The Seeker – As the finale of Moonhaven begins, Lone (Elaine Tan) walks with Wish and Elna. Wish (Josh Tedeku) says goodbye to both before walking away. Elna (Martha Malone) runs over to him for one more hug. Bella Sway (Emma McDonald) talks to Paul Sarno (Dominic Monaghan) about the massacre and everyone coming to find their loved ones. Bella questions how the tree moved inside the fence, but Paul believes the fence moved. Fritz (Bamshad Abedi-Amin) approaches to confront them about Maite’s death and the fact that they were there. He worries someone will think they were responsible while Paul is only worried about finding Arlo (Kadeem Hardison). Bella asks Fritz to help them. A little girl approaches Bella to tell her that the Envoy wants to see her, but Bella is going to make her wait this time. Paul suspects the worst when he finds Arlo’s arm on the ground.

His opinion changes when the arm points him in the right direction. They climb under the fence before finding Arlo alive nearby. Arlo jokingly tells Paul he is stuck with him. Once he is taken to a bed, he wakes up and realizes that Wish is gone. Paul admits he is because the first wave launches within the hour. After Paul asks how he made it outside the wall, Arlo claims the wall came to him. After the first shot, everything started to change and Arlo had never seen that before. Both agree it was IO moving underneath him trying to stop the bullets. Arlo explains that the tree was built by Mooners unable to let go of the old ways and it needs to be hidden. Arlo worries everyone will become strangers again. Bella tells Indira (Amara Karan) that you should destabilize an enemy when you can’t defeat it using force. Now that people know their blood families, there is no going back and this place will collapse.

Indira argues that Mooners died to save her and they’re strong enough to avoid temptation. Bella thinks they should burn the tree because the Mooners are streaming to it. Indira says Tomm knows they can’t interfere in something so sacred, but he has underestimated her. She tells Bella that her friend won’t have risked his life for nothing and none of this matters. Thanks to what they did with Maite, the transport ships are preparing to take the First Wave back to Earth. Bella tells her about Maite waiting for them to get there before jumping. She argues that Indira sent her out there, but Indira says nothing could’ve held her back. When Bella asks what she is doing, Indira says she is doing what is necessary to save Earth. She wants Bella to get on one of the transport ships so she can be taken back to Earth since it is no longer safe for her here. Bella begins struggling with the guards while telling Indira that she believes in nothing.

A little girl throws her the bracelet and she quickly puts it on Indira’s wrist. Bella attacks them before running out of the room. Next, Lone tells Paul and Bella that the Envoy is rounding up the Markless. Bella says she’ll say anything to save the Bridge including that she killed Maite. Arlo and Lone explain she is using Bella’s ship as a prison so she can hide it from IO. They discuss the possibility of using martial law to protect the ones being shipped out. Arlo says Mooners can follow the Blood Tree back to the time of tribes or follow Indira into a new kind of darkness. When both directions lead nowhere, they should leave the path. Bella watches from a distance as Mooners begin boarding the ship. She sees a man with a mask nearby just before he leaves. She follows the man back to Tomm (Joe Manganiello) to tell him that Indira is rounding up his army.

She claims it is only a matter of time before Indira comes for him. Bella warns him not to call for help because she didn’t come alone. Tomm doesn’t think it matters what the Envoy does because the Mooners are going to turn against the Earth anyway. The linear stuff gets dull when you’ve seen it from above. Tomm says the voices used to whisper from behind a door, but he is in the room now. Bella thinks she got him good since the Singer turned him into fried eggs and toast. Tomm admits he is transformed because of what she did, but Bella was hoping he’d die. She reminds him that ICON has shut this place down once before.

Tomm stresses the point that ICON won’t have a say once they take control of IO. He tells her he is going to need a real soldier. Bella isn’t sure the Mooners can save them, but she thinks they should let them try. When they hear the ships leaving, Tomm says Bella should’ve gone with them and gotten out when she still had the chance. It is too late now. He tells her that her name means war as the ships fly overhead. Bella watches Tomm and Sonda (Yazzmin Newell) talk to someone else. At home, Paul tells Fritz that he doesn’t like him because Lone does. Paul says the Envoy’s guard is trying to weaken them and it is working. Fritz suggests it might be time for Mooners to take strength from their blood. Paul tells him to look at what it did to the Mother before asking if they’re doomed to walk in circles repeating the same mistakes. Fritz thinks they have imagined what they can be if they took control.

Arlo says IO is watching us. He wonders if it moved the fence to give them the tree or give them the choice. Paul questions if IO is trying to figure out whether they’re worth saving. Fritz asks why they’re trying to change his opinion when thousands of Mooners will find the tree. Paul believes they only need to change one person. They block the tree to give people time to think about what they’re doing. Sonda tells Tomm that she heard he was the Earther. She asks what they’re fighting for because she thought it was a free moon. Sonda thought they were going to keep their people here to protect them, but they’ve launched and Tomm wants everyone to trust him. He says the First Wave needs to return to Earth, but she thinks they should let the Earther go. Tomm tells her that they’re all trapped here and he knows how to set them free.

He tells her it’ll be over soon. Maite Voss (Ayelet Zurer) tells Sonda they seek connection in their work. Sonda tells Bella that she misses Maite. Bella tells her that she betrayed her before turning off the hologram. She accuses her of playing concerned while she encouraged Maite to chase the ghost. She wanted her to die so she could get the key. Sonda denies it. She wanted Maite to help them, but she went into a craze once Bella arrived. Bella argues that Mooners need a leader now and not a spy or Tomm’s puppet. Bella asks about the reckoning Tomm mentioned. Sonda says Tomm knew Mooners were anxious about the First Wave so they spread rumors about the bridge being a trap and it worked. Since the lies came from the Envoy’s guard, Mooners believed those lies. Bella says the First Wave is already gone. What will Tomm do once his lies do not come true?

Sonda claims she didn’t know. Bella tells Paul and Arlo that Tomm has shared the landing sites with Terra. Sonda mentions that the Earth insurgents have been fighting against the Bridge since it started. She goes on to reveal that the First Wave will be ambushed and killed where they land. Arlo wants to warn them and instruct them to divert, but it was decided to keep their comms dark until they land. Paul gets angry and smashes something once he finds out that there is no way to reach them. After telling Bella what Tomm did, Paul questions what he has done. Bella doesn’t think he could’ve held Wish back because he is Truelune. She started believing she was a part of something bigger, but she knows that isn’t real. She is here even though she isn’t here for a reason. She’d like to help Paul if she can. Paul asks her where they’re going.

They visit Chill (Nina Barker-Francis) to see what she can tell them. She says they don’t know their blood mothers, but she met hers once by the water. She was a seeker who brought the flower in a box. Chill hid it like her mother told her. One day, she showed it to Strego. After she says someone is making a mistake, Paul believes she tried to protect it and ended up dying trying to save this place. He says it is a worthy life to try to save this place and the Earth. Bella calls herself a pilot, smuggler, and soldier. That gives her an idea. In private, she tells Arlo and Paul that they might be able to use smugglers to get a message to the ships.

She used an encrypted channel when she needed to contact Earth without being detected. They learn about her contact on Earth named Jate. Although there is no guarantee that it’ll reach them, they might be able to get a message to the transport ships the same way. To do that, they’ll have to get onto CAT because the only access to the Secondary Comms is near the cockpit on the flight deck. Elna overhears their conversation. Once Elna says she wants to come, Bella quickly says no but Paul and Arlo argue they learn by doing. They board CAT later that night. They find the Markless sleeping and cuffed. Before they climb the ladder, Bella warns them that Jate hates the moon and Mooners. He is also likely wondering why she never turned up. She reaches the device and uses it to contact Jate (George Georgiou). He reveals the bones in his hands are broken because he didn’t deliver the Moon drug.

Paul tries to talk to him and help, but he ends up making things worse. Bella believes the fate of the world may be in Jate’s hands. After the call ends, Bella tells Paul that Jate said he’d tried to reach them, but there is nothing else they can do. Before they can leave, Elna says she wants to stay to find out whether Wish is okay. They have to hurry when they hear footsteps nearby. Paul reluctantly agrees to let her stay as long as her wits are sharp. She also needs to get out at sun warm whether she hears from the ships or not. Once they put the cover back, Bella asks Elna not to die. On their way out, Tomm sees Bella so he asks his team to wake them all. She catches up with Paul and Arlo to warn them Tomm has taken control of the ship. The prisoners begin waking up and turning into soldiers. After making it out, Bella tells Sonda and the others that Indira wasn’t there and Tomm has his army again.

She admits the message is a long shot. Fritz believes Sonda is a traitor, but she says she never meant for this to happen. Bella argues payback should wait since Sonda is here to help. She thinks the Envoy can help since ICON will send ships. Arlo thinks the Mooners need to know they’re not alone or they’ll crumble too. Paul believes Mooners know they’re not free until they’ve done what they came to do. Roy and Blu (Robyn Holdaway) arrive to warn them that Indira has been captured. Arlo and Blu talk about their losses as he says he is sorry for her friends and brother. She wonders why IO would allow this to happen. Arlo says IO is still learning and watching because it is their child. Elna gets a message that the ships are diverting their landings. As she tries to escape, she sees all the new soldiers before climbing down the ladder. Once Indira is taken to Tomm, he tells her that the road ends here because it is over.

He admits he may just let her live. She asks about their revolution and learns that all these Markless were traded for half a dozen Rangers. Indira says the Markless are just part of the chaos. The Mooners have never known real suffering, but they will after today. Elna overhears her saying they will be divided and weak while the Bridge will be dead. They’ll have control of IO and the Moon. Tomm thinks she needs to start thinking bigger. They briefly talk about Bella before Indira remembers what happened when she was younger. Elna escapes CAT and tells Paul that Wish is alive. She also tells them about the Envoy working with Tomm. Paul believes their chance of survival is slim with the Envoy and Tomm working against them. When the news of the landings spreads, Earth will be in chaos and ICON may not survive so they’re on their own. Bella says she can’t go back because Indira will have the whole Moon looking for her.

She must go to Primo because they won’t follow her there. Maite may be their only hope if she has broken through to something they cannot explain. She asks Paul to tell the others she’ll be back with help. She says this isn’t for the cause. It is for the unit. Paul promises that they’ll be ready for her return so they can fight Indira for the future. Bella is going to make sure she doesn’t live to see the future. Indira asks Tomm if he worries about IO moving the wall. She tells him what Maite believed about others arriving capable of talking to IO. Tomm sees that as an opportunity since he’d like to talk to whatever can speak to IO.

He thinks they’re safe here since IO can’t do anything when it can’t see them. Paul talks to Lone about Wish landing on Earth. She thinks they’re on a fold since there will always be what happened before today and after. He asks if that is true of them too since it has been hard watching her drift. Lone argues it wouldn’t be so hard if he could see her. When she says he looks at them through the past, Paul wants to know what he must do for them to start again. She says he needs to let go. His light is dimmed when darkness comes because he looks backwards. She believes he needs to face forward and lead. The Mooners land on Earth and make it to land. Bella runs off through the woods as the finale ends.

 

Moonhaven Review

Moonhaven’s finale was a perfect example of what the series was, slow, prodding, and uneventful. The dialogue didn’t seem as bad in the finale, but there were moments when the characters were speaking in noncoherent riddles. Despite being a big world up there, the finale made me feel a bit claustrophobic since the characters ran around in circles and visited the same three or four places countless times.

At this point, viewers are either enamored by the series and sympathetic with the characters or they’re not. Unfortunately, I was in the latter category. By the finale, I really wanted this to right the ship and do well for the performers involved, but the finale didn’t do much to get me excited about another season of this. If I am being honest, I am a bit befuddled by the fact that another season of Moonhaven was green-lit because it didn’t feel justified.

Nevertheless, it is happening so we can only hope those involved take steps to improve what worked and eliminate what didn’t. More action is needed to ensure viewers don’t feel like getting through the episode is a chore. The finale scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Moonhaven can be found here. Learn how to support our work at this link.