Bass X Machina ends on a gut punch and a family dinner. Bass puts his hand on an exploding core, and a few scenes later he is wearing a badge, welcoming a newborn, and finding a new seat at the table for Ahni. Getting there takes a Colossus, an old friend who goes too far, and the biggest choice of his life.
SPOILER WARNING!!!
How Does Bass Stop the Colossus?
The finale opens with Bass getting thrown out of the Colossus. Lighthorse assures Ahni that Bass will survive, though he doubts Bass has the stomach for a real fight against the White man, and he orders his scientists to take the machine to Central City and use every weapon to destroy it.
Bass fights his way back inside and shares a short reunion with Dana. He heads up to stop Lighthorse, while Dana goes to the engine room to shut down the Aianhli core, where Etta and Eugene join her. It is touch and go, but they manage it.
Why Does Lighthorse Want to Destroy Central City?
Lighthorse has an answer, and it is a cold one. He claims the farmers in Central City supply the soldiers, so razing the city means no army base can ever be built there. He calls the Natives living there traitors and says there are always casualties in war.
He even offers Bass time to flee with his family. Bass argues that killing innocent people is wrong, and Lighthorse insists the only way to save his people is to go to war with the White people. I find him the most tragic figure in the show, because his anger comes from a real wound and he points it at the wrong people.
Rivenbark’s experiments came with a promise to a displaced Native people, strong enough to set them against allies like Bass. That helps explain how Lighthorse ended up giving orders on Rivenbark’s machine.
Why Does Ahni Switch Sides?
Ahni is the quiet hinge of the finale. She is against killing farmers and civilians from the start, and she remembers her mother dying to save innocent people. When Lighthorse starts shooting at the people of Central City and torching their crops, she chooses Bass.
Remember Episode 5, where Bass begs her to let go of her anger. He never wins her over with a speech, because Central City does the persuading, and that is why the turn lands.
The other element wielders, Mahli and Oka, keep fighting for Lighthorse, and he sends them to stop the army when it opens fire on the Colossus. Ahni goes after them and begs them to stop, and she convinces them to stand back.
Does Bass Survive the Aianhli Core and What Happens to Lighthorse and Rivenbark?
Bass gets close to turning Lighthorse by pointing him to the screams below, but Lighthorse refuses to back down. Dana, Eugene, Etta, Ahni, Mahli, and Oka surround him, and he ignites the Aianhli core anyway. The blast would take out Central City and three surrounding counties.
Bass knocks him out and cuffs him. Then Etta reveals the only way to stop it: Bass’s new Aianhli arm absorbs energy, so he has to touch the core and let it disperse the charge, with a real chance he dies. Dana cries and Ahni hugs him before everyone leaves.
Bass puts his hand on the core, and for a moment nothing seems to happen. Then the charge disperses and Central City is saved. The townspeople refuse to believe he did it, and I think that is the most honest beat in the finale.
Law enforcement arrives, the element wielders slip away, and Bass has Rivenbark arrested. Lighthorse gets a different ending, because Bass turns him over to his own people to face judgment instead of letting Judge Parker hang him.
To be honest, this is my favorite choice in the series. Bass spends six episodes being pushed toward judge, jury, and executioner, and here he refuses to hand anyone the rope.
Does Bass Become a U.S. Marshal?
Yes, but not the way the premiere promised. Judge Parker tries to back out of the contract, then hires Bass as a marshal anyway because almost every officer died in the fight with the Colossus. The offer General Kitts dangled in Episode 1 finally comes through: $1,000, the title of U.S. Marshal, and equal pay with white Marshals.
Back then, a robber on the train called him a lawman, and Bass corrected him on the spot.
“Not a lawman. Bounty hunter,” he replied.
By the finale, he carries the badge, but only because the people who made the offer ran out of options. I think that makes the payoff sharper, since the country hands Bass the title once it needs him, not when he earned it.
The cost shows up when Ahni asks why he keeps working for the White men. Bass answers that they can work from the inside and make things better. Ahni does not buy it, and the series lets the question hang, which I respect.
Glory gives birth, and Bass has a happy reunion with her. Ahni turns up wanting to get to know him better, and Bass is called away for work right then. Glory and the kids convince her to stay for dinner anyway.
Janelle Monáe’s HONOR KiLLING plays one last time, and Roll the Credits by Danielle Ponder closes the season on an open ending.
All six episodes of Bass X Machina are streaming now on Netflix.
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