‘Moonhaven’ Recap: ‘The Seeker’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season one finale of ‘Moonhaven’. To revisit the precious episode, click here.
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One of the biggest worries that television fans have when it comes to supremely ambitious television shows that work to explore an important question about the human condition, is whether or not the show can find a way to answer said question. Because sometimes, writers bite off more than they can chew, and tackle a story or a concept that might be too big to solve. Or their envisioned answer to a question… might be too simple in nature and feel underwhelming to an audience and well, it is safe to say that this worry has been gnawing at the back of our minds when it comes to the AMC+ series, Moonhaven.
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Simply because, this is at its core, a story that is looking to explore what it would take for humanity to shed its darker tendencies and actually come together in the name of a better world and a better future for mankind… and that is an ambitious question to answer. Because in this volatile climate, where ideologies and political standings rule the day to the point where both sides are doubling down… it almost appears to be an impossible question to answer. For we appear to not be ready to enact great change to who we are to achieve what we wish to be. But believe it or not, the show did indeed find an answer to this query and after weeks of building toward it and building the plot of this fascinating story up, it revealed that answer… during the moon’s darkest hour.

For when we catch up with everyone in ‘The Seeker’, the situation continued to be quite grim. For IO moved the wall near the lineage tree, a move that saved Arlo’s life thankfully, but motivated great strife. For every mooner that had the opportunity came to the tree to learn about their past, violating every foundation laid down by their forefathers and that in turn would engender chaos. Since tribal notions would come back into play and old habits would be quickly resurrected and that wasn’t the only trouble present in this tale. Since Bella was able to learn… that Tom had quite the unsettling master plan, one that would reinforce the fears he created, by having people back home, murder the first wave, which did indeed leave in this tale. 

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Which is what brought about the exploration of the answer to the question at hand. Because war was coming, innocents would die, and the moon was going to devolve into a tiny little Earth-like colony. One complete with the violence and destruction that has plagued mankind since its modern inception. A reality… that didn’t sit right with Bella and Paul. For this was generations of work for a better tomorrow that was about to be brought down over notions of fear and a strong belief in the old ways. Which motivated them, and their friends and families, to take part in a bold plan. One that involved getting word to smugglers on Earth who could divert the first wave vessels to save them… and to prepare the mooners that believed in more… to prepare to fight for what they were raised to do.
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Thankfully, that push to try and save centuries of work, played out quite nicely. Since the first wave made it to Earth no problem and began to settle in there while Tom was unaware of the fact that a march to war to stop him had begun and well… that plan is what brings forth the answer. In that, humanity simply must take a moment to look at our world objectively, and just say… enough. Enough to the fighting, enough to the nonsense and enough to the stonewalling and desire to maintain ideals from a past that no longer apply to the present or the future. And from that epiphany, stand up, work with others that feel the same and enact the change we seek. A move that will shock those like Tom in this world and motivate others to follow and what’s wild is that when you think about it, this really is the right answer to our ails.

One that we have in fact, made happen before. Because now and again, when the world is dark, and we are truly worried about tomorrow… we have banded together and enacted change. Which means the answer has always been in plain sight, and well… if we could get everyone on that page, imagine the true utopia we could build, and kudos to the show to not only answering the question but for pointing out the answer has been in front of us for ages now. But perhaps with the world in a tenuous place we will finally see that, and hopefully this show helps start that conversation while it enters hiatus with a cliffhanger in play. For we have reached the end of this year’s journey and the good news is, the fight ahead won’t be played out in our minds. For season two of this magnificent and brilliant, and thoughtful show is a go… and it will be fascinating to see where this story takes us next when we return to the moon, next season. Until then.

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