[8.0/10] The Zeta Project finishes strong. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the series finale here, since I’d heard that the show was prematurely canceled, but the episode provides enough details and has an appropriately action-packed, arc-heavy closing chapter to give the show a sense of finality.
We learn that Dr. Selig was, at heart, a pacifist who never felt totally comfortable making weapons for the government. We learn that he’s responsible for that mysterious module in Zeta’s brain, that it was intended to give Zeta a conscience. We learn that the government is building next generation bio-synthetic synthoids even more convincing than Zeta. We learn that Brother’s Day turns out to be an anti-synthoid group that was aiming to destroy entities like Zeta. Most notably, we see Agent Bennet overhearing Selig’s explanation to Zeta, perhaps finally convincing him that this crusade is wrong, and he’s been on the wrong track the whole time.
Granted, there’s some overstuffing to the story here. It’s cool to see the base where all Synthoids go to recharge and get new missions. It’s cool to see the Gnosis, Dr. Selig’s floating lab. It’s cool to see Zeta and Ro infiltrate Brother’s Day and get to the bottom of their plans. And it’s especially cool to get to see Ro pick up some holographic camouflage on her own.
But maaaan, that is a lot of ground to cover in twenty-two minutes, with the ensuing firefights, blackmail schemes, explosions, and revelations coming a little too quickly for each to land with the type of force it might otherwise. Still, that can be forgiven in an accidental series finale, where it’s more important to get it all out there in some way, shape or form.
What I like best about this though is the sense of questions being answered but an ensuing melancholy. Zeta finally gets to Selig and learns much of what he wanted to know in terms of why he turned out the way he did, but he doesn’t get the chance to let Selig know that his hopes for The Zeta Project succeeded, since he’s living proof, nor is he able to get Selig to affirm to the government or others that he really has changed. It’s bittersweet, in the way a lot of good endings are.
There’s still plenty of teases and open questions left as the show drops the curtains. We never found out the full story about Ro’s biological parents or what happened to her as a kid. We don’t get to fully understand what the top secret government project above Bennet’s pay grade is. (The bio-synths, I guess?) We don’t receive a full accounting of what Selig’s original “plans” for Zeta were. And despite the appearance of Selig perishing in the Brother’s Day bombing, the human/synthoid hand sinking beneath the water suggests the real deal, or at least Selig’s consciousness, is still out there somewhere.
(Not for nothing, but we also don’t get any confirmation or contradiction of my theory that Agent West is The Flash’s grandson.)
Still, we get enough: a grand confrontation amid all of the major players in the series, major revelations, and a personal win and loss for Zeta at the same time. There’s answers and hope, with just enough sadness and further runway that the show could go on if it had received an eleventh hour renewal. In the final tally, it’s a much more satisfying ending than I was really expecting.
Overall, The Zeta Project turned out to be a good not great show. It has a compelling and durable premise plus an interesting (and evolving) myth arc that sustained the show through a lot. That said, it seemed to struggle to come up with interesting ways to use that premise when it wasn’t advancing the ball with the series arc. A lot of the interstitial episodes feel like filler. While the show had a high floor, with even those less essential episodes usually working on a nuts and bolts level, it also had a lower ceiling than some of its DCAU brethren.
Still, what I think I’ll take away from this show most is the great dynamic between Zeta and Ro. The two misfits finding and bettering one another was always the heart of the series, and their friendly, funny banter together was a consistent highlight in both the show’s best and worst episodes. Their character development and becoming found family is what I’ll remember, and it’s enough to make me hope the characters pop up again some day, in some form, no matter what holographic guise they’re in this time.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-08-06T20:32:24Z
[8.0/10] The Zeta Project finishes strong. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the series finale here, since I’d heard that the show was prematurely canceled, but the episode provides enough details and has an appropriately action-packed, arc-heavy closing chapter to give the show a sense of finality.
We learn that Dr. Selig was, at heart, a pacifist who never felt totally comfortable making weapons for the government. We learn that he’s responsible for that mysterious module in Zeta’s brain, that it was intended to give Zeta a conscience. We learn that the government is building next generation bio-synthetic synthoids even more convincing than Zeta. We learn that Brother’s Day turns out to be an anti-synthoid group that was aiming to destroy entities like Zeta. Most notably, we see Agent Bennet overhearing Selig’s explanation to Zeta, perhaps finally convincing him that this crusade is wrong, and he’s been on the wrong track the whole time.
Granted, there’s some overstuffing to the story here. It’s cool to see the base where all Synthoids go to recharge and get new missions. It’s cool to see the Gnosis, Dr. Selig’s floating lab. It’s cool to see Zeta and Ro infiltrate Brother’s Day and get to the bottom of their plans. And it’s especially cool to get to see Ro pick up some holographic camouflage on her own.
But maaaan, that is a lot of ground to cover in twenty-two minutes, with the ensuing firefights, blackmail schemes, explosions, and revelations coming a little too quickly for each to land with the type of force it might otherwise. Still, that can be forgiven in an accidental series finale, where it’s more important to get it all out there in some way, shape or form.
What I like best about this though is the sense of questions being answered but an ensuing melancholy. Zeta finally gets to Selig and learns much of what he wanted to know in terms of why he turned out the way he did, but he doesn’t get the chance to let Selig know that his hopes for The Zeta Project succeeded, since he’s living proof, nor is he able to get Selig to affirm to the government or others that he really has changed. It’s bittersweet, in the way a lot of good endings are.
There’s still plenty of teases and open questions left as the show drops the curtains. We never found out the full story about Ro’s biological parents or what happened to her as a kid. We don’t get to fully understand what the top secret government project above Bennet’s pay grade is. (The bio-synths, I guess?) We don’t receive a full accounting of what Selig’s original “plans” for Zeta were. And despite the appearance of Selig perishing in the Brother’s Day bombing, the human/synthoid hand sinking beneath the water suggests the real deal, or at least Selig’s consciousness, is still out there somewhere.
(Not for nothing, but we also don’t get any confirmation or contradiction of my theory that Agent West is The Flash’s grandson.)
Still, we get enough: a grand confrontation amid all of the major players in the series, major revelations, and a personal win and loss for Zeta at the same time. There’s answers and hope, with just enough sadness and further runway that the show could go on if it had received an eleventh hour renewal. In the final tally, it’s a much more satisfying ending than I was really expecting.
Overall, The Zeta Project turned out to be a good not great show. It has a compelling and durable premise plus an interesting (and evolving) myth arc that sustained the show through a lot. That said, it seemed to struggle to come up with interesting ways to use that premise when it wasn’t advancing the ball with the series arc. A lot of the interstitial episodes feel like filler. While the show had a high floor, with even those less essential episodes usually working on a nuts and bolts level, it also had a lower ceiling than some of its DCAU brethren.
Still, what I think I’ll take away from this show most is the great dynamic between Zeta and Ro. The two misfits finding and bettering one another was always the heart of the series, and their friendly, funny banter together was a consistent highlight in both the show’s best and worst episodes. Their character development and becoming found family is what I’ll remember, and it’s enough to make me hope the characters pop up again some day, in some form, no matter what holographic guise they’re in this time.