Joe and Terry discuss Hulu’s cruise ship slasher series Wreck, alternating between our respective sites.

Spoilers for episode 6 “Water Off A Duck’s Back”

Miss a recap? 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Episode 1.06: Jamie finds himself in a lethal dead end with seemingly no way out. But after a surprise intervention brings some momentary respite, he learns that others are in peril.

JOE

Well, Terry, I’ve got to hand it to us because we mostly called the events of this finale correctly. All in all, I’d say that writer/creator Ryan J. Brown mapped this out pretty well because “Water Off A Duck’s Back” is a really solid conclusion to the season, with plenty of promise for that forthcoming second season you teased in our last review.

Episode six pretty much picks up exactly where five left off with Jamie (Oscar Kennedy) and Olly awaiting their fate in the control room as Henry Allan (Donald Sage Mackay), Karen (Harriet Webb), and Officer Hottie AKA Sam (Louis Boyer) loom over them.

What I didn’t expect was for Henry Allan to get his hands dirty and murder Sam so unceremoniously. It clearly takes Karen by surprise, too; there’s a significant beat where she looks stunned before she regains her composure and puts her usual resting bitch face back up.

Killing Sam is Henry Allan’s big mistake. Near the end of the episode, Jamie gloats that Velorum’s mistake was underestimating the impact of people like Pippa (Jodie Tyack), but if we’re being honest, letting Jamie and Olly get away and killing Sam is what seals the Sacramentum’s fate. If Henry Allan hadn’t killed Sam, Karen would have continued doing his bidding; instead she rebels because she realizes how expendable she is.

And by not killing Jamie and Olly…well…they recruit the entire staff to go to war against the Officers.

What I most appreciated was how the mutinous uprising goes. Not only do Jamie, Olly, Cormac (Peter Claffey) and Rosie (Miya Ocego) utilize the emotional connection the crew has to the missing people, thereby making the random supporting characters who felt insignificant suddenly incredibly important, but Olly wisely turns to the Filipinos (as we knew he would) when all hope gets lost.

Naturally it all comes to a head in a hallway where the two groups face each other down, separated only by a metal gate. This is a classic narrative device, but it’s still incredibly satisfying to see the tension and anxiety between the groups build as they jockey for position.

Brown has done an expert job of weaving all of these various players - most of them secondary characters who have only really had a scene or two - into the final confrontation. I’d be lying if I didn’t squeal a little when The Baby (Francis Flores) turns up with an electric bandsaw in front of a surprised Officer Beaker (Warren James Dunning). And while all we get is a glare off, the moment when Karen and Dolce (Georgina Goodman) lock eyes made me wish we had seen these two titans go head to head.

But speaking of head, Terry, what did you think of the final interaction between Vivian (Thaddea Graham) and Lily (Ramanique Ahluwalia) in the honeymoon suite? Were you surprised at who died and who survived? Did you chuckle when Hamish (James Phoon) revealed Beaker’s sexual kink? And were you at all surprised by the post-credits stinger?

TERRY

First of all, I knew Pippa wasn’t dead! The way she flipped off Ducky and jumped wasn’t an act of desperation but of defiance. So, no, Joe I wasn’t surprised by the stinger at the end! I was actively hoping for it!

You’re right, though, while we did predict mostly how this final act would go down, it didn’t make it any less entertaining. If anything, it felt right and perfect as it built on the themes Wreck has been playing with from the beginning. Creator Ryan J. Brown peppered plenty of “eat the rich” moments throughout this first season while playing with class and rank.

Most of this season has emphasized how disposable the working class is to those in control, with threats of dropping people off in third world countries and easily replacing them with other eager people in need of a job, no matter how shitty it is. What I think Wreck does incredibly (and subtly) well is show the rank structure within the working class, as well. The Entertainers distance themselves from the other staff, who in turn remain physically distant from the people working the engines.

Velorum and the rich have made sure that the workers are fractured so that they couldn’t all come together to overthrow the hierarchy. To see these disparate groups realize that they’ve been played against each other and ultimately come together is the rousing moment I’ve been waiting for. Like you, I shouted when The Baby came around the corner brandishing the saw.

Speaking of saws, I appreciated the confrontation between Lily and Vivian, even though the idea of Lily staging a “honeymoon killing” was incredibly messed up. The fact that Henry Allan suggests this scenario typically involves the victim being sedated is quietly horrifying…just what do these people do in the honeymoon scenario??

Actually, I don’t want to know.

“Water Off a Duck’s Back” stages these confrontations perfectly, giving each fight and character a shining moment. While Jamie does help Vivian, I was glad to see that Vivian was a fighter and that she struck the killing blow. What a goopy, gory mess! I was here for it.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how efficient this episode was, giving us a tidy little end of the Sacramentum story while opening up the world and putting forward the threads for a second season. Beaker has been an intriguing character this entire time because he comes across as so homophobic, so to hear about his sexual proclivities from Hamish made me laugh. Of course he hooked up with Hamish, but wanted to call him Karen!

Aside from Sam, who I thought would eventually side with Jamie but, instead, wound up quickly dispatched, I wasn’t really surprised with who lived and died. I was happy to see Karen escape because she’s had such a presence on screen. I’ve loved seeing her bitchy retorts all season so I’m glad she’s alive and could show up in the second season.

But back to you, Joe. Did you like the way “Water Off a Duck’s Back” tied up the season? While they won the day, this situation doesn’t look the best for the survivors…so what do you think will happen next for our little found family? Any thoughts of what Pippa is up to and who she’s with? And what do you give this season as a whole?

JOE

I’ll admit that I would have enjoyed a slightly long (and perhaps bloodier) climactic confrontation between the mutinous crew and the Whales in the showroom, but ultimately it made much more sense to keep the focus on Vivian and Jamie.

I never doubted for a second that either of our two queer leads would perish (Wreck simply isn’t that show), but I was a little disappointed that someone like Lily’s bitchy mother only got knocked out. Or that Beaker only got a shoulder injury courtesy of Rosie’s harpoon. I wanted 1% blood, Terry!

The closest comparison I can use to describe this ending and the scope of the worldbuilding that could be explored in season two is Escape Room. There’s a similar kind of class interrogation at play with the rich betting on the outcome of the desperate lower class players, and that film (by queer filmmaker Adam Robitel) similarly ends with a vast conspiracy being exposed…and, by virtue of their actions, our protagonists winding up in the crosshairs for the next entry.

I can easily see season two of Wreck tackling Velorum as an organization. The reveal that these events aren’t isolated to the Sacromentum is mentioned, but passed over quickly, but it seems pretty obvious that the larger, nefarious conspiracy will be the series’ main focus. Maintaining control of a single cruise ship is impressive, but a whole fleet?!

I can easily see S02 branching out beyond just cruise ships to interrogate the origins and outposts of Velorum, with Jamie, Vivian, Olly, Cormac and Rosie going undercover in other areas to sort out how deep the conspiracy goes. Considering Sophia, Hamish, Lauren and the other entertainers are still in play, it’s easy enough to bring them back in, too. Plus, Karen and Beaker are still kicking around, too…though who they’re allegiant to is a question worth asking.

Add in Pippa, who for my money is probably working with some kind of fringe activist (vaguely terrorist-y) organization determined to uproot Velorum and we’ve got ourselves a much larger sandbox to play in.

Some of this might be difficult to execute if Brown and co. don’t have an expanded number of episodes or a larger budget to work with (after all, building the sets for *a* cruise ship is very different from filming episodes on a broad range of sets and locales). Financials will undoubtedly factor into the show’s scope, but the narrative possibilities are pretty endless, especially given the cliffhanger(s) and the characters in play.

But yes, for a first season, this was ambitious, fun, and just so entertainingly queer. It’s an A- for me, Terry.

What do you envision for S02? Since Lily is bisected, Vivian is going to need a new (hopefully stable) love interest, so who’s your dream casting inspiration? Are there any characters you want to see more of (or maybe character combos? I love it when a show shakes up who partners up, particularly if they don’t normally get along). And what’s your S01 score?

TERRY

Ooh. New love interest for Vivian. What an inspired question, Joe, that I’m drawing an absolute blank on! Actually, I take that back because the moment I wrote it, I immediately knew who I’d love to see…Ella Hunt AKA Anna from Anna and the Apocalypse (as well as Dickinson and Master). I think she’d bring fun energy to the show. And she sings! Give us a musical number!

Onto more likely scenarios, though…I loved your comparison to Escape Room because that is the perfect way to describe the way in which Wreck could open up. As for pairings, if we did manage to keep some of the same side characters, I’d love to see Hamish and Jamie get stuck together because they seem to be polar opposite gay guys and the draaaaama Hamish would bring would be hilarious. Maybe they could swap sparkling water douching stories. I also just want to know more about Cormac and Rosie’s relationship. I think they had the surprisingly most tender story, considering how Cormac appeared in the beginning. I’d also just like to see more of that tall glass of water because he was very attractive and charismatic. I am who I am.

As a whole, this season worked incredibly well for me. It balanced the horror and the humor and I loved some of the absurdist touches. Mostly, the fact that we got a queer slasher series that was unabashedly gay and witty–and I didn’t have to worry about it being a one season thing because it had already been renewed–just filled my heart with joy. I agree with your score and give Wreck an A-.

That’s that on season one of Wreck. We’ll most assuredly be back to cover the second season!