solar Winds' because it doesn't have anything to do with the sun. A more apt title would have been 'The Phantom Zone' but I suppose the folks over at Warner Bros. would have taken issue with that.

But anyone who's seen anything related to Superman can't be blamed for thinking this week's debris-related anomaly isn't anything but the Phantom Zone when a mysterious two dimensional square pops up in the middle of a field ... and people appear to be inside trying to get out.

It's not long before Bryan and Finola are sidetracked to Ohio to investigate, and they soon find they are able to hear one of the people trapped inside, a young woman named Nicole Hegmann who vanished without a trace in 2018. And while they can hear Nicole and see other human shapes in the void with her, she can't hear them ... or see the others which puzzles the team.

Bryan eventually pulls apart a million dollar piece of equipment -- oops -- to help construct a transmitter so they can attempt to talk with Nicole. But the biggest mystery is the absence of any debris. They do manage to communicate a bit with Nicole but the square keeps disappearing, leading Finola to conclude that somehow when Nicole is more emotional, the square remains visible. And one way to perhaps keep her emotions heightened is to bring her father to the site.

He, of course, is reluctant to believe their fantastical story but when he witnesses the abnormality and hears his daughter's voice, he is on board. He related a story of how he's always felt connected to his daughter, always having a dream that he's in the parking lot where she disappeared (in a different state), and when she appears again they share a long hug. But no one knows how to get Nicole out of limbo without a piece of debris.

© NBC

Luckily there is some activity nearby and they find an abandoned pickup truck, right next to a large piece of debris. Apparently this object allowed the alien ship to travel through time and space and has somehow opened a portal in this field. Interestingly, Finola's father had a theory about portals dotting the Earth, and had mapped out several in the US ... including one where Nicole disappeared, and one where they are now. But the debris is low on power and lead scientists Muntz doesn't want to use up what power is left to save a few people. Bryan and Finola, however, insist.

Aiming the debris in the direction of the square, they find that moving it slightly is like changing channels on a TV, revealing each person who they could see in silhouette, apparently on a different plain. They finally are able to release Nicole, and when she breaches the barrier, it seems to destroy the entire thing, releasing everyone else as well ... and all of them had disappeared at different times, some as far back as the 1970s. Nicole tells her father that she always imagined being back in that parking lot waiting for him, and when he'd show up they had a nice long hug, so they truly were still connected psychically.

But now that they have the debris, they need to find out who owned the pickup that was sitting next to it. No surprise, but the truck was stolen. Security footage shows the bearded guy who's been dealing pieces of debris, but they still don't really know who he is. What no one else knows as well is that Maddox had a secret meeting with a Russian, Tarkolov, who wants a piece of the debris the CIA currently possesses. Maddox is ready to make a deal, but the heat is on him when his boss tells him that they have eyes on Tarkolov and wanted to give him a heads up. That sends Maddox into a bit of panic mode because he may now be compromised, but no one is letting on just yet.

And the question still lingers about Finola's dead father. The CIA has obtained security footage of her at the morgue just like she claimed. Before she left, she took his watch as a keepsake. But later footage shows the watch is still on his arm, so was Finola sitting with a clone? Was the other body a clone? Is the real George Jones still alive or is the man they've seen recently a clone? No one knows at this point.