Last Days of the Space Age is a new Disney+ series set in 1979 that focuses on three families in Western Australia during a time of real-life historical moments in the story, like the Miss Universe pageant held in Perth, the crash of the space station Skylab, and a major union strike that caused at a power supply mill in the town. It also touches on how Aboriginal people, Vietnamese immigrants, and other minorities were treated during that time in Perth, though the series takes a somewhat softer, less brutal approach to these sensitive issues. Throughout the eight episodes directed by David Chidlow, Last Days of the Space Age will show how these events shape the characters’ lives and their stories.
Spoilers Ahead
What did Judy do for the power supply mill?
In the town of Perth, Judy lived with her husband, Tony, their two daughters, Tilly and Mia, and her widowed father, Bob. Both Judy and Tony worked at Doull Power Supply, but recently Judy became the sole breadwinner because Tony had joined the union fight, as the company wasn’t paying its workers fairly. Judy could have stood with her husband, but they couldn’t afford both of them being out of work. However, this caused tension as Tony’s friend, Gazza, and the other union members didn’t take it well. One day, a brick was thrown at their car in an attempt to scare them or worse, because Judy was still working for the company they were protesting against. It was clear that they didn’t like her, but Judy didn’t care. In a time when men were typically the breadwinners, Judy knew she had to step up and take care of her family, so she eventually became the general manager of the company by proving her worth to her boss, Wayne, because she knew the business inside out. This caused strain between Judy and Tony, especially when the company ran into financial trouble. Though Judy had no real choice, she had to let Tony and the others go after offering them a severance package. It was enough to help them stay afloat and pay the mortgage on their house, but Tony was furious. But, later, he found a note with handwriting that matched the insult written on the brick thrown at their car, and it turned out to be Gazza’s handwriting.
When Tony told Judy, she knew she had to confront Gazza, and when she did, Gazza revealed something shocking. It wasn’t his idea to target Judy and Tony, but it was Wayne, her boss, who wanted to harm them to protect his own name, and Gazza had only done it for the money. Judy got even more upset when she learned that Wayne was planning to sell the company to a Japanese buyer. Judy knew she had to stop this and went straight to Murray, Wayne’s father, who was the company’s owner. Murray was stunned by his son’s betrayal and immediately fired him to stop the sale, as it wasn’t legal yet. However, Murray didn’t care about her efforts even though Judy had saved the company from being sold and kept the power mill running, which meant events like the Miss Universe pageant and the Skylab crash could still be televised. Instead, he fired Judy too as she was a woman, and he felt it was better for her to focus on her family, not on the business. After everything Judy did, this was her reward, so much for saving the company!
What happened during the Miss Universe pageant?
As Last Days of the Space Age started, we met Svetlana, who was representing the USSR in the Miss Universe pageant, with the support of her agent, Yvgeny. But from the moment she arrived in Perth, she felt unwelcome, as with the Soviet Union involved in the war in Afghanistan, people didn’t like her presence, and someone even threw paint at her. Mick, who was a local TV producer, could have easily broadcast that story, but there was something about Svetlana that fascinated him, so instead of making a spectacle, he wanted to tell her real story. Mick approached Yvgeny about it, and though Yvgeny wasn’t keen on Mick at first, he agreed after Mick promised not to air the footage of the paint attack. Mick wanted to portray Svetlana as relatable, so he filmed her interacting with locals. Over time, they formed a deep friendship, and Svetlana confided in Mick that she might be pregnant. Mick could have sold that story for a lot of money, but he didn’t, instead, he helped her get her clothes altered to cover her growing belly by asking Sandy Bui, a Vietnamese woman in the community, to help her. Mick also learned that Svetlana wanted to renounce her Soviet citizenship, so he suggested that before the pageant, they should run away together, and he could marry her so she could become an Australian citizen. But Svetlana knew Yvgeny wouldn’t approve, especially after his son died in the Afghanistan war. Yvgeny, however, wasn’t really interested in the pageant or the USSR anymore after the loss of his son. On the day of the Miss Universe event, he ran off with Mick and Svetlana to the town office to renounce their Soviet citizenship, and on the other hand, as Svetlana’s name was being called on stage, she was nowhere to be found.
What happened to Eileen?
Eileen was an Aboriginal woman who had lived in Perth for almost twenty years. She became a teacher in an all-white community where Aboriginal people were constantly shamed and looked down upon. Her grandson, Bilya, had recently come to live with her and started attending school. But the local police officer, filled with his prejudice, accused Bilya of being involved in neighborhood robberies simply because he was Black, which highlighted the deep-rooted racism that still existed. Eileen had tried to move on from her past and even agreed to appear on a local radio show to share her story as an “inspiration” and to talk about how well she had been treated in the community which does not discriminate against anybody for their color and serves equal opportunity. But that was far from the truth, so on air, she couldn’t hold back and instead shared the painful reality of her past when she spoke about her life with her late husband in Maralinga, where they lived during the Yalata Mission. It was there that the British and Australian governments conducted nuclear tests on their land which caused devastating loss of life and brutal treatment of her people. Tony, who had served on the Australian government’s side during that time, listened to her story, and hearing Eileen’s pain, he felt deep regret, shame, and sadness for what had happened. He decided to go to her, offering a sincere apology for the past to try to show her that he was truly sorry. Bilya was so proud of his grandmother and wanted to honor their heritage, so he dressed in the Aboriginals’ costume under his tux to celebrate their heritage openly by attending the debutante ball, showing his love for his culture and country.
What happened during the Skylab crash?
From the very first episode, we saw that Tilly was a space enthusiast who dreamed of going to the moon one day. She knew everything about Skylab and kept track of its landing patterns to try to figure out where it might crash. But no one took her seriously, neither her school nor her family; the only person who believed in her was Lam, a Vietnamese man who ran a food stall by the beach. Back in his country, he had been an engineering professor, but after his son Van had gone missing during the war, he still held out hope that Van was alive, even paying Bob to get the contact of someone in Malaysia who had the information about Van’s whereabouts. So after using his engineering knowledge, Lam helped Tilly figure out that Skylab would likely crash into the Indian Ocean. They tried to warn everyone, but nobody listened until it made the news. During the debutante ball, when everyone else was distracted, Tilly and Lam told people it was time to run for safety, but few took them seriously. In the middle of the chaos, Lam’s other son, Jono, chose to seize the moment as he sang in the empty hall as if it were his last chance to live his dream before the disaster happened. Despite Lam’s earlier worries about Jono wanting to be a musician instead of a surgeon, in that moment, Lam was proud of his son for being true to himself. He realized Jono didn’t have to follow anyone’s path but his own.
What Happened In The End?
At the end of the series, Skylab did crash, but it didn’t harm them. It fell into the ocean which created a spectacular display that looked like fireworks, so it proved that Tilly and Lam had been right all along. And just when things seemed like they couldn’t get better, Van, who was lost and was thought to be dead, returned. Actually, during the migration, Lam believed he had lost his grip on Van while they boarded their vehicle and thought that Van had slipped and died. With bullets flying around them, Jono and the parents needed to prioritize their own safety during the war and had to let him go. However, it turned out that Van was not dead at all; he eventually found his way back to them from a camp in Malaysia. Obviously, it felt like a miracle as the family was finally reunited. All’s well that ends well.