IR TV Review: NAUTILUS - EPISODES 9 & 10 ("Ride of the Valkyrie" & "Too Big to Fail")[AMC]
The progression of "Nautilus" is about a sense of self. For the most part, the season has always had a different concept which comes together with the most telling of the stories being that of Humility Lucas halfway through and, to a lesser extent, Nemo himself. The last two of the episodes of the season in "Ride Of The Valkyrie" and "Too Big To Fail" rest in two different assumptions. The first one is in judging oneself and the other is in judging others. Episode 9 begins with searching in a way for the lost world but the reality of a supposed treasure being hunted is more a fool's errand that leads to a different kind of realization. Nemo himself is under scrutiny by an outside force whose own compass of what they are trying to protect is a little but skewed. There is a nihilistic reasoning to their actions but it is always a unique set up that pays more than a passing homage to both "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Vikings" as well as "Wonder Woman". The concept of the needs of the many versus the few come into play but it is also reflective in an almost self expressive way especially during a scene where members of the crew must expound on their "truth" of him. It is much more believable than a similar that happened on the sub a couple episodes ago which almost seemed like forced exposition.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), the season finale with "Fail" jumps a couple months to see what kind of errand of manipulation that Nemo eventually wants to play. It is a good plan and makes sense with most involved but it almost seems too rushed as if could be done over multiple episodes. It plays almost like a financial thriller with a bit of swashbuckling involved. Humility and her handmaiden play heavily into the play of it but when it comes down to it, the resolution is less of a cliffhanger than a what-if. The final moments do make a lot of sense in terms of a set piece and certain characters that need to be resolved. Of course the actually endgame is skewed because it is trying to provide too many motivations in a compressed amount of time. "Nautilus" has had its ups and downs but the most part has been a solid series that challenges the status quo on an age-old tale and yet it was delayed coming over to the States (it had originally been produced for Disney+) but AMC did well in bringing it to US screens with a dynamic story, some great visuals and effective acting.
"Ride Of The Valkyrie": B
"Too Big To Fail": B
By Tim Wassberg
