Like many individuals, religion was a matter that Charles Darwin gave much thought to over the years. It makes sense given his contributions to evolutionary theory and the science therein. Never one to fervently deny the very existence of God, Darwin himself saw himself as an agnostic, one who does not believe in an Almighty but doesn’t disbelieve either. And as it turns out, it may have been his commitment to the study of varied species that contributed to his faith, or lack there of. Because upon being faced with the grisly, unforgiving nature of the ichneumon wasps and their cannibalistic larvae, he wrote to American naturalist Asa Gray saying that he could not believe that good and loving and all-knowing God could create such a monstrous creation.
Horror fiction loves the concept of the Old Ones, those primordial gods who bide their time until the moment is right for their return, at which point they will exterminate those who inhabit the earth like so many Orkin men stamping out a lingering pest problem. So when it is revealed that what’s been ailing the town of Fortitude since the season began is that same family of wasps that Darwin found so damnable, whose larvae have been slumbering, frozen inside extinct mammoths for some 30,000 years, it feels reminiscent of the rage of the Old Ones, slowly leaching into the world to extinguish the flickering flame of humanity.
At one point about halfway through the season finale, Markus visits Natalie and a recovering, isolated Vincent, inquiring what their latest hypothesis is about the infection. Natalie tells him about the wasps, about how they spread and how they feed on a host from the inside out, taking them over, body and mind alike. But Markus refuses to be comforted by this conclusion, brushing it off, asking Natalie what happens if her hypothesis is wrong? Asking her if maybe what happened to Shirley wasn’t actually his fault or her mother’s fault and informing her that there are always consequences for actions, whether they were made with good intent or bad, whether we are able to justify the decisions to ourselves to sleep at night, there are always consequences.
What Markus can’t see through his pain is that the wasps are a consequence. They’re a consequence of the way we live off the land, taking more than we give back. Of the disregard we pay to the well-being of the planet and the slow (but picking up speed) destruction of the arctic through global warming. And though the people of Fortitude may not be solely responsible for the ultimate fate of the world, they are culpable in their sins against their own little world, debts that must be paid in full, one way or another.
In the end, it’s fitting that the only way to exterminate the foul infestations is by fire. Fortitude, a frozen, desolate wasteland, its permafrost slipping away, exposing the world to a biblical plague. The way to cleanse the town of the blood, of the poison, is through fire, meaning that in order to release the hamlet from the grips of hell is to embrace the flames. Nothing could be more appropriate for a town full of sinners.
But what else?
Well, technically, everything. The episode picked up right where last week’s left off, meaning that Vincent was getting his ass handed to him by Doctor Allardyce’s homemade prehistoric wasp swarm, but quick thinking on both his and Natalie’s part led to a DIY explosion that miraculously preserved his life (give or take an emergency tracheotomy.) Shortly thereafter, Natalie is able to finally nail down what exactly the genus and lifecycle of the attacking agent and plans are able to be made about testing and quarantining any remaining infected.