Hello Tomorrow! (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10: The penultimate episode of ‘Hello Tomorrow!’ focused on the conflict between Jack and Joey. The duo finally came face-to-face as father and son and had a conversation about their hopes and dreams. Joey believes that his life with Marie was just fine until Jack arrived. Besides, he is absolutely against Jack’s con. However, Jack said Joey would understand the purpose behind his big ambitions once he becomes a father himself.
The rocket launch is yet to happen, and the episode left us wondering whether Joey will disclose the secret or not. On one side, he wanted to be ethical and do what was right for the customers. On the other, he suddenly felt a strong connection with Jack, the way he had not felt before. It felt more than a mentor-mentee bond, and Joey must have sought a father since his childhood.
The Hello Tomorrow! Season 1 Finale takes us through the day of the rocket launch, where Jack forms some new relationships.
*spoilers ahead*
Hello Tomorrow! (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Recap:
Does Joey reveal Jack’s con?
Episode 10: What Could Be Better?
Episode 9 of ‘Hello Tomorrow!’ ends with a candid conversation between Jack (Billy Crudup) and Joey (Nicholas Podany). Joey goes up to meet Jack before he makes a big announcement at the stadium. He persuades his father to rethink his decision and not lead the customers on a ‘ride to nowhere.’ But Jack does not budge and, instead, is determined to make the rocket launch happen.
The next day, Lester (Matthew Maher) keeps calling Joey, expecting him to arrive at his office with the tapes. So it looks like Joey’s heart-to-heart with Jack made him rethink his own decision. He refuses to share the recordings with the bureau.
On the other hand, Elle (Dagmara Dominczyk) is excited about how they are going to profit from the customers’ blind beliefs. Jack looks at the bigger picture. He is well aware that the customers will be disappointed. Still, he is okay with it since the investors would fund him enough to get a lunar residency built as he always wanted. There’s a side of him that starts questioning their intent. Should he care about his customers or his own business? He begrudgingly goes with the latter.
Meanwhile, Jack helps Eddie (Hank Azaria) get a new, mechanical hand to replace the one that Big Fred (W. Earl Brown) burned earlier. Despite that aid, Shirley (Haneefah Wood) remains pissed at Jack and refuses to believe a word he says. He goes back to his room and sends a message to Joey, saying what happens the next day is dependent on him. Joey has Jack on tape. Whether he decides to reveal the truth or not is his choice.
Finally, the day of the rocket launch arrives. While Walt (Michael Paul Chan) helped Jack until then, he backs off at the last moment. Still, he feels happy that Jack fulfilled his big man’s dream of traveling to the moon. Meanwhile, Shirley tries to control Eddie’s anger over not being able to keep his new hand under control. Suddenly, Big Fred arrives at their door and barges into their room, threatening Eddie to return his interest. Eddie’s new hand goes out of control to protect him and ends up choking Big Fred.
Does Joey & Lester manage to get Jack arrested?
Elle arrives at the rocket launch, and so does Joey. Jack introduces him as a Brightside employee and takes him along with them. Jack says that he will make things right. However, Lester greets Jack with an arrest warrant and stops the passengers from boarding the rocket. So, Jack decides to make a case for himself. He continues with his pitch for customers’ happiness and does not want to make them feel cheated.
As a result, Lester asks Joey to share the evidence. Joey thinks for a moment or two and then gives only the recorder without any tape. Maybe Joey does this after thinking about the future they will be able to build with the investors’ money. Anyhow, Joey’s last-minute change of heart costs Lester a terrible embarrassment. Still, he sees Myrtle (Alison Pill), who looks forward to the launch and is happy that her dream is finally coming true.
Eddie and Shirley arrive on the site, determined to expose Jack’s lies. They also try to stop Herb (Dewshane Williams) and Betty (Susan Heyward) from getting on board. However, the Porters believe that the two are jealous of them. They walk toward the rocket with a firm belief that they are about to get their dreams fulfilled. Meanwhile, all the customers get on board. However, Jack makes up an excuse for some kind of vest they need to have for their safety. The customers look around and find none.
Jack and Joey put the blame on Herb and tell him to get this problem sorted. (Classic office politics of blame game!) As always, Herb takes it in stride and exits the rocket with a can-do attitude. Once they reach an elevator, Jack stops it mid-way and keeps them waiting there. His plan is to get the investors’ money while not risking people’s lives. Locking them away from the rocket is a part of the same plan.
Jack and Joey walk out and find Shirley and Eddie waiting to accuse him. He explains what he just pulled off and makes them see that their dreams are not being shattered. Anyway, investors’ money will help them refund the customers. So they make a truce. Back in their car, Jack, Elle, and Joey have a word with the investors. Suddenly, Jack gets a message from Barbara (Jacki Weaver) saying that Marie (Annie McNamara) has gained consciousness. Jack decides to prioritize his family at the moment and leaves with Joey to meet Marie.
Meanwhile, Lester decides to let go of his rage and embrace the blissful unawareness. He decides to go back toward the boarding floor to join Myrtle. By then, Betty gets enraged at how Jack used Herb despite his continued obedience. She sees it is Jack, once again delaying the launch for a new reason. So, she provokes Herb to be just as furious. He starts shouting out his anger, and so do others. Lester hears it from the outside and rescues them from the elevator. Myrtle walks out and holds Lester’s hand toward the rocket.
Hello Tomorrow! (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Ending Explained:
Does Jack finally reunite with his family? How does Marie react to Jack’s return?
Joey returns home with Jack, and they both meet Marie. Since she just regained consciousness, her memories are still blurry. Still, she feels happy that Jack has returned home and gives him a warm hug. By that time, the rocket begins to get launched. But Eddie realizes that their customers are inside it and makes a run to meet Jack to stop the launch. Unfortunately, they meet Elle, who does not care about people’s lives, hopes, or dreams. She cares only about being wealthy.
There is also a body inside a bag that starts moving once the rocket gets launched. The passengers seek pleasure in their blissful dreams. Jack does not know that the passengers have been onboarded on the rocket. Back home, he looks at the rocket rising up in the sky and decides to celebrate this success with Joey, Jacki, and Marie. He considers that their lunar residence dreams will also come true because of this. However, Marie says that they were never really that happy anyway in the past. And the episode ends on this abrupt note.
The ending seems to question Jack’s idea of happiness. Until now, he claimed that he left home because he was afraid Joey would see him as a disappointment. He looked at the past as a happy period that he wanted to return to. But were they really that happy back then? Marie questions Jack’s crooked logic and his feigned happiness.
Combined with the reactions of delighted customers, the show indicates how we are made to believe we are happy by our consumerist culture. As Mad Men’s Don Draper used to say, you don’t sell the product – you sell the feeling associated with it. Jack sold them an aspiration, a dream, to the point he could not separate it from reality in his own life.
Has ‘Hello Tomorrow!’ Been renewed for Season 2?
Apple TV+ has not yet announced whether it has canceled or renewed ‘Hello Tomorrow!’
However, there is still more to explore in Jack’s further journey. If you have seen the Season 1 Finale, you know that Jack finally reunites with Joey and Marie. The family puts on happy faces while looking at the rocket launch in the sky. Jack sees it as his dream fulfilled, but Marie isn’t so sure how she feels. There is a potential in this family drama and how it corresponds with the ‘dream-selling’ aspect of the show.
The first season has received a lukewarm reaction from critics. While they adored the show’s retro-futuristic world-building, they had issues with the script – mainly its thinly sketched characters. However, low ratings have not stopped Apple TV+ from renewing their shows. So, Hello Tomorrow! Stands a chance for another season. But there has not been any official announcement made yet.
