NBC’s newest venture into the sci-fi drama realm, Debris is following in the footsteps of the network’s other high-concept science fiction entry, Manifest. It draws in viewers with a highly intelligent and intriguing look into the unknown. Since Debris was created by J.H. Wyman, executive producer, writer, and showrunner of the Fox cult favorite, Fringe, so it should come as no surprise that many of the same mind-bending elements permeate this new show, including a surprise ending that reveals what could be the show’s true story.
In the premiere, the wreckage of an alien spaceship starts falling to Earth. The task of investigating the debris falls to Finola Jones, an MI6 agent, and Bryan Beneventi, an American CIA agent of a secret international coalition. They travel the world collecting debris and trying to solve the intergalactic jigsaw puzzle of what has led to these artifacts falling to Earth. Along the way, they discover an underworld third party group that is also seeking to acquire the debris.
Unfortunately for Beneventi, his own organization may be at the heart of whatever strange events are going on. The reveal of the CIA rebuilding the ship at the end of the first episode begs the question of what their intentions are with the alien technology, and what potential information or intelligence doing so can afford them. Given that Beneventi seems comparably in the dark about what is going on, it also appears that the show may lean into having both him and Finola be forced to do espionage on their own respective employers, in order to try and make sense of the colossal mystery that is slowly unfolding.
And it looks to be a mystery that will take quite some time to solve, given each piece of the alien debris is unique and possesses different properties. Some fragments of the alien ship cause objects - including humans - to transport from one space to another in an instant. Others have drained lakes, defied gravity causing bodies to float mere inches above the ground, and still, others draw energy and memories from humans.
While Jones and Beneventi continue to follow orders, they may soon discover it’s going to become increasingly difficult who to trust on Debris. Obviously, the operatives buying and using the alien debris are too organized to work alone, so yet another player in the game may hold the key to who figures out the mystery of the debris and wield all its power. Either way, Debris features the sort of combination of science, intrigue, and mystery like Fringe that might make this Wyman’s next cult sci-fi hit.