Animation is finally being recognized as the powerful tool it has always been. What was once considered a medium meant for children is now home to some of the most beloved shows of our time like Bojack Horseman, Bob’s Burgers, and Rick and Morty. Through a colorful and beautiful landscape, these shows have supplied fans with comedic and even poignant moments.
With so many animated shows now available to watch, it's easy for some to slip through the cracks and get lost among others, only to be given the attention they truly deserve later on in their production or even when they’re already off the air. A series that definitely deserves more eyes on it is Final Space, a science-fiction space opera that packs as much heart and drama as it does comedy.
Final Space centers on Gary Goodspeed, voiced by creator Olan Rogers. Goodspeed is in the midst of finishing up a prison sentence on the Galaxy One, a ship with the only human on it being himself, when he meets an adorable green alien — who just happens to be one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. Instant friends, Gary names the mysterious alien Mooncake. It's not long until Gary and his new pal encounter the villainous Lord Commander (voiced by Doctor Who’s David Tennant), who will stop at nothing to capture Mooncake and use his powers for evil. Gary and a growing ragtag crew must keep Mooncake safe from Lord Commander while they investigate "Final Space": an unknown realm where the universe is said to actually end.
While Final Space has the vast possibilities of science-fiction on its side, the series’ strongest asset is its cast of characters. Gary's extreme but lovable nature makes him a perfect protagonist. He starts the pilot as an emotionally stunted man alone in space and changes in the later seasons to a mature leader among his group of misfit friends, known as “Team Squad.” One of Gary’s best friends is Avocato (Coty Galloway), a cat-like alien and former ally to the Lord Commander. While Avocato was first sent by Lord Commander to retrieve Mooncake but later joins the team to find his son, Little Cato (voiced by Steven Yeun.) Quinn Ergon (Tika Sumpter) is another friend and an eventual love interest for Gary. A member of the Infinity Guard, Quinn joins “Team Squad” to investigate phenomena along with the group. Her independent and no-nonsense attitude creates a hilarious and sweet dynamic between her and Gary, as well as the rest of the crew.
Amazing voice talent rounds out the rest of the cast. Ron Perlman voices Gary’s father, John Goodspeed, SNL’s Fred Armisen plays KVN, an obnoxious robot, while H.U.E, the ship’s artificial intelligence — with a name that is obviously an homage to H.A.L from 2001: A Space Odyssey — is brought to life by Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob Squarepants. Ashly Burch, best known as the voice behind video game characters like Borderlands’ Tiny Tina and Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn joins the cast in the second season as Ash Graven.
Like other animated shows that came before it, Final Space is not afraid to tug at its viewers' heartstrings while making them laugh. The show begins rather simply, with a mission to uncover “Final Space”, keep Mooncake safe, and destroy the Lord Commander, but quickly becomes so much more, covering different timelines and even dimensions of space. The show tackles difficult topics like estranged family relationships and the death of a loved one. As the characters become more nuanced from their time on Galaxy One, their problems become that much bigger and sometimes sillier, whether it be from a cosmic entity possessing a crew member or a ship-wide invasion of Garys.
In September of this year, creator Olan Rogers took to YouTube to announce that Final Space's third season would sadly be its last. The series, which had survived switching from airing on TBS to a spot on Adult Swim, was canceled in the fallout of a proposed merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery. Olan had stated that has enough ideas for Final Space to run for another couple of seasons, with its cancelation placing the story at a halfway mark. It’s possible in the age of Twitter campaigns and the interaction between fan and company that Final Space could be brought back on another television network or even in another form entirely. For now, fans will have three seasons to remember and new fans have time to catch up on the madness and heart behind the crew of the Galaxy One.