The End of A2A
Well, that was...about what I expected, honestly.
--Molly? Too bad for you, Alex, you'll never see her again. "It's the way of the world. She'll be okay." And Alex just sniffs and goes with it. What happened to two seasons of MOLLYYYY!!!!!!!!
--Keats? OMG THE SCENERY-CHEWING. What was left of the mask came off and he went b@tsh!t INSANE. Uncomfortable to watch, but very effective in showing who/what he really was, and without needing to ever actually say so, or resort to cheesy special effects. (ETA: BWAH @ shannonsequitur, who says, "There is chewing the scenery, and then there is nuking the scenery from orbit.")
--Chris, Shaz, & Ray--talking about uncomfortable to watch, the videos of them. I'm glad they got to go into the light together. I'd've liked to see Keats' face when they all walked away from him, though, or what finally changed their minds. Shaz showed up before Chris and Ray, and seemed to think they weren't coming; there's some interesting missing scenes there.
--Nelson, yay! Good to see you again, mon brave!
--Alex: Dead Alex is Dead. She's lost Molly; she's walking away from Gene. I know we're supposed to think there's something better in the pub, something they're supposed to move on to, but we never got a clue as to what that might be. For three seasons about Alex, it sure seems to have wrapped up her plotline quick. That whole "accepting your death and moving on" thing, that happened in about six seconds.
--Sam? No. Forget Sam. The entire question this series was "What happened to Sam?" Are we supposed to think he's in the pub? Gene said that was the last thing he ever said, that he was gagging for a pint. Did Gene take him there, like he did the others? Then what was the point of the story he told in the last ep, where Sam needed to disappear and couldn't tell Gene anything about it? It would be better for Gene if he didn't know, that's what he said Sam told him. So...Gene didn't remember, at that point? So he didn't take Sam to that pub. Then WHAT THE HELL ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO SAM?
--Gene. Alone in the street, and in the office. No Sam, no Alex, no deputies-down-from-Manchester. I get that he's supposed to be the lone hero, the one that sacrifices himself so others can move on. (Duck, y'all, I feel a scripture comin' on! "He saved others; himself he cannot save." Okay, I think that's it for now.) But, you know, we still could have had the shocking "Dead Gene is dead!" revelation and then had Alex (using her psychological skills and all) persuade him that it was time for him to move on, that everything ends eventually. That would have provided the same amount of drama and given us the sense that something had been accomplished, instead of feeling that Gene's on a Neverending Timeloop of Doom and General Depressingness.
I still think it should have been Gene who walked into the light, with Chris, Ray, and Shaz staying on to be the guides, and Alex waking up with Molly. And Sam holding a table at the Railway Arms for Gene.
Tomorrow I will no doubt rail more about why this ending is not believable for me (clue: SAM TYLER, who forces Gene to face inconvenient truths, who's like a rat terrier with the bit between his teeth [metaphors, all over the shop], who WON'T SHUT UP when he thinks Gene needs to deal with something...)
Tonight I'm just gonna deal with my drinking problem. (The problem is, I don't. And right now, I really wish I DID.)
--Molly? Too bad for you, Alex, you'll never see her again. "It's the way of the world. She'll be okay." And Alex just sniffs and goes with it. What happened to two seasons of MOLLYYYY!!!!!!!!
--Keats? OMG THE SCENERY-CHEWING. What was left of the mask came off and he went b@tsh!t INSANE. Uncomfortable to watch, but very effective in showing who/what he really was, and without needing to ever actually say so, or resort to cheesy special effects. (ETA: BWAH @ shannonsequitur, who says, "There is chewing the scenery, and then there is nuking the scenery from orbit.")
--Chris, Shaz, & Ray--talking about uncomfortable to watch, the videos of them. I'm glad they got to go into the light together. I'd've liked to see Keats' face when they all walked away from him, though, or what finally changed their minds. Shaz showed up before Chris and Ray, and seemed to think they weren't coming; there's some interesting missing scenes there.
--Nelson, yay! Good to see you again, mon brave!
--Alex: Dead Alex is Dead. She's lost Molly; she's walking away from Gene. I know we're supposed to think there's something better in the pub, something they're supposed to move on to, but we never got a clue as to what that might be. For three seasons about Alex, it sure seems to have wrapped up her plotline quick. That whole "accepting your death and moving on" thing, that happened in about six seconds.
--Sam? No. Forget Sam. The entire question this series was "What happened to Sam?" Are we supposed to think he's in the pub? Gene said that was the last thing he ever said, that he was gagging for a pint. Did Gene take him there, like he did the others? Then what was the point of the story he told in the last ep, where Sam needed to disappear and couldn't tell Gene anything about it? It would be better for Gene if he didn't know, that's what he said Sam told him. So...Gene didn't remember, at that point? So he didn't take Sam to that pub. Then WHAT THE HELL ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO SAM?
--Gene. Alone in the street, and in the office. No Sam, no Alex, no deputies-down-from-Manchester. I get that he's supposed to be the lone hero, the one that sacrifices himself so others can move on. (Duck, y'all, I feel a scripture comin' on! "He saved others; himself he cannot save." Okay, I think that's it for now.) But, you know, we still could have had the shocking "Dead Gene is dead!" revelation and then had Alex (using her psychological skills and all) persuade him that it was time for him to move on, that everything ends eventually. That would have provided the same amount of drama and given us the sense that something had been accomplished, instead of feeling that Gene's on a Neverending Timeloop of Doom and General Depressingness.
I still think it should have been Gene who walked into the light, with Chris, Ray, and Shaz staying on to be the guides, and Alex waking up with Molly. And Sam holding a table at the Railway Arms for Gene.
Tomorrow I will no doubt rail more about why this ending is not believable for me (clue: SAM TYLER, who forces Gene to face inconvenient truths, who's like a rat terrier with the bit between his teeth [metaphors, all over the shop], who WON'T SHUT UP when he thinks Gene needs to deal with something...)
Tonight I'm just gonna deal with my drinking problem. (The problem is, I don't. And right now, I really wish I DID.)