It’s tough not to compare creator J.H. Wyman’s new sci-fi series Debris to his previous sci-fi series, the cult favorite Fringe, which ran from 2008-2013 on Fox. Wyman joined Fringe as showrunner in its second season and was a major creative force on the series for the rest of its run. The pilot of Debris (the only episode NBC provided for review) features a central mystery that could have been lifted from an episode of Fringe, and it sets up long-terms storylines that echo Fringe’s mix of sci-fi world-building and emotional bonding. It’s tough to tell based on just this one episode where Debris will go over the rest of the season, but for now it seems to be playing to Wyman’s strengths.

As on Fringe (and The X-Files, obviously a major influence on both shows), Debris focuses on a duo of agents, one male and one female, investigating strange phenomena. CIA agent Bryan Beneventi (Jonathan Tucker) and MI6 agent Finola Jones (Riann Steele) are part of an American-British task force called Orbital, whose job is to locate and contain pieces of alien debris that have fallen to Earth in various places in the Western Hemisphere. These fragments from what appears to have been an alien spacecraft have unpredictable effects on their surroundings, presumably with enough variation to provide a range of episodic stories.

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Both Bryan’s and Finola’s home agencies have their own competing agendas, and Bryan’s CIA boss (Norbert Leo Butz) is clearly hiding something from his field operatives. Like Fringe’s Peter Bishop, Finola is the child of an eccentric scientist, the first astrophysicist to learn about debris, whose role in the larger alien conspiracy is unclear. And of course, there’s also a competing faction of mysterious, sinister operatives looking to get to the debris before Orbital does, led by the dastardly Anson Ash (hip-hop artist Scroobius Pip) and his menacing beard.

Jonathan Tucker in Debris

It’s not surprising that the first episode of a sci-fi conspiracy series offers more vague hints than answers, and Wyman makes sure to also include a self-contained case of the week, which leans a bit too heavily on feelings over science. The episode opens with Bryan and Finola tracking Ash’s group as they make a deal to acquire a piece of debris, and it’s a suspenseful, fast-paced introduction to the concept. Ash and his operatives use debris fragments (which Bryan amusingly calls “nachos”) to teleport away from the authorities, and an unsuspecting hotel maid who touches debris accidentally falls 14 stories to her death — by phasing through the hotel floors.

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But that’s just the introduction. The main plot of the episode finds Bryan and Fiona investigating debris activity in Kansas, where a creepy-looking kid has been causing adults to bleed from their eyes and then fall into catatonic states as they levitate just above the ground. Wyman and director Brad Anderson (a genre movie and TV veteran) create a lot of cool images that don’t necessarily have any relevance to the ultimate explanation for what’s going on, but contribute to the sense of otherworldly danger that the show is aiming for.

Riann Steele in Debris

The solution to the case of the debris-possessed floaty people hinges on some mushy emotional maneuvers that seem like the characters are randomly making up the rules as they go along. But it also allows Wyman to throw in some important character development for the main duo, who are already starting to connect on a deeper level. Bryan, a military veteran, may be suffering from PTSD from his time in Afghanistan and isn’t used to opening up to others. Finola has a more personal connection to the debris mission, via her father. Tucker and Steele have promising chemistry that seems likely to grow as the series progresses.

There are also plenty of sci-fi clichés here, that could blossom into complex storylines or could remain uninspired. The dialogue is full of largely meaningless techno-babble mixed with pronouncements like “In the wrong hands it could be the end of humanity.” Debris also resembles Fringe in that it fits with the trend of post-Lost serialized sci-fi series that proliferated in the ’00s, most of which fizzled out pretty quickly. It’s impossible to say at this point whether Debris will thrive in its own unique way like Fringe, or end up more like Alcatraz or Threshold or a dozen other forgotten network sci-fi series.

For now, Debris is worth some patience from sci-fi fans, especially anyone who enjoyed Fringe, which struggled to find its footing in its first season before developing a distinctive voice. Debris is eerie and intriguing, with enough memorable images in the first episode to generate interest in what else Wyman and his fellow creators can come up with. At this point, the possibilities outweigh the shortcomings.

Jonathan Tucker and Riann Steele in Debris (2021)
Debris
TV-PG
Drama
Mystery

Two agents from two different continents and two different mindsets, must work together to investigate when wreckage from a destroyed alien spacecraft has mysterious effects on humankind.

Release Date
March 1, 2021
Creator
J.H. Wyman
Cast
Jonathan Tucker , Norbert Leo Butz
Main Genre
Science Fiction
Seasons
1
Production Company
Frequency Films, Legendary Television, Universal Television
Number of Episodes
13
Main Cast
Riann Steele

Starring Jonathan Tucker, Riann Steele, Norbert Leo Butz and Scroobius Pip, Debris premieres Monday, March 1 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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