Episode 9 of "Debris," titled "Do You Know Icarus?," is nothing short of an exhilarating installment, marking the commencement of a planned two-part saga. This week's debris artifact stands as the most perilous we've yet encountered.
The narrative kicks off with a thrilling scene: a boy named Shelby racing towards the precipice of a cliff, diving into the depths below, and clutching at the water for survival. As he gasps for air, the scene shifts back to the confines of a house, where Shelby's confusion reigns supreme. He calls out for his sister, Kathleen, only to realize with a jolt that she doesn't exist in this reality. This truth dawns upon Shelby with a harsh clarity.
Elsewhere, Finola and Bryan whisk George away to Garcia's, intending to procure some essential equipment. As rogue agents defying their respective organizations, they receive an urgent notification about a fresh anomaly. This time, it involves atmospheric discrepancies near Oceanside, Washington. They must make a swift appearance to maintain their cover stories and avoid arousing suspicion. Meanwhile, they entrust George to Garcia's care.
Finola and Bryan hurry to a house where they encounter Shelby, who reveals he's been trapped in a time loop, reliving the same two days ad infinitum. During one of these repetitions, he lost his sister, Kathleen. It transpires that this isn't the first time Shelby has laid eyes on the duo, as he's well-versed in George's existence and believes this debris fragment plucked him from the timeline, akin to extracting a card from an ever-turning deck.
Restoring Shelby to his rightful reality alongside his sister is akin to returning that very card to its exact previous position. While Finola is engrossed in a phone conversation, Shelby sneaks away and plunges back into the temporal quagmire. Each iteration of his loop exhibits subtle variations, as the cycle relentlessly repeats itself. On several occasions, Finola finds herself replaced by a different companion in this intricate tapestry of time.
When Finola eventually does reclaim her place amidst the chaos, she finds herself ensnared in yet another altered temporal tapestry. Upon entering, her gaze falls upon an array of mirrors adorning the living room, their reflective surfaces hinting at deeper mysteries. Among the shimmering reflections, she catches a fleeting glimpse of Kathleen strolling by, suggesting that these mirrors might indeed be portals to "bleed throughs" — ominous evidence of the pervasive disruption Shelby's temporal excursions are wreaking.
Just as Shelby prepares to plunge once more into the depths of time, Bryan impulsively follows suit, diving beneath the waves to confront the enigmatic boy in a fierce underwater struggle. However, he is summarily repelled in an eerie echo of Shelby's fateful expulsion. Bryan finds himself ensnared within a recursive loop, compelled to relive the same few hours in an endless cycle. This time, he awakens to a starkly different reality, one in which Finola has mysteriously resurfaced in Langley, while he is paired with a novel companion, Grace.
Grace promptly dials Maddox, who instructs her to keep Bryan close at hand and ensure he refrains from attempting another temporal leap. This sequence of events leaves us dangling on the precipice of a harrowing dilemma, with a cliffhanger as vast and compelling as the multiverse itself.
