YMMV / In Space with Markiplier

• Awesome Music:
  • The main theme is a powerful Dark Reprise of The Gregory Brothers' "Space Is Cool", a song about Markiplier's love for space.
  • In one route during Part 2, you get to watch Mark perform a full lyrical version of the above: "Space Was Cool", a Grief Song about the looming destruction of the universe.
  • "The Last Goodbye" from the end credits (and, briefly, in Yancy's cameo) is basically an upbeat, Anti-Nihilist rebuttal to the above, and quite a catchy one. Mark had intended to feature it during the story proper, but cut it because it was such a banger that it would have distracted from the drama.
  • The cameo of Ninja Sex Party in Part 2 introduces "Oh My God, The Captain Is Back," as it glitches into different music genres from country, gospel, death metal, jazz, and more.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Dorene Whitacre getting shot dead by a sentry gun? Not really funny. A trail of blood pooling out of the room where it happened? Still not that funny. Mark staring at the scene in horror before slowly turning to the Captain and taking a bite of the cookie Whitacre gave him mere seconds earlier? Hilarious.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Wug is adored by the fanbase for being a jovial, armor-clad alien who shouts every word but is still helpful and friendly... most of the time.
• Funny Moments:
  • In the second "Fix it from outside" reset in Part 1, the Captain, upon respawning, opts to speedrun the Sinking Ship Scenario by literally throwing poor Mark at every problem on the ship one by one, with exaggerated rag-doll physics in full effect. The only problem the Captain solves themself is the fire on the bridge, which they deal with by pulling a pin from a fire extinguisher before chucking it into the room like a grenade.
  • The atmosphere throughout the trashed ship/"Open the door" sequence of videos is very much horror, with the paranoia fuel of various characters appearing twice in a scene and insisting "That's not me, Captain. That's not me!" about the other copy... and then the final "Open the door" choice leads to the door itself doing the same bit, and the opened door leading out onto the IRL set of the show.
  • In the last "Fix it from outside" reset, the climax has the entire crew and even the ship's computer constantly blame Mark for the wormhole. Even the Captain swatting aside a crewmember to activate the Event Horizon Protocol is blamed on him. Furthermore, that whole sequence begins with Celci reporting on the wormhole with a delivery in the vein of a child tattling on their sibling
  "Captain, Mark got our asses stuck in a wormhole."
  • In Part 2, depending on the Captain's choices, they can encounter Wilford Warfstache, who books them an interview for October 30th, 2019. Notable about his scene is how he casually stabs the wormhole with his butterfly knife, causing it to deflate like a balloon, and later after the interview is booked and Warfstache gets another wormhole for the Captain, they come across what appears to be another segment where they must choose to go either left or right, Warfstache declares no more choices and pops the path on the left, automatically sending the captain on the path to the right.
• He Really Can Act: The duology has Mark in his most dramatic, emotional, and challenging role yet… and he absolutely knocks it out of the park. The Part 2 finale is where he really gets to shine, since we get two gripping scenes with him back-to-back: the scene with Old Mark in the empty diner, and the climax with Young Mark tearfully realizing that he created the wormhole. Both scenes are incredibly heartbreaking and impactful, and Mark pulls it off wonderfully.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In Part 1, multiple characters call the Captain "handsome and/or beautiful". In Part 2, we finally see them from a third-person perspective^note during the Pokémon battle with the Lady, and they're wearing a face-obscuring astronaut helmet. Apparently, helmets are sexy?
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • The Lady. She's a Rabid Cop who repeatedly chases down the Captain with the intent to kill them, but she's only doing so because she's convinced they're out to destroy the universe and is desperate to stop them. Hints of her true personality are easy to spot beneath the surface, indicating that she'd likely be a friend under different circumstances. Her final scene in Part 2 is quite sad, with her slowly dying of chest wounds while apologizing for her actions, having realized she was wrong, urging the Captain not to give up hope, and letting them hold her hand as she begins to expire.
  • In a way, the Captain is this as well. Yes, there are many times when they’re a Bad Boss to Mark and cause a lot of trouble for fun. At the same time though, they’re doing everything they possibly can to save everyone, to the point of angry desperation. And even when it seems they’ve done everything right and saved everyone, they’re sent straight back to the beginning to relive it all over again. To top it off, everyone in the universe blames THEM for everything going wrong with the wormhole. Later, we learn that it wasn't them who caused the chaos, but Mark, who created the wormhole accidentally to try and set things right. Even Mark, who had been their loyal companion and trusted friend the whole time turns on them, even trying to murder the captain.
  • Mack, the impostor who takes Mark's place on the Invincible II in part 2. He's a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing with a god complex, but his Freak Out when you call him out — and his subsequent death via Ominous Visual Glitch — makes him somewhat sympathetic in spite of it. His being played by MatPat also helps.

• Signature Song: Of the two songs featured in the story, "The Last Goodbye" seems to be the one that the fanbase has embraced the most. Quite a few fan compilations use it, one of which was featured by Mark at the beginning of his 10-year anniversary livestream.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Old Mark's appearances in Part 2: when you meet him in the diner, he wearily talks about how he regrets everything he did, how tired he is, and how long he's been trying to fix things, and yet all he seems to do is make them worse. The second time, he's not regretful, he's resigned, even relieved, to finally have the end in sight, even if it wasn't what he'd hoped for. He reminisces on his time with the Captain, and even tries to comfort them before fading away.
    Old Mark: For what it's worth, I'm glad I got to share this adventure with you.
  • On the flip side, Young Mark's realization that he was responsible for the paradox in the first place. He's not just upset to learn this, he's outright devastated, collapsing into tears and giving the Captain a quiet, broken apology. It's made even worse by Mark acting the hell out of the moment.

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