A Harsh Mistress
Caution: this post includes spoilers for Episode 411, “Dark Moon” — proceed at your own risk!
Season Three culminated entirely in its final episode, in which all the clues of the preceding episodes paid off with the (seeming) destruction of the universe. Season Four uses different tactics — we’re paying off the mystery in the PENULTIMATE episode this year, and then using our season finale to address a loose end and launch a new cliffhanger.
There have been a few different enigmas in Season Four. What has EnGAGE been doing all this time? What happened to Agent Caliban? What was behind that vision of a hydra in the skies over Colorado? What did Cordwainer Shute’s soul experience between dimensions, leading him to shout puzzling remarks like “The Sky is Made of Stone” — ?
Starting with the last first — those words about the sky are about an old Judy Collins song, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.” And true to that poetry, EnGAGE’s plan is to shatter the moon so that its stony fragments would indeed dot the sky and spell out doom for this planet that EnGAGE hates so very much.
And his mechanism to strike at the moon is to use Agent Caliban’s ties to government websites, and invade the Space Force Base at NORAD — whose emblem is that creepy hydra! (The NORAD control room photo here is from the 60s, because amazingly enough we did not rate clearance there to get a newer pic!) From NORAD, EnGAGE could launch a missile at the moon that would be well on its way before anyone would imagine its destination was the Sea of Tranquility.
The thrill of this episode is that it reunites the vocal talent of our very first episode! With Chris Conner as Agent Stoker — the amazing Amy Hill as Agent Caliban — the Emmy-nominated Ato Essandoh as EnGAGE — and the wonderful Emily Deschanel as Rose, the Voice of the Night Brigade — it’s literally Old Home Week here. Add in Leslie Ishii, award-winning actress and director who’s recently joined us as Agent Caliban’s daughter Eurydice, and it’s an embarrassment of riches. We love to spoil you!
Join us next week for the big finish of Season Four, and don’t hesitate to write us through this website and let us know how it sounds!