No Tomorrow 1.13: “No Sleep ‘Til Reykjavik”

“If I followed you to DC, I’d regret losing this opportunity. Just like you would if you followed me. So, let’s agree not to regret anything. Because I don’t regret a thing so far.”
-Evie

Since this was likely the final episode of “No Tomorrow” ever, I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it. It ended with some pretty major changes in the lives of all the characters, and there were a few really nice character moments that lend the episode some sense of finality, but there are two major problems. We don’t know if efforts to stop the asteroid will be successful, and Evie and Xavier aren’t together. There are multiple bizarre twists of fate to keep Evie and Xavier apart – the types of bizarre twists that always cause me anxiety when watching rom coms (and I do enjoy a good rom com once in a while). I’m sad that we’ll probably never get to see Evie and Xavier move past those twists, and I’m also sad that we will never see definitively what happens with the asteroid. After this episode, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the asteroid is coming, but we’ll never know if Xavier successfully prevents it. Ah well, I suppose I should be grateful that “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “Jane the Virgin” will both be getting an additional season. You can’t win them all.

This episode picks up pretty much right where the last one left off. Tyra DeNeil Fields (the Neil DeGrasse Tyson analogue of the “No Tomorrow”-verse) and some goons are in Timothy’s house, and they’re threatening him. Xavier’s calculations check out, and they need to find him. Tyra warns Timothy not to tell anyone about this, because it could incite mass panic. This, clearly, causes Timothy to panic. His new boss/girlfriend Talia stops by his house to check on him, and she can tell he’s out of sorts. He doesn’t tell her what is going on, but she suggests they try some psychedelic tea. It has some pretty interesting effects, for sure.

Anyway, convinced that his asteroid calculations were wrong, Xavier wanted Jesse to drive him to the airport so that he and Evie could go to Iceland together. Instead, however, Jesse has knocked Xavier out with horse tranquilizers and he’s passed out in the back of an RV while Jesse is driving. When Xavier comes to, Jesse explains that he’s driving Xavier to Houston for the NASA meeting he was planning to go to before he found out about the calculations. Xavier is upset with Jesse because he doesn’t think the meeting is necessary anymore, and he really just wants to see Evie and go to Iceland with her. Jesse insists, however, that they’re going to Texas. There’s just one problem. Xavier’s pants are missing, and they have his ID in them. They start retracing their steps, and they are just about to recover the pants when a police officer stops them, and they are arrested.

Meanwhile, Evie is on the flight to Iceland sitting next to an empty seat. Across the aisle from her, however, is a hot Médecins Sans Frontières doctor named Graham. They hit it off because they are consulting the same guidebook, which they each meticulously researched. Graham offers to meet up with Evie to see some of the sights, but Evie insists this needs to be a solo journey. There’s a bit throughout their conversation about sleeping passengers who drool on Graham during the flight (one is his original seat neighbor and the other is Evie), and I really can’t decide if the Evie part of that equation is cute or gross. Xavier tries calling Evie from jail, but naturally he just gets her voicemail, since she’s on her way to Iceland and all. When she gets to Iceland, however, Evie is upset that it doesn’t appear that Xavier has called her. Throughout her travels, she keeps running into Graham. Their identical suitcases (another product of their mutual penchant for fastidious research) get switched at the airport, and when they go to take them to the hotel concierge, they realize they are in rooms across the hall from each other. Then Evie is solo dining when the hostess asks if they can seat another solo diner with her. Of course it’s Graham. Graham isn’t with Evie when she finally sees the Northern Lights, though. The awesome sight makes her cry.

Back in Washington, in a kind of stupidly madcap C plot, Deirdre, Hank, and Kareema have all started their new jobs at the Tacoma branch of CyberMart. Deirdre wants her first act as manager to be a healthy initiatives program, and she forces Hank to support her sugar and soda ban. When Mikhail starts really jonesing for soda, Kareema sells him a sip of a soda she snuck in for $20, and she thinks she now has a way to fund her honeymoon. She turns a hidden part of the warehouse into a sort of Soda Stream speakeasy with sodas of all kinds. This throws Hank for a loop, because he needs to decide where his loyalties lie – with Deirdre or with Kareema (and sweet, sugary soda). Timothy shows up, just barely sobered up, and he convinces Hank to re-start the idea they had for a band. Deirdre catches Timothy and Hank acting goofy, and she can smell the soda on Hank’s breath. She finds the speakeasy and starts destroying it until Hank speaks up and asks Deirdre to tell him what is wrong to make her act this way. Deirdre reveals that she’s pregnant with Hank’s baby, so she’s been extra worried about their health. My reaction to this was a combo of “eww” and “are we really sure this is Hank’s baby?” Hank seems happy about the news, though.

Xavier and Jesse get bailed out of jail by none other than Tyra DeNeil Fields. She takes Xavier to NASA, where he gets so excited about sharing his asteroid theory with the scientists there that he starts to forget about Evie. Meanwhile, Evie and Graham meet up again in Iceland. He wants her to extend her trip so they can travel together a bit, but Evie says no because she has to go home for a job interview. The actual interview doesn’t go as hoped (the international and philanthropy components are lacking), but the hiring manager says Evie should talk to her sister about an opportunity. She says the opportunity would mean upending her life but that Evie sounds ready for that. At the same time, Xavier is continuing to work with the NASA team, but they aren’t making any progress on a plan to defeat the asteroid. Tyra tells Xavier that an asteroid defense team of the best scientists is meeting up in DC, and she wants Xavier to join. Naturally, it would mean upending his life.

Evie goes to visit Xavier at the trailer, and Xavier apologizes for not going to Iceland. They each reveal their job offers to each other (Evie got the job that the hiring manager’s sister was trying to fill), and it turns out that Evie’s is in the Philippines. Evie and Xavier decide to do one last item off their respective Apocalists together. They’re going to go tubing down Mt. Rainier. After their tubing adventure, they thank each other for the past few months and say goodbye for now. They hold on to some notion that maybe they will consider getting back together after the asteroid is successfully diverted. I think this was the creative team’s attempt to give us at least some Evie and Xavier closure if this is indeed (as is likely) the series finale.

Before Evie leaves for the Philippines, she and her CyberMart crew enjoy a concert put on by Hank and Deirdre. They’ll be very sad to see Evie go, but they’re all moving on to new adventures in their own lives, what with Kareema now married and Hank and Deirdre having a baby. Even Timothy seems happy with Talia at the moment. We eventually see Evie get on her flight to Manilla, and who is sitting by her on the plane but Graham. Apparently Evie’s new job is in logistics with Médecins Sans Frontières in Manilla, and Graham’s new MSF posting is in Manilla too. Even more, it turns out that Xavier inspired Graham to do something more with his life and join MSF in the first place. While they wait for takeoff, we see Tyra make a big public announcement about the immanent asteroid collision, and Xavier is there with her. Evie and Graham don’t hear the announcement, though.