‘Star City’ Season 1 Episode 8 Review: The Wolves Delivers an Emotional Finale

‘Star City’ concludes its inaugural season on Apple TV with an episode titled “The Wolves,” and by the end, it addresses nearly every question raised throughout its eight-hour run. The series has often been compared to ‘For All Mankind’, exploring the Soviet perspective of an alternate space race led by Chief Designer Sergei Korolev, portrayed by Rhys Ifans. As the finale unfolds, three cosmonauts—Valya, Sasha, and Lakshmi—are presumed dead following a catastrophic fire aboard the Venera spacecraft, but their unexpected survival propels the narrative forward.

What stood out to me while watching “The Wolves” is the finale’s focus on substance over spectacle. The mission, which should be a celebration, instead turns into a logistical nightmare, as the very fire that should have claimed the crew’s lives has altered their trajectory, putting them on a collision course with the sun. The resolution presented forces an impossible choice among the three survivors, and I appreciated that the episode does not shy away from the complexity and moral ambiguity of their decision.

This is where ‘Star City’ demonstrates its understanding of its own narrative identity. Rather than leaning into the triumphant energy reminiscent of its parent series, it continually revisits the human cost hidden beneath Cold War ambitions. Ifans delivers a quietly powerful performance as a man caught between scientific legacy and political survival, and the finale allows these two pressures to clash directly. His portrayal carries a stillness that feels earned rather than exaggerated.

Anna Maxwell Martin remains the show’s secret weapon as Lyudmilla, the KGB figure whose menace never veers into caricature. She is ambiguous enough that it remains unclear whether she genuinely believes in the system she enforces or simply fears the consequences of defiance. This complexity is one of the season’s smartest choices, culminating in a finale where her decisions resonate throughout nearly every storyline.

The emotional core of the episode is anchored by the Anastasia and Sasha storyline, which works because the show has invested time in developing it throughout the season rather than rushing it in the finale. Alice Englert’s journey as a woman who has become a symbol rather than an individual finally receives the attention it deserves, and her choice near the end carries significant weight rather than melodrama. Even Valya’s fate, which could have been perceived as a mere sacrifice, instead feels oddly serene, as he chooses to die on his own terms rather than in a Soviet prison cell.

If the episode falters, it’s in the amount of plot it attempts to resolve in just one hour. A subplot involving Tanya’s escape to Paris and a mysterious woman pursuing her feels more like a setup for season two than a satisfying conclusion to season one, and some political maneuvering scenes move quicker than the emotional material can support. This is a minor critique against a show that has generally maintained a disciplined pacing.

Visually, the finale might be the strongest hour of the entire season, juxtaposing the cold optimism of Soviet engineering with the stifling paranoia of state oversight. This tension between ambition and control has been the show’s defining theme since the first episode, and “The Wolves” allows it to reach a boiling point without sacrificing the grounded, spy thriller elements.

As Valya gazes out at the surface of Venus, alone and dying, I found myself genuinely moved by a season that began as a clever spinoff concept and evolved into a narrative with real emotional stakes. ‘Star City’ earns its conclusion, imperfections and all, and leaves just enough unresolved to make a second season feel essential rather than obligatory. I’m giving this finale a score of 9 out of 10, marking a near-perfect end to one of the best new sci-fi dramas of the year.

Did “The Wolves” resonate with you, or did the finale leave you wanting more from ‘Star City’s’ first season? Share your thoughts in the comments.