The Australian Netflix series Glitch tells the story of people who suddenly return from the dead due to a glitch in the natural order of things. Rather than using resurrection simply as a plot device, the series connects it to climate change, ecological extinction, and regeneration, bringing the story to a conclusion over three seasons.
Here, I want to look at the second episode of Season 3, titled "The Return."
In this episode, William Blackburn sees a giant Ferris wheel and a woman in a vision that flashes through his mind. By coincidence, he later heads there with the woman from his vision, Millie.
The Ferris wheel is the Melbourne Star in Melbourne's Docklands.
There, in the same place he had seen in his vision with Millie, he watches the city lights flicker and go dark, along with the lights of the Melbourne Star. Millie tells William that the universe is expanding faster and faster, and that it cannot keep stretching forever; one day, it will tear apart.
William realizes that the vision he saw was of the future. Through his conversation with Millie, he eventually reaches the conclusion that those who have returned must, in the end, all die again.
Looking back now, there is something strikingly fitting about William, who has returned from death several times, standing before a Ferris wheel that has stopped after its operating hours. The real Melbourne Star, after all, is a structure that has stopped and started again several times.
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Source: Chris Phutully from Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Rise and Fall of the Melbourne Star
The Melbourne Star opened in December 2008, two years later than originally scheduled. Just 40 days later, however, it stopped operating after cracks were discovered in its steel structure.
The Ferris wheel remained standing but out of operation for nearly five years, finally beginning to turn again on December 23, 2013.
The Melbourne Star stands 120 meters tall and has seven spokes. Its design was inspired by the seven-pointed star on the Australian flag.
One full rotation takes about 30 minutes, and at night, it drew a huge circle of light across the Docklands skyline.
Then, in September 2021, the operator announced that the Melbourne Star would cease operations permanently. The COVID-19 pandemic had brought tourism to a standstill, while high-rise buildings constructed nearby had also blocked its views.
When Glitch aired, the Melbourne Star was still in operation. However, by the time William arrived, it was late at night, so rides were restricted. The lights illuminating the night sky, however, were still on.
Memories of the Melbourne Star
Watching Glitch left me with a strong impression of the Melbourne Star. So when I traveled to Australia in 2023, I went to see it even though I knew it was no longer operating.
There were no tourists, and most of the surrounding shops had already closed, giving the area a somewhat desolate atmosphere. Even so, I remember being overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Melbourne Star, which was so enormous that it was difficult to fit the entire structure into a single photograph.
Of course, I thought of Glitch while I was standing there.
What must William, who was born in the past and had never seen such a massive structure before, have thought as he stood in front of it? Was he simply hoping to find a clue to the vision that had briefly flashed before him?
The Docklands, where the Melbourne Star stands, is also a place whose name reflects its history. It was once Melbourne's docks. As cargo ships grew larger and port operations moved elsewhere, the area remained vacant for many years before its redevelopment began in the late 1990s, transforming it into what it is today.
The Melbourne Star was not the only thing that stopped and came back. The neighborhood itself was once forgotten and has since been brought back to life.
Source: John Torcasio, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Melbourne Star Prepares to Reopen
But even its "permanent closure" turned out not to be permanent.
A new operator took over, followed by a long restoration process to repair and upgrade the motors and control systems. The Melbourne Star was given another chance at a new beginning.
Then, on the evening of July 30, 2026, the Melbourne Star lit up again for the first time in about five years.
Around 4 kilometers of new LED lighting illuminated the wheel in full color, and large crowds gathered in Docklands to celebrate the return of the Melbourne Star.
It is now awaiting its reopening in the second half of 2026.
The Way Back
Glitch ultimately demanded that those who had returned must leave again. For the sake of balance in the world, they were not allowed to stay.
But the real Melbourne Star was given one more chance.
If William saw the end of the world as he stood before the stopped Ferris wheel, the people of Melbourne in 2026 are seeing a new beginning beneath its lights, now switched on again.
The original title of this episode is "Quintessence." The word means the essential nature or purest essence of something, but in cosmology, it is also a term used to describe dark energy, which is driving the universe to expand at an accelerating rate.
If the original title evokes a universe steadily drifting apart, the Korean title points toward the path of return.
A story that was destined to end with departure has, in reality, continued with a return.
And standing between those two directions is the Melbourne Star.
Sources
- Melbourne Star lights up Docklands again – Docklands News
- Melbourne Star lights up again this week – Melbourning
- Mother-daughter duo to reignite light at Melbourne's dormant Star – ABC News
- Melbourne Star Reopening 2026 – Havenly Escape
- Melbourne Star – Wikipedia
- Glitch Season 3 Episode 2 Recap – Reel Mockery