Debris: Is Finola’s Dad A Clone?

One of the first of what are sure to be many plot twists in NBC’s new sci-fi thriller Debris was the revelation that team member Finola Jones’ astrophysicist father, George Jones, was seemingly alive when he’d died years prior. The show’s second episode, “You Are Not Alone” offers a possible explanation as to why he’s seen on surveillance video arriving on a plane from London. Each piece of debris exhibits unusual properties, one of which is the ability to create clones, which could explain that it was not the late Dr. Jones on that video but his clone – although potentially there could be something even stranger afoot.

Finola James is part of the international task force team ORBITAL traveling the world collecting pieces of alien ship wreckage that have begun falling to earth three years after the wreckage was first discovered in space. She subscribes heavily to her late father’s belief that the debris cloud can positively impact the future of humanity. Finola’s proud of the fact that her father was the first astrophysicist to be told the truth about the debris cloud; he had told her seeing it had finally made him believe there was something more out there again.

Dr. Jones’s apparent suicide still haunts Finola, creating friction between her and her sister who passionately believes their father would not kill himself. Now only the CIA and Finola’s partner Ryan know Jones is apparently not dead, as he’s been seen traveling from London in the company of the members of the mysterious group that have been collecting debris from the black market. This raises two possibilities –  the first being that this Jones is a clone, and thus his original death could have been the result of an encounter with a piece of debris that fell to Earth earlier than the known timeline. Otherwise, however, Jones could have faked his own death, and – having been told the truth about the space debris cloud – he could have been convinced to work with the rogue team collecting black-market pieces to prevent them from falling into government hands. This said, if the man seen coming through customs is indeed a clone, it’s not clear how long he will survive, as the clones from “You Are Not Alone” were flawed, tied to the life of the original.

All the clones from “You Are Not Alone” were not capable of independent function and were dying as their original version did which would support a second explanation for Jones’s resurrection. It could be possible that the man in the video is indeed the real Dr. Jones and after witnessing the creation of his clone, he, or someone else killed the clone. The Jones seen on the footage has a damaged eye he didn’t have in life, a detail noted by off-the-books CIA operative Maddox. It’s possible Jones was targeted for assassination and killed his clone to fake his own death, or someone sent to kill him mistook the clone for the real Jones.  His damaged eye could be the result of either a struggle with his doppelganger or a survived murder attempt. Either way, the news will come as a shock for Finola, who sat all night in the morgue with her father’s body after his alleged suicide.

While there’s a possibility the Dr. George Jones seen in the Debrispremiere is a clone, introducing that complication may detract from the original premise of the show. Debris has set itself up to focus on espionage and science fiction rather than the existential and ethical ramifications of clones. Whether he’s a clone or not, this Dr. Jones is sure to have a complicated reunion with Finola when his secrets come into the light.

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