The first season of Future Man comes to a conclusion with the last-ditch effort from Josh, Tiger and Wolf to change the future (without killing Keith David's Elias Kronish) in an increasingly complicated timeline. I really respect the fact that this key goal and storyline has been in place since the beginning of the show, with every episode advancing the plot for the most part and character development and reoccurring subplots thrown in along the way. This has definitely served the story much better than if the episodes were more self-contained, focused parodies of certain sci-fi properties - although the James Cameron related 'Pandora's Mailbox' episode did stand out in a great way with its imaginative story and set pieces, I don't think thirteen episodes that took similar risks would have ended up well. However, while a single primary story has meant that we've seen great character moments and comedic payoffs, there is a feeling that we might have seen the best of this situation already, as the finale is good but isn't as creative and entertaining as my favourite episodes of the season: 'Operation: Fatal Attraction' and 'Operation: Natal Attraction'. With this in mind, I fully commend the direction of the story, but I hope Season 2 has a greater focus either on alternate timelines or on escalating the complications and the stakes.
As for the finale specifically, I enjoyed the parallels between Jo(o)sh's real life and the visuals of the Biotic Wars game, the action and soundtrack are great, it's always fun to see the same actors playing different versions of the same character every time the timeline is changed - and here the reoccurring guest actors of Keith David, Haley Joel Osment and Ed Begley Jr. provide once more. David deserves a special mention for the evolution of Kronish's character as a plot point and a potential antagonist; we have literally seen most of his life in multiple timelines at the end of the first season, and this is greatly capitalized upon in this episode. The concluding story arcs of the three main characters in addition feel natural and really help the viewer to grow attached to them. The comedy is a little weaker than usual, but I think this is appropriate given the story has grown beyond a comedic premise at this point. If there was anything I didn't love, it was the outcome of the team being sent back in this new timeline - a set-up that was pretty clever given that actually serious sci-fi properties have blatantly ignored plot points such as this before.
Overall, a good episode and a great first season. I am impressed with the writers' ability to parody sci-fi tropes and cult classics while simultaneously creating smart, unique concepts and answers to questions in the plot. The one aspect never infringes upon the other, and its clear there's a lot of love and knowledge for science fiction and cinema behind the scenes. I'm looking forward to moving forward: to the Future, man...