The 5 biggest questions at the end of Space Force season 1

The first season of Netflix’s Space Force doesn’t take long to binge. The series, which stars Steve Carell as Mark Naird, the first general of the Space Force and the man in charge of putting American troops on the moon, is 10 episodes total, with each episode clocking in at roughly half an hour long. Those 10 episodes also end with a cliffhanger.

How the characters solve the immediate predicament they find themselves in, after a four-year plan to reach the moon is shortened to “ASAP,” isn’t the only question left unanswered at the end of the season. Here are the five biggest questions left dangling.

[Ed. note: Spoilers for the first season of Space Force follow.]

Will Mark really turn back?

Image: Netflix

Upon receiving the order to attack the Chinese base on the moon in retaliation for the their running over the American flag, Mark refuses, choosing to prevent a lunar war from breaking out. For his rebellion, he’s arrested, though he manages to break free and commandeer a helicopter to save his daughter Erin, who had been stranded in the desert. The rescue mission also reunites him with his wife Maggie, who breaks out of prison after hearing Erin is in trouble.

For a moment, the reunion is sweet, as the fractured family is finally back together again, but there’s nowhere for them to really go. On top of that, the astronauts who were sent to attack the Chinese base by Mark’s replacement, Air Force Chief Kick Grabaston, return to their base to discover it’s been destroyed. Mark is called upon to return and help figure out what to do next, but doing so will also likely mean he’ll be court-martialed, and Maggie punished for breaking out of jail.

The season ends with Mark turning his helicopter around, presumably to return, despite the consequences that await him. Will he manage to save the day — and save himself?

Will the astronauts survive?

Image: Netflix

It’s made clear almost as soon as they land on the moon that the astronauts are not entirely well-equipped for their new lives, as a container meant to house spare oxygen is actually filled with guns, and there are no hammers or toothbrushes despite a surplus of tampons. Now that the Chinese astronauts have retaliated by making their base unlivable as well, it seems as though their chances of survival are significantly lowered, and the moon isn’t exactly rich with resources for them.

Why is Maggie in prison?

Photo: Aaron Epstein/Netflix

One of the big questions throughout the whole first season, and one that never gets resolved, is exactly why Mark’s wife Maggie is in prison. She’s a free woman before the Naird family moves to Colorado for Mark’s Space Force job, but seems to have been put behind bars shortly after the transition. What she did is never made clear, though characters note that her crime was “very serious” and her sentence is estimated at 40-60 years. According to series co-creator Greg Daniels, there really aren’t any other clues in the series: “We’re enjoying not being specific at the moment. You didn’t miss anything. It’s not in there.”

Is Yuri a spy?

Photo: Aaron Epstein/Netflix

For the first half of the season, Erin’s older boyfriend Yuri becomes the butt of a running gag suggesting he’s a Russian spy. It certainly seems possible, given that his conversations with Erin constantly pivot to asking for compromising information about her family, but an episode revolving around rooting out a spy in Space Force doesn’t lead anywhere as to Yuri’s true intentions, and he disappears for the rest of the season. What’s the deal?

Will there be a Space Force season 2?

Photo: Aaron Epstein/Netflix

Though Daniels has said the hope is that the show will run for a few more seasons, Netflix has yet to renew the series. Reviews of the series were lukewarm at best, but that didn’t prevent the show — which the streaming giant hoped would serve as a replacement for The Office — from being number one on Netflix’s daily top-trending list for a week after its launch, so a renewal seems likely. It’s also worth noting that Space Force may have beaten the actual, real-life Space Force to the punch when it comes to securing trademark rights for “Space Force,” and it’d be a pity to see that small, strange win go to waste.