Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Endlings’ On Hulu, A Sci-Fi Series Where Kids Help An Extraterrestrial Save Endangered Species

It’s rare when scripted dramas that are geared towards the preteen and teenage crowd take time to remind themselves that these kids’ parents might also be watching, and to make sure that the show is entertaining to everyone. Canada’s Sinking Ship Entertainment seems to have this in their DNA; in November, for instance, they debuted the highly entertaining reboot of Ghostwriter on Apple TV+. Now they go from ghosts to aliens and endangered species with their newest series. 

ENDLINGS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: On a faraway planet with a red sky, a twisting ship touches down on the surface. The pilot comes out, tracks down its target, a large fly-like creature, and captures it after a protracted struggle. The pilot then sets his sights on his next target: An African elephant.

The Gist: In the year 2040, a woman named Abiona (Oyin Oladejo), who studies the two remaining African elephants on the continent, announces to the news media that one of the two has died, leaving Toku as the lone survivor of his species. The last of a species is known as an “endling,” and it seems like there are more and more of them on Earth. Not long after that, Abiona sees the same extraterrestrial ship touch down and grab Toku.

In the meantime, over in Canada, a girl named Julia (Kamaia Fairburn) gets transported to her umpteenth foster home; she keeps getting either kicked out for a crummy attitude or she runs away. She was never a girl who wanted to take anyone’s advice, even her father’s, as we see when he gives her his lucky lure to use while fishing… right before he has a heart attack and dies. The police are transporting her to the farm of Mr. Leopold (Leo Crone), who has taken in three other foster kids, and his place seems to be the last resort for Julia before she gets sent to juvie. Still, she runs from the cops the first chance she gets and they chase her into a cornfield.

It’s Mr. Leopold’s field, and the drone that just sprayed pesticide all over Julia is one built by Tabitha — or Tabby (Michela Luci), as she prefers to be called — the middle foster child who is smart but also has no desire to share her room with someone else. The oldest, Johnny (Edison Grant), feeds the cow and likes to ride on his hoverboard. The youngest, Finn (Cale Ferrin), doesn’t speak much, but has a heart of gold and is excited to meet his new foster sister.

Julia shows up an immediately tries to leave. But Mr. Leopold encourages her to stay, but has one caveat: Everyone who lives there helps each other out. Unbeknowst to everyone, the extraterrestrial’s ship has been plummeting towards the earth, being tracked by an officious government official (Lisa Ryder). The ship has a soft crash landing, right into Mr. Leopold’s farm. As he’s crashing, the pilot ejects all the pods containing the endlings he’s captured. Once they hit the ground, they escape, including Tuko and that weird fly thingy he captured right before he got the elephant.

Our Take: Endlings is a joint production between the CBC and Hulu; it premiered in Canada earlier this month. Produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment, who previously brought us shows like Odd Squad and Ghostwriter, the show is aimed squarely at a preteen audience. Its tone is generally positive, and even the CGI depicting the extraterrestrial and its captures is toned down; the aliens are more weird than scary or creepy.

Besides the simplified CGI, there’s nothing in particular about Endlings that screams “KIDS SHOW!!!”, which is always a good thing. Some of the characters may be a little schmaltzy, like the always-patient Mr. Leopold, but there’s a familiarity to the kid characters that make them more than just snotty precocious kids. In fact, we’re not even sure why Julia has been in and out of so many foster homes; she may be quick with a verbal comeback, but nothing she says has been so obnoxious that it deserved her getting the boot.

What’s intriguing about Endlings is that it’s operating on a couple of different levels. One is the theme of family coming in different forms. It’s pretty obvious that once these four kids figure out that this extraterrestrial is there to save species that are about to become extinct, they’ll band together and become a very unusual, but warm and loving family. Yes, including the reticent Julia, who is the conduit through which the ET initially communicates why he’s there. In the second episode, when the kids get attacked by the fly alien and also find the ship, the pilot tells Julia through telekinesis that the fly is lost and scared and upset that she just lost her child.

The other theme is how this group — along with Abiona, who travels to the farm after the tracker on Toku turns back on — will help this collector of endlings save these species that are about to go extinct. Not all of them will be earthbound species, but some will be, and will be largely at the end of the line due to human intervention. So seeing everyone cooperate to save these particular species will be fun to watch.

What Age Group Is This For?: Because there are some deaths and some fighting with some of the alien endlings, we’d peg this audience to the 11 and up crowd.

Parting Shot: At the end of the second episode, the kids are wheeling the ET out of the barn to nurse him back to health. Then they see Tuko wandering around the farm. “What’s going on here?” says Mr. Leopold. Then the alien’s eyes pop out of the blanket and he says in the understatement of all understatements, “Oh, boy.”

Sleeper Star: We’d watch this show just for Cale Ferrin, who plays Finn. He’s adorable, but he also manages to express himself well without saying a word. And his differences only help him as an actor.

Most Pilot-y Line: After Julia gets caught in the cornfield, the female escort says, “With an attitude like that, no wonder why no one wants her.” Jeez, that’s harsh.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Endlings is a pleasant show that might help your kids learn about why endangered species need to be saved, all while scratching their sci fi itches at the same time.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

Stream Endlings On Hulu