The Final Assault
As episode 8 of Make My Day begins, Jim and the group take stock and prepare for their final assault, intent on getting off the planet once and for all. However, in order to get there, it’s worth briefly recapping some of the key parts of this story up until this point.
What happened to the Survey Team?
When Jim and the group arrive underground early on in the show, they find the remains of the survey team, destroyed by the Swarms. This actually happens to be part of Operation “Sucker W”. The original team that discovered the monsters’ fossil-like eggs in the underground mines about a month back saw experts refer to these creatures as “swarms”.
What is Sig? How does that tie into the story?
In the 26th Century (where this story is set), Sig is one of the most valuable mineral resources in the galaxy. It’s very rare and holds numerous possibilities, including being used as an energy source. Just one ounce can power a generator for a whole year, explaining why it’s so lucrative. Coldfoot is the first planet humans have found with a significant Sig deposit, something that the prisoners there are forced to mine as a labor force while in captivity.
The Swarms are the native species of Coldfoot. These parasitic-esque creatures come armed with tendrils and gas trapped inside that explodes when ripped open. Professor William Boyd was brought in from Central after discovering said fossilized eggs that the survey team picked up.
However, as his findings threatened the entire operation, given the creatures are sentient, he was imprisoned and the papers inevitably buried by Dr Hadson and the others.
Central (presumably the main planetary hub for the humans) had a tanker planned full of Swarms and this explains why they woke up and attacked the ship. The Colonel was ordered to shoot down said ship and bury the evidence. And although the majority of the Sig was eaten, many of the Swarms actually survived.
How do Jim and the others intend to get off the planet?
The lifeboat needs help getting out of orbit and the only solution is the nearby Sig depot, so we begin this final episode with our group preparing for the assault and to secure their route off the planet. Only, that’s easier said than done with so much of the Swarms all around.
There’s still debris from the Sig Ship in the sky though so they work to get rid of that first before launching the lifeboat off the planet. Casper and Jim are separated, with the latter sticking with William Boyd for the time being.
Jim leads Bark and Walter forward as they clear the containers and scramble to load the Lifeboat into one. Even with the Lifeboat onboard though, they need to clear the “obstacles” – that being the Swarms – and potentially a far worse predator out there too.
The attack begins and as the Swarms head toward them, Bark and Walter are ordered by Jim to focus their fire to help the containers get out. They fire missiles, lasers, guns and anything else they can to get rid of their foes. Unfortunately, a massive horde begins spilling over the mountains on the horizon. The signal drops too, with Jim distracted when Marnie’s message cuts out.
Does the group make it off the planet in one piece?
Robert tries to sabotage the entire operation in the wake of this, with a robot used to try and take Casper out. Thankfully the robot is stopped and Robert held at gunpoint. Casper though, is badly hurt. The group scramble onboard the lifeboat, still within the container, and manage to break out and into the atmosphere.
Marnie’s baby is not responsive and there’s a difficult few moments while Kou isn’t breathing until her airways are cleared and she finally begins crying. Phew!
If that wasn’t enough, the rescue shuttle shows up in orbit and the remains of Casper are safely held onboard, hopefully to get repaired in the future. The group join together and with Robert now changed and back on their side, the group prepare for a new beginning for them all, wondering just what the future may hold.
As for Jim, he decides to embrace his true passions in drawing and working in cartoons, which is pretty ironic given the CGI animation this show has!
The Episode Review
Make My Day ends with a pretty perfunctory and straightforward ending, one that sees a very video-game-esque mission to stop the Swarms while also securing the Lifeboat to get off the planet. Learning about the Swarm earlier on and how that ties into Dr Hadson is definitely a nice inclusion but overall, the show uses well-worn tropes and ideas that have been done to death in this medium.
The idea surrounding a ragtag group of survivors needing to stave off an alien threat has been around since the 70’s with Alien and this series doesn’t really do an awful lot to stand out from the rest. This final episode only exemplifies that, with a last minute switch for Robert and a pretty standard escape in truth.
The ending is very conclusive though so it seems highly unlikely that we’ll get a second season but you never know with Netflix! The animation across the board has been pretty poor, with a lot of this feeling like an early PS1 game cut-scene.
The backgrounds certainly fare a bit better but the character models are a real eye-sore. Unfortunately, this ending only highlights all of those issues, along with the simple narrative too, making for a rather underwhelming experience.
Read More: Make My Day Season 1 Review