Debris creator J.H. Wyman answers our season finale questions: 'It's kinda like an origin story'

Debris dumped a whole lot of jaw-dropping reveals, some answers, but even more mysteries in the Season 1 finale, "Celestial Body." As Orbital Agents Bryan and Finola (Jonathan Tucker and Riann Steele) investigated a potent piece of debris summoning people to it, it created an "emotional convergence." The phenomenon only exacerbated the alliances and separations points between the characters and upended the whole playing field by episode's end. Finola and Bryan's issues with George finally came to a very dramatic head, and that tied into the Influx group, including Anson Ash (Scroobius Pip) and his big boss, finally making their plan more clear.

With so much still unsolved, SYFY WIRE went right to creator/executive producer J.H. Wyman to ask about how far in advance he planned up to this endgame, that HUGE reveal of a new player in the mythology, and what a Debris Season 2 could look like if it gets picked up...

**Below are heavy spoilers for the Debris season finale, "Celestial Body" and the whole season.**

As you were rolling up to this finale, what were some things that you knew you were going to reveal, and then also want to tip up for a second season?

I always look at the first season as the beginning of the story. It's kinda like an origin story. This is the beginning and opening chapter. You're gonna watch the show, and it's going to be about this, but then it's going to really be about that. I knew the end reveal of [Bryan] and the mystery of what's going on with Agents Ming and Garcia. Also the aspect of introducing Otto (John Noble), I thought was awesome. He plays a large part in the mythology. The turn of George was always planned and that was what I wanted to do. The ending allowed us to understand that Brill (Sebastian Roche) is an interesting character, and we had no idea that he was going to come back in the way that he did. Turns out that he knows more about what's going on than anyone. And, of course, the ending allowed us to pitch into Season 2 with a lot of sincere questions, and to recontextualizing the entire show, hopefully.

When did you figure out that this debris piece would create an "emotional convergence" of all of these disparate people that have a common connector?

I knew what it was going to be, even before we started. As you can see, from the first episodes forward, they're focusing on first the debris and then checking out human emotion and interacting in interesting ways. The next logical step is to have something with a little bit more understanding, and ask what's it up to? How is it interpreting human emotion? Why is it doing it? And what does it find valuable about it? If you go back after the finale and rewatch, you'll see people were talking about the ball of light in Episode 2. It was a very, very concrete thing in my mind that the finale would focus on the beginning of the entire landscape changing for next season.

The finale leaves us in a real quandary asking us to decide who are the bad guys really, and should anyone have possession of these debris pieces? Orbital and Influx are both doing bad things with them.

Yeah, that's a really great question. One of the thematic things we're digging in is that virtue to an extreme is vice. It's so interesting to see how we're going to react and who should have this power. Should it be unmanned or unguided? It seems to be doing something on its own. I've said it a lot — you have Influx in George's perspective about this emotional convergence and this natural evolution that he feels he wants to bring the world to. And then you have Orbital who wants to use it for geopolitical reasons. But who is to say there's not another reason on top of that? We just have these two factions, who seem to have their own ideas about what this thing should be. But the thing probably has its own ideas as well.

With the introduction of that strange "Particle Man," should we be thinking that maybe reality has been profoundly redefined because of the debris? Is this new dynamic part of what the show is going to be presenting to us as we move forward in the storyline?

That's another great question. What George sees, and what they see at the end, is not the last we see of "Particle Man." You don't know really where it's coming from, what's happening, and we're gonna learn all about that. But perception is behind everything. The show is about perception. I always thought it was comical that you're seeing all these things about the military right now and UFOs. They have a report coming, which is fantastic. It's just amazing stuff. You see footage of these things pulling against our physics. It's kind of laughable to think that our radar would pick things up if they really didn't want to be seen. Whatever these objects are, they're capable of intergalactic travel, so how we look at them and what we're seeing and what they actually are, could be completely different things. And that really is a cool nod to the show because how you're seeing the pieces of debris are coming to different points of view and our perspectives as viewers. But what it really means and how it's interpreted later might be a completely different thing. It recontextualizes the entire show. And that's what I think is great about this, because it would be a mistake to look at a show that deals with these sort of artifacts and think that we're going to ever really explain them.

Our knowledge is like an ant compared to these things that are thousands of years ahead of us in technology. It's all about perspective, like George looking at the world and seeing things and how his perspective changed. How Finola's perspective has changed from her learning from her father and understanding what the truth is. Bryan's perspective has changed from actually understanding that he has to give in order to get and live a life worth living.

Let's talk about that epic introduction of John Noble (formerly Walter Bishop in Wyman's Fringe) as Influx baddie, Otto. You teased familiar faces at the top of the season, so how long has this been in the works?

Yes! I just wanted it to be like one of those great Westerns where the guy walked out and you're just like, "Oh, man, that's great!" There was only one man who I think could play the role the way that he did, and that's John. We have such a close relationship, a professional relationship, and a friendship. We always look for things to do together. We had such a great time on Fringe together, but it goes beyond that. He really is such an incredible human being. And the idea that I could help in some way get his ability out there [in this role] because Otto is a psychopath for certain. [Laughs.] And we've just barely scratched the surface from what we've seen. I had him in my heart of hearts from the character's inception. And as soon as we spoke, we knew that we had to do it together.

In the last minutes of the episode, a lot comes at us — the return of Dakheya Nakai (Julian Black Antelope) and Brill (Sebastian Roche), the ball of light, and that strange double Finola!

I introduced Dakheya in Episode 11. And then in 13, the ball of light was actually in a place he knew it was gonna be. How did he know? What does he know? How does he know Brill? And like I said, Brill turns out to know more than anybody in the entire show. He knew what was going on. He's such an interesting character, because when the reveal comes in Season 2, hopefully, you'll again, have your mind blown.

And that last line is really important, which is, "Let's begin." Let's really get into this now and start to unwind this. Long gone are the cases of the week and we've earned now to get some cases the week, but they may be more focused on our larger mythology and answers that our characters will need. There are some pretty exciting things in Season 2 that I'm really anxious to tell. But I want people to go away from [the finale] thinking, "Oh, man, this is just the beginning. Yeah!"

Separate from the finale, there was an interesting formula feature you added to the show credits, almost an audio play of clues that helped set up Episode 11. How did that come about?

We were sitting around wondering what we're going to do with [the credits]. Raney Shockney, our composer, and Ryan Wagner, one of the writers on the show, were sitting around talking about it. We said maybe we use it as real estate and begin to tell a story. Ryan was kicking around ideas and we started writing text for it and they would record it. I really wanted it to be something that was kind of like a space transmission and make you feel like you're listening to another planet. And you're gonna get a little hint of that episode with Agent Ming and Agent Garcia who will be interviewed later by Bryan. And we knew that the NBC viewers wouldn't see it, because they are obliged to put music and promos over the end. But we knew that the Peacock and the Hulu audiences who are interested would get it. I'm so glad that people started to tune in. It tells you another element of the story that is going to be investigated in a big Easter egg for Season 2.

And many may not have caught that the Debris theme song features your musical work. How did that come about?

It was more of a collaboration, kicking the ball around with Rainey trying to figure out what we wanted to do. He would send me something, and I was sending something back on my guitar. He's so talented and what he did, I think the sound is really, really unique. Hopefully, people liked it, but I thought it struck a chord of some decent melancholy/hopefulness. It really bridges what our human condition is for me: it can be sad, but can be beautiful.