General Mark Naird (Steve Carell) kidnaps a cashier at the beginning of Space Force, but what happened to him after? Netflix's high-profile comedy re-teams Carell with The Office creator Greg Daniels for a workplace comedy centered around the Space Force implemented by President Trump. Space Force launched to mixed reviews in May but still found its way to the top of Netflix's Top 10 list.
Although the premise of Space Force is simple enough - where Naird is suddenly put in charge of Space Force - the show is filled with some big mysteries. For instance, it is never explained why Naird's wife was sentenced to prison. Another mystery begins in the first episode of Space Force as well. The episode shows General Naird stopping at a gas station before going to the secret Space Force base, but the cashier keeps asking him questions about it and the upcoming launch. Naird then decided to kidnap the cashier and put him in the trunk of his car, but what happened to him next?
Space Force made it appear that the cashier was fine. Naird told the guards at Space Force about the man in his car and told them to let him go after the launch. However, that might not be what actually happened to him. During the Space Force season 1 finale, Naird's daughter is standing outside a gas station and a missing person flyer is behind her. The flyer is for Emmett Buntyn and says that he was last seen at Wild Horse Gas Station and Convenience Store. This episode takes place several days after when Buntyn was seen on the Space Force premises, indicating that he might not have been set free after all.
The inclusion of the missing person flyer for Buntyn in the season finale can't be a mistake, as this small detail was likely purposefully included by Daniels so viewers will speculate about what really happened. Unfortunately, Space Force doesn't provide any other clues about Buntyn's fate. It could be determined, though, that Buntyn has been missing for quite some time if a missing person flyer was put up. Is it possible Space Force kept him as a prisoner after he saw their base despite Naird's orders?
After including this tease about Buntyn's fate in the season one finale, hopefully Space Force plans to address this plot point in the future. Netflix has yet to renew Space Force for season 2 at this point, but the ending of season one shows that Daniels has plans for the story to continue in a brand new direction. Whether or not Buntyn factors into the future of Space Force remains to be seen, though.