This Christmas, fans of the sci-fi radio drama Wolf 359 are getting both cookies and coal: the release of a fresh new episode, and the end of the show’s final season.
It’s kind of amazing to see how far Wolf 359 has come over the course of its four year run. After getting caught up on all the most recent episodes, I followed the tradition of content-thirsty fans everywhere and went back to re-listen to the entire show from the beginning. I have finished a lot of jigsaw puzzles with this podcast on in the background.
What surprised me about the earlier episodes was how goofy they were. It had been a year and a half since I first heard them, and back then I simply assumed that Doug Eiffel staging a mutiny over the last tube of toothpaste was just what the show was about.
But Wolf 359 changes slowly as it goes on. The episodes acquire more plot and a dash of space-horror, relationships get meaningful and then they get dark, Russian accents get mercifully less absurd. It kind of creeps up on you, the realization that there’s an actual story being told. And that story is really dang good.
Things have changed so much. If Doug had pulled that toothpaste stunt in season 3, Kepler would have straight-up shot him.
Now, as opposed to the three voice actors and largely hijinks-based plots of early season 1, Wolf 359 now has a cast of nine actors, a relentlessly driven plot, and some significant character deaths under its belt. If you told me a year ago that one day I was going to cry over the emotional trauma of the Hephaestus station’s scatterbrained AI — well, actually, I’d find that pretty plausible. I do love AIs with feelings.
Ultimately, Wolf 359’s development is one of the show’s greatest strengths. It’s so satisfying to hear the show find its feet, discover its characters, and grow into the crazy emotion-destroying behemoth it is now. You can look back into those awkward fledgling episodes in season one, and trace the root of the plot and character arcs that will reverberate until the very end.
Of course, the fact that the show has developed into such an amazing piece of sci-fi media makes it all the sadder that it’s coming to an end. But it avoids the tragic fate of some television shows, cancelled in between seasons without a chance at saying goodbye. The creators of Wolf are choosing to end it. This January, creator Gabriel Urbina announced on the Wolf 359 official site that the show’s final episode would air on Dec. 25, 2017:
"The story of the Hephaestus and its crew isn’t stopping, it’s ending. We have never thought of Wolf 359 as a series that would go on and on forever. We’ve always wanted it to be a story that begins, middles, and ends. Which builds to a definite, final conclusion for its characters, and which can arrive at real answers for (most of) its mysteries. And which leaves the party early enough for people to miss it once it’s gone."
Obviously, it’s sad any time a favorite piece of media has to head for the door. But in the end, it’s comforting to know that the show isn’t going to just peter out until there’s nothing left worth saving. The fact that the creators of Wolf 359 understand that the time to end the story is near means that they believe in the story itself, and have been working towards this for some time. Which in turn, means the series finale is probably going to be pretty bomb.
Still, I for one am going to be looking towards Dec. 25 with equal parts anticipation and dread. All I want for Christmas is for my favorite characters to live.
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In conclusion, if you haven’t started listening to Wolf 359, there’s no better time than the present. Catch up on the awesome journey this show has taken over the years, just in time to see how it ends.