The Perfect Storm
What happened on Charlie?
Episode 6 of The Rig starts this finale at the Kinloch Charlie Rig two days earlier. Coake is there watching the pressure continuing to rise. He recklessly decides to continue their test, but as they mess around with this circle on the seabed, it causes a huge explosion to ripple through Charlie station, sending choking black plumes of smoke into the air. Harish updates Magnus on all of this, going on to mention that after the explosion they managed to kill the well but the SBV came in and got too close, taking the lifeboat with it. They were made to stay and wipe everything off the system. Unfortunately, Coake left numerous people behind and they had 20 empty seats on the lifeboat when Coake gave the command to leave and head for Bravo. Coake speaks to Magnus next, pointing out that he makes the hard choices, determined to kill anyone who gets infected. Fulmer is back up and running and seems to be absolutely fine but no one seems to be questioning whether this infection can be “cured”, given Rose touched his chest and brought him back from the brink. Coake goes on and reveals that if they’re not careful, the ash will spread throughout the mainland but they need to try and kill the source of this right here. That means making the hard decision and staying on the Rig rather than leaving. This is the only place they can stop it and right now, they’re running out of time.
What does Rose intend to do?
Rose speaks to Fulmer and asks him to try and communicate with Baz. It’s a bit of a long-shot but there’s only one way to find out. Fulmer holds his hand out and manages to move the plant spores in the petri dish. He manages to see Baz and also a vision of what’s to pass. It seems like the Ancestor (whatever is inside Baz) is going to trigger a new Storegga Slide. This sort of tsunami would kill hundreds of thousands and harks back to the wave warning we were foreshadowed early in episode 1. However, it seems Baz may be the solution here. He’s been telling them all along they need to listen and they haven’t, so I guess it’s time for them to open their ears and actually hear what he has to say. Fulmer decides they should all go and see Baz together and bring him back. Coake doesn’t think it’s a good idea but of course, they all decide to ignore him and go along with Rose’s idea.
What is Coake’s contingency plan?
In their absence, Coake reveals to Harish in private that he has a way out. As the pair scurry off together to the Communications Room, Coake unveils his contingency plan in place. Helicopters are on their way for Coake and there’s room for Harish and one other. Now that the organism has targeted land, Pictor intends to cover all of this up and completely destroy it at its source. The group head down to see Baz, who’s surrounded by spores. They try to communicate with him in a scene that feels very reminiscent of The Expanse season 1. Anyway, while they try to talk him around, Harish continues to ask Coake about his moral compass, until he eventually snaps and tells Harish he’s willing to leave him behind. The thing is, Harish has been broadcasting this whole time and with Coake admitting to his plan, the others realize a chopper is en-route. However, the place suddenly begins shaking from tremors down below. While Coake heads up to the roof, Rose decides to try and stop what’s happening at the source.
Do the workers manage to evacuate Bravo?
In fact, instead of keeping it out, Rose decides to let it in. She touches the pipe and with that, the blue spores begin to swirl around, eventually creating… a portal to the multiverse! Not really guys, it’s a blue circle. After releasing it, Baz realizes that everything is connected and decides to stay behind and sacrifice himself for the greater good. He tells Magnus not to forget how precious life is, as a massive wave looks set to plow into everyone. Now, even though there were only two helicopters and dozens of people on the rig, miraculously everyone is saved. Anyway, before the wave can kill them all, our main characters scramble aboard the final helicopter which takes off and prepares for what’s to come next, with Coake revealing that they’re heading somewhere else We’re guessing Pictor HQ.
How does The Rig end?
Speaking of which, the final scene cuts across to Kasey who experiences massive tremors and there, on the horizon, a huge shadow descends on the mainland, presumably from the wave.
The Episode Review
Well, where do you start with that? The Rig bows out with a tepid finale that leaves things on a frustrating cliffhanger and barely anything resolved. The creators are clearly banking on a second season to continue the mythos and ideas explored here, but based on this showing it’ll be interesting to see how many people stick it out. The poor writing continues all the way to the very end where the inexplicable situation with he helicopter is laughably bad. We saw there’s a whole crowd of people on the rig and very few spaces left (why did Coake send two helicopters rather than just one?) and yet we’re led to believe that everyone survived? Hutton and the others said to get “as many people as possible” on the first chopper but all the people waiting at the bottom of the stairs are gone when Magnus and the others appear. Of course, bad writing is something we’ve mentioned constantly in these recaps and The Rig exemplifies the worst parts of this. There’s some poor dialogue, logical flaws and a massive patchwork of different influences stitched together here to form this mystery series. In the end that big cliffhanger is going to annoy a lot of people that have stuck with this to see a decent conclusion. What a shame.
