Editorial: The End's Not Near, It's Here
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As the episode settles in, whether true or not, it feels that one glorious moment after another is happening. This is clearly intensified by the Bullet’’s return and the news that Julie and he are engaged and expecting a child. In a nice shot of true comedic charm, and maybe frightening prospects for others, we meet Bullet’s other sperm spawned children. But the true heart of the comedy is not grounded in cheap laughs, but rather human emotion and family ties. This is self-evident from the beginning of the episode to almost the end.
Perhaps this is why when some of the more befuddling and unbelievable moments, like discovering early on that Ryan and Taylor broke up for the same nonsensical reasons they split the first time, one might teeter on the brink of actually forgiving the writers for this misgiving. Plus, it helps to counteract the bigger humor coming from two flamboyant gay men now living at the Cohen’s old house in Berkeley.
The moment I stopped overlooking is the moment Frank appeared. I was so overwhelmingly pleased that Julie and Bullet were getting married. Then news hits that the baby is Franks and my heart sinks. I spend the next quarter of the episode cheering for team Bullet to the extent that I willingly ignore that she could end up with Frank, perhaps even married to him. And I also conveniently ignore that Julie could easily walk away with neither man.
But that’’s exactly what happens. It was a bit of a copout upon first watch, but when reflecting back I see the bigger picture. Julie took up for team Julie to find her grounding and be self-sufficient. Whether Jimmy, Caleb or Dr. Roberts, no matter how much love was involved, it still felt like she was latching on as way to support herself and her family. Now she’s a college graduate with a bright future. More over, if Marissa could turn away from both Luke and Ryan at the end of The Debut, then why couldn’t Julie make a similar move?
Seth and Summer were winners on all accounts. Not only was Summer able to spend a part of her life with G.E.O.R.G.E. she also got her further down the road destiny by marrying Seth. Unfortunately little of this came of as affecting and moving as it should of. So much energy was spent on G.E.O.R.G.E. and her leaving that when we finally see a flash of Seth and Summer’s wedding it comes off as a quick appeasing to keep the fans happy. If we were to be so affirmed in Summer’s assertions that Seth is her destiny one could argue that we never need to see the wedding. It’s assumed and implied.
And to be honest a part of me wanted to see Ryan and Taylor’s wedding, for them to be the Sandy and Kirsten of the future. My two-fold argument comes from this being an interesting twist and that Ryan and Taylor’s relationship always seemed more adult-like this season. But part of this truth is that I wanted a glorious win for team Rylor. Now how is that any different than the hordes of fans wanting to see even a small glimpse of Seth and Summer’s nuptials? It’s not. So then why appease either fan base and instead simply do what’s best for the show. They could have glimpsed a wedding leaving us to choose who got married. How ever they could of chose to present, the point is to leave us guessing their future rather than defining it for us, but still giving just enough closure to have us believing we would get our happy ending even if we weren‘‘t to see it.
The scene with Ryan and Taylor on the train was far too vague and left us to assume nothing except how passionate they are. This is where the lack of closure hinders a storyline. We didn’t need a wedding; all we needed was context to give us the insight that they would of ended up with some sort of a happy ending. In the end it would have been better to leave this scene out entirely, going off the context of what we see between them during Seth and Summer’s wedding.
Plus, just to know that Ryan navigated his life, had the past-down love to impact children just like him at a younger age, would have been satisfactory enough because he finally came full circle from season one and maturely grown all in the same standing. But this hesitation to appropriately refine both couple’s storylines seemed slight compared to the overpowering pleasure one gets from watching this episode.
Even when we’re forced to dispense belief when the Cohen’s are able to buy back their old house in Berkeley, thus rebuilding a life near where Ryan is going to college. It’s another moment that feels so gloriously right that we ignore how implausible it really is. Right but not the only option as I believed the Cohen’s would have offered the most impact by staying in Newport. But then again, I’d only seen what Newport brought to this show. It became clear as the episode moved on that the only heard of past deserved the weight it received. And this is where the heart of the Cohen family began. While not technically full circle to the pilot it was a full circle moment to the origin of one of the greatest TV families of the last few years.
Though they could have easily fallen under the radar, the more affecting moments like Summer giving Julie a locket with Marissa’s picture end up as memorable and standout scenes. Grounded in genuine human sentiment and quality acting, these scenes gave the episode great heart and a tone that more epitomizes season one.
As the starting storylines of the episode fade away, and we finally have the window into the far off future, one can’t be more pleased to know where Ryan is standing and how he came full circle. And this was exemplified, quite perfectly, with the use of flashbacks. Just before we see a nearly played to age Benjamin McKenzie suited up and staring down a sad and damaged child, one that seems every bit like Ryan at the same age, we are back a few months to where the house in Newport is cleared out. There Ryan stands in astonishment of where his reformed life was literally built by the Cohen’s love. And he takes in his reflections of the surmounted memories of a location that defined him through the years. Ryan’s closing slides in with a ease and comfort. Perhaps that’s one reason it feels fitting and intentional.
Finally, I’ll give credit for all the show offered being crammed into a one-hour finale. There was a good pace for most of the episode. And they certainly covered a lot of ground. Unfortunately the balance between the opening storylines of six months ahead and the far off future seemed more weighted in the first. Perhaps that’s why when the far off future finally came it did feel a tad rushed, and at times inappropriate [I.E. Ryan and Taylor]. But no negative of this episode was so damaging that it impacted the splendid and pleasurable heart of the episode. And for that we saw how far this show had come from what it turned into post season one, but finally started to get away from in this season. Either as a series finale or a companion piece to the past it stands as a wonderfully compacted glimpse of the characters’ we’d grown to love future and how the past defined it.
**** 1/4 out of ***** stars.
