Compensation – As the finale of Night Sky begins, Irene (Sissy Spacek) sits on the porch and imagines a young Michael swinging outside before he disappears. Franklin (JK Simmons) comes outside and says it was nice to have the house full of people yesterday. He encourages her to eat, drink, and get some sleep. Later, Franklin cuts down the swing. He comes back with an ax and begins chopping the tree. In the morning, Franklin tells Irene he has only been up for a bit while she is glad to be back in her bed. They remember it is the longest they’ve been apart for 17 years since the teacher’s conferences in St. Louis. Franklin doesn’t know where the hat is she got him. Irene admits she missed him before asking whether he misses when things were normal. Franklin does. He says he needs to go finish something in the shop.

Jude (Chai Hansen) goes into the woods to find that the ball has been dug up and removed. Franklin goes back to space where he tries to use the radio to contact Byron. When he exits the shed, Jeanine (Cass Bugge) runs up to him to see if he has seen Byron. Franklin admits they were working on a project that they finished. He promises to let her know if he hears anything. Franklin enters the house as Jude tells Irene it was him who took it. Jude asks what he did with it. Cornelius (Piotr Adamczyk) tells Toni (Rocio Hernandez) that Nick had good things to say about her so the equipment might be hers one day. Once they pass by the York residence, Stella (Julieta Zylberberg) points it out. Inside, Franklin says he got it started by himself since he is handy with tools. Irene asks why Jude turned it off in the first place.

Jude says it is dangerous and Franklin agrees. After Jude apologizes to Irene, she says she knows he is leaving. He explains that he found something in Michigan that will lead him to his father. Irene won’t talk him out of it because he needs to follow his own path. Irene decides to go get something for him to take. While she is gone, Franklin says he knew Jude would end up hurting her. Jude insists he was only trying to protect her. Franklin wants to ask him something and would appreciate the truth. He asks what is out there on that planet, but Jude claims there is nothing. Franklin would offer to give him a ride to the bus station although he doesn’t think he is leaving that way. Jude exits to take care of something before he leaves.

When Cornelius gets out of the van, Toni tries to convince her mother to drive away and leave him. Stella says they can’t because they’ll find them and send different versions of them. Stella confesses he lied to her. She will find the apostate, take care of it, and they’ll be done. Stella nods when asked whether she is going to kill him. Cornelius finishes using the bathroom before finding a bunch of dead birds. He tells the others that the dead birds mean there is a chamber nearby. They watch as Jude drives away. Cornelius tells Stella to finish the job while he looks for the chamber with Toni. Stella warns him not to lay a finger on her daughter, but he insists he isn’t that kind of man. While they watch the York house, Cornelius insists he took no joy in killing the other woman. He only does it to protect their people.

Things have been kept to her for too long so he thinks she should have her perdisco once this is over. He promises no more secrets from him. She asks about Caleb and learns that he is her father. He’ll make sure she meets her father and it is about time she visits Caerul. Franklin looks at a pill bottle with a message from Byron saying they’re for aging astronauts. Irene asks what they are as he quickly hides the message. She suggests she’ll need vitamins now that they’re losing their caretaker. She says it is for the best and she is tired of fate. Franklin tries to tell her something, but he is interrupted when she sees someone in their backyard. When Franklin goes out to confront Toni, she apologizes and says he made her do it. Cornelius puts a gun to the back of Franklin’s head.

He leads Franklin back inside. Jude meets with Denise (Kiah McKirnan) to talk about himself and the door to the stars. He thanks her for driving him to Michigan and teaching him about karaoke. He tries to shake her hand, but Stella begins shooting at them. Once Jude sees Stella, he tells Denise that she is only after him. He instructs her to go to her grandparents’ place. Jude lures Stella across the street while Denise leaves in her car. Denise makes it back only to find her grandparents being held at gunpoint by Cornelius. Stella tries shooting Jude although she misses while Cornelius eats honey roasted nuts. He tries to convince them to tell him where the portal is. When he threatens to kill Denise, Irene quickly tells him where to find it. He gives Toni the gun and instructs her to keep an eye on them so he can check out the portal.

Irene tries to strike up a conversation with Toni. She says her mom told her she had to help him while her mom is with the apostate. Toni tells them that her mother said Jude was dangerous and putting a lot of people in danger, but Irene suggests she could be wrong. Toni begins backing up into the kitchen where she grabs a knife. Cornelius tells her that isn’t a good idea. Toni explains that her mother told her they were doing the right thing and God’s work, but she doesn’t believe her or him. Denise begins uncuffing the others as Cornelius attempts to explain everything to Toni. He grabs Toni’s phone, calls Stella, and tells her there has been a change of plans. He orders her to tell the boy they have the family and he should give himself up if he doesn’t want them hurt.

Jude learns that they have the family. As Stella takes him to the van, Jude tells her they met before when they brought her to meet his mother. He remembers that she kneeled in front of her during the ceremony. She cried afterward. Jude gets into the van to get shackled as he admits he never understood the Guardians. He says it is all that sacrifice for something they’ll never truly be a part of. Stella tells him he has turned his back on his family and faith, but he claims he had no choice. Stella says she doesn’t either. Franklin tells Cornelius that he doesn’t need to threaten his family. Cornelius claims Franklin threatened his family. Jude enters with Stella. Cornelius hits him in the face before saying he always liked him. When Jude asks if she knows he is here, Cornelius asks who he thinks sent him.

Jude doesn’t believe it. Cornelius kicks him and blames him for these people having to go through this. When he points his gun at Jude, Toni reminds him that he said he wouldn’t kill him. Cornelius isn’t going to. He says she is. Stella takes the gun so her daughter doesn’t have to do it. Irene warns her that Toni won’t be her daughter like before if she does this. She can’t do it. Cornelius takes the gun back to do it, but Franklin charges him. He is quickly knocked to the ground. Cornelius attacks Stella until Jude breaks free and fights with him. Franklin hits Cornelius with the cane while Stella holds the gun on him. He tells Toni that her mother is a killer and it is in her blood. Stella says no more killing. She hits him with the taser instead. Later, Stella agrees to take Cornelius away in the van since it’ll be safer for everyone. As they drive down the road, Stella tells her daughter that everything they left behind can be replaced.

Stella won’t tell her what Caerul is but promises that everything will be okay. She believes they’ll stop looking for them because they have a bargaining chip. At the York house, the family begins cleaning up the mess. Jude tells Irene that she must’ve been a good mother. He gets his stuff ready to leave. Franklin argues it isn’t a good idea when Denise says she wants to go with Jude. She has to do something new so she believes this is a good change for her. Irene admits she isn’t okay with it either, but there is nothing they can do about it. They go to the portal and Jude uses the bar to set the destination. He types in the code he found in his father’s book since it is like an address. He tells them to be careful until he talks to his father who will know what to do. Jude says it can bring Denise back, but it resets after every trip. Therefore, they won’t be able to follow her.

Denise promises to come back at the first sign of danger. They leave using the portal moments later. Once they’re gone, Irene suggests they stop coming down here so much. Franklin has been waiting years for her to say that, but there is something he needs to tell her. Stella’s van is rammed off the road until it flips. Hannah’s people get them out of the van as she talks to Stella who says she used to be a guardian. She asks Cornelius if he remembers her. He says he never forgets an apostate. She welcomes him to the fallen world and says they’re going to have fun together. Hoods are put on their heads as they are taken away. Denise and Jude end up in Bangkok. Franklin suits up as Irene admits she is shocked that he didn’t tell her about this. She is also impressed. He knew she’d used the suits if she knew about them.

Franklin doesn’t want to do this, but he thinks Jeanine deserves an answer. He asks her not to say goodbye or recite some poem because he is nervous enough as is. She tells him that she believes in him. While Irene watches from inside, Franklin goes out and follows Byron’s footsteps. He finds their coffee table and continues. The radio begins breaking up. Franklin finds someone who has been stabbed in the side. It looks like the man who was attacking Jude. He tells Irene that something has gone wrong with his air. As Franklin drops to the ground, Irene tells him she loves him. He tells her the same. Franklin can see all the stars. After a time jump, we see Franklin digging up the roots of the big tree. Irene comes out to tell him to stop for the night before he hits something metal in the ground. Irene comes over to see what he has found. Irene walks out into space to remove Franklin’s helmet.

He wakes up. She tells him to just breathe and they’re alive. They see something in the distance. They get closer and see what looks like a town as a bell begins ringing in the distance.

 

Night Sky Review

After about the middle point of the season of Night Sky, I started enjoying the series more. Some episodes were better than others, but this felt like a decent start to a compelling story. This isn’t going to be for everyone because the show doesn’t really delve into the science fiction aspect much during the first season. In that sense, it felt like they threw everything at the wall to see what would stick since there were cults, portals, and all types of stuff. The writers may be able to tie everything together in a second season, but it may feel like a massive disappointment for some if it ended here.

As for the finale, I enjoyed most of it although the whole showdown with Stella, Toni, and Cornelius was pretty anticlimactic and predictable. Considering this was being built up as a dramatic showdown since the second episode, it was slightly disappointing although expected. The finale didn’t close many doors, but it opened a whole bunch more. If viewers can get past the slow pace and see this season as a solid building block toward something bigger, they’ll find it enjoyable.

A second season is pretty much paramount to properly explore the sci-fi aspect of the show. Based on just the character relationships, this could likely be a decent conclusion although many want more. The finale scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of Night Sky can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.