Another Life season 1, episode 6 recap: I Think We’re Alone Now

The Salvare malfunctions, Niko is adrift in space and a crewmember has to make a huge sacrifice to save the day. Here’s what happened in episode six of Another Life.

Episode six of Another Life opens with Niko untethered in a space suit, drifting in space, while Cas flies away with the ship. What happened to the Salvare? And what’s the history behind Niko and Cas’ fraught relationship?

In this episode, we learn that, after returning from the Pilgrim mission, Niko ‘met’ Cas for the first time. Actually, Cas and her associates captured Niko for ransom and Cas’ boss recognised Niko as the infamous astronaut from the Pilgrim. While babysitting Niko, Cas let slip her interest in going up in space, away from Earth. But, apparently, she wasn’t too interested in getting to know her colleagues on a long journey.

Niko was impressed by Cas’ knowledge, but Cas wasn’t looking for a fairy godmother. Except, Niko decided to give Cas her contact details anyway when her ransom was paid.

The Salvere in Danger

While investigating the cause of the fire in the previous episode of Another Life, August discovers the stowaway bug. Now it’s burnt to a crisp, but it damaged a lot of the wiring before its demise. There’s plenty of pent-up tension between August, Oliver and Javier, but they need to get the systems back up and running.

More from Show Snob

• The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 6 recap “Wanga Banga Langa!”
• Lawmen: Bass Reeves season 1, episode 7 preview: Non-spoiler thoughts for Part VII
• Goosebumps season 1, episode 6 recap: “Night of the Living Dummy”
• Beacon 23 season 1, episode 3 recap: “Why Can’t We Go on as Three?”
• Upload season 3, episode 2 recap: “Strawberry”

Sasha, who constantly gets handed the menial tasks on the ship because he can’t contribute any other way, continues to see visions of himself – as the President no less. Zayn can’t find anything wrong with him and concludes that he’s probably stressed.

Niko is reeling from everything Cas told her on the moon and, it doesn’t help that Michelle keeps stoking the hate towards Niko when she’s alone with Cas. Apparently, these three have a history. Niko is desperate to get William back online, but it’s a hard task. Javier briefly gets William’s program up and running, but that plan backfires. William turns on the protocol to return to Earth and that will tear the ship apart. The crew have to combine forces to make sure no one dies.

When some of the systems don’t work, Niko takes it upon herself to leave the ship and repair them. She succeeds, but a sudden jerk sends her flying – Niko is saved by her tether, but not for long. Suddenly the Salvare activates its FTL drive and disappears, severing Niko from the ship and leaving her stranded.

Saving Niko

With Niko adrift, Cas is desperate to get the ship back to her. But the protocol is locked on Earth and Javier is unable to unlock it. Cas is in a bind, especially since Michelle keeps pleading with her to let them return, irrespective of the fact that they haven’t completed their mission. Some of the other crewmembers are with Michelle on this, but others are sure that Niko is alive and waiting.

Cas wins out and returns to Niko, but they can’t track her without her locator signal on. Realising that the ship is struggling to find her, Niko punctures her suit and lights up some oxygen to get their attention. I don’t really know if there’s any scientific basis for that tactic, but it works for Niko.

The crew bring Niko back, and don’t notice that Sasha is almost suicidal because of his visions. This other version of himself wants to be ‘let in’, and that’s the only way for Sasha to be cured.

When Niko wakes up, she and Cas apologise to each other for what they said in the previous episode of Another Life. But that’s the least of their worries now. Niko had spotted a breach in the ship when she was outside, but her message hadn’t got through to Cas. Now the ship is in dire straits. The only way to fix the system is by entering a tube and physically pulling out the plugs.

Michelle is closest to the area and decides to do it herself. She’s been a pain in the neck for everyone, so now her character gets a redemption arc by sacrificing herself. With her dying breath, Michelle tells Cas to let everyone know that she was a hero, and not to take credit for saving the day. Honestly, that’s the most authentic statement made by any character on the show so far.

Niko arrives to comfort Cas, but she is inconsolable. Niko knows what it’s like to make a command decision that costs lives. Now she needs to make another tough decision – to wake up yet another crewmember.

The episode ends with Sasha deleting the records of his scans by Zayn. The scans show that something was embedded in Sasha’s brain – something that he’s now allowed to take control of him.