The Man Who Fell To Earth: Season 1/ Episode 5 “Moonage Daydream” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

As Faraday breaks the hold of being raised as a second-class citizen, Spencer makes his intentions clear and preps for other government agencies to soon swoop in.

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Aired (Showtime)	5/29/2022
Director(s)	Sarah Harding
Writer(s)	John Lopez, Jenny Lumet, Alex Kurtzman
Introduced This Episode
Watt	Zoe Wanamaker

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

Recap

New Life Adjustments – Justin, Josiah, Molly

Moving to London is a lot for Molly and Justin admits she isn’t necessarily happy about it. Growing up, she and Josiah moved a lot so she wanted to give Molly roots. But, Justin has secured them a nice home and accommodations.

But while the transition starts off good, it begins to show signs of going downhill as Josiah blanks out and makes it seem whatever Faraday did is wearing off.

Stuck In Linear Thought – Faraday, Hatch, Spencer, Drew

Despite having a team and the tenth patent, Faraday is lost. He figures a way to block Spencer’s signal from entering the room, but to replicate all else that Faraday knows he must, he is stuck. This isn’t good news for Hatch, as he learns why Spencer is there and who spencer works for. But, the one who is really dealing with bad news is Spencer as Drew warns him other agencies will soon get involved so he has a limited amount of time to prove Faraday seeks genocide.

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life – Faraday, Watt, Spencer, Justin

Faraday was raised as a drone, not an adept, and because of that, thinking outside the box, intuition, anything that doesn’t require following a procedure or instructions is foreign to him. Which is why the appearance of Watt, whose existence can’t fully be explained, is a godsend. She pushes Faraday to think like an adept, who apparently are humanoid, and after a night of drinking, he understands Newton’s design enough to make the casing for the energy device.

However, there remains the problem of how to make the energy, which is where Justin comes in. That is what she has long been working on and has made some progress with. But, how much progress Spencer will allow her to make when he questions her loyalty to humanity, is hard to say.

Things To Note

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. In the movie they mention nine patents, so where did the tenth one come from?
2. Who or what was Watt? I get she was imagined by Faraday, but who is she based on?
3. What was that structure outside of Anthea?

What Could Happen Next

1. Spencer makes his move on Faraday
2. Hatch tells Justin what Spencer told him not to
3. Josiah’s health rapidly declines
4. Hopefully, we get flashbacks that could bridge what happened in the movie to what is talked about in the show

Collected Quote(s)

Either I am incapable of understanding, not ready to understand, or it’s nonsense.
— Faraday

Review

Highlights

Detailed Imagery of Anthea

Previously, Anthea was seen in glimpses that didn’t allow much in the way of detail. However, from the outer rings surrounding the planet to watching Faraday liftoff and seeing more than sand dunes, we got a nice change of pace. Though with us now covering his liftoff, there is a need to question if we’ll see the planet again and know how it has changed throughout time.

The Process of Faraday Becoming Human

With Watt revealing Anthea had a caste system in which drones were basically slaves, with adepts some offshoots of humans after Anthea came in near contact with Earth, this makes things interesting. Mainly due to it sounding like adepts, who came after those who became drones, enslaved drones. Who, thus far, have been depicted as Black.

Now, this isn’t to say Thomas and the rest were racist. After all, the caste system on Anthea had only two types and it isn’t clear when a being reached maturation, who or what decided if you’d become adept or a drone. Never mind all the other complexities which complicate life on Earth.

But, the point is, with Faraday challenged to think like an adept, it makes you wonder how will he make such a drastic change and what will the side-effect be? Could he become someone who not only can do the work to invent Thomas’ invention but have a personal life? Molly has seem to have taken to him and who knows if Justin could or might. Is that an option?

Also, considering we know Faraday’s transformation will ultimately make him into a Steve Jobs type, how he goes from tunnel vision and borderline cruel to possibly embracing emotions and gaining intuition should be interesting.

On The Fence

Feeling Like A Lot Is Being Said, But We’re Getting Nowhere Fast

There is a bit of uncertainty here about how the pacing should be. This is billed as a limited series, and while there is a need to recognize there is a transition going on since Justin is moving her family, Faraday hit a wall, and Spencer has taken a small break to set up shop, is it wrong to want more?

This isn’t to downplay seeing Anthea and learning how Faraday’s upbringing made him robotic. More so, it feels like the show is meandering a bit and while it moves forward, it does like a child distracted in a supermarket aisle. Hence the need after every episode to double-check if this is a limited series or not, for it doesn’t feel like it is limited for time. Yes, it hits a milestone in most episodes, but they’re either buried amongst other events or the milestone falls flat, like meeting Mary Lou.

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