Debris Season 1, Episode 7 recap: You Can Call Her Caroline

We’ve seen a lot from the various debris scattered across the country during these past six weeks, but tonight’s episode brings us perhaps the most dangerous piece of debris yet –– one gives the user unprecedented mind control. Debris Episode 7 gives us a truly chilling cold open in which one man falls prey to the debris’s powers and shoots himself dead.

It starts with a man we later learn is named Liam Packard, who is trying to trade a blue duffle bag full of debris when a woman named Linda (Emma Yi) approaches him and forces him to hand it over. Poor Liam is then forced to kill himself by an unseen force, although he tries to fight against it.

Post-cold open, Bryan returns to D.C. to meet with Maddox and get up to speed on Anson Ash. So far, they know he’s ex-SAS and went AWOL six years ago. He was a decorated soldier who later became an issue for British intelligence. Later he went on to form INFLUX, the anti-government ideological movement that wants to keep the debris out of the government’s hands. Maddox tells Bryan there is strange encryption on Anson’s phone, but it keeps receiving phone calls from Maine.

Maddox believes whatever is in Maine could be another operating cell or an impending event, either way, that’s his and Finola’s next stop. Before leaving, Bryan asks Maddox if they’ve learned anything else about George Jones. He claims they haven’t. He also tells Maddox that Finola and MI6 know George is alive but doesn’t say how.

Just when you think Bryan might be playing both sides (which he sort of is, for now), he does inform Finola that he told Maddox what she knows. He refuses to believe anything untoward about his mentor until he has hard evidence in front of him.

Debris Episode 7 recap: Bryan & Finola cross paths with debris that can mind control people

In Maine, Agent Tom Gordon (Thomas Cadrot) debriefs Bryan and Finola on their latest mission. The man we saw at the Bar Harbor Municipal Pier, Liam Packard, had a long rap sheet, but only for minor crimes. And even though he shot himself in front of witnesses, no one there remembers anything; it’s like they were all in a trance. The woman, Linda, was later found wandering the roads without the bag and no memory of what happened.

Even though Liam is dead and hasn’t led a particularly remarkable life, Bryan and Finola wonder why he was trading calls with Anson. Could he have been part of an INFLUX sleeper cell?

Their next stop is to Liam’s brother, Luke Packard (Benjamin Hollingsworth). He immediately asks if the agents are there “about the UFO.” It turns out that Liam found a bunch of pieces of debris and believed they were part of an alien spacecraft. A fan of get-rich-quick schemes, Liam took to the dark web to find a buyer, and that’s why he was at the pier that morning to trade the debris for $50,000 in cash.

This scene also establishes that Liam had a daughter, Caroline (Evelyn Burke), who briefly investigates the newcomers. And we also find out that Luke used to be a soldier in Afghanistan. He mentions that ever since Liam found the debris, he started acting strange, and it reminded Luke of what he saw overseas, “like shellshock but there was no shells, he’d just stare at walls for hours, then it’d pass, and he’d go back to being himself.” We also learn a little more about Bryan, as he reveals that he once served in the marines in Afghanistan, part of MARSOC.

Bryan and Finola decide to investigate the marsh out back, where Liam first found the debris and Liam’s laptop. We then cut to the agents driving away from the Packard house with Finola investigating Liam’s laptop. She finds many conspiracy websites, but then while driving, Finola suddenly looks up and realizes they didn’t search the marsh. “How could we leave without searching it?”

They immediately double back. Finola feels unnerved by the marsh, and it gets a very high reading from her debris scanner. “I don’t think it wants us to be here,” She murmurs before running back to the car. Safe in the car again, Finola explains she felt something like a whisper in her ear telling her to go away. For now, they decide to book a hotel for the night (with a well-stocked minibar for Bryan’s constant snacking, of course) and send the Packards to one too.

We then pivot to a rather jarring and bleak scene showing Maddox torturing Anson. I’m not entirely sure how to explain it, but he inserts something into Anson’s brain and uses electrical shocks to force Anson to think certain things so they can pinpoint George’s location. It’s definitely not a scene for the squeamish.

Back to Maine, Finola and Bryan visit Caroline’s mother and Liam’s ex-wife, Gloria Hernandez. Gloria claims she has full custody of Caroline, so then why is Caroline living with Luke? Suddenly she and her new husband get all creepy and glassy-eyed and start saying that that’s where Caroline “belongs.”

Speaking of the mysterious Caroline for whom the episode is named, she wanders out to the marsh and sits on the edge. All the debris in the water floats toward her like tiny silver fishes.

When Bryan and Finola return to the Packards, Finola visits Caroline to discuss what she sees, and Bryan talks to Luke. Finola immediately gets high debris reading from Caroline, who tells Finola that “he makes me get them for him, so he’ll have enough.” Well, that’s not ominous at all!

Of course, Finola realizes that the “he” she’s referring to is Luke, who is the real evil here. Caroline tells Finola she’s been trying to hide pieces of debris, because for some reason, it’s attracted to her, and she wants to keep her uncle from getting stronger.

Meanwhile, Bryan is forced to listen to Luke’s manifesto as he starts talking about his plans to attack many higher-ups at the air force as payment for what they did to the soldiers in Afghanistan. Luke adds that if they “want us to be machines, I’ll give them one.” Bryan tries to get through to Luke to help him, but it’s too late. Luke uses his brainwashing abilities to send Finola, Bryan and their whole team packing as if they never found anything at all.

Debris Episode 7 recap: Little Caroline saves the day!

Left alone with Caroline, Luke forces her to show him where she’s been hiding the debris. Once he has a whole bag of it, he’s virtually unstoppable, and he carries out his plan by going to the nearby air force base.

Finola and Bryan don’t realize something is off until they’re about to board the plane in the hangar. Suddenly Finola asks Bryan how they got there. But by then, Luke has already arrived and forced one pilot to crash his plane into the field. Then he makes one soldier shoot another and forces Finola to walk away while coaxing Bryan into killing himself with his gun, similar to what he did to Liam.

Bryan is mere seconds from pulling the trigger when Luke dumps all of his debris out and smashes his face into it, sending one piece deep into his skull and killing him instantly. As Luke falls to the ground, we see Caroline behind him. She followed him there and saved the day! Cue “Sweet Caroline” montage. Joking, they didn’t, but they should have.

Caroline is reunited with her mother, who is now free of Luke’s brainwashing, and they’re left to live happily ever after.

Debris Episode 7 recap: Finola & Bryan receive shocking phone calls

Meanwhile, Finola gets a phone call around the same time as Bryan. Finola’s call is from Dee Dee, who sounds strange. She asks Finola to come home so they can visit “Michelle’s country house,” which turns out to be a code word they used as kids when they didn’t want their parents listening. She had good reason to use it –– Ferris is at Dee Dee’s house with her men and seemingly forced her to make the call.

On the other line, Bryan hears from Maddox, who tells him they’re planning a raid into the Washington Scablands, where they believe George is located. Just as Finola tells Bryan about her sister’s use of the code word, he tells her they’ve found her father!

What did you think about Debris Episode 7? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

New episodes of Debris Season 1 premiere Monday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET on NBC.